Goldilocks at the IAWTV Awards

Here's a Mingling Media TV interview with Majek Pictures' Michael Koerbel & Anna Elizabeth James, writer-producer-directors of Goldilocks the mobile series, and me, editor of eight episodes, including episode 5, which was nominated for Best Editing at the IAWTV Awards. We had a grand time!

Atlas Shrugged Documentary

Over the last year, I've been working on a documentary about the novel Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I started off as an Assistant Editor, and eventually became an Associate Producer. Today, almost a year after I started, we are having our big premier at the ArcLight Hollywood! The film is also playing in over sixty theaters throughout the United States, and it's on the front page of Apple Trailers.


Ayn Rand & the Prophecy of Atlas Shrugged is directed by Chris Mortensen, who describes the film as "a biography of a book and an idea." We had some great interviews, including Albert S. Ruddy, producer of The Godfather & Million Dollar Baby. You can see an excerpt from his interview here:

This was a great project to be a part of. I read Atlas Shrugged when I was in high school, recommended to it by my biology teacher, Mr. Bramwell. The novel was breathtaking. I couldn't put it down. It's such a great mystery, such a great love story, and the ideas in it were challenging and engaging. I eventually read all of Ayn Rand's novels, and through her, discovered my favourite novelist, Victor Hugo, and my favourite playwright, Friedrich Schiller. I have three dream projects to adapt and direct one day. Hugo's The Man Who Laughs, Schiller's Don Carlos, and Ayn Rand's We the Living.

Unfortunately, Ayn Rand has become an icon for political campaigns, often used by people she would have disagreed with. Her ideas are constantly being misrepresented and mischaracterized. Recently, the founder of Lululemon Athletica, a yoga clothing company, put a quote from Atlas Shrugged on the company's shopping bags. "Who is John Galt?" To him, this represented the company's vision to "elevate the world from mediocrity to greatness." The public outcry, though, was astounding. People came out calling the quote "offensive," and readily admitting they had never read the novel!

I'm hoping this documentary helps present a more objective view of who Ayn Rand was, and what Atlas Shrugged is all about. We interviewed biographers, CEOs, colleagues, critics. The angle Chris Mortensen took was to look at the novel as a predictive work. There are sections of it that, as radio host Dennis Miller said, read like a modern day AP News story. But the novel was written in 1957!

How did Ayn Rand predict the financial crisis? It's a very interesting story. But the most interesting story is the basic plot of Atlas Shrugged: A mystery about the question "Who is John Galt?" And a drama about Dagny Taggart, whose greatest allies keep disappearing, one by one.

Here is a trailer for the documentary:

Goldilocks nomination for Best Editing at IAWTV

In other project news, I've been nominated for Best Editing at the first annual International Academy of Web Television! Watch the nominated episode of Goldilocks above.

The award ceremony is this Thursday, January 12th, at International CES. You can watch it live-streamed on the IAWTV YouTube page.

Congratulations to Majek Pictures on their continued success!

Goldilocks is a mobile series shot entirely on the iPhone. It's been featured in the New York Times and CNet as a "sign of things to come." In 2010, I edited eight of nine episodes of Goldilocks, the last of which was cut entirely on the iPad 2. That was an all-nighter! But it was fun, and it became the first professional video to be edited on the iPad 2.

It's one of the most exciting projects I've ever worked on. And I hear there are more exciting things to come from team Majek...

Two lectures on Art and Film

I have the honour of joining Luc Travers, of Touching the Art, for a double lecture on 'Storytelling in Art and Film' this Saturday, November 19th at 2PM in Aliso Viejo, California. 

Luc will be speaking on John William Waterhouse, and I will be speaking on 'The Cutting Room: How Filmmakers Shape Their Story," with reference to Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven.

Here are the descriptions of the two lectures:

2PM Introducing Waterhouse 

by Luc Travers

Waterhouse is beloved for his poignant and evocative visions.  However, he is a master "storyteller" as well.  In this lecture, we will discuss some of his masterpieces as well as some little-known works to gain a better understanding of how to "read" the "story" in an artwork.

3:30PM The Cutting Room: How Filmmakers Shape Their Story 

by Fawaz Al-Matrouk

Editing has been called "the final rewrite," when the various pieces of a movie are shaped into the story we see. Fawaz will discuss the filmmaker's art, using two very different versions of the same movie, Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven.

I first met Luc on his tour of the San Diego Museum of Art. He showed me a new and more enjoyable way of looking at art. I used to go straight for the information plaque, but Luc makes you really experience the art, and enjoy it without knowing anything about the history, artist, style or subject. 

