Lights Out - new ethereal short

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alternate, working title: Degrees
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left to right Sean Cullen on my camera, George Clooney and Sean Cullen on Tony Gilroy’s camera

As part of my many acts of commerce for Portland Center Stage, I’m often face to face with actors in town for various productions. Sometimes the footy ends up in an interview piece, other times its simply used internally.

In February, Sean Cullen spoke to me about his role in PCS’s production of The Pillowman. Next month he plays George Clooney’s brother in Michael Clayton.

That’s pretty cool. I liked that guy.

It doesn’t get any more big-time than A/V space trade magazines, and damnit, I couldn’t be more pleased to have several of my shots end up in the July issue of Sound & Communications. Portland Center Stage sound engineer and sound designer Casi Pacillio received a pretty nice write-up, as did the sound architects of the Gerding Theater.

The layout itself turned out pretty boring (really?), so I’ll leave you with photos from the actual shoot instead of the scanned pages. Enjoy.

click pic fo’ mo’ pix

I’m still getting emails about the two Portland Center Stage spots, which is  cool.  Emails are fun.  In addition, the volume of emails and the questions regarding such have led me to believe a full post is in order.  So here that is; the full post.  I’m by no means a stop-mo expert, but these spots were pretty interesting to shoot. I’ll roughly translate the info into a general Q&A.

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What Camera Did You Use to Shoot 1080 24?
Nikon D-80. It’s a prosumer still camera body, 10+ megapixels, very ergonomic. In this lineup Canon has the 30d and Sony has a new one called the Alpha. I had experience with the Nikon D-70 and stayed with the D-80 b/c I like how it fits my hands - makes me want to pick it up (which is important, if you’re a camera). The Canon 30d is also a very fine camera, a bit more expensive, but very very sweet.

Lenses?
Both spots shot with Nikon’s 18-135mm zoom. It’s a very slow lens (f4+), but zoom was important for a couple of reasons (more in a bit). I’m still working on my lens collection, continually trolling ebay (this is where things can get expensive).

Did You Shoot RAW, or What?
I hardly ever shoot RAW format. Little, if any, of my stuff goes to large format printing, and I personally don’t find the increased detail editing controls with RAW all that much better than shooting hi-rez JPEG. RAW is definitely better, but not that much better, IMHO. If I’m editing photos, I usually have 40+ open at a time and with RAW, that’s just silly. This is personal preference and that’s just how I work.

Using RAW stills for a motion/broadcast/film spot is cool too, but it depends on your final output. For me, I knew MY final output would be HD, and the CLIENT’S final output was web, so shooting RAW here was a bit overkill.

For the sake of speed and efficiency, I actually shot the spots at about 1K resolution. 700+ stills uncompressed at 10MP apiece is A LOT to ask of even of best desktop ‘puter and knowing final output resolution was negligible, I just thought this was the way to go. Saved a bunch of drive space, too.

For a BIG shoot with a BIG budget or even somone besides my alias editor Stump Blanketship driving FCP, I may have thought about shooting RAW, but for Stump’s sake I made it real simple (well, relatively simple. Stump is a damn fine editor - I’m lucky to have him).

How’d You Do It?
The stop-motion?

Yes.
Stop-motion is easier than you may think; it’s really a patience game.

For the “Bad Dates” spot, I had some really nice visuals to work with and a nicely lit set piece, so I just set up shop there. I had already written out the VO and had a rough storyboard in my head so the goal was just to match the shoe action with the pace of the script.

Moving the shoes around is simply that, move a bit at a time, snap, move, snap, move. For this process, I HIGHLY recommend a loyal assistant, or at the very least, a SHUTTER REMOTE.

For the “Fences” spot, there were no specified props or characters to work with, so my goal was to make a baseball field come alive.

The hardest part of the spot was finding a nice looking field that would let me shoot there, and I landed the 2nd nicest field in Portland, at the U. of Portland (PGE Park - the minor league team’s field - was cordial, but this didn’t fit into their opening week festivities. I can’t imagine why; perhaps a “location fee” would have helped. Mmm, next spot’s budget….).

