brentasmagoria

"January" Production Diary #9

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 18:21:49 -0500

We have been hard at work the past few days, and the film is really coming along. Not much to really report, as they’ve all been minuscule polishing sorts of things, but the film is almost ready to be graded.

We have confirmed that a high school class of juniors studying American Film will have “January” screened to them in its current iteration, so that we can get feedback from a diverse group of audience-members before we start submitting it to festivals. I’m pretty pumped to get lots of feedback on it, and I’m definitely interested to see what several classes of high schoolers think about it—hopefully they can connect to it in some way, but regardless it’s great to get it out there.

In lieu of more words (I’m not feeling verbose today, how strange!) I’ll post a bunch of pictures from the process. Hopefully they’ll give you some insight into production!

LOVE,

BRENT

"January" Production Diary #8

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:35:57 -0500

It’s been a while. I’ve been busy. Hello, again!

Production on “January” (which I can never decide if I should italicize or put in quotation marks) is coming along quite nicely. Several days ago, we looked at a rough-cut of the film, to see how we needed to proceed forward in order to meet our deadline, February 29th.

When I looked at the rough-cut, I was not happy with it. There were some fundamental issues in this rough-cut, namely pacing. Many of the cuts felt quite mechanical, and the edit was desperately in need of more organic, fluid editing. It felt clunky. At this point, Chris, Dan, and I had a conversation about how to proceed, and we decided to split the work up to cover more ground more quickly. Chris would re-edit several sequences, going off of my notes, and would begin synchronizing the audio. As Chris was doing this, Dan and I would work on fine-tuning Chris’ edits, and polishing up the scenes.

The outlook was grim, to be generous. We had 16 days and were almost a month behind, due to how long it had taken us to get the rough-cut completed. I was terrified.

After the first two days, things were looking slightly more positive. The first scene was looking ten times better, but I was still pretty scared. We had completed roughly a minute and fifty seconds of the film, which will have a total running time of about twenty-four minutes. That meant that we were only 8% done after two days of work. 14 more of these eight-percent-two-days would mean that we’d only be between 60%-70% done with the final film, on the day we needed to submit it to the festival.

It was a weird feeling to have; on one hand, the film was looking miles better, but on the other it was still taking a long time to complete things, as we were trying to get this next cut as close-to-perfect as possible. With these doubts in mind, I went to bed Monday night.

The rest of the week has been a blur. Somehow it was Tuesday, now it’s Friday, and the film is now in the 50%-60% range. Dan, Chris, and I have kicked it into overdrive, but I must really give a hand to Chris and Dan, as they’ve been spending most of their free-time working on the film. It’s really coming along, and one of Chris’ re-edits was so close to the mark, that it only took about an hour to clean it up, and make it even better. Dan, too, has been cranking out tons of high-quality work, and he is easily one of the most efficient editors I’ve ever seen work.

The film is looking great. It’s really coming together, and the stark contrast between Sunday’s edit and our current, working edit is almost laughable. What’s even more encouraging is that after we complete the montage—which we’re having tons of fun with, props to Zach and Evan for really bringing a lot of energy to this scene—we don’t have much more to polish. Of the remaining four scenes, two of them are monologues, which are 99% perfect, and one of the other scenes, the big argument between Evan and Steph—which still gives me chills when I watch it—is close-to-perfect as well.

What’s even more encouraging is the fact that tomorrow is Saturday, meaning no classes. From tonight until the end of tomorrow night, we can just start grinding out as much of this edit as possible. Once we have the next edit to start cleaning up, we get to start screening the film to test audiences. This could happen as early as Sunday afternoon, and is a particularly exciting/scary part.

One thing that I’d like to do before I’m finished with this post is shout-out to Jack Atterholt, AKA “Drivel Kid,” who’s done the soundtrack for this film. His soundtrack is phenomenal. The tracks are evocative, poignant, and beautiful. Not only is it a great collection of pieces, they are adding SO MUCH to the editing process. They’re bringing the performances and visuals to life in such a vibrant way, that it’s impossible to imagine any other soundtrack working for the film at all. It’s been a pleasure working with him throughout, and the quality of his compositions is truly appreciated. I know that he’s working on his next album, and I’ll make sure to provide you with the link when it’s released; this guy is going places.

The adventure is beginning to come to a close, but we’ll still be hard at work after we meet deadline; after all, what’s a DVD without special features?

Get there.

LOVE,

BRENT

"January" Production Diary #7

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:47:39 -0500

January Teaser/Trailer from Brent Eickhoff on Vimeo.

The teaser for “January” is up. We have finished 99% of the filming—all we need to do is get one final, aerial shot on a highway, and we will be done. It is in the process of being edited, currently; it looks like we’ll meet our deadline.

The teaser/trailer went online last night relatively late, but already I’ve been getting positive feedback. People are commenting that it looks “so good” and “really interesting.” My grandma commented that it looks “very professional,” most of which I credit to the wonderfully strong performances by my actors, and the excellent cinematography/color grading from Dan Edwards. Never before have a realized how much of a difference a colorist can make on a film. Adding all of the wonderful contrast and saturation that you see in the teaser above, changes footage that already looked nice into footage that truly pops. Props to the pop-meister himself for some excellent work with Final Cut Pro’s color correcting utilities.

