So I talked about that unfuckingbelievable short, “Composition” by Bait & Tackle… The team leader is listed as Chad Carlberg – and a quick Googling begets this:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0137313/ and this:
So, he's got his own production company/agency... Makes sense...
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
SHOWING the 48
Our film showed last night at the Kendall- I’m posting a link to the showing here, so that you can see for yourself what this was like. At this stage in our moviemaking, it’s not that having the short up on the screen is important- it’s not- it’s that getting the audience’s reaction, seeing what beats hit and what were missed, is valuable to gauge what and how to do next.
We had a pretty good turn out, with many of our actors and actresses (to whom I am deeply sorry) showing up to watch, and of course Sara, Tom, and myself there as well. It was Tom’s first time seeing the short, and I (foolishly) tried to set his expectations low by telling him that it wasn’t perfect, and that I hoped he’d be okay with it.
I think that he was a touch suspicious then, to see how badly we might have butchered his script…
They played the films in worst-to-best order, with the first couple being hilariously campy efforts by college kids and what seemed to be a group of stoned 30-ish’s। Our film, oddly enough, was smack in the middle of the pack, which is maybe a “feel good” comment on it- and it really served as the beacon or turning point between what was generally mediocre or bad, and what was pretty good to unfuckingbelievable.
Let me stop here and comment- the film “Composition” by Bait & Tackle was the best short I think that I’ve ever seen, anyplace. They obviously had a serious crew, and some God-given talent (nice to see that they’re not a bunch of 20 year olds!). I really have to give it to them- not important, as someone much more important than I certainly will. They’re raised the bar beyond what I could expect, and will more than likely take the whole competition this year. I really look forward to seeing the Best of, because if they have competition, it’s going to make for some other great flicks.
All of that said, when it came time and our piece played, people did laugh at some key parts (like when Tristan mouthed “what the FUCK” as the crazy lady offered a cookie), and they seemed to “get it” generally, which is more than I expected. The bad part came at the last scene, as Tristan delivered his final line, the punch line, and the audio dropped out entirely- we watched him give the line in silence, and the audience sat in some amount of confusion. I was stunned, but not entirely caught off-guard; these things happen.
It still sucked.
After the showing, Tom and I got up to be part of the filmmaker’s Q&A panel, and we each answered a few questions based on our experiences- I was concerned that he’d want to hide after seeing the result of our work, but he took it like a champ and still seems cool about it.
Expectations
We hit the expectations that I had- that we could make a short in 48 (again) that was better than the last one technically, and in such a way that our team would have fun doing it while having a good experience in the process.
Which means that I didn’t set expectations for the quality of the film itself. It’s my failing, my weakness, that I focused more on the experience; something that it was necessary to do in order that any momentum we built with this would not be lost and that we could progress further. I thought (and still think) that it was necessary to make a safe culture, a good place, for us to work in order that we could build and grow. Therefore, I should say that I had no expectations about the quality of the final piece, just of the quality of the production itself.
Next time will be a bit different. There are a few positions that we need to flesh out to gear up for the next level.
Location Sound Specialist
Editor – Tristan ?
Post-Production Music Assistant
Effects & Titles Artist – Sara?
We had a pretty good turn out, with many of our actors and actresses (to whom I am deeply sorry) showing up to watch, and of course Sara, Tom, and myself there as well. It was Tom’s first time seeing the short, and I (foolishly) tried to set his expectations low by telling him that it wasn’t perfect, and that I hoped he’d be okay with it.
I think that he was a touch suspicious then, to see how badly we might have butchered his script…
They played the films in worst-to-best order, with the first couple being hilariously campy efforts by college kids and what seemed to be a group of stoned 30-ish’s। Our film, oddly enough, was smack in the middle of the pack, which is maybe a “feel good” comment on it- and it really served as the beacon or turning point between what was generally mediocre or bad, and what was pretty good to unfuckingbelievable.
Let me stop here and comment- the film “Composition” by Bait & Tackle was the best short I think that I’ve ever seen, anyplace. They obviously had a serious crew, and some God-given talent (nice to see that they’re not a bunch of 20 year olds!). I really have to give it to them- not important, as someone much more important than I certainly will. They’re raised the bar beyond what I could expect, and will more than likely take the whole competition this year. I really look forward to seeing the Best of, because if they have competition, it’s going to make for some other great flicks.
All of that said, when it came time and our piece played, people did laugh at some key parts (like when Tristan mouthed “what the FUCK” as the crazy lady offered a cookie), and they seemed to “get it” generally, which is more than I expected. The bad part came at the last scene, as Tristan delivered his final line, the punch line, and the audio dropped out entirely- we watched him give the line in silence, and the audience sat in some amount of confusion. I was stunned, but not entirely caught off-guard; these things happen.
