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Working Blues Funding

So I put together an IndieGoGo page in order to try and secure funding for finishing this project (I.e. post work, Crafty, and to pay the few people that will require it on set). Please help spread the word to your friends!

How Not To Make a Short Film.

So I read this wonderful book in one sitting. Not a bad read at all. I got a lot of useful information out of it that I was not getting out of my other research. Thank you Kevin Campbell for suggesting it. So now after lots more research and meditation, my Thesis is getting revised again. This time in a more beneficial way. I think instead of taking baby steps, I am starting to take strides. The preproduction end of my Thesis is moving sluggishly, but that is good, because I am taking my time now to make sure that every single last detail is in line before I shoot again on my project. Thank you Cyan for your words about making sure everything is lined out. Now that I have had some time to actually sleep and take a step back and assess my project, I can see the faults in the way I had the short film structured. So now the story focuses on the tension that builds between two friends who are laid off from the same mechanic shop and are struggling to find work. That is the focus, and the end is more intense, and at the same time I fear the ending. I will have to shoot it a couple different ways to see which ending is going to read properly and not end up as a shortcoming of the script, will it trend to read as predictable? Maybe, but that is the test of the acting performance I can wrangle out of my actors. I also talked to some people in the area and now have a sound engineer on board for shooting and post, as well as an editor, working now on a script supervisor and A.D. for this beast. I think with the crew that is assembling, this piece has a lot of room to thrive. BTW, I got my 5D IN YESTERDAY! So I have to make some time tonight to read its manuals and do some test shots so I can understand its strengths and limitations for my shoot. well, back to my studies. Going to read Save The Cat(!) now. I will post on that later. Until next time.

Working Blues

So I have spent the last week working diligently on my thesis project. Saturday night we all went out to shoot a sequence. We got everything set up and started filming, and then the porta pack died. So, we got lucky and Cameron has a friend that let us borrow his generator. We went out Sunday night after filming part of Joe's thesis during the day, and hooked it up. Thank goodness for lots of extension chords. Ended up putting the generator on the next block so that the sound of it would be minuscule. I didn't wrap production myself until 530 am morning. It was amazing to do. I am learning how to communicate my ideas clearly, and I am starting to be able to coax more of the performance out of my actors that I want. So I am happy for that. Frank and I are going to have a meeting later this week to work on our communication and how we need to work together. I fear that his plate is too full and I wish to address some issues and to clarify a final expectation that I have of him as the cinematographer. So I spent the afternoon of Tuesday through the night editing a ruff cut of the scene. The only problem I have with what we shot is that we ran out of room on our audio set up while we were out in the field shooting. So there is a take and a half of missing audio. I fear that that could have been prevented if when I ask my crew if they are ready and they say yes and I tell them to roll and then after I say action past when they are rolling, they let me know wait wait wait that in fact they are not ready. lots of time waisted in room on the audio file. So I have to fix that. There is also the fact that I didn't slate any of my shots, so THAT made the editing interesting. Going to have to have someone setup to do clapboard and log the takes chronologically to help with the editing process. These are things that are just stepping stones. I am finding the pace to be moving along smoothly otherwise, and I feel that I am growing as a Director. I really am able to communicate clearly and I just need to be a litle more firm in a few palces, but I am going to have to be cautious not to push to hard to get people to do what I am asking of them. Luckily, from this last shoot, I was able to fudge an aspect in post work, but there are some things I wish to point out to crew to help prevent some aspects of being...in clear words...fucked. but that's ok, we are all learning and will grow together.

V.A.

So I went to the V.A. today and spoke at length with my rep. about my thesis project and the possibility of me being able to shoot there and what channels I would need to go through for that as well as what they do offer for veterans. So I will be going in at 8am tomorrow to sit in on a class for vets on preparing them for the workforce and all the assistance that they lend us. Plus she gave me all the contact info for the people that I need to get a hold of for clearance. She read the script and likes it so much that she asked if she could send it on to D.C. for the higher ups to look over it. She says there may or may not be money in it, but it's worth a shot and is a large avenue of exposure. Plus I paint the aspect of post military as truthful and not biased in any way sort or form. Then I did some research on set functions and communication. Good stuff. So much that I need to digest. I am a little worried about getting my shooting schedule broken down. Everything that i have read up on suggests that you really need to hire someone to do it for the first time since there are so many aspects that can get hosed. But eh, gotta learn and move forward.

