THE VIDEO EDITION (ORIGINAL JMEA ERA)

January 1990
Aspiring to become a filmmaker, Joe purchases his first video camera. He and his friends begin shooting low-quality home movies, which include stop-motion animation and goofing off in public places.

March 1990
Joe compiles the so-called “best” of everything shot to date onto a tape, which is jokingly labeled “Joe’s Moderately Entertaining Adventure”. The quality of the tape is poor and made without the benefit of editing equipment.

November 1990
After months of shooting more of the same impromptu style of material, Joe decides to create an actual short film. Work begins on The Adventures of Ace Callahan, with his brother Bryan in the title role.

May 1991
Ace Callahan is completed. Joe incorporates Ace and other newly created material into a full-length version of Joe’s Moderately Entertaining Adventure (or simply JMEA).

October 1991
With JMEA seemingly put to rest, Joe carries on with new projects, including the quirky short films Pizza Raid and Joe Buddha, P.I., and also a video presentation done as part of a college course based on the Star Wars trilogy.

May 1992
Circumstances force Joe to cease production on an expanded edition of Ace Callahan, which would have been followed by a sequel to JMEA. Everything that he has filmed since 1990 is locked away for the next 11 years.

THE SPECIAL EDITION (YEAR ONE)

May 2003
After several months of discussion, pre-production begins on the JMEA: Special Edition DVD. It is determined that everything filmed between 1990 and 1992 will now be considered part of the “JMEA era” and subject to inclusion on the DVD. Bryan, having spent the past several years shooting his own amateur films and acquiring digital editing equipment, serves as editor. Joe begins the task of transferring the original uncut video footage from VHS tape to digital.

April 2004
Production officially begins with Bryan’s rough re-edit of Pizza Raid, which includes a vastly improved soundtrack. Editing on this segment continues for the next couple of months.

July 2004
Following weeks of delays, production resumes with an updating of a segment from the original JMEA called “The Adventure Begins”. This segment is basically a montage of short clips featuring the film’s cast members.

August 2004
Another segment from the original JMEA called “Mike’s Playhouse” is re-edited but not completed due to a visual effects problem. Preliminary work also begins on a parody of National Geographic (first done as part of the Star Wars class project). Finally, Joe films the first brand new shot for the DVD, which is later added to Pizza Raid.

September 2004
Editing is continuously interrupted by a barrage of hurricanes and power outages. Several new visual effects are added to National Geographic, allowing Joe to complete the segment the way it was originally intended.

October 2004
Two more new shots are filmed for inclusion in National Geographic, which is eventually completed. This turns out to be the favorite segment of the DVD (so far).

November 2004
Additions are made to various segments. The visual effects problems on “Mike’s Playhouse” are solved and the segment is (mostly) completed.

December 2004
Editing begins on “Cosmic Oddities”, a talk show spoof that was also part of the original JMEA. While three episodes of “Oddities” had been shot, only one is chosen to be included on the DVD. While the painstaking work on “Oddities” will continue for the next two months, the end result is still hard to watch.

March 2005
Two more montages are completed, based on segments from the original JMEA. Some of the finished footage is shown to three “test audiences”, providing some much-needed feedback. Based on this feedback, a variety of corrections will need to be made later, especially with “Cosmic Oddities” (which may get cut or severely re-edited). Also, Joe launches a weblog devoted to the production of JMEA.

THE SPECIAL EDITION (YEAR TWO)

April 2005
Due to technical problems, production of JMEA is halted temporarily. During the hiatus, the official JMEA website is prepared for launch.

May 2005
All effort is put into the website. Editing later resumes, starting with the update version of Ace Callahan.

September 2005
The belated JMEA page is launched.