HULSIFICATION

Saturday, March 3rd 2012 at DePaul University we screened The Drone publicly for the first time in the U.S. It was extremely successful showing with nearly a full house. I want to thank everyone who came out and for those who couldn’t, we are in the midst of setting up more showings so no worries!  I would also like to say thank you again to the casts and crews of these films. We couldn’t do it without you! Here are some photos from the event. 

We are in the midst of exploring some online distribution methods for The Drone. I have recently been introduced to Vodo.net and it looks like a very promising option. In order to support The Drone and stay up to date on any moves we make regarding this cerebral, sci-fi ride, click here to follow on Facebook. In addition to The Drone, Paul G. Lyzun and I also debuted trailers for our MFA films. I’ve reposted them here for your enjoyment. Please share them! We need your support!

Citizen in the Temple
A sci-fi film by Jason Huls.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/citizeninthetemple
For those of you who have been following this film over the past year, I hope you are excited by a glimpse of what the early stages of development have led to.  I am launching a second indiegogo campaign in the next few days with the goal of raising $1,000 to help cover finishing costs for this film. There will be different reward levels for each donation so look out for that soon!

Without Charity 
A documentary by Paul G. Lyzun.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Without-Charity-the-Documentary/150120708369791
Indiegogo Fundraiser: http://www.indiegogo.com/Without-Charity
Paul has an indiegogo fundraising campaign going right now. He is requesting a modest $1,000 to cover the finishing costs for this fascinating documentary. It is a very reasonable amount and he is only a couple hundred short of achieving the goal. If you can help out, you can be assured that you are supporting an excellent project. 

Ok, back to editing and concocting plans for shameless promotion. :)

http://www.jasonhuls.com/the-drone-premiere

Hey all. A few years back in my film distribution class we discovered that whenever Tyler Perry put the word “Madea” in the title of his film, the opening weekend box office was noticably higher. So I put Madea in the title of this post to see if the traffic is higher. It’s a social experiment! While you’re pondering that, here’s another batch of behind the scenes photos from not Tyler Perry’s Citizen in the Temple!

The rough cut is about half way done. I’m gonna try to get the rest finished up in the next couple days. For an overview of what else is going on in Ten Wing Land, click here.

Until next time, yall!

http://www.jasonhuls.com/madeas-citizen-in-the-temple-production-still

Hey all. A few years back in my film distribution class we discovered that whenever Tyler Perry put the word “Madea” in the title of his film, the opening weekend box office was noticably higher. So I put Madea in the title of this post to see if the traffic is higher. It’s a social experiment! While you’re pondering that, here’s another batch of behind the scenes photos from not Tyler Perry’s Citizen in the Temple!

The rough cut is about half way done. I’m gonna try to get the rest finished up in the next couple days. For an overview of what else is going on in Ten Wing Land, click here.

Until next time, yall!

http://www.jasonhuls.com/100804351

Greetings! It’s been awhile since we’ve talked, so…welcome back, me! Hopefully you’ve all had a chance to check out What Lies Beneath by Veritae. Hey, while you’re at it, why not check out some other video treats on TenWingTv? Come fly with us!

I am about half way through the rough cut of Citizen in the Temple. It’s looking outstanding. I’m so proud of the way everyone worked together and all of that effort definitely shows. I’m going to start up a new indiegogo campaign soon to help raise money for the soundtrack and finishing production costs. This means if your wallet is immune to this economy and you have extra money lying around, I can help you spend it! You’re welcome! I still need to cast the High Templars, who will dourly oversee the inquisition of our hero, Jennon Ril. That will happen very soon. To wet your appetite, here are 25 nude new photos from the shoot.

Speaking of indiegogo, Paul Lyzun just launched his second indiegogo campaign to cover finishing costs for Without Charity. I highly encourage you to donate if you can. This is shaping up to be a great film. There have been multiple interviews with Charity and this month Paul and I are traveling to the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility to interview Phillip Stroud, the gunman in the triple homicide. We’re very thankful Phillip has agreed to the interview and we look forward to what he has to say. Also on the schedule is an interview with Mischell Browning, one of the daughters of the victims who was very outspoken during the trials. After that, it’s time to get a case of Mountain Dew and dive into editing.

