Finally

Got a new computer. A laptop with the software and power to edit video. It’s only MS MovieMaker but it’s better – way better – than nothing!

I’ve Been In Florida Almost 9 Months

And it’s been even longer since I wrote a relevant, interesting post.

A couple nights ago I read about the First Annual Village of the Arts Short Shorts Film Festival. Deadline is January 24, 2009. Right here in Bradenton, FL.

Here we go, again.

My first thought was to pick up Buscar but my time limit is 10 minutes. Madre is exactly ten minutes but I want to make something new and I want to film it in Bradenton.

Within 24 Hours

I returned all but two of those horror movie books. I’ve set down the book by Roger Corman but I’ll pick it up once I’m done with the Lloyd Kaufman book which really grabbed me and I’m absolutely loving. All the others were just some guy or girl making a list of movies and giving their opinion. Seriously, who wants to read that? I can sit around with my friends (if I had any) and do that. The Roger Corman didn’t grab me as quickly because there’s a bunch of bio in the beginning I really wasn’t that interested in (except – did you know he’s from Detroit?!) but the Kaufman book dives right into the how-to stuff. Very detailed, very made for the very poor and/or beginning filmmaker. I’ve read some really good books on the subject and this is easily the best. I thought it would be interesting and entertaining. I had no idea how informative and educational it would be. Here’s a list of my favorite “young filmmaker” books besides Make Your Own Damn Movie (buy all of them and you don’t need any others):

• Rebel Without A Crew by Robert Rodriguez
• Digital Filmmaking 101 by Dale Newton

I also remember enjoying What They Don’t Tell You In Film School by Camille Landau but I don’t include that in “required buying” for no other reason than I can’t remember anything specific I read in it. That’s not a criticism … I’ve read plenty of books on independent filmmaking that I’m not bother to list here at all. Newton’s book not only goes step by step (but not with all the examples, lessons, alternatives, etc. that Kaufman gives) but provides examples of budgets, contracts, and oodles of other things that you need and might have no idea that you need or where to get. It’s an invaluable companion to Kaufman’s book. Rebel Without A Crew is Rodriguez’ journal from the moment he decided to make a feature through pre-production on his next (first), “big studio” picture. That’s the sit-back-and-be-inspired book, the others are sit-back-and-learn books. Since everyone now has a DV cam, and you have a lot more competition than Rodriguez did … you REALLY need the instruction of the other two.

More Motivation

My confidence has been almost non-existent for a long time now. A lot of it has to do with the systematic stomping of it by Little Caesars over a couple years and showing my work to people who are just … well, the wrong people. I make every effort to not try being funny because I’m afraid of looking stupid. There are a few people… I hear their voices in my head no matter what I’m writing or doing and they’re all telling me that whatever I’m working on sucks for whatever reason. I’m afraid to write anything meaningful because I’m afraid of some a–hole saying it seems kneejerk or shallow because of my political or religious beliefs in which case I think whatever I’m doing is just a waste of time.

There’s that and the fact that I beg people to read stuff I write and no one has any interest. I beg my teenage daughter to share her stories and poetry with me and she has no interest in letting me see it. I should have known better than to have girls – just more of them around me to reject me.

However, the “school” script I’m working on … that – and the cadet I exchanged some emails with – really lifted me up and I keep getting great feedback on something else I wrote. I wrote this stupid little post on my Facebook “blog” and sent it out as a mass email about something that happened the other day and people keep telling me how funny it is. Marci Karp, a girl who was in many of the early movies I did for Little Caesars (none of hers are on here – not for any particular reason, they just aren’t), told me I should write “or something.” She wasn’t the only one … but … it’s all been nice to hear.

I’ve been succumbing to repeated thoughts that Florida will be just another place I’ll fail but today is a bit better (I just woke up, though, so who knows). Maybe my wife is right, maybe the sunshine will make me feel better.

