NEUTRINO TWIN CITIES

where we're at

2008-06-30T15:57:00.000-07:00

Well friends, the NVP:TC is officially on indefinite hiatus as of right now. We had a great show (or so we hear) at the Twin Cities Improv Festival this past weekend, and now we're all off to work on different projects for a while.
It was about this time last year when some of us began planning Neutrino Twin Cities, making our initial test movies on weekends in the afternoon and trying to figure out how the hell you improvise on film. It has been a long and sometimes ridiculous road, bumpy but fun and always challenging. Sincere thanks to everybody who worked hard to make the show happen, and who supported the show by coming to see our BLB run, helping with our press materials and everything else. Here are some people who went above and beyond to help us:
Nisa, John and Scott at Metro, Quinton Skinner, Katie and our friends at the Onion, Butch, our lawyer friends in the IDS Tower, and especially all the Bryant-Lake Bowl staff who put up with the weird format of our show and our late night screenings.
If I'm forgetting anybody, please let me know. We're very grateful to all our peeps.

See you at the movies. :)

-HK

Lowry tunnel video hijinx

2008-06-19T20:40:00.001-07:00

Mike and I shot footage for a pre-show thingy this evening, and it was freaking FUN. If you don't have money enough to go to Valley Fair, try this for a cheap thrill. Get a camera with a flip out viewscreen and a car with a sun roof. Have a friend drive you around a major highway system during the magic hour while you film through the sun roof, leaning back in the passenger side with the viewscreen tilted down towards you.
When I filmed like this, I involuntarily yelped with terror and then giggled like an idiot. When Mike and I switched places and he held the camera, he went "aahhh, holy crap" and then uttered an emphatic "Oh, MAN."
wheeeeeeeeeeee....!

-Hannah

Last one.

2008-06-04T19:40:00.000-07:00

Neutrino Twin Cities - TCIF

SHOW ON FRIDAY, JERKS (5/30)!!!

2008-05-29T18:36:00.000-07:00

NEUTRINO TWIN CITIES: MAY 30, 2008 - 10:30PM - THE BRYANT-LAKE BOWL.

Go HERE for tickets.

It's our last show at the BLB for quite a while. Come support us!!

Hmm.

2008-05-22T21:06:00.000-07:00

And the contest results are........no one! No one wins because no one entered. I guess we can't give away free tickets to our show...which usually sells out...Perplexing.

So does this mean our show is so good people refuse to NOT pay for it? That's the only logical conclusion I can see.

FRIDAY. MAY 30TH. 10:30PM. THE BRYANT-LAKE BOWL.

Katy Kessler (left) will be one of our runners this month! But let's hope that mean ol' Dr. Zaius (right) doesn't show up!

It's the final BLB performance for the forseeable future. Be there.

Oh, and Fred and Melissa moved in just fine. Thanks to all who wrote in for your concern.

Contest.

2008-05-12T21:28:00.001-07:00

Here's this month's "Free Neutrino Ticket" contest.

This Saturday (05/17/08) the wealthy Fred Beukema, and his lovely wife Melissa, are moving into a glorious new home. The person with the best excuse of why they can't help Fred and Melissa move wins a free ticket.

If you actually help Fred and Melissa move you get four free tickets.

Don't forget: The Neutrino Video Project: Twin Cities - 5/30/08 - Bryant-Lake Bowl - 10:30PM.

Werd.

AIDS.

2008-05-08T15:55:00.000-07:00

Is that the most attention grabbing caption? It's the best I could do at a moment's notice.

Sorry we've been gone for just over a week here. With that...

One BLB show left folks.

ONE.

Don't miss your chance - go here for tickets. There's going to be a definite change up of the line up (as if April didn't have enough) this month, which always creates chaos and excitement, and that's the way we like it.

A couple new postings are up on the YouTube page. A Qwickticket ad from the mind of James Moore, and a chance to meet the adorable* Troy Zimmerman. Please, check them out, leave a comment, change some lives.

