Procrastination Kills the Kitties of Creativity

My weekend filled with monotonous, but necessary works. I got ahead on our big commercial gig whilst simultaneously digitizing and working through a ton of material for The COWTOWN Film Series. From conforming video files from various sources to digitizing tapes and DVD’s, sorting through it, scheduling, and then timeline assembly, I did about 44 hours work from Friday to Sunday night for the COWTOWN Film Series, while still laying spots to Beta SP for broadcast throughout the Midwest and Eastern Seaboard.





Putting these shows together is by no means a small job, but quality assurance means a lot to me. I want to put on good shows. Because someone told me how cool the title sequences are that I did, that actually got me a little upset. I appreciate the compliment, but now I’m left wondering what I to do when by week 10 they get bored with those animations. So I spent my Friday night creating a whole new set of animations and graphics for the show intros for the remaining 7 weeks. So now I have a plethora of animation and title sequences for everything. I even added dates and show times to the trailers, an animation introducing the Q&A sessions, and a titler at the head of each show. I’m big into professional grade showmanship, although most of the animations I created are simply templates slightly altered from VideoCo-pilot.net (gotta give credit where credit is due and Andrew Kramer deserves most of the credit).



I even did all the PRE-SHOW timelines and exported them to MPEG files for the Compact Flash Video player I use for the loop. I love this cool handy device. No moving parts, just plug it in for power, connect the audio/video cables to the INPUT of the DVCAM deck, switch the deck over to LINE IN, and then pop in the COMPACT FLASH card with MPEG1 or MPEG2 files on it and away it goes, looping for an eternity. Running it through the deck saves me any additional hookups or switchers, plus I can manually control the volume levels on the deck for the LINE IN. I want the PRE-SHOW to be a much lower volume than the real show.



For the PRE-SHOW, I added a trailer for JIM LEO’s upcoming feature. Even though it isn’t a part of COWTOWN, he’s been attending every week. One other thing I added was a few new slides to the slide show. I’ve always had one for INDIECLUB COLUMBUS because they send out the notices about COWTOWN, so it’s the least I can do. I’m not particularly a fan of the local chapter, but hey scratch my back, I scratch yours. Business is business. I also added one more Paul Landis-made slide for a production company because supposedly there was a FACEBOOK notice about being “banned” from the COWTOWN Film Series. No one has been banned. It’s open to the public and anyone can attend. Who I chose to put in the PRE-SHOW is really up to me. Several people PAID to be sponsors; others generously donated time, support, word of mouth, or short films.



So someone I barely know tells me there was some FACEBOOK or something entry stating that their current status was “BANNED FROM COWTOWN because they weren’t getting a free slide. What the hell are they doing for the screenings? My understanding is that this same yahoo called me the devil and then wonders why I’m not feeling inclined to give them a free spotlight on the big screen in front of 50-100 people a week. Gee, I wonder. Whatever, I’ll put their slide into the shows. Sheesh.



My Sexy Fiance Veronica ™ could turn into Columbus’ own AIN’T IT COOL NEWS for Ohio movies. Since I prefer to watch the features for the first time on the big screen, she’s my beta tester when I lay off the timelines to tape. She watches for glitches and mistakes or even computer error (which has happened a few times) and the tapes stop, or the hard drives stop, or there’s skips in the program, etc. She sees all the movies, pre-show, and short films/trailers, and the features up to 3-6 weeks early. Since she works and can’t make it before 30-45 minutes into each COWTOWN Film Series, she loves getting the private screening. I suggested she blog about the movies before they screen and build a mini-web-spoiler thing going so Columbus could really be a mini-Hollywood. Like if the plot twist was the ultra-lame “she’s really the killer’s SISTER!” DUH-DUH DAHHHHHHH! Oh my god, it’s as if they saw HALLOWEEN iV! Maybe not. No one really cares.







As it is this week’s upcoming feature JOHNNY APPLEWEED kicks ass. It’s not a slapstick comedy or Cheech and Chong proportions. It’s got a bit more depth and seems more akin to the abstract-lite Richard Linklater films like WAKING LIFE or moments in SLACKER. Regardless, I think people are in for a treat with the short films too. When Max’s SAD KERMIT video plays, my belief is that people will be laughing so hard, I’ll get equal parts complaints and praise for programming it.



I have shows 1-9 (out of 10) pretty much complete, 1-5 are even on tape already. There are a few procrastinating or last minute tinkerers and slackers in my midst, but we have set deadlines. I shan’t be very forgiving of those who miss the deadline…. PHIL. These dates and times are not superficial, as I need to clear the decks so that I can put my OWN focus on completing the feature for November 13th. Obviously HORRORS OF WAR is done, but IN THE TRENCHES OF AN INDIE FILM is not. I’m debating that show order now and think the film itself should go first for those who haven’t seen the movie; the documentary goes second and doesn’t spoil anything.



Once I plug the holes in a few of the newer timelines (and secure some more blank DVCAM tapes), I’ll be set for the rest of the run of COWTOWN . I have placeholders and other things in the sequences, so everything in terms of mapping and planning has been completed. I wanted to get ahead, and now I have. I have two projects in post production to nail, one small, one huge, but neither insurmountable.



If I can just manage to get the day-job commercial work to tone down some more, then I’ll be in a position to get everything done in order. Thanks to the economy, that looks likely to be sooner rather than later. In the past year I’ve learned some amazing time saving tips and workflow short cuts with all my software that I so arrogantly thought I had mastered. Nay, I say unto thee. Someone can always teach you new tricks and cut corners.



I want to schedule two small shoots in the next few weeks. I guess, since my inspiration has returned I might as well kick the ignition and go for it, right? I mean when the divine muse gives you a gift or two, you should really pay attention and light the fire. I’m lit. I want to burn like a forest fire while the heat remains.







Happiness is a warm gun to some, but for me Happiness is a cold glass o’ Paul Newman’s Own lemonade. Here’s to ya Paul. Rest in Peace. I’ll have two gallons to support your charities every week.





- Peter John Ross

Catch Up, Cowtown, and Commercials

Now for some more good news. I got a strange call the other day. The BARACK OBAMA campaign wanted to pay to advertise at the COWTOWN Film Series. The fact they had even heard of it blew me away. Now, I have been remaining quite Switzerland in terms of politics, so I must adhere to that here and turn them down. I cannot allow the screenings to become political in that regard, no matter how I feel about one candidate or another. I’m just blown away that they had heard of the screenings and wanted to advertise with me. We must be doing SOMETHING right!







Week Three of COWTOWN went well. Whenever Dino Tripodis can’t MC, I know have two very hot ladies doing the intro. I used to want to do the intros and take center stage, but I guess not only have I mellowed, but I want to work the projection booth and make sure things run smooth to get the show started.



SUMMER NUTS played very well. The mockumentary style rarely gets done well on the low budget, but this one nailed the Christopher Guest milieu better than any I have seen. We had a decent crowd too.



The audience always seems to contain the same core 25-30 people from our local film community, which makes a nice base for attendance, and the rest, and sometimes majority are the general public. Yes, I’m disappointed more people from our “film” community don’t attend. There are supposedly 200-300 people on various email lists. As was discussed the other night, it starts with the leadership. No matter what people say, it’s always their actions that speak louder than words. When people say they care about filmmaking or that they can put personal differences aside, it’s the actions that clearly show that they cannot. People follow the EXAMPLE set by the leaders, not their words. When the leaders only care about themselves and their own screenings, that’s what people take from them. If that’s what the leaders are like, people who are followers tend to be the same way, or at least feel the actions are condoned.







This is why another, much more positive and professional filmmaker group has formed in Columbus. I’m not involved, but I have been asked my opinion on aspects. I want no part of being in the leadership of a filmmaking group, but thankfully, I would like the opportunity to attend a real meeting of actual filmmakers doing bigger and better things. FINALLY, a core group of people are taking action instead of just complaining quietly in dark corners. If something is wrong, then FIX IT. Don’t just complain endlessly that something won’t change itself.



