SMELL THE GLOVE

Now I’m excited again, in a big way. After making some short films earlier in the year, and doing some writing, I feel a little bit more confident in myself again. Part of it was the self beating that my first real feature film gave my ego, especially on the self reflection angle. I’m not really affected by people saying “You suck!”, no matter what the project. I don’t like or hate something I made based on how other people feel about it; I’m only concerned with how I feel about it. I don’t measure myself against other people, only myself and my own goals and interests.

When another local filmmaker recently dick-measured themselves versus my material, and basically were saying they were so much better than me. I was not pleased. A friend misinterpreted how I felt and told me to “Use that! Go out make your next movie and kick their ass!!!!” and all I could think was (And unfortunately I also said this out loud), WHAT A STUPID REASON TO MAKE A MOVIE. I am not motivated by interpersonal rivalries or comparisons to other filmmakers. Making movies is NOT a competition or a race. This whole analogy that film is akin to sports makes me nauseous. I make movies to tell stories. My only successes and failures, along with comparisons are to myself and my other work. I can’t put myself on any kind of scale with another filmmaker. My personal philosophy truly is that there is NO SUCH THING AS BETTER OR WORSE; ONLY DIFFERENCES.

What motivates me is the need (not desire) to tell a particular story. If I have something to say, I say it with the moving pictures and the sound along with it. It’s an expression about whatever the story and characters mean to me and some kind of sociological metaphor or slice of humanity that tickles my fancy. When I make a movie to try to prove that I can do this or that to some other filmmaker or to win a popularity contest, I’ll shoot myself in the head.



Now what gets confusing is that I have had to learn to keep my mouth shut about my honest assessments of other people’s work, unless it’s praise. I’m much more silent now about that kind of stuff, but I guess some people are ultra sensitive about their own material. Go figure. I’m a lot less interested in other people’s projects at this point anyway. My life has changed significantly in the last 2 years and where I am at and what interests me has invariably changed.

CHANNEL 17, a local digital only TV station has switched over from being a HOME SHOPPING NETWORK to original programming. They are filling a much needed void of locally created content. My old boss Mike Tavares does some freelance shooting and editing for them. A few months ago, they told him about how they were interested in local content and he told them about me, my short films and even HORRORS OF WAR. He gave them some DVD’s and that started them looking at the local film scene as a whole. Ironically, local yahoos want to (yet again) take credit for something they didn’t start but I really don’t care. All I want is my material to be on TV again. It can only help with exposure to an audience that otherwise would not see it. There is also a credibility issue that good work being seen on a TV station helps create. If potential investors see your work broadcast or know that it is being shown, then you are being validated by someone other than your mommy and daddy and the cast and crew. Step aside pretend filmmakers, the real ones are going to utilize the opportunity, then parlay it to mean something.

Sonnyboo.com is going to sponsor the show and the :30 Sonnyboo spot will play on the CHANNEL 17 network soon. With enough (good) new programming, WDEM CHANNEL 17 might get picked up by cable operators and then the exposure goes up exponentially. Since Columbus is illegally withholding any kind of Public Access television, this is a way to get material seen, and in this case, the station will filter out the sub-par, unwatchable crap from many of the weekend camcorder wannabes.



Next month I am shooting something special to me. Finally, I get to shoot something with the RED ONE camera. That will be freakin’ sweet. That means an upgrade to Adobe CS4 just to be able to handle the RED footage from the CF (Compact Flash) cards. I think THIS will continue my growth as a filmmaker and be another huge stepping stone in the career path. RELATIONSHIP CARD helped, and I am very proud of the piece, but this is taking another deep stab at something more professional and clawing my way towards another feature film.

Rehearsals start this week for the new project. The juices are flowing. Time to take another bite out of life and see what’s left.

Shark Sandwich

The other night I watched an old movie, as in 50+ years old. Even as a film fanatic, I don’t enjoy many older pictures. Also, I love the way guys from the Golden Age of film called them “pictures”. What I don’t like is the acting styles. That Edward G Robinson/Humphrey Bogart syncopation to the dialogue that comes off like it’s half theater-y and half semi-real acting. It’s too distracting in most cases for me to sink in and enjoy the story. CITIZEN KANE stands out because Orsen Welles gives a very real and modern acting performance, and that’s why Marlon Brando and his contemporary James Dean were considered so great – they were breaking the mold of that old style decades before it became the norm (and pop culture preference).

