A BLOG UPDATE FOR THE LADIES

Early on in the writing process John and I came to an agreement on something. We needed to put an immense amount of effort into ensuring our women characters were not weak, overly-emotional and stereotypical. A weak woman character is one of the things that will break a story for me, whether its in comics, film or literature. Across the spectrum I can pull numerous examples off the top of my head, stories that I feel are made weaker by the lack of power on the female front.

Alan Moore is, without a doubt, one of my favorite writers. His imagination and firm grip on the English language are so enthralling to me. I love it. When someone told me how he thought he was a magician, for real, I thought he was nuts. Well, I wasn't far off, he is a bit out there, but when I watched an interview where he explained his stance on what he considers "magic" and how the worlds he creates are his spells and his creations (that's how I understood it anyhow), it made a lot of sense, and the romantic writer somewhere deep inside me began to greatly respect that idea.

But when it comes down to it, there are some fundamental problems I find with his writing. Swamp Thing, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and especially Watchmen. All books I absolutely LOVE, that have a great amount of imagination and incredible writing. I'm getting all fuzzy just thinking about it! But one place they fall short is in their awful, terrible, weak, emotional wreck female characters. I think Watchmen suffers the most, which breaks my heart. Even if a female character does have any sort of power, they are entirely dependent on a male character emotionally or otherwise. Don't try and tell me about Promethea, either. I've read two trades and I fail to see any great strides in actual feminine strength.

OPEN CASTING CALL FOR EXTRAS

DEAD WEIGHT - open casting call for extras.

Head Trauma Productions and Gilead Media are now openly casting for extras in their feature length presentation Dead Weight. The specifics for the filming and roles available are as follows:

- Filming will be taking place from August 1st, 2011 to August 3rd, 2011 between the hours of 10:00am and 10:00pm each day (with a potential of running later). You are not required to work the entire twelve hour day. but there are specifics "shifts" and periods for which we will need completely committed individuals for the roles.

- You must be age 18+. We are looking for a wide range of ages here, particularly for those age 30+.

- The majority of these scenes will be filmed in Oshkosh, but there will be one filmed in Grand Chute.

- Anyone selected for a role is responsible for their own transportation & transportation expenses.

- Food will be available free of charge to all those selected to fill a role.

- There is no pay for these positions.

- You are required to sign a waiver giving Head Trauma Productions the right to use your performance in any way they see fit without additional compensation.

- Some scenes will call for casual clothing, some for more formal clothing. Only apply if you're capable of appearing in either.

- Your name will not appear in the credits of the film.

-  *CRITICAL* Any individual selected for an extra role must be committed to the date and time for which they are cast. Although you are not being paid, we do ask that you consider this a job. We are relying on those we cast to fill a position and we cannot have anyone canceling on us. This also means that you are NOT allowed to bring friends, children, parents, extended family members, pets, neighbors, your mail man or anyone else that is not personally selected by Head Trauma Productions to fill a role.

If you're interested in applying for the role of an extra please email the following information to info@carryingdeadweight.com. Make the subject of this email "DEAD WEIGHT EXTRAS." Do not send any attachments or photos, just answer these questions in the body of an email.

Name

Phone number

Email address

Location

Type of transportation you have

Age

Gender

Height

Weight

Dates available (From Aug 1 to Aug 3)

Times available (From 10:00am to 10:00pm. Please also note if you're available later)

All submissions must be received by Noon on Monday, July 25th, 2011. We will respond to every request by Tuesday, July 26th, 2011 at 6:00pm.

Thank you! We look forward to hearing from everyone interested in a role!

- Adam Bartlett & John Pata

Co-producers. Co-directors.

THE NATURE OF THE BEAST

Throughout the majority of our blog posts we've elaborated on the multitude of lessons we learned during filming. Chiefly among them was this: nothing goes according to plan. No doubt you've read about the things that taught us these hard lessons, so we will spare you the recap.

