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Laura Beth Love has been working with The Asylum for several years as a Cinematographer mostly, however when she\u2019s brought on a projectshe embraces the opportunity to wear multiple hats.\u00a0 Directors and Producers that work with Laura Beth have nothing but praise for her due to her creativity, eye for detail, and dedication to give it her all for each film.\u00a0 Over a decade Laura Beth has worked on countless projects and is constantly learning, cultivating new skills, and evolving.\u00a0 She\u2019s nonstop working and all her time and effort is mentally and physically exhausting for the human body.\u00a0 To keep her mind and body in finely tuned, Laura Beth makes sure to take care of her body and mind through fitness.\u00a0 Her exercising and nutrition routine is a critical factor in her keeping her creativity rolling, energy level up, and is a huge factor in the short recovery time allowed between projects.<\/p>\n
Being a highly regarded team player with amazing talents, it\u2019s only fitting she takes it to the next level. \u00a0Laura Beth steps up and takes on her first feature film directing role in The Asylum\u2019s sci-fi film, INDEPENDENTS\u2019 DAY.<\/p>\n
Aliens invade, this time delivering a clear ultimatum. The fate of humanity hangs in the balance as the U.S. President and citizens decide if these aliens are to be trusted …or feared.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI was signed on to DP “Independents’ Day” (working title was Alien Waves) with no director attached for a couple of months!\u201d <\/em>shares Laura Beth.\u201c The truth is everyone thought\u00a0 the movie would end up pushing into the next year…\u00a0 When rumors surfaced that the movie couldn’t push, I offered to step up (even though it was only a few days from the start date!).\u00a0 I knew the challenges, I knew the team very well, and I have a real soft spot for the original V: The Mini-series, V: The Final Battle, and, of course, Independence Day. :)”<\/em><\/p>\n “I think it was two days before principal photography started, when I got an email from the executive producer welcoming me on board as the director. Ha!\u00a0 Obviously a lot of things had been put in place at that point…\u00a0 I had to work with locations that were already chosen, assumptions in many departments were too far down one road or another for me to change their course without throwing the whole thing into a tailspin.\u00a0\u00a0 Still, I grabbed the reigns, gave up any hope of sleep on our brisk ten-day schedule, and shaped a movie that I hope fans of V and Independence Day will enjoy. \u201c<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Slightly Distorted Productions teamed up with The Asylum to produce INDEPENDENTS\u2019 DAY.\u00a0 Lauren Elizabeth Hood a Producer\/Owner\/Creator at Slightly Distorted, line produced the film. Lauren currently is working with Laura Beth on the upcoming James Cullen Bressack film STILLWATER and with Laura Beth and The Asylum on ISLE OF THE DEAD which is due out soon.\u00a0 Some other films Lauren line produced recently with The Asylum include, FORTUNE COOKIE, ZOOMBIES, NIGHT OF THE WILD, FLIGHT WORLD WAR II, SAN ANDREAS QUAKE, ARDENNES FURY, ASIAN SCHOOL GIRLS, and JAILBAIT.<\/p>\n Building relationships over the years, Laura Beth knew who would be ideal to bring on board to meet her requirements and work the exhausting hours with her throughout production and especially in the editing room.\u00a0 Just one of the team players for INDEPENDENTS\u2019 DAY that had multiple jobs is Composer and Visual Effects expert, Mike Verta.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cLaura Beth islegit \u2013 she knows what she wants dramatically and visually, and knows how to communicate that to both actors on set and to a post crew.\u00a0 So any time you\u2019re working for somebody with real, old-school chops like that, it\u2019s going to be fun and inspiring!\u00a0 Those things always elevate the material that\u2019s being produced, and the level of work that\u2019s being done. One thing I\u2019ve heard people saying already \u2013whether they\u2019ve seen the film or just the trailer-\u00a0 is that for all the obvious mockbuster elements in it, it doesn\u2019t feel exactly like a typical Asylum film, and I agree.\u00a0 It\u2019s got a cohesion and a shape; character motivations and payoffs that are often considered luxuries or optional on projects like these, but they\u2019re there in Independents\u2019 Day.\u00a0 And that\u2019s all her.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cLaura Beth is a great worker of light and the different phases it can go through,\u201d<\/em> Director Christopher Ray.<\/p>\n “Laura Beth Love is amazing! A true artist and a great person,\u201d <\/em>Director Jared Cohn.<\/p>\n \u201cShe’s super talented.\u00a0 She uses the camera and lights like a paint canvas, and makes magic.\u00a0 I love her to death,\u201d <\/em>Producer GabrielCampisi.<\/p>\n The numerous directors and producers Laura Beth works with speak highly of her and would go to her when creative recommendations are needed to help out with making a scene better. All the experience educated her and prepared her for directing a feature film.