Some of the filmmakers with shorts or features in the series are attending every single show, whilst others only show up for their own screening. It says a lot about community and the interest in maintaining the “team spirit” aspect of the series. Micky Fisher and Johnny Wu have driven up from the opposite ends of the state to support screenings that weren’t their own.



I’m not angry or upset by this. I don’t know some of the filmmakers that well. These are NOT my first film festival or showcase screening, so the attendance from filmmakers is not a shock, nor is their motive. Some people just feel like all the work for a screening SHOULD be done for them, as if they are that good. In other cases, they just reach a point of being sick of their movie or never had much confidence in it, so they kind of DON’T want people to see their movie out of shame or self consciousness from the terror of actually finding out that the film is NOT as good as they had hoped.



GET OVER THE FEAR. Be proud of your movie. No movie is perfect. Every director dreads the moments that don’t work or where some blemish exists aesthetically. Become a “glass is half full” kinda person and embrace the unadulterated reaction of the audience to your artistic creation. No, not everything will go as you expect, and the amorphous beast known as the mob/crowd mentality can be different every single time the movie plays based on the collective mood and sway of the audience. Take it all in and enjoy the ride.



Some filmmakers go their entire lives or careers without having the movie play in front of audiences in a real movie theater. It’s an HONOR and a PRIVILIGE to exhibit on the big screen. This opportunity doesn’t come around that often. I cannot wrap my mind around the concept of NOT getting thrilled and fired up about a film screening. Now, bear in mind, I cannot sit through another screening of HORRORS OF WAR, but the idea of putting it in front of a paying audience again gets me jazzed. The adrenaline kicks in from the interaction the audience to the flickering images.



UNCLE PETE’S PLAYTIME has been playing very well at COWTOWN. So far UNCLE PETE plays very well at all the live venue screenings. I made these intentionally to be viral videos for the web. I’m surprised that they hit so much better in a theatrical setting. Every audience screening has yielded much more positive reaction than the singular viewing experience online. The infection of laughter makes it okay to be amused at the political incorrectness of the piece.



I’m, immersed in TV commercials as I dub over 100 spots to tape. I spent all week making the timelines so I can mechanically and mindlessly record them out to tape. Simultaneously, I will be digitizing and creating the shows for pretty much every single COWTOWN show that’s left. I want to get them done and not worry about it week to week. Procrastination kills the kitties of creativity.



That’s it for now kiddies. Back to the massive working weekend of catch up, COWTOWN, and commercials.

Press Whore! The Unfiltered Facts

Okay, so week two of the COWTOWN FILM SERIES played out. Yes, we had a drastic increase in attendance. Over 100 people attended this week. It didn’t hurt that the Columbus Alive did a feature story and interview, as did Uweekly, the OSU print paper. See, I sent press releases about the COWTOWN FILM SERIES in early August, and then did follow ups at the very beginning of September for the Sept. 11th premiere. The early bird gets the worm, as they say.







Now, why both papers wanted to interview me, instead of the filmmakers that have movies playing escapes me, but press is press. I’m helping get attendance to THEIR movies, so it all works out. It’s not like I haven’t been pushing these filmmakers to get their own press. I’ve given pretty concise road maps since this summer on how to get these articles & interviews for themselves. So far, I think 2-3 might actually get some (or try to get) printed press on their own.



When doing short film festivals in the past, I would get angry about the apathy, but I think I’m past that. When you don’t promote, and no one shows up, I won’t be the one embarrassed. I’ll simply have that “I told you so” look and I might even skip out on the after party and not work hard to get anyone to head over to the bar. I want to align myself with winners, not losers. By this stage, the inhibitions and complete lack of ambition hardly can come as a surprise from some of the filmmakers whose work I present, especially when I do so much promotion for them already.



Since it’s predictable, I’m not sweating it. My focus & attention go to the ones who ARE way into this. Some of the directors of other movies are coming EVERY SINGLE WEEK and even some other filmmakers locally are making the Thursday night screening habitual. This makes me very happy. The number of these actors, directors, writers, etc. surprises me even more. There exists a core group of pros and semi-professionals who are looking to support each other, truly, in actions not hollow words.



One thing has been a constant in life and that is that one thing you can rely on is the unreliability of others. That’s why I take so much personal attention to press, but also presentation. Very few others have an interest in making a professional, good looking theatrical experience. I go to film festivals or meetings where the projector and DVD players are not tested, and nothing sucks the energy from the room like a group of people standing around, semi-silent, watching 3-4 people fumble with a not working projector or DVD player for 5-10 minutes. By then the momentum has been train-wrecked, and then when the movie plays, the mind-frame has been interrupted and it takes time to get back into it. It’s a Pavlovian response to the lights going down, the projector starting up…. So when the movie doesn’t actually start, you’ve set up anticipation, and then don’t pay off. It’s frustrating, at least for most people and not the best frame of mind for the voluntary suspension of disbelief that most movies rely on to be effective, especially amateur movies that stretch that suspension (or voluntary part) to its breaking point to get the ideas across.



I’m managing the COWTOWN FILM SERIES by myself. No one has contributed much to it because it doesn’t NEED much help. These kinds of events are not rocket science, nor do I have to put in more than 5-10 hours a week into it and that includes promotion. Now, the one regret I have was not getting a print shop as a sponsor. I wanted to get the flyers, postcards, and programs printed for free. As it is, I pay for the programs out of pocket. If we do another run of COWTOWN film premieres next year in early 2009, I will get not only a print shop to sponsor, but I think I can bag some TV time for free too.



I got in my JAG 35 lens adaptor. It works well, albeit I got what I paid for, but it will do what it needs to do. One problem, for me, is that the image inversion makes my life hell. The 35mm lens adaptor inverts the image upside down. So I can’t use the LCD screen, as it’s upside down and I just cannot adapt to that. I ordered a $50 7” LCD screen that I’ll mount upside down on top of the camera. It will arrive on Tuesday, so I can play with it more. So far, I’ve only tested it indoors with pop cans and minimal lights looking at a big monitor, with the camera upside down. The wrack-focus and depth of field effects are amazing. I will use this thing to powerful effect soon enough…My ASPECT HD codec can invert the image right-side up free of charge when I digitize.







The Columbus Alive interviewers asked a lot about HORRORS OF WAR. I can think of no topic I’m more sick of discussing. That makes editing on the documentary about the making of the movie, still being pushed to a back burner, even though the clock is ticking.



I have re-loaded my AVID XPRESS PRO projects and started to sort out outtakes and demonstrative footage for the documentary sections that have been half-cut and need B-Roll to finish. I knew I wanted to start the documentary, as a feature length doc that is, in a less “flashy” softer, subtle, slower open. I now know how to open the movie, which is a big step to seeing the whole project finished. The goal with the feature length version will be in trying to make it a broader, more generalized approach as to how we made an independent film, although I love the stories and little things. Those carry the most weight to me, as I’m trying to make a movie that I want to see, not necessarily one that anyone else will.



I love the documentaries and DVD extras for things like Peter Jackson’s THE FIGHTENERS (4 hours long) and the LORD OF THE RINGS (nearly 6 hours for each of the 3 movies, plus newer 90 minute docs for each of the 3 movies), and HEART OF DARKNESS with Francis Ford Coppola or FULL TILT BOOGIE with FROM DUSK TILL DAWN. The drama behind the camera, the camaraderie of the cast and crew, the creative process of various people in any department – THOSE are the things I like to see and hear. That’s the basis of the film to me. So it’s 50% interviews and stories, and 50% “fly on the wall” documentation to make a hybrid movie that combines my two completely different styles of filmmaking documentaries.



I’m hoping to replicate and sell DVD’s of this documentary when I’m finished. If I add the Filmmaking Tips, and other bits, it will be marketed more as a “Film School DVD” type thing, but also as the supplement disc that the movie didn’t get.



Time to get back to the grind of commercial work. “V” is NOT happy about the time I spend abroad. He’s taken to waking me up earlier and earlier trying to get his playtime with me before I head into the universe outside the walls of Rossdonia.



Peace out Amigos!

