Young Adult Movie Screening

One of the amazing things about living in a big city like San Francisco is that movie studios pander to the city relatively frequently. Growing up in New Albany, Indiana you just didn't have the opportunity to see artists talk about their craft live and in person. So when that happens here, baby-sitter permitting, I jump at the chance particularly when it involves movies.

A few weeks back, the amazing Sundance Kabuki theater hosted a Pop-Up Secret Screening of the new movie Young Adult with a Q&A post with cast and crew. You weren't told what movie you were seeing until you were let in the theater which is kind of exciting but honestly kind of pointless. Cast and crew that were there included Jason Reitman, Diablo Cody, Patton Oswalt, and Charlize Theron. Jason Reitman, the director, explained that they are taking a grass-roots marketing campaign with this movie as it is going to be a tough sell to the general movie going public. It's amazing how much technology has changed in the last few years as he specifically asked the audience to talk about the movie on Twitter. They over-book these screening to ensure a packed house and we were the second to last people to be let in the door...

I agree that the movie is going to be a tough sell as the main character is completely unlikeable. In fact, during the Q&A Charlize Theron said that at one point the director told her to be more "cunt-y." She is that kind of character. The thing that really surprised me was how great Patton Oswalt is in the movie. I found myself waiting for him to show up again when he wasn't onscreen. Not surprising was how entertaining he was during the Q&A. He was incredibly funny and quick-witted.

If you are a filmmaker or a movie-nerd in general these type of events are both entertaining and educational. Lots of talk about the making of the movie and the marketing. Of course there is a lot of self-promotion but that is the point of the screening. Now if my two year old son could start watching himself, I could attend a few more of these events.

*The gorgeous poster at the top of the post was made specifically for this screening and was numbered and handed out to the audience members. Score!

What I've been digging as of late: The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, Community TV Show

To answer your question...

When I won the audience award (yes, I am bringing that up again) at the BHOC, I didn't realize that entitled me to screening my short again. Evidently, they ask the award winners back to screen their films and to participate in a Q&A session post. Fast forward to last Tuesday and I am on my way to standing in front of a live audience and fielding questions about filmmaking. Surprisingly I wasn't all that nervous. I contribute that to a few things: the crowd, while it was standing room only, was only about 50 deep; I had about 6-8 friends in the crowd for better or worse... ; I love talking about film. Seriously, I could and can talk about films and filmmaking for hours.

There were a total of three shorts screened but only two of the filmmakers were present. The first two screened and I brought up the rear. The big speedbump of the night is that a rough cut of my short was shown on accident. This rough cut had no music, no sound balancing, no color correction, no opening titles or closing credits, poor editing, etc. Mind you, this is a rather large speed-bump, and I'm still bothered that most people in the room were introduced to my work for the first time through this. It looked and felt amateurish. Seriously bothered by it. Woke up thinking about it the next day. Throughout the day I kept telling myself "Let it go... let it go." Hah and ugh.

After my screening, I jumped up and fielded questions. That portion went off really well! As far as I can tell... I completely forgot to ask my friends how they thought I did. Speaking of which, thanks to all that came out and supported me! I was asked questions about my film and films in general. Some lesser known filmmakers were brought up (Bertolt Brecht & Eric Rohmer anyone?!?!) which shocked me. But in hindsight, I guess it shouldn't have as this audience is the type that go to film festivals so I assume this type of film-goer would be more knowledgeable in regards to film and film history. I think my Q&A session only lasted about 10 minutes. I think.

Next up... well I am not too sure. Still waiting to hear back from some other film festival and in the meantime I am writing and editing. Both of which are incredibly solitary, but I will save that for another entry. I know you are excited about that...

What I've been digging as of late: BBC. BBC. BBC. Lots of great shows airing on BBC America right now. Downtown Abbey, The Hour, Whitechapel, Dr. Who, and I am getting ready to tackle Dead Set.

Since we last spoke....

Greetings. It's been a bit... It's nice to see you. Since my last entry, I finished the short film I was working on and started submitting it to film festivals. The first festival where it was accepted, it won an award. (Pictured above... the second picture is of all of my rad friends that came out to show their support. Thanks for being the camera-guy, Omar!) The award was the 2011 Audience Award at the Bernal Heights Outdoor Film Festival in San Francisco. It felt really good to win an award voted on by the festival attendees. A lot of hard work by a lot of people went in to the project. Therefore, this entry was written by an award winning filmmaker. Please don't look me in the eye or speak until spoken to next time you see me.

I've got the same short submitted to a few other festivals and am waiting to hear back now. The film festival process is incredibly interesting, fun, nerve-wracking, expensive, rewarding, etc... This go round with the Bernal Festival was the first screening where I invited friends and family to attend, which was great... but then a few days before it hit me. Oh shit! Everyone is going to see my short. While I'm standing next to them. I was more nervous than I thought. It wasn't just friends but folks in general. It's hard to show your project to a room full of people after you've watched it 5,000 times on your computer at home and have lost all perspective on it. Thankfully, everything worked out great, and the short played really well to the audience. However, I was glad I had a beer or two before the screening.

