That’s right! This is a more of a techie post then one of those heart felt, sentimental, touchy-feely kind of posts. You guys already know that pirates cool, that I am strange, and that I love what I do. So enough said. Instead, I want to talk about the new toys I got. Oh so many new toys!
The first is my new audio rig, because I am most happy about it. I have converted to a lot of DSLR shooting recently. I know, I know – I complained so much about the DSLR rage. I still do. It’s the people and the mentality of it, though, not the gear. I love my Panasonic GH-2. I am one of the few people that have them, and I shoot like crazy with it. The inherent problem with DSLR shooting is that their audio sucks. Now, any good audio is really done by an audio person, but sometimes shoots require one person. That is where is turns to a person to know just enough about audio to make it work well. My prior camera had great audio input and monitoring even though it was limited on it’s shooting. The new camera make beautiful images but the audio is shite. So in comes the BeachTek DXA-SLR setup. Pre-amp goodness in a compact unit, with monitoring, channels, headphone in, and phantom power. That’s right – PHANTOM POWER. So watch your step Nancy Boys! What all this means is that now I have the ability to input mics or a line to my camera and have it record as part of the audio to the card with the video. What a lot of people are doing is getting a Zoom 4N and recording a separate line of audio to a different machine, then they sync the audio in editing. It I don’t have to sync later, I am a happy person. This thing is amazing and it is one of the best purchases I have made for my camera, hands down.
The next toy is Black Magic Intensity Shuttle.I can’t get the damn thing to work, though so far there is no excuse as to why. I am trying firmware updates and the such, but I can’t get the thing to go. It’s not the Shuttle I think. I believe that my hack on the Panasonic firmware is to blame. So I am setting out to fix it. After that, I’m out of ideas.
The whole HD and DSLR world has been really crazy the last few years. The technology really shifted quickly…or I became classified as “Old Man.” Either way, the personal economics of it have a hard time keeping up. So many people jumped on the bandwagon when it was discovered that a DSLR could shoot good footage, that people bought all the accessories to make it an ergonomic device, to only realize that they just spent all the time and money to make a cobbled together video camera, only they had to get all of the cobbled together items to work well together. It’s getting better, or easier, now. People have gotten more aware of what can or cannot be done, or how to properly do it, so the products are reflecting that.
It’s all so crazy to me still!
That’s right. I like what I do. In fact, I love it. I love it so much that I do it a lot. Film! That is what I am talking about. I don’t talk about other stuff on here. I am creeping up on fours years of doing this full time, and Galaxy Sailors birthday of even being a name is almost seven. Oh what fun times these have been.
I have had several moments lately where I have stopped(in my mind) to soak in the moment and realize how amazing my life is and how fortunate I am to be where I am. It is a great night when I can come off of filming a fist fight between pirates and a scientific wonder from the past, to then be drinking later that even with said pirates. At a karaoke bar. With a tiki them. Life is grand. Karaoke tiki bars are fun.
So I film for the fun of it. Or, maybe more appropriate, the love of it. There is definitely a deep passions that I have for what I do. It is a constant reminder that I was once less than a number, with a desk in a cubical farm, doing work that no one noticed.
Why am I commenting and lamenting on this? I was filming with the doors open last night, that’s way. So my Sprinter van has the ability to have the doors stay pinned back, leaving the cargo area open to the free air. So, late last night, in the dark of the winter in Oregon, the Sprinter van drove loops at 25 miles an hour while a Hyundi followed behind, far too well lit to have just a dome light on, with a camera strapped to the hood capturing the occupants every word and move. FYI – the breeze is cold at night on Skyline Drive. What a fun time though. Audio rig pointed out the back. I’m hanging on with my butt cheeks to the deck inside the Sprinter. Grumpy,tired men complaining about water spirits and ass goblins. GREAT STUFF. Oh, and Ryan McCluskey was there. Be jealous.
The fun of filming is most definitely extended to the run of recent work I am getting. I have a pretty steady stream of filming with a local political advisory group, as well as having just scored a new OMSI video. Plus, for the first time, my really big gig coming up with Intel and EMC². I am really excited for this opportunity, as well as scared out of my mind, but I am hopeful for the opportunities and the future work that such a thing will bring me. Taking for granted that I am going to knock this thing out of the park.
I am happy to announce that GSP has a new office. Woop Woop. I found a cool little place out on Jessup in North Portland just down the road from where I live. Good spot, nice and quite, easy to get to, and there are food carts! Yay food carts. I have been missing the office environment. I moved out of my last place to join a group of folks (Earth2World) but that had a lasting effect of two weeks. So, after a few months, I took the plunge into office number two. Soon, there shall be Godzilla posters and Star Wars memorabilia. Maybe a blaster or two.
