Ryan Colucci's Blog, page 16

What is the single best piece of fitness equipment?

This question was posed to Dr. Michael Lam, a doctor famous for his crusade against Adrenal Fatigue.

Answer: "The best piece of equipment is perhaps the cheapest – the jump rope. It offers cardiovascular benefits and tones the upper body at the same time. Nothing else comes close. Practically speaking, however, the best piece of fitness equipment to purchase is one that fits into your budget and one that you will use regularly."

I personally use the Buddy Lee Master Jump Rope.

Filed under: Uncategorized

We May Pause… But We Don’t Stop

I’ve been slacking here, but for good reason.  Last night (or I guess this morning) around 4am I finished a rewrite of my latest script Penny Black.  It’s a quirky thriller.  Someone already compared it to Lost Highway, which is actually very flattering. David Lynch is a big inspiration for me. And when I set out to write the project the two movies I had in my head were Mulholland Drive and Amelie.  I know, I know… they don’t add up.  But if you read this you’d understand.  I guess a lot of Brad Anderson’s The Machinist creeps through the cracks as well – and that same person brought it up in reference to the script.  All very positive for me.

I’ve been outlining this project for about two and a half years.  It went through three complete and total overhauls. As in, it would be unrecognizable. I’m glad I never rushed it, because this version is so much better. In an odd way it is a mash-up of a few of my other projects (in some ways quite literally). Chasing Rabbits and R.E.M. to be exact.

The goal was always to write something that I could do for nothing.  (Nothing in the film world being a lot in the real world). Of course, as I fall more in love with the story and characters the more I want it to be perfect.  I just need to keep my focus and figure out how to do it with the least amount of money possible.  Right now my budget is $200,000 ($25,000 for about 10 minutes of animated sequences a la Kill Bill) and my ‘get it in the can’ number is $125,000.  I’m trying to get that into the 5 digit range. The biggest factors in that are going to be:

Location (city/state that I shoot in)
Camera (which digital camera I use)

I’ll be writing a post about locations at some point this week. My choices and why they are my choices. And where each one stands right now. I’ll also be writing more about camera choices as I figure it out.

Filed under: Filmmaking, Penny Black

We May Pause… But We Don't Stop

I've been slacking here, but for good reason.  Last night (or I guess this morning) around 4am I finished a rewrite of my latest script Penny Black.  It's a quirky thriller.  Someone already compared it to Lost Highway, which is actually very flattering. David Lynch is a big inspiration for me. And when I set out to write the project the two movies I had in my head were Mulholland Drive and Amelie.  I know, I know… they don't add up.  But if you read this you'd understand.  I guess a lot of Brad Anderson's The Machinist creeps through the cracks as well – and that same person brought it up in reference to the script.  All very positive for me.

I've been outlining this project for about two and a half years.  It went through three complete and total overhauls. As in, it would be unrecognizable. I'm glad I never rushed it, because this version is so much better. In an odd way it is a mash-up of a few of my other projects (in some ways quite literally). Chasing Rabbits and R.E.M. to be exact.

The goal was always to write something that I could do for nothing.  (Nothing in the film world being a lot in the real world). Of course, as I fall more in love with the story and characters the more I want it to be perfect.  I just need to keep my focus and figure out how to do it with the least amount of money possible.  Right now my budget is $200,000 ($25,000 for about 10 minutes of animated sequences a la Kill Bill) and my 'get it in the can' number is $125,000.  I'm trying to get that into the 5 digit range. The biggest factors in that are going to be:

Location (city/state that I shoot in)
Camera (which digital camera I use)

I'll be writing a post about locations at some point this week. My choices and why they are my choices. And where each one stands right now. I'll also be writing more about camera choices as I figure it out.

Filed under: Filmmaking, Penny Black

Cult Movie of the Week: Berry Gordy’s The Last Dragon

Since I want to shed light on some missed gems, The Last Dragon is almost too easy of a pick since a lot of people are already big fans of the film. However, some younger film fans might not be aware of this kung-fu classic. It is also the only movie I know of where the two leads have one name in real life (Taimak as Leroy Green, Vanity as Laura Charles).

‘Bruce’ Leroy Green searches for the “master” to obtain the final level of martial arts mastery known as the glow. Along the way he must fight an evil martial arts expert, Sho’Nuff the Shogun of Harlem, and an rescue a beautiful singer from an obsessed music promoter.

Despite the backing of music legend Berry Gordy, Vanity never really broke.  Even with the help of this film.  No one in this film did.  And that is just fine.  Everyone was so perfect in their role.  Nowadays they would cast Samuel Jackson as the Sho’Gun and he would ruin the film.  And then they’d cast Selena Gomez or someone already established as Laura Charles.  They’ve been kicking the remake around for a while, but I hope it never happens.

The film is pure 80′s chopsuey, with some of the best one-liners you’ve ever heard.  ”Kiss my Converse!” “Take a hike, Cool Breeze.” ”Just direct-a your feets-a to Daddy Green’s Pizza!” ”Don’t bug me, fix your face.”  Any attempt to remake it would never be able to capture that charm.

Filed under: Cult Movie

Cult Movie of the Week: Berry Gordy's The Last Dragon

Since I want to shed light on some missed gems, The Last Dragon is almost too easy of a pick since a lot of people are already big fans of the film. However, some younger film fans might not be aware of this kung-fu classic. It is also the only movie I know of where the two leads have one name in real life (Taimak as Leroy Green, Vanity as Laura Charles).