Horror is a good place to start

Got some groovy books from la biblioteca esta noche:

• The Hammer Story: The Authorised History of Hammer Films
• Horror Movies by Tom Powers
• Fangoria’s 101 Best Horror Movies You’ve Never Seen
• The Horror Film: An Introduction by Rick Worland
• The Rough Guide to Horror Movies by Alan Jones
• Horror Movie Stars by Michael R. Pitts
• I Was A Monster Movie Maker: Conversations with 22 SF and Horror Filmmakers
• How I Made a Hundred Movies and Never Lost a Dime by Roger Corman
• Make Your Own Damn Movie by Lloyd Kaufman

Jon Stewart

For the second time, shows he’s the best Oscar host ever.

New Screenplay In Progress

I just can not get any further in Buscar. Total blockage.

On a whim, I called my alma mater and asked if I could film a short there in a couple weeks. Based on some minimal feedback, it seemed like the school would be willing. Much like Madre Sabe El Mejor, this was a project I’d only start writing if I could produce it. After this brief moment of positive energy, I tried to write something that I would only need a classroom, maybe a dorm shot, and a few cadets to film. I’d have Robert play a teacher. After a few false starts, I came up with a really cool idea which, of course, I’m going to be totally secretive about. It’s also more than a short. Which is okay because after Jean told me I might be able to do it on campus and have some cadets as actors, I realized, “Oh crap, I no longer have unlimited access to thousands of dollars of equipment.” That’s the one reason I didn’t want to leave Little Caesars. They were my sugar-daddy when it came to movie-making.

Then, last week at work, I started getting really inspired and had some great ideas and the notes & brainstorming storylines started flowing. While trolling around in myspace and facebook groups for Howe Military School alumni I found a former cadet who seemed just like how I envisioned one of the main characters. I want to grill her with questions about her experiences but … I really, really don’t want to … accidentally steal her experiences or something. But exchanging messages with her has helped keep me pretty inspired and excited about it. Shortly, I’m going to write some more tonight. 

Free Copy of Roger Corman’s The Fantastic Four

For a $20 (or more) donation to the Humane Society, you can obtain a free copy of Roger Corman’s The Fantastic Four (1994).

Inexpensive copies of The Star Wars Holiday Special are readily available on eBay and come with lots of extras including an episode of The Muppet Show and Hardware Wars.

In Focus Magazine

http://www.infocus-magazine.com/

Florida’s Film,Television and the Arts Industry 

Best Actor

They should give it to Phillip Seymour Hoffman over Javier Bardem. Bardem’s role wasn’t that complex or difficult and my teenage daughter – who hates drama class – could have done it. I’ve loved Tom Wilkinson ever since The Full Monty in everything he’s in but his role in Michael Clayton wasn’t anything remarkable. As I’ve said many times, the award should go to above average, excellent performances. He’s always good, the movie itself was good – but not truly great. When I pay my $9.50, I expect the movie, actors, etc. to be good. Better than good. These movies cost tens of millions of dollars – they’d darn well better be worth that investment. So a crappy performance or movie is inexcusable and the oscar should go to someone or something that is truly exceptional – way beyond “worth the investment.” 

American Gangster

Yet another movie that is far too long.

Let me be clear – I like long movies. Finding movies that are too long is, for me, a recent phenomenon. Usually my complaint is that movies are far too short. For example, Harry Potter movies that get continually shorter despite the books getting longer, leaving out entire characters and storylines.

Another example is George Lucas cutting out entire scenes because he feels character development slows a movie down and no one cares about that stuff anyway.

American Gangster, however, is one scene after another of the same thing. If couldn’t even finish watching it because it was so boring. Good cop keeps showing what a good cop he is, gangster keeps showing what a good businessman he is. New Jack City was better. It was neat seeing Clarence Williams III, though – I haven’t seen him in anything since Tales from the Hood. Denzel Washington was boring as always. Yesterday, I read Don Cheadle was the first choice for that role – I would have seen it already if Cheadle had been in it. He is one of the most underrated actors ever.

Best thing about American Gangster was this. Out of NOWHERE Josh Brolin, this crazy guy from Grindhouse: Planet Terror, is all of a sudden in No Country for Old Men and American Gangster.  

Ruby Dee should give Cate Blanchett no competition. Speaking of, you know what my favorite Cate Blanchett piece is? Coffee and Cigarettes. Some of that movie was unwatchable, but some of it was simply the bestest.

