The Battle Of Hastings, 1066 - CraigoClassic 15

Wow, I sure am keeping up with this. And to think we're actually not even half way through the videos. If I do it at this rate we'll be posting these things until I'm retired! (Or we will have at least shot "Straight On Till Morning", which is cruising along in pre-production. whew, how things have changed. :)

Well this little Gem is a project for history class. It wasn't even my history class, it was Steve and Jim's history class. But I was the video guy and had access to the equipment so I helped out and it was fun... even if the final result isn't quite as awesome as the great battle might have been.

We mixed footage of this bad ass board game, BATTLE MASTERS, with "live" footage of us playing with the High Fantasy Society. A group of fun folks who would get together and beat the shit out of each other with foam swords and shields. Was a good time and something we did every once in a while. It wasn't about costumes or historic recreations, just action and fun. Like D&D but REAL!!!!

We also feature the tunes of MANOWAR! Which we would have used throughout to make it a bit more exciting, but because of the limited editing time on the old reel to reel vhs editing we weren't able to get things together enough to make that happen. Songs are from the "Triumph Of Steel" tape that has a 29 minute long song about Achillis...pretty awesome.

And then there is the special guest appearance by someone from another planet. If you can tell me what movie that's from I'll give you a high 5!

PS: You might have wondered what happened to Craigoclassic 14...well, if you can believe this, it might just be toooo embarrassing to put up. Really to a friend who's in it, so I'm going to not post it for him. I guess I could use a pseudonym for him...hmmm... I'll think about that.

Casting, Crewing and Locations pt. 1

Hey Team,

So we're in the thick of it. So much to do and it's lot of fun (mostly).
We've had more auditions, this time for Virgil. Talk about brave actors to come in there and do improvs for us with no lines. To create characters based on the couple paragraphs we gave them (and the script if they were able to read it). It's been exciting and I have lots of respect for them. Being an actor is tough and to be in that room and see all the people that walk in that door to a room full of (most likely) strangers, and put yourself out there is a challenge. The ones who make a choice and commit to it fully, and connect with the "reader" in the room are the ones who make the strongest impressions, but even the ones who don't go all the way I have to give props to for going into that situation.

On top of that I'm starting to interview Director's Of Photography. On past projects I've always been my own DP, which is something I really enjoy doing, but for this one I know it'll look better and be better if I let someone else unleash their skills in that department. So of the 13 people I've contacted hopefully one of them will be a perfect match for personality, creativity, style and skill.

And we're looking for locations... so if you know of any 3 story (or 2 story with peaked ceiling attic) houses in the desert somewhere around LA (or anywhere really) that we could use, please shoot me an email and let me know.

Thanks!
Craig O

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

Thank you EVERYONE who pledged to support "Straight On Till Morning". The outpouring of support and excitement has been amazing. 80 backers. $22,206. Success. Amazing.

All of you deserve a great big hug from me and the rest of the SOTM team. We're so thankful to all of you. This campaign was a very important part of the overall budget for the film, and with this and what we had before we are now able to set a start date to begin shooting. The thank you you will receive in the credits of the film is heartfelt and well deserved. Everyone who pledged will get in the credits.

Stay tuned here as we post updates on the project. Casting, locations, plans etc. We'll post things here as well as at the official blog.

Either way, "Straight On Till Morning" will exist in better form because of all of you.
From the bottom of our hearts, Thank you.

Craig O, Laurel, Brian, Neal, Laura, Greg, Tom, Kimo, Liz and more to come

Our Sincerest Thank You

Thank you,

Thank you so much for the amazing, fantastic, awesome, humbling pledges that have led to the "Straight On Till Morning" kickstarter campaign being successful!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks to EVERYONE who's pledged we reached our goal! Yahoo!!!!!!!! It really has been amazing to see all this support for our little horror movie. It's going to be an exciting journey, and I hope we can make it live up to everyone's expectations.

In addition to our sincerest thanks, a number of you had mentioned in email or in person your desire to still pledge the project, so I wanted to let you know you only have until THIS FRIDAY, June 18, at 11:55pm PST to do so. The link is below, and it's super fast and easy to do. Though we've reached the goal set at Kickstarter this is not our entire production budget. So every penny pledged, even now, will be used on the film for all sorts of purposes: to increase the quality of the makeup f/x, to pay for food (I love food! :), lodging or sets, costumes or props, stunts and more.

KICKSTARTER LINK: http://kck.st/cZnK3u

Again: THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.
THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for your kind support.