And now, the moment all both of you have been waiting for...Those of us in Neutrino pretty much agree that clips from rehearsals and shows shouldn't be put online because although it's a movie, it's still an improv show first. The exact vibe of that exact audience at that exact time, along with the live music, has as much comedic/emotional impact on the moment as the words and expressions that are coming from our faces do. We feel like by just watching some video clips from the show on your home computer, you're not really getting the whole story, the whole experience, and you, being a judgemental asshole, are judging us incorrectly.

But then there's Cane Man.

Not the funniest thing to ever happen in a NTC show, not the most surprising, or the most whatever. But who are we to rob the world of Cane Man? If we kept it to ourselves then we'd be the assholes. Please, to enjoy...

*Troy genuinely gets mad if we don't refer to him as "adorable"...Rita does too for some reason.

Quick Hello!

2008-04-30T16:44:00.001-07:00

Hello Loyal Readers!

I hate it when we say, "Well another show happened..." but that is what transpired last Friday evening, after all. The Neutrino Crew put on another completely improvised movie, blowing the collective minds of a sold out Bryant-Lake Bowl house. New to the crew were Lauren Anderson (brilliantly awesome) and Jen Scott (awesomely brilliant). Tim Hellendrung produced, Fred Beukema directed and Troy Zee got to act. All and all, not too shabby.

One of Nick Ryan's friends saved the entire show by loaning us his video camera 3 minutes before the show started, and one of the BLB staffers allowed one of our teams into his Jesus apartment for a scene or two - to those men we say "Thank You!"

YOU NOW ONLY HAVE TWO MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO CATCH NEUTRINO!

Friday, May 30th.
And at the Twin Cities Improv Festival in late June.

Don't be a dummy...get tickets now.

Also, keep your eyes peeled to the blog for in the next few days cause I'm going to break a Golden Neutrino Rule or two and throw up a few seconds of actual footage up. Fred did demand the "Cane Flipper" be exposed for all to see...his demands may be met. IN ADDITION TO THAT, visit our YouTube page and you will witness an update quite soon.

To tide you over until then, below are a couple photos giving you an All-Access Glimpse into the magical backstage world of Neutrino Twin Cities (and one onstage glimpse). Enjoy...

Exciting, huh? The coffee cup is one of our esteemed runners, Carmen Savageau.

People sometimes spit or punch things because they get so excited to do a show. Clear evidence right here, friends.

That's most of us saying "Goodnight." Not pictured: (off to the left) Justin, Lauren, Hannah and (off to the right) Nick & Jen. And to think, we each make roughly $375 per show. THAT'S how many people come to these things. We are incredibly talented at doing The Neutrino Video Project: Twin Cities Happy Time Show!

WINNER!

2008-04-25T12:39:00.000-07:00

The polls are closed, and Dena, aka "Denakaann", is the winner of the 36-hour-turnaround-come-to-the-show-on-this-rainy-night contest (see below)! Dena wins not only for her kind, heartfelt words, but also for being the one person who entered that has both been to an actual Neutrino show and isn't directly related to one of the Neutrino cast members.

That said, if any of the other three "contestants" find me (Eric Knobel) at the show tonight, a (reasonably priced) drink of your chosing will be purchased for you, just for playing along. Thank you!

Please return soon, and tell your friends to visit the blog. I believe we're all winners for just learning how much more traffic we need here.

Thanks for playing, and congratulations Dena!

-eric

P.S. Will there be a contest for the May 30th show? Yes.

WIN A FREE TICKET TO OUR APRIL 25TH (Friday) SHOW!

2008-04-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

Hey Folks!

We went out and did a little bit of organizing recently, and thought we might as well turn our efforts into a contest while we're at it...

Below is a list of every scene that has been performed in a Neutrino Twin Cities show since the "Soft Opening" of October '07. In the comments section, tell us in a few words what your favorite Neutrino TC scene (you've been witness to) has been and why. The person with the most touching/interesting/frightening/threatening/pitiful/good answer will win a free ticket to our show on Friday (April 25th!!), 10:30PM, at the Bryant-Lake Bowl. If you can't connect the scene you're thinking of with the list below, write anyway - two of us are slightly intelligent, and they'll figure it out, I'm sure.

It could be the easiest contest you ever enter...since I think two people read this blog.

If you are chosen as the winner, you will be alerted via e-mail on Friday afternoon! Good luck!

