Production: A Short and A Nomad

A pier we shot on in Ft Myers, Fl

I really have been terrible about updating this blog. The Ft Myers film I was scripty for back in May went really well. I possibly would have posted if I had actually had access to the internet. As it was, I was offline for the month. June I spent in New York. I had a day working for the Ft. Myers film and then two weeks as an AC for a short a couple of friends were shooting. Both of those also went well. I was in New York through the 4th of July and got back to Florida last Monday.

And on to current things.

This weekend I'm scripty for a short filming in Ft. Lauderdale. It's only for today and tomorrow but it's something fun to fill the time with. The crew is pretty cool and I was happy to find that I had worked with a couple of the kids previously. The gaffer and the girl doing make-up were both in Ft Myers and I'm glad to be working with them again. They're very cool kids. I also know a couple of the guys helping out as grips. So good times there.

Coming up in August I'll be script once again for some friends on a film out in San Fransisco. I can't wait to get out there and the idea of working in San Fran is hugely exciting. I'm also just looking forward to working with these guys again. It's a film being produced by the 2nd AC and 2nd/1st AD from the film I did last fall. A few other people from that film will be on this one as well so I'll be getting to work with a lot of people that I just really like.

Ha, now if I could only find a few more jobs that paid a bit more my life would be perfect. I'm also excited about getting a decent number of scripty jobs, I'm just looking forward to getting more camera jobs as well. Hopefully that will start happening more as well.

But yes. Speaking of jobs and work and whatnot. I should get my things ready for tomorrow and get some sleep. It's a nice and early call.

Production: Pre-Production Day 1

Arrived in Pa today around 5ish after decent driving from DC. There was some traffic around Philly so I was a little later getting in than planned but it wasn't too bad. They were doing camera test when I got here so there really wasn't anything for me to do. The Production Coordinator showed me around a bit and introduced me to some people. I followed a few different people around for a while, hung around in the kitchen, hung around in the office, just kind of hung around. Did get to say hi to the guys I know and I finally got to meet the ones I've been talking to on the phone for the last two months. So that was all good. I'm still trying to learn everyone's names and jobs, I'm sure I've forgotten most of them already. That should come pretty quick though, it usually does. And as long as I get them all straight before shooting starts I'll be good.

I was sent along with the crew to one of the locations to be a stand-in while they did camera tests there, so I didn't feel completely useless today! There was at least sitting around with a purpose. It was just weird watching the crew carry all of the lighting equipment and not being a part of that.

Tomorrow there's going to be a tech scout and I will eventually get moved into the place where I'm going to be staying. I'm not hugely sure about what I'll do on the tech scout but I figure it will be good to get a feel for everything. I also need to read the revised script. And just review the script in general.

That's pretty much it for day 1. The night ended with a midnight meal at the local diner and now I am more than ready for sleep. Hopefully the alarms will wake me, I'm terrible at waking up. And I'm sure tomorrow is going to be the first of many long days. But that's what coffee is for.

Thoughts: The Cranes Are Flying

So plans actually worked out and we did indeed watch this movie tonight. Now I'm really tired though and I'm not sure how much I'll be able to write or how coherent it will all be. But I'll try.

I first saw this movie a few semesters ago in a Russian Cinema course I took. It was one of my favorites from that class. I really enjoy Kalatozov, his movies are beautiful. He works with the same cinematographer on this one as he does on I Am Cuba, another excellent film. The cinematography is amazing. One of my favorite sequences is the part in the woods with Boris where the trees are spinning and then the spinning shot of the stairs is super-imposed and the whole dream sequence. I found it to be really moving and sad. The spinning did the whole showing the world out of control thing and the dream was really poignant.

I feel so bad for Veronica. Her character goes through so much. I want to cry for her at least four times during the movie. So much is out of her control and there is so little she can do. But she never gives up hope that Boris will come back to her and even though everyone believes she has betrayed him, she never does.

The ending is so Soviet it's wonderful. Hehe. That whole speach and her reaction. Your personal suffering doesn't matter, it's all for the greater good and war is bad. The first time I saw it, the end kind of threw me off but when you think about the social context of the film it makes sense. And as far as Soviet propaganda in Russian Cinema goes, you're hard pressed to find a movie from that time period without it.

I think it's a really interesting, extremely well done film. It is Russian so expect something depressing, but that probably went without saying. I love this stuff.

Thoughts: Deep Red

We didn't actually finish it tonight, but I've seen it before and I'm not sure if we're going to get to finish it tomorrow or not. So I figured I would write a couple of things tonight. If I actually finish it tomorrow I may write a little more then.

Anyways, on with the writing.

