Conjoined Epigraphs on the Nightstand

Yesterday kicked ass. I mean all kinds of ass, big ass, little ass, fat ass – ALL KINDS OF ASS was kicked. Knowing my friend George Caleodis was coming back to Columbus for a few days, I came up with an idea to shoot him on the greenscreen stage with a bit I have that is both for my upcoming feature film and can also stand on it's own for the web for now. It's not hard to shoot, as I planned on 2 cameras and no moving shots so the keying and tracking will be easy sleazy cover girl.

So all I needed to do was write something. I sketched out a few ideas and hand wrote the random assemblage of ideas as I wrote in a previous bloggy blog. Well, that's as far as I got. I scheduled everyone to be at the studio at 12 Noon. I got there at 11:15AM and STARTED to write the scripts for the day. I am generally not a procrastinator, but the writer's block has been a bitch, so I strangled her at got busy. When it rains, it pours, as they say and I got 4-5 new ideas as I furiously typed them out and proceeded to print them.



The shoot was skedded (using Daily Variety terminology) from Noon to 4:00 PM. We got started at 1:20PM and wrapped at 3:15PM. Everything was shot, we improvised ("we" meaning George) a few things at the tail that work out perfectly as interstitials, or opening teases. George is a professional improviser, currently teaching and directing at the Improv Olympics in LA. Working with George is effortless and simple. I ruined 2 takes by laughing out loud at some of his improv's that took my by surprise.



I have studied several forms of comedy as a hobby for many years. It's not an exact science by any stretch, and in the end all you can do is know what makes you laugh and what you personally find funny. There is so much intangible in the form of "comedy". Laughing is an unnatural act. Literally, laughing resembles a seizure and makes your body react in a form of involuntary convulsion – but in a good way. Making people laugh is probably one of the hardest things you can attempt to do, especially as a stand up comedian where all you have is your words, or in the case of Carrot Top, cheap props, which is why he's not the most respected comedian because he can't do his act without the crutches. Most stand ups are armed with words and wit, which feels kind of naked on a stage. Making a comedic film is not easy either, but you have tools and things that you can use, so it's more comforting. Sitting in an audience, lights dimmed and the flickering images and sounds emanating represent the truest test of a comedy film. Luckily, I have been in the audience when my own alleged comedies have succeeded and failed to cause the desired reaction of laughing. You learn a lot from the experience of being in a room full of strangers and as a filmmaker you attempt to manipulate the audience into the communal response. What bombs with one audience, may work well with another group of people. Sooner or later you just have to form your own opinion of what is funny and go with that, not worrying whether it plays in Peoria. Be true to your own sense of humor and be content if you find it funny.



I will never "master" this, but I hope to get better each time. That's all I can ever ask. At best, you can predict what you think is funny and hope that audiences agree. Strangely, I can say I found what we made yesterday to be very funny to me, if no one else. I haven't laughed this hard in many months. It was such a visceral release for me and I was even light headed by the end due to a lack of oxygen, which my Fiancé says is something I should be used to by now. George makes me laugh. My words, reinterpreted and improvised by George always play out better than what I come up with on my own. Yesterday was no exception. I think if I turn on the marketing machine in a way I haven't in a while, this could get George seen a lot. We'll see…



Now the post production end of things lies heavy on me. With footage of George and a sea of green nothing behind him, it will take a lot longer than usual to finish post on this project. So much of what we're doing with this one is in that green nothing. I will have to supervise a design, character creation, music, and sound design with a far more professional touch than my previous clips to date. I am not going to do it all myself. I love to collaborate with artisans that are far better than me so that the whole equals more than the parts. Since it's a green nothing, other people's contributions can shape the whole piece beyond my limited vision.

Immediately following the shoot, since we were way early, I started digitizing footage and got both cameras set before My Sexy Fiancé Veronica-- arrived and we departed for the legendary MARIE's PIZZA in Wadsworth Ohio whence I came. My lifelong friend Maurice was in Ohio from Seattle for a funeral and since I have a fresh set of wheels, we drove up to have a nice dinner. My brother was already there and we waited out the extra long Saturday night dinner rush, but good conversation doesn't care if you're waiting in line or sitting at the table.



Since the day's shooting was so successful, I was on cloud 9. What I failed to realize is that by comparison to the last shoot I directed, this was a much more pleasant experience. I think I might have been demoralized by the overall experience of the last shoot. Some parts were good, some parts were disappointing, but mostly it was a bland experience as opposed to the excitement and energy I had almost universally experienced on ever previous shoot. What's even weirder was that this shoot had the smallest crew since my original BACK OFFICE days, as it was on a pre-lit greenscreen stage with wired mics and a mixer/video village already set up. Micah ran sound, slated, and also shot Behind the Scenes footage. The D.P. merely pressed record on the 2 JVC HD-110's and walked away since there can't be any camera movement. I still had a blast, and I don't have that ego of having too many people on set. I'd rather have what we need and I only care about the final product, not the way a set "should" be. Some of my dearest friends feel they have to have a big crew, but it feeds their egos more than the story at hand. I will never compare myself to Kubrick, but sometimes once the stage was lit, the mics were checked, and the camera was loaded, there was no one else on set but him and the actors as he operated the camera himself and kicked everyone else out entirely. What a hack! He must be a loser.

I just finished eating leftover Marie's Pizza and I am stuffed again. We got home late last night, but it was a fun time. I haven't seen Maurice since the Horrors of War screening in Seattle in 2006. I hadn't seen his nephew since 2003. Time flies and I'm in the vortex.

HD, HDV, HDMI, HV20 and 42 Inches of Acronyms

The past few nights I worked late on a moonlighting edit gig. I made some extra money, but they were some seriously long days. I took Friday off and I had one or two things in mind to do. Mostly I wanted to watch movies, but that didn’t really ever happen, which has been the norm for the past few months when I get free time. I had no Sexy Fiancé tonight, which is usually when I get to watch movies. She’s an actress who doesn’t like to watch TV or movies or plays. Weird.

I wanted to experiment with some HD footage and HD clips I have done in the past year and see what they look like coming out of the HDMI port of my camera, the Canon HV20. So I loaded up some footage on a timeline that was shot 1280x720 on the JVC HD110 camera. I needed to up-rez it to 1920x1080 because the Canon HV20 doesn’t take any form of the 1280x720 (aka 720P) variety of HD. I chose the Red Giant software called INSTANT HD and set it to the highest possible quality settings. It took 2 hours to convert all of 7 minute worth of footage.

The first clips were a title sequence to a new instructional video I did for a cable access show playing in Dayton, Cleveland, and soon to be Cincinnati. I used background shots from a recent trip to Manhattan by a friend who took my HV20. I have only ever played clips on a computer in HD, and usually highly compressed Windows Media Video (WMV) HD files. I wanted to see what the HDMI port from the camera did and how it looks.

Problem one came from the EXPORT TO TAPE when I tried to get my newly created 1920x1080 (aka 1080P) footage back out to tape. I use the CINEFORM ASPECT HD codec and plug in for Adobe Premiere Pro and it has worked flawlessly for me in the past, but today it just didn’t want to go out to tape. I had to convert them all to M2T files, the MPEG2 for HD file format. Then I used the HDLINK program to lay it out to tape.

So I finally got footage in HD (thought technically HDV) onto tape and it was now time to plug it in HDMI to the big screen and take a look….



WHOA. Staggering quality of images. It looked like the HD broadcasts I’m getting off the air it was so sharp, clear, and the text (my favorite part of high end HD footage) was crisp and perfect. This is why HD is the future. I love film and the grain of real celluloid, but this IS the future. It has arrived.

I made the right choice with this simple little camera, and I love my HV20. It will serve me well for the next few years as a BEHIND THE SCENES camera et al. The JVC HD110 camera footage up-rez’d to 1080 looked just as good. This is proof that a good piece of glass and manual controls in the right hands will create superior images.

If I had any doubts about what I am about to do with my shorts, going HD and the various formats, cameras, etc. – I do not have those doubts now.



A few other tidbits…

I judged another Dublin High School film festival last week. That was fun and the quality gets better every year. There was one standout short, one called “Delineation”. The two kids who made it knew who I was and had seen some of my stuff online. The best compliment I ever got as a judge came from them. They had had seminars and speakers all day and they told me they wished I had been one of them. They said I was the only “filmmaker” they had heard of in Columbus and that they weren’t interested in people from broadcast. That was high praise. I then proceeded to tell them that I make my real money from broadcast commercial work.



Sony Picture’s CRACKLE.COM™ came through with an interview they did with me for their site. That was cool. I love their site. They’re playing with some new things and I hope to ride their wave a bit. They did however do a server change and I lost 21 million views in the reset. It only reads 240,000 views. I never thought I would ever write “only 240,000 views” and sound disappointed. Surprisingly, YouTube™ has been the breadwinner in terms of stats. Although as I write this, Yahoo Video™ has brought me a spike of 37,000 views in one day yesterday, so maybe I shouldn’t pick a winner just yet…

I can’t think of anything else relevant to talk about. That’s all.