Overall, I’m getting lots of buzz about the film after the release of this preview. People are asking me when it will be finished, when they get to see the final project, and are asking if they can be invited to a screening of it. I’m beginning to think that between the screening strictly for actors/crew and the (hopeful) debut at FrogBaby Film Festival, we might get a screening for other people who’ve been showing interest. But that’s a question for another day! For now, I’m just excited at the interest that the film is getting—it’s certainly a project that is very close to me, and I’m sort of concerned that it won’t appeal to the general masses. It isn’t a comedy; it isn’t an action film; it relies on the performances of actors and the words that they’re saying more than camera gimmicks or special effects; it will be competing against films that fit some of those other descriptions. Yes, I know that as long as I am happy with the finished product, that’s all that truly matters, but I really hope that others will be able to connect with this film as much as some of the cast and crew have.

Needless to say, all of this excitement is getting me more excited about something I was already excited about. I need to get going on finishing my next screenplay, Anamnesis!

I’m a filmmaker.

LOVE,

BRENT

"“I like it better when it’s snowing. When it’s just the snow on the ground, my..."

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:46:48 -0500

“

“I like it better when it’s snowing. When it’s just the snow on the ground, my feet get cold, but when there are flakes, they distract me from the rest of it.”

“At least it’s better than when it’s just ice.”

”

- an elevator ride with a stranger

Regarding Motives in Creative Endeavors

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:35:00 -0500

It’s my hope that this doesn’t come across as a pretentious I’m-better-than-you sort of thing. It certainly isn’t a personal attack either. I’ve just had growing, strong, feelings about a “project” (I think I’ve decided that this is the best name for it) that I’ve continued hearing about and so this is my response to the issues that it has raised in my head.

There is a group of people on campus working on a feature-length documentary entitled “Me and My Shadow” (not to be confused with the ambitious Dreamworks project) about two people handcuffed together who go on a road trip to pick up the key and unlock their handcuffs. The road trip takes them from Muncie, IN to Canada, where the key has been mailed. It sounds like an interesting concept, but I have some serious problems with multiple parts of their process, namely how much emphasis they are putting into marketing the film, and the suspicions I have regarding their motives in making this. I could be entirely wrong, and I certainly won’t spend the entirety of this post discussing issues I have with them; rather, I’m hoping that by providing some backstory their film will serve as a jumping-off point for the rest of my thoughts.

One of the first things that bothers me is the fact that they took an idea that they already had (they began talking about this online in September) and condensed it into a 7 minute “documentary short” for a 72 Hour Film Contest sponsored by the Emerging Media Living/Learning Community on campus. This contest required that entrants be from one of two dorms on campus, and that all content be conceptualized, written, filmed, and edited in the allotted 72 hour time frame. Not only did they start with a pre-conceived idea, their film—which won first place—broke one of the most prominent rules about the contest:

“Film must include the three items designated. Items must also be integral to the film’s plot.”

This rule is in place in the hopes of deterring teams from using pre-established plots, characters, etc. in their films; however, even the judges overlooked this when awarding a film which broke several important rules first place. To make matters worse, the team of “Me and My Shadow” began to flaunt this “win” about their various social media outlets—except of course, their website, www.meandmyshadowfilm.com, which is referenced at the end of their first trailer, but doesn’t actually exist. Why they would display a URL for a domain that hasn’t even been registered is beyond me, but I guess when you are trying to saturate as much of the internet as you can with the same posts about your film, you might tend to forget to do a few things.

They used some very clever selective omission to make winning this “festival” as they refer to it (although it’s actually a contest, if you read any documentation about the actual event) seem like it was a school-wide achievement, proudly displaying a Sundance-esque badge—which they made themselves—on their fundraising website.

But, never mind the fact that there were only fifteen entries to the contest, and forget the fact that they didn’t have permission to use Ball State’s name in any promotional context with the film, what really gets me upset is that they then used this win as a springboard to get onto not one, but two, local television stations, where newscasters introduced it as “an award-winning film,” which, while true, is blown so out of proportion that it is staggering.

The thing is, that I can’t get this bad taste out of my mouth, a taste that says that they aren’t really committed to making a good film, and they don’t really care about the final project. I could be 100% incorrect, but the way that everyone involved in this project is behaving makes me feel as if they wanted a way to fund a road trip and become famous. I have yet to see the film, as they haven’t completed it yet, but they are spending so much time with publicizing this film, that I wonder how much better the finished product would be if they invested all of that time and energy into the film itself. One of their ads is a desperate plea for funding, and they seem to view money as an insurmountable obstacle to any creative endeavor. At one point they state of the project:

“This is the most ambitious project we could imagine for ourselves as collegestudents. We are two individuals driven towards making art, hoping to make our first foray into feature-length film.”

And then, only sentences later, they say:

“To be completely honest, we’re on a limited budget. We’re working students and cannot afford to make this film…We’re tenacious enough to make this project happen - we just need your contribution to get the ball rolling.”

These, to me, seem like totally contradicting thoughts. Someone who is “tenacious enough to make this project happen” and “driven towards making art” would not view money as an obstacle. They would do whatever it takes to make their film, and they would make it regardless of who did or didn’t support them. I will reserve judgment regarding the final film until I actually see it; if their first premiere is on campus, even if it costs money, I will attend it. But I think about their focus on publicity, on spreading the word, and I wonder where their hearts truly lie.

I’m learning something important about myself.

I’m learning that the commercial aspect of film—the focus on money, on pageviews, on box-office success, on catering to the masses—is something that I find disgusting. Disgusting.

That isn’t art.

That isn’t creative.

That is selling out.

Yes, I know that we need money to make things happen, that money is important to day-to-day life, and that there is certainly nothing wrong with commercialism. But a specific phrase they use in their fundraiser—”This film will live and die by word of mouth”—is something that makes me really uncomfortable. I think of people like Woody Allen, who don’t care at all about what reviewers say about his films, and continue making them regardless, or people like Ed Wood Jr., whose films are infamous for being terrible who continued creating regardless of critics said. That’s what’s important for artists. For creativity. To CREATE. Regardless.

To say that an artistic endeavor will “live and die” based on popularity shows a lack of drive. Individuals who are driven will accomplish whatever they set their mind to. Was Ed Wood Jr. a talented filmmaker? Were his films revolutionary? Were his films good? Yes, most of the answers to these questions are in the negative, but he was, without contention, an incredibly driven filmmaker. He, like Woody Allen, are not in “the business” to make money. To gain fame. They are in “the business” to express themselves in a way that no other medium of story-telling can.

I don’t think that any self-proclaimed artist should be out to make money. Or achieve fame. An artist—be he a painter, filmmaker, writer—needs to create out of a passion to create. Yes, it is possible to make money doing what you love, but you shouldn’t do what you love with the sole intentions of generating money or fame. That narrow frame of mind will hinder creativity in a way that a budget never could. A great film, a film with heart, doesn’t rely on fancy equipment, the best-quality cameras, state-of-the-art special effects. A great film touches the viewer, evokes in them some feeling, some emotion, which is meaningful and then sticks with them.

I understand that there are many different branches of filmmaking. Industry, independent, experimental. And I get that not every filmmaker (or director) will (or should, for that matter) share my opinions. I am speaking based off of my journey. I am still learning. Learning about filmmaking, learning about story telling, learning about myself. Some people might be in this game to achieve fandom. I don’t like that. People should do things that enrich them. That fulfill them. An audience will see through all the smoke and mirrors, all the edits and lens flares, and judge the film based off of one facet: content.

Many people seem to think that technical specifications of footage are a major contributor to audience reception of a film; after all, independent films are being directly compared with their multi-million dollar cousins, but I don’t think this is true. I don’t prescribe to the idea that audiences are dumb, that they’re fickle, that they need to be spoon-fed recycled plots and sequels. I think that there are educated audiences out there. People who appreciate cinema, and want to see something truly creative. What makes audiences coming back to films are memorable characters and interesting storylines, and having ulterior motives in creating some work of art will obscure the very things that are integral to the art itself.

I will never dumb-down anything for the audience. I am not making films for an audience, for commercial success, to become famous. Some people certainly are, and those people would probably have serious problems with aspects of my films. But I’m not creating for anyone else. It’s all me. My personal satisfaction. My creative vision.

If one’s motives for creating something are pure, than they needn’t worry about commercial success. All that matters is if you achieve what you want. If you can look at a piece of your work, and say to yourself, “This is the best work that I could have done. My artistic vision has been realized,” then nothing else should matter. For some people it doesn’t matter. Others need to get constant positive feedback in order to feel validated. Fulfillment should derive from the creation of the product, not the responses the product creates.

There are people who want to make movies, and there are people who need to make movies.

LOVE,

BRENT

"January" Production Diary #6

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:59:42 -0500

This is literally the first time I’ve opened my laptop since Friday night.

We were scheduled to begin filming Saturday, the 14th, but when the snow hit Muncie, and rain was in the forecast for today, we were concerned about continuity. After all, Indiana hasn’t looked very Winter-like for pretty much all of Winter. Seeing as our film is set in the month of January, we decided it’d be a good idea to get all outdoor filming out of the way this weekend. This bumped our shooting schedule up a day to Friday, because one of our actresses would be gone for all of the MLK weekend. (Thanks again Steph for being flexible with your departure so we could get the footage we needed!)

The only thing concerning me about our shoot outdoors—besides the fact that it was like 12 degrees and all of our feet went numb and we kept having to take breaks in order to warm up—was that we were starting with, arguably, the hardest scene (emotionally). I wasn’t super pumped with having to make Evan and Steph get to that place so quickly, especially considering that we only had around two hours of daylight to film in, but both of them did excellently with each take—even when people from surrounding doors were yelling out their windows at us things like “What are you doing?” and “Your movie sucks!”—and we were able to finish in time with some very powerful performances. Steph, especially, knocked this scene out of the park, bringing tears to the eyes of Dan (our cinematographer) and myself. Day 1 of shooting was phenomenal, and in a scene where the performances were paramount, I got exactly what I wanted.

A quick aside. The two pervading thoughts in my head regarding filmmaking and the filmmaking process as we continue to work on “January” are as follows:

I. In the making-of featurette of Black Swan, a woman working on the film remarks that she loves working with Darren Aronofsky because “he’s not just a director; he’s a filmmaker.” There is a difference between directors and filmmakers.

II. PBS’ American Masters documentary on Woody Allen depicts Allen commenting that when he gets the take he likes, he doesn’t want to do it over because it isn’t necessary. Be economical in your time when working on a film. If you know you like what you got, there’s no reason to do it again.

Day 2 of shooting started off to a late start. There was some confusion over where we were filming, and that, on top of forgetting equipment we needed, required us to begin filming about a half hour later then we needed to. A shopping trip for gear was made before this shoot, which contributed partially to the lateness. Although everything that was bought was necessary to the scenes we were shooting that day, I was a little unhappy that we spent $100 of our budget on the first trip, considering that 30% of it was on a step-stool, which we probably could’ve gotten cheaper or even borrowed. Unfortunately, hindsight is 20/20 in these sorts of situations, but cest la vie. It just means we’ll be smarter about our budget in the future. Shooting went quite well, if not a bit slowly, due to our cinematographer’s meticulousness in composing shots, and the freezing cold temperatures. The way that I prefer to work is at a break-neck pace, running and gunning through scenes, probably a result of most of my work being for things like the 48 Hour Film Project. This certainly does not gel with Dan’s methodical, triple-checking, asking-for-clarification process, but he gets results, so I suppose that’s what matters. The composition of one of the first scenes I am totally in love with. A super strong shot.

We’re filming on two different cameras for this project. A Canon T3i (a DSLR camera, our primary choice, due to Dan’s familiarity with it) and a Canon XHA1 (which is recording all of our audio, in addition to some scenes—apparently it’s important for video cameras to have XLR input for microphones, unlike the T3i, which, while providing a “filmic” look, is built for still photography).

Evan, who is playing the lead role of David, is incredibly committed. His conversational approach to the character is brimming with genuineness and he has a natural air of charisma about him. In addition to his portrayal, he let us dump water on him in fourteen degree weather and continued the take with no trace of uncomfortableness until he was off camera (when he sprinted to the warm car we had waiting to drive him back to his dorm to change).

Day 3 of shooting was super slow. Basically, we filmed our two most complicated shots—one in which Evan writes on the lens of the camera and a shot where he gets onto an elevator and rides it up several flights, with the camera following him up. The first shot took a ton of planning and reworking, because we were initially filming outside and the sun was reflecting the camera into the glass. Then, we moved the shot inside, hoping to counteract the lighting issues. After cannibalizing the slider that we built, we were able to construct an apparatus to hold the glass in place in a sort-of frame. It took about two hours to get the entire shot done, mainly due to my stubbornness about doing the effect practically. After several more takes, I was confident that we’d have something to work with, and we moved on to the elevator scene. Graham, our Visual Effects guy, ran us through how to film it—we put duct tape track points on the wall, so that he could track it on the computer when adding the effects to make sure the motions match with the camera’s movements. The most aggravating thing about filming in the resident halls is that they are, believe it or not, resident halls. Apparently that means that people live in them. So many people stopped, or entered and saw everything and got spooked. We had to wait to get the take, and sometimes in the middle of the take people would come into the scene, and we’d have to restart.

Day 4. This day was a relatively short scene, but it still took a long time to shoot. We started 50 minutes late, and then it took two and a half hours to film, when I was hoping it’d only take an hour and a half. Even though it took much longer then I’d hoped, by the end of the shot, Dan and I were in a “groove.” We had met in the middle as far as the paces at which we both work, and so I’m confident that we’ll be able to move forward working quickly and efficiently. Although some of the past few days have been tense between us—because of my emphasis on using time effectively—I do value the fact that Dan puts time and effort into the composition of his shots. You don’t get awards like Best Cinematography, Best Original Screenplay, or Best Original Soundtrack without putting in time and effort. Yes, we’re doing this because the creative process is something which we all enjoy. But there needs to be a level of seriousness and commitment to the process in order to get a product that we are all proud of and that meets our artistic vision. I’m reminded of a phrase from a statement we were required to sign when auditioning for plays or musicals back in high school:

“I understand that being in a play is both fun and hard work.”

To me, that’s how it is with any artistic process, be it film, painting, writing, etc.

One of the strangest things about making this film is the questions onlookers seem to have. “What is this for?” “Why are you doing this?” These questions, especially, bother me, because it assumes that for every thing that anybody does, there has to be a purpose. Our short answer to these random passers-by was that it is for the Frog Baby Film Festival, but that wasn’t why this project was started—I was writing this screenplay before I found out about Frog Baby. Plus, we’re submitting it to other film festivals in addition to Frog Baby. The point, for me at least, is/was to make something real. To create. As a form of art. As a form of expression. One of the last memories I have of the Summer before I came to college was with my friend Eli. We were standing on top of a parking garage, and he said to me:

“I know that you aren’t going to major in film in college, but I think it’s important that you keep doing it. As an expression thing, ya know? ‘Cuz it’s important that people have a way to express themselves, and making movies is something you enjoy. You should keep doing this, even though you aren’t majoring in it.”

That’s what I intend on doing. That’s what I am doing.

LOVE,

BRENT

"January" Production Diary #5

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:42:00 -0500

Jubilation.

This is happening.

After the read-through, in a circle in the cold outside the library, Zach asks me: “This is happening, right? Because I’ve been on board for a lot of films, but they haven’t come together.”

The answer is an incredible, “YES!” But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s go back to Monday night.

Sunday had been a bust. We sat in the small study lounge on the sixth floor for several hours, and didn’t get much progress, at all. Most of it related to bickering about DSLRs vs traditional camcorders, and we spent more time talking about technicalities of the filmmaking process instead of focusing on the point of our meeting: storyboarding.

But Monday was different. It was a slow, methodical process, but we were making headway. Dan, Chris, Natalie, and I discussed potential shot compositions and visual ideas, and Natalie took our notes and converted them into images on the storyboards. We came up with this concept for the film—relating to the “fourth wall” of film, in a way—that I’m totally in love with. Basically, it hinges on cutting to non-literal depictions of things that David, the narrator, talks about. These will be more representational than anything else, and allow us to have these sort-of playful suggestions of things, rather than hitting the audience over the head with shots-of-the-objects-that-he-just-mentioned-in-his-lines. It was an arduous four hours, but by the end of it we had the first 11 pages of the screenplay marked up with all sorts of margin notes and ideas. These accomplishments, and our new concept, danced through my head as I got ready for bed at 3 AM.

Tuesday. The day of the read-through. 10:30 PM (although I knew that Zach would be late because of rehearsal for the musical) in room 409 in the library. Most of our cast and crew were there, with the exception of one actor (who I’d only talked to about this the day before, and knew he wasn’t going to show up) and our make-up and lighting guys (the latter of which said he’d be there, and was missing in action). Release forms were passed out and signed. We chatted for a little bit, until Zach showed up, and then we began introductions. Name. Role in the film. One of your favorite movies. We had a varied room of people—Speed Racer, Big Fish, Fight Club, Elf, 500 Days of Summer.

The read-through started. It was good. Like, really good. Some of the moments—the beats, the silences in between lines—were so good. Pregnant (ew!) with meaning. With emotion. There were moments that were light, and moments that were tragic. Evan’s read of David was honest and engaging. Zach played the role (which I had practically written for him) better than I could have imagined. Lauren’s portrayal of Rachel was fun and adorable; she really captured the spirit of performing children’s theatre. From Steph’s first line, as Sam, to her last sentence—which gave me chills—she was on it. Everybody was on their game. They made me all look good, as I’d cast them without really seeing what they could do with the material at all. They made the screenplay come alive in a way that wasn’t evident from just reading through it. This film—this story—was going to be great. The final “act” of the screenplay pulled me in and dragged me along with it, and the delivery of the final monologue was poignant and powerful. One of our boom operators and grips, who hadn’t actually read the screenplay, said at the end, “Whoa. That was really good.”

Indeed. Indeed indeed indeed indeed.

After the read-through, in a circle in the cold outside the library, Zach asks me: “This is happening, right? Because I’ve been on board for a lot of films, but they haven’t come together.”

This is happening.

LOVE,

BRENT

"January" Production Diary #4

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:44:23 -0500

19 days.

$350, or more.

Is this all going to come together?

That’s like, $20 a day.

Doubt. Fear. Anxiety…Excitement.

This can happen.

This film can happen.

19 days.

Today, I received an email letting me know that Kickstarter.com had approved our project, “January.”

The fundraiser is officially up and running. You can visit this link to make a donation.

You can read about the project more, how the money is going to be used, etc. by clicking on the above link, so I’m not going to reiterate most of the stuff that’s in that. Instead I’m going to say two things, one of them in relation to the fundraiser and the other in relation to the film itself.

Kickstarter operates in a pass/fail sort of way. Meaning, if we reach our goal of $350, we get the money, except for the fees that Amazon Payments takes for processing all of the donations (see, it uses trusty old Amazon.com as the payment site! Told you Kickstarter was reputable!); however, if we don’t reach our goal, even if we’re only $1 short, we don’t get any of it. That would be bad. Because of this, I made our goal relatively low. I don’t know if we’d actually be able to pay for the equipment, props, costumes, and particularly the food/water to feed a cast/crew of 10-15 college students on a budget of $350, but if we make more money than our goal, all that means is that we just get more money. So, please, even if you are reading this and we are above $350 in donations, don’t feel shy. ;-) $350 is probably the bare minimum this film needs to be made, and believe me, I’ll be happy for every penny, but I also know that the more money we get, the less we will be limited creatively, and the more flexibility we will have. 19 days to reach, or exceed, our goal

The second thing I have to share with you, which I thought would be interesting, is why I chose to name the film, “January.” This, too, was in an email to some of the crew, and I find it encompasses my goals for this film quite well.

“January” is broad, just as this film’s portrayal of real life, of honesty, is broad. There’s a lot going on in this short, it’s very slice-of-life in its focus. The month that the film will be filmed, the setting of the film.

Something that can be poignant. Personal. Playful. Powerful.

Evocative of a season, a month, when all of these feelings occur. Winter is the deeply reflective months when we all search for something to warm us up, amidst the chilling air.

So, please, donate to make this film a reality! Tell your friends, tell your family, tell anyone you know who loves film and wants to make a difference in a group of students’ lives. Just $5 will get your name in the Special Thanks of the credits, and who doesn’t want to see their name in the credits of a film?

LOVE,

BRENT

"January" Production Diary #3

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 13:45:22 -0500

My meeting with Jack (AKA Kaptain Kewl, now known as “Drivel Kid”) went phenomenally. When I arrived, he greeted me, asked how I’d been, and then lead me to the back of his house. We climbed into a closet—his recording studio—and he opened up his MacBook. The small “room” was fitted with headphones, his laptop, an expensive-looking microphone, and some speakers. His guitar sat in its stand in a corner on the left, and the white walls were scrawled with various notes—bits of lyrics, phrases, ideas. It was certainly a Do-It-Yourself sort of studio, but it had the character one would expect, knowing Jack. He began by telling me that he loved the script—which, considering my nightmare last night where he told me he hated 2/3s of the script, was quite nice to hear—and told me he thought the ending was perfect, and that he loved the final line. Jack’s certainly the kind of guy who means what he says, so it meant a lot to hear that from him. He told me that the hardest part about composing the soundtrack was coming up with a tone that would translate from piece to piece to create a cohesive soundtrack. There were six songs displayed in his iTunes window, but he quickly explained that the final “album” will have around twelve songs. He’s hoping to have it entirely finished by this Friday. He prefaced each song by telling me that none of them were set in stone, and that if there was anything that I needed changed, to just let him know. The six songs that I heard were great. Each one was grounded in a similar melancholy, while still having nuances of the warmth of friendship. Jack said that while he definitely wanted the soundtrack to have a solemness, but tried to keep in mind that “even though it’s melancholy, there are friendships here. David really appreciates everything Jack [the character] is doing, and Sam really does love David and want what’s best for him.” The fact that Jack was implementing such themes from the screenplay into the creation of the music for the film speaks volumes of his talent, especially considering that this is the first time he’s done something like this. After listening to every song, Jack stressed that if I hated all of it, or only liked one song, to let him know so that he knew what exactly I was looking for. He said that if in two weeks we decide we need something longer, or want more of a specific sound, or need something recorded at better quality, that he’ll record something new. In his words: “The soundtrack won’t be completely finished until the film is, too.” What an excellent guy to work with, specifically considering how great all of the music already is. The moods are cohesive, but there’s a definite versatility in each of the tracks, so that I can imagine it getting put to use in multiple areas of the film. Overall, I’m totally impressed with the music, and can’t wait to hear the next six tracks.

LOVE,

BRENT

P.S. In a couple days, I might post my favorite song from the soundtrack. Right now it’s just hard to decide which one is my favorite; they’re all so good for so many different reasons!

"January" Production Diary #2

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:19:00 -0500

This is real. I—we—are making a film.

I’m not sure when it hit me the most, but today has been a triple-whammy as far as reminders go.

Before I become too far entrenched in my story-of-the-triple-whammy, let me first offer you with a short summary of “January,” because I realize I haven’t yet provided one. “January” is a short film about David, a college student, who finds himself on a quest to find purpose in his life after he interprets the writing in a bathroom stall as a sign from some higher being.

Now, on to the whammies!

Earlier today, I submitted an application to Kickstarter to hopefully gain a way to accept donations/get funding for the short. There are other websites which provide a way to get notoriety/money, but the fact that Kickstarter has an application process (which is reviewed by staff members, to make sure users don’t abuse their Terms of Service) makes me feel as if it’s a little more reputable. I have yet to hear back from them as to whether or not my proposal has been accepted, but I’m hoping that it is, as it’ll certainly be a confidence boost for the rest of the team and me.

Speaking of the rest of the team, I got a text message from Jack Atterholt (AKA “Kaptain Kewl”), a friend of mine who’s composing the score for the film. We have a meeting tomorrow at noon, and he asked me to bring blank CDs and a USB drive to the meeting tomorrow. This thoroughly excited me—I may or may not have jumped up and down—and I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to take some samples (or all!!!) of the soundtrack to share with the cast and crew. Having worked with Jack before on several films (he was the lead in my award-winning short film “Amalgam” 3 years ago) I know his commitment to excellence in everything he does, and he and I seem to be kindred spirits when it comes to artistic matters in film. I have seen him perform live multiple times, and can say that he is an incredibly talented, incredibly passionate musician, and it is for these reasons that I cannot wait to hear what he’s come up with tomorrow. I know that the rest of the crew—Dan, Chris, and Natalie—are also on the edge of their collective seat for this music, too, because we all want to storyboard with some of the music in mind. I think that’s one of the (many) cool things about the four of us: we all get some of our inspiration from music, in that we all (although I’m only speaking for myself, technically, I guess) project images in our imagination to match the moods and emotions that we’re hearing.

The third “whammy” came when I was sitting with a friend watching an episode of Celebrity Wife Swap. I looked to her, after sharing my Jack-story, and said, “I’m going to be a filmmaker.” It was almost a whisper, and I’m not sure why I was so surprised when I said it, but this—this whole production—is a dream come true. Yes, I suppose I’ve been a filmmaker since I picked up my mother’s JVC camcorder back in second grade and began making a movie with friends about wizards, but “January” is such an undertaking, and with such high goals, high sights, high aspirations, that I feel like I’m for real. I know that the cast and crew have already heard this, because I told it to them in an email a while back with the second draft, but for the rest of you (whoever “you” are) this will be new:

When I got to high school I became more involved in theatre, which I still do love, but it always felt like I had to choose between theatre or film in high school, because of time commitments. Now that I’m in college, I feel like I can finally get back to film, and it feels fucking* fantastic.

I feel like one of the characters in A Tale of Two Cities right now, with that phrase: “recalled to life.” This experience is about to be totally crazy, and entirely unforgettable. I can’t wait to get started.

LOVE,

BRENT

*I swear [pun intended] that the profanity was purely for alliterative and superlative effect. :-P

"January" Production Diary #1

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:43:00 -0500

In just a few days, I embark on my biggest project to date as a filmmaker. I am simultaneously ecstatic and terrified at the prospect of taking this film to multiple area film festivals, but know that this piece will be one of the biggest learning experiences for me yet. I know that my cast and crew will pour their own passion into this film, and I cannot wait to get started. Hopefully the next time I post one of these, it will have a little more substance. I’m hoping to keep you all informed of how production is going through this website, so continue checking back. We have two months to complete this badboy. This will be one wild ride.

LOVE,

BRENT

"an·am·ne·sis [an-am-nee-sis] noun, plural -ses [-seez] 1. the recollection or remembrance of..."

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 12:47:42 -0500

“an·am·ne·sis [an-am-nee-sis]
noun, plural -ses [-seez]
1. the recollection or remembrance of the past; reminiscence.”

- The title of my newest screenplay. Will be working on it in the free time between production of “January.”

Regarding Various Filmmaking Manifestos

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 16:11:00 -0500

I think that, in regards to filmmaking, manifestos can be quite useful. I feel like with each year, films become more and more style, and less and less substance. And when I say “style,” I don’t really mean stylistic editing or narrative techniques, I mean visual effects, 3D animation, computer generation. I own a book—which, I confess, I haven’t yet finished—entitled “Film as Art.” This book, written in 1933, operates on the simple premise that mechanical advancements are killing the artistry of film, and it’s the limitations of the medium that contribute to making it art. Keep in mind that this was written back in 1933. I think that this thesis is even more true today. People left Avatar lauding the vast, immersive world Cameron created, proudly stating that it was one of the best films they’d ever seen.

Best films?

Did they see the same movie I did?

While the world of Pandora was rendered in grandiose 3D, the characters that inhabited it were quite flat. I have no problem with the people that say it’s bad because the storyline is basically Fern Gully, Pocahontas, or Dances with Wolves; however, I think that these people are, to a certain degree, missing the point. Yes, it’s a re-hash of other stories that have been done better, but Avatar’s biggest crime is continuing to push the idea that visual effects are important in determining whether or not a film is good, and, in some cases, visual effects can make up for poor character development, writing, or acting.

With these ideas in mind, it’s not hard to see why I was initially drawn to Dogme 95. The “Vow of Chastity” set out to purify film, by excising many features of features (oho! wordplay) that tend to detract from the story and actors. Although I do enjoy the thought behind Dogme 95, I feel that some “requirements” are ridiculous, such as not crediting the director, the format of the film, and the allowed movement of the camera.

From Dogme 95, I stumbled onto another film manifesto which is a sort-of reaction to Dogme 95. Jesse Richard’s Remodernist Film Manifesto set out to create a “new spirituality in cinema,” through a focus on humanity. I highly recommend reading Richard’s manifesto, as it was quite an inspiring experience for me. It’s focus on honesty throughout the entire filmmaking process is something which I really admire.

As it is the beginning of a New Year, I think that I will start out by posting my own filmmaking manifesto, of sorts. This manifesto draws upon my personal ideas about film and art, Aristotle’s Poetics, my experiences in theatre, and the intentions of Dogme 95 and the Remodernist film movement.

I have thought of naming this something clever, such as the Creed of Candor, or something like that, ya know, alliterative and stuff, but I have decided that names are not important. It is the ideas which are important, and so that is what I’ll focus on.

Filmmaking should be honest, sincere, and real. While films are (generally) works of fiction, and settings/storylines can be fantastic and magical, the characters’ dialogue, motives, and actions should be genuine. The actor’s greatest asset is his intuition, and the same can be said for the director, writer, etc. Every member of the creative team needs to be honest to themselves in order to ensure an honest film.
An emphasis on Plot, Character, and Theme is necessary to creating genuine films. It is Plot that differentiates one film from others, while the Characters and Theme(s) ensure that it is universally relatable.
The video camera is a tool for creation, and does not enable the holder a master, professional, cinematographer, photographer, or filmmaker. Technical specifications should have little bearing on the overall aesthetics, or quality, of a piece. If one’s motives are to create a technical masterpiece, then they will have no way of giving enough attention to the aspects of a film (as enumerated in Point B) which can be totally honest.
The Internet has created a proliferation of mediocrity in regards to film. The digital age, and websites like YouTube, have allowed anyone and everyone to create movies and share them with the world. A true filmmaker does not accept mediocrity in any aspect of film; he strives for creative excellence and authenticity.
While special effects, make-up, visual effects, and lighting may be necessary in keeping with the artistic vision, they should never be employed in such a way that obscures sincerity. Rather, they should serve to augment the authenticity of the emotions and theme of a film.
The motives of a filmmaker should not be related to money or fame. A true filmmaker creates as a form of expression, and because of a desire to create. His creative impulses are passionate, and uncontrollable, and the medium of film is his chosen outlet for such urges.

LOVE,

BRENT

Happy New Year! LOVE, BRENT

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 14:16:55 -0500

Happy New Year!

LOVE,

BRENT

Rants With Friends

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 23:09:53 -0500

I love Scrabble. Love it. Love words, love being competitive, am working on memorizing all 101 two letter words. I have an iPhone, and have a game called Words With Friends on it, which I’m sure many of you have, if not played, at least heard of.

I’ve had Words With Friends since I first got my iPhone, about a year and a half, and, at first, things were great. Awesome, even. I could play a game very similar to Scrabble with anyone (with a Smartphone) at any time? Beyond cool. Until I realized something. Something that would slowly grow into a near-hatred of the game. The sad truth is: Words With Friends is not Scrabble.

At first, it was just the different point values of the letters, or the configuration of premium squares, but slowly, surely, I began to discover differences between the dictionary of Words With Friends, and the Official Scrabble Players’ Dictionary 4th Edition. “Fag” was no longer an acceptable word to play, despite the fact that it has other, non-offensive connotations, among many other words which would be legal in a game of Scrabble. Because Words With Friends allowed you to try as many words as possible, without the penalization of a false word being challenged by an opponent, my opponents were able to try all sorts of strange looking conglomerations of their letters until something worked, something that would get them twenty or thirty points, and that they had no idea what it meant. In addition to this, the wide array of websites enabling users to bypass creating their own words made it so that when my opponents played words that seemed amiss, I had more reason to believe that something was, in fact, amiss.

And then the worst thing yet came. Zynga, the makers of Words With Friends, released “Token Packages,” where players could pay real money for virtual currency to spend on “enhancements” to Words With Friends. These enhancements, if purchased, makes it so that players can gain an unfair advantage over their opponents, in essence cheating. Yes, you can pay money to make up for your lack in skill.

One of these features is the Tile Pile, which enables you to know the composition of tiles left in the bag, and, judging by what tiles are on the board, the tiles in your opponent’s hand. Far more offensive to this is the Word-O-Meter, which promises to “improve your vocabulary,” by telling you how strong your word is, compared to the rest of your tiles and the words they could make. So now, not only can you figure out what’s in your opponents tile rack, but also if there’s a better word you can be making. You can now pay money to be better than your opponent. All it takes is a few bucks—23 tokens is USD 2.99, and 40 tokens will cost you USD 4.99—and you can be on the road to winning. Tonight, I played a game of Scrabble, and it was so much fun. Something that Words With Friends’ long-form way of playing and myriad problems is starting to no longer accomplish. If cheaters never prosper, then it must be because they’re losing money paying for features to “improve” their game; clearly, Zynga is fine with cheaters succeeding.

LOVE,

BRENT

PSA from a Nog

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 18:03:00 -0500

An animation. A public service announcement from a common nog. An important message for this holiday season. For more information about eggnog, click here.

LOVE,

BRENT

Short Story--He Sat in the Barn

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 17:20:00 -0500

He sat in the barn. He didn’t particularly like it there, or anywhere for that matter, but it was something to do, somewhere to be.
He contemplated things. Nothing important, he was just fifty-three years old, nothing important to think about at that age, still hadn’t reached his ‘ripeness’ as his mother called it.
His mother. She always said things to him. Not that he listened. “If it’s important, I’ll listen,” he thought to himself today in the barn.

The cows were mooing. Moo moo moo. Moo moo moo. Moo. Moo moo. He wondered what they talked about so incessantly. What did cows talk about?

His mother. She always told him that cows were as smart as the rocks she painted and tried to sell at arts and crafts fairs in town; they didn’t have brains, didn’t amount to much. But he didn’t listen. He never listened to his mother.
So here he was in the barn, thinking about nothing particularly important, being nobody particularly important, just existing.
And he liked that. Just being.
Unfortunately this changed when his father showed up an hour early from work, his forehead spewing sweat like the patients in an infirmary. Not that he’d ever been to an infirmary. He just sat in his barn all day.
One day his mother tried to send him to school. She rolled him in bubble wrap, stuffed his mouth with packing peanuts, and placed him in a large box with some stamps on it. He was bumped and tumbled all around the town until eventually he returned to his house with “return to sender” scribbled on the box in magic marker.
His mother wasn’t very pleased. Not that he cared. He didn’t care about anything, really. Well, he cared about one thing. But there was no way he was going to get that one thing now.
She, his mother, complained about the status the postal system was in and then ran over their mailbox with a tractor.
The mailman wasn’t very pleased with that. He came up and left notices on the door stating that without a mailbox, there was no way he could deliver mail to them. These notices were left each day, replacing what would have been the mail he would deliver. “Why can’t he leave the mail instead of these notices? He has the energy to walk up and leave this notice but not the mail?”
That was his mother. Screaming, every day getting angrier and angrier, until eventually they moved to an apartment complex to escape the neon green notices.
The first thing his mother did was fill their mailbox with concrete. Then she cemented the mail slot closed.
She sighed with relief. They’d escaped the postal system.
Too bad the one thing he did care about in life was becoming a mailman.

Here’s my second vlog entry. I take a look at all the cool...

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 17:02:57 -0500

Here’s my second vlog entry. I take a look at all the cool icicles around my house and call some people on the phone!

Note that this was originally recorded like a year ago. Unfortunately there is no snow on the ground this Christmas.

LOVE,

BRENT

A year ago (roughly) I started a Vlog. This is the first post. I...

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 17:01:00 -0500

A year ago (roughly) I started a Vlog. This is the first post. I intend on creating more vlogs in the future, as I think they are too much fun to do. It’s something I’ve always kind of been interested in, so I decided to do it. I hope it is entertaining and a little more interesting than ‘normal’ vlogs. I’d like to say it’s an atypical vlog but then I’d be categorizing it or setting standards, which I don’t really want to do. If you enjoy it, please head over to http://www.youtube.com/brentasmagoria and subscribe or comment to show your support!

LOVE,

BRENT

A Scene of Great Genius: The Man and the Soda Fountain

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 16:47:00 -0500

Imagine this:
A little boy, 6-ish, walks into a deli with his mother. His mother orders sandwiches for them and also orders two medium drinks: a combo that saves them $2.58. As the mother goes to pick a table, she hands both cups to her son, so that he may go and get their drinks. The little lad approaches the soda machine, where an elderly man with a long beard is standing with a cane. The little boy, wanting to be polite, smiles at the man, and then proceeds to get his and his mother’s drinks—a Sprite and Lipton Raspberry Iced Tea, respectively. As the little boy reaches up to get more ice for his mother’s tea, the old man picks up the boy by the back of the neck and slams him into the soda machine, showering the boy with diet cola. As the little boy screams, the old man slides him back and forth, back and forth, the boy’s face deploying each and every soda and soaking him with a shower of fizzing liquid. Onlookers, appalled at the old man’s cruelty, rush up to help the struggling, soggy boy. The old man tosses the boy behind him and picks up some of the onlookers, repeating his crazed attack. The police come and arrest the man, and Keith, the deli’s custodian, is stuck cleaning up the sticky beverages and ice splashed in a rainbow on the floor.

LOVE,

BRENT