What else is in the Ten Wing future? We are currently working with our web designer to upgrade and expand our tenwingfilms.com website. That should take a month or two but when it’s done it will hum.

We have two music videos on the horizon. Currently, we are in preproduction with Karlye Lapetina. We have some really fun ideas planned and we’re looking to shoot late Feb. I’ve started planning a feature. I’ve laid out my notes. That’s all I have to say about that. FOR NOW.

Finally, this April will mark the 5 year anniversary of the first film I wrote and directed, Late Afternoon of the Living Dead. This was before film school. This was before casting calls when you relied on your friends to help get things done and everyone wore 18 hats. This was in the land before HD. It was a horror/comedy zombie launchpad manned by a 3 person crew and over 100 actors. In post, we spent a lot of time trying to get 30p footage to look like 24 fps. Now, 5 years later, there is much more we can do in terms of post effects and looks. We’re in the midst of creating a sleek, 90 minute “revival” cut with a new, HD-upres’d look. If you want to see the old trailer and this author’s humble beginnings, check it. Have fun with it. We did. 2012 is looking to be a very busy year. Good times. Good family. Out.http://www.jasonhuls.com/editing-in-the-temple-zombie-revival-and-givi

Howdy all! Happy New Year. Just wanted to take a second to share a music video directed by yours truly. The band is Veritae. The song will be found in my film, Beyond the Basement Door, which I am currently looking to set up shows for. We had a great time working on this video and I expect to hear big things out of this band in the future.

In other news, I’m currently editing Citizen in the Temple and making a plan to finish up the odds and ends that still need to be shot. More on that soon.

I’ll also post that interview from sound designer extraordinaire, Joe Marcus, real soon. In the meantime, enjoy some ROCK.*

*Available in glorious HD!

http://www.jasonhuls.com/veritae-what-lies-beneath-music-video

Eric Arima is a friend of mine. He is also a film critic. The man has a way of getting into my head. Ok, fine! He just asked questions. He interviewed me for his blog. I have reposted it here.

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Interview with Jason Huls
By Eric Arima

What follows is a conversation I recently had with filmmaker and film-school student Jason Huls that has been collaboratively edited into an interview. I worked with Jason several years ago (I actually worked on one of my first my first books with him) and appeared in a short video of his where all I had to do was not look like Conan O’Brien.

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ERIC ARIMA: What’s your background in filmmaking and how did you get interested?

JASON HULS: I went to Illinois State University and I actually started out as an English major with a Creative Writing minor. The only program ISU offered in the way of filmmaking was a Cinema Studies minor so I quickly transitioned over to that. It was more theory-based, a lot more reading and writing and studying the classics. There wasn’t a lot of production but luckily the instructor presiding over the program let me shape the courses and shoot some short films. So I was able to explore my interests through my minor and I think I spent a lot more time on those classes than I did my English classes. At the end of that program I picked up a second major and spent a year and half studying Anthropology and working on an ethnographic thesis. It wasn’t until I moved up to the Chicago area that I thought seriously about tackling a feature. I literally woke up one morning and realized I should write a script and that my friends and I already possessed the resources to see it through, so we shot a zombie movie called Late Afternoon of the Living Dead. That’s where it all started.

EA: You seem to be drawn to things that are produced?

JH: I like creating content…in multiple forms. I like making things. Early on it was writing. In my teens it was music and playing guitar. I think filmmaking, for me, is a natural combination of all the things that I like. Writing, photography, music. I feel like it was a natural direction.

EA: Tell me about your job at the university.

JH: I’m a video producer. I shoot and develop video content that supports a medical curriculum. I worked in college textbook publishing after college and when I was looking to transition into a new career field, Late Afternoon of the Living Dead was my reel. The university I’m at now used all the same camera and editing gear that I used on the movie so it was a big part of why I got the job.

EA: Is working in video production an advantage to a film school student?

JH: Sure. It helps keep you sharp. I’m used to working with deadlines, different departments and shifting priorities. That’s a great resume term, isn’t it?

EA: You’re also in film school. Tell me about the program.

