Communique's From the Director
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Communique's From the Director |
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| Below are some of the emails sent out by the director
rallying his troops to the battle cry of fame, fortune and free food to
those actors who manage to show up for filming sober and coherent. Or at
least coherent. (One step at a time Karl, baby steps...) |
| From 10/03/02 Hello my little Frost Bite Stars & Starlets(s)... It's almost here! I just wanted to send out a few reminders: #1 - SHOW UP (This one is very important) #2 - Please be at the film sight by 6:00 pm on Friday - It is very important that everyone shows up ON TIME - Nobody can start until we are ALL there. We have a few scenes that MUST be shot before dark. #3 - Make sure to wear warm clothes - gloves, boots, hats, etc. - Mark & I were out in Eklutna last night and there was ice forming on the filming lights...it was COLD (It was so cold in fact, Mark's nipples could cut glass! Granted, he should have been wearing a shirt at the time, but, well, you know Mark...) Obviously I've got some of the coats & hats for the Characters, but those items will stay at the film sight at the end of each shooting day. CONDENSED SHOOTING SCHEDULE: FRIDAY starting at 6:00pm - The group arrives at the cabin in the van, enters the cabin, crashes out on the floor, CHRIS wakes up, heads to the outhouse (interior outhouse scenes to be shot at the studio on a different day) CHRIS comes screaming out of the outhouse, back to the cabin, bursts into the cabin in a panic, no one believes them and they all go back to sleep. This will be the short day - as you can see, Saturday will be the long one. SATURDAY starting at 9:00 am (Sorry. No one hates getting up early more than me) - First morning with group coming out of the cabin, they begin their journey, they arrive at the campsite, they set up camp, they go fetch firewood while STEVE stays behind, STEVE has the crap beat out of him (hee hee), the remaining four come back to camp and discover STEVE is gone, meanwhile MARK is starting fire, they decide to resume search in the morning. From there, as it gets darker, our group sits around the fire discussing their predicament, they all go nite-nite. SUNDAY starting at 9:00am (I already said I was sorry) - Second morning as the group emerge from their tents, pack up camp, begin search for STEVE, CHRIS steps in pile O' poo (beautifully crafted by DEAN'S CREATURE CRAP SHOPPE), they encounter the CREATURE, they run like rabbits, MARK & RYAN are pursued, (GRUDGE HUNTER scenes shot on another day to be determined) RYAN falls down and breaks his ankle, MARK takes the Trail Mix, RYAN gets sexually violated by the CREATURE (Frank, I forgot to mention that part to you earlier. It'll hurt, but I know you're a professional) After that we'll do a couple of scenes back at the cabin we weren't able to do the first night & the interior van shots of when our group first arrives. Okay. So that's the first weekend. The following Saturday & Sunday will be devoted exclusively to the DEBBIE, CHRIS, MARK & CREATURE back at the cabin scenes. Of course this schedule is entirely subject to change, but we'll try to stick to it as close as possible. Remember, food will be provided. It will be catered by the lovely & talented TONYA (Mark's wife). The Saturdays & Sundays there will be actual dinner type things such as Tacos, spaghetti, lasagna, etc. as well as lots of snack type things, sandwiches, juice, water & soda (and yes, a beer or two for Karl). Friday we will have snack-type things as well as juice, water, soda, etc. Thanks again, to all of you for being a part of this project. It may sound cliché but it's very true that it couldn't be done without you. After we are done with all the filming I promise to do my very best to turn it into a product that we're proud of - in other words, I'll polish this turd, put lipstick on this pig, bondo the big dents... you get the idea. As always, please call me if you have any questions or comments. If you need to call me to say you can't make it, just skip the country instead. Canada's quite pretty this time of year. See you all soon! CHAD |
| From 10/07/02 Hello Gang! First of all, THANK YOU for a wonderfully successful weekend! I know that you haven't seen any of the footage yet, but I can honestly say that I believe you'll be impressed when you do. I don't know about you guys, but I felt mentally & physically drained all of Sunday night and most of Monday - but I watched all of the footage this evening and I am pumped up and ready to go some more! Mark is going to make back up copies tomorrow and I hope to have a tape or two to show you this next Saturday. I'll be spending the rest of the week story-boarding the second half of the film as well as getting more props together. We are going to start off Saturday doing several random pick-up scenes, and then we are going to go into the part of the script where Debbie & Chris arrive at the cabin after encountering the monster. We will do as much as we can until quitting time and then pick up where we left off on Sunday. Sunday we will go right up to the finale. Please memorize those lines - as usual, we have a limited amount of time to get a lot of work done, but I know we can do it. I'll be talking to you all soon - until then, take care and thanks again! Chad |
