Ouch

Hot Set- After the master shot is complete, everything in view is now "Hot". Don't touch or move anything lest you mess up the continuity of future shots. A chair in the wrong place, a closed book that was previously open, a missing ashtray etc.

Master Shot- We film a master shot to capture all of the key dialogue, action and plot points of a scene. Usually it is a somewhat wide frame (but not always). Once the scene has been established in this way, we can shoot coverage, the many and varied specialty shots to enhance the edit and tell the story.

TCM has horror for everyone

TCM is running classic scary this weekend and beyond. A few suggestions:

The Haunting (1963) Robert Wise directs a chilling script based on the Shirley Jackson novel, “The Haunting of Hill House. “ There have been many imitators but this is the real deal. Creepy.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) A black comedy/horror about revenge. The cast includes multiple academy award nominee Joseph Cotton and the great Vincent Price.

Diary of a Madman (1963) Vincent Price as a police detective who kills a murderous criminal only to be possessed by the evil spirit that haunted the man.

Martin Scorsese Presents Val Lewton: Man in the shadows (2007)  I have never seen this documentary and can hardly wait. Scorsese produces and narrates a film about the poet and novelist turned horror director, Val Lewton.

Check the TCM schedule for multiple listings.

Pick of the Week

"The Re-Animator"(1985) Directed by Stuart Gordon
Med school student Herbert West experiments with re-animating dead tissue. His professor dies in the lab under weird circumstances and Herbert is forced to continue his "re-agent"work at a new university. Gore and humor propel us through a Frankenstein/Jekyle & Hyde/Zombie hybrid flick based on an original story by master of horror H.P. Lovecraft. On a relatively low budget this picture provides excellent production value, performances and direction. It is deftly designed for hardcore horror fans who revel in the absurdly gross. Popularity led to a series of re-animator films. If you enjoy "The Evil Dead","Dead Alive" and the "Living Dead" films, "The Re-Animator" belongs in your Netflix cue. Happy Halloween.

A guy walks into a film set

Crew jokes are a staple of the industry. There are many jokes and many versions of the same ones. Once you are no longer "green" on a set, they tend to make sense. Lets ease in for starters:
How many Stuntmen does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Five. One to screw it in and four to tell him how bitchin' he looked doing it.
How many Camera Assistants does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Five. One to do it and four to tell you how they did it on the last job.
Are you seeing a pattern here?

I LOL'ed when I read this. It's too true! 4-6 were a motto a close colleague and I used to say all the time. Laughingly of course!

Indie

Bellflower (2011)- Two drinking, smoking college pals build muscle cars & modified weapons hoping that Armageddon happens. Their goal? To rule the roads just like in their all-time favorite film "Mad Max". That's enough for me...I'm in.

Film Crew Slang

M.O.S. Slate / "Bursting the Slate"- When shooting film without

recording sound you can slate the shot before we actually shoot it. A

quick "burst", turn the camera on, wait a beat and then turn off with

the slate (clapper board ) in frame. No clapping the slate for sound necessary.

No respect

"On Halloween, parents sent their kids out looking like me!" 
Rodney Dangerfield (Comedian/movie star best known for "Caddyshack"1980)

Pick of Last Week

I failed to post a movie pick last week so this will have to be a doozy. "Perfume"(2006). The story of a man born with super human olfactory senses. Jean-Baptiste's sense of smell is better than a red bone hound on the hunt for Dexter Morgan. Jean grows up to be a perfume expert seeking the "perfect scent". His search leads to unmentionable depravity.
"Perfume"was directed by Tom Twyker (Run Lola Run, The Princess & the Warrior), perhaps the David Lynch of Europe. His films are worth any aficionado's attention. Kudos to baby Jean-Baptiste in the opening scene. A star performance for sure. That kid must be related to the child in "Trainspotting". Enjoy.

Film Crew Slang

"Kit Rental"-Personal equipment or supplies that crew members charge the production company for as part of their deal. Hair/make up supplies, carts, rigging, etc. are all potential kit rentals.

Old Hollywood

"Old Hollywood: Silent Stars, Deadly Secrets" on Biography Channel today 10am.
If you thought the silent stars were corny and innocent...think again. A litany of scandal, debauchery & murder in pre-Hayes Code tinsel town.

Vietnam Documentary

Currently viewing The Anderson Platoon (1967) directed by Indochine War veteran Pierre Schoendoerffer.Shot in Vietnam in1966, it is a portrait of 33 GIs led by black West Point graduate Lieutenant Joseph Anderson.  Schoendoerffer follows them for 6 weeks through search and destroy missions, downtime and back in again. It won the 1967 Academy Award for Documentary Feature and several other prestigious awards including Cannes.

What's Up Doc?

  "That's All Folks!"
The Man of a Thousand Voices
-Epitaph on Mel Blanc's Gravestone
(Hollywood Memorial Park; Hollywood, California)
 

Halloween viewing

October 29th 9:30 PM	Martin Scorsese Presents, Val Lewton: The Man In The Shadows (2007)
	This TCM original documentary looks at the imaginative producer who fashioned a lasting body of beautiful and unsettling films on meager budgets. Dir: Kent Jones October 31st 11:15 PM : TCM Night at the Movies: Horror (2011): Hosted by stephen king

Halloween

Oct. 30th on TCM

9:30 PM	Martin Scorsese Presents, Val Lewton: The Man In The Shadows (2007)
	This TCM original documentary looks at the imaginative producer who fashioned a lasting body of beautiful and unsettling films on meager budgets. Dir: Kent Jones October 31st 11:15 PM : TCM Night at the Movies: Horror (2011) Hosted by Stephen king

Halloween is near

Chef: I've seen this kind of thing before. It's the living dead. Observe.
( he pulls a patient's arm off)  

Eye Doctor: Mr. Phillips was in here for a routine exam.

 South Park, Pink Eye episode(1997)

Film Crew Slang

Hollywood Stand-up-When an actor rises from a seat a little more slowly than normal. It gives the camera crew a little help following the action. Camera gear can be very heavy & bulky, especially when following the actor in close.  The Hollywood stand-up is one of the ways an actor "dances" with the camera crew to make a shot work.

On SundanceCHannel

Fri Oct 21	10:00 PM	GODS AND MONSTERS
	The story of James Whale, the director of FRANKENSTEIN and THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, in the time period following the Korean War. Whale is homosexual and develops a friendship with his gardener, an ex-Marine.

Who the heck is Paulie Walnuts?!

The Sopranos ruled the Bing! & Nucky runs the Boardwalk, but before those gavones Ray Luca and his Chicago gang battled Lt. Mike Torello in "Crime Story" (1986-88)
It's 1963 and the true Mad Men are Luca and Torello facing off mano a mano,  This short lived Michael Mann series is the precursor to today's cable hits. As a network show it had to please the censors but still managed to have legs. Outstanding performances by Dennis Farina (Torello), Anthony John Denison (Ray Luca) and especially Stephen Lang as attorney David Abrams. The opening sequence uses Del Shannon's "Runaway" in that very Michael Mann style. Check it out.

Film Crew Slang

Video Village-Area on a film set where people  cluster around the monitors showing what the camera sees.  Director's chairs are placed in a group where clients, investors and anyone else  talk on cell phones, chat and annoy the hard working crew.

Video Assist-Video Assist crew record video off of a film camera through the camera operator's viewing system and display it on TV monitors to use as reference for the filmmakers. Film normally needs to be delivered, processed, developed and transferred by a lab before it is available for viewing. Video assist provides a sort of preview. In today's digital world, Video Village is still useful as a reference for the producer, clients, investors and anyone talking on cell phones, chatting and annoying the hard working crew.

Words to live by...

“They’ve done studies, you know. Sixty percent of the time, it works every time.”  — Anchorman (2004)

Noooooo! Not Math!

Inverse Square Law (Law of Inverse Squares)- If you want to work as a dp, cameraman or lighting crew, you must learn this simple concept.  The amount of light coming from any light source varies according to the square of the distance of that source. Relax, it's still not math. Physics actually!  In other words: When you move a lamp twice as far away from the subject, you'll get 1/4 the intensity. Now go try it. You can even use the light meter on an SLR camera to prove it.

More Dialogue Greatness

"There's no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you'll enjoy the rest of your flight. By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?"
Airplane (1980)

Flesh

"The Walking Dead" season 2 premiers Sunday 9pm (EDT) on AMC. Stock up on gummy worms and candy hearts. Winchester!!

Pick of the Week

"Decoy for Terror" (A.K.A. "The Playgirl Killer" A.K.A "Portrait of Fear) 1968- A deranged artist kills and freezes women for the sake of his art. Not only is this fun Canadian schlock, but 50's-60's teen popstar Neil Sedaka (famous for..."I love, I love my little calender girl..! Yeah, yeah,yeah!) breaks into song several times.  Best Scene-The artist has frozen a girl as a statue posed with a strung bow and arrow. Guess what happens when the power goes out and the room warms up?

Dialogue Greatness...

 "A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti."
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Film Crew Slang

Downstage- A director may use this term to tell an actor to move closer to the camera. Originally a theater term meaning the front of the stage closer to the audience.

Camera Left or Camera Right- More directorial verbiage for actor movement. It is movement from the perspective of the camera. Thereby if an actor is facing the camera and is told to move a little camera left, they move to their own right. Got it?