THE DEFENDERS OF STAN 19...and then some

Okey dokey. So here's the thing.

we KNOW we actually turned in the last episode of "The Defenders Of Stan" a few weeks ago to channel101:NY (where, i might add, we got second place--losing only to OUR OWN SHOW). But we wanted to space apart the uploads, as the next screening of channel101:NY won't be until early next year (boo! hiss! boo!)

so without further ado, the comic book cover from "The Defenders Of Stan 19: The Curse of Dr. Unstoppable!"


It's been uploaded to http://www.defendersofstan.com/ and THE BiG HONKIN' youtube & channel101:NY


But wait...what's this? I've clearly already uploaded the comic book cover for this month's episode. So what's that comic book cover doing down there?

Well, friend, i'll tell you. That comic book cover is the cover to an actual comic book! That's right. And just in time for the holidays!

Sure, the 2 year anniversary was a few months ago...Sure, it took us a little while to make this available online. but good things come to those who wait (note...i should point out that everyone who attended the last live screening channel101:NY screening got a FREE copy...but it's cool. you were busy).

"The Defenders Of Stan - Bring Your Brother To Work Day" on sale now!

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i found this funny.

when we log into our web-hosts control panel, one helpful little feature is being able to see where most of our traffic comes from.

for instance, last month:
-4501 hits to our site were direct request, meaning 4501 people typed it straight into their browsers.
-2410 hits came from this very blog, http://thebighonkin.blogspot.com, which means we know you're reading and clicking...you just never say anything. the silent treatment, eh?
-932 hits were directly from http://www.defendersofstan.com/
-416 hits came straight from http://www.thedefendersofstan.com/ (we own both, though they all go to the same place).
-and so on and so forth


one other neat thing is being able to tell what people are searching for when they end up at our site.

i logged in today to see if we'd gotten any traffic from our appearance on Dr. Blogstein's Radio Happy Hour, and when i'd scrolled through all the referrers, i noticed the search strings.

now, it's early in the month, and we've yet to put up the new Stan episode, so thats why the search numbers are low (by the end of the month, we'll do much better). but i saw this and just started laughing.

click for larger:


for starters, i'd love to see how dissapointed the guy searching for "big honkin' tits" was when we stumbled to our site. Captain Ultra's man-boobs hardly count as tits. thanks searcher, for restoring my faith in humanity.

secondly, i'm going to be blunt here. there is no Jesus Christ Supercop 7. there will never be a Jesus Christ Supercop 7. we got cancelled from channel101 NY on episode 6, followed by a racial-slur shit storm on the 101 forums, and with that, we'd made up our minds to end it there. we just want to make people laugh. and sure, having Jesus play a foul-mouthed cop and dating a tourrettes-ridden girlfriend is irreverent. But causing a big ta-doo in which people act hateful towards other people is not our cup of tea. and to be honest, Meredith is the only one of us that drinks tea.

speaking of Meredith. I see this come up in searches a lot, so i'll answer this here. The song in Jesus Christ Supercop 6 is Meredith Bragg and The Terminals - My Only Enemy. it's a beautiful song.

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THE BiG HONKIN' on Dr. Blogstein PT II

Hey everyone,

listen to us sound like idiots, fumble trying to be funny, and generally not provide any useful information!

THE BiG HONKIN' on Dr. Blogstein

Hey everyone,

Tomorrow night (Tuesday, November 11th) at 9pm, THE BiG HONKIN', the jackasses that make the show "The Defenders Of Stan," will be on Dr Blogstein's Radio Happy Hour!

All you gotta do is tune in and listen:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/DrBlogstein

http://www.drblogstein.com/

thanks,
THE BiG HONKIN'

Stan 18 production stills

An episode like "The Defenders Of Stan - ep. 16," the one with the four guys playing cards and telling stories, has a LOT of actors and locations, which meant that each little bit would take up less screen time because there were so many other little bits that we had to cram into five minutes. So when we're on shoots like this, often times driving to a location for the sake of something that will only have 10 seconds of screen time, we get our coverage and then have a little bit of time to take photos and do alternate takes, etc., because we get into a "well we drove all the way here, might as well have some fun" mentality.

But when we shoot an episode like "The Defenders Of Stan - ep. 18," we're shooting in less locations but for a lot longer time. And when that happens, we end up making people hang around for a lot longer. And when that happens, we get into a "let's get our coverage and let these people go home" mentality, during which we often forget about things like making sure we take production stills or making sure we have all of the dialogue in close-up. you know, trivial stuff like that.

so we're really grateful when other people, often times extras who are just waiting around out--of the kindness of their hearts--for us to get to their bit, snap some photos for us.

so here, without further ado, are the few photos we have from "The Defenders Of Stan - Ep 18: Two Men and a Super-Baby???"



