Righteous Insanity

Christian film directors wanted!

Righteous Insanity is seeking young, energetic film directors who have access to a camera and editing computers (or at least a camera; we can do the editing) to help us film some new shorts in 2008. Styles range from light-hearted parody to intense sci-fi to harsh, biting satire. There's no pay up front, but you will get credit, links to your sites/resumes (if you have them to share), and as much accolades, promotion, and thank yous as we can muster.

If you are interested, please send an email to john@righteousinsanity.com with a link to any videos you have online!

AV12 - The future of Christian film

If you haven't heard of AV12, let me introduce you.

Comprised of a bunch of acting and film enthusiasts in the Tampa, FL area and led by Austin Nichols and Ryan Traynor, AV12 has been making short films for their local youth ministries and the web for the last few years. I had the privilege of having one of my scripts, Worship Crashers, produced by them for the Holy Shorts DVD. Two originals, Drowning and Toast Ease, were also included on the disc.

These guys are simply amazing, both in their camera skill and their writing. They tell terrific stories that deliver subtle but powerful messages - although sometimes they simply have fun.

Check out AV12's work at http://www.myspace.com/av_12 and http://www.youtube.com/user/AV12Productions

In addition to the videos above, be sure to watch Hide and Seek, How to Make a Baby, and my personal favorite, Boxes!

The Making of Fluffy Part 2

Fluffy was filmed in the hot summer of 2004 in New Albany, Indiana, Palmyra, Indiana, Louisville, Kentucky, and of course, Mars. It was the third of three movies shot in collaboration between myself and artist/writer/actress/producer Natalie Gilbert. (The first film, "Open Doors" was never finished; due to a camera issue, half of the footage is completely unusable. Much of the second film, "God Told Me to Break Up With You," was unusable due to bad lighting, and one whole scene has been lost. Some of the better segments are now featured as smaller shorts on Righteous Insanity's website, "Denial" and "How to Pick Up a Christian Babe.")

The cast came together from a number of directions. Some were friends (Randy D. Pease was my roommate, and Jamie Bratcher the last remaining member of the Righteous Insanity touring company), some we had met while trying to produce an anti-violence film a year earlier (Marat Yerusskiy and Herschel Zahnd), and some sent in video taped auditioned specifically for Fluffy (Katy Wheeler, Carrie Faulhaber, and Paul Reynolds).

In addition to finding the perfect cast, we lucked into a number of great crew people. Jason Dixon had worked with us on both prior film projects, doing make up, camera, and whatever else needed doing. Sean Bailey was a long time friend who has become an excellent film maker in his own right. (He now works as a video producer at Northside Christian Church in New Albany .) Best of all, Natalie was able to connect us with our director of photography, Bob C. Cooke. A veteran of a number of independent film projects, Bob was not just the man with the camera; he was a true teacher and mentor to all of us wannabe directors on the set. He lit and shot every scene beautifully.

We started work on a Thursday night, shooting the barn scenes on Randy's family farm in Palmyra . Paul ("Gus"), Marat, Katy ("Kit"), and Bridget Filburn showed up in the post-apocalyptic best. Randy and Sean mussed up their own outfits and joined in the fun as "extras" in the barn, stealing the spotlight with their camera takes. Meanwhile, Bob introduced Jamie ("Trish") to her constant companion for the next three days: a Dirty Harry style .45 Magnum.

The shoot moved along quickly, with everyone pitching in to make things run smoothly. When it came time for the dramatic Fluffy death scene, Jason and Sean moved in with grape jelly and the stuffings from a Pokemon toy to do their magic. Paul took his mark and looked up at the dead Fluffy on the wall, and pointed out that if the Fluffy was killed just inches over his head, he should have "guts all over." So we covered Paul's head with Fluffy guts and finished the sequence. Paul and Marat were real pros, and we enjoyed the brief time they were on the set.

Having a little daylight left, we moved down the road to pick up a shot with Kit and Trish in the woods. We were barely able to get all the footage we needed for the sequence before a scary old man in a trailer across the street threatened us, insisting we shoot our --- movie some place else.