John and I began this project with an absurdly ambitious agenda, and a near-impossible schedule in mind. We knew it would be rough, but we also knew that when we want something, we make it happen. There's been many things we've worked on together, a lot of things that required an absurd amount of hard work, and we've always been able to pull through in one capacity or another. We've always overcome the challenges and achieved our goals, whether it be deadlines or other miscellany objectives. That's one reason it took us so long to make an official announcement on the status of Dead Weight. There is one basic fact that we have finally come to terms with after hours of frustrating discussion.

Dead Weight will not be released in 2011.

That is actually the first time I've had to write those words. Sure, I've explained the situation to a lot of people, but seeing the written word on the screen feels so definitive, so permanent.

As we've said, there are many people giving up a lot to help us with this production, and there are a great deal of people with busy schedules that we need to find a way to work around. We are very much at the mercy of their personal and professional lives. We are not bitter about this fact, we're very sympathetic actually. We have a lot we need to work around, too. Does that make it less frustrating? No. Patience is (regretfully) not a virtue John or myself possess in any great capacity.

The good news: as I write this we have three days blocked out in August. We've scheduled this period of time and we're preparing to begin setting up locations so we can bang out the final shots of the film. As you'll soon learn, Dead Weight is really two stories that are related and intertwined. One was completed in April, the second will be completed over these three days in August. The already-completed portion makes up the vast majority of the film, while this second portion really works in support of that. This means we really only have about 25% of the film left to shoot, and it won't be in the middle of fields in the snow, so that's cool.

There are many things that have come up in support our decision to push back the film, things that will ultimately result in a much stronger production overall. In addition to that, there are key  opportunities we will now be able to take advantage of that were not a possibility before.

That's the long and short of it. A bummer we have to wait longer to unleash this monstrous project? Absolutely. Will it be for the better? Without a god damn doubt.

Right now we're looking at early 2012, and that's really all we're comfortable saying. There are too many new variables to get anymore specific. But you can bet that we're just as excited as we were three months ago.

We really have to take the time to thank you for your continued support. We're constantly thinking of everyone who has given us positive feedback thus far. We know that many of you want to see this film, and believe us, nothing would make us happier than showing you the finished product. In time this will happen. You are the coal in the belly of this beastly engine. We will not let you down.

SPOTLIGHT ON THE CREW: LANCE FORD

Being a crew member isn't the most glamorous job on a film. Typically, you are the first to arrive on set, and the last to leave. You get stuck with the shit jobs, have more down time than anyone else, and (let's face it) overlooked due to the cast. Without a doubt, the crew is equally important as your cast. They make everything happen. So, it's time to put the spotlight on the crew.

We reached out to our crew, letting them know that we want to hear their voice, their side of production. For this first time around, we have Lance Ford. Adam and I have known Lance for a few years now, as we met him at (where all the cool people in Oshkosh meet) House of Heroes Comics and Games. Lance has always been super supportive of what we have done, and has shown nothing but the utmost most enthusiasm when it came to Dead Weight. Lance was one of the few crew members we had every single day, from start to finish. Hell, he took his first week long vacation from work in 23 years. To his wonderful wife, Monica, thanks for allowing him to spend that vacation with us. The next vacation will be spent with you, we insist. As if that isn't a testament to Lance's dedication, everyday he was officially the first one to arrive and the last to leave. Lance worked his ass off, and made all of us incredibly proud to have him on board.

I've rambled enough. It's time to turn the spotlight on Lance. So, please, take it away:

Lance slating the first shot of Dead Weight.

