Quandary Film and Animation

Ride out the election in style!

2008-11-04T09:17:00.000-08:00

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

2008-07-21T18:35:00.000-07:00

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!

(click to enlarge)

"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

2008-07-07T15:02:00.001-07:00

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.

(click to enlarge)

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

Oh, the foolishness.

Building From Scratch

2008-07-07T14:27:00.001-07:00

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?

(click to enlarge)

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.

(click to enlarge)

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.

(click to enlarge)

34th Annual Saturn Awards. Awesome.

2008-06-29T20:14:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-19T12:31:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-09T11:53:00.000-07:00

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!

Argos, With Puppets!

2008-04-09T22:03:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Spenser and I created the placeholders for the FX shots for Heart of the Argos. Using our newly realized talents with foam core and hot glue, we had constructed mildly accurate scale models of the different space elements that will be seen in the film. With these we lit and filmed them as if they were the actual shots, so that we can have an accurate representation of their duration, and how they will fit in the flow of the movie.I think I had a little too much fun doing the puppeteering of the small scale Argos spaceship as it zooms around in space. We attached the model to a bit of stiff wire and puppeteered manually by me, while some long black woman's opera gloves (which are oh so sexy). Surprisingly it created a very convincing effect, my hand and the wire was invisible on the video. Old school is sometimes the best school.

I think the best part was when we took the whole operation to the park and started flying it around the sandbox.

Last Chance to Party!

2008-03-16T20:50:00.000-07:00

Thursday, March 27th Quandary is hosting a spring break shindig at the Milk Bar - 1840, Haight Street, San Francisco.

Event starts at 8:00pm, featuring DJ Nyce, and of course the ever popular $2 beers (and some sort of cocktail)

Proceeds from the door will go towards completion of Heart of the Argos, so come on out and party with us, and others from the Argos crew!

Special thanks to Milk, and Argos producer Aaron Zaragoza for coordinating all this.

Don't miss it!

Models to Scale

2008-03-10T20:55:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

Well it's pretty much been business as usual around here at Quandary. After returning from a brief adventure to Legoland I'm back to work at our headquarters, and have got some cool stuff to show off that we completed before I left.

The scale model of the Argos is complete! Not quite sure what scale it actually is any more (it kinda changed as we made it). Spenser and I have made the decision to create all the ships and space objects in the film using models, as opposed to digital 3D.
We like the idea of doing things outside the computer. Remember how cool the spaceships looked in the original star wars? Those we're models made from plastic and hot glue, and they still look awesome! For the most part (there are exceptions) we've never been fully satisfied with the 3D 'look', and at our current level (with no money) it would be near to impossible to get something to match our vision. With physical models however, where Spenser and I can physically control the lighting, camera, texture and background, we can create something that fits with the rest of the film (fingers crossed)

Our animation director Ijah Garfield has been hard at work engineering the little space critters that will inhabit the ship. The stop motion filming will take place over the course of the next few months (pending funding) where Ijah and his team of animators will create the extra footage we need involving our beloved little space crabs. His awesome concept art and animation test footage coming soon!

And lastly I figured I'd tack these on because they're great. Spenser found these on an old roll of film, character pics from our music video Charlie!

Argos Teaser Trailer - Take 2

2008-02-10T19:33:00.000-08:00

So you may have already noticed the new Argos teaser trailer, which now uses actual footage from the movie and not just the crappy video tap thankyouverymuch. But I forgot to mention it before, so I'm doing it now! (yay!)

The quality is still less than half of what it's going to be when we get the full resolution scan (it's even less of course here online because your watching it with youtube quality) but basically it's going to look awesome. The only thing we are missing are the funds for these last steps...

Our effects department is counting on you! If you'd like to contribute and play an important role in the completion of the film, please stop by the donate page, or send us an email to talk to us directly at Quandary@QuandaryFilms.com we'd love to hear from you!

