Red Envelope Day

Send your red envelopes to the White House TODAY!!

This week, the White House is expected to receive hundreds of thousands of empty red envelopes, symbolizing the moral outrage of abortion. The plan is simple: On March 31, mail an empty red envelope to the president. The envelopes represent the innocent blood shed through abortion, and the plea for the blood of Jesus over the sin of our nation. This campaign is a symbolic act to flood the mail with red. The more we send, the more powerful this symbol will be.

An empty red envelope will send a message to President Barack Obama that there is moral outrage in this country over this issue [The Freedom of Choice Act, which will essentially “undo” every law currently in place to limit abortion in the U.S.]. It will be quiet, but clear.

Instructions and mailing info can be found on the Facebook Group or the Red Envelope website! IMPORTANT: Be sure to put your return address on the envelope or it will be discarded at the White House.

 

Defending Life

March 31st is the fourth anniversary of Terri Schiavo's death. Her tragic story brought end-of-life issues to the forefront of public thought. But did you know that similar emotionally-gripping stories are being repeated across the world even now?

One such story is featured in the award-winning documentary, Joel's Journey and the Sanctity of Life, a film which addresses important end-of-life issues as it tells the story of a young boy who was declared brain-dead. Joel's family had to fight for his life against an establishment that wanted to pull the plug.

Now at Biblical Worldview Media, you can buy both The Terri Schiavo Story and Joel's Journey for the limited time price of $24.00 (a 25% savings). Click here for details.

Thanks to Scott Eash for promoting these films!

 

God Provides

The six short films from Crown Financial has been titled God Provides. There is also a new website for the series and a new trailer!

 

NEW! ReelCast Demo Video

The NEW! ReelCast Productions Demo Reel is now online!! Watch it HERE!

Thanks to all those who critiqued the demo reel and gave their input/advice. Thanks also to the Morris boys for all their hard work writing the music!!!

 

Right.org Commercials

Family members from the Leddens, Crooks and Burnetts teamed up in Missouri to shoot a couple of commercials for the Right.org contest. We ended up shooting two scripts, one was Ethan/Dusty's idea and the other was mine.

It was great to have Hannah and Benjamin with me on this trip!

(Commercial #2) Joel (an actor) prepping for the shoot.

Eponine Ledden, Dusty's cute little daughter!! ....yeah I taught her to laugh like that :D

(Commercial #2) Ethan pulling a "One Man Show" when everyone else was in the shot. Ya did a great job E!

(Commercial #2) Ashley is most likely getting a focus mark for the next shot - Ethan apparently has something against the director :P - and I'm just standing around smiling at people taking BTS pics.

(Commercial #2) The Director approving a shot.

(Commercial #2) Benjamin was the star of this commercial too! - Waiting on set with some props :)

(Commercial #2) Hiking to the location...we figured out that it was approx. 3/4 of a mile one way :(

(Commercial #1) Morgan's three younger sisters who also starred in the commercial. Lots of fun :)

(Commercial #1) Me and Ethan setting up a shot - it was great to do a little AC work again!

(Commercial #1) Running a rehearsal.

(Commercial #1) Hannah running audio. Joanna Ueland helped with continuity and BTS pics.

(Commercial #1) Dusty strangling a light :P

(Commercial #1) Benjamin got to be the star of the commercial!

(Commercial #1) Me and my bro Benjamin waiting on set.

 

36hr Contest

You can read the details here!

"Friday, April 10, 2009 at 12:00PM filmmakers around the world will begin producing a three-minute story on video. 36-hours later they will upload their video to YouTube. Entries will be judged on Story, Cinematography, Sound, Performance and Editing. The winner gets $500!"

 

The Widow's Might - 60sec Trailer

Making a movie is great and editing a movie is even better! The only thing better than editing a movie? ...creating a movie trailer! This is the the third movie trailer I've made for films outside ReelCast Productions and this one will be playing in theaters!