Rossifer

Clint Eastwood is trying to eat my head

My interview with Columbus Alive for the COWTOWN FILM SERIES

Directorial Scrimmaging

I’ve been out of the loop since the HORRORS OF WAR screenings. Sure I directed the HOW TO DEAL WITH TELEMARKETERS videos in late 2007 and this year I did the UNCLE PETE’S PLAY TIME series, but I have not tackled any drama or acting that had real meat on the bones. I love working with actors, but I really love getting deep into a scene and playing with all the various ways you can interpret or enliven a scene.

A few years ago, my friend Holly was taking an acting class and her scene was not flowing. It was a Friday night and as is hardly unusual, I had no plans. Since My Sexy Fiancé Veronica ™ (then simply Girlfriend™) worked (and works) Friday nights, I tend to take Friday night off and just chill on my own. Holly called and said she & her scene partner couldn’t focus and they had a particularly harsh read in front of the class and wondered if I’d mind “directing” them. It was supposed to be more about just being more of a babysitter (her words, not mine), but I seriously got into it. I loved taking a scene, one I had not written myself, and then working with actors to re-shape the words and find meanings and emotions in the context. I had never before directed words I had not written myself.

At first I just had them read it and perform the scene as they had been for at least two reads. Since there is a tendency to get into syncopation with the words, the first suggestion I made was to examine the lines and maybe accent, and “hit” a different word and tell me why they chose that word instead of the one they had been emphasizing. Then I pulled them separately and told them to try the scene as a completely unrelated character. I told one of them to be SPOCK from Star Trek and the other one to be Bill Murray. Just to create an entirely different dynamic to the scene. Neither would win awards for impersonation, but the reads became entirely different. We found together different aspects from this wild interpretation to take to the final variation of the scene back to “normal”. There was so much more in terms of dynamics and the “rut” was alleviated.

The next day I was proud to receive the phone call telling me they had successfully impressed the acting teacher.



The experience left an impression on me and I used similar techniques for my 2004 endeavor directing in the 48 Hour Film Project. Since we had no script, I wanted to develop a rapport with actors in lieu of having a script (or genre).

Now, I am in a different place, yet not so different. I have not been directing in some time. I’ve been away from actors and acting, nonetheless directing. Like any other art form, practice makes perfect. I’m practicing directing at least once a week with two actors. I play acting games, using “open” scenes, and hell, I’m even making up scenes and writing one pagers for them to work on with me. That invigorates me as a writer too, but the directing muscles get the most work. This experience helps me on many levels, but the re-igniting of my inspiration and desire to get back to directing has rewarded me the most.

Maybe it’s arrogance, maybe it’s fear of being judged or deemed weak, but , I’d say that pretty much MOST directors need to practice working with actors more than they do (if they do at all). I don’t really care. I feel like if actors need to practice, then directors need practice just as much if not more. Jesus, having seen so many indie films recently I know that most alleged directors are NOT good at working with actors. I view what I’m doing as a scrimmage before the new championship season starts.

That also means I’m about to really get back in the game. I’ve been on the bench too long and this is just the warm up before I start playing my best.

Even though I suck at sports metaphors…

Expect more goodies from the blogs from Rossdonia!

Your Ever Faithful Narrator,
- Peter John Ross

Post Partum Punctuation

FINALLY! GOODNIGHT, CLEVELAND! screened last night. The first night of COWTOWN went well, as well as could be expected. The majority of our press will hit for next week’s screening, and the movie is probably the best in the series on week two, so I’m happy. We had about 55 people for the first night, and I expect over 100 for next week’s show.

I just took a phone call from WBNS 10TV, our local CBS affiliate about details for the next screening and to get summaries of each film for their community events calendar. That combined with the other press all hitting next week on Wednesday and Thursday, right before the screening of THE COURIER. We’ll have the COLUMBUS ALIVE story and video, the Uweekly, and hopefully some more press. All for the glory of Ohio Filmmaking.

GOODNIGHT, CLEVELAND! is not a great film, nor will it win any awards, but it has an endearing heart at its core, which can make it quite watchable. Considering the fact that it took 12 years to be completed, the flaws actually got demagnified when played on the big screen, as opposed to how sometimes the opposite is true. It is not a good film, but it isn’t a bad film either. The audience was moved by producer/actor George Caleodis’ Q&A session where the self deprecating honesty and genuine passion for seeing this through to completion.

Now that it’s been played in the public, I can finally give some of my personal criticisms of the film. I think it suffers from many first time filmmaking mistakes. First off, one entire plotline, one dealing with drug dealing, never shows anything. They talk about everything and show nothing. It’s a common filmmaking mistake (one I’ve made several times). Movies are a “show me” medium, not a “tell me medium”. Unless you have a famous or incredibly charismatic actor, no one would prefer hearing them tell us a story as opposed to showing us through moving images.

Secondly, there are too many “lead” characters. In GOODNIGHT, CLEVELAND there are three lead characters when there should have been only too. It gets convoluted and difficult to invest yourself into any one of these characters when there’s so many lead, and even secondary characters distracting us, the viewers. There is a character named “Matt”, whose performance is good, but I do not like his character at all. So giving this character screen time just grates on me.

Lastly, there simply was not enough coverage to edit with. Sometimes scenes had NO coverage, just one to two takes of a master shot. That’s it. Even if you use up a few seconds of film to grab some cutaways; shots of hands, feet, or anything that doesn’t need synch sound, and you can add dynamics to a scene or remove unwanted dialogue or changing the rhythm to something more appealing.

I like the movie, but simultaneously, I don’t want people thinking I don’t recognize that GOODNIGHT, CLEVELAND is not a well made movie. It’s not. My mantra, as chronicled in these blogs – we can’t make it good, we can only make it better. We did make it better and it is FINISHED. That’s what really counts. I still find the film appealing on many levels, but it’s not exactly fine art. For whatever reason, I like the movie, warts and all.

I can’t believe I have 9 more weeks to go of these screenings…. Why did I do this to myself?

Carrion and Fodder With a Side of OCD

We’re only a day and a half away from the first COWTOWN FILM SERIES screening. I’m happy with GOODNIGHT, CLEVELAND! No, it is not a great film, but it’s a watchable and entertaining film. Too many people just wanted to see it done and that’s what I did.


Strange that I’m potentially considering helping another struggling feature from a Columbus filmmaker to get done too. I don’t know if I will or not. A lot of loose ends and personal issues may prevent me from even offering a helping hand.

I just did interviews with the COLUMBUS ALIVE and also UWEEKLY so the last vestiges of the social coma have really started to end. There’s nothing that can stop me now. The snow balls are collecting, just need to start rolling them down the hill and see which ones are avalanches…



I have so much in the hopper right now, I’m bursting at the seams, both literally and figuratively. For a new project I’m looking to executive produce, I went ahead and splurged on a 35mm lens adaptor for my Canon HV20. I went with the JAG35, as I didn’t want to spend a lot of money, like the $1100 on the Letus35 adaptor. It’s a great piece of gear, but I don’t want to buy something with no lens that costs more than the camera. It just feels awkward to me. So $400 for the JAG35 and having amazing depth of field for my 1080 HD camera, albeit a tiny one, all lead me to the decision to purchase.



In my current state as a director and filmmaker have me very interested in having depth of field as a valuable tool in my arsenal. It’s very basic you see; I want to wield my control over the image more. By being able to focus, or not focus, on things in the frame means the viewer will really only see what I want them too. This is like level two filmmaking, but it’s so potent. I have not played with this much. I’ve done some occasional rack-focus effects, but I have not truly utilized the power of depth of field to my fullest advantage. Now I will experiment with it extensively and make sure it gets used in this little side project.

Since the deadline is now barreling down on me, I have to finish the documentary IN THE TRENCHES OF AN INDIE FILM, about the making of HORRORS OF WAR. The goal of having a feature length documentary about the creation of an ambitious feature must be completed. I started this, now I have no choice but to hammer the rest out. I did a lot of work on this, nuggets of which are in the webdocs, but overall, the narrative and educational aspects have to be nudged and tweaked until I have a compelling story. Its there, buried in the interviews and footage; just need the time and concentration. I can do it and today I started my though process on what to do with it, so that’s a good sign. I have to complete this project before I can move on.

