aLL oVEr ThE pLAcE

Hmm, so yesterday was a day intense at the Griffith Park location. We made the day (=shot everything we planned for, had a successful shoot day), had fun and laughed a lot. The best way to shoot. Why? Well, now, thats a different story altogether. I don't know if I am going to be able to spit it all out in one entry, let's try. It's going to be haphazard, difficult to understand and very modernism-jumping-time-and-space, if you know what I mean.

Update first: BMac is going great. I'm shooting on stage, editing when I can, and attending post-production sessions with sound, colorist, etc. Classes are getting tougher because papers and finals and internship logs and evaluations and all that fun stuff is due: all at the same time. I'll get through it. Don't feel sorry, I know you guys have LOTS more going on. Good luck.

Continue: So, the first thing I wanted to talk about is a result of my chat with one of the Exec. Producers, lets call him Bill. First, who is the EP on a show? EP is basically the king, the GOD, the shit. If you like story-telling on TV, developing long, nice character arcs over tons of episodes, seeing your ideas come to life, experiment every week, and just be on an endless film shoot, AND you want to have all the control over EVERY department, EP is the job you want. So Bill is the lucky schmo who is the EP on The BM Show.

I talked with Bill while we were shooting at Griffith Park and our discussion was a result of all the discussions I had had with people lower down the totem pole who keep comparing BMac Season 2 v/s Season 3 v/s Season 4, what happened, and all that jazz. They all look to the EP because these are the guys who keep the whole show together. They know where they want each character to go, where they want the season to end, to start, etc. So, they supervise each episode. They approve every story, write a lot of them, polish every script, come to stage often, approve and hire the directors, peep over their shoulders often, review dailies, lock the cuts and the final episodes. Directors in episodic television are less auteurs and more material-gatherers. EPs like and rehire directors that interpret their written material well, give them plenty of choices in post-production, bring something fresh to the table and elevate the script to a new level WITHOUT putting too much of a stamp on the episode. You don't want a Fellini ER and then a Scorcese ER, you want ER, ER, ER. This is one of the conclusions I've drawn after speaking with the directors who've done episodes of Bernie Mac this season.

One of these directors is Victor Nelli, who is also the DP on the show. Fantastic Guy. Also a guy who is going to go places. Why that? Because he totally understands his role in the process, the role I just described in the previous paragraph. He couples his STRONG HOLD on cinematography (=every episode looks spectacular) with intense pre-production (=innovative shots, answers for every department on every subject) with a stellar, agreeable personality. He regularly gets input from the EPs when they are on set, makes them feel part of the process and so they hire him back. He laughs a lot, and makes sure the actors and the crew are having a good time, so when it comes time to re-hire, they ask him back. Very important. Something he told me: Have a Goal BUT BUT BUT keep it at the center of your WIDE SHOT (I'm paraphrasing). So, you can't get attached to your goal, you need to move towards it, but understand that its just a job. VERY different from the way I function. To me, delivering the episode I want is much more important than getting hired back, so I go ruthless, offend everybody and fight for my stuff, and then never get re-hired (probably). I need to blend the two approaches. It's up-to-everyone to decide their own approach but understanding your role in the process helps you determine your approach so there you go.

Anyway, so jumping right back to the Executive Producer talk. So Bill, in his hour long convo with me, completely defied everything I thought about and had been told about the Executive Producer (EP) because he introduced me, or rather, told me more about this thing called THE NETWORK.

I know we all know of the cliche that NETWORK interferes but what does this really mean? Well, Bill kind of led me there. Once these guys buy your pilot and order the show, they think they RULE it. They will give you directives and season advice, what they would like to see in the episode, where they want the show to go. Well, there's no harm in this if these guys were all AMAZING, TALENTED people and they can be, I'm not going to discount them. Except, its amazing to consider that these guys can be THE NETWORK EXECs on more than 1 show at the same time, 3 shows in fact. So, its a little tough to imagine how the same people can know everything about a black, family comedy that's "turns the sitcom on its head" (NYTimes Review of Bernie Mac Show), a family comedy about a disfunctional family of boys (Malcolm), Arrested Development (which they just cancelled), Family Guy, and so on and so on. To me, these guys should be looking for the talented people. When you buy a pilot, aren't you telling the EP that "Hey, I like what you do. do it for me, help me make money!" or are you telling the EP, "Hey, I like what you do, so let me buy you and then tell you what to do..." !! That makes no sense. But they do.

They fire you if you don't listen to them. Ideally, Bill tells me, what you want is a show that has (1) Critical Acclaim (2) Ratings and (3) Awards. If you have these three, you can tell the NETWORK to shove it because they can't back up their criticism of "The Show could be funnier" or "It isn't as funny as it could be". (Well, what can you say to that argument!?). Malcolm or The West Wing or Friends have EPs that run a tight set, no Network allowed there. Bernie Mac was headed in that direction. End of Season Two, they had all the Emmys, 18million audience and lots of Critical Acclaim, what happened!? The EP got fired. What happened? Who knows....

It's discouraging to me. I don't know, you can draw your own conclusions. So, what the humble EP basically told me was that he has his limitations too. And I totally understood. Every time I see him on the floor now, I see him in a different light. Everybody has a story. The editor told me his today, but that at some other time...

Good luck on finals people. Don't be like me, solidify your summer plans.

See 'em Sights

So, I am close to completeing my internships. I'm at that escapist place where I don't want to acknowledge that the ride is ending. I just had a blast in LA, learnt mroe than I could sum up, my confidence has grown, and I'm just gearing up for the summer. There are so many opportunities in LA if you want to take advantage of it. It's never ending. Starting tomorrow, I will be on my last week at Bernie Mac, assisting the director Victor Nelli on the season finale at Bernie Mac. It's a huge episode, shot in Griffith Park, in studio, in a tv-studio, with about 200 extras. I'm sure it will be a lot of fun. More on that next week.