'Bruce' Leroy Green searches for the "master" to obtain the final level of martial arts mastery known as the glow. Along the way he must fight an evil martial arts expert, Sho'Nuff the Shogun of Harlem, and an rescue a beautiful singer from an obsessed music promoter.

Despite the backing of music legend Berry Gordy, Vanity never really broke.  Even with the help of this film.  No one in this film did.  And that is just fine.  Everyone was so perfect in their role.  Nowadays they would cast Samuel Jackson as the Sho'Gun and he would ruin the film.  And then they'd cast Selena Gomez or someone already established as Laura Charles.  They've been kicking the remake around for a while, but I hope it never happens.

The film is pure 80′s chopsuey, with some of the best one-liners you've ever heard.  "Kiss my Converse!" "Take a hike, Cool Breeze." "Just direct-a your feets-a to Daddy Green's Pizza!" "Don't bug me, fix your face."  Any attempt to remake it would never be able to capture that charm.

Filed under: Cult Movie

Top 10 Anti-Romances

To quality for this list, the guy and girl cannot end up together.  The reason for them not winding up together cannot be because one of them dies (The Fly, Atonement). We, the audience, should want the characters to be together.  But they just can't be… whether it is them, society or another extraneous circumstance.  As always, I have to be a fan of the movie.

I would include something like Spiderman, but I honestly didn't want him to wind up with Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane.  I couldn't stand her.  The same goes for Margot Kidder's Lois Lane in Superman.

Out of Sight
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Good Will Hunting
Top Gun
White Men Can't Jump
Casablanca
Once
In the Company of Men
Lost in Translation
Drive

Honorable Mention

8 Mile
Far From Heaven
Scott Pilgrim vs The World
Closer
500 Days of Summer
Brokeback Mountain
Manhattan
Your Friends and Neighbors
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Blue Valentine
Laurel Canyon
Singles
All the Real Girls
Audition


Filed under: Top 5, Uncategorized

Penny Black – Artwork

Penny Black is a script I'm currently writing with the purpose of just going out and shooting it.  The thought was to shoot on an iphone 4S, but we'll see how it all shakes out.  We'll how the RED Scarlet works out… and I really like the Sony FS100.

The idea is based around the conceit that this girl moves into an apartment with an oddly placed mail slot – attached to a wall.  When mail actually starts showing up it sends her world into chaos, bringing her out of her shell.

The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system and is also the name of the main character. It was issued by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 May, 1840, for use from 6 May of that year. All London post offices received official issues of the new stamps but other offices throughout the United Kingdom did not, continuing to accept postage payments in cash only for a period.

Filed under: Filmmaking, Penny Black

Top 5 Mother-Son Movies

There were a few criteria in coming up with this list.  No movies about mother's dealing with grief of losing a child.  No unborn sons (Rosemary's Baby).  No movies about mother's and their children (Brothers McMullen or Johnny Dangerously). The mother should be a major character in the film (so no Boogie Nights or Karate Kid).

Back to the Future
Terminator 2
8 Mile
Dumbo
Psycho

Honorable Mention

Requiem for a Dream
Friday the 13th
Iron Giant
White Heat
Cyrus
Almost Famous
Mother
Forrest Gump
Sixth Sense
Laurel Canyon
Little Man Tate
Ordinary People


Filed under: Top 5

The Beast – Cover

After a very long trial process, I finally decided upon a cover idea for The Beast.  It's a feature film and I'm working on the novella as well.  Rather than wait for the book to be done (who does things in order?), I have been working on covers.

In The Beast, a high school football team takes a weeklong trip to a preseason camp in the recesses of a mountain town. While the coaches turn a blind eye, the charismatic running back begins a hazing ritual that quickly gets out of control and turns the camp and the team into his private army.  The star Quarterback resists and must battle the team he used to command.  It is, more or less, Lord of the Flies at a high school football camp.

I started the work, realized I was in over my head, brought Karol into the process and then Anna Mancheva (my graphic designer).  She did a kick-ass job getting the decals onto the helmet.  I did the title designs and Karol put it all together.  I have it with the tomahawk in gold as well, but when it is all put together the silver looks best. The tomahawk and X stand for the St. Pius X Tomahawks.  My dad went to middle school at St. Pius X and I wanted a Native American-themed mascot.

Let me know what you think.

Filed under: The Beast

Top 5 Movies That Begin With The End

The main criteria here was that the device of using the ending at the beginning had to be integral to the movie. I gave myself a lot of leeway and I'm including bookends here as well – mostly because it was too hard to differentiate.

Top 5

Fight Club
Citizen Kane
Memento
Lawrence of Arabia
Stand By Me

Honorable Mention

Amores Perros
Clue
Double Indemnity
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Never Let Me Go
Outsiders, The
Pan's Labyrinth
Ping Pong (not the end – but end of second act)
Pulp Fiction
Raging Bull
Remember the Titans
Sunset Blvd.
Titanic (even though I hate the book ends of this film)
Usual Suspects

Best of the Rest

12 Monkeys
500 Days of Summer
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
American Beauty
Basketball Diaries
Catch Me If You Can
Gattaca
Interview with a Vampire
Irreversible
Milk
Rashomon
Serpico
Slumdog Millionaire
Ladder 49


Filed under: Top 5