I don’t hang out with pirates enough.
I feel like a blind pig finding an acorn. Or something like that. I am feeling very blessed, very lucky, and very humbled. OMPA, the Oregon Media Production Association that I am a member of, awarded me the 2012 “Rising Star” award. I was rather shocked and happy and freaked out all at the same time. The shock because I didn’t realize anyone was paying attention. Or that I was doing anything attention worthy. Happy because this is a great award and a fantastic honor to be recognized, especially when you think no one is looking. Freaked out because of several reasons all at once. The first feeling was – am I worthy of this? Am I really doing enough to merit such a recognition? The second being – Holy Crap I’m Being Judged And My Stuff Probably Sucks. But I say that all the time. The third feeling of freaking out was when I started getting emails from people asking me for work…not realizing that I am struggling every bit as much or more than they are. While I do remain busy, I remain so by choice and not by contract. Meaning I do as much paid work as I can, but it isn’t rolling in. I am still looking for the moment where I can get someone to take a chance on me based on my track record and either give me bigger commercial level gigs or fund some film projects. Either would be grand! I don’t blame folks for their assumption, but it affirms for me again the need to build a sustainable industry in this town. One that pays people who do this professionally. I know it can be done, and I know I want it that way for me.
I am sick of talking about it though. This is a reoccurring issue. That of making something. Even when I think I have people on board who feel the same way, I end up getting talkers and not do’ers.
I am trying to do it right. That is very important to me. I think a lot of corners could be cut, and a lot of easy choices could be made, and a lot of people could be hurt. I am not so self righteous, or self important, or self absorbed to think that I can stand on the back of giants so that I can stand higher than the rest, claiming the brilliance of my strategy. In the end, we either all work together or we don’t. I can’t make people do anything they don’t want to do, and if being more together is something that people like in theory and not in practice, then all I can do it beat my drum and hope for people wanting to stand side by side. Short cuts means you get to the end quicker. I’m not trying to get to any end quicker, I am enjoying the journey.
If you pace the isles waiting for the station to arrive, you never enjoy the scenery of the train ride. Enjoy the ride, DAMN IT!
Oh, we got a good one this week folks. This entry comes from my brain, and the aching little voices that gnaw at me. No, not the scary voices. I keep them quiet with constant plays of HALO online. I am talking about my reoccurring monologue. The Statler and Waldorf in the balcony of my mind, commenting with a constant volley of slaps to the face (both for me and the intended victims of life).
So, the other day, I was engaged with a discussion, in which myself and the fellow speaking were talking about our movie sets, our processes, and the little victories that we strive for with the little to no money we have. In this discussion, he told me about another film maker in our area that stated “If you don’t have thiry people on your crew, you’re not a real film maker.” Hmmmm, let me process that slap to my face as I begin the geometric calculation for planting one on your face. Really? There is a rule somewhere that says “You’re not really doing this unless you have a minimal number of people around you.”
Look, one person with a camera, filming themselves is a film maker. I can have five people around me that can do wonders and thirty people around me that are going to screw up or, worse, STAND AROUND. While screwing up helps one to learn, it also slows down your production, and when time is money that is not a good thing to have happen. Standing around. Now you’re just wasting life for a paycheck and burning valuable oxygen.
Now I will certainly let someone have their opinion about anything and everything, just as I have granted myself the same leeway. Just so you know, when you say something, there is probably going to be a response. The idea that my film is not a film because I didn’t have thirty people is an interesting idea. One that holds no merit and is easily shot down, but it is interesting nonetheless. It’s interesting because it gives me insight into this dufus. I’m not criticizing his abilities as a film maker, just his ability in life. See, for him, he thinks he needs thirty people standing around on his site. I may have need for that many or more someday, but I did a pretty bang up job on the last film, and it had six people on the crew. Six top notch, wonderful people that I will undoubtedly hire again. If someone feels that the fabric of their life needs certain specifics to make them feel successful or accomplished or worthy, than those are their own guidelines for success. Their’s and their’s alone. I didn’t need thirty folks. This guy maybe did because he can’t do anything constructive on his own and lives in a small dictatorship called “His Set” in which he takes thirty professionals and lambastes them for hours (or insert days, weeks, months, years) because it makes him feel like he is real. Well, buddy, are you real? Are you? Is Cameron calling yet, asking you to make Avatar II: The Awakening because you did it with thirty people and he did it with just twenty-seven on the set? (Please be advised – I completely understand that when it is me doing this very thing, which is defining how others should be by my own set of standards, I am being a dick and a hypocrite, I just wanted to be able to call this one out from the balcony)
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.
