These days while I am getting Web Design training, I do the practical thing to get downtown and take the bus. It literally picks me up steps from my house and deposits me steps from my school. Since I haven't been a regular bus rider in years (52P during college), I was somewhat of an outsider to the bus life. One thing I felt, was that since I had a car, this was a special journey, such as when I would take the light rail to the airport. For others, of course, this is their only connection to their job, five days a week. In that respect, I try to make a positive contribution to the bus experience. I thank the bus driver, I free up the seat next to me if the bus is filling up.
Two days ago I was coming home on a bus that I normally would not take. Later on, the man sitting next to me got off the bus. I noticed his bag still sitting in my seat. I was the good Samaritan and stopped the bus and hailed the passenger. He thanked me for the chance to retrieve it.
I normally would have taken the bus downtown to school today (Monday), but instead drove down the path the bus would take and parked closer to downtown. A couple weeks ago, a girl did a similar thing, and had parked next to my bus stop, having missed the bus at her stop. This day, as I met up with the bus down Johnson street, I saw a guy heading slowly toward the bus stop as it drove away. He belatedly started a half-hearted jog toward the exiting bus. Noticing this, I was the good Samaritan and pulled over to offer him a ride. His story was that he worked down the road but his car was in the shop.
Later, after I parked and put on my iPod, I listened to an Onion-cast, a blurb about how a guy's day was ruined because he missed the bus.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Friday, September 14, 2007
Reality Check
It is now 10 months since I last had a full time job. Having been through this before, and thus gotten used to it, I just want to evaluate the situation to this point. Now that the busy season has passed and finding few options, I have gone to Plan B. I am being encouraged to get a full education (for free), and will have time since I am working so little. So have I spent the last 10 months fruitfully? I would say I met 50% of my goals. It is reflected in the fact that I am only making about 50% in income than I should be. Nevertheless, the general review of my reveals similarities to the period before my last full-time job.
Three Times the Charm
I previously worked three part-time jobs. Each of them had flexible hours and paid modestly well. This left me with time to schedule freelance work or one of my own projects. I gave this up for my last full-time job, but then was laid-off. 2007 turned into a project-to-project working situation. I would spend a week on one project, then another week on someone else's project. This kept me encouraged that I could keep looking for work and float a bit with the supplemental income. I also concentrated on my own projects, which I find necessary to keep myself from feeling that I lost my way. But I gave myself the deadline of September to either have another part-time job and be self-sustaining, or go to Plan B.
Half-Way There
The 50% is reflected in my own projects, where I only completed about half of them. Acid Snow, the movie, still needs at least another 100 hours of sound work. I am taking a break (yes, it is daunting), but then will be able to feel fresh going back to it (probably before next spring). I am only half way through my new pop album also, getting a feel for mixing with my Logic system. I also only got half-way completed with my new website. I spent two months learning and programming a working flash site, only to have no software to create the web pages.
The September Pact
At one point, Acid Snow was to be completed by September. I also anticipated that I would be in a situation where I could travel to Italy during this month. September is also the traditional time of year that I would return to school, as I did for almost 20 years of my life. I had figured it wouldn't be too hard to find another video editing job, given my credentials. But the job description has changed. Now, it is centred around the web. I would find many job listings that include shooting and editing video, but directly for web sites. So Plan B was to use the natural change of focus that occurs in September and get Web Design training. The work available could be potentially lucrative, and I could still work as freelance.
Changing Colours in the Fall
Here it is mid-September, and leads have dried up. I will be checking design schools this week, and make a choice. I have still been able to float along financially, and been able to fix my car, fix my bike, update some studio equipment, arrange to get my garage fixed for free, and travel in-state. I also have been able to blissfully indulge in music and video the likes I have never had the luxury of time to spend. Netflix is partially to blame. On the other hand, the desire to view lost video, such as cartoons made for the US Army in WWII, or collections of other Looney Tunes, or 50's educational films, or luscious landscape photography. The music I have collected has been a trip through my own past, especially 80's music that was once thought long lost. I have also been getting caught up with: Boards of Canada, Death Cab for Cutie, Radio Dept, Editors, Phoenix, Fountains of Wayne, Modest Mouse, Magnetic Fields, Futureheads, and M83, to name a few.
Zen and Art of Freelancing
So the reality of the situation, is that as long as I make the phone calls and keep the ball rolling, I should land some Web Design position a few months down the road. I still am able to live comfortably, and still have that optimism I had 10 months ago for some reason. To be contemplative, I know that I have thoroughly enjoyed sitting at my editing desk in my house almost every day, letting my imagination go wherever it wanted, with my cat keeping me company. I have posted some of this on my blog, and have more to come.
Three Times the Charm
I previously worked three part-time jobs. Each of them had flexible hours and paid modestly well. This left me with time to schedule freelance work or one of my own projects. I gave this up for my last full-time job, but then was laid-off. 2007 turned into a project-to-project working situation. I would spend a week on one project, then another week on someone else's project. This kept me encouraged that I could keep looking for work and float a bit with the supplemental income. I also concentrated on my own projects, which I find necessary to keep myself from feeling that I lost my way. But I gave myself the deadline of September to either have another part-time job and be self-sustaining, or go to Plan B.
Half-Way There
The 50% is reflected in my own projects, where I only completed about half of them. Acid Snow, the movie, still needs at least another 100 hours of sound work. I am taking a break (yes, it is daunting), but then will be able to feel fresh going back to it (probably before next spring). I am only half way through my new pop album also, getting a feel for mixing with my Logic system. I also only got half-way completed with my new website. I spent two months learning and programming a working flash site, only to have no software to create the web pages.
The September Pact
At one point, Acid Snow was to be completed by September. I also anticipated that I would be in a situation where I could travel to Italy during this month. September is also the traditional time of year that I would return to school, as I did for almost 20 years of my life. I had figured it wouldn't be too hard to find another video editing job, given my credentials. But the job description has changed. Now, it is centred around the web. I would find many job listings that include shooting and editing video, but directly for web sites. So Plan B was to use the natural change of focus that occurs in September and get Web Design training. The work available could be potentially lucrative, and I could still work as freelance.
Changing Colours in the Fall
Here it is mid-September, and leads have dried up. I will be checking design schools this week, and make a choice. I have still been able to float along financially, and been able to fix my car, fix my bike, update some studio equipment, arrange to get my garage fixed for free, and travel in-state. I also have been able to blissfully indulge in music and video the likes I have never had the luxury of time to spend. Netflix is partially to blame. On the other hand, the desire to view lost video, such as cartoons made for the US Army in WWII, or collections of other Looney Tunes, or 50's educational films, or luscious landscape photography. The music I have collected has been a trip through my own past, especially 80's music that was once thought long lost. I have also been getting caught up with: Boards of Canada, Death Cab for Cutie, Radio Dept, Editors, Phoenix, Fountains of Wayne, Modest Mouse, Magnetic Fields, Futureheads, and M83, to name a few.
Zen and Art of Freelancing
So the reality of the situation, is that as long as I make the phone calls and keep the ball rolling, I should land some Web Design position a few months down the road. I still am able to live comfortably, and still have that optimism I had 10 months ago for some reason. To be contemplative, I know that I have thoroughly enjoyed sitting at my editing desk in my house almost every day, letting my imagination go wherever it wanted, with my cat keeping me company. I have posted some of this on my blog, and have more to come.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Everything's better with...
This is a TV commercial spoof entered into a Heinz contest. I was cast as the lead, I also co-produced, edited the video, composed and produced the music. Kind of a home-made production.
Reflections of the Week
The Busy Season
Summer in the freelance world is known as the busy season. Although I am drifting from time to time, I usually get pretty solid bookings by August. In this case, I attempted a stunt in which I would spend another day with the circus that is the Big Network Show in town, and then run over to a club and record a band that night. Sleep is fleeting when you have early call times, but then spending time unwinding at night (and writing a blog). This week involved a convergence of three different jobs that usually only occur a few times a year. My calendar book is so full it's dripping ink. But then again, two weeks from now I may be dead in the water.
The Big Network Show
As I arrived on set today, I had a hard time thinking of this Big Network Show as reality TV. So much had been prepped ahead of time, not a single hour was left unscheduled (literally). However, what and where the talent interviewed people was somewhat up in the air. The show also is involving the Twin Cities itself as part of the production. The city has welcomed the show with open arms. First stop today was the Vikings practice facility. The Star joked around trying out the different field equipment in the indoor field. Then we visited the locker room. Ziggy Wilf spent a million dollars making the place look like the Rosewood Room. Korey Stringer's spot was still there, now encased in glass and given great respect. Free chewing gum dispensers had about 6 major flavors (I like Juicy Fruit). The two brothers in the family (now at Disneyland) love sports. All major sports club in town were being visited, but so far the Vikings took the cake. A great outpouring of personalised gifts were presented for the family. The Star had problem with pronouncing "The Purple Peter Eaters" (no offence intended).
Sentimental at 100 Decibels
Back on set, there was the most bizarre juxtaposition of an army of worker ants building a new house, while next to them heart-touching interviews were being conducted. It could be dangerous. Yes, everybody wore a hard hat, but sometimes I was inches away from a running power saw, or stepping on a nail gun. Meanwhile plumes of sawdust and dirt contaminate all the equipment. For sound, it was out of control. I am supposed to record audio from people talking while the background of the most unbelievably noisy construction site overpowers everything. The sound is a cacophony of power saws, nail guns, generators, cranes, bobcats, dump trucks, and the 'beep beep beep' of vehicles backing up. The only saving grace is that the loud noise forces everybody to speak at the top of their lungs. Other interviews were of former families involved in previous episodes. These interview spots were in neighbour's yards (again setup well in advance). My day was very technically challenging. All systems were wireless, and had their own radio frequencies. Each person was assigned a frequency and shown on a chart with photos, nicely laminated. When conducting these extra interviews, extra microphones were needed, and needed new frequencies. Meanwhile the Zaxxcom wireless system had discreet channels of it's own, and each camera could tune into a different sound mixer squawking it's unique frequency. The problem was that the Zaxxcom units were glitchy. They were beta units, and still had some bugs in them. Other problems were fodder for the camera. Construction workers were being stung by a beehive in the ground in the backyard. So a bee specialist was brought in. One of the Stars interviewed him as he demonstrated what he was doing. Next to them stood the crew as bees were buzzing around us. I start remembering that they were supposed to give a safety speech on the first day. Nobody seems to care as we videotape (actually burn to DVD) the beehive being flooded with milk.
The 20 Minute Beats
When a Star would interview a construction worker or former episode participant, they would take about 20 minutes (maybe a minute or so in the final show). The crew calls them "beats". I thought about the 20 minutes, and realised it is also the length of an old Beta tape, although they may not be related. But I found out a great trick for getting better material. The Star thanks the guest for the interview and they shake hands. The cameras keep rolling, nobody on the crew says a word. Perhaps it is a bit of improv, but what happens is the guest feels more relaxed and starts saying more personal things, believing that the interview is done. Gotcha. Before they know, a tear comes out, or a heartwarming story is told, or a happy accident occurs. In one case, a family from a former episode was flown in and were set up to paint some boxes for the cameras. There was the baby granddaughter and the grandmother holding her while she painted. Eventually, her hands were completely white with paint. The granddaughter then wanted to hug the grandmother, trying to wrap her arms around her face. I gave out a "whoah" as the girl smeared the white paint on her face. In my ear is the director, watching from the truck. He hears the reaction and asks what's happening, I point to the granddaughter. "Get the Baby! Get the Baby!" the director screams as laughter abounds.
Back Inside
Some final beats were true chaos. Each of the stars needed their moment to put the final touch in each of their designated children's rooms. We did one where I recorded Elmo dolls with customised phrases. Then we were told to setup outside the house. Everybody had to take their shoes off going into the house, so when we were told to to leave the house, I had to set down my equipment and tie my shoes. Within five minutes, we were told to go back inside for another 'beat'. I turn around, put my equipment down, untie my shoes, and go inside. This whole sequence happened two more times. We were told "You're done inside, limo is here in 30 minutes - get out", only to be ordered back in for more last minute 'beats'. Things were being rushed a bit, a severe thunderstorm was heading toward the Twin Cities. During the whole time recording inside, the large crowd outside was being coached to chant loudly. Inside, despite a working central air, it was steamy and hot. Nevertheless, I had to insist that the windows be closed, since the enormous roar of the crowd overpowered everything else.
The Big Reveal
On the last day of the week long stint of this reality-ish TV show, there was what was called "the big reveal". Gone were the worker ants all dressed in blue with white hats. All that was going on was the final decorations being personally chosen or designed by the show's main stars. No doubt these four good looking people possessed the credentials to be national celebrities. What was terribly strange about these people was their obedience to the production. They truly seem like a bunch of misfits, playing on the swingset like they are characters in a Saturday morning cartoon (perhaps their demographics are heavier in the kids age range). What few people know is that stars are characters of themselves, doing re-takes to repeat the hugs and the laughs from a different angle. It doesn't diminish the initial moment, which is always carefully choreographed. One particularly intense moment is called the Big Reveal. This is where the family is shown their new house for the first time. There were no retakes on this, however all the coverage of the 2000 people gathered to part be of the crowd were filmed earlier, chanting for the camera. I was one of about 12 people standing alone in the street as the bus pulled away as the family gasped at the new mansion built for them. And yes, they really do build it in 7 days. The family was truly overjoyed. In the crowd were a volleyball team, the Gopher cheerleaders, and many signs created for the crowd to hold up. Of course, the family saw almost none of that, because they were all staring at their new house in the other direction. What you also won't see on TV is that is was raining during the entire shot. The Thunderstorm was downing power lines and trees in Bloomington, but we thankfully only received a mild downpour here.
Hold the Excitement
Now it was time to go inside. But of course, they could not just run around the house all at once. There was a methodical walking into each individual room. First was the living room and kitchen. Then the office and laundry room. There was a break after that, and I sat around the living room with the family as they waited for their next scene. Previously, they were squealing with glee as they marvelled at their posh surroundings. Now they were just trying to find a garbage can. Other crew members helped look for one, there wasn't any. It seems our celebrity designers missed something. The refrigerator door wouldn't close, turns out it was stuffed too full of food. Pizza was brought in. So the first meal the family ate together in their new house was not even cooked with their opulent new kitchen. It was interesting to hear the family talk off-camera about what was happening. With seven kids (and another one on the way), all that was really happening was that the mother was trying to keep her kids in line, with little time to appreciate their new surroundings. For the kids, boredom came quickly as preparations were being made for the next scene.