In discussing the idea of completion of projects, and how COWTOWN FILM SERIES has been helping more than me with a real life deadline to compel the end of procrastination, I realized. I cannot start another project, at least shooting one, until this documentary wraps. I can pre-pro to a certain point, but I’m cheating if I don’t finish.

That’s the end of the Sonnyboo Report for now.

- PJR
The man, The myth, The math

Who's gonna be our next president?

Personal politics aside, I think OBAMA will win. It's not about my choices or preferences, but simply the mathematical numbers.

Making it all local to Ohio, a definite RED STATE and home of corrupt election practices, in DAYTON OHIO, when McCain came in to announce his VP, they had to charter their own buses for the republican party to get enough people there to make it look like a crowd was there and 2 days later when OBAMA was in DUBLIN OHIO, it was well over 20,000 people, driving themselves from as far away as Indianapolis Indiana just to see the guy and hear him speak.

The regular news media ain't reporting facts; they're reporting their political point of view.

Obama will win, but it won't be a "landslide", as people will vote what they always vote, conservative or liberal. I believe Obama will win, but it will be by less than 10%.

Did anyone else see McCain agreeing with a woman wanting to institute a new DRAFT for the military? That will do well for him. People like a draft. Especially parents and young people.



And I think both of these guys made terrible choices for VP. Obama's guy is so devoid of any kind of personality and charisma, it was "INSERT OLDER WHITE MALE HERE". Then McCain, thinking the overrated Hillary supporters would rather have any female ("INSERT VAGINA HERE") , picked a woman with no experience, except being mayor of a town of 8,000 people and Governor of Alaska for less than 2 years. McCain would be older than Reagan was when he took office. If anything would happen to him, like senility, SHE would become the president. We have to look at her as if she might be the next president, and I don't think a lot of people would vote for her for president. The republicans just took the whole "experience" attack angle off the table against Obama now.

Oh well. Politics remain a less fun time waster filled with sound bytes and out of context name games. All of this made worse by 24 hour news organizations desperate to keep ratings via controversy, even when it's manufactured. 

The Inalienable Rights of the Ignominious

And the hits keep on coming! Oh, Acolytes of Boo, your faithful narrator keeps himself quite busy these days. I’ve been formulating a script for several months now. It’s a short, but that’s because the story I want to tell is not feature length, but a complex story that only lasts a dozen or so pages. One night the story literally woke me up. I was in that state of nearly sub consciousness when this idea occurred to me and I turned on the light, scribbled the basic idea down and then promptly fell asleep fully, having exorcized the demon of the muse.

I have been an avid fan of courtroom dramas (and even comedies) for well over 20 years. I even worked as a deposition videographer for a short time. The world of the legal fascinated me, but simultaneously I have never had an idea I felt was compelling enough to attempt to put to movie. This idea moves me enough to make it the next thing I shoot. It mixes serious issues of race and politics, so I’ll be able to stab at the heart of a politician I hate more than any other because I know him personally. I met this raging moron former state legislator on several occasions in my various video jobs over the past 8 years. Now I’ll take him to task, and with a very harsh view.

Last night, whilst awaiting my dinner date at Easton, I had this notion to bring with me a notebook. I had a pen in my pocket. Instead of reading CINEFEX on the article on the visual FX of IRON MAN, I was compelled to start writing the screenplay. I just… did it. No real thought or decision was involved, it just started. The damn broke and scenes and characters that my mental outline had never even pondered suddenly started appearing and saying things. I felt more like I was transcribing a TV show I was watching in my head than “writing”, but then again, the best writing I know of comes from this kind of serendipitous experience.

I will soon have a completed first draft typed up and the re-writing phase will begin, but the biggest hurdle is always the first completed draft. I sometimes cheat and cut corners in scenes and dialogue just to cross the finish line and feel that relief that comes with a draft completion. Then you go back & fill in the gaps with re-writes and little changes that quite frankly continue all the way through rehearsals, shooting, editing, and ADR in post production.

Something is inspiring me. I don’t actually know what it is, but I’m getting things done. The compulsions to finish old projects and start in on new ones has me aflutter. I have so much more to do and the energy and will resides in me to see it all done.




On a completely other note, today I finished the final DVD master of GOODNIGHT CLEVELAND, complete with trailer and deleted scenes. I did myself a favor last year that I failed to remember. I renamed several sequences of scenes that were removed as “deleted scenes” so they were very easy to find and export as individual scenes. ROCK ON, which made life much easier today.

An initial master disc is made, the DVD art and disc graphics are now done too. Tomorrow I’ll get some of the inserts made, and on Monday (no holiday for me), I’ll burn several copies for the cast & crew. Unfortunately, I can’t do full color inserts et al for the entire cast & crew, but then again, I don’t know hardly any of them and I’m not the one who promised them this movie 12 years ago. I’m just an editor and I’m already going wayyyyy over the top to help a bunch of strangers by finished their movie and then screening it for them in a movie theater.



Speaking of which, I already made the DVCAM master tape and DVD backup of the first COWTOWN FILM SERIES show tape. Unlike most people I know, I’m not gonna wait until the last minute to prep a show. This is too important to slack on. I’m going to test the projector and cables and lighting several days before the show.

I have entrusted the presentation of the shows to other people in the past and both times it bit me in the ass; one of those times it bit my ass and also my own wallet. Never again. Two bit know-nothings will not affect these screenings. People are going to be paying money for these screenings, so I need to make them as classy and without mistakes. Exhibition and theatricality often get overlooked by alleged filmmakers presenting their movie to an audience. I am motivated by my years as a movie theater projectionist/manager and also from some film festivals with really poor presentation. I feel compelled to give people something a little extra and make absolutely certain that the filmmakers movies are shown as best I can. I can’t imagine a more disrespectful thing than to screw up someone else’s screening by not being thorough and checking everything ahead of time.

The world spins in my direction these days my friends. Over a year ago I bought a pair of the precious VANS. I have worn 10 and ½ since puberty and this time, my feet were too big to wear them. So I ordered a 2nd pair of size 11’s and on my left foot, the one that gets hit with Gout, and it was still too tight. So both pairs of perfect VANS have sat in a closet unworn and brand new. By a fluke, I tried them on yesterday and BOTH pairs fit perfectly. I must be losing some weight, although not in the gut area. Going to the gym has helped a lot. I’m still swimming, but I’m still not anywhere near where I want to be. As I get older, it gets harder & harder to lose the weight. I’m only up to twice a week at the gym and I want to be at 4 times before the end of September.

Peace and Love and Good Happiness Stuff,
Peter John Ross

It is Complete. GOODNIGHT, CLEVELAND! has been recorded to master tape

The karmic goodness continues! As my Sonnyboo Fan Club of 5-6 readers no doubt already know, the sun is shining in Rossdonia these days. The future looks quite good, both short term and long term. The summer may be coming to a close soon, but the sun continues to shine its golden rays, good guys win, bad guys lose, and your faithful narrator has nothing but exciting news.



Last night at approximately 11:29PM, I put GOODNIGHT, CLEVELAND! to master tape. I finished someone else’s feature film. Even though it’s not mine, a level of satisfaction permeates.

Sadly, Micah Jenkins was not present for the momentous occasion. I would have bought us a bottle of champagne to celebrate. Micah revived this and brought it back to life last year. His interest, more so than my own, got this movie to be finished. Micah has been laboring on the audio fixes for close to a year, one night a week in my basement.

Part of what took so long was that I was only willing or able to donate one night a week to the project with some occasional weekends. Since GOODNIGHT, CLEVELAND! is an ultra low budget movie, there is very little coverage in many scenes, which means awkward pauses, extraneous dialogue, and everything else – you’re stuck with it. Another element, very often overlooked is AUDIO overall. Upon LISTENING to the movie, the audio levels, dialogue tracks, ambient sounds, electricity humming, refrigerators, air conditioners, crown noises, these are all cursed with this movie.

Most people simply do not put the time and effort into editing the audio as much as they do their picture edit. It shows in the work, especially if you’ve ever played your cheap ass audio in a movie theater’s sound system. There have been times where your sound is great on your PC speakers, but put it in a real Dolby rated movie theater and you can hear every single flaw at decibels you didn’t know existed.

