Monday bloody monday...

I haven't had a good posting record lately. Monday (the 2nd) I'll post something special though. It'll be a download you can only get on Monday...or something. Hoo boy...

-Brock

Jack Sparrow...meet Winston Skinner

The best part about this film is that when it comes out, Matter of Chance will have beaten Disney to the punch by about two and a half years.

Violated

I tried to get my Production Binder for Pantomiming back from SCC yesterday (because it has some appearance releases I need) only to find out that it was possibly stolen. I gave the binder to the school after the film was done because my teacher asked for it. I guess they passed it out in class as a "teaching example" and some kid pocketed it. Ugh. I had all kinds of storyboards and notes and personal writings during the film's production in that binder. Some kid now has them. I feel so used.

Decompress

Today deserves mention...for the moment, I'm going to decompress. Josh, if you feel the need to post about it, fine by me.

Can't sleep

...gonna blog.

I have some movies I want to review very soon (when the weekend is over). They include: The 5 Obstructions/Lawrence of Arabia/The Illusionist. I think you folks may be surprised with what my views are on these three films. Josh already reviewed The 5 O's quite nicely...but I wanted to review it again (cause this film is tremendous). I also wanted to chat about LOA because I had never seen it. And The Illusionist is new, so it's not like you're just getting a slew of DVD rentals here.

We build the tent set tomorrow for Wildlifeless. So much is going into this one scene. And it's only about a 3rd of the whole film. A ton of work went into the San Diego portion of the film, but it seems like this one portion of the story demands plenty of detail. Basically, there is a sequence in the film when Winston is inside a tent. There's a bunch of props involved, and once again we're using both the jib and the dolly. It's a very plush scene...mis en scene in this one set is crazy.

I'll be back over the weekend or early next week to chat about:
-The shoot
-The films
-What Flim Flam is.

Better

I feel better today (Saturday was the worst day), even though I don't sound like it. This weekend we basically wrap Wildlifeless. That's going to be so nice. I know I'm looking forward to moving on (not that it was a bad experience mind you). Josh and Angie brought back a chair from Bisbee (sp?)...Winston's chair. Because of the era, we just can't use any chair. Has to be a specific chair. And this one is fantastic. But dirty. And old. I don't think we're going to use it again after this production is done, so my options are:

(a) We auction it as an authentic prop on Ebay.
(b) I donate it to SCC as a part of their (non-existant) Phoenix film museum.
(c) We burn it and tape the burning for the eventual MOC documentary (most likely).

We can't show the burn footage to the original owners of the chair though, as I am told they were quite fond of it. We'll simply have to send them the movie and tell them their chair will forever exist in a filmic paradise.

Just the facts

I feel like crap today. And yet, tonight was considerably better then last Thursday. The instructor? He's coo. I get him now. It's all good in the hood. I'm gonna watch Lawrence of Arabia.

A game

I have to write a feature length this semester in school (more to come). In the meantime, here's an un-rewarding and time consuming game to play over the semester: I'll give you my research threads and you can see if you puzzle the story out before I do.

One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
11
tWelve
fin

It's your host...

Yes. THIS is really happening.

I got your post right here...

Today was my first class back at SCC in what looks to be my final semester at the school. Unless they suddenly restate the school’s requirements making everything I’ve done up to this point void, I will have associates degrees in both production and (more importantly) screenwriting once this semester is complete. It’s a good time to be in my world…I’m about to sweep the board.
The first class I attended is entitled “Advanced Motion Picture Production”. What is Advanced Production? It is a 16-week class devoted to the mechanics of narrative filmmaking. It’s bent towards teaching students to work in teams and complete short screenplay ideas with the aim of learning more about film production as a whole. So, it really incorporates elements of every element of production (although, in my opinion, its screenwriting discussion has always been the bastard child of the actual screenwriting program).
Before I go any further, let’s add a little history to this semester’s staging of Advanced Production: About a year ago, the teacher who normally taught Advanced Production dropped out. Citing a number of reasons (mainly workload), she left the class to be picked up by any instructor who took a keen interest in it. Following her exit another instructor both took it up and dropped it, in short making the class the official bear of the program. There are several classes in the programs that have stories and myths surrounding them, but Advanced Production is (aside from Boot Camp and Screenwriting 4) the most notorious.
So there was a void. Attempting to fill in the void, the school picked up a new instructor for the school, someone who could take the reins of Advanced Production. What was the reaction? A lot of students (myself included) were pleased. We saw this as a new beginning for the class. We hoped that the new instructor would jettison the easy-going approaches of the previous two instructors and develop an actual curriculum for the class.