And without further ado, here's the new teaser trailer:

Quandary's In Camera

2008-01-22T12:31:00.000-08:00

As you casually flipped through the latest issues of your favorite 'industry' magazines this month, you probably noticed a certain feature! Wait... you don't spend all your time reading about the latest technology in film production? Well that's okay, now's your chance!

Kodak's January (2008) edition of In Camera Magazine was kind enough to publish a story on Heart of the Argos. As you flip past pages featuring the television show, "Chuck" and the latest film with Phillip Seymore Hoffman, you stumble upon a concise, well-written article addressing both creative and technical aspects we used to film Heart of the Argos. It was great to have a chance to discuss topics like, the choices that were made to create a visual style, and why we prefer shooting on film over digital.

(Click the image below to read the full article)

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Gail Sanchez, Sally Christgau and all the fine folks at In Camera for the attention!

Pimp My Spaceship

2008-01-16T20:37:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, happy new year! It's time for a nice juicy Argos artwork update that has been a long time coming. You've now seen a taste of what the Argos looks like on the inside, and I know you're wondering what this crazy spaceship looks like on the outside. Well for those of you who are curious, here's a first look at some of the designs.

(click thumbnails to enlarge)

Spenser and I each spent some time on our own doodling various spaceship possibilities, then we came together and tossed our ideas around. Some ideas got stuck in the ceiling fan, some were a bit outlandish, but after many iterations we came up with something that we both liked.

After the design meetings and the doodles I went off to my lair in the garage and tried to pull the ship off of flat paper and into three dimensions. For some reason the medium I felt was best suited for this task would be popsicle sticks (don't ask me why, they felt less intimidating). I was somewhat successful, enough so that we decided to take it to the next level.
What we have next is a work in progress. It is based on the second design sketches, and the version I've been drawing for special FX placeholders in the rough edit, which include the large cylindrical engines on the side (those are the tricky part). These side engines, two more from the back (there are seven total) the cockpit and the bottom "rudder" bit still need to be added. For this model we are using foam core, some sort of heavy poster board I found in the garage, and hot glue (which I believe is like the force, because it binds the galaxy, and everything it touches together).
In conclusion, work continues, more updates to follow! We always like to hear what you think, and be sure to join the Quandary newsletter and stay up to date with the latest news and events! (don't worry we won't spam you, we're too busy to do it unless it's announcing something cool)

Enjoy the new year!

Editing of the Argos

2007-12-28T21:05:00.000-08:00

(click the image to enlarge for an exciting episode of Editing of the Argos, with Quandary!)

So! With our shiny new footage, we have been clocking some serious hours, trying to get a rough cut done by Tuesday of next week. I know, sounds super exciting and like we are getting close to being done right? Sorry, wrong. This is the first rough draft of the film, used only as an example of the direction we are going to help ourselves, and our post production crew get started on the next leg of our epic journey. It will be agonized over for the next few months in meticulous detail (I'll probably be heading up the agonizing department, and Spenser will harrumph when something's not right)

If you are interested in joining the crew, please email producer Andrew Richards at Andrew@DistantThunderFilms.com
We are mainly looking for people located in the Bay Area (or possibly LA) to do: compositing, matte painting, particle FX, and digital retouching. Or if you have any brilliant ideas on funding, or have millions of dollars you don't really want, we'd love to hear from you! Email us at Quandary@QuandaryFilms.com

Q out!

Winterly Greetings From Space!

2007-12-23T21:08:00.000-08:00

Quandary is officially stoked to announce… that we did it! We got our film from Heart of the Argos transferred! For the past few months we have been sitting around wracking out brains, twiddling our fingers, (and recovering from the shoot) trying to scrape together the funds to get our 6,000 feet of processed film negative transferred into a usable computer format. This process is called telecine, and is a very important step in the editing process.

It all happened rather fast to tell you the truth. This past Monday I took the plunge and called up a company in LA called Fotokem, who does telecine. Between bouts of the usual “hold please” music and various receptionists, I was connected with our friendly sales rep, Ray. Before I knew it, I was talking with the scheduling department, and we were suddenly set for a supervised eight-hour telecine session that Thursday. “Eeep! We’re going to see the footage!” was the mantra for the rest of the week.

