Resume

Filming a project for the new "Lost Museum" in Salem, MA.

It was a fun time filming for an installation, over the summer, at the new "Lost Museum" in Salem, MA. Part of the Gallows Hill Theatre complex. It opened this fall to rave reviews (on TripAdvisor).

One of the challenges was to shoot vertically, 9:16 rather than 16:9 as the video will be played back in portrait orientation as part of the exhibit.

My trusty Canon C100, a special 90 degree rotating tripod head, mics, lights and a fog machine and the scene was set. Costumes, make-up and script by Erik Rodenhiser. Check it out if you're in Salem!



Video portrait of a ghostly 19th century merchant.



Shooting ghosts in Salem. #videoproduction #sfx #paranormal #ectoplasm

Gallows Hill Video Portraits in Salem, MA (more to come)

Announcing My Theatrical Debut (...for Video Design) in "The Last Jews: An Apocalyptic Comedy" at Boston's Playwrights' Theatre

I'm pleased to be working in Boston theater at the moment! And as I'm not an actor, I'm especially pleased to be able to stay behind the camera. Camera? Theater? What, you ask?

Playwright Larry Jay Tish has a new play up and running for one more weekend at the Playwrights' Theatre at BU in Boston. "The Last Jews: An Apocalyptic Comedy" is a funny farce that is rooted in the legacy of of one of history's darkest chapters. It also may offend Canadians.

A Boston Globe article gives some insight into Larry and the concept of the play:

Larry Jay Tish, "tackles humanity at its most inhumane with “The Last Jews: An Apocalyptic Comedy.” It’s set in a North Dakota bunker after a Canadian-led genocide has wiped out all but two Jews, Gertrude and Morty, who hadn’t spoken to each other since their bitter divorce two decades before."

Set in the near future, the play called for some video elements -- characters "skyping" with each other, security camera footage, a fake newscast -- to be presented to the audience via a communication screen inside the Sierra Club bunker where most of the play takes place.

I was pleased to work with Larry and Director Margaret Ann Brady and some talented actors to get these scenes recorded, edited and delivered for playback during the live shows. In previews, I was happy to see that the video played seamlessly and was non-distracting, which is really the point, to serve the play in telling the story at hand.

The video elements even received a mention in a review on Boston Arts Review (where it wasn't called out for ruining everything): "...and Brad Kelly’s video design for the television news broadcasts is an effective and awfully clever comic coup. Mazel Tov."

The play runs through May 11th and is funny and hopeful and gets you thinking about the absurdity of hatred, even as you're laughing.


See you in the theater!

"Better Homes and Gangsters" in Pre-Production with Albion Park

We here at Albion Park Productions are deep in the pre-production process on our first feature, our working title is "Better Homes and Gangsters." For now. We think it's funny, suspenseful and moving. The staged reading proved that its potential wasn't just on the page. We were pleasantly thrilled by the response from the actors and others in the room. We look forward to bringing this bit of cinematic fun to the big screen. And eventually the big screen plasma in your living room.

The script is finished. The parts are mostly cast and the actors committed to the shooting schedule. SAG (Screen Actors Guild) paperwork is being shuffled and submitted. LLC's are being created, lawyers are being consulted and paid. Boy are they being paid. Before anyone else gets paid, the lawyers must be paid. One of the first things we got for our money was that we should probably think about changing the title. Apparently a certain magazine might choose to make trouble. Must we start killing our darlings before we've even really begun? The law is a tough, expensive master.

Principle photography is still a few months away. The budget is....well, the budget money is in the process of being raised (stay tuned here, hint, hint...). It's amazing how many moving parts there are to getting a film underway, even before the first frame is shot.

My two producing partners are doing a lot of the heavy pre-production lifting with me. And once we start production we'll be putting on our "real" hats: Art Hennessey will be directing. Amanda Good Hennessey will be the lead actor and I will be director of photography. Anyone want to line produce?

Creating an online "presence" for a movie that hasn't shot a single frame yet, is challenging. With that in mind, we recently headed to some tennis court on a very chilly fall day with two of our actresses braving it in tennis whites, to try and come up with some images that might hint at the kind of flavor that our upper-class-meets-underworld script encompasses. A little bit screwball, a little bit dangerous, a little bit awkward.

  

Amanda Good Hennessey and Alexandra Hynes make nice for the camera

More to come as this comes together. See you on the courts!

Up On A Roof: Storm Clouds Over Somerville Timelapse

Storm Clouds over Somerville, MA, July 29, 2013, A Timelapse from Brad Kelly on Vimeo.

Dramatic stock music rolls in over the Boston area last night. Also, some awesome summer storm clouds.

I was rolling on some timelapses yesterday when some freaky Ghostbusters worthy clouds moved in.

Shot at 4 seconds per frame and edited using Quicktime and Final Cut Pro.

Game of Thrones Ascent Footage to Air on HBO this weekend

Last month HBO requested the raw interview footage I shot, with Steve Webster of Impact Design,
  of the hot local game design folks Disruptor Beam, for the Game of Thrones Ascent trailer.
 

Turns out they've incorporated it into a featurette that is airing on HBO starting this weekend! I haven't seen it yet and I'm mighty curious to see what they've done with it.



Best of all, I can now cross the "have footage I shot run in an interstitial featurette on HBO" off my bucket list. Onward and upwards!

The featurette started airing yesterday and is scheduled to air at these times, as well:

Game of Thrones Ascent Featurette Air Times: May 11th-13th

Saturday at 2:29pm on HBO Signature

Saturday at 5:17pm on HBO Signature

Saturday at 9:39pm on HBO

Sunday at 1:07am on HBO Signature

Sunday at 1:33am on HBO Zone

Sunday at 1:08pm on HBO Zone

Sunday at 6:58pm on HBO2

Sunday at 7:12pm on HBO

Sunday at 11:01pm on HBO Signature

Monday at 3:48am on HBO

Monday at 9:39am on HBO

Monday at 12:04pm on HBO Comedy

Monday at 9:00pm on HBO Zone