It still sucked.
After the showing, Tom and I got up to be part of the filmmaker’s Q&A panel, and we each answered a few questions based on our experiences- I was concerned that he’d want to hide after seeing the result of our work, but he took it like a champ and still seems cool about it.
Expectations
We hit the expectations that I had- that we could make a short in 48 (again) that was better than the last one technically, and in such a way that our team would have fun doing it while having a good experience in the process.
Which means that I didn’t set expectations for the quality of the film itself. It’s my failing, my weakness, that I focused more on the experience; something that it was necessary to do in order that any momentum we built with this would not be lost and that we could progress further. I thought (and still think) that it was necessary to make a safe culture, a good place, for us to work in order that we could build and grow. Therefore, I should say that I had no expectations about the quality of the final piece, just of the quality of the production itself.
Next time will be a bit different. There are a few positions that we need to flesh out to gear up for the next level.
Location Sound Specialist
Editor – Tristan ?
Post-Production Music Assistant
Effects & Titles Artist – Sara?
Shooting at BMAC
We filmed Mark and some of the senior students on Monday. This is a very different sort of shoot as it’s instructional, and there are no real “takes” – the people on camera just do their techniques a few times over, occasionally from different angles, and we capture.
Renato brought 2 Panasonic DVX-100’s and I my XL-1s. The XL we put on a high tripod to act as a sort of master shot, and the DVX’s were eye-level, one in the center getting more of a straight-on shot and the other I used “handheld” using a tripod as steadycam. The DVX footage is beautiful through the viewfinder- I tried to use the flip-out LCD and it was just too distracting; due to the nature of this cam’s build, its meant to be held out 12-18” from the shooter’s face – like a PD150. The cannon is shoulder-mounted with no LCD, which I think gives much more stability in your shot, and allows you to keep both eyes open while shooting – which means that you can see what else is going on in the bigger picture, see if there is something you’re missing or that you want to watch out for in the shot. I’m definitely partial to shoulder-mounting. It’s much easier to get a stable shot, and your arms don’t get tired holding the cam up (which keeps the camera from shaking).
Additionally, the DVX’s feel cheap- the barrel of the camera, the lens itself, and the zoom & focus rings are very nice, very solid (I especially liked the nub on the zoom ring- it makes finding a point to operate from really convenient) – but the rest, the LCD, the controls under the LCD, the deck, all feel really chintzy. If you shake the camera, it seems like something might fall or break off- not what I’d expect in a camera in this price range.
Aside from the physical quality, the images are pretty damn nice- even though I have yet to see them on a screen outside of the cameras themselves. White balancing is done by color temp vs situation, which is interesting, and the menus are quite detailed. I did not like the controller/joystick for accessing the menus, this also felt like it would break with minimal pressure.
Renato brought 2 Panasonic DVX-100’s and I my XL-1s. The XL we put on a high tripod to act as a sort of master shot, and the DVX’s were eye-level, one in the center getting more of a straight-on shot and the other I used “handheld” using a tripod as steadycam. The DVX footage is beautiful through the viewfinder- I tried to use the flip-out LCD and it was just too distracting; due to the nature of this cam’s build, its meant to be held out 12-18” from the shooter’s face – like a PD150. The cannon is shoulder-mounted with no LCD, which I think gives much more stability in your shot, and allows you to keep both eyes open while shooting – which means that you can see what else is going on in the bigger picture, see if there is something you’re missing or that you want to watch out for in the shot. I’m definitely partial to shoulder-mounting. It’s much easier to get a stable shot, and your arms don’t get tired holding the cam up (which keeps the camera from shaking).
Additionally, the DVX’s feel cheap- the barrel of the camera, the lens itself, and the zoom & focus rings are very nice, very solid (I especially liked the nub on the zoom ring- it makes finding a point to operate from really convenient) – but the rest, the LCD, the controls under the LCD, the deck, all feel really chintzy. If you shake the camera, it seems like something might fall or break off- not what I’d expect in a camera in this price range.
Aside from the physical quality, the images are pretty damn nice- even though I have yet to see them on a screen outside of the cameras themselves. White balancing is done by color temp vs situation, which is interesting, and the menus are quite detailed. I did not like the controller/joystick for accessing the menus, this also felt like it would break with minimal pressure.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
48 Hour Wrap Up I
So many pieces to look at, so much information to tell.
Based on the aforementioned project management piece that I’d looked at, I put together an overview of who the key constituencies or stakeholders were for this project.
