We had a pitch meeting today, to see if we can turn our short film into a TV series.
Our short is sort of a "Spinal Tap" type satire - one of those things that you either 'get' or don't 'get'.
This guy didn't get it. We were waiting for his partner to come out of another meeting, and he said - in response to my saying that Monty Python's "Fish Slapping Dance" was one of my favorite bits - "I just don't understand why you'd hit someone with a fish. Why would you have a fish? Does it take place in a fishmarket?"
That's when I knew we were fucked.
Sure enough, during the meeting they didn't get it and kept telling us that the actors were bad (they're not - they're actually amazing), and they just didn't think it was real (it's not supposed to.. oh, never mind).
This from a company who has a slate of reality shows such as "My Big Fat Mama's Bikini Wax", "Mall Night Watchman" and "Turtle Vets"*.
They did give us about an hour (which is unusual - normally if they don't like your idea, you get the bum's rush) telling us how we needed to re-edit in order to make it acceptable fodder to feed the machine - we smiled and nodded, and thanked them for the time they'd given us. The Blonde wants to do a recut to see if we can sell something.
Surprisingly enough, I agree. I'd rather sell out one idea so we can get some leverage -which will enable us to get a good show on the air at some point in the future.
I just don't want to sell to - or deal with - the dumbest man alive.
* These are not actual shows. To reveal this guy's production slate would be on a par with clubbing baby seals - so these are fake show titles that are about - intelligence wise - what he does have.
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Ack! Tabletop!
I got a call last minute to replace a guy who got sick today (with whatever summer cold/allergy/thing is going around right now), and of course I said yes - the call was for a commercial, which is good. Commercials pay incredibly well, but.....
It was Tabletop, which is oh so very bad.
Tabletop is product shots. The product (Barbie, GI Joe, Tampons, Pepsi, etc) is set on a table top and lit, and then you sit there for 15 hours while the advertising agency people tweak and tweak and tweak. It's like watching grass grow.
Food shoots at least are fun - just because you get to watch the food stylists go batty and see some cool stuff (did you know the milk in cereal commercial close ups isn't milk? It's Elmer's Glue - milk sours and clumps instantly under hot lights. Diluted Elmers White Glue doesn't).
No, you can't eat the food. It's been glued to the spoon, shellacked, sprayed and otherwise rendered inedible - unless actors are eating it, and then the little bit that they're eating is edible, but nothing else is.
This was not a food shoot. It was some overpriced watch that was mounted on a white cube with a white background. It took us THREE hours to light it to the satisfaction of the agency people, and then we sat there for another 12 hours while they shot the watch from a million different angles - "Now, can you tilt the face down and to the left and can we change the time to read 3:15."
"Now, tilt the face up and to the left and can we change the time to read 10:30."
"Now, tilt the face up, to the right, but not too far to the right and can the time read 6:15".
AAAAHHHHH!!!!!
I read the LA Times, the NY Times, my book, reorganized the 'ditty cart', restocked the gels alphabetically, and used my dikes to trim off most of my split ends.
The problem with working film production is that it creates adrenaline junkies. I'm so used to lighting a new scene every three hours that I go insane if I'm not doing the hustle all day.
I always forget how tedious commercials are. You have 15 people from an ad agency who are paying for (and micromanaging) the shoot, so you work at a veeerrrrry slow pace.
It's not a bad thing (and I'll be really happy when I get the check), I'm just used to a bit more action.
It was Tabletop, which is oh so very bad.
Tabletop is product shots. The product (Barbie, GI Joe, Tampons, Pepsi, etc) is set on a table top and lit, and then you sit there for 15 hours while the advertising agency people tweak and tweak and tweak. It's like watching grass grow.
Food shoots at least are fun - just because you get to watch the food stylists go batty and see some cool stuff (did you know the milk in cereal commercial close ups isn't milk? It's Elmer's Glue - milk sours and clumps instantly under hot lights. Diluted Elmers White Glue doesn't).
No, you can't eat the food. It's been glued to the spoon, shellacked, sprayed and otherwise rendered inedible - unless actors are eating it, and then the little bit that they're eating is edible, but nothing else is.
This was not a food shoot. It was some overpriced watch that was mounted on a white cube with a white background. It took us THREE hours to light it to the satisfaction of the agency people, and then we sat there for another 12 hours while they shot the watch from a million different angles - "Now, can you tilt the face down and to the left and can we change the time to read 3:15."
"Now, tilt the face up and to the left and can we change the time to read 10:30."
"Now, tilt the face up, to the right, but not too far to the right and can the time read 6:15".
AAAAHHHHH!!!!!
I read the LA Times, the NY Times, my book, reorganized the 'ditty cart', restocked the gels alphabetically, and used my dikes to trim off most of my split ends.
The problem with working film production is that it creates adrenaline junkies. I'm so used to lighting a new scene every three hours that I go insane if I'm not doing the hustle all day.
I always forget how tedious commercials are. You have 15 people from an ad agency who are paying for (and micromanaging) the shoot, so you work at a veeerrrrry slow pace.
It's not a bad thing (and I'll be really happy when I get the check), I'm just used to a bit more action.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
It even hurts when I smile.
Tuesdays at 11 am is the Pilates class from hell at the 24 Hour Fitness in Hollywood. It's taught by an Asian guy named Leo who I call "The Happy Sadist".
He's happy 'cause you're in pain while you're trying to keep your back on the ground and your feet precisely 6 inches in the air.
Leo offers encouragement, too: "See, this is easy! Big Smile! It's easier when you smile! DO IT RIGHT! See? Easy!".
I keep going to Leo's class because I'm determined to get my abs back (I lose them when I work 15 hour days), even though I know I'll be in a lot of pain for the rest of the day.
However, I do have the "Guest Blogger" thing today at Assistant/Atlas' blog.
Enjoy!
I'm off to soak my sorry ass in the tub.
He's happy 'cause you're in pain while you're trying to keep your back on the ground and your feet precisely 6 inches in the air.
Leo offers encouragement, too: "See, this is easy! Big Smile! It's easier when you smile! DO IT RIGHT! See? Easy!".
I keep going to Leo's class because I'm determined to get my abs back (I lose them when I work 15 hour days), even though I know I'll be in a lot of pain for the rest of the day.
However, I do have the "Guest Blogger" thing today at Assistant/Atlas' blog.
Enjoy!
I'm off to soak my sorry ass in the tub.
And now for something completely off topic
Catherine sent me this list of questions that are going around, so here we go.
#1 Total number of books owned - not that many anymore. In an effort to reduce the clutter in my life, I gave a bunch of them to the library. I can visit them anytime I want. I've probably got about a hundred left.
#2 The last book I bought - I can't remember.. I found out I could read them for free from the library.
#3 The last book I read - "How to Build a Time Machine" by Paul Davies
#4 Five books that mean a lot to me -
"Good Omens" by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Damn Terry Gilliam for not being able to get the movie off the ground.
"Watership Down" by Richard Adams. It was the first "grown up" book I ever read (I think I was about 8 or 9).
"Lullaby" by Chuck Palahniuk
"The Wasp Factory" by Iain Banks
"Chuck Amok" by Chuck Jones. An autobiography by the guy who came up with all those really, really cool Warner Brothers cartoons in the 50's.
#1 Total number of books owned - not that many anymore. In an effort to reduce the clutter in my life, I gave a bunch of them to the library. I can visit them anytime I want. I've probably got about a hundred left.
#2 The last book I bought - I can't remember.. I found out I could read them for free from the library.
#3 The last book I read - "How to Build a Time Machine" by Paul Davies
#4 Five books that mean a lot to me -
"Good Omens" by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Damn Terry Gilliam for not being able to get the movie off the ground.
"Watership Down" by Richard Adams. It was the first "grown up" book I ever read (I think I was about 8 or 9).
"Lullaby" by Chuck Palahniuk
"The Wasp Factory" by Iain Banks
"Chuck Amok" by Chuck Jones. An autobiography by the guy who came up with all those really, really cool Warner Brothers cartoons in the 50's.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Big Geeky Trade Show Weekend!
I do love a good trade show. It's a chance to see some cool stuff, and catch up with buddies.
The only film industry trade show used to be "Showbiz Expo", but they pissed a lot of people off (jacking up the rate for booths, and just generally being unpleasant to exhibitors), so a couple of new shows started - Molepalooza and Cinegear. Molepalooza was never that good (and they had permitting problems because Mole Richardson - where the show was held - are located in a really high traffic part of Hollywood), so the main one now is Cinegear. It gets bigger every year - this year was on the "Ranch" part of the Warner Brothers lot. It used to be on the Universal lot, but I like this location better - I hope it stays at Warner's.
Cinegear's always been really tech heavy - mostly lighting, grip and camera, although this year there were a few computer booths, the FTAC and some film location commissions.
Highlights of the show were Hydroflex (they make underwater camera and lighting systems) passing out illicit rum shots in their promotional shot glasses
Hydroflex's extremely cool tropical-themed poolside booth.
Plus, some very, very cool LED lighting systems - lighting wise, LED's are the wave of the future. They don't pull much power, and they don't generate as much heat as traditional lighting units. They're not capable of putting out a whole lot of light, so they'll never replace the larger units, but for small units they're much nicer than flourescents (the other lightweight light).
This is an LED "Diva Light". Lights mounted to the lens smooth out wrinkles, and are a favorite of aging actresses - hence the name.
One of the major technical difficulties (movie wise, that is) is shooting actors in moving cars. For years, all you could do was strap a camera to the hood of the car and shoot through the windshield, or hang the camera off the side of the car on a really horrifying contraption called a 'hostess tray'. Then, along came the shotmaker (which is basically a flatbed trailer with some railing around it), but the problem with those is that you have 15 people sitting on the platform as you're driving around, so high speed stuff just isn't possible (I think the fastest you can go with a Shotmaker process trailer is about 20mph). Also, since the car's sitting on a flatbed you are limited in what the camera can see.
This year, there were three or four different camera/car systems - one of which I've seen before (The "Go Mobile" from Go Stunts was used on "The Bourne Supremacy", and it enables one to do really high speed stuff. Plus, there's no trailer, so you don't have to worry about framing. If you rent the "Bourne Supremacy", there's a behind the scenes special feature about stunts and the Go Mobile), and two which I haven't.
This is the "Go Mobile", and yes, that's the General Lee from the "Dukes of Hazard".
This is another type of car mounted system, but I can see a problem with the front clearance - there's about an inch of it. Can you say "crunch"?
This is just scary.
The other recent (within the past 5 years) technical breakthrough - lighting balloons. They're big balloons filled with helium and lighting units, so they cast a nice, even light. Just about every movie or TV show who shoots at night uses them now. The advantage to using them is that they're easy to position, and all you have to hide from the camera is a couple of head feeders.
"Airstar" lighting systems booth
I had a great time, even if it was hot - I really wanted to jump in the pool.
More photos are on Flickr.
The only film industry trade show used to be "Showbiz Expo", but they pissed a lot of people off (jacking up the rate for booths, and just generally being unpleasant to exhibitors), so a couple of new shows started - Molepalooza and Cinegear. Molepalooza was never that good (and they had permitting problems because Mole Richardson - where the show was held - are located in a really high traffic part of Hollywood), so the main one now is Cinegear. It gets bigger every year - this year was on the "Ranch" part of the Warner Brothers lot. It used to be on the Universal lot, but I like this location better - I hope it stays at Warner's.
Cinegear's always been really tech heavy - mostly lighting, grip and camera, although this year there were a few computer booths, the FTAC and some film location commissions.
Highlights of the show were Hydroflex (they make underwater camera and lighting systems) passing out illicit rum shots in their promotional shot glasses
Hydroflex's extremely cool tropical-themed poolside booth.
Plus, some very, very cool LED lighting systems - lighting wise, LED's are the wave of the future. They don't pull much power, and they don't generate as much heat as traditional lighting units. They're not capable of putting out a whole lot of light, so they'll never replace the larger units, but for small units they're much nicer than flourescents (the other lightweight light).
This is an LED "Diva Light". Lights mounted to the lens smooth out wrinkles, and are a favorite of aging actresses - hence the name.
One of the major technical difficulties (movie wise, that is) is shooting actors in moving cars. For years, all you could do was strap a camera to the hood of the car and shoot through the windshield, or hang the camera off the side of the car on a really horrifying contraption called a 'hostess tray'. Then, along came the shotmaker (which is basically a flatbed trailer with some railing around it), but the problem with those is that you have 15 people sitting on the platform as you're driving around, so high speed stuff just isn't possible (I think the fastest you can go with a Shotmaker process trailer is about 20mph). Also, since the car's sitting on a flatbed you are limited in what the camera can see.
This year, there were three or four different camera/car systems - one of which I've seen before (The "Go Mobile" from Go Stunts was used on "The Bourne Supremacy", and it enables one to do really high speed stuff. Plus, there's no trailer, so you don't have to worry about framing. If you rent the "Bourne Supremacy", there's a behind the scenes special feature about stunts and the Go Mobile), and two which I haven't.
This is the "Go Mobile", and yes, that's the General Lee from the "Dukes of Hazard".
This is another type of car mounted system, but I can see a problem with the front clearance - there's about an inch of it. Can you say "crunch"?
This is just scary.
The other recent (within the past 5 years) technical breakthrough - lighting balloons. They're big balloons filled with helium and lighting units, so they cast a nice, even light. Just about every movie or TV show who shoots at night uses them now. The advantage to using them is that they're easy to position, and all you have to hide from the camera is a couple of head feeders.
"Airstar" lighting systems booth
I had a great time, even if it was hot - I really wanted to jump in the pool.
More photos are on Flickr.
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