That’s Jentertainment

Got the news yesterday that our Truman Show wasn’t chosen as a finalist for the Empire and Jameson done in 60 seconds competition. Disappointed as I am, I knew it would be tough as it is an international competition. I’m not thinking of putting an end to Tin Foil Productions and our parodies just yet, especially since all of our six entries for The Touch Film festival made it to the final last year. Maybe the recipe for success is to have multiple entries! I’m still really happy with Truman. I think we did really well with the resources we had as well as having just one cast member in the final cut. It was also extremely fun trying to condense a movie into 60 seconds and I don’t think this will be the last time I try. It was a good way to enhance my editing skills and we had some great laughs filming it. Here’s a little chewing gum blooper.

I’m really surprised that a few entries didn’t get through. I thought this version of Sweeney Todd was especially brilliant.

If you want to see and vote for the finalists that did make it through, you can see them here.

A couple of people have asked me about why Ian, Denis and myself use the name ‘Tinfoil Productions’ and until recently, we didn’t have a team name. The reason behind the name is that I have been known to make props using tin foil. These props all look very similar and I was thinking that someone might recognize the pattern if we kept going at the same rate and so the name was born.

During our Back to the Future Parody, I was chuffed with all the costumes being so true to the film. I wanted to make a video camera for Marty so I took a Converse shoebox, attached a couple of toilet rolls, covered it in tinfoil and popped on a couple of milk tops as the ‘buttons.’ See below for an image of my handy-work in action. I was devastated when it got crushed in the car on the way home.

Tinfoil also saved the day in Back to the Future when we needed to transform a Golf

…….into a Delorean.

It seemed like such a flawless idea but it was a huge challenge because it was very windy that night. We opened the two front windows slightly to wrap the tinfoil over the top of the car while the person inside the car passed it from one window to the other. What we didn’t realize until after is that we were locking that person in the car by doing so. As we tried to get a shot of the car driving, the majority of the tinfoil flew off and forty minutes of effort was wasted. The funniest part of the whole thing is that anyone who sees the video doesn’t even notice the tinfoil on the car because it is so dark.

The most recent tinfoil venture was The Truman Show in 60 Seconds, which I talked about in this post. In the film, a light falls from the sky. Of course, the tin foil came into action again to make a prop that is strikingly similar to the camera in Back to the Future. We smashed a wine bottle inside a black bag and spread the glass around this ‘light’ after it fell from the sky.

Who knows what tinfoil props lie in store for Tinfoil Productions in the future!

I thought it was a Christmas movie. This is a terrible poster and tag-line for a really sweet movie. Everybody’s Fine is a story about Frank Goode played by Robert De Niro who wants his children to take time from their busy lives and all come together for a visit. His wife has recently died and he lives alone. After all of his children cancel on a visit to see him, he decides to travel to the different states that they live in to reunite his gown-up children: Drew Barrymore and Sam Rockwell playing two of them. What’s great about this movie is Frank. He is such a ‘normal’ character that will really pull your heartstrings as he goes on this journey. As the story unfolds, we discover more about Frank, his past and his children.

Somehow, this movie reminded me a little of ‘Up in the Air’ because of the journey of the two male characters and their ultimate quest for truth but I found this film less drawn out and slow than Up in the Air. Maybe if you loved Up in The Air, you’ll hate this. Either way, It’s interesting seeing a film from a parent’s perspective and I thought the story for Everybody’s Fine was subtly powerful. It might be a bit too sentimental for everybody’s taste and it won’t be going on my favorites list anytime soon but it’s worth a watch if family is important to you.Most importantly though, this is not a Christmas movie. It won’t lift or enhance your Christmas spirit at all so for that reason, it’s going on my worst movie posters list.

I randomly came across this video on Vimeo and think it’s brilliant. Watch it and then leave a comment letting me know what you expected it to be.

100 from Mickey Reece on Vimeo.

As part of the competition for the Done in 60 seconds Empire & Jameson Awards, Tinfoil productions reunited for another parody. I never thought 60 seconds would take so long but with different schedules and the amount of time that went into editing, this took a couple of weeks to get together. We had a great laugh as usual though and I thought Denis (Truman) was really suited to this role.

There’s an extended edition that featured my own mother, the very charismatic ‘Mamo Davis’ but unfortunately we had to cut it due to our 60 second time restraint. She was devastated and I think it will take a lot of grovelling if I need her to appear in our next feature. As a Tribute, I wanted to post the extended version here so that everyone can see her talent. I think it’s very reminiscent of Fair City. She couldn’t understand why Denis was putting on an American accent as she had never seen the Truman Show so that’s the reason she’s holding back a grin. Our biggest challenge was the end of the film- Truman’s escape.

I went through a few ideas of painting a wall blue with clouds or bringing a door to the beach but in the end, I think it worked out nicely thanks to Ian’s handy editing. We find out soon whether we’re shortlisted as the top twenty entries should be announced next week. It’s an international competition so there’s a lot of entries including another Truman but I’m hopeful we’ll get through. Hopefully, I’ll be asking you all for your votes soon. In the meantime here are the videos:

This is the 60 second version:

And here is the extended version:

The Truman Show Parody- Extended Version from Jentertainment on Vimeo.