The Official Trailers for Death Do Us Part

Here they are!! The Official Trailers 1 & 2 for the short film Death Do Us Part. So many amazing people helped us to make this short film, we can't thank you enough!

And a Happy Halloween from Jon & Rebecca Croft @ Liberty No. 5 Pictures!

Enjoy!!
:)

Official Teaser for Jon Croft's short film "Death Do Us Part"

Here is the official teaser on YouTube...



So, let me know what you think... 1. Is this good as a teaser?
2. Does it make you want to watch the movie? Also,
3. What do you like about it?

A lot of people helped on this movie and we cannot credit everyone now or in other promotional work- but you will get official credits in the movie- so don't be discouraged.  Speaking of other promotional work- there are...

Two official trailers are also coming on Halloween!
...It's all happening folks!
Wish me luck! :)

Don't Negotiate With Zombies

Barbara knows what she wants, and it's not a Zombie Husband.

If zombies could do more than just groan, gurgle, stumble and snarl - if they could actually talk to you - what would they say? Would they make degrading, undead demands in broken sentence fragments blighted by bad grammar; or with smooth speech, would they seductively convince us to let them consume our brains? Would they rant on their dry, scratchy vocal cords, about how annoying the living are with their delight in the "little things in life"; or would they grumble about the uncomfortable accommodations of the grave: the aches and pains which are a nightly part of zombiehood?

Or, if indeed they were so articulate, would they repent for all evils committed in the past, or stubbornly stand by each and every selfish act while living?

Whatever they do, I think we can safely assume that if - and when - zombies do learn to verbally express themselves... we won't like it. When it comes down to it, do you really want to hear what that maladjusted, filthy, worm-eaten shell of a post-human has to say? The best advice is to board up your windows, keep your fire arm loaded, aim for the head, and don't ever negotiate with Zombies!

AND WATCH "DEATH DO US PART," a short film by Jon Croft!

Written by Rebecca Croft

Is There Love After Death?

Barbara and Henry stand in the living room looking at old photos and wondering what happened to their forty year marriage. At one time it seemed they were deeply in love. They spent every minute together and barely left their one room apartment on Oak street that they rented right out of college. They planned out their future, a promotion, a nice house in the suburbs and a few children. They had it all. But somewhere along the way things began to deteriorate as time drove a splintered wedge between them. Forgiveness was forgotten. Second chances were squandered and they slowly grew apart. Its only been six months since Henry's funeral but it feels like a lifetime. Now Henry wants her back, but is there love after death?

On the mantle piece sit several items that represent Barbara. We used objects that were inherently feminine and catholic to symbolize her saintly devotion to her husband while he was alive.  We used a statuette of the virgin mary, a pair of praying hands and a ceramic lamb. Joy Newman who plays Barbara contributed many details, including a small angel statue of her own which fit in nicely. 

We also added some framed photos to the display. One is a photoshoped image of Joy Newman and Patrick McCall with their arms around each other taken in happier times. We had initially wanted this to be a wedding photo but neither of our actors had wedding photos for us to use and since they had never met before working on the film together we had to merge two of their old photos together creating a alternate history. The other framed photo is of Joy and her two nephews who portray Barbara and Henry's sons. The objects fade into the background and become the clutter of everyday life but if you really look you can see symbols of Barbara's character all around the house.

Written By Rebecca Croft

Event: Will Prometheus be the Best?

Do you wonder if Ridley Scott's new film "PROMETHEUS" will be the BEST film of 2012?  Find out with us!  Yayy!  MOVIE NIGHT!!

My readers and fellow filmmakers are invited to attend a screening of "Prometheus" in 3D IMAX with me and my wife on Saturday Jun 9th at 7pm at MUVICO Baywalk IMAX!

Additional Instructions:  Please show up early because this is prime-time movie watching so grab your seats earlier rather than later. Keep in touch with me beforehand if you want to sit together so we can meet up with you. Afterwards we will go for drinks! It will be massive Ridley Scott fun!

How to get good Production Design in your movies: A philosophy and a learning experience.

Written by:

Rebecca Croft

Production Design is an Art Form! 

