River Boat Gamblers - The One You Feed

Coffee of the Day? I think so.

Album teaser featuring the song "Gallows Bird" from the new Riverboat Gamblers album The Wolf You Feed out 5-22 on Volcom Entertainment.

 So far, I dig the sound. Perhaps they would be interested in allowing the movie to feature a song of theirs. I could work with that.
Check out their website as well. http://www.theriverboatgamblers.com/

Updates! Read All About It!

So, it has definitely been a while since I posted. Last I did the new short film by Jason White had premiered at the end of last month. If you have yet still to check out the video, then scroll down the previous post and please do. Also, give a shout out on your thoughts and comments. 

As I mentioned it has been a while since I posted, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been working.

Revising The One You Feed while flying into LA.

 

The past few weeks I have been working on a revision of the script. What started out as a simple glance over for spelling and gramar errors and possible different word choices turned into a complete overhaul of each page. 

Using my trusted blue pen I have been going page for page and scene for scene making sides notes, edits, and in some cases have re-written scenes as needed.

But wait? You never announced that you had a first draft? Okay, yes, this is true. That is because I never technically finished the first draft. I have been struggling with the center section of my story. The love story moment between our main protagonist, John, and his new flame interest, Eady. After spending, what I felt like was, too long stalling the on the story I decided that since I knew exactly where I wanted each of my character to eventually go that I would skip those scenes and write the rest of the film to the end. 

And so I did. I actually made it to the spot where I typed,  "The End." The only problem is, is that I don't really have a complete script because I skipped about 30 pages in the center. 

So, though I never finished or completed a first draft, I have done enough editing of the 71 pages that I have to make what I now call the Second Draft of the script. And it's almost done. Only seven more pages to edit. 

Laptop, Coffee, Pen Script. Good Morning

  

I did allow the one follower of this blog a chance to read the script as I currently have it. *See what the benefits are of following the blog?*  To be fair she is a trusted friend and family member. She came back with a good amount of notes, and it was nice to finally be able to speak with someone in full context the story line, plot details, and events as they unfold and then analyse them to see what works and what sucks. 

So, far we made out okay. Looks like most of it works. But of course that was only one opinion. 

My next objective is to finish the scenes that I never completed and have for the first time a complete draft of The One You Feed screenplay. 

This is my objective for the coming week. 

I do have a scene in place, and reviewed that I would like to film. A center piece to the story. A moment when Don, the older mentor, finds that John, our main hero, has intentions of finding and kiling his wife's murderers. Shooting this scene will give people a chance at a sneak peak of what we intend to do with the film, and hopefully will be something that we can take a show possible investors.

In the mean time, thanks for reading. Comments are welcome. And if you haven't already - be sure to "Like" our Facebook page. 

Regards, 

Ryan McDonald 

The title page to The One You Feed

Interest - New Short Film

Here is the new short film that I helped produced. Directed by Jason White and staring Rod Carlson and Darren Ewing.

We shot the film on the same weekend that we also shot my last short Hands Clean. We called the weekend the Ryan McDonald and Jason White: Back 2 Back - similar to the marketing for the Grindhouse feature with Tarantino and Rodriquez.

I have posted both of the videos below. Each with a different budget, director of photography, different actors, different writer, different directors, but they both take place in the exact same hotel room. We had shot my film the day prior on a Saturday and Jason's on the Sunday.

Let us know what you think. Comments welcome!

Interest (2013)




Hands Clean (2012)

Poster and Marketing Ideas

I have had this one my desk at work for a couple of weeks now. Hoping that I would come up with a few more ideas for a possible poster. Here is all that I have so far.

I'm not the best graphic artist of all time, but I tried here. My intention with the one on the right is that it would be the main character with a bloody and bruised face. The Right one would be something more like Taken and Carlito's Way - which I had posted a concept of in a previous posting.

The left side might look like something very similar to this image of Ryan Gosling from Only God Forgives.

My idea is to have some graphics and images to help promote the film, even though right now there is no finished script, nor a cast. The bar going across the face of the character would be black with white lettering, and it would cover the face of the person. That way we can make a poster now, and still cast whoever we need down the road.

In the screenplay, there is at least one scene where John (main character) is brutally assaulted by several gang members. What I wrote, and what I imagine later, is something close to the images that I am seeing coming from  Only God Forgives.

So, thoughts? Comments? Seriously, we're looking for ideas. Or if you think you could come up with some great stuff and would love to join, than we'd love to have you. We'll be looking for someone who is majoring in marketing to help us out. Images and promotional concepts. Stuff that they may need for their portfolio.

Let us know!

Coming Soon! A New Short Film

Coming Soon! A tale about a gambling junkie and his bookie – directed by Jason White

We originally filmed this back in December of 2011, and now over a year later the short film is finally being released. So, why the long wait? Well, a couple things came into play. One fact is that we had a hot year in 2011. Jason and I together put out around six short films, and additionally film another four before the end of the year hit. We spent of a lot of days on set in 2011, and little did we know that we would spend even more days on set come 2012.

In 2012 I spent 32 days on set, outside of my full time job, and worked on 9 projects. All of that extra production time ate up a lot of pre-production time and thus, things get pushed.

We also had an audio issue the day that we filmed. So, we had to pull the actors back in have them redub a few lines. Plus, the color correcting and timing, and you add in the score – and again everyone has a full time job.

But finally the film is ready and has a release date. So, keep the eyes peeled and I’ll tune back in with the link to the new short by Jason White. 

