FITP

The training is going well. And I'm having a lot of fun learning all about the new (and not so new) technologies.

We'll shoot our student film in video, but we're still required to know how to load and maintain Panavision 35mm film cameras. It's really neat!

FITP begins on Monday

Once again I'll be attending the Film Industry Training Program at Quinnipiac University, starting Monday the 6th.

I probably won't post day-to-day accounts of the program like I did last year, but I'll put up photos and stories when I'm able.

Photo from "Going Home"

Between takes on location for "Going Home". Photo by Josue Saldana.

The "Going Home" project

"Going Home" is a short film about a serious subject. I'm working on the Sound Dept. for this production.

Watch this promo, then please click HERE to support the project on Kickstarter.

Apply NOW for Film Industry Training Program

APPLY NOW
STATE OF CONNECTICUT
FILM INDUSTRY TRAINING PROGRAM
INTENSIVE ONE-MONTH CURRICULUM
JUNE 6 – JULY 1, 2011
QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY

This is the course I took last year.
Read about my four-week experience HERE.

SELECT FROM:
ASSISTANT DIRECTING
LOCATION MANAGEMENT
PRODUCTION OFFICE COORDINATION
SCRIPT SUPERVISION
CAMERA
SOUND
LIGHTING & GRIP
PROPS AND SET DRESSING
WARDROBE

$10 FEE PAYMENT AND SUBMISSION OF THE ONLINE APPLICATION MUST BE COMPLETED PRIOR TO 5:00PM, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, 2011. DIRECT LINK TO APPLICATION.

www.ctfilmworkforce.com
FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION AND ONLINE APPLICATION

David Lynch sells coffee weird

I guess director David Lynch is selling coffee products now. And one of the benefits of being a filmmaker is that you can create your own commercials.

Of course, being David, he wouldn't simply make a 30-second spot that you'd see while watching a rerun of "Two and a Half Men".

No, he'd do something along the lines of a bizarre 4-minute conversation with a Barbie doll, shot in extreme close-up.

And then Tweet about it.

So here's his funny and slightly off-putting ad for his weird coffee.

(I'd like to have a cup right now!)

"Is it fairly traded?"

"Yeah, fairly traded."

"Oh, jeez."

David Lynch Signature Cup Coffee from David Lynch on Vimeo.

Some movies I watched recently

These aren't exactly movie reviews. It's more like some thoughts I have on particular films I've watched in the last few weeks.

Some spoilers below, so if you haven't seen the movie in the title, show some discipline and read no further. I know you can do it.


"Battle: Los Angeles" (2011) - it's like "Independence Day", only played absolutely straight. What a "war of the worlds" might actually look like if the producers weren't committed to making enjoyable family fare or to remaining factually true to an H.G. Welles novel from over a hundred years ago.

The invasion would start like this, with news coverage. Then it would be a conventional military operation, not too unlike what we're doing now in certain countries, but even moreso.

"The Rite" (2011) - I love Anthony Hopkins. I'll watch him in an infomercial if need be. So I sat through this movie, despite it's obvious plot defects and at times silly dialog. I mean, how dense does that young idiot need to be to prove he's skeptical? Anyway, for an exorcist movie, it was rather tepid.

"Wonder Boys" (2000) - I stumbled on this gem recently and found it worthy of a viewing. Michael Douglas and Toby McGuire had a good turn in this film, and supporting actors Robert Downey Jr., Francis McDormand and a wonderfully non-Scientology indoctrinated (yet) Katie Holmes rounded out a superb cast.

Kind of a "Dead Poets Society" meets "History Boys" with a bit of "My Own Private Idaho" and "Rushmore" thrown in. (Don't ya hate it when people combine movie concepts when trying to describe a flick and it only confuses you MORE?)


"The Cove" (2009) - I didn't want to watch this film because I wanted to continue to feel empathy for the Japanese people after the tsunami, but I felt I had to. The film is a documentary about the secret dolphin slaughter that occurs in a tiny, hidden cove in Japan.