Meredith, the super-stud that he is, showing off his studliness and probably acting as a lighting stand-in. Tickets to the gun-show: $14.99. get 'em while they're hot. Photo by Josh Gross.


Running through a scene while Captain Ultra's face blurs off. Another one of Josh's famous "photos of the viewfinder while we see what's IN the viewfinder in the background" shots.


Stan and Captain Ultra get some heavy news.

Stan is really excited about a floating logo.


And the following are cell-phone pictures taken by Amanda Crelia. They're tiny, but between NO production stills and TINY production stills, i'll take what i can get.


Across the street after Stan hops out of his car.


Super-Sean reliving the glory days from high school.

Now, i've mentioned before, THE BiG HONKIN' is a three man crew. here's a great example of this: Meredith running camera, Austin on camera, and Hunter in a very uncomfortable costume being boom-operator outside and in public.


And another example, Austin is running sound for our super-lawyer to serve Captain Ultra.

Brand New Series!

Hey everyone!

in an effort to expand our horizons past prancing around in tights, we made a brand new web series simply titled "Roommates."

we're excited to finally share this with you all.

click linky watch the fun fun.


thanks everyone!

now with video!

more stan stuff soon!

THE DEFENDERS OF STAN 18

why, fancy seeing you here!

here's the comic book cover for "The Defenders Of Stan" episode 18: "Two Men and a Super-Baby???"



this is a note to myself: Hunter...if you ever THINK about having kids, look at the above cover. ~hunter


The episode is online now at
ny.channel101.com
www.thedefendersofstan.com
youtube.com/thebighonkin

we have a few production stills, and a LOT of cool prop stuff coming soon!

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"blog, blog, blog!"

okey dokey.

really quickly:

"THE DEFENDERS OF STAN" episode 17 was shot in one day, i believe, with a few reshoots spilling into a second. it was all in one location, so there weren't many exciting things to take photos of, or props to build.

because of that, i only have a small handful of production stills.

SO, here they be.



this was the basic setup for the whole shoot. we got a fun LED light panel earlier, and got to really use it here, to sort of mimic the cool-tinted light that comes off of a computer monitor when someone is on their webcam.

Stan receives a traffic ticket for being a douchebag. this is actually MY traffic ticket...for being a douchebag.


two of my favorite bits, together at last: the fake Stan beard (originally from episode 12...we had to dig through a lot of boxes to find it), and the Stan blog mask.


Ultra-Stan, Stan-Stan, Stan-on-a-stick.

AAAAAAAAAND, below, you can download and make your very own Stan mask!

Seriously...do it. print it. make a video blog and post it as a response to episode 17...that would be awesome.




i'll have episode 18 stuff up soon.

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see **STAN 18** before everyone else!

Hey everyone, this month, The Defenders Of Stan and ny.channel101.com are part of the New York Independent Television Festival.

this is gonna be a really cool screening, followed by a panel discussion featuring Mitch from "Mister Glasses," Curtis and John from Adult Swim's "Fat Guy Stuck In Internet" and Hunter from "The Defenders of Stan." (so you can all call Captain Ultra fat to his face, rather than the emails).

on top of getting to see the new episode before everyone else (suckers) in a theatre, the screening is free, and we're giving out a really cool, super secret "The Defenders Of Stan" surprise to the first 200 people. that's right. for free. all ya gotta do is show up, watch the shows and vote for your favorite 5...hopefully that includes us...right, guys? right?

hope to see you there.

Tuesday, Sept. 16 at the NYTVF,
340 W. 50th St, New York, NY
8pm
FREE


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i will finally put up the production still we took and some other stuff from ep 17 before i do any other 18 posts.

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THE DEFENDERS OF STAN 17-Oh, (Big) Brother!

hey everybody!

The Defenders Of Stan episode 17-Oh, (Big) Brother! screened at channel101 NY last night, and took second place!

thanks to everyone who came out and voted.

this is the comic book cover for this episode:


also, the episode has been uploaded to:
-The Defenders Of Stan official website
-THE BiG HONKIN' youtube
and
-channel101NY

a few production stills to come, as well as some MORE stuff from episode 16!

