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152 x3
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Jul. 6th, 2009 @ 02:30 pm
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I've sat through the 152 minute cut three times now. I decided that I wanted to share it finally, since I'd been toiling on it for so long in isolation. The folks who could appreciate it the most (and not be bored out of their skulls) would be the three lead actors, Heather, Chris & Alex. Zach, the 4th lead, got to see it a couple weeks ago when he was passing through town during his summer break from Chapman University, but I wasn't quite finished with the cut by that point. So, on Friday, Saturday & Sunday, Chris, Alex & Heather individually came over for private viewings in my little home office.
Each viewing required a few beers, some snacks, some bathroom breaks since it's so damn long, but each sit was truly rewarding for me. Just having one other person in the room to laugh at the funny shit was enough to make me feel that no, I am not alone in this endeavor any more.
I wanted to make sure they all got a chance to see literally everything we did together over those 3 weeks of intense work before I start killing darlings. Many of my favorite scenes and moments, ones that right now seem absolutely essential, are going to get whacked. About an hour's worth of material has to plucked out to make this thing watchable. Perhaps some of these darlings might show up on an eventual special features menu, but never again will they be part of the whole.
Sharing time over, I now feel ready for slaughter. Watch out, darlings. I'm coming for you. |
Now, that number will only go down cuz I finished the first pass through Lovers of Hate!
Jesus Fucking Christ, that took forever. 4 months. 4 goddman months. I didn't think I was gonna do this on my own. I didn't think my little 2005 Mac Mini could handle it. I didn't think it would take me so long. But, damn, I did it. I cut a feature. It's certainly not a watchable feature yet, but it at least has a real beginning middle and end. And I think it's gonna work.
Is drinking while editing a bad idea? I had three beers to help me get to the end. I guess I just started celebrating early. |
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142
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Jul. 2nd, 2009 @ 09:15 am
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Stayed up til almost 2am last night, cutting the last big dialogue scene, and still woke up at 7am to do a 2-mile run.
I'm so close to finishing. Maybe tonight? Maybe? |
When I checked out the Movies section of the NY Times this morning, whose face did I see on their side-column of video clips but Alex Karpovsky's. It was kind of a weird jolt to see that face, which I've been studying intently for 4 months now on my little monitor, show up on such a public forum. NYT is featuring the new trailer for Buje's movie Beeswax, which is set to open in NYC in August. I'll have to take it up with him directly why it doesn't feature either of my awesome and completely integral scenes. How exactly do you tell this story without "Jason the study buddy?"
'Nother clip, from 'nother incredibly talented pal. Perhaps you heard about the opening of the new Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece? Well, did you see how they kicked it off? My friend Athina Rachel Tsangari (an exec. producer on LOH, my short film Pleasureland, and longtime mentor to me) directed the visually stunning Opening Ceremonies, which literally tells the story of Greece on the walls and windows of the neighborhood surrounding the museum. Check it out. Now collect your jaw from your lap and re-affix it to your face.
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...but still not done. I've got 8 scenes left to edit. But, then... but, then... DONE!
Had about a three-week chunk where I didn't even open the file, but I've been able to throw myself back into it this past week - I've cut 30 minutes in that time alone. If I can make a good night of it tonight, I'll be done before the week is out. Goddamn, that'll feel good.
In other news, we did indeed break our previous record of TFPF submissions, as you can see at my new AFS blog here. So, yeah, it's gonna be a busy summer.
It's finally raining outside. Awesome!
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| » After Last Season. It is real and I'm gonna see it. |
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Perhaps you all remember this profoundly baffling trailer that made the rounds of the blogosphere a couple months ago. Is it a brilliant art-prank or just what it appears to be? - a staggeringly inept attempt to entice viewers to see a film that augurs to be an even more staggeringly inept cinematic creation. I mean, has the person who made this ever seen a movie before?
Attempts were made to parse the meaning of the trailer, to discover the man behind the mystery, and most of all to confirm that this "film" was rated by the MPAA and is actually coming out in theaters as the trailer promises. Well, guess what, Lancaster, CA, North Aurora, IL, Rochester, NY and AUSTIN, TEXAS! You are one of the four cities in the nation that gets a chance to see the full-length feature. It starts at the Tinseltown South on Friday (all 4 theaters showing the film are Cinemark Tinseltowns. Hmm. Are they the only chain that has the guts to present this brilliance to the public? Or, were they only ones allowing themselves to be four-walled by the filmmaker? The mystery continues...)
Am I going? You're goddamn right I am.