Tonight I learned the meaning of the phrase, “be careful what you wish for”.

Not only did this instructor develop an actual curriculum for the class…he revolutionized the way the class was meant to function. He completely threw away everything it was before this point and in the process ruined the plans of a lot of students. Over the weekend I will assess if that includes my plans.
Beforehand, the idea behind the class was that everyone had the chance to come in with an idea and produce it in that class. If it was 5 minutes or 40 minutes, no big deal…just make sure you have the resources and the manpower to get it made. With that in mind, the instructor would basically green light any request that came his/her way, wither that be for equipment, insurance, the studio or any extra perk the school could extend to ensure your production went a little bit smoother.
Tonight, the law of the land was this: there will only be 5 shorts made this semester. They must be under 5 minutes in length, you may not bring in any outside help to make the short happen and films will not go into production until after a 7-week period. This class is Hollywood, and the instructor is the studio…and just like in Hollywood, there are only so many productions that can be made. If your project does not conform to the standards, you’re out of luck.

Period.
If you can imagine the malaise that followed this announcement, then I certainly hope you feel better. In short, this class was going to be offering a comprehensive education like the students wished, but it would no longer be the playground it once was. And I kid you not…the reaction by the students…and the following counter-action by the teacher (who also happens to teach Sheriff Joe’s posse on the side) was the most painful in-class experience I have ever been through. Harrowing. When kids began complaining, it came down to this: “If you want to stay and get your degree, you play by these rules. If not, there’s the door.”
It was uncomfortable.

So now the question is:

Can I use the school’s resources to make White Bread, Filmic and complete Wildlifeless? I believe so, but I need to find out what my boundaries are.

Perhaps more importantly:

Is this guy going to work my butt off, making any side project I might attempt like Filmic out of the question? Let’s face it: if I’m suddenly a part of the “team”, how much time should I expect to devote to the team? Can I just hock some script out and let them all go and film it? That’s terribly rude and anti-social, but it’s how I feel. I don’t want to make another 5 minute short. I want to make MY shorts. I get it…if I can’t tell a story in 5 minutes, then I suck. Most of the kids in that class have made lots of shorts. I’ve participated in over 20. I don’t want to take 5 steps back and make another Outside In.

So basically, I gotta find out if I can still use the school’s resources…and now I need to come up with a new 5 minute idea that I will pitch to the class next week (along with the 20 other students). Oh, and here’s another little twist: it may be my idea, but that doesn’t mean I get to direct it. I wrote it, sure. But I must apply for the director’s position. So I’m sure as heck not throwing one of my golden eggs out to the class and then letting some guy who waltzed in with a Rockstar in his hand and a Fight Club t-shirt on his chest direct it.

The class itself was all terribly amusing. He basically started out by explaining the narrative film to us. And I swear to you…SWEAR…some of it was the Filmic screenplay verbatim. At one point he was even explaining the meaning of Filmic to the class, which was disinterested just like the class in the script. I was vindicated. I questioned if I was on the right pulse with Filmic…if I was even tapping in to the student experience. The second the instructor mentioned the word “filmic”, I KNEW that I got it all right. Hell, I should have just taken a camera with me and filmed the entire first half of my screenplay.

Following that we were taught about pitching and the art of the pitch…a technique he attempted to demystify by explaining that anyone could do it and that you didn’t have to be a screenwriter to tell a story or give a pitch. Ideas come to everyone. No, you don’t get bonus points for having a screenwriting education.
And then we were all given ideas to pitch and I discovered that, SURPRISE SURPRISE, you do get bonus points for knowing how to write and pitch. He will tell you that anyone can do it. But in that class, if you go in with a prior knowledge of screenwriting, you are the king of that smelly little room. Tonight, two students were from the screenwriting program…a friend from a previous class, and myself. And you had better believe that we cleaned their clocks. Here’s how it went: we were divvied up into teams of 5 and expected to give our pitch in front of the class. My team had to sell a screenplay about Hurricane Katrina, starring Harry Conick Jr. No one wanted to pitch in the group. We all hated our idea. I rolled my eyes and said “fine”, went up there and got the green light from the “studio”. Same thing with my friend (only, they had a spectacular idea). My team was pleased. This leads me to realize two extra things:

1. If I come up with a decent enough idea between now and next week, I will be one of those 5 films that gets made. No question. But do I want to? If I mop the floor, what added responsibility am I taking on for myself?
2. These kids are already talking about the chance of not making 5 films, but rather one. If that’s the case (and the instructor has indicated that if we want it to be, it will be) then the class will need a 20-minute idea. They will need someone to pitch it to them. And the entire class will pitch in money to get the idea made. After tonight’s filmic discussion, I believe that I can be the 20-minute film if things get pushed that way. The gamble? In doing so, do I give up my directorial position on the film and do I alienate Matter of Chance from it? If so, then there’s no way I’m bringing Filmic or White Bread anywhere near that class. I direct. Josh shoots. Gabe is IGNACIO. No exceptions.