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see the *NEW* "The Defenders Of Stan" before everyone else!

hello everybody!

if you live in or around NYC, and want to see the brand new "The Defenders Of Stan" before everyone else, you should come to:

Piano's
158 Ludlow St.
(at Stanton)
New York, NY

Monday, Aug 4 at 7pm and 8:30pm

it's FREE to get in!

come out, watch "The Defenders Of Stan," and a bunch of other really cool shows, vote for us (so we can keep making more) and chat with "Stan" and "Captain Ultra"!

otherwise, you'll have to wait til Tues, August 5th like everyone else.


hope to see ya there,
THE BiG HONKIN'

***that isn't the ACTUAL comic book cover for this month. fear not***

STAN 16 pre-vis

in the world of small-time/low-budget/online video, it really pays to plan ahead. because, especially when you work under ridiculous circumstances like (1) trying to get an effects heavy web-series to feel like a bigger production than it really is, (2)get a new video done once a month EVERY month, while (3) still maintaining relationships with friends, families and significant others AND (4) getting all the other work that needs to get done finished, reshooting can be difficult, to say the least.

in the past, i've mentioned storyboarding. storyboarding is a great way to convey an idea, plan a complicated shot, or just be able to express to your team what you have in mind.

but what if it isn't getting the point across for a VERY difficult sequence?

take these for instance. i know that in my head, the crude drawings on the left will look something like what's on the right.


but in terms of working out what needed to be shot from which angle and why, it wasn't quite getting across.

so that's where it's helpful to bring in pre-vis. knowing just how little time we had to complete the recent episode of "The Defenders Of Stan," i prepared this silly little animation



obviously, there are oddities about the above. 1. for the purposes of demonstration, theres no burrito gag. 2. i obviously google searched "building texture" and used a watermarked image from turbosquid 3. i added the audio from the episode to make the pre-vis less boring. 4. because of the audio timing, i had to slow down bits of the animation which is why the results look a little jerky. 5. it's funny that it's Captain Ultra and twins, i'm guessing, and that one of the twins sounds like a super pimp.

also, enjoy this rant:
the nice thing about pre-vis is that it can more easily make sure that everyone is on the same page, and in certain instances, be a real asset on the set. for instance, we were hired by a company to write/direct/star in/post a pilot for a web-series. going into the cold opening of the pilot, we had two options: build a giant prop or build a 3d model. in the end, we decided on going CG because we'd end up having a lot more control. knowing that, i was able to build the 3d model BEFORE the shoot, pre-vis the entire scene, and since we had this whole thing virtually mapped out for us, we could literally stand there with a monitor next to our camera LCD display and set up shots knowing all of the limitations of the 3d model beforehand. it made an incredibly difficult and complex shoot a breeze. and to take it a step further: since i'd already animated the 3d model, all i had to do was tweak the work i'd already done, compensating for differences in timing, angles, fluidity in movement, etc.

YAY. coming soon, props photos, etc.

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STAN 16 production stills part 3

to finish up our production stills for this episode (before we move into props, pre-visualization, etc.), we have a BIG ol' entry. so let's get right into it.


It's pretty simple. Cop wants photo with Captain Ultra. Captain Ultra wants $20. Cop gives Ultra $20, so the two take a picture. I love that we actually took pictures while we shot. If i'd just paid twenty bucks for this, i'd be a little bummed.



now, to give you an idea of just how many takes we do of stuff, this is a little slideshow of all of the photos we took while shooting. man, that's like 240 bucks worth! i love the one where he missed Captain Ultra completely.

This is us setting up for the beginning of the satellite sequence. it's always fun to block half the traffic on a street, with no permit, while cars full of people yelling "superman!" at you drive by.

here we are white balancing, or checking focus or something. the mic isn't even up yet, so i can't imagine this is during shooting just yet. as i said previously, it's hard to shoot with just three people sometime. it's even harder when two of us are in costume (meredith lent his looking and clapping talents to this scene). so sometimes little things like, oh i dunno say AUDIO, gets neglected til the last second.


Our second pregnant super-lady of this episode! it's that time of the year i suppose...



Holy Rugby Vest and Super Pimp! Notice the greenscreen leaning against the car.


Taking off, or landing. I can't keep track.


When i land, our Super Pimp is holding one headshot, and our Super Pregnant Lady Part II is holding another. i'm not sure which is which. But they sure do make Captain Ultra look even douchier than ever.


