Word on the street is that as of 10:29PM last night (CST) the final render of Pray For Daylight was started, which means by now the gold production master should be finished. If I recall, this movie was only a discussion in the backyard, between hefting boxes up and down the steps of Josh and Sarah's place in South St Paul back in Sept? Aug? of last year. Wow, time flies.

Meanwhile, I have a newly-rendered version of "Conspiracy Hour" all set to post to the interweb. James and I fixed the rough stuttering of the end credits and added in the title slate, but there were no changes to the movie contents. There is still a small problem with the video however.

It's 10GB.

And that is a little big for Google Video Uploader to handle. I know because I tried. Twice. So the web version of Conspiracy Hour might have to wait until after vacation.

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: Conspiracy Hour, indie movies, Pray For Daylight, Videos

If you read my post the other day about the service industry, you will appreciate this fine addendum by Trees, regarding her experiences.

While I did do a short stint as a coffee jerk in Minneapolis, bad experiences with customers were rare. Really rare. Which was why I was shocked to find what Trees verified was true: MN might just be "the land of ten-thousand dickheads". But Trees hits home that not letting their negativity bring you down is powerful mojo. Returning vinegar with sugar is more powerful yet (sometimes). Good to know. Thanks, Trees!


And if you want to read someone who can add another angle to my rant about L.A., check out this post by the Northern Misfit. More specifically leveled at the self-proclaimed 'critics' of the entertainment industry, Avindair suggests the movie critics make their own movie and get put on the hotseat.

Amen to that. I want to see Simon try to sing in front of judges on national TV, and I would like to be in the judges chair to hand him his ass. I would send that boy home, cryin to his mama! That goes for music, film, and writing reviewers as well.


Lastly, take your peepers for a walk on this site. The Geek Goddess Speaks! I'm looking forward to what happens here.

I'm also really digging Lifehacker (OK, I said Lastly before with the Geek Goddess link, but it's too late to correct it now, I've already uploaded this blogpost...) The advice is all over the place, but has the ultimate goal of making life easier, simpler, more organized, while still embracing your inner geek. For example, you could learn how to kill 90 days in the slammer, how to open a beer bottle with another bottle, How to make Windows stop annoying you, and that's just the useful stuff!

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: Cool Website, Praise

I stopped in at the drugstore (S.A.) in order to score (purchase) some non-prescription uppers (Jolt Cherry Bomb Cola) and in the middle of negotiations (while standing in line at the checkout) some strange cat (dude) bursts in the door, and in a casually-cruel tone directed at the two ladies behind the counter says, "Your fucking gas pumps don't work for shit, so I'm taking my business someplace else."

His attitude was so leisurely about the whole thing, and the women's reaction to it was so mild, I thought they must know him from somewhere. I laughed, and so did both ladies behind the counter and the two other people in line. Then the guy turned and stormed out. I turned to the person behind the counter and she just shook her head. I still couldn't tell exactly what had just happened. Maybe he was a mentally disturbed person making his daily circuit? Perhaps it was a coworker, trying to be funny? An out-of-work Improv actor who, at any moment, would come bursting back in with another strange persona?

"Was that guy serious?" I asked, still smiling.

"Afraid so," was the reply.

My smile faded. Strange how she wasn't surprised at all. "How, um, how often does *that* happen?"

"Every day."

"Yeah," the other lady chimed in, "at *least* once a day."

I suddenly felt the way I imagine Neo felt swallowing the red pill and having the veil of falseness ripped out from between himself and the rest of the world. Except maybe divide that by a couple million, but still... At least once per day, some dickhead takes out their aggression on the people behind the counter? AT LEAST ONCE PER DAY? Wow. This is what I'm talking about when I use the term Americans as a derogatory adjective.

If you have bad service, or receive bad product, or have a bad experience at a business, here are some things you can do that Don't entail wrecking the day of someone right out of High School who works for minimum wage and has to deal with dickheads like You all day...

1- Write a letter. Leave a letter for the manager, and let them know what a bad experience you had. This assumes you know how to write, you dickhead.

2- Send an e-mail. This assumes you have access to a computer, or at least a friend who has access to a computer. If you weren't such a dickhead, you might actually have some friends who would help you with this.

3- Ask to see the manager, and ask him/her what he/she is going to do about this problem. This is a huge pain in the ass, I know. But, the manager is the only one who gets paid to give a crap about making complaining dickheads like you happy. The manager is also the only one who might give a crap and do something about your complaint. Otherwise you are wasting your breath. The people behind the counter just laugh at you. The ones who aren't dickheads themselves will wait until after you are gone to laugh at you.

4- Don't Patronize That Place of Business. This one is the easiest, and even a dickhead like you should be able to pull this one off.

5- Don't Patronize That Place of Business and Tell Everyone You Know Not To Patronize It Either. I was recently at the CC Club and watched some positively Horrendous service in action from two separate bartenders. I know of some people (non-dickheads, in case you were wondering) who are going to #5 that place big time.

6 - Realize That There Are Other Dickheads In The World Besides Yourself, And Some Of Them Work In The Customer Service Industry. And you might just hold back judgement of an entire business based on your experience with one person. Just like everyone else should hold back judgement of your family based on their experience with a dickhead like you.

Every fucking day. Wow.

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: americans, anti, Business Phenomena, Etiquette

Several members of Team Chiaroscuro and I attended the "Best of the 48 hour film festival" last night. Like most awards ceremonies, most of the winners deserved what they got, and some did not. I was sad to hear that one of the best films was disqualified for using footage that was shot prior to the start of the contest. That is cheating, but I know of other teams who used ideas and plots that were developed prior to the start of the contest. The same kind of cheating, but more difficult to get caught at.

There will be those, let's call them 'Americans' for the lack of a better term, whose goal is to 'win' the contest - to get the vote or award, to get on the DVD no matter what, and cheating is OK as long as you don't get caught. Too bad really, because there are other festivals those people could go to, and they can take ten years to make their movie if they like, but the 48-Hour contest is really about accessing that spark of creativitiy and spontenaiety that gets washed out when processed too much - like the difference between raw strawberries and strawberry jelly.

