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.

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.