Diary of an Internet Wolfman

Well, it's been a while since I posted and I figured...
Why the hell not shamelessly plug the independent horror film North Woods which I was production supervisor and editor of. The first thing to be known about the movie is that it is a throwback to 80's and Italian horror movies. The plot goes as such:


Several teenage friends have gone missing near the local woods, known as North Woods, while on vacation. Not long after, one of the missing teenagers, John Prescott, is found bloody on the side of a country road and immediately rushed off to the hospital. Enter Dr. Pamela Alley, a psychiatrist affiliated with the local police precinct, who is to have several sessions with John to find out what happened. John's story is littered with many fantastic, bizarre, and hallucinatory elements but it is clear that his story points to foul play.

It also points to only one suspect, Claudia Hoffman, a librarian/substitue teacher at John's school. Claudia is called in and as expected, her story is entirely different and she tries to implicate John. Reaching a dead end, Pamela becomes determined to get to the bottom of it all. However, she soon becomes entangled in a world of macabre terror. Pamela is about to learn that some secrets are best left in North Woods.

With that out of the way, below are some embedded videos involving the movie. The first is the trailer for the film:



The next video is an actual clip from the film. The character of Lauren enters her house and gets a rather unusual phone call warning her of a forthcoming danger. Is it a prank or not? And is the person calling trying to help or do they have another agenda?



The third video is another clip from the film. John recalls an experience of when he was trying to escape from Claudia Hoffman's house. However, his memory of it is very diluted and leads to a bizarre hallucination.



The fourth and final clip is actually the opening to the film! With her car broken down on an isolated dirt road, teenage girl Katie Prescott has to walk back into town. However, she ends up taking a shortcut through the woods which turns out to be grave mistake...
Please note the music in this clip (except the music playing during the very opening of the clip) is all temp cues which means it is NOT the music that will be in the final version of the film. Also, be advised that this clip also has a fairly violent moment a little over two minutes into it. So, viewer discretion is advised.



Anyway, that is all I have for you at the moment. I hope you enjoy the clips!

I guess for the few poor souls who even look at this damned thing (No offense anybody. Afterall, my LJ isn't the most fun loving shit in the universe), I'm overdue for an update. =P

Anyhow, here's the lowdown at the moment.
I have got myself a new computer which my friend Mike built for me and it runs like a God. I must thank him again for his help. I also got some kickass editing software, Vegas Movie Studio 6.0, which I find much easier to operate then Final Cut Pro. Not that FCP is a hard program, it just makes everything into a grueling chore the way it's set up. Another plus is unlike most other editing programs, this one doesn't have to render every fucking time you add media or add effects to it. Cue the typical chorus of Halleljuah please. This editing software will come in handy for finishing up the editing on North Woods.

I was unfortunately unable to finish the editing in Ishpeming mainly due to time constraints via the hours the lab was open for, Final Cut Pro's ungodly desire to always render the footage when you did dick to it, getting the footage ripped onto the computer and compressed into AVIs (which kept getting botched constantly), and a family crisis forced me back. However, to be fair, I had stayed a week longer than I had intended because of all the problematic situations that arose from trying to get the damn movie edited. I definitely felt I overstayed my welcome at Siiwolf's place and do feel sorry for that. I'm just grateful he was willing to have me as company throughout my stay. Thanks again Sii!

Anyway, I got about 75% of the movie edited up north, leaving me with a 30 minute chunk of the film left to edit. Not so bad in hindsight but I still wish I could have gotten it all done while up there.

As for that ticket I got back in January, I found out that where it's a prohibited left turn never use to be just as I thought. They had only recently converted it to one. The ticket also has 3 points attached to it... for a prohibited left turn! 3 motherfucking points!!! Now, I don't give a shit I have to pay a $55 ticket but 3 goddamn points to go with it?! Because of turning at a prohibited left turn that never use to be so that I could pull over in the first place so I didn't cause any accidents in the first place due to a cluster headache that suddenly hit?!?!

What horseshit!!!!!!

I really fucking hate the city of Detroit. It seems lately whenever I go there, it's always shit in the face. I'm glad I don't live there. I swear within the next 5 or 10 years, it's going to be a complete wasteland if it continues at this rate. Cops are changing certain laws to bust you to give you a ticket just to make a revenue for the city. There are ridiculous fees for parking so that they can rape your wallet. Wayne State turned so beauracratic within their operations it isn't even funny. Detroit was already wading in shit but now it's smothering in it.

