In the spirit of Frank Longo, I'm doing an "Ask Me Anything" post for my 10,000th one (Jesus, that's depressing). I may not be one of the most knowledgeable dudes on this board but I like to think that this is my favorite board to read and post on (although if someone calculated my posts in the last 2-3 months, Sports would be where I've been posting the most due to the end of the season/playoffs in the NBA).

Anyway...ask me anything regarding films, being an intern, TV, film school, anything. I'll answer all questions honestly.

Also, thanks PTP/Okayplayer for giving me a chance to waste however much time 10,000 posts take to waste.

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17x NBA Champions

_
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4TztqYaemt0
http://preptimeposse.blogspot.com/

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17x NBA Champions

_
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4TztqYaemt0
http://preptimeposse.blogspot.com/

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17x NBA Champions

_
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4TztqYaemt0
http://preptimeposse.blogspot.com/

An overall good or bad experience?

Did you agree w/ the program's philosophy of filmmaking?

Otherwise known as CSUN or "seesun" - as referenced in Boogie Nights. It was a good experience I'd say. It's considered (for some reason) a top film school in the area (remember I'm in SoCal...home of UCLA, USC, and AFI) and even though I started there in the Fall of '03 during the recall election and a budget crisis, I still had a fantastic time. Met some cool people, learned a lot, GREAT theory courses, pretty good production classes, and I'm not in debt.

So yeah, I'd say I liked it. I reccomend it to those who aren't looking at the UCLA/USC route.

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17x NBA Champions

>Otherwise known as CSUN or "seesun" - as referenced in Boogie
>Nights. It was a good experience I'd say. It's considered (for
>some reason) a top film school in the area (remember I'm in
>SoCal...home of UCLA, USC, and AFI) and even though I started
>there in the Fall of '03 during the recall election and a
>budget crisis, I still had a fantastic time.

Cool.

The reason I asked is because I've heard about the USC Film School and how they pretty much tell every student to adhere to the classical continuity editing system. Grooming a bunch of Ron Howards.

Their students' films must have an active hero protagonist with clearly defined goal who must overcome an obstacle/conflict. A 3-act structure (Syd Field is the devil).

One cannot make a student film w/ passive characters. No "small" moments. Everything must be strictly cause-and-effect. Anything else is extraneous and should be cut.

So, if a student loves Antonioni, etc., and wants to make an Antonioni like-film (passive characters), then they're in for a rude awakening.

USC maintains that in order to break the rules one must know the rules in and out and master them first.

>Met some cool
>people, learned a lot, GREAT theory courses, pretty good
>production classes, and I'm not in debt.

Anyone of your classmates made some comparable first steps (your internship) like you?

>So, if a student loves Antonioni, etc., and wants to make an
>Antonioni like-film (passive characters), then they're in for
>a rude awakening.
>
>USC maintains that in order to break the rules one must know
>the rules in and out and master them first.


My school was more or less the same way. I tend to go with that school of thought myself. I mean...most student films suck to begin with. They're excercises and so you've got to learn the rules while it's still cheap and relatively no long term effects.


>Anyone of your classmates made some comparable first steps
>(your internship) like you?


I have a few who started up a production company who do music videos and commercials. I've worked wiht them a few times...and they've got a long way to go, but they're headed in the right direction. Similarly, I have some friends who just graduated from Otis Art School who got hired as a directing team (ala Motion Theory who did the "Girl" video by Beck) for a commercial firm.

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17x NBA Champions

every film school is like this...

but at the same time use your charisma and ego to get a few key people to believe in you (a producer and a cinematographer) and make any damn film u want...

and a lot of porn is made there, too.

Did you get to shoot any porn while in school, Ryan?

>Did you get to shoot any porn while in school, Ryan?

--Maurice

_____

Bonding over sutures is what's hot in Oh-Nine.
--JS

...I'm sure I could get a job doing that if I wanted to. I know a few people who I went to school with who did, actually.

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17x NBA Champions

----
bshelly

"You (Fisher) could get fired, Les Snead could get fired, Kevin Demoff could get fired, but I will always be Eric Dickerson.” (c) The God

http://imdb.com/title/tt0110955/

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17x NBA Champions

Is that okay?

I've been here for over 4 years, and remain a lurker extraordinaire. CHARTER MEMBER BITCHES!

