Hello! Thought I'd pop in for a moment with a brief newsbit and a sign of things to come with the Hall of Fame.
First off, thanks to all of you who voted for the Halloween Horrorfest we're in the middle of right now. I figured it was about time to reveal the winning games, one of which has already had its review published, and the other is coming this weekend. They are, in no particular order, Eternal Darkness, Resident Evil, and Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly. Why FFII:CB won out over its predecessor is unknown to me, but I guess that's something I'll learn when I actually PLAY the game. :P I was surprised that none of the Silent Hill games made the top 3, but hey, there's always next year! I was also surprised to see System Shock 2 get a dozen or so votes, but SHODAN already got her time in the sun, so SS2 was disqualified.
First off, today, Sept. 30, is my birthday. I am now 22 years old, and where once a birthday would have left me filled with merriment, I am now consumed with thoughts of "Great, I'm one step closer to middle age." Oh, well, such is life.
Second, and I know I'm a few days late to the party, but it seems my Final Fantasy column was featured in the Awesome Blog of the week. Seeing that just drove home even further what a kickass community this place has, and I just want to again extend my thanks for your readership, your comments, and your support. This really has been the best and most responsive community I've ever had the privilige, nay, the honor, of being a part of.
Everybody loves Batman. Everybody loves Christopher Nolan too, because he gave back Bats his dignity. And everyone speculates who will be the next villain or villains in the next Batman movie. I have read two top ten lists in this blog section alone, so I think you will be interested in this article about an interview with none other than Alfred Pennyworth himself, whom I think we can assume knows what is going on with the movie. So check it out here, and best regards until my next review. But who cares about me? It's Batman Time, baby!
Ok peeps, starting a new line of gorgeous, low fat, high fiber, no risk, no trans-fat, deluxe, homemade, guaranteed, designer, celebrity endorsed themed blog spots tonight. Welcome to the first edition of \'Fro Recommends where I take time from my not-so-busy schedule to randomly pic-...er...carefully analyze the current market and select a title sure to please anyone with enough cognitive reasoning skills to place the disc into their console! Let's start this first issue right, with an IP bound towards action-horror greatness.
This idea just popped into my head and it won't leave me alone now. What If...
The Angry Video Game Nerd AND the Nostalgia Critic did a review together. I thought that would be really hilarious to see. I don't really know if it is possible, because i'm not sure how far apart they live. Or it could be like this:
Sorry I haven't been around for a while, those 13-hour shoots are killer. Especially for three days in a row, some nights I couldn't physically move long enough to get my things sorted for the next day. It did help me get to sleep quicker than I had been able to in months, but I'm definitely not going to miss the hours. I decided to just combine the final shoot weekend into one piece, rather than dwell on it too long in many blog posts. I was able to take and upload some pictures from my cell, so finally I'll be able to post pictures of what it exactly looks like to film with my company, rather than just doing a Google Image search. This is going to be another long one, but hopefully alot more interesting than a vocabulary cheat sheet.
a costume rack, because I couldn't find any other place to put it
Diary of an AD - Day 3
Friday, August 22nd, 2008
here is the hangar we used as our main set, down in Arlington in Riverside, California, took this photo on Saturday, when we were filming the helicopter sequences
For the next three days I would be required to get up around six in the morning and be driven to the set by my assistant AD, Kari, while listening to her vast collection of Bollywood music. It grows on you after a while, I'll admit. We stopped at a gas station for me to pick up some Gatorade for us both (5 bucks for two bottle?!?) and hit the freeway down to Arlington Road to the set. For the morning shots today, it was an early scene in the film with two of our lead cast, Locke and King, played by Farid Pourgadhiri and Wayne Stribling Jr., respectively. The afternoon would be devoted to the longest scene in the film, the one with the heaviest dialog and most shots needed to be taken. The location for this and most of the next few days was an airport hangar two blocks from where we shot our first big film, complete with helicopters and all the neat aeronautical gadgets one could expect. It was fascinating, taking time out of my duties to check out all the devices inside the helicopter on set (this one would not move, but would be within the shot as set decor,) not that I know anything about scientific equipment, but the pretty lights and various dials amuse me.
from the front angle, the copter looks like a bug...
Kari and I arrived somewhat late to the shoot, as the majority of the crew were buzzing around the set with their various jobs in preparation for the first shot of the day. We set up shop in the adjoining weight room of the hangar (all of this owned by a man named Jim, who was the epitome of awesomeness for allowing us to use it), all of the personal items of the crew would be stored here during takes, and it acted as a rest area for actors not on standby. The air conditioning would draw many of those on set to new levels of laziness during the day, as could be expected when temperatures in the hangar reached groggy heights around midday. Once we had coordinated the schedule with Richard Zapp, our producer and location manager, we headed out and began our duties.
this was a small little gym, with not a lot of seats, but with the AC and the lack of directors inside, it was the best break room ever
I assigned Kari to follow our co-director Brian Tan (he prefers to be known as BLT, as he hates his name, I call him BT because I won't refer to people as sandwiches) directly outside the hangar to shoot the opening scene, while I remained inside with the majority of the other actors, the second co-director Kevin Theal, and our set manager Bradley to choreograph the blocking and rehearse the lines for the scene being shot next. I enjoyed this part, like I did for much of the time I felt like I had something reasonable to do, as my expertise with actors (having been one all through high school) gave me a lot of say in how the scene would look. Once filming outside began we had to be silent, but the scene had a good number of run-throughs by shoot time.
There was a hitch early in the day with a clash between BT's shooting style and our cameramen's preferred method. BT is a man that utilizes what I call rapid fire direction where he wants to get angles rather than takes. Not a bad style for the larger scenes in the film, but not the most efficient way to capture this line-ridden scene. Eventually, after a headed camera crew meeting off to the side of the set, a compromise was reached and the shots began to take much less time to be captured. My main duty during this time was to follow BT around with the storyboards for the scene, to which he would consult in between shots and use to set up the next one. I would eventually be overshadowed and replaced with this job the next day, mostly because my services were often demanded with the actors during takes, making it impossible to do both.
