Red Moon Credits Make Us All Freak Out

Hey, did you know that sometimes we make movies? And sometimes the credits look like this?




(Via Sirocco Research Labs' Blog)

Red Moon Pre-Production

Ben and I leave tomorrow morning to head south to Los Angeles for round two of Red Moon shooting.

I'm very excited to get there and start working face-to-face with our Sirocco Research Lab chums. Lately our pre-production meetings have looked something more like this:

I hope to blog more often this time around, so keep your eyes on Breakfast for Dinner for up to date Red Moon production news. And stories. And gossip. And pictures of Ben in his underwear. And alllll that good stuff.

Whhhheeeewwww. Here we go!

And then they believed us that Red Moon was the prettiest movie we have ever made

New photos posted to the Sirocco Research Labs' Flickr. I told you we were making cool stuff.

PM turned AD (???!!!)

As of one month ago I was still a college student at Seattle University and basically sure I wanted to be a Project Manager (PM) for an ad firm. In one month time I have graduated from said college and promptly began considering a life of assistant director work (AD). I blame Red Moon and Jimmy Marble and Co.

The shoot for Red Moon was fantastic. Fantastic in the sense that we hardly slept for 7 days, Ben and the other actors/sailors completely perfected their Russian accents, I only showered twice, I got my own clipboard for AD work, we had the most awesome lego-man-like costumes made by Mr. Martin Morse, our sets looked like a gosh-darn submarine thanks to one Ms. Adi, faux beards were aplenty (hat tip at Ms. Murphy), we had a real crew, we had a REAL intern, we all fell madly in love with movie making and each other and lastly, we had a minor fire on set. Don't worry, no flammable beards/costumes/actors were harmed -- only minor damage on the set that won't even be visible when we begin shooting again. Yup. I said again. We will be back in Los Angeles at the end of this month to finish shooting some last bits of Red Moon. Really, we owe the fire a thank you card. We all will be reunited in all of our Red Moon productivity-meets-creativity love and glory.

Which brings me to my next thought -- I need more productivity and creativity in my life. I am living in Portland now, post-college pre-career, feeling awfully in-between and all I can bring myself to think about is how much I loved making movies. I mean, we're talking loved it. Assistant directing was a job I didn't even have a full concept of prior to the Red Moon shoot and now I can't get the idea of "Reardonk, AD" out of my mind. AD work filled a niche in my creative meets organized self that I have never found before. I made spreadsheets, I posted schedules, I ran back to wardrobe and picked up a needle to help on costumes, I discussed camera angles, I picked up power tools, I swept the floor, I calmed people down, I got people excited ... it was everything I love all rolled up into one glorious, clipboard-wielding job. I'm really in love.

I don't know for sure yet if I need to take a complete shift from my PM plans for a world of AD'ing, but I do know that in the one month I have been done with school I have had countless discussions with folks and many daydreaming bouts that have led me to one solid concept. I can say with almost completely certainty (which is 80% more than should be expected at my current life state) that I want to work in an environment where I can help manage creative projects that I really believe in and surround myself with productive people that push me to make more and do more.


I'll let you know how this all pans out. I'm really curious myself.


More on Red Moon to come, I promise. If you haven't already, check out some of my cell-phone camera stills from shooting on my Flickr. There should be more photos put up soon on the Sirocco Research Labs' Flickr.

Red Moon Poster by Sidearm Design

Everyone needs to take a look at Karl Peterson's blog immediately. Sidearm Design was sweet talked by Sirocco Research Labs to create the Red Moon movie poster. Below is the first round. It is so fantastic. Well done, Karl. Excited to see the final product. I also vote that you make posters for all the other SRL productions. The series would be so gorgeous.

the werewolf has paws

progress on the werewolf!

check out the Red Moon Flickr set for the making of the werewolf.

muppet to werewolf; project time

Cleo in the Universe provided The Sirocco Research Labs with a large array of projects. We built spacesuits and muppets and beautiful spaceship sets. And now we are ready for movie number two. Prepare yourself, blog readers. The next month will be a wild ride of project madness rolled up in a movie called Red Moon.

Red Moon is the next installment of the line of short films we are aiming to help produce this year with our dear friend Jimmy. It is a movie about a submarine, love, werewolfs and Soviet Russia. It's going to be fantastic. Jimmy has really done it with this one, folks. Real good stuff. Ben and I will be heading back to LA, home of the Sirocco Research Labs Headquarters (The Hang Zone), to film Red Moon the beginning of December. And by beginning of December I mean next week. Hot damn ... we've got some work to do!

First project on the docket is to build the werewolf suit, played by Mr. Sellon(B) himself. Ben, Annie and I are all chipping in to make this one materialize. It's a doozey. Ben and I started the mask last week and bought oodles and oodles of fur at the Fabric Depot -- all adventures that seem to be par for the course these days now that we are devoted Research Lab Assistants.

This week we need to turn this ...

Into this ...

Can it be done!? Of course. We are Sirocco Research Labs -- making a werewolf costume is like making waffles. No big thing.

Well, it's sort of big thing considering we all are super slammed with many, many other project happenings. Oh and did I mention I am finishing college this week? I give my last marketing class presentation Tuesday, pack up my Seattle apartment, move back to Porltand, return to Seattle for my last Sullivan meeting and final exam, check out of my apartment to then hop on a plane and fly to LA to begin the shoot week for Red Moon. It's happening! Pretty good graduation trip, don't you think? Kicking off my "adult life" with a week filled with sleep deprivation, friends, werewolfs and LA movie making magic. I love it. I really do.