So all in all, I’m a little worried. If I can’t use the school’s resources to make Filmic and White Bread, then this stinks royally. If I can use them…then great!

What really worries me: dare I let my competitive spirit go in there and sell the heck out of an idea I can’t commit to? I don’t want to bite off more then I can chew. I will participate in the class, but I want to make my shorts.

Holmes in da House

My interest in feature length screenplays and dramatic narrative has recently led me into episodic structure…something I’ve been pondering over lately due to the reemergence of an old entertainment, and the development of a new one.
First, the new: I’ve really gotten into that television show House over the last few weeks. I mean really into it. Herein lies a show with a ridiculously strong protagonist, unique dramatic mechanism and clean narrative structure…

Allow me to deviate for a moment here and state that while the character of House is brilliant, I credit Hugh Laurie for that portrait. I am sure that some general idea of his persona was conceived at the time of the show’s scripting, but it’s easy to see by the character’s inner life and the gradual comfort each episode gains with the character that the writers' had little hand in the matter. However, I believe the writers to be chiefly responsible for the show’s lean structure.

…Of course, the show has been criticized for its episodic structure, but I find that to be the show’s chief virtue. It’s kind of nice to have a program wherein each episode is self-contained and functional. After trying to keep up with the interlocked plotlines of 24 and Lost, House is a real breather. Episodic also seems to be a rising trend this year. The producers of Lost have recently announced that the third season will be much more serial in its nature than the previous plot-heavy seasons. Good, I say. But to be honest…I can’t wait for more House.

Now for the old: I’ve returned to reading Sherlock Holmes stories recently. To be fair, I used to read Holmes stories all the time; the atmosphere of Doyle’s Victorian world was instrumental in creating Sin of the Opiate, not to mention the dialogue in Wildlifeless. But as to why I started reading these stories again (since those two projects are quickly descending into history) I don’t know.

Oh, wait.

It might be because the Holmesian structure is like clockwork…a classic example of episodic narrative. I should also note that I’ve learned that the characterization of Holmes and the episodic structure of these stories play a key influence for House. Ah yes, the picture is complete.
In a final note for this rather indulgent blog entry: I picked up my reading with “The Adventure of the Empty House”, the first story after Holmes’ “death” in “The Final Problem”. While I found “The Final Problem” to be a rather flat and heartless story (you could tell that Doyle was just sick of the character by then), “The Adventure of the Empty House” was thrilling. Easily one of the best Holmes stories. Wherein Doyle had given up on trying to create a Victorian London with all sorts of vibrancy and uniqueness in “Problem”, “Empty House” has him painting a stunning, dangerous world nearly rivaling that of “The Sign of Four”. Most notable? The villain in this short work is a retired big game hunter! I wish I had read this story before Wildlifeless…and yet, it was extremely gratifying to note that the big game hunter herein was depicted much in the same grandiose fashion that we have depicted ours.

Blim-Bloom-Kablaam!

Alright, so a lot of idiots throw together rap crap, and this isn't a whole lot better, but I thought I'd share. It's not too shabby for throwin' it down quick, with Matt tossing up the very first thought of a blueberry pie theme. Matt Turner put down a sample on Pro Tools, he layed down a bass line, and I tapped some keys. And what I dub, The Blueberry Hill Gang (Matt, Brock, Jacob Dutiel, and myself), spit up lyrics. We messed around with Brock's voice and liked his part so much, we ended the rap with it. Download - Blueberry Pie.