It was crazy. We drove down Wednesday, partied at Claremont College, got up at 5:00 am and drove to Fotokem. It was great, they really treat you right at these professional production houses (especially when you’re paying them). We walked in to the sleek entry hall, and when I gave my name to the receptionist she asked, “Oh, are you here for Austin Powers or Heart of the Argos?” Heheh.

For the rest of the day we hung out in Telecine Suite #3 with our colorist, Frank, as he transferred our glorious negatives. This was the first time that we were actually able to watch our film, and for most of the time I think I was watching with my mouth open. Spenser regained his cool first, and was soon asking Frank to tweak colors and adjust brightness and such. It is amazing how much control a veteran colorist like Frank has over raw film. Unlike digital, the film color and brightness is adjusted with light, and this keeps the image crisp and rich. Frank was an expert technician and knew what every button on his sci-fi looking control station did. (except one, but he said no one uses it anyway).

Basically, our Christmas wish has come true, and even now as I write this we are working on syncing sound files, cataloging clips, and getting ready to jump headfirst into editing next week. Thanks Santa.

In celebration of the transfer, Quandary will be releasing nine screen captures over the course of the next few weeks. Be sure to visit (and tell your friends!). There will be a new capture released every other day, only at www.HeartoftheArgos.com

Also be sure to sign up for our newsletter, and be kept updated about events and other exciting news.

Until next time, happy holidays!

Sold Your Stuff for Our Space Adventure!

2007-12-11T14:13:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a little quiet around, but that doesn't mean we haven't been busy!

This past weekend featured a sale / publicity event in Alameda, continuing the effort to raise funds for post production. Thanks to our dedicated team, the many generous donations for the sale, and the help of our ever supportive family and friends the event was a success.

A special thanks to Patrick Newman for organizing the event, the Matarrase family for the press release, Sam Messe for help with publicity, and especially to Victor and his family for the use of their gorgeous front yard and help with the sale.

The proceeds from the event are going to the next step for Heart of the Argos, which is the transfer of the raw film negative to a digital format which we will use to begin the process of editing.

More events are on the horizon, along with updates on our progress: work has begun on a physical model of the Argos spacecraft, music is being scored, concept art is being... conceptualized, and much much more.

If you haven't, remember to stop by the donations page (and tell your friends too!) Every little bit brings us one step closer to completion!

The Enigma

2007-11-08T21:08:00.001-08:00

The Engima. What is it? What is it about? When will it be finished? How long has it been in production? Why is that guy wearing a cape? Who are you people? Why are you looking at me like that?

These questions, and many more like them are going to be answered.

In the mean time, check out these unprecedented photographs for an exclusive look behind the scenes of Quandary's mysterious project, The Enigma.

Winner: Best Action Short

2007-11-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

Men in suits wins it's first award! It was chosen as 'best action short' in the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. Check it out on their website, along with the other winning selections. 2 Men in Suits screened in October in LA, on what was dubbed "the comedy night" paired with "best comedy feature" winner Ryan Duff and An Adventure of Captain Slam!

We are working on a quicktime export of the film so it will be viewable online at higher quality. For now it can be seen on our youtube account here.

Argos Teaser

2007-09-30T21:13:00.000-07:00

Now available online, the Argos Teaser!

I give you fair warning, it's very short, it's only footage recorded off the video tap (not the actual film quality or colors), but it makes us stoked to see it anyway. Hope you enjoy, we will try to keep more videos and other content coming as post continues!

Be sure to visit www.HeartoftheArgos.com to learn more.

Updates, Postproduction, and Ninjas

2007-09-27T21:22:00.000-07:00

Quandary website has been updated! Check out Spenser’s sweet new home page painting, as well as the new and improved Projects section.

