News from the Cutting Room

I just spent 4 hours in a dark room with a Steenbeck flatbed editing machine and a grease pencil. My whole life I've always cut my films using Final Cut Pro but the manual nature of editing real film is very different. It requires a lot of organization and a lot of balls because once you make a splice, there's no ctrl+z to get you out of it.

I was nervous at first but I have to say, after an hour or so I actually enjoyed editing on the flatbed much more than editing on a computer. I imagine it's mostly because a computer screen generates a lot of light and tires your eyes out but the flatbed displays only a dim analog image taken directly from your film stock.

The film is looking really good and if everything goes well, I'll have a rough cut by the end of the week. In the meantime please enjoy these secondhand digital photos I took of the flatbed viewer. What you're seeing is my film lit by a small bulb and turned around by several mirrors and prisms until it is projected on a piece of glass. They're not the best quality due to the fact that they're essentially pictures of pictures but perhaps they'll be good enough to make everybody want to see the real thing in its full glory. You'll just have to trust me when I say that it looks much better when projected on a big screen.

From Ten

From Ten

From Ten

Some Positive Press

A wonderful gentleman wrote a letter to the editor in last Friday's issue of the Trib proclaiming his enjoyment of "Hay Fever." On behalf of the entire production staff and cast I wish to tell Mr. Hall "thank you not only for your support of the production but also for telling others of your experience." You can read his kind words below.

From Plugs

This past weekend I saw the Babcock Theatre production of Noël Coward’s play “Hay Fever.” I had never gone to the Babcock before; I thought that productions starring University of Utah theater students would be too amateurish. I only went this time because I love Coward’s songs and was curious to see a play by him, even a non-musical 1925 comedy.

Well, I was in for a surprise. The play was absolutely hilarious. The audience laughed all the way through. The student actors were excellently trained and had good comic timing. They were fresh, talented and vibrant.

While a non-student production would hire actors more approximating the ages of most of the characters, I doubt it could produce more laughs. Kudos to the cast, director Sarah Shippobotham, and the U.’s theater department and its actor training program.

I’m now going to the U.’s other plays. Next weekend at Studio 155 is “Almost, Maine,” a 2004 “comic, romantic roundelay” (according to The Wall Street Journal) about love lost, found and confounded. Can’t wait to see it. Tickets are just $6.50 — a deal for anyone on a tight entertainment budget.

Maurice Hall

Salt Lake City

Awesome Green Screenery

From Plugs

Al is at it again, this time with more green screens, more Red camera and more money! Okay, so I did get paid for this, but more importantly there was some money going towards the use of a Zebra Motion Control Dolly. Think of it as a magical robot that can move a camera over and over again in the same way in order to get several identical takes of the same complex jib or dolly shot.

I'm not quite sure what the project is about, I'll tell you all when it's finished, but I was acting alongside my wonderful girlfriend Sarah Young and the two of us played a young Victorian couple. Check out some of the awesome pictures below!

From Connor Rickman Entertainment Enterprises

From Connor Rickman Entertainment Enterprises

From Connor Rickman Entertainment Enterprises

From Connor Rickman Entertainment Enterprises

Wastage - Film Festival Debut!

Special thanks to Jordan Warsoff for this one!

My film, "Wastage," has been selected as part of the official lineup at Brandeis University's IndieLouies Student Film Festival. Jordan was kind enough to send me an application form so it's due to his efforts that this film is making its east coast debut.

I was so excited about it, I 'shopped up some laurels!

From Plugs

The festival runs this weekend, November 12th through the 14th at Brandeis, in a castle (no, really!) If you're in the area, stop by for some free entertainment as well as my film. I, unfortunately will not be able to make it as my commitment to "Hay Fever" doesn't cease until the 14th. But hey, even if you're in Salt Lake, "Hay Fever" represents a piece of Connor Rickman entertainment available to you locally!...and you can watch the film online below.

Wastage from Connor Rickman on Vimeo.

To lovers caught in the turmoil of the Great War.

"Hay Fever" at the University of Utah

I'm acting again! This time as Richard Greatham in the University of Utah's production of "Hay Fever" by Noel Coward.

We open on Friday November 5th (that's right, Guy Fawkes day), and run until November 14th. Performances are on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights at 7:30pm.

In addition to play Richard, I'm also the dramaturg for the show, so if you'd like to see some of my research in the program note or my contribution to the lobby display you can if you see the show.

Tickets are $7.00 for students, $10.00 for faculty and staff and $13.00 for the general public.

Check out this excerpt from the press release. You can read the whole thing here.

From Connor Rickman Entertainment Enterprises

Thanks to my wonderful cast; Elizabeth Summerhays, Nathaniel Hinckley, Andy Ricci, Ana Lemke, Drew Baker, Ruth Jones, Marin Kohler and Anna Schovares. Also a very special thank you to our director Sarah Shippobotham and my dear friend and Stage Manager Christine Moore.