As my weekend winds down, let me give you some other more underground things to do in LA:

The Hollywood Bowl / Walt Disney Concert Hall
The Bowl is very close to the Oakwood Apartments where IC puts us up. The Disney Concert Hall is downtown, pretty far away. Both are just amazing places to catch music/dance events. The Disney Concert Hall is an especially delightful place to visit because of the architecture: the place just looks so amazing. Try doing a Google Search on it for a photograph. (Another amazing place architecture-wise = The Getty Center - museum, screening room, garden, etc). Secret secret about the Bowl: If you go in in the afternoon, you get to hear the concerto rehearsal for FREE. No one checks you or anything, and its almost as good as the real deal!

Big Boy's Diner
This is where Pulp Fiction's Honey Bunny scene was shot, and its a 5 minute walk from Oakwoods. Also, you Austin Powers fans will make a connection when you see what Big Boy looks like :) Google em for an address: its the Riverside Restaurant we are interested in.

Farmer's Market on SUNDAYS
I know we have one in Ithaca, but the LA Farmer's Market is no small deal. It's on the Selma/Ivar crosssection, and its pretty amazing. You will find a lot of diverse types of food, fresh veggies and fruits (somewhat of a rarity in LA), real people (rarity in Oakwood) and folk music. Just a LOT of fun, do not miss this one. It's a very unadvertised thing in LA. It's right next to Hollywood/Highland cross-section which is probably the most recognizable piece of real-estate in LA. It's the cliche tourist attraction, and, if I may, the biggest piece of shit ever. It's surprisingly bad: average stores, bad food etc... If you want to shop, Sunset or Wilshire/3rd is where it is... There still is the Chinese Thatre here, the Hollywood Arcade, and CPK. But, Im sure you will hear more than you need to about these types of touristy attractions when you're in LA.

FREE FILMS
You will see screener invites by the dozens in LA. If you can fit it in your schedule take advantage of it. Free SCreenings of films you haven't seen yet. Why NOT!? All you need to do is fill out comment cards at the end.

IC Crawling...

Short and Sweet: I know you guys are all stressed out in Ithaca. Some one in my class actually was comparing IM Away messages from students in Ithaca and those in LA. Huge difference, obviously! From "4 days to go..." or "Somebody, please shoot me" to "Shower. Sun. Beach". Haha! I mean... I'm sorry. Oh well!

So LA is actually crawling with IC alum. You see them everywhere. Every show I worked on, they knew of Ithaca College, not because they knew where Ithaca was, but because they had worked with someone who was at "that internship program up at Oakwoods". I was working on that VH1 show, The Surreal Life, and I was just helping this guy in the Art Department hook up this really curvy, plastiky thing on to the ceiling (for anyone who has watched the show, you know the house is messed up crazy decorated). As we were chatting, we moved to talking about college experiences and classes and things he learnt from his film school, and I from mine, only to find out that he graduated from Ithaca 10 years ago! We laughed A LOT and just started asking each other mad amounts of questions.

Some of the things he said actually were pretty interesting. Name = Brian. He was a FILM major in Park when all the professors were different and Peggy wasn't even the President. Hardly any equipment, bla bla: you know it... He made a Senior Film, put all his energy into it and didn't take it anywhere. No follow up on it. It seems to me that we put in so much of our life and energy actually making the film that we have none left to do the follow up work on it; which is really sad. Brian was telling me how he wished he had sent it out places, it might have landed him something along the lines of directing. He, like most people in LA, were stuck in the business but in the factory line. He was in the Art Department, working away, collecting checks, living pay-check to pay-check. Sure, he wants to direct a film but his lifestyle doesn't afford him the chance to take that break. It's a very real problem around here. So, no cars, no houses, no overages until you direct a film or else you get stuck in this chain. BTW, thanks Vaun for that email agreeing with me on the festivals thing.

Going back to the IC grads crawling on every inch of LA thing, it's very beneficial for us. It probably is one of the most successful outcomes of the LA program: the fact that it can pump out IC grads into LA. These guys become our future employers. Hiring here is like working for the mafia: it's all about who you know, very incestous. The job always goes to someone in the family. One phone call leads to another and bam, you're in.

The center here is also very good about keeping in touch with people. Trope's brain is like an encyclopedia, you can discuss what kind of work-environment you are interested in or who you want to work for and he can definitely name at least one person who could help you get your foot in. In fact, all of LA is like that. Everybody is connected to everybody. I always go around set at the end of the day picking up interesting stories about films I love. Someone somewhere worked with someone on that film. For example, I was talking to Victor (the DP on Bernie Mac) about how much I liked the cinematography in Eternal Sunshine... and so am intrigued by Ellen Kuras' work. He scoffed and told me about how she was fighting with the director Michel Gondry the whole time they were shooting that movie. Gondry wanted to turn lights off, use manual lighting, PARs, make it dirty and Kuras, who is a rising cinematographer, was all about making the image beautiful. She was terrified that the film would destroy her reputation. It's really funny how she describes the academic thinking behind making that movie now. Oh well, I still think she is an amazing DP, I recently saw The Ballad of Jack and Rose, DP'd by her, directed by Rebecca Miller.

Book I'm also reading: Peter Biskind's Easy Riders, Raging Bulls. Very interesting book about filmmaking in the 70s. Its like a gossip rag on the rising filmmakers in the 70s: Ashby, Scorcese, Coppola, Speilberg, etc. The one common experience among all filmmakers who have made those insanely amazing films seems to be: they had a CRAZY TOUGH time making the movie. Almost all of them talk about how the best movies they did went through the darkest, most depressing production process. The films that get made on the fly, all fun and games, don't seem to amount to anything. I don't know why this is, but it's inspiring. Every time a film gets you down, just understand and accept that it is part of the process. Happened to everyone. So, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls is recommended.

That's all for now, Suds
PS: Good luck on those papers/finals. We have to do some, but not nearly as many as you guys.

A Soap Box?

Watching films is Making films. I watched EROS today, the three film anthology by directors Soderbergh, Wong Kar Wai and Antonioni. My opinion on the film aside, there are two things I wanted to definitely mention.

