Production Log
Melonheads log 10/19/2009: So yesterday was the skinny dipping scene. We did almost everything except I chose not to send the girls into freezing water up to their necks. Let me backtrack for a moment… Woke up Sunday morning, everything was in place. Then I checked my Email, one cancellation. Not a big deal because she had already told me she most likely would not be there. Next the phone rings….Phone ringing at 9am can only be bad news, another cancellation; at least it wasn’t the call telling me a relative died. So after that, all except one actress was confirmed to show. That last actress has missed every shooting day since July, so no surprise when she did not show up (even though she emailed saying she would be there-got to love it).
So everyone meets at the base camp on time or early, it is 34 degrees and cloudy. Did I mention this is a skinny dipping scene that is supposed to take place on a beautiful warm day? And did I mention this was the first day our new actress, Melissa Jo was on set? (what a great way to initiate her into the cast). So we head out to an undisclosed location to do all the dialogue scenes, and yes there was ‘implied’ toplessness in this scene. So as we are filming along comes an law enforcement officer….then another. Someone called in a complaint of ‘2 old men filming young kids undressing’. I do not blame the officers, they did their job and did it professionally. I blame the two 45 year old jerks that wanted to watch the girls who called in the complaint because we would not let them watch.
After about 40 minutes of thinking I may go to jail, or most likely get a ticket; we were on our way to the next location. (The lawmen informed me that I actually did not do ‘anything wrong’ but since it was a complaint they had to cover all bases – so no jail or fines for me!!! – If those officers read this: THANK YOU for being understanding and true professionals).
We get to our next location where the girls are actually going to go skinny dipping (by this nice waterfall), this time on private property. Emily who is one of the actresses and an EMT informs me about a little thing called hyperthermia. Go figure, if you send freezing cold girls into freezing cold water and it is only about 45 degress out and no place to warm up-this is actually dangerous???? I think she just did not want to get wet. So I made the decision to reschedule this scene for warmer weather.
After pizza we shot the last few scenes we needed that day. All Emily’s day shoots are done (except some pick ups of her riding in the car) and everyone agrees Melissa Jo is a welcome addition to the cast. So slowly but surely we are plugging away at finishing this-the never ending movie. Baby steps, baby steps. Thanks to all cast and to Bill Alexander – our 2nd unit director and assistant DP. Thanks to Shawn, but again try to be there on time. Until next time…..
Brian
Production Log 6/6/09:
Well, we’re back! New year, new cast members, same movie!
This was the week of hell – for my body, that is. I have been on the go for over a week: I coach my son’s baseball team (3 games this past week), I help with Scouts, I had to go to Columbus to take a test for another license for work, I had to coach the All Star Team and I had to play in the Coach’s Game. I am old, fat and out of shape; so this was probably not the best week to start filming again.
This was the first time I got to work with new cast members Grace, Emily and Lexie. And it was the first time in too long of a time I got to see Kristin and Melissa Vogrin.
We started late, of course. And I had to work out my own kinks, both from my body & being out of production for almost a year. (I want to take this time to thank my producer Shawn for taking care of the set up and getting me everything I needed. We would not have gotten ½ of what we did if it wasn’t for him.)
So we started light, just a simple filler scene, one of those scenes that just keeps the story moving. So we had Melissa V., Kristin, Emily, Grace and Lexie. All did well. Melissa broke her shoe, which held up production while Dave, Shawn and myself tried to perform surgery to fix the shoe, with a pocket knife and zip ties – we lost the patient. So Melissa had to try her best to run and perform with a dead shoe on her foot. Kristin – always the professional. Emily is a trip. During the break between the 2 scenes we shot, Emily was crying about not getting enough blood on her. By the end of the night she was crying for a shower. Lexie, this was the first meeting I had with Lexie. I usually do not cast people from just a picture and a phone call, but something told me to do it. I am glad I did, Lexie is cool and cute as a bug, I am looking forward to working with her more. Grace, Grace is a trooper! Not only did Grace get to experience first hand my first attempt at on set special effects make up, she got to be chained to a rusty iron contraption, get her ears blasted by the screams of Emily (though I think Kristin took the brunt of that), and laid on the cold Earth for about 40 mins. But on the same token, she almost blinded the rest of the cast with some crazy potion of hers that they all put in their eyes??? Don’t ask me!