Boy, those pesky dolphin-murderers are a bunch of rascally scamps if you ask me! (you can replace a lot of those words with "assh*les", "f*ckers", and "murderous sonsabitches who deserve bad things to happen to them".)

Look, I know all of Japan isn't The Cove, but if everyone in that business suddenly developed terminal bleeding pustules, I wouldn't feel the least bit bad for them. I feel bad for the rest of Japan, but not those cruel shitbags.


"Restrepo" 2010 - A documentary of the war in Afghanistan, directed by Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger. Hetherington was recently killed while filming in Libya.

This film should be required viewing by all our Congressmen, who will be voting on whether to stay in Afghanistan or not.

Because, despite all the optimistic rhetoric coming from the White House, this is absolutely another Vietnam. It's been almost 10 years since we've invaded. The same amount of time the Soviet Union spent trying to "win".

Great news about FITP

(Me, standing precariously while booming a scene from "Lover's Leap" (2011))
Two pieces of awesome news!

1) the 2011 CT Film Industry Training Program WILL BE HELD. There was a lot of concern that funding for the program wouldn't be available, but at the eleventh hour the powers that be managed to put it all together, and the program will run again in June.

I've already applied for this year's course, and with a little luck, I'll be accepted into the Camera program.

2) last year's FITP movie, "TO DYE FOR", is finally going to premiere!

On Thursday, April 28 at 7:00pm, they'll be showing the movie (along with other FITP films) at Aunt Chilada's, 3931 Whitney Ave. in Hamden, CT. Come out that Thursday, see the movie, and hang out with the rest of the FITP gang :)

Jaki's Buzz billboard is up!

A new billboard for the web TV show I've been working for just went up in New Haven!

If you drive by the corner of Whitney and Trumbull St, it's just on the east side of Whitney. Take a look if you're there, and be sure to visit JakisBuzz.com to see online episodes of the new talk/entertainment show!

Videos from SWAN DAY CT

Here's two videos I made on Saturday at SWAN DAY CT.

The first is the band Waking Elliot playing "Affliction":



The second is artist Kerry Kozaczuk painting in fast motion while Waking Elliot plays another song.



Be sure to visit the SWAN DAY CT site for more info on this great event, and make plans to attend next year!

A possible second career

This may look like any old car parked at a gas pump, but what you can't see from this photo is that it's MY old car, and it's LOCKED with the KEYS still in it!

On my way to a video gig last night I stopped to fill up, and I stupidly locked the car because I had all my camera stuff in the back seat. When I went into the mini-mart, I mentioned that I locked the keys in, and an older fellow suggested I call the local police and see if they'd open it.

I thought they discouraged that sort of thing these days, but I gave it a shot. Surprisingly, they did dispatch a squad car to help out, possibly because I told the dispatcher that I was blocking a pump at the gas station and I wanted to get the car moved to allow them to do business (they did have 8 pumps at the station, so I don't think it really caused them much harm).

Officer Darby showed up, and had the little flat tool that car thieves everywhere have used for years to pop the locks on older cars. The newer cars are more theft-resistant, but my 1994 Chevy wagon was a bit more agreeable to thievery. Working together for about ten minutes, we managed to pop the passenger side lock and, after thanking him profusely, I was on my way to the gig, and got there in time to set up and shoot the video I needed.

I don't know if I'll add this skill to my resume, but it's always good to know that I have a new career option if I want to get in the business of stealing crappy old Chevys!

Fargo: Yeah!

How friggin' AWESOME is the movie "Fargo" (1996)? I just watched it again for the probably twentieth time, and every single time I enjoy it!

I saw a webcomic a few weeks back where the artist said she'd just watched Fargo for the very first time. And I was jealous of her, to be able to see the film with brand new eyes! She even made a comic based on the movie (with a tie-in to Charlie Sheen, which is wicked funny!)

The Coen Brothers are already well entrenched in American movie history, even though they're far from done with their careers. And how friggin' great were Frances McDormand and William H. Macy in this flick? Steve Buscemi was terrific, too.

