The Friday 'Stache

Today's classic 'stache is from my friend Arthur's tumblr, which, I'll add, brings delight into my heart every day of the week.

First, a thing from London:

This is a classic YouTube video. Someone pulled out their camera phone to record something they thought was cool, and 7 minutes later, they had a short film on their hands. It's one shot, of course, and basically an unchanging frame. There is one actor, and a bunch of "extras" in the audience. I think this accidental short film works extremely well for a whole lot of reasons, but instead of babbling about it, I'll just encourage you to pay close attention to all the stuff that's going on here--artistically, culturally, socially, etc. 

Next, a thing from Quiet Dignity (no explanation necessary):

Lastly, here's a really spectacular (literally) tribute to the looming holiday, courtesy of Mr. Graham:

It's a long weekend, so go party hard, everyone.

The Interviews - Asia Stryker

Asia is possibly by earliest and best friend from the film program. She graduated last year, but we've worked on many projects together, starting with a student capstone called Spit, which we co-produced. In fact, I owe much of my experiences as a student filmmaker to her getting me that producing position. It was my biggest jump into student filmmaking, opening the door to many more opportunities afterward. 

The quintessential producer, Asia has found her passion for the mechanics of the industry. Organizing people, resources, and time to pull off one project after another. She understands the process deeply, and any project she touches finds itself strengthened and streamlined in her unfailingly professional care. 

But, while she busies herself with the nuts and bolts of the craft, the beauty and magic of the art doesn't escape her either. So take 12 minutes and listen up to what she has to say about this business of film, and her experiences therein. 

Download this episode (right click and save)

Actors Acting

After my interview with James last week, I asked him if he had any advice on how I might better run this here little blog. He had a great idea (which isn't surprising), and I am going to implement it as follows:

Each Monday, I will pose a question, perhaps with some context, perhaps not, and then I will ask very sincerely for you to post your thoughts in the comments. The following Monday, I'll respond to those comments, and give my own opinion, and then pose another question. Pretty simple, right? Of course, in order for this to be at all interesting, you'll have to be bold and type out your ideas for others to see.

OK, here goes.

Did you know big-budget films are often so expensive because of big-name actors? If you look on boxofficemojo.com, and see that a given film cost $150 million, you can be certain that at least a third of the budget went to the talent (all of the actors).

This is even true with smaller-budget films. I won't give you the exact numbers, but I will tell you that about 30% of our budget for Weighted went to our actors.

What is it that actors do? Well, duh, they act. But what does that mean? Here's a link to a short series of videos called "14 Actors Acting." It's pretty cool, and you'll recognize most of them. Here's one of my favorites from the series (I pulled the embed from YouTube, but you'll want to use this link to watch them all through):



These are broadly recognized experts in their industry. Very few people would argue whether they've mastered their craft. So the question is this:

Are actors worth what they're paid? 

Take a moment to answer in the comments below.

The Friday 'Stache

Today's 'stache was suggested by DonaMagicShow, via one of his Tumblr posts. Thanks, Brandon (I'll even forgive you for misspelling my name...and my blog.)











I'm not an editor by any stretch of anyone's imagination, but I have done some editing. And I've always used Final Cut (most recently, FCP 7). So I've been following the release of Final Cut Pro X, the latest iteration of the software and a complete redesign. A few months ago, there was a lot of hope that this version would bring with it some much-needed improvements, thereby cementing this product's place in the world of the professional editors. After all, that's what and who the software is for.

Well, it's been released, and it is, as my friend Josh says, "like a bad fart joke." I, the non-editor, am so infuriated by this horrible, horrible new version that I am unable to adequately express myself concerning the matter. Real editors are even more upset, as evidenced by a recent, editor-motivated sketch on Conan O'Brian:



I understand that there will simply be a mass exodus to CS 5.5's Premiere. I'll probably join it, because I will never, NEVER use the new version of Final Cut.

