Gabe:There are just some things a person should know before they die.
Welcome back, race fans! It’s amazing how time flies when you’re in production and on limited sleep! I believe my last e-mail was back in Week 21, so apologies for not keeping you all up to date. We have some pretty big announcements to make, and some fun new ways to follow Greyscale through its production.
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1321390/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/greyscalemovie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=10771780212&ref=ts
Blog: www.darosfilms.com/blog
.:Triumvirates
When we set out to create Greyscale, we were looking at putting some money aside to get one recognizable name/face attached to the project. Well, it is my incredibly pleasure to announce that we have
THREE.
1) Anthony Tyler Quinn - Playing Jonathon Cole. We shot his scenes early on in October. You might remember him from his days on Boy Meets World.
2) Tim Russ - Playing Gavin Calhoun. He is flying in this Saturday to film all of his scenes on Sunday and Monday. You might remember him from Star Trek: Voyager or Samantha Who.
3) Doug Jones - Playing Jamison. He is coming in December. You might remember him from Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy 1 & 2, or playing the role of the Silver Surfer in the Fantastic 4 sequel.
We have been immensely blessed with a wealth of talent here, and I can’t wait to see what Tim and Doug will bring to Greyscale (Tony already knocked it out of the park). Also, many thanks to Calix Reneau and Brandon Rice for helping us out with getting these greatly talented actors!
.:Stats
Some statistics that might interest you:
-We are
57% finished with shooting the movie
-
74 pages of the script has been shot, covering
97 scenes
-We have been on location for
166 hours, over
22 outings
We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but we are incredibly excited as a cast and crew to keep bringing this story to life. As a little bonus, we have an unofficial teaser trailer for you to take a peek at if you haven’t already: http://www.vimeo.com/2177494. It is just temp music, but it provides a little taste with the visual style we’re going after.
Day 1 was frought with nervousness and excitement as we were let in by security to use the main lecture hall I spent many an hour in during my time in the film studies program at my alma mater: The University of Tulsa. The first scene shown chronologically in the movie’s timeline was the scene where Oliver (our protagonist) meets his wife-to-be, Julia in a classroom.
After seven months of pre-production, gear acquisition, screenplay revisions, and logistic wrangling, we yelled “Camera’s up! Quiet on the set! Action!” for the first time. It was a surreal moment as I thought, “wait… this is actually going to be in the finished product…” Currently the first time we rolled is what’s sitting in the rough edit as the best of the takes, and I hope it stays in.
Scenes filmed:
-Oliver & Julia’s meetcute @ The University of Tulsa
Oliver: You’re brother’s worried about you. Wanted me to give you a message if I could find you.
Roger: Why isn’t he looking for me?
Oliver: Who says he isn’t?
.:Excitement
This Saturday we bring all of our equipment out for the first time to shoot something that will be a cornerstone of Greyscale and most likely will make it into the trailer: Oliver and Julia meeting in college. We’re shooting at my alma mater, and even in the room where I spent many hours taking the night film classes. It’s fitting. And we even have the head of the film studies department standing in as the professor in the classroom.
John (our brilliant DP) and I went to the location and blocked out every single setup for the day. It’s quite an experience to go from 7 months of imagining the scene in one’s head to being on location and visualizing how things will run. I’m sure seeing the footage and then editing it will being other new levels of excitement over the project.
.:I’ll be in my _______.
Due to the generous donation of time and effort of Dave & Lory Dunlap… we now have a trailer/motorhome. Mostly for when weather gets bad, or we need cook something… or an actor is feeling persnickity… Just another step that makes this feel more real.
.:Casting
We’ve finally made our selections for the roles based on those that came out to the casting call. Calls and emails should go out this week.
.:Pictures
You’d think I’d have more to say 2 days before we start principle photography… I’m mostly speechless (excepting for above sentences…) and can’t believe Greyscale is finally coming to life. It is a humbling and awe-inspiring feeling and the feeling is the undeniable payoff for all of these months of anticipation.