Jun. 3rd, 2009 @ 12:13 pm
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| » 104! |
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104 minutes of cut-together footage and at page 70 in the script, which means I'm still on track for a 2 1/2-hour initial cut. In the next few days, I've really gotta try to get as much done as I can, as many relatives will be descending upon Austin over the next couple weeks for my sister's wedding on June 13th. A very exciting time for all of us, but especially her & Tony, her groom-to-be. I couldn't be happier for them!
Today's the postmark deadline for TFPF, and we've already gotten probably 50 entries so far. Will we match the 200 or so entries from the last couple years? Surpass the record of 218 from 2007? If the number of attendees at the workshops and folks taking advantage of the consultations we do is any indication, we may yet top the record, but I'm gonna have to reserve my bets on that.
Drag Me to Hell was thoroughly enjoyable - a silly premise, to be sure, but that's all it was - an excuse to get the runaway train of scares, gross-outs and hilarously oozy setpieces on the tracks and out of control. Fun fun fun.
Jun. 1st, 2009 @ 12:20 pm
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| » 99! |
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Had a fully productive day yesterday and I hope to have one just as productive today. Will be rewarding myself by seeing Drag Me to Hell tonight. Hadn't been fully motivated to see it, but RB has been convinced by reviews and I'm always happy to go to the Alamo.
Chale told me that he saw that The Cassidy Kids is yet again running on IFC in the next couple of weeks. Glad they're still playing, even if it's at weird times (9:35 am on a Monday, for example).
Been trying to get back on a running schedule - it's working so far. Done two weeks of three-times-a-week. It helps if you're not going out there by yourself and we've got a little team going - we run around the track at the new Mueller development - it's quite pleasant, actually.
Okay, enough talk. Time to work!
May. 31st, 2009 @ 11:57 am
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| » 92 |
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Had a severe dearth of time to get any editing done over the last few weeks, what with major travel for TFPF, plus all the consultations we do, but I finally was able to get back to it today and got up to minute 92. At maybe 60% into the the script, I'm for sure looking at a first cut of over 2 1/2 hours. Yipes! But, oh well. That's what it's gonna be.
In other news, well, there's really not much other news. The Paramount Summer Classics series kicked off and me & RB went to see Casablanca again. Such an amazing, amazing movie. Duh. It's a classic for a reason, but it's charms truly are unusual and it had the audience hootin & hollerin throughout.
Gonna see a classic of a slightly different breed tonight - Scarface!
May. 24th, 2009 @ 02:53 pm
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| » 78 minutes, Indiewire |
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After my West Texas odyssey (did two TFPF workshops in El Paso & Marfa and attending Buje's wedding in Marble Falls), I was finally able to get back to work last night. I'm working on a tricky section, so going will be slow, but I am at page 51 of the 104-page shooting script, so I'm within a night or two of editing to being officially half-way through the first cut. That will be a wonderful time.
The second press mention for the film just popped up on Indiewire. Nice!
May. 5th, 2009 @ 01:43 pm
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| » 65! |
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Actually passed the 65-minute mark over a week ago, but as I finally have a free night to get back to editing, I'm posting here to pump myself up. I am definitely all the way into the Park City section of the film now - no more Austin material to cut.
Unfortunately, I will only have one or two more nights in April to possibly do any editing. Between the TFPF tour, screenings we're doing and other obligations, it's just impossible to carve out the time. But, I still feel confident I can finish the first pass by the end of May. Fingers are crossed.
I shot a gun on Tuesday night. The Buje had been trying to figure out a plan for his bachelor party (he's getting married on May 2nd) for a while and I suggested, half-joking, we go to a shooting range. He went for it, so myself, Andrew and eight other fellas who clearly don't have hunting licenses found themselves at Red's Shooting Range in Oak Hill on Tuesday night. We rented a 9mm and something called a 1911 that shot .44 caliber bullets and piled into two stalls at the shooting range and unloaded a couple boxes of ammunition at hanging sheets of paper. It was terrifying and important. Terrifying cause those guns are FUCKING LOUD. Important cause it taught me what I always suspected - I really don't like guns. I don't like holding something that can cause instant, easy death in my hands. Disturbed, I couldn't wait to have a drink, so it's fortunate that the next place on our itinerary featured giant 22-oz "man-sized" glasses of beer served by well-endowed college girls in plaid and short shorts. Yes, I dined at Twin Peaks, the lumberjack-themed Hooters-rip-off establishment that has embarrasses Austin drivers with their ridiculous boob-punning billboards. Wow, the food sucked and the atmosphere was just as creepily ersatz-strip-clubby as you would guess. But, we still had a blast, chomping down fried pickles and cheese sticks and watching eight different games on the HD plasma TV's all over the place.