I'm gonna go on a rant here: Kinko's really needs to calibrate their frakkin monitors! Seriously. I opened these up on one of the design stations because kinko's charges you extra if they open anything besides a pdf behind the front counter (they can only print on thicker stock papers from behind the counter). So i go to convert it to a pdf, and suddenly i look at them and go "man. these are really terrible looking. they're so lacking contrast! i guess i was tired when i put these together. better fix the color." so i do. and i hand them to the guy and he prints them out, and they look TERRIBLE. they look borderline two-toned (like JUST black, white, and maybe ONE shade of grey). so i have to go back, fix them, and have the guy REprint them. in the end, it would have been cheaper to just incur the non-pdf fee than the ordeal and time wasted. thanks kinkos.


The epiphany. The life-changing event. A nudie pen.


Faster than a speeding bullet.


Speaking of being dressed up like idiots: It's funny. If you do it alone, you feel ridiculous. If you do it in a group, you feel like you can take on the world. That's probably why so many superheroes in ridiculous costumes work in teams. They're crazy solo, but together they just look like they're having a good time.


Stan's "date" in the park. This is another one of those "oh crap, i forgot to take a picture while we were in the actual location doing actual shooting," mostly because i was too busy worried about angles and timing for all of the impending doom that would befall this unknowing super lady, so i quickly thought "let's run outside and snap one against some green leaves and stuff so it kind of LOOKS like we took it during the shoot." though there wasn't a house in the park. I'll fix it in post.

coming soon: previs, props, and anything else i have the time and energy to scrape together.

any requests?

STAN 16 production stills part 2

for me, production stills break into three categories:
1. stills taken WHILE shooting
2. stills taken before/after shooting (usually to highlight art direction, costume design, something slightly impressive that people might want to take a closer look at)
3. stills taken before/after shooting meant to look like they were taken WHILE shooting.

i wonder which category these fall into.

i'll go over playing poker, abiding by Capital City rules. 1. each player must have at least 8 cards in his hand at all times: even bathroom breaks.


2. third hands are a plus: helpful for snacking, scratching, and hiding cards under the table.


3. extra points awarded for showing off mad jug-band skills during a game.


4. the key to victory is a stern, solemn poker face. also, for whatever reason, you play counter-clockwise.


5. posing is a must.


6. if you lose all of your money, other types of chips can be substituted for poker chips in lightning rounds. oh yes. in Capital City, there are lightning rounds.


7. write a script, then play out the game in a totally scripted way so that everyone knows how much they will be losing that night.

hopefully this has been helpful in getting you up to speed on playing with CC's "finest"

more stills, etc. coming soon.

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STAN 16 production stills part 1

hello, internet. at last, we meet again.

well, internet, my old nemesis. i have a few things to show you. for starters, i'll dazzle you with a slew of production stills. that's right, internet! you may have underestimated me, but we actually took photos this time! then, i'm going to pummel you with props pictures! and then, when you've already had enough, i might even do an effects breakdown, show some of our 3d pre-vis work, and maybe even a deleted scene or two. who the heck knows, i'm feeling nuts.

you still wanna rumble with me, internet?

fine. i mess you up.


as you can tell, blue face paint isnt the easiest thing to use, nor is it the most enjoyable thing to smear all over yourself. we usually try to do as little as possible, often times only painting half of a face, etc., based on the shot. (note the back of the neck). but we realized that this wasn't gonna work after all, so here our lovely makeup artist is ready to apply more liquid crib death.


this was a ROUGH shoot, trying desperately to cram all of the flashback into 3 hours of shooting. and usually, it's a little easier when you have all three of us there. but it was Meredith's birthday that day, so it was just Austin and I running around like chickens with no heads to do an extra person's amount of work. luckily for us, all of our actors are real pro's, and we love them.


Our cobalt pimp, in action. (it's a lot easier to pick up a chick if you're already married to her, apparently).


Capital City's newest LEAD anchor, Vicki Valiant. gosh, it seems like only episodes ago she was a field reporter. movin on up!


of any color, why would he paint himself green? the answer: because her dad is a racist, and he really wants to make a good impression.


so this is what it looks like when you take production stills after shooting one of the two scenes for that day, and between them an actress changes back into her clothes.


country love: Flamer and his baby mama on the vehicle of their first date. a sears tractor.


mmmmm. melted and charred whitmans sampler: sure to win over any angry, slightly violent, pregnant, hormonal super-ladies' heart.



so we have plenty more production stills coming soon. stay tuned, and maybe if you all bug us enough, we'll make Captain Ultra t-shirts.


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