Fire-Wired Blog

There she be, "Wheel of Death" in all her incredible, gory, gnarly, fun, and funny glory. There is nothing like finishing a film and just knowing it is a success. Not perfect, maybe it had perfection programmed into its GPS and along the route saw a tourist trap that was too good to pass by and soon decided that in its heart it needed to stay there for the night. That is what I'm talking about. Wheel of Death is a wonderfully wild tourist trap of horror comedy that actually delivers the good.  There are so many points I want to hit but I'll start with the thing everyone needs to know: Craig Bahnsen's performance as Doug the Demon is so impossibly good. I love so many things in this film and hit so many of my goals in it, but the top of the praise heap is definitely Craig. I didn't know in 2019 when we asked him to slap on some JNCOs that he had this in him, but I am so happy he hung around and delivered a performance that makes this film the most rewatchable ...

On set of "Essential Essence." Tiny Explosions did something we have never done before; we pre-planned an important element of our 48 Hour Film Project film. I am a bit of a stick-in-the-mud when it comes to the rules. I don't care if it is a month, week, or hours before the kickoff- if you have an idea for our film, keep it in your head. Does that box have a logo on it? We need a different box. Can you see that Kohl's signage in the shot? We need to reframe. In fact, I get rather cranky when other teams break the rules and pre-write their film. What's the point of 48 if not for the constraints? Still, we kind of massaged the rules a bit in that we made puppets.  For as long as I can remember, my family has watched the "Muppet Family Christmas" on or around Christmas Eve. It originally aired in December 1987 and I still watch the original recording my parents made on VHS. It is one of my favorite things; the songs, all the Henson characters, the gags, th...

It's taken a few months, but I think I've processed the production, release, and reception of the "USS IOWA," a documentary I worked on for four years. I hesitate to call it "my documentary" because I didn't originate the project, and sharing the story of military history and people's personal stories is a bit of sacred task. Discussing the project in reverse, when the documentary was entirely edited and ready for release I felt a shock of concern; would U.S. Navy veterans accept it? the people who run the USS IOWA museum in San Pedro, California? Survivors of the April 19 explosions? Navy historians? Thankfully the answer to all of that was yes.  A packed house at the second screening of USS IOWA, in Johnston at Camp Dodge. In Waterloo, the very first audience for USS IOWA. While the project hit the airwaves on March 1, 2023, the first screening was actually February 18 in Waterloo in front of live audience with hundreds of veterans in attendance an...

Making "Elf Off the Shelf," photo by Erin Hogan. I love the experience of watching something great. It could be film, TV, a stage play, live music, and many other arts, that feeling of you and a piece of art meeting for the first time is exquisite. There's only a couple things that top it, one is actually creating that art. When I discovered the real power of movies around 13 or 14, I think I watched my favorites on a loop. I would toss in new discoveries here and there, and it quickly grew into an obsession. But then a funny thing happened, I borrowed a camera from my media production classes in high school and one Sunday afternoon my friends and I made a mockumentary mixing skate culture and free-style walking called " Midwest Money Money. " This rush was similar to watching movies but the intensity was jacked to the nines and I carried that feeling for weeks. I showed our film to everyone and anyone who would sit in front of a screen with me. The filmmaking ...

No, that title is not a typo, Tiny Explosions transformed into Tiny Possessions this month to participate in the 48 Hour Film Project Des Moines Horror and things did not go as planned. Sam Pace-Tuomi hosting Screening Group A. Our filmmaking weekend started pretty normally. Friday night kickoff, brainstorm, and writing session. Around 10:30 we broke all set to make a film called "Death Wizard," then Saturday morning about 2am I woke up to a screaming child who didn't want to tell us why she was up but didn't want to go to sleep, so we watched cartoons for 10 minutes and she ran off and started to cry. Meanwhile, I was just feeling dizzy, lethargic, and had a sore throat. Next thing I know I'm running to the only 24 hour Walgreens left in Des Moines to get kids ibuprofen and I get back to sleep around 5am. Kiddo number two wakes me up at 7am and I am a big ball of yuck. I told the squad I was out, Tiny Possessions crumpled like a wet shirt, and Death Wizard vanis...

After participating in the Des Moines 48 Hour Film Project for 11 years, Tiny Explosions has won the big prize; Best of Des Moines . This was an absolute shock, for everyone on the team.  I think we all have gotten used to attending Best of City just to see our film on the big screen one more time. To see our film called as the big winner knocked us all out. There were legit WTFs flying and tears falling. Our 2022 submission "The Run" is in no way a traditional award winner of any sort. It is a broad comedy that relies on body humor that frequently gets associated with middle schoolers, with some moments that will seriously make your brow furrow, turn your head, and ask the open air "What the hell did I just watch?" And I love it. See what I mean? I am pretty proud of the edit, the look, the performances, but for this story to take home any prizes is surprising. The top prize? Just typing that makes me shake my head and wonder if there was a ballot counting error...