And now, The Big List:

OCTOBER '07

"HONEY HANDS" – RITA, DAN, ARIC – DIRECTED BY MATT
"CRIME BETWEEN BROTHERS" – FRED, COREY – DIRECTED BY TROY
"THE ADVENTURES OF HEATH & MISSY" – HANNAH, TIM (& HALSEY) DIRECTED BY ERIC

NOVEMBER '07

"TIM GETS SOAKING WET" HANNAH, TIM, ARIC – DIRECTED BY TROY
"BIG BROTHER, LITTLE RETARD" COREY, RITA – DIRECTED BY ERIC
"LAUNDROMAT SPONGEBOB" FRED, DAN – DIRECTED BY MATT

DECEMBER '07

"CAUGHT STEALING CARS" FRED, RITA, TIM (& NICK) – DIRECTED BY ERIC
"PIZZA JEALOUSY" HANNAH, DAN – DIRECTED BY MATT
"PATRIOT'S APARTMENT" COREY, ARIC (& HALSEY) – DIRECTED BY TROY

JANUARY '08

""THE GREAT ESCAPE" JAMES, FRED, SCOTT– DIRECTED BY ERIC
"CANE MADNESS" TIM, ARIC (& HALSEY) – DIRECTED BY MIKE
"THE FRINGE FESTIVAL PARKING GARAGE" COREY, NICK – DIRECTED BY TROY

FEBRUARY '08

"A NAZI REVEALED" FRED, ARIC, HANNAH – DIRECTED BY ERIC
"FEAR OF NUMBERS" DAN, JAMES -- DIRECTED BY TROY
"TWO DRUNKS TAKE A LIFE" TIM, COREY -- DIRECTED BY MIKE

MARCH '08**

"FIND THE PRIZE!" RITA, MIKE – DIRECTED BY TROY
"YOU FORGOT ABOUT YOUR SHIRT…AND ME" TIM, FRED – DIRECTED BY ARIC
"MEMENTO RAP BATTLE" COREY, DAN – DIRECTED BY ERIC
**ALL CO-STARRING JAMES…

Tell your friends!*

*Otherwise this could be horribly embarrassing for us.

actually...

2008-04-19T22:48:00.000-07:00

...we meant friday april 25th. the 25th. sorry. numbers make us nervous. don't show up on friday, april 28th because that doesn't exist.

Only three shows left!!

2008-04-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

Hey You Who Reads This,

Remember that there are only three more opportunities to catch the genius of The Neutrino Video Project: Twin Cities before we explode into dust...for a few months at least.

Friday, April 28th.
Friday, May 30th.
And an appearance at the Second Annual Twin Cities Improv Festival in late June (probably June 27) - exact time, TBA.

After those three shows a break will be taken; notes will be jotted down, lenses will be cleaned, a new approach may be...approached, and the NTC that you know and love will be changed forever. So don't miss your chance to see us while we're still old school.

The shows are improvised and cheap, so if you came to all three, it would be worth it in every possible way your mind can think of.

Oh, and keep checking this blog to see how you could win a free ticket to our April show! Details coming soon...

In the meantime, have you met Aric McKeown?

-eric

Check one. Check. Check.

2008-04-15T06:56:00.001-07:00

So does anyone still read this thing? We know that a lovely Spam Diva who wanted to shop us her "wares" certainly reads this...but we're not sure about anyone else. Please holler back if you do. We'd love to hear from you.

If you are here, I'm sure you're aware of our YouTube page, on which is this lovely pre-show trailer from the minds of Hannah Kuhlamnn and Troy Zimmerman. Well it appears that Hannah and Troy are owed a lot of money, as just two weeks after that trailer premiered, This Story followed. Coincidence?

So, that was March.

2008-03-31T19:10:00.000-07:00

Another show is in the can, folks. In case you missed it, there was time travel, pyschological horror, Memento-style cinematic trickery and a sort of BDSM version of "The Last Unicorn." As always, the Neutrino movie itself is a one time event and has now disappeared into the ether from whence it came. But our pre-show trailers are always available for your viewing pleasure on our youtube page. Check there soon for March's offerings, including Tim Hellendrung's swanky, sophisticated Neutrino Minute, the teaser trailer for this summer's mega-huge action sci-fi blockbuster, and an extended trailer for a taut legal thriller starring the Clooney of Neutrino Twin Cities, Fred Beukema.