-= PJR

The Return to Normalcy

After my previous depressing post, I figured I’d take a swing back into the more positive realms. Tonight, the ice cracked enough that I got some real writing done. Knowing my actor buddy is coming back to Ohio from LA got me a bit excited about shooting something, an idea hit, and the wellspring gushed forth. I got 5-6 new ideas and when it rains it pours.

Knowing I have a bluescreen stage and HD cameras at my fingertips means I can get a lot done on short notice with minimal crew. We have the bluescreen pre-lit with the overhead lighting grid, so I unfettered by restraints and unable to come up with any procrastinations or obstacles. Making something with what you’ve got sure helps when you work at a production company with a studio, lighting grid, and plenty of C-stands and flags.

I bought a $10 antenna and I can now watch TV in full HD. It’s staggering the difference in image. I can even tolerate commercials. I haven’t seen a TV show whilst it was broadcast in nearly 4 years. In 2004 we gave up cable TV and I have had no regrets. I usually watch a show on the Internet or rent the DVD’s when the whole season comes out. Now, with this $10 ancient antenna and an ATSC tuner, I can get digital high definition versions of the local channels. I bought a $3 extension for the coaxial cable to run the antenna from on top of the bookshelves upstairs, but hot damn does the picture look sweeeeeeeeet.

As for a long awaited ROSSDONIA report, I have bad news. My little terrorist “V” caused quite a problem. The little bastard knocked down my 750 gig portable hard drive. It only contained EVERYTHING I’VE EVER DONE. Yes, it primarily acted as a backup, but there are many irreplaceable files and videos of my stuff. I learned my lesson a long time ago, so I do have tape backups of everything, but it becomes a horrible inconvenience to re-digitize everything and organize it all in folders, etc. and the frames won’t 100% match in existing timelines, etc. I was quite irate concerning the little guy, but by the next day, we were pals again. I have a hard time staying mad at the little bugger. He’s my baby boy. Cousette is another matter. She’s pure evil. Furry evil. She sheds on my clothes and I think she’s working on a plot to have me sent to the gallows.

HD-DVD is dead. All in one week Netflix, Best Buy, and Walmart have all gone BLU-RAY exclusive. What sucks is that the cheapest player is still $399. That’s too expensive. I don’t want to have to shell out that much for a freakin’ player, although the Fiancé wouldn’t mind a PlayStation 3. We’ll see. I have $100 in gift cards for Best Buy, but even $300 for a player is way too much. My HD-DVD player is now more like a high definition version of my laserdisc player.



I saw the new INDIANA JONES trailer. It doesn’t look great to me. The style seems to be a geriatric version of LARA CROFT and that’s in no way a good thing. I am not a fan of THE LAST CRUSADE, the previous INDY adventure. I love Sean Connery and there are some amazing moments in the film, but overall, it was more joke and no plausibility. The magic of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK was the subtlety of the FX and the supernatural elements throughout, so that the big FX ending was more “realistic” or at the very least plausible. The fact that this movie ** SPOILER ALERT** is about aliens and Area 51 sucks. I’m ready to believe a 64 year old Indiana Jones can still swing on a whip; I’m willing to accept certain quasi-religious, physics defying objects can do something unrealistic; But I am not prepared to get into a form of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS and flying saucers to be mixed with an Indiana Jones movie. That’s just too much. The FX in the 2 LARA CROFT/TOMB RAIDER movies was so over the top, unrealistic, that they made me near vomit in the theatre. The sole saving grace was the gravity defying breasts in tight outfits of Angelina Jolie Mrs. Pitt. The Indiana Jones one liners aren’t helping too much either. This will be a great movie to see once, at a midnight show with a packed audience, then soon forgotten. That’s my prediction.

Airline tickets are purchased. Cameras scheduled. Hotel and rental cars reserved. In May, I’m helping to shoot a documentary with a Holocaust survivor. This project represents a shift in my normal modes of interest as a filmmaker, but sometimes you are moved by a story and have to do something. I will give this project everything I’ve got. The Fiancé has put in years of research on this and we’re set to take care of business. I’m going to really throw down for her and make her project as good as it can be. This will take every ounce of skill I have acquired as a shooter and an editor, but maybe that’s why things have happened the way they have. I am prepared to do exactly this, so it’s as if fate intervenes and puts you on a path.



My 2nd Videomaker Magazine article is out and this time I was able to get a hard copy. I dig it. They are treating me well and I am proud to be writing for this mag. This gig has now lead to a few other side jobs, but it has really helped with sales of the book on Amazon.com so everybody wins.

The writer’s strike is over. 24, which had 8 completed episodes, is on hold until Jan 2009. Whether they scrap what they’ve shot and start over, or try to continue is in the air. Exec Producer Joel Surnow, the most republican producer in Hollywood, has left the show. As long as Jon Cassar is still with them, they have a chance. LOST has returned and they really do appear to have the next 3 seasons mapped out with a plan. The reveals, and flash-forwards are a rejuvenating experience compared to the inconsistencies of the earlier seasons as they tried to really figure out what they were doing. THE OFFICE looks to return in about 5-6 weeks. The writers got an increase for a bigger piece of the “new media” profits, and everything seems to be resolved. Like a trains slowly restarting after a respite, the industry may be able to correct itself. In June, I doubt SAG will strike. This was too painful as it was. That’s my prediction there.

Well my fellow conscripts, the master control program demands we get on our light cycles and out run the tanks.

End of Line.
HIGH SCORE - PJR

my new article in VIDEOMAKER MAGAZINE

Transitioning Naturally, a piece on using the camera to get from one scene to another without pressing a button in the computer. It's in the March 2008 issue of the magazine in print but also online for free.

The article/video features actors Rhoda Cronebach, Bryan Michael Block, and Brandy Seymour. Camera work by TJ Cooley.

CLICK HERE to read article online

and

the video of it is here (CLICK HERE)

A Tale of Two Filmmakers

I surf the web a lot. I find myself becoming more of a lurker and less of a proponent of the bad aspects of online culture. Since I am a filmmaker, I tend to read a lot on filmmakers, even local ones, or local people who aspire to become filmmakers. Recently I came across two absolutely amazingly bad things that warrant a mention on the Sonnyboo Blog.

#1. A fundraising snafu from hell.

If you’re under 18 years old and make a blog entry or web page asking for money for your movie, it’s fairly forgivable for the ignorance of doing so. If you’re over 30 and claim to have all kinds of experience as a line producer, D.P., etc.; you look more like an idiot for not having the slightest clue.

It’s illegal to solicit any funds publicly. Even if you are making a documentary that won’t make a penny, it’s illegal. The sole exception is if you are a 501C3 designated non profit corporation, as in filed and approved by the state. If some cheese nut moron wants $25 and $100 investments, then he probably hasn’t gotten an attorney to set up the corporation, especially a 501C3 non profit, which is not an easy status to obtain.

What I love best are these poorly thought out ideas on how to best raise money. Why say that if you “invest” $25 you’ll get a free DVD? That immediately puts you in violation of more than one SEC (that’s the Securities and Exchange Commission, a federal organization) law. If you simply SELL the DVD’s for $25, you aren’t in violation of anything, except the obvious IRS tax evasion laws for not registering the money as income.

People who put in $100 or $250 are entitled to a free DVD of the finished movie! But wait, what if there isn’t enough money raised? What if the movie never gets finished? What happens to the money? If a percentage of it is spent in pre production, how much is returned to investors, if any?

I just can’t imagine anyone, even a family member thinking this is a good idea. For someone who claims to have successfully run several businesses, I find that to be as likely as having been a D.P. or line producer on $1 million dollar budgeted indie films. It takes near total incompetence to try to raise money this way.

#2. Hypocrisy, a perpetual state of being.

What I also enjoy is when other peoples in the film community alert me to the goings on of other local filmmakers. As if I am some conduit of information on everyone with a camcorder within a 20 mile radius. Of particular note, several of my colleagues sent me a link to a blog that was rife with irony and idiocy, an alliteration twofer.

You see, this particular poster has on several occasions criticized yours truly for writing articles with helpful tips for filmmakers based solely on my own experience. Of course, I get my book of articles published on Amazon.com, as well as with Film Threat, Internet Video Magazine, and get a job writing articles for Videomaker Magazine, but I guess the advice is not worthy of this person. That’s okay; I’m more concerned with the opinions of professionals, not amateurs with camcorders. I’ll try to hold my tears inside.

So the offending blog post is a list of tips for beginning filmmakers. It starts off pretty normal and good. Something about getting good audio is important, and then it just goes spiraling into ridiculously bad advice and even worse, just plain insults for no apparent reason.

Of particular note is he advice not to watch instructional videos or take advice from people who claim to know what they are doing… which kind of negates the entire list of filmmaking tips. Irony defined. Like many of the writings of this person, their list of filmmaking tips reads much more like the Uni-Bomber’s Manifesto and probably won’t be of much use to anyone not already under heavy medication, and definitely not for anyone serious about making movies.