Then, it was the coup-de-grace for the evening, the event that tied it all together - the boobs, the guns, the manliness - a Bruce Willis double-feature on VHS - Hudson Hawk and The Last Boy Scout. We took advantage of the AFS screening room and with a giant bottle of Makers' Mark, we made our way through both of those early Nineties abominations with utter joy. At the end of the night, Andrew had drunk enough that he felt it absolutely necessary to bear-hug, pick up and spin around each one of us. I think that was his way of saying thanks for one hell of a bachelor party.
Apr. 16th, 2009 @ 06:32 pm
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| » 54, for sure! |
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Had a huge day on Thursday night - cut together 9 minutes (a record!). Last night, not so much - only had the sauce for 3 minutes worth. But, I'm gonna try to get more done today & tomorrow. Last night did see the first introduction of Park City footage (snow!), so now I'm almost to the point where it's all Park City for the rest of the movie. That'll be exciting.
Gotta mention this kinda awful news... Word came out that Lou Perryman, the actor who totally charmed me as "Loyd" in Eagle Pennell's THE WHOLE SHOOTIN' MATCH when I saw it back in Dec of '07, was murdered in his South Austin home this week. Such wretched news. Both he and Sonny Carl Davis, the stars of the film, were at that screening at the Alamo Ritz and they were just as charming and hilarious and full of good stories today as they were in the 30-year-old American independent classic. Clearly he was a guy who had a lot more to give to the world and to have him taken away so brutally is just sad.
Apr. 4th, 2009 @ 11:08 am
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| » 42, y'alls! |
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Finally got back on the job after a hiatus of about a week for a 6 hour editing session last night. Got up to 42 minutes. Still feeling good about it all, tho I'm more and more seeing the need for some b-roll kinda stuff - just wide shots of locations or even close-ups of objects - anything that doesn't have people in it. Need to let this movie "breathe" a little bit. It was the same thing with Dear Pillow - during principal, we spent so much time trying to get the dialogue portions of the film shot, we forgot about b-roll. Jake went out with a camera several months into the editing and shot exteriors of the apartment complex & such that really, really helped. I imagine I'll have to do that with this one (even tho it's now definitely the wrong season).
I was supposed to go up to Dallas this weekend to experience my first AFI Dallas fest but I was all sick, feverish, sneezy and yucky. Ended up just driving to Dallas on Monday morning to get there in time to do my lil TFPF dog-and-pony show. I stuck around to see one movie, say hi to a couple friends and then drove back home. The one movie I did see was pretty amazing - the festival is doing a Frederick Wiseman retrospective so they showed this fantastic documentary he did back in 1983 about Neiman-Marcus (sooo apropos) called The Store. It was his first color documentary, and thank God - you really needed color to capture the absolute hideousness of early 80's fashion. So much of what that store was selling (at prices that still shock you - no need to adjust for inflation) was jaw-droppingly ugly. But, that wasn't the point of the movie, just an added bonus for us sniggering audiences of the future (rest assured, though - our fashion sense will be laughed at heartily in 25 years). Wiseman's main purpose, as always, was to examine the structure and underpinnings of social institutions. He shoots in every department, every back-office, every janitor's closet to convey a sense of just how complex this place is. But, as a manager explains at a company-wide meeting, with the first words spoken in the film, the only purpose for the elaborate, elegant, overwhelming structure of Neiman-Marcus is to make sales. It's an entity that exists only to sell and everything you clean up, every nice word to a customer or special event you throw in your department is done only to move more goods. This filmed meeting boldly lays out the agenda of the company and the filmmaker, and every subsequent interaction between customer and clerk, boss and employee you see, many of which are fascinating and hilarious, are colored by that almost Glengarry-like manifesto. Truly a remarkable film and one I'm so glad I got a chance to see.
Apr. 1st, 2009 @ 09:37 am
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| » 36 minutes! |
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Started cranking away on LOH again after SXSW finally gave way to normal life last weekend. I'm getting through anywhere between 4-7 minutes for every 5-8 hour editing session. Not bad! I'm doing a hell of a lot of traveling over the next two months, for TFPF & such, but I hope to have the first rough cut done before June 1st. Hopefully well before June 1st. I'm somewhere around page 27 in the script, which means the first cut will be well over 2 hours, but that's okay. Best to keep it fat so you can cut it thin.
I think I say a total of 14 features at SXSW this year - about average for me. I had a particularly weepy year, probably cause I saw so many emotionally powerful docs - like Karen Skloss's SUNSHINE and Bradley Beesley's SWEETHEARTS OF THE PRISON RODEO. Even got totally weepy at a secret rough-cut screening of a short film by a local pal. It's gotten so much easier for me to tear up as I've gotten older. I find that a particularly good sign of maturation. It even happened a few times during takes on the set on LOH, much to the surprise of myself and others.