I make a few very rare exceptions, but mostly I like movies made AFTER 1964. The movie I watched easily makes it into the exception (and exceptional) category. TWELVE ANGY MEN blew my mind.



This is the 1957 movie version. It’s obviously based on a play, but the acting and direction are superb, but what stands out the most to me by a large margin is the screenplay. 95% of the movie takes place in 1 room and it never loses its grip on the audience. That’s all in the writing. Even though a few of the actors had that kind of period acting that I hate so much, the story and dialogue were too good to let that hinder the experience. Not one word spoken is wasted. Even the seemingly mundane turn out to have significance by the end of the movie.

For those of us want to consider a low budget, one location movie, the lesson learned for me was SCRIPT IS KING. If the screenplay isn’t 100%, it’s all for nothing. Every word has to play a part in achieving the affect and intent of the movie in some form or another, if it is demonstrative of character or painting the world. 12 ANGRY MEN doesn’t even tell you a single character’s name (except 2 at the very end), but you know a lot about them and they are all individualized.



As for direction, Sidney Lumet is still kickin’ it if you can believe it; I mean he is still directing as of 2009. Lumet’s direction can’t go unnoticed because he changed lenses slowly through the piece and the eye levels so that at the start of the piece we have some distance between the jurors and looking “in” on the scene, and later gets down to eye level and gets in the faces of the characters, plus it starts to compress space with the lenses and makes it feel claustrophobic in the end. At this time, even though they had color film everywhere, DRAMA’s were almost always done as Black & White as a choice. I wish it were still a viable option today, but that happens less and less.



Great movie. Definitely something relevant today, even in comparison to the varied court room dramas playing 7 nights a week on TV…


Anywho, have a good time one and all!
Peter John Ross

Intravenus de Milo

I submitted my new DVD of short films in 39 combined film festival entries. Luckily most European fests have no entry fee and most of the smaller fests I have a relationship with, so I can get the submission fees waived. It pays to give things like royalty free music away and other handy things on my site. It helps pave the way for a return favor from things like film festivals. Countries I have submitted to this round include Poland, Spain, Portugal, Sengala, India, Japan, Canada, the UK, and even Nigeria.

To commemorate the completion of these shorts, I made a DVD cover and I really dug it lots. Again, taking inspiration from the Jazz albums of the past, this time specifically the orange and yellow against black of an old Thelonius Monk album, I dug this creation, which I wish I could take more credit for, but alas it wasn’t as much me.



Aside from that, I now stand at the almighty crossroads. Sadly, Jack Butler won’t be playing his amazing guitar with the devil at his side at my crossroads. I have to decide how to proceed with my options as a filmmaker. Artistically, there are a few options, but which one to take? I have another short, something that combines my sense of humor with more of the darker dramas that are in my soul, but it’s still another short with limited appeal, gross income, and marketability. I have my initial plan to proceed with the bigger investors and take the time to work out the bigger ticket features. And there’s the possibility to take some of the money already on the table and make a cheaper feature, but with no name stars and incredibly small odds at a financial success and career advancement.

I haven’t made up my mind yet, but when My Sexy Girlfriend Veronica™ heads to South Carolina for a week, I want to go into seclusion for a hefty writing session, locked in a hotel room alone with the laptop in a cabin with no internet. I just need to know WHAT I’ll be focusing on. So I have all of a few short weeks to determine how I’ll be spending the next 18 months (at least) of my life. Can anyone say “Horrors of War 2”? YIKES, that would be tragic.



Today was my first real recovery after the big annual work project. I enjoyed some special time with “V”, but mostly I rested and even watched the first Blu Ray I got with the PS3 (Spider-man 3, a lot better the 2nd viewing, albeit still flawed). I don’t get to watch movies like I used to, but I want to get back to that, at least somewhat. Right now I average one feature film every two weeks and that’s kinda bad.



That’s it folks!
Peter John Ross