Aural Fixation

I tried to take this week off of my new project in a way. I’m a little burned out, at least creatively, so I wanted to take a break before delving into the sound mix, plus I needed a score and finding the right composer was eluding me.

Part of the problem for me is that this is the first project I have ever made that I did not already know what kind of music I wanted. I was completely and totally without a clue as to what I wanted for music.

I am a former musician. From the time I was 5 years old and began tinkering with the piano, and later saxophone, guitars, keyboards, drums, and virtually ever instrument on the planet (sans the harmonica that ultimately defeated me as the one instrument I could not even begin to get a real note out of), I only wanted to write film scores. The first 45RPM I owned was STAR WARS MAIN TITLE and a B-Side of CANTINA BAND. Until my late 20’s, this was the singular goal of my entire life to write music for movies. I gave it up when I started writing and directing and I do NOT miss it, not even a little.



Every movie I’ve ever made, I had some idea or notion as to what I wanted musically. Even if I gave up my preference for that of the composers, I at least had a starting point that could always fall back on. Now, this movie stumped me. The tone of the film is odd enough, but I was without even a single direction to go with. I tried several temp tracks, and nothing worked. I even screened the current cut at Indie Club Columbus this past Monday with temp music. That made it evident that I needed just the right music more than anything.

Since last week I started talking to Bill Wandel (www.billwandel.com) the composer who did the action music for HORRORS OF WAR. He’s a pro and does this as his sole income, so I generally don’t pester him for my low to no pay shorts, but this is the introduction to a new feature film. I need to pull out the stops and make this as good as I can. The music needs to match Greg Sabo’s cinematography and all the actors’ performances, all of which are top notch.



Bill got the chance to see the cut, placed ever so secretly online sans any temp music; don’t want to influence any compositions with outside music, plus I wasn’t 100% sold on the temp music (hence the term “temp”). That’s not to say the quality of the temp music isn’t good, but it wasn’t written to match the mood of MY movie.

I wrote out my spotting session in an email. That means I wrote down the time codes of where I felt the music should start and stop, and also places where I thought if Bill wanted to try something musically, to go ahead and try it. He said he only had 2 days to get this done, but he’d try.

Yesterday morning I got the email with a link to music files and that was a mere 16 hours later. What I wasn’t prepared for was the perfect score. The style was modern and familiar, and yet I never would have thought of it. The moods and melodies are perfect. Basically, he says with the music what I wanted to convey to the audience about how to feel about the movie I have. Because of how complex and strange my story is, Bill Wandel’s score set the tone right from the start and it will be hard for the audience NOT to be in the right frame of mind that I intended.

My aforementioned aspirations to be a composer aside; sometimes music still knocks me on my ass. If ever I needed proof that I never need pick up an instrument ever again, Bill Wandel’s music is my proof. We share a love of several film score cats, and his talents equal any one of them.



Sound is 50% of the experience of any movie. Music is 25-49% of that (variables on the scene, dialogue, and other sounds of any given moment of a movie). This is how important music is to a movie. This music has me so freakin’ jazzed; there will be no time off. I foresee some late nights and weekend hours working on audio mix and finishing this sucker off ASAP. Also, I have found many film festival submission deadlines that I intend to make this month.

It’s amazing to me how much this reinvigorates. The music has generated a lot of creative juices and now I have to change my underwear.

Too bad I also booked a shoot Friday for two new podcasts, one a general helpful film tip version, and another set of short film specific video podcasts featuring my shorts past and present. I have cast My Sexy Girlfriend Veronica ™ because let’s face it; people would rather look at her than me. I have to put my ego in check and think of the greater good.

Has anyone else noticed that I’m getting really good at using the semicolon in my blog?

- Peter John Ross

The Supposition of Steven’s Vernacular

Post production was delayed on my newest endeavor. Paid work, especially work that pays well, takes precedence. It’s the way of life. I’m no communist, and I prioritize the work regardless of how soul crushing it is to deny the muse her attentions. The hardest part is that I love my job. I get paid to edit and do graphics work. Who can really complain about getting money to do what they love in some form? Therein lays the conundrum. I don’t hate the day job work, yet it keeps me from focusing on the artistic work that I strive to improve and expound upon.



