various verbiage

Wow!

It’s been far too long since I’ve last shot a production, lemme tell you.

So, I’m just back from shooting a live concert, my first in months (at The Avalon w/ an HVX200 in DV50 mode & 2x 8GB P2′s… Yeah!)… And I hadn’t realized just how much I’d missed shooting.

So why’s that? Turns-out, shooting touches-on a terrific constellation of skills–

• creative: where are you gonna point the camera
• analytical: how do you maximize your effectiveness on-set
• leadership: how do you get everyone pointing in the same direction
• communicative: how do you get the picture across w/ a minimum of confusion
• intuitive: how do you ‘fix’ stuff that could/just/might-happen, before it happens?

-and-

• kinesthetic: how do you schlepp all that gear, then shoot all those hours, & not be bed-ridden for a week?

…& then when you’re done, w/ any luck, you’ve got something that looks cool, & entertains (& maybe even inspires) others.

Ah yes… so someone remind me why I schlepp code for a ‘living’, again?

hey– why is Galactica sucking so bad? they even pulled the “Alias
Error”: Season Finale– “…One Year Later…”, ie. completely jettisoning the previous plotlines, not to mention character development (love that the ‘nice sweet schoolteacher’ has become a ice-cold “throw ‘em out the airlock” b*tch. Nice move there for a ‘prophet’).

The miniseries was so incredible.. & now each character is in a rut, & the only ‘humanity’ anyone is displaying is by those 2 Cylons (but they’re hot… hmmm).

I suppose i can stand the character inconsistencies,
fragmented/discarded storylines, low-tek special effects (hey Zoic: low-res cgi shaky-cam & cheesy models looked really cool in ‘Firefly’… b/c the show’s entire look was low-rent & cheesy– the frickin ship was supposed to look like ass! But here in ‘full-on polyester uniform’ville of Galactica, those super-saturated & blown-out crispy digital effects just look like bad circa-80′s Video Toaster)…

…or how about the utterly underutilized character-actor cameos, such as Bill Duke & Dean Stockwell. This is unconscionable– just watch “Predator” (the Sarge) or “Blue Velvet” to see what those two gentlemen in particular can do, when given great scripts & excellent direction. Instead, they’re brought-in, get to ham it up a little, & are then summararily blown-away. You got these guys to play throw-away parts in throw-away plotlines? What were you thinking?!! Just think of Bill Duke as a Cylon overlord… or Dean Stockwell as a mad prophet whose madness eerily parallels the Prez’s. These would be memes that resonated across the entire series, let-alone multiple episodes. Instead, each are whacked, & even that is poorly-written. Consider: a den of thieves, hardened criminals loyal to their boss, & they get cowed by Daddy’s Boy ships away from his backup? Are you kidding me?? Or better– let’s casually destroy the balanced characterization of the prez, & make her a cold-ass killer by whacking Stockwell… w/o even grilling him for information!What a waste.

…or how about all the deus-ex machina’s? Poof, exeunt prez’s cancer. Poof, let’s find habital planets (& worlds chock-full of tillium), just when we need them! Er, I suppose the writers don’t read their own previous scripts, eg. when both habital planets & tillium reserves were described by Adama as “extremely rare… like a needle in a haystack”… & Tie grunts “like a needle on a beach”. I guess it was a beach of needles…

But anyway– I’ll let all that go, or try to… but how about all the huge technical oversights? Excuse me– isn’t this a frickin’ science-fiction series???? Can’t they even get the geeky bits right? Do they think their core demo (dorky, bespectacled geeks w/ photographic memories for myriad, inchoate, parsnickity details) won’t miss a little something like: HOW THE FUCK CAN A BRAND-NEW BATTLESTAR & VIPERS MANAGE TO NOT GET INFECTED BY CYLON VIRII?!!! Especially when every other one was waxed w/in 1hr at the start of the war?! Has anyone ever ‘explained’ that? Don’t tell me “Pegasus” doesn’t have huge networked computers; their control room is like 1/10 the size of Galactica’s. ARRRRGGGH!!!
Let’s imagine The Writers: “Er, um, look-away, look-away; let’s have Starbuck screw-around & get drunk again.” (Which, as a friend pointed out to me, is quite an effective plot-device. But anyway…)
On a more positive note, Number Six has posed naked all over the web, which is very good advertising. Remind me, when i Run a Show, to cast hot ladies willing to get naked. It’s called “Production Value”

I think my v. fave sci-fi ever is “Firefly”. Get the dvd’s from Netflix,
& watch in the correct order (ie, not the Fox-broadcasted mis-order)… Because: “Joss Whedon Knows Character Development”… & he even includes his obligatory “Hot Teen with Superpowers”(TM).

I’m not a rabid fan, ‘browncoat’ or whatever… but I’ve seen the series 3 times now (the film ‘Serenity’ is not that great), & still like it… whereas i don’t ever plan to watch Galactica again.

