Finally, I started editing Red Eye

And I’ll be doing that for another 10-15 minutes.

Robert’s Red Eye

I didn’t write Red Eye. Maggie, a fellow student at the Detroit Film Center, did. It’s just so … weird to work on a movie I didn’t write. It’s very different than being in a play I didn’t write. But then … I think it would be easy to be in a movie I didn’t write. Directing is a completely different animal. I’m not sure I’d completely enjoy being one of those directors who is in their own movie.

This sort of thing drives me crazy at my day job. I hate working on everyone else’s projects and never having one of my own. One of the pastors at church said, if I may remind myself, that I need to work on someone else’s vision before working on my own but … dude, that sucks.

I just feel like everyone thinks, “Oh, you’re only the director? You didn’t write it?” or “Oh, you’re only the designer? You didn’t actually create the content?” Actually, I don’t feel – I know … that’s what they say in job interviews. And my Mom says stuff like that. I didn’t plaster my name all over Madre because I feel that’s just, I don’t know, vain. And after she watched it, she said, “You’re name is nowhere on it” which made me wonder if she even believed I made it. Yeah, I could have filled the credits with my name for every crew position, put my name as producer, director, writer, but … whatever.

I should mention the writer/director of the church musical liked the editing and such I did of her show.

I’ve been very bitter and unfulfilled lately, if you can’t tell.

Can’t Catch the Redeye

Finally found the script so I can start editing. It’s gonna look “experimental” because I don’t know what the heck else to do with it.

Started capturing and uploading bits of the wedding video. Google Video is getting on my freaking nerves lately.

From the Vaults

I just found this video I made months ago when I was experimenting with the process of making video podcasts.

The intro is a collection of pictures and video of me at work followed by me explaining en español the benefits of using podcasts for training.

The Worst Thing About Cinema D

Because of rescheduling, I think, there were two religious themed films my night. Mine, which was I like to think at least a little subtle, funny and brilliant. The other  was more like Jesus with a bullhorn and a sledgehammer. Fortunately, mine was shown first, but it was still irritating in that “I can’t believe someone else wore the same dress I did to the party” kind of a way.

I am So Freaking Brilliant

Well, I started writing the new one today. Still haven’t started editing the second one but … I can write any time – editing has very narrow windows of opportunity.

This third one will be like Saved but deeper and funnier.

Critique

An email from Natasha, my teacher at the Detroit Film Center is in red:

Hey Jay! Congratulations on your film showing! Great story! did you write it alone? where did that come from?

Well, I wanted to have as many reasons as possible for the Detroit Film Festival to take the movie. There was a slot free on latin night so everything about the story came from that. Latin actors, dialogue in spanish, Mexicantown location, and as many references to Pedro Almodovar as possible (priest, strong women, drugs, transvestite). I just needed to write & weave all those things together.

I LOVED robert’s part – really comedic.

Yes, Robert was the best thing about the film.

WHY WERE THE WHITE’S SO BLOWN OUT!!??? Your exposure was AHH!!! your F-stop open too too much

Well, I didn’t know as much as I do now about such things and, as I said in an earlier post, I scouted the location at a very different time of day when the lighting was nowhere near as bright (another novice mistake).

The actors where a little on the dry side- the mom mainly. The kids were actually pretty good. i think you already knew this….

Yes, all true and noticed by many but as I’ve also said before, there were things I could have done (there are lists in earlier posts) to improve their performance but didn’t.

LOVED the opening scene with the photo album.

Really? Thanks. That was kind of a last minute idea. I was unsure about it and wondered if it was too long.

LOVED highlighting that it WAS detroit

I’m glad no one made fun of my use of Google Earth.

So basically, your overall idea was fabulous.. it was just your production side that needed improvement but when you have such a great story, people overlook that.

I’m glad everyone likes the script as much as I do. I’m very proud of it.

BUT FOR NEXT TIME, don’t try to do everything alone.

I was warned about that but I honestly thought I could be the next Robert Rodriguez and everything would come out perfect with only me and no budget.

Now you have a pool of people to pick from all from DV1.

I really hope I get to work with Jose. I need to email him about some projects we discussed.

i’m really glad i met you cause i would love to help you out on anything.

I feel the same way. I’ve developed a small handful of people I will call with every idea.

the kids loved working with you too! i am sure they would love to continue working with you as well!

I’ve already got ideas in mind. Though I, actually, may snatch up Reynaldy’s dad first! That particular idea is the one I keep writing about having “writer’s block” with.

Madre Goofs

Ever since it was finished, I have been meaning to watch it solely to see if there’s food on the table before the waitress shows up, etc. Well, here are the goofs I noticed re-watching it just now:

• When we first see the family as the camera follows the transvestite into the taqueria, all three actresses have their scripts in front of them on the table. After the first cut, when we first hear Maria telling her story, the scripts are gone.
• When the waitress brings the food, she lays a plate in front of the Mom. There’s a cut and when the transvestite asks for the salt, her plate is gone, but her script is sitting in front of her.
• The camera changes again and her plate has returned.
• The scene with the bus boy … the cup he knocks over with no subtlety doesn’t show up until halfway into the scene.

I think that’s it.

Perfect Neighborhood

I finally finished it and turned it into Irene at church. If you combine all the time it took, it was only a few hours and most of that was just trying to sync the audio with the video tracks. The close/mobile camera was relatively easy but the wide camera in the tech booth never zoomed in on anyone so I couldn’t really tell what I was doing until I noticed the flashes from cameras in the audience lighting up the stage and realized if I couldn’t sync the video to the audio, I could use the single frames the stage was lit up to sync the two video tracks (since I already had one video track synced to the audio). Pretty ingenious if I do say so myself.

Choosing which camera angle to use at any given moment was easy since at given moment only one had a good shot.

Now that that is done and the Wedding package stuff is almost done, I can finally start editing Red Eye. Then I’ll start on my next personal project.