On a lighter note

Here is something that was snet to me that is absolutely beautiful.
http://www.vimeo.com/9078364
It's called Nuit Blanche

Trends in America, working class poor.

So I have been doing some research for my thesis, ok, well, a lot of research. A good deal of it has been through looking through blogs, on-line journals, media coverage like N.P.R., documentaries, and old fashioned talking to people. The most concise and clearly stated info that I have gotten is from listening/reading N.P.R. casts and talking with people. People feel that they can open up and talk to you when you just ask them how they feel and what they have faced. Some of the info becomes downright personal. For instance, one man was telling me that he had gotten divorced from his wife and had to move out while having to pay child support for two kids as he worked as a mechanic during the last recession. I can only imagine how hard that must have been. He was telling me about how hard it was just make ends meet for himself let alone cover everyone else who was dependent on him. This same individual was telling me about how he worked in one mechanic shop that told him to take the next day off because the owner had to close shop for the day for business purposes. Then he came in the following day only to find that the shop had been cleaned out. All his tools and equipment was gone. Which is difficult for mechanics. Especially since to get the job in the first place you have to have all your own tools. Sure he was able to buy more, but that meant that he was only getting a fraction of his normal wages since a large amount of his pay had to go to tool purchases. I have also talked with another mechanic that got so low on his luck that he was sleeping in his vehicle with his tools. Can you imagine what that's like? You need your tools to work, yet if you can get rid of them, then you have money to survive but no tools for your trade to get pay. The only work he was able to find for the longest time was "day jobs", where he would work on a single project as hired out temp labor and then be let go. That's how he survived just enough to get bye for the longest time. Thank goodness he finally obtained a full time job recently, so now he should no longer be struggling. But 2 1/2 years of that is a lot of stress on the value of self worth.