I really like Dario Argento, who directed this movie. I've honestly only seen two of his movies, this one and Suspiria. But I loved both of them. He's definitely an auteur and I really like his style. I really enjoy the colors he uses. Both the movies were decently gory, but it's very stylized. The blood looks like red paint, which could come off as being bad effects and cheesy but I don't think it does, I think he makes it work well.

I actually like this movie a bit better than Suspiria. While Suspiria is definitely more with the horror, this one is a bit more of a murder/mystery type deal, I think this one has a better story maybe? I'm having a hard time finding a way to explain exactly why I like this one better. David Hemmings is in it and I really like him, so that helps a little. But it's more than that. I feel like this one is more intelligent, story wise. It's very complex and I love how it all comes together. I didn't find the ending to be obvious at all, and I think that's very impressive with this sort of movie. The clues are there enough that when you look back on it, you can go "oh yeah! I get it now!" but they were more subtle than most movies make them. I appreciate subtlety.

One thing I like about Argento is what he does with color. His reds are always very red, the blues very blue. I think he uses it very well without going overboard. Again with the being subtle and stylish. Plus the cinematography is in my opinion excellent. Not perfect, but very well done. There are a lot of shots that I really dig. And the atmosphere is always good. He knows how to do creepiness. Another difference between this one and Suspiria is that there is more humor in it. Which is cool, it breaks the tension but it's not overdone. Good stuff.

If you like Argento but haven't seen this one I recommend it. I know some people really don't get into him because his movies tend to be a bit slower, but I don't mind that. From what I've heard this is definitely an Argento that needs to be seen. I also really want to see Opera, I was told that it's even better. That excites me because I really thought that Deep Red was great.

Oh, also, make sure you get an uncut version. Anchor Bay has one out in R 1. They cut over 20 minutes out of the cut ones and it's just not the same. Definitely go Anchor Bay if you can, not only is it uncut, the quality is really, really good. It's a huge improvement over some cheaper DVDs that I've seen.

Thoughts: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the The King Part III

All right for viewing number 3! It's a good thing I like this movie so much. I think I would have shot myself by now if I didn't. Of course, I probably wouldn't have gone so many times in the first place if I didn't like it.

I had a few more things I wanted to say. Let's see if I can remember them all. I really enjoyed the fact that when I told my friends after the movie that the part in the battle at Minis Tirith with the Oliphants (I haven't gotten to them in the book and have no idea how to spell it. Is it different then Elephant? I'm assuming so.) really reminded me of the battle on Hoth in Empire Strikes back. Especially when Eowyn rides under one of them with Merry and cuts it down. Anyways, when I told them that, my own friend started laughing and said she had thought the same thing. I'm glad I wasn't alone with my geekiness on that one. And I'm sorry if my grammar right there was just really bad.

Sam really excites me in this movie. He's so wonderful. I think I mentioned this before, but I really am kind of partial to the hobbits and he was just so fantastic in this one. I just really liked how the first one was big in character development and introductions, the second showed them on their journey, and the third was where they had to really overcome everything and stand on their own. Sam did this, he was the hero and was able to stand by Frodo and then at the end he became his own Hobbit. As Frodo said, he had to stop being split in half and he really did. And with Merry and Pippin, they were seperated for the first time in any of the movies and they had to learn to survive without the other one. Aragorn had to come to terms with who he was and become the king. And so on. I thought all of that was really well done and acted and believable and I really enjoyed it.

There were two things that kind of stuck out and bothered me this time. The first was one line that Gandalf says about the Nazgul Witch King. His wording is "It is said..." and I just think it would have made a later part much better if the wording had been something to the effect of "It was forseen...." The other part was with Denithor. In the book he has a Palanthia and they leave that out of the movie. And while things still make sense, he could have known everything from rumors and been insane because of grief, all of that would have made a lot more sense if he had had one of the seeing stones. Maybe it was cut and they'll put it on the DVD. I also would have liked a little more with Eowyn and Faramir.

So those are my new thoughts. I just really enjoyed this movie and I can't believe how much I've come to care for all of the characters over the course of the three movies. It's pretty awesome.

Thoughts: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Amazingly enough one of my friends had never seen any of the LOTR movies before last night. And since the plan is to go see Return of the King tonight (yes, I'm going AGAIN) we had to change that. So yeah, we sat down and watched the first two movies. The extended versions. And honestly, I couldn't make it. I passed out during Two Towers at the part where Merry and Pippin meet Treebeard. Last thing I remember is the orc getting squished. And I was trying so hard to stay awake to see the extra scene with the Ent Draft. Oh well, I'll have to try again sometime when we're not starting it at 2 am. Not the best plan with a movie of that length.