So as the sun was setting, we took a break to eat and prepare for the next scene. Dave (Dave Vogrin of Dave’s Planet fame- Yes, I got those kind of connections!) cooked everyone burgers – and later attended the fire. (Always a pleasure having Dave around)_
The next scene was Grace’s death scene, nothing like having her do the hardest acting on your 1st day! Night shoots are always the hardest, and this was no exception. I could not get the lighting right, for almost an hour Shawn and I were messing with it. Finally, Shawn, I think accidently kicked the light stand or something equally as coincidental happened and the light was perfect. Kristin showed real emotion, and as a method actor told Melissa to slap her for real. Now I don’t know about you, but if someone told me to slap them for real-I would slap the taste out of their mouth!!!! But I guess Melissa is much nicer than I, she only gave a little baby slap.
Now about the special effects make up. After going thru at least 10 F/X guys (and 1 F/X girl), and none of them following thru with anything. I decided to do the special effects myself. Not to toot my own horn, but the effect looked awesome! The effect was a throat ripped open. Pictures will follow soon. So that’s it for this week, got almost everything I wanted to, got good performances from those I needed it from, had cool make up effects, and over all had some fun. Now on to next week. On Friday we will have all the girls together, most have no met each other-let’s see how this works!
Oh! On another note: Bill Alexander has become our 2nd unit director. Also, I had a meeting this past Friday night. And after throwing some stuff back and forth, I have secured the one, the only, the infamous Del Bethel for a cameo appearance in the movie!!!!
Melonheads Log: 1-31-09
Today we got together for a photo shoot. I am disappointed that the whole cast could not be there, but we did not have the room or time. I am slightly upset that everyone who was supposed to be there wasn’t.Some were sick, some had work – I understand but it would have been nice to have them all there, but on to the positive……
The new mixed well with the old (at least what old was there), Carissa, Contessa and Angela (the new) meshed well with Cindy, Kristin and Tree. This was the 2nd time I got to see these 3 and I was very happy to do so. They are a blast to be around.
Carissa is punctual if nothing else. 15mins early, like myself if she’s not on time-she’s early. It seemed to take her a while to warm up, but she warmed up nicely. She is peppy, pleasant and has a very subtle sense of humor.
Contessa. Contessa says I can never offend her. I view this as a challenge (not that I’d ever ‘want’ to offend her, she just leaves me no choice). Contessa is laid back and funny, I definitely want to drink a beer with her.
Angela is probably the most experienced of the 3 (Acting wise). She seemed shy at first but jumped right into the vibe that was going on. She is very talented and able to pick things up instantly, I will have to use her improve skills more.
So it is official, all the girls of the cast are HOT!!!! Hot and talented in their own way. This is going to be a very fun summer. Pictures will be posted on the website soon, as soon as I get the disc from DK. All the new girls did a few promos today, unfortunately we were not in a sound proof studio so we may have gotten some bad background noise-I will have to play with the sound to see if they are usable.
Again, big thanks to all that were there. Please welcome David to the crew as the behind the scenes videographer. So any cast member that wants to do interviews or bitch about the director and have it show up in the DVD special features….find David on set and tell him to start rolling.Can’t wait to start production again, and honestly this is a great F’n cast!!!!!!
*Investors are still welcome and if anyone would like to help with production-let us know.
