John Q. Phats Entertainment

So, I just got done editing another version of a scene in Red Hood.  Usually what I do, is just go through, and put the scene together.  While I’m going through it, I check for continuity and basic stuff.  I basically make sure it makes sense and the I make some stylistic adjustments along the way.  Then I watch it again and make adjustments where I want things changed.  Well, the first step of just putting it together for this scene took me roughly 3 hours.  Which is pretty standard.  But I promised myself that after I was done just putting it together, I was going to take a break.  I’ve been finding recently, that if I just work on it straight through, it doesn’t really work too well.  Upon first impression, do I like this cut or the old cut better?  I don’t know yet.  There are certain aspects of this cut that I like much better.  It will probably end up being a mash up of both of them.
Kristen had a party last night, which was a good time.  I saw a lot of friends that are actors, that I haven’t talked to in awhile.  It would be good to do something with an LA crew.  It would be a change of pace and lets face it, to break in to this industry, everyone could use all the help they can get.

So, apparently Gabe is working out something amazing for the title effects of Red Hood.  I’m not sure what yet, but all I know is that I need to get some shots of black blood on a white background for him this weekend.  Sometimes, I don’t really understand what I’m doing, but I just do it.  After showing my most recent Red Hood cut to a friend, she made a slight suggestion.  I’m content with this cut, in fact I kind of like this cut, but she brought up a good point.  So I’m going to make 3 different cuts of the scene and let Gabe pick one and then go from there.  I know me.  I’ll fall in love with all three of them and then if one of them isn’t as good as the other two I’ll start thinking about how I can make it better.  There’s still a lot of work to be done on it, but it’s getting there.
Soon Censored will be up on the site.  Censored is the short film that will not die.  Well, it’s partially my fault.  It’s sort of like the ex girlfriend that calls you at 3AM on a Thursday to “talk” every once in awhile.  The problem is, I think it’s an amazing concept.  As I get better at film making, I want to make it better.  I’ve shot it twice and edited this most recent one twice.  Not like, I had two cuts, no.  Like, I said “fuck it”, deleted everything, and started over.  It’s a long story, but basically, the files got all messed up and misplaced.  One day I spent like 2 hours trying to fix it and couldn’t.  So that was that.  So, will I shoot censored a third time?  Probably, not, but lets just say that I sleep with my phone right next to my bed every night.    
Caine said something that was God damned brilliant today.  We were talking about dating women you work with and I said my usual line of “don’t shit where you eat.”  Caine responded with “I know, but I’m really hungry.”  It was his delivery that made it.  He just had this “I’m going to rape you” glare in his eyes when he said it.  I could write an entire movie on that response alone.  Hell, I could probably squeeze 3-4 sequels out of it.  I saw a porno title the other day called Butt Motor 8.  I’m not really sure what could be so special about a butt motor, but apparently it takes 8 movies to figure that out.

So, I’m in the home stretch of Nice Guys Finish Last.  We shot some good stuff last night.  I’m starting to get the feeling that a lot of actors and actresses tone things down a bit too low.  Whenever I’ve told actors to go a bit over the top, I get some really good stuff out of it.  Of course, I could just be lucky.  I think I have a pretty good system worked out.  I try to do everything by the script exactly.  When I feel like the actor is comfortable with the dialogue, I make slight adjustments in tone here and there.  Then, if I feel like I need to, I make adjustments in the dialogue.  When I feel like I have what I want, I tell the actor for the last take to go crazy and to do whatever they want.  It’s worked for me so far.
My next project is going to be pretty big and I’m going to need to shoot it in HD.  Does anyone want to let me borrow $5000 for an HD camera?  By “let me borrow” I mean, “let me steal.”  Because, I probably wont be paying you back.  I think it’s a sound investment though.  If I ever get famous you can tell everyone
“Fuck that guy, he stole $5000 from me!” 
Think about it.  If I become the next David Fincher, it would be the same as if someone told you today that David Fincher stole $5000 from them.  It’s a conversation starter.
“Hi, how’s it going?  Did you know that David Fincher stole $5000 from me once?”
I think $5000 for a conversation starter is pretty cheap.  Even if I don’t become famous, you could say something like
“Some asshole who thought he was going to be the next David Fincher stole $5000 from me.  What an asshole that guy was.  Stupid asshole.”
Anyway, give me money. 
In other news, the spammers hit me pretty hard last night.  14 comments in one night.  That’s a new record.  So, if anyone wants cheap Viagra or V1agra, whichever you prefer, I got the hook ups.

