Trees III Trailer Dump and News!

This is it! All of the trailers have been released, and the final movie is underway!

Now, how is this going to work? First off, I'd like to officially announce here that John and I are moving to a joint YouTube channel where we will reupload our videos with minor edits, and officially debut the movie we've shamelessly hyped you up for!

This is our longest movie yet, and by long and I mean long. Twenty straight minutes of heart-pounding, fist-clenching, edge of your seat Tree action. Due to Youtube being kind of lame, we have to divide the movie into two parts, which is fine because the movie is a two-parter anyways.

Act 1 will detail the past. Why is the Agent so awesome? How did he become the Tree hunter we saw in TREES II- The Treelogy? Who is this Wesker character, and why does he seem so familiar? Most of all, why are Trees evil?

Act 2 will continue on the story, taking place after TREES II- The Treelogy. Will our heroes be able to stop the Tree menace? Who knows! Well, we do, but you won't until much later!

For the first time in our movies you get to see guns actually FIRE, pretty intense combat, and somewhat of a story! This is our best movie yet and I can't wait to share it with you guys as soon as it's finished!

Which, speaking of, why isn't it finished? Well, Act 1 is completely edited and ready to be uploaded, however John and I decided to upload the movies one after the other. So we're going to wait until Act 2 is finished for that to happen. I did toy around with uploading Act 1 first so you guys can watch it, we'll see where that goes.

Now, for those of you out there that really care, due to Youtube's time limit we had to cut a lot of scenes out of the movie, however, Vimeo doesn't have a time limit for videos, so you guys might actually be able to see a length director's cut version of the two movies, edited together for one long continuous film! Regardless if we decide to upload the extended version, on our upcoming DVD, Sunset on a Distant Planetside, that will be the version included on there. :D

Now onto the new stuff! The Trees saga may be coming to a close, but we aren't done making movies yet! Our next venture into serious movies is well underway, with Viral! Viral is a horror-flick, centered around a group of people who try to escape the city after a horrible virus is unleashed! While the teaser trailer was released, it wasn't exactly what I had in mind for the movie, and it doesn't really showcase the real feeling of the movie. We're currently casting for Viral, so while John and I are guaranteed to be in it (obviously :P), you're going to be seeing a lot of new faces.

Moving on, as you can see I've updated my blog yet again! There's a few minor nitpicks I have, mainly the stupid blog title over my lovely artsy one. If anybody can help me fix that without screwing up my twitter updates, that'd be much appreciated. Comments on the new layout and such are welcome!

I have a couple more things I'd like to run over before I end this huge post. A couple of people have asked where to send requests for the DVD, and for the moment we don't have anything in particular set up. When we officially launch the new channel, we'll put up a second DVD Ad that will tell you where to send your info to. The entire DVD is completely free and every one is hand-crafted with store bought boxes! :D Honestly though, it's very good and you're bound to get some laughs out of it. :)

Also, I recently made a cameo in WildWeasel's How Bad Could It Be? review for Infiltrator
on the NES. It's a hilarious review, so I highly encourage you to watch it!...or else we might have to go out for a..."long walk".

Sunset on a Distant Planetside/Trees III Update!

So we're finally getting close to the filming process of TREES III: The Treelogy. We're getting a basic gist of the storyline, and let me tell you that not only is this going to be the longest Trees Saga movie (we're looking at around 10-20 minutes here!), it's also going to be the funniest. I can say with confidence that John and I have nailed down what makes us "funny". Not to mention this movie will have our largest cast yet.

You guys (if you've been scouting my Youtube channel) have seen all the teasers for Trees III, for the most part. We have one teaser coming up, focusing on the returning Ethan Gaddy (who played the Doctor in Trees I, and newcomer James Collier playing Tim Johnson's part from Trees I, "A Black Guy". After that, we'll start filming Trees III! :D

Trees III is going to be quite an odd filming process. We currently have two plans. John has suggested we go into the Agent's past, connecting his story with the present. My plan however, is a bit more complicated.

Two of our cast members (Donovan Mobley and Chris Meeks) are a state away from everybody else. So in order to properly unite our cast, we're going to have to do some clever cutting and editing. We'll see how that turns out.