Again if you are in the LA area be sure to check the New York Independent Film and Video Festival all this week! Tuesday, October 2nd at 6:00pm, 2 Men in Suits will be playing at the LAEMMLE SUNSET 5 theaters in West Hollywood (8000 Sunset Blvd. 90046) tickets are available. Producer Sam Messe and key grip Joe Matarrese are already there attending the festival, along with some of the Argos team, producer Andrew Richards and gaffer Phillip Matarrese. Be sure to stop by the booth and say hello!

In Argos news, post production on can really begin! We picked up the film negatives, six glorious thousand foot rolls neatly packed in personal pizza sized boxes. It’s a little nerve-wracking having the only copy of so much work just sitting in ones house. So I will be investing in a large fire-proof safe that will hopefully foil Shredder and the foot clan ninjas. Next step is to get a telecine and begin editing a rough cut.

Also check out some side-by-sides of the concept art and set pictures. More post production artwork and pictures to come!

And check back soon for the Argos teaser, which recently screened at the Coppela Theater before Patrick Newman’s film, “Phase” (thanks for the time slot and congrats on the movie buddy!)

2 Men in Suits Screens in Hollywood

2007-09-10T11:53:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, October 2nd at 6:00pm, 2 Men in Suits will be playing at the LAEMMLE SUNSET 5 theaters in West Hollywood (8000 Sunset Blvd. 90046) as part of the New York Independent Film and Video Festival.

If you are in the area, come on down, see the film and hang out with the production team! Tickets are now available online, and be sure to represent us by picking up VIP passes for 2 Men in Suits at the front desk. Spread the word!

Also, to celebrate the event, enjoy some 2 Men in Suits wallpapers! (right click and save image to download)

[X]press

2007-09-08T11:58:00.000-07:00

The Golden Gate [X]press features your friendly neighborhood Cinema Collective of San Francisco State University, and the Argos production! Many of the fine crew from Heart of the Argos are active members of the production-based film club on campus. Much love to Allison Baca for the article!

Read the article here.

Production Pictures

2007-09-04T18:44:00.001-07:00

Production pictures are up! Click here to view

I managed to max out our Flickr account (200, uhg) More will be added I’m as they are discovered or posted online by the rest of the crew (send me links guys!) and some point I'll get some of the little camera phone videos people took up as well, they are pretty awesome.

Also here’s some pictures from crew member Hans Grini (2^nd Assistant Camera)

…and straight from the gaffer of the Argos, pictures, videos, and random thoughts

In other news, Production Journal V is now online, enjoy!

Argos is in the Can!

2007-08-23T10:59:00.001-07:00

Yes it’s true; Heart of the Argos principal photography has been completed! Our precious film is in the can. Yesterday morning we waltzed into Monaco with our blue cooler filled to the brim with sixteen rolls of film, fresh from Spenser's fridge. Soon we can begin the next stage of the adventure, post-production.

First I would like to thank and congratulate our wonderful cast and crew for stepping up to the enormous challenges of this production (which were many) and performing with unrestrained dedication and skill. Also, many thanks to the family and friends who kept us all going with love and support, and most importantly, delicious home cooked meals! We could not have done it without you.

In the flurry leading up to production I gave up on keeping track of news on the site entirely, I didn’t even have time to get a hair cut, let alone process and chronicle the epic events that lead up to and carried through our nine day production. I don’t expect I will be able to capture such life changing experience through ramblings on a web blog, but I will do my best to at least state a few important or interesting things that occur to me in the next few days, for those of you that are interested. I encourage anyone from the cast or crew to write their impressions, stories and experiences, I will be happy to post them here. Keep an eye out for pictures and videos as well, here's a sneak peak:

Also, Patrick Newman, our behind the scenes videographer has been, and will continue working on web featurettes and special features for the DVD release which will give an inside look at the making of Heart of the Argos. Check out his latest entry to the production journals:

Hey Look, We're Famous!

2007-07-31T22:43:00.000-07:00

Check it out! Quandary was featured in the Oakland Tribune, full page too! Special thanks to Kari Hulac of the Tribune, and to Allison Baca for writing the article about our antics.

