Hell Hath Frozen Over

Spielberg has edited two movies non-linear in a computer! He himself vowed never to do such a thing, but with TINTIN and also WAR HORSE, Steven has come over to the darkside. Now I understand TINTIN, as that is a CGI movie, but WAR HORSE is live action, shot on film.


Spielberg resisted the new school approach to editing, which is like comparing typing with a typewriter versus using a word processor. Your options become near limitless and takes so little time to edit with a computer versus editing with a work print, a moviola and some splice tape. For 40+ year of a career, this has been the only way Spielberg has edited, and now he has done two movies back to back in the computer.

At least he’s still using editor Michael Kahn. He has edited all of Spielberg’s movies except for 2, JAWS (Verna Fields) and E.T. (Carol Littleton, because Michael Kahn was editing POLTERGEIST for Spielberg superseding director Tobe Hooper).

Raucous Rapscallions

I’m doing some minor writing of late. Whether it’s scribbling on a notepad at work, typing in Google Docs on the laptop waiting on a render, what matters most is that words from my head are being committed to some form that others might see and eventually say/shoot.

I’ve got a few ideas tumbling over. One compels me because I have never attempted a process shot, that is a shot in a car that appears to be moving when it is in fact stationary. There is the “poor man’s process” which is to say it’s all done with lights rotating across the windshield and windows. That is an option. Next is rear-projection, which is to go out and shoot the street views ahead of time, then project them on a screen near the car to give the illusion that they are moving. You’ll still have to do the lights, but there is clearly a background of moving streets outside the windows. The benefit is that everything is in camera, no post production work on either of those. The last option is greenscreen, which is to “key” in the street scenes in the computer after the fact. This option doesn’t cause the same problems it did as little as 2-3 years ago since technology has improved so much.

I’ll pick one of those and that will be the core of this shoot. The rest of it will tackle some more adult themes, something I haven’t done much of. It will deal with sexuality in a way I do not usually put in film. There is no nudity, as I have not matured enough as a person or director to handle that yet, but since I turn 40 years old next month, maybe with the death of my youth I might gain some of that maturity I’ve heard so much about.



CLIP FRAMES and FRAMELINES continue to grow to other markets. Today I made over 60 DVD’s to send out to various channels throughout the state and in the neighboring West Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. I am pleased to hear such positive responses from programmers about the show. In a few months time, there will be no escape from my marketing machine. Too long have I been idle and silent. The time to reawaken my inner marketing whore reveals itself to be nigh. Prepare thyself, Acolytes.