Astride the law

Posted on 6:57 PM by Rob




Astride the steel horse, a triumphant Ginker stands, hand clenched and raised in victory. The day is his as the law lies vanquished and a case of cold ones lies at the ready, soon to be drank in a celebratory frenzy of cigarette smoke, women, and power chords. 





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Profiles in the Independent Film Hussle - Alex

Posted on 7:37 AM by Rob


Alex Burke...


After graduating from FIT, Alex had extensive stints as a make-up artist on several major video, photography and fashion sets around the NYC metro area before arriving at Rucksack Films.
Now, the sole make-up artist on all of our productions, Alex specializes in personalized service to each of our subjects prior to filming and has become the preferred artist of choice for several of our now famous characters. 

Alex currently resides in Keyport, NJ with her husband and two children and continues to run her own make-up design business. 

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Profiles in the Independent Film Hussle - Eric

Posted on 7:29 AM by Rob


Eric Mosher, an original crew member at Rucksack Films, joined the the team after graduating with degrees in English and Communications from Virginia Tech.  At college, Eric honed his filmmaking chops when he was involved with several independent productions.


As Rucksack's resident tech. master, Eric keeps the crew updated and smoothly running. In addition, Eric builds his own lighting and camera rigs and has become our B-Camera operator, filming all of the handheld and harder to navigate portions of our interviews. 

Eric currently lives in south Jersey with his wife and daughter, continuing to oversee his mosherpit website which is devoted to all things comic, cinema, lit. and zombie. 

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Profiles in the Independent Film Hussle - Bill

Posted on 7:17 AM by Rob


Bill Schlavis, a.k.a. Sam Spade, grew up in the town of Allendale, situated in the long shadow of NYC. Later, after obtaining degrees from NYU and Rutgers, he went on become the singer and songwriter of several local bands, most recently, the 6th Ward. 


As a sound engineer, Bill has recorded and produced albums and tracks for numerous NY/NJ artists under his Stateline Productions banner.

In 2007, Bill joined the Rucksack team and has mixed and recorded all of the sound for the "Ginkers" feature film.

Bill currently lives in Montclair, NJ and continues to play area venues with his band, the 6th ward. 

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Profiles in the Independent Film Hussle - Matt

Posted on 7:07 AM by Rob


Matt Ziegler...

An original member of the Rucksack Films crew, Matt grew up in the very NJ towns depicted in the "Ginkers" film. A graduate of EBHS and a veteran of the Sussex college system, he went on to design websites and taught himself digital filmmaking.

After high school, Matt and Rob, the "Ginkers" director, joined forces and collaborated on several short-subject films. Produced on the cheap and often filmed in the wee hours of the morning, Matt developed his distinct style and love for filmmaking. These efforts resulted in a stunning array of genre-bending films. He then became the main camera operator on all of the short films Rucksack produced in the early 2000's and stayed on board to be the Director of Photography for the entirety of the "Ginkers" documentary. 

Matt currently resides in the rural outposts of Northern, NJ with his wife and two dogs.

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The Highlander, The Rattlesnake

Posted on 5:03 PM by Rob


Scott, (pictured) is known around the karaoke set as "Highlander" due to his Scotch heritage. Among the kids scampering from the law for any number of petty crimes committed in the cover of the Jersey marshland, he is also known as "The Jersey Rattlesnake" simply because of his here now - gone now presence. This much information was conveyed during a break in filming and I have been thinking about how he able to occupy these many identities quite fluidly, not unlike a superhero of sorts.  Many of us are lucky do go a week at best at such a try. We may have the Monday/Friday work persona down pat followed comfortably by our Friday/Sunday ways that are now routine. In Scott's case, these identities come from the outside, from the people who come in contact with him and have dubbed him. It is in this way that I admire the man. He simply walks, he simply is Highlander, Rattlesnake. This one is for him.

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Harlequin Romance

Posted on 6:56 PM by Rob


Sundays are typically the post day, so here you are. The next shoot is slated at Cagney's in the next few weeks, but until then, I will post a few pics and maybe another clip of Scott if I think it would fit.

This one in particular is of the art on his walls. An interesting harlequin-type woman surrounded by a wall full of the things that accumulate over a life.

Moving on...

Hope everyone is enjoying the posts here. I don't update as much as some of my other talented friends, (Rachael, Frank, etc...) so check out the open west comic and livitluvit for what I mean. They have the chops.

Things in Red Bank are moving along at a decent clip. The documentary is taking a little longer than planned, but it has been a blessing. We are sponsored, the grass-roots support is growing by the day for the film, a contact in Asbury has offered us a screening at her studio and the lanes - and the time passes.
In other film news, caught Revolutionary Road a few weeks back and highly recommend it. Directed by Sam Mendes, (Road To Perdition, American Beauty) it traces the lives of two Americans living out the 1950s in a way that has not been presented in such concrete and beautifully nuanced ways. DiCaprio is Frank Wheeler and Winslet, his wife, April. They embody the "special" people so few believe they may be and the fall from that place that so many of us take in place of comfort and peace. David Harbour, as Shep, the 1950s male, for me was the scene stealer. His performance stole the show and really brought home the notion of silence and of not giving light to those shadowy things we all bring up that Mendes was driving home all film long, and was nicely depicted in the final shot; see old man turning off hearing aid.
That's it for this week. Planning on hitting The Reader and will post in a few.

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Posted on 2:34 PM by Rob

Yesterday's post. Sorry for the delay on the video.

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More "D" camera footage

Posted on 6:18 PM by Rob


While Eric and Matt handle Photography duties, I shot another 30 second clip of Scott talking off-camera. Though this is not intended for insertion into the final cut of the film, it is an authentic, yet badly composed piece of the story that we hope you enjoy.

I will upload another 1 or 2 over the next week or so as promised.

In this clip, Scott is filmed in his house, lounging and talking about his favorite things.

The shoot was more in a series with Scott, who is our featured subject. 

Some backstory: Scott grew up in the central, NJ towns that saw the rise of the burnout / metal culture take shape. Like other kids who grew up in the shadows of the Turnpike and Parkway, Scott had an affinity for the loner lifestyle that so many teens of his time understood. He gravitated toward Grindhouse cinema, metal, and underground wrestling. As an adult, he found work being a roadie for local bands and eventually found his way to meet his idols, Judas Priest. After gigging for years in the Jersey rock scene, Scott has retired from that line of work and spends his time being a living music encyclopedia and performs his "songs that don't suck" version of karaoke each weekend at local dives. 

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Some dead air on today's shoot

Posted on 7:14 PM by Rob

 I had about 30 seconds of dead air to fill when we were shooting at Scott's today. Using my old little digi-cam that I bring on all the shoots to get stills, I did a quick pan. 

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