Infest Wisely

There’s a new, chewable nanotechnology that lets you take photos with your eyes, cures cancer and eliminates body odour. But the early adopters are realizing they got extra “features” they didn’t count on. And no one told them once they spread through the bloodstream, it’s harder to uninstall than your average computer virus.

INFEST WISELY is a lo-fi sci-fi no-budget feature in seven episodes, each with a different director and intertwining characters. Click for a closeup of the front and back covers

Includes a commentary track from all seven directors who reveal do-it-yourself tips and tricks on how they shot the movie for $700.

Acclaim for Infest Wisely

“Infest Wisely is a great lo-fi sci-fi nanopunk flick” -Wired.com

“The film is chock full of interesting ideas and images.” -The Toronto Star

“If only there were more people like Jim Munroe making movies like Infest Wisely.” -The Globe and Mail

“The production values are inevitably scrappy but Infest Wisely gets by on the cheeky vitality of its ideas.” -eye weekly

“killer” -Cory Doctorow, boingboing.net

“One millionth the budget of Spiderman 3. One thousand times the smarts.” -Peter Watts, Hugo-award nominee

Check out the official site here, with tons of goodies.

Oct 192006
 

Click to zoom.Benny had told me we could use a paint-roller extension as a boom pole, but I figured I was going to have to tape on my shotgun mike somehow. Much to my delight this was not the case. The day before the third Infest Wisely shoot, when I got my $15 Home Hardware Extension Pole (8′, #4538-682) back home I noticed there was a small hole in the removable black tapered tip. My Rode VideoMic has a shock mount that connects to a shoe mount for use on a camera, but I saw that the shoe mount was screwed in. I removed the screw and threaded it through the tapered tip of the paint roller and it actually fit!

The next day, we did an eight hour shoot and it was rock solid and sounded sweet — when I was perched on a rusted-out catwalk high above an abandoned factory floor, I was glad I didn’t also have to worry about the mike falling off.

Of course this is almost ridiculously specific to Rode VideoMic owners living in Canada, but it’s too neat a trick to keep to myself. For some more generally useful DIY Sound tips from my sound guru Carma, keep reading!
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Sep 142006
 

The lion one was clearly cooler.I’ve finished a first draft for our lo-fi sci-fi movie script Infest Wisely (UPDATE: Check it out!). It’s got a Voltron-inspired story structure, with seven segments that stand alone but come together to form a feature length piece. Since we’re planning to shoot it next month, I’d rather just release it than talk a bunch about it, but if you’re curious you can peek behind-the-scenes — it’s our unofficial “whiteboard” website where we’ve been amassing ideas/considerations.

Talking about unusual shorts, McSweeney’s has put out a “DVD magazine of unseen films”, Wholphin, and were nice enough to trade it for my DVDzine Novel Amusements. I did a phone interview with the editor Brent Hoff where we discuss subtitling foreign sitcoms, trailblazing with distributors, cepholopods, films about beards, not wasting people’s time, and the world’s most illegal game of volleyball — press play to hear it.


No Flash? Get the MP3 here.