Looking at the N.P.R. casts, it was interesting to see just how far on the opposite ends of the self worth people can hold themselves. Some people wallow in their self petty. Others will pull themselves up by their boot straps and do whatever it takes to get work done to survive.  In the end that's what it comes down to, survival. Looking at what people do in self defeatism mode was really interesting and sad. People just give up, they no longer can handle functioning because they become so stressed and buried under the weight of living to work and not even being able to fulfill that need. A large part of their anxiety is in being able to create or even see a positive future for themselves or even for their children. Questions like, can I make it through this, what will I do if there is no work, how will I pay my bills, what will I do once the creditors start calling, how am I going to feed my kids, how are my kids going to view me, how are other people going to view me, how will I give my children better opportunities then what I have, how will I be able to cover hospital expenses? These questions and many more are common for people. But think about it, what would it be like to be in someones shoes that doesn't even know if they will have enough money to eat the following day? That's where the weight truly sinks in. Sure there is always a sense of economic growth, but from what I have read, the trend is that there is a slow squeeze on the working class. There is a marginal gap that is ever growing between the haves and the have not's. What I mean is in regards to the cost of health care, retirement, Housing costs, mortgage loans, or credit in general, and the dreaded college debt. These items are what some would say define middle class living as seen as part's to it. The other for the trend is that the middle class of the middle class (if that makes sense to you, if not just follow me here)make just under $50,000.00 a year. Upper middle class makes above that and lower middle class makes around $32,000.00 annually. That may seem like a descent amount to live on or not depending on your individual view point. I can see either as a comfortable income. My wife and I live on $10,800.00 things are tight for us sure, but we live within our means and can afford some of the comforts that label us as blue collard even though we sit in the poor classification. And we do it without any subsidization like food stamps or any of that. The problem it seems starts for the middle class where they fall into the consumer culture and what it is that is socially deemed necessary. Like having a large house 3+ bedroom for a couple and multiple vehicles, buying the best and latest tech gadgets to show off status. trying to live outside of the means. People like to establish a set of guidelines where they feel is necessary for them to survive. Then they have to take out loans or credit cards or over extend their banking to obtain these goals, and are blind to the facts and the realities that face them. The economic trend that I have seen through my research is that the economic system functions in bubbles, by bubbles I mean that there is a market established, then there is a boom of growth for a period of time, the most recent one was the housing market. So post WWII there was an establishment to jump start the growth and development of a post war America, there was large loans and economic stimulus offered to vets. This system has been on a steady growth since and was fostered with growth once the baby boomers came to age, now they have all moved to retirement, and there was still growth in development, but the growth to people and job percentage became unstable. Then the proverbial bubble burst and prices fell through the floor, the growth died, and now the repercussions are maddening in looking at their long term effects. People had forgotten the old adage, "What goes up, must come down". So now people around the country are struggling with this reality, and everyone is saying to themselves, I should have seen this coming. It is amazing what people will do when they feel desperate to get the status of living that they want. People take out the balloon rates on houses thinking that they will be able to get their houses refinanced in the next 5 years of purchase, then when they are not able to, they end up crying wondering how this has happened to them. The thirst of pushing beyond our current status and trying to be more then what we are is the American Dream though. To move ever higher in the wealth ladder and be able to give to your children what you were not able to have yourself is the embodiment of this dream. But the price that has to be paid at times for this dream are sometimes over looked. It is a gamble for sure, and each individual has to weigh the value of that gamble for themselves. The fact tat I have read about people killing themselves over this gamble saddens me tremendously. I remember in high school being taught about balancing my checkbook and how to keep my living balanced, I wonder how so many people can quickly forget these ideas and work to live. I would think that the greater amount of the populous would not wish to classify themselves as the working poor. yet there is a sense of belonging that people have of being labeled as Blue Collard. It gives so much to the majority in terms of shared experience that creates a comfort that is good and bad all in the same breadth of time. From stories that I have that have a positive view on things. One of the most rewarding to see if people taking all these factors is of the Donnell family. They have a story on N.P.R. where they chose not only to live within their means but live within their needs(http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130403866). That is a brilliant way of putting it I think. There does seem to be a large resurgence of the low wage work force. It can be seen as a bad thing, or it can be viewed as a good thing. We have moved away as a society from the traditional 1950's nuclear family where the mom stays home to take care of the families domicile needs, and the father works tirelessly and firmly for the family. Now it seems that more and more people are working part-time equally so that they can spend more time together and with their families. Jokingly this could be why the divorce rates are up, since you actually have to see your spouse more often then dinner time and sleep. But that aside it also develops a healthy communicative lifestyle. The downside is that most employers don't offer benefits to part-time employees, and a lot of employers like this idea since it limits their out of pocket spending on hiring packages. To boot, a lot of these part time jobs are low wage. So these low wage workforces it turns out have a 90% denial rate for workman's compensation (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130644732), denied overtime, and don't even make minimum wage. To think those that don't get the comp. are threatened with being fired if they try to get health assistance for work related injury. That is painful for someone that is struggling. Can't give up the job because you need it to survive, and you have to go to the doctor so you can physically survive. The violations of minimum wage comes from the aspect of flat rate pay jobs. So say you work as a salary manager for $30,000.00 annually, that's about $16 an hour at 40 hrs a week. Now I know people that make salary. I can tell you for a fact that every single one of those people that I know do not work only 40 hrs a week. Most of them can end up working double that time. When that happens they end up under the minimum wage. When you take into account the fact that they are salary and are not making overtime on those over hours, that's a loss of wages that is twice as much as they are making salary wise. Yet still people do it because they are hoping that they will move up the proverbial ladder. What a painstaking thought. I am just glad that in my industry even though there is a flat rate fee of pay for 12 hrs. if you go over those 12 hrs, no matter what, you are getting overtime. I like to feel safe in that notion. Yet I can see where people can like the flat rate of pay for salary for if they don't work the 40 hrs they still get pad as if they did. But the fact is companies don't like that idea. They want to get the most of their moneys worth out of every employee in an effort to squeeze every pennies worth of growth for stocks out of you. I guess though that if people wanted to really protest the system and change it they would, but people are to worried about loosing their jobs to act on their complaints about the working system here. They would rather put up with it then change and upset the status quo.