So, Gabe got his hands on the first scene of Red Hood tonight.  He called me to tell me “This looks really good.”  Which was great to hear.  Like I said, I’ve been looking at it for so long, it’s kind of lost all meaning.  He said the effect worked out great and that even the shitty music that I picked out worked out great. 

Speaking of music, we got in to a discussion about the music just yesterday and I realized that I’m not very good with music.  So, all day today at work, I was listening to different soundtracks.  I never realized it before, but soundtrack music kicks ass.  Who could forget the Dropkick Murpheys song in The Departed? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCt6_wPzGA0)  When all the cars are rolling speeding along, without a doubt the song makes that scene.  Also, in that movie, a nice one by Howard Shore, who as of today in my eyes is a fucking genius. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JAHi9Eu4rA)  The Matrix had some bad ass soundtrack music as well.  Like this one from the lobby shootout in the first movie. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71OI6BYV3CY)  Some other notable ones to check out are Braveheart, Lord of the Rings, The Pirates of the Caribbean, & Gladiator.  I havn’t even begun to scratch the surface, I’m sure, but it’s all giving a very good idea of what I want for Red Hood.  I’m going to listen to some horror soundtracks tomorrow.

Remember in my last post when I said I was happy with the Red Hood edit?  Yeah, not so much anymore.  Somehow, someway, through some sort of crazy space time lapse I went from being almost done, to just starting.  It was sort of a domino effect actually.  I saw one thing that I wanted to change, then another, then two more, then well, what the hell?  Might as well change the entire theme right?  Then, o shit, I don’t like that shot, I want to do it over.  So, now, I’m seriously contemplating getting a small crew together for one shot.  Fact is, if I’m not happy with it, I’m not happy with it.  And whenever I watch it, I’ll cringe at that one little thing that’s off in my mind.  I also really wanted this one to be a step above all of the other stuff I’ve done.  So, in my eyes, it’s worth it.  Fuck me….I think I just talked myself in to it.

So, tonight in my eyes was a big night.  I’ll tell you why.  Editing a short film involves me watching it at least 100 times and making corrections based off of what I like or don’t like.  Around the 100th time, it becomes a bit abstract just because I’ve watched it so much.  Sort of like if you say 1 word a lot of times in a row.  It just becomes moving colors and sounds.  So, editing it this morning when I started to hit that point, a friend of mine came over and got a fresh set of eyes on it.  I didn’t really watch the short film, I just watched her reaction.  I seem to have gotten the reaction that I wanted.  So I went out for a bit and when I came back I watched it again.  For the first time in editing, I thought to myself “I really like this.”  On top of that, Casey, the sound guy told me about how he would love to do some audio work on it.  His enthusiasm really put a smile on my face.  I can see Gabe getting a bit antsy to mess with the effects.  It seems like every day he asks me “Are you done editing it yet?”  I’m absolutely thrilled that so many people are as excited about this project as I am.  I can’t wait to show everyone the final product.
On another note.  I may have gotten a Producer for my next short film titled “Do Nice Guys Finish Last?”  She read the script and said she thought it was hysterical and seems very excited about it.  I mean a real producer too.  Not just a friend who’s name I put in the credits to create a false sense of competence on my part.  Mostly it’s been like “Hey you, you want to be producer?”  One of the locations is a restaurant.  Not an easy thing to shoot in if you have a budget of, you know, nothing.  But, I’ve made shit like this work before and I’ll find a way to make it work again.  Bottom line is I’ll either find a restaurant that will be nice enough to let me shoot for free, or I’ll raise enough money to pay a restaurant to be able to shoot there.