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03-03-01 "New Experiences: Part One!"

This Saturday I became a real life professional improvisational comedian!! That's right! I got up on stage for both shows Saturday night! I was terrified!! The first show went incredibly! Everyone said not to expect much from your first show but it went great!! The second show was a little slower. The comedy was better in some areas but the audience was a little more reserved. We played a game calle "Day In The Life" and I reinacted an old lady crashing into this girl's car. It would have brought down the house with the first audience but it only got mild reactions from the second audience. Carolyn (this beautiful little thing that has just joined the troupe) also did her first shows with me.

When I got home at 3:00 that morning, I was still filled with excitement. The kitchen was full of drunks and smoke as my brother and his pals were making eggs. I told them that I had just became a professional improvisational comedian and they asked me to be funny. It doesn't work like that!

03-04-01 "New Experiences: Part Two!"

Up to Green Bay again for Darby's auditions. I got a chance to help out with the camera and playing a bartender who's line was, "Get ya' anything?". The whole day was a great learning experience and I got a chance to see Joe Budke in action (I thought he did a great job with the character!). I also got a chance to meet Darby's bud, Mark, who is part owner of a graphic design company in Green Bay. After auditions Darby bought me supper at Title Town! The dark beers were sent from above as the week was nearly over!

I learned a few things about lighting and getting your actors comfortable. I also got a chance to do a little coaching with the talent. One of the girls auditioning was a knock out!!

03-05-01 "New Experiences: Part Three!!"

Monday night I was the guest speaker for the Marion chapter of the National Honor Society. I had put a lot of thought into what I wanted to say but the majority of my brain power was prioritized to the Comedy City show on Saturday. For some reason I couldn't focus on the speech at all. I wonder if the fact that I haven't had any soda in more than a half year is to blame. Maybe I need that caffine to concentrate?

Anyway, the speech (while only a little over ten minutes) stressed the importance of courage. I used my cats as examples as each one deals with life in a different way. Everyone seemed to like what I had to say. The kids got me a gift certificate to Best Buy for being there for them. Cool!!

03-8-01 "The Stand In!!"

After school I decided to wrap up the shotgun scene using a stand in for Jon's character, Gary. I wanted to use Tyler Carley, a student of mine as I had hoped he could play Bart but he got too darn big. Tyler helped out as a stand in earlier so I knew he'd fit the part. It felt good to get some blasted footage shot after what feels like SO long!! I'm going to need to get some key scenes taken care of before the snow disappears.

As of now I think I've figured out who will play the two brothers, Joe Budke (a Comedy City friend) and Joe Knitt (my bud and second cousin). I think Tom had his heart set on using his pal Jason but I just wasn't sure how he'd do in front of the camera. Hopefully we'll be able to use Jason as a bartender somewhere throughout the shoot. I was just worried that the characters would appear less believable if my acters were all too young. I still am not certain who I'll get to play Cookie, Roger, or Bart. For Bart I decided to go with an eighth grade young student of mine. I was trying to decide between three different kids but the one I hope to use really stands out as he doesn't need to try as hard as the others to get a laugh. We'll see what he does when the camera's on him!

03-10-01 "Character Mapping!!!"

I've been working out the wheres and whens for all the different characters in the flick by creating a five foot chart that shows exactly what scenes the actors are in. While it looks like we barely have anything done it's quite the contrary. Many of the entire scenes on the chart consist of a single shot. It'll feel good to start knocking that chart apart with finished footage!

03-12-01 "Day Off!"

We got more snow! Ya hoo! I'm not sure how long it's going to stay but it'll prolong the melting proccess by a few days at least! Tom is cramming at the schedule as he's been very busy getting everybody organized. In all honesty, that part of the business is greatly appreciated! See, you can tell because I'm actually writing it in the journal!!! Thanks Tom!!! Your help is greatly appreciated!!

Cousin Joe came down yesterday and we managed to do a little testing. We shot the interior of the truck scene using the wide angle lens and it worked like a charm. The only problem is that it's going to need to be night time and I haven't a clue as to how we're going to shoot that part. I was considering using the school's video projector to project a moving background onto a screen behind a stationary vehicle. We'll figure it out on Saturday!

I tried to call Joe to get him to stay home on Sunday but I didn't dial the right number! What a total dork!!

03-17-01 "Escanaba In Da Moonlight!!!!"

Cousin Joe came down for the big shoot on Sunday so I decided to take him to Green Bay to see "Escanaba", Jeff Daniels' new film. Chris Twork (remember him?) is actually in the film but I couldn't see him. Maybe when it comes out in video I'll be able to stop the footage and there he'll be! Anyway, I desperately wanted to see the movie as I didn't want to see any similarity between my film and "Escanaba". Happily there were very little connections! There's no way I'll be able to match that film as far as quality is concerned but I'm thinking my little project here will be a great story none the less. I'm even thinking of sending Jeff Daniels a copy when we get it done. I'd bet he'd love to see what we came up with.

