this is THE REAL LUKE the boring Luke had to get manicured or whatever those metropolitainexuals do.
you may be wondering why Im filling in this week on the blog? It’s because my latest project has priemiered on the intranet! and I wanted to tell you the story – first hand about THE REAL LUKE: PURSUANCE OF JUSTICE, a major motion picture coming soon!
it all started when HOLLYWOOD came knocking… needless to say, I answered their call!!!
Apparently they’d seen my Coca-Cola commercial that I filmed in Chile. They told me I had “it” (whatever that is) and that they wanted to make a major motion picture deal with me!
Of course I said yes!!! After interviewing a few directors…and turning them all down, I decided to direct myself. After all, no one knows the Real Luke like the Real Luke knows him!
soon I was off to sunny Southern California. it was a long trek, so my beard got pretty bushy. haha!
the first thing that was up was to go location scouting. (I won the hat and sweatshirt by taking 2nd place in a guitar solo competition, but that’s another story!!!)
it didn’t take me long to find the spots I like – I’m desisive!
soon it was time for the shoot. this is as “Hollywood” as I get. Haha!!!
the producers told me this was a “gorilla shoot” but I didn’t see the KING of the jungle anywhere! he probably knew better than to mess with The REAL Luke
this fellow John was odd, but he took good “footage” – have to remember to bring him along on my next big game hunt to record my trophies!!!
heres me directing! I’m pretty good at it! they kept saying I had great “chops” and they hadn’t even scene me with my hatchet yet!!! LA people are funny!
the next day we went deep into the desert. here is my cast!
this guy is a REAL hillbilly. we paid him in moonshine and “tabaccee”
the action scenes where intense! I do all my own stunts!
I was genuinely scared for my life here! wouldn’t you be???
after the desert we headed into the mountains and I trimmed off the rest of my beard.
I was sad to see it go…but the film required it!
after all, what would take a normal man a year to grow only took me a couple months!!! haha!
for some reason the producers couldn’t get a real bigfoot for the shoot. I mean, if they’d done there homework – they’d know I was the ultimate BIGFOOT trapper!!!
well that’s enough of me talking – time to show you the goods!!!
last saturday we shot my short film “Certified” in a little dell off of Topanga Canyon in Los Angeles. it was an amazing day. the cast and crew performed at the top of their game and we got some AMAZING footage. I can’t wait to share more with you in the coming weeks.
but for now, I’m busy prepping on a webseries pilot that I’m directing this weekend. here’s the synopsis for “Updating Paige”:
Feeling left out of the loop, Paige, a barista at a small coffee shop,
finally signs up for Faceplace, the world’s largest social networking
site. Although she vows to not let Faceplace control her life, she
quickly learns how hard that can be when everyone around her lets it
control theirs.
it’s a super funny script and we have a great cast, so needless to say – I’m stoked!
also, I wanted to give a HUGE thank-you to Josh & Jonathan at Bucks Boys Productions. their help was crucial to getting “Certified” in the can. checkout the amazing work they produce at www.bucksboys.com
here are a couple behind-the-scenes pics from the shoot!
first shot
mailbox scene
-Luke
p.s. stay tuned…cause in the next couple of weeks “The Real Luke: Pursuance of Justice” will be dropping!
so I’m shooting “Certified” in just two days!!! super stoked. the last week has been pretty dang busy, production meetings, casting, rehearsals, financing, shot lists, blocking, wardrobe, props, logistics… AND I’ve been working my day job editing films, videos, cartoons, etc the whole time.
here’s a scan of my to-do list this week…there are other pieces of paper, iPhone alerts and so on, but this will give you a bit of an example of what I’ve been doing.
click to make bigger on flickr.
and in other news, I just signed with a manager for writing & directing! my good friend Ana Clavell is going to be working with me. this is really exciting for me on several levels. first off, because Ana and I “get” each other. she already knows my sense of humor, style, and what I’m interested in doing. and secondly, because it’s going to be great having someone hustling for me. and finally, it will be very helpful to have her continued guidance and mentoring for the projects I pursue.
here’s a back of Ana and I from back in the day when I was her assistant editor…and featured zombie!
ok, back to editing! tomorrow I’m going to be visiting set and finalizing shots, lens choices, props, etc… follow along on twitter.com/lukeguidici!
so in just 9 short days I will be going into production on my short film “Certified.” it’s a project that I’ve been working on for a little over a year. why so long on a short film? well, the story takes place in rural 1950′s America… but the production needed to take place within 30 miles of 2010′s Los Angeles. that made for a tricky location situation.