Anyway, I set up a courtdate to pay the ticket but get the points appealed. When I got to the courthouse, most of the people there got busted for the same thing as me and they had also been turning left at that intersection for a long time just like me, some who have even been doing it for 25 years! No one even realized they had made this a prohibited left turn, and the sign they have for it to tell people is useless. It's way up in the air, it's small, and the coloring of the sign makes it look like a regular street sign telling you your current destination. Add to that that many people have been turning there for years, they are not going to notice that. And why's it set up like this? Easy! So the cops can make an easy revenue from it and for the city. Wow, am I ever assured with the state of our society.

Anyway, I ended up getting stuck with an irate magistrate who must have had a stump growing in his ass. Not only did the guy try to tell me I didn't resolve the matter about my proof of insurance (which there was evidence that I had), but when I tried to show I had, he decides he's going to demean instead. I only put up with the fucker for two minutes and he caused me to have a severe cluster headache attack that actually caused me to start seizing. He looked happy about it too. Bastard.

He was a real dick too. He would cut off anyone with good support and reasoning and treat them like they knew shit, let the ones with bullshit stories talk on and on just so he could get a nice big belly laugh out of it, and make backhanded comments to his magistrate in training. Hell, the guy was half an hour late getting to the court room and he even sounded like he was baked off his ass, like he smoked one joint too many beforehand. I also found out he doesn't have the power to waive points either.

So, I had to set up another court date, let this asshole make his ruling and appeal it. But apparently he had also contacted the Secretary of State and had them send me some form for my physician to fill out to make sure I was fit to drive. God, what an asshole! I'm hardly even a threat compared to most of the assholes on the road these days. When I did see my physician, he tried to tell me otherwise about my condition when I told him about the situation. He tried to tell me that what I have are seizures despite the fact my parents and I have heard him on all previous visits refer to it as erratic seizure activity which doesn't count as an actual seizure. He also said I was not suppose to be driving at all. What the fuck?! I had told him about the ticket situation back in February when I saw him and he didn't say anything about it then. In fact, he had me on restricted driving then allowed me to drive normally once I was stabilized and fit enough to go about my normal duties.

So basically, he was covering his own ass because he had let me start driving earlier than he should have. So, I can't drive again until it is time to renew my license. I think at this rate it would have been easier to pay the tickets and take the points along with it! God, the mechanics of our society make things so much more damn difficult than they should.

Besides all the bullshit related to that situation, things have been moderately good and I hope they stay that way. It also felt quite good to get that off my chest too. However, I think next time I update, it's going to be much shorter and lean on the bitching. =P

I'll probably end up sharing a more detailed account of my trip in Ishpeming next time since it's still fresh in my mind and I really enjoyed it a lot despite the dreaded fishooks of editing.

Anyway, until next time.
This has been Jay Wolf, making your life redundant.

Just thought I would share some North Woods related stuff with you all.

Here's the one-sheet poster:



And below are some screencaps:






The site is currently underway and will hopefully be up in the near future.
Take care for now.

Here's a beautiful sentiment from me to you:



Yep, so wonderful, isn't it?
Mike and I found this over a month ago and I felt it was time to share this piece of nonsensical grafitti with the rest of you.

In other news, I am now full director of Love Games and now the crew has only two weeks to get everything ready for production because our original director just seems to have disappeared off the mark entirely and we have to start from scratch. Oh joyous rapture. Beautiful time for that to happen. I can only anticipate the cluster headaches that will come from that. It's definitely not what I needed right now.

...of the editing room!

After 3 days of waiting for the package to be delivered to me from the post office (it got there on monday morning and I just got it on Wednesday), I now have the footage to North Woods. So, now that it is here, the editing can begin. Now, I've seen a previous cut of the film (which has now been scrapped due to all the reshoots since) and know something decent can be assembled from it. But, my God, with all the footage out of order and no music/sound effects/etc, it seems like trying to make something out of it is like using a lighter to see how full your gas tank is. No surprise there but it's still overwhelming and can be frustrating. Sorting out what is what will be difficult. All day tomorrow, I'll be writing up an outline of the events in chronological order and where the footage can be found. It's going to take a lot of work but I'm willing to do it.

One thing that's going to prove the most trying though is touching up certain parts of the film digitally. You see, there's some parts where the actor's shirt is a different color or the blood looks too pink or someone's real hair color is showing through a wig. So, all of that will have to be digitally corrected. There's also shots where the lighting doesn't match the previous take so we'll have to day for night and/or darken certain scenes. Of course, first things first is getting the movie edited into a rough cut and then we can worry about digital/color correction touch ups.

Unfortunately too, some of the scenes I really liked in the script will either be cut down or cut out. There's just parts in them that are too weak or you can't hear the audio. So, ADR work may be required for some parts but others I don't see being salvagable. I'd prefer to have the movie perform with its' strongest points rather then brought down by weak moments. I would have to say 85% of the footage is good and can be put together well. The other 15% percent is slightly in question. I just want to see the movie finished though.