Once the festival was over, I was ready to jump in to another one. Navigating the submission process is new to me, as this is the first project that I've completed where I've been proud enough of it to send it out. Some festivals don't accept submissions if they have previously been online or if it premiered somewhere else or they want a disc not an online submission or they want an online submission and a disc... A learning process. So I got an withoutabox account which led me to an imdb page (I've got an imdb page!! Crazy...) and I was off and running. Even though I felt incredibly poseurish doing it, I also got business cards made up to hand out while networking at film festivals. That seemed more professional than tearing out a page from my moleskin and scribbling my contact info on it.

While waiting, I am also editing an unfinished short from film school. I want to be able to do something with that project as well, but if it looks like a step backwards creatively, I will probably pitch it and reshoot it as I am in love with the script. I've also begun writing another short film and really can't wait to get back on set. I miss filming.

Things I have been digging as of late: Drive (the movie & the soundtrack), Moneyball (the movie but loved the book as well), Wilco: The Whole Love, & Dr. Who

Moby... you are my hero.

So... Moby is doing the music to my short film!!! Kinda... Sorta... The balded-vegan-one has created a website called mobygratis for independent filmmakers, where you can choose from approximately 150 of his songs that you can apply for licensure. The best part... it's FREE!!

It was a bit of a lengthy process due to the fact that I listened to all of the music on the site. I found two songs that I thought would work for the short, then I applied. During the process, you have to let them know what your film is about and also what the scene is where you plan on using the music. There is also a bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo in regards to the film being non-for-profit and not changing any of the music and such. The bottom line is that I heard back and was granted licenship on two songs. Rad.

It's pretty amazing in today's society to see an artist like Moby giving back to the creative community. Somewhat inspiring actually. Without getting all Eddie Haskell in regards to The Little Idiot (what Moby call himself), he is also responsible for one of my favorite songs from a film. The song in question is (somewhat flowery titled (similarly to the Reznor/Ross Social Network Track Hand Covers Bruise )) God Moving Over The Face Of The Waters from the flick Heat. Both tracks are worth a listen or two... or two hundred.

Thanks Sir Moby!

Lessons and Lamentations.

Things I've learned while editing my last short:

-Get a master shot of the entire scene. I have a couple scenes where I just have the master (or 2-shot) of the beginning of a conversation between two characters and not of the whole conversation. Not having that master shot has made editing the scene more problematic, particularly when the conversation picks up in pace and is a bit on the rapid-fire side.

-Wear headphones and listen to the audio.

-Use a monitor and watch the scene while filming or during playback.

-Slow down and focus on the acting and not so much on marking off the shot-list.

-Take control of the day.

These are all things I have been taught in the past, but for some reason I did not put them into play. Neat.

I have a really good rough cut assembled and I have hit the point where I feel like I have something. It doesn't always feel that way when editing. Now I need to balance sound, smooth out transitions, license and add music, and then add opening and closing credits. Then I have another short to edit... Then and only then will I allow myself to work on another script.

Things I have been digging as of late: Circuital by My Morning Jacket, Restrepo (Military Doc.), The King's Speech, Super 8, Never Let Me Go, The Killing, Game of Thrones, All Access: A Beastie Boys Megamix by Z-Trip, Hellhound Ale by Dogfish Head.

Editor's Note: Editing is a pain in the balls.

I am in the midst of editing my last short and it has been a bit trying. My first speed bump had to do with the audio. This is my first project where I've had to sync audio with video manually as we shot the short using a DSLR camera. To sych audio & video you must visually find the clapboard (see above) mark/clap and sync it with the audio mark/clap. It's incredibly tedious, especially when you have numerous takes. While doing this, I discovered we only recorded one channel of audio, which means balancing all of the audio, then merging all of the balanced & synced clips together. Literally hours of work to get this completed. I took all of my footage to a friend who is much more proficient than I, to make sure I was doing things correctly. I was indeed doing it correctly, but I discovered I was originally supposed to take all of the raw footage from the DSLR and convert it to a new format before any editing should commence. Therefore, all of the hours of work that I had completed so far was a complete waste. Neat!

What's tickled my fancy as of late: The Fighter (dir. David O. Russell), The Way Back (dir. Peter Weir), A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin ( I am currently reading book 4 of this massive series), Nine Types of Light by TV On The Radio, and Hot Sauce Committee Part Two by the Beastie Boys.

'Sup?

So... how are ya? I am currently setting up an editing system for the house. Between fatherhood and a lack of an editing system, my filmmaking has stalled. I have two projects filmed waiting for post and haven't wanted to start writing anything new until then. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

In the meantime, peep this fantastic memo from 1991. It's boss.