Coffee of the Day

Collateral Tom Cruise Gun Training

I once saw an interview with director Michael Mann in which he explained that an actor can not just mimic the character, that they must become the character. The other day I posted about a favorite scene of mine, and for many others, from the film Collateral - directed by Mann.

Michael Mann is known for putting his actors through extensive training and gun handling in order to become the characters that they need to be. This is very present in many of his films, but most notable in Last of the Mohicans, Heat, Collateral, and Miami Vice. The actors look authentic and real and their use of weapons and gun handling also feels real because of their extensive training before filming.

As an indie film and on a micro budget, as I assume that we will be, I do not plan on having the funds available to have an actor be able to train for months. But I would like to plan ahead for the budget to have an actor go through course on handling and safety in order to present an authentic character. Also, budget aside, many no-budget films are using After Effects or some sort of CGI to created bullet hits and mussel flashes, and all the while using rubber or toy guns.

I think that these type of effects work great for Youtube videos, but for a feature I hope that we have a chance to use squibs, fake blood, and blanks.

In the story The One You Feed, our main character John is not a hitman, a bank robber, nor a police office. He is an ordinary man who lived through an extraordinary and painful experience. In his quest for revenge he'll go to the gym, go through self defense training, and also hit the shooting range.

In the final cut of the film, I hope that we are able to create a character with skills that are as presentable as the ones we seen in Michael Mann films.

Here is a behind the scene video of Tom Cruise and Michael Mann discussing the extensive training the he did for the film.




Be sure to check out our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/theoneyoufeedmovie

Coffee for the Day

More updates are coming soon. Stay tuned. In the mean time here is your coffee for today - Enjoy!

Origin of the Cherokee Legend

Surfing around the internet today and looking for the origin of the mythos about the two wolves. First, there are many different titles - some say The One You Feed, some say The Wolf You Feed, some will say Cherokee Legend, and other will say Grandfather Tells.

Below is a post from another blogger regarding the origins of the Mythos, and reason why they do not like it to be attributed to the same Cherokee folklore.

"Stories and sayings attributed to Native Americans have been floating around probably since settlers stopped spending all of their time and energy on not dying. I am not entirely certain why stories that never originated in any indigenous nation are passed around as 'Native American Legends', but listener beware."

Continue reading at:

http://apihtawikosisan.com/2012/02/21/check-the-tag-on-that-indian-story/#comment-26157

More Inspiring Moments - The Writing Process

The writing continues and we are nearing the 70 page mark. Assuming that I stopped now, and that there were three complete acts in place, this would be considered and done deal as a complete feature film screenplay. 

However, I have not reached the end yet. That doesn't mean, that shooting script won't be down to 70 pages after revision and fine tuning. But I gather that my original draft will finish out somewhere between 100-120 pages. 

In the mean time, I have spoken and shared several other pieces of art, film, and music that are inspiring scenes, moments and even concepts on of The One You Feed screenplay. I recently wrote a scene that in which our main character John encounters a bad guy in an alley way. All the while as I was writing the scene I kept thinking of one of my favorite moments from Michael Mann film Collateral. 

Here is a picture of me at the location in Los Angeles. 

In the scene Tom Cruise, a hit man, confronts a thug about the theft of his brief case. In this film, the scene is very quick and rather brief to the over all story arc of the film. And in the brief moment it shows the audience the skills and power of Cruises character and gives reason for Jamie Foxx to now follow Cruise's lead more closely as they continue through the night. 

Now, I didn't carbon copy the scene from this film to my screenplay. It does inspire the scene that I wrote for The One You Feed, but the scenario and outcome of the scene are completely different. 

Here is that moment. Enjoy.

Have you been to the Facebook page recently? Check it out, share with friends, and be sure to hit the "like" button. 

http://www.facebook.com/theoneyoufeedmovie

The Writing Continues

Music to Listen To

Once more into the fray. 

Into the last good fight I'll eve know.

Live and die on this day.

Live and die on this day.

Poster Idea

Thinking about some poster ideas to help market the film. This is a cross between Carlito's Way and Taken.

Thoughts? I am open to suggestions.

Updates!

Updates! So, for anyone that stops by the site often, we have made a few changes to the site.

First would be the banner, which is the first in a series of different poster and marketing material that I have planned during the long road of making this film.



If you have any thoughts, comments, or suggestion - please, do not hesitate to leave a comment below.

Feedback is welcome.

Also, on the social media front we have added our Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr links to the page.


You will find them in the new "Pages" bar that was added under the header picture. Please, take a moment to click on these links for review, and of course subscribe and share with friends. We will try to post to everything often, but it can be hard to tackle all of these things at once.

Again, any suggestions that you have are welcome, and leave them in the comment box below. They will be read!

As for writing the screenplay - still in the works, but not moving fast enough. Not because I am not sure what to write (well, not entirely correct on that), but mainly a matter of time.

TIME - it seems like everyday something new gets in the way. My job, maintenance around the house, etc. It is a tasking job in the independent world. And let us be honest, and keeping it between just us here, I watch a lot of movies. I sometimes enjoy watching them more than I do making them.

In January alone I watched around 30 movies, or what I like to call homework. Some are films that I have seen. Others are films that have been on my mental movie que list for a long time. It's something that love doing and sometimes I just can't escape it; the need to watch a new film.

And I don't even have television on at my house to distract me. But the pages don't write themselves. So, I am working away and will share progress as I go.


Thanks for reading,

Ryan

Coffee for the Day