The Location Guru is designed to assist you with location scouting for your next project. Input dimensions, upload photos, add specific details for each potential locale and even sync it all with google maps!
We hope this will help you on your next film and look forward to your feedback and comments.

All pennyreels are now broadcast at DVD quality for your viewing pleasure.

8. Is there a lady assassin on his tail?

There's that woman is the black & white striped coat. :) What do you think?

9. The scene where he goes to meet his new boss is quite the eerie spectacle. Where did you find such a great location? Did it take much dressing up (besides the heavy make-up) to get the right tone for the set? Follow up: How do you scout locations in general? There are more than a few location shoots, has San Francisco been an accommodating city?

I’m really glad you liked those scenes.

Our brilliant Director’s of Photography Yasu Higuchi and Michael Lutman created the eerie hallway, the adjacent chamber and Rayne's office with clever use of side lighting and gobos to make it feel dark and ominous.

Without the dramatic lighting, they are just everyday conference rooms and a hallway in the basement of the Student Center at San Francisco State University. The art department built Rayne’s desk out of two folding tables and then dressed them to look the part.

As far as scouting locations, I am always scouting and we’re always putting the word out to the crew and friends of the crew to help us find the locations we need.

San Francisco has been a great place to shoot. As a policy, we always try to make good friends with our neighbors and everyone we are shooting with. It makes the whole process a lot smoother when everyone likes you and knows what you are about.

10. I am curious about James’ past. He mentions the School of the Americas (aka WHISC) is he Latin American? Will we learn about his mentor/training in future episodes?

Good question. James is a very secretive man. We will slowly learn about his past including his connections to School of the Americas.

11. There are some intense fight scenes. Do you have a choreographer/stuntman?

We are lucky to have some very talented actors and several of them have stage-fighting experience. In addition, I have some stunt work experience from when I was growing up in Los Angeles, and I have 12 years experience doing fencing and kendo.

The actors and I will block the fight scenes out during rehearsal and then I’ll film the rehearsal to see how the fight is going to look before we film the actual scene.

12. The series is highly stylized, which, one would think, entails meticulous pre-production. How much of the shoots and dialogue are pre-planned and how much is left open to improvising on set?

Huge amounts of planning go into making ‘Adventures with Seth’. We do a lot of pre-production and almost everything is decided before the date of the shoot.

We create shots sheets, storyboards and camera setups and have rehearsals. Some improvisation occurs during the rehearsal process.

We usually shoot one weekend a month and we have to get an entire episode shot in two and a half days (Friday night to Sunday night). So on the actual days of the shoot we try to keep everything to what we’ve planned out ahead of time.

13. Along those lines, where did the inspiration come from for the unique, partially colorized, neo-noir look of AwS? Is it challenging to develop?

We wanted to create a comic book/otherworldly feel. We were inspired by Sin City, The Machinist, and Dark City. We experimented with a couple of different looks, including double bleach bypass and partial de-saturate.

Our editor Chas Petersen ultimately nailed down the final look. He creates it using Apple’s Color software. We want the color to be a critical story telling tool. We use it to highlight critical, bizarre or visceral elements in our story.

14. How difficult is it to assemble and maintain such a large cast and crew?

People often ask us that. It is challenging to keep everyone coordinated and on the same page. We use Google calendar to publish the schedule of shoot dates and Google docs to publish all the documents for each episode. (Scripts, shot sheets, camera setups, prop lists, etc.)

A lot of roles on the crew have more than one person doing the job, so that if someone can’t make it on a specific day, then someone else can do there job. Obviously, we can’t do that with actors or the director, so we do our best to work around people’s schedules.

We really are blessed with a fabulous crew and production staff who are extremely dedicated to the project and without them this project would not be possible.

I’m also very lucky to have a very talented producer, Ali Cotrell who works tirelessly to make sure all the logistics are coordinated.

15. Any idea of the scope of this project?

We are planning to do seven episodes for the first run. If people respond well, we will do more.

16. I noticed there is a ‘Making Of’ section on the AwS site. Do we have a behind-the-Scenes Documentary to look forward to?

Yes, we do indeed. The website has been undergoing a facelift over the past few weeks and the behind the scenes footage and photos will be included. The updated website will launch a few days before ‘Rule #3’ airs on March 15th.

1. So, we’ve met James but who is Seth?

Three words... watch Episode #3

2. How many Rules are there? An even thousand?

The rules are James’ ever-evolving method of organizing the chaotic world around him. James has obsessive-compulsive disorder. He believes that having rules to govern what to do, in any given situation, can save him precious seconds when the situation arises and this helps keep him alive.

James adds new rules as he needs them and hesitantly abandons old rules as they fail him.

3. Rule #636, why does he avoid the dry cleaners?

Because he’s obsessive-compulsive, James hates getting anything on his suit.

4. It appeared that the pillow fight hit was on an Asheart mistress or girlfriend. Combined with the PR Director, Paul Leland, is James on a revenge quest or is he just getting really lucky with his assignments?

It’s a bit of both. James was immensely upset when his Asheart Securities paycheck bounced. At the same time, Rayne mysteriously enters his life and starts offering him contract hits on some of Asheart’s closest friends and relations.

