As sad as it is to see summer go, at least the sweet glory of the football season is upon us. And much to the chagrin of some here at Gorilla Pictures (ahem, Aaron Smith), Eric Johnson and Eric Machiela have a huge hankerin’ for Fantasy Football. They do their research, they study the players, they talk about who they like and dislike, and perhaps most nerdily, they listen to an ESPN podcast called Fantasy Focus Football, co-hosted by Matthew Berry and Nate Ravitz and produced by Jason Soderberg.

Each year, the Fantasy Focus Football team hosts something which is known as the Man’s League, a 16-team league designed for only the most manly of Fantasy Football junkies. (Side note: This year it is called the Caveman’s League because it is being sponsored by Geico and so (Cheap plug!) go to www.geico.com and see about saving up to 15% on car insurance!) Getting into the league is competitive and nearly impossible. But this year they were determined.

So using company resources, they decided to use their skills and create a music video for the Fantasy Focus Football show based on their theme song (written and performed by international recording superstar Eric Hutchinson) which plays at the start of each show. They designed storyboards, had them drafted up, and sent them to the team at ESPN, who surprisingly decided that this would be a good idea! Nerds rejoice!

They invited Gorilla onto the two-time award winning podcast yesterday morning and we thought we would share it with you. No idea how many of you out there play Fantasy Football but for us (ashamedly) this is a big deal! See the link to the podcast below. They start interviewing us at approximately 22 mins into the podcast. And check back on the blog soon for the official Fantasy Focus Football music video!

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/player?rd=1#/podcenter/?id=5523103&autoplay=1&callsign=ESPNRADIO

Usually when we send our RED cameras to California, it’s because something is broken. An audio card decided to die after a rental or a mysterious blue line is now running down the middle of the picture or it became possessed and renamed itself Damien Thorn. If you can imagine it, it’s happened.

But this trip out to the West Coast is a time of jubilee. Rejoice with us, please. As you read this, the RED cameras are getting the new Mysterium-X sensor upgrades. Since only nerds (and Scott Brookens) knows what this means, let me brief you.

One of the easy complaints about the RED camera is that it records too much grain. It stinks in low light. You have to bring a Mack truck worth of lights in to get a good looking picture. RED has been notably criticized for this little mishap, especially at high ISO levels, and so they decided to do something about it. (They have to stay competitive with the new Canon 5D and 7D, eh?) The answer is the Mysterium-X sensor (heretoafterfor known as the MX sensor).

The MX sensor is bringing a much improved image — 4520 x 2540 pixels — and includes a new optical low pass filter. It’s the same sensor that is going to be in the upcoming EPIC-X camera. The MX will allow us to shoot at a high ISO (rumor boasts of 1200!) and say adios to the grain and noise. With our ARRI Master Primes opening up to a stop of 1.3 and an ISO of 1000+, who needs lights? And of course, rental on all of this is available!

As Beyoncé once said, “Let me, let me upgrade ya…”

On Monday afternoon we posted a short edit of Chris and his buddies blowing up fireworks in his front yard. Well, actually $10,000 worth of fireworks. Anyway, it’s gone viral. Crazy viral. By Wednesday morning we’d gotten footage requests from ESPN and TMZ, and clips of the video had run on local Los Angeles news broadcasts. On Sunday morning, it was featured on the front page of the Sports Section of the Grand Rapids Press. In six days our potential audience has gone from zero to nearly 80,000.

While we have no idea whether this model will continue to work in longer form content, Exploring Kaman is a great vehicle with which to explore the future of self-distribution. Fun stuff.

Watch the youtube video HERE.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Round about two months ago, our friends at Mpower Pictures contacted us about flying out to California to capture the beautiful life of the Norbertine community at St. Michael’s Abbey. (Scroll down a few entries to read all the details and see some pics.) We are pleased to present the finished film just below! (If you have time to watch it, make sure you turn the HD on and pop it full screen.)

This experience/film production/idea was different from what Gorilla usually produces — and that’s what made the process of creating it so refreshing and rewarding. Again, kudos to cinematographer Tanner Wolfe for bringing his RED camera skills to the film production and to David Michael Phelps for his brilliant scribing of the script. Also, a big round of applause goes to Kyle Campbell for scoring the music. His tones always inspire a little party in my ears.

And lastly, all the thanks goes to the Fathers of St. Michael’s Abbey who displayed nothing but trust, patience, and incredible humility in helping us produce this film for them.

Nate did a lot of Photoshop prep and animated this segment from the original comic book, The Walking Dead, by Robert Kirkman. It took Nate about 40 hours to create what you see–he started by breaking the artwork from the comic book apart from the backgrounds, and then had to animate the final product you see in the piece.  This work demonstrates Nate’s great talent for not only animating, but prepping difficult imagery for animation.

