WTF???

So I've been making my little films for about 6 years now.  Every time I make a film
and tell my friends about it, one friend, who is an actor, gives me a guilt trip (publicly)
"You know, I'm an actor, Right?" "How come you never ask me to be in your films?"
The answer to which is that he was always busy during the production of my first two
films... so I just stopped asking. I think he forgot that I did ask back then.

So here's the fun part. I recently decided to make my latest Serial short into a feature length film.
And decided to "ask" this actor to play a role in it in the upcoming months. Being as he gave me
hell publicly again recently for not involving him in this very same Serial. His answer was that
he would love to "Help me out" as though I was asking him for a favor. Well let me tell you something.
There are 500 NEW actors in LA every month. It's not like I need help in that dept. Not that I don't love
the actors with which I've worked over the last few years. We've become a bit of a troupe and I think
they are amazing... But to turn it around as though you're doing me a favor after saying very loudly
at a party that I don't cast you in my films for which you are usually too busy to be bothered with.... crazy.

Then, it gets better, he proceeds during our conversation to let me know that he thinks my script wasn't very clear oncreen and that my lead actor wasn't very interesting to him. Hmmmm do I want to work with someone who #1 can't be positive about the project in our first conversation and #2 obviously doubts my abilities as a director?

#1 I think that if a director that I wanted to work with asked me to be in his film I'd be smart enough to avoid my personal critiques of his work until we were at least done with my scenes.lol

#2 If I've already shot 30 minutes of a film with a lead actor and gone to the effort of editing it and doing sound production and hiring a composer and screened the film, why in God's green earth would you say that you don't think the lead actor is interesting??? It's not like I'm going to disassemble the film and reshoot it with some NEW actor at this point. "I'm sorry Mr. Lean, I think Peter O'Toole isn't that interesting." He's in almost every scene! So if I were bold enough to say this to the guy who chose the actor... I'd assume that that director would think I doubted his choices and thus doubted his abilities. And NO director wants to work with an actor who openly doubts him upfront. Not to mention, I'd never place this actor in a scene with my lead actor. Bad blood need not be started if it can be avoided.

Point of all of this is. If you really want to work with someone, to the point of making public Notice about it, then pretend you like what the film maker is doing. At least until you get your footage.:}

Battery Row available on DVD

So since the premiere I've gotten quite a few emails asking about how to get Battery Row on DVD.

Here is the answer...

http://brashstudios.com/blog-5/index.html

Battery Row Premiere photos

Producer Amy Wengreen and I were both amazed when we sold out both screenings of Battery Row. Many of the cast were there and our esteemed Composer Brooke deRosa as well as our fantastic Makeup and Hair pro Navonne Johns. Many of our guests that night were dressed up to the nines in their vintage hats dresses and or suits.

Carly Jones, Jaimie Alvarez, Producer Amy Wengreen, myself, Tom Druilhet.

Lower level Left to right Jay Preston and Brendan Bradley.

The first screening crowd.

BR composer Brooke deRosa

Brendan Bradley and Erik Scott Smith near the standee

and photo taking madness.

Amy Wengreen, myself and Navonne Johns

MY MUSIC VIDEO WORK

Here's a set of Music videos I've directed shot and edited. This first one is for Sam Joole who's song "ALIEN ZOO" is the theme song for SQUATTERS the series. This band below is Sam Joole and the Heartattack. The video is for a song called "Ace in my Hand".... their budget was about...$50. It took 2 days 3 or 4 locations including one on the top of a 4 story condo in Santa Monica that had no railings (very dangerous hand held work) And they got some cool wardrobe cause they had a friend who worked at a very cool clothing store on Melrose. So the wardrobe was borrowed. What I'm trying to say is that we made this for the price of Lunch...

This next video I did for Sam Joole for his other band Alien Zoo. The song was release recently and features the lovely Cooper Harris. So my concept was to shoot Sam in Silverlake against these cool painted walls. First I shot video then Still photos. Lots of stills. He is talking on the phone to a girl who's crazy. Enter Cooper Harris who plays the crazy girl. We shot her against the same walls about 3 months later. I then spent about a solid week editing and color correcting this all together. I had to photoshop about 1000 photos, resizing them and adding FX to them before adding them back into the video itself....budget? $20 I say $20 because I own cameras and editing bay. The locations were stolen. So the $20 was for water and lunch.