In the Bedroom
Then each child took their turn seeing what their new bedroom looked like. These were also no re-takes. Thus, such great importance was put on these scenes that constant vigilance by the crew to stay out of all 4 camera shots was basically a no-fail situation. The truth was they were all pros, and everything went smoothly. What you don't see are the hundreds of scoffs, scratches, smears, splotches, rough edges, loose pieces, and bad smells after a week of hundreds of construction workers parading all over the house. This was a new house, but it looked very lived-in. Two cameramen were planted in each room with the door closed. Then the child was told to go visit their room, probably coached to say what they are thinking out loud. I was down the hall, listening only to her microphone. The girl who's room was designed in a volleyball motif, had a dozen glass hands arranged on her dresser. Very creepy looking if you ask me. When the mother and father checked out their bedroom, the door was closed behind them as well. Problem was, the door knob on the inside broke, and they couldn't get out.
The Jib-Arm Shot
The final shot of the day was the family and the stars playing Volleyball in the backyard. More downtime came from a faulty waterfall in the backyard (it was fixed with Gaffer tape). The yard was soaked once again from the fresh downpour. Feet sank into the liquid sod. It was also a bit smelly out here too, as it was turning into swamp-like conditions. But for now, it was 20 minutes of laughter and glee trying to play Volleyball for the jib-arm camera. Meanwhile, the two young twins were getting into mischief on the playground set. One was learning how to rappel down a rope (freshly slick from the rain). An AD had to become a baby wrangler to keep them from cracking their heads open on national TV. He also had to hide from the camera at the same time.
Anecdotes.
When visiting the Vikings practice facility, I got to suggest ideas for shooting, like the Viking ship and tackle dummies. I also got to wire the Smart looking guy's microphone. He had a hairy chest, and later made a big show of pulling off the tape for the people around him. He gave the hairy piece of tape to me as a gift. I apologised as I realised the tape was stronger than I thought.
The Punky looking guy was asked to carry a box with a logo of a company sponsor. He refused, because he said that the competitor company he was paid to endorse would not be happy about it.
My mixing console that I wear with a should harness weighs about 35 pounds. I have to carry this all day. The cameramen have a large camera, dock, lens, battery, microwave unit (to send wireless video), and a wireless audio unit to carry on their shoulders for an average of 15 minutes at a time. Groans of pains are heard in the afternoon as the shooting day progresses. So every once and a while we try to relax our load. The Flamboyant guy scolded us for using a bed as a place to hold our equipment during a break.
The two lady stars I didn't really get to meet. One was pregnant and seemed less involved. The other wore her hair in pony tails and had a pink carpenters outift (more like a costume). But both of them were showing way more cleavage than any normal person.
Not knowing too much of the background of this program, I could tell that by the 100th episode, they had refined their formula to get the most appeal from the TV audience. They had offset the huge cost (a million alone for the house), plus they garnered the entire Twin Cities to be a part of the event. What was left was paid for by other sponsors based on the show's high ratings.
Summer in the freelance world is known as the busy season. Although I am drifting from time to time, I usually get pretty solid bookings by August. In this case, I attempted a stunt in which I would spend another day with the circus that is the Big Network Show in town, and then run over to a club and record a band that night. Sleep is fleeting when you have early call times, but then spending time unwinding at night (and writing a blog). This week involved a convergence of three different jobs that usually only occur a few times a year. My calendar book is so full it's dripping ink. But then again, two weeks from now I may be dead in the water.
The Big Network Show
As I arrived on set today, I had a hard time thinking of this Big Network Show as reality TV. So much had been prepped ahead of time, not a single hour was left unscheduled (literally). However, what and where the talent interviewed people was somewhat up in the air. The show also is involving the Twin Cities itself as part of the production. The city has welcomed the show with open arms. First stop today was the Vikings practice facility. The Star joked around trying out the different field equipment in the indoor field. Then we visited the locker room. Ziggy Wilf spent a million dollars making the place look like the Rosewood Room. Korey Stringer's spot was still there, now encased in glass and given great respect. Free chewing gum dispensers had about 6 major flavors (I like Juicy Fruit). The two brothers in the family (now at Disneyland) love sports. All major sports club in town were being visited, but so far the Vikings took the cake. A great outpouring of personalised gifts were presented for the family. The Star had problem with pronouncing "The Purple Peter Eaters" (no offence intended).
Sentimental at 100 Decibels
Back on set, there was the most bizarre juxtaposition of an army of worker ants building a new house, while next to them heart-touching interviews were being conducted. It could be dangerous. Yes, everybody wore a hard hat, but sometimes I was inches away from a running power saw, or stepping on a nail gun. Meanwhile plumes of sawdust and dirt contaminate all the equipment. For sound, it was out of control. I am supposed to record audio from people talking while the background of the most unbelievably noisy construction site overpowers everything. The sound is a cacophony of power saws, nail guns, generators, cranes, bobcats, dump trucks, and the 'beep beep beep' of vehicles backing up. The only saving grace is that the loud noise forces everybody to speak at the top of their lungs. Other interviews were of former families involved in previous episodes. These interview spots were in neighbour's yards (again setup well in advance). My day was very technically challenging. All systems were wireless, and had their own radio frequencies. Each person was assigned a frequency and shown on a chart with photos, nicely laminated. When conducting these extra interviews, extra microphones were needed, and needed new frequencies. Meanwhile the Zaxxcom wireless system had discreet channels of it's own, and each camera could tune into a different sound mixer squawking it's unique frequency. The problem was that the Zaxxcom units were glitchy. They were beta units, and still had some bugs in them. Other problems were fodder for the camera. Construction workers were being stung by a beehive in the ground in the backyard. So a bee specialist was brought in. One of the Stars interviewed him as he demonstrated what he was doing. Next to them stood the crew as bees were buzzing around us. I start remembering that they were supposed to give a safety speech on the first day. Nobody seems to care as we videotape (actually burn to DVD) the beehive being flooded with milk.
The 20 Minute Beats
When a Star would interview a construction worker or former episode participant, they would take about 20 minutes (maybe a minute or so in the final show). The crew calls them "beats". I thought about the 20 minutes, and realised it is also the length of an old Beta tape, although they may not be related. But I found out a great trick for getting better material. The Star thanks the guest for the interview and they shake hands. The cameras keep rolling, nobody on the crew says a word. Perhaps it is a bit of improv, but what happens is the guest feels more relaxed and starts saying more personal things, believing that the interview is done. Gotcha. Before they know, a tear comes out, or a heartwarming story is told, or a happy accident occurs. In one case, a family from a former episode was flown in and were set up to paint some boxes for the cameras. There was the baby granddaughter and the grandmother holding her while she painted. Eventually, her hands were completely white with paint. The granddaughter then wanted to hug the grandmother, trying to wrap her arms around her face. I gave out a "whoah" as the girl smeared the white paint on her face. In my ear is the director, watching from the truck. He hears the reaction and asks what's happening, I point to the granddaughter. "Get the Baby! Get the Baby!" the director screams as laughter abounds.
Back Inside
Some final beats were true chaos. Each of the stars needed their moment to put the final touch in each of their designated children's rooms. We did one where I recorded Elmo dolls with customised phrases. Then we were told to setup outside the house. Everybody had to take their shoes off going into the house, so when we were told to to leave the house, I had to set down my equipment and tie my shoes. Within five minutes, we were told to go back inside for another 'beat'. I turn around, put my equipment down, untie my shoes, and go inside. This whole sequence happened two more times. We were told "You're done inside, limo is here in 30 minutes - get out", only to be ordered back in for more last minute 'beats'. Things were being rushed a bit, a severe thunderstorm was heading toward the Twin Cities. During the whole time recording inside, the large crowd outside was being coached to chant loudly. Inside, despite a working central air, it was steamy and hot. Nevertheless, I had to insist that the windows be closed, since the enormous roar of the crowd overpowered everything else.
The Big Reveal
On the last day of the week long stint of this reality-ish TV show, there was what was called "the big reveal". Gone were the worker ants all dressed in blue with white hats. All that was going on was the final decorations being personally chosen or designed by the show's main stars. No doubt these four good looking people possessed the credentials to be national celebrities. What was terribly strange about these people was their obedience to the production. They truly seem like a bunch of misfits, playing on the swingset like they are characters in a Saturday morning cartoon (perhaps their demographics are heavier in the kids age range). What few people know is that stars are characters of themselves, doing re-takes to repeat the hugs and the laughs from a different angle. It doesn't diminish the initial moment, which is always carefully choreographed. One particularly intense moment is called the Big Reveal. This is where the family is shown their new house for the first time. There were no retakes on this, however all the coverage of the 2000 people gathered to part be of the crowd were filmed earlier, chanting for the camera. I was one of about 12 people standing alone in the street as the bus pulled away as the family gasped at the new mansion built for them. And yes, they really do build it in 7 days. The family was truly overjoyed. In the crowd were a volleyball team, the Gopher cheerleaders, and many signs created for the crowd to hold up. Of course, the family saw almost none of that, because they were all staring at their new house in the other direction. What you also won't see on TV is that is was raining during the entire shot. The Thunderstorm was downing power lines and trees in Bloomington, but we thankfully only received a mild downpour here.
Hold the Excitement
Now it was time to go inside. But of course, they could not just run around the house all at once. There was a methodical walking into each individual room. First was the living room and kitchen. Then the office and laundry room. There was a break after that, and I sat around the living room with the family as they waited for their next scene. Previously, they were squealing with glee as they marvelled at their posh surroundings. Now they were just trying to find a garbage can. Other crew members helped look for one, there wasn't any. It seems our celebrity designers missed something. The refrigerator door wouldn't close, turns out it was stuffed too full of food. Pizza was brought in. So the first meal the family ate together in their new house was not even cooked with their opulent new kitchen. It was interesting to hear the family talk off-camera about what was happening. With seven kids (and another one on the way), all that was really happening was that the mother was trying to keep her kids in line, with little time to appreciate their new surroundings. For the kids, boredom came quickly as preparations were being made for the next scene.
In the Bedroom
Then each child took their turn seeing what their new bedroom looked like. These were also no re-takes. Thus, such great importance was put on these scenes that constant vigilance by the crew to stay out of all 4 camera shots was basically a no-fail situation. The truth was they were all pros, and everything went smoothly. What you don't see are the hundreds of scoffs, scratches, smears, splotches, rough edges, loose pieces, and bad smells after a week of hundreds of construction workers parading all over the house. This was a new house, but it looked very lived-in. Two cameramen were planted in each room with the door closed. Then the child was told to go visit their room, probably coached to say what they are thinking out loud. I was down the hall, listening only to her microphone. The girl who's room was designed in a volleyball motif, had a dozen glass hands arranged on her dresser. Very creepy looking if you ask me. When the mother and father checked out their bedroom, the door was closed behind them as well. Problem was, the door knob on the inside broke, and they couldn't get out.
The Jib-Arm Shot
The final shot of the day was the family and the stars playing Volleyball in the backyard. More downtime came from a faulty waterfall in the backyard (it was fixed with Gaffer tape). The yard was soaked once again from the fresh downpour. Feet sank into the liquid sod. It was also a bit smelly out here too, as it was turning into swamp-like conditions. But for now, it was 20 minutes of laughter and glee trying to play Volleyball for the jib-arm camera. Meanwhile, the two young twins were getting into mischief on the playground set. One was learning how to rappel down a rope (freshly slick from the rain). An AD had to become a baby wrangler to keep them from cracking their heads open on national TV. He also had to hide from the camera at the same time.
Anecdotes.
When visiting the Vikings practice facility, I got to suggest ideas for shooting, like the Viking ship and tackle dummies. I also got to wire the Smart looking guy's microphone. He had a hairy chest, and later made a big show of pulling off the tape for the people around him. He gave the hairy piece of tape to me as a gift. I apologised as I realised the tape was stronger than I thought.
The Punky looking guy was asked to carry a box with a logo of a company sponsor. He refused, because he said that the competitor company he was paid to endorse would not be happy about it.
My mixing console that I wear with a should harness weighs about 35 pounds. I have to carry this all day. The cameramen have a large camera, dock, lens, battery, microwave unit (to send wireless video), and a wireless audio unit to carry on their shoulders for an average of 15 minutes at a time. Groans of pains are heard in the afternoon as the shooting day progresses. So every once and a while we try to relax our load. The Flamboyant guy scolded us for using a bed as a place to hold our equipment during a break.
The two lady stars I didn't really get to meet. One was pregnant and seemed less involved. The other wore her hair in pony tails and had a pink carpenters outift (more like a costume). But both of them were showing way more cleavage than any normal person.
Not knowing too much of the background of this program, I could tell that by the 100th episode, they had refined their formula to get the most appeal from the TV audience. They had offset the huge cost (a million alone for the house), plus they garnered the entire Twin Cities to be a part of the event. What was left was paid for by other sponsors based on the show's high ratings.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Reflections of the day
Preparing for the Assault
Today started at 6:30am. There was a good breakfast available as everyone started gearing up for what was essentially an assault on a house in the suburbs. It was a big network show invading a neighbourhood. The stars were somewhat recognisable, but I knew not their names. After I saddled up with the head Sound Tech, I was given a walkie and an earpiece and was told to gather for a safety meeting. There, the principals each gave a speech. This was their 100th episode. Not only was the tight-knit crew feeling especially good about it, but the producer broke into tears as she described how the show has healed families. And this one was a zinger, getting a special two-hour treatment. The speeches continued for about another 20 minutes. I guess they forgot to give the safety speech though.
You're Going To Disneyland!
I was called in with another sound guy and camera guy for the extra coverage. We piled into vans and formed a caravan, escorted by police. I had the privilege of being given the kind of treatment a visiting President has (as Bush coincidentally was that day). Morning rush hour traffic on the freeway was blocked by police as our entourage was given right of way (travelling at 25 miles per hour). I also had a close-up view of the exclusive first moment when the bus rolled up to their door. The punky looking Star had a weak megaphone and was announcing the names of the family to come out the front door. No response. I knew exactly why. I was monitoring the microphones placed on the children inside the house, and they were singing. So nobody heard the big moment. Ty tried again, and the adults in the house perhaps prompted the kids to see what was going on outside. When all the eight children came screaming out, my volume levels hit the red. The spontaneous moment was taped several more times from various angles. Then the smart looking Star, announced that the whole family was going to Disneyworld! The kids gave out a truly joyful cheer, as if they have just been told that they were going to Disneyworld. Except, the Star got it wrong. Take Two. "You're going to Disneyland!", less joyful cheering. The reaction was - why can't we go to Disneyworld instead?