After some preliminary tinkering with the footage, I’ve decided to bring in another editor other than me to work on the cut. I’m too close to it. I want to select the takes, but the actual cutting is more difficult for me on this project. I have the luxury of every single take looking great and the performances were very good. The curse is that I have too many options and making decisions get a lot harder.

I may have spoken too soon about my writing. Why is it that the dialogue sounded so good in rehearsal, and now I kinda hate what I wrote? I’m thinking of stripping a lot of the dialogue down to its essentials, and telling the story more visually.

HEALTH
I had another health scare last week. Much pain in my ankle and walking became very difficult. Luckily, Dino Tripodis came to the rescue with a HOUSE M.D. promo item for the series, a cane. I have only recently discovered and fell in love with this show, mostly because of the ties to Sherlock Holmes. When I first got the cane, I was more or less retarded in my usage since I’ve never had or used a cane before. Amazingly, with pain the proper use of the cane came to me in milliseconds.

Evolution - 1
Creationism - 0

So I’ve been limping everywhere and nicknamed GIMPY by several people. All those Special Olympics jokes are coming back to haunt me.

Karma - 5,763
Ross - 6,399

I’m still ahead.

I’ve been collecting HD-DVD’s now from AMAZON.COM. I’m getting titles for $1-$3 each, so I’m even getting movies I have never seen and quite possibly will hate (I.E. THE FAST & THE FURIOUS, and the ubiquitous sequel 2FAST, 2FURIOUS). I love that if I order $25 worth, shipping is free, and so costs stay low. I love my HD-DVD/BLU RAY combo player. I took my old HD-DVD only player into work for the 32” TV there and an old surround sound setup. It’s like having a home theater at home and at work.

Later my friends.

- PJR

Juniper and other things that annoy me

As for the goings on in C-bus, we’re in pre-production on the Feb. shoot. I am just producing for an up and coming young female director. The first three months of 2009 are dedicated to the ladies as it were. I’m trying to help provide equipment, gear, post production facilities and networking to the oft overlooked female filmmaker of Central Ohio. We have a void where interesting women’s roles and stories should be. In March, I will direct a short for myself. It’s a legal drama thingy I’ve had in mind for a while. My dream cast is coming together, but I need a solid script first and that takes time. I am now a constant re-writer of this piece until I get it “right” if there is such a thing. Deadlines are helping to make things happen.





April-June will be preparation for the next feature(s). I have a new business model I’m going to try out. I have a 2 year plan for my filmmaking. From my initial feelers to investors and money types, the proposal looks favorable. It doesn’t hurt to have a movie on shelves at Blockbuster ™.



Also in our local film scene, for those keeping score, it looks like the Columbus IndieClub is fading away. For the January meetings, the MOFA (Mid Ohio Filmmakers Association) meeting had 27-29 people on a night when there was a weather advisory for snow and temperatures below Zero. A week later, at the all important “town hall” meeting for the future of IndieClub when the weather was fine, about 15 people show up. It’s all very sad. Actions speak much louder than words, and I think it’s abundantly clear what people prefer. They don’t like IndieClub and they do like MOFA.



The two groups can co-exist, but it’s all in the leadership. I agree with some people which is that when the current “leader” steps down from IndieClub, they should let the group stay away for a few months, and let the aura of the current leader wear away before starting over again fresh and new.



I recall sending an email on Sept 25th 2006 to the leadership of IndieClub outlining ways in which they can market the group for free, including the calendar listings of the free papers, the community message board on public access, etc. I even suggested the movie theater they currently meet at as the location in the same email. Ironically, the “leader” brags about all these things being HIS accomplishments, but all I can think is how poor a leader is that can’t honestly give credit where credit is due.



Back to more positive news, I just received even more good news for UNCLE PETE’S PLAY TIME from George on the West Coast. First, I have a big thing about text messages. I don’t really like them. I’ve told George this. He stopped, but then one Sunday night he texted me. I was mad, until I read what he wrote. He said that the applause and laughter Uncle Pete’s PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY just got will be worth the cost of this text message. George has been teaching at the Second City (again) and he was doing the Alumni shows. They wanted material to play between things and he generously (and fortuitously) offered Uncle Pete. Between the Improv Olympic (iO West) and now Second City, Uncle Pete has some good live exposure. Now George has brought additional news, but until I take the call on Monday or Tuesday, we’ll let the potential future of Uncle Pete on television remain somewhat vague. Suck on that haters.