NEW Teaser for BATTERY ROW noir Short

Having just submitted our 30 minute short to ITVfest in Los Angeles I thought it was time to update the teaser with much more of the new footage that wasn't shot when I made the old teaser. I added actors like Heidi Hamilton who gave an amazing performance as Nick, the bartender. You can hear Heidi and her very funny co-Host Frank on http://www.heidiandfrank.com/  I had been a long time fan of their show when it was Frosty, Heidi and Frank on KLSX in Los Angeles for several years. All very talented and upbeat in their humor which is what I like.

Also added to the teaser is Erik Scott Smith. I met Erik while I was director of photography for SQUATTERS the series back last year. He plays Alex on that show and "Lucky" in Battery Row. Very happy we were able to get him.

We also added Carly Jones to the teaser who plays Laura in Battery Row. Laura is Butch's gf near the beginning of the film. I met Carly at our audition for "Proving Ground" last year. We cast her for a lead role in that post apocalyptic fantacy sci fi thing but are still setting up that shoot for later this year when we get investors. Carly gave us our "Veronica Lake" type character that set up our beginning plot lines.
Here's her website....
http://carlyjones.com/

Here is our new Teaser...

Expanding my Horizons (literally)

In an effort to expand my mental libraries of artistic and cultural imagery and at the same time broaden my indie film making tastes and emotional tools, and oh yeah, have a vacation, Amy and I are going to France and Italy... tomorrow. So for the next few weeks my blogs will be filled with photography of locations between Paris and the Amalfi Coast which among other things will satisfy my old dream of becoming a location scout. My paintbrush is coming with us too. Here's a couple shots of the Amalfi coast courtesy of Google...

LIGHTING MYSELF in the Comedy SQUATTERS in NYC

Last year I was Director of Photography for a very funny Indie Web Series by Brendan Bradley called "Squatters." We shot in both LA and NYC since the show was set in NYC. Squatters is the award-winning online series about two best friends who make a bet to see who can last in New York City the longest without paying rent. The show was picked up as DailyMotion’s first original comedy series and is now the site’s most watched original series.


Here is their site in case you want to check it out....Not necessarily "kid" friendly so parents beware.:}
http://squatterstheseries.com/


So when we shot in NYC, I got a great and quick tour of the amazing metropolis. Running from location to location (including the subways at 2am) we shot in lots of very cool Manhattan spots. One of my favorites was Lucky Jack's Bar which is featured well in Episode 2 (check that link I just put up there). In one of these bar scenes I was Lucky enough to play a whisky drinking, deep voiced biker with an expensive leather vest. The trick here was to light the scene for both me and the 2 stars of the show simultaneously with 2 lights. Somehow I managed to do it. In between takes I guess I felt the need to lighten the loafers of my character and give him a faux British Accent... So Brendan (Hank/Director) let me take that new persona to a full scene and improv a bit.... Here is that version. 

feel free to compare and contrast with the one in the actual series.

Battery Row behind the scenes videos

Just some fun stuff from behind the scenes of the filming of Battery Row my latest short indie film in the Noir Style.






Below, this link features actor Brendan Bradley on the dolly as Allen Burns pushes him during some downtime. You can see me in the distance setting up a big shot in the haunted stairwell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r3RHTvddnU&feature=related

Painting Done

Instead of Indie films I've been finishing up this painting for a girl who commissioned it from me. Next thing I'm going to do is finish up the final cut of Battery Row. I took this photo at 4am so it's a bit off kilter. But you get the idea.

Indie film Instructional video

I just launched a 2 hr 45 min instructional video that is now on 2 disc dvd with
writer, producer Amy Wengreen.

The point of the video is show how you can start and maintain an at home
business of Hand and Foot impressions in clay. This seems like an easy and
simple business but noooo... I found out while shooting and editing this
little feature how multi layered and intricate this business really is and how
it's actually an artform that needs to be cultivated over time and practice.

Here's a teaser....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v016vHrFfE&feature=channel_video_title

We shot in both California and Utah over about 2 weeks and then began the long
process of editing all the bits and pieces together to make a rather well thought
out instruction of this business. Then I designed and built the packaging thats
branded with the look of the menu on the DVD's and website etc.

