BLISSFUL DEATH TO MONKEYS
I’ve kept very busy since the last entry on Ye Olde Blog, my acolytes. I worked some A/V jobs at a hotel and also got an editing job editing some HD material. Thanks to George Caleodis, the next feature script has made leaps and bounds forward. The Boo is on the move again and it feels good.
Last week I went into the hotel to work as I always do. I go to the 2nd floor and go to the A/V office. No one’s there. I go through the back hallways to see if I can find out where my boss is at. I go to the elevator and several people are waiting, they say the elevator is offline for at least the next 40 minutes. Without asking why, I just head downstairs via the front.
I get to the office center and head into the back hallways of the 1st floor. At the very end of the office, there are 3 women in their late 20’s staring out the little glass window of the door at something. I say, “Excuse me” and start to go through the door. One of the women asks me what I thought I was doing. I said I had to get past and they looked at me like I was nuts. As I went through the door, I bumped into a guy and said “Excuse me, sir. I’m sorry.” I look up and it’s none other than former President of the United States Bill Clinton. He said, “No problem.” Secret Service grabs me firmly, but not hostile and move me to the side. As Clinton passed the window, he said, “Hi Ladies!” and they went nuts like the Beatles had been reborn.
An hour later, I ran into Bill Clinton again as I pushed a cart of video equipment from the supply closet to a conference room. He was signing books and talking to hotel employees in the service halls. I made a brief comment and moved on. Another 40 minutes later, as I waited for the elevator with another batch of equipment, I look next to me, and for the 3rd time in the same day, there was Bill Clinton. Secret Service entered the elevator and all I could say is, “I’ll catch the next one…”
I got hired last week to edit in HD on a project, and in another twist, I had to learn the new Final Cut Pro 5.0 HD on a Mac. Now I haven’t touched Final Cut Pro since version 2.0 four years ago. Now that I’m a more experienced editor and even more tech savvy than I was then, it was interesting to use what has taken the professional industry by storm and is being used more & more frequently on broadcast TV shows and feature films.
It’s a great program, and funnily enough, it’s virtually identical to Adobe Premiere Pro as it is today. All these yahoos who claim that Adobe Premiere Pro is not a professional application are just ignorant and have not used it. As I say all the time, none of these programs are better than the other. Anyone who says that one is actually “better” are only speaking of their own PREFERENCE, not a fact of any kind. I’m now experienced with the latest versions of AVID, PREMIERE PRO, FINAL CUT PRO, and even VEGAS VIDEO. None of them are particularly “better” than the other. They all do basically the exact same thing and they each have little features that make zealots out of users, but it always come down to preference and how the individual editor likes to work.
Again, my old reliable metaphor about editors as painters comes to play. The software you use to edit with is nothing more than a brush for your canvas. You would never imagine DaVinci arguing with Picasso about whose brush is better. Neither should people engage in any kind of debate over which editing software is “better”.
Now the HD footage I have seen, shot on the Panasonic Varicam, the high end camera that does variable frame rates, looked amazing. I’ve seen some good stuff, but rarely do I get to see the raw footage and work with it. I love film, but I’m also not a zealot about the “film versus video” debate. I like the look of both and think that story is king. If the format supports the story, then it’s all good. This footage was staggering. If I hadn’t known it was HD, I would NOT be able to tell what format it was.
I had made the decision some time ago to shoot my next feature in HD, but after this experience, I’d say I’m incredibly jazzed about it. Working on this quickie project got me revved up to shoot another feature.
Because of the high volume of work last week, I spent a lot less time at home. This also meant that I was leaving V alone with Cousette more. My workload had been lighter, plus I worked from home his first 2 weeks in his new home, so this was new. V was a little peeved with me and he demonstrated this by all night hand biting and jumping on my head whilst purring. Then the wake up love bites also continued from 7:00AM till I’d eventually have to get up to make him stop by talking to him. Brandy was right, it’s like have a toddler in the house and he’s constantly chewing on my electrical and computer cables.
Cousette wants to love on V, but his only way to express love is grabbing, clawing, and biting. Needless to say, she’s not too thrilled with this. Cousette has taken to finding new hiding spot throughout the house. I try to protect her as best I can (I am afterall the elected Constable of Rossdonia), but he’s so fast and I do have other work to tend to.
Right after the last blog entry, I had a flashback party to attend at my friend Michael’s. The guests of honor were my old Bank One buddies, and it was an impromptu reunion of the cast & crew of THE JOB INTERVIEW.
Of course, I was the sole crew member and these two were the only “cast”. They were friends, not actors. I haven’t seen T.S. and Brown Lara in several years. They have no clue how much they helped me embark on this mad career choice. The simple thing we did together in January 2000 started this whole filmmaking decision. It still is NOT my favorite short on every level, but it’s one of the most popular Sonnyboo shorts of all time. These friends helped me get started, and that includes my host at that party, Michael Essman. He introduced me to MR. SHOW WITH BOB & DAVID, and had just had this energy that inspired me to get it out. For all of this I am grateful and have fond thoughts. Aside from being grossly overweight at the party, I felt like a million dollars.
V is making it difficult to write this, so I have to finish before he electrocutes himself by chewing on the extension cord…. Or Cousette kills him with her enormous paws.
Keep on Living,
Peter John Ross
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DRINK IT UP! www.Sonnyboo.com
