Ride out the election in style!

No matter who you're for, Obama or Mccain, I think we can all agree it's time for change. What better way to show your support and hope for the future than by puttin' it on a T-Shirt?! (designed by yours truly.)

Check it out at our Zazzle Store!

Help support us and this great place in which we live, spread the word! Help us sell some shirts!

Act now and save three dollars on all shirts by entering the zazzle promotion code: 3OFFZAZZELTS

Change for 08'!

Back in Action

This past weekend the actors of Argos reunited on the set with the Quandary team for some final pickup shots for the film.

We threw them into their old costumes and straight into the action, nabbing not only the much needed footage, but also some pretty pictures! These pictures, taken on a fancy high powered camera, will supply us with all the publicity photos for posters, DVD's, web promotion, lobby cards, and whatever else we decide to slap their faces on.

As absolutely fantastically fabulous as our actors look in these pictures... I can't post them here yet. Don't worry, they'll be released as the movie gets closer to completion, it'll be worth the wait (hooray for hype!) So instead I'll post the next best thing... behind the scenes pictures of the crew on the shoot!

Enjoy!

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"you're in space... aaaaand action!"

"twin lights! oh and people too"

"you're on a mountain... no, a canyon!.. no, the moon!...this'll be epic, trust us."

"Basil is doin' fine!"

"Space man Joe"

"shenanigans!"

"I loves my gun"

"Ben! ...and close pins..."

Quandary out!

QTube

You may have noticed the silly intro on the Heart of the Argos website. We also made a separate one for a promo DVD for the Saturn Awards.

The intros were actually filmed in my room, because for some reason I decided to go with a white motif (complemented by blank accents) so it's a little like living in my own personal cyclorama. The only problem is, my room is just large enough for me to inhabit, and is not exactly set up for filming.

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Just another excuse for us to put on our bubble wrap jump suits.

Oh, the foolishness.

Building From Scratch

We've been hinting at the Argos model for awhile now, and so I figured I'd take this opportunity to hint a little more (maybe even show you some pictures!). Over the past few weekends Spenser, Dylan and I have been working diligently, trying to translate our paper version of the space ship into the real thing.

To cut down on costs we bought a few large sheets of super thin plywood, and have begun cutting out the pieces that will be the base for the ship. It's a bit like one of those kits I used to play with as a kid, you know the ones with the little popsicle sticks that you glue together to make a dinosaur?

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Like the full scale set the Argos model will feature many practical lights. Also like the set, these lights will need to turn on and off as well as flicker, meaning it will need to be controlled via an external lighting box. However, some of the shots will demand that the model be mobile, so we're also including an option for it to run on internal batteries. This means, lots of complicated wiring for Dylan.

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Right now, it just looks like a strange wooden kite with about a half a pound of wiring and hot glue stuck to it, but in the coming weeks it'll begin to take form. Stay tuned.

Also, click here for more on the crazy stuff we're building for Argos.

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34th Annual Saturn Awards. Awesome.

When I first heard we were going to an award ceremony for Science Fiction Fantasy and Horror films, I didn't quite know what to expect. Who founded such an awesome academy? Why hadn't I figured out a way to attend sooner? Would there be anyone famous there receiving an award? And were we supposed to wear a suit and tie, or dress as our favorite Star Wars character?

Truth be told I was extremely curious. For all I knew we could really just be going to someones basement to sit on bean bag chairs in a cardboard set to drink rootbeer while wearing rubber Vulcan ears. Don't get me wrong, we're huge Sci-fi Fantasy nerds, and we love rubber ears (and Rootbeer) I just wasn't sure what kind of affair this was going to be.

The 34th Annual Saturn Awards turned out to be hosted at the prestigious Universal Hilton Hotel, and lets just say the Academy of Science Fiction Fantasy & Horror knows how to put on an event. Celebrities trickled down the red carpet into the main lobby, posing for the cameras as they passed by an imposing Cylon Centurion and a looming green leafy creature (we're still not quite sure who he was).

After having drinks in the first hall surrounded by fifteen foot posters and LCD screens playing promo material for Hellboy II, we entered the main banquet room only to be greeted by remixes of all the great sci-fi classic themes, from Lost in Space to Doctor Who. After an amazing dinner (and cheesecake, whoa, crazy delicious) and good conversation with our table the ceremony began, and one by one the winners took the stage to receive their shining Saturn Award for their contributions to our favorite genres.

Be sure to click here and check out the entire list of honored films and award recipients.

After the ceremony we ambled off to the after party, and schmoozed with celebrities and other Hollywood professionals, able to turn around to anyone in the room and ask their thoughts on the latest episode of Battlestar Galactica. It was great fun saying hello to John Voight, Niel McDonough, and Matt Reeves, and getting to talk to Guillermo del Toro and Doug Jones, who are some of the nicest people you will ever meet.

Thanks to Andrew for hooking us up, and Victor for coming with us! We would also like to extend our very special thanks to Robert Holguin for the invitation, it was a blast, we hope to see you again next year!

Quandary Goes West

In a slight change of pace from spaceships and alien crabs, Quandary does cinematography and production design on Richard Heredia Arriaga's western short, Borderlines.

Filmed on the San Francisco University sound stage, it was a great opportunity to delve into the old west, and the production was a great collaboration of friends and ideas.

Principal photography was completed over four days, where a full blown saloon and actors decked out in period costumes were captured on film, and shipped in and out in record time. The finished film is expected to be completed in December 2008.

Be sure to check out pictures from the set.

and Click here for more on the production design.

Saturn Awards & Website Extreme Makeover Edition

June 24th, Quandary will be attending the 34th annual Saturn Awards. In preparation for the event we have given the Heat of the Argos website an overhaul, and made it look as fancy as we feel!

Also for the event we are burning over 500 promotional Argos DVD's that will be included in gift bags being given to the attendees. In order to give them that special, personalized touch (and in order to cut down on costs) we decided to burn them all by hand. So if you are one of the recipients of the these gift bags and happen to be reading this, perhaps keep this in mind as you casually toss our disk into that shoebox full of old AOL CDs and turbo tax floppies from the early nineties. We thank you.

Lastly, we are greatly honored to be able to attend our fellow sci-fi enthusiasts, good luck to all the nominees. And as always, be sure to spread the word, and join the Argos newsletter to stay up to date with events and news!

Also, Pow!