BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS
Friday, April 30, 2004
Balitang Showbiz
So yung buong kuwarto nag-aantay sa pagpasok ni Bryan Singer. Maya-maya may umupo sa harap. Akala ko siya yung macoconduct nung interview, yun pala siya si Bryan Singer. Alam kong mukha siyang bata, pero hindi ko in-expect na mukha siyang teenager complete with quicksilver shirt, at blonde hair tips. Ang sumisira lang sa youthful look niya ay yung prominent eyebags. Astig, ang dami niyang kuwento, yung mannerisms niya at way of speaking reminds of Paul, ang aking high school film teacher. Pareho silang akala mo hetero pero panakanakang napapansin mo ang kanilang pagkabading.
Funny yung kuwento niya tungkol kay Ian Mckellen, kung papaano niya na-convince gawin yung X-men. Ang pitch niya storya siya ng mga bading, (binaggit din niya yung anggulo na parang sugar daddy si Professor X). Actibistang bading pala itong si Mckellen kaya game siya. Siyempre sa pag-approach daw kay Halle Berry, yung race angle ang banat niya haha.
Hindi pala talaga masaya si Singer sa Xmen 1. Feeling niya it fell apart, isa sa mga rason ay dahil yung palagi niyang editor ay hindi available para sa sineng iyun, inasahan lang niyang kumita ng 150 mill yung sine para bigyan siya ng enough money para sa sequel kung saan puede niyang gawin ang gusto niya.
Kinuwento din niya kung paano niya dinecide na i-cast si Hugh Jackman. Siyempre nahirapan silang i-cast ang role ni Wolverine, at umabot sa punto na kung wala silang magustuhan isasara yung production. So nagshu-shoot siya ng test with Jackman (na sa mga audition tapes hindi niya nagustuhan), nandun lang siya sa isang tabi pinapanood yung video feed. Tapos yung isang security guard, na akala isa lang siyang p.a., tinanong siya kung si Jackman na ba si Wolverine. Feeling daw niya tinitest siya ng Diyos nung point na yun. So sumagot siya, 'oo'. Tinignan niya kung ano ang magiging reaction nung security guard, kung vehement objection daw baka hindi naging Wolverine si Jackman. Pero sabi nung sikyu 'Oh, cool.'
(Si Jackman pala was working as a musical theater actor in a production of Oaklahoma sa Australia (parang di ko ma-imagine), pag nagsasama-sama daw sila ni Mckellen, puro after dinner na kantahan. )
Madami siyang kuwentong ganun, na pinagkakamalan siyang p.a. At may studyante sa audience na-nag-p.a. for him at nagkuwento na siya naman ay napagkamalang si Singer. Eh kasi wala din naman yung kagaya sa set sa Pilipinas na pag-ikaw ang director lahat tawag sa 'yo 'direk.' Interesting din ang sabi niya na may pagka-dyslexic siya at mabagal siyang magbasa ng script.
Hindi talaga puede angkinin ng eskuwela si Singer kasi hindi naman siya dito natutong gumawa ng sine. Bata pa lang daw siya tumutitira na siya ng 8mm at nag-film prodction siya for 2 years sa NY School of Visual Arts, at ang kanyang actor palagi ay ang kanyang kababatang si Ethan Hawke. "If you tell me what your focal length is, your f-stop, shutter speed, and film stock - I can imagine the image in my head, down to how the grain will look and how the depth of focus will be." Oh ha kaya mo yun. Pero dito daw, dahil Crit Studies ang course niya, nakapanood siya ng maraming sine, at natutunan niya ang bisa ng subtext sa pelikula, kahit sa mainstream na pelikula. Kaya daw ang Xmen ay puno ng subtext, at ang kanyang susunod na sineng Logan's Run, na sci-fi pero tungkol sa isyu ng age at youth culture.
Nung nabasa kong sci-fi nanaman ang susunod na sine niya, naisip ko sayang naman, puro sci-fi na lang ang tinitira niya ngayon. Pero I guess kailangan talaga ng hollywood ng genre directors na nagiinfuse ng subtext sa mga malalaking sine. It's all in the subtext.
