Part 2 of a MASSIVE Catch-Up Blog

December 28th, 2010

Back to the story of Two. I feel like this could have made an interesting documentary. “Two: The TV Show That Never Was”. Had I thought of it then. Damn. Moving on. We began filming again the next morning. Keith ran all over East-Jesus to find a damn fog machine. We found a K-Mart that sold them the previous night, but he went to Target, thus making it useless. Anyhow, we had one now. We could finally film the way Nuna wanted to, which makes me wonder why he made me director? When we got down to brass tax things began to feel more right. The fog machine was kicking in (slowly), but it was kinda doing it's job. I explained how I wanted the scene done. Nuna, with his facial tattoo completely covered, and in his spiffy digs got into character. All was going well.

The first scene we thought we should film would be the fight in the opening sequence. So, I set up the shot. I knew where I wanted Nuna to come in, I knew when Scott should come in. Nuna and Scott set up the fight. Scott was a bit worried about the giant knife. Etc. Whatever. In the end, Greg and I were both filming. Him with his camera and me with Nuna's, which I used, like, once. Riley also had to use audio equipment he wasn't used to.

In the end, we maybe got like 2 minutes of usable footage. I did get scolded for running the camera way too much. I thought it was the best thing to do. During Brutal Nuna CONSTANTLY had the camera running. I guess he changed his way. Also, the audio didn't come out and we didn't even get the shoot done. Joy. We had two weekends to finish and we couldn't film too late because Scott had to leave and Nuna was filming for Brutal 2. All in all, the shoot didn't go well at all. Torn up by this, Greg and I went to Graveyard Records then watched a few movies at my house. I believe we watched “Otis” and “Behind the Mask”.

A few days to a week after this headache of a shoot (if you want to call it that), we got word from Riley, who spoke with Nuna, about the show's future. Apparently the agent hated our idea and thought it to be one of the worst he ever read. He wanted us to go back to a previous idea Nuna had. At this point my heart wasn't in it, so I quit. I still plan to save the script for the future. I would have love to have kept working with him. Making Brutal with him was and will always be one of the best experiences of my life and he'll always be a good friend.

After the dust of “Two” had cleared Riley, Greg and I weren't sure what to do with our time. All of our free time at the time that wasn't dedicated to homework went towards “Two”. It became such an insane collaborative effort and we made a script all three of us were proud of. We still hang out and talk and try to collaborate on a piece again, but it's never been as fluid of organic as it was those few weeks. After that Riley went back to trying to get his art classes done, Greg went back to finishing some shorts he was working on and writing his first feature length screenplay. I also had to go back to the real world. Trying to pass Math and Bio plus finishing my shorts and so on. The dream ended. We were back in the world.

At this point I went back to editing my short film, “Coins”, that I filmed with my friend at the time. Coins was an interesting little film because it came out of nowhere. It wasn't planned so much as it was thought up on the spot and filmed in two days. I was sick at the time, but it was still a fun shoot. “Coins” is the story of a girl whose collecting flattened coins on the train tracks and she stumbled upon a dead body in the woods. Everything was fun until I had to sit down and edit. I had to do extensive work to the short. Audio was horrible because I could be heard breathing in the background because of being so congested, so I had to lower the audio levels lower than the standard level. I then also did a lot of color correction work, which I strangely enjoy. It gives your work a nice look and can make average looking work look a lot better. I did a lot to the color and always had mom coming in to my editing room and asking her “Which looks better? A slight blue tint or a slight purple tint” and then we'd talk about the content of the scene and what I'm trying to do and she'd tell me which she felt was better. She's great.

After I had a falling out with the actress it was hard to keep editing the short, but I power through and made three versions of the short. A class cut that's a bit shorter and has a slightly different color correction to it, a longer cut that has my favorite color correction and then a black and white cut of the extended version because while filming I kept picturing it as a black and white piece. No one at this point has seen the black and white version in it's entirety. Perhaps in the future.

Right after filming “Coins” I began on my short dedicated to my dad, entitled “Steve”. My original script for it was intended to be at least 10 to 15 minutes long and would mix in narrative elements, some experimental storytelling aspects and real footage of interviews I've conducted with my dad. It was am ambitious process. I even found an actor named Scott who was interested in playing the character of Steve. He told me he was really interested after reading the early draft of my script. I would go on to like Scott's work so much that I'd ask him to play the killer in “Two”. It's a shame it never continued.

Now I say Scott would be playing a character, even though my dad is a real person. Steve is a character, he's a representation of my dad. I described it as such in my script.

NARRATOR

(V.O.)

The man holding the picture is Scott. He's the person I've chosen to play "Steve". Now, let it be clear. My dad is Steve, but Steve isn't necessarily my dad. In this sense, Steve is the vehicle I use to tell the story. Is it my dad's story? Partially. Is it Steve's story? Completely.

See? The short would be almost like those Unsolved Mystery shows where it was part real interview and part dramatization. The short was originally about my dad's battle with smoking and him trying to quit. Scott would play Steve who is the embodiment of the everyman. The way Steve deals with smoking would be different than how my dad dealt with it, but, they're similar. It's sort of metaphysical.

Well, Greg and I went to Scott's apartment to film the opening scene where Steve has a battle with smoking and is haunted by a pack of cigarettes. Scott's process of getting into the character was truly amazing to watch. He really made me feel like a confident director because he was really getting into the character with me. It was great. He then taught Greg and I a bit about lighting. The man is a lighting wiz and helped me get an amazing tone with the piece and the lighting. I owe the man a lot and I always have his back.

Well after that initial shoot I went home that weekend and did an impromptu interview with my dad. It was very impromptu. I had no idea I was gonna do it. I didn't even set up lights or use DV cameras. I used a 720p camera that the CEO of Braeger bought for me set up on a tripod and used a lamp for lighting. The only real piece of equipment I used was a zoom recorder for the audio and then I synched them up later. It worked like a charm.

After editing the footage of Scott and doing color correction to make some Day for Night effects I got it looking really good. Hell, I impressed Scott who is a firm believer in doing those effects with lighting, not editing. The class all liked my cut, but the common consensus was that they wanted more of a my dad. It was an interesting process from this point on because the more that the need to see more of my dad rose the less and less I had of Scott. I eventually cut him out completely and was strictly using footage that, at very most, was going to be used as cutaways or throwaway. I shot it with a low quality camera in a very guerilla style. Emotional content was high but I felt less and less like a real filmmaker because I felt like I was working with found footage and wasn't using anything I set up myself. I had interviews with my dad and I, footage of his radiation treatment, a lot of shots of him interacting with people and stuff with doctors. It was a real headache trying to find a good way to put it all together. As this went on I showed my project and people began to like it more and more, but I felt more and more ashamed of my visuals. My audio work is good and I did a lot with the audio recorded with the in camera mics but there was little I could do with the visuals. I color corrected some and used filters, but I couldn't make them look “good”. I was nervous going into the portfolio review process. Luckily my amazing instructor Alex Torinus had my back going into portfolio and was going to explain my process of why and how I ended up with what I did. I appreciate that because I passed Portfolio review and I have her and my dad to thank for that.

As the semester winded down I began to freak out. My math grade was alright, but I was freaking out about not passing. Even more so with Bio because none of my tests in the main lecture where above 65%. I was kicking ass in the lab with an A, and the lab is 40% of my grade, so I had hope that that would propel me into passing range. It did. I passed Math with a C- and Bio with a C.