I was close to crying with laughter at the premiere screening of John Bryant's THE OVERBROOK BROTHERS - there were at least two scenes in there that had my stomach hurting, even though I had seen a rough cut of it a few months ago. I was laughing in anticipation of the unwitting audience not knowing what insanity was in store for them.
A real discovery for me at the fest was 45365, what came to be called "the Zip Code Movie," one of the few films I saw that wasn't made by someone I knew. It's Wiseman-esque strategy of presenting the different social strata of the filmmakers' hometown of Sidney, Ohio through visual and thematic connections rather than narrative ones was thoroughly refreshing. And sooo beautifully shot and edited! The dolly shots at the edge of the football field as fall cuts to winter are gonna stick with me for a long time.
Overall, the fest was one of the funnest ever for me - I didn't have a film screening, which cut down on the stress factor, and I had a film in the can, which cut down on the depression factor. And, it was so great to see how well everything went and how over-stuffed all the theaters were for my good friend Janet Pierson's first year as Fest Producer. Warm feelings abounded with everyone I ran into and it really felt like, more than in years before, what happened here in Austin over that week really mattered to the larger, national film community. Attention was paid, and that's great for all of us.
Mar. 26th, 2009 @ 12:13 pm
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| » SXSW Day 2 |
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Day 1 of the festival was pretty much a wash. I spent more hours than I care to name trying to get the compilation tapes ready for the AFS screenings at the Hideout happening this weekend. That's in fact what I'm still doing right now - laying back tomorrow's screening to tape less than 12 hours before showtime. My own fault - I'm Last-Minute Man all the way, forever.
But, after the show this afternoon, I did get a chance to finally pick up my badge, catch the last half hour or so of the Tambor panel (something I hope they continue to bring back every year), hit the Film Texas party and finally, actually see a movie! It was a real winner - Winnebago Man, where the director dives deep into the back-story of one of the awesomest viral videos ever and comes up with a surprisingly moving portrait of a deeply intelligent and passionate person who is coaxed out of his hermit-like existence. Ben Steinbauer even managed to coax him all the way to Austin, Texas, where he received not one but two standing ovations at the Q & A. Really a great event, a true only-at-SXSW happening that I'm so glad I didn't miss.
Then, it was to the after-party for Beeswax, the single screening of which I missed today as I had the AFS shorts at the Hideout. Such a bummer! But, from all reports, the film played well and one of my two scenes got a big laugh. I did admittedly resort to making a diarrhea joke to get that laugh, but if that's what it takes, you know I'm the man to do it.
Got to run into a lot of familiar faces tonight. SXSW is like a grand annual reunion of film-junkies, where there's something always a little shame-faced about the hugs and smiles and "how-ya-doin's," silently acknowledging that yes, we're all still addicted to this shit. It's kind of lovely.
Mar. 15th, 2009 @ 01:32 am
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| » the SXSW films I've seen... |
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...that you should see too!
A lot of these I've only seen in work-in-progress form (many of them we screened here at AFS as D-i-P's and N-i-P's) so I'm gonna try to catch some of them in their final, final form. All are worth standing in line for, yo! Even in the rain (eff you, Austin weather).
You Won't Miss Me - saw this at Sundance. You will remember the "hotel room fight" scene for a long time, and be grateful that you never got on Stella Schnabel's bad side.
Trust Us, This is All Made Up - Rebecca & I saw a "rough cut" of this maybe a year & a half ago (?) but with a completely different performance from the improv duo TJ & Dave. Karpo tells us it's at least 80% different.
True Adolescents - goodbuddy Mark Duplass's finest performance so far.
Sunshine - seen it close-to-done, can't wait to see it done-done.
Receive Bacon - James Johnston's dirty little sex joke, starring two of my favorite Austin actors.
Beeswax - okay, yes, I am in this one, and yes, Andrew is my tenant (and dutifully pays his rent every month), but despite those biases, I can still recognize he is a rare talent and this film proves it with awesome performances through the entire ensemble.
Alexander the Last - Joey working on a bigger and deeper scale and with one of the most talented and interesting young actors around, Jess Weixler.
The Way We Get By - met these filmmakers in New York for Independent Film Week. They crafted a very moving portrait of three lonely old souls who have made it their mission to ensure that Iraq-bound soldiers will know that someone is waiting for them to come back safe.
The Overbrook Brothers - "I think it was a Black Mamba." Fucking hilarious.