Time to celebrate someone else’s birthday tonight.



Peace,

Ross

of

Rossdonia,

Land of the Spooning Weasels

March of the Swivelheaded Ant Man

Let’s start with the mystery of my opinion of THE DARK KNIGHT, since I last left off before seeing it. I dug it. It rocked. Yes, they clearly used HEAT (1995) as a basis of the overall plot structure, which was a good thing. If the idea was to make Batman ™ seem “realistic” they took that ever further in this one than BATMAN BEGINS (2005). I’m seeing it again soon in IMAX™ and I have since read the script. There are some subtle details in the words, but mostly I’m enthralled with the very well written dialogue. Very natural and something filmmakers should bear in mind.

Well, we just did another INDIE GATHERING in Cleveland this past weekend. They are always fun. I set up a booth, sell some DVD’s, give away CD’s and hand out for upcoming events. Of course, I sell more DVD’s and books when My Sexy Fiancé Veronica ™ sits at the booth by herself. How odd that the pretty girl sitting alone gets more and more convention boys to buy more product!

I did 5 panels on various aspects of film. I haven’t done much of this stuff lately, as my public appearances have voluntarily dwindled. The social and public coma I have been in for the past year has started to fade. As I prepare for the next few months, I’m already turning up the volume on what I’m doing.



On the way home, the magical MARIE’S PIZZA was had with a brief stop in Wadsworth Ohio where my arteries choked on the most blissful combination of tomato sauce and cheese on bread. Every time I’m within 50 miles, I stop off in my old home town to partake of the pizza I grew up on.

Cleveland fascinates me. They have so much more in the way of older buildings, gothic architecture, and MOM & POP stores. There’s a lot more identity to Cleveland than Columbus. I feel like if Columbus were to be defined, it would be a strip mall with an Applebee’s next to it. There are these tiny pockets of originality here and there, and I wish they could succeed and explode to drive away the corporate, test-market-y stains of retail that permeate everything else.

I cannot blame the giant anonymous “they” of the corporations. They are only 50% to blame. The other half is the people and consumers themselves that prefer this generic, uninteresting blah.



GOODNIGHT, CLEVELAND! has almost finished its sound mix. We’re on time for the Sept 11th premiere, but it has not been an easy road. Miguel Baldoni Olivencia has decided not to Alan Smithee the movie, and take credit. This pleases me immensely. It’s his movie, not ours, no matter how different the “intent” was during the shoot and the “result” from the edit. Micah Jenkins works his head off with these edits and smoothing of audio from 1996-1997 in the new digital realm. I often have to say, “We can’t make it good, only better”. That’s the mantra for a film this old.



THE COWTOWN FILM SERIES just got our big wish. For the Halloween screening on October 30th, I wanted a HORROR film, and specifically I wanted to screen Bob Kurtzman ’s THE RAGE. THE RAGE was shot here in Ohio after Bob Kurtzman
moved back here from LA. For those not in the Know, Bob Kurtzman is the “K” in KNB Effects. He worked on movies like EVIL DEAD, NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, AUSTIN POWERS, & SCREAM. Rob is also the originator of FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, writing the story that Quentin Tarantino adapted into a screenplay and Robert Rodriguez directed, and he made his mark as the director of WISHMASTER, and more recently THE RAGE. What most people don’t know is that Bob Kurtzman came from Crestline Ohio, interestingly, the same place my entire mother’s side of the family came from. Bob has come back to the Midwest and planted a firm foot in the community and away from either coast. He’s started the studio PRECINCT 13 and setup shop doing visual FX for movies like Rob Zombie’s DEVIL’S REJECTS and more.

I might be losing friends as I turn down some shorts that have been offered to me for the whole series. I asked for a public call for entries, but not all of the pieces are up to snuff. I’d rather play fewer shorts of surpassing quality than let something go because I’m friends with someone. It’s a business and I’m sorry. Here’s an idea of what I’m doing with graphics/animation thanks to VideoCopilot.net’s tutorials.