There is so much that we are afraid of and that we are faced with, it is beyond my ability to put it all in my thesis. But it is nice to see what is there in front of me as a reality so that I have a thorough understanding of what is there for a relation that is actual for my characters as apposed to plowing through a falsity that is unrelatable for the audience and the characters situations. I do not wish to make this a piece about pointing out each flaw that is in the system. I merely wish to show how the different sides of the most common shared experiences can and probably have been lived through. To shoot this in almost a documentary style to lend credibility to the false reality I am presenting is integral in conveying the stories and situations. If I can succeed in giving this info through the story and situations. Then I feel that the piece is successful. Already in what I have written I feel that the situations have succeeded.

Shine

So this evening after spending some time writing I watched Shine. What a wonderfully put together movie. The acting was by far top notch and the story of David Helfgott is very touching. Great time by wide and far.

Casting call

So we had a set up for doing a huge casting call. One of my friends that was setting it up got a phone call about a week ago from a talent agency that told him that we were going to have over a hundred people from his company alone. So we were supper excited. Then yesterday happened. We only had 13 people show up to the readings. At least half of those people were not from the agency and the half that was did not have their portfolio, reel, or head shots with them. Joy. So I also watched 71 fragments of a chronology of events. My God that movie fucking sucked. So damn boring. Just a bunch of useless shots that were not even that visually intriguing for the situations that were even lack luster then the angles. At least I have another source of what not to do. I also got some proof reading done on my script. I now only have about 3 major scenes to write and the ruff should be complete.

That's Life IV

So Today I got another 21 pages written of my screenplay. probably got another 10 to 15 to write over the weekend and I have to wait to talk to the VA before I can finish one last scene. So in total the script should be about 55-65 pages long. Not to shabby I don't think. Not working to force any of it. Just letting it come out as it seems natural. It seems to be working well, but since I gotta be up at a decent hour today, I think I am going to call it quits for tonight. Been at it for...16 hrs. now. Definitely time for a well deserved brake. I just hope that i can tamper down all these thoughts. I just can't bring myself to write anymore hardship tonight. Too much as it stands.

Everything is illuminated

So I screened this movie this evening with Pam. Such a wonderful movie. Very simple story and very well put together. The dialogue wasn't to heavy, or to light. It seamed to breathe. It in effect had the form that I am trying to master. I am definitely going to have to do a rewrite once I get my first draft finished this weekend. It was way to good. All I have talked about doing it has brought to the forefront of my mind.

Studies

So I watched The Last Farm this afternoon. I love the feel and color treatment in most of it. There are some things I would have done differently in post regarding some of the subtle differences in color palette. The script was very predictable, but I didn't mind it for the simple fact that it was well done. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh7sQ4hPnyk&feature=featured

That's Life III

So I have been writing furiously today. I just had to take a break for a minute to get it all off of my chest. It seems like it's killing a part of me to write this script. I am so attached to these guys. I have already cried once today thinking about what I am putting them through. I hate this part of writing, but it's what gives the characters their life. At least I know that they are not two dimensional characters. These families are living and breathing to me. I hope that I can get my actors to portray clearly what it is that these people are going through.

Grad. School

So I spent this evening sifting through the lists of possible MFA programs. Down from 43 to 9. One heck of a weeding out process. Oh well, gotta start somewhere. I am so tired of reading college objective statements and sifting through college sites for which campus has the programs that I am looking for. Thank goodness that leg of the journey is over with now. Now to better things. Script writing and sleep.

Working

So I shot my trailer for That's Life Friday. Footage looks pretty good. Found a hiccup when it comes to transferring some of the footage. It got kind of glitchy on one of the clips. But that's ok. Saturday I spent editing it all down. Today I worked on an MTV production for Tony Bowels called Prom King. I got paid as a PA, and worked as a cameraman. So, have to start somewhere. I think that the producer liked my camerawork, and said that I should be able to get all that's due with the title in the future. Gotta work my way up the food chain. Got to shoot for 5 hrs. straight, now my arms are feeling flimsy. Oh the joys of hand held shots. I love them, but goodness. I am just glad that we used the sticks for the sit-down interviews. Other then that, I got my ruff draft written for my grad school statement of intent completed. I need to turn that in tomorrow and prepare for midterm critiques. I go Wednesday. Things are looking up right now. Pretty satisfied with things overall.