St. Nick - This is a flat-out beautiful movie and truly unique in the American indie film landscape.
Over the Hills And Far Away - Had me weeping at Sundance. Will do the same to Austin audiences.
The Eyes of Me - Four blind teenagers reveal themselves to be just as confused, funny and fascinating as their sighted peers.
Along Came Kinky... Texas Jewboy For Governor - The sheer entertainment value of Kinky Friedman's run for governor is captured in this doc, but it is also a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at a modern political campaign (and how to really ruin one).
Creative Nonfiction - Lena Dunham will remind you why college was the worst and best time of your life with embarrassing but undeniable precision.
Even though I've seen so many SXSW titles already, I still feel totally overwhelmed by the schedule. Oh well, that happens every year.
Mar. 13th, 2009 @ 11:31 am
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| » TCK on IFC again! |
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I had no idea that the film would play again, but apparently The Cassidy Kids has already run twice this month and will run twice again. If you feel like waking up at 6 in the morning on the 12th, check it out!
Feeling a bit overwhelmed lately with all the work I need to do ahead of SXSW. This is always a busy, busy week, with the Hall of Fame putting most of the staff into overdrive, and me getting ready for the Showcase screenings and my first TFPF workshop of the season. And, I've got this feature I'm cutting too, now! Got up to 18 minutes over the weekend. Woo!
I got to attend John Pierson's master class session with the great cinematographer Ellen Kuras last night. She showed clips from Swoon, Summer of Sam and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, all amazing clips, all very different. She talked a lot about the importance of preparation, especially for inexperienced directors - you always want to have at least an idea of how you want to shoot a scene with the cinematographer before you arrive on set - you don't want to be in the vulnerable position of figuring it out in front of everyone. I took those comments very much to heart cuz the moments on the set of LOH where I hadn't prepared, where I didn't have at least a basic notion of how I wanted to shoot a scene, were the toughest moments. "Vulnerable" is exactly the right word for how I felt - working out my ideas in a very public way before I was confident in them. Exposed as a fraud! Above all else, the director has to appear confident in their ideas. Even if it's all empty bluster and you're scared shitless on the inside, you can't let anyone know. It only happened a couple times on the set, but it was bad enough to motivate me to not let it happen again, if I could help it.
I keep hoping to do a little "these are the movies I want to see at SXSW and you should see them too" kind of post, but I'm so nutsy busy lately, I don't know if it'll happen.
Mar. 10th, 2009 @ 11:15 am
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| » I ran! |
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Actually got up at 7am this morning for a run with Kyle. First time in months, maybe since early December(?) since I went for a run. I was actually training to do the full marathon, even got up to 13 miles back in the fall, but it all fell away once LOH got going - plus the long trip I went on to Colorado, the holidays and all the attendant eating. Running just dropped off my priority list in a big way.
But, it wasn't absolute torture this morning, so I'm gonna try to get back on the horse.
Re-opened The Crane House for the first time since December as well. Trying to just find a way to close the book on it - I could go on tweaking it forever.
Got a bit more done on LOH, too. I think I'm up to 14 minutes now. Hopefully I can make some good progress this weekend...
Mar. 7th, 2009 @ 12:06 pm
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| » 13 minutes! |
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That's how much of LOH I've managed to cut together so far. Took a while to organize all the clips, get 'em in their bins, so I really only started editing in earnest a couple days ago. It was very daunting and I felt like every cut and transition sucked. But, last night I worked for about 5 hours and got through the first 10 scenes or so, racked up about 13 minutes of running time. It's still reaaaallly clunky, but at least there's something.
Because of that, I did not do any work on The Crane House, the film that really does need to be tended to right now, if I want to have any hope at all of it seeing the light of day at any late Spring/Summer festivals. Maybe tonight I'll get to it. It has popped up on the imdb now, which is nice.
Mar. 5th, 2009 @ 01:55 pm
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| » first press mention for "Lovers of Hate" (that's the title) |
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I had some advance warning on this, a couple hours at least, but the Austin Chronicle ran a nice little blurb in this week's Film News section on the film, naming the actors and other main collaborators. Nice!
Being back at AFS now is kinda surreal. Lots of fires to put out, lots of planning for the 2009 TFPF, plus we've got our biggest event of the year, the Texas Film Hall of Fame, coming up in about two weeks. The office is a-buzz with activity but I just need more sleep.
Also, I've got to re-focus my energies and finally finish up The Crane House, which has been languishing on my hard drive for months now. Just need to do a few more editing tweaks and then focus on the sound, score & color correction. It will be nice to finish up the post on that small project before leaping into this big ol' one.
Feb. 26th, 2009 @ 10:10 am
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