The 60 second trailer for The Widow's Might is now online!! Click here! Be sure to come back and let me know what you think :)

Theatrical Release
"The theatrical release is a short run; only one week on 100 screens, starting on April 13'th, so this is a very limited chance to view the film in theaters. If the film does well, it's run will be extended. More info and locations will be posted here and here later this week."

 

The Penny Teaser!

There is finally a teaser/trailer up for one of the films I worked on last year "The Penny."


The Penny Teaser from Filmweavers LLC on Vimeo.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the project, here is a brief synopsis:
“The Penny” is a drama/thriller that follows a series of seemingly insignificant events in a number of people’s lives. Hidden amidst their “bigger” problems, these disconnected pieces of their lives go unnoticed until they begin to fit together in a totally unexpected way. Suddenly these strangers are thrust together by what some would call luck, chance, fate, coincidence, or even destiny. But is it something even bigger than that?

You can watch the video in HD at the Filmweavers website!

 

ReelCast Projects

Reaching for Character
This is a one hour training video that I've been working on called "Reaching for Character." It is designed to introduce organizations to the basics and benefits of CharacterFirst! - Visit the website here.

Pendragon Trailer
Pendragon: Sword of His Father has a new "official trailer" in the works! I've finished a first draft of the trailer which the Burns Family Studio team seemed very happy with! There is still a lot of work to do...but stay tuned, it should be online in several weeks!

The Widow's Might
I just finished a 60 sec Teaser Spot for The Widow's Might! It's hard to fit a storyline into 60sec...much less when it's a musical/comedy!! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out though. John said it should be posted online within the next several days. Next...a real length trailer!

2008 Character First Awards
I did a project last year of producing 6 videos that were 3 minutes each. Each video highlighted a company that was being recognized by CharacterFirst! for their implementation of CF. You can see all six videos at the bottom of this page.

Get the Flash Player to see this video.

 

The Lost Medallion - IMDb

Apparently this is one of their sets! Looks like a great place to film!These are the two main characters.

Here is the official IMDb page - and a very short blog post.

 

Richard Ramsey update

Richard Ramsey (director of The Oath) is now working at City On A Hill Productions. He recently posted a video that he produced about "Economic Opportunities."
"Economic Opportunities exists to teach God's work ethic to high-risk men in order for them to know Christ more intimately, to become contributing members of the workforce, and to gain hope in a future."
I found the video to be very impacting and touching. You can watch the video on Richard's blog.

 

The Penny - 2nd Rough

The Penny, the upcoming feature film from Filmweavers has reached the official "2nd Rough Cut."

Head over and check out their blog for more info and a couple more still frames from the movie!

 

Spurs of Change

Spurs of Change is the working title for the next official film project from ReelCast Productions and Dallas Christian Film Makers. It will be a feature length film set in a modern day time period. I am hesitant to really promote the project until we have the needed money for the film because without money...movies don't happen.

Short synopsis:
"Chris and Harry despise each other, and Chris jumps at the opportunity to “pay Harry back” for firing his mom. Little does Chris know that it will result in his having to spend all summer with Harry’s brother—Phil. As the summer continues, his friendship with Phil grows; while secretly, the hatred for Harry does too. But then the unthinkable happens, and Harry finally gets his chance for “revenge”!"

We have a full screenplay for the project which is full of action, emotion and comedy! Currently we are still revising the script to make it even better! You can find more information about the film at the official movie blog where you can also sign up for updates as the project progresses.

 

Bringing Up Bobby - Trailer

View the new official trailer for this christian comedy!

 

ReelCast on Facebook

ReelCast Productions now has a group on Facebook! If you are a fan of this blog and you have a Facebook account, you can join up here!

Joel's Journey also has a Facebook group. This award winning documentary has reached thousands of lives with the message of the sanctity of life! You are invited to support the film by joining this group!