You can watch the entire animated teaser on AMC’s website below:

This experience/film production/idea was different from what Gorilla usually produces — and that’s what made the process of creating it so refreshing and rewarding. Again, kudos to cinematographer Tanner Wolfe for bringing his RED camera skills to the film production and to David Michael Phelps for his brilliant scribing of the script and his voice-over work. Also, a big round of applause goes to Kyle Campbell for scoring the music. His tones always inspire a little party in my ears.

And lastly, all the thanks goes to the Fathers of St. Michael’s Abbey who displayed nothing but trust, patience, and incredible humility in helping us produce this film for them.

Our RED camera returned to the state of Michigan today with the new Mysterium-X sensor, commonly referred to as the MX sensor or chip or awesomeness or what have you. Look at the happy Scott Brookens as he gleefully unwraps the Fed-Ex man’s delivery!

We took some test footage in a dark office just to see if all this hubbub about decreased noise in the image and low pass filters was accurate. I’m thrilled to report it is … and how! Did I mention that the RED Camera with MX sensor is not only available for rental — hint, hint — but also has a new fancy logo on the side of the camera?

High five! (Slap)

1.) A small rant here but where have all the good movies gone this year? Disappointing films (e.g. Iron Man 2, Alice in Wonderland) and flat-out flops (e.g. MacGruber, Cop Out) have reigned supreme. Box-office receipts seem okay, considering, but that’s only because they’re gouging our wallets with sharpened spears, turning everything into 3-D and expecting us to pay for it. We’re forced to digest remakes (e.g. The Crazies, Clash of the Titans) and this weekend is giving us two 80’s remakes: The Karate Kid and The A-Team – do we really think these are going to be any good? The one shining moment in the first half of ’10 has to be How to Train Your Dragon. A delightful romp and guaranteed to be near the top of this guy’s best movies of the year list. Especially the way things are going. Come on, Hollywood. If you won’t make OUR movies, make something we want to watch, eh?

2.) The Waterfront Film Festival starts tonight in Saugatuck, Michigan. It celebrates some of the best filmmakers in this here state and beyond. Two such filmmakers being Alexander Caleb Slain and Jared Rummel, whose relentless efforts alongside us scrappers at Gorilla, brought to life “The Lost & Found Shop” – showing this weekend at the festival. Since this is about the 83rd time we’ve blogged about this movie, you’ll know we’re mighty proud of this little film that could and the collaboration that happened to make it so stinkin’ neat. (I realize that this has more than “very little” to do with Gorilla film production but I promise from here on out…nothing but nonsense.)

3.) Speaking of short films, the guys at Gorilla Pictures were recently exposed to this YOUTUBE TRAILER for a movie called (simply) “Movie Title”. It’s a trailer that celebrates all movie previews clichés … and I wish I had made it. Kudos to the minds behind this. Funny stuff.

4.) Coincidence? Fate? For all the dreamers out there, check this STORY out. Guy meets girl. They fall in love; they get engaged. Then, looking through photos for the wedding day, they realize that they had been in the same place, at the same time … 15 years before. Even the filmmakers at Gorilla have a soft spot for this balderdash.

5.) And last but not least, World Cup Soccer begins tomorrow!! Get your red, white and blue on (or whatever colors you bleed), grab a noisemaker, and turn it to ESPN because this once in a four-year event only happens every … well, four years. Eric Johnson and Eric Machiela have a soft spot for the World Cup and the immense popularity of it. Four years ago, just before the 2006 World Cup, they worked with Athletes in Action in seven (7) different countries, capturing the stories of several international soccer players. If you care – and you should, go back to the home page, click on the Project Map and navigate your mouse to Cote D’Ivoire (West Africa for the geographically illiterate), Germany, South Korea, Spain, or the U.K. and catch an excerpt. This is the world’s greatest sporting event, as evidenced by THIS PHOTO. No but seriously…it’s sweet.

That’s all for now. Enjoy the rest of 2010!

The 8-minute film did very well in an online film festival and is just now beginning its rounds in “real-life” film festivals, starting this weekend at the Waterfront Film Festival in Saugatuck, Michigan. It’s playing both Saturday and Sunday. If you’re in the area and want to come support the film, click this link for more information on the when and where: Film Festival Favorites Short Film Program

And if you can’t make it out for our showing, well then a.) Shame on you and b.) come on down at any rate and support film production and exhibition in the oft-great state of Michigan! Hope to see someone besides us there!

Click here to view the embedded video.