Yeah but, How Did You Move the Field Around?
That was the trick, instead of moving the field, I moved the camera - position of, and tripod head axis (pan/tilt), and ZOOM - sometimes all at once (in little increments). That was really fun; I had a good time in the sun shooting the baseball field pix.

Again, I showed up to the field, alone, with only an idea of what I wanted. The fun part was figuring that out on the fly, as I had an hour to myself.

You Don’t Storyboard?
Not for my own devices. I storyboard when a client needs to see ‘em, or when I can’t already see it in my head, or I make lil’ stick figure ones if only to show the rest of a crew. It’s hard to effectively storyboard when the location variables are not already on-lock (urban term), and plus, for me, I like the organic challenge of directing on the fly. It’s like a live, moving painting that you’re in charge of - at least that’s how directing feels to me. Non-storyboarding doesn’t mean ill-prepared, just that I like making decisions after I see things come together visually, in real life, in real time, in the moment.

DP Rodger Deakins has a great line, with a very sly smirk on his face, in the extra features of House of Sand and Fog where he pokes fun at director Vadim Perelman for showing up to the set with an intricate book of storyboards. Deakins basically says something to the effect of “I made him throw them out”, which is funny because in the moment of having the actors and crew and everything on set you just know you’ll see something better than you did with a pen and paper (special effects laden, SCI-FI epics excluded from that statement).

Enough With The Storyboarding, What are You the Storyboarding Master Or Something?
No, I’m not, sorry to run on that tangent.

It’s Okay. I Left The Subject of This Email Querry Somwhat Vague and You Went With It.
Wanna see the spot?

Yes.

That’s Pretty Cool. You Do The Color Pass in After Effects?
Thanks and no. I…er…Stump shies away from AE as much as possibly b/c he’s much better with the color tool in FCP, and it’s much faster than importing and exporting files a bunch of times. AE is sweet but - HE - did a bunch of AE work some years ago and prefers to let the motion graphics artists stick to AE while he works inside FCP. No doubt Apple’s COLOR has him very stoked.

Wow! Thanks For The Reponse! I Think I’mma Try Shooting Stop-mo Too!
You’re welcome, thanks for writing. You should go shoot some stop-mo - it’s fun; bring your patience.

Any Other Tips?
Can’t say it enough - camera remote.

Awesome. If I think of anything else, I’ll post something in the comments.
R A D , Y O .

I don’t watch a lick of teevee so I had no idea this was going on, but Mr. Chuck Roy is having himself a grand ole’ time on NBC’s Last Comic Standing. Currently, the entire 4th episode is all online, for free. I’ve provided a link to the episode right here; go have yourself a laugh.

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If you’ll remember, the very funny Chuck Roy spent some time in Hollywood making the comedy rounds for a number of years telling jokes as the house warmup act for The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn (where I saw him perform as a member of the studio audience when I lived in LA) as well as making several guest appearances on Third Rock From the Sun and Will and Grace.

A few years later, we met on the streets of Denver, CO where I was filming a spot for a local ad firm and he simply walked up to me and said “Hey, wadda’ ya shooting?” That friendship birthed many ideas on the subject of art, and storytelling, and commerce, one of which came to mini-fruition as the beginnings of what was/(is?) Fuck Highlands Ranch.

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Chuck and I just got off the phone after a long chat, two older and wiser gentlemen still making our way doing whatever it is each one of us do, albeit now in different area codes, hoping our creative paths meet again.

Good to hear from you, Chuck.

The West Side IS THE NEW MODEL. Model for what? The model for DIY content creation, creativity, and distribution. The West Side is a banging new “serialized internet novel”, presented for free on the internet as 12 episodes. The brain children behind The West Side are hella-made NoFilmSchool scribe Ryan Bilsborrow-Koo and co-writer/director/producer Zachary Lieberman. And I haven’t even got to the best part yet; The West Side is an urban western and it’s off-the-chain S T Y L I E.