Online version of the article can also be found here at the Oakland Tribune: Bay Area Living Section

I’ll See YOU at the Oscars

2007-06-26T12:20:00.000-07:00

Great news! 2 Men in Suits has been officially accepted to the Independent Film and Video Festival New York. http://www.nyfilmvideo.com/2007/ny-july/schedule/ny-july-2007-schedule.html. It is playing at 6:00pm on Friday July 20^th, if you are in the area be sure to check it out. The film will also be playing in Los Angeles in September, hope to see you there!

More set pictures in the pictures section http://quandaryfilms.com/projects.html, and another production journal has been launched!

Donate Your Heart Out

2007-06-13T15:34:00.000-07:00

Yes it’s true, Quandary needs your help. Visit www.HeartoftheArgos.com and click the donate button to help invest in the future of young filmmakers. You might even learn a little about what it takes to make a movie.

Spread the word, tell your friends!

Quick! Lots to Report!

2007-06-13T11:49:00.000-07:00

Yes! We have been mighty busy around here at Quandary. There’s lots to report, and not much time to do it because I have to get back to working on the set. Here goes!

Production Journal II has launched. It focuses on our trip down to LA where we visited camera houses, equipment rentals, Mole Richardson, the ASC clubhouse, and Denny’s (for breakfast because we were in a hurry). Check back soon for the part III where we talk about why we’re shooting on film not digital, and get to see our interview with ASC cinematographer Isidore Mankofsky (who did lighting for the muppet movie! Awesome!)

More information added at www.HeartoftheArgos.com about the project, as well as a new Donate section.

New set pictures are up! I’ll take more soon, promise. The set is progressing by leaps and bounds with the aid of the crew. It already looks different than these latest pictures. I’m especially excited about getting to paint stuff because it’s beginning to look less silly and more space-age-ee. Next week our special effects supervisor will begin rigging effects lights and some mechanical marvels, more on that to come.

The casting department has just concluded two days of auditions for the three primary roles for Heart of the Argos. Spenser and I weren’t there personally, but we are looking forward to seeing the audition tapes and meeting potential actors at callbacks. Another round of auditions is set to take place next weekend in San Francisco.

Our producers up here in the Bay and down in LA are working hard nailing down logistics, drawing up budget lists, setting up our LLC, getting insurance, and much more. It will be quite an operation organizing and transporting the equipment we rent in LA up here, but these guys are defiantly up to the task.

On the horizon, costuming, script revisions, a film test on the set (pictures to come), lighting, props, special FX, and much more. Stay tuned!

I’ll conclude with an enormous thank you to everyone who has helped and become a part of this production, your skill and dedication is what is going to make this film happen.

Down With the Tubes

2007-05-14T18:26:00.000-07:00

Well it is a sad day. I hadn’t had the heart to tear down the thousands of tubes we had taped to the wall of my garage for the “Charlie” video. The set had been holding up quite nicely until the other day when I walked in to find that the tape just couldn’t take it any more, and our epic tube-rolled masterpiece had collapsed. Man, that was a lot of tubes. Don’t worry, they all got recycled.

Speaking of tubes, aren’t these awesome?! These are some TV tubes we’ve collected for the set. We’ve stepped up the pace on the art department end on the sci-fi in order to meet our filming deadline. Bianca Davies has joined the team and has been helping with texturing and development on some of the prop devices. Personally I’ve been trying to spend at least a few hours a day working out there. Mostly I’m spreading a messy a paste I concocted, made from sheetrock joint compound and paint, in order to get rid of the wood texture (urhg). The pros just buy nice wood and sand the crap out of it when doing fake metal surfaces, but we don’t have that kind of budget or patience so I’m working with what I have. (thanks Phill for the sheetrock joint compound!) Anyway, be sure to check out the sweet new set pictures.

Also, our “Charlie” video, along with a number of other really great films, was shown at the Coppela Theater in San Francisco, in a festival coordinated by the SFSU Cinema Collective. 2 Men in Suits has also been accepted to a couple of larger festivals, details at eleven (or whenever I find out more).

