Bombdotcom Productions

Bombdotcom Productions was founded in the Summer of 2004 when we shot Lord of the Rings: EXPOSED for a faux exposé contest over at Film Fights. It was also our most productive year, with a total of five films (six if you count the trailer for Samuel Butler Runs Across America), including the behemoth that was Hopscotch Hotshots.

It was at the premier for that film the following bit of spontaneous lunacy (featuring Stephen "Box Jacobs" Gashler and writer-director Patrick Svensson) took place, which I edited for our 2004 DVD album. It includes a closing credits sequence that serves as a head count to everyone who made that awesome first year possible.

Labels: Bonus Features, Embedded Video, The End

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The Importance of Tolerance

Posted on February 22, 2008 by John D. Moore

Wednesday's screening of The Importance of Tolerance as part of the Tower Theatre's Open Mic Night seemed to go over fairly well. However, it did confirm something for me that I'd always kind of know: this one's for the insiders. If you've been a part of or near the Mormon community in your lifetime, particularly during your youth, this is going to make a lot more sense to you.

The style that I adopted in writing and directing this project was one emulative of short, instructive, and intendedly uplifting videos produced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Is it parody? Is it satire? Is it spoof? I'm not entirely sure. However, it is a comedy. If you don't understand what iconography we're cashing in on with this shot of Daniel praying in a grove, you're probably going to be missing out a lot.

I'd love to be able to show you what these videos look like, but the dedicated piracy artists that populate YouTube seem none too eager to upload the contents of LDS Family Home Evening Videos. Especially, I'd like to share "The Joy of Missionary Work," which had particular influence on the style of this film. I assembled a brief primer over at my personal blog that might give you a little bit more of a clue as to what we're drawing on.

Much thanks to everyone who worked on this project. The film just wouldn't be the same if my long-time friend William Stewart hadn't traveled to town to start. His chemistry with our own Joseph Schlegel was a wonder to behold. Also, WiL Whitlark wrote a positively wonderful score and theme song featured on the soundtrack here.

Labels: Embedded Video, Release announcements, The Importance of Tolerance

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Learn Something About Tolerance

Posted on February 16, 2008 by John D. Moore

John here. I've just finished putting the last touches on what we're calling the first final edit of The Importance of Tolerance. It's been a long time in post-production, but I'm feeling really good about where it is right now. WiL Whitlark has composed a beautiful soundtrack for the film and I'm eager to show it off to you.

But first, if all goes according to plan, we'll be premiering it at this Wednesday's Open Mic Night (February 20th) at the Salt Lake Film Society's Tower Theatre, playing alongside an assortment of other local filmmakers' shorts. Admission to the screening is free and--in its freeness--is so totally worth it.

If you miss it, I expect to have the film posted online within a week. However, this may be your only chance to witness it on the silver screen.

What: World premier of new short film The Importance of Tolerance
When: February 20, 2008, 9:00 PM
Where: Tower Theatre, 876 East 900 South, Salt Lake City, UT
Why: To grow your faith and support your filmmaking community.
How: By any means necessary.

If you attend, please feel free to seek me out, say hello, and exchange a few words.

UPDATED 2/20/2008: The Tower Theatre is no longer charging admission. It's free, baby!

Labels: Public screenings, The Importance of Tolerance

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Son, you best keep that fork of yours.

Posted on February 13, 2008 by Lord Cheswick

I remember an oft heard complaint in the first half of the year 2003 was that basing a movie on a theme park ride was a terrible fucking idea. Then the movie made a zillion dollars, buoyed by a good performance by Johnny Depp which convinced the public that the film wasn't complete shit (even though it was still mostly shit).

Well Walt Disney Corporation, in association with Jerry Bruckheimer, I one-upped you. For I made a film based off a novelty poster, a move even stupider than basing a movie off of a theme park ride. I haven't made as much money as theirs did, but I didn't spend as much as they did either, so I think it's a wash.

The film was done as an assignment for my beginning film class at the University of Utah in the spring of 2005. The assignment was for an entirely in camera film, no editing allowed. Hence some of the rough edges. So please forgive me internetland.