(Gabe)
One night I rolled up in my benz to the cafe with some friendz
we was feelin' the hunger, night wasn't gettin any younger
yelled out to the waitress "yo, woman, make us some pie!"
She says "what kind?" We yell out, "a blueberry, a blueberry, blueberry, a blueberry pie
Yo, cold-check, not any pastry will do
it's gotta be a pie and it's gotta be blue
blue pie? You smokin' the crack?
No, blueberry! So, get off my back!
(Matt)
I said blueberry pie, it taste delicious
when grandma cooks it, we don't have to do the dishes
because we lick the plates clean, you know what I mean?
as soon as we're done, it's time for ice cream
rasberries, cherries, forget 'em, all we wants blueberries
all we wants blueberries
(Brock)
Why, oh, why? Blueberry pie, on my mind
eatin' all my time
something scary, it's so hairy
lookin' for Matt's fridge, gotta binge
Gabe's comin' ova, with leftova
my, oh, my, hits mouth so sweet
I swear I could die, blueberry pie, pie, pie
(Jacob, lyrics by Matt)
When I wake I ache for blueberry pie to get baked
so I wait and watch the oven
try to take my pie and a ninja kick is comin'
kick, you slip, my karate chop's so swift
with fury, take you down while I eat blueberries

A much needed post

Man oh man...there hasn't been a post 'round these parts in forever. That I aim to fix, right now.

Earlier this evening I created a costume list for Filmic's major players. So far, the actors being provided with costumes are Vincent (who will look very Lawrence of Arabia meets Thom Yorke), Ignacio (a cheep character since all he really wears are camo pants), the Muslim (who is turning out to be a direct parody of Ali's in Wildlifeless...hence, a direct commentary on myself), and the two Marines (who have the most wardrobe out of ANY character in the script. If I can get all the items I want for these guys, they will just look insane).
I also tried to revise some of the Filmic budget, getting in as many numbers as I possibly could. So far we're golden on the makeup department, almost golden on the props and almost golden on the grip. After working on the budget for a bit, I chatted with a friend from school (Brad) who is going to start looking for the studio location. In the screenplay there is a studio location that is described as a white void, similar to locations in THX/The Matrix. I hope to have that location locked soon.

Once the budget is locked I shall begin my directorial notes...

That is all.

Get Well

This post is for Josh, who just had his appendix out. Feel better dude!

Josh's Appendix: 1970 Something - 2006

My Belated Reflection on The Village

When I first saw The Village in a theater, I walked out feeling empty, and disappointed. To me, it was Shyamalan’s first movie to fall under the bar which he set so high. Even short of Signs, which had the ridiculous notion that H2O-vulnerable Aliens would try to invade a water-logged planet. Part of it for me was that he built the tension so high up to a point that, it felt like a bomb would go off, but instead, the fuse fizzled out. With that, I’m not saying the movie was horrible, because he did a fantastic job of building up the tension. However, the wound runs deeper.

I hadn’t seen The Village again until quite some time after it had been on DVD. In fact, I believe it was early this year. I even came to dislike The Village, and couldn’t fully understand why. It couldn’t just be that the ending had little payoff for me. C’mon, the villagers actually living in modern times wasn’t exactly something to fall out of your seat over. At least, not for me. So, with much time to cool down and reopen the mind, I rented it, trying to have no expectations. Additionally, I felt that knowing the ending, I could catch the finer points of the movie. That turned out to be the opposite.

What I discovered with my second viewing of The Village, outright offended me. And that, was Manoj’s cold, outright manipulation of his audience to get his surprise. This time it wasn’t the means of a genius screenplay. It could’ve been, but Night seemed to fear he would give away too much. So much so, that he resorted to manipulation in the worst of ways. And I say, shame on you Shyamalan!

The first manipulation was in the opening scene. The camera focuses in, quite poignantly, on a tombstone dating in the late 1800s. I couldn’t help but feel that was a cheap-shot. In abscense of story to draw our attention away, he outright misleads. Sure, the villagers want to live in a more simple time, but what does the date matter? I’m sure they would say that it helps take their minds off the time they’re hiding from. But really, does it make much difference?

Quite ridiculous, but necessary in order to keep the story afloat from the ending, is their manner of speech. Really, would one go through so much trouble to make up dialect, or attempt dialect of another era? However, if they spoke like we do today, it would give the ending away. With that in mind, it was wise of him to have the characters speak in a way they thought it would have been.

Another low-blow was Manoj’s use of sound, in particular, that of the creatures. No human in a creature suit could make such a loud, fearsome noise. Some might say it was the interpretation of what the frightened villagers heard. I don’t care how scared I was, I couldn’t imagine that. Go ahead, pop in the DVD and listen to what I’m talking about.

One thing that blew my mind the most, was that Night cut a scene from the version that showed in theaters. It was completely missing from the DVD, even from the deleted scenes. It was a scene between Ivy Walker (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Mrs. Clack (Cherry Jones). Mrs. Clack was relating her negative experience from the outside towns, something that happened in an alley. Ivy then quipped “What’s an alley?” It was the scene that tipped me to the ending, and perhaps enough people that Shyamalan felt it was too revealing (after the fact) and removed it for the DVD release. It’s not the first time further editing has been done for a DVD release, but the fact that he didn’t even mention it in his deleted scenes portion, showed prideful arrogance to me. It was as if he didn’t want to admit to a mistake, yet, it wasn’t a mistake, it was just a clue that more people caught onto than he wanted.