With Micah having both finished his audio “fixes”, meaning making it as good as we can without re-recording or spending any real money on it, it was my turn to finish up. I always knew that from the rough cut and even picture lock last year that I wanted to do more music spotting. Spotting is the process of determining where music goes in the movie and “how” it goes in. Will it be ambient music, like a radio or TV in the movie, or the music only montage sound, or will it be layered into the scene’s audio, but still be a main player in the moment.

This past Sunday, because the clock stared me down like a barrel of a shotgun with the screening in less than a month, I dived in headfirst into my job of music. George Caleodis had given me 2-3 CD’s of a band he was in from the 1990’s called THE IDEA and told me I could pretty much use any of it, so I did. Since the film takes place in the 1990’s (since it was shot in 1996-1997 it’s considered a “period piece”).



I’m an amateur sound designer/sound mixer. I am in no way a pro or even necessarily good at it. There are some serious and real people out there, but I have no budget to hire the folks who I normally would use for this job. Micah & I had to do it ourselves with whatever off the shelf software we had available to us.

I put in a few songs to be “ambient”, meaning songs that are coming from unseen TV’s and radios in the scene. To make it sound more “natural”, you don’t just lower the volume or gain on the music. I used an EQ setting where I kill out the bass and it sounds a bit more like a small radio or TV would sound. In one case, I even started the music as “scene music”, meaning the song at full volume, mixed with the sounds of the scene, then slowly EQ’d out the bass to make the same song appear to be on the radio in the next scene. It made a perfect transition. Hopefully no one will even notice it’s there, but I’ll know I did something cool to get us from one scene to the next using audio to smooth it out.

In other scenes, like the “love scene” (if it can be called that), I added a song to it that plays into the moment and lifts the scene up some. Similarly, at a more “action” oriented scene towards the end of the film (it is a film, shot on 16mm), I added an upbeat rockin’ song that also seemed to elevate the tension and excitement whereas before there just wasn’t much there. In other cases, the ambient music just smoothes over the horrendous inconsistencies of regular audio in the scenes.

I had a new mantra with Micah these past few months as the deadline of the COWTOWN FILM SERIES premiere loomed. I said, “We can’t make it good, we can only make it better.” Striving for perfection is not a bad thing. I often do in my own works, as best I can, but with this project we just needed to see it finished. That’s all. It’s been 12 years in the making, 5 of which in my world. I checked my emails looking for end credits info and I saw that my first real emails to Miguel and George about taking on the completion was in summer 2003.

It took until winter 2004 to get the film out of DuArt labs in New York. Then I personally paid for the telecine transfer to digital video. We attempted for several months in 2004 to edit this and just get the audio synch to picture. It failed because schedules and what not didn’t allow anyone from the production to give us some kind of road map to link the sound and picture.

In 2007, Micah pushed to bring it back to life. Micah and I know several of the investors and even though we weren’t involved in the shoot in any way, we felt an obligation to try to give them a finished movie, even if it’s just a DVD. As one of the investors said, it would be “closure” to the whole thing. On September 11th, 2008, we’ll close the book on GOODNIGHT, CLEVELAND! and show people this flawed masterpiece.

I like GOODNIGHT, CLEVELAND! It’s a weird, yet strangely appealing movie. It has warts, like all movies, but I really like it. A charisma of story and character gets to me. I only hope it gets some other people too. I’ll find out September 11th at 7:00PM at the Screens at the Continent.

What a strange feeling this is right now. A giant albatross has been lifted from my neck, albeit a self imposed one. I can’t tell you why, but in the last week or so, I’ve just been getting more Shiite done. Life is setting up the pins, and I’m knocking ‘em down. The stars have just aligned perfectly for me so the next year or so will be BOO TIME.

Peace and Love and Good Happiness Stuff,
Peter John Ross

What's in a Name?

My name is not actually “Sonnyboo”. Nor is it “Sonny” or any variation therein.

I was born Peter John Ross on January 24th in Reynoldsburg Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. I am the 4th child in a family of 4 kids. My mother named the other 3 so my dad finally got to name me for once. I was named after “Pete Rose” and “Johnny Bench” of the baseball team the Cincinnati Reds from their heyday of the BIG RED MACHINE. When I was a kid, I was called by friends & family “Pete”, but never “Peter” unless I did something very wrong and got caught. So by the time I lived in Wadsworth Ohio, I heard my name as “Peter John!” a lot when the police would bring me home in the back of the squad cars, quite a bit more often than maybe I should have, but I was young and most of what I did was harmless.



When we moved to El Paso Texas, I was addicted to the music of the Sex Pistols, and although my preference was for bassist Sid Vicious, I was subbed “Johnny Rotten” for my behavior by friends and teachers, and the family still called me “Pete”, but I didn’t spend as much time with them, so it was always “Johnny Rotten”.

Moving back to Ohio, to Pickerington, no less, for my last 2 years of High School, I felt like a different person, but somehow similar to whom I was, so I went by “John”. Somehow, people wanted to specify which John, so it was “JohnRoss” almost like one word.



Shortly after high school, I worked at a movie theater, and quickly rose into management, as in an Assistant Manager! The company policy required that I be called “Mister Ross”, but I was all of 18-20 years old, and so I said to the staff, “just call me ‘Ross’” and that has been my name ever since. I don’t know why, or how, but that has been my pseudo preference ever since. It’s just kinda been how I am addressed and what I respond to, but to be honest none of those names really match. I don’t know what name I would choose now.

When working as a broker for Bank One, I even had my name plate say “ ‘just ‘Ross’ “ plus another one that simply says “Ross, as seen on TV” which was a joke then, and not so much these days, although whenever I tell my parents I’ll be on the local news, they ask me what I did wrong this time.



Professionally I go by “Peter John Ross”, cursed with three first names like a presidential assassin, but I can tell my friends or people who know someone who knows me if they refer to me as “Ross”. If I get an email or a phone call asking for “Peter”, I assume it’s a bill collector or telemarketer or that I’m still in trouble so then I kinda hide. Old habits. Some people think I hate my names or that it irritates me. I don’t hate being called “Peter”; I just don’t really know who that’s supposed to be. If you want to gauge whether or not I like you, I’ll tell you to please call me “Ross”, otherwise. The big clue that I don’t want to talk to you, I’ll let you keep calling me “Peter”.



That is the etymology of “Ross” as my name. Not really all that interesting if you think about it.

48 Hours of Frivolous and Fornicating Frogs

Well, I did something I didn’t want to do. I participated in the 48 Hour Film Project here in Columbus. No offense to TJ, the director/producer, as he did a good job and his team was cool, but I was not in the mindset. I did what I could as an editor, but overall, I wanted more time and that just isn’t what this is about.

Mostly I detest any level of competition in filmmaking. I have always fought hard against giving awards at screenings and festivals that I am involved with. It’s art. It’s subjective. There truly isn’t a “better”, although you might like one movie better, we get into the entire “preferential/subjective” versus “overall/objective” arguments. What I love about my theory is that I have to be presented with an argument that has not been placed in the eternal loop of being subjective. I used the Socratic Method on this hypothesis and proved it as a theory for over 25 years since I was in grade school and first learned sciences.



The screening of the 48 Hour Film Project went well. I thought virtually all the films had merit. Some had great ideas, others great technicals, and others had both. The movie that I predict will win hands down is AIDAN 5, a sci fi movie with Bryan Michael Block as the actor playing 5 clones. It deserves to win, it was freakin’ AWESOME. Style, music, camera work, and most especially the performances were great. Again, they used hand drawn sketches instead of Photoshop illustrations, or even higher end material – but the idea was so visual and so well executed, it only ADDED to the experience.



Again, I hate “competition” in the arts because can you really compare a high end, produced at a studio piece to literally some community college kids with a camcorder shoot? There will always be perspective and preference. I respect and like both types of movies, but I understand people want to apply this Jock mentality to filmmaking. It’s like people need an adversary or external motivation in order to push themselves to achieve more. That works for some people, but not others. I am self motivating, so I don’t need that crap. I’m never truly satisfied with what I’ve made so I’ll be trying to improve my moviemaking perpetually.