In other news, I'm working on the Kirra/Cannon Productions DVD...Sunset on a Distant Planetside!

This bad boy has been in the works for quite awhile now but it's finally making some new progress. Unfortunately, we had to cut out our movie, "Desolation", simply because we couldn't reshoot it. That leaves us with only the trailers, but I suppose that's okay.

Here's an overview of what's on the DVD (or planned to be on it) at the moment.

Trees Saga

• Trees [Recut]
• Trees (Trailer 2) [DVD EXCLUSIVE]
• Trees 2: The Treequel
• Trees 2: The Treequel (Alternate Cut) [Pending, not sure if it's different enough from my cut]
• Trees 2: Epic Assault
• Trees 2: The Treequel (Revisited)
• Trees III: The Treelogy (Wesker Teaser)
• Trees III: The Treelogy (Tank Teaser)
• Trees III: The Treelogy (Groove Veteran Teaser)
• Trees III: The Treelogy (A Black Guy/The Doctor Teaser)
• Trees III: The Treelogy (Trailer)
• Trees III: The Treelogy (Feature Movie)

Viral (More info on this movie soon!)

• Teaser
• Trailer
• Viral (Movie)
  

Desolation

• Teaser (Forgotten Past) [Recut]
  
• Trailer 1 (Echoes)
• Trailer 2 (Conflict)
• Trailer 3 (Zero-Sum)
• Theatrical Trailer [DVD EXCLUSIVE]
  
• Isolation Teaser

Misc. Videos

• A Message From Marty Kirra
• Fun Time (Intro)
• Metal Gear Soquid [DVD EXCLUSIVE]
• Funner Times [DVD EXCLUSIVE]
• Lip Syncorama [DVD EXCLUSIVE]
• Nuf Emit [Recut]
• Another Message From Marty Kirra
• Behind the Scenes [DVD EXCLUSIVE]
• For An Idiot Named Marty Kirra (Original Video)
• Re: Another Message From Marty Kirra
• Chris' Adventure (Great Tomato Beatdown and Trees II Fanvid) [DVD EXCLUSIVE]
• DVD Ad 1
• DVD Ad 2
• Outakes [DVD EXCLUSIVE]
• Credits [DVD EXCLUSIVE..duh]

As you can see, we're literally packing this thing up with videos! There might be even more stuff coming in the future, but I can't say for certain. As you may or may not know, all of these videos feature commentary from John and I, and a couple feature commentary from Donovan Mobley as well. Right now we're looking to distribute this thing FREE OF CHARGE! :D

I'll keep you guys updated!

Meanwhile, in other news...

My friend WildWeasel over at Blaugh! asks the question we're all wondering...How bad could it be? The second edition of How Bad Could It Be? focuses on a mid-90's game called "Island Peril", an extremely weird FPS featuring enemies such as the dastardly bodybuilders in swim trunks, the villainous nerds in trenchcoats, and last but not least, very stolen Doom muzzle flashes!

In other news, the James Collier post I promised to make on Twitter is still in development. I've also taken the time rearrange the sidebar with the links to look a bit more pretty. Fancy buttons ahoy!

What's next?

So, if you've been to my Youtube account lately, you'll notice I'm putting up a series of teaser trailers for our upcoming movie Tree III: The Treelogy. So far, we're trying to get all the characters from Trees I back in the last movie. Confirmed to be returning?

• The Agent
• John Cannon
• The Doctor (ETHAN GADDY'S BACK YEAH)
• Some War Veteran (Played by Donovan Mobley, who made his debut in "Another Message from Marty Kirra")
• A Black Guy (Played by James Collier, who is an actual black guy.)

Also, newcomer Chris Wesker, played by Chris Meeks (who is shown in the Wesker Teaser on my Youtube). The reason I haven't posted any of the teasers here is because I'm waiting for all of them to be finished. I was originally going to have a teaser for every character, but that's overkill, so the Doctor and a Black Guy will probably be lumped into one video.

After Trees III, we're finished with the series. Our next project is something unknown to us, but we're shooting for something dark and mysterious, our first serious movie. Details will come when we make them up.

Oh yeah, I know, double post. You'll live.