The Man with the Earphones
Channel 5 news was there to record the spontaneous moment, my dark head with earphones graced the evening news. Because I had to stick close to the 12 people that had microphones on, I was in the middle of everything, while 65 crew members whirled about, making sure no time was lost. There was no time for finesse. The was a scene where two of the designers sat with the two 2 year-olds to have some cute and cuddly moments. One of the cameras had a technical problem. The shooting didn't stop. Several moments happened where sound was sketchy, or lighting could have been better, but there was a balance between posing a shot and being "reality" TV. Here, the girls clearly were enamoured with the Tickle Me Elmo dolls, but not really excited about anything else. After about 20 minutes of shooting (a standard length for every setup), the girls had enough, and were ignoring our stars. The technical problem wasn't resolved after 5 minutes, so another camera guy (there were four in all) rushed in to get the reverse angle. Meanwhile, one of the channels I was assigned to monitor was the microphone of the husband. This was because he was told he could freely be involved with the kids on camera, however he was camera shy. Nevertheless, he hid upstairs and talked to an AD, wondering if he was being recorded. He mentioned the scene in Naked Gun when Leslie Nielson went to the bathroom. I never told him that in fact he was being recorded. Everyone everywhere was being recorded. There were like 5 stars along with 10 family members (although the two tots weren't miked), and they were all being heard by the director and producers in a truck down the block. My main assignment was the two older boys. But I also had to be there for three interviews. First was the two boys. Their father had died in an car accident with the oldest in the car at age 5. But now they were asked to talk about the night they had to hide in the closet. They were still a little young to fully grasp what had happened. They knew there was broken glass, not sure, and gunfire. But he missed his Mom.
The Ex-Boyfriend
Next interview was the Mother's sister. She talked to her sister everyday after the first incident with the knives. The arguing had grown more intense, and now they sought a court restraining order. He started to stalk the children. He had looked up their athletic events on the internet and showed up at the games. The Mother was convinced that he was going to kill her. She had taken on another boyfriend, who installed an alarm system and talked to the kids about what to do if he showed up.
In The Bedroom
The oldest daughter was the third interview. She was afraid to sleep alone after he had shown up at her volleyball event, so she slept with he Mom and her new boyfriend that night. There was crash of glass in the basement patio door. He walked in the bedroom, the daughter hid under the covers. He pointed the gun at her Mother who screamed "Don't shoot me!". The daughter heard the gunshot. She knew that her Mother that lay next to her was dead. She looked over to the boyfriend, he was dead too. Somehow she got out of the bedroom, she can't remember how, and followed the plan. She picked up the phone and tried to dial 911, but there was no dial tone. He cut the phone wires into the house. She rounded up the other girls and hid in the bathroom, not knowing what happened to her brothers. After a few minutes, scared to death that he was waiting outside the bathroom door, she called out to him. No response. She opened the bathroom door and fled the house with the two sisters. The boys hid in the closet for over an hour. The police had arrived not long after the incident, but had not entered the house, not knowing the ex-boyfriend's whereabouts. A SWAT team finally shot a tear canister in the house and found the boys. The ex-Boyfriend had left the house, and was later arrested and convicted. The dead mother's sister was now taking care of the kids.
The Sound of Chaos
The intention of the show was to give them a brand new house (as in demolish the existing one and build from scratch), as a means to help heal the trauma the kids have gone through. 8 kids were stuffed into 3 bedrooms, and the house was adequate but cluttered. A design team with orange uniforms were the next part of the show. The group of about 30 were going to supervise an army of 1500 contractors (yes One Thousand Five Hundred) to build a fancy new spacious home in less than 100 hours. Not many TV shows make it to the magical number of 100 episodes. The crew told me that the day would be chaos. Since I specialise in controlling chaos, I was keen to the challenge. I was later stuffed into a stretch limousine that was to take the family to the airport. I got to ride down the block in the gaudy lounge on wheels about 5 times. Neighbours were setting up their lawn chairs as kids on bikes grouped down the street. I had to deal with a helicopter buzzing by (mosquito control), and about 3 generators humming all day. This came along with your typical neighbourhood sounds of lawnmowers (3 in the same morning), and a chainsaw (right next door). There had been heavy rains for the past few days, so the production trucks were creating large mud tracks where they parked on the grass.
A Big Week
Another segment was to ask the kids what they wanted most. Michael was asking the boys if they wanted an autograph from a sports star. One boy said a signed jersey from Tom Brady would be swell. What about the Vikings? Michael got a shrug from the boys. The Vikings were kind of being ignored around here for a while. Michael finally got one boy to ask for a helmet or something. The oldest daughter was asked what she wanted most. She wanted her Mother back.
We Are Gods
The producers were also very good at greasing wheels. For instance, they didn't just buy a box of donuts for the cops providing security, they bought a box for each cop! Later on, I was chatting with one of the crew about the idea of healing a family by giving them a new house. She said that Minnesota needed healing because of the bridge collapse, and suggested that this show could help. I doubted it, but didn't say anything. The thing is, this is still just a TV show that only is about 75% reality. The stars live in an elevated existence, having been given the advertising money to act as Gods. In this case, the Gods have their hair neatly groomed and their clothing well designed. One of the designer ladies was showing way more cleavage than you would expect with a family show.
I am the Sound Guy
All in all, the day was pretty cake. Lunch was a healthy mix of meat and vegetables. I noticed crews become health nuts after living through many pizza and hamburger meals. From the police escort to running around with a family all day, I was treated very well by the whole crew. Seriously, some crews come into town with an attitude that the locals are amateurs. But today I was getting a lot of support (need a water?) and cheerful conversation. I recognise that I have a quality where I can walk into a family's house and feel welcome, and that helps in these situations.
Today started at 6:30am. There was a good breakfast available as everyone started gearing up for what was essentially an assault on a house in the suburbs. It was a big network show invading a neighbourhood. The stars were somewhat recognisable, but I knew not their names. After I saddled up with the head Sound Tech, I was given a walkie and an earpiece and was told to gather for a safety meeting. There, the principals each gave a speech. This was their 100th episode. Not only was the tight-knit crew feeling especially good about it, but the producer broke into tears as she described how the show has healed families. And this one was a zinger, getting a special two-hour treatment. The speeches continued for about another 20 minutes. I guess they forgot to give the safety speech though.
You're Going To Disneyland!
I was called in with another sound guy and camera guy for the extra coverage. We piled into vans and formed a caravan, escorted by police. I had the privilege of being given the kind of treatment a visiting President has (as Bush coincidentally was that day). Morning rush hour traffic on the freeway was blocked by police as our entourage was given right of way (travelling at 25 miles per hour). I also had a close-up view of the exclusive first moment when the bus rolled up to their door. The punky looking Star had a weak megaphone and was announcing the names of the family to come out the front door. No response. I knew exactly why. I was monitoring the microphones placed on the children inside the house, and they were singing. So nobody heard the big moment. Ty tried again, and the adults in the house perhaps prompted the kids to see what was going on outside. When all the eight children came screaming out, my volume levels hit the red. The spontaneous moment was taped several more times from various angles. Then the smart looking Star, announced that the whole family was going to Disneyworld! The kids gave out a truly joyful cheer, as if they have just been told that they were going to Disneyworld. Except, the Star got it wrong. Take Two. "You're going to Disneyland!", less joyful cheering. The reaction was - why can't we go to Disneyworld instead?
The Man with the Earphones
Channel 5 news was there to record the spontaneous moment, my dark head with earphones graced the evening news. Because I had to stick close to the 12 people that had microphones on, I was in the middle of everything, while 65 crew members whirled about, making sure no time was lost. There was no time for finesse. The was a scene where two of the designers sat with the two 2 year-olds to have some cute and cuddly moments. One of the cameras had a technical problem. The shooting didn't stop. Several moments happened where sound was sketchy, or lighting could have been better, but there was a balance between posing a shot and being "reality" TV. Here, the girls clearly were enamoured with the Tickle Me Elmo dolls, but not really excited about anything else. After about 20 minutes of shooting (a standard length for every setup), the girls had enough, and were ignoring our stars. The technical problem wasn't resolved after 5 minutes, so another camera guy (there were four in all) rushed in to get the reverse angle. Meanwhile, one of the channels I was assigned to monitor was the microphone of the husband. This was because he was told he could freely be involved with the kids on camera, however he was camera shy. Nevertheless, he hid upstairs and talked to an AD, wondering if he was being recorded. He mentioned the scene in Naked Gun when Leslie Nielson went to the bathroom. I never told him that in fact he was being recorded. Everyone everywhere was being recorded. There were like 5 stars along with 10 family members (although the two tots weren't miked), and they were all being heard by the director and producers in a truck down the block. My main assignment was the two older boys. But I also had to be there for three interviews. First was the two boys. Their father had died in an car accident with the oldest in the car at age 5. But now they were asked to talk about the night they had to hide in the closet. They were still a little young to fully grasp what had happened. They knew there was broken glass, not sure, and gunfire. But he missed his Mom.
The Ex-Boyfriend
Next interview was the Mother's sister. She talked to her sister everyday after the first incident with the knives. The arguing had grown more intense, and now they sought a court restraining order. He started to stalk the children. He had looked up their athletic events on the internet and showed up at the games. The Mother was convinced that he was going to kill her. She had taken on another boyfriend, who installed an alarm system and talked to the kids about what to do if he showed up.
In The Bedroom
The oldest daughter was the third interview. She was afraid to sleep alone after he had shown up at her volleyball event, so she slept with he Mom and her new boyfriend that night. There was crash of glass in the basement patio door. He walked in the bedroom, the daughter hid under the covers. He pointed the gun at her Mother who screamed "Don't shoot me!". The daughter heard the gunshot. She knew that her Mother that lay next to her was dead. She looked over to the boyfriend, he was dead too. Somehow she got out of the bedroom, she can't remember how, and followed the plan. She picked up the phone and tried to dial 911, but there was no dial tone. He cut the phone wires into the house. She rounded up the other girls and hid in the bathroom, not knowing what happened to her brothers. After a few minutes, scared to death that he was waiting outside the bathroom door, she called out to him. No response. She opened the bathroom door and fled the house with the two sisters. The boys hid in the closet for over an hour. The police had arrived not long after the incident, but had not entered the house, not knowing the ex-boyfriend's whereabouts. A SWAT team finally shot a tear canister in the house and found the boys. The ex-Boyfriend had left the house, and was later arrested and convicted. The dead mother's sister was now taking care of the kids.
The Sound of Chaos
The intention of the show was to give them a brand new house (as in demolish the existing one and build from scratch), as a means to help heal the trauma the kids have gone through. 8 kids were stuffed into 3 bedrooms, and the house was adequate but cluttered. A design team with orange uniforms were the next part of the show. The group of about 30 were going to supervise an army of 1500 contractors (yes One Thousand Five Hundred) to build a fancy new spacious home in less than 100 hours. Not many TV shows make it to the magical number of 100 episodes. The crew told me that the day would be chaos. Since I specialise in controlling chaos, I was keen to the challenge. I was later stuffed into a stretch limousine that was to take the family to the airport. I got to ride down the block in the gaudy lounge on wheels about 5 times. Neighbours were setting up their lawn chairs as kids on bikes grouped down the street. I had to deal with a helicopter buzzing by (mosquito control), and about 3 generators humming all day. This came along with your typical neighbourhood sounds of lawnmowers (3 in the same morning), and a chainsaw (right next door). There had been heavy rains for the past few days, so the production trucks were creating large mud tracks where they parked on the grass.
A Big Week
Another segment was to ask the kids what they wanted most. Michael was asking the boys if they wanted an autograph from a sports star. One boy said a signed jersey from Tom Brady would be swell. What about the Vikings? Michael got a shrug from the boys. The Vikings were kind of being ignored around here for a while. Michael finally got one boy to ask for a helmet or something. The oldest daughter was asked what she wanted most. She wanted her Mother back.
We Are Gods
The producers were also very good at greasing wheels. For instance, they didn't just buy a box of donuts for the cops providing security, they bought a box for each cop! Later on, I was chatting with one of the crew about the idea of healing a family by giving them a new house. She said that Minnesota needed healing because of the bridge collapse, and suggested that this show could help. I doubted it, but didn't say anything. The thing is, this is still just a TV show that only is about 75% reality. The stars live in an elevated existence, having been given the advertising money to act as Gods. In this case, the Gods have their hair neatly groomed and their clothing well designed. One of the designer ladies was showing way more cleavage than you would expect with a family show.
I am the Sound Guy
All in all, the day was pretty cake. Lunch was a healthy mix of meat and vegetables. I noticed crews become health nuts after living through many pizza and hamburger meals. From the police escort to running around with a family all day, I was treated very well by the whole crew. Seriously, some crews come into town with an attitude that the locals are amateurs. But today I was getting a lot of support (need a water?) and cheerful conversation. I recognise that I have a quality where I can walk into a family's house and feel welcome, and that helps in these situations.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Interference
This is a video shot in 1992 for my band "Kaboom". It is a tour of sinister looking microwave towers around the Twin Cities.
Coasting On Karma
I see my life as a wave, sometimes flooding, sometimes ebbing. I have found myself good at staying on my feet when enduring these periods. I have to be aware that I choose this life, and get bored with routine. What happens when I am at low tide, is I exert my energy toward others. Recently I have edited videos for others, as well as done some custom audio editing for voice-over work.
Give and Receive
I don't expect to see any great reward for these deeds, but to keep in practice and remind people of my abilities. This week, I found some reward by being hired for some freelance sound work at network rates (sweet!). This happened about 24 hours after I found out one of my last full time job leads had fizzled out. So I stay on my feet for another month. But there has to be a more long term solution, so freelance web design looks to be in my future. This is already an easy choice, with my lengthy programming experience.
Freelance Living
What has surprised me most in the last few months is the amount of Voice-Over recording and editing work I've had. This fits into my sphere of talents, and is just as fun as anything else I set my mind to. It is hard to put faith in Karma to reinforce my track record of living Bohemian one month and being paid to stay in a high-buck resort in Palm Springs the next month. Hopefully it all balances out.