If anything the screenings just verify my theory that Filmmaking is the new “Garage Band”. In the late 80‘s, cheaper guitars and amps made it possible for the everyday Joe to be a musician and start a band. Today, cheap HD cameras and home PC’s are making it possible for that same Joe (or Josephina) to make movies. And they do.



Last week I shed off my biggest freelance client, voluntarily. Given the economies instability and the prospects of the future look quite dim, maybe I shouldn’t have, but I did and I don’t really regret it. I’m looking forward to getting some of my free time back. I had this imbecile of a “producer” who in 8 months was on time a total of 4 times. Last week, I was so pissed off that when she was 90 minutes late, I left. Over an hour later, she called my cell phone pissed off I didn’t call her. She said she wanted to pick up her hard drive of materials and I told her it would be packed up and ready for her. I can’t abide people who don’t respect my time and efforts. I happily handed her back the drive. I made sure to email her the information that half the video files are in the Matrox hardware codec. She didn’t know what a codec was. Most people outside the film industry don’t, but an alleged producer with 10 years experience should have at least heard of it. She’s incompetent.







Now that I have time again, I can focus even more on the upcoming screenings. We’ve got Uweekly doing a story already. A good start and I want the WEEKENDER to do something for us too. Promotions are just as much work as making a movie. Most indie filmmakers don’t seem to grasp that, and even some of the ones that do think that by simply following in your footsteps will be enough. It’s not. Cheap knock offs of my promotional efforts don’t always equate to the same level of payout.



I’ve been working for 2 weeks on the animations and promotional items for the screenings. I was already doing “pre-show entertainment” when Paul Landis handed me several slide cards to play before the show. I was already doing some, but these were cool for the most part. I just had to omit a few. I don’t want people thinking I’m associating with some of these people/companies. Mostly because I don’t want anyone to get scammed or screwed and complain to me that I promoted those ones. Combine that with PAID sponsors, and I’d rather just not use those. It’s probably best to avoid promoting people who lie or just plain don’t deliver.



I’m going to use the solid state COMPACT FLASH card video player that plays MPEG1 and MPEG2 video files. I used this in Cleveland at my booth on an LCDS player, but for the shows, I’m going to play out of this thing into the Line In of the DVCAM/HD decks. It auto-loops, and I already have five 15 minute programs of pre-show that I’ve tested with this setup. I’m using trailers of upcoming films in the series, plus other local films, with drive in style promos, and animations I’ve made for the Cowtown Film Series.



I can’t stand projecting of DVD. First off, DVD’s are unreliable and never 100% guaranteed to work. They sometimes skip. DVD’s sometimes lock up. DVD’s also having such a high level of compression that the details are lost, especially when showing them on a 50 foot movie screen. Colors get muddled or lost on DVD when projected like this. I feel a responsibility to people paying to see this, nonetheless the filmmakers whose movies I’m presenting, to give them 110% and make certain we present things as best we can. DVCAM, being a mechanical tape, but at a much higher color and resolution gives a very good presentation format. When we screening HORRORS OF WAR off DVCAM, depending on the size of the screen and resolution of the projector, it looked almost as good as a 35mm film print (and better when using the Texas Instruments DLP projectors) with full colors and great amounts of detail on the big screen.



What I made yesterday, that I’ve been mulling over for 3 weeks how to do, is something for the actual main presentation. I wanted a special “please turn off your cell phones” promo, so I made this:




COWTOWN - Turn Off Your Cell Phones from Peter John Ross on Vimeo.


I used After Effects, Photoshop, and some funky fonts with some images I already had in the cue. Then I used, yet again, a tutorial and plug-ins purchased from VIDEOCOPILOT.NET and I processed this to look like old film. It was NOT a film look plug in, but rather an actual blank film clip, keyed in over top of the footage. I used the tutorials to see how to add the jumps side to side and top to bottom, along with a glow and the film sprocket holes on the sides. Strangely most of the images are from a FONT that came with our DVD duplicator.



In a very rare move, I recorded my own voice for this. Working on My Sexy Fiancé Veronica’s Holocaust documentary, we’ve been pouring over March of Times films from the 1930’s and I just had that generic old school narrator’s voice and accent in my head, so it was easy to exorcize that demon into this piece. I then processed the voice and the music with a high pass filter and added a loop of the static/film projector sounds and Oila! We have a semi-authentic sounding bit.



I feel pretty damn good lately. I can’t really say why (I mean it, I am forbidden from saying), but the sun is brighter, the air a little fresher, and my outlook has improved. As with all things, it seems karma pays out. You do some good things, and then good things return to you. I love life and fate because I seem to always get what I deserve, and those things tend to be happy.



As I have written in the blog before, the creative ice melts, and I’m coming back to life. My ambitions return with the creativity. With my new free time, I have a new book to write, this time something a bit more centralized and focused. I’m going to write out of the psychological effects of filmmaking and analyze the reactions of audiences. I’ve been mulling this over for a while and the threads that connect basic filmmaking techniques on emotional reactions fascinate me. I just want to write out my observations and put them out there. Plus I get off on having books that I write tangible in my hands. It makes me chuckle.



I got some royalty checks in from the other books. TALES FROM THE FRONT LINES sells a lot better than the HORRORS OF WAR ILLUSTRATED SCREENPLAY. The screenplays just aren’t moving as well.



Well, I need to get to finishing the last bits of sound design and music for GOODNIGHT CLEVELAND. What do I do with my time off editing full time? Edit. I am sooooo obsessive-compulsive when it comes to film.



Peace and love and good happiness stuff to the Acolytes of Boo…

All 4 of you.



Your faithful narrator,

Peter John Ross

PJR, the man, the myth, the legend always in boxers

The Seinfeld-Twin Peaks Connection

Ever since Doc Hayward (Warren Frost) & Mrs. Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriski) appeared on Seinfeld as George Costanza's soon to be parents in law, the Ross', I often wondered if there was a connection between Seinfeld and Twin Peaks.

There were as many as four Twin Peaks cast members on a single episode of Seinfeld. The aforementioned two, along with Jacque Renault (Walter Olkewicz) playing a "Plaza Cable" guy who terrorizes Kramer and the mysterious Mrs. Tremond (Frances Bay), who already appeared on Seinfeld getting a marble rye stolen from her, all showed up in a season seven Seinfeld episode called "The Cadillac". A previous Seinfeld episode also had three of them, plus character Emory Battis (Don Amendolia) who worked at Horne's Department store and was tricked into letting Audrey Horne work at One Eyed Jacks played the owner of a horse carriage owner who loans his rig to Kramer. Sue Ellen Mischke from Seinfeld played Ms. Jones, the assistant to David Warner's Mr. Thomas Eckhart, turns out to be an assassin who tries to off Sheriff Harry Truman. Even Elaine's boss Mr. Pitt (Ian Ambercrombie) appeared in Twin Peaks as Tom Brockman, the insurance man.

Strangely, no one in the casting department for either show is shared, nor can I find any producers/writers shared. These two shows couldn't be more different, and yet there are strong ties with the bit actors and day players.

What is the connection? Why were so many of these actors crossing over from the Pacific Northwest to the Big Apple? Who bridged these two productions?

A mystery without an anwer....

March of the Swivelheaded Ant Man

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

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

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



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

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

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



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



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

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

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



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

CLICK HERE to watch video



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

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


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

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

- Ross

Sonnyboo's Blog: THE DARK KNIGHT EDITION!

Well, I’m pumped. I’m going to the midnight screening of THE DARK KNIGHT. As I’ve said before, I’m not really that big of a Batman fan. I’ve never purchased a single Batman comic in my life, and I’ve had many a comics. I’m a moderate when it comes to Batman movies. I liked the 2 Tim Burtons, hated the 2 Joel Schumacher ones, and thought BATMAN BEGINS was okay. Well, ever since I saw that IMAX ™ clip, now officially dubbed “The Dark Knight Prologue”, I’ve been eager to see this movie.

