Summer Update

Hello there! I haven't posted here in a while because I'm in the process of moving to my own website instead of using blogger. Also, friends, I had to move the Watching Patch studio. Kind of a bittersweet time. The place I rented where I made Heavens and Speed of Sound was sold and I moved 30 blocks north to the Green Lake neighborhood. A lotta blood, sweat, and tears. But this new neighborhood is soooper nice, I must say. It reminds me of Italian horror movies from the 70's when its dark. And during the day its this ridiculously idyllic neighborhood. I've been busy directing social awareness short film for the university but look out for some more Watching Patch adventures this summer.

((Speed of Sound)) Diary Part Three

Part Three. Post-Production.

Based on my therapist's suggestion, I went to Whidbey Island to go camping. My brother lent me all the camping gear I needed. I bought a magazine. It was a Discovery magazine with hammerhead sharks on the cover. I also brought some food and booze and a toothbrush. I drove out to the ferry and made the trip, about sixty miles from my house.

It started raining when I got to Whidbey Island. When I got to the national park where I was going to spend the night, the rain let up for a while, long enough for me to pitch a tent. Making the tent was pretty much slapstick comedy. There were too many parts. I wanted to make a simple teepee and get my nature on. 

I wondered off, along the ridge that overlooks the sound; solitary and aimless, feeling crazy.

((Speed of Sound)) Diary Part Two

Part Two. Pre-Production and Principle Photography.

"Thinking it over" often means you're either waiting for your intuition to appear or waiting to see if it changes. Saying "think" is misleading, since it isn't a rational process. If it were, someone might say "thinking it through," like it was a plan. In January 2013 I was thinking it over. Whether to make the movie David and I had been planning, Speed of Sound.

I was relying on David for psychological support. 16 speaking parts. 32 locations. 2 weeks. 65 pages of script. 70 scenes total. And I still thought feature films had to be made with expensive cameras I'd never seen before, with armies of people working on them, who spoke a secret Hollywood language that called clothespins C47's. David was the first person to encourage me to make a feature, and had experience acting and producing in them. He was a warm and creative friend. He was irreplaceable.

At the end of January, my intuition hadn't changed and I decided to make the film on our original schedule. I divided the work David would have done for separate people and approached two friends of mine, Chy Chi and Erica Karnes.

((Speed of Sound)) Diary Part One

It's just about the one year anniversary of shooting Speed of Sound, I'll be posting the year-long production diary here in three installments.

SPEED OF SOUND Production Diary by Brian Perkins

Part One. Before Pre-production.

I spent most of 2012 working on a project called You Poor Thing, which was supposed to be my first feature. It was a psychedelic monster movie that had some metaphysical ideas and film noir elements, and was going to be potentially so scrappy and lo-fi it could be shot on our phones. At first it was going to be shot in Milwaukee, then in Portland.

It was an eccentric project for sure. The script was a mess, a loosely-knitted patchwork quilt of diverse influences. Ghosts and monsters appeared in it, filmed with lots of color but also with a documentary quality. That's what I wanted, anyway. It was myself (in Seattle) and several others in Portland, a small group of creative people but inexperienced film producers.

When David Fetzer told me he was moving to Seattle, the news was fucking delightful. 

Johnny Plays With The Squirrel Disco Ball

Came across this phone video from just before the shoot a year ago...

Spring Update 2

After some years blogging here, this blog is now the namesake of my new production company, Watching Patch Productions, LLC. New website coming late spring/early summer. I've been hired to do some social awareness shorts for the University here and its because of that that I'm now starting a video production company. 

Spring Update

Hey it's spring. Time for adventures. Time to get hooked on magic, investigate mysterious places, and navigate minefields of romance. Am I right?

Post-production on Speed of Sound is still going on. I'm happy with this new version and am not making deadlines like I was in 2013. However, the only reason I'm not saying it's almost complete is because I've said it before and I don't want to be like the boy who cried wolf. So I'm not saying it's almost done, because of that. I'll be submitting it to festivals starting next month.

I'll be posting here a memoir-like five part making-of "diary" on Speed of Sound in the coming weeks. Maybe because of my friendship with David Fetzer and how we were working on the film, and everything else that followed, I felt compelled to write this. It's been exactly a year since our Indiegogo campaign.

