Excordis Presents: What is My Reality?

And yet another screening!

2011-07-12T21:58:00.000-07:00

We're immensely excited to announce that Pisces, Arise! has been accepted into yet another festival - the very awesome Laugh Track Comedy Festival in Denver, CO.

This will probably be our last festival entry - we've been flogging this dead horse for long enough - so watch out for an online launch soon!

Future Plans...

2011-01-12T21:55:00.000-08:00

While Pisces, Arise! continues to make its inexplicable journey around the world, we've been working hard on our next project. This time it's more long-form - a TV series that we're writing together, in conjunction with another Melbourne-based writer, Monica Burtscher. We've been developing this series for a while now, but we've decided to put our money where our mouth is and finally start writing the damn thing.

We've already had interest from proper film-types who are keen to help us develop this, so we're very excited to see what the next 12 months brings.

Finally, some local (ish) love.

2010-10-03T20:32:00.000-07:00

ANOTHER screening (what the heck is wrong with the world?), this time in See-den-ee. Yes, the good folks at Fantastic Planet are showing us in November, if you're a Sydneysider and can make it along...

And for those who can't - well, we'd said that five laurels would satisfy our craving for public recognition, and after that we'd think about putting it up on the interweb. And, guess what, Fantastic Planet makes five festivals!

So hold on, folks - we may be coming to a computer near YOU very soon.

MORE SCREENINGS.

2010-09-24T00:11:00.000-07:00

THRILLER CHILLER FESTIVAL!

SHOCKERFEST!

Go us. Seriously.

Sneaky screening...

2010-09-15T00:07:00.000-07:00

Marisa's other film, Rain for Morgan, recently screened at the International Film Festival of Ireland. One night, a bunch of maverick film makers (including the good folk from Perfect 10) snuck into a screening room with a bunch of films and had their own mini-screening.

Always opportunistic, we managed to sneak 'Pisces' in there... take THAT, Ireland! Now we've inflicted ourselves upon you too!

Pisces gets ANOTHER SCREENING!

2010-07-27T00:45:00.000-07:00

More excitement! 'Pisces, Arise!' has been accepted into the Glen Rose Neo-Relix Festival over in the US of A. This festival looks COOL AS, and we are currently debating whether or not it would be totally ridiculous to fly all the way to Texas just for the screening. It's the dinosaur capital of the country!

Also - Best. Laurel. Ever.

We are so very excited.

Finally - in the media.

2010-07-12T01:07:00.000-07:00

Last week, Trev and I got our pitching hat on, and did some fairly serious arse-kicking down at ACMI as part of the Open Channel / Film Victoria 'Short and Sharp' pitching contest.

We didn't win, but we made some friends, saw some cool projects (like the winners, Capital High), and consumed the requisite amount of free booze.

We also got an 'honourable mention' and impressed some producers, and also got our names appearing in this article.

However, the journalist in question has either made a rather silly mistake - OR revealed the dark truth behind Trevor and Marisa's relationship. See if you can spot it! Ah, accurate journalism... whatever happened to it?

Next step -regardless of our surnames - is world domination. Of course.

Trevor and Marisa MAKE WIN!

2010-06-21T22:40:00.000-07:00

It's official - Trevor and I managed to bluff our way through our first ever pitch and have made it to the Victorian finals. We were culled from 78 applicants down to 12 shortlisted projects, and then down to the final 6. Bam!

If we win the 'state finals' in July, then it's onto the next round at the SPAA Fringe, and then to Big SPAA, and then to Cannes...

Let's see if we can talk our way out of this one.

Trevor and Marisa Make Good...?

2010-06-17T23:27:00.000-07:00

We've been dusting off the old creative cobwebs and working on a few multiplatform ideas over the last few weeks.

The good people at Open Channel have seen fit to shortlist us for the national 'Short and Sharp Pitching Competition' for our mulptiplatform drama series 'Capra', which focuses on the immoral dealings of a shadowy 'corporate services' company that creates scapegoats for big businesses.

It's a bit more highbrow than tales of deep-fried fish and macking onto girls through the powers of the Dark Arts, but I guess we all have to grow up sometime.

We're pitching on Monday, so fingers crossed...

Marisa Makes Good.

2010-06-10T23:44:00.000-07:00

Marisa's other film, Rain for Morgan, has just started doing the rounds on the international circuit. So far, Ireland, Wales, South Africa, the USA and Egypt have confirmed screening dates.