 

The Lost Medallion

The Lost Medallion is the first film in the youth action adventure series entitled The Adventures of Billy Stone. Described as “an Indiana Jones for tweens.”

Synopsis
Archaeologist Dr. Michael Stone looked for the lost medallion his entire life, and now his son Billy (Unger, seen at right) has taken up the search. Amazingly, the medallion ends up in Billy’s hands and a spontaneous wish in a precarious situation takes Billy and his best friend Allie (Hanratty), back 200 years to what they realize is a very different Aumakua Island.

When Billy and his friends are not jumping off waterfalls, avoiding animal traps, crossing the ocean, sneaking through caves or escaping a prison they're facing their nemesis Cobra (Dacascos), who wants nothing more than for them all to disappear. With no other way to get home, and the wellbeing of the entire island resting on his shoulders, Billy must discover the key to reclaiming the medallion and its tremendous power. One way or another, this adventure will change Billy, and life on the island, forever.

Writer/Director: Bill Muir (writer of Invisible Enemies, The Crossing, and Without Reservation)
Producers: Kevin and Bobby Downes (The Moment After 1 & 2, Mercy Streets, Like Dandelion Dust)
Filming locations include Erawan National Park, the historic ruins of Minh Sa, the beach resort area of Krabi, and Bangkok.

This is the only source for this information that I have found, but I'll be trying to find out more as the film progresses. Original article on Christian Cinema.

 

Shekinah Springs Studio

Music is said to be at least 40% of a movie experience. It isn't important to have good music, it needs to be great! Good music follows the story of your film, great music will enhance the story. Stock music works for some videos, but it usually forces you to fit your story around the music rather than the music telling your story.

Caleb and Daniel Morris are the young men that I use anytime I need custom music for a project. In fact, I have them working on some music right now for my upcoming ReelCast demo reel - and let me tell ya, it's sounding good! A while back I did an interview with them for my blog about their process for writing music, I mean how does it work with two people? You can read the interview here.

"Our ultimate purpose in writing music is to glorify God. We want to write music for films that accomplish this goal." ~Caleb and Daniel

Head on over to their website - Shekinah Springs Studio - and check out some of their music samples. Some of my personal favorites are:
- Holiday's Song
- Out West: The Race
- Seek and Ye Shall Find Part 2
- Epic Ending
- Christmas Movie
- Pendragon: King Battle

 

Apple Updates

Apple has updated the entire line-up of desktop machines! Check 'em out!

I know most of you aren't looking for a new computer and if you were, you probably wouldn't be shopping at Apple. Now, I for one happen to like...and use Apple hardware and software. So, you'll have to put up with periodic updates about all things Apple - besides, having pictures of Apple products on my blog makes it look classy! :)

 

Tips for Text

There is more to titles than typing words and picking a font. Spacing, caps, no caps, size, color...all contribute to the readability and attractiveness of a title! DVD covers, video titles, announcements, newsletters, birthday cards - these all involve creating text for your project.

I thought I knew quite a bit about text design...and then I saw this video. The tips and tricks are demonstrated using the font library from Digital Juice and the Digital Juice Juicer program, however the same techniques can be achieved using normal fonts in Photoshop or other text layout applications. These tips will help your text communicate better!

"Learn how to arrange your words so they are both legible and graphically strong. Once you know what you are trying to emphasize, these tricks will help you prioritize your text so that the viewer gets your message immediately."

Watch the tutorial. (12:31 min)

 

Celtx 2.0

Before you shoot a film, you need a script. Celtx is a free program that makes script writing and re-writing easier! I've used it on several projects and it is quite simple to use but yet has a lot of depth to the program. I highly recommend it! AND - version 2.0 is now available! You can see some screen shots here.

"Unlike scriptwriting software and sites, you can use Celtx for the entire pre-production process - write scripts, storyboard scenes and sequences, develop characters, breakdown & tag elements, schedule production, and prepare detailed and informative production reports for cast and crew."

Read more about Celtx.

Download 2.0!