Winter break came up and it's much needed. I spent some quality time with two of my best friends visiting from out of town and I saw “Black Swan”, which I loved, and “Tron: Legacy”, which was OK. It was a lot of fun but lacked substance. It's 3D was pretty good, so that helped it. I've also gotten back into the grind of writing. I'm currently working on re-writes of my first feature, trying to get an outline done so I can finish my second and work on a few shorts. The only thing remotely close to filming and editing I'm doing over break is to film some test footage so I can teach myself how to use the program Color that came with my Final Cut Pro studio. I want a professional color grading program. I may do some editing for a fellow student on a short film he wants t make, but I haven't heard back on that yet. I have time to rest, and you're completely caught up for now. Thanks for reading.

I guess I should also mention my Winter playlist of movies. I will list it below. Suggestions and comments are always welcome.

Clerks

Clerks II

Natural Born Killers

Grindhouse (Planet Terror/Death Proof)

The Quick and the Dead

Re-Animator

Saw

Shaun of the Dead (w/ director commentary)

Vulgar

Young Guns

Neil Gaiman's NeverWhere

Inglourious Basterds

Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession

A Clockwork Orange

Almost Famous

American Splendor

The Anarchist Cookbook

SLC Punk

The Aviator

The Backyard

Bringing Out the Dead

Coffee & Cigarettes

The Crow

The Dark Crystal

Dead-Alive

El Mariachi

From Dusk till Dawn

Hard Candy

Hostel

Hostel Part 2

Hot Fuzz

Raising Arizona

Jimmy and Judy

I've finished some, but still got a lot more. On a final note I feel I should express my excitement for Kevin Smith's new flick "Red State". He's almost completely reinvented himself and I'm excited. Check out the teaser below.

And, finally, for those interested in "Two", if you ask nicely I'll talk with you about it and explain my plans for it, but, if you want an idea of how Riley and I wanted it tone wise, watch the Exorcism scene from "the Unborn" (yes, I'm aware it's not a good film) while listening to Ennio Morricone's song "Ecstasy of Gold" from "The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly" and you'll get an idea. Seriously, do it. It works very well.

PART 1 of a MASSIVE Catch-Up Blog

November 30^th, 2010

It appears I've completely lost touch with this blog. As I sit in the terrace in the Union at UWM, I've tried thinking the last time I've sat down to write about what's current in my life. It's been far too long. A lot has happened. I wrote a rejected TV show, made two shorts, lost people in my life, saw some fun movie, did some art, and am producing a series of short films. So much I could be writing about, but, yet it goes unwritten. I wonder why I've gotten so lazy.

So, I guess I should just go back to what I would consider the beginning. Let's talk about that TV show I mentioned. Since it's no longer being picked up for the Fall season, I feel I can freely talk about it. I won't give away many plot points or anything, because I plan to hold onto the pilot and try to sell it later.

It began around the end of September, beginning of October. This time was busy enough. I was then working at both Halloween Express and Humboldt Park Elementary plus I was going to school full-time and trying to be in an artistic field. Needless to say, I was very busy. How I took on another task is beyond me. Anyways, my old friend Nuna (director of indie-horror film “Brutal”) contacted me about a potential TV deal he had in the works with a former NBC agent out in Hollywood. At the time he didn't give me much except a very general premise and the notion of me joining as the show's head writer. I was stoked, to say the least.

I was nervous at first. I never wrote a pilot for a TV show. To have a cut off point would be hard. The closest I've done to a TV script was a web show a friend of mine and I were (and still are) working on. But, those are only 12 to 15 pages each. This has to be an hour. So, that's like, 45 to 50 pages. I was also worried, because I'm not as harsh on TV as I am on film. I find myself taking more chances with TV shows (thank you DVR). Hell, I've even caught myself watching a poor show simply because “it's nothing special, but it's entertaining”. Nuna, on the other hand, is a harsh judge of TV. He doesn't watch it much and he doesn't like most of it. The two other people I would later bring on are about the same, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I was also worried because up until this point I've written for myself. My way of doing things is I finish a draft, then move on to a new project. The chance of me sending something out and selling it as this point is slim, so re-writes aren't essential. The base is there for when I need it and that way I can update it when needed. Also, if the script is for something I'm making, I can make changes on the spot. I have a very impromptu way of shooting that, isn't the “right way”, but works for me.

The problems began when Nuna presented me the idea. We would later find out it's not the idea he pitched to the agent, but whatever. I liked Nuna's idea a lot, but I did have a few concerns. He told me I had the ability to run with it and do my own thing. I got even more excited. Finally, an outlet. The idea he gave me went something like this:

(note, I can't remember word for word, so I apologize)

'It's about two guys. Let's name them Nuna and Keith for now. Nuna is a former priest turned tattoo artist whose looking for the man who killed his sister who was Keith's fiance. It's based on Revelations 11 and the killer may be the anti-christ. I want it to play out like 'Lost' where everything happens from the beginning but with a 'Supernatural' feel.'

I had some issues, mainly the Supernatural influence and the religious undertones. It's about the mythology rather than the ideology, which can be just as hard to deal with because to consider it to be “mythology” can be frowned upon. But, I liked the idea and was given control.

I began to freak out though. How the hell do I begin this? The agent wanted us to write and direct a rough pilot to send to him that he can send out and try to sell during the Fall season. We had until Thanksgiving. That's not a lot of time.

I think I like making things hard on myself because the first person I chose to approach was my good friend, Riley. The issue with this is, as productive as we can be, we argue... a lot. We don't always see eye to eye and we've had some pretty large arguments over some very stupid things (some are still going on today). Luckily, we saw eye-to-eye on this, and Riley has a lot of knowledge about religious mythology, philosophy and what not. I have a huge interest in it and such, so it worked.

We began devising a draft that, to me, felt like Supernatural (reluctantly) meets Twin Peaks with the visual style of No Country For Old Men with some Neil Gaiman flare (a big influence on me).

Before I continue, I feel I should mention why I'm so against Supernatural. Nothing against the show. I'm not a huge fan, but per Nuna's request I checked out a few episodes. My problem is, I felt he was TOO influenced by this show. I was way more intrigued in his Carnivale influence, but I digress. The issue with Supernatural being his influence is, if we aren't careful we could become a clone. No one wants that. I don't want people to go: “Oh! I dig how this is like Supernatural.” Luckily, Riley used to watch the show, but wasn't as invested as Nuna and Greg, who we brought on, but sadly didn't use to his ability besides plot outlining and a well written synopsis, never saw it. So, that way, if something became too much like Supernatural, we can't be blamed because we never watched much of it. For Riley and I, Doctor Who was our Supernatural. So, our views clashed, but it could be fun. It was fun... in a way.

So, pretty much Greg, Riley and I finally got a first draft done. Needless to say... it was short. I'd like to think I was under compensating for something, but whatever. It was only like 25-30 pages, when I need like, 45 to 50. But, it was a good start. I showed it to Nuna and he liked it. Keith, the other dude involved (I guess) liked it. We were set. At this point, since almost every night Nuna was calling me and we were talking about the show and was giving me assignments. Being head writer, I thought I'd be ballsy and ask for an executive producer title to go with my head writer title. I didn't think that was asking too much because, 1) head writer normally is an executive producer anyway, and 2) it's really more of a name than anything else. Now, let me say this now. Had I known how much I would be doing for this damn show, I was have asked for a straight-up producer title right off the back, because, essentially, Riley and I were producers. I started by doing everything and being Nuna's voice. I was Moses and Nuna was the burning bush up on the tippity top of the mountain. Then, I had a slight nervous breakdown and wasn't sleeping, so Riley took over and quickly realized why I had the breakdown. Learning is fun, isn't it?

Throughout the process of writing we were given more and more work. Every time I'd finish a draft there would need to be changes. Usually big changes too that would be cause enough to do a complete re-write. I didn't mind because the story got better and better as it went on and more and more people liked it. We felt it had potential. That, coupled with the pretty intense storyline we were working on, we felt we could have a truly great project.

