On Sunday, I helped my friend Bob shoot a movie scene. The scene took place in a bar. The band playing at this “bar”, is the real life band, Charley & the Cynics. During the downtime, I was able to shoot my own footage on the T2i and make this video. Overall, it was a great day of chill’n and movie make’n.

The thing is, the technology is already here and we know it’s better for the planet. Why can’t we move beyond the knowledge stage and get this implemented?

This led me to think about dish soap, of all things. Dish soap has long been a pet peeve of mine, and it’s a tiny example that encapsulates my entire frustration. Here’s the scenario: You go to the grocery store because you’re out of dish soap. You want a soap that costs a reasonable price, that smells good, and that cleans well. Why is it, that when a majority of people get to the dish soap aisle, they buy a brand-name soap when the green variety costs the same amount, cleans just as well and smells nice, too?

There is no reason not to make this switch – not cost, not effectiveness, not smell, not hand-softness, nothing. So why aren’t all the other brands out of business by now? Of course, it boils down to product loyalty and advertising budget, but that’s just plain stupid. It shouldn’t take an act of government to get chemicals out of our dish soap when we know they are bad for ourselves and the planet. We as consumers should be making this happen. The same argument can be made for solar panels and green roofs and geothermal water heaters and porous asphalt and a host of other proven and comparable green changes.

I fully agree.

via Week 32 – The Green Garbage Project

“I’ll always love you.” he said as I put my shoes back on. That’s about the time I realized I was a song writer.

When Robert’s best friend goes missing, he tends to get passionate.

Written, shot, and edited in 48 hours during the Madison 48 Hour Film Project by Backflip Films.
backflipfilms.com

Written by Ryan Trattles
Directed by Ryan Freng
Cinematography by John Shoemaker
Produced by Peter Simon

Actors: Petey Boy, Ryan Trattles, Ryan Freng, Amanda Shoemaker, John Shoemaker, Clint Freund, Scott Rawson, Aiden Hackl, Grace Hackl, and Treadmark the Cat

Music written and performed by Paul Otteson
In conjunction with the 50/90 songwriters challenge
5090.fawm.org/fawmers/paulotteson/

View the movie in HD here: http://vimeo.com/5700859

Street View

My wife and I bought a house. It is a fixer-upper. Who would have thought. I have big plans for the house… and I can already tell that most of them aren’t going to see the light of day. Being able to talk to a house and have it audibly respond is maybe a bit over-board anyway. Let’s take a walk-through:

First up is the porch:

Wide-Open Porch

Porch Ceiling: Ready for a Swing

Porch Floor: someone barfed stripes

The porch is enclosed and awesome. Notice the puke-toned carpet.

The door leads into the living room:

View from the living room

Living Room

From Living Room into Dining

The Dining Room is right off the main living area:

Ugly Dining Chandelier

Dining Room

Awesome/Ugly Dining Room Wallpaper

Dining Room to Kitchen

The Kitchen:

Kitchen

Check out that kitchen paneling

Let’s go upstairs to the hallway:

Beautiful Modern Rug

The Hallway

First stop on our right is the bathroom:

Blue Porcelain

Even the shower is blue

Now to the three bedrooms:

The Master bedroom

The Guest Room

Other Guest Room Complete with Creepy Water Bed

We (and when I say “we”, I really mean Abby) have started to do work on the kitchen. Check out this paint:

Blueish-Gray with White Pop

Rip those Cabinets off!

A short behind-the-scenes for a film called “Birthday Girl”. I was only on set for a morning… so I only shot this background footage for a few hours.

Birthday Girl:
Director – Troy Perkins
Producer – Francis Perkins
DP – Mike Hartzel

The team behind Northtown Productions: northtownproductions.com

Music by Kaki King
http://vimeo.com/5368711

This past weekend, I produced a movie during the 48 hour film project in Milwaukee. This is what our team threw together. Go to Vimeo to see it in HD.

Starring:
Laura Klein as Rose Lanvin
Petey Boy as Roger Lanvin
Ryan Trattles as Jake

The concept for the story was brainstormed by the whole team.
Writer: Ryan Trattles
Director: Mark Röethke
Director of Photography: Michael G Buck
Assistant Director: Greg Ritter
Assistant Camera: Jess Ader
Whole Sound Deparment: Max Grill
2nd Camera, Location Manager, all-around best boy: Ryan Erdmann
Production Assistant: Kelsey Abernethy

This first video is of the time spent with my family in California. A fire on the Beach.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This video is from a short film I got to act in.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This last video is from a play that I stage managed for the past month.

Click here to view the embedded video.