That's Life II

Went out today and shot footage for the trailer today to put op on Kickstarter, and for midterm critiques. Footage looks good. Talked to one of the mechanics that I have gotten to know and got some of his life stories. I also talked to one of my best friends that is a mechanic and got his stories of how hard life has been in this recession for him as a mechanic. Talk about hard times.

21 Grams

What an interesting movie. It was good, very depressing. I am not to sure about the camera that they shot it on. Talk about noisy. That aside, the performances by the cast was amazing. Wonderful performances all the way around, the non-linear line of story was difficult, just for the fact that if you paid attention in the first 5 min. it seemed to play everything out. The watch and the unfolding technique was interesting for sure. I wonder though why the pasture did not play a bigger role in bridging the gap between Penn and Del Torro's characters. Especially since he knew them both. Now I am off to watch something uplifting and not so emo.

That's Life

So I went out today with one of my lead actors and got some test shots. It looks sexy if I do say so myself. I am really starting to get amped up on this project. Going to do casting on the 16th, so that shall help out a lot with the other rolls. It was great though, walked into a mechanics shop and asked if we could take some set up pictures, and they were all about helping us get the looks authentic. It was great! A lot of laughs and a lot of bonding. Gives me hope for our society and the film. If you are reading this and want to check out the info and stay up to date, the page is: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Thats-Life/152432298130852?ref=ts

Traffic

So I watched Traffic last night. A go big or go broke cast, and not enough screen time for so many amazing people made the stories seem superficial to me. The color treatment was annoying in the fact that every time they hard cut to another character, it was in a different tone. While I understand that it works as a tool to enhance the emotional experience, I found it cheap and bothersome. There was no grounding in reality with the the over adjustments. Then there is the fact that it was 2 1/2 hrs long. Oh my, it dragged! Why not cut to the important stuff and put more of that in there that is directly relatable to the characters, as apposed to everyone always sitting quiet and on stake outs. There was hardly any confrontation that was awarding all the screen time until the end when things sorta came to a head. I had hopes for this one, now I am just sad that I wasted this time on this film as apposed to other homework.

Todays work

So I screened Mr. Mom, Do The Right Thing, and Wall Street. Interesting movies. Wall Street was meh comparatively. The others had some good info and great information for me to ponder. Good stuff. I also donated some time today at the bicycle exchange. Got my bike for my thesis as well as for transportation. The plus side of watching Wall Street, I am able to see haw what was good acting and sound dubbing 20 years ago, is not quite what is that good anymore. I wonder how I can work the set so that the acting doesn't read as so forced and fake. I will have to talk to my actors and see what they can do to make things work more fluid for the takes. Hopefully the blocked rehearsals and script reads will give me what I need.

Research

So I finished my production book outline at about 6 am. Yay. Then I watched Cadillac Man and Good Will Hunting. I really like the treatment that they used in Good Will Hunting. I think that is pretty close to the type of "feel" that I am looking for.

All the Presidents Men

It's a good movie, a slow one, but a good one. I like the treatment of it color wise. The gritty realism as apposed to the hardcore cinema style used most of the time. I may have to do some test shots with this style to see what works out.

Research

So I just finished watching a documentary about Danny Trejo. What an amazing man. I now have some inspiration for some of the character backgrounds. Things are looking up. I am watching a documentary now about mind over money on Nova. Good old research. Then off to look at some "blue collard" blogs. I really dislike that term or label, so distancing from people, "working class", what a horrible way to group people.

KCSOB

Had another wonderful night with the KCSOB. I love those performers. They have become a second family to me and I appreciate each and everyone of them dearly. I think that when I graduate I am going to miss them a lot.A year and a half with them now as their sound engineer. If I could figure out how to include them in my studio art, I so would.

Research

So I found some federally run blogs on blue collard workers and what the social climate is for them, as well as independent blue collar class blogs. Going to research these over the next week reading their history to see what...discrepancies...there are between the two types. So I also watched Maxed Out, Wonderful World, and Capitalism: A Love Story. Going to think about these as I sleep and how I can work with these issues in my script for the new thesis topic. More news to come in a few days.