| From
10/18/02 Hello Gang! If possible, I would like to get everyone together either Oct. 26 or Oct 27 (Sat. or Sun.) up at McQ Creek to film some of the stuff we didn't get a chance to earlier. (From where everyone goes off to look for Steve to where Ryan gets all ate up by the big, bad beast.) Let me know as soon as you can what your schedules are like. I spent Monday - Wednesday gathering all the stuff from Eklutna and trying to hide any evidence that we were ever there. While there, I did a bunch more filming for cut-shots & misc. Thursday I actually just sat around and tried to relax, but today, Saturday & Sunday I'm concentrating on getting my 2004 Tundra calendar done so my publisher doesn't string me up... (although tonight I'm meeting with Dave Molletti to talk about the outhouse explosion special FX.) Then starting Monday I'm going to go through our film and storyboards to find out how close we are to finishing this project. I know we still need to do some interior cabin shots (weather doesn't matter for those, so it can be done pretty much anytime.) And then of course the studio shots of CHRIS in the outhouse, STEVE in his tent, various CREATURE shots and MARK in the outhouse. I'll schedule that with the appropriate actors at a later date. Mark will be working on a "trailer" for the film using the footage we already have. I'll also try to find a time for those of you who want to watch more of the footage to come in and do so. Thanks again to all of you! While I'll admit this project was a lot more work than I ever anticipated, it has also been (and I'm sure will continue to be) a lot more fun than I anticipated. I feel very lucky to have been able to get all of you for this project. I look forward to talking to all of you soon. Chad |
| From 03/07/03 Hello Frost Biters - We're looking at the weekend of MARCH 29 & 30th for the next filming dates. Let me know AS SOON AS POSSIBLE if this works for you. The plan is to finish up the CHRIS, DEBBIE & MARK scenes in the cabin as well as the RYAN scenes we need to catch up on. The interior van shots will also be on the agenda. ELLE & FRANK - Thanks for the photos! They came out great. Not to worry Frank, we were able to airbrush out your stretchmarks. KARL - The footage of you in the outhouse is a thing of beauty (thanks for keeping your boxers on.) MIKE - I'll give you a call soon to find out when you can come to the studio for your interior tent scene. MARK - Sorry to hear about your latest S.T.D. DEAN - Thanks for dragging the microphone back - I hope it worked well for you - and, as always, your continued help is vital - Thanks! DARIN - Don't forget those pretty little red contacts. Check your schedules folks - and again, let me know as soon as possible. With warm wishes, Chad |
| From 3/25/03 Hey gang! Below are the times & places I would like for everyone to meet on Saturday March 29th as well as Sunday March 30th. SATURDAY March 29 9:30am at the cabin in Eklutna. SUNDAY MARCH 30 10:30am at the Tundra studio. Saturday during the daylight we will be filming the MARK, DEBBIE, CHRIS interior cabin shots. Once it starts to get dark, we'll film the RYAN scenes we didn't get to on our first weekend. I don't expect to finish very late. Hopefully not too long after dark. On Sunday we'll be shooting the interior van shots. As previously mentioned, we'll meet at the Tundra studio by 10:30am. From there we will head over to the Kincaid Park area. We should be finished with these shots well before dark - hopefully by 5:00pm. MIKE - As I mentioned to you on the phone, we won't be needing your useless corpse on Saturday, just Sunday. FRANK - You're certainly welcome to show up with Elle on Saturday morning, but we won't be filming your scenes until later in the day. If you could show up around 3:30 to 4:00pm that would be peachy. KARL - Don't forget to wear your white T-shirt as well as the correct pants & boxers. (I hope you've washed those boxers lately.) ELLE - Don't forget your hat & jeans. Make sure Frank sets his alarm so he can wake up and be in Eklutna by 3:30 or 4:00pm. MARK - As always, sober up. DARIN - Bring those red contacts & your pretty little smile. DEAN - You know the routine - Your assistance in this project is vital. Thanks, folks! I'm looking forward to seeing you all again! Mark & I have been trying to edit a couple scenes together to show you. We'll have something to show you. Call me if there are any problems. With warm wishes, Chad |
