What's up?

You didn't think you'd missed something, did you? Yes, DER STEINFROSCH is still coming to a backyard near you. Or theater. We recently entered a short snippet of the film in the CHILLER TV/Synthetic Films Monster Mash-Up. I don't really expect to win but thought it would be cool to enter. The entry was more or less a three minute snippet of the film...no real story stuff. Just some credits and a good catfight.

Check out the clip here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7y1Ekk5Wmk

I've gotten neck-deep in editing audio, music and dialogue for the film. It's going to sound good. Most of the foley and field recording I've done myself. Took a little longer but it's been worth it. I got to hear the mix on a surround system the other day and it POPS you in the chops. I can remember back in the day syncing up audio with reels and using a razor blade to make the edits. There's no way in the world I could be doing that now with the number of elements this short contains

I'm trying to squeeze so much into this film it'll hurl by when you watch it. I've shown some clips to a few people and I've gotten some positive feedback. I've just tried to make a film I enjoy watching. I hope you do, too.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned. I'll try to post more but I'd rather get this film to you. Have a bettter one!

Maiden Alley Cinema in Paducah KY will be the site of the DER STEINFROSCH sneak preview. This is significant to me because many of the most kickass films I've ever seen have been at Maiden Alley. They're in tune with the independent film scene and are going to allow us to do something special.

This will be a event besides the first reveal of the three foot Nazi divil frog in action. We're going to be featuring live music by musicians who contributed to the DER STEINFROSCH soundtrack and after the film we'll have a Q&A with the filmmakers and cast. You'll be able to tell us what you think before we kick STEINFROSCH out on the film festival road. Stay tuned for exact date and details.

Welcome Jay Chuppe.

Jay Chuppe is kind of a big deal in the world of art and design. I was lucky enough to con him into developing a new logo for the DER STEINFROSCH character. It's a winner and I'm proud to have another local artist contribute to the evil mayhem devil frogs bring.

Jay has been doing illustrations and seps for screenprinted
t-shirts for the last 15 years as a full time freelance illustrator. From his basement lair in Paducah, KY he... provides work for clients all over the country that sell in many national retail chains.

He's provided t-shirt designs/illustrations for WWE, NFL, NCAA, Disney, Universal, Warner Brothers, Blue Collar Comedy Tour, Hanna Barbara, King Features, Rainforest Cafe, NASCAR, Animal Planet, The History Channel,
Blues Traveler, & Yonder Mountain String Band...as well as created many other original characters & illustrations for various screenprint t-shirt companies.
In 2007 he also launched his own preprint t-shirt line called
Kenfunky Tees, which he also designed and hand printed
himself (www.myspace.com/kenfunkytees).

He has also provided work/cartoons for humor magazines
CRACKED, Jokester, and Thwack. He is currently
working on his creator owned comic book project,
the Western Kentucky based heroes "Red Mullet & CowBoy",
which was a top 50 finalist in the Platinum Studios
Comic Book Challenge in 2006, & the 4th Place finisher
in the 2008 Comic Book Challenge. He's also just begun
developmental work on his second creator owned idea, BobCat.

The German Frog advances.

A big thanks to my crew on the Nazi shoot. We needed a few shots of Adolph Hitler and some troopers for a WW2 flashback sequence. Steve Schwetman, who brings a background of working in film and live theater to the table suited up as Hitler. I had given Steve a documentary DVD to study and WHOA...he nailed the evil that Hitler was. Brad Lynn and Dustin Lynn took the roles of our troopers and just like Steve they really brought our Nazis to life.

Another talented pro on board was photographer Kim Comer Jackson. Kim's like the guy at the circus with the plates spinning on sticks. She's a blogger, a photographer and the marketing director of a heavy equipment company. I caught some of her work on Facebook and she was generous enought to join us in the heat early on a Saturday morning. Great production photography!

Just a few more of the talented folks who've helped bring the three foot devil frog to life. Next time you'll get to meet some more creatives and a find out about a sneak preview showing and YOU are invited! Stick around. It's going to get wild.

Things is happnin'.

DER STEINFROSCH production is still cooking. I'm working on FX shots when we're not wrapping up frog fights and Hitler reenactments.

Not long ago if you had told me I'd have gotten a permit to shoot a scene with Adolph Hitler, German soldiers and MP40 machine guns at our local riverfront I'd have questioned your ability to reason but it happened. A big thanks to the Paducah KY PD and the Dept. of Parks and Recreation. It helped we didn't have any firing weapons going off or needed any roads blocked. An out-of-the-way location didn't hurt. Neither did the EARLY start time.

I can understand the city's concerns as far as liability is concerned.
ANYTIME you're shooting and firearms are involved whether they nonfiring or otherwise communication with local law enforcement is ESSENTIAL.