It premieres in the US this coming weekend - if you're in Ohio then why not check it out?

Pisces Wins Award

2010-05-04T00:36:00.000-07:00

Finally! The horror was worth it; we've been awarded a place in the Skyfest Film Festival over in the US.

Extreme JOY!

And yes, believe it or not, there were films ranked BELOW us.
It's a funny old world, ain't it?

The screening. Tomorrow.

2010-03-09T23:46:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow, after many years of blood, sweat, and tears (and we're talking literally here), 'Pisces, ARISE!' is making its grand premiere. If you're in Melbourne, come along.

We were hit by torrential storms on the weekend, and of course (in true Pisces fashion) our screening venue was quite badly damaged. Thankfully the projector and sound system are back in working order, so tomorrow night should be smooth sailing.

I predict some kind of giant weight lifted off our shoulders after tomorrow night - only temporarily, of course. It will quickly be replaced by the burden of trying to get the damn thing into some festivals...sigh.

However - history will have been made, and Pisces, Arise will finally see the light of day - but at what cost? Only time will tell.

End scene.

Finally - our cast and crew screening!

2010-02-28T01:34:00.000-08:00

Who'd a thunk it?
It could just be the magic spell cast upon me by my evil collaborator, but I can barely get my head round the fact that after so many years, Pisces, Arise! is pretty much finished and about to be screened.

If you're in Melbourne, COME. Click on the poster for more info.

Magic Road Test

2010-01-24T03:47:00.000-08:00

Magic. Is it real? Does it work?

Who can say?

We can say!

That is right. Not content in simply writing a short film that delves into the psy-rending possibilities of magic as a tool for dating supremacy we, the creators of Pisces, Arise! have been willing to imperil our very souls to learn the truth. Beyond the flickering fantasies on the silverscreen is it possible to use the occult arts to achieve true love or at very least 30 seconds of tongue kissing with accompanying grinding.

THE CHALLENGE:

Can magic successfully result in at least 30 seconds of making out, uninterrupted and without the assitance of alcohol or extreme emotional neediness, with a partner who was previsouly uninterested in said act.

ROAD TEST #1

Spells purchased via Internet Shopping.

In the much anticipated upcoming short film Picses, Arise! there is a depiction of 'real' magic spells being purchased over the internet but could this work in real life? To test the hypothesis the creators of Pisces logged onto that most online of webites, ebay. The first surprise was the amazing range of spells available to your online magic punter. Spells that could halt and reverse prematurely thinning hair, spells to dump a partner (which seemed a little redundant), spells for clean skin, spells for bigger breasts and spells for smaller bums and so and so forth. Even within the 'love spell' category one is spoiled for choice. The guaranteed demonic lust spell sounded like a bargain at only $66.66. (I assume the additional six represented the extra evilness required to achieve such powerful results). In the end the spell choosen for this experiment was a simple 'Win back your Ex' incantation which at only $4 did not have the hefty price tag nor attached eternal damnation which came with the more demonic options. With 227 postive comments this seller was obviously someone to be trusted and if this is to be a geniune roadtest of supernatural power it was best that the supplier was a reputable source. It was further comfort to know that the white witch who would be weaving the strands of my fate was also a "Great Communicator. Prompt. A+" and "Very Prompt. Great ebayer!". I was ready to meet my fate. Promptly.

But now, who to cast the spell on?

A little known fact (outside of friends, family and anyone we have ever met either in person or via electronic means) is that the creative team behind Pisces, Arise! were for a brief time in the last millenium technically dating. So it was decided, or at least unilaterilly decided, that the only fair way to test this spell without hurting the innocent was to make ourselves the guinea pigs.

But would these guinea pigs fall in love and produce adorable fuzzy offspring or would they be carried off by wolves of failure leaving only the blood and fur of loneliness?

The spell was cast, the winds of magics set in motion, a rendevous arranged, it was time look into each others eyes and speak heart to heart, no soul to soul and find out whether something new and beautiful was there, to find out whether 227 online customers could be wrong...

Musics!

2010-01-23T16:44:00.000-08:00

In case you were unaware - there are some incredibly awesome songs in Pisces, Arise. In fact, the songs were a shiteload better than the film for a long time. Some may argue they still are.

You can listen to (and download!) the songs from the Pisces Arise website - yeah!

And some behind the scenes junk.

2009-12-08T19:52:00.000-08:00

We were all so small. Does that excuses the multitude of mistakes we made? Probably not. But it's worth a shot.