One More FL link

• Florida On Film – listings of films shot in florida, festivals, more

Another Florida Film Fest!

The Independent Film Festival is held in Tampa! Yay!

There’s A Difference

Filmflorida.org is different than filmflorida.com! The former seems to have much more content than the latter.

Waking Up Late For Work

You know that feeling? You wake up and it’s way too bright in your bedroom? I just had that feeling. The Academy Awards are this weekend! I thought they were in two or three weeks! Yet again, I will not be having any sort of a party … friends and family are scattered more than usual. But, more importantly, here’s my to-do list:

• Rent La Vie En Rose (I’ve been meaning to do this forever) and American Gangster (even though I really don’t think it looks good at all – it looks like a re-make of New Jack City). I just think Denzel Washington has been mediocre ever since X. He was M-A-G-N-I-F-I-C-E-N-T in that and mediocre at best in Training Day which was nothing more than a “We’re really sorry we didn’t give you the Oscar last time” award. But, Russel Crowe is always fun to watch and I’ll always give Ridley Scott the benefit of the doubt. I still won’t spend $50+ on the Blu-Ray for Blade Runner, though. I must say that one of my favorite movie lines to this day was spoken by Denzel in Carbon Copy: “I don’t need to.”
• Catch a matinee of Atonement
• Curse myself for not having seen Sweeney Todd. Sorry, I just wasn’t interested until it was too late and it was gone. A guy I used to work with said Depp did a great job though. I just haven’t been interested in the last several Tim Burton movies. Watching his Planet of the Apes was like catching my wife in bed with someone who isn’t even smarter or better looking than me. Like when Peter thinks Jennifer Aniston slept with Lumberg in Office Space or when Mickey Rourke says to Wanda in Barfly: “Why did it have to be Eddie? He symbolizes everything that disgusts me.”

So far, I think I completely agree with Roger Ebert’s feelings and predictions. Juno really deserves best pictures, among others. This year certainly won’t be as suspenseful and exciting as others but at least we’ve had the presidential primaries for that.

High Tension (review)

Another movie that’s way too long. This one is way too long in the same way that Death Proof is too long. How many shots of cars chasing each other do you really need? It’s nice that the “surprise ending” happens in the middle of the movie though and I like the way they shot the remainder with different actors. Other than a couple interesting bits like that, though, this movie is pretty boring and a waste of time.

Paz Vega

Loved her in Spanglish which is one of my favorite movies. Watched 10 Items Or Less last night which was way better than, say, 10 Things I Hate About You. I’m more interested in the featurette “15 Days Or Less.” Apparently, Vega wasn’t available until a certain day and Freeman had to leave on a certain day so they had 15 days to shoot the movie which meant, among other things, no rehearsals. There were a lot of location changes, etc. and even with my little bit of experience I kept thinking … how did they make all those lighting and camera changes even in the same location… wow. That was impressive to me.

Also got Sex and Lucia (R rated version) which I haven’t watched yet.

More Florida Film Resources

I just discovered FilmFlorida.com and the Sarasota County Film & Entertainment Office. Sarasota is the next city over but I think I’m in Manatee County. I can’t believe how many web sites I’m finding for filmmaking in Florida. Definitely check out the “Florida” Category to the right.

Movies I’ve Recently Seen

I can’t wait to start making my own again. In the meantime:

DVD:

• Turistas – So boring I couldn’t even finish watching it. Would have made a good short film, I think, but it’s at least an hour too long.
• Ginger Snaps – as good as you’ve heard. Finally broke down and rented it for me and Alex, my teenage daughter, after haring raves about it for years. Great writing helped me overlook the awful (to say the least) acting in Clerks. In Ginger Snaps, the good writing and outstanding acting helped me overlook the downright awful special effects. We’re talking … oh, man … it’s awful, but yes, the rest makes up for it.
• Ginger Snaps 2 – as good as you’ve heard, too. Great premise. The young lead actress plays the punkette receptionist at the abortion clinic in Juno who offers Ellen Page the boysenberry condom (and it’s amazing how pretty she is when she’s not grimacing through a whole moive). Tatiana Maslany is outstanding. Watch it a second time and pay attention to her in particular. I know there’s a debate about which is better. I couldn’t say – they’re too different.
• Children of Men – decent. I wrote an incredibly long rant about movies with no endings to a friend of mine. I delete my sent mail and trash pretty frequently so if he still has it, I’ll post it.
• The Descent – I’m not claustrophobic, but every time they went through a small tunnel I got scared. I’ve been spelunking and it’s the only sport I’d consider “extreme.” Jumping out of planes wouldn’t be a rush to me. The thought of being trapped miles underground terrifies me. The monsters and whatnot didn’t scare me. Alex, my 16-year-old daughter, who loves horror movies said it was only the second movie ever to scare her. The first would be The Blair Witch Project. I thought the all-girl cast interesting. I never noticed The Thing had an all-male cast until the commentary pointed it out. It had this prologue that had no relevance for the rest of the movie which was irritating. Strong women characters which was nice.
• Cabin Fever – I was just curious about Eli Roth- the auteur who brought us Hostel and Hostel 2. I wouldn’t recommend either of those movies, but Cabin Fever was absolutely delightful. I didn’t expect it to be funny – let alone really funny.

Just bought Lucia, Lucia. I found it for $3.99! Looking forward to watching it. Still can’t find a reasonably priced copy of Lucía y el sexo (no relation whatsover). Continuing on this train of thought, I should rent Ten Items or Less.

In Theaters:

• Rambo – surprisingly good. This inspired a rant about our foreign policy. Maybe I’ll post that, too.
• Michael Clayton – good, but the ending seemed rushed and cliché.
• There Will Be Blood – pretty darn good
• No Country for Old Men – first movie I’ve seen with another person in a long time. Robert and I went to go see it. He fell asleep a couple times. I’d have let him sleep but he was snoring. I don’t know if it disturbed other people but it certainly disturbed me. I can’t say enough how refreshing it was to watch and listen to smart characters. I would say the same thing about Juno but even more so with this movie.

I No Longer Support the Writer’s Guild Strike

Not that my endorsement or lack of one matters to anybody, but I wanted to rant. I was on their side. Even when they prevented a Golden Globes ceremony. But now … they’re going to allow the Grammies to go on. The Grammies. The lamest “major” awards show. It’s worth mentioning they’re still not budging on the Academy Awards. The Grammies. They might let the Academy Awards die which is important but they’re going to waste time and effort on this … I … I can’t even type right now.

Screening

Robert couldn’t show up because of  a bizarre incident involving his pants getting stolen. That’s two screenings of two movies he’s been in that he’s totally missed.

Danny, Jose, and Maggie showed up. I only talked with Jose – I didn’t get a chance to talk to the others. I left early because I had a killer headache and my stomach was killing me. I saw some cool shorts from the animation class and the beginning of Danny’s edit. Actually, I didn’t leave early … they started pretty late because of technical difficulties, among other things.

Last night I watched Cabin Fever which was very good. Much better than Eli Roth’s other two flicks, Hostel and Hostel 2.

The Red Eye Is Delayed Indefinitely

I’m simply lacking the time and resources to work on it for the remainder of my time in Michigan. I’ll just post Danny’s edit. Maybe I’ll put up some extra shots I took or something.

I was going to try to squeeze in the time but I really want to focus on my Flash & ActionScript 3 skillz in preparation for potential jobs in Florida. One in particular that I had a phone interview for yesterday and have a face-to-face for while I’m down there for a day on Feb 5. SproutMeansGrow is my graphics blog & site.

The house is ours as of today. Nikki and the kids arrive there by train tomorrow. I dropped them off at the Detroit station yesterday.

I’d love to see Rambo after the screening of Red Eye tonight but I spent $85 on those books and getting them overnighted so I gotta cool it with the money for, like, a year.

Tres Películas

Last night I caught the 6:15 showing of Cloverfield. Juno started ten minutes after that left out. The previews before Charlie Wilson’s War had just started when Juno got out so I caught that, too.

