In 1971, D.B. Cooper hijacked a plane and parachuted out with $200K in cash. And he’s never been found. Until now. This is the first interview with legendary hijacker D.B. Cooper.
Find out more about D.B. Cooper at Kick Ass Oregon History.
I love that I can go for a walk at lunch and watch two TV shows filming within two blocks of each other. All the trucks and lights mean a lot of Oregonians at work.
Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen at City Hall on set of Portlandia
Some giant lights on cranes. Probably to make it look more sunshiney inside.
David Giuntoli and Russell Hornsby filming Grimm
I was taking a quick flight from Portland to San Jose and when I got to the airport, I realized my flight was delayed and I had two hours to kill. I decided to try and shoot and edit a little movie on my phone and upload it before leaving (thanks free WiFi at PDX). I asked Twitter for suggestions, and Twitter never disappoints in situations like these…
@MikeVogelCom “Frisked in Love” “Shoes Off, Hearts Broken”
— Amanda Lin Costa (@TheLoneOlive) July 4, 2012
@MikeVogelCom A shot for shot remake of The Terminal. Am I too late?
— Brandon Doughan (@BrandonDoughan) July 4, 2012
@MikeVogelCom A large wedding of ethnic, cheerful people who have quirks and racist tendencies
— You’ve been… (@Tuckerstruck) July 4, 2012
Gum chewers in airports? MT @MikeVogelCom: My plane leaves in two hours. I’m going to try and make a movie in that time. Ideas?
— Polly (@QMpolly) July 4, 2012
I decided to work gum into the movie because I like chewing gum.
One thing I liked about making a movie this way is that you have to use your limitations to your advantage. Just like regular filmmaking. I balanced my phone on the railing of the people mover (the flat escalators) and used it for a dolly shot. There were empty gates where I was able to set my phone up and walk away from it. I had to balance my phone on my bag and wrap a strap around it for the clip where I unwrap my gum.
Another limitation was my phone’s battery. It was draining fast and I didn’t have a charger with me, knowing there was one where I was going. My fear was shooting too much, or editing too long, would cause the battery to die and the upload to fail. And part of this exercise was getting it all edited and uploaded before the plane took off.
I ended up getting the movie uploaded before my flight took off, but my phone was dead when I arrived. It worked hard enough for one night.
Life Is Hell ended its long run that began for me around 1988. I had it pretty easy in high school but I was unhappy and didn’t understand why other people weren’t unhappy. Then my friend Kyle introduced me to Life Is Hell and I realized how hilarious that unhappiness was.
I loved the fact that Matt Groening was from Portland and my senior year our basketball team played Lincoln High and there was already a trophy case shrine to Groening, Life Is Hell, and a new TV show he created.
I don’t get sentimental or nostalgic, but I do have good memories reading those comics and I look forward to the day that I can dust off Childhood Is Hell and share it with my kids.
I tried to only sell “Did You Kiss Anyone?” as a digital file. It’s easier for me, it costs less for you, and there aren’t any plastic clamshell cases that could be used as a landfill starter kit.
The problem is that not everyone knows what to do with a digital file or has the ability to play it on a screen they’d actually want to watch it on. Plus DVDs make wonderful gifts to buy for all your friends. So I decided to make a DVD.
I loved the packaging of a Filmed By Bike DVD I own. The case is from Stumptown Printers and it’s made from foldable chipboard. There’s no plastic, it feels nice, and it’s kind of awesome.
But getting them printed is expensive. So my friend created a design for some rubber stamps that I could put on the cases. The human heart stamp came from Collage and somehow seemed to fit the tone of the movie too.
I decided to throw in some behind-the-scenes photos because it seems like it would be fun and feel more personal.
I went from not liking the idea of selling a DVD, to realizing I just don’t like the mass produced DVD cases for indie movies trying to look like Hollywood movies. Mine are hand-stamped and folded together by me. I make these.