Advertisement from Marty Kirra

My good friend Sa over at DeviantArt has started taking commissions! Her work is extremely awesome and varied and her prices are pretty fantastic right now. She's an amazing artist, go ahead and put her awesome skillz to the test :D I know I will!

http://www.duh-sa.deviantart.com/journal/26474464/ for more info.

Another Message from Marty Kirra

A week or so ago, I logged into Youtube. I haven't been getting many comments or rating or what have you, but to my surprise, I had a video response. Who and what could say anything about my "first" video, "A Message from Marty Kirra"? Nothing could prepare me for what was about to take place.

After watching the response video (the video is shown in the beginning of the video I posted above), I knew that this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up.

Now, let me clear up some things about the original video, "A Message from Marty Kirra". It was three o'clock in the morning and John Cannon was spending the night. After putting on a track I dubbed "Overly Happy Song!", we filmed the stupidest video we had shot up to that point. The "I have AIDS." thing was initially meant to contrast the overly happy music in the background. We thought the video was hilarious until watching it the next morning. The luster of the punchline had worn off, but we decided to upload it anyways.

So far, "A Message from Marty Kirra" is my most viewed video on my account. I have never once stated that AIDS is hilarious or that I find my video funny. It's a stupid video and I acknowledge that. However, I firmly believe that my viewers indeed realize the video is stupid and it's meant to be taken with a grain of salt.

The video response prompted me to take A Message from Marty Kirra one step further. Our original plan was to bombard "LibbyWho" (the person who uploaded the video response) with tons of video responses. This included "Another Message from Marty Kirra" (shown above), as well as "spin-off" versions of "A Message from Marty Kirra", featuring John instead of me. This footage might see the light of day soon, but I think I'll give the "I have AIDS" thing a rest. :P

Sit back, enjoy, rate and comment.

P.S.- Watch near the end for a special cameo from Burn Notice's Micheal Weston.

TREES II: The Treequel (Revisited)

Here we are, Trees II: The Treequel, re-filmed in HD with my new camera.

Here's interesting trivia behind the Treequel. Because I'm bored.

• Clever cropping allowed us to achieve the tree attacking John scene. Originally the shot was wayyy too obvious and I thought about leaving it in there for humor purposes. Maybe next time?
  
• My pants ripped at the CROTCH performing the tree jump-kick. Now you will never be able to watch the video the same way again.
• The second-post title shot scene originally featured me chunking my gun at the crunched up can. The gun (an Airsoft pistol) was completely demolished.

This was all achieved thanks to my new camera that I got for my birthday. It's incredibly awesome.

Rate it, comment it, do something!

SHOW TIME!

I'm mobile! :D It's time for prom. I'll be twittering (look at the sidebar) all night, so check back for maximum awesome. :P

I've Got No Sort of Self

For awhile, Nine Inch Nails has been my favorite band. Recently Trent Reznor, the voice and pretty much everything behind NIN, announced he was going on tour with Jane's Addiction and newcomer band, Street Sweeper Social Club. To be honest I've never been to a concert in my life, so I figured now is the best time to go see one.

NIN got me into remixing and producing my own music, and today I figured I'd put something together since I have nothing ELSE to do with my time. The mixing is kind of spotty in places but I still like the sound of it. Hopefully you enjoy my rendition of Closer. It's a free download too!

Get this widget | Track details | eSnips Social DNA

P.S.- Esnips is a great service, you should look into it if you're looking for some online hosting space. It's free and reliable and other good adjectives.

NEW COSTUME UNLOCK!

Prom tux? You bet! :D I didn't put on the tie or anything else, but this is pretty much it. I have no idea what prompted the James Bond look, but eh...it's cool right?

The Horror of After Effects

A couple of days ago I acquired After Effects in preparation for a movie I'll be shooting in the summer. From what I had heard, Abobe After Effects had a layout that kind of resembles Photoshop, which is good, because I'm very familiar with Photoshop.

So far, my video editing experience has been limited to Sony programs. While working on editing music, I had become accustomed to working with Sony ACID Pro. When moving into the realm of video editing, I was recommended Sony Vegas. To my surprise, Vegas had nearly the same interface as ACID. While I'm still learning about new tricks in Vegas, I slid very easily into the program and was able to produce quality results with it.