03-18-01 "A Full Crew!"

Sunday rolled along with a few upsets but tons of ecxitement and success!! I was sweating bullets as people started to slowly but surely show up. I stumbled onto the perfect person to play Roger. My cousin-in-law, Pete Krolow, told me this last summer that he might be interested in playing a character but I wasn't sure just how serious he was. Well I called him and he jumped at the chance. Pete showed up bright and early with some character ideas (he thought Roger should smoke a pipe). I also decided to cast Tom's pal Jason Buss as Cookie. Now I always pictured Cookie as a heavier older guy but I have to say, I really like what Jason has done with the character. He's done a great job bringing life to Cookie and he gives a strong sense of reality that may not have worked with an older actor.

We ran into a bit of a snag as Joe Budke (our scheduled Frank) didn't show up until later. We had assumed that Joe was not going to get here so I decided that the show must go on. If this movie is ever going to get finished we needed to go with who we had so we started shooting the group stuff with Jon's pal Tony as Frank. While Tony is only seventeen we had no other choice. While I think Tony's a very talented guy I was very glad that Joe Budke showed up two hours late as Joe fits the part perfectly. We had to shoot some stuff over but all worked out.

So as of now the cast for "The Hunt" is...

Craig Knitt as Buck Meyer, Tom Thorne as Kenny Miller, Jon Bruinooch as Gary Begrow, Joe Budke as Frank Fader, Joe Knitt as Jeff Fader, Jason Buss as Bill "Cookie" Berkholtz, Pete Krolow as Roger Randal, and introducing Josh Desens as Bart Randal!

I tried to feed the guys well as a happy cast is a good cast! We headed out to the cabin for the afternoon of shots. We got some great stuff outside the cabin that cuts perfectly into previously shot sequences. Everyone was exhausted when the sun finally went down but I think everyone realized how much we had accomplished!

03-25-01 "A Full Crew, Day Number Two!!"

Sunday rolled around again and we got out into the woods to capture some shots that were overlooked the weekend earlier. I needed to be very sensative to my cast as it turned out to be bitter cold! Who would have ever thought!! We got some fabulous shots in the woods including a great scene of Cookie taking a group picture. Oh ya, did I mention that I finished writing the script this morning! I'm rather excited with how I wrapped things up. I think it'll weave itself together poetically (if that's possible with a deer hunting flick).

We got out to the cabin later that day but Jon needed to get back to Green Bay so I had to concentrate on some scenes with him. I tried to get the last scene wrapped up but time just wouldn't allow it. We wrapped the day exhausted and sure that we had captured some excellent footage. I played some of the footage using the video projector I borrowed from the school. I am SO impressed with how cool the shots look blown up! Things are going well!

03-29-01 "High School Art Day!!"

I started my day out with an all day field trip to Oshkosh where my students were able to check out the Art Department of UW-Oshkosh and the Paine Art Center before returning to school. I found the last few days of school very stressful as I'm trying to get myself and my classroom ready for the third annual Wisconsin Film Festival. That's right, I'm leaving town!!! After school I headed down to Madison to find my room and hit the theatres! I desperately looked forward to a relaxing weekend and a long soak in a warm tub! Well, when I got down to Madtown it took me over an hour and a half to find the blasted Fredrick Center where I was staying!! And guess what? No tub!!

I had hoped to catch a 7:00 movie but barely caught a 9:00! The two films that I got to see were "The Corner Store" by Kristin Nutile and "Caesar's Park" by Sarah Price. Both were very charming documentaries. "Caesar's Park" was about a semi bizarre neighborhood in Milwaukee. There was a rather interesting point durring the movie where the audience got really quiet. I'm wondering if it was because we all realized we were laughing at these people and felt a moment of guilt? Sarah Price also worked on "American Movie" starring that crazy Mark Borchardt (who I didn't see at all the whole weekend!). Parking in Madison is a nightmare at times!!

03-30-01 "Wisconsin Film Festival, Day Two!!!!"

I spent the first part of the day shopping at all the bookstores I could find!! It's weird, while Appleton may be the place for me to buy my movies, Madison is certainly the place to find books! I even ran inot Mike O'Connell, an artist friend, as he was walking out of Border's Books! For some reason I run into him in the strangest places. I then parked the van at the Fredrick Center and walked down to State street over a mile away!

At 5:00 I caught the film "Still Life" by Milwaukee film maker Becky Banks. This was easily one of the most impressive films I saw all weekend. Beautiful camera moves that made me jealous. I talked with the director very briefly afterward to ask if I could get a copy and she told me to call her sometime. Pretty little thing!