1. What are your top ten favorite films of the 1990s?


2. If you ever make a documentary about the banjo, can I be in it?


3. On Cinema in the 1970s: America vs. Germany. . . which was better, the "New German Cinema" (Fassbinder, Herzog, Schlondorff, Wenders, etc) or the American New Wave (Altman, Scorsese, Coppola, Bogdanovich, etc)?

>1. What are your top ten favorite films of the 1990s?

Tough one, but in no order:

Pulp Fiction (1994)
Dazed and Confused (1993)
Hoop Dreams (1994)
Goodfellas (1990)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Chasing Amy (1997)
Fargo (1996)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Jackie Brown (1997)
Rushmore (1998)

Pretty standard PTP fare, I guess.


>2. If you ever make a documentary about the banjo, can I be in
>it?


Of course.


>
>3. On Cinema in the 1970s: America vs. Germany. . . which was
>better, the "New German Cinema" (Fassbinder, Herzog,
>Schlondorff, Wenders, etc) or the American New Wave (Altman,
>Scorsese, Coppola, Bogdanovich, etc)?

Having not seen enough of the New German Cinema, I honestly cannot answer this question truthfully. Any reccomendations you can make for me?

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17x NBA Champions

>>1. What are your top ten favorite films of the 1990s?
>
>Tough one, but in no order:
>
>Pulp Fiction (1994)
>Dazed and Confused (1993)
>Hoop Dreams (1994)
>Goodfellas (1990)
>The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
>Chasing Amy (1997)
>Fargo (1996)
>Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
>Jackie Brown (1997)
>Rushmore (1998)
>
>Pretty standard PTP fare, I guess.

Here's mine (in no particular order except for the first one which is indeed my most favorite movie of that decade):

A Moment Of Innocence - Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Good Men, Good Women - Hou Hsiao-hsien
Close-Up - Abbas Kiarostami
Safe - Todd Haynes
The Daytrippers - Greg Mottola
The Apple - Samira Makhmalbaf
The End Of Violence - Wim Wenders
Buffalo '66 - Vincent Gallo

That's only seven. I would also have to add a Richard Linklater movie, but right now I can't decide between Slacker and Before Sunrise. Also, I feel like I can't complete this list without first seeing some more of Bertrand Tavernier's movies from the 90s. Turns out I was very unprepared for this.

But that's my top 7 for sure.

>Having not seen enough of the New German Cinema, I honestly
>cannot answer this question truthfully. Any reccomendations
>you can make for me?


Recommendations:

RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER

Ali: Fear Eats The Soul
The Marriage Of Maria Braun
Mother Kusters Goes To Heaven
The Merchant Of Four Seasons
The Bitter Tears Of Petra Von Kant
Effi Briest
Veronika Voss


WERNER HERZOG

Aguirre: The Wrath Of God
The Enigma Of Kaspar Hauser
Stroszek
Fitzcarraldo


VOLKER SCHLONDORFF

The Lost Honor Of Katharina Blum (with Margarethe Von Trotta as co-director)
The Tin Drum
Young Torless


WIM WENDERS

The American Friend
Wings Of Desire
Paris Texas

>3. On Cinema in the 1970s: America vs. Germany. . . which was
>better, the "New German Cinema" (Fassbinder, Herzog,
>Schlondorff, Wenders, etc) or the American New Wave (Altman,
>Scorsese, Coppola, Bogdanovich, etc)?

_
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4TztqYaemt0
http://preptimeposse.blogspot.com/

1) Who do you feel is resposible for the start of French New Wave? Who were the best directors of this period?

2) Was Heaven's Gate truly responsible for the death of the director's films in Hollywood?

3) I feel a lot of movies get unfairly lumped into Blaxploitation? Yes or no?

4) Was Godfather III more of a studio pressure film than anything else? No one in the movie really seemed into it.

5) What really killed Miramax in the end?

6) When did Iranian cinema become the force that it is today? Do you recommend any movies?

7) I find forced symbolism in film to be amateurish; do you?

8) I think Rosemary's Baby is the scariest movie ever. You?

9) What's your favorite Kubrick? I luh me some Barry Lyndon, with Strangelove a close second.

10) If you were to direct/produce, who would you pattern yourself after?

--Maurice

_____

Bonding over sutures is what's hot in Oh-Nine.
--JS

>1) Who do you feel is resposible for the start of French New
>Wave? Who were the best directors of this period?