Alka, our makeup designer, touching up Mr. Wayne Stribling Jr., who played King
Despite being a fascinating spectacle once edited, the actual film-making is an incredibly tedious process. To simulate it for yourself, use any sort of camera (even on your cell) and take a picture of a dime falling on a table. The dime has to be lit so it can be seen on the camera, in the middle of what you see, the sound must be heard clearly, and there can be no other noise in this 10-second clip. Just capturing this correctly will take more effort than you think. During this grinding, Kari was assigned one of the most recognized jobs on a film set, the clapper. She would put the clapboard up for the camera to see and snap it shut before each take. Aside from storyboard and actor duty, I was the guy that yelled the instructions before BT or Kevin would yell action. Contrary to popular belief, lights! camera! action! has rarely even been used on a film set, especially now. How I say it is roll cameras! [for the cameras to be turned on and positioned] cameras speed! [a cue for the cameramen to start recording] quiet on set! and then one of the directors would yell action! and begin the take.
what we basically drank for three days
Lunch was, and would be for the next few days, a dozen or so pizzas from a local pizzeria (we got a great filmmaking discount too: 6 bucks for each large, including delivery!). Kari really shined here when she organized a streamlined process for our cast and crew to get a few slices, a drink, and a spot to sit without much crowding or shoving. This was the high point of all three days, were simple things like AC and liquid made you glad to be alive, if sore.
what we basically ate for three days
The rest of the day began a vast blur in memory. I took some camera phone footage that'll be spliced around this blog, and eventually Thomas Marquez (my former roommate and our special effects artist) was called out to set some blood in a character's face who had been hit in the scene. Other big effects shots for the day were a wine glass breaking when our lead fell into frame after being poisoned, and the actual poisoning shot, where we had our actor prepped to cough up blood. The one that kept in our minds, however, was a rigged shot by Thomas that had our supporting character Clancy, played by Nathaniel Overlay, falling out of frame after his knee-cap exploded from a shot by King. Fuuuuunnnn stuff. Thomas basically rigged up some pipe and an air compressor and used to to simulate the gun blast and blood burst, to great effect.
can't see it very well, but the guy is hurt bad.....fake, but baaaaaaad
Occasionally I was sent into the break room to get our makeup designer (named Alka) to touch up a sweaty actor or anyone that was called on set. The more embarrassing tasks usually included getting beverages for the directors or props for the set. At the end of the shoot that day, we had gotten 67 out of 104 shots for the scene (higher than our expectations) and we left the set in the hangar for the next day. We ended, on average, between 6 and 8pm every night. My feet were killing me, as my only suitable footwear for the shoots was a pair of Converse, and those have barely no arch support, which can be killer when walking/standing for so long. After a quick debrief from BT and Kevin, we all head home for some sleep. I spent a couple of hours on my laptop and fell asleep instantly when I later laid my head down on the pillow.
Diary of an AD - Day Four
Saturday, August 23rd, 2008
Both today and tomorrow were a significant improvement over Friday. Once Kari and I arrived on set, we collected a few bucks from surrounding crew to get some donuts to perk us up. For the next two days, the morning shots would consist of those taken from a helicopter: aerial flights, taking off, landing, SWAT maneuvering, all the bloody fun stuff. I, Kari, and Kevin, however, were assigned to ground shots of police cars driving around the hangar. Fuck. It was small consolation, though, when I was able to do what I do best, keep actors and crew happy and entertained while we waited for the helicopters to take off and leave us to our uninterrupted shots. This time I used humorous stories from various points in my life to keep the flow going and no actors bored. I began a friendly relationship with one of our supporting stars, Kate Bridal, who played Lieutenant Nickles in the film, during this point, and I'm eagerly awaiting future tabletop gaming sessions with her (you can see where the conversation went.)
mrs. Kate Bridal herself, an Irish sweetheart, both on set and off
Most of our shots were simple, merely driving shots from a block away to the front side of the hangar used for the Locke and King scene on Friday. That left us enough time to play with angles and techniques, and we were able to get a good string of crane and dolly shots of cars driving. My favorite part was hooking up the car-mount cameras, the small device that suctions itself to the hood of a car, and holds one of our four cameras tight, so the car could take off and film its route up close and personal. I bloody love those shots, they are SOOO cool!
on set chaos, as it should be
BT later arrived on set and completely demolished our ideas, however, as he was newly imbued with asshole-ish tendencies from stress overload. It took some serious sit downs with me and Kevin to get him to cut the crap. Once the shots were taken from the outside of the hangar, all the crew were told to leave the actors in their action poses and leave the set. This allowed for the helicopters above to get some static shots of our little car party without all of our fat asses in the way. Once those were done, we were able to move back in and do some more conversation scenes.
just a part of our set, thought it looked interesting
Sadly, at this point I started developing a killer migrane, and that kept me inside the break room for far too long. Despite my hatred for film tedium, I hold a deeper loathing for anything that impedes me from doing my job (in this case, at least.) Kari had left for a dance class, so this was the point that I was replaced on storyboards. Again, it wasn't a big issue, as it was my least favorite part of the job.
our largest reflector we used on set
The second half of the day, in between my migrane and set work, was camping out in the break room with Kevin and Thomas and watching the dailies from the day before, in order to see if anything needed to be re-shot while we still had the cast and crew available. It was fun, as Thomas quickly found enough footage to quickly edit together a rough blooper reel to amuse us as we sifted through the 20-hours of takes and cuts. We replayed the Clancy knee shot to most of the crew and cast that walked in, as it turned out exceptional good.
one of our cranes, as it appears when not in use
My experience on set, then, was cut short for the day. but I returned triumphantly towards the end of the shoot to help out actor performance and other stuff. As the helicopter shots took a bit over schedule, we were only able to get from shot 67 to shot 87. We stopped short, and early, for because the blood effects for the final shootout scene took too much prep time for the day, and we couldn't go any further in the scene without it. BT begrudgingly sent us home, and once again I spent a couple of hours online before collapsing.