Well, I might as well get started on that outline since Larry and I start chiseling away at this monster that is North Woods come Friday when the editing begins. Please do not let us screw it up. Let us be able to do it right and make the most out of what we got. After all the hard work Chris (the director) put into it, I know something positive has to come of it. I can only hope we can mold it into that something positive.

Well, yesterday I went over to shiny_puppy's house to help him shoot the video portion for his project in his Multimedia class. He had to do it on myths and decided to prove/disprove the myth of your tongue sticking to a pole outside in winter. So, I head over to his house and prepare my equipment. The night before he surprised me by asking me how much my services would cost. This took me aback since I was just going to do it as a favor and told him this. However he insisted so I said $10 and a Cherry Coke.

Anyway, so I arrive and am surprised with a 12 pack of Cherry Coke instead of one single 20 oz or 2 liter. After doing some running around to pick up hotdogs and posterboard (such an eventual little trip =P) and then having some lunch (of course I had chinese food as usual), we started filming. In order to give Shiny his money's worth, I would do multiple takes of a scene so in the editing, it would be more stylized and professional. However, I think he got a little annoyed while doing the intro part of the video because he would either flub his speech or I would fuck up with the camera work from laughing too much. For some reason, Shiny is able to make anything he is saying very amusing and I was not prepared.

Well, after we got done with that part, on with the tests we went. The test subjects were as such: ice cubes, a spoon sitting in the freezer, a stainless steel hammer sitting in the freezer, a metal baseball bat sitting outside in the cold, a pipe sitting outside in the cold, and of course, the imfamous pole. So, test one, of course the ice cubes didn't stick but yikes, Shiny was sticking his tongue to them and licking them in a way that was hilarious yet hypnotic. I think for the finished video, I'll have a close up of his ice cube licking in slow motion. It just has to be seen to be believed. Test two involved the spoon. It stuck to his tongue for a few seconds then fell off. Next came the hammer... that dreaded hammer. As soon as Shiny stuck his tongue to it, he couldn't pull it off and we forgot to bring the cup of hot water downstairs. As Shiny is helpless with this hammer stuck to his tongue, I couldn't help but laugh, especially when he tried to talk. I came close to shitting myself. I ran upstairs, all the while laughing my ass off (that'd be a lot of weight off me alone), to get the cup of water. However, in the process, he already managed to free his tongue but not without ripping off some very small chunks from his tongue.

So, from that point on, before Shiny stuck his tongue to anything else, he would test it with hot dogs first. And not just any hotdogs, but Oscar Meyer hotdogs! =P

So, the tests from there are on turned out the same. Shiny's tongue didn't stick to any of the items outside sitting in the cold and nothing happened. It was at least 22-25 degrees outside no less. So, the conclusion was either Michigan winters aren't cold enough to cause that to happen or you have a better chance of your tongue sticking to some metal object sitting in the freezer overnight.

After that, Shiny showed me some show called Bobobo. It was weird but pretty funny due to its nonsensical nature. It's almost like it was inspired by Arfenhouse. Then I went home, studied, and relaxed.

But as a note, that hammer will never be forgiven for its inhuman acts against Shiny and has been sentenced to life in a toolbox. That damn psychotic hammer... =P

Ok, it's time for a venting. Oh joy...
So, if you hate ranting, run for the bloody hills now.

Well, this week I was set to shoot the ending to my first film Bakemono. I checked it over with all the cast members, including the set-to-be lead/protagonist who is also one of my good friends. At least I consider him a good friend. He told me that he would be available tuesday-thrusday at 4pm and to pick him up from play practice at his school from the front. So, tuesday comes around and I'm at the school. He doesn't show. I think maybe practice is being held over so I wait a little longer. Still no sign of him. So, I go into the school and asked some people if they had seen him or if play practice was still in. Everyone I asked, including those who know him, told me they had either not seen him or that talent show auditions today and no play practice as far as they knew. I then called his mom not long after and asked if he was there. She told me no and that she had to go and run errands but to give her my number so he could call me back. I did so, thanked her, and hung up. I didn't try calling his cell phone because he told me it wasn't working.

After that, I said fuck it and went home. I took care of some college work while waiting for my friend to call me back. He never did. So, I tried calling him twice and both times, someone picked up and hung up the phone really quick. So, at this point, I'm definitely peeved but am going to try picking him up again tomorrow just to be absolutely sure. So, I go today and wait about 20 minutes. No sign so I took off. I wasn't going to wait around again. When I got home, my dad had surprised me with a new phone since mine was out of comission. That's when an idea came to me. I called his cell phone with my new phone. Guess what? The cell phone that was supposedly not working is ringing and he picks up. I ask him what was going on and he tells me he went to go run errands with his mom yesterday.

