Houdini

Leroy can get out of Handcuffs like no other. He doesn't even know how he does it.
We can call it a form of Divine intervention. However, within the fiction, it is actually a "wight" that is attached to Leroy. A "wight" in the Norse tradition is a spirit. The Wight aids him in those time's i.e. in Handcuffs, opening Safes...

Blog_Hoodini from Francisco Castle on Vimeo.

Everybody Reads

I read "the stranger" in summer school. I liked it. A few years later I'm watching "Jacob's Ladder", and in the opening scene Tim Robbins is on a New York Subway, reading a copy of "the stranger",
I felt immediately connected. I guess that idea never left, which is my core reason for using books
in a scene. I also wanted it to help say something about the characters. Leroy reads Heavy Metal, Pilot reads comics...

Blog_everyone reads from Francisco Castle on Vimeo.

Pottymouths

in full disclosure i can not take credit for intent, it simply happened...I'm referring to saying "the f word" five times in less than ten seconds of dialogue...I think it's kinda funny.
so here it is.

Untitled from Francisco Castle on Vimeo.

"Quan Yen"

"I guess we'll avoid houses hanging Quan-Yen, Huh" - Pilot

okay so a quan yen, ain't exactly a talisman with a head of a dog.
However, there is a talisman mentioned in a mythology book . As a matter of fact, most of that dialog is taken directly from the book. The Book doesn't mention the name of said talisman, so I just picked a real thing. A real "quan yen" is a goddess or it's the name of the statue of the goddess.


Here is the scene.

"Quan Yen" from Francisco Castle on Vimeo.

"Pilot" is played by William Horan.
This scene was shot by Joe Gallo with sound handled by Anthony Shy.
It was shot in about 4 hours on a Panasonic DVX100B,using existing or natural light, on a late November Sunday of 2008. The Location was Lee's Chop Suey, 2415 W. Diversey, Chicago,IL

on "Morgana"

"red hair" says Pilot, "something like that" says Leroy.

I like when things stick in me craw(kinda)...the character Morgana is an amalgam of that example . A twenty year old anecdote about a friend of mine, who dyed her pubic hair red,on a dare, is the core of the character sketch.
Morgana working at a funeral home, comes from a friend of mine mentioning that his wife works at a funeral home. From there, I jumped to the idea of stealing a coffin.
The name Morgana is taken from "Morgan(a) le Fey", the sorceress and half sister of King Arthur.

Here is the scene.

"on morgana" blog from Francisco Castle on Vimeo.

Carthage, Kentucky

"some ancient city in Africa"
- Marlowe White

Carthage rests in Summoners County. Population: 2033. Carthage is based on the population and "feel" of Cairo, Illinois. Cairo suffers from a former past. Making it all the more desolate. It presents the gentle reminder of happier if not more prosperous times. Carthage's history is grabbed from another source. slightly based on some small industrial mining town in Pennsylvania, where almost the whole town suffered from some tragic industrial accident, something about a smog that lasted three days or something...I cant really remember...I took the name as the dialog implies, "from some ancient city in africa..."

I wanted to give the town it's own sense of mythology. It's own dread.
This was also a place in the scene, where I wanted to show typical "Marlowe".

Here is the scene.

carthage blog from Francisco Castle on Vimeo.

"Marlowe" is played by Jamal Neff.
This scene was shot by Joe Gallo,using a Panasonic DVX100B, a 320watt fresnel + existing light. Sound was handled by Anthony Shy using an Audio Technica AT897 + Boom. This Scene was shot in about three hours, on a Saturday afternoon in late August of 2008. The Location was C & S Pub 5053 N. Lincoln, Chicago, Ill. Ron was the Bartender.