Photos!

2009-12-08T19:50:00.000-08:00

Look! Some screen shots!

And more obscure trailers....

2009-11-24T02:55:00.000-08:00

Yep. Following the rollicking success of my last trailer, here's one (using archival 'test' footage, when we were working out how to make a fake battered goldfish look real) that ventures into the arthouse. David Lynch would be proud.

The Goldfish Cometh.

2009-11-21T22:53:00.000-08:00

Here's another stupid little teaser for 'Pisces, Arise!' that will hopefully go viral. Or something.

The first collaboration.

2009-11-20T02:27:00.000-08:00

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, I studied film at university. Given that half the people in my group usually didn't do anything other than turn up at the first and last class of each semester, I'd usually rope in friends who didn't even attend my uni to work with me on my videos.

It is for this reason that many of my uni films star Mr Gregory Bricknell (studying at Swinburne at the time) and feature collaborative efforts with Mr Trevor Matthews, my dear Excordis collaborator. And thank god for them, otherwise I would have been producing most of my videos entirely by myself.

This video from the archives (circa 2003) was the very first film I had to make at uni, the criteria being that it had to be some kind of instructional video. My group was largely crap and did nothing; I wrote the basic script, arranged the shoots and filmed the whole thing, Greg and I came up with most of the scenarios ourselves, Greg recorded the music, I did the edit, and Trevor (who was working full time) popped into the edit suites to improvise a voice-over. We used the first and only take.

Despite its slapdash nature (hey, it was first year...), it's still a pretty funny film - and a bit of a precursor to 'Pisces, Arise!' in that it's the first filmic collaboration between T-Dex and myself.

Also, it's the only time in my life that I've EVER had the justification for using a starwipe. And that's important in itself.

Enjoy.

Woman Attacked by Giant Squid.

2009-11-08T17:59:00.000-08:00

It's not just fishing boats - even PEOPLE are being attacked by creatures from the deep. This poor lady copped it sweet earlier this year when a carnivorous squid ripped her diving equipment off and nearly drowned her.

Check out this article from The Morningstarr, or have a watch of the video below. Awesome.

Attack of the Giant Jellyfish!

2009-11-04T18:49:00.001-08:00

If you've checked out the Pisces, Arise website (and I sure hope you have!), you'll notice that the background image is a rather cool etching of a giant sea monster attacking a ship.

Like most mythological creatures, sea monsters (in all their varying forms) were based on reality - namely, certain species of giant squid that frequent the deep and scary areas of the ocean.

I was therefore quite excited when an article entitled 'JAPANESE FISHING TRAWLER SUNK BY GIANT JELLYFISH' popped up in the British Telegraph.

It's pleasing to see that, even in this modern age, the sea monsters are still putting in a good effort.

What might have been...

2009-11-01T19:40:00.001-08:00

In case Kiera DID want Mr Finnsmore stuffed - it's definitely possible.

Courtesy of Al's Taxidermy

Freeze Dried Pets: A Step Too Far?

2009-11-01T19:23:00.001-08:00

So you want to keep your beloved pet after their death. And the idea of taxidermy freaks you out a little. Fair enough.

In that case, why not get them FREEZE DRIED?

Yep, that's right. Freeze-dried.

In case you're also going 'WTF?' in the same way that I was:

How Does the Freeze-Drying Process Work? (from the Perpetual Pets site)
'The animal is carefully prepared and posed, supported by a custom made framework. It is then placed into a sealed vacuum chamber at extremely low temperature. Over time, frozen moisture is slowly converted into a gaseous state, and then extracted. The larger the subject, the greater the amount of moisture to be extracted. Typically, a small cat or dog will take 10 to 12 weeks. Larger pets will take a longer period of time, perhaps as much as 6 months in the case of a very large dog. However, all pets are unique, and sometimes take a bit more or less time than expected.'

My. Goodness.

Here to the left is poor little Cisco, who has clearly been treated with the respect and dignity that such a noble dog deserves.

Check out the gallery for photos of just how real your animal can look after dying, being placed in a freeze-drier, and having its very vitals slowly sucked out over a period of three months.

I can only assume it's just a matter of time before these processes can be applied to humans too.

The Rainbow Bridge

2009-11-01T18:38:00.000-08:00

One of the biggest 'turning points' of this film is when Kiera, the object of Grant's affections, loses her beloved goldfish, Mr Finnsmore. She's so distraught that she turns to Grant, and his powers of the Black Arts, to bring her dear little fishie back from the dead.