I guess my one friend was right; this was more of a fan letter than anything. I guess this psycho really does want to be like me. Writing a bunch of tips for filmmakers when I’ve been doing that for years, and this person even has criticized me for writing things like this myself. Weird.

Combine this with the hypocrisy of criticizing filmmakers for calling themselves “award winning” and putting on his online profiles “won some awards”, going after people for “shameless self promotion” and his latest video has gratuitous cleavage shots of a girl. Put all this together and we’ve got ourselves a very confused, possibly psychotic individual.

Another wise friend of mine said it best. “Crazy people don’t know that they are crazy.” Indeed.

I guess there will always be psychos and morons in the filmmaking world no matter where you are. Just use your head a little bit and you can easily avoid being one of them. Unless of course, you are insane. In that case, take your meds and put on the nice jacked with extra long sleeves until the white van arrives.

Femine Hygiene Product

Your faithful narrator has calmed some in the last week, although there are still some bumps in the road. I’m still working a lot, but not as much as I was. This looks to be a very light week, and I have made personal headway on the Derek’s movie ETERNAL.



I’ve been working on a teaser trailer for the Derek, albeit several weeks past due. Thanks to the tutorials for After Effects from VIDEOCOPILOT.NET
, I’m reinvigorated on playing with motion graphics. I have not had an interest in doing anything new or fun with motion graphics in about 2 years, maybe more. Now I’m learning to play in 3D space, a feature that has been a part of the program for several versions, but not something I did much with. Now I’m tinkering, toying, and manipulating almost for fun, but with a distinctive deliberate look in mind. Since ETERNAL is a horror film, I’m going grungy with the titles I’m using. As is always true for me, I’ll spend 3 times as much time on sound design, music, and sound mix than I will with a picture edit on this trailer.

It’s very hard to focus though. When I spend all day editing, the last thing I want to do when I get home is edit more. My brain is fried and what little I have in the way of wits are whittled down to a brain dead weasel that solely wants to watch TV, which I generally fail to do because I feel I should be doing something more productive. I wind up pseudo working, writing something for publication, or something semi-productive. The zone I am in at this point hurts some and frustrates a lot.



Still, I manage to meander my way through doing some things creative. I feel as though my temporary reprieve from production will soon end and I will go full tilt boogie into several projects. Most of my ideas are awaiting better weather and a healthier budget than the usual $354 pieces of garbage that invade YouTube and online sites.

Let me take a moment to say I am constantly impressed with the generosity and mindset of someone like Sean McHenry in our local film scene. Here is a guy who imparts wisdom, loans equipment, helps out, and participates on every level with the filmmaking community. Often I learn something new from Sean, even though our aesthetics and likes in film are more often opposite than similar. This is someone leading by example. I’d follow someone like Sean. Even though his love is for more artsy films and prefers film over video, Sean seems to be very accepting of other points of view and just overall, a positive influence on the community as a whole. I barely know Sean, but I am impressed by his character more than anything. It’s people like that that influence me and remind me to be generous and giving to other filmmakers.

One thing I’ve got to give to the online forums and boards is that they often help me unintentionally. Someone asked a basic question about renting a theatre and my response has become my next paid article I’m writing for a new magazine. I had no intention of becoming a freelance writer, but sometimes you fall ass backwards into something good.

After my birthday party with the family, I was handed some blasts from the past. I had forgotten that I was a press whore even when I did music. If I had a clue, I would have exploited these press clippings into something. At the time, I was naïve enough to think that the snow ball would become the avalanche on its own. I didn’t even send a press release at the time, but I think I called someone on the phone. The press must have thought it was so cute that some kid wanted to have a story on them in the newspaper because they made a CD.



I don’t miss being a musician at all. My cousin has taken the mantle and run with it, and he is doing things far beyond what my skills could have ever allowed. Ian Ross plays guitar and writes songs very well. Sadly, I had achieved the simple goals I set for myself. With filmmaking, the goals are much loftier and possibly unreachable, but I shan’t give up.

The great Bob Dylan once said, “There must be some kind of way out of here.” I can only hope I’ve found my way out. I have. Suck on it, psychos.

- Peter John Ross

Sometimes I Don't Mind Spoons...

Another birthday came & went. I am 36 years old.... Still young because 40 is death. For the first time I feel older, but not old. I don’t know if I can eloquently describe what I am thinking on the subject. I guess, I don’t have to face maturity anytime soon and I have no intention of it.



The best birthday presents are the ones you don’t expect. Mine was My Sexy Girlfriend Veronica™’s verbal slip up, which happens to be the name of this blog. In the game of chess that is dating her, getting her to admit to things like this are a treasure trove of endless teasing and reminders. I need to invest in a portable MP3 audio recording device so I can relive these magical moments over and over again.

We had a little poker party the day after my birthday. It was low key and fun. A few friends and others came. I barely played myself. I won the first few hands of the “practice” rounds, got some change, and then never made it back to the table. Scott cleaned up though. I’m glad he made it out to have a good time.

“V” was being himself and I realized he had never had to cope with more than 3-4 people in the house at one time. It was a new & terrifying experience for him. He wasn’t too bad, but at the end of the night, he started getting very bad when there was only 2-3 people left. I mentioned that I wanted to do some kind of video project featuring this barrel full of personality, and actually 2 different people gave me an idea that I might just wind up using. If I can be so inclined, as well as fate granting me more time to work at home as opposed to the studio, then “V” might become an online icon of feline adventure.



Last night in the car, on my way home, I was hit with an old idea that somehow never got written down. I have a text file of several ideas for movies, shorts, dialogue, and just whatever. It’s something I go to when the well is dry. Usually, everything, even the bad ideas, makes their way on this list. Sometimes the initial idea and the final product don’t resemble one another, but it did originate here from this list. I originally tried to give this idea to someone else for their project, but eventually that whole thing died and my bit was never used. Now, I can convert it to a pseudo sequel to the HOW TO DEAL WITH TELEMARKETERS shorts…

I’ve been struggling to come up with less ambitious shorts to try to do to not only get myself back in shape as a director, but also to fill the void left by the writer’s strike. I don’t think it’s an accident my overall views on all sites has gone up exponentially in the last 3-4 months. People are tuning away from TV and reality show hell and finding their entertainment online.

So it looks like HD-DVD is dead meat. With Warner Brothers defecting to Blu-Ray only, and Universal & Paramount’s exclusivity deals ending – Sony finally gets to win a technology war. Too bad it puts me off, but I’m not going to shell out $399 for a cheap Blu-Ray player. I happily concede that Blu-Ray is a superior format with 50 gigs per disc versus HD-DVD’s 30 gigs per disc, but I don’t want to pay $250 more to see it. I don’t get into the gaming systems, so a PLAYSTATION 3 is not a bargain to me. So the war may be over, but as I said before – the consumer lost more than any conglomerate of corporations.



That’s it I’m working up some projects in my head and fermenting the ideas before getting camera and crew together to hammer out anything in the real world. Life’s stresses are calming down and returning to normalcy. Maybe I can hone in and focus some of these ideas into real projects.

Peace,
Peter John Ross

INVETERATE INTEREST IN INGENUES

Something weird happens. On Yahoo Video ™ every now and then, my views just skyrocket. Thanks to TUBEMOGUL.COM, I can look over a compilation of stats from 12 different sites at any one time. Me likes that. I’m just confounded by the numbers. With CRACKLE.COM, I can understand because I can trace a spike in views to being featured on their main page or getting an “Editor’s Choice Award”. With Yahoo Video, I have no discernable reason why one day I go from hundreds of views a day to suddenly thousands of views. Sure I added a video of my cousin Ian playing guitar , but that wasn’t it. This past Thursday, my views spiked and it wasn’t a single video, it was 20 of them just went BAMM! And I had a lot of people watching a lot of my movies.



Could this be in response to the writer’s strike and how people are turning to the Internet even MORE than they were for entertainment?



My opinion on the writer’s strike going on in the U.S. is this: The WGA is over compensating for their bad negotiation for DVD rights a few years ago. They know they screwed up that deal big time because NO ONE anticipated that TV on DVD would be such an enormous profit making machine. Now that everyone is aware that the Internet is the future, they are over compensating for the potential lucrative opportunities on the web that aren’t there….. yet but they will be. Of course, the greedy producers and companies don’t want to share more than they have to.



So I’m of course siding with the writer’s on this, but the real problem this will cause, at least in my hypothesis is this: They will both lose. The mob is fickle, brother. The majority of people won’t know or care about the strike or who’s right and who’s wrong. They want their empty minds filled. They will get satisfaction one way or another. The Internet and the YouTubes out there already carve a giant hole into the 18-35 year old demographic. Where will they go now when the regular shows and movies aren’t available? People like me are itching to fill in that gap and we will. The old business model of TV shows and movies will only degrade at an accelerated rate thanks to the strike.