(1) ARCLIGHT cinemas. The ARCLIGHT cinemas are located in Hollywood, right next to other amazing thing about Los Angeles: Amoeba Music. You just need one day to have fun at both of these Places. I have seen close to a dozen films at the Arclight this semester. The experience of watching a movie is close to luxurious. The chairs are twice as wide as a regular theatre, there is PLENTY of leg-room, an usher actually INTRODUCES the movie before it starts, and IN PERSON, no machines, your seat has a number and you get to choose when you buy your ticket and FINALLY, no tickets are sold or persons permitted into the theatre once the feature starts. Isn't that just GRAND? There are about 20 screens in 1/2 the theatre and an ultra special single screen, LARGE theatre on the other 1/2. This is called the Arclight DOME and has the best projection system in the country. 4k Digital Projection, 35mm/70mm/S16, surround dolby, dts, they just have it hooked up. DOME is where the premieres happen, where I saw SIN CITY opening night. AMOEBA MUSIC next to it is an amazing huge store for indy music. It is also excellent. The floor I like best is the one with foreign films, indy films and other such excellent stuff. Can you imagine an entire station dedicated to The Criterion Collection? You see tons of other people nitpicking. These guys have just all the music you can imagine.

(2) Films! Ithaca has Cinemapolis and Fall Creek and Cornell Cinema, but I think, the Park School should have its own screening clubs. And one ridiculously easy way of doing this is by reserving ONE room, with a nice video projector and good sound, which can be used by students to see films at any time of the day. Wouldn't it be cool to just peek in and find an amazing film being watched by some student you have never met and just enjoy it for a little before you rush out? Or meet people? I don't know. I just feel very idea-ful when I'm watching films and some of the best films I have seen have been recommended to me by other people.

Also, for anyone who knows graduating Senior Sherry Kauk, she just got accepted into AFI, in the cinematography program. And for anyone who has considered grad school for film, this is absolutely the cream of the crop school with a ridiculously low acceptance rate. She doesn't know if she is going, but its just cool to have a re-confirmation that Ithaca kids have what it takes. All we need to do is enter our films in festivals and we will find out AGAIN and AGAIN. Just do it.

Which takes me to my new thing: One of the things I want to do when I get back to Ithaca is organize a 1 credit course or have a round table about fillm-festivals. I know Prof. Gatten and me were talking about it (who by the way just won a Guggenheim!!). I just have been studying film festivals for about 5 months now, and having worked at STRAND, which relies heavily on festival studies for its distribution. I have my own film running and, I know I had to do a lot of learning on my own. One of the most important parts of making a film is probably having it shown. Probably 33% of the process if not more, because a good film that doesn't get shown is just as good as never have been made. Film festivals, like anything else, have secrets and ways of being worked. A good way to start learning about this is reading CHRIS GORE's book: The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide. It's cheap, get it on amazon.

I really do think it's important. I mean, why isn't festivals an essential part of the education at Park? Especially if we say we are so independent, film festivals is where our films will live or die! I think it should be a course in itself, a requirement for production people. I am aware of festival requirements on Chang's CP2 and Cathy's fiction course. There may be other classes out tehre where professors talk about festivals. What is surprising is that I do not know ANY students who entered their films in festivals. Having never attended any, what is more surprising is that they are easily able to determine that the film is not good enough to get accepted into a festival! I've seen so many festival shorts this semester, that I can confidently say a LOT of the films I've seen at the end of semester films at IC would have made it to some top class festivals. It takes research, a good application and a competent film to make a good festival. It looks stellar on your resume and just is all good. WHY NOT!!

Okay, not a soap-box. Just somethings I was thinking about. If you guys have any thoughts on the subject, you could post a comment or email me and I can post it.

GOD ME

So I was discussing the blog with someone in my Senior Seminar Class here in LA and something they said was a little bit disturbing. You know I wrote on this blog before that I am going to be very casual and non-proofy in the blog. SO, I dont really read it once I post something. Apparently I come through as being all ALL KNOWING on the blog. Of course this is not true. I'm not trying to portray any such position. I just know how much I don't know so I'm trying to find out as much info as I can. And I am trying to share the wealth is all.

Something I am beginning to notice more and more is the importance of makeup in making a film look good, professional and non-student filmish. Light flaring on skin, skin looking greasy, having a nice flat texture on skin, etc these are all things to be noticed and corrected. AND it can be done for super cheap, but I've never done it on any of my films, I mean I've asked the actors to take care of it, but I've never had a make up person on set or a hair person on set. I should learn how to do this on my own, so I'm going to hang with the make up department and get back to you on this make up question. Oh, btw, I am trying to answer a make-up question someone asked me on the site.

I just saw "My Date With Drew" at the LA center. Rob, the other prof here, organized it and it was fantastic. It really was a classy, well put together affair and the filmmakers really wanted to be there and talk about the process. Its just all about perseverance. I mean, not taking no for an answer and so many people say this on this time. But it really just is so true. There are a milion ways to do anything, and another million ways to find out 1 more way of doing that same thing after every single one of those million ways fail...

I don't know if this happens to everyone but I am looking at coming back for my Senior Year with mixed feelings. I feel grooved into this world of LA now. It happens everytime: i feel completely hesitant about changing things up, going to another place, starting over (believe me, I WAS not happy about coming to LA at all in NOV. I was like, I do not need to go serve some dudes coffee and try and make a career out of it). But, good things are around the corner whereever you go. I was talking to someone at Bernie Mac yesterday he told me that it is also important to move on, whether you see those good things or not. In a sense its important, but right now I just want to continue here. I've found my groove, people are offering me all kinds of paid jobs for the summer and I just can't... what a ridiculous idea even!

Hopefully, you guys have your summer plans figured out, coz I DO NOT. Always a big time for decision making, trying to figure out how best to spend your summer, what to do, where to earn or what to let go of...

So Date with Drew was a good experience. More than anything, it was inspiring that these three guys (with lots of help from people around them) were able to just make their dreams come true. It is COMPLETELY possible to tell a good story without money or contacts. All you need is an unpretentious, uncomplicated and HONEST story. These guys worked hard and now they are on their way to success. That's the other thing, we guys at Park better believe it: we are going to be COMPLETELY broke for a LONG LONG time. That's if we can even rough it out and last in this business. There are too many people wtih good intentions who are stuck in regular jobs, pushing thsi industry along. And it's really easy to fall there...