This is one of my favorite topics – that of our “Industry” in Portland filming. Supposedly we’re about to bust out and blossom. Which I don’t discredit at all. Lately we have had an amazing run of TV being produced in Oregon. Portlandia is a fun show and a great set to work on. Grimm is off and running like a mad machine. Leverage continues to be fun and exciting in it’s episodic “The blank Job” way. Plus we have had a couple of films come through town, and we have one of our own local films actually making a national splash (Rid Of Me). None as of yet have been exploding us on the map, but it has to be a bud before it becomes a flower.
Even with the bud starting to form we need to keep some things in mind as an industry of film makers in our area, no matter what side of the line we are on. By this I mean…are we still begging for people to work for free? Really? REALLY? I have come to the conclusion that FaceBook is pretty much a way of dressing up Craig’s List to ask people to come out and work on your productions. “It’s not free, it’s an investment in the awesomeness that you will get for working with me on more stuff that may or may not be happening and probably won’t pay or get seen by someone because it is too high concept for anyone to get and I am a creative and no one gets me so come on out and work for free which isn’t free because I give beer, pizza, copy, and credit.” REALLY? Are we still doing this.
Hey, if you are reading this, I have a pop quiz for you. Without using IMDb, can you tell me who ran the boom mic for Steven Spielberg on Saving Private Ryan? Ten seconds…time’s up. You know who it was? It doesn’t matter. Why? Because whoever it was, he or she was working a job. One they probably did really well. One they probably love. However, there is no award at the academies for boom mic holder. There is no trophy for best grip.
No one ever got famous by being a PA. So don’t ever assume that your set is a privilege to work on. People need to be paid. Landlords don’t accept awards for rent, so you sure as hell better be paying people. Good intentions may get you into heaven (I’m too far gone for that) but it doesn’t feed someone. Pay them! If you have people in L.A. that are interested and want something from you, they will pay for it. If they don’t pay for it they are either not interested or unable to pay. Grimm was not shot for free. Someone pitched the idea and a budget was given. Then someone wrote a script, which they were paid for it, and then investors handed over money for someone to film the concept and prove that it was a worthy concept.
Now, I admit that I know there is a fine line for doing things to get experience and getting an “in” in an industry. That is why there are intern positions in so many businesses around the world. However, if you sign on to an internship it comes with a statement of what you will learn, how you will be trained, and what you are due to get out of it. Some internships give you consideration toward work if an open position is available in the field you are investing in. If you just showed up at a business and worked for free, and had nothing that was going to prove that you were working toward a goal then really what you are doing is working for free. Businesses love that. They will do it as long as you let them. Let me repeat that – THEY WILL DO THAT AS LONG AS YOU LET THEM.
Have I still done free work? I have, when I have decided to. When someone blasts a post for people to work for them (but there is no pay) I don’t respond. If someone in talking to me and says they need help but just can’t get it because they don’t have money, I may offer. I will say that if it comes to it, asking me straight up to work for you even though there may be no pay is a hell’uva lot better than “blind-blast” posts out to the world asking for the masses to run to work for free on your awesome idea. If it’s awesome, and people are going to put blood, sweat, and tears into it then pay them. Your set isn’t that awesome. Neither is mine. Cameron’s set…ok, yes I would work for free, but that guy sneezes money so I think he would pay me to hold his coffee just because he can.
The point is that an industry is built on standards that allow people to professionally contribute for a compensation. Compensation is not good feelings. Compensation is pay and health benefits. That is why I opened with the definition of Industry. If you want to do work, or want someone to work, for free then I get it – when it is little pieces that are about working on your chops, having fun, producing lit bits of experimental fodder that help you grow. If you are making something that is a festival piece, something that is going to be proving that you are worth the investment, then you need to prove to the others people around you that you believe in that investment by paying them. If you “blind-blast” for free work, it means you don’t care about the quality, you just need warm to luke-warm bodies schlubbing about your space. Even a PA is worth their weight in pay. A good PA makes things happen.
I actually saw a pair of Portland film makers state in their Kickstarter video that they were choosing Portland to film in because it allowed them to get a free cast and crew, and they won nearly $7000 for their short film. What does that say when two locals can state that they are filming locally because people are willing to work for free, and they still score $7K to pocket? Their video pitch went on to state that this short film was jump-starting their career. What about all the people working on their set? Who or what is jump-starting their career? If every jerk asked them to work for free to jump-start their own personal career, we would have an industry of actors and crews that were never paid. Please read the definition of Industry above.