Anywho…



I got my crane in, so I can do some cool jib-like shots whenever I feel like it. I loaned my HD camera to my boss as he goes to New York City for the weekend. He’ll get some HD shots of the city with my Canon HV20 and we can use it or not use it as needed. I love having a tiny camera that catches such amazing images.



I’m trying to formulate my production schedule for the year. We’re still posting ETERNAL here, plus I’ve decided to push for a final sound mix on GOODNIGHT CLEVELAND by the end of February so it can be considered “done” and we can move on. My Obsessive Compulsive Disorder demands that project be finished, my work kept and friends satiated. Aside from that, I’m trying to budget and time out production on at least 3 slightly more ambitious shorts and also a feature. I want to return to my workaholic ways as well as start working out on my new gym membership. I need stamina to keep up with the plans I have.



Using the new Adobe CS3 suite has some minor challenges. I miss the way I could make a DVD straight off the timeline. That was handy, now it has to be exported to Encore to make a folder. Other than that, it’s handy and cool. I toyed with After Effects a bit using the 3D environment that’s been around for years, but I stopped creating title sequences several years ago, so now this was of interest to me to have it so easily done.



The great and powerful Johnny Wu is stopping in this Tuesday afternoon. I love hanging with my friend Johnny. He doesn’t come to Columbus as often as I go to Cleveland, so this will be fun. His movie RAPTURE is skedded for a premiere in the not too distant future.



To celebrate the breakfast nook now with new cushions, as well as My Sexy Girlfriend Veronica ™’s now completed remodeled bathroom, we’re having a party for my birthday this week. I’ve been anti-social for some time. I don’t think this will change much overall, but at least for this, I’ll entertain some of my pals as we play poker upstairs and perhaps some HD-DVD will play downstairs.







I have My Sexy Girlfriend Veronica ™ addicted to TWIN PEAKS. This show, from 1990-1991, aged very well. It’s not as out of date as I thought it would be. Mark Frost and David Lynch did something historic with this show. They each complimented each other’s style. Their respective voices can be clearly differentiated via the two lead characters, Kyle MacLachlan’s Agent Cooper and Michael Ontkean’s Sheriff Harry S. Truman. Lynch used Cooper to translate his esoteric, often abstract ideas into English as he explained it to Frost’s Sheriff Truman who needed to understand, as did the audience, how a midget, a giant, and a guy named Bob somehow relate to a normal thought process. Two bits of trivia often not associated with TWIN PEAKS, #1. two of the lead actors were the two lead actors in the film version of WEST SIDE STORY, and #2 there are at least 4 actors who later had recurring roles on SEINFELD.



Off to work I am. As much as it chagrins poor “V” who wants to play fetch like a dog….



- Ross

HOW I WANT MY FUNERAL

Life goes on. I don’t know why, but it does. There are good days and there are bad days. Sometimes the days a dull, others are filled to the brim with excitement and adventure. Who knows what causes the patterns?



I’m contemplative these days. The death of someone you know can cause a reflection on many things. For me, I know I want to make it clear and public how I want my post-mortem activities to be.

#1. No church service. It would be hypocritical. I have beliefs, hardly agnostic, but I’m not officially a member of the Bahai faith, so even then, I doubt it would be 100% appropriate. If, god forbid, my family has a say – let them know it’s WRONG. It’s not in any way what I wish for. A funeral service for me should be at a movie theatre, not a church. I worked at a movie theatre when I was 16 and I was a manager until I was 22. In the past few years, my relationship with movie theatres is either as a patron or filmmaker, and surprisingly more and more often exhibiting something I made.

#2. No tears or sadness. My funeral should be a good time. I’d want people to talk and drink and have a great time. Meet new people; hang out for hours just talking and telling stories. That’s what I would want for the people that know me to do. There's time enough for tears.

#3. Telling stories about me is essential. I would want everyone to get up; even the shy people and I’d want them to tell one good story and one bad story about me. I’d want to be remembered as I really am – flawed. I don’t want to be idealized as a saint or good person. Like every human being, I’m not perfect and I’d rather be thought of as I really am (or was if I am dead at that point).

#4. I’d want my body cremated. No need to have expensive caskets or some plot in the ground.

#5. My earthly possessions should be dispersed at the funeral as a Yankee Swap kind of giveaway or possibly via a movie trivia game show type scenario where people win my DVD’s if they answer the Star Wars trivia correctly, and the grand prize being the rights to my screenplays as yet unproduced or my pillow. I don’t know which one I value more at this point.

Death does not have to be morbid and for me, I’d much rather make my funeral a fun event in which many people walk away with cool prizes and a smile on their face. I don't mean to be calloused, but I think that the death would be sad enough without memorializing mine with a depressing and sad service even though I'd still be the center of the show. When I take the center stage, it's more my style to try to have a good time. Why should my funeral be any different?

PRECOCIOUS PREPARATIONS

I feel like 2008 will be the year I get back on my game. Like an ice melting, my creativity has begun to open up some. I have already begun to lay out plans for quite a busy year. I know I have vowed, in this very blog series no less, to never make a short again. That has been broken twice before with ALWAYS LATE and HOW TO DEAL WITH TELEMARKETERS, but the latter has taught me an important lesson; you have to practice to keep the skill-set up.







On deck this year, before I make another feature, I want to get my game on. So if weather permits, I have a snow necessary short that I have ALWAYS said I would make if I got the right amount of snow and could pull it off. After that, I have 2 more shorts I’ll do in the spring when the weather warms up. One is a period piece, but even more difficult than World War II – Medieval times with a castle. CGI is a wonderful tool, but I can’t make up costumes and suits of armor. After that (or before that mayhap) is a contemporary piece that’s actually an intro to a feature I intended to write & produce, but not direct. I can use it as a stand alone piece either as promotional ala HORRORS OF WAR, or it can just be the end all total piece. I built too much on the Horror genre with connections to ignore it since the next feature will be a comedy to let the genre lie.



My Sexy Girlfriend Veronica ™ has been developing her own feature and I have been solely acting as an advisor. In May, we’re going to go to Vermont to tape in HD an interview with the author of the book she’s adapting. It’s a true story of a Holocaust survivor and I had the idea of getting some longer form interviews with her about her experience together. We can make a nice 15 minute documentary to start, let her take it to film festivals and use that to garner interest in a narrative movie based on the book. Not ever movie should have a sample scene or trailer shot of it. Since this is a true story and we can ask the person who experienced it, to me it will be more compelling to focus on the real person. The interviews can be compiled to a feature length documentary later, but we’ll focus in on a 15-20 minute segment to really hook people.

So there’s short #3 or #4 for 2008 before my next feature.



We’ve already started taping video blogs of My Sexy Girlfriend Veronica ™’s journey writing her screenplay. They start hitting online soon.



I purchased a new microphone, a crane, a poor man’s steadicam, and even my new 24P HD camcorder so that even my BEHIND THE SCENES will be HD in the New Year and everything will be a little better in quality than my previous work. I’ve been idle too long. The stagnation of working, even as an editor, has stiffened my joints.







All else is well in Rossdonia ®. “V” wanted to participate in the taping of My Sexy Girlfriend Veronica ™’s video blogs, so he even made the cut. I often wondered how he would perform on camera. I’d like to do something for web video with “V”, but I’m not sure what. I don’t want to do something retarded like adding a human voice to him, nor do I want to do some generic “hey look at my cat being cute” video, so who knows? I can’t think of anything, so I’ll just let him be himself on camera with other projects.



Peter John Ross, Esquire

my first Videomaker Magazine article

My first article I've written for VIDEOMAKER MAGAZINE has come out. You can see it online HERE (click here). There is an accompanying video which worked well, although I sold al rights to it to VIDEOMAKER MAGAZINE when I did it.


Having a column in print and being a professional writer for a video magazine feels good. I can't complain. I like it a lot. It's a resume builder, but also fun to do. This cannot hurt when talking to investors and distributors to say, "Oh and I've written some articles for VIDEOMAKER MAGAZINE." Validation and professional recognition all serve the higher purpose of making the movies and telling the stories I want to make.



We've got the new bathroom 95% done. And my half of the kitchen is nearly done. I got a new pantry since the condo lacks sufficient storage for our needs. Since the Xmas Eve gig paid out, I went ahead and ordered the navy blue cushions for the breakfast nook. Not sure why it takes over a month to deliver them when the website says "in stock", but it does. I have a place to eat again that is not either over the stove or sink, nor is it on a desk in front of a computer monitor. Once again, there is a kitchen table and chairs. I've already had one script meeting at the new table and I'm minutes away from a second.

Life doesn't suck, although I'm still distraught and sending out empathy to Scott. It's one of life's reminders that time can be precious. I've spoken to Scott a few times and I hope he realizes how much people care about him. Everyone who's heard about his tragedy has offered whatever help that he might need. Very classy, people can be sometimes.

That's all I gots at this time.