Give and Receive
I don't expect to see any great reward for these deeds, but to keep in practice and remind people of my abilities. This week, I found some reward by being hired for some freelance sound work at network rates (sweet!). This happened about 24 hours after I found out one of my last full time job leads had fizzled out. So I stay on my feet for another month. But there has to be a more long term solution, so freelance web design looks to be in my future. This is already an easy choice, with my lengthy programming experience.
Freelance Living
What has surprised me most in the last few months is the amount of Voice-Over recording and editing work I've had. This fits into my sphere of talents, and is just as fun as anything else I set my mind to. It is hard to put faith in Karma to reinforce my track record of living Bohemian one month and being paid to stay in a high-buck resort in Palm Springs the next month. Hopefully it all balances out.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Thoughts about the 35W Bridge Collapse
I Used to take that Bridge Everyday.
All this week, I have had to do some extra driving, and the construction this summer on 35W was a big bummer. There were times I knew the back-up through the construction zone near my exit at Johnson St would free up after the bridge construction. I marvelled at how much punishment they were putting on this bridge. At least 20 construction workers were going at the road with jackhammers. Twenty jackhammers all at once putting stress on the bridge. The speeds were about 10 mph through there, so I got a good look at the large truck trailers parked on the bridge. Wednesday afternoon, I had to get to a video shoot down south.
I had a Premonition.
It was a little before 5:00 pm when I left. All during the previous week, I imagined the calamity of being under a large bridge if it happened to collapse. One strong vision came upon me as I was driving underneath the Interstate 94 bridge along the river road. The vision was quite vivid. Tonight, I decided to avoid 35W altogether. It ended up taking perhaps an extra ten minutes, but I didn't feel like being another rat in the maze along the most busiest stretch of road in the state at 5:00 pm.
The Shock hits Home
I heard about the 35W bridge collapse about 35 minutes after it happened. It took me about 5 minutes to register the reality of the situation as I watched remote cameras focused on the scene. I was shocked to see thick black smoke billowing up, then i gasped as i saw flames shooting out of a truck. It got worse, each moment on TV revealed crushed cars, submerged vehicles. This happened during rush hour, my mind figured dozens dead. No way people could survive plummeting down perhaps a hundred feet into the river.
My Sister, someone's Wife, another's Son, Could have been on that Bridge.
Then I realised that my sister would possibly go that way coming home from work. I tried her cell phone, but only got her voicemail. I tried her home number, but the network was jammed. I finally got a hold of her about an hour later. But that moment of possibility that a loved one could've been on that bridge, occurred to perhaps tens of thousands of people around the Twin Cities. About 100,000 cars pass over that bridge everyday.
The Twins Baseball Game
It will probably be found that a good number of people on the bridge at the time were going to a Twins game. The game was still played, mainly because it would not be a good idea to have another 20,000 people crowding the streets and highways merely blocks from the tragedy. The Twins connection may have strange repercussions. Already, they are cancelling the groundbreaking for their new stadium.
Miracles amidst the Tragedy
But what has dawned upon me is how lucky that this collapse occurred where it did. There are at least 3 major hospitals only a couple miles nearby. The Twin Cities Red Cross center is literally a block from the bridge. The bridge is on the edge of downtown, where many emergency vehicles made their way from where they were centrally located. But also, since it will take perhaps 2 years to build a new bridge, there are alternatives nearby. Another major artery, Interstate 94, is just about 3 miles down river. It has 3 lanes in each direction. There also a couple other major arteries that parallel the area 35W normally covers. Plus there are a multitude of bridges up and down the Mississippi (including one just a few yards away). Also, because of construction being done, the same stretch of 35W had been closed a few times over previous weekends. So detour signs and other orange barriers were already in place, as well as many local drivers already coping with the weekend closings.
A Historic Day in Twin Cities History
All I know is that I had loud messages coming to me before this unique event for the Twin Cities. I thought to myself, this is kind of like our own 9/11 (but not really since no terrorism was involved). It will probably take a little bit to let the fact sink in that I could've possibly been on that bridge, which I normally took at least twice a day. The death toll was 9 around midnight Wednesday, which I found amazing that it wasn't immediately much more. The grim reality is that there are certainly more bodies to be found on Thursday, but there are miracles already. A school bus, seconds from being over the river, only fell to the ground along the river bank.
Final Thoughts
On June 3rd, 1984, I had just walked out of a concert at 1st Avenue in downtown Minneapolis to discover that a concrete parking ramp had collapsed next door. We watched into the night as cranes came in to see if anyone was inside any of the dozens of crushed cars. Today, the spectacular helicopter footage slowy panned across the 1/4 mile stretch, showing dozens of heroic rescues in progress. Each second I saw a life and death moment occurring, with many civilians helping. I think there will be national repercussions for such a dramatic event. Bridges will be evaluated, phobias will rise. Everyone in this town will also talk to their neighbor, just to feel lucky to be alive.
Update: 8/04/07
The President Keeps it Quiet
President Bush visited the bridge collapse site today, thankfully for just a short time in the morning, no Katrina-like speeches. Really, this is not a national catastrophe. It's visually stunning, but something far far from everyone's initial fears. As expected, this turned into a national event, no longer confined to the local media. Talk of deficient bridges across the country, and penny pinching by the Dept of Transportation.
The Perfect Storm
There is speculation of harmonic modulation, similar to the famous bridge that fluttered in the wind. In this case, there may have been a convergence of extra vibration from several jackhammers going at once, and a freight train rolling right next to one of the supports. There are reports of a ripple or rolling wave occurring, causing the center span to separate and travel 81 feet horizontally. Currently the death toll is a miraculous 5 - with perhaps only 8 people missing. Coincidences abound with a UPS driver noticing a friend driving next to him as they both drove on to the bridge. Also come stories of passers by that happen to have first responder training, finding their way within minutes of the collapse.
The Day After
I have not seen the site since it happened. The day after it happened, I had to travel that direction, and felt a hard reaction to facing a spot where such carnage took place. I detoured down river, with heavy traffic on all local streets as every driver tried to come up with their own plan of getting across the river.
The Future
What will become of the National Republican Convention next year? How will they shape their message around the location of bridge collapse? What will the candidates have to include in their agenda to acknowledge what this city has gone through? In the future, how will this event change the Twin Cities? My guess is that 10 years from now, it will be only a memory.
All this week, I have had to do some extra driving, and the construction this summer on 35W was a big bummer. There were times I knew the back-up through the construction zone near my exit at Johnson St would free up after the bridge construction. I marvelled at how much punishment they were putting on this bridge. At least 20 construction workers were going at the road with jackhammers. Twenty jackhammers all at once putting stress on the bridge. The speeds were about 10 mph through there, so I got a good look at the large truck trailers parked on the bridge. Wednesday afternoon, I had to get to a video shoot down south.
I had a Premonition.
It was a little before 5:00 pm when I left. All during the previous week, I imagined the calamity of being under a large bridge if it happened to collapse. One strong vision came upon me as I was driving underneath the Interstate 94 bridge along the river road. The vision was quite vivid. Tonight, I decided to avoid 35W altogether. It ended up taking perhaps an extra ten minutes, but I didn't feel like being another rat in the maze along the most busiest stretch of road in the state at 5:00 pm.
The Shock hits Home
I heard about the 35W bridge collapse about 35 minutes after it happened. It took me about 5 minutes to register the reality of the situation as I watched remote cameras focused on the scene. I was shocked to see thick black smoke billowing up, then i gasped as i saw flames shooting out of a truck. It got worse, each moment on TV revealed crushed cars, submerged vehicles. This happened during rush hour, my mind figured dozens dead. No way people could survive plummeting down perhaps a hundred feet into the river.
My Sister, someone's Wife, another's Son, Could have been on that Bridge.
Then I realised that my sister would possibly go that way coming home from work. I tried her cell phone, but only got her voicemail. I tried her home number, but the network was jammed. I finally got a hold of her about an hour later. But that moment of possibility that a loved one could've been on that bridge, occurred to perhaps tens of thousands of people around the Twin Cities. About 100,000 cars pass over that bridge everyday.
The Twins Baseball Game
It will probably be found that a good number of people on the bridge at the time were going to a Twins game. The game was still played, mainly because it would not be a good idea to have another 20,000 people crowding the streets and highways merely blocks from the tragedy. The Twins connection may have strange repercussions. Already, they are cancelling the groundbreaking for their new stadium.
Miracles amidst the Tragedy
But what has dawned upon me is how lucky that this collapse occurred where it did. There are at least 3 major hospitals only a couple miles nearby. The Twin Cities Red Cross center is literally a block from the bridge. The bridge is on the edge of downtown, where many emergency vehicles made their way from where they were centrally located. But also, since it will take perhaps 2 years to build a new bridge, there are alternatives nearby. Another major artery, Interstate 94, is just about 3 miles down river. It has 3 lanes in each direction. There also a couple other major arteries that parallel the area 35W normally covers. Plus there are a multitude of bridges up and down the Mississippi (including one just a few yards away). Also, because of construction being done, the same stretch of 35W had been closed a few times over previous weekends. So detour signs and other orange barriers were already in place, as well as many local drivers already coping with the weekend closings.
A Historic Day in Twin Cities History
All I know is that I had loud messages coming to me before this unique event for the Twin Cities. I thought to myself, this is kind of like our own 9/11 (but not really since no terrorism was involved). It will probably take a little bit to let the fact sink in that I could've possibly been on that bridge, which I normally took at least twice a day. The death toll was 9 around midnight Wednesday, which I found amazing that it wasn't immediately much more. The grim reality is that there are certainly more bodies to be found on Thursday, but there are miracles already. A school bus, seconds from being over the river, only fell to the ground along the river bank.
Final Thoughts
On June 3rd, 1984, I had just walked out of a concert at 1st Avenue in downtown Minneapolis to discover that a concrete parking ramp had collapsed next door. We watched into the night as cranes came in to see if anyone was inside any of the dozens of crushed cars. Today, the spectacular helicopter footage slowy panned across the 1/4 mile stretch, showing dozens of heroic rescues in progress. Each second I saw a life and death moment occurring, with many civilians helping. I think there will be national repercussions for such a dramatic event. Bridges will be evaluated, phobias will rise. Everyone in this town will also talk to their neighbor, just to feel lucky to be alive.
Update: 8/04/07
The President Keeps it Quiet
President Bush visited the bridge collapse site today, thankfully for just a short time in the morning, no Katrina-like speeches. Really, this is not a national catastrophe. It's visually stunning, but something far far from everyone's initial fears. As expected, this turned into a national event, no longer confined to the local media. Talk of deficient bridges across the country, and penny pinching by the Dept of Transportation.
The Perfect Storm
There is speculation of harmonic modulation, similar to the famous bridge that fluttered in the wind. In this case, there may have been a convergence of extra vibration from several jackhammers going at once, and a freight train rolling right next to one of the supports. There are reports of a ripple or rolling wave occurring, causing the center span to separate and travel 81 feet horizontally. Currently the death toll is a miraculous 5 - with perhaps only 8 people missing. Coincidences abound with a UPS driver noticing a friend driving next to him as they both drove on to the bridge. Also come stories of passers by that happen to have first responder training, finding their way within minutes of the collapse.
The Day After
I have not seen the site since it happened. The day after it happened, I had to travel that direction, and felt a hard reaction to facing a spot where such carnage took place. I detoured down river, with heavy traffic on all local streets as every driver tried to come up with their own plan of getting across the river.
The Future
What will become of the National Republican Convention next year? How will they shape their message around the location of bridge collapse? What will the candidates have to include in their agenda to acknowledge what this city has gone through? In the future, how will this event change the Twin Cities? My guess is that 10 years from now, it will be only a memory.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Kens Faves - June 2007
DVD
Mission: Impossible : The TV Series : Season Two :
I wanted to see how many colons I could stuff into one title. Last time I was able to watch an episode of the original series was 4:00 am on a crappy little black and white TV while working at a 24 hour parking ramp. I love this show. I love this series as much as I love James Bond. Taken from the tales of the CIA, upstanding special agents with no torrid love affairs or acts of vengeful back-stabbing. Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Greg Morris, and that body building dude. Each week they came in, did their job straight-forward with an economy of dialogue, and ran their operation by the book. Each week they get the job done with clockwork precision, roll credits.
No TV show exists today with such no-nonsense technical focus, and absolutely no glimpse of any character's personal lives. It's all business, and Lalo Shifrin's spy music. Each gimmick they use is based on some reality based gee-wiz gadget, like sound waves to produce earth tremors. The format is also a taut guessing games, only giving away a few tantalizing clues in the opening scenes, and then watching the game unfold. How does the fake chocolate pudding come into play in overthrowing the ruthless dictator? Of course, taken one step out of TV reality, these strangers could not so easily and quickly get cozy with foreign leaders or large crime figures and gain their trust enough to fall for their ridiculous feints. But part of the pleasure of watching the show, is how they fill most of these plot holes with an ingenious trick. For instance, how does Barbara Bain get past the security camera? Voila, She makes the security camera go on the fritz for a few seconds by using an RF frequency scrambler. OK, it's a little kooky to use a bunch of bats frozen in a jar to make the occupants of a house evacuate (why not a simple smoke bomb?). And yes, of course, it's hard to believe every bad guy will respond exactly as they expect, and fall for the guy in make-up and a wig. But remember the title of the show is "Mission:Impossible".
Private Snafu / Disney: On the Front Lines
Aaah yes, I finally sold out and signed up to NetFlix. Why? Why do I shop at Target? It's the whole convenience, price, selection thing that you just can't deny. It also makes sense in this day in age. Besides, your postal carrier has less actual mail these days now that the email fad has caught on. There are forbidden films that we are never to see again, you are to erase the memory from your mind. Such as "Song of the South", which I saw completely on a large movie screen when I was young. We are forbidden to see such disturbing material now, but somehow I survived the experience. Thankfully, there IS some more controversial material to witness, and get a glimpse of a mostly unseen dimension of our past.