I've been starting some exciting new projects, including Ages Ago-Go, a big, weird concept you'll be hearing more about in the future.

More Post-Production Adventures

More post-production adventures today as Elijah and I put finishing touches on the VFX for Speed of Sound, utilizing the tools of modern videography.

Winter Update

Brrr. It's February and it feels like it. I know I'm from Wisconsin, but still. You adjust, and then you say "Brrr" again. 

The big winter update is that "Speed of Sound" is reworked. While holed up with the flu, watching Anthony Mann westerns all day long, I had a bunch of ideas. I thought I was done with the film back in November, but it was not so! Of course. 

I was eager to be done with it back then partly because I was stubbornly sticking to a crazy schedule drawn up by me and David Fetzer in the fall of 2012. I'm really excited about the changes--- 95 total (I'm a big list maker). We're still getting the effects done and this new version is still probably about a month out.

I've also been working often on a new feature script, and several shorts including PSA's. Spending a lot of time in the laboratory this winter, as it should be. I was thrilled to finally dust off my nice record player and put it up in the office. It's been great to get out all the soundtracks, waking up to the Electric Company theme, and having one less screen to look at if I want to listen to something. And sunny afternoons have been lovely with the squirrel disco ball.






Above, Anna Huckabay, who plays Dave's girlfriend, Kelly, in Speed of Sound, stops by.

Above, ye old faithful. Making music more mechanical and valuable, and making me more nerdy and happy.


Above, a wintry David dreams of tropical Wisconsin.

Fall Update 3

In the lobby of where I meet Elijah to talk about the visual effects, its so windy, and there's no other sound here. The sound of wind fills this space like I'm in some country mansion.



I'm submitting the film to a second film festival this week. But I'm also still completing the film. There's still about half the effects to do, several shots of color correction, credit additions, and sound mixing. We're on track to be done in mid-December, if not before.

Fall Update 2

Since reaching picture lock on October 11th, there's still been plenty of work for us to do, with title card tests (top), effects shots (there are 25 of them), much soundtrack work (in addition to Matt composing the music we're both doing work on the sound mix) and I'm about to start working on getting the webpage up. The first festival we're submitting to has a deadline of November 14th, and that's the goal we're all working towards, minus some of the effects shots which will be completed after the fist submission. 

Its been a foggy, colorful, drizzly fall here. Good atmosphere for getting shit done.



I still can't help noticing these cell towers all over the place, and wanting to photograph them:

Weekend Audio Work

Kind of a spooky, murky weekend here in Seattle. Matt and I have been working on the soundtrack across the street from a former church, above, that's now used for "scientific" experiments. We got a lot done yesterday, smoothing out the audio.



Here's Truman in the studio, showing off his sweater and triangles:

Fall Update

Working on the sound mix, and, starting over the weekend, we're off to a good start. "Speed of Sound" is on to its last phase of post-production, with effects being worked on by Elijah Tiegs, Matt Pomykalski and I are working on sound mix and he's composing and performing the soundtrack, still doing a little editing as well. Then on to titles and color correction. Aiming to start submitting to festivals in November. Here's a photo I took of Matt's little studio:


I'm hoping we get to use this at some point:


And the rainy view, from this old house:

Speed of Sound scans

Letters From Anon -- Trailer

Milwaukee Films -- Trailer

Milwaukee Films -- Stills

I've been working on making my 16mm films available on DVD (also "Letters From Anon", more on that later). Below are some stills from the films "The Confetti Maker" (2002), "Apartments" (2003), "A Quiet Violent Place" (2003), and "The Red Fox" (2004)

*Special Treats

Putting together the first fundraiser party for You Poor Thing. Above, the invitation. Below, my office, where I live. There will be live music, live DJ's, prints of my Basketball Series and Health & Growth for sale, as well as DVD's of the Heavens. It's on June 23rd here in Seattle. I'll post more info on it as it comes together. Stay tuned!

Monster Security Guard Sketch for YPT

Brian making film budget

This is me at the kitchen table working on the budget for You Poor Thing.