Peace O' Readers of the Blog,
Peter John Ross, Esquire

all these moments will be lost in time like tears in rain

Acolytes of Boo, I have dreadful news. Scott Spears (www.scottspears.net), the cinematographer on half fof HORRORS OF WAR has tragedy hit. His wife Tracy passed away last night. No one is sure yet what happened, but my heart goes out to Scott and Tracy's families. She seemed to have passed peacefully at home. She was barely 42 years old.

I have been asked to take over the business, Production Partners Media in the interim while Scott deals with this. I am happy to do this for him, as there is little else I can do. These tragic events never allow for people around them to be affected, and left helpless to do anything about it. At least I can contribute in some small way by filling in at work, doing some of Scott's work for him, and keeping the business running.

For those not in the know, Scott has been hiring me so much in the last year that he has provided over 90% of my annual income in 2007. He rescued me from poverty. That's what Scott is like. He's more generous and helping than anyone else I've ever known. I can think of no one that deserves this less. Scott is a great guy, and I don't mean that in the generic, he's really just okay kind of way - I mean Scott redefines generosity and even mindedness. It tears me apart to hear him so distraught.

My thoughts go to the families. For anyone wanting to send flowers or cards for Scott, send them to his attention here at the studio:

Production Partners Media
520 Enterprise Dr
Suite C
Lewis Center, Ohio 43035

Hold on to someone or something precious. You never know when you might lose it.

Peace,
Ross

Some Guy Ruined My Xmas

So I was set to enjoy the extra time off work, maybe get caught up on some movie watching, and possibly get to the screenwriting, re-writing that has been awaiting me. Nope, that was not in the cards for your faithful narrator. As has become the norm, some guy from my past had to swoop in with ultimatums and needs and take away the relaxation and peace in the world of Boo.

It started with an email, and then after that, another email. After panicked phone calls, it was time to take action. On Christmas Eve, I was asked to do an emergency edit on this guy’s TV show that needs to go out on the 26^th with all expediency. So I bailed on My Sexy Fiancé Veronica’s ™ family gather on the Eve, and awaited the beta tapes so I could start the work. And I waited. Then more waiting. Finally I called the guy back, and he said he wouldn’t be able to get it to me until Christmas morning. So I bailed on the rest of the family activities on Christmas day, and then awaited a phone call that came at 7:30PM. By then, I and the lovely woman had gone to Champps for our annual Xmas homage to American Consumerism. Plus, our entire house was in disarray as we re-arrange, trying to prepare for the new breakfast nook, etc.

I didn’t get the footage in my hands until 9:30PM. By then, we were knee deep in the re-arrangement of our entire first floor and basement. Furniture has been released into the wild, and let go. Desks have been moved from one floor to another, and very little is left undisturbed. I will miss being able to see sunlight, as my laptop and desk has been reallocated to the basement. The upside is the increased security for my DVD collection and computer equipment since the basement has a decent lock, aside from the new security systems for getting into the condo these days. It is a sacrifice, giving up a window and sunlight to the woman, but I’m more or less trading to get the kitchen back. My Sexy Fiancé Veronica’s ™ desk and computer setup was moved into the kitchen some months ago and we have not had a table or chairs to eat at for over 6 months.

Lately, I’ve been cooking a LOT more than I used to and there’s no place to eat. I’ve been eating over the sink or stove, or in front of a computer screen. I hate it. It’s like being perpetually at work unless you go out to eat, which has taken its toll on my bank account. If I had a ton more money, as in a spare $1,000 lying around, I would have bought an actual restaurant booth for our kitchen. They look so cool and it would be like going out to eat in our own house every time I cook.

I’m about to start work on this project that ruined my Xmas. I am charging this yahoo through the roof for wasting my time and pissing me off. He seems pretty cool though, as he tried to pay me via credit card on Xmas eve, but I don’t take credit card. I’m a person, not a company; even Sonnyboo Productions is a façade, not real.

At least I didn’t stuff myself with holiday meals, although I am still a bit hungry… Where are my holiday buckeyes?

Peace.

PJR

My Daily Varieties of Hollywood Reports

This blog is dedicated to some of the goings on of big Hollywood movies, not the lowly indie or micro stuff I usually write about.



First off, because it’s the most personally significant – BLADE RUNNER: THE FINAL CUT. BLADE RUNNER is my favorite film of all time. I don’t make movies like this, nor do I even aspire to on some levels, but this remains my favorite movie. The density, depth, intellect, and all the things that a movie should have – this has. I went HD-DVD in the high definition wars so that I could afford to see this movie in HD. I was content to wait for the end of the wars, but this single film pushed me over the edge. I was NOT going to be buying a 5 disc set twice. That’s too much money. One way or another, I wanted it in HD and I wanted to see it in HD. Last night this dream came true.

At work, my Amazon.com order ($27 including shipping) arrived with a 5 disc set, 5 versions of the movie on 3 HD-DVD’s and 2 more standard DVD’s filling over 9 hours of documentaries, behind the scenes, deleted scenes, and all the things a fan-boy like me could ever desire. One thing omitted was a UK famous documentary called “On the Edge of Blade Runner” which was the most comprehensive documentary and history of the movie made – never officially released in the United States for rights reasons – and missing interviews with star Harrison Ford – who both hates the movie, his performance, and director Ridley Scott. The key word in that sentence is “was”. The new, nearly 4 hour long documentary made for this DVD blows that UK one away. DANGEROUS DAYS combines outtake footage, rare 16mm promo footage, even video taped clips, and puts all of it together with newly made videos – including Harrison Ford, to air out some laundry of my Seminole 1982 favorite.




I haven’t even put in the other 3 versions of the movie or listened to a commentary track (of which there are many), or even the other extras disc. Last night was a religious experience of watching the movie in HD with surround sound and turning the phones off. I was struck by the beauty, depth and look in HD-DVD, but I was equally shocked by how similar the movie was to all prior versions. It wasn’t drastic changes, all very small, subtle ones. A few lines of dialogue were changed or added, some small shots inserted here and there, but overall it’s the same as the 1992 “director’s cut” which was not endorsed by the Director, Ridley Scott.

What I love in the movie is the cinematography, lighting, set design, and performances. Harrison plays an unlikable protagonist, and does so with range, unlike most of his characters. Rutger Hauer steals the entire movie away with an incredibly diverse, deep character with many lines improvised, but done so well. I like that the movie, like the best science fiction, presents complex ideas, and ideals, and lets the audience deal with them. The dialogue is always underrated because it doesn’t treat the viewer like an imbecile. The main concept relates to how man-made people, androids/Replicants, are “born” as adults, and can’t handle the complexities of emotions that come with the human form. They have a 4 year life span as a safety net when they inevitably go wacko, so to me the idea of thinking how well most 4 year olds deal with their emotions – translates to how these Replicants act on screen. Brilliant how they make me do some work to think about what I’m watching, but they don’t do it by cheap gimmicks or bad filmmaking technique – just old fashioned narrative.

I can’t wait to finish watching what else is on here. Best $27 ever spent on this one. $27 for probably 20 hours of content – a definite bargain.



IMAX – I AM LEGEND/DARK KNIGHT IMAX TRAILER

Now I saw someone’s cell phone bootleg of the new BATMAN BEGINS 2 – THE DARK KNIGHT trailer online. Now this was not even truly a “trailer”, as that one officially came out Sunday in HD online and it was okay, didn’t do much for me. I’m not a huge Batman (or even DC Comics) fan. I like the movies, but don’t love them. I watch them, might rent, but never on the “must own” list.

I saw BATMAN BEGINS, liked it, but didn’t convert me to a Batman fan. I feel blasé about the new movie enough to watch the trailers, which for movies I’m looking forward to – I tend to try to avoid any reviews, spoiler news, trailers, etc. So for this, I watched because I’m not that excited and had 6 minutes to kill. The IMAX only trailer, which was shot in IMAX no less, even in poor quality blew me away.



When it came time to see I AM LEGEND, I paid the almost double admission price to see it in IMAX, not even to see that movie in IMAX – but this Batman trailer. That alone was worth $12. It was amazing, not only the picture quality, sound, whatever – the whole scene from the upcoming Batman movie – freakin’ SWWEEEEEEETTT. The music and scene were like a clip straight out of HEAT (1995, dir:Michael Mann). No hint of this being a comic-book movie. Even more so that BATMAN BEGINS, the concept being “realism”, they are taking this one even more into that arena. Even with an outrageous comic book villain like THE JOKER, they have a grounding in reality – no CGI, nothing too comic book-y, just straight on story. Wow.

Then I watched I AM LEGEND. Good movie, liked it, but what a mistake putting that trailer BEFORE the movie. I AM LEGEND is not a face paced movie, and I liked that. It wasn’t a balls to the walls action movie.