There are a few episodes of "Private Snafu" on the Looney Toons Collection, Volume 3. Here are the animators you grew up with, illustrating extreme fast-paced stories in a artistic visual style, with charged music and adult dialogue. But instead of Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck, its a Elmer Fudd-ish character called Private Snafu. He is likeable but stereotypical in demonstrating the follies of not following Military procedures. One episode is called "Spies" and is very dark. Our hero doesn't realise that our enemies are listening in to private conversations and using alcohol and loose ladies to get Pvt. Snafu to blabber out military secrets. The other episode, called "Rumours", tries to calm the paranoia the U.S. was feeling after being caught off guard when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor ("they are attacking California next", "they could invade as far as St. Louis in one week"). A very telling snapshot into our country's psyche during that period.
Disney also helped in the Propaganda war, and drafted their characters into military situations. "Education for Death" is the most terrifying piece of animation ever produced by Disney. Literally meant to scare audiences, showing the Nazi officer intruding into the bedroom where a Mother is putting her son to bed. The message is clear, the Nazis want to take your child away from you. Disney performed a magnificent act by releasing these pieces of history. For one thing, it can help you recognise the propaganda being practised today.
Meat Beat Manifesto - In Dub
A brilliant music video collection using trippy video effects, in terrific synchronisation with Jack Danger's industrial jazz. The techno geek in me enjoys the NASA aspect of massive synthesiser banks, tape machines, buttons, and lights. It is a techno-cosmic experience.
Food
Famous Dave's Georgia Mustard Sauce
I have been a fan of Famous Dave's ever since the very first one opened a few blocks from my where I lived near Lake Harriet. They have since grown into an empire. I think they have the same taste buds as I do, because all their sauces, taken from famous restaurant recipes from the South, are as unique as they are tasty. The Georgia Mustard Sauce is tangy, and is great as an alternate to the traditional red barbeque sauces. But nowadays I have a bottle sitting in the fridge for a variety of uses. It's a salad dressing, great for chicken sandwiches or tenders, brats, fries, greens beans, and broccoli, to name a few. Just watch out when you pour, it's not thick and syrupy like the other sauces, and could splash out more than you may intend to.
Rocky Rococco
This was and still is my favourite pizza. Period. Rocky's started in Madison Wisconsin, and in it's heyday during the 80's, they had a multitude of stores all over the Twin Cities. The one in Dinkytown was my lunchspot during college every Thursday, when they had the Rococco Chicago slice of the day. Their deep dish crust is soft and sweet. Their sauce is dark and tangy. The cheese is pure, the sausage is awesome. Sadly, the store population in the area dwindled during the 90s. I'm not certain, but I believe the only one left around here is on Brooklyn Boulevard in Brooklyn Park, about 2 miles north of the Hwy 694 intersection. Recently I have been biking the trails in the vicinity, and will make the trip over there on the way home. I will always be a Cheesehead, no matter where I live.
Zantigo
Another Fast Food treasure from yesteryear. Why do I yearn for fast food so much? Blame my mother's disdain for cooking meals during my childhood in the 70s. Frankly, us children didn't mind, because her cooking was awful. There was the McDonalds down the road. It was a quick and easy answer for dinner. A little farther down the road was Kentucky Fried Chicken. My father was also a fan of the eating out experience. He would torment the wait staff and demand their attention. I too enjoyed the chance to try different menu items, but was routinely embarrassed by my father's behaviour, albeit well intentioned. I myself was a slob (and still am a recovering slob). Many food particles would line my place setting during the meal, and inevitably drop my fork on the floor. Nowadays, when there is a family get-together at an eating establishment, I will ceremoniously toss my fork to the floor to commemorate the occasion.
In high school, Zantigo was a staple food. The order was always: Taco Burrito - no meat, Cheese and Onion Enchilada, and a Hot Chilito. The tortillas are actually tasty, the beans are pleasantly spiced, and the green chili in the hot chilitos (my dessert item) is authentic. But the secret ingredient is the hot sauce. This especially tangy jalapeno hot sauce has a flavour that cannot be found in any supermarket brand. Believe me, I've tried. The sauce packet lists vinegar as one of the main ingredients. Alas, such as Bridgemans and Embers, this restaurant chain vanished. In this case, it was eaten up by the vastly inferior Taco Bell. All stores converted their menus to cruddy tacos, no proper chilitos, and yucky beans. Don't even get me started on the garbage they have for hot sauce. It actually makes the food taste worse. I used to travel about 15 miles out of my way from leaving work in White Bear Lake to visit the only independent Zantigo I knew of in Mahtomedi. Friends visiting from out of town would make the trip up there. Then, I discovered another Zantigo sitting quietly along Hwy 694 and University in Fridley. This location is about 20 miles closer to my house than the other one.
Now, I don't want to make it sound like I go out to these places everyday, (only every other day).
Music
The Move - Greatest Hits
Not Spinal Tap, but a band definitely pumping up the flower power ("I Can Hear The Grass Grow"). But dig this, they were actually THERE, actually at the ACTUAL TIME when the actual movement was happening. Even more so, Roy Wood wanted to make music like the Beatles' "Sgt Pepper", including using real orchestral instruments ("Flowers In The Rain"). Here in the bastion of pop perfection, Wood found his place and flourished with a few songs that are as creative as his contemporaries. The sound of the other musicians in the band had attitude also, and they all jammed heavily ("Feel Too Good"), to make it clear they were indeed a very live band. Wood joined up with another Beatles disciple, Jeff Lynne, and the formula for success was forged ("California Man"). What stands apart especially are the well produced vocals. Nicely arranged harmonies with heart tugging melodies ("No Time"). You may all recognise Jeff Lynne's later band, called the Electric Light Orchestra. That started out as an experiment with Roy Wood to take the "Sgt Pepper" idea where the the Beatles never dared, out on live stage. Wood and Lynne parted ways after the first ELO album. But Lynne, along with 3 string players, successfully took the dream on the road and became an international megaband. Lynne later took part in a Beatles reunion recording, and collaborated with a former Beatle for several albums.
Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
With Johnny Marr riding shotgun, there is power and clarity in the pop landscape. Singer Isaac Brock exposes his XTC influence,with wailings also similar to Frank Black (circa Pixies era). So a warm welcome is the addition of the Smith's sideman doing the tasteful licks. "Florida" jumps out at you, while "We've Got Everything" marches to the XTC beat. The clarity is the one element desperately needed in the longer rambling slow pieces, and here Brock seems to have righted the ship a little more even keel. Steady as she goes....
Echo & The Bunnymen - Crystal Days (B Sides and Extras)
This band was reknown for energetic live performances. I saw them once as part of a triple bill with New Order and some other band in the late 80s. I also saw Ian McCulloch play a solo gig back then. The next time they showed up was at 1st Avenue in the late 90s. Although the band played great, Ian McCulloch was completely vacant. He had sunglasses on, an earpiece, and seemed like he was on drugs. He didn't sing at all that night, but quietly yelped. With a tiny breath he would barely speak out the lyrics. My sister and I got irritated. When the song "The Cutter" came up, we decided to sing it ourselves out loud. Others joined in, and we made the point after a couple songs, causing a sheepish reaction from the band. Despite the bad live experience, I discovered that the Band's later releases in the 90s still had a couple catchy pop tunes.
This 4 Disc Box set features B Sides and extras spanning their career. Here you have the famous original tracks where the drums were supplied by "Echo", their drum machine. There are also alternate versions of popular singles. I was impressed by the tracks "Rollercoaster", "What Are You Going To Do With Your Life?", "Over your Shoulder", and a few others, that could have easily been A-Sides. Also tossed in there are a few live tracks and a John Peel (r.i.p.) session.
Mission: Impossible : The TV Series : Season Two :
I wanted to see how many colons I could stuff into one title. Last time I was able to watch an episode of the original series was 4:00 am on a crappy little black and white TV while working at a 24 hour parking ramp. I love this show. I love this series as much as I love James Bond. Taken from the tales of the CIA, upstanding special agents with no torrid love affairs or acts of vengeful back-stabbing. Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Greg Morris, and that body building dude. Each week they came in, did their job straight-forward with an economy of dialogue, and ran their operation by the book. Each week they get the job done with clockwork precision, roll credits.
No TV show exists today with such no-nonsense technical focus, and absolutely no glimpse of any character's personal lives. It's all business, and Lalo Shifrin's spy music. Each gimmick they use is based on some reality based gee-wiz gadget, like sound waves to produce earth tremors. The format is also a taut guessing games, only giving away a few tantalizing clues in the opening scenes, and then watching the game unfold. How does the fake chocolate pudding come into play in overthrowing the ruthless dictator? Of course, taken one step out of TV reality, these strangers could not so easily and quickly get cozy with foreign leaders or large crime figures and gain their trust enough to fall for their ridiculous feints. But part of the pleasure of watching the show, is how they fill most of these plot holes with an ingenious trick. For instance, how does Barbara Bain get past the security camera? Voila, She makes the security camera go on the fritz for a few seconds by using an RF frequency scrambler. OK, it's a little kooky to use a bunch of bats frozen in a jar to make the occupants of a house evacuate (why not a simple smoke bomb?). And yes, of course, it's hard to believe every bad guy will respond exactly as they expect, and fall for the guy in make-up and a wig. But remember the title of the show is "Mission:Impossible".
Private Snafu / Disney: On the Front Lines
Aaah yes, I finally sold out and signed up to NetFlix. Why? Why do I shop at Target? It's the whole convenience, price, selection thing that you just can't deny. It also makes sense in this day in age. Besides, your postal carrier has less actual mail these days now that the email fad has caught on. There are forbidden films that we are never to see again, you are to erase the memory from your mind. Such as "Song of the South", which I saw completely on a large movie screen when I was young. We are forbidden to see such disturbing material now, but somehow I survived the experience. Thankfully, there IS some more controversial material to witness, and get a glimpse of a mostly unseen dimension of our past.
There are a few episodes of "Private Snafu" on the Looney Toons Collection, Volume 3. Here are the animators you grew up with, illustrating extreme fast-paced stories in a artistic visual style, with charged music and adult dialogue. But instead of Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck, its a Elmer Fudd-ish character called Private Snafu. He is likeable but stereotypical in demonstrating the follies of not following Military procedures. One episode is called "Spies" and is very dark. Our hero doesn't realise that our enemies are listening in to private conversations and using alcohol and loose ladies to get Pvt. Snafu to blabber out military secrets. The other episode, called "Rumours", tries to calm the paranoia the U.S. was feeling after being caught off guard when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor ("they are attacking California next", "they could invade as far as St. Louis in one week"). A very telling snapshot into our country's psyche during that period.
Disney also helped in the Propaganda war, and drafted their characters into military situations. "Education for Death" is the most terrifying piece of animation ever produced by Disney. Literally meant to scare audiences, showing the Nazi officer intruding into the bedroom where a Mother is putting her son to bed. The message is clear, the Nazis want to take your child away from you. Disney performed a magnificent act by releasing these pieces of history. For one thing, it can help you recognise the propaganda being practised today.
Meat Beat Manifesto - In Dub
A brilliant music video collection using trippy video effects, in terrific synchronisation with Jack Danger's industrial jazz. The techno geek in me enjoys the NASA aspect of massive synthesiser banks, tape machines, buttons, and lights. It is a techno-cosmic experience.
Food
Famous Dave's Georgia Mustard Sauce
I have been a fan of Famous Dave's ever since the very first one opened a few blocks from my where I lived near Lake Harriet. They have since grown into an empire. I think they have the same taste buds as I do, because all their sauces, taken from famous restaurant recipes from the South, are as unique as they are tasty. The Georgia Mustard Sauce is tangy, and is great as an alternate to the traditional red barbeque sauces. But nowadays I have a bottle sitting in the fridge for a variety of uses. It's a salad dressing, great for chicken sandwiches or tenders, brats, fries, greens beans, and broccoli, to name a few. Just watch out when you pour, it's not thick and syrupy like the other sauces, and could splash out more than you may intend to.
Rocky Rococco
This was and still is my favourite pizza. Period. Rocky's started in Madison Wisconsin, and in it's heyday during the 80's, they had a multitude of stores all over the Twin Cities. The one in Dinkytown was my lunchspot during college every Thursday, when they had the Rococco Chicago slice of the day. Their deep dish crust is soft and sweet. Their sauce is dark and tangy. The cheese is pure, the sausage is awesome. Sadly, the store population in the area dwindled during the 90s. I'm not certain, but I believe the only one left around here is on Brooklyn Boulevard in Brooklyn Park, about 2 miles north of the Hwy 694 intersection. Recently I have been biking the trails in the vicinity, and will make the trip over there on the way home. I will always be a Cheesehead, no matter where I live.
Zantigo
Another Fast Food treasure from yesteryear. Why do I yearn for fast food so much? Blame my mother's disdain for cooking meals during my childhood in the 70s. Frankly, us children didn't mind, because her cooking was awful. There was the McDonalds down the road. It was a quick and easy answer for dinner. A little farther down the road was Kentucky Fried Chicken. My father was also a fan of the eating out experience. He would torment the wait staff and demand their attention. I too enjoyed the chance to try different menu items, but was routinely embarrassed by my father's behaviour, albeit well intentioned. I myself was a slob (and still am a recovering slob). Many food particles would line my place setting during the meal, and inevitably drop my fork on the floor. Nowadays, when there is a family get-together at an eating establishment, I will ceremoniously toss my fork to the floor to commemorate the occasion.
In high school, Zantigo was a staple food. The order was always: Taco Burrito - no meat, Cheese and Onion Enchilada, and a Hot Chilito. The tortillas are actually tasty, the beans are pleasantly spiced, and the green chili in the hot chilitos (my dessert item) is authentic. But the secret ingredient is the hot sauce. This especially tangy jalapeno hot sauce has a flavour that cannot be found in any supermarket brand. Believe me, I've tried. The sauce packet lists vinegar as one of the main ingredients. Alas, such as Bridgemans and Embers, this restaurant chain vanished. In this case, it was eaten up by the vastly inferior Taco Bell. All stores converted their menus to cruddy tacos, no proper chilitos, and yucky beans. Don't even get me started on the garbage they have for hot sauce. It actually makes the food taste worse. I used to travel about 15 miles out of my way from leaving work in White Bear Lake to visit the only independent Zantigo I knew of in Mahtomedi. Friends visiting from out of town would make the trip up there. Then, I discovered another Zantigo sitting quietly along Hwy 694 and University in Fridley. This location is about 20 miles closer to my house than the other one.
Now, I don't want to make it sound like I go out to these places everyday, (only every other day).