<\/p>\n \u201cI’ve worked with all kinds of directors.\u00a0 The seasoned directors have shown me what works, and the first-timers often gave me an opportunity to try out my own solution. I’ve watched directors masterfully orchestrate and deliver a scene, and I’ve seen guys push hard and fail because they simply weren’t able to read their actor,\u201d <\/em>Laura Beth shares.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone knows that directing is about getting performances, but it’s the other stuff that I’ve learned that wasn’t as obvious at the beginning of my career.\u00a0 I can’t begin to quantify all of the things I’ve learned from directors over the years, but right now I can think of three “lessons” that I considered before shooting “Independents’ Day.”:<\/em> It has always been natural for Laura Beth to train or share advice on set.\u00a0 She\u2019s been a cinematographer lab instructor at the LA Film School.\u00a0 She left her full-time teaching position to commit her time solely to making films but, she still occasionally will guest teach and mentor film students.\u00a0 Being an instructor and leader in the classroom prepared her leadership role as a Director and being in charge, multi-tasking, and instructing cast and crew all was a thrill for her.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cI loved every minute of it,\u201d Laura Beth tells. \u201cI found it quite easy to sort of “compartmentalize” and give myself “the set” as a director for a while, and then, release the actors and talk to the crew as a DP for a while.\u00a0 I was most concerned about working with the actors, but that ended up being such a pleasure.\u00a0 My ensemble cast was truly a joy to work with.\u00a0 They were receptive and flexible, and I had the most fun working with my actors on that show.\u00a0 The biggest new challenge, I think, was that I am used to operating a camera!\u00a0 It forced me to rely on other camera operators more than I usually do.\u00a0 …which is “new”, but an important skill.\u00a0 My crew was great.\u00a0 I had my usual guys in camera and g&e so I knew exactly what to expect from them, and they took care to be extra supportive of me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Just one of the many actors it was a pleasure for Laura Beth work with was the multi-talented actress, song writer, and singer Fay Gauthier.\u00a0 Playing the role of President Raney in an alien film was a dream come true for Fay as she shares.\u00a0 \u201cWhen I was a little girl, I had nightmares of coming face to face with aliens. I used to watch the evening sky on high alert for UFO\u2019s lest they catch me unaware. I also dreamt about someday becoming the first female President. You could say I had an active imagination.\u00a0 But thanks to Independents\u2019 Day, I got to serve in the country\u2019s highest office while fighting aliens.\u00a0 Talk about a dream come true!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u201cIt was a total blast working on this film.\u00a0 From the cast and crew to our real fearless leader, Director Laura Beth Love, I couldn\u2019t have asked for a better group of people to share the adventure with. And speaking of Laura Beth, to call her Director is to leave out all the other duties she took on while shooting, including, but not limited to writer, script supervisor, cinematographer and runner.\u00a0 Whatever needed to be done, whenever it was needed, she was on it with unruffled grace and confidence\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThis may or may not be the year we elect our first female President. But I\u2019m happy to see the potential of it becoming a reality outside of movies and television.\u00a0 We certainly need more women\u2019s voices in the world.\u00a0 And along with that, we need talented female directors, the likes of LB, directing more of our stories\u201d.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The visual effects team for INDEPENDENTS\u2019 DAY consisted of Glenn Campbell, Tammy Klein, Joseph Lawson, and Mike Verta.\u00a0 Laura Beth and Verta both are artists and she knew his keen eye for detail and creativity would help her achieve her vision with his VFX and music as she shares, \u201cI also edited the movie, and brought in my close friend and creative collaborator Mike Verta to score the movie, contribute to sound design and add an additional 120 vfx shots to the film, the film has close to 240 vfx shots total!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Being longtime friends, Verta knew the two would work well together along with The Asylum team.<\/p>\n \u201cShe put her heart into making the most out of the material; we both did.\u201d <\/em>Verta shared.\u00a0 \u201cIn addition to having to write the music and do a bunch of sound design, I ended up doing something like 120 VFX shots for the film.\u00a0 As the edit was coming together, she felt the first act needed a couple of action set pieces up front \u2013 one of two F-22 Raptors investigating a Mothership, and then a dogfight sequence between F-22s and alien fighters (we called them \u201cDragonflies\u201d). We\u2019ve known each other a long time and have similar sensibilities, and I\u2019ve been in VFX almost as long as I\u2019ve been composing music, so it fell to me to design those sequences and generate animatics for the edit, at which point we tweaked them together a bit and cut them in.