PETER JACKSON will be involved in THE HOBBIT movies. His plan to do 2 movies is a go, and he is officially and completely signed to EXECUTIVE PRODUCE the movies. Will this be a hands on or “in name only” Executive Producer job? Could it be like Spielberg ghost-directing POLTERGEIST and 100% controlling post production without the figurehead director? Or will it be Tim Burton “producing” BATMAN FOREVER, where the name was attached but he wasn’t there and there ain’t a fingerprint on the movie from him?



The plan is to break THE HOBBIT book into 2 movies by also adding a ton of prequel material for LORD OF THE RINGS onto it. There are chances to make this tie very well into LORD OF THE RINGS. In THE HOBBIT, the character of LEGOLAS does not appear, but he could easily be written into it as a cameo. His character’s father plays a major role, so adding him into the scenes into the movies make sense, plus there’d be better continuity than the books even had.

I hope PJ directs. Fingers crossed – PJ I hope you bring this home to the world that wants your magic back in 2010 and 2011.


Peace,
Peter John Ross

Aristocrats in the Kitchen

I grow weary. Very weary, my acolytes. It seems the work never stops for the Boo. I have piled work loads upon my shoulders and there are not enough hours in the day to do them all. I will endeavor to do so, but it has taken its toll on your faithful narrator. He has need of peace and rest, but there is none to be had in the foreseeable future.

As I'm putting the touches on edits of high school football championship games at night (after the edits of the Derek's ETERNAL), I found the time to write and shoot a new article/video for VIDEOMAKER magazine, and all of this is on top of the daily grind of working Monday thru Friday.

The latest article was something of a challenge since I did not write it to suit something I already had, so I had to create the content as well as the most painful part – shooting myself introducing the video.



I am not comfortable in front of the camera. I prefer being behind the camera. I can't memorize lines and anything rehearsed becomes a painful effort. I pity those who have had to shoot me doing anything like this. Doing an interview is on thing, as that is spontaneous and more like being in front of people, which I have no problems with, albeit it's not the most enjoyable thing for me. I know I'll never be an actor because of how terrible I am in videos like this. I have never had the inkling to act, and seeing the footage makes me even surer that's a good thing.

I had TJ shoot for me on this for both the interviews and also the demonstration videos. My Sexy Fiancé Veronica -- got her friend Rhoda Cronenbach to help and TJ pulled in local actor Bryan Michael Block into the mix. Everyone did some good work for me. I used my new Canon HV20 for the entire thing, trying out the HD in 24P 1920x1080 mode. Overall, I dig this little camera. It's got a good look to it for a consumer grade camera with some big time features.

The article and video for this one is intended for the March 2008 issue. My first article/video is due out in January 2008, so I can't wait to see how that turns out. Having a regular article series in an international publication is no small feat. I am kind of floored by the whole thing. I would like to parlay this into something else. It definitely establishes a lot of credibility to be an acknowledged writer for a magazine in your field.




I do love TUBEMOGUL. What a great way to keep up with all my sites and videos. It simplifies so much of what I'm doing to market my movies. Being able to keep track of all these sites from one single location makes analyzing easier. From this vantage point, I can see what movies of mine do people like, not like and if changing search key words/metatags changes the views, etc.

Sonnyboo Stats as they are today December 15^th, 2007:

CRACKLE.COM 21,643,442 total views

YAHOO VIDEO 161,910 total views

YOUTUBE 65,829 total views

METACAFE 57,306 total views

plus several other sites that are under 5,000 total views

On some sites, I average hundreds of views a day and others, 2-3 views a day. The marketplace has become convoluted with video sites and content. YouTube acts as the dumping ground for every half witted attempt at home videos and Jack-Ass rip-offs, or worse – meaningless skate boarding videos. I'm surprised YouTube has garnered any views for Sonnyboo, but my subscriptions are constantly on the rise, and none of them are fake accounts I made up to increase my stature! Sony Picture's CRACKLE.COM so far has gotten me the most views thanks to support in their main team. It is true, it's who you know. Thankfully, someone on their programming team has been a Sonnyboo fan for a while and they really dig my movies. 25 awards out of 58 videos ain't bad, and I think it's cool. Many of my old movies find new life on Crackle.com.



Thinking of a time before the Internet, I can't imagine there being a way to get thousands of people to see your short film. Imagine a land before time, the ancient era known as "the 1980's" when VHS was king and metal bands roamed the earth. If you made a short film – who would see it and where? The obscure film festival perhaps, but beyond that who would see such a thing? There was no digital projection, as there was very little on the planet with "digital". In today's world, we can make a movie and within minutes have it uploaded to the Internet where anyone can see it with a click of a button. We must never lose site of the changing world we live in. I am grateful for these new opportunities as the industry warps and bends to the new technology.

There are people with feature films that never get 50,000 people to see it. So having a few movies that have several MILLION views, can only make me proud of what I've done. Anywho, time to get back to the amazing world of High School Football games….and then editing on a video for VIDEOMAKER. This is supposed to be my "day off". Maybe I can pop in an HD-DVD during my longer render times.


Peace,
Peter John 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

Amazonian Illness and the Sweetness of Demons (in High Definition)

Acolytes of Boo, your faithful narrator has been ill. The last several days have been a flurry of mucus and imbalance. I lost 2 days worth of work, so some of my recent extracurricular paid work is now filling the gap of everyday responsibility.

I have written my 2nd paid article for VIDEOMAKER MAGAZINE. Now I have to shoot an accompanying video. Luckily, my new job has afforded me my own HD camera to shoot with. I am the proud new owner of a Canon HV20 camcorder. It's my new home VCR for MiniDV, but also a decent enough "B" camera for several types of HD shooting. I can do true 24P 1920x1080 HD shooting with this and it even includes HDMI output. I will shoot the newest VIDEOMAKER video solely with this camera to put it through the ringer and really try it out.

The Canon HV20 is pretty much a consumer camera, but the 24P mode in full HD as well as the "CineMode" color that makes that more cinematic look – all conspire to make this camera a well sought after, sub-$1,000 acquisition. I've been aware of this camera for over 8 months. I debated over getting another $159 camcorder to use solely as a VCR at home since my last $159 camcorder was stolen. I did not want to spend the same money for the same thing. Fate intertwined with my decision and I was able to get the Canon HV20 for $699 and a huge part of it was picked up by the new job.



The camera came in last night, so I hooked it up, shot some very quick footage and also digitized it. The techie stuff to say is that I'm using the Cineform Aspect HD codec with Adobe Premiere for my High Definition projects. I had to use the 1080i 60i settings because of the 3:2 pulldown, but I have no delusions about ever going to a film print, so I don't care about the extra frames. I'll have more to say about the camera when I do more than aim the lens at "V" and "Cousette".



I got my HD-DVD player in last Monday. Two DVD's were in the box, 300 and the Bourne Identity. I went to Microcenter to buy an HDMI to DVI cable; it was $50. I specifically asked the salesperson – will this work going in an unorthodox direction? My 30" does NOT have HDMI input – only component, S-video, composite, and computer DVI. I was going to go HDMI out of the HD-DVD player and DVI input on the monitor. He said it would work – I get home, hook it up and NO it does not work. Depressingly, I plug the component red, green, blue analog cables in. I was expecting this to basically be the same or very slightly better than a regular DVD player. HELL NO. The 30" monitor immediately registered a 1080i signal coming in and I got to see color, detail, and depth I've never seen on my own monitor before. I was floored. Damn, this looks good. I immediately upgraded my Netflix account to take HD-DVD's and ordered a few titles to see in style.

Futurama Returned. The DVD of Bender's Big Score hit and I am in heaven. All of the original voices and writers are back. I always felt it was unfair that Family Guy got renewed, but Futurama did not, even though both shows were neck to neck in the ratings when they moved over to Cartoon Networks Adult Swim. It seems the "jokes per minute" has slowed down slightly from the original series – but you know what? It was extremely high, so the new pace works fine. It's now in widescreen and also – playing it via my HD-DVD player in full surround sound looked freakin' amazing on the big screen. I can't imagine and HD version of this looking any better since there was no artifacting or loss in detail.



I'm finishing off my first edition copy of Stephen Colbert's "I AM AMERICA, AND SO CAN YOU!" which makes me chuckle a lot. I think you have to have a certain sense of humor to go through a few hundred pages of sarcasm, but I certainly love it.

Nothing much new to report on the new features. I'm in a holding pattern while I try to carve out the time to work on screenplays. Being sick does not help. It gives me time, but unfocused, irrational, needy, and dehydrated – not conducive to trying to work out bugs in a script.

Editing progresses on ETERNAL. The Derek has made his way over to Rossdonia to check up on a few scenes and give some input. Mostly, I want to get the assembly completed ASAP. Then we can narrow down our focus to The Derek and me working to fine tune and finesse the whole thing together. We're no where near that point yet. ETERNAL is one of the best looking HD features I've seen so far. Alex Esber, Adam White, and Aaron Smith did some exceptional work.

