After talking about myself a lot, I think its about time to point out some interesting things that other people are doing.
The Lure
The Lure http://www.members.shaw.ca/moonpics/lure.html , a film by Neil Gordon and Kelly Eshpeter, has been selelcted for the "Los Angeles All-Sports film festival". http://www.allsportslafilmfest.com/sched.htm
Both Neil and Kelly have been supportive of my film making. The Lure demonstrates that they are great film makers themselves.
Sad No More
Dr. Ted Jablonski will run, cycle and speak across Canada in 2010, raising awareness of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and inspiring action to overcome it. http://www.sadnomore.ca/
Dr. J., in addition to being my personal doctor, is a consummate musician. www.gogetm.ca
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
The Best Movies I’ve Seen
Earlier today, Joie Schmidt, http://makethemostofyourtime.blogspot.com/, posted a question on her FaceBook page about which movies people thought we the best. She asked why people liked them. After I posted a response to her, I decided that I wanted to share some of my thoughts on my blog. I’ve edited and expanded my comments below.
I think these are the best movies I've seen:
• 2001: A Space Odyssey,
• Koyaanisqatsi,
• The Third Man,
• Casablanca,
• Fog of War,
• La Strada,
• The Draughtsman's Contract,
• City Lights, and
• Blade Runner
2001: A Space Odyssey
I first saw 2001 when I was 15. I went to see it for the special effects, but after seeing it, I knew that I had missed something important. I went back to see it again, maybe 20 times, read the book 3 or 4 times, and even wrote a high school essay on it. I eventually decided that I understood it. Years later, I keep seeing more in it that I didn't see earlier, so now I am not so sure that I really understand it. It changed my whole view of the world.
Koyaanisqatsi
I first saw Koyaanisqatsi when my brother showed me a videotape he had rented. It wasn’t until many years later that I saw it in a theatre. I saw it three times on the big screen, once at a live performance of the score by Philip Glass. The movie seemed to me to be completely abstract, yet it held my fascination every time I watch it. It does have a "story" and a "message", but I'm not sure you can really put them into words.
The Third Man and Casablanca
I find that both of these movies have somewhat sad endings, in that the protagonists don't get what they really wanted. Even so, they survive and maybe grow as people. I just wrote a blog where I talked about my fascination with this kind of plot. http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog/?p=170
I’d heard of both of these movies many years before I watched either of them. I never saw either on the big screen. I find both movies affect strongly at an emotional level.
I noticed that Roger Ebert has an image from The Third Man on his Twitter page.
Fog of War
Fog of War is an extended interview with Robert S. McNamara, who was the US Secretary of Defence during the Vietnam War. Sometimes it could be a horror movie, and other times a philosophical discussion.
La Strada
Federico Fellini’ La Strata is the only movie of his that I really like. I saw it first in a movie appreciation course. It is about a brute of a man and the woman that travels with him. The end is both sad and surprising. This is another movie that I never saw on the big screen.
The Draughtsman's Contract
I wanted to see this after seeing the review on Siskel and Ebert, but I didn’t see it for many years after. The first time I saw it was in a theatre. The woman I took to see it did not like it, and she asked me to apologize to her for taking her. I’ve seen it several times since and it grew on me. It is a sort of mystery, but one that isn’t really solved. I think it is that uncertainty that draws me to the movie. The director has crammed this movie full of many little details. I am sure there is still much more to see in this movie than I have so far.
City Lights
I saw this the first time in the mid 1970s when they rereleased several of Charlie Chaplin’s movies. It didn’t stick in my mind too much at the time, but years later I watched a documentary about Chaplin which showed out cuts from the movie. I think nearly an hour was devoted to City Lights. It was after that experience that the movie began to touch me emotionally. The last scene is devastating once you understand how the characters reached that point.
Blade Runner
I didn’t appreciate this movie until I began to talk to other people about it. Blade Runner asks what does it mean to be human. The movie uses hints at the nature of the hero to ask this question. These hints have fuelled many a long discussion. It is something of an intellectual and philosophical puzzle to be solved.
Reflecting on these thoughts, I see that most of these movies appeal to my intellect. They ask questions that get me thinking.