Melonheads Log 11/8/2008: Well, again it's been too long since I wrote anything. I did post a blog about a possible encounter wth a melonheads (see myspace.com/cretinville). So we gained a few new cast members and we lost a few. Oh the days to just pay everyone and have them show up and get filming done in like a month. That would be too cool. I digress: Let me first give a shout out to Sam & Tommy's for hosting the world public premier of "Aquarius Rising" -our first movie. I am very happy with the bar and staff, everyone who stuck around until we started the movie seemed to like it. Actually, I know they did because when the sound guy decided to pull his equipment and everyone had to miss the last 10 minutes of the movie - everyone was pissed at the sound guy. *and to everyone who wants to see how the movie ends...it is available on DVD thru the website. (www.laugh-at-the-law.com) About the only thing that I would have changed about that night (besides finishing the movie) would have been kicking the last band off the stage an hour earlier then I did. These guys sucked!!! We lost 1/2 our crowd because these guys were so bad - I know this because this is what people were telling me. People would literally come up to me and say: "I would really like to see your movie, but I just can't stand this band anymore."
So we started casting again (after losing or getting rid of some folks), and again I am getting excited. We are thinking of doing a fund raiser/promotion party, but we have to work out the details. If anyone has any ideas - let us know!
Melonheads Log 7/20/08: Well, it's been awhile since our last shoot. This Saturday we went and shot the "Dr. Crow" scenes. I just reviewed the footage and F'n A…. either I am the best director or I am blessed with talented actors! Ritch Yarber was the only one I ever thought about playing Dr. Crow, and yesterday he proved he IS Dr. Crow! Awesome job Ritch. I guess I will have to write a prequel to melonheads….The Story of Dr. Crow! Just so Ritch can have more screen time.
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The whole Crow family was awesome to work with, Cindy is always a professional, Dawn was cool to re-vamp her schedule, and to let us do all we did to her, Ritch blew me ..... (away), and Julie helped keep us on track. Producer Shawn did a good job hauling his ass up and down the stairs, and everything else he did. Kyle did a good job as our "Melonhead" stand in, even though big bad Dr. Crow made him cry! (Kyle is Shawn's 9 year old son). It was a LONG day, but we got 99.9% of what I needed. Plus a lot of bloopers. Big thanks to Holly for all her help at this shoot.
The footage looks amazing! I hit some different camera setting I wanted to try and wow!
The lighting was perfect, and Ritch, Shawn and I did a realistic job with set dressing.
So big thanks to Sam & Tommy's Bar and Grill for hosting this shoot. Also, our first movie will be played at Sam & Tommy Fest in August. If you live in NE Ohio, go to Sam and Tommy's for the screening, we will be playing the drinking game along with the movie, also there will be a butt load of bands playing all day! And did I mention: this is a FREE EVENT!!!
So for the highlights of the day:
Dawn getting 'whipped', Cindy's death scene, Dawn breaking the laws of physics, Ritch's props, Kyle's stellar crying, cigarettes, Brad bringing us some ice cold beers (you were a life saver!), the neighbor freak and last but not least….The Sherriff's Dpt. showing up for a "Suicide Call". OK, when we were doing the hanging scene, we hung Cindy from the top level of the barn, someone driving by saw this and thought she was actually hanging herself, so they called the police. Never mind the crowd that was gathered and the movie cameras. Oh well, if the cops don't come, it wasn't a good party.
Production Log: 4/27/08
First and foremost, Big, Huge THANK YOU to Ray Jr.’s House of Rock. Ray Jr’s hosted last night’s shoot – the club scene. This is by far the best establishment I have worked with. Anything, and I mean anything we needed – they did. From changing the marquee to supplying a dressing room, to moving tables and most importantly, making us feel comfortable being there. Movie sets are stressful environments to begin with, and then make it an open set – major potential for disaster; but the staff and management of Ray Jr’s made it fun! They really did take care of us and if there is anything we could ever do for them – we would do it in a minute! The crowd was awesome too. They cooperated keeping noise to a minimum when we needed quiet and they partied when that was needed too. We even got 2 patrons to do walk on roles for a quick scene (I do not remember your names, but thank you. I will get your names from Holly and post another thank you later).
