About a Frame

Ramblings of a TV producer and Film... guy.

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May 10

When Jim Carrey was 15 his dad brought him to a Yuk Yuk’s Comedy club open mic in Ontario and he tanked, horribly. Apparently, he was so bummed out he never wanted to do comedy ever again. His dad worked with him on creating a strong routine, writing, and re-writing, until Jim was stage ready. Needless to say, the hard work paid off. But the bottom line is comedy is hard to come by; specially nowawadays.

I don’t know if it’s due to bad writing, the universal collective not 100% sure on what really makes it laugh anymore, but I feel like I, as well as this universal collective, simply don’t find comedy staples, like SNL as funny as when I was a kid; or most comedy shows for that matter. And the new ones, even less funny. I mean, a chuckle is not difficult to come by, but full laughter is extremely rare.

Maybe it’s formula? Maybe it’s the tv format? Comedy writers feel like they need to craft a story when really, a good joke or situation is all that might be needed. Who knows. What I do know is that Fred Armisen broke the mold to make the funniest thing in Television when his internet sketch comedy blew up into Portlandia. I’d like to think that the idea of these short, well thought out skits, that poke fun of the independent ‘cool’ in today’s American society might be the perfect combination to make folks laugh. That and any joke where hipsters, the regurgitation of information in a New Yorker magazine, and PC behavior is made fun of is always a thumbs up on my books.

If you haven’t seen it yet go on hulu and watch the clips. Portlandia is the funniest show in TV. (Sorry Community/Ricky Gervais Show; this season sucked).

D

April 20
Rest in Peace Tim Hetherington. I am beyond shocked by his death and I feel truly sorry for him and the rest of the crew that was shooting with him; they were all killed as well. Don’t take for granted the news you read, there are people laying their lives on the line, for very little money, because they truly, deeply, care of what’s going on in the world. If you haven’t seen Restrepo, see it. It pays tribute to our armed men and women and it showcases Hetherington’s incredible talent outside of news. My condolences to his family and friends; he will be missed.

Rest in Peace Tim Hetherington.

I am beyond shocked by his death and I feel truly sorry for him and the rest of the crew that was shooting with him; they were all killed as well. Don’t take for granted the news you read, there are people laying their lives on the line, for very little money, because they truly, deeply, care of what’s going on in the world.

If you haven’t seen Restrepo, see it. It pays tribute to our armed men and women and it showcases Hetherington’s incredible talent outside of news.

My condolences to his family and friends; he will be missed.

April 9
Rest in piece Mr. Lumet. If you haven’t seen his work please do so. Dog Day Afternoon and Serpico are perhaps two of the greatest New York movies ever made. And Network gives voice to my angry television rants better then my own words. Sad to see his genius go.

Rest in piece Mr. Lumet.

If you haven’t seen his work please do so. Dog Day Afternoon and Serpico are perhaps two of the greatest New York movies ever made. And Network gives voice to my angry television rants better then my own words.

Sad to see his genius go.

March 26

If you’ve read the blog before you know my obsession with music videos. I’ve analyzed technique, quality, and a myriad of other variables of music videos to express my perception of what I think is a well executed music video, and what isn’t. But today, this music video, hit a reset button in my brain that has made me question my perspective of everything… including life itself. This is either the most mind blowing, funny thing I’ve ever seen, or the absolute worst thing I’ve ever seen. 

Bravo. These guys have done it again. If you don’t know them youtube ‘mang it’ and be prepared to collect your jaw from the floor.  

My mind is blown. (PS: Check out the moon walk at minute 1:40)

March 16

Amazing. Enjoy.

February 25

Three cuts, maybe 2K budget (tops) and the best video of the year so far, like their beats and rhymes, this is their own concept. And, they’re high schoolers, and better than every fucking hack music director out there.

Putting it out in the universe. These kids are the present and future of hip hop.

Putting it out to the universe. Let me direct a music video for them.

Odd Future Wolf Gang  If you didn’t know, get ready for some goosebumps.

February 22

The bad retake.

So I finally watched ‘Out of Africa’ (go ahead, gasp). And I gotta say, it’s incredible for a million reasons. Sure, I was heart broken because I didn’t get my happy ending, but, that’s the story, and I was just a greedy viewer, I wanted the people I fell in love with to have rewards for their pain.

I digress.

Watch the clip above but keep an eye on minute 4:30. First of all, all of those two shots of the actors on the plane are pick ups. And, for the 80’s, pretty bad, bad, 1960’s batman and robin climbing up the side of a wall to do the bat dance, pick ups. And I’m not knocking Pollack, by any means, I wish the guy was still alive and making films, I really admire the legacy of incredible work he left behind, but these pick ups have ‘studio executive’ written all over them. There’s also one at the beginning of the movie, where every shot has the characters with different make up on that is terrible. But, again, I don’t know the circumstances that the filmmakers and crew were put under, all I really wanted to say is that the film works, incredibly well. And I was crazy enough to rewatch it and skip over the pick ups, and the film still works without those awful shots. New technologies like the one below would have helped filmmakers like Pollack go from talented to some kind of freaky perfection. But all in all, this is more proof that some things work well without perfect pick ups, sometimes, even in the process of filmmaking, you can’t have a perfect ending.