Singing off, suds

Living Stills

Semester is going haywire here, as it must be there in Ithaca. But before I run, someone asked me about still photographers, if they are present on the sets I've been on and why have them there. So, here goes:

- Yes, every single production I've been part of has had still photographers grace the occasion.
- They are there because every single department needs stills. The department that runs and survives and thrives on stills is the marketing and publicity division. Any one of us who has enjoyed a poster, a newspaper article or internet posting about our favorite films must have always seen a publicity still associated with it. These are manipulated, extremely high quality stills taken exclusively to represent the spirit of the movie before it comes out.

How appropriately timed is a video diary from the set of King Kong at www.kongisking.net. See the one about still photographers, its the second one on the column to your right. This might change as more diaries are added, but I'm sure you could find it in the index. It's very nicely done - as are the other diaries on this set. Very insightful and interesting.

So, the main job of the still photographer is to provide media to the publicity department so they can have some visual aid to accompany all the press they are putting out there. It is the first contact your audience has with your film so you want it to (1) capture the spirit of the movie and (2) represent the movie in the way you intended. It's a pretty difficult job because no one wants you there. It's like the sound guys in a sense. They get abused on set because they always seem to be in the way. But, once you are in post-production, you NEED them. The sound of your movie breaks or makes it, and the same is for the stills. I'm trying to make posters and publicity packages for festivals for my last film, and I have NO stills to work with. It's a GIANT mistake I will never make again.

Also, in final notes, I got my hair cut by Bernie's stylist. Go figure!! More questions welcome!

Be Nice to Human Beings

Before I say anything at all, let me throw everyone this offer. You guys should really send me any questions you have because I have access to all these amazingly knowledgeable people who are always answering my questions and teaching me things. Plus, if I dont know something, they definitely know someone else who does. So, send em to iamsuds@gmail.com and I will try to answer them. I might learn something I didnt know either.

So, I was with the post-production department at Bernie Mac today (and will be for this week). Something really cool happened. Well, any Post-Production department is usually organized like this: There is the Editor, the Assistant Editor, and a Post-PA. Depending on the size of the production, there are more personnel. For example, JFK (Oliver Stone) had 4 Editors, each with assistants, and prolly one person to liason between them four, manage the department, etc. Bernie Mac has 2 Editors and no assistants because they like it like that.

So today, at the office, Paul, the main editor, was not there and I was able to split actual work with Tom, the other Editor. It was really exciting because I'm not actually supposed to come close to the edit console before I've paid my dues as a runner and PA for a while. Tomorrow, I go back and hopefully do more exciting stuff.

While I am at it, let me try and clear this misconception about what being a PA means. People seem to think very poorly of what a PA does in this industry. Well, here goes: most PAs make sure that the production never has to interact with the outside world, or reality - in a sense. You are on the ground, dealing with problems and trouble shooting on the go. A Post-PA for example will run tapes between the Lab and the Edit stations, the Edit stations adn the colorists, or the sound design guys, etc. So they are making sure the Editors never have to step out of their consoles. This gives them a solid understanding of how every part of Post works, they make excellent contacts, and prove to their seniors that they are reliable. So when the Asst. Editor gets a job and he needs an Asst. Editor, who does he or she pull? The PA. Another interesting piece of trivia: The Assistant Editor assembles the first cut, well almost. This person imports, digitizes, puts together the basic cuts of the scene. The editor then still has access to the dailies and can change the edits but it is entirely possible that all of the Asst. Ed's cuts go through to become the final edit. So, its a deceptive industry.

I have an interview with this Production company that got my contact from Strand Releasing's Marcus. See, this is a perfect example of something my friend Michelle who is also here says. She says: Something crazy about this place is you never know when you're speacking to a producer or a PA, because everyone dresses so indiscriminately: shorts, t-shirt and sneakers." This is another way of saying, you have to be nice to everybody here because you never know who has your next job. This is a good thing. It just means, stop judging people by where they are in life right now. I just met an electrician on the set of hte Surreal Life, who actually has directed 4 shorts that got into Sundance and have been in fests all around the world. She is an electrician so she can gather enough money to make her next film. Pretty cool huh? So I was nice to Marcus and Marcus recommended me to this Production Company that is doing a film with SANTOSH SIVAN, an awesome cool cinematographer/director who made films like THE TERRORIST. Teh film is being shot in Kerala, INDIA and might be the perfect gig for me. Well, that was me, but it will happen to everyone, Your next gigs will come from the wierdest places so everyone you meet is a contact - in other words, a nice, interesting human being who is worth your time. So be nice. ... ;)

Rest is great, remember my comments about the questions bit. Send em to iamsuds@gmail.com

Surreal Lights

Surreal Life again today. This one is going to be short. I just HAD to post it.

My whole semester in LA could be summed up in this one moment I had at the show today. So the show stopped filming yesterday, everone is gone, its over. We are now wrapping up, removing lights, cables, etc. So today at the height of noon, I was sitting by the house-pool, and this is an amazing house with a view of all of san fernando valley, half of LA and just the hills stretching out all around us. And I'm sitting by this inground pool, with my feet dipped in, staring out, eating the wind and unscrewing thousands and thousands of light bulbs. That's RIGHT. Thousands and thousands of light bulbs.

Isn't that surreal. I'm going to have to cross that off my list of things i never thought I would end up doing. Sitting in a house higher than JLos, with my legs dipped in a million dollar pool, unscrewing thousands of milky light bulbs. These light bulbs are strung up and hung from these metallic T shapped trees. And today, we were wrapping so I had to take down these trees and unscrew these light bulbs, put them in boxes, and pack em up until next season in September. Whenever you come across a busines this glamorous, you must be aware that there is an extremely unglamorous aspect to it. Everytime you see surreal life, notice the light-waterfalls, these round white lights that are swaying in the background, those were all put up and taken down by people, and boy, it was routine. I don't think it was boring at all, the people were great, the view was FANTASTIC, but it was just bizarre. Very, how shall I put it, Surreal, shall I say?