He was at the point where he should have made a movie that didn’t need a surprise ending. It felt as if he worried too much about hiding his “surprise ending” that he had to force it…force it with lies! That was a little extreme, but he should’ve tried to write outside his bubble, or direct something that someone else wrote. Unfortunately, trying to write outside his bubble produced Lady in the Water, a jarring mess.

To end on a positive note, I loved everything else about The Village – the setting, the cinematography, the mood, the tension, the acting (except his). All other aspects were there. That is why he needs to direct something where he doesn’t have himself all wrapped around the story, because he has the raw talent.

Next

It is with a tinge of sadness that I removed the cards, structure notes and paradigm diagram for Filmic from my writing cork-board today. The project is clearly finished. While the tremendous task of planning out the shots, budget and locations lies ahead, I feel that any difficulty in bringing this project to the fore has now been eliminated. Despite my past and current problems in organizing and creating movies, the problems in bringing the project to fruition always lies in the completion of the script. Along with most of the fun. In that respect, Syd Field always likened writing projects to personal relationships. Even when the relationship is well past its expiration, writers are always hesitant to let them go. Writing a screenplay, even a short one, is a grand journey. It's always sad to see the ending.
At any rate, I am also happy to be done with it. I have to work like mad in the next two weeks to get the budget and schedule together so that I can begin pushing a proposal. I'll save my directorial interpretation of the script for after the busy-work of producing...that way I have something fun to look forward to.

Next, I must attempt to elevate the screenplay for Everlast. With Filmic written, Wildlifeless nearing completion all-together, and White Bread appearing to be the next work on the horizon, Everlast has been revealed to be the armature’s work it is. In comparison to Wildlifeless' mock-suspense, Everlast is of a somewhat lowbrow persuasion. In comparison to Filmic, a screenplay that pulls back the curtain on the establishment known as film school, Everlast is laughable. Strengthening that screenplay is my next short project.

Maybe haps later I will recount our showing at the Cinema Lounge. It could have been a near disaster...but thankfully, the evening turned out quite well. It was a pleasure to be able to view other filmmaker's work, and chat with them at length about it. I'll offer more on this subject soon.

Working on the filmic script...

Getting ready for the pre-production budgeting, casting, storyboard work. Putting this (hopefully) final draft together is like putting together a mix tape.

Current scene order (make what sense of this you will):

1. The Squib
2. Vincent Shanks Runt
3. Tower Explosion
4. Leaving Baghdad/Entering Phoenix
5. Changing film
6. The Gas Mask Scene
7. Mario's letter
8. Camera jam
9. Planning explosion
10. Showdown
11. Meeting the filmmakers/Vincent's lightmeter

Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! No, it's a plane! No...just an unsatisfying return

Most classes devoted to a historical study of film will inform you that the 70’s were a time of rebellion and liberalism in the cinema. European influences are noted as having infiltrated the studio system at this time, and gritty portrayals of sex, drugs and general dissatisfaction with authority prevailed. What most film studies fail to properly illuminate however, possibly due to its gaudy nature, is the rise of the franchise.
In the late 70’s, franchise films began to emerge. Franchises included films such as Jaws, Rocky and the perennial Star Wars. These films lacked the revolutionary mentality of earlier work, instead focusing on a much simpler message. That message more or less surmised that the world was a bad place and that there were bad people within it. But it also noted that not everything was bad. There were good people as well, heroes who would fight for the fulfillment of justice. Not least amongst these “positive message” franchises, was Superman.
Directed in 1978 by Richard Donner, Superman was stylized, bright and positively brimming with hope. This film served as the template for future comic book movies and was eventually hailed by M. Night Shyamalan as the finest comic book movie ever produced. Now, twenty-eight years later, Bryan Singer has surmised, with Superman Returns, “Why improve upon an already perfect formula?”

