Occupational Overuse Syndrome...

 Often, as a film-maker or potential film-maker, it's easy to find something you love to add during filming or in post. And there is a long list of directors who just can't drop certain techniques or post effect and sometimes the gimmick works, but other times it just starts to get over crowded and will bog a film down.

HAND HELD

  The frenetic hand held camera action scene techniques of Paul Greengrass were initially inspirational and at times perfectly suited to a scene, but as it progressed from film to film it went from a technique to a motion sickness inducing on screen blur. The worst of his films for this was clearly The Bourne Supremacy.
  In the trailer below (from around 25 seconds), it is 'blink and you miss them' fast cuts and hand held freneticism which was NOT just limited to the Trailer. Thankfully he toned this down in the following sequel, but Supremacy is clearly the weak link in the series because of the excessive use, it was even reported than some people left screenings to inform staff the film was out of focus!!

Bourne Series

LENS FLARE

  The Lens flare is a technique often used, and abused by JJ Abrams, in some films it is to good effect, but often a little excessive. Although entirely unnecessary in say Mission Impossible III, the effect was over used in his Star Trek films (especially the sequel), the screenshot below is possibly one of the least offensive, but clearly shows the addition of manually added and manipulated lens flare.

BACKGROUND

  Although, I find this inoffensive and actually generates a need for multiple viewings of a film, scene background is often overlooked. Where Stanley Kubrick was renowned for his excessively long shoots in search of perfection, Terry Gilliam is equally renowned for excessive takes due to the movement in the background of a scene. Twelve Monkeys is a perfect example of this overt attention to detail and garnered the title for this perfectionism as "The Hamster Factor". The term came about when Gilliam took an entire day to shoot a very basic scene, because the hamster (in silhouette) in the background didn't move during the takes. I can easily forgive this of Gilliam because his films are so beautifully riddled with detail, but for budding future film makers, these are delays that just can't be allowed.

  These are just some of the traits and hang ups that can bog down a production, post production process or just have a detrimental result on the end product. I myself have a nasty habit of overusing Aged Film effects and the Bad TV effect in FCP, even to the point of manually creating these effects or micro-managing effect changes in the timeline, believe it or not the video below is the tamed down version. 

  There are millions of far more talented Directors and DOP's (than me), but noticing these traits within yourself can aid in trying something new or a little different instead of going back to what quickly becomes "old faithful". 

PS: Some may note the lack of "Bayhem", but there are just far too many of his traits to discuss AND his films really aren't that substantial from a pure filmic perspective, they are for lack of better words, Box Office Popcorn films. Let's face it, they aren't going to win any Oscars

Robin Williams RIP - The Fisher King

 The world has lost another talent, details aren't clear (at the moment), but it would seem Robin Williams has died. I don't want to fixate on his death as I'm sure there are plenty of news sites and blogs doing that.

Details (if you need or want them) can be found on the BBC website

 But to celebrate Robin Williams, his films were hit and miss at times, but he was a major talent for many decades, from stand up comedy and comedy TV to film roles and his often overlooked dramatic roles he leaves us with an impressive resume to watch and re-watch.

My personal favourite, from his vast career, would have to be the classic 1991 Terry Gilliam film The Fisher King.

 The Fisher King is a beautiful film of redemption and unlikely friendship. With so many moments of levity intertwined with a sadness and stark realism which made Robin Williams such an unlikely choice for the role of Parry, but Gilliam saw in him the ability and the talent, it is a perfect ode to William's abilities as an actor. On screen moments shared by both Bridge's heavily flawed character Jack and Williams'  will have you laughing one minute and fighting back tears the next.

RIP Robin Williams

1951 - 2014

If the mountain won't come to Muhammad...

  I was offered a job a few weeks ago, which I accepted... You'd think I'd be happy about that, but sadly I'm still waiting for my contract to be written up and I can't help but feel somewhat impatient at how long it's taking. I was happily sending out copies of my show reel and CV when I get this job offer and have since ceased trying to get my name and work across the desks of Auckland production, film and television community. I know that I'm trying to run a somewhat small production company, but I still need to pay bills and with work presently coming in at a slow pace (the last of which can/could be seen on Alt TV) I'd like to have other options open and available to me so at least I can fund personal projects... The result of my impatience culminated in a brainstorm over the last few days: A short donated budget film (without Government assistance).

  Being an insomniac my mind wanders endlessly to potential ideas, stories and scripts most of which never come to fruition or are under slow development (although one makes me think I should get in contact with an old friend Steve). My current script development, I think and hope can be done on a very small shoestring budget provided I can enlist help from friends, family and the community at large - eg: would the police hold up a street for 5 minutes without having to trace miles of red tape and bureaucracy? Chances are they probably wouldn't which only leaves me the option of trying to accomplish a clandestine guerrilla style production... Which has the potential to sound somewhat like a romantic project of passion not unlike Terry Gilliam and his vision for Don Quixote (See Lost in La Mancha  - but without the budget, legal or location issues) or an abortion of Z-Grade quality.

  The script is in development and I can honestly say will hopefully be finished (within a month), from that point I have to find funding no matter how small and then try and create a film without being thrown into prison and or various court appearance for public nuisance and or disturbance charges. Write, Bankroll, Cast and Action... We're in the middle of an economic slump, does this mean I can't get free actors?