Now the bad…..I thought the curse ran its course and we were past that, but I was wrong. We got off to a late start, but got back on track right away. Then it hit….after waiting around for a few actors to show (one being a main person for this scene), it finally came in that they bailed on the production and were not coming. WTF???? Now this is where I start to freak and become a little bitch. Seriously, how does someone commit to a project, confer they will be there 2 days before and then just leave everyone involved high and dry? This shoot has only been promoted for the last month, not like it can be ‘re-scheduled’ or anything. So what happened??? What did we do???
This is where I have been inspired by true professionals. I have surrounded myself with some of the best people in the world (even though I bitch about some of them) and they all stood up and shined last night. They may not even realize they did anything, but they did. So how did the shoot go you ask? What did I do after being smacked in the teeth with a bag of nickels? Well, the first thing I did was what I always do…go to the clutch actor Mike Trivisonno. After that, listen to ideas from Triv, Bill A. and Ritch. Then confirm with Shawn and Holly…..PROBLEM SOLVED!!!! Well, for the most part. At this time I do want to give out the thanks to cast and crew – Ritch and Julie for coming all the way out, giving me some inspiration to change a fubar into something usable, Triv for thinking on the fly, Bill for being Bill (2nd best filmmaker in Ohio), Melissa L. & Brian for although new-definitely showing an awesome commitment. DK & Christina – always a nice surprise!! (sorry I did not get to talk to ya’ll more). Amanda and Adam for showing up. Shawn for his involvement and trying to keep me relaxed (Be on time though), and Finally, Holly! Holly worked her ass off!!!! And most importantly put up with my little crybaby attitude. Thank you Holly, you are very appreciated.
Now for the interesting stuff: Dave Vogrin (the naked drummer himself) made his dialogue acting debut!!!! Dave did great (watch out Melissa). Kristin Smith again freaking surprises me every time we shoot. Not only is she a good actress, but VERY professional. Kristin you ROCK! Melissa Slim got herself some more dialogue in the movie with a nice off the cuff cameo appearance from skeletor style actor Shawn McLaughlin. Sharon Simko got extra face time, with clothes on even. And I saw a girl I went to grade school with-she married the new bass player of the band, I guess I will be seeing more of her in the future. Overall, it was a good night. I got usable footage, and that is the main thing. I do want to apologize for not having a proper meet and greet of cast and crew, but with being behind and all that had to be put on the back burner.
On a personal note: I have had major health problems these last few weeks and my doctor says I have to scale things back, so I am NOT blowing anyone off; I am truly delegating some responsibilities to others on the production staff. So please contact Holly or Shawn on most matters.
Finally, I must thank everyone who made donations to this project – you are helping true independent cinema. And thanks again to Ray & Julie of Ray Jr’s, honestly you guys are awesome, I would love to work with ya’ll again and if you need ANYTHING let us now!
Ray Jr’s is located @ 3750 N. Broadway (RT 534) in Geneva, Ohio. They have some of the areas best bands every weekend, check them out!
Melonheads Log: 11/16/07- Well, ShockStar Studios went to its first convention: Dark Xmas. It sucked! We did make some really good contacts and met some wonderful people (that sounded so cheesy, but it is true). Special thanks to Christina (Abbey from Legend of the Melonheads) for working the table. Big huge props to DK Photo! DK is a promotions machine!!! Thanks DK. Theresa (Sheila from Melonheads) showed up, and brought a whole crew. I think they were the most people there at any one time.
We will be attending Cinema Wasteland-we won't have a table but we will be there to represent. We have a special surprise for those that are going to the wasteland……. Let's just say, look for a bunch of Drunk guys wearing 'Cretinville' T-shirts……Can we say BEER PONG!