JH: I’m in the MFA Digital Cinema program at DePaul University. I had been interested in film school for awhile. I toured DePaul and I liked the forward-thinking philosophy of the program so I went for it. A lot of people go for an MFA because they want to teach at the collegiate level. I just wanted the chance to spearhead a big production and come away with a calling card short. Also, honestly, I feel an MFA degree and a great project is a good way to show investors that you’re talented and that their money is safe with you.

EA: So in addition to your video producer day job, you’re also working on your MFA thesis film?

JH: Yeah. It’s a 25 page sci-fi film called Citizen in the Temple. Think 1984 meets Final Fantasy 7. There’s a lot of steampunk influence. It’s very heavy on production design and special effects, which were two challenges I looked forward to.

EA: Was there ever a time when you thought, “I’m just going to do it easy and make a buddy comedy”?

JH: [Laughs] Not so much. In my opinion, if you’re going to pursue a top-level degree, you’re doing yourself a disservice if you take the easy way out. My philosophy is that you should do the kind of thesis film that is representational of the kind of features you want to make. Then down the road when you’re pitching yourself as a filmmaker, you can say, “This is what I’m about. This is what I like,” and people will get it. Hopefully.

EA: A sci-fi movie seems like it would require more resources than other genres. Are resources available through the school?

JH: There is a lot of equipment and facilities available to students. I think location is one of the strongest elements of Citizen in the Temple. We got amazing, amazing places to use, like one-of-a-kind type of locations. The production design guys were phenomenal. They worked insane hours to make some of the sets we needed.

EA: What was your experience like with crowd-funding?

JH: I’ll say it was a success but I wouldn’t say it was a raging success. It did get me a good amount of the budget but most of the big donations still came from people I knew and were closely tied to me or the project. I did get a lot of smaller donations from people who were acquaintances and a few from people I didn’t know. I used IndieGoGo. It’s a good platform. It’s a good way to organize your information. If you use it the right way, it presents a clear message to people who might want to invest. But ultimately the challenge is still how to market the project, how to get the word out.

EA: Can you tell me a about the story of Citizen in the Temple?

JH: The story takes place on a desert wasteland planet. There is a city-state run by a Big-Brother-shadowy-oppressive government that controls every aspect of the citizens’ lives. It’s the story of a man who is involved in an underground resistance movement who ultimately has to choose between his love and his rebellion.

EA: In the production stills on your website, there’s a very distinct look especially in the lighting and some of the sets, which you’ve discussed. Can you say a little about the look of the film?

JH: I think it has a more fantasy/sci-fi appeal. I wanted a lot of stone, medieval structures with the sci-fi technology worked into it. Most of the movie has a bulky, steampunk, retro type look. High technology does exist, but the way we’ve got it positioned is that it’s only enjoyed by a thin slice of the elite. The rest of the people in the city-state are left to scavenge and work with whatever they can find. This way you end up with an interesting blend of technology levels.

EA: It looks great. For your casting process, do you go through an agency, or are these other students?

JH: We did an open casting call. I held it at DePaul on the Loop campus. The lead, Jacob Alexander, and I have worked together on several different projects. When I was writing the script I knew he was the guy. Everyone else is the result of a reference or the casting call.

EA: Coming from film school, how much of your crew have worked with before? Are any of them students fulfilling requirements?

JH: No one in the crew is using this for a class but I know a lot of them from school. It’s probably about 70% / 30%, people I’ve worked with versus new people. It was great. It was a really tight crew.

EA: What do you look for when you put a crew together?

JH: First I go to the people I know, who I trust and who I’ve worked with before. Beyond that I usually go with recommendations from people I trust. So I reach out to new people based on those recommendations. So far, so good!

EA: What are you shooting this on?

JH: The Canon 7D.

EA: Is that at a digital SLR?

JH: Yep. It was a good move, too. The image is gorgeous. It’s really good in low light. It lent itself well to the weird places we shot…a lot of tight, dark places. I think it was the right tool for the right job.

EA: How much of the shoot was set versus practical?

JH: That’s a good question. About 50% location, 50% set.

EA: How much of location shooting was in Aurora?

JH: A little over a quarter of the script.

EA: How long is this movie going to be?

JH: About 25 minutes.