We were also given the tasks of not only finding an actor to play a silent killer (but we ignored an important character with dialogue), but finding locations to shoot in but a special effects guy. This is where Nuna and I butt heads a lot. He wanted special effects and some crazy insight dreams. I didn't mind that, but I didn't want it in the pilot. I wanted it to be shootable ASAP because our deadline was fast approaching. I didn't want to worry about effects. Plus, I go to an art school where experimental and avant garde rules the program. Finding an FX guy would have been hard. But he was dead set on it, so I did my best. Nuna is a good friend so I thought I should try. Riley found two guys, but we never once saw a piece of work from them, and as far as I'm concerned, they suck. If I could remember their names I'd trash them. But I can't, so I won't.

It was pretty cool that half-way through everything Nuna gave me the title of co-creator. That really made me excited.

Moving on to, I want to say, 3 or 4 weeks before the deadline. We haven't begun shooting. We haven't even decided on the script! Nuna had issues with it. He said he lost his connection with the characters and I had too many locations and blah, blah, blah. Had we had more time, I wouldn't have minded going back and re-working it. I'm he first to admit the script wasn't perfect, but with the little time we had a rough draft had to be a shooting script. At this point Nuna was talking less about Supernatural and more about Carnival and the X-Files. At this point, we shouldn't have been worrying about that. We needed to film something. Get SOMETHING to the agent.

Well, it got down to the point where we had to film. Recruited a friend and fellow film student named Scott to play the killer. He was perfect. Very professional. We had planned to film most of the first big fight scene on that friday. I got to set, and I got excited. Nuna was getting his infamous Joker face tattoo covered with make-up, which, was so odd to see his natural face again. He took a lot of time with his character's look (I described it as being a punk rock Peter Cushing). Keith was just, Keith. No thought into what he was wearing. But whatever. Nuna's house wasn't perfect for what I had written, but it was doable. We'd just go off book and do what had to be done. I got nervous though, when 15-minutes before we start rolling, I asked Nuna how he wanted to direct this scene and he said “Oh, I thought you were directing”.

Needless to say, I freaked. To direct a director and to use equipment you're not familiar with is scary. Even more scary because their's a chance this could be on TV. I kept worrying that if I didn't do the show Nuna's way things would go bad. I eventually got more into the mindset I had to do it my way, but my way of filming is different than Nuna's, which is weird, because I developed my style in part by watching him while working on Brutal. I looked up to him. But, now I felt like we were on different plains and thinking as far as how a scene should be put together. I'm still very guerrilla and he's trying to do things more professional with monitors and multiple camera set-ups.

After the shock of directing wore off, I took a few deep breaths and face my fear. Like my hero, Hunter S. Thompson, once said: “Never turn your back on fear. It should always be in front of you, like a thing that might have to be killed.” I was so ready to do the scene... until our entire shoot was halted... because of a smoke machine...

Yes, I said it. One smoke machine ruined a shoot. Now, this next part is up to some debate. But first, a lesson:

In a film, smoke machines are used to create atmosphere and mood. Plus, it creates rays of light and depth of field. It can be a cool effect.

Now, that being said. Here is where the debate begins. Nuna claims this is used in every movie. I'm not sure if he means every MOVIE or every SCENE within said movie. I'm sure most movies have used this trick at least in one shot. But I refuse to believe it's used in every scene. I'm sure I can go through my 200+ DVD/Blu-ray collection and find at least 10 movies that don't use it. So, to throw an entire day of shooting out the window because of fog really sucks. They only positive thing about this is by shooting Saturday morning, we can set the scene in the time of day I wrote. Early morning.

TO BE CONTINUED... (promise)

Wow, Talk About Neglect...

Yeah, time for one of my awesome bi-monthly updates.

If you know me in person this'll be a recap, but whatever. I've been busy. Not even an excuse but a legitimate term. I work two jobs, go to school, do the filmmaking game on the side (which ends up being most of what I do) and I'm writing a television pilot. With that last responsibility comes the titles "Co-Creator/Executive Producer/Head Writer" and it's killing me. Only a few weeks left, though. Once Halloween Express closes for the season not only will my sleep cycle be back to normal, but I can finally rest and take my time. Hell, I can even do homework and play my oh-so neglected guitar on a regular basis.

Plus, I've been writing a journal. Now, that being said, don't get jealous my devoted readers (all three of you), I don't really write it like I write this. That's more observations and drawings. Started as something for a class but I ended up liking it, so I shall continue it. I'll go more into detail when I have time to do more of these. Trust me, I'll get back into the habit of doing these.

P.S. What's the correct form? Film making or filmmaking. I SHOULD know this... but I don't...

Headache

I guess the point of this post is to update everyone. Currently, I'm working two jobs, going to school and trying to do the whole filmmaker thing on the side.

Let's start with the jobs. The first is the job I've been doing for the last three years; working at Halloween Express. I love this job. I do. It just takes up a lot of my free time. I then work on Friday's with kids at after school activities. So much of my free time goes to these that when I do have free time, I'm doing homework. Goody.

My next big thing is school. I love it, but the homework kills me. If I could just stick with the film work I'd be golden. It's the math and science shit that kills me. It sucks. Especially now when I have film projects coming up I need to do. Even more annoying is the Film Equipment Room changed it's hours which really do not work for my schedule. I'll have to come to campus on my days off now. Joy.

Finally, the whole filmmaker thing. I love it, but it's stressful. As of right now I have one full length film that's 3/4 of the way done and I can't seem to finish. I have the ending, just can't get it there. Then, I have three shorts that have consumed my brain. One is a fantasy film, the other a comedy and the other a drama. I'll give more details at a later time. The big thing is, I want to use one of these for my final project but it'll be hard. The fantasy is out. Too much to do for that one. The comedy may be doable, but I'll need to get creative and the drama, which is the most doable, has no real ending.

On top of that, I was asked to write the pilot for a TV show for a friend. I'd love to do it, but I have such a tight deadline and have NO details that I'm starting to freak out. I need this job, but, at the same time, will it be the final nail in the coffin? Stay tuned to find out!

The Citizen Kane of Bad Cinema?

I've been trying to fit as much as I possibly can into my last week or two of summer before I go back to the grind of school. Everything from staying out late to midnight showings of movies I love.

Okay, I exaggerate, it's only been one midnight showing, but it was a movie I love. I saw a midnight showing of The Evil Dead at the Oriental Theater. It was a really neat exploitation/grindhouse theater experience. It showed schlocky trailers for cult classic films that feature outrageous stories and even more outrageous gore. I love it. I love cult cinema and have a very open mind for it. The film and all of it's trailers were presented in 35mm film. I got to see one of my favorite movies on film in an amazing theatre filled with people.

This being said, there are some films that confuse me. I don't get why they're so popular. The other day my friends Greg and Vanessa invited me to a little double feature of bad films that they were holding. The first film was Trey Parker's musical story about Alfred Packer, "Cannibal! The Musical" and Tommy Wiseau's psuedo-drama "The Room". It was the first time I have seen them. I didn't know anything about "Cannibal" but I've heard so much about "The Room". It has a wicked big fan base and is considered "the Citizen Kane of bad cinema". With this much of a build-up, I was expecting something amazingly bad but amazingly fun. I was wrong. I really don't get the big deal about "The Room".

Now, I know some people are going to say "Oh, you don't get this kind of cinema" or "you haven't seen it in a theatre with all the games and what not". Well, first, I do get this kind of cinema. Second, I don't feel one needs to play "games" while watching a movie to enjoy it and third, we did play all of these games while watching. It's bad, yes. But it's not all that funny. It was like a porno with more story. There is nothing in this movie that makes me want to come back to it like, say, The Evil Dead, Plan 9 From Outer Space or Class of Nuke 'Em High has. Am I happy I saw it? Yes. Was it fun to see with friends? Yes. Is it as great as everyone makes it out to be? No. Well, not to me atleast.

