her

A beautiful film.  Really captures the bitter-sweetness of love.  With all the ups and downs, in the end it is all about not being alone.  A must see for romantics and the lovesick.

Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen

Radkey Shoot: Feed My Brain

Had a great time making this video with Outpost Worldwide.  Thanks goes out to Chris Durr for getting me involved and the entire core crew for doing such a great job.  Thank you Taylor Wallace, Cyan Meeks, Evan Wunsch, and Cory Hinesley--you have all leveled up.

I cannot forget our lead actors Annie Cherry and Damian Blake.  Their great ability helped us make our days time and again.

Last but not least, my final thanks also goes out to the band, all the extras, and our interns that were good sports--letting us cover them with makeup and run them through the ringer.

From the little footage I've seen I can tell it was all worth it.

It doesn't look like it from here, but that man is half tree.

Getting crazy with shapes.

Really cool scene in Seer's Tent.

Nobody could resist givin' the monitor some love.

The Torso's main scene.

Yes, we created our own forest.

 Loved those trees.

The Wonky Hallway.

We all got a little crazy in the 14th hour.

PS

Thank you Jimmy Johns for being "freaky fast" even though I don't like your food--everyone else really appreciated it.

Radkey: All Nighter

Taylor Wallace, burning the midnight oil.

We spent most of the night painting the backdrop of the circus tent.

A bad a photo, but you get the idea.

My basement is starting to fill with rockers and spare parts.

My backyard is half drop cloth, half construction site.

Frames for the "wonky tunnel"

Frame for one of the rolling hills

Taylor and Lydia measuring and cutting

A bit of the final power tool action before we shifted gears to painting for the night.

All in all, a very productive day.  Art Director Cory Hinesley and Carpenter Taylor Wallace were able to rough in several of our main set pieces with the help of UMKC Intern Stacey Branson and friend/wife of mine Lydia DeMonte.

I showed up after a days work elsewhere to help move stuff around and paint backdrops.  Others had great photos of the action--maybe I'll steal/share them if they ever make it up to Facebook.

Radkey Music Video: Under Construction

Today we finished all our rockers for the rocking platform we're creating for the latest Radkey music video, Feed My Brain.  We've got at least a dozen sets on the way with only five days left before principle production begins.

RADKEY: Prepro

Recently started preproduction on a new project with Chris Durr at Outpost Worldwide.  We're making a music video for the band Radkey and their newest single Feed My Brain.  The art direction will be based on Film Noir and German Expressionism with a special emphasis on The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.  So far I've collected many supplies for free over craigslist and started to track down volunteers.  Everything seems to be on track.  Production starts April 26th.

KC Film Connect

 The new Greater Kansas City Film Commission board put on a great networking mixer.  The place sold out.  Several people had to stand beyond a rope by a window and wait for people to leave before they could get in.

I spoke as the president of Student Film League calling for mentors, opportunities for students, and students from other schools to join our group.

Low Light in the Night

Photo Shoot

I annoyed my wife until she laughed = better headshots for her upcoming show in September

Picture Wrap in the Woods

Jeremy got a little kooky at the end of the night wearing character wardrobe.

Rock Quarry Hell: Architects Music Video

So, we spent 48 hours in a rock quarry in Kansas to produce this great rockabilly, b-movie, shoot-em-up type western music video for the band The Architects.  I don't know the details of why things fell through with the final product, but I know we had some awesome shots.

Photo by Cory Hinesley

I was just reflecting back on this project and found some left over shots in my phone from that rough weekend.  The wind never stopped for a single second while we were there.  Taylor Wallace was the star, he kicked a lot of ass.  As did awesome stunt driver and friend Dusty Rhodes.  The guy pulled off some awesome spin outs before the transmission fell out of his SUV.  Gonna try to get some clips to share at some point.

A shot I took while testing the molotov cocktails.  The cracks in the ground added an awesome texture to the flame.  However, the friggin never ending wind didn't allow the flames to rise high enough to pull off the shot we needed.

Testing a weak blank the night before the shoot began.

Inside Llewyn Davis

This film illustrates the bleak loneliness of a lost man. The music is beautiful. The images are fitting and symbolism on mark. It is sad, but not depressing--for me at least--because the sadness is identifiable inside oneself and, therefore, the film acts as a warm embrace which makes this viewer feel... less alone in the world. Maybe it was just my own heart beating, but at least I could feel it happily for a moment. And did I mention, really funny too.