Labels: Embedded Video, Keep Your Fork, Release announcements

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The Mustrack Soundstache

Posted on January 1, 2008 by WiL

The tracks I wrote for The Mustache are now available for listen. I would embed them here, but blogger is refusing patently to do so. So all I can do is link you to the film's page and hope to God you click. Maybe you click out of pity. Maybe out of love. Maybe just out of curiosity. But click, click! Click, you masses!

Labels: Music, The Mustache

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A Painless Extraction

Posted on December 31, 2007 by John D. Moore

If you've watched Jon Fairbanks's release, God Hates Me, then in addition to enjoying Jon's remarkable performance, you probably found yourself grooving to that wacky track playing throughout. And, say, aren't those the lyrics to the Full House theme song... old-school rap-ified?

The track in question is "A Painless Extraction," a wonderful confection put together by Mr. WiL Whitlark. It just kind of happened one night about four years ago while Patrick Svensson and I were hanging around WiL in his basement studio. Patrick did some freestyling, rapped the most awesome rendition of the Full House theme these ears could ever hope to hear, and threw in some Family Guy and Brak Show references for good measure. WiL spiced it up with some bizarre cackling noises I'd made earlier in the evening. You can now listen to it in all its glory independently. Happy 2008!

EDIT: For some horrible reason, the Flash player that I'm using refuses to work with Blogger (or vice versa... probably vice versa). So to hear this delectable track, head over to the God Hates Me page.

Labels: God Hates Me, Music

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The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Shoot

Posted on December 28, 2007 by John D. Moore

Mark Andrus, Jon Fairbanks, and I wrote Terror Drives a Van on the set of Hopscotch Hotshots in 2004, with the intent to shoot it in 2004, in time for Halloween of that year. When we missed that deadline, we said to ourselves "2005, then." But 2005 didn't happen. Nor did 2006. Then, toward the end of September, Enoch told me that we could totally do it this year. Initially, I laughed and said "No, we don't..."

"Yeah, we could totally do it this year."

When something's been gestating as long as three years, it begins to feel like a pipe dream, like that awesome themed party you were totally going to throw in your junior year of high school that still flashes across your mind in your twenties. Hell, it would be a good excuse to invite Sarah Wilson... née Smith, now. Suitably, then, when the camera was rolling and I had my face covered in white makeup, it was something of a surreal experience.

The shoot was even more rushed than we'd intended. The part of the werewolf was written for Patrick Svensson. While out location scouting for the project, Patrick got a call that his wedding date had moved up... and now conflicted with our shooting date. That Sunday, he'd be moving to New York. So, in turn, we pushed up our shoot date by a day.

Thus, on the eve of Patrick's wedding day, we got dressed up like a vampire and a werewolf and commenced a ten-hour shoot. In the rain.

Utah's funny like this. As we get into Autumn, the days are nice, cool, and sunny. It truly makes for some of the best weather we get during the year. But that's only during the weekdays. I wish I were exaggerating, but I've observed the pattern this year: the only bad weather comes on weekends. As Enoch and I drove down to Provo, we saw the clouds coming in over the mountains. It was going to rain. And most of our shoot was to be, by necessity, outdoors.

But we made do. I wish I had a picture to post of Enoch sharing a wildly flapping poncho with the camera, sitting uncomfortably in the back of Andy Whittaker's truck as we drove down University Avenue.

I am not an acting powerhouse, but it was concluded that I pretty much had to play the vampire: it was part of the original plan, and I more or less had the look for it. So, I was trying to direct and act at the same time, a challenge that I managed, but not one I'm inclined to tackle again. Midway through the evening, I had a dreadful realization: I was losing my voice. It was the beginning of a week-long illness, with queasy digestion, miserable fever, and pounding headaches. By the end of the night (3:00 a.m.), it had crested. We shot the last bit of my dialogue mere minutes before my voice was nothing but a hoarse whisper.

Most fortunately, for the very last bit of the night--some of the most complicated shooting we've ever had to do--the rain let up right before we arrived on location. Even more fortunately, the second shoot the following week was completely rainless, abating a few hours before we shot.

The title of this post is a misnomer, though. Despite the rain, the disease, the tiredness, and the minor drama that has tactfully been omitted from my account, we actually had a pretty good time. And it doesn't really matter whether or not we had a good time, anyway. What matters is whether or not we got what we needed to get. Which we did. Expect to see a completed Terror Drives a Van before too long.

Labels: Terror Drives a Van

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