Tangentially (isang word na palagi niyang ginagamit), nabanggit niya na may pinapanood siyang docu ni Kurosawa at may point daw sa career ni Kurosawa nung matanda na siya at walang pera, na gumawa siya ng mga commercials endorsing Santori liquor. Sobrang sakto daw sa itsura ng Bill Murray shots sa Lost in Translation. Eh si Kurosawa at si Francis Ford Copolla may working relationship so hindi daw malayo na may base yung comparison... intriguing ang concept na ang Lost in Translation ay isang flight of fancy trsyt between a young Sofia and an old Kurosawa.
Ah, subtext.
***
Greatest film nugget from this session: "Slow creep on anything. It works" (he was talking about slow zooms on characters adding drama)
funniest line was "I did Usual Suspects I have nowhere to go but down!" (he was parodying himself when he gets paranoid and stressed at his crew)
Monday, April 26, 2004
"...finals are over, I can waste a few brain cells."
I didn't know this was happening around here, I've never even heard of 'whippets' until now... then again there's no reason to walk around that area after midnight.
Friday, April 23, 2004
Highlights from a day still in progress:
1. A nice long conversation with Donna in the morning
2. Shaking Takahata's hand, telling him he made one of my most favorite films
3. Finally getting paid for a few months of TA-ing
4. Eating free cheesecake from Virginia
5. Finding out from the business office that my crew will be paid soon
6. Finally seeing the talking dog shot I made for Sam come together after months of working on it
7. Sam saying he was going to pay me tomorrow
8. FUNNIEST OF ALL getting a new friendster request from Ernan's, uh, MENTOR bwahahaha...
Thursday, April 22, 2004
Coolness from all corners. Friday at 11 pm, Isao Takahata is coming to meet us. I will have my DVD signed and try hard not to kneel in front of him. I wish my film was finished so that I could show it to him since Grave of the Fireflies was the main inspiration for it. On the next Friday, I signed up to attend a small session where Bryan Singer will talk. Woo hoo! I hope he is as cool as his work. Maybe he can share some gossip about Xmen 3 hehe. Funny how SC props him up as one of our more stellar alumni when in fact the Production program rejected him and he had to settle for Critical Studies. The other day we paid tribute to Ray Harryhausen, the only living legend of special effects. He was a nice guy, cracking jokes and very sharp for someone past 80. And he was gracious enough to go over some specific effects shots with a laser pointer and tell us how he did them. Seeing so many great people lately, the other Saturday, it was comic book genius Chris Ware, and apparently I didn't recognize Jack Black milling around the event. Dang. Oh well win some, lose some.
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
It ain't easy seeing green.
:(
I've been in denial for a long time, I always thought I had color recoginition issues and not actual color blindness. But I looked at every picture on this site and shouted out the answers for people with red-green blindness, and I don't think I have a mild case either it's probably this one: In deuteranopia the part of the spectrum that appears to the normal as green appears as grey. Purple-red (the complimentary colour of green) also appears as grey. It's not the mild case because I failed that test in one of the plates, so it's the strong variety. In college I had this shirt that I always thought was dark gray but people said was green, so I guess that explains it. Anyway, I've always known I wasn't cut out to be a cinematographer or art director. But it still gets me down.
Buti na lang pala hindi ako naging La Sallista, baka tinawag ko pa yung mascot nilang 'the gray archer.'
Sunday, April 11, 2004
This was my favorite LA busride yet.
The 204 from Wilshire and Vermont is the least favorite bus trip I take during my commutes because it's going way south to the more depressed ghetto communities south of school, so the turnout for rowdy types, bums and psychotic old men is higher that on the other buses I take. Plus it's always the last leg of my trip, so I am always tired, it's always nighttime when I take it and it is always unbearably packed and smelly.
This time I come into the bus and stand in front of this black woman seated and arguing with this motherly mexican- something about the black woman not giving up her seat for the mexican woman's kid. The latina mama mumbles about the need to respect children, and gets sympathy from this big white woman sitting in front of her who's carrying a kid of her own. Black girl in braids bursts out in a raspy but loud voice.
"Ain't my fault you have so many kids. That kid can sit on yo' lap. She don't have to take my seat. Fucking mexicans taking over everything... get yo' sorry ass back to the border you fucking mexican ho."
The guys standing around snicker. The mexican woman and the white girl continue on talking about her being in the right and about the black girl having no respect. Black girl goes "You wanna fight me too big ass? I'm gonna kick yo big fat ass if you don't shut up."
White girl chimes in sounding irritated "Just because you're drunk or you're on drugs doesn't mean you can be an asshole... you better look at yourself before you call me fat."