| From 5/07/03 Hello Gang! Here's the details for SUNDAY, MAY 11th. This time we are all going to meet at 3:45pm at a little place in Anchorage called FORSYTHE PARK. It's real easy to get there: -Take the New Seward Highway South (away from town) -Take the O'MALLEY EXIT and turn LEFT on O'MALLEY (up towards the mountains) -Continue up O'MALLEY until you reach BIRCH - Turn RIGHT on BIRCH (It will be a stoplight) -Very shortly you will see a small park on your LEFT - That will be FORSYTHE PARK. (My creepy blue van will be there.) I will have my cell-phone so call if there are any problems. I think cell-phone service will work there. I'm sure Mark will also have his phone (###-####) Today I did a lot of sound testing at the sight in Forsythe Park - The road is nearby but not close enough to pick up noise on the microphone. However, there is a tennis court nearby - Hopefully that won't cause any problems. (Worst-case-scenario, we'll run up the road a little bit to the Flat-Top area if necessary.) The sight I've chosen will allow us to film entirely in one small area - This will help speed things up. AAlso, I'm going to go through the part of the script we will be filming - I'm going to knock out any unnecessary lines and tighten up others. I'll email all of you the reworked script pages tomorrow. If you get a chance, check out your lines, this will also speed things up - I figure we'll have about 3 hours of decent light, but that should be enough. This will mark the end of the shots we need to do as a group - in fact, it pretty much finishes up all the shots. I'm sure once Mark and I jump into the editing phase, we'll discover we need individual shots of folks here & there or a voice-over, but this should pretty much do it. I want to thank every one of you for all the time & effort you've put into this - I know this project has certainly turned out to take a lot more time & thought than I anticipated, so I hope you'll all forgive me if I led you astray at the beginning. The one thing I'm looking forward to more than anything is getting this all put together and then having a really fun premiere with all of our friends & family (& strangers) - I'm going to try for the BEAR'S TOOTH buut if that doesn't pan out, maybe the PAC. Either way, it shall be done. ELLE - I know you have other engagements earlier that day and you'll probably be tired, so I really appreciate your sacrifice. Also, Don't forget to bring your hat. FRANK - Thanks for everything. I don't know if I mentioned that the footage we shot at McHugh Creek came out great - couldn't have done it without you. DEAN - Thanks for filming with Mark and I this past Sunday - I know you mentioned you might not be able to make it for this Sunday, but as always, you're always appreciated - If you can't make it, you will be missed. KARL - Thanks for always making yourself available - I know I tease you, but I wouldn't hesitate in asking you to be in another one of my future projects. You've been an important part of making this fun. Also, don't forget your pants & shirt... or do I have those? I'll call you if I don't. MIKE - I know we don't need you for any of these shots, seeing as how you're monster poop at this point, but if you want to be there you'd be more than welcome. MARK - What can I say, Buddy, Thanks for everything! Including rolling in 20 gallons of cold oatmeal, throwing yourself head-first into pine trees, and all the other things you've devoted to this project. DARIN - I also wanted to tell you how much I appreciate all of your help with this opus - as usual, what starts out as one of our simple little projects, takes on a life of its own - Thanks for being there through it all. I'll call you Sunday night and let you know how it all progressed. If you guys get a chance, check out the website again - Darin has added more stuff including a Character Page. http://www.oocities.org/frostbite_film/index.html If anyone has any questions, as always, please feel free to call me. I'll probably be calling all of you one last time before Sunday. With warmest wishes, Chad |
| From 7/01/03 Greetings Gang! I wanted to check and see if you were all available to finish the FROST BITE filming on --------. It's the only weekend that Mark is available so I'm hoping that it works for all of you as well. Not only that but August is when I'm doing the State Fairs and I know in September Frank is pretty booked with another film project. And of course in October, Mark is scheduled for his sex-change operation, so that's out for continuity reasons. It's all going to be filmed in one small area - It should be pretty simple. (isn't it always?) I figured if I gave everyone a three-week heads-up, it might give us all a better chance of pulling this off. MIKE - Even though we already killed you off, you're always welcome to come play. Please let me know as soon as possible. Chad |
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