I may have mentioned that Hillbilly God is a suspense-thriller, and that we're shooting some intense action scenes. You may further recall my excitement at what high production value we've been getting on this low-budget flick. Remarking on some excellent footage of the bullet-proof vest one character reveals after taking some blows, Producer/DP, Carter Soles, was musing about the many hands that have pulled together to make this work so well. The vest was a quality purchase made in Eugene during pre-production, chosen by co-producer and screenwriter, Kom Kunyosying; the bullets that are stuck in the vest were fired in Monroe, WA by my brother-in-law, Eric Ziegler, who fired into a stack of phone books - so the bullets would mushroom, but be easily found (great idea, Eric!); and the bullets were "fired" out of rifles borrowed out of Woodinville, WA from Carter's dad - family heirlooms. Already, so many players have gone into the production of one image.
It has been Fleem's great pleasure to find not only an excellent actor, but a fine production crew collaborator in Dylan Keim (who plays the role of "Arthur"). Dylan's own interest in moviemaking compelled him to offer helping in post-production with the special effects involved in creating "muzzle flare" - the shock of light that comes out of the barrel of a gun when it is fired. Since we are a low-budget crew, we are not firing blanks, nor are we shooting our action in locations where it would be legal to fire guns. Our actors are simply acting out the "kick" of the gun in their performance, and Dylan has agreed to create and add the muzzle flare that we will superimpose onto the footage. Here is a video of Dylan's pilot attempt at creating muzzle flare using a friend, one of our prop handguns, free stock footage of gun flare, and Final Cut Pro.