7 Directors, 7 Editors, 7 Writers...

Okays
I was in the post-production building for Regency Television at CBS. I was with the Assistant Editor for Bernie and Malcolm in the Middle (which films right next to Bernie and shares a lot of staff with Bernie. I really like the show, and particularly admire its creator Linwood) all day long, and boy was it an exciting day.

Why so? Well, for starters, I didn't expect to spend the full day with him. One of the big things interns are told is that we are in the way. College makes money out of teaching us. These places we intern at make money by doing work, not by teaching us. We are in the way, a hassle, that's all. And we need to be okay with being treated that way because we wish to learn. Hmm, I was definitely told this and while I recognize its value, I also think its a dangerous thing to teach people. It's a good thing to learn because it helps you prepare for the worst and sets your expectations prettttty low. Its dangerous because it sets your expectations too low and you never try hard enough to learn things. Just because you're not making them any money doesn't mean you cant help them make money tomorrow doing things they teach you. Plus, not everyone at work thinks this way. Think of the number of times you've taught people something, simply because they told you how much they admired the work you did, or showed you the common courtesy of asking nicely, or just were very polite and respectful, etc. So these are things we have to be and I find every single one of my employers teaching me things because I am respectful, out of the way, polite. Of course, they encourage me to be more "free" and "with the guys" but this technique - in my limited experience - quickly backfires because they don't teach other anything. There is too much ego involved. They do teach people who they do not see as a threat. It's simple, simple, simple.

Moving on, so I spoke to Marshall, the post-prod supervisor at Bernie, and I got him to get me on with the post-department, "just to see, and only for a little while". Well, he introduced me to the Asst. Editor Tom who was SO GODDAMN NICE, it was amazing. He just spent the WHOLE day with me, showing me stuff, and letting me into his world. He was editing on the Avid, which just sounds complicated but is just another Final Cut Pro. It was especially exciting because he edited five scenes of a Bernie Mac episode, and each of these scenes had been shot around me. This was cool because I had now seen the whole process full-circle: pre, prod and now post-prod. I knew how the shots were achieved, how they had been lit, shot, and why. And now I was seeing why those shots were going to be clipped and which of them would make it on TV.

When people say Television is a Writer's Medium, believe you me, they mean it. The Head Writers are usually the Executive Producers on the show. (PS: On the subject of producers, there are usually TONS on a TV show and that I found out is because big stars want big money, and by getting a producer's credit, they can justify a higher paycheck to the unions. This is why Lawrence Fishburne had a producer's credit on Akeelah, and this is why Bernie is a producer on The BM Show. You think he actually produces it??) Okay, so WARREN HUTCHERSON and PETER ARONSON are the two exec producers on Bernie and believe you me, these guys is who the show belongs to. They can override the writers, the directors, the producers, bernie, everyone. They can't do it outright, they are in a position to many many times, but they can always manipulate it. The final edits are checked by them, they assign directors to episodes, and Warren even directs himself. Linwood Boomer, on Malcolm in the Middle, does it all himself I'm told. He directs the actors, edits the show, dictatorially does a lot, reducing people in charge to mere puppets. While this is responsible for the way the show is (Word has it he has an unlimited clause on Malcolm, he can run for as long as he wants.. no holds barred, no interference from Fox), it could create a false and unsatisfying work environment. Something to think about....

So, I was with the editors and I just went through a whole bunch of stuff. The highlight of the day was seeing a messed up episode in its final form. Why is this the high point of the day? Because I learnt what a mess can be made when too many cooks are in the kitchen.. also, when people put egos ahead of the product. I don't know how much I can say without getting in trouble, but safe ot say that the episode could have been saved in the editing room, only it wasn't because the editors dont have control. Antar (the gaffer on Bernie Mac) calls television production: FILMMAKING BY COMMITTEEs.. and I couldn't say it better myself.

Note to self: Never let that happen. People are there to support a vision. Everybody has an awesome, amazing, unique vision, but there is room for only one.

Surreality Shows: Nuts and Bolts

Poof! Tomorrow I start my stint with the Post-department at Bernie Mac. Also, this weekend I go back to the Surreal Life. Believe it or not, they have wrapped their season and this might be a good time to talk a little bit about reality tv.

My own take on reality tv is totally irrelevant to me. I still want to learn how they shoot it. There are so many issues involved, its unbelievable. You have to be pretty smart to be the DP of a reality show. Think of it! Its your job to make sure that everyone is always well-lit. Since you will be shooting in an unorganized fashion, and the editor will be looking for good emotional moments, it is your job to make sure that the compositions are interesting no matter where the camera goes. This involves having good depth, separation of background, interesting color contrasts, and of course, no cables or stands or flags ANYWHERE. Period. Yeah, its quite a bit more work than it seems.

Surreal Life is a pretty typical reality show I would say. Washed up celebrities show up and live in a house and bla bla. Whatever. Seeing HOW it gets to look as good as it does on TV (and it looks pretty frickin good, try shooting a reality show in your own apartment and see the difference) was pretty cool.

First things first, the Surreal Life house belonged to some famous rocker - i really don't remember who, blame it on my foreign-ness - and is situated on top of the central LA hills, right up top Mulholland Drive. Its the highest point on the hill and is a huge estate: includes a pool. two tennis courts, a basketball court, a palatial house with couple of floors and a view of all of LA and San Fernando valley to kill for. Look at it this way, you can peek into J-Lo's backyard and one of the Friends' backyard from there. If you live on land higher than JLo's, you are pretty much up there. So, this is the house they bought and converted into a reality house. What does that mean? A reality house? Well, for starters, you need to figure out where the electricity lay out is and what kind of capacity does it have. You are going to light a house such that it exposes well on to a camera. Though these cameras are fast (fast=need little light to make a good image), they still need a substantial amount of light to make an image look half-way decent, not to go muddy, So you have to be very clever about where you place your lights. One of the projects I had on the Surreal Life was to light the rotunda at the entrance of the house. It's a curved wall. So here's what I did. The wall was painted red, had several half arc white shelves gunned on to it. Then using PUCK LIGHTS (these are small white spot lights shaped like hockey pucks, often used in showcases at home?) - around 36 of these puck lights, I lit the shelves. At intermittent intervals, there were pucklights installed on the wall, 2 inches above the level of the shelf and around 2 feet apart from each other. In front of these lights, small glass fishbowls were placed with water in them and a dead plastic fish. Pretty bizarre right? Well, remember that bit about striking composition, this fulfills that. Also, the puck lights streaming light through the water, gives out a very nice, shimmery light that plays on the red wall, on the person standing in front of it and generally makes a pretty picture. Plus, its low on power, cheap to buy, easy to make look pretty and hide since its small. In conclusion, it makes a good REALITY light and indeed it was used generously all around the house. On ceilings, in nooks and corners, to accent furniture, etc.