Music
The Move - Greatest Hits
Not Spinal Tap, but a band definitely pumping up the flower power ("I Can Hear The Grass Grow"). But dig this, they were actually THERE, actually at the ACTUAL TIME when the actual movement was happening. Even more so, Roy Wood wanted to make music like the Beatles' "Sgt Pepper", including using real orchestral instruments ("Flowers In The Rain"). Here in the bastion of pop perfection, Wood found his place and flourished with a few songs that are as creative as his contemporaries. The sound of the other musicians in the band had attitude also, and they all jammed heavily ("Feel Too Good"), to make it clear they were indeed a very live band. Wood joined up with another Beatles disciple, Jeff Lynne, and the formula for success was forged ("California Man"). What stands apart especially are the well produced vocals. Nicely arranged harmonies with heart tugging melodies ("No Time"). You may all recognise Jeff Lynne's later band, called the Electric Light Orchestra. That started out as an experiment with Roy Wood to take the "Sgt Pepper" idea where the the Beatles never dared, out on live stage. Wood and Lynne parted ways after the first ELO album. But Lynne, along with 3 string players, successfully took the dream on the road and became an international megaband. Lynne later took part in a Beatles reunion recording, and collaborated with a former Beatle for several albums.
Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
With Johnny Marr riding shotgun, there is power and clarity in the pop landscape. Singer Isaac Brock exposes his XTC influence,with wailings also similar to Frank Black (circa Pixies era). So a warm welcome is the addition of the Smith's sideman doing the tasteful licks. "Florida" jumps out at you, while "We've Got Everything" marches to the XTC beat. The clarity is the one element desperately needed in the longer rambling slow pieces, and here Brock seems to have righted the ship a little more even keel. Steady as she goes....
Echo & The Bunnymen - Crystal Days (B Sides and Extras)
This band was reknown for energetic live performances. I saw them once as part of a triple bill with New Order and some other band in the late 80s. I also saw Ian McCulloch play a solo gig back then. The next time they showed up was at 1st Avenue in the late 90s. Although the band played great, Ian McCulloch was completely vacant. He had sunglasses on, an earpiece, and seemed like he was on drugs. He didn't sing at all that night, but quietly yelped. With a tiny breath he would barely speak out the lyrics. My sister and I got irritated. When the song "The Cutter" came up, we decided to sing it ourselves out loud. Others joined in, and we made the point after a couple songs, causing a sheepish reaction from the band. Despite the bad live experience, I discovered that the Band's later releases in the 90s still had a couple catchy pop tunes.
This 4 Disc Box set features B Sides and extras spanning their career. Here you have the famous original tracks where the drums were supplied by "Echo", their drum machine. There are also alternate versions of popular singles. I was impressed by the tracks "Rollercoaster", "What Are You Going To Do With Your Life?", "Over your Shoulder", and a few others, that could have easily been A-Sides. Also tossed in there are a few live tracks and a John Peel (r.i.p.) session.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Loose by Design
Any Plan should Not be a Rigid Plan.
Military planners have a saying: Any war plan is no good after the first day. Meaning: The forces of chaos will always interfere with your long-term plans. You must build into your plan some flexibility.
-Expect things not to happen on time.
-Expect stuff to break down.
-Expect an outside entity to not behave as expected.
But there is another benefit to having a plan with a loose enough structure to allow changes on the fly. Sometimes an unexpected event will occur that will advance your project a beneficial way. It is similar to my philosophy about handling chaos when trying to accomplish something:
Surf the Wave.
Surfboarding is literally riding chaos. The hydrodynamics involved with an ocean wave rising and cresting is unpredictable. Surfers instead shoot themselves into the situation and make adjustments to ride it out. The lesson is instead of fighting these opposing forces, work them into plan. This gets you prepared for contingencies in a way that you already know how to deal with, so they won't slow you down.
Examples:
- Extra cash on hand
- Put in a buffer of extra time in the plan
- Have backups of all normally used tools
- Check things you don't normally check
- Perform thought experiments (What if we did this?)
Military planners have a saying: Any war plan is no good after the first day. Meaning: The forces of chaos will always interfere with your long-term plans. You must build into your plan some flexibility.
-Expect things not to happen on time.
-Expect stuff to break down.
-Expect an outside entity to not behave as expected.
But there is another benefit to having a plan with a loose enough structure to allow changes on the fly. Sometimes an unexpected event will occur that will advance your project a beneficial way. It is similar to my philosophy about handling chaos when trying to accomplish something:
Surf the Wave.
Surfboarding is literally riding chaos. The hydrodynamics involved with an ocean wave rising and cresting is unpredictable. Surfers instead shoot themselves into the situation and make adjustments to ride it out. The lesson is instead of fighting these opposing forces, work them into plan. This gets you prepared for contingencies in a way that you already know how to deal with, so they won't slow you down.
Examples:
- Extra cash on hand
- Put in a buffer of extra time in the plan
- Have backups of all normally used tools
- Check things you don't normally check
- Perform thought experiments (What if we did this?)
Friday, May 11, 2007
The 85% Rule
Is this a Rule? I don't really know. It was my intuition married with many years of low budget production to come up with this very accurate rule of thumb about how much time equates to how perfect your project must be. The rule is basically this:
For a normal budget, the closest you can allow yourself to achieving 100% of your vision is 85%.
The amount of money and time to get the last 15% will cost up to three times as much relative to the 85%. You should be happy to get 85% of the shots you were looking for on a given day. Maybe you wanted a few extra takes on a shot, or a little more time to light, but you keep the ball rolling. You still get close enough to reaching your mark to catch something that is Great, just not Excellent. I think good B-Movie directors are also good magicians by figuring out how to fudge that 15% and make those cheap effects or other attempts at a money shot look better than they really are.
The Show Must Go On
The fledgling TV show I worked on in the '90's, "Video Nation", had just enough money to put it on the air and pay for a couple days of editing. The show was ambitious, one of the first ever to green screen the VJ with wild animation. We had many cool ideas to add, but only got about 85% of them in the actual show. In the case of the 'no budget' feature that I am restoring right now, the film was originally finished after about 3 months back in 1997. The picture cut went smoothly and 90% of the location audio was usable. But the director wanted to fix all the bad dialogue reads during shooting. The main character (that is in every scene of the film) had all his dialogue re-recorded. Twice. If the director stuck to the 85% principle, he would've cut his losses and not spent another 9 months trying to fix everything. He ran out of money to pay for all the post-production sound costs and the movie was shut down.
Perfection can only exist in a vacuum. Nature abhors a vacuum.
The forces of nature will ALWAYS conspire against your vision from the first step of the process. Many people kill themselves for that last 15%, but for what? A rock band will tour for 10 years until they finally get that hit album, only to be burned out from the long and gruelling process. For me, I will always work that extra amount when it counts. Like yesterday, I needed to update my video editor Demo Reel for a job application, something that I could whip together in 4 hours. However, this DVD I was creating also represented how much attention I gave to detail. That extra 15% caused me about 12 hours more work.
Perfection is always a virtue, never a reality.
Moviemakers will spend $200 million dollars getting a movie just right, but will still wish they could've fixed a couple shots. Even when George Lucas went back to 'fix' his earlier "Star Wars" films, he still said that he never got to 'clean up' as much of the film as he wanted. Or, look at Francis Coppola's "Apocalypse Now". His quest to make the perfect film nearly killed him, and he still was never satisfied with the ending. In these cases, you get 99% there, but chaos will always factor in the equation. Such as the Demo Reel I finished yesterday, I still notice minor glitches or slight imperfections (that hopefully nobody else will notice).
The 85% Balance of Life
So what the heck am I talking about? Take anything in my Bohemian lifestyle, I pick and choose the perks in my life, while letting other things slide.
- I own a 16 year-old car. It looks OK (not much rust), and gets me from point A to point B. It cost $2000. To get the dream car of my life, would cost at least $10,000. Indeed, I have tried to maintain nice old cars a few times in my life, but I never made enough money to justify the upkeep.
- I own a Digital Audio Workstation software called Logic. It is less well known than the industry standard - Pro Tools. However, I get (at least) 85% bang for the buck for thousands of dollars less.
Ying/Yang. Karma. Balance.
But there also is a balance in the world. I can see the 85% principle as a theme in my life. It's like going to college. Many know that to get to the PhD level requires up to three times as much school compared to a four year degree. I hear some friends questioning the value of killing yourself to get that extra piece of paper. When I was growing up, I was required to sit by myself in a room and practice the piano for two hours a day after school. Meanwhile, my friends were outside playing kickball or off on some adventure. The biggest issue I have with the hard work of reaching my Big Goals, is that I miss the rest of the world passing me by. I eventually quit the piano the same time I quit college. I would decline to work overtime at my job, to make time for such things as meeting my niece at a scheduled time to go walking with her dog. It was just as important as whatever critical issue was going on at work.
Live Your Life by Not Killing Yourself.
So my suggestion is to be content with getting "almost there", and understand the sacrifice it takes to actually reach the top of the mountain. Of course, do it when the momentum is right and it is one of the most important things in your life. I have accomplished much, and killed myself over making the grade in my film and audio career. But I also found the time to let other far flung dreams have a chance to express themselves. None of the other hobbies have ever made me financially successful, but that's not the point. I notice many movie stars like to record their own music and release albums. They probably don't expect to be able to quit their day jobs, but they get a chance to act out their fantasy. I spend a great deal of time recording my pop music, but only give out the CDs to friends, or post them for listening on MySpace. The balance rule works both ways. I find that I can let things slide too much in the other direction, like yardwork. There is a karma to the whole philosophy, and I don't realise the dividends that paying more attention to my yard will do.
For a normal budget, the closest you can allow yourself to achieving 100% of your vision is 85%.
The amount of money and time to get the last 15% will cost up to three times as much relative to the 85%. You should be happy to get 85% of the shots you were looking for on a given day. Maybe you wanted a few extra takes on a shot, or a little more time to light, but you keep the ball rolling. You still get close enough to reaching your mark to catch something that is Great, just not Excellent. I think good B-Movie directors are also good magicians by figuring out how to fudge that 15% and make those cheap effects or other attempts at a money shot look better than they really are.
The Show Must Go On
The fledgling TV show I worked on in the '90's, "Video Nation", had just enough money to put it on the air and pay for a couple days of editing. The show was ambitious, one of the first ever to green screen the VJ with wild animation. We had many cool ideas to add, but only got about 85% of them in the actual show. In the case of the 'no budget' feature that I am restoring right now, the film was originally finished after about 3 months back in 1997. The picture cut went smoothly and 90% of the location audio was usable. But the director wanted to fix all the bad dialogue reads during shooting. The main character (that is in every scene of the film) had all his dialogue re-recorded. Twice. If the director stuck to the 85% principle, he would've cut his losses and not spent another 9 months trying to fix everything. He ran out of money to pay for all the post-production sound costs and the movie was shut down.
Perfection can only exist in a vacuum. Nature abhors a vacuum.
The forces of nature will ALWAYS conspire against your vision from the first step of the process. Many people kill themselves for that last 15%, but for what? A rock band will tour for 10 years until they finally get that hit album, only to be burned out from the long and gruelling process. For me, I will always work that extra amount when it counts. Like yesterday, I needed to update my video editor Demo Reel for a job application, something that I could whip together in 4 hours. However, this DVD I was creating also represented how much attention I gave to detail. That extra 15% caused me about 12 hours more work.
Perfection is always a virtue, never a reality.
Moviemakers will spend $200 million dollars getting a movie just right, but will still wish they could've fixed a couple shots. Even when George Lucas went back to 'fix' his earlier "Star Wars" films, he still said that he never got to 'clean up' as much of the film as he wanted. Or, look at Francis Coppola's "Apocalypse Now". His quest to make the perfect film nearly killed him, and he still was never satisfied with the ending. In these cases, you get 99% there, but chaos will always factor in the equation. Such as the Demo Reel I finished yesterday, I still notice minor glitches or slight imperfections (that hopefully nobody else will notice).
The 85% Balance of Life
So what the heck am I talking about? Take anything in my Bohemian lifestyle, I pick and choose the perks in my life, while letting other things slide.
- I own a 16 year-old car. It looks OK (not much rust), and gets me from point A to point B. It cost $2000. To get the dream car of my life, would cost at least $10,000. Indeed, I have tried to maintain nice old cars a few times in my life, but I never made enough money to justify the upkeep.
- I own a Digital Audio Workstation software called Logic. It is less well known than the industry standard - Pro Tools. However, I get (at least) 85% bang for the buck for thousands of dollars less.
Ying/Yang. Karma. Balance.
But there also is a balance in the world. I can see the 85% principle as a theme in my life. It's like going to college. Many know that to get to the PhD level requires up to three times as much school compared to a four year degree. I hear some friends questioning the value of killing yourself to get that extra piece of paper. When I was growing up, I was required to sit by myself in a room and practice the piano for two hours a day after school. Meanwhile, my friends were outside playing kickball or off on some adventure. The biggest issue I have with the hard work of reaching my Big Goals, is that I miss the rest of the world passing me by. I eventually quit the piano the same time I quit college. I would decline to work overtime at my job, to make time for such things as meeting my niece at a scheduled time to go walking with her dog. It was just as important as whatever critical issue was going on at work.
Live Your Life by Not Killing Yourself.
So my suggestion is to be content with getting "almost there", and understand the sacrifice it takes to actually reach the top of the mountain. Of course, do it when the momentum is right and it is one of the most important things in your life. I have accomplished much, and killed myself over making the grade in my film and audio career. But I also found the time to let other far flung dreams have a chance to express themselves. None of the other hobbies have ever made me financially successful, but that's not the point. I notice many movie stars like to record their own music and release albums. They probably don't expect to be able to quit their day jobs, but they get a chance to act out their fantasy. I spend a great deal of time recording my pop music, but only give out the CDs to friends, or post them for listening on MySpace. The balance rule works both ways. I find that I can let things slide too much in the other direction, like yardwork. There is a karma to the whole philosophy, and I don't realise the dividends that paying more attention to my yard will do.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Hazards of Being a Late-Nighter
I was a Boy Scout as a Kid
About three years ago, I was up past midnight on a weeknight. My neighbourhood is pretty quiet, with a church on the corner. The doorbell rang, odd for the late hour. There was a woman at the door, she had been crying. I myself am a considerate person, and will not just turn a blind eye to those in need, so I let her in to see what her problem was. She explained that she got in a fight with her boyfriend, but she did not appear to be physically harmed. A couple things about her started to illuminate her disposition beyond her story of woe. She explained that she was wandering in the night. The church on the corner has a lit-up sign that is easy to see, and she walked toward the sign as her guiding light. She said she spotted the lights on in my house when she reached the church. She looked in her late twenties and was a burnout. I sympathised with her relationship problems, and didn't mind too much that she rang my doorbell. She then started asking how to get someplace from here. It seemed that she was unfamiliar with this part of town, perhaps she visits this boyfriend but doesn't know the neighbourhood. It started to seem apparent that she had been drinking, and judging by the piercings and tattoos on her face and everywhere else, that she was not leading a responsible life.
