Tony's Picks

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Tony's Picks

I spent every night this week at The Roxie Theater checking out the other 48 Hour Film Project submissions. There are definitely some films out there that will give IDOM a run for our money!

On Tuesday night, a silent film by Pillybooka from group A really stood out for me. This team was very innovative with their soundtrack. From group B, Emerging Artists' "The Last Job," stood out for its stylized spy film that had all the punches. That film is definitely in contention for the top prize. The other film that I found very entertaining was a movie called "Female Intuition," by Paraffin Productions. This film made me laugh so hard. Their strength was definitely in the writing and acting.

Group C definitely brought some excitement to the 48 Hour Film Project, as there were a few films that made an impact on me. I actually had a hard time choosing a winner from this group because at least five of them were worthy of the top pize. The one that stood out most was "Button Man" by Nobody Productions. This team made a "making of of movie" movie, and they had all the elements of a winner: good writing, acting, and editing. It as definitely a well packaged piece. The other films that stood out for me were a fantasy called "Moose" by Mediablitzed (this one will probably win all the male vote for the girl on girl action), a western called "The Trade" by REDHANDED (a Mad Max-esque piece), "The Dubovnik Equation," a clever spy school film by Astigmatism Productions, and "187," the detective/cop submission by Curly Haired People. I watched this one very closely because it was our genre. This movie got a lot of laughs from the audience, and they had some very clever special effects.

Below in bold blue are the films I would like to see the audience award. These aren't predictions, but my personal picks. Of course, I chose IT DONNED ON ME for group D!

Group A, Tuesday, July 22nd, 7:00 and 9:30
A Big Gas Production - "Paradise Falls" (fantasy)
BANDE DESSINEE FILMS - "The Rift" (sci-fi)
BSSP - "Basket Case" (comedy)
Chautauqua - "Adam & Steve" (historical fiction)
Dramatic Gopher Productions - "Gus The Fifth" (road movie)
Off Duty Entertainment - "420" (holiday film)
Pillybooka - "The Golden Ticket" (silent)
Sixty-Sixers - "A Brief Case" (detective/cop)
Sleepytime - "A Few Pointers" (western)
Step 6 Productions - "Ticket To Change" (film de femme)
Team Scenechronize - "The Mourning After" (romance)
The Dirty Overs - "Face Down" (horror)

Group B, Wednesday, July 23rd, 7:00 and 9:30
4th Avenue Tamale Parlour - "The Loop" (sci-fi)
80 Babies - "Hard Labor" (film de femme)
aiight - "Gloria" (romance)
Emerging Artist Productions - "The Last Job" (spy movie)
I Am I Am Productions - "MDK" (horror)
Lordy Lordy - "The Transfer" (comedy)
Montage Productions - "Fuel" (road movie)
Outlaw Media Productions - "Trick Or Treat" (holiday film)
Paraffin Productions - "A Woman's Intuition" (fantasy)
Solo Bello Films - "Hazard Of The Trade" (drama)
Spontaneous Fermentation - "Write It Down, Get It Out" (silent film)
Taza Films - "Dust Off" (western)
Team Freezum - "Visions" (suspense/thriller)

Group C, Thursday, July 24th, 7:00 and 9:30
Astigmatism Productions - "The Dubrovnik Equation" (spy movie)
Baoumount Pictures - "Power Switch" (political drama)
CurlyHairedPeople - "187" (detective/cop)
Fogbelt 2880 - "How The Bunny Got The Bear" (fable)
Mediablitzed - "Moose" (fantasy)
Missing Piece Productions - "Gus & Gloria" (comedy)
New California Productions - "Beat March" (romance)
Nobody Productions - "Button Man" (supsense/thriller)
Platypus - "Burn" (drama)
REDHANDED - "The Trade" (Western)
Revision3 - "You Go Charrisse" (film de femme)
Team Schneider - "Category 742" (sci-fi)
The Harrison st Scruff - "Christmas Lullaby" (holiday film)

Group D, Monday, July 28th, 7:00 and 9:30
Barkada inc. - "A Keesh For Hershel" (Musical)
Blue Sky Moon Productions - "48 Bullets" (western)
Chaka Khan - "Servo" (silent film)
EagleVision - "Submission" (suspense/thriller)
Film Grinder - "Rec" (horror)
Food Court Films - "Sustainable Love" (romance)
It Donned On Me - "Tail" (detective/cop)
Last Minute Productions - "The Trade Expert" (sci-fi)
LIGHT A FIRE - "Stunt Husband" (comedy)
Lobster Clause Productions - "Letting Go" (road movie)
Oak Street Productions - "Lovesmith" (romance)
PhilMFilm - "She Was 27" (historical fiction)
Proper Thought Studios - "Texarkana Blues" (spy movie)
Roll up and Shoot - "Three Birds One Hit" (film de femme)
Turnabout Pictures - "Like Pulling Teeth" (fantasy)

2 comments:

Keith said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; July 29, 2008 at 12:48 PM
Keith said...: Hi Tony! Thanks for the props on my 2008 San Francisco 48 Hour Film, "Moose"! Indeed, I think we were the only film with girl-on-girl action. ;) Agree with you on "The Trade" -- an incredible work. Would love to see it again... hope they post it. Let me know if you track down a copy online.