At least check out the soundtrack... Oscar Isaac did an amazing job.

That's A Wrap On The Zeroth Law

Here are some shots from the final scene of my short The Zeroth Law. I've been shooting for about a month.

I had to adapt a short story for class and choose Anton Chekhov's Sleepy, in which young girl has a series of dreams. This final scene is a dream about slavery. My adaptation of Sleepy became very personal over the writing process. I decided to skew everything through the lens of my own mind. I'll share more later when the film is finished--I'll post it with a statement.

The shoot started off pretty well but then the air show rolled in. We were filming in Swope Park which happens to be really close to Arrowhead Stadium where the Kansas City Chiefs were 5-0. We had several sound delays due to helicopters and unusual car traffic compared to our initial location scout.

Our makeup artist, Tess Roam, did a great job--especially considering the fact that she was filling in with two days notice. Our original makeup artist accidentally double booked and phoned in a friend on our job.

But I was more than happy with the results.

All of the guys playing our slaves did a great job. Everyone was cooperative and really into their role which made things move so smoothly. I think it was the best filming experience I have had yet. Everyone fulfilled their role exactly on time. We got our coverage and we were outta there.

I love Steve's eyes here. He lived up to his part as Frightened Man #1.

Everyone had enough time to enjoy a few beers before parting ways. Great costuming by my good friend Marguerite Rappold. New to the business of costuming but damn good find. I recommend her to anyone looking for a versatile costume designer.

So, that's a wrap on The Zeroth Law. Now on to Post Production. I'm hoping to have a final edit in a month but there is a lot of color correction to do with all the footage as well as sweetening and mastering of the sound.. so, may be just a rough cut in a month.

Thanks to everyone involved AND A VERY SPECIAL THANKS to my wife, star, and co-producer  Lydia DeMonte -- I couldn't have done it without her -- especially since she plays such a huge role a role off camera.

Mustachy Mister

I played a film nazi in a funny musical short for a classmate's final project.

Rush

Rush was a masterfully crafted film.

I went into the theater with an aversion to all things racing. My butt was only in the seat for two reasons: 1. There wasn't any other movie showing with an interesting trailer. 2. Ron Howard won over Machete Kills.

The difference between this and other race movies was the time given to developing the relationships between the characters. Usually, the drama is secondary to high throttle action--don't get me wrong, there is plenty of action--but this film is tricky. It is based on real events and the filmmakers actually develop human characters.

Rush has the proper distribution of action, sex, and drama to keep the average movie goer, and typical "car guy" alike, satiated.

The look of the film was beautiful as well. DPs/Cinematographers/Colorists should see it for the look alone.

To The Woods

To The Woods from Jon DeMonte on Vimeo.

A sound design project for class.

Escape from Tomorrow

This was a bizarre movie. My interest was peaked because of their unique methods of production--i.g. filming without permission incognito at Disney World on DSLR--but I was happy to see greater production value than images invoked by those defining principles. This was well thought out to achieve the level of production it accomplishes without permissions, equipment, and especially under the stress of film making down low.

I don't really want to give away any of the plot. Besides, I'm not sure I could really reveal much besides what happens sequentially. I could hint at meaning but I think it is best to discover the film unadulterated. I recommend Escape from Tomorrow to all movie goers and would say it is a must see for all film makers.

The Zeroth Law

I'm working on this new short about Reciprocal Determinism and what it is we inherit exactly as we all cool to an even temperature as a society.

When feminine influences mix with sadomasochistic machismo of the past, what do we end up with?

Is it this cold calculated corporatism we all consume and clutter on along to?

What does it take to start anew?

Blue Jasmine

I really liked this movie. The ending left those that I watched it with feeling unsatisfied, but I think the ending of all things was most satisfactory for me. It was different and didn't leave you with an uplifting arch but a haze of probability. I felt the narrative did a great job of conveying the main character's state of mind and engaging the viewer emotionally.

I only did enough reading on the film to know it was a Woody Allen film. It was satisfying to realize halfway through that it was a re-imagining of A Streetcar Named Desire. It is so different, however, this knowledge going in couldn't ruin it. You're probably going to love it or hate it--and those are usually the best films because they inspire a passionate debate.

I highly recommend Blue Jasmine.

Watch it and then track down a copy of A Streetcar Named Desire.

Grip: Grissly Hand

worked as a grip on the Country Singles music video for the Grissly Hand.