The Pitch
She asked for some cab fare to go to a friends house. I was going to give her ten bucks. She asked for twenty, now her friend's house was in St. Paul. I was reluctant, but gave her the $20 just to get her out of my house. I have performed Good Samaritan deeds from time to time. I think it is good Karma. A few months later I was driving a few blocks down from my house and saw her walking on the sidewalk. She seemed pretty familiar about where she was. My guess she might've used the cash for drugs or booze, but at the time I was not hurting financially.
The Friend in St Paul
Maybe a year later, a guy stops me as I pull into the parking lot at work. His car broke down, he says, and he needs to get the part to fix it from a guy in St. Paul. He needs cab fare to go get the part from the guy. I think, why does everyone in need have a friend that lives in St. Paul? Low and behold he wants to borrow $20, noting that he knows where I work, and will return to pay me back. Now, being a Good Samaritan, I evaluated whether this guy really needed my money. He was not in tears, having just broke up with a girlfriend. He was not stranded in the middle of the night (a bus runs in front of the place where I work), and I didn't know this guy. Not that it mattered, but he was a bit of a rough looking biker dude who probably chose a lifestyle that wasn't financially secure. I told him I didn't think his story merited $20 (take a bus, ask your friend for a ride, theres a mechanic just down the block). He held no bad feelings and that was that.
The Beacon in the Night
Tonight at about 2am there was a knock on my front door. There was a man with puppy dog eyes asking for help. His buddy was supposed to give him a ride but ditched him. He asked to borrow money for cab fare. He started to mention the people in the neighbourhood that he knew, but I did not know him. He had a strong smell of alcohol on his breath. He wanted the cab fare to go to New Brighton, about a mile away from where we were standing. He appeared to be in good physical condition. To make is easy, I told him I didn't have any cash. He hemmed and hawed. "Can't help you, sorry", I shirked. He made an offer, he would give me an extra ten bucks if I went to a cash machine to get some cash. Of course, the failure of his logic is that:
A. I would have to leave the house, get in the car, drive to a cash machine, and drive back home.
B. If a cash machine was going to be involved at all, then this man could withdraw his own cash.
No, I told him, I was not going to leave my house at 2am in the morning so a drunk man can get cab fare instead of walking about a mile. I'm sure that he had the same plans as the tattoo lady did when she visited me in similar circumstances. I apologised and he went on his way.
Karma: Closed after Midnight.
I don't mind helping people out, as others have so graciously done for me. But I don't hit up strangers for $20 to get drunk. If I am stranded in town without money, I'll make my way to a cash machine before I'll beg for money. Mostly, I see the value of living responsibly so that I don't find myself drunk and poor and only concerned about how to get drunk again. I sincerely hope that these people can use guidance and other support that is available for them (I donate to Salvation Army and foodshelves), but don't feel it is right to support their destructive habits.
About three years ago, I was up past midnight on a weeknight. My neighbourhood is pretty quiet, with a church on the corner. The doorbell rang, odd for the late hour. There was a woman at the door, she had been crying. I myself am a considerate person, and will not just turn a blind eye to those in need, so I let her in to see what her problem was. She explained that she got in a fight with her boyfriend, but she did not appear to be physically harmed. A couple things about her started to illuminate her disposition beyond her story of woe. She explained that she was wandering in the night. The church on the corner has a lit-up sign that is easy to see, and she walked toward the sign as her guiding light. She said she spotted the lights on in my house when she reached the church. She looked in her late twenties and was a burnout. I sympathised with her relationship problems, and didn't mind too much that she rang my doorbell. She then started asking how to get someplace from here. It seemed that she was unfamiliar with this part of town, perhaps she visits this boyfriend but doesn't know the neighbourhood. It started to seem apparent that she had been drinking, and judging by the piercings and tattoos on her face and everywhere else, that she was not leading a responsible life.
The Pitch
She asked for some cab fare to go to a friends house. I was going to give her ten bucks. She asked for twenty, now her friend's house was in St. Paul. I was reluctant, but gave her the $20 just to get her out of my house. I have performed Good Samaritan deeds from time to time. I think it is good Karma. A few months later I was driving a few blocks down from my house and saw her walking on the sidewalk. She seemed pretty familiar about where she was. My guess she might've used the cash for drugs or booze, but at the time I was not hurting financially.
The Friend in St Paul
Maybe a year later, a guy stops me as I pull into the parking lot at work. His car broke down, he says, and he needs to get the part to fix it from a guy in St. Paul. He needs cab fare to go get the part from the guy. I think, why does everyone in need have a friend that lives in St. Paul? Low and behold he wants to borrow $20, noting that he knows where I work, and will return to pay me back. Now, being a Good Samaritan, I evaluated whether this guy really needed my money. He was not in tears, having just broke up with a girlfriend. He was not stranded in the middle of the night (a bus runs in front of the place where I work), and I didn't know this guy. Not that it mattered, but he was a bit of a rough looking biker dude who probably chose a lifestyle that wasn't financially secure. I told him I didn't think his story merited $20 (take a bus, ask your friend for a ride, theres a mechanic just down the block). He held no bad feelings and that was that.
The Beacon in the Night
Tonight at about 2am there was a knock on my front door. There was a man with puppy dog eyes asking for help. His buddy was supposed to give him a ride but ditched him. He asked to borrow money for cab fare. He started to mention the people in the neighbourhood that he knew, but I did not know him. He had a strong smell of alcohol on his breath. He wanted the cab fare to go to New Brighton, about a mile away from where we were standing. He appeared to be in good physical condition. To make is easy, I told him I didn't have any cash. He hemmed and hawed. "Can't help you, sorry", I shirked. He made an offer, he would give me an extra ten bucks if I went to a cash machine to get some cash. Of course, the failure of his logic is that:
A. I would have to leave the house, get in the car, drive to a cash machine, and drive back home.
B. If a cash machine was going to be involved at all, then this man could withdraw his own cash.
No, I told him, I was not going to leave my house at 2am in the morning so a drunk man can get cab fare instead of walking about a mile. I'm sure that he had the same plans as the tattoo lady did when she visited me in similar circumstances. I apologised and he went on his way.
Karma: Closed after Midnight.
I don't mind helping people out, as others have so graciously done for me. But I don't hit up strangers for $20 to get drunk. If I am stranded in town without money, I'll make my way to a cash machine before I'll beg for money. Mostly, I see the value of living responsibly so that I don't find myself drunk and poor and only concerned about how to get drunk again. I sincerely hope that these people can use guidance and other support that is available for them (I donate to Salvation Army and foodshelves), but don't feel it is right to support their destructive habits.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Update May 2007
Am I There Yet?
When I first was laid off from my job over 5 months ago, I accepted it as the next stage in my life, so I let things fly and gave them time to see see where I would land. Most people would've reached for the panic button after a couple months, and I myself had a slap in the face of reality about a month ago. Since that time I have adopted a Plan B that will start to get organised if Plan A continues to be lackluster.
The beauty of Plan B is that it will only re-enforce my efforts all around. I will create a website for myself (finally) and use it to promote Plan A.
The Road to "Acid Snow"
Where I sit today, however, I feel that I have allowed this freedom of time to distract me from my initial big push - to finish "Acid Snow", the only feature film I have edited so far. The road map for Acid Snow is to have a final product by the beginning of September. Just this week I have re-directed my focus to working on the soundtrack. About 3 hours ago, I finished editing the last available foley take made during the original foley sessions back in 1997. Chris White, the foley artist, did a masterful job creating all the footsteps, coats (film in winter had lots of taking off coats), glasses (lots of drinking), and zillions of incidental sound effects, like:
Soundtrack Restoration
When the original foley sessions took place, they were all neatly organised on an Avid timeline, synchronised with the picture. When the film was shut down, several months worth of sound editing was lost (could not afford to release soundtrack from rented computer system). Like a good postproduction supervisor, I had meticulously backed up all audio sessions to DAT. There were approximately 15 hours of post audio to re-edit back in sync with the picture. I began this process off-and-on in January, and now am up to the point of placing in other sound effects not covered in the foley sessions, like phone ringing, background walla, ambience, etc. This could take another month, as there are many gaps left in the soundtrack. I also plan to re-record some new foley sound to replace some spots that I couldn't find on the DAT tapes. Once I have finished filling all the holes in the soundtrack, I begin what is the Big Mix. With 24 tracks of audio, a careful blend of all the sound elements is needed to bring life to the film. This means adding reverb to the ADR voices, and finding the delicate balance of hearing footsteps without making them sound unnatural.
Sound Design - An Audio Canvas
Sound editing is a lengthy process. There will finally be some review of any additional music, or perhaps some slight changes, and then mastering the picture and sound together. The sound mix for a film is really the moment when everything comes together. A director and an editor will have gone through repeated viewings of each scene with only temporary sound, and one becomes used to hearing only that. A metamorphosis takes place when the final sound elements are brought together, and all the rough edges are smoothed out. This process will probably take most of the summer. But it also a moment I am excited about. I have mixed short films and put together some complex video soundtracks, but never a full blown feature. Back in the 80s, I at one time wanted to get a job at Cinesound, a film mixing facility in town run by Denny O'Rourke. He had the same enthusiasm about audio as I did, and was working with the latest technology. Sadly, Denny died recently and Cinesound is now closed. I have a Logic Audio system in my studio, as well as a control surface mixing board with motorised faders. This automated system will help organise the 24 tracks of audio. Sound Design is a creative process that can be as original and stylistic as any other creative medium, and it is fun for me to enhance the story by carefully crafting the reality by controlling what is heard.
Passing Time
Alas, the last five months have little else to show. I have posted some video clips on YouTube, and have made good initial progress on my new pop album. But the last five months so far has been me enacting the role of Curator for all my collected work. I am compiling, organising, arranging, scanning, documenting, capturing, archiving and scripting all the physical things I've collected in my life. The archiving of my music alone is gargantuan. I have probably 100 tapes of my original music - each holding 90 minutes. That's about 150 hours of music! (including rehearsal and basic tracks). Then there is my photograph collection, which is slowly growing on this blog and flickr. Then there is my other video work, the early stuff, and the recent corporate and broadcast projects to put together on a snazzy demo reel. Then there are my pages and pages of comedy scripts. Starting back in the Ozone Radio days, I wrote scripts in notebooks and saved them for 'some day'. Now, I feel like I can direct some of these scripts, as well as some new material.
Summer in Minnesota
The most unpleasant thing about being unemployed is the lack of social contact. I spend (by choice) the majority of my time in my home office, multi-tasking like crazy. On the other hand, Summer in Minnesota is upon us, and one has no choice but to go outside and join everyone else celebrating the time of year in our great state when it is Not Winter. This means that there is a festival or party every weekend somewhere, and if you don't have a beer in your hand, someone will quickly make sure you do. As my own projects start to slowly unfold in the next few months, hopefully I will be able to look back upon this period and see that it was worthwhile. On the other hand, there is of course, Plan B.
When I first was laid off from my job over 5 months ago, I accepted it as the next stage in my life, so I let things fly and gave them time to see see where I would land. Most people would've reached for the panic button after a couple months, and I myself had a slap in the face of reality about a month ago. Since that time I have adopted a Plan B that will start to get organised if Plan A continues to be lackluster.
PLAN A
- Continue finding freelance work
- Finish film "Acid Snow"
- Make a new Demo Reel
- Record new music album
- Script out new video projects
PLAN B
- Get additional software training for Web Design
- Look for Web Design work
- Use Web Design work to fund Plan A
The beauty of Plan B is that it will only re-enforce my efforts all around. I will create a website for myself (finally) and use it to promote Plan A.
The Road to "Acid Snow"
Where I sit today, however, I feel that I have allowed this freedom of time to distract me from my initial big push - to finish "Acid Snow", the only feature film I have edited so far. The road map for Acid Snow is to have a final product by the beginning of September. Just this week I have re-directed my focus to working on the soundtrack. About 3 hours ago, I finished editing the last available foley take made during the original foley sessions back in 1997. Chris White, the foley artist, did a masterful job creating all the footsteps, coats (film in winter had lots of taking off coats), glasses (lots of drinking), and zillions of incidental sound effects, like:
- Signing a letter
- Shifting in a chair
- Massaging hair
- A painting falling off a wall
Soundtrack Restoration
When the original foley sessions took place, they were all neatly organised on an Avid timeline, synchronised with the picture. When the film was shut down, several months worth of sound editing was lost (could not afford to release soundtrack from rented computer system). Like a good postproduction supervisor, I had meticulously backed up all audio sessions to DAT. There were approximately 15 hours of post audio to re-edit back in sync with the picture. I began this process off-and-on in January, and now am up to the point of placing in other sound effects not covered in the foley sessions, like phone ringing, background walla, ambience, etc. This could take another month, as there are many gaps left in the soundtrack. I also plan to re-record some new foley sound to replace some spots that I couldn't find on the DAT tapes. Once I have finished filling all the holes in the soundtrack, I begin what is the Big Mix. With 24 tracks of audio, a careful blend of all the sound elements is needed to bring life to the film. This means adding reverb to the ADR voices, and finding the delicate balance of hearing footsteps without making them sound unnatural.
Sound Design - An Audio Canvas
Sound editing is a lengthy process. There will finally be some review of any additional music, or perhaps some slight changes, and then mastering the picture and sound together. The sound mix for a film is really the moment when everything comes together. A director and an editor will have gone through repeated viewings of each scene with only temporary sound, and one becomes used to hearing only that. A metamorphosis takes place when the final sound elements are brought together, and all the rough edges are smoothed out. This process will probably take most of the summer. But it also a moment I am excited about. I have mixed short films and put together some complex video soundtracks, but never a full blown feature. Back in the 80s, I at one time wanted to get a job at Cinesound, a film mixing facility in town run by Denny O'Rourke. He had the same enthusiasm about audio as I did, and was working with the latest technology. Sadly, Denny died recently and Cinesound is now closed. I have a Logic Audio system in my studio, as well as a control surface mixing board with motorised faders. This automated system will help organise the 24 tracks of audio. Sound Design is a creative process that can be as original and stylistic as any other creative medium, and it is fun for me to enhance the story by carefully crafting the reality by controlling what is heard.