Less is always less on tv. EXCESS is interesting and noticed. So, not only was there the puck set up at the entrance, there were also these panels of LCD lights on the ceiling that changed colors with time and gave off a nice, dynamic and ever changing light on the players as they walk into the house. All of this makes for a visually interesting image that can be framed from any angle and look good.

Watch were you seat: Since its your house, you can choose to place seating comforts where you want to. Which means, any place you put down a sofa or a seat, you must be prepared to shoot from every single angle. If you're going to put down the sofa set there in the corner of the room, be prepared for the characters to have the most exciting moment of hte show on those couches, and for you to loose it because you couldn't film since you couldn't even reach that dingy corner in the basement of the house. So, every place you put down a sit-able thing, you need to make sure it has interesting visuals, a good backlight, some nice key light etc arranged.

Make it distinctive. Don't use the same tricks everywhere. The Surreal Life house had each room looking more bizarre than the last one. the color schemes and the kind of lighting used was completely different. Some had KINOs, some had very top, tungsten lighting. Some were lit with neon signs, etc. The reason: You want to create a very good sense of geography and identification. These characters are going to be walking from room to room most of the show. The last thing you want is two identical rooms so the audience thinks they are all in teh same place, at the same time and that doesn't come across as so interesting does it?

Regarding actual recording: The ENTIRE house is rigged with security type cameras, every corner, every nook and cranny. These cameras record decent footage that is definitely usable. They can record in the night as well. Of course, the bathrooms dont have these. The cameras are recording footage in the form of digital data on a Hard Disc CONSTANTLY, 24/7. All these cameras lead to a wall of flat panels, each showing us a view from these cameras. On Surreal Life, this wall is in the garage. This is where the CONTROL ROOM is located. This is where the director, the TDs, the dimmer guy and all sit. Looking at this footage, the director has constant control over where to shoot and what to shoot. He always has 4 camera crews at his disposal and he can send them out at any time to cover an action he finds interesting in some other room. Of course, there are microphones rigged into every corner possible. When these camera guys go back, they are carrying not HD but digital cameras that have quality pretty close to HD. No Wires and a camera, as light as possible. No Tripods either. They just have - what is called a - Biscuit attached to the camera. These relay signals a WAFER placed at a prominent spot in the house and thats how the signal goes to the house. With them is also a sound person who has a box full of recievers slung around his neck. He tunes in and out or chooses signals he needs to make that footage this cameraman is shooting powerful.

In this way, the director is able to control what gets shot when. By the way, a show like the surreal life is only on for 2 weeks. Those two weeks are edited to make look like these guys have been living together for 4 months. Pff! So, the director does this gig for 2 weeks. Then the story editors swoop in and start picking out story lines and how they might want to build off. They get the cast members to do interviews, the relevant ones and the show comes together.

Phew! Specific questions are welcome. About anything.

Have To Run

Have To Run... but, just dropping a note:
Be Sure to check out the Antiguan, indy film by filmmakers Howard and Mitzi Allen called LA DIABLESSE.
Random Fact: I worked on it when I was in Antigua as the Assistant Director and Assistant Camera during the winter of 2002.
Link: http://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php?story=20050331091335419

2: Something else I am doing A LOT is reading. I know, I know. Who has the time and all that BS, but you just have to. So I am going to just recommend some books that I read, and if you want to read it, go for it. Book I am recommending today: Spike, Mike, Slackers and Dykes. By John Pierson. It's a very easy read, full of interviews and fun stuff. What's it about? Indy film. It tracks the career of Indy Film Acquirer JOHN PIERSON, who has made many a career in film. It's the last 20 yrs of Indy film. It talks about how he negotiated with studios, sold films like CLERKS, DAZED AND CONFUSED, Sex Lies and Videotape and other such things which actually gives you a solid understanding of how distribution works, why film fests are important and things. Try it out...

The 15% Tip

DISCLAIMER TIME: The experiences I write about here are just mine (which I'm sure is perfectly obvious). It's just that in my conversations with people who've been to LA I've heard as many opinions about a semester here as you can imagine. I just don't want everyone thinking their experience should be or will be like mine. PLUS, I don't want people here thinking I'm misrepresenting the place because I'm sure there are people who hate it here.

HAVING SAID THAT, here are some things I think people can do to make sure they have a fantastic time when they are here. And, but ofcourse, this ALSO is just MY opinion.

PRIORITIZE: This to me is a pretty important one. Everyone has different priorities. Some people are here to socialize, some are here to beach-tan, some are here to study and some are here to make contacts or work... whatever, you get the picture. YOU really need to decide what is it that you want to do because you'll just have to make choices all the time. If you know what you want to do, you can go easy and decide without feeling guilty about it. If its between going that extra day at the internship or taking this one credit course they are offering, you need to decide. I mean, both are good but what is it that you're looking for from LA. If its between that premiere at work or being regular and going to class, or if its between the beach and working that weekend on this commercial, which one you going to choose. No right answers but you gotta make sure you have no regrets either.

NOW SHOULD BE TOUGH and TOUGH ISN'T BAD: I know most people wait to get to LA because this is their chance to chill out. This is their PARTY semester. I also know that this semester, like all others, zips by REAL FAST. It's over before you know it. So you just need to be aware of these two factors. If you wan't to eliminate that regret factor, I really think you should stick with these two things. I've spoken to lots of people and if they regret their semester, its because they didn't get enough out of their internships. No one likes to sleep 3 hrs a night and be out in the cold working, but there is just something awesome about coming home late at night and just crashing to sleep because you can't move a muscle in your body. You know you've stretched yourself and just done everything you can to make that shoot better. You've left a good impression on people at work, learnt more about yourself, had fun while doing it and really have been true to why you came to LA. The other thing: ITS NEVER TOO SOON to make this semester tough on yourself. Just accept those opportunities NOW, NOW should be TOUGH, and THOUGH isn't bad.