Making the necessary arrangements in advance means we were able to not only get our shots in short order but because I had scouted the location ahead of time at the same time of day when we'd film on shooting day I was easily able to direct my nazi minions in effectively. When I was a kid my dad said he had learned the "Seven P Principle" in the Navy. I still use it...

1.Proper
2.Prior
3.Planning
4.Prevents
5.Piss
6.Poor
7.Performance

Another big thanks to my volunteer crew. Next post I'll give you the 411 on the folks that made my little sequence featuring the most hated man in history come to life. Thanks for stopping by.

Location scouting and machine guns.

Production of DER STEINFROSCH continues! We're shooting a History Channel-type reenactment of Hitler and some German soldiers shortly. Had to make arrangements with the local police, because my Nazis are packing MP40 machine guns and the last thing we need is one of the city's finest mistaking them for the real deal. Costumes are lined up, the soldiers, Eva and Hitler are cast, now the hurdle is getting everyone together on the same day. Got to keep on keeping on! Got a major frog sequence we're shooting tomorrow. Next weekend we're shooting some major WW2 battle stuff. Stay tuned!

The 2010 DER STEINFROSCH trailer

Before I had gotten heavily into shooting DER STEINFROSCH I had a good idea some key concepts for the background story of the film. Movie trailers have always been one of my favorite parts of the cinema experience. You want to give the audience a taste but no more than that. I've seen trailers that afterwards you already know what happens throughout the film. With DER STEINFROSCH the aim has been to essentially tell the backstory of the film's antagonist while leaving the story of the film a mystery. The second and final online trailer I'm putting out before the film is released features the creature more and suggests the trouble the evil amphibian is wanting to cause. See for yourself here...


I can't wait to get this thing out because seriously, when was the last time you saw a giant frog running wild, attacking pets and people? Short answer-never. Stay tuned...DER STEINFROSCH is near!

Celtx...powerful and free scriptwriting tool.

In every aspect of the production of DER STEINFROSCH I've done some pretty intense homework. Proper script formatting and structure were no exception. When you present your story to others there's just "the right way and the wrong way". Celtx is the right way and not only offers access to scripting tools that are powerful but free. You can download Celtx free from the website. The software gives scriptwriting apps as well as those for notes, storyboarding, credits and more. For a few bucks you can purchase additional images for putting a more polished look on your storyboards. You can even buy arrows for actor or camera movement cues. I'm pretty hands-on so when it comes to storyboarding I draw my own. However, when it came time to transfer DER STEINFROSCH from pen to PC to print, Celtx was the software I used. It's awesome and if you're interested in putting a script together it's a great way to get in the game.

Find out more at the Celtx site here...http://celtx.com

Of frogs and men...

I mentioned earlier the challenge of casting non-actors in a film. It can be a challenge but if you navigate the situation carefully I think you can come up with some good stuff. The key is to know your people ahead of time and simply write FOR THEM. I got two friends to play the human characters and simply dropped them into some bizarre circumstances. Not that I'm Steven Soderbergh but he's done that to good effect in some films. You'll actually see it quite a bit in certain films. DER STEINFROSCH takes place in a southern town and if there's one thing I think is lame is actors using fake southern accents. My 'actors' sound like the real thing because they ARE the real thing. Thanks to Jeff and Zannie.

As far as having a three foot rubber frog as a character in my film? He turned out so much better than I had hoped I'm actually taking longer to get the film done than I had originally planned. I want to show more of him and what he can do. People that have seen the full length creature seem to be impressed or frightened and either is great, right? I've just finished editing a behind the scenes minidoc on the making of the creature that will go on the DVD. I've been careful to compile as much supplemental material as I can for the DVD..because bonus features are like bacon-good.

A Stein do what now?!?

Maybe you wonder "why a frog?"

The short answer is I'd never seen a bipedal frog running around in a guy's backyard raising hell with garden implements.

The story of Der Steinfrosch concerns the day of a rural landscaper who after a grueling morning of shrub-intensive customer service discovers a strange parcel in his own backyard garden. What at first seems to be an unusual statue shrouds a terrifying Nazi force. A fierce confrontation ensues followed by a creative repurpose for the evil amphibian.

Der Steinfrosch is a short monster film. Action, creative camera work and editing,interesting characters, some jokes, gruesome frog attacks (not so much gruesome)...

While I'm on the subject of gruesome I gotta submit there's a time and a place for it. I love a good cinematic dinosaur attack or chestburster sequence but the torture porn can stay home. At one time this film held the promise of some sweet dismemberment and nightmarish abdominal-content flinging but I decided I could just try some creative work-arounds to hold my audience's interest. Please don't confuse my decision for any type of prudish view on cinema violence. I thought the last RAMBO flick was awesome and Peter Jackson's DEAD ALIVE was a @*#$& masterpiece. Next film I make might have some blood. It might not be red.

