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, I want to shoot some stuff for Nice Guys Finish Last, unfortunately The Plague might take one of our actors from us.  The main actor in the short got the flu.  Luckily there is some stuff we can shoot with Valerie that only requires her.  The greatest thing about owning all of my equipment is that I can pretty much shoot anything with a 3 person crew.  Usually, I actually only need a 2 man crew, but with this short film, I’m shooting with two cameras.  So, I need two camera operators and a boom mic operator.  Sean has become my unofficial boom mic operator.  He’s amazing at not moving and he has big burley boom mic operator arms.  It’s almost like having a wise cracking stand that can move if needed.  What can I say?  He’s good at what he does.  In a perfect world, I would have a five person crew.  Two camera operators, a boom mic operator, a lighting person, and someone that’s telling the camera operators where to go and what to do.  I like to focus on the actors.  Camera work can be fun, but I absolutely hate being a camera operator and director at the same time.  Which I can do, but it sucks.  Usually, I end up with sub par stuff when I do that.  I kind of suck as a camera operator.  I usually end up trying to split my attention between directing and shooting and it never really works.

So, I had planned to shoot a scene in a restaurant this Sunday, but it turns out the restaurant is not available to us this Sunday due to circumstances beyond my control.  So, I had planned to shoot some other scenes this Sunday.  But now, the restaurant scene is somehow back on.  This is kind of standard procedure.  Not much you can do about it, shit always goes wrong.  Sometimes it gets fixed and sometimes it doesn’t.  So, why the hell do I do this again?  I like pain, disappointment, and stress.  That’s why.
In other news, I wrote an E-Mail yesterday that I’m pretty proud of.  After all of the mishaps, Chris sent me an E-Mail saying:
“Fuck!  The devil does not want us to make this short film!”
My response:
“The devil isn’t in any scenes, so fuck him.”
I’m heading over to New York Film Academy today to meet with someone about the masters program.  I took a 12 week course there and loved it.  Comparing the stuff I did before film school to the stuff I did after film school is like comparing a Lamborghini to a Ford Focus.  Maybe school is the answer, maybe it isn’t.  If I have the opportunity to go though, I think I should.  Lots of great directors went to film school.  Steven fucking Spielberg for example.  Yes, the “fucking” was totally necessary in that instance.  Kevin Smith went to film school for like 1 semester up in Vancouver and then dropped out.  Looking at it, it kind of goes both ways.  Some great directors never went to film school, others have.  Either way, I’m excited about visiting NYFA today.  I really like the idea of getting a masters and film making is my passion.  So I suppose it makes sense.  All I know, is that if I get a masters, everyone is calling me “Doctor.”  Does that make sense?  Hell no.  But whatever.