Hello, all.
I've been at work in Ann Arbor yesterday, and again today, so no Alaska updates until I can get home and twiddle with photos. Expect the next one tomorrow sometime. Probably.
Until then you'll have to be content with a brief review of the first two episodes of Thought Collide's new twelve-part movie project, inZero. Mike Zawacki, known affectionately among our group as Scary Mike, is the Director of Photography, co-Producer and co-author of the script. He'll also be directing episode four, and probably at least one other episode. For those of you old old-schoolers, ex-Kanerd Jamie Sonderman is the creator, co-producer and co-author.
Dagny and I made a grueling 2 1/2 hour drive from downtown Ann Arbor to Royal Oak, got lost, drove to Birmingham instead, drove back to Royal Oak, and made it just in time for the opening part of the episode.
Basically, it's a series of scifi shorts about couriers in a dystopian future city. They shuttle packages around securely, and can be used as "legal thieves" depending on how the job goes down. There're aliens, AIs, zap guns and trenchcoats, and it's all filmed in the least-glamorous parts of Detroit: the abandoned Fisher body plant, decaying warehouses, creepy intersections.
Best of all, it's surprisingly well put-together. The sound, special effects, editing and camerawork are jawdropping, considering it's an all-volunteer effort. Basically, the crew are using this as their portfolio piece to try and get more work from a bigger sponsor. The acting is a little rough in places -- again: all-volunteer -- but the work is at least as good as that of many indie films I've seen. It's also a thrill to see buddy Vince onscreen -- he's doing a hell of a job for an actor who's in his third appearance of anything, ever. Co-Vogelein-Creator Jeff Berndt also makes his big-screen debut in a way, as the voice of Thames' snarky AI earpiece: "You salty dog."
Overall? It's really worth seeing. Very impressive for a local, indie effort. If you're in the Royal Oak area, it plays at the Main on July 4th, and once a month thereafter. Mike says they're going to be bringing it to our side of the state as well, which is good news for me, because that drive up through construction was seriously awful, and I'm not too eager to make it again.
Hey, Janer! I'm so glad you made it to the show. Scary said you and Dagney were coming, but Melissa and I didn't see you.
M and I had to clear out before the end of the second feature--she had to work in the morning. I wish we could have gotten together.
Recording Erol's lines is a heap of fun. We go to Clark-the-Sound-Guy's basement studio and watch the as-yet-unfinished movie, and I read the lines at the appropriate moments. Clark can tweak the recording to give me a better sense of comic timing, cut up takes to put a good beginning with a good ending, and basically make me sound cooler than I do in real life. Also, it's really easy to play off of Jonny Victor's Thames. He's a fine actor who gives a lot to the role. Plus he's a neat guy in real life.
The only downside to being the voice is that I rarely see anybody involved with the production other than Clark and whoever is directing the episode I'm recording at the moment. That's great as far as not spending too much time away from the family goes, but the folks working on InZero are a great bunch, and I wish I knew them better.
Thanks for the review!