That last trailer plus an old favorite, "Growing Up Something," will be screening this coming Monday at the Monday Night Comedy Show's all-video extravaganza. Beat Coffee House, 8pm, $3. It's a kick ass show with lots of comedy short films. Check it one two.

the time is now.

2008-02-24T18:20:00.001-08:00

it's a leap year. don't let the 29th go by unnoticed. celebrate it with a cool beer and a rewarding show. come see neutrino. it may never happen again...

friday, the 29th @ 10:30pm. bryant lake bowl.

"this is a very unfortunate thing..."

2008-01-26T08:19:00.000-08:00

special thanks to scott from metro magazine for braving the cold and the improv to go out with us on location last night. not unfortunate--awesome! check out his article about being a part of the show, coming sometime in april/may...

and special thanks to everyone who came to the show...we officially sold out and had some floor-sitters!! thanks for warming our hearts with your attendance.

and last but not least, thanks to the freezing minneapolis crazies that decided to be a part of our movie last night. i'll have a member of team B blog about their experiences. you just can't plan a man twirling a fucking cane!...

-rita

TGINeutrino...

2008-01-07T16:04:00.000-08:00

hey. we've moved to fridays. the last friday, in fact, of the month. so come check us out:

january 25th @ 10:30pm
february 29th @ 10:30pm (perfect way to spend a leap year)
march 28th @ 10:30pm

it should be equally as amusing if not more since most of you/us won't have to go to work the next morning. thursdays be damned! welcome to fridaytown...

-rita

wow...you are great.

2007-12-08T16:15:00.000-08:00

many thanks to all who came out to the show thursday night! we appreciate your support and laughter. special thanks to topper's pizza on lyndale for letting us murder one of your employees and to jimmy, not only for the use of his apartment but for his love of america...

-rita

2007-12-06T15:54:00.001-08:00

We're on the City Pages A-List this week.
Ch-ch-check it out!

i made a child cry today...

2007-11-29T20:20:00.001-08:00

...and for that you should come see our show. next thursday, december 6th. it's at 10:30. it's at the bryant lake bowl. tickets are $10 and should be reserved ahead of time. you can do it online at www.bryantlakebowl.com. none of these are lies. come see it. it will be wondrous...

also not a lie.

-rita

an important public service announcement

2007-11-17T23:49:00.001-08:00

Kurt Russell has something to tell you.

If you didn't catch it at our last show, here's the special pre-show message about a very dangerous medical condition.
Starring Ross and Ivy. Directed by Eric. Written by Hannah.

holy balls, y'alls!

2007-10-31T14:39:00.000-07:00

it's here. part 2. thursday, nov. 1st. 10:30pm. doors at 9:30. bryant lake bowl.
come. see. it.

seriously, we promise measurable moments of delight. we've even ventured into the genre of awkward softcore porn. you just never know what you're going to get!
i ask you: is such sweet anticipation and mystery worth $10? oh yes.
check it out; you know you want to..

latest trailer

2007-10-21T12:59:00.001-07:00

NEXT SHOW - NOVEMBER FIRST!
Here's a tantalizing glimpse into the dark and passionate world of Neutrino Twin Cities. Call and reserve tickets asap.

One show in the can

2007-10-05T16:50:00.000-07:00

Sweet sweet happy day. We had our first show last night, and it went almost eerily well. Everybody in the cast and crew had a fucking awesome time, and hopefully everybody in the audience did too. The turnout was great, and it warmed our little hearts to see so many people there.
For anybody still wondering, Halsey's molestation and torture of Tim took place in the basement of the Bryant Lake Bowl, directly beneath the audience. That basement is a toasty warm chamber of humid love which caused us all to sweat like pigs, esp. after sprinting three blocks. Eric's slippery director sweat almost made him lose his headphones at one point while leaning forward to film.
The only real criticism I heard about last night's show was that there was a lack of "love." When asked to elaborate, the audience member giving the note said they would have liked to see some kissing and/or making out. This, to them, is an important element of cinema that we completely missed. So, in the interest of pleasing future audiences, I encourage people to comment on this post and let us know which actors they'd like to see kiss. No promises. We're just looking for consumer feedback.
I was on team C. Teams A and B, if you're reading, any filming adventures that are blog-worthy? Comment and tell your tales.
Thanks to everyone who came out to see the debut. We're already getting primed and excited for next month...
-Hannah

ps here's a really fantastic article that USA Today ran about us. Thanks, Pete, for bringing this to our attention.

f you guys!