The next day, we took our act on the road, shooting the opening woods sequences in Louisville 's Cherokee Park . It was a beautiful day, and we weren't the only ones in the park. Listen closely, you can hear kids playing in the creek below. Bob contributed some wonderful props to the opening dialogue sequence, including a severed arm. (Bob is a frequent collaborator with zombie film maker George Bonilla, who also loaned us the astronaut costumes.) Katy Wheeler did an exceptional job with both the dialogue and the requisite running and screaming. Seriously, she ran all over that park and never tired.

Our next stop was a dance studio at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany , which for our purposes became NASA. Herschel and Carrie joined us for the NASA sequence, which was rather short in the script. Wanting to take advantage of an actor as strong as Herschel, we had the cast members ad lib a briefing on their mission to Mars. It was hilarious, especially with Herschel constantly reminding Randy (as "Dex") he could NOT eat anything on Mars. Sadly, the footage was ruined by a bad buzz the mic picked up off the lights in the room. But a quick shot did make it into the movie.

Jamie left us for part of the afternoon to attend her sister's softball game, so we headed to "Mars", i.e. New Albany Community Park . We shot Carrie and Randy's Mars scenes, then returned to my house to film the final few scenes with Carrie, who proved to be the best screamer in the cast. (She had earlier wowed all of us guys by speaking "Greedo" on the way to the NASA shoot.) Those who visited the old home on Ekin where Randy and I lived will recognize Audrey's House as the back part of the Ekin house.

We returned to the park to film Jamie's scene on Mars, as well as an early encounter between Dex and Trish. We only got a few shots before it started to rain, and we ended up cutting the rest of the scene. (Jamie throwing Randy WWE style is still in the movie.)

The following day as a short one that began with Leighanne Wilkins as Dex's daughter. Bob took over the shoot at this point, filming more footage for brief appearance than any sequence in the movie. It was well worth it.

We had planned to shoot Dex and his wife Amanda next; however we had a problem. The actress cast as Amanda had gone AWOL. Thankfully, the first person we called, Laura Elton, answered the phone and was available. While we were waiting, we went to work on the Dex and Trish scenes around Audre'y house (the back of the Ekin house) and Dex's house (the front of the Ekin house). Randy and Jamie, as always, had great chemistry together as they sparred their way through Jamie's final scenes. To be honest, she didn't want to do the part. She hates action movies, and she made that abundantly clear as we went through three days of shooting. I like to think her annoyance at having to play an action hero added to her growling portrayal of Trish.

After wrapping Jamie's last scene, Laura arrived. If you're ever on a film shoot and have to call in a last second replacement, you can't do much better than Laura. She stepped in, read the script, and nailed the character and the lines. That is, after we sent out to the grocery store for the one expense we had on the movie: a small package of ground beef. That's right. The entire $1.63 of our budget went for a packet of ground beef on the final day of shooting.

We had to reshoot one scene with Randy, who had worn the wrong shirt in a telephone shot earlier in the day, then we finally called wrap.

And then… the footage sat dormant.

Well, not entirely dormant. I had the footage converted from 8mm to DV, and Sean Bailey made an early rough cut, but it wasn't until mid-2006 that Fluffy was truly revived… when I got my hands on a camera and an iMac.

After a year of tinkering, Fluffy is nearly ready. It's not perfect; it may never be. The sound is rough in parts, and I couldn't get the gun flashes added in as effects shots. But three years is long enough.

So what's next? It's available on the DVD Holy Shorts from Righteous Insanity, and it's being developed into a feature film script. Will a longer, grander Fluffy come to light one day? We all had a blast making the first one. Stay tuned.

Fluffy - The making of a Christian cult classic, Part 1

It's no secret to those who love me, I like bad movies. Love them. Some of the titles in my personal collection include Robot Monster in 3D, Plan 9 from Outer Space, and Queen of Outer Space with Zsa Zsa Gabor. Fluffy, Or The Cute and Fuzzy Creature from Outer Space With the Big Blue Eyes and a Button Nose That'll Eat Your Face Off and Pick Its Teeth With Your Toes, owes a lot to these movies and more. The title in particular was inspired by some of the all time great bad movie titles like Cash Flagg's The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies and Ben Affleck's obscure college film I Murdered My Lesbian Wife, Hung Her On A Meat Hook, and Now I Have a Three Picture Deal at Disney.