Superman Returns serves as the sequel to Superman II. Picking up after Superman left to find the remains of the planet Krypton, “Returns” unfolds around his attempt to rekindle the life he once led – both as Clark Kent and as Superman. Interestingly enough, Singer gives us a fantastic scene early on in the film with Clark watching the news at his adoptive parents’ home. In this unique scene, Singer illustrates how the world has changed since Superman’s departure. Wars rage in the Middle East. Violence is everywhere. People seem to have forgotten about extraordinary heroes. Superman, in short, seems trivial.
On top of that, Superman’s gal-pal, Lois Lane, seems to have moved on with her life. In fact, Lois is on the cusp of being awarded the Pulitzer Prize…for an article entitled “Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman”. And so begins Superman Returns – a film about Clark trying to reclaim all that he left behind, not the least of which is Lois’ heart.
It’s an intriguing premise, made even more fun when Superman makes his reappearance during a climatic airplane rescue. At the apex of this sequence (easily one of the finest Singer has ever directed) Superman comes face to face with Lois for the first time since his departure. It’s a funny, breathless moment that ends on a tremendous upward note. Following this sequence, the film’s cat and mouse game between Superman and Lois begins. And so does the story’s problems.
Before delving into said problems however, it’s appropriate to note an established truth about screenwriting and storytelling in general. It is that every character has something they want to win, gain or get. Even the lesser characters have such needs and wants.
In Superman Returns, the film’s populace largely welcomes Superman’s reemergence; so naturally, Clark’s objective becomes an attempt to woo back the far less receptive Lois. Lex Luthor (played by a vicious Kevin Spacey) wants to get his revenge on Superman, who robbed him of everything he had before his departure. And Lois, perhaps the most important character of the film in my estimation, wants to have Superman, despite her surface level “forget you” mentality. That being established, it is easy to understand the film’s failure.
Superman spends the majority of the film pulling off dazzling feats, but when he attempts to renew his relationship with Lois (a relationship all of the characters in the film readily acknowledge), she rebukes him. While this is generally the fun of any romantic comedy, the satisfaction comes in the joining of the couple. Superman Returns really has no such moments of satisfaction, no such little victories for our hero.
Rubbing salt in the wound is the fact that Lois now has a kid, which may very well be Superman’s. Heck, in the movie’s backstory she even wrote a suggestive article about it (I Spent a Night With Superman). But for some reason, when these two characters come together, they can’t help but share anything more then awkward, stilted dialogue. For two characters who shared a questionable, yet admittedly close past, they sure have a whole lot of nothing to say to one another. Sure, when two people really like one another, there is some level of awkwardness -- during courtship. But when the film implies that Lois and Superman have shared more then awkward chitchat, the work comes into question.
I’d blame this on the film’s actors, Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth, but they both have shining moments in the movie not involving their interaction with one another. Either they lacked chemistry, or Singer and his team of screenwriters had no idea how to approach the heated backstory of Lois and Superman. I’d venture that a lack of chemistry amplified an issue that was already manufactured in the construction of the story.
And then we have Lex Luthor’s story-arc, which is so distracting to the film’s core story, that any fun about it is lost. Lex Luthor is a great character, and Spacey brings a certain pettiness and malice to his interpretation, but this is Superman Returns, not Lex’s Big Adventure.
Singer also seems needlessly compelled to outline Lex’s “evil plan” step by step…which really is a stupid plan when you think about it. More compelling is the blind hatred of Luthor’s dramatic need: mess up Superman. Bad. Singer missed a golden opportunity with Luthor. Because Spacey brings such violence to the character, Lex’s arc would have been even better if we had seen his energies spent on the degrading and destruction of Superman – not some half-cooked real-estate scheme. And as a bonus you’d get Lois’ conflict, since she already degrades Superman herself. Fracturing the film’s narrative even further is Lois’ kid, which is really more distracting than anything.

Despite these problems, Superman Returns does seem to get quite a bit right. As mentioned earlier, this is meant to be a sequel to the previous Superman films. Singer doesn’t let that fact slide. Instead, he waves it in our faces by opening the film with streaking blue “laser credits” and the iconic John Williams score.
Brandon Routh’s performance, nothing more then an uncanny impersonation of Christopher Reeves, is geeky, stumbling and outright playful. And Spacey as Luthor is absolutely chilling in his darker moments.
On top of that, Singer seems to be at the height of his directorial technique. The aforementioned airplane rescue is just one of several examples in this film pointing to his masterful command of editing and camerawork. And despite a somewhat unsatisfactory ending, this team of filmmakers has succeeded in creating a universe that could easily sustain another film. The characters and their histories with one another are certainly interesting, if not properly explored.
Ultimately, the problem is, we really shouldn’t need another film. Films aren’t installment plans – Superman set out to win the heart of Lois Lane. While he does nudge us in the right direction, Singer fails to hint at the outcome. That, coupled with the fact that there aren’t nearly enough inspiring moments in the movie like the airplane rescue, makes Superman Returns feel like a brilliant failure.
But in the hands of a director as capable as Singer, this failure can only be seen as sabotage, self-mutilation in a deliberate attempt to build his next franchise. A shame. I would have rather had one extraordinarily satisfying film, rather than 3 good ones.