Before the week of filming Dead Weight, I'd tell my family and friends that I was going to be helping behind-the-scenes on the set of a movie that was being made by two friends in Oshkosh. They'd ask what it was about, and after explaining what it was and that it was being filmed in and around Oshkosh, they'd be - "Wow, that's cool". And the whole experience for me, since I like movies so much, and enjoy seeing the behind-the-scenes/making-of features and interviews with the actors which so many DVD's have - it was a perfect fit. I was so excited to be helping out and since it was my first week-long vacation in over 20 years, I'm glad it turned out to be a memorable one. I was totally pumped up for days prior to filming, even though I had no idea what tasks I would be assigned. I guess that sort of added to my excitement a bit. And since I really didn't know that much about the script, it was really cool to see it unfold chronologically right before my eyes as it was filmed. That aspect, by itself, was indeed a royal treat. Although, I did miss the last day of shooting in Neenah, due to a leg injury. I was really bummed about that, just ask John. I even told him I felt like I was letting them down, and being the great guy that he is, he reassured me that that that was not the case. Which brings us to something which John said on that last day - he said that it wasn't just his and Adam's film, it was Our film, as well (maybe its a good thing that I wasn't there, because that would have brought tears to my eyes). I guess I never really thought about it that way before hearing it put that way, because it had been written by John and Adam and it was their commitment, perseverance, overall drive and undying dedication to making Dead Weight that made it all happen. And because of their devotion, it enabled us to be a part of such a terrific undertaking. An extremely huge round of applause to both of them.

The stories that you hear about cast and crew members who have worked with the same people for years and how they become like a family isn't only true about people who have worked together for years, it's true when you've also only worked with some people for a week. It seemed as if I'd known everyone I met on the set forever. And when filming was done, I missed them. Thank God for Facebook. I met so many fascinating actors and crew members, and I wouldn't change that for anything. Everyone who acted in the film, even those who had never acted before, were unbelievable. I lost count of the number of times while standing there watching, that I got goosebumps or a tear let loose from the corner of my eye at how excellent a job they were doing. And excellent doesn't even begin to describe their performances. I was totally blown away by the range of emotions brought forth during the films intense sequences.

Lance in said snowstorm.

From Day One, everyone I met was so down-to-earth and fun-loving. Professionalism reigned when it was called for, but jokes and laughter were present all day, every day. Yes, even on the day of the snowstorm, laughter became a weapon to ward off the blues. I have delivered to Ripon many times since and every time I drive by the BP gas station in Pickett memories flood over me and it makes me smile. I thoroughly enjoyed every second of the 80+ hours that I was on set that week. It was so difficult going back to work, as I'm sure it was for alot of us on the set. The first day back to work, I was standing there running my press and as I looked around, I wondered "Why am I here? I want to be back on the set making another movie." Every aspect of being there was awesome, from driving Dan Kiggins to and from locations, to chauferring A.C and Michelle to their romantic get-away at the Americinn for their anniversary (courtesy of the cast), right on up to getting to chat with cast and crew members during down-time, to getting to yell "QUIET ON THE SET!!" right after John called "ACTION!!" That was truly AWESOME!!! Working a little bit with Travis as he was getting the light set up was also pretty darn cool. Like I said - every aspect of this entire experience is truly something that I will carry in my memory from now until the end of time. Years from now, I know that I will talk about it with the same enthusiasm.

For me the week flew by, despite the long hours or disasterous weather, because something was happening every minute of every day. One of the most hilarious moments occurred off camera at Ryf's house when Dan Kiggins did his "tuck", and Sam opened the door and there was Dan standing there looking all innocent. Sam kept right in character and didn't mess up the take. I'm surprised I didn't start laughing out loud and ruin the scene. Good Times.

It was really great getting to know everyone on set. I know there were a few people I really didn't get a chance to talk to much, but those I did get to know a bit, I would be proud to call my friend.

And now, I would like to take this opportunity to thank John and Adam for allowing me to be a part of this endeavor. It was truly an honor and a privilege to get to know both of you a little better and to help you fulfill your dream. Thank You.


-Lance Ford


One last thing from John: You can pick up Lance's first novel, Ace Kincaid: In Search of Heroes at House of Heroes Comics and Games, 407 N. Main St., Downtown Oshkosh.

ONLY YOU CAN PREVENT FOREST FIRES

Tonight, I was reminded of one of the incredibly bizarre moments from filming. And not just of filming, either, this definitely goes down as one of the most bizarre moments of my life.

I debated whether or not to share this story. Not because I am embarrassed, or anything like that. I just wasn't sure if people would want to hear such a story. But, then I thought, hey people like to hear all the weird behind-the-scenes stories… so why not? Things are gonna get a little "risque" here, consider yourselves warned.

Day two of production started with us in a house, filming a little kitchen scene. This was a quite welcomed change from the insane winds we faced on day one. We spent a couple hours in the house, and had everything from moments of panic, to arguing, physical confrontation, and even projectile vomiting… and that doesn't even include what we actually filmed. Or does it?

Once we left the comforts of the house in the city, we ventured back to the outskirts of town, to film the exterior shots of the house. As we finished our shots at this location, Cari pulled up with lunch/dinner, the infamous Wrap Car, as did three additional cast members; Matty Field, Jake Martin, and Mark Muetzel. It was time to step into the woods and film ourselves a scene around a campfire.

Nothing too bizarre yet. Just you wait, I gotta set it up first.

As we drive onto (producer/script supervisor/location manager/script editor/actor) Lee Marohn's step-dad's land, Travis (our DP) and I get the lighting/camera truck stuck in the mud. Tensions were high at the moment, but with the help of the crew, we got it out no problem. We carry all the gear a couple hundred feet into the woods, and start setting up for the scene. This was our first night shoot, and we had about eleven pages of dialog to cover. We knew it was going to be a LONG night.

For the campfire itself, well, it became everyone's arch nemesis. It didn't seem to matter where you were positioned, the smoke went straight into your eyes. The cast had to sit around that fire, smoke in the eyes, for a good three straight hours. In between every take, the cast shielded their eyes with their hands, hoping to find a few moments of comfort. Needless to say, once we wrapped the scene (around 12:30am), everyone was happy to get the hell out of there.

I know, I know, still not that bizarre. Well, hold onto yo' butts, here we go.

All the gear was packed up, the cast was sent home and we were just getting ready to leave the location. And finally, that damn fire was extinguished. Now, it was dark as hell out there; no fire, no lights, just darkness. It was fairly dry in the woods, so we wanted to make damn sure the fire was completely out. All the water we had was dumped on the fire, and I don't recall exactly who it was, but someone piped up and said, "Anyone have to pee? If someone pees on the coals, that should do it." I did a little piss check. Yep, I should be able to squeeze something out.

So, there I stood, in a circle around the remaining campfire with Adam, (producers) Lee and Dan, and (crew members) Seth, Lance, and Cole. There might have been someone else, I can't remember. A few of the guys had flashlights, some were pointed on the coals, and a one or two were pointed at me, right on the crotch. Well, time was wasting, we all wanted to leave, so…

I was pissing on a fire, standing around with at least six sets of eyes, and flashlights, all on me. All male eyes, mind you. People were pointing out coals that were still hot, it was almost as if they all were my support, encouraging me on.

Now, I'm sure all of you are wondering, "Did you successfully put out all the coals, John?" You better believe I did. But, I can't say I've ever had a bunch of dudes stare at me when I was pissing, let alone with flashlights lighting up the scene. This is a great example of the strong bonding that happened on set. That, and I guess you could say that some people have shame. Sigh… I don't.

God, I miss filming...

"FILMS ARE STRESSFUL, AND THEY'RE HARD TO MAKE..."

It's currently 12:54pm on Tuesday, June 7… and it's 92 degrees. That's the outside temperature. Inside my apartment it's gotta be at least a solid 10 degrees hotter. Ah, yes, the joys of living on the second floor without air conditioning. I was working on the edit some more, doing a little fine tweaking, but I had enough. Way too damn hot. So, I grabbed my laptop, retreated downstairs to the illustrious House of Heroes Comics + Games, to sit in the nice, comfortable, cool air and work on this blog.

It's been hot like this for the past few days now. Hell, maybe even over a week. When it's this hot (and without air conditioning), it's a constant state of discomfort. I don't sleep too much, my appetite is gone so I'm not eating, and I feel like stress levels are high. Hey, wait a minute. This sounds exactly like the week of production: High stress levels, little-to-no sleep, not eating… such fond memories.

