There Goes My Hero...

Martin Scorsese is probably my favorite director. I enjoy interviews with him or articles or books about the man. Especially when he injects his own thoughts, motivations and ideas about film and film making.

Yesterday a friend at work who is also an avid film buff, told me about a site where Scorsese had apparently done a commercial in Europe. Its for some kind of champagne or wine or something.

I don't know what it is about Europe that actors and directors feel that there's no stigma to doing a commercial or filming one. Maybe they just throw them bags full of money or something.

Anyhow, after watching the "film" Marty did for this champagne, I said, "Damn!" I mean, it's fucking Scorsese so you know it's gonna be good.

Here's the link: Scorsese's booze ad

Enjoy!

-30-

Drunks, Day 7: Well Oiled Machine

Mike rounded up Heidi, Theo and his son, Michael the day before to rehearse what had, up to today, a difficult scene. Since I started working in film, I have noticed the quality that rehearsals add to a shoot. Today was no different.

They all rehearsed yesterday and came in today with a strong game. I took them through a dry run, to allow Hank to get the camera angles worked out. Before we knew it, we had gotten some really great shots.

Michael, Mike's son, is a natural. This kid has natural talent. He takes direction well, remembered everything we wanted out of him from previous shoots and delivered a great performance.

Heidi, who takes acting classes with Mike and Theo, still has some learning ahead of her, but she takes direction well and asks questions that help hone her skills. I predict that she will eventually blossom into a fantastic actress. She has her doubts about her abilities and expressed as much. I tried not to flood her with useless knowledge, instead concentrating on what I thought she needed to convey in her role. She did great.

Theo is a class act and a really great actor. He always brings his 'A' game. And he can take a punch in the gut. Over and over and over and over and over again. Michael kept having to punch him, an act he thoroughly enjoyed, throughout the shoot. And Theo was a trooper with every hit. He'll always be on the top of my casting choices when I have something right for him.

Mike is a terrifically talented actor. Although, I have to admit, I haven't been happy with his take on a drunk accent. I tried talking to him about it in the beginning, but I think something was lost in translation. Regardless, he brings real sincerity to his part which really makes him shine. He's willing to do whatever it takes to make the movie work. As an actor and a producer, he's tops.

Rounding out the cast is Tim, who also takes classes with Mike & Theo. He's a very useful guy to have around. Not only is he a very natural, very gifted actor, but he's willing to jump the fence and crew if it's needed. He's been on boom for the previous shoots. He's now playing the cop who will have a run in with Theo & Mike in the film's finale.

Hank. What can I say about Hank? He's my ace in the hole. He did some great work on a couple of hand held shots. Without him, I know my work would lack a certain style and maturity. I need to get myself up to snuff in case he's not available for other projects. I hope to work more with Hank as the year progress.

We closed out the day with an impromptu rehearsal for next Sunday's climactic ending to this film.

I am anxious to start editing. More to come.

-30-

Drunks, Day 6: Shooting Around

Greg wasn't able to make the shoot we had last Sunday (Sept. 30). We were missing the majority of extras, our second camera man (Sky), but we had everyone else. Jason, our bartender, really didn't want to be there. I think he had some plans with his wife, but he came out because he'd committed himself to Mike. I dig that in an actor. And he wasn't dragging ass; he came to work.

We managed to get it all done pretty quickly after setting up. We went through a couple of dry runs before we worked out how everything had been done the first time out. Hope and Vicky, the two actresses who are victims of Mike's drunken blathering were both very patient as I walked them back and for from the front door to their seats, over and over again. Before long, we'd run through everything we needed to do and at last, managed to finish all the interiors for our little film.

Having to shoot around Greg's absence was a bit difficult at times, but we managed to get it all taken care of. It will be up to me, in editing, to fill in any holes or apply cover ups to anything we might have too much of or not enough of.

Next up, we rehearse with Heidi, Mike's son, Michael, Theo and Policeman Tim for the final sequence.

I'm really looking forward to finishing this. I enjoy the work, but I'm anxious to start one of my own projects. This film has taught me quite a few things about directing someone else's work. That being said, I'm going to be more cautious about working with my own.

-30-

Big Bang Films on IFC.com

Well, I've got my first film up on IFC's Media Lab online. It's kind of exciting to see it on the web. The counter says there's been 50 hits so far. Here's the link:

Big Bang Films, FIXER

If you can, please leave a comment. Or come back here and leave a comment.

I think the film might be entered in a short film festival in Cali called "The Vines", but I need to check the rules & regs about it being on Media Lab.

More to come.

-30-

Drunks, Day 1: The Lay of The Land

The Bar
First days of shoots are always hard for me. It was especially difficult this day because I was directing a film I didn't write. Normally, I'm on the set with all the knowledge in the world that I know every line inside and out. Well, not always, but you get my point. I read the script a couple of times, but didn't commit it to memory like I should have.

Our shoot began May 27th. The bar we got to occupy was great. Had lots of character and all sorts of things to work with. But then, it also had stuff we needed to get around. Like the light coming from the windows. Fortunately, my trusty, creative cinematographer, Hank, was on the scene. We also had the help of Sky, an up and coming camera operator that Theo & Hope, two other filmmakers, discovered. Theo and I stay in very regular contact. As a matter of fact, Theo and Hope are both in this film. Greg, who worked on the now defunct "road" movie, also came on to crew. He ended up with a non speaking roll after the highly amusing barfly that Mike, the actor/producer, had originally given the roll to failed to show up.