No doubt, this concept would have made a great low budget feature, but without any budget to speak of, RBK and ZL took matters into their own hands. It’s a film, it’s a “podcast”, it’s an episodic, it’s a series. It’s feature length, in portions.

It’s B O S S (fuck the Boss).

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The great thing about The West Side (besides looking fantastic) is that it’s professional; no one’s going to be crying about being $100K in credit card debt at the end of the series.

In other words, there’s no Film Festival trying-so-hard-to-be-hip mentality behind it. RELEASE IT. NOW. AS FAST AS WE CAN.

Susan Buice and Arin Crumley of Four Eyed Monsters, for all the press and “accolades” they received, are just now - two years post-date - releasing their film for free, to the internet.

And if I can Dennis Miller this for a second, why - why - why - why did Buice and Crumley not make FEM available on DVD the second their podcasts were featured all over the net? Really? Everyone into indie film/the net was watching the FEM brand explode, and yet the creators sat - SAT - on their greatest potential revenue source FOR TWO YEARS, only now to show up in my email inbox looking very sad at having spent one-hundred thousand dollars navel gazing, buying ironic t-shirts (size small), traveling to 20 film festivals, and begging for traditional distribution.

Think I’m wrong? Bullshit. FEM has been HAILED by the just as wanna-be-hip InterWebPress/Traditional Press as the “new model of Indie distribution”. To that I say, really? The model for DIY, self reliant, harnessing the web, blazing new trails, no/low budget “indie” filmaking/distribution is….

1.) Seek traditional distribution deals (and their collective cash) first…..
2.) Complain when said distribution deals for your self-made reality-TV (OOOPs I mean) reality-FILM driven movie don’t come in
3.) Spend WAAAAYYY TOO MUCH MONEY while continuing to seek traditional distribution
4.) Move back in with your parents
5.) Release your film on the internet for free anyway

…?

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The West Side says FUCK ALL THAT. Let’s skip to the release part, then see where it leads us. These guys making The West Side work real jobs, they’ve saved their money, they’re shooting nights and weekends, and they’re scheming as fast as they can.

And nowhere on their site do you see them pleading for a revenue stream to bail them out of poor financial decisions.

Na. The West Side is just about, art, and story, and having a badass time being creative. I hope these guys BLOW UP. They deserve it. This is a ballsy move on their part, creating a wonderful piece of art and entertainment, with no money, no backing, and giving it away for free. No doubt, getting 12 of these episodes out is going to be a chore with limited resources. This is exactly the kind of project that if I was a rich man, or even a semi-rich man with a bent for unique storytelling and possibly artistic development, I’d throw RBK and ZL $20K just too help them get through this production a little easier. Even with an in-kind grant such as that, they’d still halfta’ count on dedication and a whole lotta patience to pull this episodic feature off, but maybe the morning’s cereal would taste a bit better, knowing the milk isn’t bad and all.

Spielberg - Where you at on this, breh? Robert Rodriguez - Throw a bone these cat’s way.

RBK and ZL: either one of you guys Jewish?

Grrrr….farmer tans are in. Can you smell that fresh air and sweat?

Too bad I’m not Catholic otherwise this would have gone on eBay with a starting bid of $100,000. For charity, of course.

I have this bad habit of getting involved with crappy pop songs way after their expiration date. Take for instance my latest mini-binge on Panic at the Disco!’s “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”.

It’s the song…it’s so damn catchy! I can’t stop it. It’s weird. I don’t even listen to all that much music anyway but one day I’m in the car and happen to be scanning the radio and BAM! I can’t get enough! But here’s the thing - I don’t buy the song or buy the album - I just download the song and listen to it over and over again. For four hours. Over and over on repeat.

Then I never want to hear the song again…..

What is with that!???? Ahhhhh!

I should be impervious to this type of pop infection. My musical tastes are varried but defined. I don’t follow specific bands, and I really like albums as opposed to singles. The music I do listen to is made soley of my large but stagnant collection housed locally by iTunes. I don’t watch TV so I don’t care (or even know) who the cool bands of the week are, and I dislike much more “new” music than I enjoy.