What a shame… all those Wasted Opportunities… all those wasted dvd-r blanks…

Everyone’s gotta list of “Most”‘s to close-off the year, so here’s mine:

Most Best’est:
“The Constant Gardener” (& best proof “City of God” wasn’t a fluke)
– a real ‘thinking-man’s adventure’: taut, exciting, & endlessly surprising… even though you knew the end the minute it started -and-
– better still– it’s a love story, between mature adults, & ‘lo isn’t that a subversive move in this age of “Titanic” & “Nemo”
– & yet– I’m betting it will be completely ignored at Oscar time. Even the great William Goldman swore twenty yrs ago, “the only adventure the Academy will ever award would probably be a ‘medical’ adventure”… but here it is, & the Academy would much rather feed “Stephen fake-sentimentality Spielburg” one more statue. Every vote they give him assuages their guilt for the mountains of soulless crap they spew…. to everyone else I say– watch “The Constant Gardener”, & then “City of God”… & then try to tell me “nobody’s making good films anymore”. These are no ‘foreign, art-house’ subtitle-afflicted slow-paced mental masturbations– these are simply fantastic films.

Most Disappointing:
“Sin City”
– kudos to Rodriguez for making HD look much better than the ballyhoo’d Episodes 1-3… -&-
– kudos for standing up to the stupid DGA who said the Writer couldn’t be a Co-Director, -but-
– no thanks for making a real mess of what’s actually one of the better retellings of Mickey Spillane, Frank Miller’s “Sin City 1: The Tale of Marv”. Marv is the fantastic underhero, drawn like Batman, with the fists of a brawler & a heart of gold. He truly feels for Goldie, but neither Rodriguez nor Miller [trusted] their audience enough to rein-in a few ‘bullets/blood/broads’ shots & let Marv have his Hamlet moment(s). I highly recommend the graphic novel, or read some early Spillane instead.

“Syriana”
– kudos for ‘trying’ to make a Big Movie about Big Ideas, political ideas, & still make it interesting if not balanced (“Faranheit 9/11″ embarrassed me & I’m really liberal), -but-
– couldn’t they have made a film that made any sense? This film’s story was tangled, confused & disconnected, ultimately making the characters unsympathetic, their actions arbitrary, if not ultimately unmemorable
– if you want a ‘movie that make you go hmmm’ & yet a joy to watch, try “The Player”, a masterpiece (everything about Hollywood filmmaking you’d ever need to know, & infinitely better than “Adaptation”‘s turgid confusion). And if you want ‘political thriller’, just watch “Constant Gardener”

Most ‘Almost’:
“History of Violence”
– This film is pretty good, & even ‘very good’ if you consider David “Videodrome” Cronenberg was at the helm. He deserves a big box-office film; he should have won a stack of awards for “Dead Ringers” -but-
– ouch that was a terrible title, almost as bad as “Constant Gardener”. Did anybody know what the film was about, before they went? Even the commercials were confused… -nevertheless-
– the climax of the film, the face-off with Hurt, was too pat. Whereas the previous face-off w/ Ed Harris was pure tension, dramatic angles, & painfully extracted glimmers of back-story… the ‘ultimate confrontation’ between finally-reuinited brothers basically devolved to Hurt strutting around, phoning in the same hammed-up wooden face he perfected in “Network”, while Viggo.M’s not-so-great killing moves weren’t very well protected by the camera. We weren’t shocked, we weren’t surprised, we didn’t learn much, & it was kinda hard to care… so we’re left waiting for a ‘big finish’… which never happens. And yet the ‘negative capability’ of the final scene really would have been sublime, if it had followed a climax as well-drawn as the Viggo-vs-Harris confrontation. William Hurt can act better than this. Too bad.
– But gotta love that stairway scene… the perfect balance to the cheerleader scene. Older ppl can have sexy and mature relationships too! Thank bog for Cronenberg (& Fernando “Pregnant women are sexy” Meirelles)

-and- The Most Fun:
Seeing my short film at the “Shorts Project”, live on-stage amidst some great plays by Steve Martin & Don Niegro, for three weeks in front of paying audiences. We even got great reviews from SF Bay Guardian & SF Weekly!
You can see it too, here.

See you at the ‘Netflix

okay, last nite i had a dream with Sly. He’s sitting at a bar with some impossibly-tall blonde, & I’m some distance away, talking smack about him to a friend I’m with. About how horrible an actor, director, etc. he is… & that if he really wrote “Rocky”, why hasn’t he found (let-alone written) anything watchable since. Rather boring, booze-filled monologue, really.

But then there’s one of those epic silences you find in bars sometimes, & suddenly my voice isn’t so hushed by crowd walla anymore. & I look up, & Stallone is staring at me… w/ tears filling his eyes. & I suddenly feel ashamed.

For the life of me, I don’t know why.

Does this make me:
a) a terrific Producer (ie, knowing what & on whom to not waste $$),
b) a terrible Director (making an ‘action character’ cry spells putrid box-office), -or-
c) frickin’ deranged & in desperate need of revising my ‘meds.

I’m just asking.

…it’s just i’ve been busily hacking-away on this silent short for the LVE Shorts Project. It’s called “Stuck in Mom’s Dream”, & you can check it out here.

The actors were terrific, & had quite a blast playing with the roles. The more I do this ‘filmmaking’ thing, the more impressed I am with what everyone brings to the table. Any writer/director who ignores their actors’ impressions/thoughts/feelings about their roles will just never get the superlative performance, i’m learning…

anyway, pls forgive me. I’ll have more wip clips up soon.

hey everyone.
i welcome you to cruise by occasionally & check-out:
- production methodologies,
- editing tips/tricks,
- camera fundamentals,
- set etiquette,
- acting for camera, -and-
- the Director’s Eye

…& i’m sure some “notes on leadership” will pop-in somewhere, b/c i’m a global manager in my day-job…