We've Been Busy

We've been insanely busy these last couple of months. I was on the road a lot with work for a while there but now were getting settled into our new place and things are starting to calm down a bit. We're working on a new music video with Chaotic Theory and are set for our first day of shooting to happen this Sunday. This one will be a bit different from the last and I think it's going to turn out really great. There are a few more projects up in the air and I'll get to those as they develop. All in all it looks like 2010 is going to be an interesting year.

Chaotic Theory "For the Kill" Music Video - Complete!

I finished this up a few weeks ago but haven't had time to upload it since I've been so busy with work and other things lately. Lindsey and I shot this in about 6 hours at the Smoking Moose in Anniston, AL with just a handful of lights and a tripod. I'm fairly pleased with the final cut. The stock footage adds a nice touch and is just what the video needed to really bring it around.

Chaotic Theory "For the Kill" Music Video from Douglas Dillingham on Vimeo.

Chaotic Theory "For The Kill" Music Video - Post Production

The music video shoot went well! We were at the Smoking Moose in Anniston and it was air conditioned which is a BIG plus. They graciously let us use their upstairs as our location. Everyone was really cool and the band are a great bunch of guys so they were really fun and easy to work with. We had a decent turnout for a crowd, enough to make it work like we wanted. Everyone was exhausted by the time we were done but we ended up with some excellent material so it was all worth it. I'm working on the footage and starting editing now and it's coming together nicely so far. Here are a few stills with a rough color touch-up.

Bees and Honey

We went to help the Bee Man jar his new batch of honey last weekend. It was really interesting to see all the different phases of filtering and everything else involved. These are some photos that I took.

BEES!!!

I was helping a guy work on his house today and when we went to the back yard for a ladder I found that he had bees! I had heard that he had bees before, but I had totally forgotten about it and it was a bit of a shock to just walk out and see them there.

That Video We Made for Nappy Roots...

A few months back when we were still working under the name "Finite Studios", we were approached by Jon Hay who represents multi-platinum hip hop group Nappy Roots. We ended up shooting a promo video covering their Humdinger album release show at Ear-X-Tacy in Louisville and an on-air spot on Louisville's WGZB B96.5 afterwards. We did a two camera setup for the performance, one on a floating tripod on a raised stairwell and one handheld. We also had Lindsey manning a Canon D5 Rebel there for stills, some of which appear in the video. All the guys in the group were really cool and easy going, and while it was a loooong day with a pretty rough shoot, we had a lot of fun. Check out the album, it's pretty good. You can watch the video below.

Nappy Roots - "The Humdinger" Promo from Douglas Dillingham on Vimeo.

Nappy Roots Official Site

I Love Creepy Vans

This is the van driven by exterminator that came out to my workplace the other day.

Airplanes, Cops, and a Giant Johnson.

I had a root canal today. I did not enjoy it. Here are some random photos of things that I've taken lately:

I took this one on the expressway on the way home from work. That's a huge passenger jet coming in to land. It freaks me out that they come in at such a low altitude and perpendicular to traffic.

I also saw this on the way home from work. These guys somehow managed to crash right into the front of this house.

This was just a few days ago. I have no idea what was going on here, I just thought it might make a good photo.

And lastly, the Giant Johnson. This was taken near where I used to live down south. Notice there's no apostrophe on "Johnsons"... Does that mean they sell giant johnsons and food? Or food for giant johnsons? It's juvenile, but it makes me laugh. 

I Starred in a Film... Apparently?

Someone googled me and found this:

http://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/hide-and-creep-2004

What strikes me as funny is the fact that the header reads:

"Starring Barry Austin, Melissa Bush, Douglas Dillingham, Christopher Garrison..."

Don't get me wrong, I am actually in the film... for all of 5 seconds. If you watch it, I'm the guy in the red vest dragging a zombie (played by Chuck Hartsell) into the back room of a grocery store. I was credited as "Grocery Store Employee". Apparently, showing up for 5 seconds of screen time (with no lines) constitutes starring in a film. Who knew? I'm not complaining though. I suppose they just listed the credited cast alphabetically, but I'd like to think that my performance was so gripping and convincing that they bumped me up on the roster.

One more thing, if you do actually watch the movie and you manage to keep from blinking long enough to see me, you'll notice that I do a funny little hopping step just before I back through the doors in my shot. That was because there was a sharp drop in the floor there at the threshold and I had already tripped on it once. Those guys were shooting on film so I didn't want to waste their money by blowing a take on clumsiness. Also, I was worried that if I did trip and fall then it would be so funny that they would actually keep it in the movie, and I didn't want to be remembered as the guy who tripped and fell through a door while dragging a (possibly naked, you'll just have to see it) zombie backwards across the floor of a grocery store.

A bit of trivia: I actually had to take time off from my actual job as a grocery store employee to travel 100 miles west to play the part of a grocery store employee. Oh, that zany Universe!

Snowed In

Well the city of Louisville has ground to a halt under the crushing weight of 2-4 inches of snow. Apparently this is a particularly rough winter storm and the city is having trouble keeping up. I tried to go to work this morning but after half an hour I'd only made it about 2 miles from my apartment, so I made a phone call and then turned around and went home. I think today would be a good time to work on the script...

Here are some photos I took during this morning's adventure in the urban tundra.