At 7:30 I saw "In Heaven There Is No Beer" a documentary by Les Paul. I'm not a big polka fan but this was a great film! I laughed several times. I talked to the film maker afterwards and purchased "Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers" from him. I wish I had gotten a different one but a nice old lady told me that it was nice.

At 9:00 I watched the D.Film show that celebrated Digital Film from all over the nation. Of that I really enjoyed "Chuck Bozilu's Down Home Ass Kickin'", "Computer Music System", "Destroying America", "Harry Potter Parking Lot", and "Warplay". I liked the naratives best, you can keep some of the arty abstract stuff!

At 11:15 I caught "The Ballad Of Little Roger Mead" and "Good Grief". "Roger Mead" was a great short that I'll need to try to get as it was hilarious!! "Good Grief" started out pretty strong but towards the end the sound went funny and the acting suffered. I talked with the director and purchased a copy of the film.

At about 1:00 or so I headed back downtown to get some chicken wings before walking back to where I was staying. My shins were killing me!!

03-31-01 "Wisconsin Film Festival, Day Three!!!"

At about 11:00 someone knocked on the door waking me from an incredibly sound sleep! I had hoped to catch part of a discussion on scriptwriting at 10:00 but that wasn't going to happen! I rushed into the shower to get my day started!

At about 11:15 I made it to the Student Union to see the Student Shorts. I missed the first few shorts but caught "The Wrong Mail" by Josua Moise. It had an awesome story that was told without any dialog. I'll need to try to get a copy! "Candy From Strangers" and "Halloween: Behind The Costumes" were also films that I enjoyed.

At 12:15 I tried to get tickets for two wisconsin films later that night (including "Lizard Of Death" by my friends in Richland Center) but they were not selling tickets until 12:30 and I needed to be on the other side of State street by then.

At 1:00 I saw "What Is Normal" by Mary Jo Oathout. It was a heart filled documentary about five different people from the Madison area that suffered from disabilities. There was a part in the film that lasted about five minutes long that showed this poor guy stuffing an envelope. No one has ever worked harder at their job!!! Thios guy's own body battled him every step of the way. It was quite emotional. The audience applauded when the envelope was filled! I'd have liked to catch the end of the film but I needed to be elsewhere.

At 2:00 I sat in on the Digital discussion group. They talked about my camera quite a bit. Made me feel pretty good! I purchased the film "Oracle Of Omaha" from the film maker, Lisa D. Gildehaus (a pretty little thing) as I was unable to see it earlier. She shot it on high definition and I'd like to see how that worked. She was one of the speakers on the panel. Also on the panel were Bart Cheever, the guy in charge of the D.films show on Friday and Ari Vena and Chris Talbott who shot "The World's Greatest Prom" which had sold out before I could get tickets!!!

When I walked out of the seminar I couldn't believe it!! It was snowing like crazy!! Huge flakes were drenching everything in sight!! I grabbed something to eat at Noodles and Company and watched the snow fall. I then made the long trek back to the student center to get my tickets for "The Lizard Of Death" and "Friends Forever". Both were sold out!!!! I had to get in to see "Lizard"!!! There was no choice!! I pleaded with the doorman. He assured me that there are always four or five extra tickets that are saved for emergencies. If I were to show up and wait I'd probably be able to get in. Crud!!

I then treked back up State street to try to get tickets for "The World's Greatest Prom" again. No luck!! I decided to see Six String Samuria at 6:30 so I began my trek back to the student center. Before I got too far I changed my plans. I OWN "Six String Samuria" and while I love it, I don't need to see it again! I went to see Comedy Sports Madison instead! Great choice too by the way! They were wonderful. There was a large guy that pretty much dictated what was to happen in each scene but overall they did a great job and I hope to talk to Mike about a few things I noticed.

At 10:00 I headed back to the student center to check on "Lizard" tickets one last time. I knew that the guys would somehow get me in if I could only find them! Sold Out!! Sorry!! Before I even had a chance to swear, there they were! Ben Heckendorn and Company! They covered my missing ticket and we picked up on discussions we were having three months ago! I wish they lived closer as these guys would be the guys I'd hang with!! Ben is very caught up in his portable Atari unit project right now. The guy is an electronic wizard! I've got a feeling he'll get rich off the darn things... just watch! The only problem is that he's not working on any new film projects, oh well, that'll come!

"Lizard" was even funnier the second time seeing it! I NEED to get a copy of that film!! It was proceeded by "A Young Man's Guide To Dating" by Darren Roark. That film was the perfect fit! I need to get a copy of that film also! Man, it was chock full of laughs all the way through!!!

The highlight of my weekend? No question! See the Richland Center guys again!! Holy smokes, what a day!!

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