28 Nov Crafting Austin Short Films – The Earth Below
The initial story concept for “The Earth Below” was pitched to me as an adaptation of Madame Butterfly that takes place in a dystopian world where men no longer exist. I was excited by the project because of the opportunities it presented—it was a chance for me to write a female lead character and create a story in a science-fictional world. The challenge was tying it to an Asian-American theme.
27 Nov A Fluttering of Wings: The Heart of The Earth Below
“The Earth Below” for me is a combination of my admiration for Puccini’s opera “Madam Butterfly” and the themes of Alienation, powerful women, and unrequited love.
27 Nov Japanese Minimalism – The Earth Below Look
This little short had a couple of big firsts for us at Moth to Flame. First science fiction piece, and because it’s science fiction it was the first time where the production design played a big role.
28 Sep Adam Duncan’s Reflections on My Heart – Ya Albi
When we (Christine Chen and I) decided to make “Ya Albi,” a film about a Syrian refugee, we knew that we may be dealing with a topic that could be political or controversial. We didn’t care about that though, because we just didn’t see it that way. We just wanted to make a good film about the human condition through the eyes of an immigrant that was relevant to today’s world without any political agenda.
26 Aug Two Roads: PINT-SIZED PERSPECTIVE
Two Roads was a fun movie to work on. First, I did an audition tape. I memorized two scenes—a funny one and a sad one. Then I got to meet Adam and Christine on Skype.
25 Aug Two Roads: For the Love of Storytelling
With a slim budget, tight schedule, uncooperative weather patterns and even less cooperative livestock, the making of Two Roads was not destined for smooth sailing. Yet challenging circumstances can sometimes bring out the best in people—especially talented, tenacious people with a shared vision and a passion for excellence.
14 Jul Film Festivals – Preparing Two Roads
It’s been crazy crunch time for Moth to Flame as we rush to the finish line with “Two Roads,” our new short for the Louisiana Film Prize. This year has been a bit more hectic in terms of post-production scheduling, because each team member has continued to take on bigger and better projects and we collectively have more projects to juggle on top of this one. In addition, we have two cuts of our film this year (instead of one, like last year’s A Bird’s Nest)… a 15-minute cut for the actual Louisiana Film Prize itself and also a much longer 20 minute version for other festivals.
01 Jul A Desk A Day: Funemployment Polish
Christine has been busy getting together the final cut of Funemployment. If you’ve been following our Instagram you may have seen this photo, of our cat helpers working on some inserts.
24 Jun A Desk A Day: At the Danes Body Shop
Last week we had a night shoot out at Dane’s Body Shop shooting some footage for Battle Bold. A group of friendly athletic folks of all shapes and sizes came out to share their techniques for the cameras and show off some of Battle Bold’s lineup. I almost felt bad for them as they had to basically do a workout in front of the camera repeatedly while Christine Chen and David Lackey both captured footage.