Looking back, I wonder how my body ever made it through production. Over the course of our seven day shoot, the most sleep I got in a night was just over three hours. On top of that, I ate a whopping four, count 'em, FOUR, meals. Let's say you're one of those "normal" people who eat three meals a day, and you want to know how many meals you would eat in a week. Well, it's easy. You take three (meals a day), multiply it by seven (days), and your answer is twenty-one. Any "normal" person would have ate twenty-one meals that week. Me, I ate four. Now, don't be fooled. Don't get the impression that there wasn't any food to eat. We made sure to have plenty of food (on and off the set), but when I get in work mode, I just go.

Then there's the whole water thing. So, I am somewhat addicted to water. I drink an absurd amount of water. No joke, I easily drink hundreds of ounces a day. I always have my canteen on me, gotta have my water by my side. But, during production, well, that was another story. Just how I didn't feel the need to eat, I never really felt thirsty. Aside from that, my brain went: water = having to piss. Having to piss = taking time away from filming. Taking time away from filming = no good. This is silly. I mean, how long does it actually take to piss? if having to piss would really take time away from filming, how much time are we talking about? Exactly. Silly. But, like I said, when I get in work mode… There was actually one day, I can't remember exactly which one, but there was one day I got up in the morning and peed, and then didn't pee again until I went to bed… 21 hours later. That was the day I did not drink anything. Let me tell you, when I peed right before I went to bed, my pee wasn't clear. It wasn't yellow. It was a light brown. Yeah, never had that happen before.

Okay, I don't tell you all this to make me sound all bad ass and shit (if you know me, you know I am not all bad ass and shit). I don't tell you this, hoping I will get some sympathy (I did it all to myself, don't feel bad for me). I don't even tell you this to make the shoot sound crazier than it was. I tell you all of this for one reason, to show that while making a film truly terrific, it's also really damn hard. It's ugly. It's trying. It's challenging. It's painful. There's been extremely positive talk about the experience of making Dead Weight, and, without a doubt, it's all true. However, there's always two sides to a story. It's hard to appreciate the good without the bad, right?

It's rough making an independent film, and Dead Weight has been no exception. Think about it this way, when making an independent, DIY film, EVERYTHING is against you. If my memory serves me correctly, on day three, the beautifully amazing Michelle Courvais (who plays Meredith) said filmmaking is nothing but problem solving. This is so true it hurts. With this problem solving comes stress, and anger, and frustration, and depression, and… pretty much every other negative emotion one can think of. Sure, once all is said and done you forget the ugliness, focusing and embracing on the positive aspects of your experience. But this doesn't make it easy.

So, what makes it easy? What makes it possible to push your body through such hell to make a film? The night before production began, Adam was just getting read to leave my place, and I told him there was the first production video blog for The Hobbit, and we had to watch it. Let it be known, Adam is quite the Lord of the Rings nerd, and I am also a big fan, but I am Peter Jackson nerd. As we watched the ten minute video, we began nerding out, but also released we were getting ready to embark on a similar journey. Okay, maybe not a similar journey, but a film making journey nonetheless. As the video came to an end, Peter addressed the cast and crew moments before the cameras rolled for the first time on The Hobbit, and this is what he said: Films are stressful, and they're hard to make, but ultimately what makes them fun is the people you work with. And that, my friends, is the truth.

AND THEN THERE WAS EDITING

Say what? It's been two and a half weeks since the last blog update? What in the hell is going on around here?

Oh, yeah… post-production. Even though we have a few days left to shoot (which were scheduled for May but now have been pushed back to June), I have been in an editing frenzy, especially the past couple of days.

For those that know me, it's no secret: I love movies. Yeah, I know saying you "love" something is cliche and can even be generic as hell to say. But it's true. I became infected with the movie bug at a very early age in life. On top of loving movies, I love the process of making a movie. One of the culprits for this love of film making is most certainly the terrific (and gone but not forgotten) TV show called Movie Magic. As a young lad, I ate this shit up. Seeing that I grew up on a heavy dosage of horror, sci-fi and action flicks, Movie Magic just furthered me asking the question, "How'd they do it?"