Passing Time
Alas, the last five months have little else to show. I have posted some video clips on YouTube, and have made good initial progress on my new pop album. But the last five months so far has been me enacting the role of Curator for all my collected work. I am compiling, organising, arranging, scanning, documenting, capturing, archiving and scripting all the physical things I've collected in my life. The archiving of my music alone is gargantuan. I have probably 100 tapes of my original music - each holding 90 minutes. That's about 150 hours of music! (including rehearsal and basic tracks). Then there is my photograph collection, which is slowly growing on this blog and flickr. Then there is my other video work, the early stuff, and the recent corporate and broadcast projects to put together on a snazzy demo reel. Then there are my pages and pages of comedy scripts. Starting back in the Ozone Radio days, I wrote scripts in notebooks and saved them for 'some day'. Now, I feel like I can direct some of these scripts, as well as some new material.
Summer in Minnesota
The most unpleasant thing about being unemployed is the lack of social contact. I spend (by choice) the majority of my time in my home office, multi-tasking like crazy. On the other hand, Summer in Minnesota is upon us, and one has no choice but to go outside and join everyone else celebrating the time of year in our great state when it is Not Winter. This means that there is a festival or party every weekend somewhere, and if you don't have a beer in your hand, someone will quickly make sure you do. As my own projects start to slowly unfold in the next few months, hopefully I will be able to look back upon this period and see that it was worthwhile. On the other hand, there is of course, Plan B.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
April 2007
It has been a continued struggle to balance my time among my many projects. So my blogging posts have become sparse. Here's an update. During a recent heavy snowfall, I went out to get your standard postcard snow shots. Here are some Ice Waterfalls along the Mississippi, including Minnehaha falls.
Along the river, I saw a couple of Bald Eagles, one happened to fly over me.
Here are my Current Faves for April 2007
DVD
Looney Tunes DVD Collection. I am currently watching Volume 3 in the DVD collection. I use Amazon.com as data source in figuring out which of the 60 cartoons in the collection are the best. In doing so, you find that the written synopsis of a cartoon makes the story seem, well, a hard sell. Here is the synopsis of the Porky Pig cartoon "Bye, Bye Bluebeard":
Bluebeard the killer is at large, and in Porky Pig's home, a crafty mouse disguises himself as Bluebeard to scare Porky into providing him with a generous serving of food. Just as Porky realizes the mouse is too tiny to be Bluebeard, the real Bluebeard appears and ties Porky onto a rocket, intending to blast the pig into orbit! But when Bluebeard is distracted by Porky's food and decides to help himself to it, he his challenged by the mouse, who leads him on a chase.
I can see a big budget remake of this film with Bruce Willis as Bluebeard. Andy Richter as Porky. The crafty mouse is played by Steve Buscemi (using CGI). They can get a food tie-in with McDonalds.
Speaking of which, I foresaw the new big budget remake of Underdog. Here was the story synopsis I wrote:
Arnold Schwarzenneger as Underdog, Jennifer Lopez as Sweet Polly Purebread, Jack Nicholson as Simon Bar Sinister. Arnold is know to others as Shoeshine Boy. while Shoeshine Boy is buffing the Mayor's shoes, he overhears that Simon bar Sinister is threatening to evaporate the entire country's water supply, unless he is paid 3 billion dollars. Shoeshine Boy needs to save the entire population, but must not miss dinner with his sweetie, Sweet Polly Purebread, lest she discover his secret identity.
At the Dinner Club, they both have just been seated at the table. They are about to be served some water.
Shoeshine:
"My after such a tough day shining shoes, I am sure looking forward to drinking this ice cold glass of water."
Polly:
"What are you, some kind of idiot? That's MY water, don't you have no respect for my ass?"
Shoeshine: (sheepishly)
"Sorry Dear".
"My after such a tough day shining shoes, I am sure looking forward to drinking this ice cold glass of water."
Polly:
"What are you, some kind of idiot? That's MY water, don't you have no respect for my ass?"
Shoeshine: (sheepishly)
"Sorry Dear".
All of a sudden, Simon Bar Sinister and his gang come crashing through the windows. Simon is carrying an evaporator machine on his back. Simon uses the hose attached to the machine to suck up water. He comes up to Shoeshine and Polly's table and points his hose at the water glass. As the machine slurps up the water, Simon gives a sinister laugh. He pulls out a tiny bottle and examines it. He puts a label on it that says "Dinner Club", and places it alongside a number of other bottles saying "Lake Michigan, Mississippi River, City pool", etc.
Simon:
"Sorry, looks like we're out of water. You'll just have to suck air! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!
Shoeshine:
"Listen, you no good person dere. You are upsetting my girlfriend here. It is not nice."
Polly:
"Don't just sit there there, stupid, do something! (taunting) C'mon Shoeshine Boy, are you gonna let him come and take our water? I wan-ted some wa-ter, get it back from him!"
Shoeshine:
"Now you have done it, you are upsetting me."
Simon:
"Oh Yeah? well, see if this might upset you"
"Sorry, looks like we're out of water. You'll just have to suck air! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!
Shoeshine:
"Listen, you no good person dere. You are upsetting my girlfriend here. It is not nice."
Polly:
"Don't just sit there there, stupid, do something! (taunting) C'mon Shoeshine Boy, are you gonna let him come and take our water? I wan-ted some wa-ter, get it back from him!"
Shoeshine:
"Now you have done it, you are upsetting me."
Simon:
"Oh Yeah? well, see if this might upset you"
Simon grabs Polly and handles here roughly. His helpers subdue Shoeshine Boy. Shoeshine has a dilemma: If he uses his special powers to stop Simon Bar sinister from perpetrating his evil deeds, then his wife will know his secret identity.
Shoeshine:
"Um, I need to go use the bathroom"
"Um, I need to go use the bathroom"
Shoeshine slips away.
Polly:
"What!?! Are you just putting your tail between your legs and running away? Don't you have ANY cajongas?"
"What!?! Are you just putting your tail between your legs and running away? Don't you have ANY cajongas?"
Simon:
"And you my pretty, your ass is coming with me".
"And you my pretty, your ass is coming with me".
Simon's gang grabs Polly and takes them back to their hideout. Shoeshine Boy, who finally re-emerges from the bathroom after changing into his Underdog outfit, comes out to see that Polly has been kidnapped.
Underdog:
"Oh I am too late, what can Underdog do now?"
"Oh I am too late, what can Underdog do now?"
Then, we hear Polly bitching out Simon from way off in the distance. Underdog perks his super sensitive ears as he picks up her.
Polly:
"Let go of me! Do you know who I am? You better let go of me now or I'll kick your ass into tomorrow! Where the hell is that good for nothing Shoeshine Boy!"
"Let go of me! Do you know who I am? You better let go of me now or I'll kick your ass into tomorrow! Where the hell is that good for nothing Shoeshine Boy!"
Underdog has been running at high speed, to the point he becomes just a white streak. He arrives at Simon's hideout. Simon is stunned to see Underdog come crashing through the window.
Underdog:
"There is no need to fear this thing that is happening to you now. I, the Underdog, am here now. "
Simon:
Curses! Underdog!
"There is no need to fear this thing that is happening to you now. I, the Underdog, am here now. "
Simon:
Curses! Underdog!
Underdog knocks off all his gang, apprehends Simon, and frees Polly. However, in the ensuing struggle, Underdog knocks over the large storage structure that contains all the glass bottles of water. We see broken bottles labelled "Niagra Falls" and "Los Angeles water supply" scattered on the floor.
Epilogue.... Sweet Polly, still furious at Shoeshine boy for disappearing at the Dinner Club, throws all of Shoeshine Boy's clothes out into the street. Underdog, returning home after changing back into Shoeshine Boy, sees that he is being tossed out of Polly's house. Dejected, he starts dating loose women at bars.
Master and Commander - Special Edition. Included on the special edition are about 20 minutes of deleted scenes. I could easily see these scenes fitting right in the final cut. So think of this as the director's cut (although the deleted scenes are on a separate disc). There is an interesting subtext about how the rest of the crew regards the Doctor. We get to understand the fundamental differences in their philosophy about killing. The crew are soldiers and must train to shoot (using birds as targets), the doctor is trained to save lives (and discourages senseless killing). We also get additional scenes exploring the wonders of the Galapagos Islands. This is one of Peter Weir's best films, and the big budget adventure breathes so much atmosphere, you can almost smell the sea salt. Story is tightly paced as Captain Jack and his crew aboard the H.M.S. Surprise chase the French rival ship Acheron. Through the documentary we learn that Weir deliberately starts this film with the ship already at sea, as if it is their only home. That also helps transports the audience into this period piece, and lets us live a moment in history. Since this is more of an ensemble piece, Russell Crowe is not mugging every scene. The film is oozing with character as we see the Captain and the Doctor join together to play string duets. We see a slice of life of the crew going about their paces. We also learn naval fighting tactics. All the research is so well displayed that this film almost feels like a documentary.
Below. A criminally overlooked thriller involving a crippled World War II U.S Submarine. This is the most original submarine tale of the genre, and offers original insights into Submarine life not seen before. It features the horror of depth charges, torpedoes, fire, and other mechanical malfunctions and their consequences. It also successfully plays up the common superstitions, such as a lady on board a ship being bad luck. The third act takes a dark turn as we discover a secret that the captain has been keeping from everyone. Be sure to watch the deleted scenes, including a heart-pounding scene as a faulty torpedo threatens to blow-up inside the submarine. Well shot, well acted, well cast, and an original story makes this a memorable film.
TV
X Files. This show always elevated their scripts by jumping over the expected plot basics, and worked past them to the next level. That's why this show keeps you wondering what will happen next. Another perk of watching these re-runs is the elevated budget it enjoyed in it's heyday. There are truly cinematic scenes, with beautiful cinematography and set design. It's funny how Vancouver supposedly doubles for locations across North America.
Planet Earth (Discovery Channel). It's like Imax on cable. Lush nature photography using the latest camera technology turns our planet into a sweeping epic.
The Colbert Report. Now achieving fanatical cult status, Colbert has let the power of loud opinions get to his head. He has been touting his Ice Cream, Hockey Team, Comic Hero, Green Screen Hero, Eagle, Bridge, Wikipedia Entries, Political Attention, and he's just building up steam. What drives the energy of this show's momentum is Colbert confronting the final shreds of sanity as he tries to dissect the logic of GOP talking points. Wrapped up in a nice suit, tie, and glasses, nerdy looking Colbert appears as conservative as his character. Which makes it even more the twisted as he makes fun of his own schtick.
MOVIES
Grindhouse. Director Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino revive the 70s drive-in cinema with two separate features that pay homage to exploitation films. Both directors have their own approach to this homage, with Rodriguez going for the Zombie / Explosions / Bruce Willis action flick to outdo all B-Movie action flicks. He also uses the damaged film look to dramatic use, almost as if you start to black out from the extreme scenes. Tarantino goes for the gab. He has a great sense of hip language and makes a Lynchian seduction of the Big Bad Wolf an two sets of 3 lovely girls. This is not really an action flick, although there is an extended car chase in the third act. Both have a pretty decent pace so it is not as much of a really butt-numbing 3 hours as you might think.
300. Well, everyone has seen this already, but I just want to mention what I thought about the showing I went to. I went to an Imax showing, and there were college age guys drinking next to me (this theatre allows alcohol). They were whooping it up during the fight scenes, but more like they did in the Matrix, not like NWA Wrestling. Very stylish, but also strong acting by Gerard Butler and others plucked from the cast of "Lord of the Rings" (no complaint there). This is the follow-up to the genre-bending "Sin City", cartoon violence with cartoon blood. The violence is less realistic and more artistic. The key to this movie's appeal is the simplicity of story. There are very shallow sub-plots, and they never wander far from the main thrust of the film, the heroic stand of the 300 Spartan fighters against the thousands of Persion soldiers. This lends to a lean script and lots of action. What is all the more remarkable, is that this film was made for less than half the price of most big action spectacles like this. Proving once again, it's not the size of the budget as much as the quality of the material that makes a notable film.
Zodiac. I went to see this mainly because I still believe that David Fincher is capable of making an original film. He certainly enjoys gritty atmosphere. Most (if not all) of his films have a greenish alien tint to them. In this film, we are transported back to the 70's, and find ourselves following the not-so-sensational story of the Zodiac killer. Sure, it was sensational then, but there have been numerous serial killers and numerous serial killer movies since the 70's. What drew me into this film was walking through this detective story, and following Jake Gyllenhaal's point of view as he obsesses over all the evidence. I read a few reviews after a couple advance screenings, and there was "concern" over the ending, which was not considered satisfying. Would Fincher re-edit and go for some Hollywood type of closure? Judging by the final product, Fincher didn't blink. No, we aren't given the type of closure you'd expect in something like "Silence of the Lambs", but this movie wants to go by the numbers with it's realism. Bravo.
MUSIC
Amon Tobin - Supermodified. A hybrid of mixing jazz - electronic - blues - Middle eastern and other influences into one fluid stream-of-consciousness. It takes quite a mastery of the language to combine these disparate elements and make the whole greater than the sum of it's parts. Good for repeated listenings, great soundtrack for an adventure.
Gong - You Remixed. Gong is a space-rock group from the late sixties. They are obscure as far as know, but have followers out there. In 1999, a few fans remixed this album from 1974. They include Orb, The Shamen, Youth, System 7, 808 State, you know... Trance is still my main music to work to, and it is always nice to come across some fresh material.
Ulrich Schnauss - A Strangely Isolated Place. Born out of my synth-pop dreams, Schnauss starts with Tangerine Dream, takes the best of OMD, and transports you into trance-like analog beats a la Orb. But the best part of this synthetic dream is that it sounds like it came from your run-of-the-mill sequencer in a PC, a humble familiarity. It only shows that it's not the quality of the instrument as much as the quality of the musician that makes notable music.
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