2007-10-02T11:58:00.000-07:00

hey everyone---

as a phantom member of the NTC, i would just like to say that if you come to the show on thursday, i might be in it. i'm sorry. or maybe someone could come up with some elaborate plot to have me never seen on camera. we shall see...

check it out.
rita

Trailer #2

2007-10-01T20:58:00.001-07:00

It may be hard to believe, but Rita Boersma is totally in this show.

-Eric

T-minus four days

2007-10-01T10:34:00.000-07:00

who saw the second trailer at IAGG last night? It'll be online soon if you suck and missed it. Houchin cut this one, and damn if he isn't the most talented toothless, middle-aged, bald african american man I know. Corey's chest exhibitionism took the day again. It's really going to suck in winter when the dudes have to stop taking their shirts off for every scene, because that's like a good 20% of the show's comedy right now.

OUR SHOW OPENS THURSDAY, PEOPLE.

Thursday.

Go ahead, shiver with anticipation. Eeee!

trailer alert

2007-09-25T22:17:00.000-07:00

Here it is, folks.

2007-09-24T20:38:00.000-07:00

THE TRAILER EXISTS. AND RULES.
In my humble opinion. As one of its creators.
The kids at Improv A Go Go were kind enough to let us screen the first NTC trailer last night. Dave Jennings heroically showed up at the last minute and fixed the sound, so the ten hours Eric and I put in earlier in the day paid off, and people actually watched, laughed at, and hopefully enjoyed it. We set out to make something that was both cliche and totally weird, unique and representative of Neutrino TC. What did it? I think the combination of "O Fortuna" as a score AND some footage of Corey waggling a sock dangling from his crotch.
Eric's going to add some extra magic to it, and then we'll post it online so people can enjoy it again and again, download it and make screen caps of Corey's nipple.
-Hannah

box girl in the dumpster room...

2007-09-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

...another glory-token from one of our rehearsals. it's amazing the props you can build in under 3 minutes.

hey, so oct. 4th is three weeks from today. our first show! hooker whaaaat?! if i used terms like OMG i would use it right now with some degree of earnestness. then i would punch myself in my face. we are rapidly approaching what i have grotesquely termed, our "soft opening" (i learned that from top chef... so so so not ok) in which we open the show up to audiences and work out all the kinks and mayhem. that will now be my band name if ever i have one. that, or soft opening...

anyway, point at hand: our first 3 "preview" shows---the FIRST THURSDAY of every month, oct. thru dec. 10:30pm @ the bryant lake bowl. $10. come see it. help us sell out. make some dreams come true. in fact, if you come to see the show and say you heard about it from this blog, troy zimmerman will kiss you on the mouth. no strings attached. come to the show. do it.

soon the city will be splattered with our publicity and hope. not to mention some awesome neutrino trailers made by some of our finest. be prepared. be excited. we are...

ellipses.
-rita

ps---does anyone want to know what god died of?...

a general report

2007-09-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

This is kind of a rambling post to make up for the lack of posts over the last few weeks. We've been busy rehearsing, and mostly just thinking really deeply and furiously, trying to digest what the honorable Matt Donnelly taught us when he visited on August 18th and 19th.

We're rehearsing in Calhoun Square these days, basing our operations out of an empty room in the office corridor behind the cooking classroom and Comedy Sportz. Tuesday nights from 7 to 10 are spent dashing around the mall and surrounding streets, trying to time things correctly and figure out how to tell stories the Neutrino Twin Cities way.... whatever that means. We're still figuring that out. Matt gave us some excellent tools for scene work, story building, camera movement... a big, full toolbox is what we have. Our job now seems to be to take those tools and build a show that is as strong as possible -- AND make Neutrino feel like something uniquely ours as well.