I’ll leave you with a few screenshots from last Saturday’s equipment test/callback for one of our roles.
Oliver storms over to a drawer, shuffling some art supplies.
RACHEL: You’re not looking for this, are you?
He turns back to see her holding a pistol.
RACHEL (CONT’D): You should probably lock this thing up.
Never know who might get their hands on it.
(tosses Oliver the pistol) You’re going to need that where you’re going.
OLIVER: (leveling the pistol at her) I’m not going anywhere until you tell me where she is.
RACHEL: (sauntering forward, pushing the gun aside) Oh, I think you are.
In fact, I think you’ll go wherever I tell you to go.
You see Oliver, people pay very well for secrets.
So the question is: will you pay for yours, or hers?
.:10 Days…
We’re currently set to begin principal photography in about 10 days. We’re cleaning house on paperwork and are excited for when we get to hit record for the first time. Each weekend has been filled with equipment tests, rehearsals, and we’re just about to extend offers to those that came out to the casting call here pretty shortly.
.:War Room
I’m not sure what else says “War Room” than a large whiteboard marked all over in various colors and with various checkboxes to note the progress of the movie. Well, we have one now, and it is a beautiful thing. No longer do I have to juggled what we have to do next with what has been done with all those other pesky “real life thoughts” (in fact, I think my lawn is in need of a good mowing, but such thoughts are distracting).
.:Soundtrack
Before I became a filmmaker, I was a musician. Which is to say that I am very much a proponent of having fitting music for the project, be it a score or background music (or credit music). We are currently in the process (and by “we,” I mean Calix, our LA producer) of tracking down talented acts that would have an interest in putting a track on the Greyscale Soundtrack. The songs would either appear in one format or another in the movie or in the credits, and we would have a CD we would put together aside from the movie itself. If you or someone you know has a musical act with a great song that you might think would be an asset to the production, let us know and we can have a listen. We’re currently looking for 12 tracks, by the by.
.:Marketing
We’re also looking to explore any local media connections in regards to Greyscale, be it radio, television, internet, flyers, tattoos… ok, ok, not flyers… so if you know anyone that is in the news or radio business, we’d love to explore that connection as well. One reason we have these “weekly” updates is to create a general awareness of this project before we have it in the can. Nothing worse than finishing a movie and nobody knowing about it.
Speaking of “weekly” updates, we should be on Week 20 for all accounts, but we’ve been fuzzy on what a “week” is…
Things to look for as we progress:
-A new website
-A professionally done poster
-Behind the scenes footage
-Interviews, and more!
Oliver and Rachel come to an open area and cautiously look around for any signs of Calhoun activity.
Suddenly, a shot CRACKS next to Oliver and the pair duck away and find cover behind a piece of large machinery, firing shots back.
OLIVER
(dryly)
RACHEL
Oh yeah? What makes you say that?
Oliver pulls his shotgun around and fires a couple rounds off, hitting one henchman. He pulls back and loads up a couple more shells.
OLIVER
Just a hunch.
.:Delays
As we mourn the loss of the missing Week 15, I thought I might treat you all to one of the newer (read: expanded) scenes that we put in after the enormous casting call response. Needless to say, we’ve been incredibly busy, and unfortunately the reporting of how the project has been progressing has fallen by the wayside. Fair warning… this will be a longer update…
.:Volition
Some of you have been with these filmmaking endeavors from the very beginning, so when I tell you that the newest LLC that will be running Greyscale is named “Volition Motion Pictures,” you might crack a smile at the reference. Then again, it might not be that amusing. One might ask themselves what happened to “Daros Films.” It’s still there, but conventional wisdom suggests a 2nd LLC to handle the movie separately for legal protection of assets (read: we don’t want to lose all our equipment we have in Daros if something happens to Greyscale).
