Getting to make this film was one of the most unbelievable times of my life. We had a skeleton crew, a budget that might as well have not existed and 2 Canon 5D cameras (yes, we shot an entire film on a still camera, don’t judge yet)… as most filmmakers would tell you, that’s not exactly a recipe for success when it comes to making a feature film. However, I think this will be a surprise to a lot of people. I was lucky enough to work with a DP (Cameron Schmucker) who was able to take every challenge I threw at him and make it work beautifully. I was also lucky enough to work with producers (Katie, Mark, and Brittany) who literally worked 20 hours a day to make sure we had everything we needed to make the film great (with the limitation of our ridiculous budget) and a crew that gave 110% while some of them didn’t even get paid.

And of course the one thing that you can’t get around, no matter how good your direction or how good your editing, is your talent. I definitely have to share my praise for our amazing cast. Akin Chinnery, Sean Joseph, Lynn Joseph-Porter, Ashley Wilkerson, and last but certainly not least, our lead actor Terrance Bartley. While every actor did an incredible job and made the roles come to life, the action of the script and most brutal role was definitely resting on the shoulder’s of Terrance. I’ve gotta say I’ve never been more pleasantly surprised by someone in my entire life. When Terrance came to the auditions, I knew he had the look I wanted for the role, I was just hoping he would end up being a good actor. To my surprise, Terrance became one of the most natural and charismatic actors that I’ve ever worked with. I’m confident that audiences will fall in love with, not only the character of Darnel Smith, but also our super talented lead actor Terrance Bartley.

All this to say that I’m beyond excited about this film and the experience that led up to it. The next update will have some screen shots and hopefully a trailer. To everyone who was a part of this movie and helped make it possible, THANK YOU! I can’t wait to show off the hard work we put into making it. You are all truly blessings and inspirations!

Here’s a few pictures from the shoot… enjoy:

HOTSTREETS – “Complicated” Shot on Canon 7D – Director: Evan Kaufmann from Evan Kaufmann on Vimeo.

Canon 7D – “The Snow Wanderer” – Slow Motion 24p – Director: Evan Kaufmann from Evan Kaufmann on Vimeo.

Lens: 85mm f1.4 / 24mm f2

Which one is your favorite?

I’ve gone though and marked my favorite videos. I think anyone who has an interest in photography, storytelling, writing, and of course film/video will find each of these to be pretty encouraging… or who knows, maybe you’ll hate them… either way, give them a shot:

This is probably one of the best shot, most creatively non-overdone videos I’ve seen. It was directed by (in my opinion, the best in the game right now) Anthony Mandler. There’s plenty more of his work on this list.

Yes, more Killers, more Mandler.

OK this one probably takes the cake. It’s too weird and abstract to focus on the cinematography but this is one of the coolest video’s I’ve seen…

What videos do YOU like, blog reader?