You can buy them at DidYouKissAnyone.com
The first episode of The Carolyn Show has been launched into the world. It’s been a fun collaboration because I’m used to writing a script and then letting actors improvise off that. In this case, Carolyn and I exchanged a bunch of ideas via email over a long time until we came up with an idea that made sense (in a talking pug, tarragon smoking, draw bridge apartment sort of way).
The nice thing about working with a cartoonist is that you aren’t limited to just things you can shoot with a camera. And she would add new animations months after we shot that added more funny stuff to the script. For instance, there’s a scene involving a wedding ring and underwear that we shot, but she was able to highlight it with a quick animation. So it’s been fun and hopefully we’ll do more soon. But here are some photos from the shoot….
It’s very unprofessional when actors fall asleep on set…
Carolyn getting some make-up put on by Emily…
Crystal and Benja met probably 10 minutes before we started taking photos of them as a couple…
Pomponette is ready to do some acting!
We shot the opening montage after most the episode had already been edited. This was a sign near Director Park…
Watch it now (unless you’re around people who frown on cartoon nudity).
My daughters always want to make a movie with me. Usually, the movies they explain in detail are feature length and run a budget of about $78,000,000 because they have active imaginations and uncompromising visions.
A few months ago, I was playing with the Action Movie FX app on my iPhone and thought it would make a fun Filmed By Bike movie with my daughters. I had an idea that would’ve involved both of them, but one actress backed out due to creative differences. So we made an End of the World themed movie in honor of 12/20/2012.
I was excited the movie made it into Filmed By Bike and was even one of the five movies nominated for a Golden Helment Award. I was nominated last year too for Right Hook. I have lost twice, which I think is the most anyone has ever lost that award. My goal is to be the Susan Lucci of the Golden Helment.
Here are some photos from the Opening Night Street Party…
LED Hula Hoopers
Hammercize! (If you don’t remember, I made a little video of Hammercize performing last year.)
This is Ayleen Crotty, who started Filmed By Bike 10 years ago!
This is the legendary speed raffle. I did not win this bag.
We went back on Saturday and watched it on the big screen!
It’s time for my favorite film festival in Portland–Filmed By Bike! I throw some kids on the back of a cargo bike every morning to take them to school, then I ride along the Springwater trail to work. But I don’t really belong to any part of Portland’s famous bike culture. I don’t go on organized rides, I’m not on any teams, I smile wistfully at Breakfast on the Bridge but never stop, I don’t even read any bike blogs. Not that I’m against those things, I’m just usually thinking about making a movie. So Filmed By Bike is the perfect festival for me: bike enthusiasts combined with film fans.
But some of you might be thinking, “I don’t know how to ride a bike, but I want to see movies you’ve made on a big screen and also drink beer in the street.” You are in luck! On Friday the 13th, you can attend the Opening Night Street Party. It’s a fun event and you should just go and see what it’s all about.
If you can’t make it Friday night, there are still plenty of chances to see a movie I’ve made while drinking beer in a theater. This year’s movie (Invincible, starring my daughter in her big screen debut!) plays on all three showings on Friday, Saturday at 5pm, and Sunday at 9pm. What? Not enough for you? Then show up on Wednesday at 7pm or 9pm and see two of my previous Filmed By Bike movies: Claire Rides a Bike and Right Hook.
Here’s the full list of all the movies being shown: Filmed By Bike Program
Did I mention the opening night screenings have an awesome raffle? And insanely fun street entertainment? And beer on tap? Also, movies?
Finally, here’s a little movie I made from the festival three years ago…
Whoever leaves eggs with treats on the springwater trail every year, thank you. Also, thank you for not poisoning me yet.
I uploaded a new scene from my movie “Did You Kiss Anyone?” On the one night Jared can cheat on his wife with no consequences, he meets Betty, who is determined to take him to a party that’s “all about sex, sex, sex, sex….” What could go wrong?
(Meredith Adelaide and Bryce Flint-Somerville)
And if you want to see a glimpse of what could go wrong, there’s this possibly NSFW clip: