Mood:  chillin'

Well, I will say, that much like it normally is, much of the news related to Village of the Giants has been relatively quiet. However, one item did come to light in the last month.

Village of the Giants leaves Amazon Prime Video

It was one of the reasons I got Prime, and now, it's gone. If it will surface again on Netflix or another streaming service (or even come out on Blu-Ray) we'll just have to wait and see. But sadly, for now, we are without a widescreen presence of the film out there.

Revamping the Fanpage

After considering it for well over a year, I finally got down to the nitty-gritty, and started revamping the layout, links, pages, and much more!

The rebuild for now, is going to be a work-in-progress, while still keeping the website up. However, I have made some changes that should make it a bit less confusing:

 - Once you click 'Enter Site' on the main 'index' page, all of the major links are now held on the 'information' page.

- I am working to remove some information that doesn't have as much bearing on information related to VOTG, such as a lot of over-explanations in the 'Locations' section, about Blondie Street and Courthouse Square.

 - I am still using a primitive form of HTML for now. I feel that if I get a firmer grasp on HTML5, I may just go for another revamp, and format the page with the newer style of coding.

 - HTML5 coding has been instrumental in reviving the MP3 files of Mike Clifford's songs in the 'Music' page, and I hope to find additional types of coding that can allow the radio ads and movie trailer under the Publicity section, to come to life once again!

It's a slow-and-steady job, but I'm liking the change (and I'm toning down that garish yellow, with a light-tan background more reminiscent of the film's poster). Take a look around. I must say, I'm very happy with the layout for the 'Film Locations,' 'Vehicles,' and the information page on "The Food of the Gods."

Mood:  a-ok

The Golden Anniversary

Yep, that's right: Village of the Giants will have been released 50 years ago, from October 20th, 2015!

As such, I've added a new header to the front page, as well as our Facebook page!

I'm also slowly making my way through considering re-formatting the website. However, after taking an HTML5 course at my workplace, it's easy to see that just reformatting for the HTML5 format is not as easy as it seems.

 As such, some pages will need to be removed, and others reformatted. The Internet, in examining some pages, has definitely changed in the last 10 years since I made this page. We no longer really scroll up-and-down as much as the old days, and everything is simplified on the main screen...let alone formatting for phones and tablets.

Where will you be, on October 20th?

ME? I'll be in Los Angeles, getting ready to attend the week-long 'We're Going Back' event, commemorating the 30th anniversary of Back to the Future: a film whose courthouse square helped me get into VOTG, when I realized the town square there was the same location!

I also intend to, once I get off the plane in Burbank, stop by Aunt Joy's Cakes, and see what Joy's pastries are like. I'm hoping she may be there so I can say hello.

Ever consider updating the film?

This was an idea I wondered, as I too have had my own little changes to the idea of the film. I have a rough draft of a different ending, where we get an end to Mike, and make the Giants a little more menacing.

Finding VOTG fanfiction is hard, so was wondering if anyone else had any they had written, and if so, where?

Mood:  a-ok

 The mother-load of Production Materials, in our hands!

This past December, I was shocked to come across an amazing auction on eBay regarding Village of the Giants. The collection appeared to come from the film's talent coordinator, Marvin Paige. It included:

-23 pages of casting notes

-a letter from William Morris telling of Beau Bridges' availability

-a 13-page shooting schedule

-a page chronicling changes to the script

-a full shooting script

All of these items were a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get some major items (along with my already-owned costume notes for Charla Doherty's character), and I was lucky enough to get them!

Since I got them, I've been slowly updating the Production Materials section on the page. 3/4 of the casting notes have been posted, along with notes on who several of the casting choices were.

I just finished posting images of the Shooting Schedule, which gives insight to where and when certain scenes were filmed...along with information on some scenes that didn't make it into the production!

Rest in Peace, Gail Gerber (aka Gail Gilmore)

 It's late by a year, but in case you didn't know, Gail passed away last fall. It was sad to hear of her passing, as she was one of the main cast I got to meet in New York over 5 years ago. She didn't recall much of the VOTG production, but it was a memorable hour I spent with her and her author/friend, Tom Lisanti. 

 I still remember when she signed her autobiography 'Trippin with Terry Southern,' her commenting that she didn't like her signature, claiming it looked 'too girly.'

Even with her passing, I intend to keep her fan gallery going as long as I can. Here's to you, Gail...you will be missed.

Mood:  lucky

Wardrobe information regarding Charla Doherty

In December 2012, we were very fortunate to win two eBay auctions that contained constume reference/information regarding Charla Doherty's lead character, Nancy. Along with the pages containing scene information, they also came with 3 black-and-white images of Mrs Doherty modeling her wardrobe.

You can find these pages, along with a breakdown of the scenes mentioned on them, in the Production Materials section of our Information section.

Mood:  chatty

Hello. Yes, things have been rather quiet on the western front, so salutations to those of you who are tuning into our blog.

Facebook Update

Well, it wasn't anything really big, but our Facebook page has succumbed to the required transformation into the 'timeline' setting. Because of the cover image format, I decided to have some fun, and put all 8 of our giant teenagers into a collage. Here is a smaller image of what will await you on our Facebook page:

 Holy Smolderin' Crawdads!

On April 24-25, the Hollywood Autograph Show arrived in Rosemont, IL, and the breastest wrangler of them all was there! I got to greet Johnny Crawford, and even picked up a CD of him with his orchestra.

I also introduced myself to him as the Webmaster of this very page, and maybe sometime in the future, we may get to hear what Johnny has to say regarding his time on the set of Village of the Giants.

 No Longer on Netflix

While flipping through my instant queue on Netflix, I was saddened to see that Village of the Giants has been pulled out of the choices to stream. After a full year with them in wide-screen, one wonders if this may mean a release could be in the works for home video viewing, or if we'll just have to go through our withdrawal with our heads held high.

 Updates/Changes to the Site

In the wake of Netflix dropping Village of the Giants from their schedule, I've removed almost all the links to them that have been up within the last year.

As well, with my current experimenting with Flash Animation, I may finally remake the page for Flash users (before I learn just what HTML5 is). I've got a couple ideas in mind, but they are just ideas at the moment.

Mood:  sad

This week, we were sad to hear of the passing of Writer/Producer/Director Bert I Gordon's daughter, Susan. In 2007, our correspondence with Susan allowed us to meet Mr Gordon at the 2007 Burbank Autograph Show.

Susan Gordon was a very gracious woman who we remembered from Bert I Gordon's film Tormented, as well as the episode from The Twilight Zone titled, "The Fugitive."

Our thoughts and prayers go Susan's family. For more information about Susan, please visit her website: http://susangordon.info/home.html

Mood:  energetic

Hi all! It's been awhile since we've had any news regarding Village of the Giants, but even in the dark times, something comes along. Which brings us to today's blog posting.

Netflix gets big in so many ways

Netflix is planning for their streaming media system to help them in their bid for world conquest, and what they've done recently has definitely made me a huge fan of this medium (no pun intended!).

I was informed by one of our site's fans named Jeremy Allison, that as of this time (3/16/11), Netflix's streaming system has Village of the Giants. What makes this news so earth-shattering is that for the first time (probably since its release!), the streaming version of the film is presented in widescreen!

I've gone over it several times, and this isn't a bad cropping job. The widescreen presentation is pretty much perfect, mirroring some of the frames of the film I saw in the theatrical trailer. To the right, I've included a comparison of a frame from the 2001 MGM DVD release, and from Netflix streaming. It's amazing what widening the scope of this picture does. Then again, I've always been partial to widescreen imagery.

If there's a downside, it's that depending on your player, the streaming quality won't be perfectly crisp (then again, the film isn't up for any big Blu-Ray releases). I just wish this version of the film could be released on DVD or even Blu-Ray.  I've been waiting for a good portion of my life for the film in widescreen. On a final note, please be advised that Netflix often rotates the stock in their streaming list, so as for how long you'll be able to view Village of the Giants in widescreen, we don't know...but catch it now before it's too late! (Once again, we'd like to thank Jeremy Allison for bringing this information to our attention)

Minor Site Updates

-Over the holidays, we procured a couple more keybook stills and have added them to the stills gallery.

-The site layout was further cleaned up, and a couple images were updated. A link on our homepage leads directly to Netflix's site (this will stay up until VOTG is removed from the streaming format). We've also updated the widescreen image in the Home Video section with the widescreen image from Netflix, and have also made an update to the title on the screen.

Mood:  lazy

As of a few hours ago, this site that has been online for 6 years has made its presence known to the soicial media network know as Facebook! I'm hoping our presence there will be able to bring out more fans of the film, as well as bring forth new ones and rounds of discussion regarding Bert I Gordon's 1965 film.

Some items from our page I will be porting over, as well as discussions about the film and some little quotes and images from it as well.

I have also included a Facebook 'Like' button near the bottom of our homepage. If you like this page as much as we do, please click on it (it's free, of course!).

Mood:  cool

Lunch wth a great ol' gal, and a VOTG side-mission through New York

In late May, I went to visit a friend in New Jersey, and also made plans to visit New York City. Of interest my first time in the Big Apple, was having lunch with two people I had talked to by email, but never met in person: author Tom Lisanti, and Village of the Giants co-star, Gail Gerber.

I met both of them at the New York Public Library (sadly, completely covered up in front while a restoration was being made), and we then walked around the building to the Bryant Park cafe. It was quite a time, reminiscing with Gail and talking to Tom over my strange obsession for this 1965 B-movie. Gail also came prepared with her silver medal (Tom also has one, but not on him at the time) that she won for her memoirs.

We also took pictures, and both Tom and Gail signed my book. Tom also told me that the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts had some stills from the film. So, I then headed north to the center, where (surprisingly), there were a number of the movie stills I had been looking for. I found 7-8 that I had never seen before (including one that appeared in an issue of Box-Office Magazine, showing a film tour before the movie opened up). Sadly, the library would not allow me to scan and post the images. I could only photocopy them and use them for reference. A couple of them even provided me with identification numbers, which I added to some photos in the Photos gallery.

However, I did visit a movie-items store called Jerry Ohrlinger's (not far from Penn Station), a place where most of my stills had been won from eBay. Jerry's store was like warehouse in Raiders of the Lost Ark, only with movie items. An assistant brought me a folder with VOTG in it, and I purchased 5-6 stills, of which I was able to add to the Photos gallery.

Other updates made to the website

 Along with the addition and update of some photos in our gallery, the following changes have been made:

- Added HTML tables to organize the text into something more presentable.

- In Nancy's house, I finally was able to identify an issue of Better Homes and Gardens that is seen in some scenes. This information was added to the Name Brands area of the Information section.

-In 1974, the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland ran a 2-page pictorial on Village of the Giants. I came across this information, got a copy of the pictorial, and posted it in the Publicity section of our Information page.

Mood:  lazy

We would like to congratulate former actress Gail Gerber(or Elsa, as she's know in Village of the Giants), and 60's Beach Movie maniac/author Tom Lisanti for their win at the Independent Publisher Book Awards for Best Autobiography/Memoir of 2009.

Tom and Gail collaborated to tell of Gail's life growing up, and then where it went when she met famous author Terry Southern. The book is a very entertaining read, and for those not that familiar with Mr Southern, it opened my eyes a bit to what he was like. Gail and Tom's words often make so many events and places come alive.