One of the best things I've gotten out of this project so far is the opportunity to work with improvisers from different "schools." I come from a predominantly short form background, having been raised since early adolescence on a diet of Comedy Sportz and dreams. I've had more long form instruction and experience in the last few years, but nothing beats doing scene work with the kids from the long form side of the tracks. I think the collision between varying styles of acting and storytelling is going to yield some really cool results on film. NTC is made up of people from a number of different smaller improv groups, all of whom know each other with varying degrees of familiarity from taking classes at the Brave New Workshop, or working there or at Comedy Sportz. I get the impression that this makes us unique among the Neutrino cities, since other NVPs have been started by groups that were already formed and had worked together before.

I hope to have some photos soon for this sad, black blog. Tomorrow's rehearsal may yield some images.

-Hannah

don't play dead on the greenway...

2007-08-15T19:45:00.000-07:00

so, last night we had our first encounter with the minneapolis police dept.

Q: what's the worst time for this to happen?
A: just as mike hadley is slowly removing his shirt from his body and i am yelling "take that, demon!"

...and that is pretty much how it happened. my character had inadvertently thrown another character over a bridge. as tim h. lay draped in a maroon shrug on the cemented greenway, bikers and rollerbladers passed with confusion and concern. apparently, some of them phoned the po-lice. well, according to said po-lice, a "bunch" of them called.
so here's my question: why didn't any of them freakin' stop then, huh? not concerned enough to interrupt their exercise?! seriously. unless of course it was the one lady who did stop to ask tim if he was ok, to which tim answered "yes, we're just shooting a movie. i'm fine." if that lady called then she's a damn idiot because dead people don't talk.

we have begun our larger rehearsals now with the "starting team" of actors including: dan hetzel, fred beukema, aric mckeown, tim hellendrung and corey anderson as well as us, the core. (if i have spelled any of their names wrong, it was on purpose and to teach them a lesson.) we have all been getting used to improvising with each other, as some of us have never worked together before, as well as the ever-arduous task of getting used to improvising in front of a camera. it's all been going pretty well so far and everyone seems to be gelling quite nicely together. nothing but rainbows and hearts and apocalyptic zombie pox...pretty sweet.

so, to all you greenway goers out there: if you see a dead person in your way, look around for an effing camera before you call the cops!

-rita

there's a monster at the end of this book...

2007-08-06T19:56:00.000-07:00

...and it's an effing life-sized video camera constructed from cardboard, duct tape, and a dream.

this is how a portion of the core spent their sunday afternoon. the costume is designed to be worn over the torso of a gangly runner for our publicity photo. this camera-man (or lady, although i don't think hannah or i are going to bare our legs for the sake of this photo) will run throughout the streets as our photographer chases after, hoping to catch the perfect shot.

it promises to be delightful, enticing, and logistically difficult.

stay tuned...

-rita

"Are you guys shooting a Puffy video?"

2007-08-03T19:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a bare bones account of our last rehearsal - things are getting busy. We've planned a rehearsal with all our actors for next Tuesday. We decided that before that rehearsal, we should add in the element of TIME CRUNCH to our approach to this structure.

So earlier this week we met at the Bryant Lake Bowl to rehearse. This time Matt Houchin joined us. Houchin is a film maker and all-around indie media mogul (I just made that up. Matt, if you'd like to be characterized with a different phrase, please let me know...) who performs at Comedy Sportz Twin Cities with all us Core folks.

We figured out a loose timetable for the show -- basically a schedule for each team's runner, mapping out how many minutes are available for each team to shoot and deliver each of their three tapes. Then we hit the street. The challenge: do practice runs pretending to be team A, B, or C, giving ourselves a time limit to see if we could do this Neutrino thing as fast as we'll need to for the show.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that it's actually not impossible to shoot a decent 5 minutes of improved film in under 15 minutes. It's not *easy*, but it's not impossible either.

Mike, Rita and myself were in front of the camera. Matt directed. Eric and Troy did both. We all switched off being the "runner," aka keeping time.

