Troll and Boar

Troll and Boar show us how it’s done on the set of Night Drop – our 2010 48 Hour Film Project short. There really isn’t anything else to say about that.

Night Drop – Houston 48 Hour Film Project 2010

The required elements were:
Character: Sherman or Sharon Brown – recently unemployed
Prop: A book
Line: “There is a $2.00 service charge.”
Our genre: Silent film

A mysterious man leaves three strangers a box that draws them into a world filled with sinister beings.

Cast – as
Scott A. Harris – The Stranger
Austin Webb – Poker Player
Saurabh Bhatnagar – Sherman Brown
Kayleigh Graham – Nature Girl
Ron Reneiso – Clown
Garvin O’Connor – Boar Man
Scott Harris – Troll
Katie Wischkaemper – Woman 1
Garvin O’Connor – Man 1
Diana Urbanski – Woman 2

Crew
Jennie Donovan
Raju Eason
Adam Frye
Stephanie Frye
Henry Gallagher
Cathe Harris
Randy LeBlanc
Diana Urbanski
John J. Urbanski Jr.
Jeff Wischkaemper

Special Thanks To
Lowery Bank
Mary-Alice and Lawrence DeSpain

This film was made as part of the 2010 Houston 48 Hour Film Project where teams made a 4 – 7 minute short film using a few required elements and a genre pulled from a hat. All aspects of production including writing, filming, rehearsing and editing took place over the weekend of June 4th – 6th.

Stabilizer and Night Shooting Tests

Here are a few short clips of us testing out John’s new homemade stabilizer rig for his 5D Mark II in preparation for the upcoming Houston 48HFP.

Hank and Diana helped us out by getting in front of the camera for some night tests.

Hank, Scott, and Saurabh appear on camera at Ragin Cajun in Sugar Land, TX where the boss was kind enough to let us play in his restaurant as long as we spelled the name right. Thanks!

Seven-Dollar Salvation Scene Test

The Voodoo Studios gang got together and shot a test for their original script – Seven-Dollar Salvation – a short about a girl who gets the idea to raise money by selling certificates of salvation that promise the owner a spot in the afterlife for seven bucks a pop.

This scene takes place late in the script so it might feel a little out of context. It was shot using 2 Canon 5D Mark IIs on standard def and two Rode Videomics to mimic a potential equipment set-up that we might use in the upcoming Houston 48 Hour Film Project.

Starring:
Chloe Donovan
Austin Webb

Super Bowl XLIV with Austin

Part II of the “Official Catfish Webb Holiday Memories Documentary Web Series”.

This time Austin drops by to talk to us about the biggest holiday of all in America… The Super Bowl! Okay, maybe it’s not a holiday but it might as well be.

Thanksgiving with Austin

Austin visited the Voodoo Studios home office for Thanksgiving 2009. In this video, he gives us a glimpse into the past and we get to see the aftermath that comes when a grown man has had too much turkey and dressing.

I’m calling this Part I of the “Official Catfish Webb Holiday Memories Documentary Web Series”. Enjoy.

Congrats to the 2009 Voodoo Studios 48HFP Team

“Ashram”, the short film we made for the 2009 Houston 48 Hour Film Project, has been selected to be included on the first ever “Best of Houston” DVD!

A lot of really good short films were selected to be on the DVD, so be sure to order up a couple dozen copies for you and your friends.

Ashram – 2009 Houston 48 Hour Film

This film was made as part of the 2009 Houston 48 Hour Film Project where teams made a 4 – 7 minute short film (before credits) using a few required elements and a genre pulled from a hat. All aspects of production including writing, filming, rehearsing and editing took place over the weekend of June 5th – June 7th.

The required elements were:
Character: Jarod or Janice Puller (Officer)
Prop: A ball
Line: “I’m just not sure about that”
Our genre: foreign film.

Amy’s husband Jai has been missing for two months and every time she closes her eyes she has nightmares about him dying. Unable to get help from the Indian authorities or the American embassy, she follows a vision to visit a guru with a secret who promises her dreams of much happier times.

Ashram Poster

Ashram – A 48 Hour Film by Voodoo Studios

We wrapped up our latest 48 Hour Film Project entry yesterday and got a film turned in on time.

The required elements were:
Character: Jarod or Janice Puller (Officer)
Prop: A ball
Line: “I’m just not sure about that”

Our genre was western/musical foreign film.

Our 2009 48HFP cast and crew:
Saurabh Bhatnagar – Jai Gurnani
Brandy Copley – Producer, Make-Up
Jennie Donovan – Make-up, Goon
Raju Eason – Soori Baba
Jenny Frame – Amy Gurnani
Adam Frye – Team Leader / Producer, Writer, Director, Editor
Henry Gallagher – Producer
Julie Leithner – Talent Scout
Randy LeBlanc – Officer Jarod Puller, Goon, Music Supervisor
Garvin O’Connor – Goon
Ron Reinoso – Best Boy Grip
Diana Urbanski – Location Scout
John J. Urbanski Jr. – Director of Photography, Production Designer, Make-up
Austin Webb – Location Scout, Goon

Ashram – Amy’s husband Jai has been missing for two months and every time she closes her eyes she has nightmares about him dying. Unable to get help from the Indian authorities or the American embassy, she follows a vision to visit a guru with a secret who promises her dreams of much happier times.

I’ll be posting an online video as soon as the screenings happen. Tickets to the screenings can be purchased here. Note that we are in Screening Group C.

Voodoo Studios Houston 2009 48HFP Screenings

2009 Houston 48 Hour Film Project

Here we go again…

Today we signed up to compete in the annual Houston 48 Hour Film Project where we will once again be tasked with completing a 4 to 7 minute short film over the course of one weekend using a genre drawn from a hat along with a required character, prop, and line of dialogue.

Wish us luck!

Outtakes from The Brothers Watkins

Here are a few outtakes from our adventures making a short film “The Brothers Watkins” for the 2008 National Film Challenge.

The Brothers Watkins – NFC 2008

43 hours ago, we found out what our required elements would be for the 2008 National Film Challenge. It is a filmmaking competition where competitors basically have one weekend to complete a 4-7 minute short film using some required elements as determined by the Challenge producers. It’s essentially the National version of the 48 Hour Film Project that we did earlier this year when we made Lifeline.

Here are the required elements this go round:

Character: Alex Watkins (Chiropractor)
Prop: A net
Dialogue: “Darn the luck.”
Genre: Holiday Film or Film de Femme

Lifeline was a Film de Femme, so we went with Holiday Film just to do try another genre.

Logline: After Wally makes a mistake that ruins the memory of past holidays, the Watkins brothers try to come up with something to make this Christmas a merry one for their mother.

Enjoy the show…