Do What You Have To

We've all been there, you're standing on set with a DSLR, flimsy tripod, half a roll of gaff tape, two thirds of a c stand wishing you had a technocrane and a hundredth of the budget of any given Spielberg film. The shot you want is a jib up from their feet to their head as you swing around the scene. Well why can't you? Film is all about doing what you have to, to get the shot. If it takes the rest of that roll of gaff tape and unscrewing one of those tripod legs to use the C-stand as a makeshift jib then why haven't you already figured out a way to do it. The film industry waits for nobody and even on the largest of productions grips have to make incredible things happen with some not so incredible situations. You can make it on any given film set if you can quickly and safely rig something. Be a problem solver and don't wait for a solution to come to you. Sometimes the most amazing cinema can come from the most unheard of solutions.

I've done some pretty... how do I put this, not so great riggings in my life and i'd prefer not to go into too much detail for fear of having my rental card being snapped in two and burned. I've hung a camera from a tree with a rope as a makeshift jib, used skateboards, cars, and cardboard as dollies, and even propped my camera up on my wallet to get the right angle. To be completely honest not all of these shots were perfect but I made do with what I had to make it work. That's part of learning and growing as a filmmaker. Remember if you don't have the money there is always a DIY option of putting it together.

I've written about them many times before but look towards shitty rigs for inspiration. It is a collection of the most nonsensical film riggings you will have ever seen. I promise.

So remember
-Don't wish for more
-Do It Yourself
-Try not to break the equipment

Also don't tell any rental houses I told you to do this
Love,
Anonymous

Without further ado here are the videos that inspired this post.



And the final product.

The Secret

I watched a documentary called The Secret recently. It was supposed to be motivational and parts of it were. However some of the stories were a little too far fetched for me. One woman claimed that she was cured of breast cancer in 3 months without chemotherapy, radiation or any other medical attention. She was cured because she decided she didn't have cancer anymore. That's not how cancer works.

Despite the exaggerated stories I did enjoy the production aspects of the The Secret. I found the framing story of the film to really draw you in. It starts out with this woman finding the secret trapped away and then searching for others who knew the secret. It causes you to be curious about the secret and you begin to crave the knowledge this woman came across when she needed it most.

I also appreciated the way the different stories were connected. The transitions between them were typically a famous quote relating to or regarding the secret being whisped across the screen as a low voice whispered it aloud. I liked this because it was really warming to watch. It connected the end of one story to the beginning of the next while tying it into the theme.

The stories that were reenacted were more enjoyable to watch than the stories that were told just by someone sitting in front of  a camera talking. It was more believe able when you saw it happening. Except cancer lady. I didn't believe her story even a little bit.

Words of Wisdom.

As mentioned earlier in the year, I love to watch sport movies because they can be inspiring to a lot of audiences especially to the minds of younger adolescents. What makes the sport movie worthwhile besides the adrenaline of the action is the quotes that come from the movie that are inspirational besides just being plain AWSOME. Inspirational quotes from sport movies give the movie that extra boost in what inspires kids and could teach them moral values.Here are some quotes that I love to hear when I watch sport movies...

1. "Heroes get remembered, legends never die"- Art LaFleur as Babe Ruth in The Sandlot.

This was a great movie watching as kid that followed nine boys who played baseball on their old beat up looking sandlot field. It was a summer film and these kids did nothing but play baseball all summer long. However, when a ball signed by Babe Ruth is hit over the fence of a neighbor with a supposedly killer dog their summer of baseball turns into a thriller as they do everything in their power to get the ball back. When all seems lost, the leader of the group, Ben Rodriquez, has a dream that Babe Ruth visits him and tells him to jump over the fence to retrieve the ball and says this quote that inspires him to do just that.

2. Death Crawl from "Facing the Giants"

I couldn't come up with the words to describe this scene, but when you watch this scene you can very well be inspired as I was. This is the story of Grant Taylor who is going through a tough time in the community. Not succeeding at being the greatest coach, the parents and student are through with his coaching and want him replaced. He is struggling financially, and him and his wife are struggling to have a kid. In this particular scene he teaches his players especially his captain the importance of giving all you got and not giving up until you can go as far as you can go. There is no telling how far you will go, but give everything your best and hardest and don't quit.

3. Billy Bob Thornton as Coach Gaines halftime speech in "Friday Night Lights"

I love this scene from Friday Night Lights because it can describe a moment from experiences I had on the field playing football in high school. When our team made it to the semi-finals in the state tournament, we were losing pretty bad at halftime and we came away losing 66-8. We played a rough but great team, but at halftime our coach told us almost exactly what Billy Bob Thornton told his players in this scene. From our coach he said "Being perfect is not what we accomplished this year, it's how you all can look into your teammates eyes and tell each and everyone of them that you did your best and didn't let them down. Being perfect is how we accomplished where we came this year by playing as a team, a family."

4. Denzel Washington as Coach Boone in "Remember the Titans"

Save the best for last I always say. Probably my favorite sports movie of all time and my favorite inspirational speech of all time comes from Denzel Washington as Coach Boone in Remember the Titans. Throughout the beginning there was problems with the team as African Americans joined the once all White titans team. There was much discrimination and fighting in the movie until Coach Boone takes them on a run to the site of the Battle of Gettysburg and makes his famous speech about coming together and playing as one. My most favorite line in the history of motivational speeches as to be when he says "If we don't come together, right now on this hollow ground, we too will be destroyed, just like they were. I don't care if you like each other or not, but you will respect each other and maybe...I don't know maybe we'll learn to play this game like men." I can't tell you how much this movie amazes me every time I watch it how they overcame their differences and learned how to play together.

These Amazing Shadows

These Amazing Shadows is an inspiring PBS documentary about the select distinguished films that have made it to the Library of Congress's National Film Registry. It uses interviews from film critics, scholars actors, directors, producers and anyone else related to film to discuss important ideas about the role of film in American culture.

The National Film Registry is a collection of 550 American films deemed, by the Library of Congress, to be “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.” Films like E.T., Cabaret, Casablanca, Cool Hand Luke, Fantasia, MASH or Vertigo have found a spot on this list of extraordinary films. These films, along with hundreds of other documentaries, blockbusters, or amateur home movies, have either documented, changed, defined, or challenged America in some way or another.

These Amazing Shadows talks to those close to those who decide each year which film will be included in the 25 picked. They provide insight into the thought-making process and the actual significance in their mind, made the films in particularly relevant to American society.

Film is discussed as a window into past generations. It highlights the alarming amount of lost/damaged film negatives destroyed since the silent era of films. Well over half of all movies produced before color, were lost over the years due to widespread industry neglect and shortsightedness, according to the documentary.

This is one of those movies that can really motivate young filmmakers, like ourselves. Whenever someone says that making movies is silly, I wish I could sit them down and tell them to watch a documentary like this, so they can see just how culturally and historically important the films we make today will be viewed as in the future.

Go to PBS's website to watch clips from the film.

A New Year

So as we all enter another year of our academic lives many of us set goals for ourselves, mountain tops to reach and pitfalls to avoid. For me, I would like to avoid what I did last year for my production class. I "half assed" a lot of the projects I did and that left me feeling unsatisfied. Since I had five years experience already with production in part of middle and all of high school I figured I could breeze through projects and I'd be fine. I made some decent films, but had the worst growth as a student,  which can make you feel pretty bad. I regrettably allowed my passion for producing stories to fall by the wayside for unimportant reasons. So one of my goals for this class is would be push myself even further than I have in the past, and not just keep going with the flow. This is going to be one busy semester! So to everyone else reading this I wish you the best and go after what's important to you!
-James Majeau