But there's another side to the genesis of Fluffy. It came out of reading Michael J Anderson's Monsters from the Id. Anderson's book chronicles the origins of the horror genre which, he proposes, came as a subconscious response to sexual liberation. While humankind freed itself externally from morals and God's laws, especially as it relates to sex, internally we knew we were still doing wrong. Horror stories and horror films feature people who are living freely – and suffering the consequences, or judgment, doled out by a driven, faceless monster who does not kill as indiscriminately as it appears. Jamie Kennedy's assertion that people who have sex in a horror movie die is not without merit.

The key verse in Anderson 's discussion was James 1:15. After reading the book, I wrote a script that drew out this theme, bringing it more to the surface for a modern audience. I pitched it to a film maker who chose to develop the story further. Sadly, my original themes and ideas were dropped in favor of the typical Christian film convention of demons and spiritual warfare.

I wrote Fluffy for two reasons: One, I wanted to go back to my original story theme, and two, I wanted something I could shoot myself. Thus, the core of the story is not the hero, Trish Angel ( who was intended to be a female version to the immortal Snake Plisskin), but Dex, the astronaut with the cheatin' heart.

Dex and Trish were part of a space expedition, sent to explore the eco-system that had suddenly appeared thanks to an asteroid collision on Mars. Even before leaving Earth, Dex was stalking and hitting on Trish, even though he had a wife and daughter! Then, on Mars, Dex finds a cute and fuzzy little critter whom he names Trish the Fluffy. He brings it to Trish, hoping to woo her and convince her to help him smuggle the squeaky little furball back to Earth. Trish is a by the book soldier who orders Dex to put the fluffy back. But Dex then goes after another fellow astronaut, Audrey, who agrees to help him.

Upon returning to Earth, Dex takes Fluffy into his house, where his wife Amanda assumes the care and feeding of Fluffy. But Fluffy isn't satisfied with treats and bottles. Fluffy proves to be carnivorous, and it isn't long before Amanda demands Fluffy leave the house. Dex takes Fluffy to Audrey, who agrees to care for it.

The move proves too late for Amanda. Fluffy was out of the house, but not before leaving behind a flock of babies, who devour her. Dex tells Trish what he has done, and they arrive too late to save Amanda. They lock the house, with the Fluffys inside, and head to Audrey's to kill the first critter, but once again, it is too late to save Audrey.

With the original Fluffy destroyed, it seems Dex is going to get out of this with his skin. But before they can return to kill the babies, Dex's daughter arrives home from camp, opens the front door, and unleashes the Fluffys onto the world.

As with all horror films, the Fluffy brings judgment on those who choose to live in sin. Dex's secret desire to fool around brings ruin on his wife, daughter, colleague, even the community. Amazing what opening the door to sin, even just a crack, will do.

There's more to share about Fluffy. But before I get into that, click play below and check out the movie for yourself. It's about 15 minutes long, so make sure you have the time - and your boss is out to lunch or something.

FLUFFY

Ekin Avenue - A Christian Soap Opera

Those who knew me when know I used to live on a magical street called... Ekin Avenue. Made a lot of memories in that house with friends and fellow actors, and one of the legacies of that time in my life is a soap opera that took its name from the street. I helped to directed the first Ekin Avenue short based on a script by Jack and Gretchen Hall from Sunday School Dropouts, www.sundayschooldropouts.com. This past week I shot a new episode. Both are now posted on Righteous Insanity's new movies page:

www.righteousinsanity.com/newmovies.html

Giving credit where credit is due: Ekin Avenue 1 stars former RI touring group members Randy D. Pease and Jamie Bratcher. Part 2 features popular RI film actor Denny Grinar and Erica Goldsmith, one of the stars of the indy zombie flick "Dead Moon Rising."

Christian Video Games - How Far Can We Go?