I bought a BLU-RAY DVD of Batman Begins (my first batman movie purchase), and it contained in full HD 1080P glory the IMAX™ Dark Knight Prologue scene and I’ve played it at least a dozen times on my 42” HD screen with the 5.1 surround blaring until my ears bleed and the kitties hide in terror. I recently read that director/writer Christopher Nolan used the movie HEAT (1995, Michael Mann) as an influence. It shows. I called it last December (see previous blogs). Even my Sexy Fiancé Veronica ™ will attend the midnight show tonight, and she doth hateth the Comic Book movie genre.





I watch my webstats pretty closely, even when I don’t have new material out there. I like to watch the trends in viewers and what people like and don’t like, especially in regards to things I write and direct. What surprises me most is that HORRORS OF WAR ’s WEB DOC on the making of SCENE 6 has been the biggest hitter lately, at least on YOUTUBE ™. It averages a steady 150 views a day, some days more, some days a little less, but so far, it’s the front runner. The HORRORS OF WAR trailer still ranks highest in views, with the MOVIEMAKER TECHNIQUES not far behind, but I can’t figure out the attraction to the SCENE 6 WEBDOC . Granted, it’s my personal favorite, and it was the first one I did, but where are the hits coming from? Who is watching this and telling others to see it? I cannot trace the links to it, nor explain the months long fixation by several thousand online viewers.



A site called PERFORMING ARTISTS site] has linked to and used one of my articles trying to help struggling actors and directors avoid some pitfalls. When I stop getting giddy about seeing something I write or make mean something to other people – that is the day I should quit. Until then, I get excited.

I’m pumped. I feel like I just work up from a year long bad dream. With the upcoming COWTOWN FILM SERIES , where I’m showing 9-10 feature films made in Ohio, along with a new TV series shot in HD, I feel pretty darn supercilious towards many. It’s not unlike getting revived with a jolt of energy in the gullet. My voice has returned, and with it, my inspirado.



I’ve lined up a local celebrity host for both the TV series and the COWTOWN FILM SERIES . Depending on if I go to Japan (looking more and more unlikely as each day passes without an airline ticket), I will have more time to dedicate to promotion and marketing for the film series. I benefit by having some of my shorts play before hand, but also, the general good will of working as a collective to support each other. If we can make a success out of these screenings, more wallets might open. Not only to shell out some $$$ to see locally produced movies, but also from potential investors who might see the future in what we are doing.

I started creating title sequences for the various “segments” of the show that are heavily inspired by the teachings of Andrew Kramer and Video Copilot.net . The kid’s a freakin’ genius. From some of the HORRORS OF WAR screenings, people seemed to really like my “pre-show entertainment” segments of material that played before the show. This time, I’m taking it up 20 notches. I’m 2 months out and already putting my Shiite together. I won’t take any chances, and taking my lessons learned.

Time to take everything up a notch. It’s been far too long, my faithful droogies.

=- PJR

Harry Potter and the Things I’ve Been Up To

My schedule remains fairly tight, but with some loose ends. I was able to take some time and relax two weekends in a row. That’s nice. Since my weekdays are still quite long, arduously taking client work as best I can, I found some interesting reading material. I discovered the Harry Potter books.


I have seen the movies, but I am a casual fan at best. At the same time, given that the Internet and even conversations are fraught with the peril of having the endings of the next two movies ruined – I felt I should take the plunge and read them before anything gets spoilt. I enjoyed the movies a lot, but I did not own them until now.

I went to Half Priced Books and picked up the lot used for under $40, and then I got the boxed set of all 5 movies in high definition used for $43 including shipping (Thanks Amazon!). In less than 3 weeks, I plowed through all the books and thanks to the weekends, I managed to finish of book 7 yesterday. I’m a convert, I loved these. Great fun, although I agree with Stephen King’s assessment that JoAnn has many clever and creative aspects to the books, but the opening chapters with the Durseley’s get boring.

I rank the movies well, as I thoroughly enjoyed Chris Columbus’ direction in the first two films, but the third one under Alphonso Cuaron (later did CHILDREN OF MEN) still ranks as by a large margin the best in the series so far, not withstanding my preferential treatment of any film that casts Gary Oldman. The last two films were lukewarm to me before, but the books fill in the depth that a non-reader would never have gotten.

As I explained to some fellow filmmakers, it’s interesting to note that in the latest two (and soon to be 6th film), that Chris Columbus is no longer involved in the franchise directly. At the time, because the main stars were unknown kids, the big “star” attraction to the film was its director who had smash hits HOME ALONE and MRS. DOUBTFIRE. His salary was $10 million plus back end points. His paycheck on film two is not disclosed, but I’ll bet it was more. He produced film three, but never came back to direct, even though he wanted to. The other directors get $1 million plus points. To most directors, this is more than an ample payday, so Chris Columbus never gets to come back to the world he shaped. Interesting to note, that many choices a director would get to make, he already made. The main cast of principals and especially the students and teachers, are already made. The location styles, the costumes, props, set design, art direction in general, as well as musical motifs, are all based on what Chris Columbus decided as director on the first two films. His mark remains in the series till the end.

Overall, I enjoyed the books a lot. The films I definitely liked better after reading the books. I love geeking out and getting into fantasy films and books, but the reason I liked this best was the depth of the world and the backstory was compelling. I love a good backstory and setup as it grounds everything in its own reality.


Enough on the exploits of the geeks with glasses…

Looks like the Japan trip may really happen! I can’t believe it, but they called me and I talked to someone on the phone about the details of the trip. The location is north of Tokyo in a megacomplex with tons of HD and all around high end production facilities. I hope they come through with the airline ticket soon so that I can book the trip as a whole. I’d love to spend a month in Japan teaching filmmaking to 60 students.



Thursday night, My Sexy Fiancé Veronica ™ and I went to a local movie theatre to see the Jackie Chan/Jet Li movie FORBIDDEN KINGDOM. God, that movie sucked ass. I tend not to thrash movies, as I’m not a film reviewer, just a watcher and filmmaker, so I want to NOT be a critic unless I like the movie. This was too crappy not to say something. By the time the historic pair duked it out; we went ahead and left the theatre. Even with fight choreography by the legendary Yeun Wo Ping, I couldn’t stand any more of this ass hurting pain. The whole movie hinged around a contemporary American story that was not only unnecessary, but poorly done. My Sexy Fiancé Veronica ™ said it best when she said it would have been great if you were 8 years old. Too true.

The upside was that as I was leaving, I met the manager, who happened to be a guy who took a job at Super Saver Cinema in 1991 the same day I did and we wound up both being managers within a year with that company. He’s still in the biz, and he introduced me to the owner of the theatre. I have been floating the idea of doing another film festival for some time, but mostly I wanted to make it for feature films, not really shorts. I’ve been working on several features in various capacities and I know a lot of people want to exhibit their features. This is my chance to lend a helping hand again, and this time I won’t entrust any of the important responsibilities to half wits.



By the end of the conversation, we had a deal struck for the film festival, although I may change it to a film series where we show a locally made feature every Thursday for several weeks with a few short films on the head of them. We’ll see. I’m aiming for the fall and I already have at least 6 features in the cue, with another 2-3 possible from others I’m reaching out to.

And this is just the beginning of a few other projects I’m in the midst of. Kind of want to keep my dance card full if you know what I mean…

Stay true to your inner ear,
- Ross

Back to the Future

Today My Sexy Fiancé Veronica ™ and I went to see BACK TO THE FUTURE at the Ohio Theatre as part of the CAPA summer movie series today. Last night we saw the 1968 PLANET OF THE APES last night. Any chance to see some classics on a 35mm film print at 2,000+ seat theatre never can be bad. Now on the 40th anniversary of PLANET OF THE APE was bit more of a farce as it has aged poorly, especially in the acting department. The script was still solid, as the social commentary still resonates today. The matinée of BACK TO THE FUTURE however showed that 23 years later, the movie still had legs.



Now I was already sentimental about the film, as Robert Zemeckis’ real masterpiece always appealed to me, even more so as I became a filmmaker. Now BACK TO THE FUTURE represents one of THE most perfect screenplays and also the art direction/continuity are sheer perfection.