I was glad to see that Central Services "Dangerous Proximity" won the Best Cinematography and Best Picture awards at the 48. They deserved it. Their movie was simply based around one funny and interesting idea, and that idea made the movie entertaining. Anyone else could have had the same idea, and with some reasonable lighting and editing skills come out with a similar movie. I certainly don't mean to say that Central Services are a bunch of hacks, they did a very pro job. I'm saying that same movie with average lighting, sound and acting still would have had my vote.

When you limit the resources of time and format and movie length, it makes it easier for a hobbyist to compete with professionals in this contest. You don't need to be a wizard at Premiere or Final Cut to make a respectable movie in 48 hours. I should know, because Team Chiaroscuro did it. The video will be posted to the web soon, check back here for the link.

It also makes me feel better that our movie was beat out by "Dangerous Proximity", the same way I wouldn't feel bad losing in Snooker to Graeme Dott.

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: indie movies, Minneapolis Event, movie reviews, Videos

I'm hard on Californians, but they deserve it, especially l.a.

For example: When faced with the fact that the 48-hour film project drew more teams in Minneapolis than in l.a. making Minneapolis the third largest draw in the nation, what did they do?

They did what any narrow-minded pack of self-important shitheads would do, they cheated. They reopened registration until they had more teams than Minneapolis. After all, you wouldn't want people thinking there were more creative and talented people in Minisoda of all fucking places...

Open Letter to l.a. - FUCK YOU you bunch of worthless hack cheaters! Your city falling into the ocean would be a refreshing herbal enema for the United States.

See you down in Arizona Bay,
-CZ

Labels: anti, indie movies, Minneapolis Event, rant, Videos

I'm playing Oblivion now, which is awe-and-some. The level of detail in the character generation is stupid, for a game where you switch between first-person view and third-person view, and in neither case can you see your own face. I quickly developed my favorite alter-ego, a thief/assassin, and set out.

Oblivion is open-ended both in plot and in skills. You can go anywhere you like, and while there is an overall plot, you don't have to follow it. Your skills increase for whatever you keep doing. For instance, the more locks you pick, the better you get, the more you jump around the more your Acrobatics skill increases. I began working on my sneaking and lockpicking skills, and use of a bow and daggers.

At one point, you are given an option to pick from a list of character occupations or archetypes (fighter, scout, mage, witchhunter, priest...) and I started to pick Assassin, when my Inner Philosopher woke up.

IP: "What are you doing?"

Me: "I'm picking my character's occupation."

IP: "Assassin again, hmm?"

Me: "What?"

IP: "Well, don't you always pick the Assassin?"

Me: "Sure, because it's my favorite."

IP: "Have you ever played anything else?"

Me: "Well, no..."

IP: "Then how do you know if you wouldn't like something else better?"

Me: "I like the Assassin, and I'm playing the Assassin."

IP: "Fine, fine, I was just wondering what that might mean about your personality."

Me: "Right. It means that my mad sneaking-around-skillz allowed me to live through High School, and now I can use those same skillz to unload a Quick Shadowy Death on the virtual residents of Oblivion."

IP: [yawns] "It could also mean you are a cowardly bastard who just likes to shoot other people in the back."

Me: "Do you really think I paid $50 for this game in order to develop a new virtual skillset?"

IP: [Deathly Silence]

Me: "Fine. I will pick some other occupation if you will stop that."

IP: [Normal Silence]

Me: "Thank you."

So I started over and made a Fighter. A real fighter. I mean a Drinks Petrol and Pisses Nitrogliceryne fighter. He is also a lizard who can breathe underwater. I picked a name in the lizard tongue which means, "Eater of Puppy Dogs For Breakfast". He carries an axe so big it blocks out half the screen (Note To Self: Need bigger monitor.).

And no more sneaking. When I enter a dungeon, I yell, "Woe to all who are here, for I have come to paint the walls of this place with your blood!" This has several advantages:

-The wimpy characters run. They weren't worth my time anyway.
-The tough guys come out of the woodwork, so I don't have to go looking for them. (Note to Virtual Self: Need bigger duffel for healing potions.)
-It makes me feel like a tough guy. Even if the dungeon is empty.

This is very strange for me, and not a very easy playing style for me to get used to. Plus, I doubt the skills I'm learning by 'Stretching Out' and playing a gregarious, blundering oaf will translate well to the real world:

Troubled CoWorker: "Conrad! I'm so glad you are here, there's a problem with my computer!"

Me: "Ha! How Dare it trouble you poor, helpless cubicle dweller! I am here to destroy your computer problems!"

Troubled and Disturbed CoWorker: "But don't you want to know what's wrong with it first?"

Me: "A waste of time! Look! I have already gutted this machination of evil, and I will hang the entrails around your cube! The next computer you get will think twice about giving you problems!"

Troubled and Really Disturbed CoWorker: "Great...um, thanks. Guess I'll be leaving early today..."

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: Funny, Inner Philosopher, Video Games

...are the physical embodiment of everything I don't like about California.

I've heard more about this annoying band than I have actually heard of their music, and that would be a lot, and certainly not of my choosing.

The only human being who has tried harder to be cool was James Woods in the movie Vampires.

The mixture of narcissistic-cool and overzealous-gregariousness reminds me of a dog that keeps trying to hump your leg, determined that you might enjoy it if you just give in. More like a dog that tries to hump it's own leg, because it thinks it is so cool, and it thinks you should watch.

This is overlooking the obvious fact that their music sucks. All shallow hooks with no substance. I guess if I liked their music, I would find their pretentiousness amusing instead of annoying. Not to say that they aren't talented, but there are many talented musicians who can't write a good song to save their egos - in this case, four of them.

No doubt the RHCP were the Village People of the 90's, but now-a-days, you have to be more glaringly über-overzealously-gregarious to steal the spotlight.

Case in point: Meet the Village People of the 2000s.

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: anti, music reviews

It is finished. As Treebeard told Perigrin Took, "...your part in this tale is over. Go back to your home."

The Pray For Daylight score has been leveled, mixed, shaken, stirred, gargled, swallowed whole, regurgitated, and run through a lovely Ozone mastering plugin to pretty it up for public consumption.

Last night, for about 4 hours, and the night before for another 4 hours, Tony and I slogged through the mix with the New-And-Improved video which had been color-corrected and special-effected by Rob.

I will reserve my review of the movie until the completed version is...well...completed. But I can tell about the scoring/mixing process we went through.

Temp Tracks - Before this project, I Hated temp tracks. Captiol H Hated. Because the director knows the temp track will be replaced, they are free to use anything to convey their musical idea of the score, even copyrighted music. So, let's say the director tosses G-N-R's 'Welcome to the Jungle' on there, because he/she wants something totally kicking all ass. Great. Then, they listen to that track as they edit and preview the movie...over...and over...and over...and over....

...and then they take out the G-N-R, and hand the video to you, and your job is to put something in there. Something where that G-N-R song was, but certainly not G-N-R, because after all, that would be copyright infringement, but you know, it was really cool, how the drums and bass worked together on that...no, no, synth just isn't sounding right there...um, can you yell? You know, that screachy, banshee yell, kind of like Axl, but not really Axl, because that would be copyright infringement, and we don't want that...but still, something I don't know...more G-N-R-ish...without being G-N-R?

Right. So I Hate temp tracks. Mostly. But we were fortunate that Tony used very bland, generic temp music. If this music was food, it would be at Rainbow Foods in the Generic Section, labeled 'Dramatic Music' in that generic black-text-on-white-label, and it would taste like overcooked oatmeal. This kind of temp track makes you sound like a pro, because pretty much anything you do will be better. So it worked out well, I did end up referencing the temp tracks in a couple places where I was unsure what kind of mood the director was shooting for.

Levels: Although Tony does not know it, (until he reads this) we disagreed about the levels of the very few sound effects Colin and I added. Tony and I have the same mantra, "We're all about the subtle." Difference is, that his is sarcastic and mine is not. That difference works out to about 20db. (ie: A LOT) Since this is a subjective thing, I didn't even bring it up.

Setting the levels should have been a breeze, but the original audio (recorded through the camera) had a lot of noise in it. I mixed the score to play over that noise. Rob had used SoundSoap on some noisy pieces of audio, and some were ADR-ed (audio was replaced in the studio). Once that background noise was reduced, it made the score sound Really Loud and so we had to remix on a scene-by scene basis. this was expected, and therefore a non-problem.

Locked Video: [Warning Rant Ahead] The standard procedure (as I know it) is once the Editing is finished, the locked video file is sent out to the other departments (score, audio mix, FX, color correction...) After that point, the video edits are Locked In Time, as in, They Don't Fucking Change. Never. Ever. Never Ever. This ensures the special effects and audio and such line up where they are supposed to on the final master.

Somehow, there was a difference between the Locked Video Track Colin and I were given (and mixed to), and the Color Corrected Locked Video Track for the final mix. As though somehow, David Copperfield had made thirty or so frames of video disappear. (I saw him make the Statue Of Liberty disappear on TV once...)

Like Magic, the score was off by one second, in the entire second half of the movie. Now, all music start and stop points had to be tweaked and checked. Fortunately, it was not as bad as I thought it would be, but I will make sure that for future projects, the expected completion date for scoring is moved accordingly if there are any time changes to the video.

Contracts: Contracts should be signed before work starts, not after. The contracts should not only have all the useless legal bullshit, but the timeline, what resources will be provided, and what is expected (file types and other requirements) Maybe this does not need to be in a legal signed document, but there should be an understanding of "what do you expect from me, in what period of time?" In this project, Colin and I simply agreed to drop songs from our album into the movie, and to score the spaces between the songs. (Official contracts were picked out later, from VersusMedia.com and will be signed before the final production master DVD is authored.) This worked out OK, because we are all friends and we all know each other. If working with/for people I don't know, I am getting it in writing beforehand.

All in all, I had fun. While it was work, it was fun-work. It is a nice hobby to have, and I look forward to scoring more movies. But first, I will stare into the jaws of Oblivion....

Sound off,
-CZ

Labels: indie movies, Pray For Daylight

Someone can tell all the idiots in Washington D.C. to go home now, and get real jobs. Thanks much, but we can handle it from here.

How's that you ask? How are we, meager, mild-mannered citizens able to take control of decisions made at a national level? We already do.

I will admit it's kind of sad that the best model for our government comes from a 'Reality' TV show, but no one can deny that it operates under true democracy. Issues can be listed on the evening news, and concerned citizens can cast their vote by phone, or internet, or e-mail ballot. A computer (which really needs to be called "Big Brother" or "Deep Thought"...) can track the votes, and debates can be held on www.wikipedia.org. Hell, Simon can even provide running commentary; he can turn to the board and say, 'Survey Says...' every time the numbers are updated like on Family Feud. We could have Vanna White stand there and do the same thing she does on Wheel of Fortune: Nothing.

To keep the process fair, everyone must have access to TV/radio/phone/internet. Thanks to the public library system, broadcast TV, and public radio, this is mostly the case.

No more 'Representatives' who have their own agendas and can be swayed by special interest groups. No more 'Electoral College' bullshit. Are you Anti-Abortion? Anti-Gun? Anti-Dashboard Confessional? Cast your vote, and if you are in the minority, deal with it. Fuck the 'checks and balances' and the '3-ring circus'.

No more Jury system. Broadcast all trials on TV/internet, and everyone turns in their vote. All the money that went into funding our 'representatives' can be reduced to a roomful of servers and a handful of underpaid geeks to play Oblivion and reboot the servers when they crash.

It will be argued that this system would be prone to some problems, for instance, if 51% of Americans hated Michael Jackson, they might have voted his plastic ass into prison just because they didn't like him, and not based on whether he was guilty or not. The same case can be made rich people/parties buying up the votes of the people who don't give a damn. I can see the commercials now, "Vote to Burn all of Dashboard Confessional's Albums and their lead signer, and I will give you one dollar! Paid for by the Conrad Hates Dashboard Confessional committee."

This argument is a valid one, but I never said that Democracy was the best system of Government. Especially for a group of people as narrow, selfish, and uneducated as Americans, but I'm saying it would be a true democracy, and not the sham we have now.


Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: americans, Million Dollar Idea, political

The Solstice Film Festival begins today, and continues through the 25th. I think it is way overdue that Minnesota has it's own celebration of film, for the following reasons

1-There are many talented local people here in 'flyoverland'. Actors, filmmakers, musicians, audio producers... And there are even a few without issues and egos who can put together a decent film.

2-The world should be made aware that Minnesota is NOT LIKE ICELAND. In Iceland, all there is to do is drink, fish, and write progressive rock music. In Minnesota, we drink, fish, write progressive rock music AND make independent films. If you ever get confused, just remember Iceland has Bjork, Minnesota has Anna Lee (and that purple symbol guy, but we don't really talk about him anymore...)

3-Network television is a pitiful abomination. Watching it should make you either angry or depressed. Except maybe Public Television Channel 2.

I know Devin Halden and Bobby Marsden (ringleader of the local Fearless Filmmakers showings) have worked their tails off to help bring the Solstice Film Fest together.
I highly recommend that anyone with an interest in independent film check it out, and pretty soon the rest of the world will be calling Minneapolis "MinneWood" (wait a minute, that isn't such a great name after all.) OK, maybe Minnesota can be known as "New Hollywood" or "WinterWood" or something. Fine, maybe it should just stay Minnesota, but at least we can be known for having some talent other than tolerating temperatures of -1 degree Kelvin.

Blog on,
-C

Labels: Hollywood, indie movies, Minneapolis Event

I've been working on a theory about the direction the music/recording industry would take, based on its present predicament.

In the past, the industry would simply wait for talented folks to come to their door in Los Angeles. This made sense, because this is what you did when you thought you might have some talent. You sold everything, moved to L.A., blew a record exec, and maybe you got a contract.

One night, after mixing LSD, Red Bull, and Whiskas Cat Treats, an executive had the radical idea that there might be talent Outside of L.A., Hell, possibly even Outside of CALIFORNIA ITSELF in one of those other states people in California sometimes hear about.

Thus was born the Talent Scout, whose job was to sift the talent from the masses, for mass consumption. And life was good. Middle-aged, balding, overweight, uneducated, Recording Industry executives could still get laid. Talented, moralless, illiterate people could still get a record deal (Without moving to California). Consumers could believe that what poured from their speakers was nothing but the Golden Manna of songcraft, filtered from the musical heavens by people who were true authorities on what 'good music' really was all about.

Until The God-Damned-Interweb came along, and fucked up the works.

Now, any fool with an Internet connection and a soundcard can hack and wail into their computer and post it to their myspace page. (Ex: www.myspace.com/jaggedspiral ) People across the globe can find, sample, download and Paypal all the music in the world, right from their bedroom, without even getting dressed.

For a moment, the Recording Industry was able to hold off the tide, by doing things that your average home recording enthusiast couldn't dream of: No, not Use Talented Musicians, you silly! I mean: Slick Production. Bob Rock! Brittney Spears! Production so slick it ran through your ears like Castor Oil.

But the tide could not be held back. In fact, the discriminating public, realizing that they had been listening only to bands who would sleep with Middle-aged, balding, overweight, uneducated, Recording Industry executives, began to turn a blind ear to the overproduced fluff coming from the Record Industry, and the Independent (Also known as "Indie", or "Nothing-To-Do-With-The-Recording-Industry") Genre was born.

You are here. Enjoy your stay.

But you can't. Because you KNOW what is good. Really, truly objectively good. You liked Nirvana WAY before anyone else. You liked Cake, and Crystal Method, and Coheed and Cambria...and let's not even mention that you knew that Tapes 'n Tapes were good BEFORE YOU YOURSELF EVEN HEARD THEM! HA!! SO THERE!!

But you find yourself drowning in a barrage of independent music from every direction. Radio stations abound, whose program directors feed every scrap of audio into their playlist and hit "Random". You can't stand in a group of more than four people at the bus stop, for fear that a fucking Music Fest will break out. You are drowning in a sea of, well, everyfuckingbody throwing their demo recordings into the caucophony web of the AudioNet, and everyotherfuckingbody tossing out their blog-review of what is like, the best band in 4EvR!!!

So where is here? You are stuck between two hells. On the one hand, you are not going to fall for what "The Man" tells you is good, and on the other hand, it is impossible to navigate the quagmire of "This is the New Good Music"-dom that floods every conceivable media outlet. Even if you could, there simply isnt enough time in the average human life expectancy to sift through it all. So what is left to do?

I will offer you two solutions, but you won't like either of them.

One option is to re-invent "the man". Yes, you must find yourself a resource that you trust to make judgement calls about what is good music. Even if you don't agree with them 100%, you sill must find some source of filtered music. For instance, www.vita.mn , www.pitchforkmedia.com or the inevitable www.myspace.com

The other option is to embrace the Buddhist approach of letting go of desire. You must let go of the lazy, American desire to have someone, anyone hand you "good" music that you will like, because this is impossible, and only causes suffering. There are two things you have in common with every other person on the planet. You won't agree on pizza toppings, and you won't agree what music to listen to while eating said pizza.

I told you that you wouldn't like either option.

Clearly, Americans are all about the cheap way out. They want someone to tell them what is good, because they can't be bothered to pay attention themselves. They are not fans of music, they just want to hear music they believe is good.

They have chosen poorly. In the meantime, sites such as www.pitchforkmedia.com will proliferate and spread until they start charging admission, or advertising, or sexual favors to get your band a favorable listing.

And the New "Man" is born, build by your own hands to keep you down...

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: Business Phenomena, Music Industry

I just finished Michael W Dean's $30 Film School. The subtitle is "Write, Finance, Direct, Produce, Shoot, Edit, Distribute, Tour With, and Sell Your Own No-Budget DIGITAL Movie." The target market is absolute newbies, (like myself) who don't know the difference between a producer and a director.

The Bad:
If you cut out every "I" in this book and taped them together they would circle the Earth. Twice. I wish authors would get their damn credentials, near-death-drug-rehab-and-how-it-changed-their-life-forever experience, and the worthless name-dropping out of the way in Chapter One so I can skip it and get to the 'how to' stuff I picked up the book to read about.

I didn't like the way Michael would beg people to work for him for free, and then piss and moan when they didn't come thru for him. Publishing the pissed off letter to someone who let you down is Childish, especially when the person was working for free (or not working for free, which makes as much sense).

Later in the book, he says "Film is built on relationships..." and "...it's all about people". Right. I have a feeling this man is good at making movies by himself, because no one will work with him.

The Good:
If you can sift thru the self-important bullshit, the rest is surprisingly good and chock-full of useful information. It has lots of useful tips on creating a movie yourself, everything from camera angles to format conversions, to duplication and distribution, clever methods for getting your film 'out there' and a good intro to contracts, copyrights and such.

I thought the best part of this book was the motivation. Michael W. Dean is clearly about the art, and wants you to be as well. Not quite Anti-Hollywood, but more Un-Hollywood. He doesn't mind living meagerly as long as he can make his art and get it out to people. He is one of the few people whose marketing practices I agree with: start by making talented art, and with a little legwork and some flyers, the world will bring an audience to you. Film it, and they will come...

The very very very best advice of all: Don't do art for the money. While Michael might be an arrogant flake, I must admit he is an arrogant flake with artistic integrity.

The last chapter of his book made me want to make an independant movie. (Wait a minute, I just did. Almost forgot) OK, it made me want to make another.

I give the book an 8 of 10. It could have been a 9 if he had taken out all references to himself (then it could have been shorter and named "$25 Film School"). It could have been a 9.5 if he didn't live in California, thriving in the center of the very industry and people he makes fun of.

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: Book Review, Hollywood, indie movies

It is tough to objectively review your own movie, but after watching twenty or so entrants in the 48-hour film festival last night, it is not difficult to compare our movie with the others.

Thankfully, the title slate was shown before each movie, so the problem that our film did not have a name/title was minimized. Lesson Learned: Drop in simple crappy titles using the built-in title generator, and replace them with the fancy shit later. If you run out of time, or the files don't work, or are misspelled, you will be glad to have the simple crappy titles, it's better than nothing.

Acting: Robin Marie Whitt (Whom I always think of as Lucretia, and almost called her that on the set) was perfect as the role of Miss Sterling, and she carried 99% of the movie all by herself. Very expressive and the camera loves her. Jeff Schaffran's role as the janitor was unfortunately reduced to a blurry distant shot, and while Jeff excels at 'distant blurriness' I would have liked to see more of him. Edward's momentary appearance was perfectly creepy. I won't rate my own performance, since it was straight out of the Chris Carter School Of Stoic Acting, but the event coordinator, Ira Livingstone, did tell me he thought my voice work for the DJ character was good.

Sound Quality: Our sound was certainly in the top ten percent of the 20 movies I saw last night. The only ones that came close were majorly Pro Studios, or majorly ADR'ed, (meaning the sound was replaced in a studio) We were one of the very few teams that took the time to catch good sound on the set. Unfortunately, we did end up with a line of ADR which makes me cringe to see it, but this was another valuable lesson learned: Make sure to film each actor/location as though they were speaking but with their mouth not visible to the camera. That way, if something changes, or something was missed on the shoot, that footage can be used with any dialog ADR'ed instead.

Josh's mix was pro, and so were his sound FX. At the theatre, I thought the music/dialog ratio was a bit high, but I think it was the house system's EQ settings being different than our own, because it sounded fine on my home system. I thought the overall volume in the theatre could have been turned up, but that might just be me being spoiled by watching too many action films in Dubly Surround Sound.

Score: "Conspiracy Hour" had the one of the best music scores hands-down, and I can say that because I was not involved with the music. Colin Mallon did it all, and it kicks. Intentionally melodramatic, which really added to the odd/creepy factor. Many entries opted for canned, or preexisting music, which I think is cheating, same to me as if you used preexisting video, but it was allowed if you had rights to the music.

Story: I think story/plot made the biggest difference for me in my judgement of the 48-hour movies, because it is a place that is on more equal ground for all the teams. The resources for a good plot don't cost anything at all, and I edged my vote towards those movies with interesting ideas.

While our idea was not particularly new or clever, I think it was interesting, kind of a Twilight Zone comedy episode, SciFi/Horror/Comedy/Drama. We intentionally converted our film to Black and White in post production, to give it a older, Twilight Zoneish feel or like a bad horror movie (with Fresh Step Kitty Litter instead of Blood...) Because I know this is our genre, it makes me laugh. If you thought the movie was serious, you might think it was lame, and I imagine some people did. But the tinfoil joke got a much bigger laugh than I thought it would, and the line "Now take out your mirror, and approach the Beast", which I thought was a highlight of the movie hardly had any response at all. The two jokes might have been too close together, and the one overshadowed the other. It could also be that after a slew of beers and clove cigarettes at 4AM, saying "approach the Beast" is just damn funny, and had we shown the movie in context (at 4AM after beers and smokes) people would have laughed as hard as I did.

Overall Quality: There were far better movies than ours, but then again, there were movies made by teams of more than 20 people, (some were really industry professionals) who had been doing the festival for the last three years. One goal of the 48-hour film fest is to encourage independent film making. In that light, there should be more restrictions on the entries regarding team size and budget. Perhaps the team size should be shown on the voting ballots. A movie made by a team of 2 people is more impressive than the same movie made by 20 people. I think all cameras used in the movie should cost less than $1000.

Regardless, "Conspiracy Hour" stood out among the contestants, probably in the 'Upper Middle Class' maybe a 6-7 out of 10. With some very small tweaks it could have been in the 7-8 range. What this tells me is that Next Year, the other teams better watch out...

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: Conspiracy Hour, indie movies, movie reviews

So I got a letter from the U.S. Government yesterday, stating that the top secret, classified file they keep on me has been stolen. Apparently, I am not to worry that my name, SSN, birthdate, and several risque pictures of me have been compromised.

The reason I am not to worry is that "No evidence of illegal use of your information has been found."

Whew! Thank goodness! Fortunately, I have a plan for dealing with someone who tries to steal my identity.

I'm going to let them have it.

The nanosecond someone pretends to be me, I am GONE, and let's see them try to dodge the MN Dept of Corrections, my Parole Officer, my Psychoanalyst, my Bookie, the Child Support Collections Office, the IRS, and...

...my Student Loan Officer. Holy shit is she mean. Not to mention I owe Satan a favor or two.

So I kind of feel sorry for the son-of-a-bitch who tries to open an account in my name.

Meanwhile, I have a new life all mapped out, on a Pimento farm in California (the side that IS NOT going to fall into the ocean any day now...) I will get some cornrows, change my name to Iggy, and wear sandals and clothing made from hemp.

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: A Day In The Life

I wish I could have blogged the experience of the 48-hour film festival while it unfolded, its very nature precluded me from luxuries like blogging, sleeping, and playing Oblivion. Anyway, I will recount as best I can the craziness which took place last weekend.

For those who don't know, the 48-hour film festival is a contest in which teams of local independent filmmakers are tasked to make a movie in 48 hours. Plot, script, cast, set, practice, dress, makeup, shoot, score, edit, effect, and burn a movie 4-7 minutes in length. In 48 hours. Each team draws a random genre, and are given a character, prop, and line of dialog to include in their movie. This helps to insure that the movies were actually made during the 48 hours. The prize? Nothing. Well, if you turn your movie in on time, you are guaranteed to get it shown the following week. And the best films in the nation do get pressed on a DVD and get nationwide distribution. The best movie out of all the movies might get something, but I don't really know or care what that might be. My meager goal was to make a movie that doesn't suck, to learn a bit, and stretch outside my comfort zone a bit, and push the real limits of my sleeping schedule.

PRELUDE - "The Nine" were assembled. We all discussed what jobs we would like to do for the movie. Since it was my bright idea, I was decreed the Producer. (I later learned that Producer means Person Who Takes Credit For the Work Of Others) Cool. I also expressed my interest in voiceover or acting if necessary, and for editing. While I am more comfortable in the music/recording/scoring department, I wanted to do something different. To be honest, I have Adobe Premiere and I want to know how it works.

Sarah was unanimously voted in as Director. Jeff and I were to work with her in script writing. James would handle graphics, some camerawork and lighting assistance, and assist with final rendering. Jess would handle catering, and help with camerawork, editing and art direction. Nancy would assist the director on set and help Christina with art direction / set decoration. Josh would record audio separately on set and handle all audio mixing in post. Colin would write the original score.

FRIDAY - At 6PM Jeff, Colin and I arrived at Cuzzy's on Washington Ave. The group of festers was standing around the parking lot. Energy and enthusiasm so thick you could swim in it. You could tell that most people were thrilled just to be a part of the event, and that everyone who finished the project would be a winner. It was a group of peers about to undergo the same ordeal, not a group of enemies to conquer. There were a handful who thought they were pretty important, but they were obvious and completely harmless unless you pretended not to know who they were.

I stood in line for the genre draw. The second person ahead of me drew "Road Trip" Hmm. Not too keen on that one. I was hoping for "Horror" or "Spy" myself. The person right ahead of me drew "Silent Film" Ick. That is the only genre we would have thrown back. I fished around in the hat, trying to read the tickets with my fingers the way I've seen blind people read the newspaper. It didn't work. I drew "Sci Fi" Wow, I thought. I didn't even know that was one of the genres! Cool!

The prop was a wallet, the character was a DJ named Frank Mooney, and the line was "Thanks for your help, Thanks alot."

I make the call back to base and they put me on speakerphone:

"So? What did we get?"

me: "Are you guys sitting down?"

"Why? What Did We Get?"

me: "Um, Transgender Coming Of Age Film"

Silence. I guess they believed me.

me: "Just kidding, we got Sci Fi."

Silence.

Me: "Hello?"

Cheers all around.

We headed back to home base and all nine of us started hashing ideas for the plot. There were a lot of really good ideas, but what made the plot really come together was the location. Jess got permission to use her school to shoot the movie. The whole school. I got two words for you "Boiler Room". The difficulty with Sci Fi genre is props. Do you really need teleporters? Ray guns? No, but you do need a fog generator, which we have. We hacked together a quick plot about an alien running around a school that you never actually see on camera, who turns bodies into....um....something. We would figure that out later. And it's in Black And White. Cool. The writers were turned loose, and a script was finished around midnight.

SATURDAY - Some shooting went on in my basement for the radio DJ, Frank Mooney. Turns out he has a paranormal call in talk show. I played the DJ, and ran through the following lines at 4AM after 2 beers, and 3 clove cigarettes.

"I believe Ann is in the room with a Basiliqoid. Ann are you still with me?"

"As we all know the best way to destroy the Gorgonese is to show them their own reflection. Ann, do you have a mirror?"

"Good, now take out your mirror, and approach the beast."

I'm telling you, it's hard to say lines like that with a straight face.

While I attended the shoot at the school, I felt fairly useless. I was getting in the way more than not, so I wandered, and got some drinks for everyone when we ran low. Basically, I waited for the first tape to fill up with video, so I could start import/edit. That happened around 4ish. Totally on schedule.

I imported and labeled all clips from both tapes, and deleted some obvious flubs. Then we adjourned to Casa De Mallon for Homemade Lasagna. Damn. I'm telling you, our movie should win an award for Best Catering. Then back to work, I started editing, and Sarah took a nap. I imagine we were behind schedule at this point, but since I was the producer, I gave myself a stern talking-to, then ignored myself, and hopped to it. At around midnight, Sarah came down and took over editing. At around 4:30AM the video was locked down, and I went to bed.

SUNDAY - I awoke at 9AM to find most people gone, but some still sleeping in various rooms of the house. We gathered troops and headed to Casa De Mallon for breakfast. I watched Josh and Colin sweat out the audio and music, they were both in the zone, and didn't need much help from me.

I won't know the rest of the crunch that day, since I had some family functions to attend, but I called back and yelled at Sarah, (which I think producers are supposed to do) and told her the movie was taking too long, and was way over budget. I think the $1.25 I spent on the props (gum with foil wrappers) was an infinite increase over the $0,00 we had budgeted. Someone had also bought cat litter. I guess that's what our alien turns people into.

I met Colin and Sarah at Cuzzy's at 7PM. Turn in time. Deadline. We made it, with a half hour to spare. Back to the Mallon Residence for a final viewing of the movie.

My mantra for this movie (like many other things in my life) was "do the best you can with the resources you have" And there is no question we did just that. We made a movie, and while it is rough, it certainly does not suck. I can say it looks pretty damn good for a group of newbies making a movie in 48 hours on a budget of $1.25 and one bag of cat litter. I can't wait to see how it plays to an audience against the other entries.

Check back here later this week for a link, I will certainly put the film on Google Video or something...


Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: Conspiracy Hour, indie movies, Videos

So Osama Bin Laden, Kurt Cobain, Elvis and myself were hanging out in a Hash Bar in Amsterdam. No, it's not a joke, it's a dream I had. I think it was a dream. Anyway, we were sitting at a table together, not necessarily talking about anything in particular, but talking nonetheless. The weather, economy, fashion trends, and the coffee, which was surprisingly bad considering what it cost.

I couldn't find my spoon, the one I had been stirring my coffee with, and at first I thought that Kurt had taken it. He was kind of a dick, which is not what I expected at all, and *he* had a spoon. So I'm trying to pay attention to what Osama is saying, since he seems very intelligent (which is also not what I expected, and should have been a tip-off that this was a dream after all) and he seemed to be very knowledgeable about current fashions, despite the fact that he wore a bedsheet.

Right, the spoon. So anyway, the coffee was so bad that I gave up on the thought that stirring it might actually help. Then I thought that the coffee might have been so very bad that it actually dissolved the spoon, which might explain the taste. Then I thought that dissolved spoon in the coffee might have *improved* the taste, and I should be thankful that it did not taste worse. My Inner Philosopher perked up and noted that if I should view all potentially bad events this way, my outlook on life would improve dramatically. I told my Inner Philosopher that he was right - the glass was not half full, it was completely full - of expensive coffee that tasted like dogshit mixed with dissolved silver and Windex. That shut him right up.

It eventually dawned on me that the three people I was seated with had something in common: No one knew for sure whether they were really dead or not. (except me of course, because I was talking with them) I started to worry that I might end up with the same condition, through osmosis or some weird media-virus. I thought of my parents, not knowing if they should put my Marillion CD collection up on E-Bay or not, because I would be *Pissed* if they did that and I wasn't really dead yet. I thought of my friends suddenly rushing off to verify reports that I was sighted hitch-hiking through Oregon, or making out with Paris Hilton backstage at a Black Eyed Peas concert. The whole thing made me sad.

I suddenly wished I had a coffee, and then realized that I did have a coffee, so I edited my wish and wished for a good coffee, and a spoon. I asked Elvis if I could use his spoon, partially because he hadn't used it, and partially because I love hearing him talk.

"Yeah, sure," he said, "Go right ahead man."

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: Dreams, Inner Philosopher

A link at lifehacker.com was titled "Better Blogging with Copyrighting 101" the link took me to an article on www.copyblogger.com about writing good copy. I was interested to see how the two were related. Turns out they aren't. Unless of course, the goal of your blog is to pitch something, which is the entire reason behind copyblogger.com.

Now I remember why I hate marketers almost as much as I hate Dashboard Confessional.

I knew that it would not take long before some American would ask him/herself, "Gee, how can I make money from my blog?" Of course the obvious answer is to charge for advertising space, but that requires hits. Hits you and me don't have (especially me). Hence, a barrage of wondrous tips from copyblogger on how to improve your readership.

I was expecting intuitive, common sense tips, like "Having Something New And Interesting To Say" is a good one, "Know What The Fuck You Are Talking About" is another, "Being In Good Grammers And Speling" goes without saying. But instead, we get this:

the following is quoted directly from here

-The Purpose of your Headline is to get the First Sentence read.
-The Purpose of the First Sentence is to get the Second Sentence read.
-And so on, down a slippery slide that leads to your offer and the sale.


Right. As though the rest were elementary, and simply having the correct headline will MAKE people buy your product. Priceless.

The best part is that this is not only talking about how to market, IT IS MARKETING! The very text of the article is pitching this stupid idea/product to you the reader/target. Genius in its approach, and idiotic in content. Classic marketing.

One tip I did try out with this post was to make a title which would pull people in. (also known as a 'hook') and maybe it worked if you are reading this now.

So I subscribed to the RSS feed, not because I expect to boost the ratings of my humble blog, but because it is So Easy to make fun of people like this. So I should have no shortage of material in the near future...

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: anti, Blogging

Every now and then, I look to see how the MyLifeBits project is progressing, and I ran across the link above. The goal of the project is for people to be able to record every aspect of their lives to searchable computer files. Every piece of paper you handle, bills, cards, junk mail. Every e-mail. Every phone conversation. Every blog post. Every photo, movie and song. Everything. Even to the point of having video and audio recordings of your daily life stored to terabytes of hard drive space. Your entire life, digitized, tagged, indexed, and archived forever.

Why? Probably because we can. The technology is there, and space is cheap. The limiting factors are having the ability to search such a large quantity of data, and obsolescence of the data format. Just you try to open that old Amiga text file now, you know, the one on the 5.25 floppy disk! It is estimated that data becomes obsolete after about ten years, and that is if you pick your formats carefully. Otherwise, you need to continually convert your data to the latest/greatest format.

Make all the Big Brother jokes you like, but if this technology takes off, it could change personal and social relations Significantly. Imagine these scenarios:

An officer arrives on the scene of an accident, and the five or six people each whip out their pocket pc and playback the audio/video of the events leading up to the accident from their own perspectives.

Instead of saying "I told you so!" or "I never said that!" you could play back the conversation.

Ask your computer "What was that red wine I had on vacation in Chile six years ago?" or "What was my favorite song in 1999?"

Best of all, when you die, hand off the data to your heirs. then they can see what kind of person you really were...

This is phenomenally awesome, and I can't wait...

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: Technology, Ubercool

There is no question that DRM (Digital Rights Management) is evil. Imagine a virus on your computer that looks at the media you use (movies, games, music, e-books, etc) and decides whether you have the right to use the media or not. If the virus doesn't decide you have the right to use the media, it stops the media from being accessed or copied.

How could this virus possibly know whether you have the right to use the media or not? What are it's criteria? You would never load such a virus on your computer...

But some of you did. Sony got busted making a virus just like this, which infected thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of unsuspecting user's computers.

I understand when people want to 'rise up' and tell The Man that they can't do shit like that. The link above is to a group Defective By Design who wants to put an end to DRM, and 'protect our rights'. I admire their spirit. I applaud their cause. I wish them well. But I won't be joining them.

I won't join them because the approach is wrong. Destructive Criticism of simply saying "Nope, you can't do that!" to the Recording Industry and manufacturers/distributers of DRM is not going to work in a free market society. It is an ineffective approach to stand outside the capital and complain that companies aren't making products the way you want them. FlashMob protests of this nature are really socio-political-jacking-off. You feel like you are doing something, but you aren't. [Ed Note: Hmm, kind of like this blog...]

So that I don't end up falling into the same trap of Destructive Criticism, and simply complaining that Defective By Design's plan wont work, and saying "Nope, you can't do that!" I will make some suggestions of Constructive Critcism:

How about using this new organization to COME UP WITH A BETTER COPY PROTECTION IDEA THAN DRM. Of course, this idea doesn't do much good for Johnny Consumer, who is pissed because he just realized that he does not 'own' all the music he bought on ITunes, and now he wants to Do Something. Without mad programming skillz, what is Johnny Consumer going to do? Of course! Pick up a sign, and storm the capitol! Hmm. Guess we need a better solution...

How about looking at the problem from the industry's point of view? What would you do if you were the CEO of Virgin Records and you learned that record sales were down and piracy was up? Fight fire with fire? Two wrongs make a right, right? Of course that's not the case, but they did it anyway. We know they suck, but what would you do differently?

What if the music industry changed music to a service instead of a product? Design a service which allows people to stream ANY audio or video recording on demand. Now, cross-breed the IPod with a cellular phone, and tie it to a monthly subscripton. Every audio and video recording at your fingertips, and no more concept of 'buying' or 'owning' media. You pay for the right to access it. Suddenly, we are talking about a product I would sell my fucking car to own, and to Hell with Cable, XM, Sattelite TV and Internet radio. Let's see, Gas Bill, Internet Bill, Electric Bill, Media Access Bill...

What if Defective By Design actually told you about other sites that Don't use DRM? Strange that they dont. They are so Anti DRM, that they focus only on the companies using it, instead of the companies that aren't. www.mp3tunes.com has been doing DRM-Free music for years. Amazon.com too.

...and audiolunchbox...

...and Hype Machine...

...and GarageBand...

...and I'm doing this from memory.

If you really want to fight the fire-fighting-fire with fire, hows about advocating for some software which defeats DRM? Like this?

No. What Defective By Design intends is a political battle waged on the steps of Congress, wrapped in the American Flag, and touting words like Liberty and Freedom, flogging their signs flacidly in the air, in the hopes that the big "DRM" in a circle with a slash through it will change anything. This might work to keep a Wal-Mart from opening in your town, but I think it is a losing approach to fighting DRM.

So, to Defective By Design, I say "Good luck!" but if this were a fight I would put my money on the Recording Industry. I would feel pretty dirty about it, but the odds are too good to pass up...

PS: Change your freaking name! "Defective By Design" makes me think that the DRM technology can be 'fixed' somehow. If you really want to completely obliterate DRM, you need to give it an unattractive name, like "The AntiFreedom Virus" or something...

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: DRM Sucks, Music Industry

Video Games in the Olympics? Of course the Olympics has primarily been for sports and physical events, but now that geeks rule and uncool is the new cool, I can totally see the following events being part of the New Olympics:

-Video Games
-Linux Networking Triathlon (Install Linux / Connect to Wireless Network / Connect to Print Server)
-Texting using a Cell Phone Keypad
-Info filtering Triathlon (Process 1000 RSS feeds for relevant content / Filter 1000 e-mails for spam / Identify phishing sites from 1000 pages)
-Hacking into Networked SQL database through Cisco Firewall

Spelling Bees are also gaining popularity in the media, (which tells you just how far down the toilet 'reality programming' has gone) so I guess that might be an event with some audience draw.

I still think LARP (Live Action Role Play) should be an Olympic Sport. For those who don't know what LARP is, watch this.

And this

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: Million Dollar Idea, Video Games