\u00a0 Ultimately, since I had done all the work of creating the look and animation styles for the Motherships and Dragonflies, it just made sense for me to handle doing those final sequences myself, so that the Asylum FX crew could focus on the Alien Queen and Transport Ship shots, Drone sequences; a ton of other stuff like that.\u00a0 They are routinely asked to work miracles given their schedules and budget, so they were only too happy to have me take that workload!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Laura Beth called Verta her\u201cFighter Pilot Unit Director\u201d for INDEPENDENTS\u2019 DAY.\u00a0 His ingenuity in choreography and VFX played a key part for a couple main fight pilot sequences as he talks about those scenes indetail, \u201cIn both the \u201cInvestigation\u201d and \u201cDogfight\u201d sequences, we had put in shots of pilots in cockpits \u2013 for exposition, dialog, etc., – but as things went on, we realized we were running out of time on the pick-up day to do them.\u00a0 The list of other more-important story things that needed to be shot that day was growing, so I volunteered to take a second unit and shoot the pilots myself. I\u2019ve shot a ton of commercials and uncredited stuff, so I knew it wouldn\u2019t be hard technically, and it would probably be a lot of fun, and it was.\u00a0 I\u2019m always bothered by pilot-in-cockpit shots where the camera just sort of randomly shakes around \u201cStar Trek\u201d style, so I came up with this rig where we put the pilots in the back of a pickup truck under a half jet canopy and just drove around in circles.\u00a0 That gave us actual motion for the pilots and let the sun rake across their faces.\u00a0 It\u2019s the poor-man\u2019s gimbal, and the result was pretty solid.\u00a0 But mostly, it was just a blast to shoot.\u00a0 Most of the extras there on the day got a turn in the rig.\u00a0 I actually ended up playing one of the pilots myself, and even Laura Beth makes a cameo as one in the dogfight sequence!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Music is one of the final tasks in post-production and yet is one of the most critical when it comes to stimulating the audience\u2019s emotions.\u00a0 The composing was another job Laura Beth put her faith in Verta to do.<\/p>\n \u201cBy the time it came to writing the music, I was obviously very familiar with the film, and that makes the composing process much simpler.\u00a0 But while I knew what the scenes needed, and while I was clear on the thematic elements and style Laura Beth wanted, once again there were many times where her ability to clearly communicate her dramatic goals was a lifesaver.\u00a0 I was pretty wrecked by that point in the show \u2013 I\u2019d basically done nothing else for 2 months with little sleep \u2013 so just having her be able to listen to a cue and laser in on what was or wasn\u2019t most important to her made all the difference. In the end, it\u2019s called Independents\u2019 Day \u2013 it\u2019s a mockbuster.\u00a0 Everybody knows what to expect from it.\u00a0 But I think this time people will find it\u2019s got just a little bit more, too.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n INDEPENDENTS\u2019 DAY is now availableon VOD and DVD.\u00a0 Visit The Asylum\u2019s website for more information.<\/p>\n![\"independents-day\"](\"http:\/\/www.bmovienation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/independents-day.jpg\")
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\n1.The director stands alone.<\/strong>
\n\u00a0A director once told me a story about overhearing crew conversations “talking smack” about himself on his comtechs (headphones). It was something I hadn’t considered before.\u00a0 As a Camera Operator, for example, you aren’t likely to walk up to crafty and overhear somebody talking about how they would have operated the camera differently in the last scene. But, “everyone” has an opinion about the director.\u00a0 And if they get frustrated with their job, they are likely to blame it on the director.<\/em>
\nWhen tensions get high, and there are disagreements, there is no “directing department” to stand along side you, no one to pass the buck to, there is only “the director.”\u00a0 So, be mentally prepared.<\/em>
\n2. Be attentive to your actors<\/strong>
\nI’ve seen so many directors who are great at this, and a few who were so wrapped up in technical details, they ignored their actors.\u00a0 The actors need your time.\u00a0 If you neglect them, they will neglect you.
\n3. You can’t get what you don’t ask for.
\n<\/strong>Ask for what you need.\u00a0 The worst that happens is they say no.\u00a0 And even then, don’t be afraid to push back. \ud83d\ude42\u00a0\u00a0 There is no one else steering the ship.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t set the course, the ship won’t go anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Independents'Day](\"http:\/\/www.bmovienation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/IndependentsDay-53-785x442.jpg\")
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