January 29th, 1998

Yeah, this is all pretty much set up. Dry, boring stuff you gotta do before each and every movie unless you have--what do they call them?--producers and production managers and other people in general.

Funny anecdote--the casting person I talk about below triggers some memories. Rick was in a movie directed by a local guy that we'll call RM. RM had some people over to his house to shoot some storyboard stills for his next movie so I went over with Rick. Rick ends up being in a doggy-style sex position with this casting chick for a shot. They're in clothes, but Rick didn't know her that well so it was pretty awkward. That was the first time I met her, but Rick got to know her better.

So fast-forward to we're trying to find some help to shoot "Hunting Humans". We get in contact with this casting chick and she says to come over her apartment. It's July. I meet Rick, and he's got eggnog. I don't know why, except that Rick likes it.

We go over to the ladies apartment and chat for a while. I remember Rick asking her if she wanted some eggnog. The look on her face like, "Are you joking?"

He wasn't. And we didn't end up working with her. I don't blame the eggnog.

January 29th, 1998

I've completed the daily shooting breakdown. This is where I've grouped the shots according to location, so I can get as many scenes done in one location as possible per day. It's infeasible to try to shoot the script in a chronological fashion.

In the breakdown I make some projections on how long it will take to shoot each shot, depending on how many different camera and lighting setups I picture we'll need. Again, I'm pretty much guessing. That's why I'm leaving a couple of extra days at the end to shoot whatever we didn't get done.

On the talent front, Rick's talked to a producer he knew from a couple of other productions. She's given us a couple of leads for our cast, as well as the name of a local director who's done a few low-budget features.

One of our main problems is how to locate a lead actress who A) Can act and B) is very attractive and C) is willing to take off her clothes in two scenes for almost no up-front money.

Rick met the local director who likes the trailer for the script. He claims to have access to a camera, a cinematographer and other actors and actresses.

We're meeting again on the fourth and we're going to talk more about what we can do for each other.

January 6/January 12, 1998

Hard to believe it was 1998 when we really started moving forward on this. Previously Rick Ganz and I had worked to get two movies going forward, even casting both. But right before we could get them off of the ground they would fall through.

For the record, they were "Lucky Ones"(a standard kids-trapped-in-woods horror with some interesting kills) and "High"(a slacker-with-a-gun that I wrote from an idea from Rick). We actually had a poster for "High" featuring Rick with a girl he may have been banging. The sans-chick poster is above, presented only for posterity and my embarrassment--that's what a guy with Photopaint(not Photoshop) and no skills can come up with.

I felt like this was my last chance. I couldn't go through the whole process again, telling friends/family that we're doing a movie only to have it collapse. So it was with a bit of desperation that we went headlong into this.

January 6, 1998
The shooting script is done! And I thought the script was tough. The shooting script is a detailed list of how I'd like the movie to look when it's done. Of course, this is only my version of the shooting script. But for me, this is easiest, since I can now see what shots I need.

So I had to watch the whole movie in my head, scene by scene and write down the shots. In case you're not used to my lingo, CU is Close Up(head shot), MED CU is medium close up(forehead to adam's apple), MEDIUM is waist to head, OTS is over the shoulder, WIDE encompasses the whole room.
Keep in mind that these are my definitions of the shots. D.P.'s have wide-ranging definitions of the shots; everyone has their preferences.

January 12th, 1998

Working on the script breakdown now. With this, you're breaking every scene down into its parts and especially trying to keep track of who's in the scene, what special F/X are needed, what time of day the scene is, and any props that might be needed.

There's other stuff that can be included. The more info you put in now, the less time you'll spend hunting for that info later.

The Saga Begins

A lot of people wonder about how I got started making flicks, and also in particular how "Hunting Humans" came about. That's the first movie I wrote/directed, which later got picked up and released through MTI Home Video.

I recently lost a hard drive, but luckily I have backed up some of the log files I kept. I thought: Hey, if I put it all on the interwebs then it'll be backed up THERE. And everybody's a winner.

So here it is. I'll include everything, including some new info--yeah, stuff about the serial killer who was caught with "Hunting Humans" in the dvd player of his truck. And anything else connected.

I'll try to hunt down some pics, and keep you abreast of any interesting stuff STILL going on with the film.

I'll post new thoughts in bold at the beginning of each entry, with the old diary entries in regular.

Hope you enjoy.