Side Projects other than Film Making

in process. about half way done.

It's hard for me to just focus on one type of project at a time. I like to work a bit on a project, then move off to another one that is of a different medium. It's like sniffing coffee between perfumes. Breaking up the thought process a little gets the creative juices new and more vibrant. One thing I like to do that breaks up the film making process is painting. Here's a little commissioned painting I'm working on now...

Noir Film review "On Dangerous Ground"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbwL8OPZbls

Indie film makers should definitely watch these old noir films.
This movie has it's moments. Some of it is sooo Noir from the dialogue down to the lighting. Noir is not a genre, it's a style. A style that has been used in many genres including Westerns. Check out the bar scene in this film. I used it for reference when building and shooting my bar scene in Battery Row. The commentary on this film is really interesting too. Since most Noir was made in the 40's and 50's (by definition I think Noir was only between 1941 to 1958) they weren't allowed to outright tell you a hooker was a hooker. And watching it now you'd almost have to guess that the hooker character and her pimp were just that. So the commentary shows you how they cleverly said these things back then to get it around the Hays office.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_H._Hays


2 other reasons to see this film... Nicholas Ray (rebel without a cause) directed it. Bernard Hermann (Psycho) scored it.


Two reasons to watch older RKO noir films... They had lower budgets like today's indie film makers. I mean comparatively speaking to studios like MGM 20TH and WB. So you see how they cut corners with lighting and sets.


Also I recommend a Noir Documentary called, "Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light.

INDIE NOIR SHORT FILM STORYBOARD COMPARISON

Ok so here are some of my storyboards with the corresponding screengrab that finally happened.

Lucky and Laura Flirt followed by

a dolly right that changes the this from

a 3 shot to a 2 shot as Laura and Lucky

begin to exclude Butch.

The original shot from the end of the bar which

I had planned to use if we were going to use a

real bar and had limited time. But then when I

decided to build the bar in my place, I also added

to the scene with 2 other actors, 2 other side

stories and lots more angles.

Originally Butch was in this shot but it ended

up begin just lucky and Laura's hair.

Going purely on memory of the factory I imagined

these shots not really remember too much of how

the building was designed.

As you can see this shot changed a bit. much more artsy.

fairly close to my original concept again drawn from

my memory of the factory windows.

This shot got reworked in conjunction with

Saudia Rashed's Right hook which landed

Jaime Alvarez to the left completely flipping

the shot. Still works very nicely.

Oddly enough this turned out almost exactly like

I imagined it in my sketch. Neither actor had

seen my storyboards. Just told em and they did

it. Pretty cool working with real actors.

I sketched these a month before I shot so I would at least have "ideas" that I could use or throw away when it came down to the actual day on set. And I think the best part of this process is that while sketching, my mind is totally in the scene, working out how it looks, like assembling a puzzle. I don't know that I'd be able to envision it as well without also drawing it. I think that the drawings then animate in my mind over the preproduction time period allowing for more ideas to unfold from them. Ideas that need more than shoot date time to perfect. I sketched the bar scene and then about 3 days later it came to me to add a whole new subplot based on a payoff system between the bartender and Butch. Not sure that would have come to me had I not lived in the space a bit through the illustrations. For me film making is very much an art. So the two mediums have to coexist.

MORE INDIE FILM BAR shots

ok so I thought I'd throw in some more photos from this bar I built for our indie short noir film Battery Row. The reason I've been putting of the Storyboard/final shot comparison is because there are some shots I still need to capture off recent footage and my little hv20 deck just died. So tomorrow or the next day i'll get to that.

Here's what the space looks like now that i've disassembled the bar

close up of bar, lit shot counter and cabinet in background

I had to use special small lights strategically placed

to light the clock face since I have a dissolve that

takes place on the clock face showing the passage

of time.

this shows how I underlit the shot counter.

Allen Burns and Caitlyn Carradine in their "get to know

each other" scene at the bar. Vintage Coors neon in the back.

The whole set with 4 arri 650's. Some of the 650's are

dimmed with scrims and one has a punctured piece of

blackwrap which makes the light spray out in fingers.