At this rehearsal we discovered: To do this show, you have to be able to do math while running down a dark street, looking for pools of light to shoot in. Multi-tasking...

As an improvisor who doesn't know when to fucking shut up and let the scene move, I was helped a lot by Matt's style of improvisational film directing. When he picks up on something that he thinks needs to be shown instead of talked about, he just CUTS. This led us to add more action to our scenes. Hadley ate some crab grass from somebody's yard, I soaked my bosom in a sprinkler, Boersma got stabbed by a "sword," aka dirty wooden stake from a construction site, and Eric rode on Mike's back and berated him for half a block.

We also incorporated some serious special effects into this rehearsal's films. Matt went all Sam Raimi and did a shot from the POV of a sword flying through the air towards a moving target (Neutrino=athleticism). Troy's segment had teleporting aliens and a UFO (aka cell phone moving through the upper corner of the frame). Shit got cine-MATIC, yo.

For this week's person-on-the-street quote, see the subject line. The guy who asked us this said it in a friendly, gently mocking tone. It was delightful. After this rehearsal, I personally got three reports from friends around town that had either seen us running around the Lyn-Lake area with Eric's camera, or who had heard from others who had seen us. Is this just because I have bright pink hair right now? Will this Neutrino show thing lend all of us an air of local notoriety as "those camera nerds who run around uptown?" WERE we shooting a Puffy video without even realizing it?

So many questions. ..

-Hannah

p.s. The 35W bridge collapsed the day after this rehearsal. I mention it here because, in addition to serving as a reference for other people trying to mount Neutrino Video Projects in the future, this blog is also meant to be a personal historical document for all of us working on the show.

Sunday in the park with the core

2007-07-29T17:41:00.000-07:00

We've started Neutrino Twin Cities with a small crew of five people, known as "the core." The core consists of Eric Knobel and Mike Hadley, our producers and starter-uppers, as well as Rita Boersma, Hannah Kuhlmann (your bloggers) and Troy Zimmerman. We decided to call ourselves the core because we love Hillary Swank.

Today the core met at the Bryant Square Park for some practice with the camera. We've discovered that directing is much harder than we thought it would be (well, actually we've discovered that everything is much harder than we thought it would be), so Eric has stayed behind the camera to let Rita, Mike and I focus on learning how to improvise on camera.

Of course we had to eat a meal and discuss tons of stuff before actually rehearsing. That's how we roll. Mike's improv gets exponentially better after he's had a beer, and we can usually rationalize dining on rehearsal time as "scouting locations." Sadly, we found out during today's location scout that Galactic Pizza has an open mic music thing during our show... so we probably won't be able to shoot there. :(

After experimenting with forced perspective to make it look like Mike was a hobbit drinking out of a cave troll-sized glass, we took to the streets and shot some scenes.

Here's what we learned today: Watching people have realistic conversations on the street is fucking boring. We were happiest with the scenes in which we got broader and less reality-grounded, while staying committed. We also tried our first "person on the street" cameo. A gentleman with a large number of missing teeth was watching us shoot outside Rainbow, and earned himself a close up and a line of dialogue.

TOOTHLESS GUY: Are you shootin' a movie scene or something?
ERIC: Yeah, we are.
TG: Oh my god, you blew my mind.. and I didn't even have a part.
ERIC: Do you *want* a part?
ME: yeah, you can be in our movie!
TG: Oh, I don' know...
ERIC: Just say "There go two lovebirds," and look at those two walking away.
TG: I don't even have a key, what's my key?
ERIC: Um... your cue is when I say "Action!"
TG: ahh, okay, I can do it.
ERIC: Action!
TG: There goes two lovebirds... ah HEH HEH HA ha ha... (big grin at the camera)

It was awesome. Toothless guy added something to the scene that I think I will call "Neutrino Magic." Eric made the point that the audience will enjoy watching us take risks like that, and will really enjoy it if we take risks and it pays off.

We need to find a house or apartment to film in. We came to that conclusion for the millionth time today. Should we place a Craig's List ad? Should we rent a cheap studio? Should we focus on getting all three cameras first, and then worry about locations?

The adventure continues...

location, location, location...