I definitely have my doubts about this considering when I called his house yesterday, his mom said she hadn't seen him. Even if he did go run errands with his mom, that means he evaded me completely by either telling his mom to say he wasn't home or was waiting for her at another entrance/exit at the school. But I play along at first, about to ask him about the other things. However, it was at this point my phone died. Figures.

But anyway, this really pisses me off because he's completely avoiding me. What the fuck?!
Instead of telling me that you'll do it and then evade me/play these stupid games, why didn't you just tell me fuck no? Why didn't you pick up the phone and just tell me you didn't give a fuck about the project and to go stick it? Is it that hard to do?!?! Be honest with me instead of pulling this kind of shit. I can deal with people telling me off or being honest. But when people, including my own friends, do this, I really hate it. It definitely makes me lose a lot of respect for someone. I just find it all too convenient to be all coincidences that I couldn't get a hold of him at all, especially with various sources contradicting things he told me.

Well, thanks for wasting my time, doing a nice job of pissing me off and making me lose a lot of respect in you too. Consider yourself replaced. I don't think you'll care though.

Well, time for an update.

The cluster headaches are back with a vengeance due to a lot of stress from many different sources. The first attack was 2 weeks ago. It was so bad that I kept screaming for 2 minutes straight and a lot of the blood vessels in my face ruptured. It looked like I got into a bad fight. Then a couple days later, I'm on campus driving and I feel an attack coming on. Knowing I need to pull over before it gets bad, I look for somewhere to stop. During this, my driving was impaired because I turned left where it was prohibited and got pulled over by a cop. I passed out not long after. The cop called am ambulance to check me out. He still wrote me a ticket though. Fucker.

Then this week, on Tuesday, I had an attack during my Chinese class and nearly passed out again. My classmates called for an ambulance which rushed me to the hospital. I was released not long after. So, due to all the attacks, I rescheduled my upcoming appointment with my neurologist for the next day. My doctor basically upped my dosage sizes in my medication and prescribed a cannister of oxygen to me. =P

Pretty much whenever I feel one of the headaches come on, I use the oxygen because it's known to take away the headaches. It's still odd to have oxygen prescribed to you though. I'm also not to worry about college as much. That's now secondary priority.

Besides that, I've been ok. Things are going good with my film projects so there's at least that much.

Well, I have some interesting news.

I have been promoted to co-director on a short film project Love Games, a movie my friend Ron has been dying to get off the ground for a while.

Basically the premise goes that there is this upcoming rapper, Julius, who meets this woman who he really likes. The woman, Cheryl, is very seductive and loves to do many erotic things in bed. Julius becomes completely enthralled by her but soon things start to go sour. Cheryl won't return his calls suddenly. Is it another man? But then one night, Cheryl invites Julius over to make up with him. However, what is about to happen to him is unimaginable to many and will leave him rather scarred and humiliated for there's nothing he can do about it. What is Cheryl's real agenda?

I know it sounds like it turns into an erotic thriller but let me assure you it doesn't. Something really awful does happen to him but it's actually just a scenario of the everyday horrors that could happen to us all and it just seems so surreal when it is happening. Also, it focuses on how society has these black and white set values that make some things look serious and others amusing even though something really horrible will look humiliating overall. But of course, the film definitely has its share of sexual content but it's not the main focus of the film.

Anyway, Ron showed me the script a while back. The potential was there but it was very bare bones so I added some meat to its bones. After that, we locked a director who has been part of the production crew of many film projects that come in and out of Detroit. We also had our lead cast and the person who is to play his friend in the movie. After that, we had to find two women to play the parts of Cheryl and Red.

Well, Saturday we held casting auditions for the parts of Cheryl and Red. Theoughout the auditions, I directed the girls to act a certain way and try it different ways and due to this, I got promoted to being co-director. I'm really psyched.

Then after that, I went over to my friend David's house and we spent most of the night just joking, playing games, and watching movies. Then today David, Adam, and I went to mall. David ended up buying two different games, one of them being some fairly hard to find title called Bujingui. It was actually pretty cool and I really don't tend to get into those kind of games. After killing some more time at his house, I came home.

Overall, a really good weekend.

Well, well, well...

It seems like I'm going through the initiation process on the I-Mockery forums. Everybody is trying to put me down. I just find very amusing overall.

In other news...

I'm back in college and am taking:

Chinese 1005 - Introduction to Chinese Culture
Humanities 1010 - Introduction to Western Art
Philosophy 1030
And an Intro to Aud to TV Production class too.

I've also been busy working on some film projects. More on that later though.
Well, that's all for now.

Just thought I'd let you all know I still breathe even though you probably don't give a shit! =P