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.
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'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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
"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.