I understand there's a Left Behind video game out there. From what I've heard you play one of the Left Overs after the rapture doing battle with the Anti-Christ. The most interesting part to me is that you have the ability to both convert AND kill other characters.

What kind of MORON thought that up? Honestly, that's something that some sick comedy writer like me would think of, not a clear, rational thinking Christian making a video game to capitalize on the biggest Christian franchise since the WWJD bracelet.

It makes you wonder how far we can go with making Christian video games. Can the gospel be blended with the sensibilities of, say, Grand Theft Auto? Click play and you decide.

Narnian Politics

Even in Narnia, the mud flies during election years.

Casting calls: no non-believers allowed?

I saw a casting notice in my email this morning for a Christian film out west. The filmmaker gave a little info about the project, and what he was looking for. The last part jumped out at me:

“…must be a believer who attends a gospel-believing church.”

Hmm.

I understand where this guy is coming from. He’s doing this as a ministry after all. But I’ve never been a fan of this type of exclusionary casting. Even when I ran a youth drama group in a church, I refused to close the door on non-believers. (We had a standard “code of conduct” every student signed and agreed to follow, but being a baptized believer was not a prerequisite.) Every summer the youth pastor would ask me if we could change the policy. Every year, I’d have a longer list of names to show him why we shouldn’t: kids who accepted Christ because they were involved in drama.

As I have moved into the filmmaking world, I’m even more open to using non-believers. From a practical standpoint, it gives you a much larger pool of talent to select from. Christian actors are just far and few between, and there are so many hungry actors out there who will bend over backwards to add one more credit to the resume. What’s more, when you’re on a schedule and a budget, professionalism is far more valuable than salvation. My shooting days are usually jammed; we’ve done 6-7 shorts in a single day. I need an actor who is going to show up on time, know their role, and take direction in a serious, professional manner.

I’m not saying Christian actors are unprofessional; there are plenty who act in a serious, professional way. But I’ve worked with some who have not only been unprofessional in their actions, but expect me, the director, to forgive them for it because, after all, they are a Christian, doing it out of the goodness of their heart.

There is a legitimate concern some Christian filmmakers have that a non-believer will not get into a Christian role. You certainly don’t want someone with a vendetta against Christians sabotaging your production. So far, everyone that I have used has been very professional and brought their best work every time the camera is turned on. My advice there is to be as open as you can at the start with your actors. Let them see your script, and let them decide if this is something they can do comfortably. A good actor will give you a solid performance no matter what their personal beliefs off camera.

There’s a much bigger reason to use non-believers in film projects, and I’ve already alluded to it: evangelism. This is a chance to reach out to others who might not hear the gospel, which is the whole point of filming your movie, right? It’s a chance to show non-believers that you’re not an exclusionary Christian who wants to be in his/her safe little Christian bubble isolated from the world. It’s a chance to expose them to the gospel through your script. And if both those elements are there, it’s a chance to do some personal evangelism.

You’d be amazed at the impact you can make simply being a serious professional working on a movie set. When you let Christ shine through you in words and actions, you can really open eyes and hearts to the gospel.

I know it’s scary; an all Christian film set is a safe comfort zone, and when everyone’s working hard, it’s great. But every day, I read countless blogs about how depraved it is in Hollywood , and how we need more Christians making an impact in film. This IS your chance to make an impact on actors (and crew members, by the way!) right in your own backyard.

Don’t dismiss it. Pray over it. God might open an opportunity for a film ministry like you never imagined.

Beethoven - A modern parable

Is it me, or does it seem like modern believers will read almost anything about God... except the Bible? It seems to me that people are eager for a "quick fix" when it comes to God. Besides, who wants to muddle through the doom and gloom of the major prophets when you could pick up a snazzy title like The Purpose-Driven Life and Your Best Life Now?

We're traded knowing God for learning about God. And I think we're cheating ourselves.

That's why I wrote "Beethoven," the film posted below. What amazes me is the response I've had from people who watch it. Some get it; others find it completely befuddling. Some have even asked, "What does this have to do with God?"

I guess some folks don't like being challenged to think.

For those who do, I give you Righteous Insanity's "Beethoven."