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.

Pro. Gress.

I'm nearing the end of the writing phase of my short which means I am entering the ever so important phase of pre-production. During pre-pro I will need to assemble cast & crew, scout & secure a location, storyboard, rehearse, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. One of my biggest lessons in film school was, "Pre-Production is insanely important." It can truly make or break your days on set.

I've already worked ahead a bit with assembling my cast and crew. Here is my line-up thus far:

Cast/Talent

Jessica Sapick & Jonathon Musser

Crew

D.P. Sean Sullivan

A.D. Jackie Gross

Capture Tech: Nitin Veludandi

Some notes on the crew. A D.P. is a Director of Photography and/or Cinematographer. I will work with Sean to accomplish the look of the film. He will decide what camera and lenses to use along with the camera angles/movements and lighting of the scene. The Assistant Director or A.D. is essentially the foreman on the set and keeps everything running smoothly so the director can direct. We will shoot this film digitally and this is where the Capture Tech comes into play. When shooting digitally, all of your footage is captured onto cards in the camera. When said card is full, it is taken out and handed to the Capture Tech who will transfer all the data to a hard drive or multiple hard drives and then he/she will hand the empty card back to the D.P. It may sound easy but it's an insanely important job as the footage that you've worked so hard to get is in their hands. You always want at least one empty card available because if you don't the entire production will come to a screeching halt waiting for the information to be transferred onto the hard drives.

Of course, these oh-so-brief job descriptions are for a small crew indie set and are vastly different on a big budget set. I still have some other spots to fill and hope to wrap that up in the next week or two. Really excited about filming. It's getting closer...

-b

Consider my fancy tickled... 3/19

Due to it being an all around shite week I haven't done much work pushing my current project further, therefore I don't really have anything to add about my personal projects. Planning on some writing this weekend, hopefully... On to what I found interesting about film this last week.

Avatar is truly one of those rare films (Matrix, Pulp Fiction) that will change films and how we watch them for years to come. Interesting article on the negative effect of 3D and movies.

In addition to the poster mash-up at the top of this post, here is a cool Jabba The Hutt mash-up.

Normally I do not like to discuss politics, religion, or sports... but the brain-trust that is the Floridian Republican House Leaders are wanting to cut tax-incentives for movies that do not live up to their ideas of traditional family values. That means if you're making a movie about homosexuals don't bring those GAYS to the Sunshine State. Gotta love a failure of separation of church and state.... Sorry Key West!

To wrap things up, I'm actually gonna leave you with a helpful article (yes, I read other film related sites than Perez Hilton!!) on professional tips from a camera operator. I've enjoyed being a DP on friend's projects, and grabbing the camera on my own projects, but being a DP is a highly technical job and I'm not sure if I'm ready for that life-consuming undertaking. Still it's a great read...

-b

Consider my fancy tickled...

Does one have a fancy? If so, how do you go about tickling it? While you consider this deep deep ponderance, here are a few items that piqued my interest recently. This is the first of an ongoing column of film-related posts that have nothing to do with me except I curated them and presented them to you.

The above picture is a response to John Krasinski being up for the lead role in the upcoming Captain America film.

There is a special level in hell for people who talk during movies and here is an article about the shusher and shushee. This phenomenon is particularly prevalent at the Century 20 in Daly City.

Up until today, I have never heard of the term "Manic Pixie Dream Girl." Wiki describes this stock character in a film as "that bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures." Think Zooey Daschanel. Here is the AV Club's 16 Films Featuring MPDG.

For all you scriptwriters/film junkies, Rian Johnson (writer/director of Brick) posted the complete shooting script to the The Brothers Bloom online. Available FREE for download here.

Some of my friends started their own production company and have been making some gorgeous music videos as of late. Clean White Lines is the name of their joint and you'd be a fool not to follow them on their website and vimeo page. Good stuff guys... now please let me work with you! haha

-b