Happy Valentine’s Day from Crimes Against Humanity

Because Crimes Against Humanity is, at times, sort of a late-night-bedroom-comedy, a good portion of the score features a Baritone Saxophone. Here is a quick video of composer Joshua Dumas and saxophonist Josh Bell working in the studio last Friday.

Josh Dumas and Josh Bell in the studio, recording the Baritone Saxophone parts of the Crimes score.

Aside from being a maniac on the screen, Crimes star Mike Lopez (Lewis, assistant to the dean) is also an insane and very unique artist.  His blog - MIKE’S CORNER - contains beautiful drawings and nearly one hundred short stories, many of them tiny psychodramas about crime, sex, family, professional people, etc.  They are all loaded with plot.  Mike also makes wonderful and strange animations about things like con artists, gangsters, and dystopian futures.  Clips sometimes show up on Mike’s Corner. His movie, The Twin will screen in the 20th Chicago Underground Film Festival this Spring. Also, if you can believe it, Mike is only 19 years old.

Happy Birthday, Private Investigator John Folder (Adam Paul).

Felker, Lori, friend, filmmaker, programmer, film music aficionado, camera operator, professor and den mother, brought her Video Production 1 class to a day of shooting on Crimes. All of the students appeared in the film as a fictional ethnomusicology class. Several students, taken by the gnarly, twisted thrill of filmmaking, stayed on as production assistants for the entire film. These students became affectionately known as the DREAM TEAM. Here are some nice photos of this first day, taken by Reilly Drew.

Unlike most films, Crimes Against Humanity’s supporting cast is made up entirely of people who’s names begin with the letter J. This wasn’t an accident. This was a conscious casting effort that has really paid off. Paid off big time, I mean. Let’s take a moment to learn about some of these J’s.

Crimes was mentioned yesterday in this (pretty dry) REEL CHICAGO article about - yes - the total number of shooting days logged by Chicago productions. Crimes is briefly mentioned for being one of a small number of independent films shot in Chicago last year and is noted for having only 13 principal shooting days. This is completely true. All press is good press.

HERE IS THE ARTICLE

Robert Cauble in the coloring cave, grading party animal Mike Lopez.