I think these are the best movies I've seen:
• 2001: A Space Odyssey,
• Koyaanisqatsi,
• The Third Man,
• Casablanca,
• Fog of War,
• La Strada,
• The Draughtsman's Contract,
• City Lights, and
• Blade Runner
2001: A Space Odyssey
I first saw 2001 when I was 15. I went to see it for the special effects, but after seeing it, I knew that I had missed something important. I went back to see it again, maybe 20 times, read the book 3 or 4 times, and even wrote a high school essay on it. I eventually decided that I understood it. Years later, I keep seeing more in it that I didn't see earlier, so now I am not so sure that I really understand it. It changed my whole view of the world.
Koyaanisqatsi
I first saw Koyaanisqatsi when my brother showed me a videotape he had rented. It wasn’t until many years later that I saw it in a theatre. I saw it three times on the big screen, once at a live performance of the score by Philip Glass. The movie seemed to me to be completely abstract, yet it held my fascination every time I watch it. It does have a "story" and a "message", but I'm not sure you can really put them into words.
The Third Man and Casablanca
I find that both of these movies have somewhat sad endings, in that the protagonists don't get what they really wanted. Even so, they survive and maybe grow as people. I just wrote a blog where I talked about my fascination with this kind of plot. http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog/?p=170
I’d heard of both of these movies many years before I watched either of them. I never saw either on the big screen. I find both movies affect strongly at an emotional level.
I noticed that Roger Ebert has an image from The Third Man on his Twitter page.
Fog of War
Fog of War is an extended interview with Robert S. McNamara, who was the US Secretary of Defence during the Vietnam War. Sometimes it could be a horror movie, and other times a philosophical discussion.
La Strada
Federico Fellini’ La Strata is the only movie of his that I really like. I saw it first in a movie appreciation course. It is about a brute of a man and the woman that travels with him. The end is both sad and surprising. This is another movie that I never saw on the big screen.
The Draughtsman's Contract
I wanted to see this after seeing the review on Siskel and Ebert, but I didn’t see it for many years after. The first time I saw it was in a theatre. The woman I took to see it did not like it, and she asked me to apologize to her for taking her. I’ve seen it several times since and it grew on me. It is a sort of mystery, but one that isn’t really solved. I think it is that uncertainty that draws me to the movie. The director has crammed this movie full of many little details. I am sure there is still much more to see in this movie than I have so far.
City Lights
I saw this the first time in the mid 1970s when they rereleased several of Charlie Chaplin’s movies. It didn’t stick in my mind too much at the time, but years later I watched a documentary about Chaplin which showed out cuts from the movie. I think nearly an hour was devoted to City Lights. It was after that experience that the movie began to touch me emotionally. The last scene is devastating once you understand how the characters reached that point.
Blade Runner
I didn’t appreciate this movie until I began to talk to other people about it. Blade Runner asks what does it mean to be human. The movie uses hints at the nature of the hero to ask this question. These hints have fuelled many a long discussion. It is something of an intellectual and philosophical puzzle to be solved.
Reflecting on these thoughts, I see that most of these movies appeal to my intellect. They ask questions that get me thinking.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
What Do I want to be Special about My Work?
“They” say that there are really only seven stories. Anyone can tell a story, but if you want to make a difference, you need to add something special that only you can give.
I have been working on several projects over the last year or so and I have started to think about what is special about my work. My big fear is that there isn’t anything special. My main objective now is to focus on gaining better mastery of the creative skills, but I know that eventually I do need to have something special.
Just the other day I saw a program about the writer Richard Matheson. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Matheson He said he didn’t realize what some of the key themes of his own work was until a long time after he began writing. I got the impression that it was only after others started to talk about what they found in his work that he began to see it too. I hope that is the case with me. I know that the things you care about show up in your work, even when you don’t consciously put it there.
I have noticed some things about my own work that I think may reflect something that distinguishes me from other film makers.
Many of the things I want to do “break the rules” of good story telling. Before you can break the rules, you need to know what they are and why they are rules. That is going to be the challenge for me.
I have been working on several projects over the last year or so and I have started to think about what is special about my work. My big fear is that there isn’t anything special. My main objective now is to focus on gaining better mastery of the creative skills, but I know that eventually I do need to have something special.