But Panic At the Disco! has infected me…at least for a little bit. I know the song is bad for me, I know the band is bad for me, I know admitting this opens me up for all kinds of closet suspicion, and I know I’m wayyyy late to the party…but I JUST WANT TO SING ALONG!!!! AND I CAN’T SING!!!!!

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In my defense, I saw some promotion online for a band named Cartel and I will have you know that Cartel - for me will always be the dope steezey binding still made by Burton. Cartel is not a band - its a boot holder, and a damn fine one at that (tweak those hi-backs, G).

Also I’ve never been infected by Hoobastank….(oh but there was this song for like twenty minutes. That’s only five times in a row).

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Listen, I know the music is crappy and I’m not ashamed. Hell, I had a Taproot phase once *, but maybe you did too so lets not point fingers. Listen to “rock/metal” over the last ten years? Yeah, I bet you own a Korn CD (I have 3…)

I digress. Maybe YouTube will incorporate an auto repeat function soon.
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Panic at the Disco! “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”

Fall Out Boy “Dance Dance”

*also see AFI “Leaving Song Part 2″ and The Used “Burried Myself Alive” and Justin Timberlake “My Love”, and to go a ‘lil further back Ma$e, Puffy, n Biggs “Mo Money, Mo Problems”, and the song following below - my vote for the “Best Music Video To Ever Use a Gold and Platinum Tank On A Basketball Court”…

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And yes, I just referenced Master P’s “Make ‘Em Say Uhhhh!” as pop. Na Na Na Na.

Rocks

Two Shadows

One Peaceful-Ass MoFo

Still getting tricky with the DeeEightZero here; an experiment with a simple concept and an interesting process.

Watch PCS Fences :30 Spot
- QT
- iPod
- Flash

Finally got this out of a happy ‘puter; “Bad Dates” commercial for Portland Center Stage.

Watch PCS Bad Dates :30 Spot
- QT
- iPod
- Flash

Turned out way better than I expected - this being my first foray into the world of StopMo.

Shot and finished this in High Def - using the D80 made the most sense.

Having some Quad G5 troubles now. Hard Drive or Processor failing - not sure yet. Gonna have to go back to the Dual 2.0. Will post full version of this spot in a few days. Been very very very buuuusssssyyyy lately. Life is grand - never been happier. Not much time for the webber-site or general WWW surfing on a whole. I have no idea what’s going on the “the world” and I’m not pawing to know. It’s just me and the lady and our critters and 22 acres of peace and ideas.

And some “real” work too. Still paying the bills. Two new commercial spots - no seriously, real ones. One above being the most recent example - one more to shoot and 6 more ordered.

Pre-Production on Horses moving along too. Probably gonna be putting a post up looking for specific positions filled sometime over the summer. Yup, putting you to work.

Signing off for now.

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JO

Going offline for a few weeks; unplugging, maxin’, relaxn’, and most especially - getting hitched.

See you in March.

- is the title of a great “crosstalk” between Onion AV club film critics Noel Murry and Scott Tobias. This is the second time in a month I’ve referenced The Onion, don’t discount their credibility especially when it comes to all things zeitgeist (Yes, yes, yes! Via said zeitgeist, I’ve finally been able to reference that o-so-timely word!).

Seriously, though - this subject I believe is forefront many cineastes minds, including mine.

RARELY do I go to the movie theatres anymore. I’ll give you one reason why that trumps all others:

THE 2WENTY

Kristine and I never watch the ‘tube, er T.V. Never. We have free cable and we never turn it on. We don’t subscribe to magazines, we’re generally insulated from the morning papers, and it’s rare we listen to the radio.

When you function outside, or perhaps just to the left of “traditional media”, you’ll notice your tolerance for advertising bombardments is extremely low.

In general, I think that’s a good thing.

CUT TO: two weeks ago Kristine and I venture to the nearest Regal Cinema chain to catch CHILDREN OF MEN. Our reward for arriving promptly before showtime - a 2wenty minute in- your-face, too loud, can’t escape, it 14′ tall commercial.