.:$
We’re in talks with another big actor at the moment, which blows me away. What’s even more exciting is that we might be able to speak with an actor that is a personal favorite of mine… whom I actually based one of the large roles in Greyscale off of (yes, I just ended that sentence with a preposition…). In other exciting news, we’re in talks with some potential sources of funds. While we have enough to go ahead and begin production later this month, more money would be more than welcome on just about any independent feature…
While I’m not legally able to solicit any funding from anybody I don’t personally know, I will say that I am excited that it appears that we’ve discovered a way for just about anybody to contribute/invest in the movie at just about any level. We’re still working out the paperwork, but no longer is movie investing solely in the hands of people with large amounts of money (granted, we wouldn’t turn them away by any means…)
.:SAG
Minor delays since we switched from Daros Films to Volition Motion Pictures, but things are churning along swimmingly and things are firming up… and we will be killing at least a small forest with the amount of paperwork we’ll be sending in. After that, we should be able to begin making offers for those that attended the casting call.
.:Meetings
Last Sunday we had our largest meeting yet with about 17 people meeting to discuss the movie, where we acquired new crew members and discovered some great potential locations. Many thanks to everyone who came out!
.:Mr. Producer from LA
Lastly, I’d like to send a big thank you to our new producer from Los Angeles, Calix Reneau! He has been an incredible resource to Greyscale from the beginning and has been hooking us up some excellent LA connections (remember aforementioned actors). Well, we are proud to announce that we have officially brought him on as a Producer.
Well, that’s about it for this week. We’re hurtling toward the beginning of production, and it feels like we’re just getting started. If you’re interested in any aspect of the project (cast/crew/etc), feel free to let us know and we can talk.
Oliver is tied to a chair and wakes up in a staring match with Zach Donnelly.
Oliver keeps the game going until he coyly crosses his eyes at Zach.
Zach stands up and slaps Oliver hard across the face.
Oliver: That… was a bit excessive.
.:Casting
Last Saturday’s casting call went swimmingly! We had 55 hopefuls come out and try out some lines from the movie. We had some gems in there to be sure, and I’ll let you all in on a little secret… the Greyscale screenplay is undergoing a few revisions. Nothing absolutely major, but I have written in a few more roles.
There were only 6 speaking roles that were being read for on Saturday, and we had plenty more talent that I’d love to work with but didn’t necessarily have the room, so it seemed like the natural progression. Most of the roles are only in one or two scenes, and only a handful have lines, but it will still hopefully get more people involved in Greyscale, and this industry is all about who you know. But, again, a big thanks to everyone that came out! And also a big welcome to everyone that joined the mailing list afterward.
.:Crew-ing
We have a few new additions to the crew that we are very, very excited about. Hopefully we’ll have the website updated a bit more when the time rolls around for us to announce our casting decisions. Also, if you have any interest in getting plugged in regarding being a member of our crew, please don’t hesitate to e-mail us at
info@darosfilms.com.
.:The Rest
While we wait for the SAG contract to come through, we are now working on paperwork and preparations for wardrobe, makeup, locations, etc. Speaking of locations, does anyone know of a location that we could basically take over when we shoot for a couple mom & pop diner scenes as well as room that could feasibly pass as a painting studio that the main character has rented out and has to himself?
Those are two of our biggest needs right now. Keep your ear to the ground as we get closer to rolling!
Everyone, we are completely booked on Saturday, and then some.
Many thanks to everyone who replied, and we look forward to meeting the 50+ hopefuls!
Oliver: I hope you find what you’re looking for.
Gabe: I hope you find what you need.
.:Good News/Bad News
I think everyone is familiar with Good News/Bad News… here’s ours (not particularly in that order)…
Bad News: Greyscale has hit a minor snag in production, as we are in process of registering for a SAG (screen actors guild) contract, and we since we play by the rules, we aren’t going to start filming until that goes through… which might place the beginning of production sometime in mid-september.
Good News: Without going into too much detail, the reason we need the SAG contract is because we are in negotiations with several professional SAG actors to be a part of Greyscale. We won’t release names until the proverbial ink is dry on the contracts, but we are incredibly, incredibly excited about how negotiations have been going thus far as we have already reached agreeable terms with one of those actors. And we are very thankful to those that know people who know people… We feel that this is a major turning point for this project.