Just the other day I saw a program about the writer Richard Matheson. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Matheson He said he didn’t realize what some of the key themes of his own work was until a long time after he began writing. I got the impression that it was only after others started to talk about what they found in his work that he began to see it too. I hope that is the case with me. I know that the things you care about show up in your work, even when you don’t consciously put it there.
I have noticed some things about my own work that I think may reflect something that distinguishes me from other film makers.
- I see in some of my work a conflict between respecting authority and rebelling against it. This is a conflict in much of my thinking. I believe that it is important to accept that we are all part of a greater whole, but I also want to be free from the constraints of being a part of a greater whole.
- In some of my work, I am consciously trying to send the message that things are not the way we expect them to be. The world is a complex of interacting systems, and systems often behave in ways that are not intuitive. What seems obvious is often misleading. This sounds somewhat “new-agey”, but it comes from my work as an engineer studying complex systems. There is a paradox recognized by transportation planners that sometimes adding a road can make traffic worse.
- Many of my ideas come from my feeling that sometimes merely surviving is victory. There is a cliché in “race” stories where the runner falls, then gets up and comes back to win. My inclination is to have him try to win and fail, but in his trying he becomes a survivor and ultimately more of a winner than if he had “won” the race.
- I often use the image of someone walking down a corridor, either toward or away from the camera. This kind of image is often given as an example of bad film making, because it doesn’t tell you anything important. In my case though, I feel that it is a symbol for something being inevitable. In a corridor, you can only go forward or retreat. I am attracted to the image of a train running along the tracks for the same reason.
- In many of my story ideas the protagonist is very passive, which runs contrary to what a protagonist should be. Maybe this reflects my own reluctance to admit it when the time has come to act when faced with a challenge. Often I delay until it is too late and the opportunity has passed. I will need to learn much more about story telling before I can make this work.
- My experience is that success comes from a long series of small victories, while failure comes from taking one big gamble. I want to make this a message in my work, but I am not sure how to do this and still have an interesting story to tell.
Many of the things I want to do “break the rules” of good story telling. Before you can break the rules, you need to know what they are and why they are rules. That is going to be the challenge for me.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Spreading Myself Too Thin – Again
I haven’t produced much in the last couple of weeks, even though I have been busy. When I get working on too many different projects, I don’t get anything done. That has been my problem lately.
I had the Digital Beta tapes from the My Most Difficult Case converted to digital files. I can edit them on my computer. Now all I have to do is edit it.
I have done some enhancements to my website. I created standard page formats, but I focussed on changes to make updating the site easier for me. I started to experiment with advertizing on the internet using Google AdWords. I started with an advert for “Line of Taxis”. Since I started running the ad, I’ve been getting more page views. No revenue generated yet.
Other story ideas, movie ideas, and article ideas keep distracting me. One article I am thinking about is “how can fiction compete with reality?” It has been floating around in my head for a long time. When O.J. had that low speed chase before the police arrested him, millions of people sat and watched a car driving down the highway for hours. You could never do that is a fictional movie.
Recently my wife and I travelled to China, the west coast, and Edmonton. Between the three of them, I shot 7 or 8 hours of video. I am still sorting through that. It is mainly home movie stuff, but I have some shots that I think I can turn into a couple of short documentaries to post on the internet.
I had the Digital Beta tapes from the My Most Difficult Case converted to digital files. I can edit them on my computer. Now all I have to do is edit it.
I have done some enhancements to my website. I created standard page formats, but I focussed on changes to make updating the site easier for me. I started to experiment with advertizing on the internet using Google AdWords. I started with an advert for “Line of Taxis”. Since I started running the ad, I’ve been getting more page views. No revenue generated yet.
Other story ideas, movie ideas, and article ideas keep distracting me. One article I am thinking about is “how can fiction compete with reality?” It has been floating around in my head for a long time. When O.J. had that low speed chase before the police arrested him, millions of people sat and watched a car driving down the highway for hours. You could never do that is a fictional movie.