Forget screaming children, ringing cellphones, or bored high school kids with nothing else to do - for my $18.50, the 2wenty is reason enough to stay at home.

Netflix doesn’t have commercials.

Thing is, CHILDREN OF MEN was fantastic on the big screen. But, had free movie tix not arrived in the mail over the holidays, I would have waited for the DVD.

Would I like to see more movies in the theatre? Sure. But only if:

1.) The projection looks BEYOND STUNNING. I also saw LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE in the theatre (a major chain), and it must have been the combination of the worst projector used and the worst print the studio released. Way too many scratches and pops, dimlly lit (bulb going out anyone?), and washed out colors - in short ugly. Bring on digital projection.

2.) For $9.50 you don’t show me any commercials OR

3.) For $3.50 you show me a two minutes worth before the previews run.

Barring that, I will stay home, I will wait for the DVD (we probably take in 10-12 movies/ month), and I will not cry for missing the theatrical experience.

If there’s a problem, a fix that needs to be made to get more people excited about a night out at the movie theatre, look no further than my list above. I feel like it’s pretty simple, really.

Nauseating 3-D glasses for summer blockbusters a la James Cameron are not going to persuade me to purchase more movie tickets.

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Now here’s a kicker - not only am I a movie maker, enthusiast, and cinephile, but we watch movies at home on an 8 year-old, 19″ color tv hooked to an equally ancient DVD player and stero speakers.

You could also take this one step further by saying even HD-DVD players wouldn’t entice me to upgrade my home theatre - but that’s a different story in itself.

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Concerning The Onion article, Chicagoian Scott Tobias takes the Cinema-purist route, laying claims that one cannot really “see” a film, as entertainment or as art, unless in a theatre with an audience. On the other hand, Arkansas resident Noel Murry points out the main hassles and short comings of going to the theatre as opposed to catching the DVD at home from his couch.

Both writers, make valid and or sympathetic arguements, but here’s a quote from Murry that I liked the most:

Mainly what I’d like to choke off is the self-righteous prickliness that accompanies the whole big-screen-vs.-small-screen debate. Cineastes get overprotective about “the vision of the artist” and the solemnity of the theatrical experience. And I’m sorry, that’s not the world we live in now, and arguably hasn’t been the world we’ve lived in since the invention of television…I agree that there’s an ideal for movie-watching, and that ideal is sitting in a theater with an appreciative audience and a well-lit, enormous screen. But if that ideal isn’t possible, viewers adjust, and snobby cineastes shouldn’t blame them for adjusting. Remember, all I said was that “appreciation might be enhanced” by a big-screen presentation. Not “created.” If a movie really works, it should work whether it’s seen on a TV, a laptop, or a bedsheet flapping in the breeze. You can’t micromanage the experience anymore. Let go.“

You’ll notice much of that refrain can also be applied to digital downloads, changing media formats/ landscapes, user preferences etc.

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This is a really good read for film enthusiasts, not necessarily an argument, but essentially a crosstalk as described, complete with a whole mess of “audience” interaction (comments).

Murry and Tobias even jump in during the feedback - a model all media outlets should find inviting.

READ IT

Shot some Goof Spoof Driving Projection footy this morning that’s all part of a larger (if not somewhat strange) project. Two links:

- 1 minute of video
- (10) pictures

Update
….ahhhhh….and really, for anyone sans QT, the U2B version:

***spoiler alert****

The title of this piece from U2B says it all - WHY CHILDREN OF MEN SHOULD BE NOMINATED FOR BEST PICTURE. I will add to that by not just saying Best Picture of the Year - But certainly up for Best Picture, Ever.

Also, check out this great EPK offering on the making of:

- Oakhurst

One of the benefits of living in Portland, Oregon is that the entire city shuts down with a mere 4″ of snow on the ground.

Snow Day photos on Flickr

The first month of the New Year brings New Life. From left to right you’re looking at new business cards, a new screenplay, and new director’s reel.

Lets make a deal.