"Oh I'm not fat, I'm good and healthy."
More snickering from the backrow. (Actually, she wasn't thin but she really wasn't nearly as big as the white girl.)
From there on in the white girl and the black girl get into a screaming match. Mostly the black girl has the upperhand because she's quick with insults like "I'm surprised you even have kids. Surprised you could find your p**sy through all that fat. Eat, eat, eat, eat, eat."
By the time the white girl gets down at her stop they are still yelling at each other. The white girl succumbs at the last minute and calls her a the n-word. "You're calling me a nigger? I better not see your sorry ass again around here!' And they end rather amusingly doing a ping-pong of "ya mama!" "ya kids!" "ya fat ass!" shouts as the bus leaves the stop.
The mexican woman and her kids leave. Things settle down. A mexican guy actually chooses to sit beside the black woman. They do some chit-chat. He makes her laugh about something. She says to him 'I love everybody, as long as they don't disrespect me. I can get along with anyone any race."
***
The bus ride before that was rather classic too. This latino guy comes in selling dvds. Usually I don't even bother. Usually, they sell your garden variety action blockbusters and you don't know where these things are from, probably stolen or shoplifted. But of the 4 dvds he was peddling, this guy had the Looney Tunes 4 DVD Golden Collection! I've been wanting that since I read about it but it's priced at 40 to 50 dollars. What are the chances that some guy on a bus would be selling it for 15 bucks?!? I checked it, it was still freshly wrapped. It was genuine and not pirated. He said he had some scam going with this guy at Blockbuster. For a moment I balked at the notion of supporting this evil racket, this peddling of contraband. But I figured some omnipotent being was savvy enough to put an animation student and a looney tunes peddler on the same bus. I felt heaven nudging me forward, so I cleaned out my wallet and bid him a happy easter.
Saturday, April 10, 2004
R & H in India This is what I was talking about!!!
CGC: And how are things progressing at R&H India?
Saraswathi: Things have been relatively successful at R&H India, keeping in mind that we have been operating on a relatively small scale. We have been fortunate enough to have worked on a few shots in compositing on movies such as Daredevil , The Cat in the Hat , The Rundown , and Scooby Doo 2 . Currently we are working on delivering shots in both matchmove and compositing for Garfield and The Chronicles of Riddick...
I have said it before and I will say it again... Matchmoving and compositing are simple enough jobs to be outsourced to Asia. Fuck call centers, man... this is the future. Anybody have capital?
Rodriguez resigned from the guild so he could sidestep co-directing rules on SIN CITY, which will be co-directed by the graphic novel's creator Frank Miller and guest directed by Quentin Tarantino.
WOW! Rodriguez, Tarantino and FRANK MILLER co-directing cool-as-hell SIN CITY!!?! Sounds too good it just might be bad. Exciting.
Friday, April 09, 2004
Tarantino's Animated Prequel to Kill Bill
Will Write and Produce for Production IG
April 07, 2004
Quentin Tarantino is planning to write and produce an anime feature film, which will serve as a prequel to his two Kill Bill films. Production IG is expected to create the film, which will be done in the same style as the animated segments in Kill Bill I (see "Production IG Adds Anime to Kill Bill"). The prequel will provide Bill's backstory by explaining how he became such a ruthless killer. Tarantino will write and produce (but not direct) the anime prequel.
Tarantino's participation in the project is certain to expose anime to new audiences (just as the Animatrix and the anime sequences in Kill Bill have done), and it demonstrates once again that anime is increasingly a force to be reckoned with and a major influence on today's pop culture...
***
Paraphrasing Eric Goldberg, creator of the genie in Aladdin, director of, as Tom S. puts it "the only segments in Fantasia 2000 people like watching" (namely the Rhapsody in Blue one and that one with the yoyo-ing flamingo) during his lecture last night... 'I am hopeful about the industry (the 2D industry)... I don't think the big studios will be producing 2d animated features soon... but that means 2D will be in the realm of the independents and that will be exciting.'
***
marami akong di naalala pero yung mga corning joke na ganito naalala ko... sad...
knock knock
who's there
Aladdin
Aladdin who?
Aladdin mangyayari, kung pag-isipan pa, maghihintay na lang kung sino man iyong dapuan ng puso ko... tuloy pa rin ako.