If you MUST do pick ups, get lighting right, plain and simple. That’s 90% of what gives pick ups, and computer generated scenes, away. From the crossing of mountain ridges by the frodo/sam-less-fellowship in The Two Towers (where there are about 15 different light sources), to the above shots in Out of Africa, that go from having sunset like shadows to 10 different noon like light sources that make my brain say ‘hey, this isn’t what sunsets look like.’

For more on the subject watch ‘Burden of Dreams’ and watch Herzog kill people (literally) in his obsession with perfect pick ups.

Sydney, you were one in a million and the world misses your stories. If any of this came across as a knock, I apologize. It was a commentary about something that really threw my brain off when watching this incredible, moving piece.

PS: Is Brad Pitt the clone of Robert Redford? My girlfriend and I couldn’t tell them apart in this one. I will say that they definitely can’t clone talent. Zing! Zap!

+
A Simple Equation. Light Peak + Final Cut (Or Avid)= better Film and Television. Orson Welles would travel the world with a film camera and a “portable” editing station. Orson, unfortunately, lived in a time when film had to be developed, and editing meant he physically had to cut strips of film. fast forward to today and we move at a much faster pace thanks to digital technology, BUT, there’s a time between what’s shot on a set or location, and when an editor gets time to try out cuts that is still too long, so long that at times there are no chances to re-shoot and fix a scene, or a take. In turn, you wind up with scenes that don’t work or re-shoots do happen but by now actors, and crew might not all be available and what you get are almost detrimental scenarios to the film (see above entry about ‘Out of Africa’). Light Peak, a piece of Intel technology the company’s been working on for some time, is now being integrated into every electronic that will carry it. It will allow data transfers of 10g/s at its lowest capacity. At it’s highest capacity, 100g/s. This means the capacity to have editors, on set, getting direct high definition raw takes, and cutting a near final cut, of a film, or television show, on the spot. So many people have tried this, and studios sure burn money attempting this, but this gives every filmmaker the opportunity, the chance, to make the editor even more crucial to a film and the ability to maximize all aspects of storytelling. Every take will have direct feedback, from an editor, on the spot. The studios will keep being the studios, but the indie world is going to give all of us cleaner, better stories. And that’s something to be happy about.

A Simple Equation. Light Peak + Final Cut (Or Avid)= better Film and Television.

Orson Welles would travel the world with a film camera and a “portable” editing station. Orson, unfortunately, lived in a time when film had to be developed, and editing meant he physically had to cut strips of film.

fast forward to today and we move at a much faster pace thanks to digital technology, BUT, there’s a time between what’s shot on a set or location, and when an editor gets time to try out cuts that is still too long, so long that at times there are no chances to re-shoot and fix a scene, or a take. In turn, you wind up with scenes that don’t work or re-shoots do happen but by now actors, and crew might not all be available and what you get are almost detrimental scenarios to the film (see above entry about ‘Out of Africa’).

Light Peak, a piece of Intel technology the company’s been working on for some time, is now being integrated into every electronic that will carry it. It will allow data transfers of 10g/s at its lowest capacity. At it’s highest capacity, 100g/s. This means the capacity to have editors, on set, getting direct high definition raw takes, and cutting a near final cut, of a film, or television show, on the spot. So many people have tried this, and studios sure burn money attempting this, but this gives every filmmaker the opportunity, the chance, to make the editor even more crucial to a film and the ability to maximize all aspects of storytelling. Every take will have direct feedback, from an editor, on the spot.

The studios will keep being the studios, but the indie world is going to give all of us cleaner, better stories. And that’s something to be happy about.

February 8

Some goodness.

Again, not just a pretty video, this is a good story. We’ve all experienced this kind of a loss, and it isn’t easy. Anyone can make a pretty video, few can tell a story well.This is told/shot/cut impeccably well.

Much respect to the gang at Phos Pictures!

January 28
Why 3D doesn’t work, and never will. Truly about a frame. And actually a bit of an ‘Ode To’ which I haven’t written in a while. But don’t fear another Dan Ramirez rant, I don’t even have to write it, one of the folks I admire most in this rotten industry, and my imaginary step dad, Roger Ebert, will do it for me. Ladies and gentleman, the incredible Walter Murch explains the science behind my dislike for 3D (I knew I wasn’t crazy), all whilst getting praised by Roger. Enjoy, learn, and quit paying for something your brain can’t understand.

Why 3D doesn’t work, and never will.

Truly about a frame. And actually a bit of an ‘Ode To’ which I haven’t written in a while.

But don’t fear another Dan Ramirez rant, I don’t even have to write it, one of the folks I admire most in this rotten industry, and my imaginary step dad, Roger Ebert, will do it for me.

Ladies and gentleman, the incredible Walter Murch explains the science behind my dislike for 3D (I knew I wasn’t crazy), all whilst getting praised by Roger. Enjoy, learn, and quit paying for something your brain can’t understand.