Anyways, Fellowship. I really, really liked this one. I know a lot of people who actually pick this one as their favorite but I have a really hard time picking one movie over another, I really like them all. But I do agree that this one was a little better when it came to character development. Which makes sense. And Gandalf had a funner personality. Which also makes sense, especially if you've read the books. And speaking of books this is the only one that I've actually read all the way through so I have fun the entire time comparing the book to the movie. I think Peter Jackson did a really good job so the comparing doesn't make it any less enjoyable for me.

And it just has some really badass parts. Like the battle with Uruk-hai at the end. Aragorn kicks so much ass, as does Legolas. Plus the part with Boromir is so well done. Between that and the part right after where Sam follows Frodo I was definitely teary the first time I saw this. And earlier parts. Rivendell is so cool. I really think the set designs were amazing through all three movies. Rivendell, the Shire, Rhohan, and especially Minis Tirith in the third movie where all fantastic. And I love the Elves. Galadrial is so great, another wonderful casting choice I think. I really like that they extended the part where she gives them all their gifts. That was cool.

I could really keep going on about this movie for a really long time. It's not perfect but that's fine. It's amazing for what it is and I think they did a really good job on the entire trilogy. I'm pretty sure I'll be watching this again in the future so I'll save some comments for then.

Oh, and I also really dig the music. Ok, I'm done now.

Thoughts: League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

I really, really, really wanted to like this movie. I guess we just don't always get what we want. Watching it again tonight I was hoping that maybe since my expectations were lowered I would like it more. Nope. I was just bored.

I could rant for a while about this movie. I was considering doing that earlier. But now I'm just kind of tired and don't really feel like spending a lot of time on it. I guess, basically my major complaints are that the plot was silly, the development of everything was silly, the special effects were silly, pretty much everything was silly. I really hated what they did with Hyde, those effects were just ridiculous.

I feel bad for this movie. It could have been so cool. And it tried so hard. It's a darn shame. Really it is.

Thoughts: Suicide Club

Um... Huh?

I've watched a lot of movies, especially foreign horror, that make very little sense. This one was one of the, um, weirder maybe? I'm not really sure. I know part of it was shitty subtitles (a friend of mine who watched with me knows enough Japanese to be able to point that out). It was really hard to understand though, so if you're not keen on the Japanese horror films with subtitles to begin with, you might wanna stay away from this one.

It was definitely very, very bloody. Crazy Japanese school girls who are made of kool-aide... It was also really disturbing. I mean, it was lots of teenagers killing themselves. I guess I should have figured that it would be after reading the description on the box. Some of the scenes were creepy but others were just silly, like the guy in the hospital randomly running around in the dark when he could have just turned on the lights. The beginning was really good I though, in the really disturbing but well done sort of way.

So really, what I learned from this movie (as one of my friends so eloquently put it): cell phones, computers, and pop stars are all evil. Especially 12-year-old pop stars. Gotta watch out for them, they're tricky.

Ok, they started League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in the other room. Long rant possibly coming soon.

Thoughts: Finding Nemo

Hehehe... what a cute movie. I love cartoons. The animation in this one was pretty nice. I know a few people were complaining about halos around the characters but I personally didn't notice. I like the computer animation.

The movie was really enjoyable. I've been meaning to see it since it came out but just never got around to it. I'm glad I got to see it now. It was really clever too. I mean, some of it was obvious like mount wannahokaloogie or whatever their volcanoe thing was called. But it was fun and silly. And I loved the Hitchcock references. Oh and even more fantastic, did those seagulls look familiar to anyone else? Can we say Wallace and Gromit? Watch the Wrong Trousers and you'll see what I'm talking about. Aaaaand how about the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea reference? There's also moments/references from The Shining, Shrek, Scarface, and Monty Python (another one of my favorite references "Swim Away! Swim Away!"). I'm sure there are probably even more I didn't notice. Hehe, I'm all excited now.

Yeah, Finding Nemo definitely lived up to the hype. Sooo much fun! Woo! Hehe.

edit: I forgot to mention the Jaws references!!! Dude! only one of my favorite movies ever! I can't believe I forgot to mention the references to it. i fail. heh.

Thoughts: The Italian Job (2003)

I was told that it was a fun movie that I just HAD to watch. And so we rented it and I watched. And it was fun. So that's good. Yup.

Yeah, it was a fun movie. I enjoy actiony films with cool car chases. I could have done with a little more sexy, but that's probably just me being in a weird mood. It really is fun, it was done well, there was enough of a plot, the acting was decent, and the music was cool.

Oh, and the dvd, best easter egg ever. At least if you like seth green, which I really, really do.