OK, enough of that. Here's something wonderful from Julian Smith:




I discovered, just yesterday, a YouTuber named Vi Hart, who describes herself as a "Mathemusician." Regardless of whether you're a closet math dork (like me) or not, her videos are very charming. And beautifully simple. This one was my first exposure:




This lovely thing recently won the Webby Award in Animation:




For those of us working toward graduation (or having recently achieved it), here's a speech:




Lastly, on behalf of Quiet Dignity, I'd like to ask if you think this is funny, and why:

The Interviews - James Alexander

James and I go all the way back to BYU-Idaho, which is something I think both of us have trouble remembering, so long ago, years before we each became film students. I remember thinking he was weird. And smart. And sort of intimidating.

I still think those things. 

But now, after working together, taking classes, and sometimes hanging out when he deems me cool enough, those are all entirely positive sentiments. James is a uniquely talented and fiercely professional filmmaker. All of my associations with him have been edifying, and this interview was no exception. 

ReadysetgoJamesAlexander.

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A Very Beautiful Loglines

Last week, a friend of mine wrote a post about screenwriting. This is not unusual, since this person is herself an aspiring screenwriter, but the topic of this particular post was particularly focused on something I think gets mostly forgotten by people who hope to one day prove to the world that their writing is worth something. Or anything....anything at all.

"A logline, or a one-liner, is something that big muckety-mucks in the film world use as a cheat sheet to the big question on any film goers mind: what is this about? It is a couple of quick and to the point sentences answering just that question." 

The first thing any screenwriting hopeful should understand is that no one, no one wants to hear your half-hour, rambling summary of whatever you're working on. Not even your mother, though she might pretend to, bless her.

Here's an example: Weighted is about a boy who can fly and his sister, who can't.

There can be more, of course. It depends on how much of the story you want to reveal in its logline. There are augmented versions of the above example that get into more of what happens, and why, and even how the whole thing resolves, but the kernel of the story is right there in that one sentence. That really is what Weighted is about. So whenever anyone asks me, I have a really short, simple answer for them. And guess what, that's all they really want to know anyway.

But my friend goes on to point out another, less-obvious purpose for these little buggers.

"And the reason that I have to be good at them, besides simply selling one, is that it doesn't serve you as a writer to keep endlessly writing a screenplay or novel about something that you're not quite sure about. The story starts to take some interesting detours in and out of genre and theme and SENSE when you don't know precisely what is supposed to happen."

In other words, you better know what your story is about, in the simplest possible terms, or it'll never be good, even if you manage to miraculously finish it.

Here's a link to the whole post. Read the whole thing through--she's an engaging writer, so I promise you won't be bored.

The Friday 'Stache

This week's 'stache comes from the first person to specifically grow facial hair for 2190. I can't quite express how much this means to me. Thank you, Anthony Ambriz.

And to those of you who are capable of growing hair on your upper lip, I say go, and do thou likewise (meaning: grow a sweet 'stache, take a picture, and send it to me.)






For our first video, a simple gag from Quiet Dignity:



My friend A. Todd (one of the most talented filmmakers I know) is working on a feature-length documentary this summer, and he put together this short film to promote it because, as it turns out, even documentary costs money.



Thank you Mr. Travis for the RhettandLink suggestion in last week's comments. I very much enjoyed it (so suffocatingly Utah I can barely believe it), and will now share the hair with the rest of you:



I also recommend taking a look at the behind-the-scenes video, which itself is startlingly similar in tone to the actual commercial.

Lastly, I want to direct you to this Facebook event, which describes how you can participate in an online screening of a recent BYU capstone film called Gerald. I've seen the film. It's good. Quirky, funny, and oddly resonant--I recommend you take a look if you can.

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That's it for this week's 'Stache. To earn a fat stack of cool points, leave some suggestions for future Friday 'Staches in the comments below. (Like Travis. What a guy.)