This photo was overexposed to show the darker areas.

Bar SCENE indie film shoot.

So I meant to put up a post of my storyboard sketches vs. the final shots in this post but I want to download
some footage from last night to finish that idea up. So for now here are a couple cast photos from last nights shoot showing the great work our makeup/hair artist Navonne Johns did for us. The actors are Heidi Hamilton who plays Nick the bartender and Carly Jones who plays Laura.

BUILDING A BAR for an indie film (part 3)

We are getting ready to shoot the last big scene in our little indie short film noir "Battery Row."I just wanted to show a very close to final of the bar with a neon sign in the window. I'll be adding 2 more lights when the actors step into place but for now this is pretty decent for mood lighting. I showed it in color too. I cut holes in blackwrap so that the light came out in spots which I think is much better than just flooding a room with light. Perhaps the one thing that alerts me to a student film is when everything is lit. My opinion is to guide the eyes if possible. We don't need to see the corners of the room in vivid detail when the action is down below. In the movie Nightmare Alley they actually have shot where the 2 lead actors are half in black.... not a gray but a black shadow. You can't even see Tyrone Power's face half the scene. I like that. It's got real element to it. sometimes we have conversations in the dark.:P

it's amazing what we've done with this room. it's been many many different sets in the past 6 years.
Next post I want to show my sketches for some battery row scenes and screen shots of how those same sketches came to life in the film.

BUILDING an INDIE FILM BAR part 2

Ok so one of the reasons I am building the bar for my little indie short film is so I could have time to tinker with it. The kind of time I definitely wouldn't have in a real bar. This is really important when it comes to figuring out my camera movements and lighting placement for certain effects that I want with smoke and mood. Here's a shot of half the bar at this point. I don't have a woodshop at my disposal so I like to use PVC from the plumbing section of any hardware store. I use a hacksaw to cut it and the joints are easily used to get the box shapes I need. I used this similar type of structure a few years ago to make a riser for a dolly that I had an actress stand on when I wanted her to float (ghost) really close to the ceiling. PVC is strong but not always unflexible. So I added some nearby heavy furniture to keep it from swaying. This is really budget thinking.lol

My producer, Amy, lives in Utah and was able to find some amazing prices on antique bottles. Since this is a noir film I wanted to have a bunch of older pieces in it to hold on to the flavor of the old times. Not that we are absolutely true to the 1940's. I added these little push on lights to the bottles behind my show bottles to get an inner light. otherwise we'd never really see them.

We got these selzer bottles at Pasadena's flea market. A flourescent light sits behind them.

Here is an old light that was used to spray light up on a wall and ceiling. I've always like the feel it gives a room. The top picture shows what it does in to the little cubicle. not much. so I put a reflector on the ceiling of the cubicle so the light could fill the space better. I buy a lot of poster board reflectors at film tools in burbank. $5 for a 30x40 sheet.

This is a cheap little flourescent I keep around for small jobs like lighting a face. You can see in the test shot at the bottom how my face has some light. this is the source.

for now this is where I'm at. It looks much less like my living room and more like a bar. I still have much more to do. Including extending the bar to the length of the room and removing my television and the couch etc. so I have room for camera and actor's movement. In the bottom shot you can see i've added candles to the top of the bar piece. eventually this room will be filled with smoky haze.

Building a Bar

in the 6 years I've been making Indie films, I've had several times where a "BAR" was involved as a location. And because of flagging indie budgets we usually dropped the idea or changed the whole concept of the scene to play out somewhere easier to get. In one case we found a large back yard that looked a lot like a hotel garden with pool and walkways and we dressed up the rest with handmade foam core tables that light from inside and 10' column like lights I made from wire, paper and black foamcore.

So here was my first attempt at making and shooting a fictitious bar. It was for a movie that was written and directed by a friend, James Smith and Al Shaker. The location is in Chatsworth, CA.

The reason I bring up this BAR thing is because I am now in the middle of building another one in my living room for Battery Row. Why? 3 reasons. 1. I want to be able to take time with this scene and get good performances out of my actors. I usually have to rush if I rent a place and then the scene suffers. 2. Having the set in my house lets me spend any extra time with Lighting and figuring camera angles as well. And anyone who's dealt with Lighting knows it takes some work adjusting and perfecting. 3. Smoke. A real Noir film is not complete with out that beautiful yet "Publicly illegal" substance known as cigarette smoke. This scene is supposed to be in a dirty little bar in the bottom of the bad part of town. So  here are a few test shots of where I am now. Just the beginning of the lighting I'll be doing since there will be 5 actors in this scene. One where I am, Allen Burns, and then a bartender, Heidi Hamilton will stand across the bar and then there will be 3 actors down at the other end of the bar.

Prima Donna

In filmmaking, especially indie filmmaking, I would say there lies the best and worst of all of us. The best crews and the worst crews. The best actors and well, the worst. To be a successful actor in Los Angeles I'd say that you need a few things. Basic Acting Ability, Market-ability and Pro-Active-Ability.

Marketability is probably the most crucial in this town. Because I don't care how amazing you are as an actor, the way those in casting see it, you have to make people watch. If you can't draw the eye to the screen then you mostly likely won't help the rest of the cast bring viewers and thus IF you were cast you'd be the weakest link. Think about Inglourious Basterds. Brad Pitt was the main draw commercially yet he wasn't in the film all that much. Now think about the amazing supporting cast, especially Christoph Waltz, now there is someone who drew us in yet no one really knew him. It doesn't matter if you're gorgeous, or young or tall or what your breast size is. It matters that you make people notice you when you are on that screen. If you don't...well anyway. Think about some of the popular young adult shows out there right now. Watch the "Amazing" acting (being sarcastic there). Of course the acting isn't amazing. It doesn't need to be. All we need for those shows to work is a basic blah blah story and some playboy lighting on our gorgeous hunks and barbies. They might even throw in a little socially conscious dialogue or even a subtly racially ambiguous undertone just to get a little more attention. If you are seriously wanting to try acting I would first take a course in marketing (especially in entertainment). I was a creative director in Entertainment Marketing for about 10 years and saw how choices were made. Especially in TV your face needs to attract people so they'll see our sponsors goods and possibly buy them. As well as help me build my Network's Brand.

Pro Active ability. I put this second on the list because if you have Marketability you probably attract those who'll do this one for you, ie agents, managers, assistants. But until then you do need to be able to get out of bed in the morning and get around. You have to be able to market yourself until you have CAA doing it for you. It probably helps to be a little ADD. A little, not a lot. I add to this section Attitude, since it's your attitude that gets you going. Here's where Prima Donna comes into play, or not. I hear that one reason many less than talented stars work so much is because they are Easy to work with. They take direction. They show up and on time. They know their lines. They are cool to be around. I know, crazy right? But that's all you have to do sometimes to get people to work with you...

Here's a story that happened to me recently. An actress submitted to my Non Union, Indie short film through LA casting.com  On that site I had let everyone know what the parameters of the production were. But most obvious was that it was Non Union and a Short film. I had over 400 submissions from  SAG, Aftra, and Non Union actresses. All of them should have been very aware that they were submitting for NON union work. So this actress was my choice and I began the ever difficult task of trying to meet with her at a coffeeshop so we could go over the script and period styled wardrobe and makeup etc. Never happened. She couldn't get her head around a simple text exchange where location was clearly noted. At least that was her excuse for not being there. So from there we skip to dealing with script exchange by email. I sent it to her 4 times because she kept misplacing it. I would follow up with "did you get it" and she'd respond hours later with "yes." Then 3 days later she'd ask for it again. Fast forward to the day of the shoot. 2 and half hours after her call time she is no where to found and won't answer her phone. I have a strict 12 hour time frame at a big studio location and am now forced to rearrange my shot list to fill time while waiting for her. My producer advises me to recast the role with an actress friend of mine who is helping out that day as production manager. Inside I know she's right but for some reason I'm holding out for this other actress. Finally she calls. Says she's been in an fender bender but is still coming. Hmmm couldn't have called 2 and half hours earlier? Guess not. So she finally gets to the set and is about sit in the makeup chair when our producer finds out that this actress now has a problem with the release form. That it gives the production company too much control over the final use of her images. It's a Standard Release form. I come to the makeup room. She says, "What if you take it and use the footage to defame me?" and "You could sell this and I'd get nothing." I said, "This is a short film" I'm not aware of shorts being a huge moneymaker. Most people make shorts as a calling card or to get financing to make it into a feature film in which there would be money for everyone. And why would I defame my main characters? She was one of my Heroes. So for some extreme lapse of judgement on my part I said, "Think about it and we'll talk when your makeup is done." Waste of time. Makeup was done and she is still griping. Not only that but she was just now reading the script and it was very clear that she hadn't read it ever before. Wow! Really?!! So she now wanted to add an addendum to the release that stated that she could stop anything that she felt was going to defame her. I said, "Neither one of us is an attorney so that won't happen." My producer, Amy, said, "What constitutes defamation in your eyes?" We could've ended up with her in the editing room dicing the project to her liking for months or never been able to release it if she didn't like it. She came back with, "Well this is a non union film so I don't have the union to protect me." I said, "You knew you were submitting to a Non Union project from day one." She came back to her first argument. I said, "Well, I am 2 and half hours behind because of you and I don't have time for anymore. Goodbye." Amy went and asked Caitlyn Carradine if she'd like to take the role which she did. And by the way, it all turned out amazingly. Caitlyn saved the film and I can't imagine the role with anyone else. The other actress was stunned that I just dumped her but what else could I do? I couldn't endanger the project and our collective work for one person. I am sure that even a well known actor would have had his or her needs and contracts dealt with long before they showed up. And a good actor would have been there on time and off book (knowing the script) I take responsibility for ignoring the red flags in her case. I was hoping that her TV resume and screen presence would have been worth the many issues along the way but in the end I was wrong. 

On the flip side I have found over the past 6 years a great set of actors who give their all for a production. I suppose that this is why you see so many directors working with the same set of actors and crew. Because they trust them. They know they can get the job done and that they are easy to work with. Filmmaking is very demanding. Easily the toughest job I've ever had. So when you have people to work with who make that job go smoothly, or at least fun during the tough parts, you definitely keep them close by.

Here's Battery Row indie short film teaser. Just thought I'd add this to show off what we shot in the Factory (mostly) to those involved and those friends who were interested. This isn't meant to tell a story or sell the film to any investor. As of last sunday we now have almost another 1/3 of footage and some great little scenes that are not represented in this video.

Location Location Location...

For this Indie short film the Factory Location was the inspiration for the story. So I didn't need to run out and search far and wide for a great place. To be honest I have searched downtown LA and found very few locations to match this for the money. The stairways, the vast open floors with nothing but columns, the foggy, early factory sized windows. Hard to replicate without using several different locations.

there are 6 floors plus a basement and a roof. each floor has about 60,000 square feet.

burnt out stair well was used often through Battery Row. We have a very nice fight scene in here toward the end of the film. As a still photographer I find this stairway one of the best locations in Los Angeles.

More to come...

Working in the Battery

Indie films (at this level) often have very low budgets. I brought in Amy Wengreen to produce Battery Row with me. She showed me some great places up in Utah to buy wardrobe for  our cast. We went to Deseret Industries which is like a Salvation Army type of store. We bought a suit, shirt and tie for $17. Used but in amazing condition. We got several things there and barely spent $50. It was lucky that I was in Utah at the time although these stores do exist all over the country.

We also bought wardrobe at some shops around Los Angeles like Wasteland and Crossroads which sell pretty cool Used stuff. Here is a photo I took of our main character's wardrobe to get a sense for how they looked in Black and White. The idea was to look vintage or different (No Target) without it always having to be vintage. It helped to have the actors in place and their sizes on hand early in the production so that whenever Amy or I were in a store and saw something we liked we knew if it would fit our characters. We didn't have the budget for a costume person so we had to deal with keeping track of everything ourselves. Tough thing by the way. The best Hat shop I found was on Melrose near La Brea in Hollywood. Hollywood Hatters....
http://www.hollywoodhatters.com/

I bought the lead character's fedora there. Very cool place with a plethora of different types of hats and they actually know how to help you where many many places do not. Save yourself some time.

Here is a lineup of our characters with their wardrobe. Again I decided to light them in the Noir style and  see what they looked like in Black and white. Black and white is great because we could marry colors that wouldn't work together. All we cared about was fit, shading and textures.


More about Battery Row in the next post....