2007-07-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

tonight, while troy gallivants along the boundary waters fulfilling his rustic fantasies in some sweet keens, the rest of us met to get down to some hardcore detailing. in addition to finalizing cast and directors we realized we needed a solid list of scouted locations. because when you think about it, we could do that scene in the restaurant. oh, and then there's the scene in the restaurant. but what about a scene in a restaurant...
curse you midwestern 10:30 and your lack of open retailers and good light!!
we need to find that late night dentist, church, jail cell, veterinarian, auto body shop, store, etc.
bill's imported foods, if you're reading: open your doors!

however, we did scout a well-lit park bench and the inviting crook of a tree. so there's that scene.

so, hey, if you're reading and not creepy and live near the bryant lake bowl---let us know. we want to come into your apartment.

-rita

3 heads and a bag of bottles...

2007-07-19T10:13:00.000-07:00

hey everyone:

well, round 2 of NTC set out to bitch slap our first rehearsal and, in a way, i think it did. we all gathered in the angst and anime of troy's lovely studio apt. and started to discuss the challenges of improvising in front of a camera. for example, each of our fragile egos and energies suffer because we have know immediate gratification from the audience. we just have to trust that the "funny" is working and that the audience inside the theatre is excreting gleeful belly laughs and applauding our brilliance. very hard to do for performers used to being on a live stage...
and thus we began.

we decided to try shooting indoors for the evening (we all justified this by claiming we needed the experience and that troy's place was an ideal "set"...but really we wanted to avoid the sweltering thick that awaited us outside on the streets of minneapolis). we discussed the intricacies of sound indoors --- i.e., equalizing all spaces by turning every noise-making object off and what not. troy and i took a gander behind the camera this time---troy being an experienced director, I being an ape with a movie picture machine.

troy found challenges in adjusting his directing experience to "directing"/cutting/film editing improv. when is the right time to cut while still allowing the actors to maintain the emotion and flow of the scene? how do you set up the next 6 minutes of filming a scene in 30 seconds since you can't go back and re-shoot if it doesn't work? etc, etc... ah, improv time crunches!!!

i, on the other hand, found challenges with walking, looking, listening, buttons, light, and not breathing too loud all at the same time. which brings me to my
NEUTRINO FUN FACT I LEARNED TODAY:

say "cut" after you hit pause. ha ha...hmmm....

so yeah, that's about it. scenework was a little more solid and interesting this time without the vast, disarming roar of the outside. for example, mike and hannah pumped body milk for an adopted baby; troy and eric had a scantily cloaked marital argument; and mike, troy and i cuddled in a bed with a bag of recyclables. that would have been far more embarrassing outside.

good loving cuddle times...

cut!

-rita

first post

2007-07-17T21:33:00.000-07:00

Hi! Welcome to the official blog for the Twin Cities Neutrino Video Project, or NTC for short.

As of today, we are exactly one month away from our first actual performance.

Tonight was our first rehearsal. We've had lots of meetings, and of course we've all improvised together countless times before, but tonight we took Eric's camera out on the street near what we hope will be our venue, and tried filming some make-'em-ups.

The results? Well, you can't just call them good or bad. It's complicated. (Historians note: the first time something is referred to as "complicated" in this blog. It's going to happen about three million more times before the party's over.) Mike and I had our first crack at directing, aka filming/being behind the camera, and all of us had a chance to try acting for the camera. The results were entertaining, sometimes sucky but always educational. The main thing we learned is that this project is going to be CHALLENGING. And we each have a million new things to learn. Eric gave us a little tutorial on how to use his camera and not destroy or damage it in the process, and then experimented with different ways of using Troy's bicycle lamp to light the scenes after the sun set.

Perhaps someday, the cinematic treasures we produced tonight will see the light of day. In the meantime, I'll close this short entry with a Neutrino Twin Cities fun fact.

FACT I LEARNED TODAY: Get in the the habit of putting your lens cap in an easily accessible pocket. Whenever you're not shooting, the cap should be on to protect your fragile friend, the lens.

Soon, we'll write more about our search for the right venue, setting up/designing a rehearsal schedule, and casting the show. Until then...

-Hannah