SECOND BEST ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH: This will come up again and again. At your internships or when you're even choosing internships.
Step One: Okay, there are a billion places I want to work, bam bam bam I sent in all my applications.
Step Two: Waited for employers to get back to me; for my phone to ring.
Step Three: Heard about my roommate and everyone else getting interview calls, and saw my phone not ring at all.
Step Four: FREAKED OUT. FREAKED OUT MORE. GOT WORRIED SICK.
Step Five: Caught myself almost sending out an application to work at EXXTRA!!
Step Six: Finally those calls came.
Step Seven: Accepted the first offer that came my way, at a job that looked kinda cool.
Step Eight: Went to work every single day, hoping the next day would be better than today.

This is a pretty standard pattern with interns. It might be true, I dont know, but even the professors here told us that this would happen. What they said though, is that this is okay. Internships are always boring at first and the more time you spend there, the more work they give you adn the more it starts to become worth it. While this may be completely true, I still think for every ten internships that are like this one, you need to find the one that is completely mindblowing and perfect for you. when you interview at a place where you think you are not good enough to work, that's the place you should gun for. Until then, JUST HANG ON. I know Jazmin Correa who is in LA at the moment. She didn't accept her internship till almost three weeks into the semester. This is crazy because everyone had started going to theirs at the end of week one. Try and imagine the insecurity you feel when you're sitting at home while everyone else is at work, coming back every night in office clothes, etc. You start to imagine you're not good enough etc etc. Well, things worked out for Jazmin coz when she finally got it, she got kick ass internships that actually pay her and stuff like that. I almost accepted sub-standard, secretarial internships too. But, you know what, this is going to be your place of work for the next FOUR months, EVERYDAY, for long hours. If they don't AMAZE you, completely BOWL YOU OVER in the 15 min interview, do you REALLY want to be working for them FOR FREE??? If you're going to do this, might as well go with the BEST POSSIBLE INTERNSHIP out there. It's possible. It's ALWAYS around the corner. Just hang in there.

Do NOT settle for what you have: PART TWO:
Even once you start your internships, do not settle for what you have. You just HAVE to keep pushing your luck and fighting for more knowledge. Don't settle. Also, again, you'll feel like it's too early to start asking for things. People in the LA program definitely don't advise it. It might vary from office to office, but there REALLY a way of getting more responsibility, of doing better at your internships and just, in general, being more satisfied with your experience. People at work DO NOT understand your telepathic hate messages of "im so DAMN bored". You gotta speak to them. Everyone likes people who want to take work off their backs. I know it sounds ridiculous, but really!! :)

MIX IT UP
You're here for four months, think about all the things you want to learn, and REALLY try it out. I'm on my fifth internship at the moment. NO is just not an answer, and, its up to you to make things happen. No fairy godmothers waiting in the wings to make things happen for you. You've paid a lot to be here, now get in their and make it work.

Aight, sign out. Sds

Another Ones

DISCLAIMER TIME: The experiences I write about here are just mine (which I'm sure is perfectly obvious). It's just that in my conversations with people who've been to LA I've heard as many opinions about a semester here as you can imagine. I just don't want everyone thinking their experience should be or will be like mine. PLUS, I don't want people here thinking I'm misrepresenting the place because I'm sure there are people who hate it here.

HAVING SAID THAT, here are some things I think people can do to make sure they have a fantastic time when they are here. And, but ofcourse, this ALSO is just MY opinion.

PRIORITIZE: This to me is a pretty important one. Everyone has different priorities. Some people are here to socialize, some are here to beach-tan, some are here to study and some are here to make contacts or work... whatever, you get the picture. YOU really need to decide what is it that you want to do because you'll just have to make choices all the time. If you know what you want to do, you can go easy and decide without feeling guilty about it. If its between going that extra day at the internship or taking this one credit course they are offering, you need to decide. I mean, both are good but what is it that you're looking for from LA. If its between that premiere at work or being regular and going to class, or if its between the beach and working that weekend on this commercial, which one you going to choose. No right answers but you gotta make sure you have no regrets either.

NOW SHOULD BE TOUGH and TOUGH ISN'T BAD: I know most people wait to get to LA because this is their chance to chill out. This is their PARTY semester. I also know that this semester, like all others, zips by REAL FAST. It's over before you know it. So you just need to be aware of these two factors. If you wan't to eliminate that regret factor, I really think you should stick with these two things. I've spoken to lots of people and if they regret their semester, its because they didn't get enough out of their internships. No one likes to sleep 3 hrs a night and be out in the cold working, but there is just something awesome about coming home late at night and just crashing to sleep because you can't move a muscle in your body. You know you've stretched yourself and just done everything you can to make that shoot better. You've left a good impression on people at work, learnt more about yourself, had fun while doing it and really have been true to why you came to LA. The other thing: ITS NEVER TOO SOON to make this semester tough on yourself. Just accept those opportunities NOW, NOW should be TOUGH, and THOUGH isn't bad.

SECOND BEST ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH: This will come up again and again. At your internships or when you're even choosing internships.
Step One: Okay, there are a billion places I want to work, bam bam bam I sent in all my applications.
Step Two: Waited for employers to get back to me; for my phone to ring.
Step Three: Heard about my roommate and everyone else getting interview calls, and saw my phone not ring at all.
Step Four: FREAKED OUT. FREAKED OUT MORE. GOT WORRIED SICK.
Step Five: Caught myself almost sending out an application to work at EXXTRA!!
Step Six: Finally those calls came.
Step Seven: Accepted the first offer that came my way, at a job that looked kinda cool.
Step Eight: Went to work every single day, hoping the next day would be better than today.