I can't tell you how many indie films I've seen that are shot in somebody's apartment with wall to wall carpeting, a media rack in the background and bare yellow walls, where the lead is about 18 years old, vanilla plain, without any defining characteristics at all. So many filmmakers have great aspirations to a smart and witty hard hitting indie but lack visual inspiration. Film is primarily a visual medium so there's no reason why it shouldn't be a feast for the eyes, or at least a buffet for the eyes. Jon really wanted to pour as much creativity and character as possible into his directorial debut "Death Do Us Part". He wanted his indie zombie short to stand out from the crowd and have style. Being our first professional film that we created and authored together we had a lot to learn about making good production design work.

Using the funeral scene as an example in our movie- we knew there were certain items that were absolutely necessary to convey "funeral" to the audience. A cemetery, a coffin, a headstone, a priest and mourners in black.  In reality I don't think many people wear black to funerals anymore but in movies they do. It's part of the strange real/unreal language of movies. We were concerned about our crew being kicked out of a cemetery if anyone saw us filming there. We didn't want to ask for permission incase the answer was "No". We though about shooting in a park and creating some headstones out of styrofoam and keeping all the shots very tight. But in the end Jon decided to risk it and film at the actual cemetery being careful to appear very respectful and even dressing the cast as well as the crew like an actual funeral party. We filmed at the very back of a large cemetery, where we wouldn't be visible from the road. The extras and supporting cast were told to wear black, suits for the men. I also wore black and Jon wore a suit, that way we could cast ourselves as extras if not enough people showed up or at least look like a real funeral if anyone got suspicious. As it turned out I was used as an extra and no one stopped us or questioned us.

Since the scene is dominated by the Priest's eulogy, we started looking online for a clerical priests shirt. It was not difficult to find. We resisted buying the costume version and went for a more expensive Catholic supply tab-collar clergy shirt and I'm so glad we did, a touch of authenticity makes all the difference. We cast Jim Webb for his deep voice and benevolent personality. He showed up looking the part in a black suit, sporting the clergy shirt Jon gave him and dark shades. 

Earlier in the production our actress Joy Newman showed us several black dresses. Jon favored one with a puff sleeve bolero jacket. It was kind of 80's and it had lots of style. We asked joy to wear black shoes and a cross necklace and we would provide the black veiled pill box hat left over from my goth days. She looked amazing with her pale blue eyes peering our of the black veil.  

It was completely out of our budget to buy or rent a casket and completely beyond our ability to carve one out of wood. At one point we knew someone who thought they knew a girl with a coffin that she used as a coffee table but that never panned out.  So Jon painstakingly made a casket shaped from styrofoam and cardboard planning to cover it with a satin casket cloth. We went to our local craft store and bought blue satiny fabric to make the cloth and fake flowers which we mixed with real flowers in a hunk of florist foam to create a large funereal looking flower arrangement (we priced these and they are very expensive). Our brilliant cinematographer did the short casket justice and never shot it from unflattering angles. Then it was all placed on several yards of green astroturf, which seems to be the standard way of covering the large hole in the ground and nearby pile of grave dirt. 

There are many things we could have done to make the funeral scene even better and more professional. Grave diggers standing off in the background, the ever popular movie cliche of rain and a crowd of black umbrellas, more flowers, renting a real casket, a framed photo of the deceased. There are always things you look back and wish you could have done. But you do the best you can with the budget you have and try to apply what you learned to the next film. In all I'm very pleased with what we accomplished in this scene and all the cast and crew who contributed their talents. It wouldn't have been possible without them!

The most memorable iconic characters have something unexpected about them. Pulp Fiction, Blade Runner, Napoleon Dynamite, Royal Tenenbaums are just a few movies I can't forget because, among other reasons, their characters and production design are so memorable.  Do you have any favorite films with great character and production design?  Think about how these movies would not be as memorable or unique without these visual flourishes to help accentuate the characters and locations of the story.  It is truly an indispensable feature to good filmmaking!

Written by:

Writer/Producer Rebecca Croft

Behind the Scenes - Part 4: Marcus Talks Special FX

Part 4 of the Behind the Scenes video series for the short film "Death Do Us Part" soon to be released in 2012. This episode is "Part 4: Marcus Talks Special FX" featuring the local horror hero Marcus Koch and Patrick McCall who plays Henry our Zombie Husband.  Enjoy!

Behind the Scenes - Part 3: Director Jon Croft

Here is the third installment of the Behind the Scenes video series for my first short film "Death Do Us Part".  This episode is about me, the director.  It has a couple of questions I got asked during production of the film last year.