Wildlifeless

Well, now that the deed is done (or, the difficult part of it anyway), we might as well talk about it at some great length. After a few months of preparation, Matter of Chance shot the majority of Wildlifeless on June 30th at Balboa Park in San Diego. It was a long and harrowing day, one that resulted in my (and I believe to some extent, the rest of the crew’s) renewed doubt towards any filmmaking skill that I may possess.
First, let’s get the messy business out of the way. The day before the shoot, we lost our main actor. This was deeply devastating to me since I had cast the actor months in advance and spent some time building this film’s character with him. Moreover, I was somewhat appreciative of his application of the Method and his (seeming) interest in the story.
The morning of our departure for San Diego however, I made a fatal communication error with him, which resulted in his departure from the project. Needless to say, this event really put a bleak cloud over the weekend. I blame myself for amplifying that cloud however, as at that point, I think I stopped appearing to care about the movie.
Thankfully, Josh came to the rescue with the suggestion that we contact Joe Garcia (his father in-law and the guy who played Pierro in Leonardo) for the part. Joe, while not an actor by reputation, seemed to take direction well and most certainly looked the part. He didn’t have the advantage of training and 3-months of character development behind him, but he did get the general idea. And of course, he had worked with us before, so any misstep in communication I made with him would be shrugged off as a normal hiccup in the daily production routine. With the new actor onboard, the Matter of Chance team set-off for San Diego.
That night I slept fitfully. Sharing a hotel room with Joe, I opted to sleep on the living-room couch and let him have the bedroom all to himself. This was a good idea, because I tossed and turned for most of the night. Despite trying to fantasize of a life much simpler as I lay there on that couch, I often returned to depressed thoughts of how my little opus had begun. I woke up at 5:30 and decided to take a walk around the hotel after a shower.
San Diego was really amazing when I stepped outside. It was chilly, but bustling with activity. I could see gigantic cranes off in the distance, as well as ships and the bridge leading towards Coronado (where I desperately wanted to go). I must admit, I considered simply walking away and enjoying the city that day. But I couldn’t bring myself to do something like that…especially since we had put so much preparation and money into this project. It just wouldn’t have been honorable. And besides, I needed a ride home.
After Josh and I roused the crew, we headed over to Balboa to walk through the park with the plant supervisor and the film commission’s employee.
Surprisingly, we were given free reign to do pretty much anything we wanted in the park. There was the general rule of “don’t cut down any major plants”, but aside from that, we could do whatever we had to in order to get our shot. As long as we left the park in good order, the city of San Diego was happy with our arrival. I found this welcoming spirit to be deeply heartening. If it hadn’t been such a tremendous venture for such a small production company as ours…I would film in San Diego more often. Without a doubt, it will always be my second home and base of operations.
Josh and I brought the cast to the park next. While Angie put the makeup on Alexander Khan and Joe - Josh, Alex and Gabe set up the first shot – a sweeping single take of the jungle as Winston and Ali emerge from their tent.
This shot actually had the most potential out of all the visuals in the film. If pulled off right, it would be quite impressive, even by most professional’s standards. Unfortunately, we didn’t pull it off quite as well as I would have liked. The main reason for this lies in a missing screw to the fluid-tripod’s head. We needed that screw in order to get the camera on the tripod head. But, because we were missing it, we had to resort to using another head on the tripod…one far less slick. What was supposed to be a very smooth, gliding shot, now has many bumps. Even the best of takes is questionable in a few key areas. I don’t blame anyone for this problem – but I would like to avoid it in the future.
The rest of the morning’s shots were more or less tainted by this issue. While I don’t think the group was daunted by this problem (aside from Gabe, the rest probably didn’t even realize what was going on), Josh and I were profoundly depressed. During the lunch break, we both admitted as much. I also admitted that while everyone was working incredibly hard, we were severely understaffed. Two to three more people would have eased the shooting tremendously. I think we would have been able to move faster and get more takes in if we had a few extra staffers. Alas, we made do with our small, but faithful crew.
The morning’s shots involved Winston and Ali’s first encounter with the tiger along a jungle pathway. The majority of the film’s complex shots lied in this sequence, including our first use of the crane. While the cast broke for lunch, the crew set to work preparing the crane for the rest of the sequence. I took this time to look over my director’s notes and ensure that I was getting every nuance I had written about. Josh, Gabe and Alex tested the first crane shot once, and one of Josh’s connections in San Diego dropped by to talk digital with him. Finally, the cast returned with sandwiches for the crew, which we ate as we worked.