Recently my wife and I travelled to China, the west coast, and Edmonton. Between the three of them, I shot 7 or 8 hours of video. I am still sorting through that. It is mainly home movie stuff, but I have some shots that I think I can turn into a couple of short documentaries to post on the internet.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
My Most Difficult Case Re-Edit
I made a small step forward on My Most Difficult Case this week. I arranged to get my Digital Beta tapes converted to computer files by Digital Video Masters so I can start the re-editing.
They will be converting the tapes into 10-bit uncompressed format. The files from that are large, but they are better quality. I read on-line that because they are uncompressed, the processing time is much faster too.
When I shot the film back in 2002 and 2003 I had all my negatives transferred to video. While I planned to complete the film on film, and did so, I always had in my mind that I wanted the option to go back later.
When I was looking at the tapes at Digital Video Masters, one of the shots caught my eye. Due to a technical glitch, some shots wee out of focus and we had to reshoot them. Looking at the out of focus shots, I thought they had a look that might work well in the film.
They will be converting the tapes into 10-bit uncompressed format. The files from that are large, but they are better quality. I read on-line that because they are uncompressed, the processing time is much faster too.
When I shot the film back in 2002 and 2003 I had all my negatives transferred to video. While I planned to complete the film on film, and did so, I always had in my mind that I wanted the option to go back later.
When I was looking at the tapes at Digital Video Masters, one of the shots caught my eye. Due to a technical glitch, some shots wee out of focus and we had to reshoot them. Looking at the out of focus shots, I thought they had a look that might work well in the film.
Web Page Changes
I have converted most of the pages on the website from HTML to PHP. PHP will allow me to do some fancy things with the website. My main motivation was that I could create standard elements that individual pages can pull in. I am doing this with the pages header, so I only need to change one file rather than all of them.
While I was making the conversions, I standardized the look of the individual pages. When I created the pages, I used a slightly different approach each time. I now have a couple of templates to use. I made more variations in the standard than I had planned to, but I think that they were all justified.
While I was making the conversions, I standardized the look of the individual pages. When I created the pages, I used a slightly different approach each time. I now have a couple of templates to use. I made more variations in the standard than I had planned to, but I think that they were all justified.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
A New Story and Some New Articles
New Story
I published a short story A Homicide Detective's Rude Awakening http://authspot.com/short-stories/a-homicide-detectives-rude-awakening/ this week. I think it is a departure from what I’ve done in the past, but the idea has been haunting me for years. The inspiration came from a Law and Order episode.
New Articles
I compiled my blogs about my detective story into three articles that I posted on Bukisa. http://www.bukisa.com/people/DynamicLethargy
Film Festival
I submitted Line of Taxis to an on-line film festival. http://www.yourindiefilm.com/node/495 If I get the most votes, then I will win $5,000. I don’t think that is about to happen though. The idea for the festival is interesting, so I would encourage you to have a look at it. Don’t feel obligated to vote for my film.
My Most Difficult Case
I started to work on My Most Difficult Case this week. When I made the film back in 2004, I got all my negatives transferred to DigiBeta tapes. There are a couple of shots I used in the final film that I didn’t gete transferred. I do have alternate takes that will work as well.
The first order of business is to get my footage converted to computer files so I can work with it. I contacted several places this week and will be selecting one next week.
I published a short story A Homicide Detective's Rude Awakening http://authspot.com/short-stories/a-homicide-detectives-rude-awakening/ this week. I think it is a departure from what I’ve done in the past, but the idea has been haunting me for years. The inspiration came from a Law and Order episode.
New Articles
I compiled my blogs about my detective story into three articles that I posted on Bukisa. http://www.bukisa.com/people/DynamicLethargy
Film Festival
I submitted Line of Taxis to an on-line film festival. http://www.yourindiefilm.com/node/495 If I get the most votes, then I will win $5,000. I don’t think that is about to happen though. The idea for the festival is interesting, so I would encourage you to have a look at it. Don’t feel obligated to vote for my film.
My Most Difficult Case
I started to work on My Most Difficult Case this week. When I made the film back in 2004, I got all my negatives transferred to DigiBeta tapes. There are a couple of shots I used in the final film that I didn’t gete transferred. I do have alternate takes that will work as well.
The first order of business is to get my footage converted to computer files so I can work with it. I contacted several places this week and will be selecting one next week.
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