Launching the Odyssey

2007-04-30T14:58:00.000-07:00

We are proud to announce the first installment of the Heart of the Argos productions journals! Thanks to fellow filmmaker Patrick Newman, who has taken on documentation of the project, we will be posting a series of videos chronicling the making of our film over the next few months. These short broadcasts will feature our talented crew and the progress we make, giving an in-depth look of the work behind the scenes as we embark on this crazy adventure.

Also, be sure to check out the Project Page for set pictures and concept art as construction continues.

Quandary Screens at the Metreon

2007-04-19T18:39:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a night! April 18^th, 11:30pm, on a chilly Wednesday night, our action short 2 Men in Suits was shown on the big screen, leading off the premiere of our good friend’s film, actor/director Brett Sorem’s, Loaded. The night was a resounding success, and the movies were received with the enthusiasm of a lively audience. There is nothing quite like the theater experience. The lights dim dramatically, and amidst the crackle of popcorn and the slurping of overpriced soft drinks, suddenly you see your hard work blown up on a screen the size of a small building. Pretty sweet.

A huge thanks to Brett, Chris Snyder, and the rest of the Metron crew for the amazing opportunity, and to everyone who came out to support Brett and his awesome film. Show him some love at: www.myspace.com/loaded_film

Red Hot Music Video!

2007-04-18T17:29:00.000-07:00

Alright! We are proud to announce Quandary’s submission to the Red Hot Chili Peppers ‘Direct a Video’ contest for their song Charlie is now up on youtube! Hooray for exporting! We’re both a little delirious from sitting around in the office for days on end tinkering with export options in Avid (if any of you guys know some awesome high quality settings for youtube using Avid let us know!) Spenser has been spearheading the exporting operation, and I’ve been providing the moral support by humming along with the incessant guitar riffs coming through the wall from the recording studio, and coming up with awesome bad puns. I know, we make a great team. But my tedious work was done a few days ago, there are over 600 frames of animation in this video, and because I am technologically ignorant (and it just looks better), I drew them all by hand into Photoshop (flash animation is for n00bs anyway).

I found out about the contest about three weeks ago. At the time Spenser and I were up to our eyeballs in pre-production for our sci-fi movie, and as much as we love the Chili Peppers we decided we shouldn’t spend time on such a frivolous endeavor. One night over a couple glasses of Rootbeer we indulged in some creative brainstorming, and came up with some cool ideas. We decided that since we didn’t have the awesome band to film the only way it would work, would be to animate the performance half of the video. My thought was animation would take too long, Spenser mentioned something about stick figures, I scoffed, and we finished off the Rootbeer deciding that only morons try to make movies anyway.

A few days later for some reason I thought, “Hmm, what if I did try stick figures…” So I animated Flea, dressed in his Lakers outfit head banging with his bass. It came out looking perfectly absurd (which is what we wanted) I showed it to Spenser and all discussion was over. We had to make this video.

It was already late in the game as far as the contest was concerned so we had to act fast. A few more hours of brainstorming and a couple cans of Barq’s later we had our idea. Finding a location where we could fling paint around was near to impossible. So we decided on my garage. The problem was our spaceship set is taking up most of the room, so we had to work in the small alcove in the back.

After clearing out the stuff we took stock of our newfound location. It looked like the dingy back wall of my garage, not good. The walls needed texture, and we could cover everything else with plastic. We thought about putting rows of egg cartons on the walls which would have been cool, but we didn’t know where one would one get 500 egg cartons on short notice without raising suspicion. We had a big box of old drafts from scripts we had written, and somehow got it into our heads that if we rolled pages from the scripts into tubes and taped them to wall, it would look awesome. After eight hours, nine rolls of tape, and 1,892 paper tubes later, we defiantly were beginning to question our sanity. But the wall now had the “over the top” surreal quality we were looking for, so no complaints. But that was a lot of tube rolling.

Check out the video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0SY8JXb98Y