Work shows no sign of letting up. My head hurts. Very little sleep for me as the August heat destroys the equanimity of cool air distribution on the 2nd floor of Rossdonia. I have picked up a cheap futon for the basement so that I might get some proper sleep at night on various nights. The problem is removing the old family blue couch from the basement, along with it dolly, and dolly tracks, and even a ¾” deck for relocation to the Production Partners studio. This is more than a 2 person job. At least I can afford an El Cheapo futon with a decent pad.



I once reposted a story about the great Stanley Kubrick
and how a London reporter got to go to his estate 2 years after his death and discovered all his boxes of research and information. It’s now a documentary and I found it hilarious and fascinating.

CLICK HERE to watch video



We upgraded our 2nd edit system (Edit “B”) here at work to the Matrox RTx2 system for real time HD editing. I am pleased that it works well with the other motherboard, as Matrox products are sticklers for compatibility. We’ve also increased our storage by 3.5 Terabytes at work, and I added 2.25 Terabytes of storage at home for My Sexy Fiancé Veronica ™ and her documentary. We have some progress. A rough cut is done, some graphics work is complete and now we have some archive footage from MARCH OF TIMES from the HBO Archives to go over what selects we’ll use & buy for the project.

We re-watched NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN in Blu-Ray™ last night. What strikes me best about this movie is the maturity of the filmmaking. Most people don’t grasp the concept of subtlety. Very little is spoken out loud in this film, so is not to beat the audience over the head with obvious or pointless dialogue. In a 3 minute film by John Whitney locally, “A FAMILY MATTER”, reminds me of that kind of mature filmmaking where the story is told visually with the words being spoken often telling you something other than the blatant plot points.


This was a big one, but I’m busy, so I gots ta G.O.

Peace out homies, and I hope the crazy people find peace in reading my blogs.

- Ross

An Oligarchy in Place of Supercilious Skullduggery

No rest for the wicked. I am ensconced with post production work. I took on some extra projects this weekend because I now need to recoup a heavy loss this week. On Thursday morning, I awoke to the sensation of cold. First my hand froze, and then the rest of me started to go quite freezing. I awoke at 7:45AM and went downstairs to see what was happening. The thermostat read a warm 51 degrees. I felt the vents and cold air was blowing from them.

I attempted to see the pilot light, but to no avail. I called the service that read the most reputable and this guy came out within an hour and proceeded to spend the next several hours fixing our furnace. Two units had fried in it and I got stiffed with a $600 bill. It could have been worse in terms of cost – we might have had to replace the whole heating unit, but as is – a chunk of change I had not wanted to part with just blew away. It was 34 degrees in the house when the hot air started blowing again. I lost almost an entire day's worth of work helping this guy work on the furnace and of course the cats looked at me like I'm some kind of sadistic bastard for torturing them in the cold all day.



My cold has faded, at least the part that disorients you and makes you woozy. I can still produce record amounts of mucous, and that means spending more money on tissues. All this money keeps disappearing. I keep making it and it keeps going away. This is life. That is the grind, isn't it? Ce La Vie, as the French might say.

My HD-DVD's started arriving, as in the free ones as a rebate on the player. I now have 4 of the special edition High Definition Stanley Kubrick movies. 2001, CLOCKWORK ORANGE, THE SHINING, and EYES WIDE SHUT are now in my collection. I started going through a lot of the extras and special features. There are documentaries galore. I had only recently seen the 2+ hour documentary "A LIFE IN PICTURES", and I subsequently bought it as a separate DVD from a used seller on AMAZON.COM. Some of the documentaries are even in HD.

One of the things that I have been contemplating as I watch a lot of these newly made MAKING OF's and BEHIND THE SCENES is that Stanley Kubrick would hate them. I think Stanley must be churning around in the ground. He detested any kind of commentary or theories or extras on the movies before. Kubrick was of the mindset that the movies were the movies – your own interpretation is what it means. Whatever the film meant to you is what it means. The End. To see film critics giving their opinion on an official DVD of Kubrick's movie somehow endorses these interpretations or validates them; Stanley would have hated that, at least that was his pattern for the past 45 years.

Now for those out there that know how much I love extras and even have made my own "peak behind the curtain" type videos – I am not Kubrick, nor do I aspire to be him. I appreciate all these insights into one of cinemas greatest minds, but I am not trying to imitate Kubrick, either in practice or theory. I can disagree with methods and technique with someone I truly respect and love. After seeing Vivian Kubrick's documentary last year on the making of THE SHINING, I decided I would never behave the way Kubrick did on that set. It was something that completely demystified Kubrick and made me completely believe you can find your own way to direct.

The only similarities I might have with Stanley Kubrick is in the form of a feline assistant editor.



There ends the similarities between me and Kubrick.




Peace to my homies in North Compton. Word.

- PJ

SOMETIMES I QUESTION YOUR COMMITMENT TO SPARKLE MOTION!

APRIL 21st, 2007

Well, what can I say? I have been so freakin' busy lately, I don't know where to begin, or what might be monotonous or interesting. One thing's for sure. I have been incredibly ill that last few days. It's called "Hay Fever" because the pollination of plants in the spring time have greatly agitated my sinuses via the allergies. I have had a high fever for the last 2-3 days, but it seems to finally be passing. I even did 2 commercial shoots during this time, so I have been making some headway into the world of monetary stability, albeit temporarily. Freelance work is never truly "steady".




In the past few weeks, I have done post production work on 2 features, no less than 4 commercials, and a cable TV series. I have also been on 7 shoots ranging from sports to plays to guest speakers describing the histories of cultural phenomena in the work place. I did a 10 day stretch of no time off, including some pretty hard core double & triple days.

I am due to have a new car this week. The hard work pays off in that I will be mobile again thanks to my pops. He's got a line on a reliable vehicle that I've waited months to get. I don't care about make & models; it's just not my thing. It gets like dick measuring with guys or comparing minivans with house wives. I have no use for it.

Life as an engaged man has not changed anything, except that my Sexy Fiancé Veronica ™ and I are getting along fantastic. She just dropped her 2 weeks notice at the restaurant and will soon become a sexy stewardess. I hope to join the mile high club and live out my airline fantasies in the very near future.



I still have not gotten caught up on my spindle (yes a 50+ DVD spindle) of movies to watch. For some reason I can't get into a movie right now. A 4 episode disc of a TV series like THE SHIELD season 4, sure, but a 90 minute movie seems like a hefty commitment. I can't explain the lack of logic, but I am enjoying well made TV series more than films at the moment. My attention span is in a different realm.

The single movie I made the time for was to show someone DONNIE DARKO : THE DIRECTOR's CUT. I have only seen this movie one time before (never saw the theatrical cut) and God, this movie rocks. It's the most cleverly concealed super hero movie ever made. Isn't is ironic that this came out the same year as UNBREAKABLE (also a great film)? Now I have been told that I need to check out HEROS on NBC, which I have not seen a single Ep of… come on DVD's!

The world has gone topsy turvey. With the videos of that weird kid in Virginia plaguing American television and even the Internet, all I can say is the disappoint I have in our own President's first words, "While I respect our citizens rights to bear arms, they do have to follow the rules…." Followed by the head of the NRA saying, "If more student had firearms, the could have stopped this tragedy before it went as far as it did…" all of which makes me both nauseous and sad. Combine that with the medias non-stop coverage out of pure desperation to justify 6-7 24 hour news channels and we've got ourselves the most shallow and pathetic popular culture to have existed in human history. This makes Sodom and Gomorrah look like the Vatican.

I have many plans for my film projects this summer. I no longer wish to share details until after things occur at this point. As I enter more formal phases of pre-production, I may write about it, or I might not. I have a big mouth, both figuratively and literally. It's high time I focused more on the work.

Sorry, no real dramas to report on. Nothing significant is happening in those arenas.



The cats are locked into a mortal combat of "V" of the front claws versus the mutant kitty named "Cousette" of the 6 Toed Feline Clan. They fight for affection, the fight for love, they fight over their territory. Cousette recently withdrew her entire set of elected officials from the newly formed government. This was a blow to the government and the Prime Minister of Rossdonia. Will our country fall into despair and civil war? Haven't we been in a perpetual state of civil war this entire time? What complete morons think this ISN'T civil war already?

Stay tuned for more after these important messages. The WAR IN ROSSDONIA, brought to you by: HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPOS! Buy this or your kids will becomes psychopathic delusionals!

- PJR