But was this really necessary? Was she actually dragging Mr Finnsmore back from a place of joy - The Rainbow Bridge?

For those of you who weren't aware - and I'm not entirely sure that it's mentioned in the Bible - the Rainbow Bridge is a place that joins earth and Heaven, where the spirits of your dearly departed pets (or 'Fur Babies' as they're known on these sites...) will wait for you until you cark it yourself, and then you both head over to Heaven together.

And if you click on the image on the left, you can head to the Rainbow Bridges website - an online memorial where you can create your own tributes to lost pets, complete with wreaths, flowers, headstones, guest books for others to share their special memories - the lot.

In, fact, there are hundreds of sites dedicated to pets who have passed over - sharing stories of grief, sites that offer pet cremation, counselling services for when you lose an animal, and even services that allow you to have your favourite pet stuffed, so that they can remained curled up on your bed until the end of time.

So, had Kiera decided just to 'let Mr Finnsmore go', there certainly would have been some excellent options available to her.

Cutaways.

2009-10-26T18:05:00.000-07:00

Anyone involved in film or TV will know the importance of cutaways. Well, you'd like to think so, at least.

For those of you know don't know, a cutaway is defined as 'interruption of a continuously-filmed action by inserting a view of something else. It is usually followed by a cutback to the first shot, but not always' (thank you Wikipedia for your detailed explanation - check out the article of you want to know more).

Basically, they make the action clearer; they give you detail on a character's movements or actions; they help the film make sense. A character says he needs to be somewhere at 2pm and sneakily looks at his watch, and then you see a closeup of the the watch and you know from the fact that it says 2.15 that he's running late. Vital information is revealed, the plot progresses - hooray!

Funnily enough, for whatever reason, 'Pisces, Arise!' is almost entirely cutaway free. I could say that this was a bold new film making technique where we draw the audience entirely into the world of the characters; immersing them so deeply that we never want to draw them away by distracting shots that are not relevant to the deeper emotional state of the characters.

Or, I could say that we just forgot. It happens. Especially when you're making your first film, you're short on time, everyone is a bit stressed, and it's 2am on your first shoot day and you're already six days behind schedule.

We've cleverly faked a few cutaways (don't ask how), but the issue is often that a bad /incorrectly filmed cutaway is even worse than having no cutaways at all.

Garth Marenghi's Dark Place, one of my favourite shows, uses bad cutaways to hilarious effect in some of the episodes.

And the good people from Full Frontal also have a very amusing sketch -more about news-related cutaways, but nevertheless very funny. Check it out below.

What the hell?

2009-10-22T20:10:00.000-07:00

So. I haven't explained what this film is about, really. And I though I'd better do that, given that I'm currently going off on all kinds of tangents in this blog. So, here's the 'official' summary.

Grant is not having the greatest run at life. He works a dead-end job in a fish and chip shop, is hounded by his porn-loving boss for being an 'oofty', and is in desperately in love with Kiera, who works at the fancy bagel store next door.
But when Grant's obsession with ebay shopping yields a mysterious spellbook that just happens to be real, things take a turn for the unusual.Through the power of the Dark Arts, Grant just might have the chance to win Kiera's heart - but was man really meant to meddle in such things?

Does this film make any sense to you now? If so, good. Maybe you can explain it to me later on.

So. Many. Nerds.

2009-10-21T21:48:00.000-07:00

T-Dex and I are kinda nerdish at times - especially when it comes to history, volcanoes, excruciating and bizarre deaths, and freakish preservation of past horrors. In fact, all of these are themes that run strongly through 'Pisces, Arise'. Except for the bit about volcanoes... although, if we were to pretend that Kiera's house was actually inside a giant volcano, that would explain the extreme overlighting in the kitchen scenes.

Anyway, needless to say, we were both over the moon when the Pompeii exhibition came to the Melbourne Museum.

We've put off visiting the exhibition for a while, largely due to the fact that we're both hugely popular and have rich, full social lives. Either that, or we both work too much and have developed anxieties about large crowds and social situations.

But, with the last weekend looming, we decided to head out tonight. Since I hate lining up for anything, I thought I'd go online and book tickets - only to find that the exhibition is so vastly popular that they've divided the days up into hour-long blocks, which need to be pre-booked. And the only remaining slots were 6am Saturday morning, or 10pm Saturday night.