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
Grave of the Fireflies is my favorite animated feature (which is still notches below some of my favorite animated short films, but still). I even wrote a final paper on how realism is treated in the inherently modernist medium of animation by analyzing Grave which critics have compared to italian post-war neorealist films. The main point of this being... the director Isao Takahata is coming to talk! Woo hoo! And screen all of his work from Grave to My Neighbors the Yamadas to Pom Poko back to back to back! Some people love Miyazaki, I love Takahata. I'm going to have my Grave DVD signed, glad it's not pirated :).
Friday, April 02, 2004
I have a new idol and his name is Pablo Ferro who came to talk to us this week. The usual press for him is that if you've been watching movies the past 20 years you've seen his work eventhough you don't know his name. Well this guy was Kubrick's title sequence guy, also Jonathan Demme's, William Friedkin's, Norman Jewison's, Gus Van Sant's... that means he's done title sequences for everything from Dr. Strangelove to the original Thomas Crown Affair to Midnight Cowboy to To Die For and Good Will Hunting. If you're like me just before his lecture and you haven't seen him talk about his work you would think he's just some guy who likes to do title lettering, you know some graphic design guy who was at the right place at the right time and worked on the right films. But it turns out these directors hand him the whole title sequence to conceptualize and create. Not just the lettering, but the imagery and the editing and he shoots footage for the sequences. He does his own mini-films in a way inside these great films. AND this guy did trailers for Kubrick in the 60's that pioneered flash frame quick cuts, taking Eisenstein montage theory to the masses. And he was an animator back in the 50's doing really funny commercials. AND those multiple split screens in Thomas Crown Affair are his sequences, his ideas and direction, not to mention the totally classic sex-tv montage sequence in Midnight Cowboy, not to mention the airplane sequence in Strangelove. Genius cutting edge directors think this guy's an unheralded genius and I totally agree. Actually, I told him that he adds so much to these films it makes the directors look brillant. And he said, 'well, what makes a good director is that he hires good people.' Also he said he doesn't work with mediocre directors. I told him 'you must look at MTV and think that it's all a duplication of your old work' and he nodded his head. Funny, one of the other students was just saying this motion graphics guy was talking to them about how motion graphics is such a young artform. Fuck man, these young kids with their CG and AfterEffects tricks are just working in the shadow of Ferro and his ilk. Saul Bass is the acknowledged master and father of titles but Ferro is I think is the renegade master, the Kubrick of the artform.
I'm totally hyped about this guy mainly because I've always felt weird about what I like to do... which is mix things up. I like to shoot live action, take pictures, draw, animate, edit, score things with cool music... experiment and try things out... I don't like how professional tasks (say, 'animator' or 'editor' even 'director') pigeonhole your creativity. I also don't like how graphic design guys have taken over motion graphics, like it's all bout clever design tricks. Ferro seems to me less of a graphics artist and more of a filmmaker, using content and footage and editing to set the mood rather than just fancy graphic design. It's great to finally find someone to look up to. Also, he's such a nice friendly guy.
We're getting some pretty rocking old school guests for the seminar class I assist for... next week is Zbig Rybczynski whose film Tango won a short film Oscar and is notoriously inventive, he's one of those MTV video vanguard awardees and in my mind he was Gondry before Gondry... then in two weeks it's RAY HARRYHAUSEN. How cool is that?
It seems like an eternity since my last blog entry. I'm on animation time these days, when a second isn't a second but 24 frames, about 12 drawings give and take, when everything seems to take forever and several hours of work appears on screen for but a moment. I've been holing up in my apartment, dropped everything else except my T.A. duties, trying to get all the animation done, just so the whole film can move on to the next phase which is rendering and painting and figuring out how it's all going to shape up. Some two weeks ago I fixed my apartment so that I could work properly, and I was really proud and happy to be working at home, now it's a mess again. In that time I don't know how many coffees and Cokes and nachos and microwave pizzas I've consumed, how many pounds I've gained, and how much of my sanity has been stripped away. I've gone through most of my cd collection, I actually sang aloud to all the E-heads albums this week, not to mention singing to my Gary Granada and Gary V albums back to back haha. Singing while drawing keeps me sane, and this is really the only reason I choose to work at home. I don't think the people here at the lab would appreciate me belting out "Di ba tang ina, nagmukha akong tanga..." or dancing around inbetween drawings.
