Battle: Los Angeles: A Review

Hi there guys sorry for not posting in ages guys but just thought I'd give you this quick review guys on BATTLE: LOS ANGELES quite possibly the most brick-shitting thing you'll see in ages but like that doesn't mean it's good ya know because it's all about like ALIENS and shit and all these aliens are like attacking earth and all and really messing things up for everyone 'cause they're all like 'Hey guys give us your water' and earth is all like 'No GTFO' then the aliens all land in the water even though they have planes and attack the coast of LA even though they have planes and they attack the coast of every major city even though they have planes but that doesn't matter because it's got all like hand-held camera movements so you can't really see what's going on like all of the time which I suppose is pretty cool looking sometimes but then  it's all exploitative and stuff and it looks cool but its not cool because it's cool ya know it's like sometimes Aaron (f)Eckhart is trying to talk but you can't see him 'cause the camera is all like 'OOOWWOOO SHAKY N SHIT' but all the audience really wants to do is look at Aaron and see what he's like when he's not Two-Face but hey did you know that Ne-Yo was in it that's right he's that rapper guy it's like he wants to be Jamie Foxx but can't sing OOOOHHH BURRRRNNN yeah take that Ne-Yo you're trying to be like Neo from the Matrix but you're not because you can't fly and none of the humans can in this either or some reason right I know I'm sorry I'll go back to talking about the humans because they are so dumb boy they are really dumb I feel like Antoine Dodgson saying this because boy those humans are dumb but then so the aliens are dumb as well it's like two dumb sides in a dumb war made in a dumb way for dumb people who don't mind being dumb it's not as if you can walk into this and leave your brain at the door because it's all like violent and loud and noisy and you're all 'Dude give my brain a rest' and the movie says 'F**k your brain!' then there's a small bit of plot and you think oh maybe this could really pick up but no it's just (f)Eckhart giving a small Indian boy called Hector (HECTOR?!) a salute and saying he's all being brave and stuff but I'm not seeing Hector pick up any guns here like Eckhart does so I really don't know where he's getting it from because all that kid and the other couple of plot-less people they find just get in the way if I was Eckhart I would give that kid a gun and tell him to whale on those aliens because they're all gonna die any probably I dunno that's not a spoiler  I swear but that kid could totally take them on 'cause then it'd be like playing Call of Duty or something which is kind of what this movie it's like it's for CoD fans but you don't have a controller.

Soundtrack for this post: The Dropkick Murphys

Austin Young is Not a Racist (IT'S A WRAP!)

Hello there,

 The reason this post is entitled thus is because Austin was worried people would think he's racist after his 'Muslim Fried Chicken' gaff. I assure you, he's not. I'm Irish and hence an ethnic minority, so my opinion bloody well holds on these matters.

 Anyway, like I promised, here is the full credit list in order of importance:

Writer-Conor Murray

Producer- Austin Young

Directors of Photography- Nick Barker and Matthew Prior

Production Designer- Glen Stringer

Sound Recordist- Chris Woodcock

Sound Assistant- Ashley Newton

Boom operator- David Simms

Editor- Jack Wilkinson

Writer-Conor Murray

Production Manager- Jonni Tolson

Locations Manager- Juliet Hart 

1st AD- Sol Harris, James Durkin and Jonathan Tolson

Cameraman- Fynn Cook

Gaffer- Matt Giblin

1st Assistant Camera- Sean Morrison

Grip- Jack Gormley, Callum Quinn

Clapper board- Alice Stevens

Set Dresser- Mark Smith

Make Up- Charlotte Denning

Writer-Conor Murray

Director- Kiel Hodgson

And that's everyone, I think. If I have left anyone out then keep your eyes out for the grievous apology in the next post!

 Now on to more important news: IT'S A WRAP! WE F*****G WRAPPED THE SHOOT!!! HAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!!! NO MORE FILMING!!! Needless to say that we are all going to get f*****g WRECKED on Saturday! That's when the wrap party is! Join us! We'll buy you drinks!*

 Seriously, thank you so SO much to all the beautiful people who made this thing possible. I've had this movie floating around my head since August and to see it visually realised in such an incredible and professional way is phenomenal. It's all pretty surreal.

 Where do we go from here? Well, Kiel and Jack will be getting cracking on the edit, Chris Woodcock be mastering the sound levels, Callum Ogg is beavering away on the "main website" (huh, as if I'm not f*****g good enough) and there's lots of other stuff to be done like posters and all.

 Oh, I forgot to say that there is a 'making of documentary' getting made by the film school that is being based on this movie. The maker of that is going to interview me soon so I'll let you know if anything interesting happens on that. I will ensure for entertainment sake that there will be.

 Alright I have to go now. Why? Photoshoot for the movie at 4pm today. Nothing big. Just, you know, photocall. All part of the glamour side of the business, ya know?

 I know I promised some professional photographs of the set and actors but I'm yet to receive any off Callum. I'll totally get them soon for ye. For now, here's a really creepy video of Glen taking you on a tour of the set.

TOODLES!

Soundtrack for this post: Ian Dury- New Boots & Panties

*We won't

Pancakes and Gossip

Hello there!