Creative Team
Crew
Actors
Friends & Family
The General Public
the Boston Producers of the 48HFP
Boston 48HFP Judges
I drew myself a map showing the size of each of these constituencies, and made a list for explaining what elements would determine project success. This was a huge help in starting to set realistic goals and expectations for the whole project, and it really helped me prioritize activities- for instance, one of the first things that I did was to go out Friday morning and buy a bunch of food to stock the apartment with. This took a ton of pressure off, knowing that there were plenty of apples, oranges and juices for the team to consume. Not to mention taking away the need to jump in the car, or to eat a bunch of fast food made a great difference in the time that we could stay on-target. I tried to make this kind of “human” concern topmost priority when dealing with the crew, and feel that the strategy worked – everyone said that they had the best shooting experience with us that they had had on any production so far- instead of leaving with a few (or any) grumblers on Sunday night, we left with people saying they wanted to do something again, and soon. Tristan even called me (!) once he’d gotten home to say thanks for bringing him on board.
Something else that was different this time was that we stayed closer in the first four or six hours as a creative team- we holed up at the apartment together while the writer wrote, the editor organized his files and project, and I called actors and locations. At some point, probably around nine or ten, we set out storyboarding most all of our shots- this was a great time saver and I would attest that this might have been the most productive thing that we did. I owe it to Ben for getting me in gear on this, stopping all the phone calls and getting me to concentrate on the scenes and shots themselves. If we had not done this, we would not have gotten as far along as we did.
Which leads me to where I personally failed this time around- our script was too long – very ambitious, for sure, but it numbered at over ten pages in the first version, ultimately pared down to nine in the final. It is a great script, it really is – but there were a few scenes that required more time, more tightening, more action and more nuance to make the whole story really work. It was up to me, in the role of producer/director, to make the call that changes should be made- to be able to recognize that we could not realistically accomplish what was set out before us. I did not do this, I did not slow the rolling juggernaught of creative thought that was our writer, Tom, and my failure is the now the team’s. No, I’m not upset about this, but I do recognize that I could have given us a better shot by making the call to revise and downsize. This is one way to learn- go after something that’s bigger and harder than you can reasonably expect to pull off, and do everything that you can to do it. It isn’t typically a great strategy for winning, though.
If I had three days to shoot this script, I could make a great 8 minute movie. As it is, we have a technically good 6:53 minute piece that we passed in on time- and we didn’t kill or piss each other off in the making of it. This time, this team, has the most cohesiveness post-production of any group that we’ve put together. This is critical in the feeling of momentum, that not only do I personally feel that I’ve accomplished something, but that I can feel that the rest of the crew and cast have the same residual sense of accomplishment.
We did have the technical piece 90% solved- the only way that we can improve is to have a dedicated audio person, someone to be as aware of the sound as Ben is of the image and light. That being said, there is one shot in our short that has weak lighting– it’s an interior shot with three actors sitting in a café, large windows in the background that let in the outside light. We can leave the blow-by-blow for a director’s cut commentary…
At this point, no one other than the core crew have seen the resulting short- it plays tomorrow night at the Kendall theater in Cambridge. I’m looking forward to seeing the reaction of the crowd, to see what passes on correctly, and if they respond… I’ve definitely been surprised before, so here goes…
Based on the aforementioned project management piece that I’d looked at, I put together an overview of who the key constituencies or stakeholders were for this project.
Creative Team
Crew
Actors
Friends & Family
The General Public
the Boston Producers of the 48HFP
Boston 48HFP Judges
I drew myself a map showing the size of each of these constituencies, and made a list for explaining what elements would determine project success. This was a huge help in starting to set realistic goals and expectations for the whole project, and it really helped me prioritize activities- for instance, one of the first things that I did was to go out Friday morning and buy a bunch of food to stock the apartment with. This took a ton of pressure off, knowing that there were plenty of apples, oranges and juices for the team to consume. Not to mention taking away the need to jump in the car, or to eat a bunch of fast food made a great difference in the time that we could stay on-target. I tried to make this kind of “human” concern topmost priority when dealing with the crew, and feel that the strategy worked – everyone said that they had the best shooting experience with us that they had had on any production so far- instead of leaving with a few (or any) grumblers on Sunday night, we left with people saying they wanted to do something again, and soon. Tristan even called me (!) once he’d gotten home to say thanks for bringing him on board.
Something else that was different this time was that we stayed closer in the first four or six hours as a creative team- we holed up at the apartment together while the writer wrote, the editor organized his files and project, and I called actors and locations. At some point, probably around nine or ten, we set out storyboarding most all of our shots- this was a great time saver and I would attest that this might have been the most productive thing that we did. I owe it to Ben for getting me in gear on this, stopping all the phone calls and getting me to concentrate on the scenes and shots themselves. If we had not done this, we would not have gotten as far along as we did.