So no big actors. I decide to write for people I know that aren't actors. I know they can't act but they can be themselves. All I had to do was put their characters in bizarre situations knowing ahead of time how they would react. This approach has worked really well. I only have two characters that are human and the sole antagonist is a rubber puppet. Should I not say RUBBER PUPPET? I feel like George Castanza the time he got caught fooling around with the cleaning lady on his desk at work...'should I NOT have done that?' Seriously, I wonder if people during the production of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK they called Yoda a 'rubber puppet'? Lifelike animatronic? Crudely robotic creature mechanism? If I had Frank Oz playing the character, RUBBER PUPPET would probably get the NO button.


When I was little I was afraid of some puppets. I think a well played puppet can look pretty dang creepy simply BECAUSE it's a puppet. I had made some wire and latex creatures before for some stop motion projects but the STEINFROSCH was literally a new type of animal. An 'animatronic' and non-actors. The secret weapons of every successful film.

Next post we'll talk about the characterfolk actor-types playing in the story. We'll have a link to some video as well.

Keep that froggy feeling.

Another artist joins the team.

Another talented musician is lending a hand to the production of DER STEINFROSCH. Chris Black (aka Grandpa Black) has just released a new album. He's also agreed to allow the use some of his material for the soundtrack as well as contribute film-specific material. His new cd, 'ILLINOIS, KENTUCKY and TENNESSEE' is in my player now and deserves your listen. If you live in the Paducah area you can grab a copy at Kirchhoff's Bakery and Deli, Etcetera Coffee House or Music Zone in Lone Oak. Find out more or order a cd here..

http://www.myspace.com/grandpablack

Music for this film has been a critical point for me. I wanted unique. Something 'with a local flavor' sounds cliched but with the contributions of the artists who have agreed to be a part of this project the music echoes with the heart of this part of the country and doesn't come off like the music on a used car commercial. Music and sounds are probably more important than picture for an effective film. People can put up with lame, out-of-focus images or poorly exposed camerawork. Music and sound can, when used with taste, propel a film into the realm of unforgettable. With the help of the talented musicians I've assembled this project takes another step closer.

Stay tuned. Der Steinfrosch is bringings the jams.

A higher degree of amphibiocity....

Yeah...I know. This looks like an autopsy on a Sesame Street character. This photo was taken way before we started frog photography. Here we see the antagonist of DER STEINFROSCH getting a belly and muscle buildup. He still needs MUCH work on his hands and feet as far as webbing is concerned. He's also going to need skin, a full reshape on his head(which is still pretty cartoony)and some coloring. He's also going to get some eyes.



It was important for the eyes to look good. I used a cane toad as a model for the eyelids and tissue surrounding the eye sockets.



This little guy from a reference book was PERFECT. Yes, Virginia...the three foot Nazi devil frog was taking shape. Stay tuned.

Music in DER STEINFROSCH

I've been fortunate to work with an outstanding young musician in the WKY area by the name of Nathan Blake Lynn. Nathan, Grady Wring and I have done some videos you can find on YOUTUBE here...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNHDYLp45b8

Nathan's given me permission to use some of his music for our soundtrack. He's awesome and his material is really kicking the film up a notch. His new album, WHO SAID THE WORLD'S FAIR is out and you need to pick it up. Cruise over to NathanBlakeLynn.com for more info.

photo by Grady Wring

How to field dress a three foot devil frog...

DER STEINFROSCH concerns a small town landscaper that encounters the amphibious result of a series of forgotten Nazi experiments. A unique garden ornament turns out to be the kind of pest that wants to eat more than your roses.

It took a couple of weeks to finish the creature. I studied frog skin and eyes then went WILD. No CG here.

It's all old-school, in-camera stuff. Films like JACK BROOKS, MONSTER SLAYER...SPLINTER...THE BURROWERS...ALL great and all feature live physical effects. When you shoot it right it just looks really good. Stay tuned for more pics on the FROGBLOG!

Welcome aboard!

Hi and thanks for checking out the blog. We'll be updating from time to time with news, pics and videos of the production of DER STEINFROSCH. German for "the stone frog", DER STEINFROSCH is a film currently in production in Paducah, KY. Production started in summer of 2009 and the film's coming out in 2010. I had hoped for an earlier release but I hadn't grasped the fact that my gnat's sized attention span would sort of hamper my efforts to keep track of important things like a story, some actors, the construction of some type of creature and how to capture the entire thing in such a way that if at the very least it would be something I could enjoy making and watching. Never mind where to shoot it,the audio, music for the soundtrack or a marketing strategy.

DER STEINFROSCH is a film about a forgotten WW2 Nazi project that accidentally finds its way into the garden of a small town landscaper. When the evil force is released by mistake, a battle of wills and garden implements ensues.