Voting for the Best of Blogs has officially begun over in the forums, and will last until August 28th, be sure to (me) vote for someone (me) that you think deserves (me) a prominent spot on the site!!!!!!! My last few blogs have gotten tremendous feedback and support, and have risen my average thumb/rating count by a greatly noticeable amount. So, I want to begin here today by expressing a deeply heartfelt thanks to all my friends here and their responses, in all their forms, to my work that I publish here. You guys are awesome sauce in a can. Now, on to the meat of my topic here today. Some expressed an interest to my use of film set terms and explanations, so I am going to get you guys more on the level here with a glossary of terms used on and off set, just so you are not confused when I bring them up in my future blogs. Its a biggie today, so stay with me and let's talk movies.
Movie Terminology - Crew
To start this off, I'll list some jobs in both cast and crew, with general information filling out their description. For more detailed stats, do a search for the positions that interest (hehe, that can be construed as an innuendo) on either Wikipedia's list. Between the five films I have worked on, I have done pretty much all the jobs you can, not including those that require extremely specific knowledge. The positions are not listed in terms of exact hierarchy, but positions on the ladder are indicated if noteworthy. And of course this list may not be all inclusive, but its what I can give you, and it should be enough to get you through my later bitchings.
Director - The one we all know and want to be. The director is the ultimate supervisor of all the departments involved with production, and oversees everything from scripts to final cut. Although the actual amount of work done by the director is up to each person accepting the job. I'm pretty sure Ridley Scott puts more hours in than Uwe Boll...
Producer - Mel Brooks pretty much got it right. Aside from the famous task of getting the funds together for the film, the producer has input, directly beneath the director, in as many aspects of the production they are willing to put effort into. Second only to the director, the producer isn't required to work on the actual shots, as most of the work of the producer will be making phone calls and working out logistcial information.
Executive Producer - The safest position in Hollywood, if you got the cash. Literally, the sole requirement to obtain the title is to delegate sufficient funds to get a portion of the production completed. High profile directors like Spielberg are sought out for this credit, as not many people know what goes into the title, and believe them to give much more of an impact on the film as they do. They can give input on the film if they so choose, but few do.
Associate Producer - The highest position on the ladder I like to be. The A.P.'s job is to approve everything started in the production. Storyboards, script, casting, editing, marketing, etc. Nothing proceeds without AT LEAST this guy's approval, and with major productions taking the time of everyone higher up, the A.P. is the guy most of the crew looks up to.
Casting Director - One of my jobs on this film. The casting director selects a small percentage of the crew to accompany him during auditions (recommended 6, I usually have 2-3). Input can be taken from all sides, but the final decision to cast each and every role of both cast and extras falls on this guy.
Assistant Director (A.D.) - My other job on this project. The A.D. exists to aid the director in everything he needs. Usually for me that means literally following him around with a clipboard containing the schedule, storyboard, script, and all other pertinent information for his immediate use. The A.D. can also be delegated to other jobs around the set, including prepping actors and clearing things with the producer. But what the director says, the A.D. does. He will also be the person to be the in-between to the actors and director, giving direction and helping them with performance. On bigger shoots, like this one, the A.D. may have assistants, know as Second A.D., Third A.D., and so on.
Set Manager - This is guy that keeps the order once shooting begins, calling for quiet on the set and making sure all is prepared for the shot. Coordinates with the A.D., Production Manager, and Script Supervisor. This is who the director goes to if he needs something changed for the shot, or something goes wrong.
Production Manager - This person will be running from the set to the actor/crew rest area, making sure that all are on standby for any shots, and props/makeup/costumes are prepared as well. The leader of the P.A.s, if you will.
Art Director - Everything that goes into the frame of the shot, all the little odds and ends like lamps, books, tables, etc. are there because of this person. They will look at the storyboards and incorporate the necessary props and set dressings that help get the mood and atmosphere of the film across. Works deeply with the Director of Photography.
Director of Photography (D.P.) - This is the guy that works with the Storyboard Artist and Art Director to set up the exact shots of all the scenes in the film. He has the full right to manipulate the cameras involved in the production to his liking, as long as it follows what the director and writer's intentions on how they want the film to look.
Storyboard Artist - The guy that draws the storyboards under the direction of the writer and director.
Script Supervisor - This dude walks around the set with script in hand, making sure that actors follow along with their lines in the scene, or that any improvisation works with the general feeling of the lines. Also in charge, more importantly, in maintaining continuity in all the shots.
Makeup Designer - The person that coordinates and applies all the makeup to those appearing on screen. This involves having the actors in and working with their facial build to get them to appear as they do in the director's proposal. This may include lightening/darkening skin color, adding acne/scars/age spots/bags under the eyes and other blemishes, etc.
Hair Designer - The person that coordinates and applies any necessary extensions, dyes, or other effects to the hair of those appearing on screen, in order to appear as the director intends.
Costume Designer - The person in charge of creating/purchasing/mending all clothing appearing on those on screen, as the director wishes them to appear. Actor measurements are sent into the designer with final casting, and the costume designer often has the actors in to fit them for the shoot.
Props Supervisor - In charge of the inventory, storage, and disbursement of all objects not included in the costumes of those appearing on screen. They usually have a station near the rest area off set, close enough to rush on missing/forgotten props to actors if called by the Production Manager.
Chocolate syrup blood doesn't work as often as you think, not even in black and white Special Effects Coordinator - This guy will be on set, prepared with his equipment to perform the necessary in-camera effects for the shot. This includes bloodwork, gun shot wound effects, pyrotechnics, etc.
some dude at the BBC working his post-production magick Editor - This is the guy that takes all of the final footage and weaves it together to make the scene, sometimes taking shots taken over several different days and putting them together according to the scripts and storyboard. He often works with audio mixer and special effects editor to make the final build of the movie.
Sound Designer - This is the guy that makes all the lovely sounds you hear, that they cannot get from stock footage. They have to use inventive ways to recreate the exact noises they need for the scene at the exact pitch and tone for the shot. a studio where both the Sound Designer and Mixer will create the needed noises for the film Sound Effects Mixer - This guy takes the sounds made by the Sound Designer and edits them together with the footage from the film, synching it up to the action on screen, i.e. placing the sound of a watermelon being cracked with a hammer against a protagonist in a horror movie getting her leg snapped off.