There are a lot of people beyond our borders slugging it out in the trenches that are a better financial risk than we are, making it difficult to get people to invest in our work. Don’t kid yourself; we are an investment. No one puts out a ton of money without the desire of a return on it. Even with our own dollars and our own short films, we invest. Making a short film is paying the IMDb gods so that we can earn a notch of faith. “Believe in me, and invest in me, and I will create films that are worthy. I prove that because I made the following list of successful things.”
As Portlanders I think we are the recipients of an industry from another city. I believe the industry extends itself here because we allow for some great things to happen. For ourselves, we are still caught up in the Portland-style of doing things. That makes us quirky and ironic, but it doesn’t make us an industry (see definition above). Making us an industry means making choices. Choices in how we act professionally, how we are treated professionally, and what we professionally create. We have to make those choices as industry leaders, as individuals, and as creators of content. There are choices that need to be made for us to succeed if an industry is to be established (not created). Filming is not a new industry, and it is not new in coming to Oregon, but the fact that we don’t have our own film industry in Oregon speaks volumes as to how we have treated such industry requirements. No one will take us seriously before we take ourselves seriously. So we need to start taking ourselves seriously before we can build something remarkable here. Otherwise, we will be farming out the best of us to other places.
There are some rules in life that I am trying to adhere to, that I think are general, yet poignant and make life seem easier to digest when I realize that I probably screwed myself when I was bitching about how someone screwed me.
Rule #1: Subduction leads to orogeny (look it up, you will find I am right)
Rule #2: The tide goes in – The tide goes out
Rule #3: Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence
Rule #4: Figures never lie but liars figure
Rule #5: Big rocks sink fast
I am faltering on my blogging. Must. Step Up.
OK, so as a recap to the last two weeks, and in sticking with the nomenclature of my blogs, there is communication between me and the Earth2World Network. SWEET. First off, if you don’t know, Earth2World is part of the future. It is one of a few places that is reaching out and creating content for the internet in the same vein that TV was reaching out to radio audiences oh so long ago. They are creating interesting and unique content for viewers online. I was on one such show a month ago called Have You Heard? With Byron Beck.
Now, some of you probably don’t know this, but three years ago I was going to try my hand at online content shows, such as these. I had been a watcher and follower of Cali Lewis and her show, Geek Brief (she is also a Portland native, though living in Texas right now). She started, with her husband, a show in their kitchen about gadgets and technology. They had a huge following and corporate sponsorship that they built up over a couple of years. Geek Brief, which was featured on Mevio, ended awhile back due to marital differences, but came back with blazing guns as GeekBeat.tv. For awhile this was on a “channel-esque” location known as Revision3, but has such a following that she was able to cut out the middle-man, as it were.
Anyway, I create EcoPortland.org, a website that was to be a 5 minute show two or three times a week, and it was to feature eco-centric businesses and individuals in the Portland-Metro area. I shot a few of the episodes on my own, and the people who were guests loved the idea and the drive. But, alas, I was a lone camera man at the time and had to abandon the show. It was too much for me to do all by myself and try to make money to keep the lights on. The other day, I decided to crash the set at Earth2World, since they had been such a nice place to be. While I was there I decided to take the chance and pitch my show to the Producer, Trudi, and see what she thought. Now, this was a long shot in my head because Portland, as many places I am sure, has people full of ideas but no follow through. The pattern seems to follow conversationally like so:
Someone: “Hello, I am so-and-so, nice to meet you Martin. What do you do?”
ME: “I work in film and video.”
Someone: “Oh, that’s interesting. You can do that for a living? Oh hey, I have this great idea. You should film it.”
ME: “Hmmph. What is your idea.”
Someone: -Insert terrible idea-
ME: “HMMMPH”
Someone: “That’s a good idea, right? You should do that. I can paid for that, right? I could probably do what you do.”
So saying that you have an idea to me and others like me is like pouring water on a Gremlin and feeding us after midnight; we spontaneously spawn evil little, stabby things that want to poke your eyes out. Needless to say, I was willing to say that I had this idea because I actually have episodes and a website. EcoPortland went beyond concept and went into production. Not very far, but it went into production. So at least I have tangible goods to show that it is not just a concept.
In the end, EcoPortland is a go. It is being picked up by Earth2World pending the filming of the episodes (which only makes sense that a finished, HD product be put on their doorstep).