I can't focus. Being sick sucks. I used to love it when I was a kid because it meant I'd be home watching TV or movies all day. Now, I hate it because I love what I do, so work isn't a bad thing. The one thing of interest about being sick today is that my little terrorist, "V", has been doting on me. He knows I'm not well, and he looks after me. He curls up at my feet like he's protecting me. Vster sleeps on my legs all night and sometimes burrows in on my shoulder to make sure I'm okay. Cousette basically stays away from me when I'm sick, much like My Sexy Fiancé Veronica --, who got me sick by the way.

Statistical Perpetuity For the Misers

Once again, Indieclub comes through for me. Not the local chapter, but the national/international forum with a suggestion from a fellow user who suggested I put my movies out to all the web video sites via a new service that tracks all your videos as well as lets you upload to 12 sites simultaneously. Now THAT is something that helps me out. I have a ton of videos, shorts, news clips, etc. so this service saves me a TON of time getting the videos all up in a single shot. Plus, the main purpose of this service is to track the views and statistics, so I get a twofer which I love.

Now for another short film update on the current stats on my experiment – HOW TO DEAL WITH TELEMARKETERS. On the site that it was made for, Sony Picture's CRACKLE.COM, I have not yet cracked the 5,000 views barrier. It may not make it for a few months at this rate. On Yahoo, part 02 has not cracked the 30,000 views ceiling, but this one seems to be a matter of days (possibly hours). Overall we're at a combined 42,260 views on Yahoo Video.

When I last checked in on these statistics I made mention that one of the more interesting problems is that the series HOW TO DEAL WITH TELEMARKETERS is so popular it's being stolen, as in literally the files themselves are being re-uploaded on multiple sites, including the ones they are already on – and getting sometimes more views. Someone uploaded them to a site called THATVIDEOSITE.COM where someone had uploaded the movie in Windows Media and allowed everyone else to download it as such and distribute all over the video sharing sites in the world. I have mixed feelings about this, as I don't like losing control, but hot damn a lot of people liked the movie and wanted to share it.

The major coup that was done for me by "Anonymous" was to Ebaum's World. Part 02 has gotten 110,134 views on this site alone in less than a month. Whoa. That's heavy and luckily they didn't shave off the Sonnyboo.com at the end either.



That puts my total at over 200,000 combined views of all the segments from every site playing them as of today. There might even be more with the uploads by the "anonymous" users out there.



The BEST OF SONNYBOO DVD has been released on Amazon.com. That makes my 4th product to be released on their site and not as an "Amazon Advantage" where I set up an eStore. This is via Amazon.com's own limited run service. This was presents a new way to get small runs of books & DVD's out there to the peeps. I don't have any idea how many will sell if any at all. I've already been selling the 'Best of Sonnyboo' DVD for a few years, so most people who would want it already have it.

Why do I feel like I haven't accomplished enough yet? Because I'm motivated to try harder, I want more. I have not achieved all of my goals yet. I reach the small plateaus, but I'm still on my way to Everest. I think with making movies, I will never feel "done". With music, I did reach certain goals, and I achieved what I set out to do in some respects. I stopped "feeling" it, stopped being hungry.

I came across a VHS tape whilst making a cleaning overhaul in my basement. It was a compilation of video material from my first two years in high school with some friends. They were really awful attempts at making short films that I forgot existed. A flood of memories came together when I saw this footage. I recalled pulling everyone together to do this and had ideas on how to cheat with editing by using cognitive reasoning, so one actor that was a good guy, via editing, also played the bad guy. We cut it together with two conventional VCR's.



I remembered being very pleased with the result at the time, but I never tried anything like that again until 2000… Why not? I put music first. I tried that for as long as I could and where I failed miserably with music was not being able to effectively communicate my ideas to any audience. With movies, right out of the gate, no matter what technical problems there were – I could get my ideas across far more clearly. That is why I made the switch from songwriter to moviemaker. Seeing what I did when I was 14 years old shocked me into a realization that I should have listened to the muse more clearly then.

What does my muse tell me today? Never mind the bullocks, naysayers, and stalkers – just keep doing what you are doing. That's what I feel today. With all my heart, I know I'm doing what I am supposed to do. Ne'er does a doubt creep in. Ne'er doth negativity get through the shield of support I have from friends and family. I never dreamed I could have the support I have at this point.



I backed up a bunch of DV shorts on DVCAM master tapes. I had been tinkering with old short films, so I liked to have a tape backup instead of just files on a hard drive that may or may not crash. Better to have hard copy back ups on tape – and DVCAM is a great mastering format for standard definition video.

That's all I have for now, my droogies.

Keep on keeping on, I know I will.

- Peter John Ross

FORMAT WARS II : THE WRATH OF HIGH DEFINITION

Yesterday I ordered my HD-DVD player, thanks to a link on the main page of AICN. For myself - it was singularly deciding to purchase the BLADE RUNNER 5 DVD set. I know I don't want to buy it twice, especially not in standard definition, so I had to commit. I chose HD-DVD. Here's why:

For those who are more casually observing the HD-DVD versus BLU-RAY war, know that this is a clash of the titans. Microsoft versus Sony…. Again. First it was video games with Microsoft's Xbox versus Sony's Playstation 2, now the latest incarnations of the same gaming systems are casting a net over the high definition video market. The Xbox 360 can play Microsoft's HD-DVD's and the Playstation 3 can play BLU-RAY DVD's.

In the early 1980's JVC went toe to toe with Sony for the coveted (and then brand new) home video cassette market. There had never been a home video market before that time. Sony had a proprietary format called Betamax or "beta" for short and JVC had the slightly inferior VHS cassette. It looked bleak for a time as many households had one of these or sometimes invested in one of each. Sony held off on licensing their format to any 3rd party manufacturers. JVC did not. Soon the price of VHS VCR's dropped in very high percentages. JVC won the war and Sony dropped the Betamax cassette within a few short years.

Did Sony learn their lesson? Sort of. They are licensing the BLU-RAY manufacturing to other companies (like Toshiba) but they are charging way too much, so no one can make a cheap BLU-RAY player. Microsoft, not wanting to lose they way they did with Xbox versus Playstation 2, lowered their prices and made a very public claim that this Christmas, HD-DVD players would be under $200…. And 3 weeks ago an older model Toshiba HD-DVD player even sold for under $100 at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Circuit City.

Many industry insiders felt that with the Sony Playstation 3 being the clear video game winner (over Microsoft's Xbox NOT the Nintendo Wii), that would make Blu-Ray the winner in the race for High Definition movies. In the war for consumer dollars, the inclusion/exclusion of PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360's in the statistics, along with disc counts are all ploys and very hard to figure what is or is not really the status of whose winning. Everyday a new report comes out claiming that either Blu-Ray or HD-DVD is outselling the other.

Right now, the consumer is in the losing end of the format war. Sony owns several movie studios at this point (Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Pictures Classics, Columbus, Tri-Star, MGM, United Artists, etc.) which means they are putting all of their titles, new & old exclusively on their own format without offering them on HD-DVD. They made deals to get exclusive BLU-RAY for the home video giant – Disney and Pixar Animation. In the 1990's Disney home videos on VHS were considered the new "American Babysitter", an autopilot for holding children's attention for stretches of time to allow parents to have a break. Each edition and re-issue of a Disney title could be accompanied with a "ka-ching" sound of Michael Eisner's pocket. Bagging this library of movies on the Blu-Ray HD market would have almost single handedly ended the war with Sony as the clear winner. They already had 20th Century Fox on their side.

Until Microsoft bagged two elephants. They got Paramount and DreamWorks' entire library to go exclusive with HD-DVD where Universal had gone exclusive before them. This leveled the playing field. Warner Brothers have not committed to one format yet, but they are much like us consumers – waiting out to see who wins before making a commitment. Warner Brothers released the Stanley Kubrick movies in both formats recently, as a compromise, but manufacturing 2 simultaneous formats will be expensive. It's really really really expensive for a consumer to buy 2 different players – especially when the BLU-RAY players are so pricey.

Money talks. The "sale" price for BLU RAY at $399 spoke the loudest to me and I'm sure the majority of consumers. Sony screwed up once again with their greed, although Microsoft is just as greedy, they are smarter about it and most importantly - have the deep deep pockets to take heavy losses now so they can reap the reward$ later.

The 11 free HD-DVD's total will ease my passing into the HD realm (especially since 3 of them will by Stanley Kubrick high definition discs). I've had a 30" LCD for 2 years, but this is my first step into the BLU RAY/HD-DVD fray.

In my opinion, the price this Xmas will end the High definition debate. Microsoft wins. HD-DVD will quickly surpass Blu-Ray from now till December. Consumers would rather save $200 now than get 7-9 gigs more quality later.

Of Appellate and Peanut Butter Jamming

Well, this seems to be it. My movie has been on shelves for almost 2 weeks. The sense of finality has come. The HORRORS OF WAR chapter of my life seems to be over. I'm relieved and glad. This has been my life for so long that I can let it go. I have some final words on the subject, and for the most part it can exist as something in my past.

