HEY... KNOCK IT OFF!

[DON KRAUS]

Yesterday, you were all sent an e-mail by the honorable Jim Brennan asking you politely to limit you Vanity Photos. So, what did i get in my e-mail today... requests-to-approve-VANITY-PHOTOS!... a bunch of 'em! CAN YOU READ???

Okay, let's get this out of the way... YOU'RE GORGEOUS! Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You... I got enough of 'em. You can stop now.

Got an interesting photo from a film-stage-photo shoot. Fine. Wanna look at yourself on the computer all the time? Get a website of your own. This one has limited space and none of us are interested in browsing through your 647 headshots except you. Use your bedroom walls as a photo-board if you can't live a moment without seeing your face. Carry a locket! Tattoo your mug on the palm of your hand... i don't care, But give the managers and the rest of CASA a break. STOP POSTING ALL YOUR DAMNED VANITY PHOTOS!!!! Don't make me come back to this again.

OKAY. IT'S NOT POLITE, BUT PERHAPS IT WILL SPELL IT OUT BETTER FOR THE HUMILITY-IMPAIRED.
-Don Kraus (The Curmudgeon)

[Ken Hendricks]

Dang it, Don! I was just about to upload a couple hundred pictures of my camera!

For the humility-impaired actors, here's a little loophole that the old Curmudgeon didn't even think about: Let's see some video! 647 shots at 24 frames per second comes to just under 27 seconds! Just make it interesting please. No poorly lit, hand held, fast filmmaking, talking head zombie movies! Oh wait a minute, I meant no more poorly lit, hand held, fast filmmaking, talking head zombie movies!

Does anyone know where I can find a professional, Emmy winning Director of Photography with some incredible gear and a love for making movies? We shouldn't have to look too far...

Ken Hendricks
Director of Photography
REDRUM Digital Cinema Production

[Todd Bradley]

I got bad news for you, Ken. Poorly lit hand held zombie movies are about to be more in demand than ever before. "Colin" (made for $70 so the director says) was a huge hit at Cannes, is getting tons of good press, and is set to make an even greater ROI than "Blair Witch."

[Darlene Cypser]

Well, only news I see about it is that a 2 year old UK distributor bought the UK rights. Pretty ho hum.

[Todd Bradley]

Well, that's one more distribution deal than many of us have ever signed. And I would bet that you could count on one hand the number of CASA film makers whose films have been features at Cannes.

Zombie flicks aren't really my thing, but if my film got featured at Cannes, had a good reception there, and then got a distribution deal, I'd be pretty darn pleased.

[Darlene Cypser]

I can give you the contact information for a lot of bottom-feeding distributors who will sign almost anything. They might actually even get it on store shelves. But you will never see a dime from them.

Some CASA members have signed several distribution agreements for movies they have produced.

As for Colin, I have not seen the movie or know who they are working with. So it is really very difficult to compare their experience with others. I have read that they took a different spin on the zombie story, telling from the perspective of a zombie trying to understand what was happening to him. A new spin helps a lot. Articles state it was shot on a "camcorder" which does not tell you much. I have seen people do wonderful things with a DV camera ... and other people do awful things.

[Ken Hendricks]

Well Todd, I'm sure that "Colin" will inspire all kinds of filmmakers worldwide. When it starts winning awards for outstanding cinematography then maybe I'll re-think my more artistic and traditional notions! Are "Colin" and "Blair Witch" the norm or are they flukes? Please enlighten me on how amateurish is always better!

Some of us like to take ourselves more seriously. We aren't out to make the fastest, cheapest, crappiest looking movie possible. If I was to throw away everything that I have learned from the literally thousands of separate productions that I have been involved with, I wouldn't be able to make my living doing what I live to do.

I know you have different tastes than I do, but if that's the way to go, why don't your own movies have that look? I've never seen anything that you have done that didn't have genuine production value and excellent story telling! If hand held and poorly lit are called for to tell the story more effectively, I'll be the first one to kick the tripod over and turn off all the lights. Please tell me exactly when this became the preferred way of doing things.

Last week I spent a day in the field with John Fielder. I have always been impressed with his work and I consider him to be almost a modern day Ansel Adams. The man will wait for hours, if not days, for the light to be just right in order to expose one negative. Do you honestly think that he would have gotten where he is today if he would have been all about fast, cheap and crappy?

I could go on and on... I did go on and on! This back and forth banter that we like to engage in is interesting and fun, but you'll never sway me Todd! Bring it on Kung Fu Sushi Chef, I truly enjoy your input! ;-)

Ken Hendricks
Pointer of the picture taking thingy and waster of light
REDRUM Digital Cinema Production

[Haylar Garcia]

OK there, Don't get me started Ken.
Nevermind I am started...

First and formost, the problem is that you ultimately see one thing as correct and the other as "a gimmick or effect".

The techniques used to tell a story are put forth from the artist (director) and handed down from there.

I always attribute it to this simple metaphor.

Jimi Hendrix stirs our very souls with his playing, but is not near as tight a player as someone like Joe Satriani. So why does it work? Because the stories Jimi is telling benefit from his "off the pod" technique.

Imagine if the sound man kept telling Jimi to turn off the fuzz-wah because it was making the notes sound "shitty". Or to string his guitar top to bottom like was expected.

The really strange thing is; if Jimi had never experimented with these techniques and sounds (against the norm and the logic of the time) Music would be devoid of his influence.

I'm not sure if there is a moment in time when Handheld and off-norm lighting became the "right way of doing things", because in truth those techniques are just a few of many right ways of doing things.

As people/audience members, we are innately fascinated by the underlying idea of chaos. The very idea of a lack of control and normality can be as effective as any other emotion or psychology in a film. Using the camera as a tool to reflect chaos or ugliness, is no different than using it to show beauty and balance.
to me that's like loading a revolver with 3 shots when you have room for six.

There is an ultimate yang to this yin that is not going away.

I would submit that, blair witch (as flash in the pan and anomalous as it was )was a catalyst to the "Jimi Hendrix " era of cinematography.

Consiously or not, modern audiences do understand the dynamics of contemporary film. Standard coverage, standard editing and stabndard shooting feel just that... standard.

I mean really, why adjust lights for ugliness, when it is our association with the dark and fleeting that bring out those true and most visceral feelings.



...and no I am not suggesting you burn your red cam at Woodstock like Jimi... well maybe.


In the end you can choose to be Ed Sullivan, or you can choose to be the doors....what's it gonna be?




-H

[Jim Brennan]

Uh oh. Haylar pulling out Hendrix to prove his point in a debate with Ken is an ultimate irony.

zing.

[Haylar Garcia]

I get the feeling I'm gonna be looking over my shoulder at the bug this week...

[Darlene Cypser]

Sounds like a lot of drivel to me. ;-b

[Haylar Garcia]

Well better to drivel here than in the dialog paragraphs.

XO

[Darlene Cypser]

I thought you drooled on the dialogue pages.