So, onto other things, such as the weird idea that Tennessee is rescuing anything but NASCAR from the evil trenches of a library siege. The folks over at io Studios in Nashville have been kind enough to over book themselves and are in need of an editor for one of their big projects. There desperation is so ripe with stench that they scraped the bottom of a barrel and found my clinging on to a food particle. Actually, I just know someone there, and they gave me a call. So with any luck, I shall be off to Tennessee for a few months to work as a contract, in-house editor.
I recently did someone edit work for Spitball Media in Portland as well. It’s pretty awesome. Great folks, great work, fun times. I start doing more with them next week.
And now – my RANT section. Please be advised, I am about to rant. I like to rant. If this ranting could effect my prospects for being hired, please don’t read any further so that I may work. This is in accordance with Martin’s Personal Rules #721. Sometime I will list my rules of life (at least the top 10).
So, Portland bikers. How you doin’? Not good the last few days. Three deaths. Three injured. We have had a little car rally happening with a few bikes caught in the middle. It seems three riders were on a rural road at night with no lights, no helmets, and no reflective gear and were hit by a truck. The drive was not impaired in any way before the accident. I am sure he will need therapy after this. One person died, the other in critical care, and one went home with scrapes and bruises. Another accident was on Highway 101 (the NARROW, SCARY, TWISTY coast road for those of you not in the know). A log truck hit a cyclist. One accident occurred where a former U of O football player was riding his bike on a section of road in Portland known for being a bad place to ride a bike. No bike lane. Heavy traffic. Poor visibility. He rode anyway and suffered a broken clavical and a few other broken and scraped places.
Now, I just started commuting on a bike a month ago. When I was only a driver, I saw bikers AND drivers breaking the law and irritating each other. Let me say that again – BOTH PARTIES WERE DOING THINGS BAD AT TIMES. Pedestrians too, but I am going to leave them out of this equation. Since I started to commute, I have been appalled by the number of bicyclists I see being stupid, reckless, and violating laws. Why? I have no idea other than stupidity, entitlement, or just plain ignorance to what they are supposed to do.
(This section with directions will only make sense if you live here, geographically) Take for instance my ride last week. I was going from my office on NW 17th and NW Raleigh to NoPo. In my journey I go east on Lovejoy, to Williams, to Ainsworth, to Denver, to Buffalo St. At William and Broadway, The traffic is one way going west bound, but the right TWO lanes have the ability to turn right to either enter I-5 or (for the inner most right lane) I-5 and/or Williams. There is a bike lane on Broadway that has its own light, signaling the ability to safely cross the Williams intersection continuing in a west bound manner on Broadway. So this fucking stupid ass hipster on a fixy riding west bound, who had already blown to fucking lights while I was sitting there waiting for the lights myself, road out into the intersection where he clearly and plainly had a RED LIGHT. It was a big, red, lit up bike. The light is the shape of a fucking bike. It’s red to stop, green to go. It’s a fucking lit up bike that stops you from running into traffic that, when given their green light, can go straight or turn right into two different areas. This fucking ass clown of brainiac blew the third light, in a row, and road out into traffic, where they all slammed on their brakes to keep from hitting him. Oh, did I mention he had no helmet? No helmet. You know, I realize the law doesn’t say you have to wear a helmet, and people like to make their own choices. I get that.If a brain isn’t smart enough to protect itself, especially when it plans on doing STUPID SHIT, then you are probably off to a bad start.
Now, if that fuck nut hipster douche bag no talent ass clown had been hit by a car, the BTA of Portland would have been all up in the car drivers grill. How do I know this? I know this because they are defending the guy who was riding in a section of road that had no bike lane and was hit. Portland is one of the most bike-friendly places. If that guy was on the sidewalk (which is legal in Oregon if no bike lane is present) or went one block over in either direction, he would have been on a bike approved road.
Look, we can argue all day about cars off the road for environmental reasons and I will most likely agree with you 100%. We need less cars on the road, better efficiency when they are on the road, and have people live closer to where they work so that commuting doesn’t continue to be the trudging death march to the ‘burbs. But bikers have to play by the rules. They also have to play by the physics of the universe. I watch too many bicyclists wander out into open intersections that they CLEARLY had to stop for. I get hesitating at a stop sign, because on a bike you don’t have to “get going” action as a car, and you need momentum to make a bike work. But at least hesitate and look. I see people blowing light, blowing stop signs, weaving in and out of traffic. I watched a fucker cut through someones lawn to beat a traffic signal and cut around some cars. Not even their own lawn. What the fuck, asshole?