Now that it's in the public eye, there are some reviews and opinions coming in. Exactly as I thought – the blue Hitler cover is great, but it is greatly misleading and not really right for our movie. One review on AMAZON.COM clearly states a warning to buyers not to be fooled by the cover into thinking it's a war epic. Now I understand the distribution companies thinking. A great cover will get people to rent it or buy it. And their attitude is simply, "We've got their money already, I don't care if they like the movie or not." This is simply an ignorant way to run a business like this anymore. We live in the "information age". By getting one person's money and disappointing them, they can write a bad review on the Internet and prevent 10-20 more sales or rentals from occurring. An honest approach in marketing is always best. Misleading people or attempting to make your movie into something it isn't will alienate the audience.

Most other reviews are either positive or dreadful with very little in between. People either love it or hate it. Another one of my predictions has come true which is the criticism over the storyline being jumbled by the non-linear story telling. Our "Directors' Cut" is the story in a linear, chronological set of events that builds character development and plot in a better fashion. I'm hardly surprised people are less than enthused with the cut currently for sale on DVD. Following the characters or story makes for an effort in the cut on DVD. The words that will live on in my brain forever are "I don't care about story or character; I just want more action and explosions in the first half of the film…" and I was proven right again.



I will trust my instincts a lot more in the future. I will never allow myself to be painted into these corners again or I will choose not to make the movie at all. My instincts on storytelling, audience response, and marketing were all spot on. The next feature will not suffer the same fate as HORRORS OF WAR. I learned a lot and I am still proud of the movie, flaws and all. I'm still getting emails and pictures from the DVD on shelves (or rented off shelves I should say) from BLOCKBUSTER's all over the country. I still get chills from that. I'm going to stop reading reviews of the movie on all sites. I feel I have learned what I needed to from it and I know how I feel about the movie as is. Time to truly move on.

Speaking of which, I'm re-reading the feature length script for my next feature. Working with other writers has its benefits. I'm 95% committed the project, but the screenplay needs work. I will get more involved in the next few weeks with writing, re-writing, and then casting. I'm targeting early 2008 to start shooting. I have a better vision for what this needs to be tonally than what I did 4 months ago.
Editing trudges forward on ETERNAL for the Derek. I don't have enough hours in the day for all that needs to be done. I'm knee deep in editing work all day, then trying to manage to find time to write my articles for VIDEOMAKER magazine, plus produce videos for them now too. My first article hits in January along with my first produced video with them. Now I'm doing another one on transitions. Speaking of which, I have to get back to writing THAT today too. My weekends aren't free of work, and no longer periods of relaxation – just more work I didn't have time for during the week.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=RANT=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Here is a situation brought to my attention. If a filmmaker is online begging for donations – AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE!!! THEY DON'T DESERVE YOUR MONEY! The cost of making simple movies is nominal in the day & age of digital. If you want to be a filmmaker bad enough, you can make it work within your schedule and finances. The worst thing in the world is when these crazy yahoos pull a number out of their butts and say, "I need $10,000 to finish my movie." There is no budget; there is no breakdown of where that money will be spent. Don't give them a dime; you're only wasting it on someone who won't be able to accomplish their goals.

If these wannabes can't raise $10,000 to finish a project that cost $35.67 to shoot, they ain't gonna spend that money wisely. It's obvious they don't have a grasp of film financing and budgeting with things so lopsided. It's like donating cash to a crack addict, not helping an artist achieve their goals.

Too many whiners out there are expecting life as an artist to be easy. It's not. Quit crying, baby, grow up, and play the cards life dealt you. Seems like everywhere you go, there's some girly filmmaker crying about "I have to work full time and because I have rent to pay and food to buy, that somehow prevents me from succeeding as a filmmaker…." Well pussy, life is hard. There is no magical pussy filmmaker fairy that will grant your wishes. Make great movies within your meager budgets. Find the balance and harmony between your world of employment and desires to make movies. If it's meant to be, you'll find the happiness and money and opportunities will find YOU. No one wants to donate to some crybaby that whines about the world being against them. There are no short cuts and nothing will be easy. Life as a filmmaker ain't for wimps. Pussies need to stand up and take responsibility for their own actions & situation.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=END RANT=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-



Life in Rossdonia moves forward. The new bathroom and kitchen will begin anew before the new year. Investing in our condo can't be a bad thing. "V" is verboten to be in the bathroom, a.k.a. the MAGIC ROOM. I have no explanation for this, but "V" is obsessed with the bathroom. Just being in there makes him purr and relax. He can be mad as hell, but 2 seconds in there and he is relaxed, purring and positively glowing with happiness. With the floor being up and the walls exposed, we don't want him eating things that will hurt him, so his Magic Room time is limited. Sometimes he cries at the closed door.

At night, he sleeps on my back. Cousette is not allowed on the bed or "V" will attack and pounce. Jealousy abound in Rossdonia. I try to make it up to her during the day.

I'm trying to cook more. I want to make more of my own food but until the kitchen gets remodeled, this will be difficult. I'm also starting to re-aquire some of the DVD's stolen when our house got broken into. So far, buying used DVD's, I'm spending about 20% of what it cost me to buy them the first time. FUTURAMA was the first thing I wanted back because I watch it so much on DVD. It helps to have extra income from book sales (just got a royalty check foro TALES FROM THE FRONT LINE) and my editing class.




Look, I won ANOTHER award on Sony Picture's CRACKLE.COM! I can't turn around without getting some kind of accolade. How many awards till someone can call themselves Award Winning? Answer: one.

I've re-made the "Best of Sonnyboo" DVD for Amazon.com, which will soon have it for sale on their site.



I've lost steam and must get to paid writing now.

Trailing off into confusion,
Ross

Spielbergian, a new adjective

I'm currently reading a book of collected interviews with Steven Spielberg. I am a huge fan, but I have not watched a lot of his movies or even watched too many behind the scenes etc. from his flicks in a several months. This book gets me jazzed because it ranged from his early twenties to his mid fifties and seeing what his mindset is like.




Some of my favorite quotes thus far....
"Anyone who has had as much responsibility as director as I have, HAS to be a business man. They can't avoid it."

This rings so true. If you want to work with money, you have to accept the business responsibilities as well. It's amazing how few amatuers get this. Art and business collide in film more so than any other artform, even music. If you want to have the money, you have to comprehend the business end of the movie business. There is nothing wrong with movie masturbation abstract art-house crap, although I am obviously not a fan. Just don't whine that the general public doesn't give a rat's ass or that for reasons that are apparent to everyone except the performance artists wannabes - nobody wants to invest (lose) money into that kind of movie. So stop whining like little school girls and make your movies and be content with your station in life. No one chose it, you did. Get a hanky, whipe your nose, and stop complaining that life isn't easy.

and the quote I agree with the most...
"I'm still fighting so I can be good in my eyes. When I'm good in my eyes, I might even quit. I don't see that happening for years. I haven't satisfied myself with a film yet. I haven't made a film that I think is great yet."

This is something I can relate to. I am not in a race with other filmmakers, only myself. The only critic that truly matters to me is my own self reflection. It doesn't hurt when other people criticize or bash a movie I've made. I already have my own ideas about what went wrong, and even right with my own movies.

The reason I stick with the filmmaking is because I have not mastered it or come close. I have not achieved my own self imposed goals, not even close. This will be a lifetime of heartache, struggle, poverty, and yet I could not be happier. I know what it is I'm here on Earth to do, and I'm doing it. I'm both perpetually striving to improve, and I am also completely content with the hardships that this entails. Every single disaster is just a challenge to overcome. I can’t imagine complaining about any aspect of my lifestyle. I chose this lifestyle. I chose to be a filmmaker. I chose not to complain about being somewhat poor (although my fortunes have changed in that arena recently), and I chose not to whine about whatever curveball life gives me. Recently I was robbed of several thousands of uninsured DVD’s, cameras, camcorders, and various other sundries. Our bathroom deteriorated and it will cost several thousands of dollars we don’t have to fix it. Even with all these personal tragedies, life is good. I’ve got an unconventional family that I love, that loves me. I am on the verge of a very productive year of filmmaking. My first feature film sits on shelves at Blockbuster Video across the country.

I’m a filmmaker. I chose this life. There’s no greater compensation than being able to put my movies out there to be seen. I cannot fathom complaining and crying about “woe is me! This is so hard!” Stop complaining and make do with that you’ve got, wimps.




The book comes from the same series as my previously mentioned STANLEY KUBRICK INTERVIEWS. I also have Ridley Scott's book waiting in the wings and Quentin Tarantino, George Lucas, and Francis Ford Coppola on order. All used and very cheap (average price $6 including shipping).

I feel like watching the original RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK soon. That film is damn near perfection as far as I'm concerned. I recently re-watched BACK TO THE FUTURE, and that too is continuity perfection.

Obviously, I’m gearing up, motivating myself for the next film adventures. I have several new stories to tell cinematically and this is the beginning of the process for me.
Peace acolytes.
PJ
JR
PJR