Mike, left, and Theo

The bartender who came to let us in, Melissa, showed up about an hour late, but then let us stay an hour later to finish. We were shooting from 10AM to 2PM, but ended up there till 3PM. Once inside, Melissa was very helpful and gave us run of just about everything in the bar. She set up the counters and even went as far as to give us run of the taps to pour real beer.

Once we got set up, we ran through a few scenes, worked out a few details and tried to make up for the missing cast member with Greg. It was an adjustment with Greg since he's much bigger than the guy he was filling in for. The character was more for comic relief given the look of the original "actor". Greg still did great, even though I know he was a bit apprehensive.

Vicki, left and Hope

We rounded out the rest of the cast with Hope, a new actress named, Vicki, the bartender, Chris and an assortment of friends and relatives of Mike.

The first few hours ran slow. I was off my groove completely and was letting my lack of preparation really get to me. I hate to think I got a little nervous, but there were all these people in the bar. I've gotten use to getting things done with just a few people, counting actors. I think I'm just coming up with excuses for the plain and simple fact that I wasn't on the mark.

At least not until the second half of the shoot. We had a small stunt where one of the actors is suppose to fall back off a bar stool and hit the ground. The actor-slash-executive producer brought an inflatable mattress for the actor to fall on. We rehearsed the stunt several times, adjusting the mattress and doing anything we could to keep it from moving so that the actor, Theo, wouldn't break his neck and head. The stunt went off without a hitch and looks great on film.

After that we shot stuff with a guy named, Gerald, who we'd auditioned a while back during an open cattle call at a local mall. Gerald would play our bouncer. He's tall, over 6 feet. Just a big guy. He made short work of the drunks and threw them out into the street.

We wrapped the day with Theo and Mike being tossed into the street and playing it up hardcore. Mike threw himself into a parking meter and Theo ran into my truck, falling into the bed and then out of it with lots of comic edge. It was fantastic.

We didn't get as much accomplished as we thought, but I felt good after we were done.

Little did we know what would await us next.

-30-

Get Busy

The Lot project taught me something important about telling a story. Especially with it being under 5 minutes. Be quick about it. I guess that's the thing about editing that I'm still getting use to. I get lots of coverage for safety's sake, but I don't have to use every bleedin' second of it. Sometimes less is more. Particularly when you're shackled by time constraints.

Thankfully, the project I'm returning to, my "road" picture, leaves me some room to breathe. I think the weather will cooperate well enough for me to start back up with production. We don't have a great deal more to shoot for that project, so I'm hoping to be done with it in a couple of weeks. I say "couple of weeks" meaning four days tops.

My brother is working on a Motion version of the production company logo. An animated version of the atom above the company name. I think what I have is actually not bad, but I'd love to have a spicy version of for subsequent films.

I'm also working on a script that one of my other brothers, Lyon, and I had spun while we were at the Austin Film Festival a few years ago. It a comedy about the film business that we started brainstorming on one night. I've been working on it now for three years and I think it's come into fruition. I'm hoping to have it ready for contest in October for submission at the Austin Film Festival.

There are so many other projects that I have lined up after I finish this next film. One I wrote with hopes to enter it The Lot and another that my buddy, Greg, is working on. The Greg collaboration has such great potential; it's a drama about the Iraq war. Greg really has a good handle on dialogue and description that I feel we can really sink our teeth into that one and make it strong.

I'm trying my best to keep my momentum going from film to film. With my new schedule coming up next week, it will be interesting to see just how I'm gonna get it all done.

-30-

A Lot of Feelings about The Lot

I've viewed a few entries on The Lot's website. I have to say, some of them are high quality. By that I mean that they've spent a few dollars on equipment and their production value is high. I've seen others that are just as good and they seem to have almost no budget.

While I don't have a doubt about how talented some of these higher end indie filmmakers are, their films lead me to one question: how underdog are these contestants for this reality TV show going to be?

I mean, if you've got the ability to not only come up with recognizable film props (one film used the DeLorean from Back To The Future), does that make you a more viable candidate for the show? Or are they looking to see if you can make do with almost nothing and turn that raw talent into a film? I definitely have the latter. I've got all kinds of ideas that I think would make great shorts and can pull them off on a zero budget. Well, almost zero, but you get the idea.

I'm worried that projects like mine will be overshadowed by outfits who have great cameras and great sets and a sharper look and feel. Still, I think that with the great performances we have and the fairly decent story, it might fair up well.

Taking a positive approach to all this is definitely the way I need to go. Regardless of how I fair up, I've done a great job and I feel great about it. My skills will only improve and one day I'll be playing in the major leagues. That's all there is to it.

Right now, my other thought about The Lot is whether or not I'll have time to shoot another project. One of the three projects that I wrote for The Lot is a cast intensive one that could, potentially, be shot in one evening. Sixteen people with a line or three in one house.

I've spoken to my wife, Hank and a few others about the possibility of trying to shoot this script Saturday night. But I have my reservations about it. I have to cast sixteen parts tomorrow and film the next day. Sounds tough, doesn't it? I could be. Or it could be the greatest film ever made. Well, okay, maybe it's just a tough shoot.

I guess we'll find out tonight when I begin editing the first short. I hope we can pull the second film off.

-30-