Finally, we made some new friends with a Detroit film company (I know, Michigan sucks) called Silver Bullet Pictures. We did a disk trade with them (I traded Aquarius Rising for Detroit Blood City). These guys are cool as hell, I can't wait to see them again. I will be buying a copy of their new flick 'Heavy Mental' when it's released. So if you get a chance, got to www.silverbulletpictures.com.
Tony Todd - Candyman Warrington G. - Jason Vorhees
Melonheads Log 10/8/07: Well…………it was a hard decision, but we will be holding off on production until spring. Actually, I should say we are not going to be filming at break neck speed anymore. We will still be filming interior scenes over the winter, and may knock out one or 2 more scenes before winter, but with the scheduling, casting and injury problems – we don’t want to hurt the final product by rushing forward.
So with that said, this past weekend was both good and bad. Thank you to Dawn for letting us use her apartment. Holly and Kristin did a great job, too bad the lighting sucked. The cheer practice was a disaster. We did manage to get some stuff done. I was a little worried when the principle of the school showed up on a Sunday-so much for guerilla style. She was cool and let us film, I did find out that they are keeping a closer eye on that school because someone was growing pot on the side part of school property. I do have to give a huge apology to Grace and her mother. They drove all the way from PA to do this scene; unfortunately, the actress she was to do her scene with had car trouble and could not make it. We did manage to get Rachel Steel done. Rachel is really cool and laid back. However she does play a bitch a little too well. She liked the whistle too much too, actually I am just joking – Rachel was awesome! She developed her role on her own, played it to a ‘t’ and I truly liked what she did. She did blow the whistle too much (I was wearing my headphones and the mic was close to her-owe!). My new camera crane works awesomely! It will add so much production value to the movie.
Kristin and Tree did their scene at the school too. OK, this blew me away…it was a simple scene, but they nailed it on one take. So I, not knowing what to do, made them do a few more takes. Each one was better than the last. There was only one flubbed line – I think they did it just to make me feel like I was needed.
And finally, thanks to Amanda, Randi and Eileen for keeping me calm and collected – You girls rock!
Melonheads Log- 10/1/07: So we shot 2 days in a row. Most of the cast was hung over the next day. Saturday we did more camping scenes. Again, big thanks to Dave Vogrin who kept the fire going – and going well! It was funny watching the ‘cheerleaders’ try and start a fire, then of course Brian had to take over and get it going, but quickly turned over those duties to Dave when he showed up.
This was the first shoot with Randi Lynn – she is a pleasure to work with. So any for a little bit of trivia: any drunk scenes in the movie…..they are really drunk!
Sunday we were supposed to meet at 10am for the skinny dipping scene. Everyone was late, I was hung over (not from drinking but from smoking 3 packs of cigs the night before). Big thanks to Eric and Matt Hecker for supplying the location. This is a beautiful location that is hidden from the world! The girls complained the water was freezing and there were giant fish biting them (Brian actually went into the water and it was neither cold or did it have fish bigger than ½ inch).
Some of the high lights over the weekend was the truth or dare game (which will most likely end up in the movie), Amanda with the lighter fluid, Brian actually being the voice of reason (Brian should NEVER be the voice of reason), Ashley going for a quad ride and coming back covered in mud, and just hanging out with Matt Hecker and his friend (forgot your name dude, sorry). And of course, I miss the game and the Browns win….