The whole 20 screen complex was almost empty. Maybe that’s why tix were only $5.75 each. Charlie Wilson’s War was the first time I’ve ever been alone in an auditorium like that. I’ve almost been alone a few times but someone (usually someone loud and obnoxious) always comes in at the last minute or late.

New Category: OPM (Other Peoples’ Movies)

I have a rare date with Nikki tonight. Last evening we’ll have together until Feb 4 which will be, again, the last evening we’ll have together until Feb 20. We’re going to see Juno, which we’re both really excited about. It’s directed by Jason Reitman who did Thank You For Smoking which we both enjoyed and stars Ellen Page who was half the cast of the wonderful Hard Candy which we also both enjoyed. I’ve wanted to see it for a while because of Page, but the multiple Academy Award nominations yesterday certainly helped.

I rented Eastern Promises last night solely based on Viggo’s (we’re on a first name basis) Best Actor nomination. I wasn’t impressed.

I still haven’t seen Charlie Wilson’s War which I really want to. I have a mild curiosity about Cloverfield and The Orphanage. I would be ashamed over how excited I am about Rambo, but Rocky Balboa was so great I can admit this in public (at least until it comes out and potentially makes me look like an idiot).

Speaking of Rocky Balboa, I saw the alternate ending on the DVD in which he wins the fight. Not only was the writing so stupid it didn’t fit in with the rest of the film, but … it was just awful. Having him lose and still be proud/victorious … it brings the series full circle. Now if only we could wipe the planet clean of every copy of Rocky IV and Rocky V, all would be well in the world.

I can remember eating my way through several boxes of some disgusting cereal as a child over a period of weeks so I could send in the proofs-of-purchase to get a Rocky II poster.

I’m Dreaming of a …

I really want an exterior shot of the Henry Ford Hospital so I’m hoping there will be a time of no snow sometime between now and when I leave Michigan. Sooner than that, actually, so I can capture and edit that shot into the movie.

A couple weeks ago, I found a sweet parking space in front of the hospital, put money in the meter and took the camera with me so I could get the exterior shot(s) and hopefully guerilla myself a shot of some interior and, in particular, “room 314″ before getting kicked out. My camera’s “on” switch is very sensitive. If it rustles in the bag, it’ll turn on even though it might not be recording. So all the charging done the night before was wasted. As soon as I pressed record, the thing died. That’s actually okay, it was rather dark by that time – I should really do this over lunch instead of after work (my building is just a few blocks away).

I thought to myself, “Well, I’ll just take some still shots and creatively use them somehow.” Of course, those batteries were dead, too. I’m loathe to admit all this because it makes me look like a most unprepared idiot.  

I’d really like to get the Fisher building in the background but there’s no way to get a “Henry Ford” sign in the shot and the Fisher building unless I do some sort of pan which … I really don’t want to do. It would be sweet to get the old GM HQ in there, too but that’s even less practical. Gosh, the original Motown/Hitsville USA house would rock, too. This area around the hospital, called the New Center (check out the slide show on the home page) area of Detroit, is really rich with awesome architecture and historical significance.

Michigan Building Parking Structure

Whenever you see a shot of Maggie sitting at the table … look for the parking structure out the window in the background. That’s the parking structure used for major scenes in The Island and 8-Mile.

This Isn’t Going To Work

In an effort to have something ready to be screened Jan 25, I thought if I can’t have the footage I still want to get and don’t have the time to edit what I do have, why don’t I do super-scaled-down version using as little as possible? My idea was to make a silent version and see if the story could tell itself through imagery. I even thought if I inverted the colors whenever The Woman shows herself … that might help with the ending …

Both Nikki (that’s my wife) and I agree it doesn’t really work. For this concept to work I’d need different shots than I had – which brings me back to “I don’t have all the shots I want.”

What I did was do a “save as” on Danny’s finished version and just cut it up, remove the sound, take out the color, etc. And Danny’s version/vision is just very different than mine. Eventually, I’d like to have both Danny’s and my edit up so you can compare them. He includes stuff I won’t and excluded stuff I consider essential. Danny Martinelli, by the way, is the guy in the movie with long hair playing the pinball machine.

