finishing touches

The screening party is next Saturday night (December 8--see previous post for details), and the film is now ready for its closeup. In the last few weeks, we've added the title (the graphic above is cut into the film) and credits, played with music and background sounds, and color correction, and done a little bit of re-cutting. All the hard work has been worth it, because the film has really come together.

Now comes the fun part: screening it for friends and getting some feedback, so Russell and I can get back behind the computer and make this little film the best it can be.

I hope to see you at the party, and if you can make it, please let me know what you think!

Zack

SCREENING PARTY!!!

DCU Producer Janna Trevers checks in, with this exciting news:

On July 27, 2007 at 5:00 PM, a small group of people started the weekend with a director, a camera and a dream. Four months later, this dream has become a reality...well, a 7-minute rough cut version of reality entitled, "Don't Call Us."

And now we want to show it to all of you--those who fought Upper West Side traffic, lived on the same cut-up veggie tray for the whole three days, lugged heavy lighting equipment while enduring the rain and suffered horribly in a 100 degree office as the makeup dripped off your faces. And of course all our friends, co-workers and family as well.

The place is Stone Creek at 140 E. 27th Street between 3rd Avenue and Lexington (back room). The date is Saturday, December 8, 2007. The time is 9:00 PM until 12:00 AM. The bar/lounge is a block from the 6 train so it's easy to get to.

We strongly encourage you to invite EVERYONE you know and ask them to tell you and/or us what they think of the film in a brief discussion after the screening. We need your constructive criticism and feedback so that we're able to go back to the editing room and make it the absolute best it can possibly be before we put on the finishing touches and send it down the festival circuit. We'd love to have as many people as possible attend and, we're encouraging everyone to help us make our screening party minimum by purchasing lots of drinks and appetizers/salads/sandwiches...

Check it out here to plan ahead: http://www.stonecreeknyc.com/menu.html

Kindly let us know by Friday, November 30 if you're coming so we can have time to reduce our minimum if necessary. Respond to singalittle@gmail.com on or before that date...

We hope to see you all there to share what we hope will be a creative, funny and realistic short film.

Thanks!

Janna Trevers, Producer
"Don't Call Us"

Ducks in a Row Productions, Inc.

credits for "Don't Call Us" (5/11/08)

**Credits are temporary, incomplete and subject to change**


Written and Directed by Zack Ordynans

Produced by Janna Trevers
Co-Produced by Randy Mack

Directors of Photography
Sebastian Capilli
Dominic Perez

Sound Recorder/Boom Operator Kenneth Jackson
Script Supervisor Russell Dreher
Make-Up Mary Przybylski

Gaffer/Production Assistant Anita Flores
Production Assistant Emmett Harty, Jr.
Production Assistant Chris Ruggero

Edited by Russell Dreher

Re-Recording Mixer Bret Johnson
Color Correction Sebastian Capilli

Starring Dayci Brookshire as Sara

Additional Cast (in order of appearance)

Seth Shelden Steve
Tom Roy Tom
Joan Dupre Kim
Michelle Ordynans Annette
Chris Stetson Mark
J.D. Brookshire Chris
Michael Dorrian Michael
Damon Johnson Edgar
Deborah Ludwig Nancy
Russell Dreher Ted
Ferdia Burke Sandy
Susie Cremin Mandy
Clay Adams Brad

Extras

Anita Flores
Elliott Lipper
Randy Mack
Dana Maher
Alexandra Zack
Michael Zack

And introducing Callie, as the dog.

“Let Me Love You”
Written by Roger Anthony Mapes
Performed by Yolanda and The Plastic Family

“Cool Intellect”
Written by Roger Anthony Mapes
Performed by Yolanda and The Plastic Family
Courtesy VIVA Records

“Sky Bulb”
Written by Leon Bernstein
Performed by B.L. Burns
Courtesy SouthNorthport Records

“Primal Sensation”
Written by Roger Anthony Mapes
Performed by Yolanda and The Plastic Family

“In a Trance”
Composed by Steven M. Tuerack

“Daydream”
Written by Jen Urban
Performed by Jen Urban and The Box

“Reflections on Elections”
Written and Performed by Funky Monk

“Prelude to an Afterthought”
Written and Performed by Funky Monk

Equipment Rental

Du-All Camera, New York, NY
DV Depot, New York, NY
Eastern Effects, Brooklyn, NY
Liman Video Rental, New York, NY
Professional Sound, New York, NY

Special Thanks

Bliss Bistro, Sunnyside, N.Y.
Dayci Brookshire
Aubrey Bryan
Jeanie Cheek
Andrea Chen
Susie Cremin
Ethiopian Restaurant, New York, N.Y.
Foley's, New York, N.Y.
Jill Goodman
Liberty Insurance
Ben Jaffe
New York State Insurance Fund
Dana and Brian Maher
The City of New York
Henry and Michelle Ordynans
Quaint, Sunnyside, N.Y.
Screen Actors Guild
Seth Shelden
Sidetracks, Sunnyside, N.Y.
Stone Creek, New York, N.Y.
TempTrends, New York, N.Y.

Extra Special Thanks

Andrew and Elyse Trevers
Josh Trevers
Newman & Green
Danielle Newman
Barbara Newman

Filmed on location in Manhattan and Queens, N.Y.

© 2007 Ducks in a Row Productions Inc.
43-06 46th Street, Ste. 2C, Sunnyside, NY 11104

a short film with a soundtrack album?

Okay, the title of this post is an exaggeration. It's hard to actually foresee any scenario in which an official soundtrack album to Don't Call Us is ever released commercially. But for a short film, DCU does pack a lot of music, at least in its current (still somewhat rough) form. In the current cut, there are six or seven songs, and the film runs less than seven minutes.

I'm not quite ready to send around the rough cut, but in the meantime, I thought I'd give a sneak preview of some of the music. I hate to link to MySpace pages, but, well, I'm about to link to MySpace pages. Brace yourself, 'cause here goes.

Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves contribute the song that will probably play over the end credits. You can sample it on the MySpace page; it's "Take My Love With You," the third song listed. I recently saw Mr. Reed and his cohorts live, and I highly recommend checking them out if you get a chance. They put on a live show that's even better than their band name, and that's saying something.

It's unlikely that any of these songs will appear in the film, but it's a good bet that DCU will feature music by Chicago's enigmatic bl burns. The talented Mr. Burns was the leader of the now-defunct Chubb Sessions Band, which contributed a couple or three songs to the Burning Annie soundtrack.

Brooklyn's Jen Urban and the Box are a more recent discovery. I really like the song "Something in the Dark," which you can check out on their MySpace page, but right now we've got a different song off their CD cut into the movie.

That's it for now... just wanted to give you a taste of what to expect.

Zack

PS The photo above is Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves at Crash Mansion, New York, 10/20/07. If it's not a great photo, that's probably because I took it.