So yeah, watch this clip, and see how many times they say "yeah" in this movie!

Yeah, you betcha!



"Hon, prowler needs a jump."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

Fifteen years later, this movie still holds up!

Wow

Despite the terrible losses in Japan, we should acknowledge the engineers and builders who saved countless lives during the earthquake. If it weren't for the tsunami, the death toll would probably be in the low triple-digits at most, due largely to the government-mandated building codes.



To help Red Cross relief, you can donate $10 by texting REDCROSS to 90999, and the funds will go toward helping victims of the disaster. See AmericanRedCross.org for details.

"Exit Through the Gift Shop" (2010)

I just watched this documentary about street art and the artists that create it. And I'm just trying to figure out...

Who exactly was the joke played upon?

SEMI-SPOILERS BELOW, DON'T READ IF YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE THE ENTIRE FILM:


This is a very nicely-made documentary/narrative about graffiti/street art, but the final third of the film sort of blows everything up out of proportion...to the point that it reminds me of all those movies that pass off mediocre creativity as "art", always to extraordinary effect.

See these films for examples:
"High Art" (1998)
"The Million Dollar Hotel (2000)
"The Linguini Incident" (1991)

If you haven't seen any of these, they each basically have someone create some "art", and then everyone in the movie goes totally nuts over it, until the audience is bashed over the head enough to suspend disbelief and agree that it's really art. At that point, the plot can move forward.

This is kind of the feeling that I got from this film, especially toward the end when Mister Brainwash (the artist) opens his first show to wild success in Los Angeles, selling over a million dollars worth of art that obviously is a blatant Warhol rip off.

Several well-known street artists are connected with this film, such as Banksy (whose face and voice are disguised as if he's commenting on how he stole money from the Mafia or something) and Shepard Fairey, who created that iconic Barack Obama poster that was everywhere in 2008.

The idea that it was a joke is obvious, especially when the director is listed as Banksy himself. The guy is a street artist, not an international spy. I'm sure plenty of police departments already have his mugshot available, as pretty much every street artist has been hauled in at one time or another. The hidden face gimmick is surely a joke.

Anyway, the supposed success of the show indicates that the joke was played on L.A.'s cultural community. If the show was as big a success as they said, then that's the point of the movie.

Anyway, it was a good movie, and for fun check out the message boards on IMDB for "Exit Through The Gift Shop". It's great entertainment to see the debate raging endlessly.

Brrrr indeed

I was wondering how he dealt with the cold... until I saw the bit where he chugged a bottle of vodka.

Now I understand.

Sound engineering on Black Swan

SoundWorks Collection - The Sound of "Black Swan" from Michael Coleman on Vimeo

This is a video I found that looks at creating the sound scheme on "Black Swan". It focuses mostly on post-production and re-recording, along with the sound design. Fairly interesting.

Lover's Leap reached it's Kickstarter goal!

With just hours remaining, the Kickstarter page for "Lover's Leap" made it's $4,000 goal, so the money will come through and they can finish post-production! Thanks to everyone who pledged!

Moments later, he plunged to his death...

...not really, but we don't condone this sort of horseplay. It's all fun and games until somebody gets killed.

Me, hiking on West Rock Ridge yesterday. Joyce bravely took the photo from another perilous ledge. We both survived.

Help fund "Lover's Leap"

The short film I worked on in September is seeking funds to complete it. This is an "epic" movie with tremendous production values, and it's going to look great on the big screen. I was the boom operator and utility guy, working with Josue Saldana.

That's me holding the boom as we prepare to shoot a scene for the film. My accounts of the filming are located here:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3

Here's the fund raising page on Kickstarter. The way it works is you pledge a donation with a credit card, but you ONLY are charged for that amount if the project reaches it's funding goal by the set date. That way, you're not out any money for a film that might not have raised enough funding to complete it.

"Lover's Leap" has set as it's goal a very modest $4,000 by January 12th. So anything you care to donate will have a significant effect on the outcome. And on the Kickstarter page you'll see a bunch of really great incentives depending on what level you wish to pledge. You can pledge as little as one dollar (but c'mon now, that would be silly; toss them a sawbuck at least!) or as much as the entire amount.

My brilliant idea for an incentive was for any person who pledges the entire amount be allowed to sleep with the cast member of their choice, but the producers shot it down without so much as a how-do-ya-do! Prudes.

Whatever amount you decide upon, you should know that you'll have an opportunity to see this awesome movie sometime in early 2011!

Keeping busy

For some reason, despite all the projects I've been working on lately, I've hardly posted anything about them on this blog. I guess that means I'm busy!

Watch here for news regarding "Jaki's Buzz" and "The Politics of Murder" in the coming weeks!

Not to mention other projects that are in post-production:

"To Dye For"
"Ethan"
"Lover's Leap"

...and of course, I've got a few more projects that are in the preliminary stages.

No pay yet; but the more I learn and work, the more likely the rewards will come!

And I'll be putting up photos, video clips, and more links as we move along.

AIr Line Rail Trail 2010

Here's some incredibly low-res video we made today during the unseasonably perfect weather, stitched together with a Roaring 20s soundtrack. We went back to the place we taped my first documentary five years ago.

Revisiting the Airline Rail Trail

This Saturday, Joyce & I are planning to retrace our 2005 Airline Rail Trail bike hike, documented in the short film below. I'll take some photos of the highlights of the trail, and post them here.

My awesome 7" LCD monitor

I bought a cheap (price, not quality) LCD camera-top monitor recently. Shown here at a rally with President Obama.

The standard definition monitor is perfect for my Canon GL-2, and the "Buy-it-now" price on eBay was $139 (shipping included!)

Here's the link on where you can get this useful item.
eBay

And they also have an HD version, but that's a lot pricier. Better if you can output SD from your HD camera and use the cheaper monitor.

Lover's Leap from the water

The spot where we shot the film was so beautiful Joyce and I decided to spend a day kayaking there.

The complete story and a bunch of photos are on my sailing blog, sailfulltilt.blogspot.com

Jaki's Buzz promo clip

Here's a teaser for the TV pilot of "Jaki's Buzz" we shot in August. Jaki Valensi-Lauper and Elegant Buzz Productions are currently marketing the show, and we'd all love to see it get picked up. Visit JakisBuzz.com for more info.



And Joyce & I attended the Jaki's Buzz fund raiser at Master of None studio on State St, New Haven on Sunday. We met author Pamela Glasner there, and she signed a copy of her new book, "Finding Emmaus" for us (which we hear is soon to be a major motion picture!)

We also bought a CD for the band Addison Station after they played a great set.

And here's Colleen Ellis, who was boom operator and helped with the sound on the pilot, along with CT Joyce. Joyce really enjoyed the entertainment, the great food, and the complimentary wine! It was a fun night.

More photos from "Lover's Leap"

Saturday was a 13-hour shoot. Got home at 7:30AM, slept a few hours (those cat-naps while driving really helped!) and got back there by 4PM on Sunday. Luckily we were wrapped around 7PM.

Booming on location is always a bit of a challenge, especially finding a place to stand. Josue Saldana is recording sound next to me.

Final day of the shoot finds actors Mary Fegreus and Matt Bretschneider getting ready for a scene, with DP Trenton McRae at left, Director Atanas Bakalov left-center, and Wardrobe Irene Ludemann behind him.

View from the camera of the actual Lover's Leap. There's maybe an 80-foot cliff right there. It was a bit nerve wracking at times when the actors got close! Apparently, some allegedly drunken moron waltzed off the edge a few weeks ago.

Needless to say, it didn't go good for him.

What a view! Lake Lillanonah is lovely; Joyce and I are going there in a few weeks for kayaking.

I want one. Really, I do.