Overall, this multiple week delay is probably quite a blessing in disguise. We would have been ready to start filming on the 28th, but this will just give us a bit more freedom to ensure we have our locations locked up, actors well rehearsed, and wardrobe fully funded and stocked.
.:Casting Call
We have had a tremendous response to our Casting Call for this coming Saturday! In fact, we’ve had to break down the time from 10 minute to 5 minute intervals from 1-5pm in order to make room for everyone. We might hit max capacity by Friday if we keep up this rate…
As a note to those that are auditioning… there are a couple more roles that are not listed on the sheet that are speaking roles, but only have a couple lines. Just remember that if you don’t land one of the major roles, there are opportunities for a few other roles… we just wanted to make sure that we can see your range in a more demanding role.
.:Lights!
Thanks to a roundabout tip from someone who picked up a nice new lighting kit on the cheap, we were able to secure a nice (small) Lowel light kit for HALF of the regular price, still new in the box. About $400-500 savings that was immediately shunted to another part of our budget. Not bad.
.:Crew
Now that we’ve had our casting call set up, I’m hoping to reach out to those with free weekends and production experience who would be willing to work for deferred pay and the chance to be a part of a feature length movie. While we’d like to pay the crew, everyone thusfar has agreed to working for deferred in the hopes that the money we do have will go to getting professional actors/names/faces that will allow us to get a much better shot at distribution and thus be able to potentially pay everyone involved more than the little amount of money that we’d be likely to get in without professional acting (my family can only buy so many copies of the DVD, sorry… 
).
Places we’re needing people: Lighting and grip experience, location sound recording, PA’s, continuity, and script supervisor.
If any of those sound like you all over, and you have your weekends mostly free (Friday starting at 6-10, Sat 8-8, and Sun from 1-8) then shoot me a line at DarosFilms@gmail.com with the title “Crew” and we’ll see what we can work out.
.:AD
We have filled our Assistant Director position, and the lovely and talented Gloria Roundtree will be the sweet face with the iron grip that rules the set and manages what would inevitably drive me insane if I had to manage it all myself. She’s already hard at work recruiting more talented folks and handling logistics. Many thanks for those who showed interest in helping out, and we still need people for the crew.
.:Viral
What we need now is YOU. We need you to get excited about this movie as it hurtles forward, and the more buzz we get about this independent movie being shot in Tulsa, OK, the more people know about it by the time it comes out, the better chance of it succeeding. So, tell your family, friends, pets, and anyone else who will listen about a the little black and white independent film that is just beginning production!
This was a terribly long week to write, but only because so much is happening!
Casting Call for the feature length movie, Greyscale
Saturday, Aug 16th
1:00-5:00pm
5200 S Yale Suite 300,
Tulsa, OK
Please call ahead to schedule a 10 minute block. The outside doors will be locked so we need to know when to expect you to let you in.
For any questions or scheduling a time, please e-mail at DarosFilms@gmail.com or call 918-630-6169.
Audition sheets are available for the following characters: Gavin, Alex, Jamison, Jonathon, Millie, Roger, and Waitress. Due to plot sensitive scenes, the audition scripts will only be sent when requested instead of being posted online. Please use discretion upon receiving them.
Otherwise, scripts will be provided at the location.
If you are interested but want to know more about the project, look below at the roles.
Casting needs:
Note: All pay is based on deferred payment.
Lead Roles ($250 per day):
Gavin Calhoun, main antagonist
(Late-20s to Early-50s)
Leader of a crime syndicate after untimely passing of his older brother. Dresses well and keeps a trim and neat appearance.
APPROX 2-4 DAYS
Alex Farrell, main antagonist
(Late-30s to Mid-50s)
Right hand man to a late crime boss, and now adviser to Gavin. Has a slightly sadistic bent under an otherwise cool exterior. Dresses nicely and doesn’t like to get messy, with the exception of torture.