Responsible...well, the Cahiers guys I'd suppose (if I'm remembering my film crit correctly), Truffuat, Godard, etc. My personal favorite is Truffaut though.


>2) Was Heaven's Gate truly responsible for the death of the
>director's films in Hollywood?

I wouldn't say all that. I mean...I've never seen it but after seeing The Deer Hunter I did some research on Heaven's Gate and the debacle that went along with it. A few on here (King Friday comes to mind) think it's a fantastic film...so it's not universally hated (nothing really is of course), but you still have guys like Tarantino or Rodriguez that truly dictate EVERYTHING about their films. It's not a death but it was certainly a changing of the guard.

>3) I feel a lot of movies get unfairly lumped into
>Blaxploitation? Yes or no?

Completely agree. Menace II Society is not a blaxploitation film. I think it's just something tag "black" movies with. Or even movies about violence or the ghetto or whatever.


>4) Was Godfather III more of a studio pressure film than
>anything else? No one in the movie really seemed into it.

You know I've seen an hour of the Godfather III (everytime I watch it, I watch the first two first so I can "get into the story" but um, that usually just makes me turn it off completley cause it doesn't hold up at all). But you're right, nobody seemed into it whatsoever. Might have been a studio pressured film...it was certainly using it's prequels as a reason for it's Best Picture nomination that year. I'm gonna listen to the commentary someday cause I'm sure FFC has some interesting things to say about it.


>5) What really killed Miramax in the end?

Having read Down and Dirty Pictures (I actually did a term paper on Miramax's rise), it's really ego. Harvey has a HUGE one according to this book (ego that is...just throwing that out there before someone no homos me), and we all know that Disney can cause a collapse like they almost did with Pixar. It's weird...Kevin Smith and Tarantino have no problems working with Harvey Weinstein, they LOVE him and are with the Weinstein company (along with Robert Rodriguez and anyone else who was loyal to the Miramax family) but a looooot of other people hate him (Todd Solandz, that dude who did the Boondock Saints,hahahah). They're an interesting group to study for sure. Still they're one of the most successful companies...so I'd say it was Disney's bad.

>6) When did Iranian cinema become the force that it is today?
>Do you recommend any movies?

I am SO not the dude to ask about this. King Friday is the one.

>7) I find forced symbolism in film to be amateurish; do you?

Oh, no doubt. I honestly find that symbolism that isn't so "LOOK AT ME" is far, far better...hell, even unconcious symbolism is great. But having been to film school, I've seen too much forced symbolism, and it's godawful.

>8) I think Rosemary's Baby is the scariest movie ever. You?

Hmmmm....scariest. I'm not sure. Perhaps. I'm not scared easily, but that shit is up there.


>9) What's your favorite Kubrick? I luh me some Barry Lyndon,
>with Strangelove a close second.

Strangelove, Clockwork Orange. Those are my personal favs.


>10) If you were to direct/produce, who would you pattern
>yourself after?


Robert Rodriguez, bar none. Dude does it his way and he has fun. I have NOTHING but respect for that. Plus his films are amazingly entertaining and he is an entertaining person who definitely caters to us movie nerds (you know, having one of our own succeed and making awesome DVDs and stuff).

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17x NBA Champions

>>2)Heaven's Gate
>A few on here (King
>Friday comes to mind) think it's a fantastic film...

Yep. In terms of its success as a film--that is, as a work of art--I think it's one of the better movies of that period in American Cinema.

As for the decline in Hollywood filmmaking (which started way before Heaven's Gate) and the supposed end of the "director's film", there's a lot more to it than one film's financial failure.

Also, I see the 70s auteur boom in America as a pretty problematic time. That whole era is probably due for a major reassessment, especially in light of certain glowing, back-patting treatments you see of that period in a documentary like Decade Under The Influence.


>>6) When did Iranian cinema become the force that it is today?
>
>>Do you recommend any movies?
>
>I am SO not the dude to ask about this. King Friday is the
>one.

If you'll allow me, sir. . .

While Iranian Cinema has a much longer history, it's the Iranian films made after the 1979 revolution--and particularly the movies of the 1990s on--that have become such a "force" internationally.

