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Day 419 Photoshoot completed…

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The entire cast of main characters from Depleted: Day 419 got their marketing photography done this past weekend by Nathan Eckelbarger in the backwoods of Kentucky. 

Unfortunately, due to a communication error from from Director Jeremy Hanke, while everyone was lathered in sunblock, no one was covered in insect repellant.  As such, everyone got brutalized by insect bites.  Kat Carney got over a hundred bites and Jeremy Hanke, who’s alergic to insect bites, had to take two days to recuperate from the swelling with heavy doses of antihystemines.  Everyone’s up and functional now and the photoshoot turned out well. 

One of the most complex shots was a massive mural-sized poster that was taken involving multiple pictures stitched together around Kat Carney and Eric Henninger’s characters composed of a massive nest of unruly woods.  The finalized photo was a masterful example of photographic technique on the part of Nate Eckelbarger, as well as his wizardry in jigsawing all the pieces together from an organic background in Photoshop.

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Day 419 Principle Photography Completed

Depleted Day 419 Principle Photography

Depleted Day 419 Principle Photography
Staring down the barrel of HVX200 with Redrock Micro M2Encore rig.

The Depleted Day 419 shoot went very well despite a number of setbacks related to locations at the last minute.  The complex shoot involved a large fight sequence that required a lot of creativity from fight choreographer Jay Kerr and DP Nate Eckelbarger.  The film was shot with an HVX200 (kindly loaned to us by tech writer, Tom Stern) and the Redrock Micro M2Encore 35mm lens adapter system, as well as Eckelbarger’s impressive collection of glass.  The fights were filmed at 60 fps, further increasing the light demands for gaffer Steven Mathews in the depleted space which was sculpted by Production Designer and Art Director, Sarah Jane Gray.  Frankfort’s Dave’s Airsoft helped by providing a lot of the necessary green gas for the elaborate gunfight!

As an army marches on its stomach, Chicago-style stuffed pizzas were provided by the Nicholasville, KY branch of Papa Murphy’s pizza.  This delicious food helped everyone keep trucking throughout the shoot!

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First weekend of Fight Training for Depleted: Day 419…

Fight Choreographer Jay Kerr wielding test battle equipment.
 
 
 
 
 

Fight Choreographer Jay Kerr wielding test battle equipment.
Jay Kerr shown wielding test battle equipment.

Fight choreographer, Jay Kerr (featured above), led the action players of Depleted: Day 419 through a rigorous first training for the dynamic action sequence featured in the film. Torrential rains flooded Central Kentucky during the choreography, but the hard work continued indoors.

In addition to an elaborate gunfight involving seven shooters, there is an elaborate knife fight between Nash Fitch (Eric Henninger) and James Rockland (David Haney). The knife fight features two custom blades created specially for the film by Jay Kerr, who’s also an accomplished knife smith, and by knifemaker, survivalist, and police officer, Gabe Kinderknecht. Fans of the film will have a chance to bid on these one of a kind mementos down the road after all principle photography is completed.

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Updates so far for May…

Depleted Mockup, Poster 1

 

Depleted Mockup, Poster 1

News for Depleted fans include the casting of the Depleted: Day 419 project, as well as additional folks who are going to be involved with it.

The speaking cast for Depleted:Day 419 is:

Kat Carney as Jenna Whitmore

Tim Smith as Andre

Eric Henninger as Nash Fitch

David Haney as James Rockland

Additionally, we now have a few new folks that are bringing their abilities to the film franchise. Graphic designer Craig McDaniel brings his excellent skills to the table for poster, website, and other forms of graphic design while photographer and DP Nate Eckelbarger is bringing his talents to the table both for the publicity photos and cinematography of Depleted: Day 419. (Both contributed their skills for the included poster, starring Kat Carney.)

Paul Battista from Mind Fusion Law is coming up to provide legal representation for the Depleted project, as their firm has extra specialization in low budget Independent films. In addition to being a talented lawyer, he’s also an accomplished filmmaker. In fact, MFM reviewed his great book on low-budget film producing before choosing to retain his services. Gabe Kinderknecht will be providing brand new highly useful YouTube videos on how to survive an apocalypse like the Fall by showing you how to hunt for food, find water, get edible plants, make knives, make bows and arrows, and what to acquire for guns! Look for those in the near future on the World of Depleted YouTube page.