Bicycles should be policing their own. We should be keeping people in check. If you are going to argue that cars are the nuisance, you better keep your house in order, at least to a better degree. Bicyclists in Portland are entitle fuck-wads. Not all the time. Most aren’t at all. We all know, however, that loud, stupid minorities make themselves seen are given iconic status for the majority. That sucks. We can’t let those idiots take the podium. If they do, it turns into a Teaparty situation, where a few stupid, ass-like, dipshits making noise get all the attention and deviate from the real problems and the real issues and the real solutions.
Yes, you there, you stupid ass-clown hipster that blew a stop light and nearly caused three cars to wreck because you felt it was ok to blow a stop light because you were entitled to wander into an active intersection. I am comparing you to a Teaparty member. I did it, and I feel good about it.
Yes, it is true…and greatly behind announcement here. The trailer for A Deed Without a Name has been out for almost a month. I have posted it here on my site in both the official Deed page, as well as part of my reel/work page. Yet I haven’t written about it. Time to change that.
The film is completely edited, and has been completely colored, and only needs it’s music. I am having Ken Webster, of Innervoice Studios do the music. He is the same composer from The Last Stand, and I am thrilled to have him scoring my newest project. Ken’s work is great, which is why I am having to wait until August to have him write the music. He is so booked at the moment that I had to wait in line. So it goes.
I am extremely happy with the feed back I have gotten from the trailer, and the feed back I have gotten from the few people that I let watch the film. I had a few marks for technical things, but no one has made any statements that the story has issues. So I’m cool with that. I will have the trailer posted below.
If I haven’t said it yet, in enough places, Patrick’s Story is going to Austin. Stay tuned for more details.
And, yes. I hauled a ship. Well, I hauled one third of a ship, but that one third ship in my van was a pirate ship, so that has to count for something. Right! Recently, as the ongoing documentary of the pirates building a ship continues, there was a dramatic change in location from where the ship was being built, to where the continuation of said build will conclude. As a documentary, it probably wasn’t the best idea for me to interact with the subject, but I did. I helped haul a giant load of lumber. The documentary and the ship building can now continue. Oh, and I got footage of this move. It was glorious!
I believe I have stated many times before how I stand on my beliefs toward attitude, and how that effects your perspective on the things you do. Especially the goals you have set or are achieving. To no small degree, I fight my own demons on trying to keep my eyes on the prize, as it were. I am an extremely insecure person, and I am constantly comparing my self to others, and usually not in a good way (for them or for me).
It is a terrible place to be; in your head battling it out for supremacy with forced that are aligned against you but really don’t exist. Yes, they don’t exist. Well, they exist in my head. The point is, to have a good attitude means having the right perspective. To have the right perspective, you need to be paying attention to your own world and realizing how good you have it, and that no one can derail you more than you can. I am my own worst enemy, and I hate that about me.
I love what I do. I want to do it all the time. Why won’t someone let me do it all the time? Well, I am the only one that really limits that. I know that money plays a big factor in that, especially when I don’t have any, but at the same time I have accomplished a lot, with very little, and very quickly. So when that paces slows I have to remember that I have jumped a shark tank, and made it across to the next ramp. I need to make sure I am lining my next ramp up right and not worrying about the other people jumping their own sharks. If I don’t worry about my own shark tanks, I will end up in them with the shark, just as the adage shows that I will.
So I guess this is just my little moment to let me psychosis breathe a little in the open air of the blogosphere. My own self medicating moment where my ranting about the self can make me realize that I don’t have it bad, the universe isn’t out to get me, and that I am the only limiting factor in what is real, what is perceived, and what is accomplished.
Ok, I want chocolate. And to pet my dogs.
A Deed without a Name – Teaser from Galaxy Sailor on Vimeo.
Unbridled passion often leads to murder, as this film noir short amply proves. A Deed Without a Name takes you into a world where a twisted game of sexual cat and mouse is commonplace, where being good…might just get you killed.
QUOTATION
Macbeth: How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags? What is’t you do?
Witches: A deed without a name.
ATTRIBUTION: William Shakespeare (1564–1616), British dramatist, poet. Macbeth and Witches, in Macbeth, act 4, sc. 1, l. 48-9.
Well, it has been one week since Breckenridge Festival of Film. I was very blessed to walk about with Best Short Documentary and Best LGBT themed Documentary this year. Patrick’s Story is finally making a mark, and I am hopeful to carry on to other festivals as well as use it as the vehicle to tell more of the story. Not just of Patrick, but of the others who continue to have doors shut on them with marriage.