And a few movies I would recommend would be:

"A Moment Of Innocence" and "The Cyclist" both directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf

"Close-Up" and "Taste Of Cherry" both by Abbas Kiarostami

"The Circle" and "Crimson Gold" by Jafar Panahi

it's definitely an over-romanticized era, but what do you see about it that's problematic... in comparison to other periods/movements in cinema

>>5) What really killed Miramax in the end?
>
>Having read Down and Dirty Pictures (I actually did a term
>paper on Miramax's rise), it's really ego. Harvey has a HUGE
>one according to this book (ego that is...just throwing that
>out there before someone no homos me), and we all know that
>Disney can cause a collapse like they almost did with Pixar.
>It's weird...Kevin Smith and Tarantino have no problems
>working with Harvey Weinstein, they LOVE him and are with the
>Weinstein company (along with Robert Rodriguez and anyone else
>who was loyal to the Miramax family) but a looooot of other
>people hate him (Todd Solandz, that dude who did the Boondock
>Saints,hahahah). They're an interesting group to study for
>sure. Still they're one of the most successful companies...so
>I'd say it was Disney's bad.

The reason QT, Kevin Smith, and Robert Rodriguez get along so well with Weinstein is because they know their place. I don't mean that in an insulting way. What I mean is, if you talk to Kevin Smith about movie producers, and studio heads, and the "money people", he understands that they see him as part of the movie wheel that turns. But most directors seem to live in this world where they're the end all be all when it comes to getting a movie made. And ain't no money guy gonna give two bits for some director, especially since the director needs the money guy.
I think alot of it has to do with respecting what the other guy does.

"Your current frequencies of understanding outweigh that which has been given for you to understand." Saul Williams

Which takes us back to ego.

But yeah, cosign completley.

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17x NBA Champions

And that's just on one username? ha

Okay, here's my question. I don't know if you'll be able to answer this, but when they're making movies ("they" being people who make movies), I know actors will get trailers to live in, right? But what about the crew? Where does the gaffer live?

For some reason this popped into my head last night.

They just chill there between setups and get their makeup done there, etc.

In the rare instances the gaffer has nothing to do, he sits on an apple box and eats a bagel.

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hell-below.com

I'm told movie sets are places where most people have nothing to do but sit around and smoke.

_
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4TztqYaemt0
http://preptimeposse.blogspot.com/

where there are so many departments that somebody is always causing delays and the gaffer has a chance to sit down for a second. Or maybe with a director who does a lot of on-set rehearsals. But most essential crew are busy pretty much non-stop, at least in my experience.

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hell-below.com

I haven't seen it, but I hear it's good.

Here's a radio show talking about that movie and why it is crews work so damn hard.

http://www.kcrw.com/cgi-bin/db/kcrw.pl?show_code=tb&air_date=5/8/06&tmplt_type=Show

RED
http://arrena.blogspot.com

They just hang out there. But the crew is constantly working, unlike actors...so no trailers. Chances are they live in the area they're working in anyway (LA, Canada, etc.)

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17x NBA Champions

Cool radio show on KCRW.

http://www.kcrw.com/cgi-bin/db/kcrw.pl?show_code=tb&air_date=4/24/06&tmplt_type=Show


RED
http://arrena.blogspot.com

Spider-Man 3 is still on the Sony lot. He was just chilling on the stoop of his big-ass trailer, watching the crews go by.

He has one of those damn-near triple wides, the ones that are big enough on their own but then they expand on both sides.

RED
http://arrena.blogspot.com

---
Stoicism and chill.
---
Stay +.
---

http://www.juliusjuly.com/blog/shaq.jpg
___________________________________________________________________________________________
A thick b****
with big legs
yeah
it's Gutfest '89

Everytime I think of changing my sig, something comes along and I just go, "Nah."

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17x NBA Champions

1. What are your career goals?

2. What "classic film" makes you want to vomit?

3. (operating under the assumption you're in L.A. since you're making movies) Is Tom Hanks really THAT nice of a guy?

4. Are movies becoming a producer's medium?

5. Now that you work in the movie biz, have movies lost their magic to you?

6. How important do you feel your film school training was?

7. The best and your favorite Bill Murray movie is...

"Your current frequencies of understanding outweigh that which has been given for you to understand." Saul Williams

>1. What are your career goals?

