Friday, May 18, 2012

Do your best! KICKSTARTER TIME

So Half a Boy has been on this journey for the past couple of weeks, trying to plan and produce a short film by the title ASSGLASS, a dark comedy about two unlikely interlopers and their bizarre conversation at a bus stop.  We are finally getting all our ducks in a row, with our auditions coming up soon (May 24th), and we have drawn plans to start building some equipment (motorized slider, a 8ft track dolly) the shoot feels ever closer.  We still have tons of things to rent and buy, a cast and crew that needs breakfast, a shooting permit to make it legal, and other great film making costs that you never hear about unless you listen to long-winded commentaries.  Speaking of long-winded let's wrap this up, we have a great vision, great ambition, and great knowledge that we want to impart onscreen, and if that's something that sounds cool to you, and you appreciate people who are willing to get out there and take risks and do what they love, then you should support us on kickstarter.  Even if you just support us with a $1, spread the word, link to us on facebook, twitter, tumblr, you name it, we will love you and you will have helped us in more ways than you can know.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1005034326/assglass

Thank you
az

Sunday, May 13, 2012

delicious, delicious progress

Well, it's been quite a productive time for Half a Boy; HaB headquarters (which is, either the apartment Alex & I share, or, whichever coffee shop we happen to be patronizing on that particular instance) has been absolutely abuzz with creative particles flying through the ether like mad. We've developed a sort of symbiosis in which one of us will start an idea, then the others will finish it, and we all just keep building on it and throwing things in, making it more brilliant/perfect/absurd/whatever. It's really incredible to think that we simply put ourselves together just a few short weeks ago, and already our pioneer project is in its late planning stages. Oh yes, there will be ASSGLASS, and it's going to be splendid. Divine, even.

At our past few meetings, we've made the following progress for our first film as a team:  set up our shot list, set a tentative shoot time (we're thinking late June), started thinking about equipment and locations, determined our budget (about $350-$500), posted a casting call for our two characters, and filmed a promotional interview for the film, which you'll get to see soon. Speaking of which, the interview was shot as the main component for our Kickstarter page for this project, which will also be done soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that if you love to adopt grassroots filmmakers and help transfer their vision to a screen near you.

We'd like to take a moment to thank the reader, whomever you may be, for taking the time and interest in us, and we promise to deliver awesome content that will keep you around for more. There's not much to look at right now, but this, as with most spray-tans and celebrity marriages, is only temporary. The blog is set to become more and more active as we hold more meetings and create more content.  We've already got some videos in the works from our group excursion to a couple of Austin's art galleries, so stay on the lookout for those, too.

You'll be hearing more and more from us as we get busier; as we learn more about ourselves and further shape our abilities, and we're ecstatic to share the process with everyone. One of our main reasons for having the blog is in hopes to inspire others or perhaps even discover new collaborators, and we have high hopes that the blog will fulfill this purpose. Not only are we out to keep the flow of creative, compelling, and cerebral cinema alive, we're also out to prove that great filmmaking doesn't have to be so concrete; that it certainly doesn't have to be high-budget to be worthwhile, and that it can be done our way, with common sense, DIY tactics, and of course, lots of TLC.

Later, 'gators,
K.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

The sleeper must awaken...

The creation of new beginnings always tends to be exciting and refreshing.  They bring many different possibilities, in our lives or in our work, be it making new friends or being part of the beginning of a team full of potential.  That's what you get with the beginning of The Other Half blog for Half a Boy.  We are a team of Austin based independent film makers who have been obsessed with cinema, art, and literature, and through other projects have begun to form together to create a collaborative team.  What you will see with this blog is that team as it grows not only in numbers but in success as we venture forth, working on our own projects, and bringing in people from all over the creative spectrum in attempts to forge wonderful images and though provoking stories.

There will be several different types of installments in this blog, including a run down of our "staff meetings" a fairly loose term denoting our collaborative writing and pre-production get together. We will publish information about the equipment choices we make, including build notes and pictures for any dolly or crane projects we use in our productions. You will even get to see behind the scenes promotionals for shooting endeavours as we create our projects and go from concept and script to your screen.

Our goal in starting and maintaining this blog is to give you a glimpse into the world of independent film making and starting your own film production team from the ground up, hopefully inspiring others to join in making film making a true collaborative artform and not the big budget, high gloss, glamorous stars you see in Hollywood today.

Until next time,
Az.