So, I’m not proud of this at all, but … here it is for posterity. Stay tuned for the “real” version in 2-3 weeks (hopefully).

Funny = I cut so much out that the opening and ending credits are longer than the movie itself.

I’m A Gangsta

The final bit of paperwork I have to submit for a job application packet is any arrest reports for any arrests. So, today I spent the day driving to places and requesting arrest reports. Ann Arbor was even kind enough to let me have a copy of my mug shot which I’ve attached (Yes, that’s a tuxedo shirt I was wearing and, yes, I thought I looked pretty cool). My “criminal record” works like this:

1. Get pulled over for speeding
2. Forget to pay speeding ticket
3. Get bench warrant out for my arrest
4. Get pulled over for speeding
5. Get arrested because of bench warrant for not paying last speeding ticket
6. Repeat

This happened a few times.

Why is this relevant? Well, while I was at the Jackson County Sheriff’s records place, I walked into a Bail Bonds place across the street to try scoring an interview with the proprietor. They also do fugitive recovery which is the really relevant part. I’d like my next little project to be … accurate.

So, I’m kinda gonna be like, Danny Trejo – a hardened criminal turned big Hollywood star.

Final Cut Plug-Ins

Updated (with examples below): January 11, 2008

I can’t believe I never wrote a post about these – I was positive I did! Anyway, here are two free plug-ins for Final Cut that came in quite handy for me.

Final Cut doesn’t ship with a guides or grid feature like, well, every other app in the universe. Even with these plug-ins, creating guides isn’t as easy as pulling them from the ruler like in Photoshop, but at least you got ‘em.

http://www.digital-heaven.co.uk/freeware/dh_grid.php

http://www.digital-heaven.co.uk/freeware/dh_guides.php

I can’t believe this other plug-in is free because it’s so awesome for that old movie or damaged film look. It allows you to make your footage look old and damaged in all kinds of different ways all of them can be adjusted to your tastes.

http://www.cgm-online.com/eiperle/cgm_aged_film_le_e.html

As part of a “Then and Now” series for Little Caesars, we did a few black and white videos of how things used to be and full color videos (with intros featuring the THX logo and sound) of how things are now. All “Then” videos used the Aged Film plug-in so you can see how awesome it is. I don’t even think I tweaked any of the settings.

The Remedy Process … Then still makes me laugh every time I see it. Dan Walker, who plays the customer has worked his way up from store manager to Senior Director of National Training because every moment he spends working (which is almost every moment, period) is given all his passion and dedication to standards of excellence whether it is lifting up the employees or serving the customer. Jeff Drozdowski, who does a great job of playing the awful store manager is one of the Managers of National Training and is an extraordinary teacher, also exemplifying the company’s #1 Founding Philosophy: “Little Caesars Must Be A Fun Place To Work.” The best part was an accident – Jeff throwing the returned pizza onto a pile of empty pizza boxes makes it look like it’s a pile of returned pizzas. His delivery of the line “Have a good one” is one of the best in cinema history.

Orientation … Then has another accidental gem. Our first take was interrupted by the phone ringing. These videos were shot really early in the morning so it couldn’t have been a customer but the fact that no one answered it was hysterical as we re-watched it and worked it into the final take by using a cell phone to call the store.

Finally, Workplace Safety … Then, is short but funny. That sound is actually Jeff screaming.

More Florida Goodies

I emailed the Sarasota Film Society, based on the photo of what looked like students working on Macs on their Filmmakers Forum page, asking if they had Macs to rent for editing and such. Jerry Kovar, the Executive Director, emailed me back and said that, no, they don’t but he would forward my message to others. One of those people was Rick Hughes, of anythingarts.com, who suggested the Digital Technology Centre which looks pretty sweet. Sarasota seems to be pretty happenin’ when it comes to cinema and other arts so I’m getting excited.

Mr. Kovar also asked what I would be doing in Florida. I had to say, quite confidently, “I have no idea,” which I’m sure made me seem like quite the professional. He said I should send him my resume so he could see if anyone would be interested. I couldn’t help but get really excited about that (against my better – or should I say bitter – judgment).