PRODUCTION ON ENTERTAINING ANGELS COMPLETE
Thanks to everybody who helped out, and most importantly thanks to God for making it all (and everything else) possible! I'll be back after post production!
Entertaining Angels
Week 1 journal
Week 2 journal
Week 3 journal
Week 4 journal
Week 5 journal
Week 6 journal
Week 7 journal
Week 8 journal
Week 9 journal
Week 10 journal
Week 11 journal
Week 12 journal
3/25/06:: About an hour of the movie is completed! I'm in Cali on spring break, so I thought I would give you guys a quick update. First of all, the movie is flowin'. Going great. Maybe, Lord willing, I'll go on tour across the US playing it in Churches. I don't know. I think the Lord has great things planned for it though. I have the best crew in the world, and my cast could compete with anything Hollywood puts out. Seriously, there are talented people at every position. We have about 1/3 to shoot, and I'm very excited to shoot it. Lord willing everything will go great, and I think it will. This is gonna be big, I promise.
1-03-06: Re-wrote the script. I guess I should say I heavily edited it. Cut about 10 pages off, rewrote several scenes and changed almost all the others. I feel like the 2nd draft was dated, we'd already changed a lot. Also it was too long and there wasn't enough direction, it wasn't very streamlined. Most importantly, it wasn't funny enough, and it wasn't dramatic enough when it needed to be. Now, it's much quicker paced, funnier, and it glorifies God better. I feel it's a much better told story now, with the characters being more interesting and developed. This also means I'm going to redo the schedule. I'm having so much fun with this! It actually thrills me to play with scenes until they work, or cut them out. It feels like I'm already in the editing room.
12-29-05: I've been listening to Rich Christiano, a Christian filmmaker, on CD and also have contacted him. Don't know, but I might try to get an internship with them sometime, or maybe they can distribute 'Entertaining Angels'.
I never put a cast list up, so here it is:
SAMI HAJ - Kitsy
ANGIE LEFORE - Kate (or K8 if you wanna look cool)
KYLE COWGILL - Jack Carrol
KEN DICKASON - Professor Heinshkit
ERIC CUSTODIO - Weegee
TIM De QUILETTES - Starcraze Theatre Manager
CAREN PARMENTER - Sister
DALE WAMSTAD - Sales Manager
THOMAS - Brandon Robinson
COP 1 - Ed Finn
COP 2 - Michael Todd Backus
Diversions story on "Entertaining Angels
10-31-05: Okay!!! First day of shooting is complete! I've posted some pictues over at the BRAND NEW Entertaining Angels Media Vault. Enjoy!!! I'll be posting a journal tomorrow. I'll do a weekly journal for each shooting day like I did for Spade on the River
10-23-05: Here is the shooting schedule 10-15-05: Audition date: October 20th at 7:00pm, located in Snell Hall at Club Escape.
10-8-05: Here's a screen test for "Entertaining Angels"! I hope you enjoy it, it's just a short scene. Things are really rocking with the movie recently, I have an awesome crew this time around. Praise the Lord!
This will be the movie to put Theophilus Productions on the map! The Lord has given me a calling, and so far I have failed, but not for long. My call is to field a production studio that puts out good, Christian themed, or at least morally nuetral, entertainment. So far that has not happened, but I've been serving a kind of apprenticeship for it. The silent movies were film school, Spade on the River was scultping, and Entertaining Angels will be the springboard. Nothing less is acceptable.
My single ambition for this film is to be the best and funniest student film ever made. If that is the case, Theophilus Productions will have its start. There are a few steps that need to be taken in order for this to happen.
1. The script has to be the best and funniest script a student has ever writter. I'm working on it.
2. Tons of care has to be given to pre-production. Location scouting, getting permission from various places, casting, etc..
3. Casting has to be spot on. No if ands or buts, the cast needs to be stellar. Anything less in unacceptable. No filling parts.
4. Everybody has to be on the same page. Everybody needs to be motivated, they need to believe in the dream, and they need to know exactly what is expected of them.
5. There needs to be extensive rehearsal time, so we can maximize our time in production. Everybody needs to know there characters and the scenes they are in before our shooting days.
6. Much time needs to be set up in preparation before shooting begins. The crew and myself need to make sure everything is working, all the bells and whistles are fully operational. The camera is in the right place and ready to roll when the actors arrive.
7. Make sure everything is done perfectly, all the acting is pristine and the camera/sound is perfect. ABSOLUTELY NO SKIPPING STEPS!
8. Keep to the schedule and finish on time if possible.
9. Post production needs to be done absolutely diligently. Every transition, every cut, every song needs to be in the right place.
10. Tons of work must be put into publicity and releasing the film. Money needs to be spent on fielding it to festivals, forwalling it into theatres and production of DVD's. I want people across America to see this film and laugh.
The funny thing is, I know we can do it, and I don't even think it will be very hard. The script is funny enough to make us a name, and our actors are good enough to get that humor across. The second most important part in making this movie what it's supposed to be is me. If I actually labor to make it great, or if I drop the ball, like I partially did with Spade. I won't drop the ball. This movie excites me far more than Spade ever did, and it will be far funner to film that Spade ever was. But Spade is a very good, bordering on great student film, don't get me wrong. The most important factor on making this movie what it should be is GOD, and praise the Lord, He never fails. If I dropped the ball on Spade, God picked it up again and shot it through the hoop. This time, I hope He dunks it.
Plot
The movie is about a college student named Jack, who has three ambitions: Get a job, get the grades, and get a girl. When things spin out of control, and he fails on all three points, he rashly decides to kill himself. He attempts this in various ways, none of which work out due to events way beyong his control. As it turns out, his guardian angel, named Kitsy, is one of the best in Heaven, and he comes to earth to help Jack sort through his problems. This turns wacky when Jack discovers he is the only one who can see Kitsy. The movie is about how Jack deals with his problems, with his guardian angel, and God.
10/01/05: Been so busy I haven't even updated. Well, let's see, where to begin... Finished the 2nd draft of the script about 3 weeks ago, it turned out very well. Done a whole bunch of location scouting, got a semblence of a crew together, putting auditions together and just shot a promo! Basically, everything is being taken care of. I wasted no time in getting this thing started. Right when I came to OSU, BAM! Got the ball rolling. The audition date is tentatively Oct. 19th in Milam Hall at OSU.
8/20/05: Finished the first draft to the script. It's 103 pages on MMS, 120 on Word. I'm loving it so far! But still, more work to be done.
Also, I've begain a weight regime, or a diet or what not. A lot of exercize, and much less food. I'm dropping 20 pounds to get back to being skinny like I was in the silent films. You have to be skinny to be funny! Skinny or fat, and skinny is definitely my choice.
Kyles weight and training regime
9-01-05: On page 35 of the second draft of the script, which is immensley better than the first. The problem with Spade on the River was that I only did one draft. I'm planning on doing at least three for Entertaining Angels, but we'll see.
9-11-05: Sad day, 9/11. I've kinda been slacking as far as finishing the 2nd draft of the script. Been focusing a lot on stand up comedy and writing material for that. A little more than 2/3 done with the second draft of the script. I've been working on it more the last few days. But man, writing the second draft is hard!