There are two types of bad movies. Bad movies which were made truely believing they were good and there are movies that were made to be bad on purpose. For me, The Room doesn't know what it wants to be. I've heard some say Wiseau made it intentionally to be funny, when I've heard from others that that wasn't the case. I'm leaning towards the later. Seriously, a guy that doesn't know the difference between High Def and Standard I don't think gets how to be intentionally bad. I think he realized his masterpiece was really bad and just milked it.

I do, on the other hand, have to give him credit. Somehow this man raised something like 3 million dollars by himself to fund this movie. He then had it released and created a fan base. That's impressive no matter how you spin in and I have to respect that. Even with that, though, I can't seem to be able to get behind this film. To me, there's a big difference between say, Edward D. Wood, Jr. and Tommy Wiseau. The difference, for me, is: Ed got filmmaking. He truely did. He understood what made it good, what made it bad and what he had to do. He just sucked at it, but he made the best damn movies he could! You can feel it! Tommy Wiseau, on the other hand, doesn't get it. You'd think a movie that had 3 million shilled into it would be a bit more fun.

I hope all of the fans of The Room and Tommy Wiseau (that includes the Tim and Eric fans, because I've heard he was on the show) don't completely hate me. No offense was intended, just ranting in one of the few forums I know someone may actually see it.

The Wheels of Fire Have Begun To Turn Again...

It sure has been a while since I've updated this. I've felt it's useless to update if I have nothing of importance to talk about. Well, I finally have something to say. I'm involved in a new project: Producing Void (blue).

I'm sure I've spoken about this project before, but I'll re-cap in case I haven't. Greg, a friend of mine in film school, made a film in High School called "Void". It was an eerie video that I still don't quite understand but reminds me of a modern-day fairytale for some reason.

Well, a year or two later, he has felt it's time to re-investigate the idea and re-make and extend it. Void was Evil Dead and this is Evil Dead -- part re-make part new idea. Well as he was writing it he asked if I wanted to Produce. I accepted.

For almost an entire semester, which isn't that long, we've been preparing. We still aren't completely ready to begin full-on production but we have enough to shoot a few scenes.

We shot the first scene on Monday. It wasn't the fun, easy shoot I was hoping. Greg recently had surgery and couldn't do a lot of heavy lifting. I was still sick from a few days before. The school was hot as hell and the two hours we were there felt like four.

I'm not sure how much I can go into as far as the scene goes, but it involved a canvas, trick photography and a rather annoying dolly shot we tried to do with a computer chair. I'm not sure how many of you have tried to use a computer chair as a dolly, but it's hard because it doesn't like to go in a straight line. Ours liked to veer left. That was annoying.

After the day of shooting I was feeling light headed and annoyed. Greg seemed stressed. I'm not sure how the footage turned out. I heard it was good, but I'm still worried about sitting down at the editing room and playing with it. We'll have to see.

I promise a better update is to come.

Estrogen Deprived: More than a Show?

Hey everyone. I'm aware it's been sometime since I've updated this. I've needed the break, but I thought I'd fill all my readers in on what's going on.

Yes, I'm sure all of my readers are people I know in person and know what's going on, but writing this diatribe is cathartic so I shall continue to do so.

I guess I should talk about my current projects. Well, I've been using all of this free time as of late to do some writing. I wrote a monologue for a character in Greg's soon-to-be developed opus, Void, and I've been working myself back into the right mindset to finish Yes, Matilda..., but it's been harder than I thought. I'm reading the one year anniversary of when I started it. Perhaps I'll have a party to celebrate my procrastination. Anyone want to come?

Instead of finishing Matilda, like I should, I've been working on a project with Samual Fink. Since I don't think I've talked about him up to this point, I'll describe him. He's in the military and has a big TV and a lot of free time. I've known him a long time. Great. Now that that's out of the way I can explain the project. It's a internet show called Estrogen Deprived (working title). It spawned from a psuedo-documentary thingy we wanted to do called Michael, Let's Go to the Comic Book Store and it became this. It's about two guys who created a comic book and their continuing struggles with love and the other annoying things in life. Original right? HA!

Estrogen Deprived is more than a TV show. It's a general feeling that has filled me as I write. The lack of a significant other at times gets annoying. So, I use that angst in the writing. Do I always feel bad about it? No. Does it hit me at times? You bet. It all goes back to the people who can get a significant other with very little trouble at all and as soon as it goes south they say "Oh, it's SO much better to be single". I say bullshit. It's better for you because you can easily find someone new. People like me, who have to work at it, single life sucks. A lot. It's not that we're constantly depressed, but still. Pretty much, to those who say single life is the best, I say, fuck you. Thank you.

Anywho, as far as the show goes, I'm on episode three. I have 8 more left to write. Our goal is to finish it in July and film in August. That's the plan, anyhow. Let's hope. So far it's going well. A few creative differences but other than that no complaints. I just hope I can stay focused.

I apologize for the disjointed feel of this blog. I'm out of practice and I think I'm getting the beginning stages of arthritis in my fingers. Oh well.

The Premiere

It truly has been awhile since I felt the need to update this. It's not that I haven't had stuff to say, because I have. It's I didn't have the need. Why? I can't quite explain why. I enjoy writing these blogs for all six people who probably read it. Am I lazy? Perhaps. I've been known to be quite lazy on occasion. Have I been busy? Yes. Any artist who says they aren't isn't doing their shit right. What's odd is, I've always been lazy. I've always been busy, yet, that's never stopped me before. If anyone has a reason for why they think I haven't updated in some time let me know. I love hearing half baked theories.

Now on to the premiere. As you've read, my film's done. It's been done. I had some editing to do, but that's to be expected. I can always find sometime new to edit or fix or not be happy with. Such is the life of an artist. You'll like something, dare say love it when it's being made or freshly finished, but you then slowly begin to detest your creation. You look at it almost as if you're looking in a mirror and asking it, thus asking yourself: "why the fuck can't you be better!"

Art is one of those things that's hard to be completely happy with. When you've created something it's never exactly how you envisioned it. There is always things you left out or pieces that are missing. It's like growing up and you never have all the pieces for a puzzle. At least I never did.

I've met very few artists who have been happy with their piece. It doesn't matter the media. I feel there can always be improvements. At times you can't see them or don't have the means to make the improvements, but it can be done. Do you think Edvard Munch was completely happy with "The Sick Child"? Did Cecil B. DeMille feel "The Greatest Show On Earth" was flawless in every way? Did the New York Dolls think they surpassed Mozart when they released their self-titled debut? Probably not. An artist who feels his work is perfect in every way is an artist who has either lost his spirit, is blinded by money and success, or doesn't respect his work enough. Not saying it's bad to make money. We all want to make money doing what we love, but there's a point where it becomes too much. It's called selling out.

Selling out is a word a lot of people use without really thinking about it. To sell out means to stop making the music you want to make to make the music the people writing the checks wants you to make. When you've lost your artistic credibility is to sell out. Making money is not selling out. The Ramones never sold out. They just became popular. There's a difference.

I feel I've ranted enough. I kind of lost track about what I was saying, so I'll just simultaneously end the rant and begin a new thought with... the premiere.

The premiere, also called "Strange Little Things", was a thing that Greg set up with Morgan and I. I use the word thing because I'm not sure what to call it. It wasn't a festival. It wasn't really a true premiere because all the glitz and glam was nonexistent and showing sounds like something a streaker would do. I felt dirty each and every time I said it. I still do. Showing... such a filthy word. This was a thing because it was a very impromptu event (even though it was planned) where it felt more like a get together of hip individuals and family members than anything else. We tried to make it fancy. We sorta dressed up. I was in a pseudo dressed-up state with my all black attire and random punk rock buttons. I felt a bit like Robert Smith without the make-up, but I'm ok with that. Thanks go to Amanda for a-ok on the attire. We also used a microphone, which was unneeded for the 40 people that showed up. We also have some very sensual lighting. The UWM Film Department: Touch of Class.

At this "thing", we each presented a body of work mostly spanning through our first semester at UWM with a piece of work or two from High School by Greg and I. My film "Commedia dell'arte" showed. The transfers were bad and it was, at that point, not in it's final stage. I also showed my laughably bad B-movie tribute from high school called "Staring Back at Me" and a film from last semester called "A Short Film about Almost Something".

I went first. I had to speak to an audience. I had a live mic. I'm impressed I didn't swear. I looked at my feet and just spoke. It was a blur. Not sure what I said. Ask around for me and find out if it was bad. There were laughs. Not sure if that's good or not. I was happy when I was done.

Morgan showed "Unforseen" (video), "Tiny Dancer" (16mm) and "LUCID" (16mm). Greg showed "Mr. Pesti Has Cold Hands But a Warm Heart" (video), "The Artist" (16mm), "The Lady in Black" (16mm) and his most popular film, "Void: Festival Cut".

It was a fun night. My stomach turned when my stuff was showing. It was also embarrassing switching DVDs during the show and going through the DVD menu as the audience watched. Had I had time I would have tried to make it into performance art. Oh well.

We were taking donations for the re-imagining of Greg's film Void. I'm the editor and producer and I think co-director of photography. We made 76 dollars. I was happy. Greg was so-so. Vanessa was extremely giddy which helped and talking to a friend pre-show calmed me down.

We'll hopefully be selling DVDs of the evnt at some point. We'll re-transfer our shit so you'll get decent quality stuff. My first year as a film student is almost up. I don't feel any different. I just feel like a poor filmmaker trying to make a go at it. Hopefully that'll improve because I love making films, so it would suck making bad movies forever. Well, I think they're bad. I have some fans though, I guess.

Thanks for reading. I'll try to update more.

Production Journal #7: It's a Wrap!

Wednesday, April 28 2010

Finally, the filming of Commedia dell'arte has come to an end.

It's been a long journey. About two months, I think. I've been physically exhausted for weeks. I'm too tired to do much of anything. It's been a lot of long nights lugging around heavy equipment for the sake of art.

I don't regret a moment of it though. Thus far, this is my favorite film I've made. My rough cut is a little over 5 minutes so far (will be more once I add the new footage) and I love how it's turning out. I'm truly happy with this film.

Perhaps I should show this rough cut to a few more people. Thus far Leanna, Scott, Morgan and Greg have seen it. Most other people have shown their cuts to the class and have gotten feed back and what not. The reason I'm not is because I want to see how this turns out if I stick to my intuition and make the movie I feel is best instead of getting peoples opinions and stressing me out. It's an experiment. Once I'm happy with my rough cut and can call it a fine cut, sure, I'll show everyone. Until then, I want it to stay special. If I show too many people, the final won't be as special.

I guess I should talk about the actual shoot. It was a relatively quick shoot. We filmed what I've been calling "antics" and some inbetweener stuff to round out everything so there are fewer jumps.

The antics were fun to shoot. It was a very mellow, very fun shoot. Morgan made this amazing coffee and some peanut butter sandwiches. It was great watching Morgan, in make-up, try and bite into her food. During the shoot, Morgan and I were switching out our iPod's to pump the place full of tunes. We didn't think it would hurt, considering we're not doing audio. Morgan was playing a lot of Panda Bear while I was sticking to tunes I was listening to while editing: The Dresden Dolls and The Indelicates new album. It really set the mood.

We did so many different things during these antics. We had Greg doing a silly dance with the ukuelele that I've dubbed "the Charlie Brown", we had him pull a bird out of his hat and even tickle Morgan's face with a rather long feather. He really sold the character. Morgan was great too, but most of the focus was on Greg. Greg has the hard job of being happy, yet depressed and ready to crack. To be zany yet subtle. He did it wonderfully.

After we wrapped on my film, we did some credits for Morgan, which was a wrap for her as well and listened to New Order's "Blue Monday". Then shot some stuff for Greg the next day and it was a wrap for his film. Commedia dell'art, Lucid, and The Lady in Black all finishing at the same time. It's a good feeling to be done. Now I just need to finish editing.

Now, time for a video.

"Blue Monday" - New Order

Production Journal #6: Editing... enough said.

Stress is a word. It's also a word to describe my life currently. Fun how that works.

I've been in the editing room for most of the week, and I think last week. I'm not really sure. The editing room has a weird effect on ones mind. Time doesn't exist. It's like the clock in the head is busted. Minutes feel like seconds, hours feel like fractions of that time. The simple process of cutting and taping film onto reels isn't as quick as you normally perceive. I spent an hour (I think?) just re-taping a scene and razor blading the edges to it goes through the projector better.

Yes, it takes time. No, I'm not just a shitty editor.

It's kind of weird to talk about editing, so I guess before I attempt to, I'll give a quick lesson on editing. Not sure how well it'll work. Also, my camera takes bad pictures, as you'll see, so please, bare with me. If you don't like it, fuck you, buy me a good camera.

Here we go.


First, this is the spindle thing we put our reel of film on.


The film goes to this rather dark spindle on the other side. Another reel, known as the take-up reel is placed on there. It takes up the film


This is the Movie Scope. The film runs from the spindle through this to the other spindle. With this, we can see an image.


See? Sorta...


Here's a drawing that pretty much describes what I just told you.

Now, lets say we found a shot we want to use. Well, we take it and attach it to this


That's the guillotine cutter. It cuts the film for you. We then take the bad footage and put it on an OUT roll. An OUT roll is stuff that you either don't want/need or stuff that turned out like crap. You save it for later. An IN roll is your current film or shots you want to use. Usually you assemble all of your good shots at one time. I don't. I just jump in and edit scene by scene and grab the stuff if and when I need it. It works for me.


Guillotine cutter in action.

When we want to attach the new footage to the good reel, we put the two pieces of film in the middle of the guillotine cutter's base.


Once there, we can put tape over the middle of the two pieces to attach them.


We just push the thing down and it attaches the tape and cuts off the excess. If there is still some tape, you just take a razor blade, Exacto Knife or any type of blade and clean it up.

That's editing. I've been doing this for days. It's so time consuming. I'm a perfectionist. I'm trying to get my match-on-action all right and trying to cut out excess time and frames that aren't needed. Plus, inter-cutting footage is a bitch as times. I love doing it though. I wish I had more to say. The days are running together. I can't really tell you about any experiences. Sorry. Perhaps next time I won't wait so long to post. Thanks for reading.

As a special treat, the Indelicates new album has been helping me in the editing room. Fits the feel of the film well. Here's a song from it.

"Europe" - The Indelicates


and another one...

"Flesh" - The Indelicates


Enjoy

Production Journal #5: Filming in a Heat Box

Tuesday, April 13th - Wednesday, April 14th 2010

It's been awhile since I've actually posted a Production Journal, so I thought I would. It's been a pretty odd week.

I guess by odd, I mean busy. I'm not sure.

Well, it all started Tuesday. We knew from the get go that Tuesday was going to be crazy. I had a camera reservation set up to film and was hoping to get some shooting in, but like every great idea, there is something in the way. Tuesday was the day George Kuchar was going to invade the Union Theatre and fill our brains with his own brand of humor via telepathic rays... and short films... either way, it was going to happen. That being said, I knew everything would be hectic, but I thought it shouldn't be hard to shoot 100ft of film. It's not much. Well, my original idea was to film some of Greg's big scenes at Morgan's apartment like we usually do. What I failed to realize was how long it takes to make Ziti. Why is that important? It's important because Morgan was making ziti and she'd be tied up for some time. I wasn't discouraged though. Just a change in plans. Instead, we decided to go to Riverview dorm, where Greg lives, and film the final shot of the movie. A shot that, in it's way, isn't super important, but is important. One shot is important. I know what it's like to try to take film out of a camera and pick up where I left off. It sucks. I decided not to do this and tried to find things to film.

We did some basic coverage footage. Greg's character, clean faced and all, leaving his residence and walking. Yes, like every good film student, I shot a lot of walking. It's what we do best! Ask around, it's true.

We then got to the important shit. The final shot of the movie. You're final memory. If a film has a shitty final shot, it can take you away from it. I needed this to be good. We (Greg, Vanessa, and I) went to this perfectly dank and dirty alley in the East Side and began to work. The final shot consists of Greg walking down this alley. He's no longer the harlequin of old. He's more matured. While walking down this alley, he leaves his derby on a garbage can and walks away. Fade out. The end.

Last time we attempted to film this, it went horribly! If you'll recall, it involved a clusterfuck of film carnage. This time went a lot smoother! We also got done ahead of schedule! So, we filmed trash for Greg. Why? That's not my place to say. Ask him.

After that, we had our Tuesday ritual of Taco Tuesday and we parted ways. I went home, dropped off my crap, grabbed my camera, did some Math and headed back down to UWM to see George.

This is where things got good. As soon as Morgan, Greg, Vanessa and I walked in we were greeted by a new acquaintance, Mark Borchardt, whom we met last Thursday. He remembered us! We gave him a copy of Greg's short film, Void, along with our contact info so he could tell us what he thought. We really want to know his thoughts. He appreciated this gesture greatly. He smiled, and asked us to all sign the DVD and date it so it's not just a random DVD, but a special moment in history for him to remember. Deep. So we did and he let us take some pictures with him like the lame fanboys we are. I asked him for some editing advice, which he kindly shared, and he told me where to get a VHS copy of Coven, his 16mm short he made back in the 90's. As Vanessa would say, "sweet dick". Below is the picture.



He was a cool dude. He talked to us quite a lot through the night. He took some pictures of all of us, and even proclaimed I am a new friend. Awesome. Mike Schank from American Movie, was also there, but he made me kinda uncomfortable. Too many Satanic questions. Sorry, Mike.

Now onto the Man of the hour, George Kuchar! Man, he was something. Morgan and I seriously feel he's from another Planet. We also gave him a copy of Greg's film. He gave me an autograph and let me snap some pictures. We didn't talk with him nearly as much because he was the man of hour, and everyone wanted a piece of him. He was super kind though. When we were going to take a picture he told me to sit next to him so I didn't have to kneel. He placed his hand on my leg. Didn't bother me. He's cool in my book.



He then showed us some films. He showed Libido Lagoon, Burrito Bay, Temple of Torment, Solstice, and Vault of Vapors. Fun stuff. He answered all of our questions with grace, even Vanessa asking how is love life is. Great man.

We had a party for him in the basement of Mitchell. Food, drinks, and Steven DJing some pretty sweetly odd tunes. Fabulous.

Then, came Wednesday. I was so exhausted when I woke up that Morning. Everything started to go wrong. Morgan was very sick. Her throat closed. I was worried. She almost died and I still had to film. Two bad things! I was too stressed to sit in class. I told Rob I had to go and went to the editing room and just edited for two hours. I needed it. It helped.

Morgan was doing better. We finally got ahold of her. She had to go to the Doctor. She told us to just let ourselves into her apartment. Greg had her keys. So, I headed to Gregs, played House of the Dead a bit and we headed to her house. We got to the bus stop and Vanessa pointed out we forgot the camera! Greg ran like hell back to his dorm and ran back with almost 20 to 30 pounds of stuff. That's three blocks! Way to go Greg. I felt bad. We didn't miss our bus though.

It was odd just walking into her house. But we did. We rested and began to set up. It didn't take long to realize how freakishly hot it was in there! As I planned out the shots, Vanessa attempted to recreate Greg's make-up. She did a good job. We filmed what we could. We waited for Morgan to get home to finish the make-up.

Matt was playing Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, so we watched before we filmed.

This footage is also important, but was never too sure about it. The shoot went by way too quickly for comfort. The lighting set ups were quick, and they looked to be good. I don't know how I feel about what we filmed though. Maybe I'll like it more when I see it. I think I was just too out of it to care. Greg was a trooper. Those lights were hot. I know. I burnt myself. Thank God for Aloe.

Afterwards we headed to Piggly Wiggly and got some cheap soda and grabbed some Wendy's before heading back.

Before I went home I met up with an old friend. We had a very nice night at the beach and my favorite spot in Milwaukee. It made the stressful night so much better. I thank them. I then went home, did some Math and passed the hell out. Sleep. It's what I needed. God, was it good. Thanks for reading.

P.S. this was rushed. Running out of time. Bye.

Real Update to Come

I'm still exhausted from the Kuchar screening last night. I'll post an official blog post about it when I get the pictures back from it. Mine turned out like crap. Even though I was told that proclaiming that my camera is a piece of crap is a "bold statement, man" it's, nonetheless, true.

So, instead of posting MY words, I'm going to steal the words from a writer I love. As you all know, I love Neil Gaiman's work and I find any excuse to post his words, so I will. Here's a little monologue from "American Gods".

"I can believe things that are true and I can believe things that aren't true and I can believe things where nobody knows if they're true or not. I can believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and Marilyn Monroe and the Beatles and Elvis and Mister Ed. Listen — I believe that people are perfectible, that knowledge is infinite, that the world is run by secret banking cartels and is visited by aliens on a regular basis, nice ones that look like wrinkledy lemurs and bad ones who mutilate cattle and want our water and our women. I believe that the future sucks and I believe that the future rocks and I believe that one day White Buffalo Woman is going to come back and kick everyone's ass. I believe that all men are just overgrown boys with deep problems communicating and that the decline in good sex in America is coincident with the decline in drive-in movie theaters from state to state. I believe that all politicians are unprincipled crooks and I still believe that they are better than the alternative. I believe that California is going to sink into the sea when the big one comes, while Florida is going to dissolve into madness and alligators and toxic waste. I believe that antibacterial soap is destroying our resistance to dirt and disease so that one day we'll all be wiped out by the common cold like the Martians in War of the Worlds. I believe that the greatest poets of the last century were Edith Sitwell and Don Marquis, that jade is dried dragon sperm, and that thousands of years ago in a former life I was a one-armed Siberian shaman. I believe that mankind's destiny lies in the stars. I believe that candy really did taste better when I was a kid, that it's aerodynamically impossible for a bumblebee to fly, that light is a wave and a particle, that there's a cat in a box somewhere who's alive and dead at the same time (although if they don't ever open the box to feed it it'll eventually just be two different kinds of dead), and that there are stars in the universe billions of years older than the universe itself. I believe in a personal god who cares about me and worries and oversees everything I do. I believe in an impersonal god who set the universe in motion and went off to hang with her girlfriends and doesn't even know that I'm alive. I believe in an empty and godless universe of causal chaos, background noise, and sheer blind luck. I believe that anyone who says that sex is overrated just hasn't done it properly. I believe that anyone who claims to know what's going on will lie about the little things too. I believe in absolute honesty and sensible social lies. I believe in a woman's right to choose, a baby's right to live, that while all human life is sacred there's nothing wrong with the death penalty if you can trust the legal system implicitly, and that no one but a moron would ever trust the legal system. I believe that life is a game, that life is a cruel joke, and that life is what happens when you're alive and that you might as well lie back and enjoy it."

Real post to come. Also, because it's funny, here's a video making fun of Tim Burton. I'm a big fan of Tim, but this is rather funny because it's true. I feel he needs to go back to basics and make films with lower budgets again, but whatever. For every "Planet of the Apes", there will be a "Big Fish" or "Ed Wood" hiding down the road... or at least we can only hope...

Nothing can go wrong on George Kuchar day... except when it does...

Today was George Kuchar day. The film department was in a gleeful mood, to say the least. I haven't seen Carl Bogner so happy. He actually belly laughed! That doesn't happen often.

I was excited. I like Kuchar quite a bit. I really like his narrative work. I wish we would have seen more of that though. We mostly watched his video diaries. More on that later.

We didn't have a 220 class today. Rob was doing individual interviews with students who wanted advice on their films thus far. I was pretty confident with mine, so I skipped that and spent those two hours in the editing room. I was editing my first scene, which works pretty well, minus the inconsistent exposures.

I got angry though. I was being careful. I was even wearing gloves while editing, and somehow my film projected all gritty and scratched. I looked at the film with a light, and it looked fine. My verdict: the projector needs to be cleaned.

I also realized that editing with gloves can suck when dealing with tape. It sticks to your gloves. So annoying.

I spent two hours on one scene. I have to re-cut that scene twice as well because I kept making small, continuity mistakes. A reaction seen twice and so forth. Such is the drawback to inter-cutting footage.

Then I went to my film class and watched as George Kuchar talked a bit, and then showed us some work. He showed us a psuedo-documentary about the making of his film "Planet of the Vamps" and one of his Holiday videos and a film entitled "The Treasure of Creepy Hollow".

If I learned anything today from Mr. Kuchar it was this. 1) one doesn't need a script if you have actors willing to do anything and 2) you can get a woman to take off her top if you say the movie depends on it... and you're partly senile.

Let's hope he can talk a bit more tomorrow night. I also hope Mark Borchardt still allows me to take some photos with him and George like he said I could.

After that, I had lunch with Lea, went to my English class and went back to the editing room for some more fun. I showed Lea a intro to editing and began to work on a new scene. This scene is so much easier, and more fun to edit. Only got a few shots totally put together. Next time should be more productive.

Just for kicks, here's a short little documentary about George making a film with his class at the San Francisco Art Institute.

"It Came From Kuchar" screening at UWM

I went to the "It Came From Kuchar" screening at UWM and had a great time. In case you aren't familiar with the work of George & Mike Kuchar, this is a documentary about them and their zero budget films they've been making since children and their impact on film making today. John Waters has plenty of nice things to say about them. I suggest checking it out. It did well at SXSW, so yeah. Enjoy.



Another awesome part of the night was getting to meet "American Movie" himself, Mark Borchardt, at the screening. He was seriously, one of the nicest people on the planet. I thanked him kindly for being the reason I saw "Night of the Living Dead" for the first time when he hosted the movie on G4. He talked about his memories from it. Shaked my hand and even wished Greg's girlfriend, Vanessa, a happy birthday. He told me he'd be around next week when George Kuchar visits and told me to bring my camera and we could get some pics. In case you haven't seem or heard of American Movie, check it out below. It was made by some UWM students and it's awesome.



I guess that's it for now.

Meeting with Braeger

I'm in my house, and it's very freaking cold. Thought I'd let you know.

I also was completely soaked this morning. Practically from head to toe! My underwear was even wet! Not cool! I skipped class because of it.

Any who, I had my meeting today with the President of Braeger today and it went well. His goal, to do what hasn't been done. What hasn't been done? I'll tell you. You know how when you do a Google search for, let's say Skateboards, you have a link or two, then two to three YouTube videos that are related. Well, he wants to do that. I agreed. He gave me a few ideas, like flipping cars and planned anarchy and such. I'm thinking like old Vonage commercials or if Jackass was advertising for Braeger. Either way, it sounds fun.

Also, the issue of a camera came up. He's buying me one. He gave me a $300 cap, but after doing some quick researching, I can't get crap for that. I'm gonna try to ask for a $400 cap, because you can't get shit for less than $320. We'll see how that works. Greg also suggested a cheap and fairly good editing software called MAGIX Movie Movie Edit Pro 16 that I should look into, so I will.

Finally, some more good news. The video petitions that some friends and I made in our senior year of High School helped out. According to my sources, they were one of the deciding factors to keep the 27th street ramps open. Sure, they're doing some renovations on them, but they are staying open! The videos are still talked about, even amongst the two new guys running for Governor! Ha! Awesome. That makes me feel good that not only did we make a difference, but they're still talked about. Once again, a link to the website.

Governor Doyle, Please Save the 27th Street Ramps

Now for the pieces of bad news. Traffic is still be rerouted by my old High School, Ronald Reagan, and apparently, two kids were hit by a car. My old principal is pissed, and probably has a lot to say. I may do a follow-up interview with her, the kids and maybe their parents as one last punch to the gut. It's not right.

I guess that's it for now. Before I go, once again here's a link to Kyle Duran Wutke's ramblings. Check them out. Especially check out his "Underrated Band of the Week" stuff. Always a good find there.

Thee-BeAtNiK Underground

"In Shreds" - The Chameleons (Kyle's band of the week)

Spreading the Gospel of the Beatnik

Thought I'd let you all know about a young writer who has a lot to say and has asked yours truly to spread his word. I agreed. Be sure to check up on his work. His name is Kyle Duran Wutke, and he is such a cool guy to speak with. One of the most knowledgeable people I know when it comes to inner thinking and music. Be sure to check him out.

Kyle's website
theebeatnikunderground.tumblr.com

One of his fun rants so you can get a feel for the guy.
Rant the (sea-men) away

A New Project?

Hey guys, I thought I'd tell you about this. I got a call earlier this week from the C.E.O. of Braeger Chevrolet to work on some "cool" videos to put up on YouTube to help business. Essentially, I'm taking it he wants me to direct some internet commercials.

Before you all get excited, I must explain the history I have with this man. Back when I was a senior in high school, he approached some friend of mine and myself because we were big in the Film Club my friend Jordan and I started and wanted us to do some video petitions to save some ramps from being closed on a major street. The ramps being closed would hurt businesses. We agreed. He promised us all a video camera in exchange. Long story short, we did the work, but only two of us got cameras. The ramps were saved and this is the first I've heard from him since September.

Now, I'm not one to hold a grudge, and I'm sure he forgot, but it still sucks. I have a meeting with him Tuesday, and I don't have a camera. I'm gonna tell him this, see if he remembers/what he says and go from there. I kinda expect something from this project because this is different. The last was doing a public service and the cameras were his idea. This one is business and it helps his car dealership. Things are different. I really want to do this, and I hope we can work something out. He's a nice man, I'm sure it won't be an issue.

Wish me luck, all. Also, since I see I only have two readers, pimp this shit out and get the word out!

Until next time, have a good one.

For old times sake, here's the old website for the ramps.
Save the Ramps Website

Be Sure to Check Out "The Lady In Black"

I always forget to mention Greg's film because we never film it on days I film, and usually these production journals are written on days I'm filming. Since we film at Morgan's, her work gets more face time, so I thought I'd take a moment to mention it.

Gregory Bishop, writer/director of "Void" and "C.J. Sunshine" has a new film on the way called "The Lady In Black" about a woman's phobia's haunting her. I've been on set with him a lot when he films and both him and his girlfriend Vanessa both have so much passion that it's always a great time filming with them. I'd show you all some pictures, but none of us ever think to take any while filming... so yeah. I'll be sure to talk about his project more often. Greg, if you're reading this, sorry for not mentioning it enough.

Production Journal #4: Hybrid Moments

Friday, March 26 2010

"Beauty has been flowing out of all my pores lately. Out of my pores, onto paper, through emulsion and onto film." -- Morgan McPhearson

"I'll make you a star!" - Gregory Bishop

Hello all! Once again, it's time for an update! Today started off on a down note. Last night I was up all night playing Mass Effect and lost track of time, and realized I was going to lose some sleep. I was right. I had my alarm set for like 11:15am (random time, but whatever) because I had to go to a meeting at work about how to deal with disruptive behavior at 1. Well, when my alarm went off, I was confused, because I was still in a dream, and was dreaming I was in a musical, so my dream ended as a song ended and the song ended with a bit of feedback. Odd to say the least. What sucks is I woke up with a headache. I layed down for a bit longer and asked mom to wake me at 11:30 or so. She did, headache was still there. I decided to take a shower and eat and then go to work. None of this is really important, but I thought I'd explain why my day didn't start too well.

The meeting was long and boring. I got to talk to my 4th and 5th grade teachers though and have a good cookie. That was kinda neat, but the thing that made the meeting awesome was this. I found an unopened VHS tape of the Rankin/Bass stop motion classic "Mad Monster Party" with the voice talents of the amazing Boris Karloff. I left a note for the woman in charge of the tapes to see if I could have it or possibly buy it from them.

On to the film making portion of this blog. I got to Morgan's about 4:00pm thanks for Nate and Cheryl giving me a ride. Greg was waiting, dressed the the nines like always. Once Morgan finally got home we talked about the plans for the day, while playing some uke along the way. It was decided that we'd film the scenes for her short film "Lucid" first, which would use Greg, and then film mine.

Morgan's shoot was funny as hell. Not much was done as far as camera angles, but Greg's hands were put though hell! We covered his hands in chocolate, had him squish bananas, had his hands covered in albumen (egg whites) that looked like semen, and we even gave him hot dog fingers! We filmed stick and paper hands as well, but the others were so funny. We later had eggs fried with hot dogs and cheese. We had extras, so why not.

Some moments from filming "Lucid"

What made all of this so amazing was listening to David Bowie's "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" and the Misfits' "Static Age" on vinyl as we filmed. All the pops and crackles in the record is so very amazing. It's the best I've heard those albums sound ever. Plus, it was the first time I heard Bowie on vinyl. Morgan and I then had a short talk about how dumbfounded we are by vinyl, then we moved on.

Just for the hell of it, some select tracks from the albums.

"Suffragette City" - David Bowie


"Hybrid Moments" - The Misfits


Now we moved onto my shoot. Oh, how fun this was. First, we all got dolled up in makeup (even me). Morgan redid her original innocent harlequin girl while Greg and I did the few dishes to thank her for cooking, then she did us. She did a very neat looking sad face, which was later messed up by my request, and she did a unique design on me. I can't even describe it, so check out the pics. FYI, I took the pics on Morgan's camera. You will notice, the focus confused the fuck out of me. How I am a filmmaker is beyond. Blurry, but whatever, you weren't there and need to see what happened.



Face paint fun.

The scene we were filming today was the climax of the film. It's where desperation takes over for Guy and he decides to cut out his heart and tape it to her door as a last ditch effort to make her love him again. He is literally giving her his heart. A mime would take that phrase seriously. The hard part about this scene wasn't the heart, as Morgan made a great looking heart. The hard part is the small accommodations in which to film. We had to film out in the hall way with a tube light, the Bolex (luckily I shot hand held) and we were all in grease paint. The last isnt an issue, it just looks odd to onlookers.

Morgan's home made heart

The filming went great. Not once did I have the change the f/stop. I have it opened as far as I could and I it all turned out great. I also made a cameo as a french mime, which is kinda neat.

On a side note, I'm 3/4 of the way done with my second full length script "Yes, Matilda..." and my two fish Bela and Boris died. First was Bela, then Boris.

Finally, as I was transferring some of my raw 16mm footage to VHS so I can show the parents, I snagged a good 35 seconds or so of footage. I thought I'd show you all. It's a really bad transfer, but that happens when you record a recording.




Until next time, ta-ta.

Production Journal #3: Duct Tape is More Desperate

Tuesday, March 23 2010

Morgan, Greg and I thought it would be beneficial for the project to film on a day during Spring Break. I completely agreed. The original plan was to film early on, like at noon, to late in the evening, but for unforeseen reasons that didn't happen. It wasn't all bad though. I got to drive some early in the day and go to the hardware store, and got a ride to UWM later in the day. When Greg and I finally got to Morgan's, it was obvious everyone was looking forward to today, because, they got to wear make-up! Seriously, if I've learned anything, the best way to make an actor happy is make-up, fake blood, or both, if your shoot calls for it.

When we got to Morgan's we got right to work. Morgan showed us her face paint designs and I agreed and she got to work. It was decided to use an off white color for the base instead of white in hopes the faces won't come out over exposed. I was weary having had bad issues with mixing of any amounts of black into white, but she seemed confident, so I grabbed her ukuelele and let her do her thing. Greg, for whatever reason, was way too excited to have face paint on. So Greg washed his face and Morgan went at it. She was like a seasoned pro at face paint. It was really neat to see. We even filmed parts of it for posterity.

As Morgan worked Matt, her boyfriend, and I were fooling around with different instruments. I mainly stuck to the uke, but he played a bit of guitar and a keyboard hooked up to a distortion peddle and was playing a song he wrote that moment called "Greg". I really wish we would have recorded it.

After the face paint was applied to both actors, Morgan recorded a cover song while sitting in the bathroom. Greg was filming it. She performed it on the uke. I wish I could remember it, but I can't. I'm sure she'll sing it for us again. We then went outside for a photo shoot. They look amazing. My favorites can be seen below.



We then had to take Matt to work. This was one of the fun parts of the day. Picture this, if you will. Two harlequin's, a guy with film equipment on his lap and another guy all driving in a car together, listening to the Unicorns, acting like nothing is happening, while on the East Side. Good stuff. We got some odd looks, which was amazing.

Finally, we got to the park where we planned to film. I was a little worried Greg was going to scare the shit out of the kids playing on the playground. He was taking it upon himself to be as weird and creepy as possible. As I was setting up, Greg and Morgan went over the actions of the scene and tried to pantomime and even broke out in song once or twice. Greg seriously could have a career in it. He's scary good as being a desperate harlequin. The time of the day was perfect. The sun was beginning to set, the park was near empty, and it wasn't too cold. That won't show up on film, but it's nice for us. We then began to film. I wanted this footage to be good. I did match-on-action, shot-reverse-shot, and even close-ups! I did everything, minus use the light meter, to make this look good. I've really began to hate the light meter. The tool that is supposed to make life easier for us has actually screwed me over more than it's helped. So I don't use it. Sorry Rob, sorry Ken. I know if you guys read this you'll not like it, but whatever. It's my film!

Filming went great, but then we were really hungry. Evidence is that Morgan was driving like a woman possessed. Neither decided to take off the face paint when we went to Panera for dinner. I got a chicken and bacon Dijon panini and some lemonade. I recommend it. Afterwards we decided to call it a day. We were going to film the climax of the film, but we were all kinda tired, Greg wanted to see his girlfriend, and I had a guitar at home crying from lack of attention. So, we decided to call it a day.

When I got home I noticed Morgan uploaded the images from the day. Upon seeing them I contacted my friend Steffani, a good photographer and artist, to design a movie poster for this. She did, and you can see it below. Visit her website, which is also below. Thanks for reading.


Steffani Kasulke's website

Yes, the official title is now Commedia dell'arte, and here's the song that inspired it.

"I Don't Wanna Grow Up" - Tom Waits