Additional news includes the fact that survivalists Jay Kerr and

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Locking Together the Information for World of Depleted…

Website Splash Page Picture

 

Website Splash Page Picture
Early Website Splash Page

As we continued to labor on the World of Depleted project, we’ve had continued breakthroughs in folks becoming involved.

We’ve lined up many of the bands that will be utilized in the feature by talking to Creative Commons bands listed on Jamendo and then talking with them about a specialized usage agreement for the film. The great bands that have signed up so far are as follows:

Deathboy – Industrial band from UK with dark and brutal lyrics that interweave well with the dark and foreboding World of Depleted.  

Josh Woodward – Ohio’s folk superstar has massive amounts of amazing songs to provide the softer and more poignant side of Depleted. – Two fine bands from Washington DC have teamed up for some amazing songs that add soulful depth to the World of Depleted.

Sekshun 8 – This Viriginia hard rock band has songs that are packed full of power and whose brutalized lyrics work well with the World of Depleted.

Dirty Scarab and Fools & Horses

Audra Hardt – LA’s hard rocking siren brings her sweeping vocals to Jenna’s journey in Depleted.

Additionally, we’ve now launched the official World of Depleted Facebook page and the World of Depleted YouTube page (complete with new video blogs and how-to videos).

The official website is being crafted as we speak and should launch in June. (It currently serves as a portal to the Facebook page.)

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The Progression of Depleted

Depleted Poster, Mockup 2

As we’ve progressed forward with Depleted, we’ve begun to flesh out the elements of a Depleted feature which we plan to shoot in May, 2011. Jeremy Hanke will be writing and directing it, as well. The film will follow Jenna Whitmore and her five companions as they make their way through the destroyed remnants of the United States of America to board the last ship. The feature will be packed with action and is currently slated to be shot with the RED Scarlet fixed lens and the Redrock Micro M2Encore system, provided the camera is available for use at that point. The Depleted: Day 419 film is slated to be shot in May, 2010 on the HVX200 with Redrock Micro M2Encore lens adapter setup. Casting will be done in April with a general casting call. Web designer Joel Robertson is kindly coming on to help with the website for the World of Depleted. Marketing specialist, Sheri Candler, is offering her expert help as we look forward to marketing both the feature and the World of Depleted itself.

The beautiful and talented Kat Carney is coming on board to portray Jenna Whitmore, both in the short and in the feature. Director Jeremy Hanke had directed her on Eric Henninger’s film, Collide, and had been extremely impressed with her presence and passion on that film. She also starred in Tom Stern’s film, Lives Left. (Tom Stern’s brilliant technical reviews have been frequent contributions to MFM throughout the years.)

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The World of Depleted…

Depleted Poster, Mockup 3
Depleted Poster, Mockup 3
Depleted Poster, Mockup 3

In 2010, Viking Productions and MicroFilmmaker Magazine started a project to unite the world. The concept was so high profile that it seemed utterly impossible. Attempting a massive film project in two of the most costly film genres in existence: science-fiction and action. Not only that, but we set out to get filmmakers from all over the globe to contribute short films, starting with hand selected, award-winning filmmakers and then opening the doors up to anyone who was interested.  

The world we created was called “Depleted:” a world that is amazingly similar to our world, but with a major difference: everything has changed through our own hands. The world has become a dystopian and depopulated one after a series of terrorist attacks led to mass paranoia, government lockdown and civil war known simply as the Fall. It didn’t require a nuclear war or a zombie apocalypse. It just required mankind being what man is so often guilty of: bound to fear, hysteria, hate, and selfishness. In this dark world, people either follow a path of good or a path of evil. Because of the universality of this world, it’s been one that many filmmakers have been excited to get involved with. Additionally, it serves as a way for them to test their abilities with low-budget science fiction and action. 

In the midst of this world, we at MFM and Viking are crafting a series of films, which will begin with Depleted: Day 419, written and directed by Jeremy Hanke. This film follows Jenna Whitmore, a beautiful and brilliant former undercover journalist, who now makes her living as a papers forger in a small river town in post-Fall Kentucky. In the course of this introductory film, she’ll have to discover who she can trust if she’s to get out of her current arrangement alive!