Melonheads Log 9/24/07: Well, another small scene in the can and edited!!! This was just a small scene, but it was Tree’s first scene where she knew what she was doing (Tree’s first scene was the same day we met her and threw her into the movie, she wasn’t even cast. She was just hanging out and next thing you know, she’s got a major role). Tree was cool as hell and very patient as we tried different outfits and angles. (Mark, thanks for the angle suggestion-it made it into the scene). Melissa and Dave showed up. Melissa was part of the first ‘make up’ to be used in the movie. Dave disappeared into the woods for an hour and we thought maybe he was eaten by a melonhead. Again, the scene went very smooth, and Tree fits this role very well. Only 65% more to shoot, until a finished movie! The curse struck again (actually twice, but we beat it the first time.), we were forced to reschedule another scene. However, I am extremely happy about this scene we did on Sunday – if only the Browns would have won……
9/21/07: Melonheads Log
Well, we got the majority of the core cast together for filming last night-for the camp scene. Despite a late start, we got a good chunk of the night shooting in the can! Thank you to Tree for just stepping in to fill a major role. Also, big thanks to DK Photo for being on set to get the behind the scenes and production stills. All the cast looked amazing in the fire light. Sound was good and the acting was great for getting the core cast together for the first time. Melissa and Kristin established an on screen chemistry immediately! It was like they were actually friends since high school. Christina Rios did a superb job (She never got a script until she arrived). Christina, I am totally looking forward to your kill scene.
Amanda and Eileen looked very cheerleaderish. I owe Eileen props for bringing Tree! Amanda is always a go to girl, thank you for all your behind the scenes help. Again, the look of the scene is stellar (Did I just use Stellar?). I am having very good feelings on where this will go.
I do have to shout out a few more thanks: Zach brought a tent for set dressing, which saved me from looking totally stupid, since I could not find my tent. Dave Vogrin –this really kills me to say this- is by far the best fire tender I have EVER met! Yes, I must actually admit, he tends fire better than myself – I turn over my title of Fire Master to Dave. Holly, thank you for keeping me on track, keeping the paperwork in order, watching children, and helping out as script girl – you truly are a big help. Now, for my producer Shawn McLaughlin…. This was the first night Shawn came on set for this production. Shawn was deliriously over the top on getting things done! Shawn showed me what a line producer can do, and honestly with out Shawn there, we would not have gotten what we did. Thank you Shawn.
Next scene will be a quick one, involving Kristin and Tree. I think the public will really like Tree in this role. Until next time…..
Production Log 8/27/07: Well, we shot our first interior scene with Bryan Jalovec, Kristen Smith, Dusty Sidewalls and 3 spur of the moment subs – ‘The’ Mike Trivisonno, Melissa ‘Slim’ and Sharon Simko. Mike, Melissa and Sharon-thank you so much, we could not have done the scene with out you! Kristen Smith gave one hell of a performance, out doing herself in anything I’ve seen her in before. Bryan of course gave us the pleasure of his sense of humor, and with out a doubt showed us he can take a punch! We can now say that there were no punches pulled in the making of this movie. (Bryan, she says she was going easy on you).
The curse struck us again this week – 1 minor and 1 major freaking way. But to make the best of a situation, we decided to actually do a “Curse of the Melonheads” behind the scenes documentary on bad things that have happened during the making of this movie.
Thanks to all the cast, the subs, the crew, Dan and his roommate (we shot the scene at Dan’s place) and special thanks to one of the best drummers and all around great guy, Dave Vogrin who set a lot of this shoot up (you rock Dave!) Go to www.vogrinspalace.com and see some really cool novelty things he has to offer.
Pre-Order your copy of "Welcome to Cretinville: Legend of the Melonheads"!
Send check to Laugh-at-the-Law 12330 RT 86 Leroy, OH 44077 or paypal to order@laugh-at-the-law.com
Just $25.00 and that gets your name in the credits~and the Deluxe Edition DVD!
Deluxe Edition DVD will include behind the scenes footage and 'Hunt for the Melonheads' a feturette documentary on the true legend of the melonheads, with footage from an actual melonhead hunt!!!
7/21/07: DK Photo has been announced as the official "Welcome to Cretinville" Photographer!!!
6-25-07: The cast is assembled. The Script is written. The Equipment has been upgraded. And one hell of an assistant director has been recruited. Finally, Ohio's creepiest legend is now the most anticipated movie! We are starting principal photography. Join the army of the melonheads, become a myspace.com/cretinville friend and stay up to date on all that happens. See the primary cast pictures on the Melonheads Legend page.