Geez, hard hitting right off the bat huh? Honestly I don't know...I mean sure everyone wants to write and direct, but realistically? I just want to learn the ins and outs of everything. There are SO many jobs that people don't know about (like I didn't know what a music video coordinator was until 2 months ago) that are fascinating and quite well-paying. My short term goal is to get hired somewhere in music videos/commercials and just go from there, but nearly everyone I talk to in the industry didn't intend on ending up where they now are, but they love it (mostly).


>2. What "classic film" makes you want to vomit?

Hmmmm.

It's A Wonderful Life, I guess.


>3. (operating under the assumption you're in L.A. since you're
>making movies) Is Tom Hanks really THAT nice of a guy?

Yes, I'm in LA. All I hear about Tom Hanks is how great of a guy he is, so I'd have to say yes...although I don't know first hand.


>4. Are movies becoming a producer's medium?

They've been that way for some time. Well...I guess it's cyclical. The 70s brought us the director's medium (at least in America) but yeah, it's definitely always been producer driven.


>5. Now that you work in the movie biz, have movies lost their
>magic to you?

To some degree, yes. In others though, no...I can still get sucked in to an epic like King Kong or hell even a Robert Rodriguez film because he's so thrifty and innovative that it is still very much movie magic. It's hard to watch a film the same way I used to though.


>6. How important do you feel your film school training was?

I wouldn't have it any other way because aside from technical training, it tought me how to deal with people and the nonsensical egos that are so prevelant in the industry. Of course, now that I'm interning it would seem it woulda been better to hop right into all this out of high school and save myself 5 years, but I still had fun in school.


>7. The best and your favorite Bill Murray movie is...

Goddamn. Hmmm. Probably Ghostbusters and Rushmore.

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17x NBA Champions

>>1. What are your career goals?
>
>Geez, hard hitting right off the bat huh? Honestly I don't
>know...I mean sure everyone wants to write and direct, but
>realistically? I just want to learn the ins and outs of
>everything. There are SO many jobs that people don't know
>about (like I didn't know what a music video coordinator was
>until 2 months ago) that are fascinating and quite
>well-paying. My short term goal is to get hired somewhere in
>music videos/commercials and just go from there, but nearly
>everyone I talk to in the industry didn't intend on ending up
>where they now are, but they love it (mostly).

That sounds like a post in and of itself

>>2. What "classic film" makes you want to vomit?
>
>Hmmmm.
>
>It's A Wonderful Life, I guess.

Really? Wow, that's a pick. Just can't stand all that Christmas spirit huh? Oh and me? L'avventura.

>>3. (operating under the assumption you're in L.A. since
>you're
>>making movies) Is Tom Hanks really THAT nice of a guy?
>
>Yes, I'm in LA. All I hear about Tom Hanks is how great of a
>guy he is, so I'd have to say yes...although I don't know
>first hand.

Everybody I know in L.A. SWEARS he's the greatest man ever. I'm skeptical anybody can be that nice of a guy.

>>4. Are movies becoming a producer's medium?
>
>They've been that way for some time. Well...I guess it's
>cyclical. The 70s brought us the director's medium (at least
>in America) but yeah, it's definitely always been producer
>driven.

I suppose my question is based out of a fear that movies will turn into what television has turned into. How likely do you think this is?

>>7. The best and your favorite Bill Murray movie is...
>
>Goddamn. Hmmm. Probably Ghostbusters and Rushmore.

Good choice.


"Your current frequencies of understanding outweigh that which has been given for you to understand." Saul Williams

Everyone from Oakland is cool.

>Everybody I know in L.A. SWEARS he's the greatest man ever.
>I'm skeptical anybody can be that nice of a guy.

RED
http://arrena.blogspot.com

Six Degrees of Dante Terrell Smith.

Connect him with Soleil Moon Frye (Penelope 'Punky' Brewster)

Can you do it?

Let's see.

Soilei Moon Frye was on Punky Brewster with Cherie Johnson
Cherie Johnson was on Family Matters with Reginald Vel Johnson
Reginald Vel Johnson was in Die Hard with Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis was in 16 Blocks with Mos Def

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17x NBA Champions

You sir, are correct. Congrats on 10,000! Here's for another 10,000!

_
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4TztqYaemt0
http://preptimeposse.blogspot.com/

But they do ask for favorite movies/directors/music videos ALL the time. Never a list though, just a conversation.

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17x NBA Champions