What gives? Since when did Mt Vesuvius gain such rock-star acclaim? Even the Star Wars exhibition at Scienceworks hasn't garnered the need to allocate timeslots - and there are some pretty awesome Star Wars nerds out there.

So, come 10pm Saturday night, you'll find us at the Melbourne Museum, pre-booked ticket in hand, to see a bunch of wine jars, volcano-simulators, and bits of plaster cast...probably gibbering like idiots because we're so damn excited. And because it's the latest we've been out on a Saturday night for months.

If that doesn't make us the coolest creative team in Melbourne, then I don't know WHAT does.

Not Actually Us.

2009-10-19T00:48:00.000-07:00

The Excordis that you find here is not actually us...although they are the reason that we cannot purchase our domain name of choice.

Contrary to popular belief, we are a bunch of people who like writing and producing things, and not some kind of service aimed at people with enough time and cash to laze around in the Mediterranean.

This particular Excordis should, however, consult a Latin dictionary before naming their next business.

Nothing Dies on the Internet.

2009-10-15T00:40:00.000-07:00

Recently I stumbled across the original Excordis website, made with trusty ole Angelfire back in the days when making your own website was, quite frankly, the realm of coders and nerds. In fact, the internet had only been publicly available for TWO WHOLE YEARS, so anything web-related was new and scary.

Given that Trev and I were yet to fully develop our full nerd potential, and hiring a web developer probably would have cost us around $20,000, we opted for Angelfire's delightful selection of customizable templates, paying little heed to any kind of design consistency or colour principles.

The result is probably the world's worst website - yet, for some reason, it's still floating around...in fact, when you google Excordis, it's one of the first things that comes up.

Proof that nothing on the internet ever really goes away.

Check it out, if you must - but don't judge us.

Where have you been all my life?

2009-10-05T22:26:00.000-07:00

As 2009 draws to a close, many of you will be wondering exactly what the deal is with this film, and why you haven't heard of it before.

Well, kiddies, it's been a long ride.

The Pisces journey began in early 2006, when long-time creative collaborators Marisa Brown and Trevor Matthews found themselves working together on a short film festival. The pair were absolutely sure that they could do better than some of the entries, and that it was time to pool their creative genius, stop criticising, and start creating their own filmic masterpiece.

However, they were soon to rue their arrogance. The project was plagued with dramas - key props were undelivered, schedules and crew went awry, hard drives exploded time and time again, the final footage was filled with sound and exposure issues, and there was a mystifying lack of cutaways. The project hit a brick wall. Marisa and Trevor returned to their daily lives with their tails well and truly between their legs, but often quietly dreaming of what could have been...

Time passed. Things changed. Technology advanced. Marisa started work on a new film and Trevor threatened to publicly beat her to death if this new venture was finished before 'Pisces'.

And so, with the renewed vigour that comes when one's life is at stake (accompanied by stalwart support from various technical geniuses), 'Pisces, Arise!' was dragged kicking and screaming into 2009. Perhaps, like the fried fish in this tale, the film would have been better off left for dead; lost, for all time, in a void of darkness.

But then again... who are we, as mere mortals, to decide what is right and what is against the will of Man and Nature?

�

It Begins in the Third Person: The Origins of Excordis

2009-10-01T21:21:00.000-07:00

It began in the summer holidays of 1998 - high school had finished forever, Trevor and Marisa had both been rejected from highly lucrative summer jobs at Safeway, and the weekend drama class they had attended for the last five years had been cancelled due to the 'extreme arrogance' of all the attendees. Eager to prove their ex-teacher wrong, the pair arrogantly set about writing, directing and producing their first full-length play under the guise of 'Excordis Theatre'. Surprisingly, it was a roaring success.

Many years of self-penned theatrical works followed, including several shows for the Melbourne Comedy Festival. Likened to 'a young D-Generation', by prominent members of the Melbourne arts scene, they were a creative team on the rise.

But suddenly, the real world intervened. People graduated from uni and got 'real' jobs (or realised they were never any good at acting anyway). Nobody had time for 'doing plays' any more. Trevor moved out of the toilet-cleaning game and became a rising star in the Arts Management world. Marisa started a band, moved overseas, moved home, got a record deal, was dumped by her band, and became some kind of film and video producer.

For many years, Excordis lay forgotten - until a fateful day in 2006, when the pair decided that the world had waited too long. It was time for another Excordis venture. But this time, it would be in the filmic, and not the theatrical world.

Perhaps it was their greatest move- or perhaps their greatest mistake. Only time will tell...