APPROX 2-4 DAYS
Jamison, main antagonist
(Late 20s to Early-50s)
Gavin’s primary muscle and enforcer with an inquisitive sense of sadism. Gets enjoyment from his work.
APPROX 3-5 DAYS
Supporting Roles ($200 per day):
Jonathon Cole, undercover cop
(Late 40s to Early 60s)
Main character’s late father-in-law. Undercover cop. Tough but kind. Only shown in flashbacks.
APPROX 1-3 DAYS
Millie, diner waitress
(Late 40s-Late 50s)
Wisened diner waitress. Outgoing facade to cover her insecurities.
APPROX 1-2 DAYS
Roger Canton, runaway teen
(17-21 Note: Could also be played by female if the role is read well.)
Younger sibling of Dan (already cast); runaway, got into trouble and is in hiding.
APPROX 1 DAY
Featured Roles ($100 per day):
Waitress
(Late Teens - Late 30s)
Diner waitress that has worked long shifts and doesn’t much care for her job.
APPROX 1 DAY
Man in Car
(Mid-20s to Early-40s)
Man riding in a car that offers information for money.
APPROX 1 DAY
Police Officer
(Mid-20s to Early-40s)
Man riding in a car that offers information for money.
APPROX 1 DAY
Featured Extras Roles ($75 per day):
SWAT Team x4
(Mid-20s to Early-40s)
In shape, look the part for SWAT. Only photos necessary.
APPROX 1 DAY
Calhoun Thugs x2
(Mid-20s to Early-40s)
In shape, look the part for a thug. Only photos necessary.
APPROX 1 DAY
Calhoun Guards x2
(Mid-20s to Early-40s)
In shape, look the part for a thug. Only photos necessary.
APPROX 1 DAY
DeNofrio Thugs x2
(Mid-20s to Early-40s)
In shape, look the part for a thug. Only photos necessary.
APPROX 1 DAY
DeNofrio Lead Thug
(Mid-20s to Early-40s)
In shape, look the part for a thug. Only photos necessary.
APPROX 1 DAY
Extras Roles ($35 per day):
-College students x 10-15, 1 day/evening.
-Coffee shop patrons x 7-15, 1 evening.
ABOUT GREYSCALE
Greyscale is an independent film that will be shot in the Tulsa Metro area beginning in late August until around December (certain weather and environment logistics are causing us to draw out filming in sections).
It will be filmed primarily on the weekends. Friday evenings, all day Saturday, and Sunday after noon are all fair game. We will work with schedules, but we need people to commit to agreed upon times.
The project will be shot on HVX200 with a Brevis35 lens adapter and edited in HD.
The genre is neo-noir, and without going too much into the plot, it shares similarities with Memento and Brick. It will be primarily in black and white with flashbacks and memories in color, due to the main character having gone colorblind.
Thank you for your interest, and again, feel free to send all inquiries to DarosFilms@gmail.com
OLIVER (V.O.)
My father used to tell me a story
about a young man that waited at a
train station. Every day he would
watch the trains come and go…
.:Week 12
You might be asking yourself, “Self, what happened to Week 12??” Well, we all know 12 is unlucky, so like hotels, we skipped it. Wait… Anyway, Sarah and I had an excellent trip to NYC, and took a grand total of 1,541 photos, and picked up a nice 15mm fisheye lens that might be used for Greyscale (might need to use it for looking through a peephole shot…), and I got to visit B&H’s main store (the place where we’ve been purchasing the vast majority of our equipment).
.:CASTING CALL!
We have a date and a location set, so tell your actor friends. The list of roles needed to fill will shortly be posted on www.DarosFilms.com/blog and www.GreyscaleMovie.com. Right now, we’re looking at:
1:00-5:00pm, Saturday the 16th of August
5200 S Yale, Tulsa, OK
Suite 300
If you are interested in auditioning for any of the roles that we will be posting here (probably will be up this evening), please either call me at 918-630-6169 or email me at DarosFilms@gmail.com. We’re hoping to do this by appointment, so please let us know when you would be available during this time. If any of these times don’t work for you, we may be able to make arrangements.
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