Traveling Light

One of the challenges of shooting an indie doc is to achieve good lighting without good lighting. A cold hard facts of filmmaking is the high cost of quality equipment, plus traveling with it by airplane has it's own issues. So we celebrated today when some long awaited feather-light gear arrived. Not only can we make these reflectors do the job on location, but they fold up nicely for those shoots where travel gear has to be kept to a minimum.

The French Connection–Mad City Chickens

Today we brought fellow filmmaker Lucie Ferrari into the studio to talk about her childhood experiences with chickens.

What is this film — Mad City Chickens?

Mad City Chickens—it’s a group of like-minded people, it’s an emerging movement, and it’ll soon be a movie!

In the spring of 2004, Madison, Wisconsin passed a law reflecting a growing trend in municipalities across the country. Single-family homes within the city limits were now able to raise chickens in their backyards. A year later, we started filming.

From the underground to about town, chickens take the city by storm. Backyard poultry owners came out of hiding, and with them the chicken supporters came out of the woodwork. These beautiful birds are celebrated in art, music, and an ever-expanding community.

With over 23 hours of footage shot so far, the project is well into the post-production stage, but we’re not done yet! The film has grown into something more than we originally imagined. Chicken experts speak out, Mother Earth News conducts a study; and the Murray McMurray Hatchery opens its doors to us.

But that’s not all. Any film on chickens would not be complete without a mad scientist and a runaway polka band on the back of a pick-up truck. We couldn’t resist adding a bit of fictional storyline to the mix.

Film Wins Out…Again

Mow Lawn?

Do Film?

Lawn?

Film?

The neighbors won’t be happy.

Film wins out…again.

The Weight of Place

Last night we watched the movie Stranger Than Fiction with Will Ferrell. Many of the locations felt so familiar to me. The director avoided showing well-known skylines or landmarks but still…

At one point I blurted out “Hey! That was filmed at my University.” We had to do a quick rewind to catch missed dialogue, but it was indeed filmed entirely on location in Chicago and at my old stomping ground—the University of Illinois. The U of I at Chicago had a very specific…aura…if you will. Most of the buildings had been built during a time of rioting and unrest in the city. Many windows (if any) were like arrow shafts in old castles. And ah yes, the elevated concrete walkways added to the Medieval architectural feel.

The film/photography dept also had a kind of fortress appeal to it with some of the best nooks and crannies for catching up on much needed sleep.

Somehow it made me feel more connected to the story. It had more weight. I had actually been in those very same places working out my student films. It left me with a nostalgic feeling. That’s possibly something to keep in mind when deciding whether to build sets or use real locations. The weight of place.

Posted by: Tashai

La Fée Rouge Garners Press

Our short, La Fée Rouge, attracted some attention this past year, winning the Audience Award from the Independent Lens Shorts Festival. Although the movie is really a fantasy--and only a quasi-documentary--it still won Best Documentary Short at the Melbourne Independent Filmmaker Festival.

Check out the press at:

1/5/2007 Isthmus Daily Page article by Kristian Knutsen

2/9/2007 Isthmus Daily Page article by Kristian Knutsen

Plenty (of) Press for Mad City Chicks

Wow! Mad City Chickens gets noticed again. Read it at Plenty.

Pastured Eggs and Mother Earth News

The editors of Mother Earth News magazine have agreed to a video interview. Sweet! They are conducting a fascinating study on the nutritional content of eggs from pastured hens. Looks like we will be road-tripping to Topeka in the near future!

Mad City Chickens Press

Chickens gets written up in The Scientist. Read the article here.

Press for Mad City Post-Production

We are currently working on our feature film Mad City Chickens and it got a mention in Madison's Capital Times.


Right now it’s mostly in post-production, and the “to do” list is seven pages long! A little daunting at 1:00 am, when you realize you’ve just worked all day and weren’t able to cross a single item off of that list. Then there are those times when everything falls into place and opportunities open up that weren’t there before. I love those times. In the words of the late great Joseph Campbell, Follow your bliss and doors will open where there were no doors before.

Tarazod Films

• Tarazod Films is a partnership of two filmmakers.
• Content is our Queen. Good story motivates us, high production values sustain us.
• Filmmaking is our drug!

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NEW! Keep up to date on all the latest developments and exciting things happening here at Tarazod Films. Visit our website at: www.tarazod.com for video clips, filmmaker info, and more.