BTW, "Moose" can be viewed in its high-def version here (along with a little commentary on how it was made):

http://www.vimeo.com/1381185

Cheers,
Keith; July 29, 2008 at 12:53 PM

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It Donned On Me?

For the past few years Evan Donn has been teaching classes in After Effects and Final Cut Pro in the Multimedia department at College Of San Mateo. Every semester there were a couple of students who just wouldn't go home when the class was over, staying after with a seemingly endless stream of questions about every imaginable aspect of video production. Many of them returned semester after semester for whichever class Evan was teaching at the time.

In the spring of 2006 Evan taught a new class called DV Workflow which consisted almost entirely of these "irregulars". DV Workflow became essentially an 'everything but the kitchen sink' type of class covering the entire process of video production with an emphasis on producing video for the web.

As part of DV Workflow every member of the class had to produce an episodic video series for the web. This led to various members teaming up to work on each others' videos as well as providing valuable input on the finished videos during class screenings. When the class ended everyone felt that the working dynamic of the group was worth continuing.

Led by Chief Instigator Tony Nguyen they dubbed themselves 'The Evan Donn School of Film' and began holding quarterly screenings of everyone's current work. In 2006 several members of the group attended one of the 48 Hour Film screenings, and they all walked out with the same thought - we can do that.

From that point on the quarterly screenings took on a new direction as 'challenges' were thrown out with criteria similar to the 48 Hour Film Project. This helped prepare the team members for the challenge of building a short film around a character, prop and line of dialogue.

As the 2007 competition drew closer Mr. Nguyen once again took the lead and signed up the team for the San Francisco 48 Hour Film Project. Put on the spot to come up with a team name he considered and rejected many possibilities before the ideal name 'donned' on him...

Despite their history the San Francisco competition was the first time all members of the team had worked together on a single project. Everyone jumped right in and the result was our first short film - 'Urgent Care'.

Despite incredible audience reaction to the film, 'Urgent Care' failed to win either the audience or juried competition for San Francisco. However, the team was selected by competition sponsor Visa as one of ten teams from San Francisco to compete in their national "Life Takes" Invitational against teams from New York and Los Angeles.

With only one film in the can, Evan decided the team needed a little more practice before the Visa competition. Unbeknownst to the team, he signed them up for the nearby San Jose 48 Hour Film Project and announced it at the cast & crew party for 'Urgent Care'. Fortunately everyone jumped at the chance to hone their skills and prove that the success of the first film wasn't just luck. The result of that effort is 'Doggie Style', the second official film from It Donned On Me.

In September the team came together once again to complete another 48 hour film for the Visa "Life Takes" Invitational. In collaboration with members of the a capella group "Flying Without Instruments" they completed the fantasy film "EXIT".

In October, 2007 the team completed their fourth 48 hour project, the National Film Challenge, producing "Retreat", an existential tale of a horse seeking enlightenment. After this they took a break from high-speed filmmaking for the holidays in order to prepare for the 2008 season.

In March 2008 IDOM kicked off the 2008 filmmaking season with the International Documentary Challenge, producing our first non-fiction film, "Stick & Pound". Selected as a finalist in the competition, 'Stick & Pound' screened in Toronto at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival where the team brought home Documentary Challenge awards for Best Cinematography and Best Directing!

After an amazing first year of competition IDOM came full circle, returning for the second time to the 2008 San Francisco 48 Hour Film Challenge and successfully completing our 6th film, "Tail". 'Tail' brought home the award for 'Best Sound Design' as well as being nominated for Best use of Dialoge and Best Cinematography

Just a few weeks later it was once again time for the San Jose 48 Hour Film project. Despite a rough start IDOM pulled together and created 'TwirlyBoy', possibly our strangest film so far.

With seven very different films completed in a years time some would say it's time to take a break, but not IDOM - this is just the beginning as IDOM tackles new projects and goes in new directions in the quest to become the greatest competitive filmmaking team of all time!

Stay Tuned!

Who Is Quang Khoi?

When Quang Khoi and his family immigrated to the United States from Vietnam back in the mid seventies, his mother decided to give all the kids American names. Nobody could pronounce Quang Khoi, so his mother renamed her youngest son Tony. Quang Khoi's mom is a huge movie buff, and her passion for cinema is evident in the fact that she named her children after movie stars. Though it has never been confirmed or denied, word on the street is that her all time favorite movie is Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO, and that she named her youngest son after that film's leading man, Anthony Perkins. "Tony" is not so bad, considering that Quang Khoi could have ended up being "Norman Bates Nguyen."

These days, Quang Khoi uses his real name when he is acting in film. When he's behind the camera, he goes by his American name, Tony. Quang Khoi/Tony Nguyen inherited his mother's passion for the movies. He enjoys every aspect of film, from playing character roles on the screen to editing time lines in Final Cut Pro behind the scenes. Mr. Nguyen is very proud to be a part of this year's 48 Hour Film Project. Working with the It Donned On Me team has been such a rewarding experience, and he hopes to continue to work this awesome group of people in future projects.

Blogged Arteries - The Unrendered Files

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Tony's Picks

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It Donned On Me...

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