Money’s not everything — a good headshot is everything. It’s the cornerstone of every actors existence. Matt Wignall took these — my new headshots, and reason enough to begin (re)pursuing my previous acting career. The reason they are so good is, I believe, we were able to capture perfect truth. The absence of lies. The eyes speak truth, and these eyes say “Just leave us here, you ass — on this beautiful frozen lake so that we can rest and live at once forever”.
Early in December of last year, I was invited to bring my motorhome to the Wildwood Elementary School in Mar Vista, CA for a “Show and Tell” day. Apparently the kids were learning about different homes and habitats, and of course, that must include someone who has a home that goes wherever they please.
So I just spent 2 weeks in Sweden (and Germany) documenting the band Mando Diao as they release their new album “Give Me Fire”. The focus of this trip was to capture the darker side of Sweden.
Here are some random stills from the footage I just finished importing. All shot on our Panasonic HVX200 with Letus Extreme Adapter w/ Nikons.
Tomorrow, February 21st there is a vote taking place at the Venice Library that may determine the fate of many homeless in Venice, CA. This time, the citizens are voting to protect their right to institute nightly parking restrictions in their neighborhoods. For the longest time, the California Coastal Commission has prevented this, saying that they do not want to restrict when surfers and other early morning beach goers. It also leaves the loophole open for anyone that lives in their motorhome to park their nightly as well. Read the rest of this entry »
Just for kicks, every now and again I check out either Google Maps or Microsoft’s Live Search Maps (not really live) and try to find Dick, roaming the streets. The photos are taken at random times throughout the year, so there are plenty of places to check out that he might be.
I sized it down so it wouldn’t take forever for you to view it, but you can clearly see the flying W on the side in big-size. Clearly, it’s my Dick. Read the rest of this entry »
Not sure when or where I found this, but I can most likely trace it back to my friend Ron who finds me all sorts of hobo goodies on the Internet.
I’m particularly fond of this image because it’s got it all. The hobos dancing, playing music, hopping trains, sitting around the fire, beards, creepy skeleton like figures: it is a picture of the hobo jungle. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ll be leaving for Sweden (and Germany) tomorrow afternoon to finish up the Mando Diao documentary we’re working on.
We’re looking forward to experiencing the “winter Sweden” — supposedly full of gloom and depression. I’ve heard that in the winter the rate of suicides sky rockets. As of right now, the sun rises at 7:39am and sets at 4:26pm with an average temperature of about 25 degrees.
Here are some film stills from our first trip last Summer.
Posted by vern | Posted in Video | Posted on 06-02-2009
This being the Year of the Short Film for Hobosoul, I figured it’d only be fitting to surround us with people doing things better than us (at the moment).
Here’s two short films by Erez Tadmor and Guy Nattiv, who just kicked our ass with no dialogue and one location:
Posted by vern | Posted in Filmmaking, Video | Posted on 06-02-2009
So Jeff mentioned to me he wants to do one of our experimental short films focusing on explosions (and I think he said, “with people shooting each other” also). I told him about the many stories Matt Wignall has told me about his brothers fascination, almost addiction, to making CORN BOMBS — large cans of corn placed in a fire, or better yet, submerged in grease, THEN placed in the fire.
There are no good video examples that I could find on YouTube, but this is a starting point:
A CORN BOMB
Hopefully, we will set a new standard in Corn Bomb videos shortly.
Last Sunday, roughly twenty people undertook our first shoot of our monthly projects. “Last Man on Earth” was written by Jesse Gloyd, directed by Vern Moen, and shot by DP Andrew Lockerbie. The whole day was certainly a learning project for all of us, attempting a musical shot in a void. Just a few shots from the day is all I have to offer you right now, but the short will be coming out soon, with luck, by the end of the month.
The shoot saw us attempt fake blood (thanks Tiffany Patton), one of our stars working as our AC (thanks Tom Dunne), our writer sleeping most of the day away (thanks Jesse), and our two interns working the audio, fog, and ash (thanks Dan Svec and Alex Garza). We used a script supervisor for the first time (thanks DeAndra Rich) and two fake knives, one of which was sawed off at the end for some final shots (thanks Eric Trine). We also had our first real gaffer, Billy Harnist, who kept on the ball without gloves for the majority of the day.
Neil Harrison took these during an interview with him, Melinda, and Matt Wignall for the artwork segment of the Mando Diao documentary we’re working on. Just thought I’d throw them up.
Vern Moen as Camera Operator, Director, 1st AC, Producer, Sound Mixer.
Matt Wignall as Art Director — flipped out.
I’ll be leaving on Monday for the land of the Swedes to finish filming the documentary on them and their land. Should be fun with lots of releases, shows, and parties, including a couple days in Berlin, Germany.
Last week, early one morning I went to grab something out of the “candy” drawer in the dark. (This drawer is rarely touched by me, as I’m not a candy person, yet it contains granola bars and other quick snacks as well, thus why I was in it this particular morning.)
A bunch of empty wrappers were in there. I paused for a moment, thinking, “Who would do this? Steve’s a slob”. Then I remembered that Steve’s been there once in the last 6 months. I wonder how much I drank the night before, or some other night, that convinced me that this was a good idea. But that’s not like me. Read the rest of this entry »