I’m not sure I could add up all the time I spent online looking at location scout websites or the miles I drove looking at different locations…but they were significant.
finally, a couple weeks ago I found a spot. it’s within the “zone” and within my budget. we moved quick to secure it for the shoot and with the help of Stanley (our UPM) and Kimberley (our producer) we were able to do it.
Last week we were talking with Clovis about his new series of work where he’s doing studies on Mushroom Clouds.
“untitled” | 11×14 | chinamarker on paper | 2010
LG: I’m curious as to why you picked the Mushroom Cloud and not say the “Robot Apocalypse” or the “Zombie Apocalypse” or the “Monkey Plague Apocalypse”?
CB: And there’s the Religious Apocalypse. [helicopter interruption]
CB: It’s because I grew up in the late Cold War when the threat of nuclear war was still very real, yet there was a cynicism about it. Since I was very young it was filtered through toys and movies which made it kind of glamorous. It wasn’t very frightening to me. You know the story that I like to tell people, I grew up with this G.I. Joe toy called “Rolling Thunder” and it was a mobile ICBM launcher. It actually had these toy missiles that raised up. For that to be a toy is pretty remarkable.
I don’t ever remember being afraid of bombs falling, yet I knew that was part of the background of my life. In fact that’s why it’s alluring to me, there was never any fear of the actual apocalypse it was always a gateway to these Hero stories that were part of my fantasy while growing up.
LG: How do you balance art, business, creativity, chores, how do you manage all those things, being artistic AND being a functioning adult?
CB: You know I’m still figuring that out. For the last 3 years I was in a grad program and when you’re in school you have an extrinsic driver. You’ve got someone who’s watching over you and keeps you going. The trouble is when you get out and you don’t have that anymore, how do you keep it going? And of course I had a baby boy right after graduating. So I was a little worried that life would interfere. But I’m really excited that in this period I’ve started a new body of work. I’m really compelled, really excited about doing it.
But I have to try hard to find studio time because I’ve got a baby boy, a job, and I’m going to start teaching pretty soon. Trying to manage all that is really tough and I’m still trying to figure out what will work best. Is it getting work done at night after people go to sleep? Or trying to carve out certain times? I think what is really helpful is finding people to keep you accountable. I’ve joined a critique group with people I went to school with and am doing that once a month. It’s still a process though, there are so many life things. This boy is amazing [laughs] but is really tiring too. So I’m still figuring that out. That’s the phase of life I’m in right now. It’s really exciting but it’s also a challenge. It’s a trial.
LG: It is a trial.
CB: There could be some transformation there.
LG: Hopefully no nuclear apocalypse…
CB: No apocalypses
LG: At least not until the boy can pick up a Carbine.
CB: Yeah, he has to be available to help out. Carry a backpack at least.
LG: So if you weren’t doing art, what do you think you’d be doing?
CB: I would have been an astronaut.
LG: That’s probably the best possible answer.
CB: I mean it, I had these two life paths getting out of high school. To be fair, I chose the art path in High School. I took art classes instead of physics, but if I wasn’t doing art I definitely would have been an astronaut. You know in high school I was voted “Most Likely to live on the moon.” And “Most Artistic” so…there it is.
LG: There you go. Are you reading or watching anything right now?
CB: If I read during the day, Xavier will try and eat the book. So that’s kind of challenging. Mostly I’m reading a lot of comics. I’m reading “Walking Dead,” “Chew,” “Unwritten,” “Day Tripper,” and some Marvel Universe stuff, “Uncanny X-men” and “Avengers.” I just watched “The Road” which does not portray the post-apocalyptic life as very appealing, although there is still this kind of glimmer of hope. It’s really dim but, the Father talks to the Son about “carrying the fire.” And how do you carry that fire? But the son still does even when there is no hope. There’s nothing, no plant life at all, you’re just surviving on what’s left. Contrast that film with “The Book of Eli” which is more in-line with the view of the post-apocalypse that I was thinking of growing up. There’s a badass hero with a quest. This hero is on a journey and he struggles to survive and bring light and truth. It’s really appealing.
Also, recently played the “Fallout” video game. This post-apocalyptic thing continues even today.
And I watch a lot of crappy sci-fi, horror, and action movies. Yeah, a lot of really bad stuff.
LG: One last question, what’s your favorite episode of The Real Luke?
CB: I like the Japan one a lot, but I’d have to go with the Bigfoot. I think the survival-horror episode with the Bigfoot was probably my favorite.
LG: Cool. Where can people see more of your work?
CB: They can check out my website, www.clovisblackwell.com and, pending the Dean’s approval, take my screenprinting class at Azusa Pacific University starting in the Fall.
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Thanks for checking out my first artist interview! And a big thanks to Clovis for being my space monkey. Any questions you’d like me to ask in the next one?