5. While we’re on the subject of those two particular ‘jobs’ he seems to have a predilection for explosives. Does he care much about collateral damage? Or is he just following his orders to the letter?

James is no saint. He likes his job, he doesn’t like getting dirty, but he doesn’t really care about collateral damage; he’s just getting the job done.

6. You have some wonderfully tense music in certain scenes. Who does the score?

Our score is done by our two brilliant composers, Alyosha Maggin, a SFSU graduate and Ali Benmoussa.

Our sound designer is Michael Hastings. You can visit his website at: ThatSoundGuy.com

7. I noticed the pears on James’ his desk. Is he a modern art fan?

The fake fruit is supposed to have a “corporate” feel to it. James’s attitude to his job is detached and corporate.

We have opened up membership to now accept writers and film fans to review more of the content on the site and get more film realted dialogue on Pennyreel.

Our browse pages can now be filtered according to location and type.
Professionals can use this feature to find projects with open roles in their area.
Producers can find profiles for the cast and crew they need for their film.
All users can search for the type of pennyreel they are in the mood for.
Check it out!

Uploaders,
With the exception of The Daily Showcase, our featured Projects and Pennyreels are determined by their ratings and views. If you want to see your work up there more often just vote on it, and get your friends to vote too!

“Afterward was my first really financed project.”

Also written and directed by Mr. Dolphin and shot on a single rainy day in Hollywood, Kristopher had a full crew this time which was a big help. They wrapped in 8 hours exactly despite the weather and an even bigger obstacle:

“The location was not locked down for us and we had to deal with a working fast food restaurant on a weekend.”

And was anyone panicked by the gun wielding actors?

“That was the scary part…We were blessed, so no. Thank God.”

Up next for Kris Dolphin is the feature he is currently working on and, after that, he’s finally going to tackle a short he has been planning for years. We all look forward to it.

The first of two films that Mr. Dolphin has posted on Pennyreel, Runnin’ was shot back in 2003 while Kristopher was still in film school on a shoestring budget:

“for Runnin’ it was just me and the actors.”

Tight on crew and resources, Kris had to get a little creative. For example, in the tracking shot where The Man is sprinting down the street…

“I built my own rig and it was very dangerous. I plugged in a monitor by the steering wheel so I could see forward while I drove, then I rigged my tripod out the window and used a seatbelt, a pants belt and my right hand to keep the camera steady.”

The shot came out great, and the short as a whole as well. But there was some dissent back at film school…

“My teacher at the UCLA extension said I broke many 'rules.' That's when I knew it was time to go and make movies.”

Everyone make sure to input your zip in your profile. Even if you have already filled out your location, the zip code is more precise and links directly to our database. This way we can put you in touch with the projects and filmmakers in your area so you can get off your computer and on to a set.

Actors in Austin check out the roles available in Robert Evans' new project in the Austin, TX area. He is currently looking for a number of roles for 'Sleepless' Check it out!

Producers, get more viewers for your work by crediting your cast and crew to link your films to their profiles. If they are not on the site yet you can invite them through the credits.

Kristopher Dolphin's follow up film to Afterward is a third the length but just as taught and action packed! Lovin' the Cyan hue!

Hello, and welcome to all the new users on pennyreel. Although this site is still in beta phase, we strive for high quality and excellent service. If ANYTHING on the site does not work the way you think it should, if you have a suggestion, or a complaint, please email info@pennyreel.com , or message any of the founders on the "about" page.

You can now upload your resumes when editing your profile. We hope this will be helpful for our actors especially, but all our users as well. If you need to update your resume, just upload the newest version and it will replace the old one. If you have any problems or question please contact us.
Have a great weekend!

And there are a number of ways you can do it. Report bugs, email us, comment on the blog, or post a review. Pennyreel should be a forum for discussion in which nothing is off the table. Your input affects how we structure and change the site, so please be candid and talk to us often.

Our resolution is to see compression and upload issues go the way of 2008.
This is our first priority and we hope to have it completed even before we all sober up -- which may be quite awhile.
Thanks so much for everyone and their faith in pennyreel and, once again, Happy Happy New Year!!

New Users! There are more than a few of you, so welcome all. We tackled a huge stack of applications last night. Anybody checking in who hasn't heard a response yet please be patient. We vet thoroughly and attempt as many personal responses as possible. You deserve every bit of attention that you give us, probably more!

Project Blogs are up and running. Go check 'em out. Only the Project Owner can post to the blog. If it's a public post then anyone can read it and anyone logged in can comment. If it's private, then only cast and crew can view or comment. Looking forward to reading these!!

A special welcome to our new users. Great to have you on board! And a very special welcome to our veteran users. It has been wonderful having you with us as we've grown.

We have been hard at work fixing bugs and making updates. Check out the new star rating system. . . Please make sure that you give us your feedback. You can send a message to any of the founders (find us on the "about" page) or to info@pennyreel.com. You can also help us out by filling out a two minute survey. Click the "Please take our alpha survey!" link at the top of the page. Cheers.