Which leads me to where I personally failed this time around- our script was too long – very ambitious, for sure, but it numbered at over ten pages in the first version, ultimately pared down to nine in the final. It is a great script, it really is – but there were a few scenes that required more time, more tightening, more action and more nuance to make the whole story really work. It was up to me, in the role of producer/director, to make the call that changes should be made- to be able to recognize that we could not realistically accomplish what was set out before us. I did not do this, I did not slow the rolling juggernaught of creative thought that was our writer, Tom, and my failure is the now the team’s. No, I’m not upset about this, but I do recognize that I could have given us a better shot by making the call to revise and downsize. This is one way to learn- go after something that’s bigger and harder than you can reasonably expect to pull off, and do everything that you can to do it. It isn’t typically a great strategy for winning, though.
If I had three days to shoot this script, I could make a great 8 minute movie. As it is, we have a technically good 6:53 minute piece that we passed in on time- and we didn’t kill or piss each other off in the making of it. This time, this team, has the most cohesiveness post-production of any group that we’ve put together. This is critical in the feeling of momentum, that not only do I personally feel that I’ve accomplished something, but that I can feel that the rest of the crew and cast have the same residual sense of accomplishment.
We did have the technical piece 90% solved- the only way that we can improve is to have a dedicated audio person, someone to be as aware of the sound as Ben is of the image and light. That being said, there is one shot in our short that has weak lighting– it’s an interior shot with three actors sitting in a café, large windows in the background that let in the outside light. We can leave the blow-by-blow for a director’s cut commentary…
At this point, no one other than the core crew have seen the resulting short- it plays tomorrow night at the Kendall theater in Cambridge. I’m looking forward to seeing the reaction of the crowd, to see what passes on correctly, and if they respond… I’ve definitely been surprised before, so here goes…
Monday, April 7, 2008
NUMBER 2
The 48 2008
After reading a really excellent post on project management, I’ve gone and made a booklet to keep track of my 48 Hour project out of scrap 11 x 17 paper and staples. Why not just go buy a fancy Moleskin (claimed to have been used by Hemingway) or a slick, creamy-papered sketchbook? I find that getting something new for the explicit purpose of recording or creating one project or purpose sets up too many preconceived notions for me to concentrate- I get too worried about the historical perspective, what’s being recorded, who would look at it in the future, and what they might see.
Therefore, the cheap and recycled route just feels better! I don’t have that performance pressure associated with a $20 diary or that gorgeous $100 fountain pen that I just had to have… Instead, this can look like a child’s scratchings, and the worst thing that I could do would be to just toss it when it’s all over. Certainly, it’s my own problem, but anything that is conducive to easy working helps.
Meetings
Tomorrow I’ve got the team meeting up at a local bar, Bukowski’s in Iman Square, Cambridge. We’ve got the three of us from the Creative Team (only two can attend, Ben is in Maine and can’t get clearance from his wife), around nine or ten of our Talent, and an additional three or four random Crew. The intent for this meeting is just a meet-and-greet for those we don’t know that well, plus an opportunity for everyone to see their roles (Crew) and to sign releases- better now than the day-of.
After reading a really excellent post on project management, I’ve gone and made a booklet to keep track of my 48 Hour project out of scrap 11 x 17 paper and staples. Why not just go buy a fancy Moleskin (claimed to have been used by Hemingway) or a slick, creamy-papered sketchbook? I find that getting something new for the explicit purpose of recording or creating one project or purpose sets up too many preconceived notions for me to concentrate- I get too worried about the historical perspective, what’s being recorded, who would look at it in the future, and what they might see.
Therefore, the cheap and recycled route just feels better! I don’t have that performance pressure associated with a $20 diary or that gorgeous $100 fountain pen that I just had to have… Instead, this can look like a child’s scratchings, and the worst thing that I could do would be to just toss it when it’s all over. Certainly, it’s my own problem, but anything that is conducive to easy working helps.
Meetings
Tomorrow I’ve got the team meeting up at a local bar, Bukowski’s in Iman Square, Cambridge. We’ve got the three of us from the Creative Team (only two can attend, Ben is in Maine and can’t get clearance from his wife), around nine or ten of our Talent, and an additional three or four random Crew. The intent for this meeting is just a meet-and-greet for those we don’t know that well, plus an opportunity for everyone to see their roles (Crew) and to sign releases- better now than the day-of.
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