Next, when venturing out to find a program to author Kirra/Cannon Pro's debut DVD, I was yet again recommended to a Sony program, dubbed DVD Architect. Lo and behold, the program shared the same interface as Vegas and ACID, while being slightly different to accompany the features it had. Thanks to the similarities in these programs, I was capable of utilizing them efficiently quicker than most.

So much to my dismay, the similarities in After Effects and Photoshop are small and rather insignificant. They both use layers, however, the interface is drastically different. While Photoshop is mildly easy to slide into, but progressively harder to use to it's full capability, After Effects is INCREDIBLY hard to get into. Messing with a clip of one of our first videos (put in reverse as a test) Fun Time, I had only manage to liquify John to the point where he looked like a slinky flipping backwards.

I'll be sure to put up videos of my After Effects experience sooner or later. I plan on doing some Let's Play style videos later on.

REFRESH!

Finally! Everything is in order around here! New layout, new links, new everything! Check this stuff out and enjoy guys! Comment too! :D

Project D Journal 1 (And more!)

I'm posting again. Shut up.

This last couple of months have been really interesting. I've formed a sort of team with my friend John Cannon and together we started making videos. They range from the not-so-serious (Trees, Trees II: The Treequel), to...the not-so-serious. It's no surprise that I wanted to move onto something with a bit of a darker feel. That is when I wrote up Project D. AKA, Desolation.

Now it comes as a shock to people that know me that I've had my mind on something like Desolation for awhile. While filming Trees I, we ventured deeper into the forest to find what appeared to be an abandoned construction site. As John would later phrase it, "It literally looks like a bomb went off here."

Upon further investigation however, it appeared the site wasn't really abandoned. The weekends were just an off-day for the workers. That didn't stop us.

The script for Desolation (the first movie to actually have some sort of plan) was cobbled together in a day and the lines were quickly rehearsed before shooting. The story followed two brothers, Gene and Mark, surviving together out in the desolated area with two other people (who were of little importance in the entire movie to be honest) after a large war-related disaster. Mark eventually goes insane and Gene has no choice but to off him. The intent was laughable and wasn't believable at all. But we had to make due with the time we had.

I was hoping for the footage to hold the viewer's interest, However, random trains and wind gusts plagued the set. Annoying video hiccups were present during some of my pivotal dialog. John's plan was however, to edit the video as is and release it with the intent of doing it much better sometime in the future.

I wasn't in agreement with this. The acting was purely laughable in some places and the audio was horrendous with random gusts of wind smudging out the dialog. Instead, we used the footage to make trailers. We soon ran out of good shots to use and I needed to find another option. Take 1 was to be archived.

A month or so ago, I began to revise and edit the script. Mark's malice was deepened and made realistic, Gene became more of a brooding character, and Ethan and Tim (the two other characters), were given depth as well. Extra precaution was put on making the scenario believable without special effects and care was taken to make the story interesting. This included various flashbacks (present in Take 1 but largely irrelevant) and increased dialog. The script nearly doubled in size, and I was yet again excited for the project.

So far, we haven't been able to shoot due to heavy rains (ON THE WEEKENDS ONLY), and it's kind of demoralizing in a way. John and I were intent on putting out a DVD (Dubbed "Sunset on a Distant Planetside"), which showcased various movies, with the release of Desolation being the highlight. However, with Desolation's Take 2 shot being postponed, the DVD might have to do without it for now.

Anyways, personally, life's been a little hectic. I'm ready to graduate and move on with my life (to what, I don't know.) I've been trying to hold interest in Doom but seemingly increased distance between me and my kind-of partner in crime WildWeasel has been putting me off. I need to get back into editing or something, but the interest isn't there. Hopefully things will pull through and I'll have some sort of project by the end of the year.

In other news, the sidebar has been updated with links to me and John's respective youtube accounts. Also, follow me on Twitter! Ciao!

Speaking of...

"But never will this degenerate into a one-update-a-month "Sorry I Haven't Posted" festival."
-WildWeasel, Blaugh! (May 12, 2005)