I never had much of a desire to be in front of the camera, I always wanted to be involved in the process. Wait, that's not entirely true. Even to this day, I am more than willing to be a body in some huge gore scene. Ah… a boy can dream, right? Wow, what the hell am I going on about?! Jeez, put a keyboard in front of me and I will just type and type and type…

Okay, I am going to get to the point. As I already stated, ever so generically, I love movies. I love making movies. I really enjoy every step of the process, however, post-production (editing in particular) holds a special place in my heart. Which is kinda of funny to me, seeing that editing is very similar to putting together a puzzle. I don't really like putting together puzzles. As the kids say, WTFuck?

I started editing about three days after we finished principle production, but haven't really devoted all my time to it until now. In the last 36 hours, I have spent over 24 hours editing. That's a lot of time spent with these characters in this little post-apocalyptic world that Adam and I have had in our heads for almost two years now. Which is why I am so drawn to editing: you finally get to see the film. Yes, it was an absolute trip (really, did I just say "trip"?) to have our first cast reading, see everyone in wardrobe for the first time, get on location, and actually create this film, but in editing you finally see it all come together.

There's a lot of (insanely awesome) people (who I am forever grateful for) that can back me up on this: the week of filming was rough. Don't get me wrong, though, it was easily the best week of my life and I wouldn't want to change a single moment of it, but it was an absolute test of human will. Need proof? Look at this photo of Adam. The way he looks in that photo is how we both felt for seven days straight. On top of not getting more than three hours of sleep each night, we faced pretty much every miserable filming condition possible in the first four days. We had to rework/rewrite scenes on the spot (courtesy of a wonderful mid-April blizzard), find new locations last minute and deal with all sorts of other stress. In what should have been a complete and utter disaster, turned out to strengthen the film because of the cast and crew. They might not be totally aware of this, but they are the reason Adam and I didn't lose it. With the conditions we were filming in, it would have been expected for every single person on the cast and crew to complain, get pissed, and quite frankly, give up. Hell, people took a week vacation from work (for one person it was the first in 23 years) to be a part of Dead Weight. It's not like anyone was getting paid, there really was no reason for everyone to power through it all. Except for the fact that they wanted to. The wanted to be with this project till the end and because of this fact, Dead Weight is NOT Adam and I's film. It is the film of every single person you will see listed in the credits.

Ah, again, with the tangents! I actually was on path to where I wanted to go, but it was just taking a bit to get there. I'm not trying to take away from everyone who worked on Dead Weight (don't you worry, you will be getting your own blog entry) but this entry is suppose to be about editing.

Talking about production does in fact deal with editing. As mentioned (and will be time and time again), it was one stressful week. When it comes time to editing, all that stress is gone, now I can solely focus on the footage and performances. And holy shit, has it been amazing. There's nothing like putting together a scene and realizing that every single aspect came together and the end product is better than you could have even imagined. This has happened so many times, and the reason for that is because of the people we have in front of the camera. I know most of you reading this know very little about this project (since Adam and I like to work in secrecy), but you will find out that this is one emotional film. Every actor was pushed to the limit, and then some. I'm not just saying that either, trying to be the guy who's all, "Oh, our film is so crazy, etc etc etc". From day one, Adam and I knew we wanted to make this film be about the characters and nothing else. If you go into this expecting to see a gore flick, tons of action, and not to mention zombies, you are going to be severely disappointed.

Again, getting off topic! My mind is going everywhere tonight. Okay, let's wrap this up. If you read this whole thing you know I said a lot, but not so much about editing. Here's the abridged version of what I wanted to get at: tons and tons of editing, so many awesome shots (thanks to Travis), so many amazing performances (thanks to the cast), so much excitement and we cannot wait to show you all this film.

Is it October yet?