Alright, second post. I've decided to give you more details of the shoot itself just in case you're curious (which you aren't), so feast your eyes on the more detailed specs of film-making!


Shooting Dates:

• Saturday 5th March- Studio shots for Daughter's bedroom
• Sunday 6th March- Studio shots for Daughter's bedroom
• Monday 7th March- Shooting house interior in Beeston
• Tueday 8th March- Shooting house interior in Beeston
• Wednesday 9th March- Shooting house interior in Beeston

Given that all of the scenes featuring the Daughter were shot in the studio, it's time to say farewell to Gerica McMullen- the brilliant actress who played the Daughter! All the best homie and we wish you every success!

Speaking of actors, here's James Stewart looking constipated.

WORSHIP HIM

Alright. I'll introduce the actors who played Mum and Dad in the next post. I'll also include some production stills of them. Trust me when I say they're awesome (or they wouldn't be in my/Kiel/Austin's movie).

We're shooting on a Canon 550D, with various lenses. So we're going full on HD with this shit and it's going to look amazing. I've been on set and it DOES look great, Kiel's doing an excellent job and so are Nick Barker and Matt Prior- the joint Directors of Photography.

I haven't really been able to do much on set, which is why I'm here. The most productive thing that has happened to me has been Glen Stringer (Production Designer) introducing me to one hell of an online game called Neptune's Pride. Look it up. It'll take over your life.

This guy is also called James Stewart

OK. My facebook is currently buzzing with Family Values-related status updates, so I'm going to copy and paste a few in here to let you know what our crew is like.

From Chris Woodcock (Sound Recordist)- "‎Austin Young getting on the bus and asking for the bus stop for Muslim Fried Chicken thinking that was the name for YFC has made my day"

From Austin Young (Producer)- "Family Values shoot is going well. Apparently the most talked about item on set is if there will be bacon sandwiches or pancakes for lunch. Get back to work! lol"

Kiel (Director) has also got himself into a facebook-commenting war of words with our editor Jack after being facebook-raped. Here it is:

Kiel- My aaaarms are made of spagheeeettiiiiii

Jack- Kiel, take a walk down Know Your Role Boulevard, which is on the corner of Jabroni Drive and check directly into the Smackdown Hotel.

So yeah. These are the people hopefully going pro in a few months from now. I'm loving Jack's direct and unprovoked attack. Maybe something happened on set between them? Maybe Kiel got spaghetti all over Jack's laptop? Who knows.

To round off, here's a photograph of the crew actually working.

Booorrriiinnngggg.

Coming soon: Credits list, video tour of the set by Glen, production stills.

Conor out.

Soundtrack for this post: Deep Purple- Deep Purple in Rock

"Hey, this vampire movie looks cool. Let's buy it off the writer for a s**tload of money!"

Welcome to the Family Values production blog!

If you're wondering why the hell this blog has dared bring itself to your attention, then let me explain what it's for:

Vampires.

 It's about a film about vampires. This is the production and post-production story of a 10 minute vampire movie called 'Family Values'. The story revolves around a mother and father trying to take care of their Daughter, who is a vampire. We join the family for dinner just as the Father discovers that his own blood is the best thing for his child. He decides to feed it to his Daughter without the Mother knowing. As the Daughter's strength grows, the evil inside her grows and so does Mother's resentment towards Father. In the end, the two parents decide that this creature is not their Daughter any more and decide to end their child's life. Finally, the two parents can mourn the loss of their child.

 As with any horror story, there are various themes and aspects of life being explored. The principal theme is learning to cope with the loss of a dying child. The ending is akin to turning off life-support on your brain-dead offspring. Dark, I know, but it doesn't stop there. The secondary theme explores the Electra Complex. As the Daughter demands more and more blood from her father, the man's relationship with the Mother suffers significantly and the Mother grows jealous of her child. When Dad sees the girl for the true monster she has become, he and Mother take the joint decision to spike the Daughter's final drink with garlic.

 There are no character names. That's why I'm saying 'Mother, Daughter and Father' a lot. Generic names would just get in the way of the script, I feel.

 Anyway, that's pretty much the story. Now for why this is so damn important to you. This is our graduation film. We're all in our final year of Film and Moving Image Production at Leeds Metropolitan University, along with the Northern Film School. A proper website will be made soon but for now, I''ve been told by the producer to write this stupid crap blog. Even when the website is up I'll still post stuff here to keep it alive for an extra bit, just in case Harvey Weinstein sees it and wants to pay me $300, 000 for my next ten minute short. I'll put up a cast and crew list in the next post but for now, feast your eyes upon some THREE WHOLE MEGAPIXEL PHOTOGRAPHS!!!

It's Mark Smith! Painting!

It's a ladder!

It's Nick! Kiel (behind Nick!)! Matt Giblin(behind Nick!)! Jack! Callum!

Nick: Director of Photography

Kiel: Director

Matt Giblin: Gaffer

Jack: Grip

Callum: Grip

It's Nick! At the camera! And Kiel! On the bed!

Oh look it's Glen (Production Designer)

Conor Murray, Screenwriter of Family Values

P.S. We've already gone into production, so more info on that in the next post.

Soundtrack for this post: The Social Network film score, by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross