I've been stuck at a Body Building & Fitness competition at Gwinnett Center in the Performing Arts Center all day. Since the dawn of the sport most people have been under the impression that this is one of "those sports" in which the general population doesn't really consider a sport and the sport has been given a bad rep since the '70s and '80s and the steroid revolution. One of the biggest things that this competition is pledging is that this is an "all natural" body competition in which you can't use artificial means in your regiment. The whole point is to have a well sculpted body from top to bottom unlike what the end result of steroids does to one's body (whether legal or illegal).
I've done this event before and its never an event I look forward to because even though it is both a male and female competition I've never been one that found the muscular female body an attractive thing. I simply find myself designing a stage lighting look and letting the whole event run itself. In regards to lighting (which is what my responsibility is) there's not much that I can do except flood the stage with lights so that the judges can see all the crevaces of the competitors' bodies without shadows. I never change the lighting and therefore I end up with one of the easier jobs on the event (which is how I find myself writing this here blog entry).
There is no denying that whether male or female every contestant takes this competition seriously because at the level being represented at the event this is the stepping stone into the big competitions in which they can win actual monetary prices. This event is a preliminary qualifying event where every body builder must qualify or win before they can enter the professional events. Rumor has it that the winners of this event can move on to an event in a few months in which the top price is $45,000 and a contract in which I'm sure they will be a representative of a gym or product, which I'm told is where the real money for people in this sport really is.
I used to look done upon the people who do these types of events (in the same way that I look down upon beauty pagents especially in regards to small children) but after doing several of these events over the years and talking to several of the people involved I actually admire many of them. Like any sport such as footaball, basketball, hockey, etc. body builders must train their bodies and muscles but never over train in fear of looking too out of proportion. It's a very delicate balance and if they treat their events like the pros then they are always in training and always compeating throughout the year which can be very daunting. Even though its not a physical sport it is one in which they are compleating against every one else in their weight class or competition and that can be excrusiating especially when you're standing right next to all your fellow competitors.
Many will still continue to look down upon the sport, of which I do not use the term lightly, but there is no denying the dedication that the majority of the competitors have in regards to becoming the best that they can and through natural means. I congradulate both those who have compeated and won and those still working their way to that position.
CITY GARDEN - "The Old Woman & The Park"
On the set of the short film "A Gift"
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
"A Gift" of Something Nice
Yesterday I started production on the new short film "A Gift" from co-directors Ondie Daniel and Keith Kelley. The production is part of a final project for their acting class in which I put CenterSeat Entertainment in the forefront as a co-producer in order to help get the project done.
In addition to being a co-producer I'm also the cinematographer for the film. Helping out on the film is Vernon Mui as my assistant cinematographer and cameraman and Asa Rose as my Best Boy and Sound man. These two have helped me on previous productions and were looking for an oportunity to work on something a little different then what they were accustomed to.
This being a film derived from an acting class, all the students just so happen to between the ages of three and sixteen or earlier high schoolers. Yesterday we filmed most of the exterior scenes with three of the young actors on he dock owned by the director Kelley. In fact, most of the scenes filmed had these same three boys whether on the dock fishing or up at the house camping and building a fire.
This being the first film in these positions for both filmmakers, Daniel and Kelley alternated between which films the other would take. Their job was essentially to focus on performances while I focused on the look and feel of scene in terms of all the technical aspects. It was a fast and furious film set as we tried to film as much as possible before some of the children began getting too tired or ansy or plan bored with the process of filmmaking.
Many scenes we breezed through, whether for the good or the bad, but one of the things that suffered most was the acting which we couldn't get all the actors to be "normal" in front of the camera and we may not have gotten all the coverage that we might need. I got a lot of coverage on my own without asking Kelley for specifics of what he needed (and frankly I don't think he knew what he needed).
All in all I took the experience like I do most first time directors which is that they will make mistakes but ultimately everything will turn out fine. I'm looking forward to the shoot later today because these little film shoots help me to remember that I'm a filmmaker at herat.
In addition to being a co-producer I'm also the cinematographer for the film. Helping out on the film is Vernon Mui as my assistant cinematographer and cameraman and Asa Rose as my Best Boy and Sound man. These two have helped me on previous productions and were looking for an oportunity to work on something a little different then what they were accustomed to.
This being a film derived from an acting class, all the students just so happen to between the ages of three and sixteen or earlier high schoolers. Yesterday we filmed most of the exterior scenes with three of the young actors on he dock owned by the director Kelley. In fact, most of the scenes filmed had these same three boys whether on the dock fishing or up at the house camping and building a fire.
This being the first film in these positions for both filmmakers, Daniel and Kelley alternated between which films the other would take. Their job was essentially to focus on performances while I focused on the look and feel of scene in terms of all the technical aspects. It was a fast and furious film set as we tried to film as much as possible before some of the children began getting too tired or ansy or plan bored with the process of filmmaking.
Many scenes we breezed through, whether for the good or the bad, but one of the things that suffered most was the acting which we couldn't get all the actors to be "normal" in front of the camera and we may not have gotten all the coverage that we might need. I got a lot of coverage on my own without asking Kelley for specifics of what he needed (and frankly I don't think he knew what he needed).
All in all I took the experience like I do most first time directors which is that they will make mistakes but ultimately everything will turn out fine. I'm looking forward to the shoot later today because these little film shoots help me to remember that I'm a filmmaker at herat.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Zombie Sequels & Remakes
In the world of horror there have been many genres that have left their mark from vampires to werewolves to even the mummy but none have been as influential as the zombie sub-genre. Held as one of the only original sub-genres of the cinema (as vampires and werewolves and the rest were first adapted from source material whereas the zombie film seems to have been crafted strictly for the cinema) zombie films hold an allure unlike any other genre. They present an all too human quality that other sub-genres lack since the undead represent former loved ones and more shockingly ourselves.
The genre seems to come and go through the ages with varying degrees of popularity but none so much as now which is why this is the perfect time to take a look at some of the best remakes and sequels to some of the best zombie films the genre has to offer.
Presented in alphabetical order we will first take a look at the recent sequel 28 Weeks Later (2007), which by all accounts improves on some of the problems of the first film and creates more suspense and unnerving moments. This film of disease-infected people is part of the new wave of zombie films in which the victims are still alive so some of the more traditional elements of the zombie film do not apply although it is apparent that the zombie is the creature from which the infected derived. The first film was such a success with audiences that this sequel was rushed into production. This film does sport some of the best action-horror sequences of any recent horror film with the pessimistic ending befitting a George A. Romero zombie film.
In Army of Darkness (1992) Ash (Bruce Campbell) returns to battle the deadites that have sent him back in time. Unlike the previous two films in the series, this film is more comedy than horror but some of the sequences are pulled straight from an EC Comic book and this film ends one of the most interesting of horror film series to ever come about. The same can be said of Creepshow 2 (1987), which although is not completely a zombie film it does present an undead hitchhiker in one of the stories and the spirit of a Native American in another. Both films are in the EC Comics style and provide just as many laughs as horror elements.
In Bride of the Re-Animator (1990) we get the comedy and we get the extreme graphic nature that plagued the original film. We also get Jeffrey Combs back as Herbert West who still hasn’t learned his lesson about reanimating the dead. The fun thing about these films is that the zombies here talk and move just like regular people. They’re just a little dead. This makes for one of the more interesting series in the genre (as there have been another film in the series Beyond Re-Animator with a proposed fourth film in the works).
Now we come to the films that have had the most profound effect on the genre which are the films of George A. Romero who crafted Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985). Both films represent a continuation of the zombie outbreak with Dawn taking place just after the outbreak with a small group of people trapped in a strip mall and Day with a group of scientist and military personnel trapped in an underground bunker long after the outbreak has taken its effect on the world. Both films strived to be more than just your typical zombie film by commenting upon the decades in which they were produced. They were relevant then and the same holds true to this day and a lot of the basic conventions of the zombie genre we owe to these films and to Romero himself.
When we take a look at the remakes of some of Romero’s films we see a modern day sensibility that makes them relevant to today such as the 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead which Romero wrote making it a film more in the tradition of the feminist mode with a main character who will not just stand still and be complacent. Although this film follows the basic plot of the original film, its sensibilities are vastly different creating an entirely different experience then its predecessor. In the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead the same can be said as the zombies take on a more ferocious temperament and are fast moving and extremely dangerous. The suspense is high and the film is a thrill-a-minute extravaganza. Both the originals and the remakes of these films are a testament to the malleability of the genre no mater what decade they were produced in.
In The Evil Dead II (1987) the grounds for both a sequel and remake can be seen as this film takes the events of the first film and represents them while also expanding upon what happens next after the first film’s conclusion. This film also was a vast change in direction for the series as the tone changed from hardcore horror film to comic book horror (of which would be greatly elaborated on in Army of Darkness). By the mid-‘80s more comedy was placed in horror films due to the popularity of the masked killers in slasher films and some of those sensibilities seem to have rubbed off on other genre films.
This includes the final film in this series which is Return of the Living Dead Part 3 (1993) which was a mixture of the story of Romeo & Juliet wrapped in a gore-filled zombie film played tongue in cheek (but not in the same way as say Return of the Living Dead Part 2). It also sports some effective special effects and production design better than the previous film and is more closely associated with the original film. Plus director Brian Yuzna has a knack of far exceeding audiences expectations with the countless films he has directed (which includes the above mentioned Bride of Re-Animator).
Although there are many more films that could be included on this list, this is just a sampling of the zombie films and franchises that has made the sub-genre what it is today. It is an ever evolving sub-genre that has its ups and its downs yet always finds a way to return from the grave.
The genre seems to come and go through the ages with varying degrees of popularity but none so much as now which is why this is the perfect time to take a look at some of the best remakes and sequels to some of the best zombie films the genre has to offer.
Presented in alphabetical order we will first take a look at the recent sequel 28 Weeks Later (2007), which by all accounts improves on some of the problems of the first film and creates more suspense and unnerving moments. This film of disease-infected people is part of the new wave of zombie films in which the victims are still alive so some of the more traditional elements of the zombie film do not apply although it is apparent that the zombie is the creature from which the infected derived. The first film was such a success with audiences that this sequel was rushed into production. This film does sport some of the best action-horror sequences of any recent horror film with the pessimistic ending befitting a George A. Romero zombie film.
In Army of Darkness (1992) Ash (Bruce Campbell) returns to battle the deadites that have sent him back in time. Unlike the previous two films in the series, this film is more comedy than horror but some of the sequences are pulled straight from an EC Comic book and this film ends one of the most interesting of horror film series to ever come about. The same can be said of Creepshow 2 (1987), which although is not completely a zombie film it does present an undead hitchhiker in one of the stories and the spirit of a Native American in another. Both films are in the EC Comics style and provide just as many laughs as horror elements.
In Bride of the Re-Animator (1990) we get the comedy and we get the extreme graphic nature that plagued the original film. We also get Jeffrey Combs back as Herbert West who still hasn’t learned his lesson about reanimating the dead. The fun thing about these films is that the zombies here talk and move just like regular people. They’re just a little dead. This makes for one of the more interesting series in the genre (as there have been another film in the series Beyond Re-Animator with a proposed fourth film in the works).
Now we come to the films that have had the most profound effect on the genre which are the films of George A. Romero who crafted Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985). Both films represent a continuation of the zombie outbreak with Dawn taking place just after the outbreak with a small group of people trapped in a strip mall and Day with a group of scientist and military personnel trapped in an underground bunker long after the outbreak has taken its effect on the world. Both films strived to be more than just your typical zombie film by commenting upon the decades in which they were produced. They were relevant then and the same holds true to this day and a lot of the basic conventions of the zombie genre we owe to these films and to Romero himself.
When we take a look at the remakes of some of Romero’s films we see a modern day sensibility that makes them relevant to today such as the 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead which Romero wrote making it a film more in the tradition of the feminist mode with a main character who will not just stand still and be complacent. Although this film follows the basic plot of the original film, its sensibilities are vastly different creating an entirely different experience then its predecessor. In the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead the same can be said as the zombies take on a more ferocious temperament and are fast moving and extremely dangerous. The suspense is high and the film is a thrill-a-minute extravaganza. Both the originals and the remakes of these films are a testament to the malleability of the genre no mater what decade they were produced in.
In The Evil Dead II (1987) the grounds for both a sequel and remake can be seen as this film takes the events of the first film and represents them while also expanding upon what happens next after the first film’s conclusion. This film also was a vast change in direction for the series as the tone changed from hardcore horror film to comic book horror (of which would be greatly elaborated on in Army of Darkness). By the mid-‘80s more comedy was placed in horror films due to the popularity of the masked killers in slasher films and some of those sensibilities seem to have rubbed off on other genre films.
This includes the final film in this series which is Return of the Living Dead Part 3 (1993) which was a mixture of the story of Romeo & Juliet wrapped in a gore-filled zombie film played tongue in cheek (but not in the same way as say Return of the Living Dead Part 2). It also sports some effective special effects and production design better than the previous film and is more closely associated with the original film. Plus director Brian Yuzna has a knack of far exceeding audiences expectations with the countless films he has directed (which includes the above mentioned Bride of Re-Animator).
Although there are many more films that could be included on this list, this is just a sampling of the zombie films and franchises that has made the sub-genre what it is today. It is an ever evolving sub-genre that has its ups and its downs yet always finds a way to return from the grave.
Friday, March 21, 2008
A Look Back At George A. Romero's THE CRAZIES (1973)
In the ‘70s there were very few films that dared to be as politically incorrect as this overlooked Georgia A. Romero film THE CRAZIES, or known in some places as TRIXIE (so named after the contagious disease that lies within). The film is about a small town that becomes under marshal law when a deadly government disease is released. As Col. Peckem (Lloyd Holar) and his men try to keep the town under quarantine and locked down a band of seemly uninflected people try to find a safe haven away from the chaos.
The disease TRIXIE turns people in to raving maniacs some in volatile ways and others in puts in a more euphoric state but there seems to be no cure except to get away as soon and as far as possible. David (Will MacMillian) and Judy (Lane Caroll) are among these survivors who watch in horror as the people they have known all their lives kill each other or are killed by American soldiers gripped in the fear of the outbreak. No matter how far the survivors seem to flee they soon realize to their horror that they aren’t really immune at all but that TRIXIE just takes longer to manifest in some people then in others and it is only a matter of time before they are all infected.
As there hold on the town seems hopeless, Col. Peckem must decide whether or not his hold over the town and holding back the outbreak is worth the risk of allowing the disease to go beyond the borders of the town.
This film was a wake up call to American audiences in that it foreshadowed bio-weapons, germ warfare, and infectious diseases such as Ebola and AIDS. Romero wanted to wake up America and he did so with this little film. Although the film was not as successful as his previous success NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) it solidified him as a horror auteur who did more then just craft horror films; he crafted thought provoking films that were meant to not only shock us but to keep us thinking and questioning the world long after the film was through.
The disease TRIXIE turns people in to raving maniacs some in volatile ways and others in puts in a more euphoric state but there seems to be no cure except to get away as soon and as far as possible. David (Will MacMillian) and Judy (Lane Caroll) are among these survivors who watch in horror as the people they have known all their lives kill each other or are killed by American soldiers gripped in the fear of the outbreak. No matter how far the survivors seem to flee they soon realize to their horror that they aren’t really immune at all but that TRIXIE just takes longer to manifest in some people then in others and it is only a matter of time before they are all infected.
As there hold on the town seems hopeless, Col. Peckem must decide whether or not his hold over the town and holding back the outbreak is worth the risk of allowing the disease to go beyond the borders of the town.
This film was a wake up call to American audiences in that it foreshadowed bio-weapons, germ warfare, and infectious diseases such as Ebola and AIDS. Romero wanted to wake up America and he did so with this little film. Although the film was not as successful as his previous success NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) it solidified him as a horror auteur who did more then just craft horror films; he crafted thought provoking films that were meant to not only shock us but to keep us thinking and questioning the world long after the film was through.
"Sleeping Beauty" My Ass
Currently working on the NE Atlanta Ballet's version of "Sleeping Beauty" at the Gwinnett Center where I work and I must say it has been a rough couple of days. Let me say that again - "ROUGH couple of days." The last show I worked on with the NE Atlanta Ballet was their 2007 version of The Nutcracker and even though I hate the show and the story I believe it was a pretty good production that had many merrits.
This production on the other hand has been nothing but one big cluster-fuck of a problem. We're on day three of four on the production and I'm still fixing light cues and we're still having problems technically on cirtain sequences. Lack of preparation and lack of adequate time to set up is the biggest reason why this production is having so many problems.
Most of the productions I do at the Gwinnett Center lack the finess of major productions even though quite often they like to claim they are professional. These short comings are never more apparent then now.
We never did a paper tech of the production nor a technical run-through (although this is not uncommon at this facility) so I was creating cues on the fly without any input from the director until it was quite often too late. I constantly have to rewrite cues (thus the reason why I'm still fixing things). There is a live orchestra and without a stage manager to call cues it's been very difficult to stay on top of everything. When the lighting designer/production manager (which is me) has to do all my cues and the rail cues off visuals on a show I've never seen before. Needless to say it doesn't make for one of the best circumstances.
There have been other technical issues at hand as well but the main one is the fact that we've had to move drops from lineset to lineset more times than ever need be because the direct never did a line sheet diagram for where everything is placed. This has caused such a debacle in terms of wasted man hours. I've never had to move drops as often as on this production (and there are approx. eight drops all with the exception of three that were moved more than once). After tonight's performance the director still wants to move a drop and we're four shows into the production with only three left.
Talk about over-kill.
Other than that I'm just trying to get through the next day without killing any one. I've had semilar experiences with clients at the Gwinnett Center before but the main reason for the problems has been language issues (in which many of them didn't speak English so communication was sometimes difficult).
Another problem with the production is that it just isn't all that good. The NE Atlanta Ballet with as many students as it has may be over extending because they have so many dancers that trying to give them all their own solos tends to be just a tad too much especially for a show with two Intermissions and a two and a half hour running time. The story also is not solely that of "Sleeping Beauty" either as it uses characters from many other different stories to compensate for the huge cast.
All in all it's a production trying to do too much and not give the adequate pre-production time it needs to present a "good" show so it becomes taxing on everyone involved. I do have to give credit to some of the dancers who are actually quite talented as the NE Atlanta Ballet is no stranger to producing some very tallented individuals but regardless the Ends do not justify the Means...at least in my book.
This production on the other hand has been nothing but one big cluster-fuck of a problem. We're on day three of four on the production and I'm still fixing light cues and we're still having problems technically on cirtain sequences. Lack of preparation and lack of adequate time to set up is the biggest reason why this production is having so many problems.
Most of the productions I do at the Gwinnett Center lack the finess of major productions even though quite often they like to claim they are professional. These short comings are never more apparent then now.
We never did a paper tech of the production nor a technical run-through (although this is not uncommon at this facility) so I was creating cues on the fly without any input from the director until it was quite often too late. I constantly have to rewrite cues (thus the reason why I'm still fixing things). There is a live orchestra and without a stage manager to call cues it's been very difficult to stay on top of everything. When the lighting designer/production manager (which is me) has to do all my cues and the rail cues off visuals on a show I've never seen before. Needless to say it doesn't make for one of the best circumstances.
There have been other technical issues at hand as well but the main one is the fact that we've had to move drops from lineset to lineset more times than ever need be because the direct never did a line sheet diagram for where everything is placed. This has caused such a debacle in terms of wasted man hours. I've never had to move drops as often as on this production (and there are approx. eight drops all with the exception of three that were moved more than once). After tonight's performance the director still wants to move a drop and we're four shows into the production with only three left.
Talk about over-kill.
Other than that I'm just trying to get through the next day without killing any one. I've had semilar experiences with clients at the Gwinnett Center before but the main reason for the problems has been language issues (in which many of them didn't speak English so communication was sometimes difficult).
Another problem with the production is that it just isn't all that good. The NE Atlanta Ballet with as many students as it has may be over extending because they have so many dancers that trying to give them all their own solos tends to be just a tad too much especially for a show with two Intermissions and a two and a half hour running time. The story also is not solely that of "Sleeping Beauty" either as it uses characters from many other different stories to compensate for the huge cast.
All in all it's a production trying to do too much and not give the adequate pre-production time it needs to present a "good" show so it becomes taxing on everyone involved. I do have to give credit to some of the dancers who are actually quite talented as the NE Atlanta Ballet is no stranger to producing some very tallented individuals but regardless the Ends do not justify the Means...at least in my book.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
"Dreamland"
I dream, like many other people dream, that one day I’ll have the beautiful wife with the 1.5 children and a good job in which I can support that wife and 1.5 child. I dream of having a dog and a cat or bird or some other such type of pet. I dream of having the perfect neighbors of which I can call upon when it is needed, kind of like those people on Wysteria Lane in that show DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES.
I dream but then every morning I wake up…the dream disappears as if it was never there as if I was left with a funny kind of after taste. One of my favorite stories is ALICE IN WONDERLAND because Alice gets to travel to another land…a dream land in which she has a grand adventure in which it is both exciting and dangerous yet I always know that she will return home at the end. This is the same formula as that in THE WIZARD OF OZ yet that film never had an affect on me (maybe it was because of all the damn singing).
Still…I dream of the wife, maybe, and the one point five children, possibly…but then I realize its all a dream and I have to wake up.
I wake up to the back taxes. The shoddy one room that I rent. The shitty job. No wife (and therefore no children)…and frankly, I’m not sure if it isn’t a nightmare that I’m not in. Maybe I am in Dreamland, just not the one that I thought that it would be.
We all have dreams and aspirations. We all have an ideal of where we would like our lives to be and where they would go yet sometimes we realize that that and reality never see eye to eye.
I’d like to visit the Dreamland of my dreams, but if I were to go there I can’t promise that I’d ever come back. I still dream of the wife and children (although I believe the 1.5 is a little unapproachable) and of the job in which I don’t curse every day that I’m there.
Then again I just dream of the day in which I can find someone that will go to Dreamland with me and it be more a reality then an actual dream. Now that would be a Dreamland I’d like to visit.
I dream but then every morning I wake up…the dream disappears as if it was never there as if I was left with a funny kind of after taste. One of my favorite stories is ALICE IN WONDERLAND because Alice gets to travel to another land…a dream land in which she has a grand adventure in which it is both exciting and dangerous yet I always know that she will return home at the end. This is the same formula as that in THE WIZARD OF OZ yet that film never had an affect on me (maybe it was because of all the damn singing).
Still…I dream of the wife, maybe, and the one point five children, possibly…but then I realize its all a dream and I have to wake up.
I wake up to the back taxes. The shoddy one room that I rent. The shitty job. No wife (and therefore no children)…and frankly, I’m not sure if it isn’t a nightmare that I’m not in. Maybe I am in Dreamland, just not the one that I thought that it would be.
We all have dreams and aspirations. We all have an ideal of where we would like our lives to be and where they would go yet sometimes we realize that that and reality never see eye to eye.
I’d like to visit the Dreamland of my dreams, but if I were to go there I can’t promise that I’d ever come back. I still dream of the wife and children (although I believe the 1.5 is a little unapproachable) and of the job in which I don’t curse every day that I’m there.
Then again I just dream of the day in which I can find someone that will go to Dreamland with me and it be more a reality then an actual dream. Now that would be a Dreamland I’d like to visit.
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