This is a pretty standard pattern with interns. It might be true, I dont know, but even the professors here told us that this would happen. What they said though, is that this is okay. Internships are always boring at first and the more time you spend there, the more work they give you adn the more it starts to become worth it. While this may be completely true, I still think for every ten internships that are like this one, you need to find the one that is completely mindblowing and perfect for you. when you interview at a place where you think you are not good enough to work, that's the place you should gun for. Until then, JUST HANG ON. I know Jazmin Correa who is in LA at the moment. She didn't accept her internship till almost three weeks into the semester. This is crazy because everyone had started going to theirs at the end of week one. Try and imagine the insecurity you feel when you're sitting at home while everyone else is at work, coming back every night in office clothes, etc. You start to imagine you're not good enough etc etc. Well, things worked out for Jazmin coz when she finally got it, she got kick ass internships that actually pay her and stuff like that. I almost accepted sub-standard, secretarial internships too. But, you know what, this is going to be your place of work for the next FOUR months, EVERYDAY, for long hours. If they don't AMAZE you, completely BOWL YOU OVER in the 15 min interview, do you REALLY want to be working for them FOR FREE??? If you're going to do this, might as well go with the BEST POSSIBLE INTERNSHIP out there. It's possible. It's ALWAYS around the corner. Just hang in there.

Do NOT settle for what you have: PART TWO:
Even once you start your internships, do not settle for what you have. You just HAVE to keep pushing your luck and fighting for more knowledge. Don't settle. Also, again, you'll feel like it's too early to start asking for things. People in the LA program definitely don't advise it. It might vary from office to office, but there REALLY a way of getting more responsibility, of doing better at your internships and just, in general, being more satisfied with your experience. People at work DO NOT understand your telepathic hate messages of "im so DAMN bored". You gotta speak to them. Everyone likes people who want to take work off their backs. I know it sounds ridiculous, but really!! :)

MIX IT UP
You're here for four months, think about all the things you want to learn, and REALLY try it out. I'm on my fifth internship at the moment. NO is just not an answer, and, its up to you to make things happen. No fairy godmothers waiting in the wings to make things happen for you. You've paid a lot to be here, now get in their and make it work.

Aight, sign out. Sds

Realization Day: Sum Lessons

So, here's where I start my Realization Day blog. It's not so much a day of realizations, as it is the day where I type out all the things I have realized while I have been in LA. Of course, these are only the LA-FiLM related realizations... ;)

>>>>> You Can't Learn Everything
When I first got to LA, I wanted to get on to a film set right away. I was like: Damn, I need to learn how these guys make these films look so damn good. What do they do with the same camera, the same frame that makes a film look so.. well, not student-film-ish. People, I got news. I've been with pretty much every department at Bernie Mac, I've seen at least 4 DPs at work and just enjoyed a lot of Hollywood productions. I'm learning a lot, but the more I try to learn everything, the more frustrating it gets. Why is that? Here's why... So when you're at internships, you want to please your employers right.. okay, so you of course don't know anything about anything.. okay, I know we think we do, but we really don't. Not even how to open a C-Stand, because when we do it the way we have been doing it, it looks terribly amateurish. You can tell a mile off. So these guys will show you how to do it. And similarly, they will show you around and try to explain every single thing because youre like a little useless kid who doesn't know where anything is or where it stays. Here's the Problem:::: No single task is ever repeated. You will never be in the EXACT same situation TWO TIMES, EVER. Seriously. So you think: okay, the next time they tell me to pull out a joint screw, I know which tools to use and how to use them. But, my friends, they will never ask you to do that thing again in that exact same circumstance. I dont know if you will fully appreciate the gravity of this situation. It is just really frustrating. SO SOLUTION: Don't worry about it. Give it a shot. It will take you a little longer and you will have to use some common sense, but you can figure it out. If you can't, ask for help but DO NOT apologize. They love people who are apologetic, and they will sit on you. They will completely kick you around. Be matter of fact about it, because you are not supposed to know. THEY DO NOT KNOW EITHER! They don't because remember the circumstance, and placement of tools, and size of location, and all these factors are changing for them too.. so they are figuring it out as they go along as well. Its just that since they dont apologize for it, and just try things out, they dont get noticed where as I would always be like: well, how do I do this.

>>>>>> THERE IS NO NEED TO LEARN EVERYTHING
Why? Because there is no corrrect way of doing ANYTHING. Who ever is boss has their own unique way of doing something. Agree with them, that is the way of doing that thing for that boss. Since this boss is going to teach you their way anyway, and since what you know is irrelevvant anyway, there you go: THere IS no need to learn everything.

>>>>>> ALL YOU CAN LEARN IS HOW TO TEACH YOURSELF.
Pretty self-explanatory. So these are my three rules about LA. You can't teach yourself everything, there is no need to learn everything since everyone has their own way of doing everything, but you do need to know how to continue learning everyday. So lets do that.

PART TWO: Why to be with every department.
Hmm, so one way of doing things is to spend a lot of time with one department and learn a lot about them. This is not my approach because at Bernie I realized there are two components to everything: There's the part that can be taught, and there's the part that you can only learn by doing it, through experience. So, I will never actually get to operate the camera or the boom mic and even if I do, it will only be for a little while. What these guys know, a large amount is because they've been doing it for a LOOONG time, all the 20 yrs of experience. So, me trying to learn the 2nd part of it, the experience part is kind of useless. The first part however, the part that can be taught takes relatively little time. This is why I choose to skittle around from department to department learning what can be taught to me. Why do I do this? Can I actually get hired on the basis of one week of learning?? Isnt that very superficial knowledge???

Well, not really. Refer to part one of this entry. You can't REALLY learn the experience part. You don't need to learn everything either. So, what I'm learning in this one week with each department is the LANGUAGE this department speaks so that as a director, I know how to communicate with different departments, what they can do , what they can't, how - as a director - I can help them, things they like, things they don't. PLUS, I can't be bullshitted by them. I know how a flare is killed, I know who is in charge of flower pots and who is in charge of large size plants, how grass is made to look real, etc etc etc. That's my philosophy on it.

Phew! That was some Sum Lessons and Realizations from this semester. More to come, Suds