Sincerely
Craig O and the SOTM team

PS: There are still investor opportunities available if you'd like to be involved in the movie to an even larger capacity. Just email me and we can discuss the options.

Auditions Round 1

So we've had 3 days of auditions for the roles of Lilly, Rubin and David in the last two weeks. It's been a really wonderful experience. Seeing all these talented actors and actresses coming in and reading. Each with their own unique take on the characters and where they would take them. It's an exciting process.

Despite having shot over 20 short films in the past few years, I actually haven't had auditions for any of my films since my rarely seen first feature "All The Days Undone", shot in 1999. And this time around we've got a great casting director, Greg Phelan helping out and setting up all these auditions. We're doing it at a place called CAZT in the heart of Hollywood. And all the headshots and resume's are being submitted online (which is very different from getting hundreds or thousands of headshots in the mail!).

And we've had some Amazing actors and actresses come in. It wouldn't be proper to mention names, but the headshots have been very well known actors and actresses from cool horror movies, action movies, TV-shows past and present. In addition to many talented unknowns as well (but people who deserve to be known :)

Now, not everyone has it all together, and of course some are stronger actors than others, but still, I have such respect for people who can walk into a room full of (usually) strangers, and put themselves out there. It's really cool to watch.

So we've got more auditions coming in the next few weeks, and then callbacks. We're focusing on the larger roles now: David, Lilly and Rubin. Then we'll look for our Virgil. Then cast the smaller, though very important other roles.

This is so exciting!
CraigO

More on Straight On Till Morning's Kickstarter campaingn

Hey Team,

Thanks so much to all of you who have supported "Straight On Till Morning" so far! It's been amazing how generous everyone's been with pledges and contributions for our independent horror feature film. This past week has been particularly amazing!

But we're not there yet: We've only got until JUNE 18, FRIDAY at 11:55pm to raise the rest.
We're at $12,857 of our $18,222. And this is ALL OR NOTHING. If we don't make it, we get nothing, and you're charged nothing.

Now 12 days might seem a short time to raise another $5,000+, but it really isn't so bad at all. Every pledge from $10-$250 makes a huge difference, adds up, and makes this film more of a reality. You'll even get cool things like pre-ordered DVD's of the film, Blu-Rays, Movie posters or visits to the set depending on your level of involvement.

For more about Kickstarter, here's a video our lead actress Laurel Marlantes, and I did talking about it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTQnSQEvi1w

So if you've pledged already, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. If you've been thinking of supporting, we wanted to let you know that the deadline is fast approaching and every dollar counts. Just click the link below and it'll take you right there:

KICKSTARTER LINK: http://kck.st/cZnK3u

Thank you all, we're so excited about this movie and about having you all involved.
And for the support over the past few years.

Straight on till Morning!
CraigO
www.SOTMmovie.com

Here's Where The Story Ends

...But in fact here is where it begins. For this is the moment when I realized that I wanted to make movies in my life. It was this video done for class, edited on reel to reel VHS tape and using a video/fx box, cutting shot to shot and watching the magic actually come to life that I thought "This is so amazing. People get paid to do this? Awesome."

And here I am, many years later, making movies, telling stories and living a great life following my dreams.

Now, this movie ain't perfect. It's really funny to watch it now and realize how POORLY it's edited, when that was the thing that I was so excited about. I mean, really, how much time does the guy need to get up before he charges? Is that like a minute? Dude, what are you waiting for, just go after him and attack!

We got a 98 on this project. And once again, it's a Craigoclassic, that I wasn't often holding the camera on. But I was the main person doing the editing, so I'm finally making my mark. Cole Haney (sp?) was the tough looking guy, I still remember his name. And our main hero, Trevor Lissauer (who's probably going to wonder what the heck I'm posting this thing for) has actually been a working actor out here in LA since High School. We were so excited when he got "The Skateboard Kid". I still mention occasionally, and my Mom brought it up to, how great Trevor was in our high school production of "A Chorus Line" back in the day. ("I can do that!").

Anyway, we got a 98, not a 100, supposedly because the editing was a little slow. Really? Hadn't noticed.

Moving on... the book in there "When Knights Were Bold" wasn't from the library. It was ours. And that's my high school girlfriend Stacey Inman playing the princess in the woods. (Not the princess in the library, you might have noticed a slight difference in looks there).

This video has always had a soft spot in my heart. That Sundae's song is sweet, the story is nice (though why he always imagines himself failing is a choice we made for a reason I don't remember anymore.) It brings back some great memories of high school and friends, when the future was endless with potential. And honestly it still is. It really truly still is...