There will be more questions I answer in the future about the film and about my philosophy of filmmaking.  In time I am hoping to have an 'interview series' with numerous questions I need to answer about being a filmmaker and why I am a filmmaker.  These are things I need to do for myself in order to help define what kind of a filmmaker I am and to help me speak more articulately about these sometimes complicated decisions behind filmmaking- not to mention the difficult technical decisions that take place during production and afterwards.  Either way, there is more coming in the next few weeks.

Enjoy and spread around!

Do My Favorite Directors Know Its The End Of The World?

...Because there are so many upcoming movies and incredible projects by some of my favorite directors that it makes me think that they are making their best and greatest films now- as though there will be no tomorrow!  What can I say- I can't wait to see these films!!  All of these are going to be must-watch cinema but a few of these I am most in love with.  My most highly anticipated are Elysium, Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises, Avengers, Looper, Pacific Rim, The Cabin in the Woods, Django Unchained, The Hobbit, but... 

The Most Greatly Anticipated is... 

PROMETHEUS.  

This film, made by the director who made my favorite film "Blade Runner" is returning to what made him a great director, sci-fi.  Especially the fact that directors are returning to practical effects has me so stoked!  As it comes to the trailers... I think these two trailers may also be some of the best trailers ever made.  I saw it on the big screen and my heart was audibly thumping.  I cannot wait to see that film!

From the 'Good' to 'Best'... I'll show you some of the trailers or a link to some of the latest information on these films.  I always like to leave the best for last but I got two amazing Prometheus trailers on here!  So, enjoy!

The Good:

Moonrise Kingdom by Wes Anderson

  

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by Timur Bekmambetov

  

Total Recall by Len Wiseman

Machete Kills by Robert Rodriguez 

Gravity by Alfonso Cuaron 

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/sandra-bullock-describes-gravity-as-basically-some-next-level-shit

World War Z by Marc Forrester 

http://screenrant.com/brad-pitt-world-war-z-set-photos-sandy-122207/

Oz: The Great and Powerful by Sam Raimi 

http://www.slashfilm.com/sam-raimi-begins-shooting-oz-great-powerful-full-synopsis-released/

Neuromancer by Vincenzo Natali 

http://www.iamrogue.com/news/movie-news/item/5288-storyboard-from-joseph-kahns-abandoned-neuromancer-adaptation.html

Trance by Danny Boyle 

http://www.slashfilm.com/james-mcavoy-replaces-michael-fassbender-danny-boyles-trance/

Cloud Atlas by the Wachowski siblings 

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cloud-atlas-wachowski-brothers-tom-tykwer-225835

The Better:

The Avengers by Joss Whedon 

The Cabin in the Woods Produced by Joss Whedon 

Looper by Rian Johnson 

The Dark Knight Rises by Christopher Nolan 

The Hobbit by Peter Jackson 

Skyfall by Sam Mendez 

Django Unchained by Quentin Tarantino 



Elysium by Neill Blomkamp 

http://www.slashfilm.com/alice-braga-joins-neill-blomkamps-elysium/

Pacific Rim by Guillermo Del Toro 

http://www.slashfilm.com/video-guillermo-del-toros-pacific-rim-transforms-toronto-tokyo/

The BEST:

Prometheus by Ridley Scott 

and the super amazing Extended 2nd trailer that I saw in the theater!

I think these trailers for Prometheus are amazing works of art... they are the best trailers I've seen in a long time!  Ahhhh good times!  Theres gonna be some crazy apocalyptic movie watchin for the next year or so!!  Oh well, I guess if it is "the end times" all I can say is... "It's the end of the world as we know it... and I feel fine."

Behind the Scenes - Part 2: Meet the Crew

The second installment of the Behind the Scenes episodes for my short film "Death Do Us Part" coming out soon in 2012!  This one features our wonderful crew!!

The particular crew featured in this episode...

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Rebecca Croft - Screenwriter, Editor, Producer, Wife (uncredited)
Wheat - Cinematographer
Taylor Girard - BTS Video, Best Boy Lighting (I just squeaked it in there)
John Jones - Gaffer
Trevor Spak - Assistant Camera, Boom Pole Operator
Mici Falvo - Production Manager, Three-Ring Circus Conductor
Antonio Moncada - Production Sound, Awesome Guy
Marcus Koch - SFX Make-up, Backup Three-Ring Circus Conductor
Tom Ingham - Assistant Director, Guy with Coffee

(some of these are not real credits)
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Enjoy & spread it around folks!