Breckenridge was an amazing venue. I met some great contacts from all over the country. First off, I met two folks from Stone Ridge, New York. That kind of amazed me, as I have deep ties to that area. They know people that I know. How crazy is that? What’s great is that both Ingrid Price and Davis Hall were crowning jewels to my trip. We took the same shuttle from Breckenridge to Denver International, and I couldn’t have been happier to meet fantastic folks. I am dying to see them again and I hope I get to work with them. They did a film called Mother’s House with their production company Peak Road Productions. Unfortunately, with the schedule, I didn’t get to see their film at the festival, so I am hopeful to see it soon on DVD.
There was also Sayer Frey and Erin Rasmussen of Reframing Media. Sayer wrote and directed, with Erin producing, the most compelling and thought provoking film of the festival. Abandon ME takes place in 1940 Iowa. It’s about a desperate daughter attempting to abandon her aging mother in a cornfield but is haunted by three of her “selves,” who unsympathetically compel her to reclaim her life. The imagery in this film is powerful, and to say thought provoking is just the beginning. Sayer makes you work for the payoff, which is something that doesn’t happen in most of spoon feeding films of Hollywood. The reason it works is the payoff of coming to terms with a past and a present at nearly the same moment for our protagonist. The end result: a completely satisfying and in depth analysis of abuse victims done in 19 minutes. That is true film making art and science.
There were other great movies as well (who would expect less at a festival). Fanny, Anny, & Danny was a big winner at the festival. Chris Brown’s dive into the life of a mentally handicapped woman and her excruciatingly broken family was like forty miles of bad road. It is well crafted, and a fine movie, but hard to watch, if repeatedly. This is due to the fact that there is no redeeming quality to anyone or anything. When you reach the end, (the movie and your seat as I did) you realize you are standing on an abyss that everyone was more then willing to jump off of as they twisted and turned their lives in a pseudo-Christmas atmosphere of total chaos. I saw it, and it was great work, but I can’t watch it again. It still makes my stomach hurt.
So, with Breckenridge behind me, and some very nice success there, I turn to the next things (both current and future). A Deed without a Name is edited and is currently going through the next stage, which is sound clean up and design. I think I am at the half way mark on this, with Evan Phillips coming in to do the special effects. I have a couple more short shorts to do in the next few months.
The documentaries that I am currently working on are in swing. PDXYar and the great pirate ship build moves along at a marvelous clip, with interviews on the way. As well, BOILERPLATE is a go! I am really proud and excited by this. I have been thinking that I am at that place where I need to starting making hard decisions: am I a documentary film maker or a narrative film maker. The answer that I keep coming back to is that I am a story teller. I tell stories in visual mediums, and I am not sure that I want to limit myself by title. I don’t want my title to dictate my behavior, as Kevin Smith so nicely put it in CLERKS.
Here is my interview from Byron Beck on his show Have You Hear, which is part of the Earth2World network.
Have You Heard? Hosted By Byron Beck: Episode #18 from earth2world on Vimeo.
Byron chats with guest co-host, Mother’s Bistro’s Chef/Owner Lisa Schroeder, about celebrations including Burning Man, Rose Fest, Pride & Father’s Day. Chef Lisa also creates a wonderful salad with California avocado and Oregon shrimp. Mother’s bartender, Dane Scholey, whips an Absolut-ly delightful cocktail with Absolut Wild Tea and Lemonade. Martin Vavra, fresh from the Breckenridge Film Festival and his double-win for his documentary, “Patrick’s Story,” is joined by the subject of his film “Patrick” to discuss this important and timely film.
I am thinking it is time for some HALO this morning.
That’s right, I said it. What are you going to do about it? Not a damn things, because you can’t dispute a single bit of it.
That being said, I love Pirates. Especially the PDXYar! folk. Here in the glorious state of Oregon, a group a stalwart souls decided to undertake a monumental journey. There was peril at every turn. Enemies where upon them most of the way, but in the end: Victory. I am referring to winning a Kickstarter campaign of course.
You see, what good is a pirate without a ship. Not even a good privateer at that point. So, PDXYar! decided it was time to have a ship. And a ship they are building. It will be glorious, mate. Forty feet long, she be. Twenty two feet of mast. An aft castle. Plenty of space to fire off black powder. A beauty it shall be.
Based on the HMY Mary bestowed to the British navy from the Dutch, El Tiburon shall be a yacht style sloop. How is this important, you may ask? Walk the plank, ya scurvy dog, for the captain has spoken. Wow, I am getting all caught up in this. It’s important because I am filming the documentary of the building of the ship. That’s right, a documentary about some pirates, a ship, a kickstarter campaign, and the bruised thumbs making it happen. I have already began filming this undertaking, and I look forward to showing everyone the building of El Tiburon.