EA: And what do you plan to do with a 25 minute movie?

JH: We’re going to shoot for some of the bigger festivals. The goal is to invent a whole world here. I want to develop a series of stories and Citizen is actually the second one. The first is a film called The Drone. It’s in the same universe as Citizen and it debuted at the Cannes Short Film Corner last year. I’m also looking at developing a role-playing game based on the ideas in both movies. I’d like to take the movies and the game to conventions like Gen Con and set up a booth to promote the whole line. Hopefully through that process we’ll get a big enough fan base to make a case for a feature. It should be a lot of fun. The gamer population is a direct sample of the audience we’re going for.

http://www.jasonhuls.com/look-mom-i-was-interviewed

Doesn’t that subject line sound like spam?

Ok, so you know Ten Wing Films and I shot a music video for the band, Veritae, right? Well the cut is done! It is an eclectic mix of dark imagery, watery birth, sultry moves and blistering rock! The track is entitled What Lies Beneath and I’ve included a few stills below. Big thanks to Intelligent Lighting Creations for the space, Fishnet Mafia Productions for Alma the dancer and thanks as always to the cast and crew.
Q: Why aren’t you showing us the video now, J?
A: Because Veritae has an upcoming show in Chicago and they’d like to premiere it there before it hits the interweb. I will post details on the show asap but I believe it is in mid-December. After that I will post the full version of the video here. If you just can’t wait, I do accept bribes.

In other news, I began some minor Citizen in the Temple editing. Mostly, I’m trying to wrap up my other projects so I can focus on Citizen with a clear mind and a clean slate. Is that so wrong? Despite what is on my plate, phase 2 (see previous post) will begin to pick up steam…NOW!I have a guest writer for the next post! My friend and sound designer, Joe Marcus is going to give his thoughts on our work together thus far. Joe supervised the post sound on The Drone and worked production sound on Citizen in the Temple. He’s a very talented guy with a bright future. Get the sound scoop straight from the source. Find out which pro sports player smacked him on the tush. You don’t want to miss that! Stay tuned!http://www.jasonhuls.com/get-a-peek-at-what-lies-beneath

Oh hi people. Citizen in the Temple Phase 1 (principle photography) is complete. It has been an absolute blast so far.  This year at Thanksgiving I will thank the pilgrims for the great cast and crew I got to work with. Everyone had cool ideas about the world and I love that the cast was thinking about where their characters could go beyond Citizen. There was even some talk about how to tie the story more closely together with The Drone (other than both movies taking place on the same planet). The finished product is gonna be slick.

Now we look ahead to phase 2. What is Phase 2, you ask? This stage of the production will involve casting the High Templars, the panel of authority for The Temple that sit in big thrones and cast judgment down from on high. I also need to capture several plate shots for the visual effects. Exterior city type stuff.

I’m transcoding all the footage now and the plan is to start editing a few scenes this week. I’ll be in touch with everyone soon about the wrap party. It’ll most likely be in mid-November. I’ll try to have a little montage cut together so you can see some footage. We added another great interview to the Without Charity documentary. Some really intense information and heart-wrenching moments surfaced as we talked over the events with a man whose father was one of the 3 men killed. There are several more interviews lined up and after it is all said and done this is going to be a fascinating portrait of the tragic events told in a unique, new way.

You may remember a few months ago we shot a music video for our friends in Veritae. The primary edit has been completed and now we’re going in for the kill. With a little visual fx, a little non-Euclidean geometry and whole lotta love, this video is shaping up to be a sweet caress for your senses! Watch out! Next week I will be in Jamaica. Am I shooting? No. Will I be at a swim-up bar in a silk Tommy Bahama shirt? Oh yes. I will return just in time for the cold months when I will get fat and hibernate in my editing room, only to emerge next year with some great movies ready to show.

In case I haven’t mentioned it, let me humbly encourage you all to follow my company, Ten Wing Films, on facebook. Sure, you know about the individual project pages but it is the umbrella corporation that pulls the puppet strings. Stay informed! Stay safe! Yup, that’s Edward James Olmos. Another thing I will be thankful for this year.

http://www.jasonhuls.com/citizen-in-the-temple-phase-2