There are so many minute details that appear to be innocuous, but layer the movie so rich in the world they created. Here are the trivial tidbits I have picked up on this movie:

1. Eric Stoltz was originally cast and had even filmed for over 2 weeks before being replaced by Michael J. Fox. I can’t even imagine the tone the film would have had with Stoltz.
2. My single most favorite little detail is that the Mall where the test the DeLorean time machine starts off being called “TWIN PINES MALL”, and even has a giant lit marquee, but after Marty McFly goes back in time to “Old Man Peabody’s farmland…had this crazy idea bout breeding pine trees…” and Marty runs over one of the two pine trees. When he returns to 1985, the mall and marquee call the mall “LONE PINE MALL”.
3. The opening shot gives so many minor clues and character/plot details that seeing it on the big screen in 35mm make them all the more visible.



A few other things about the film and specifically the screenplay that stand out for excellence:

The original intent was for the big action scene of sending Marty back to the future with the clock tower was originally going to be an atomic bomb test site. Lack of budget caused them to re-write it for the Universal studio city square set (now burned down). That sequence is one of the most well edited/directed action set pieces ever filmed. The old trick of showing the “plan” the characters set up and how several steps go wrong along the way as it actually “happens” was so brilliantly played out that most audiences can’t help but feel the tension and be into the movie at that point. Brilliant.



A film that is essentially about time travelling incest was acceptable to the audience as a comedy because of the masterful direction and editing, controlling the tone.

Virtually everything that occurs in the movie has a purpose that either furthers the plot or the character development. Things like Marty’s desire to play at the homecoming dance, then being able to in 1955, the brief glimpse of newspaper articles referring to Doc Brown’s estate and selling 154 acres to developers, explaining how he had money. Even for a brief shot as Marty McFly awaits the alarm to go off to start his car, the sign for the Motel is impeccably made as period and relating to the fictional world.

Since I recently watched RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and FIRST BLOOD, I can’t help but say I wish they hadn’t sequelized a lot of these movies. When I was young, I wanted to see further adventures of the characters I enjoyed seeing. Now, I think they bastardized and devalued the amazing vision and uniqueness of the originals. With BACK TO THE FUTURE, I really didn’t find either sequel that appealing. PART II relied far too much on the moments of the first film for emotion. With PART III, it was the 3rd or 4th time of seeing the exact same storyline with a different setting. Ugh! By then it’s really really boring.

As for PLANET OF THE APES (1968), My Sexy Fiancé Veronica ™ found it to be very comical. It didn’t hold up well at all, even with the 35mm film print. The Gaudi inspired set designs amazed me, but I did have to point out that there was one way as a filmmaker that I had to point out that they brilliantly accomplished one thing: During Chuck Heston’s big escape from the apes, they got out the exposition of an Ape funeral and their museum. A lot of films I see, they have a flimsy excuse to give exposition, and here it was interwoven so casually and seamlessly into the narrative. Combine that with the amazing contributions of Rod Serling’s, who always had killer cool concepts.

Coming up, I can’t wait to see THE THIRD MAN on a 35mm film print. I’ve only seen it once, but any chance to see a chunky Orson Welles makes me feel better. Tomorrow I’m acting in a piece for Louie Cowan (although I suspect it was more to get use of the studio than for any ability). I am not an actor and I have no real desire to be an actor. 8:00AM on a Sunday will suck.

Just keep making it real kids,
Peter John Ross
Your friend indeed

the Legalities of Pummeling Futility

Yup. I'm still working a lot. I'm not even getting weekends off at all either. Not a lot of break in the routines. Last night I could have stopped working when I got home from the studio or I could finish the oft ignored ETERNAL teaser trailer for the Derek . I chose to work through it. I got 'er done. I just screened the full 1080 file to the Derek and he was pleased. It's just a teaser trailer, but I enjoyed the graphics work and some of the new FX work I put into it.



I purchased some software and tutorials from VideoCopilot.net and it has greatly modernized my After Effects work. I have not gone flare crazy with some of the specific elements, but I definitely got into the style of these because there are some graphics and animation styles I greatly admire and it's easier to do now. I highly recommend VideoCopilot.net for anyone doing animation or titles (or any basic after effects/compositing) work.

Well, each day my prediction for the economy starts to move eerily closer to being reality. With $5 a gallon gas being predicted by July and the job market puckering up like a buttocks holding roll of quarters in a fraternity pledge initiation – we can expect things have not yet bottomed out.



Yesterday I shot the behind the scenes interviews with George for UNCLE PETE . By some fluke I asked him during the questioning if he wanted to do more and he said yes. I'm the one that wants to retire UNCLE PETE and not do anymore, but one thing I wanted in the originals that we never did was a sidekick character. I really wanted a puppet co-host and there just wasn't the time to make that a reality. Now… that may be more possible than I thought, and in a way that will shake the foundations of the online movie world.

I stumbled on an idea that would take the UNCLE PETE series into a very very dark, scary place where most comedians won't tread. Maybe we'll do it, maybe we won't but I ordered a puppet online today, so maybe we will. This idea might get national attention, not all of it good, but what the hell. Why not? I'm deeply inspired by Family Guy and South Park, so going in the direction of those fearless steps; I just might go for it. Stay tuned and maybe you'll get wind of the new idea. Then again, I might not do it at all if something else enters my depth of field.

I have these two friends, Bret and Linda, who have always been on the cutting edge of discovering the new trends and obscure comedy, especially from the British Isles. One of the things they showed me from 2-3 years ago was GARTH MARENGHI's DARKPLACE. I stumbled on some YouTube vids of this and it got me through a long day of mundane editing this past weekend. I've GOT to get the DVD's of the whole series. It's the most perfect spoof of 1980's television I've ever seen. Classic, great humor. In the late 1990's and the last few years, UK television has been more accessible to US audiences, whereas in the 1980's and before that, it always seemed to be very niche and specific to colloquialisms and internal. With SPACED, THE OFFICE, SMOKING ROOM, and a few others, the universal humor has been cutting edge and very relatable.

The documentary looks to be finishing ahead of schedule in some areas, and a lot more work in others. I think we'll be shooting "dramatic re-enactments" for some of the holes created by the edit and to make the story more visual. TJ's animated stills in 3D are breathtaking. Even with over a hundred stills, it won't be nearly enough. I'm hoping to have a 3-4 minute version to demo for the author in the next month or so. We've already got music from Arya of Chopin and with the first few animated stills, I feel confident that we'll knock her socks off. I can feel the Emmy ™ in my hands within a year or so. Won't that be a hoot? So I'll be able to change my post script to Emmy™ Award Winning Filmmaker. I'm not a Cylon, but I still have a plan….I want an Emmy™ and I think I can get one for this project. I've already got a few thousand dollars invested in My Fiancé's project and I am producing it with her.



I worked in a viewing of the original RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. I wish they had never made any sequels to this. The first one was perfection. So many real locations, and when they were on a sound stage, Norman Reynolds added so much realism to the production design (nonetheless Dougie Slocombe's lighting of said stages). I have seen this movie hundreds of times (literally) and I only got "out" of the movie on one occasion where I realized how much they were cutting a scene months apart on 2 continents back and forth. It was seamless and perfect. I wish Hollywood would go more towards the "realism" of this first film and divert away from the overly fantastical elements like LARA CROFT or NATIONAL TREASURE crapfests.

I need some time off soon. If for nothing else than to relax and let my mind ease off the "work mode" of editing for other people. I'm not doing enough to keep my creativity alive. I have to start feeding the muse or she might starve. I have so much to write and prep, but I'm so convinced the economy is going to drop, that I keep putting it all off. Combine that with financially supporting my Sexy Fiancé, and that makes one hard workin' narrator. At least money isn't as much an issue as it once had been.

I'm still working and digitizing. I happened to have a break where one machine was burning DVD's and the other was capturing a 79 minute tape. So I was able to jot these thoughts and ideas down for a bloggy blog.

Peace my friends. And may the good news be yours!

Peter John Ross
Sweating in the heat