Speaking of documentaries, I am taking on another one. With robots. And the Spanish-American War. For those of you who know Boilerplate, you will be happy to know that I am starting production of a behind the story film of Boilerplate. For those that don’t know, go out and get it now. Read it. Love it. Know it! If you don’t know it, you owe it to yourself.
Boilerplate is the work of Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett. It tells the story of Boilerplate, histories mechanical marvel, created in the 1880′s. The adventures of Boilerplate take the robot across the sands of Arabia, up the hills of San Juan, and through the trenches of Western Europe until his mysterious disappearance during World War I.
The great thing is, Boilerplate has been optioned as a movie to be directed by JJ Abrams. The better news is that I am undertaking the story behind the story. I met Anina and Paul at Stumptown Comic Show this year, and I fell in love with the book as well as really liked these two. Their work is amazing, and they are two of the best people I have met in the longest time. This is an amazing chance to tell a great story and be part of an amazing adventure. I am really glad they are letting me. Thanks goes out to Billy Galaxy for his awesomeness in coming up with the idea and getting the ball rolling.
And yes, Gautch sucks. He sucks because he was on an awesome shoot this last weekend in Nashville, TN. He kept updating his Facebook with pics of this giant warehouse with dolly tracks, lighting, crews working, cameras. All this cool stuff. Though he wasn’t IN any pics that I saw. Huh, maybe he wasn’t there. I still hate him.
I am off to Breckenridge Festival of Film on Friday for the festival premiere of Patrick’s Story. Please watch it, pass it along, and get the message out about marriage rights.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Martin Vavra
galaxysailor@gmail.com
541-621-4825
Breckenridge Festival of Film recognizes local filmmaker’s doc ‘Patrick’s Story’
For high-rez press images, more info:
http://galaxysailor.com/patricks-story/
Another Oregon documentary is making waves on the film-festival circuit.
Martin Vavra’s doc “Patrick’s Story” has been accepted into Colorado’s Breckenridge Festival of Film.
“Patrick’s Story” follows a gay man, Patrick, who was removed from a Portland hospital as his partner lay dying.
Vavra explores what the word “marriage” means in our culture — taking a powerful look at the social confusion associated with registered domestic partnership rights.
Another Vavra project, “The Last Stand” — a zombie-apocalypse Web series filmed in Portland — recently won three awards at the LA Web Fest. “The Last Stand” has been distributed by three other Web sites and translated into three other languages. It will soon be available on Hulu and Netflix.
Established in 1981, the Breckenridge Festival of Film ( http://www.breckfilmfest.com ) is one of the oldest film festivals in the country. Breckenridge 2011 runs Thursday-Sunday, June 9-11 — featuring 56 independent dramas, comedies, documentaries and big-picture premieres.
Vavra is available for interviews.
For high-rez press images, a trailer and other press materials, click here:
http://galaxysailor.com/patricks-story/
[END]
Yes, it is true. A Deed without a Name is done filming. We finished our third and last night of filming this last Tuesday, and as of Wednesday I had a rough edit out to Jeri, the writer of the screenplay. I am cleaning up edits, replacing audio, looking at special effects, and looking at filming the next in about two weeks. I am really please with the way the film sounds, looks, and was performed. The people that were on board did amazing. A huge thanks goes out to all those that were involved, and I can’t wait to do the credits just so I can thank them again. With any luck, this will look as nice to others as I think it does, and it will be off to the races with it.
In the mean time, the next script is already up and ready to roll. It is a no budget jem, and it will probably take a day to shoot. It’s a little more than a one-off, but it won’t be much more than five minutes. I think it will be sweet. It’s intended to get out a little quick without the idea of a film fest, but if it fits the smaller categories, I’ll send it. It will be a small crew and a small cast. All in all, I think six people are going to be on this one. Should be great!
And, no, I am not hearing voices. Today. At this moment. I have to say though (I hope this isn’t narcissistic) that I kind of feel like I have “made it” in filming. I say that because I had some people on my crew that are, what I consider, the top of the game in Portland. First off, my Assistant Director was Susan Funk, who is just awesome and amazing in all aspects. Then there is Brian Mazzola, who shocked me when he said yes to being on my set for audio. Jerry Buxbaum came on board, and I was thrilled. These people are amazing. They are the pros of town. To me, having them on my set, even if it was only three days, was magnificent. This makes me feel like I have made it. Like I’m working like a pro. I hope that what I made lives up to them and what they have done for me.
Thanks to you all!