The afternoon’s shots blew by at a much quicker pace. Even the crane shots went by fairly quickly and without much gripe. There are a few shots that I would have liked executed better, but I am largely happy with this work.
After we put the crane away, Josh and I switched to a radical change in cinematography style. This new style, suggested in my notes on the film’s final portion and developed by Josh, involved handheld camerawork, extremely close angles and a fast shutter speed. I am sure that Josh is cringing at this paragraph, because the techniques are in fact a little more intricate then I have described, but you get the general picture. This portion of the film was deeply radical and very stylistically different. It was also incredibly easy to film. While the Spielbergian camerawork took us several hours to complete, I doubt that this stuff took more than 45 minutes. It was also very fun to shoot as well for Josh, Joe and I. Included in this set was the film’s final sequence – a showdown between Joe’s character and the film’s antagonistic force. I won’t expound upon the details of this sequence as it is quite crucial to the surprise of the film’s finale, but the filming went well. It was especially interesting to shot this part because we were staging it in a secluded area of the park that we didn’t expect to get permission to shoot in.
Following this, we filmed a few final scenes in Day for Night with Alexander Khan. When those scenes were in the can, Alex rushed Alexander and his mother Lisa Khan to the airport (just in time for their flight!). Meanwhile, the rest of us began the long task of cleanup.
As Josh and I put away the camera equipment, I apologized to Josh. In my estimation, the day had gone quite badly. I always feel that each film I make unfolds itself as a crisis situation, a feeling that can mainly be attributed to my larger ambitions and lacking manpower. In short, I am making and planning movies that should really have crews of 25…instead of 8. Josh shrugged this apology off however. I think he was too tired to view the day as a failure. And yet, I could sense some depression in his attitude. The question of whether that was genuine or projected upon him by myself, I do not wish answered.
It was frantic. It was hell. It chewed us up and spit us out. I don’t feel like I bonded with anybody because I was so worried about the project’s execution, and I felt like a criminal for doing this to everyone. What’s worse is that I’m not particularly strong, so whatever grunt work there was, I wasn’t fit for. Added to that was fact that I still blamed myself for the previous misfire with the film’s original actor. I wasn’t displeased with Joe’s presence (actually, I was quite uplifted by his attitude), but I felt incompetent for tarnishing earlier work. I blame myself for that.
And yet, I have to remember filmic law. Bad things happen on film sets. A plethora of things can, and usually will, go wrong. I learned that from The Subject. The problem is that we don’t have the money or manpower to drown out such mistakes. And so, we on the set of Wildlifeless had to live with them.
That is why, on the way home, I felt like I had failed. I didn’t believe that Josh or Alex, or Gabe or anyone else on the set had failed. I knew that I had.
The next morning, Josh e-mailed me and told me that he had looked at the footage and that it was great. I was somewhat pleased by this, but I had to see for myself.

After watching the footage on Sunday, I was both happy and depressed. It all looks really neat…and it also looks really rough. I felt that there was a good film lying in there somewhere. We just needed to dig it out.
This suspicion was confirmed when Josh and I set to cutting the trailer. Really, with some quick correction and editing, the footage we picked for the trailer glowed. It really is fantastic stuff. Suspenseful too. We must have watched the trailer 10 times and laughed each time. Not only that, but I also sensed a kind of tone and style in the footage that was reminiscent of my other work. I wasn’t aware of such a thing in pre-production, but there seems to be a flavor in the work that implies a certain sensibility. I also think that Josh has been given a powerful set of new tools (Dolly + Crane) to use in the next few films. Wildlifeless was simply the gateway. Just don't get ready to call me the new Kipling yet.
We still have a few things to shoot before we can complete the picture. Alexander Khan and his family are leaving the states for a month…and Josh and I are probably going to wait to film the rest of the movie until they get back. By that time, I will have access to SCC’s studios. A month seems like a terribly long time…but we’ll have the filming finished mid-August and the movie should be ready by September. I think Josh and I want it to tour the festival circuit anyway, so the extra wait really isn’t such a bad thing considering the fact that this film will be making the rounds until summer 2007.
So, when will you get a chance to view the trailer, dear reader?

In the next two weeks at a special screening. Where? I cannot say. But, if you keep yourself tapped in to the locale Phoenix film scene, you can probably guess where and when the Wildlifeless trailer will be unleashed.

Memoirs of a Genius

I was feelin' pretty smart, until I read my brother's blog.