red hands diary

Traditional movies manipulate the environment to create an artificial one which then supposedly stands in for the real one. Thank God we have the tech now to just use the real environment around us. Thanks to HD and craigslist we no longer need the huge lights and crews and all that other nonsense. But watch out, this sort of proactive, progressive thinking is not only troublesome but down right dangerous to the traditional filmmakers out there – I should know; pretty much every craigslist ad I’ve put up, excepting those made to the actors, has been flagged, usually within an hour of my posting it. However during that hour I usually get between twenty and thirty responses.

How is the Red Hands project different from Hollywood and Independent productions? Well, what you first have to understand is that there’s only one difference between Hollywood and the “indie” world, which is money. Otherwise they’re exactly the same. But most people still don’t get – they’re exactly the same. For Hollywood, big money buys you more comfort and creates much more waste, and inflates the egos to the point of being beyond bizarre. Not having money in the Independent world means you work longer hours, and waste just as much – because you’re still following the Hollywood model – unions and permits and actual film and a huge crew, and people getting lots of cash up front and all that other atavistic nonsense – and generally the ego bullshit is just as through the roof.

What most people don’t understand is that even “indie” budgets are still in the six and seven digits. That’s like comparing the guy who drives a Bentley to the guy who drives a Mercedes – it’s ridiculous. With Red Hands we have capped the budget at $30, 000 -- a not brand new Honda Civic. You still with me? The great performance artist Chris Burden once built a car that got a hundred miles a gallon to prove that the car companies are full of shit. Mongrel is making Red Hands to shed similar light that will cut through the glamor and shadows of Hollywood and Independent filmmaking -- not to be assholes or anything, just to show that there are other avenues for artists to have fun and get shit done .