King Kong was made entirely by these people Visual Effects Supervisor - This guy has the rein of all the animators and technicans to make the pretty things that they couldn't make on set. This means CGI, digitally altering the image (like removing a zit on an actor's face) and all that jazz. I'm not going into great detail on the depths of CG and hand animation until I really experience it firsthand, as all I know of it right now is what I learned from the Walt Disney Treasures Series DVDs.
Camera Operators - The lackies of the D.P., these are the guys that physically move the camera in order to complete the shots listed on the storyboards.
Camera Assistants - The lackies of the lackies of the D.P. These are the guys that hold up the other end of the crane or push the dolly in order to help get the shot. Anything the camera operator needs, like extra camera batteries or more film stock, the camera assistant is there to help with.
Boom Operator - This is the guy you see on a lot of behind the scenes photos, holding the giant stick with the soft thing on the end. This allows for sound within the scene to be picked up regardless of camera positions. They have to be careful, as boom appearances in the shot are the most often cause of retakes.
Audio Mixer - Both on and off set, this guy monitors the sound. He has to watch for outside sounds like airplanes and animals that might interrupt the shot, and make sure actor's lines are heard. Once in post-production, the Mixer takes the best spoken line and matches it up with the best physical acting in each take, and integrates the work of the sound designer/mixer into the final footage.
Composer - This person creates all the original, un-licensed music for the movie.
Stunt Choreographer Jeremy Fry Choreographer - This guy is responsible for mapping out and directing all of the dancing/fighting/movement/stunts of the scene. They often work with stunt doubles that replace the actors for certain shots to perform feats the actors themselves are not licensed to do.
Gaffer - This is the dude that physically holds up the lights during the shot, and it is the most demanding job on set. If the light isn't mounted, it means that you'll be holding up a 30 pound, hot device for 12 hours. Really great bicep workout. Also the name of a really strong tape used on set.
Production Assistants - The lowest job on the ladder. These are the minions of most of the non-directorial jobs on set, being set to and fro to get water, props, sunscreen, talk to actors, set up meetings, get waivers signed etc. Its not the most glamourous job, but its where you start, and you can rise quickly, and its decent pay to start out with.
Actors - Do I need an explanation here? They take direction from the A.D. and Director and perform the lines as dictated by the shots and storyboards, creating realistic portrayals to create realism to engage an audience. There is usually a lead actor(s) and supporting actor(s) defined by the amount of screentime.
Extras - Non-speaking, background roles; paid less but with longer hours. Its a hard life, but its how actors start.
Movie Terminology - Production
Pre-Production - What goes on before the cameras start rolling: casting, writing, storyboarding, getting funds and a crew together, etc. This lasts anywhere between a few weeks to half a year, depending on how specific the director wants it to be, and how big the production.
Production - Actual filming of the movie. Usually lasts between 2-9 months depending on length and specifics of the film. Shorts, like ours, take much less than a few weeks.
Post-Production - Everything after principal photography has wrapped. This includes editing, audio mixing, sound design/mixing, scoring, visual effects editing, etc.
Principal Photography - The extent of the initial filming of the movie. This concludes when all of the shots from the storyboard have been filmed to the director's wishes, and production may move onto post. Actors may be called back for secondary photography if new shots need to be incorporated or old shots did not come out right.
Screenplay - This is the final shooting script for the movie. Based off the initial treatment which contains the basic outline of the scenes with a bit of stage direction.
Stage Direction - Descriptions of movements taken by the actors/cameras within a scene.
Camera Pan - A slow movement of the camera in any of the four directions, meant to follow along or indicate the movement of the actors or of the scene.
Camera Tilt - A jerk off the camera in one of the four directions, indicates a loss of center and a sense of imbalance/unease in the scene.
this is not what ours looks like, but its a good example Tripod - A four-legged standing device that keeps the camera even and steady. Used for shots that want to keep the viewer feeling as though she/he is in the scene.
this isn't ours either, but we have on similar to this Crane - A see-saw esque device used to allow the camera to go high up and get larger, wider shots of the scene, more intense to look at. A crane shot is usually used at the beginning and/or end of the scene, to give the viewer a view of both the action and surrounding set. The crane is weighted on one end in order to give it enough force to keep the camera up in the air.
again, not ours, but it gives you the idea Dolly - A wheeled device, usually incorporated with a tripod to steady the camera, this usually allows for the camera to follow along with actors/scene in a smooth, non-jarring way, in order to keep the scene looking smooth and crisp. Gives an enhanced version of a camera pan effect.
Spider Brace - A shoulder mounted device that is six-legged, allow for the camera to be on the person of an operator without a lot of juggling of the actual shot. Used to follow along with actors in tighter focus. Sometimes higher/slower speeds are incorporated, the slight movement of the camera adding to the scenes effect.
Handheld - Exactly what it sounds like. Usually a lower quality camera that is held only by the hands of the operator, used to give a sense of immediate action and shaky movement to intense moments in the scene. Think, Blair Witch Project.
Clapboard - The funny looking black and white board you see in the behind the scenes videos, where the guy steps in front of the camera and snaps the board after listing the shot and take, which are also listed on the board itself. This is done so editors and directors can easily cut to the scenes and takes they like/need, without having to sift through all the footage. Either the A.D. or script supervisor has these honors.
Take - A single attempt to capture a shot of a film. If interrupted by something or the performance of the actors/crew is not sufficient, another take is done. Directors will often do multiple takes even if everything is fine, just in case.
Shot - The continuous motion of the camera before cutting. Scenes are made up of many shots.
Cut - Where the camera goes from one shot to another, usually within the same scene.
Jump Cut - A cut that interrupts the action of a scene. For instance, if a girl is walking to a car, and the camera suddenly cuts to her at the car, getting rid of all the movement in between. I may do more on cuts later, if I talk about them in a varied way
Stunts - Feats that require special training/procedures to use in the shot. Aka, leaping off a building, diving under a moving truck, etc. Requires a license to legally perform.
Pyrotechnics - Explosions, electricity shocks, anything that includes things that go boom. This requires a pyrotechnics license to legally do.
Auditions - Whereby perspective cast members come in and read lines similar to their roles, and their performance/look is taken into account on what the picture needs.
Callbacks - When actors that the casting director liked/isn't sure about, are brought back in for a second audition/read, to clarify a casting choice.
Set - The place made up to be shot in, with all the cameras, actors, and props needed to get the scene filmed.
Storyboard - Originally invented by Walt Disney and his team to help with their animated features, storyboards were brought in shortly after for all film projects. It is a sequence of images that represent the placement and angle of the camera's point of view, with movement and specific actions indicated by arrows. Each image represents one shot, and a film can have upwards of thousands of individual storyboard pictures. These are given to the D.P. in order to be replicated on set.
This is all I can think of right now. If I add more during this shoot, which I most likely will, I'll let you know on my current blog what was updated here.
Diary of an A.D. - Day Two
Production meeting today, yay. Lasted for about two hours. Pretty much making sure of prop lists and stuff for tomorrow's set makeup day, were we go up before the actual shoot on Friday and literally set everything up to have a good start. I copped out on that one, might be going down to Irvine to check out some college stuff. Introduced my assistant A.D. to everyone today, so that was nice. Was lent some money to get something decent to eat for once. Not much else in that regard, was watching videos on GT for most of the time. Saw the Heavy Rain footage, YAY!!!! It looks fucking awesome!
News
- My new roommate, Phoebe, is a neat freak. It always makes me feel bad, sitting down on my ass whilst she faffs around randomly scrubbing and dusting. I offer to help, but she politely refuses....not that my lazy ass is complaining...but still.
- Turns out the kid that was caught meddling with my AC unit outside was releasing the compressed air inside in order to huff it for a high. This caused the AC unit to work harder to compensate for the lost air, which made my utility bill noticeably higher. The little cockmelon....
- Got some money today, reparations for my other roommate's daughter raising an 88 dollar charge on my cell phone through texting alone. So, going use that for groceries and supplies. Adds a little bit of happiness to the equation.
- Got into Showtime's TV series, Rome recently. A very good, deep, and gaudy show, if a bit historically inaccurate. It gets my recommendation to any that want to see it.
- I'm starting to grow fond of Phoebe's little yappy dog, even if it goes against my creed. She's a little sweetheart when she isn't barking her head off when anyone with a penis walks in the room. Thankfully she seems to have gotten used to mine, which means I get to pet her without her tearing my hand off.
- I'm considering porting over my blog/writing new blogs over at Screwattack in addition to my work here. It seems like a nice community, although I'm unsure of the direct benefits, and if it'll be worth the move. Lemme know what you think in the comments!
Plugs
- As always, check out my best friend for-longer-than-forever, Bennett the Sage's, pad here on TWTG, or be checking out his funny stuff on Youtube or alongside myself on Gamepartisan
- TVShack has all the awesome connections for some great TV/Movies/Documentaries/etc. streamed online, gimme a glimpse.
- Another entry into my collection of awesome Abridged Series on Youtube is Megami33's Sailor Moon Abridged. You may not like the series, and it has the worst opening of any abridged series ever made, but once you get into it, you'll find yourself excited as hell with each new episode.
I am exhausted, pissed off, and sufficiently sunburned on both my forearms and neck, which can only mean that principal photography with FPS Productions has started. I took yesterday off to recover and attempt to not use my arms (much more difficult than it sounds), but I am back and ready to vent for your amusement.
Principal Photography: Day One
We made the paper with our production, not surprising, as we were able to shut down a couple of city blocks near the local court house to shoot on. Unfortunately, like many press outlets, they constantly mention us as a student organization first and foremost, despite my specific interview to the contrary. Its difficult to promote a student film, much less so than it would be to plug an independent film. We are also a registered film company, but at this point I am just splitting hairs, as I am unsure of my level of commitment to my organization once I transfer to Irvine this fall. I did get specific mention, a sentence, in the article, so that's pretty cool...
To give you the skinny, our film is tentatively called Slick, (we give shooting titles based on names we can find without too many results coming up on imdb.com), and revolves a group of 5 thugs turned against each other after their leader is poisoned on the post-heist toast. The shoot for today involved the scenes with the thug leader, Locke, in discussion with a police lieutenant [morning] and the actual heist of the money [afternoon] were a group of police officials are ambushed by our thugs and shot down. We had five cameras for this shoot, each manned with an operator and assitant, along with a dolly and crane for the really fun shots. Our final crew count, based on what I could see, was about 35, with a dozen or so cast.
The shoot begun, as all future days will, at 7am, which meant I would have to spend the night at my friend Tom's, the film's special effects supervisor and credited writer, house in order to ride with him directly to the set the next morning. I am most definitely not a morning person, but setting off early meant we would be done by the evening, and I am only one of few people that cannot function well in the early hours. My first duty of the day was talking to the police, thankfully it's always sobering enough to help me wake up, and put out a general announcement to the main departmental office about our shoot and the specific logistics therein. This film was specially important do to the level of what we are doing. Despite the noticeable decline in bloodwork and stunt work, cordoning off downtown Main streets with extras in SWAT gear and faux weaponry would have to be explained carefully to avoid cops showing up and disbanding the shoot.
We began filming at a local park near our director's house, specifically around the benched area. We only needed to cast members on set, so thankfully that reduced our crew numbers to a manageable dozen. Our new makeup artist, a role formerly filled by Tom, was a sweet girl that really had knew her stuff, which made the routine go faster. It was a surreal experience, running around to get everything settled and seeing her perform the same things I had before only in DVD featurettes. Made me believe a bit more in the professionalism of our exploits. The scene(s) were short, inter spliced bits that we filled straight through, never exceeding six takes. We never have a grand assortment of takes, mostly due to our director's visual style, but with the digitally animated storyboards we were able to frame the shot long beforehand, the only reason we were doing multiple takes at all were for logistics (sound interrupted by passersby, dolly/crane goes to fast) and performance of our actors. Our casting decisions were pretty solid, if yesterday was any indication, the majority of direction I gave our actors focused on very minute line changes.
The morning park shoot lasted from 7am to around 11, and I went back home with Tom briefly in order to get his supplies for the afternoon Downtown shoot. We attempted a few stops at some hardware stores, in order to pick up some bullet decals for the cars to be used, but none had them in stock, and we carted ourselves to the set. The rest of the staff and cast had already settled into our next location, and a tent was set up for our extras to get armored with SWAT costumes and guns while we waited on lunch to arrive. BT (the director) sent me off to secure the barricades around the set and make sure all were prepared to go once lunch was finished. One of our leads; Michele Boyd, who we had worked previously with on our film Incrimination, was running a bit late, so we prepped the set with the needed cars and stuntwork while we waited.
Once Michele arrived, we began following along with the storyboard and got the preliminary shots in the scene, so we can focus on the more action-oriented shots with the most of our time. Despite these scenes looking fast paced and entertaining when edited, but in actual filming the process is terribly tedious. The rest of the day really blurs into general duties of keeping track of the storyboard, getting the needed crew/cast on set for their shots, and keeping quiet on set. I noticed that our barricades, a few flimsy cones and a few cars parked in the middle of the street, weren't keeping out enough people. I sent Rich, our security guy, to get the jist, and it turns out that a personnel from the City complained at our barricades, claiming that people cannot reach their businesses, despite our permit covering every single action we took. Kate, our production manager, kept on the phone for the rest of the shoot in order to placate any of these complaints, none of which reached our ears.
I was reminded on why I signed up for this tedium and suffering when our director suddenly collapsed behind one of our cars, clinging to his leg. He suffered a severe cramp up from a mixture of lack of food and intense stress. I blockaded the area from public view and helped his parents, who were attempted to massage out the offending muscle. It was this level of stress that I saw in my director, even before we began this project, that kept me involved past my comfort point. I founded this damn thing with the dude, and ever since then he has nearly killed himself in attempts to constantly outdo our previous efforts. Its been my job to slap him across the face every so often and sit his ass down before he has an stroke. Luckily, the cramp subsided quickly without a lot of our crew seeing, and after sitting him down for a few minutes, I called for shots to be resumed.
About this time the local paper arrived and began milling around our set taking photos and soundbites. Both BT and I took brief interviews and sent the reporter off to meet his deadline. The shoot wrapped with little woes, the martini shot (last shot of the day) was finished and we took a final crew photo to commemorate the occasion, although I probably fucked it up because I thought it was a funny photo. Our dolly was run over by a crew member on accident, so that's a bit of a backstep, but otherwise we appear to be in great shape for the continued schedule. We packed up our equipment and sent the rest of the crew home. During this clean up I noticed one of our crew preaching to another member of the crew, about the inclusion of Creationism in science class. I immediately leaped in and attempted to correct this situation, but arguing with these people is like arguing with a brick wall. I'll write more in depth on that later.
Tom dropped me off shortly after the debate debocle, and I was made fully aware of the extent of sunburn by my roommates' comments. Usually, my high-oil skin has never required sunscreen, as at most it'll sunburn only slightly and tan over by nightfall. This time, however, it appears I shall be red for a bit, and I dunno if I'll peel or not. Shooting will resume on Friday, and continue all through that weekend. Thankfully its mostly interior, which means a bit of heat but not a lot of sun so that'll work in my favor.
Just got off the phone with the second AD, my assistant. This'll be the first time I have an assistant on the set, but it should be very helpful to delegate some duties to her if I'm needed elsewhere. Its a weird feeling though, kinda like I'm copping out after doing all my own shit all the time for the past films. But since we have helicopters in addition to a SWAT team and gunplay, I'm not sweating it.
Random Thoughts
If Ann Coulter gets laid at least once every week, I'm such we can see a measured increase in liberal-ness over the course of the next few months
It is still illegal for the government to fund any educational projects that focus on homosexuality in a positive light....no joke here, that just sucks.
Pissing people off is one of the smartest things anyone with a published image can do. Offending, annoying, irritating, and making people mad gets them bitching around the public forums about you, which gets your name out in a greater range. No such thing as bad publicity, right?
Plugs
- As always, check out my best friend for-longer-than-forever, Bennett the Sage's, pad here on TWTG, or be checking out his funny stuff on Youtube or alongside myself on Gamepartisan
- Both Gumba and Quicksilverscreen are wonderful sites to wade through and find videos on all subjects, from documentaries to Family Guy episodes.
You know that empty feeling, way down in the deepest pit of your being? The place you never want to go to, because you know that as a being possessing only the knowledge of the here and now, that you will have no answers for the questions that reside there? Have no fear, because I'm back with an updated blog! Feel free to return to this page constantly to re-read this post for cryptic messages that may or may not be in here....somewhere. I got a lot of user movies up today and yesterday, 15 total, and all are posted on this blog. I'll end it with them, so you don't have to deal with 'em if you just want to read about my fabulous exploits. GT's uploading service is a finicky old cunt, so I'm stopping for today and I'll finish the uploading tomorrow. Its all about the Discovery Channel documentary, Rise of the Video Game, from 2007. The data file was big, so each episode was broken into 5 parts. You can imagine what a bitch it was to get uploaded. But, this is the site were people come to learn about video games, so I though the documentary was a wonderful use of space, even if its a bit slanted on opinion. Enjoy and please comment/rate when you watch it.
Auditions
The quasi-hectic and rather time consuming initiative of auditioning and casting for the last short film I'll do with FPS Riverside was over a few days ago. I fought long and hard for the people I liked, and the title of Casting Director kinda lead things to fall in line in that regard. Rarely am I this satisfied with the cast select. I wasn't expecting perfection, then again if you go into the audition process expecting to get all of your wishes fulfilled, then you are a few people short of a crew. Or Michael Bay, although I'm pretty sure he doesn't care so much as auditioning for talent as he does auditioning for people with heads that won't get in the way of the pretty boom-booms.
A few tips for anyone going into an audition, or indeed any situation were you need to impress someone:
1) Ambition is good, arrogance is not. Don't spout off your resume with a look of supreme contentment, that will only make your perspective boss skeptical/irritated. However, speak truthfully about your goals and wishes, however high they may be, and it'll definitely shine. Ambitious people try different and new things, and that's often what people are looking for.
2) Speak clearly, slowly, and properly. If I can't hear you, I'm bloody hell not going to deal with that on set. Its kind of hypocritical for me to say so, being that I mumble and rush through my conversations, but I've pretty much gotten out of the front of the camera now, and neither of my perspective careers require a gigantic amount of enunciation. But yours will, especially in this situation. If you take too long, you might be cut short, but the effort you put into it will be noted, and that's never a bad thing.
3) Use the space. This is mostly for auditioning, however I'm pretty sure running amok in an office job interview will set you apart in the interviewer's mind. When reading for a part, don't be afraid to move around and mess with what you have on stage. If you drop your script and flub a line, fine. We are not on set here, the effort you put into your performance does not necessarily have to filter through to exact line memorization. If you go over the top, some might tell you, some won't. But doing so regardless of melodrama is always in your favor.
I mention these because a lot of people seemed to have no idea about them. Granted we had some new actors come in, and some people just walking by tried it out for fun. But we had a good portion of people straight from LA, through casting companies even. Which is odd, as I thought casting companies weeded people out for this stuff.....oh well.
Despite hating the new script and not looking forward to being on set, I always like the final selection process of auditioning. It's a feeling of power, to be sure, holding a person's resume and work in your hands and flinging them into hell with pronounced hatred is always ego-stroking. But finding the right cast is like the world's most intelligent puzzle. I feel like I'm working with L and the Japanese police, instead of finding a murderer, I find the one person in our book that can make the role sing. You have to keep their audition in mind, along with sometimes hundreds of others (we had about an even 200 this film) and compare them against every single person that came in. Thankfully we, like many companies, use either film or digital cameras to take photos or videos of each audition to help us out. I also write little notes with each person, sometimes a more detailed analysis. Plus, it helps to see them squirm when you are writing while they audition. Not just for the sadistic pleasure, you also get to see how they work under pressure. You're not just picking a person up and thinking about them for one role, but for any role possible in the script. I usually have three piles: consideration (to pick the final cast from), keep in books (to file and call back for future projects [we have a cabinet of about 600 people now]), and burn (people that just can't act, and we will have no use for.) Brutal, but ultimately its what the film needs. We don't want to be nice to people and have a crappy film because we cast people that tried. This ain't middle school soccer kiddies, your feelings will get hurt. But its a tough business, and I don't mind being the bad guy. Because others will be, and some will be worse than I am.
So yeah, ok, rant over. The film is cast more than sufficiently, and one of my primary credits has been performed. Now I have to sit back and wait for the real crap to start.
Oh, and as much as I want to, I'm not going to talk about many individual auditions due to confidentiality and an oath to the company. Lousy values.
Postal: the Movie
Despite my knowledge of the pirated waters of the internet, this bastard's harder to find than John Travolta's sex life with girls. Sure, there are a lot of DVD rips of the film, but all of them are in a foreign language: German, Russian, Spanish and the like. Which is odd considering that the film was produced in English. I wound up with an English copy (YAY!) dubbed over with the director's commentary (boo!), so I was able to get a good feeling for the film in general, if not getting the full experience.
Now, why the hell would I want to see a Uwe Boll movie? Two reasons, the first being that I am such a huge bloody fan of the game series the film is based on. The violent-as-you-want-to-be franchise is the epitome of a steam-blowing-off game, and its always fun to pop in after a hard day. Second off, as much as Boll's movies never go beyond a grade C in quality, the guy stands for what I believe in, doing what you love even if the world's against you, and constantly pushing the envelope. So when I saw the asshole picking up the Postal license, and seeing the infamous opening clip parodying 9/11, I had to pick this fucker up.
Yesterday was a very mixed day for me. One the one hand, I spent the entirety of the day at a production meeting for my last short film with my film company, FPS Productions. It finished a short casting call, which gave the usual mix of good and bad actors for us, myself especially as Casting Director, to look for people we could use. One the other hand, I had the joyous experience of seeing what set the forums alight both yesterday and today, the newest screenshots released for Quantic Dream's game-in-development: Heavy Rain. They look beautiful, to be sure, but its the amount of detail (eye veins mapped in real time, for instance) that has set keyboards ablaze with gigantic font and expletives of amazement. I had another "I told you so" moment, as my arrogant ass is prone to do, as my anticipation for this game ever since seeing the technology demo the team showed at E3 2006 was valided (if not heightened) by these images. Actual gameplay will hopefully prove the authenticity of these shots as being in game, but if its only half the quality of QD's previous resume [Indigo Prophecy, Omikron: the Nomad Soul], then Q1 2009 can't come around soon enough. Let's just hope Sony comes to their senses and pushes this as a system seller, which it could very well be, giving it the marketing push it so richly deserves.
For all of those that haven't seen them, here is the quickly-becoming-infamous screenshots:
Auditions: The Shitfest Begins
1pm - 12am
I missed the previous script meeting this Monday, so I walk in yesterday to our production meeting completely unprepared for the absolutely horrible direction the script for our latest film has taken. I wasn't expecting much of my script to factor into the final shooting version, as it was too long for our proposed running time, but only a single line from it was added to the entirely new script that was written before I got there, and the line itself was cut and put to a different character. What was supposedly my drawing point for this film, my characters, two of them specifically, were both changed to a direction almost completely opposite mine, making me question why I bothered to waste a day writing my version in the first fucking place. The entire script was taken in a new direction, our plot revised to a bastardized version that the original idea curator wanted but had no ability to properly write out. The lines are none nonsensical and choppy, and the plot is ham-handed at best. I would have preferred we go over our time limit than shoot this crap. I sat through a read of this shlock and tried my best to add a bit of flavor to the now brain-dead characters but I was shot down at nearly every offering, until I simply gave up. It was a terribly disappointing experience, and I'm still in a bit of a funk about it.
After I grit my teeth until my gums bled, we were able to break for dinner and I saw the Heavy Rain screenshots as I mentioned before. I returned to some pizza and Pepsi before we migrated to a larger conference room for the three hours of auditions. It started off slow with some mediocre performances that we quickly wrote off. I can't talk much about it for confidentiality reasons, but I can say that at the end of the night we came away with about 10 people we could actually use. Its hard for such a short film, to cast this many actors, especially our largest female role, Elliot, due to all of the good auditions following in for a single role in a 15 minute movie. We had one audition-ee who was partially deaf, and it was excruciatingly difficult to hear him stumble through the lines and not stopping him because there was no way we could actually use him for the shoot. We also hurt was the constant stream of women flowing in with the traditional technique of deep-cut tops and table leaning. It was moments like this that made me remember why I'm not gay.
The salt in the wound of yesterday was that, because of an odd re-writing schedule, the script now had absolutely no semblance to the sides the audition-ees were reading. It was my writing as well, so it pained me to hear something I knew was better than the script only being used at the beginning of the production. My only hope is that our casted actors don't turn away when they find out that what they read is nowhere in the script at all (it's happened before.) The auditions went up until 11pm or so, and we spent half an hour playing the elimination game with the day's catch, keeping about 20% of everyone who came in and adding it to our consideration file along with our previous audition day's catch, to be finally decided after our last audition this Saturday. I was driven home and arrived at about 12am, still really sore about losing the entirety of my script to something noticeably less eloquent and useful. Perhaps I'll post it up on GT if anyone wants to see it. I'm going to call my director tonight and ask him to take my name off the writing credits, as I really want nothing to do with the script at this point. I'm sticking around as both Casting and Assistant Director sheerly for my love of my director, and possibly furthering my filmwork resume.
Random Thoughts
- I believe being heterosexuality is a choice, and its not something we're born with
- The proper soundtrack can make anything badass. For example: I had my MP3 player on the bus, and there was a mother descretely breast feeding her child a few seats down. My MP3 player started playing Rob Zombie's Dragula, and the act suddenly became pretty intense.....weird....
- Those who can't, teach. Those who can't imagine, have social lives
- If I could have one thing for games suddenly become available to me in real life, it would be the ability to save
- Nostalgia makes fools out of all of us. It changes memories and feelings. Its makes what was horrible suddenly the best thing ever...until you revisit it. For example, Nickelodeon's show Cat Dog...not that funny anymore
- Can a hermaphrodite ever be a drag king/queen?
News
- Laptop still doesn't like playing games, freezes up after 15-30 of use, not indicative of game performance, as it does it for ANY game on CD. Anyone know what I can do at this point?
Plugs
- As always, check out my best friend for-longer-than-forever, Bennett the Sage's, pad here on TWTG, or be checking out his funny stuff on Youtube or alongside myself on Gamepartisan
- Hughsnews is a video blog of an Aussie dude named Hugh and all that he cares about. You can find his funny shite here. A lot of it may be hit and miss, but you can find his best stuff here,here, here, and here.
- I love College Humor. Here's a short animated bit they did on how Bowser makes it so damn easy for Mario by cockblocking his minions.
First off, I'm a guy, but I can still appreciate the fact that little girls have always and will always have a soft spot for their dolls. And there has been no bigger doll than Barbie. She's been around since the 60's and is here to stay, but much like how the incomparably annoying Jonas Brothers are being compared to the legendary Beetles, Barbie also has a modern adversary. A slutty, more current version and the ideal woman, the Bratz.
Barbie made girls dream, and she could be anyone, a movie star, an astronaut, a teacher, even a cop (cellulite and donuts not included) TM. And she had a smile that said, "Hi my name is Barbie! Have a wonderful day!" Observe:
Note: If your haven't seen Doctor Who a highly recommend you pick it up your copy of Season One at Amazon.com, its that freakin' good. I guarantee its better than any season you've seen on TV in the past year. Also if you do have an interest in seeing the show or are currently going through the DVD sets, I'd advise you to stop reading THE REVIEW IS GONNA BE SPOILER INFESTED.
So not even a minute into the episode, the cliffhanger from "The Stolen Earth" is resolved and how they do it is pretty damn genius in my opinion. While The Doctor is regenerating the energy from it is transfered to his severed hand and gets stored in the hand, and saves The Doctor from regenerating into his 11th incarnation. I especially love how Tennant plays it off as nothing has just happened. That's what I love about Tennant's Doctor, the man could save the world from being split in two and he play it off as though he just deleted an email from his mailbox. The way Davies gave resoulution to the cliffhanger got a helluva alot flack from critics in the UK, but I didn't see what the big deal was (Then again I'm an American). Davros manages to find out where the TARDIS is and teleports it and its crew to The Crucible, the Daleks main ship. During their confrontation Davros disposes of the TARDIS with Donna still inside. As its burning up in the lava like stuff, Donna touches the severed hand's jar and it's gives her the energy from the recent regeneration, while in return it gives the hand the genetic makeup of Donna to make a new Doctor, who just in the nick of time saves the TARDIS from being destroyed.
This is where it starts to get complicated. The first time I first saw this episode I missed the first half hour and missed everything I just discussed and missed a hell of a lot, which left me confused for the whole episode. The actor that plays Davros in the episode is terrific and captures the character almost perfectly, in some scenes you see a bit of Wisher's Davros come out of the performance. The scenes between The Doctor and Davros are well played out, one of my favorite scenes has got to be when Davros shows the Doctor that even though he's a pacifist, he's turned his companions into weapons themselves.
It seems that the wireless connection I have been mooching in my area hates me. The sluggish but convienent hub has dissppeared from my wireless card's radar, forcing me once again to travel around this sh*t excuse for a city searching for a connection. Thankfully, it appears that my roommate has purchased a fancy, Cable-DSL home connection that should prove 10x as fast as what I have been using, which means more updates for you guys! Just wanted to stop by while I still am allowed inside this dank coffee shop with their "buy some cheap crap for a shoddy hookup" policy. I should be back on track late tomorrow, with either a new Top 10 List or a E3 post-mortem for y'all!