Echoes

Finishing touches on a sequence I have been working on for the last couple of weeks are rendering right now. This piece is looking very promising. Now to outline a time with my acting couple to shoot the other two scenes for this short and get it packaged for submissions. It is titled Echoes as listed on this post. It's about a man waking the day after a car crash and remembering his lover who's memory follows him around.

the now

Today I questioned why it is that I do what I do, learned how to conjugation construction in Japanese, and studied more Zen Buddhism. Really good stuff. I now know why most other western ways of thought have been so hard for me to relate too. My thesis project is giving me some ire. Since my ideas have to shift from my plan b to plan a, and my plan a to plan b. I have had to re-access what it is that I am looking forward to in the piece. I have my ideas on how I wish it to flow. As long as I enjoy doing what I do, and I am passionate about it, I will keep on making my small time indie films.

Senior thesis

So Frank and I completed our thesis treatment last night. Woot woot! I got a new book about Film Noir that I get to start reading on top of the 6 other novels that I have to read. yay!

Tours

So this has been a very productive and interesting visit to Cali. I went and toured U.S.C. and A.F.I. They are both amazing schools that make me think and work harder on what I am doing. It's nice to see what is being done on the graduate level for what I want to do and to figure out what it is that I need to do to get to that point in my own work. Plus I now have the option of going back to Denver if things don't pan out with college and falling in with all of my old friends and pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps and all of us venturing into making an independent company developed by us for all in the realm of total artistic film, animation, and music. Great times. It is great to find myself back in the places that I know and have been away from for so long and reattach myself to myself. Hello me meet the real me. lol. Already got ideas to work on while working on my senior thesis. I don't think that I am going to get any real rest this semester. But now that I have a gauge for my portfolio, I can work towards it all and be a stronger and more firm of a Director. Till next time. Keep dreaming and keep working towards realizing those dreams.

Darktown

So I got my version of the first two scenes written out this morning. Not bad if I do say so myself. Tomorrow afternoon I am going to meet with Frank so that we can compare versions as well as cut and paste what we think will work or not work. Good progress though. Now that that is established we will need to figure out what our goal is for the first episode beyond setting the stage for the series. hmmm...so many decisions.

Darktown

Frank and I met today to work on our thesis. Things are looking up and up. I like it. Character bio's are to be posted soon for others to look at and enjoy the descriptions. Been a while since I have posted on here. Between my mother dieing, getting an internship, and then working on thesis, and then one of my grandfathers dieing, it has been a hectic summer. Go figure hmm? No time for rest or grief yet. Maybe some day I can. But for now I have to focus on work to keep me going. So, here's to those that follow this blog, and I hope that you are enjoying your summer wonderful readers. Remember, the more you work towards your dreams, they can come true.

Long time

I know its been a while since I have been on here. I know I am horrible. Besides that though, things have been really busy and good. Did some work earlier this semester that I am proud of. Wrapping it up now working on getting all my ADR in its right place. My last project ot go to festival did not get picked up. Sad face, but I am moving on and so I am uploading it now to Youtube for all to see. I think that I am going to check out Vimeo as well. I understand that they offer free accounts and what have you. We shall see how that works out. Finished my next short film script. So I get to start story boarding that this weekend and start animating it over the weekend as well. Should have the storyboards up here some time next week for anyone to drop in and see. In fact though, I don't think that anyone follows this blog yet. Oh well, I like talking to myself, so that is ok. If you do read this blog, don;t be scared to drop a comment or give feedback on works.

Props

So I started buying material today for props to build for the semesters works. good god damn am I glad that I started now. This shit is going to be pricey. thank christ for paper being cheap. Got my books in to study, and one for leisure. Started screening more films as well. watched some new shit (too crapy to mention) going to start watching theghost house productions presents body, so that I know exactly what I am up against. Soon I will start pricing material for that ball of wax. those props are going to take me all summer to collect for my final work.

Work

So I had another gig with 3ball productions over the weekend. That was frigging awesome! What do I love more then my job? My wife. Beyond that work is like winning the lottery and drinking at the same time. At least till I get off of work and crash for a few days from working my ass off. Besides that I love this shit! I am so glad that I am paying out the nose for this peace of paper...I think...I hope. From what I understand it means nearly jack shit in my field. It's all about skill. I guess that knowledge can help though. The real answer won't come till I have graduated and can't ask for my money back. lol