Night 2 of the shoot

Call time was 3:30PM for crew. The location was a bit different from last night's. Don't worry, there's no spoilers here; just a few behind the scenes photos.

We were lucky to get to shoot in a nice home. The owners were very generous and gracious, and they put up with a long, late night of noise.

The camera crew positioned the dolly for the party scene. The house was filled with antiques, and the crew was required to take off their shoes or wear boot covers to keep the floors pristine. My biggest fear was of accidentally knocking over a Ming vase with the boom pole. I don't even know if they had any Ming vases there, but I was really careful just in case!



Product placement! Since the producers didn't want to have to deal with clearing any trademarked items, the art dept. came up with these clever fake product labels.

I don't know how it'll taste, but I'd like to try a Konig beer sometime! (I'm sure it tastes like water...this is all make-believe!)

Here's a shot from the big party scene while I boomed it from the balcony. Director Antanas Bakalov is at left. Atanas was in my FITP Sound Dept. class this year. Standing next to him is cinematographer Trenton McRae.

Party scenes are always fun to shoot, but we took hours getting all sorts of different angles and set ups. At least we didn't have to deal with generator noise.

I got home at 6AM, and after I saw my wife off to work, I promptly fell asleep. Sunday was pretty much a lost day for me, but I got to watch a lot of football!

We have a day or two more shooting scheduled for later this month. I'll post more updates then.

GO TO DAY 3 OF THE SHOOT

Night shoots are fun

Worked on a short film last weekend, "Lover's Leap". The two days were scheduled as night shoots, so the first night we got to the location around 6PM, and I expected us to be there at least until midnight.

Silly me, thinking I'd actually get home before dawn!

Grip & Electric gear spread out during preparation for the shoot.

Sound mixer and producer Josue Saldana at the sound cart. I worked as boom operator. Predictably, there were some minor equipment issues both nights, which made for an interesting exercise in dealing with problems. Location shoots are special that way.

Josh had great sound hardware on his cart for us to work with. This is a Sound Devices 788T digital recorder, absolutely top of the line model.

Josh also was involved in procuring a Red One camera for the shoot. The Red cameras are totally amazing, and often provide a better-than-film look.

The clear air in the hills around Candlewood Lake cooled down quickly after sunset, making it a chilly evening for the cast and crew. There were issues with the generators making noise that hindered us sound dogs, but we captured the sound that was needed. Several times I mic'd from inside a car; once with five of us and a camera in a less-than-spacious sedan. Fun, except for the leg cramps.

The sky was just starting to show signs of dawn when I finally got home. More photos soon from the second night of the shoot.

GO TO DAY 2 OF THE SHOOT

The Wilhelm Scream

What with me being a sound guy, I'm a fan of obscure film trivia related to sounds. The "Wilhelm Scream" is a great example of this.

In the early 50s, a character in a western named Wilhelm was shot in the leg with an arrow. The sound department used a shriek of pain that had been recorded a couple years earlier in another film.

Since then, the scream has attained a sort of mythical underground cult status amongst film buffs and sound engineers. Here are two videos that relate the entire story of the Wilhelm Scream. First, the history of the scream:



And next, a video compilation of some of the 130+ films and TV shows that have used the Wilhelm Scream over the years:



So now that you know all about the Wilhelm Scream, you too will be able to bore your friends and acquaintances with this trivial bit of film lore!

Coming Attraction?

(cross posted from my political blog ConnecticutBob.com)

With Hurricane Earl possibly moving in to ruin my weekend boating plans, I figured it was about time to take a trip down memory lane about a storm that roared through Connecticut 25 years ago.

Cliff Clavin Dept:

It's a little known fact that "Gloria" was the most popular name given to newborn girls all throughout southern New England in the weeks following the storm.

(See how I cleverly used a well-known character from a popular 1980s sitcom as a literary device to state a fact about a storm from 1985? Awww yeah! I'm da shit, yo!)

Here's my early camcorder video, with loads of archived TV news footage included:



Is this a "coming attraction"? I hope not!