I've been very excited by Luc's work in bringing this experience to people through his tours, and now his book. So it was doubly an honour when Luc asked me to give a lecture about storytelling in film. And I had the perfect subject in mind, something I've talk about informally, and have always wanted to give a presentation on. Kingdom of Heaven.

Ridley Scott's epic about the crusades was released theatrically, and later re-released with a director's cut. The differences between the two versions are astounding. Subtle changes make for two very different stories, with different characters, obstacles and themes. Comparing the two is a great way to understand a filmmaker's choices in building a story. 

For the lecture, we will watch the opening sequence from each version, and discuss the differences, and how they change our experience. 

If you're in town, we'd love to see you there. If you're not, you can see Luc's lecture by live or recorded webcast. And you can check out his book, Touching the Art: A New Approach to Art Appreciation.

Stay tuned for a report from Mizna's Twin Cities Arab Film Festival. 

SoCal Independent Film Festival

 

To Rest in Peace will return to Huntington Beach for the SoCal Independent Film Festival! The festival runs September 28th to October 2nd. Our screening is on Thursday, September 29th at 1:10PM.

I say 'return,' because we shot our last day of principle photograph on Huntington Beach. People often point to this scene as one they are sure was shot in Kuwait. The Towers of Kuwait appear in the background, as Malek is contemplating the water. But these were filmed separately by Ali Younis, and then composited by Michael Ashton. The scene itself was shot by Sean Conaty with our priniciple photography crew in Huntington Beach, California.

Incidentally, if you would like to see more of Kuwait, Ali Younis has some beautiful nature videos up on his YouTube channel. Check out Kuwait's Desert in Spring. And did you know that Kuwait has flamingos?

The beach scene is one of my personal favourites in To Rest in Peace. It is the moment when Malek, having struggled with his choice of whether or not to risk his life and bury the two dead men himself, has reached the end of the road. There is no where else to go, and he is forced to contemplate his decision in a communion with nature. Part of the inspiration was this sentiment by Lord Byron, from Childe Harold's Pilgrimmage:

     There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
     There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
     There is society, where none intrudes,
     By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
     I love not man the less, but Nature more, 

     From these our interviews, in which I steal 

     From all I may be, or have been before, 

     To mingle with the Universe, and feel 

     What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal.

Michael Benyaer gave a layered performance, underscored by Leah Curtis's music. This is one scene that stayed almost exactly the same throughout the editing process, from Zachary Dehm's first cut.

I look forward to revisiting Huntington Beach. It was the end of our production, but not of our festival run. More festival news is coming up soon, including our Canadian premiere. And we're off to the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival tomorrow! 

Big Bear Lake Int'l Film Festival

To Rest in Peace will be screening at the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival! The festival runs September 15-17. We are nominated for Best Student Short.

Congrats also to my USC classmate Nate Ruegger for his film, Another Life. We screened our films together at Paramount Studios, and we'll be screening together again in Big Bear Lake. Anecdotally, Nate was also the first person I had lunch with when I arrived at USC.

The festival is organized by Monika Skerbelis, who ran the American Pavilion screening in Cannes. She has a good eye for short films, so I look forward to seeing the selection here.

The location of this festival brings back fond memories. One of my favourite production experiences was filming up in Big Bear Lake for Into the Unknown. I co-edited the project with To Rest in Peace editor Ryan Frost, but the first weekend of production I doubled as the script supervisor. The entire crew stayed in one big cabin, which housed a singing moose head. We filmed during day light hours, and barbecued at night. Definitely one of the highlights of my time at USC. Even the first night up, when we couldn't find the cabin in the dark, and had to sleep in the car...

Some Assembly Required: A Collection of USC Thesis Films

Two short films I edited will be premiering this Sunday, May 15th, 6 P. M. at the Eileen Norris Theatre, University of Southern California.

Cupid, directed by John Dion, is a comedy about a disillusioned Cupid, who wants to quit his job and go home. He is tired of making people fall in love, only to see them fall apart. But before he gets a ticket back, he has to finish one final assignment.

Found, directed by Anthony Bushman, is a drama about an adopted young man, who discovers new information about his biological mother, and begins a search into his past and identity.

Both directors appear in the 'Production Metaphor' blog post, from August 2009. Cupid also appears in the Valentine's update from 2010.

They are showing with a group of six USC thesis films, including Matt MacDonald's GoldenBox, which was shot by the cinematographer for To Rest in Peace, Sean Conaty.

Here is the full list of films:

Children of the Air - Directed by Damian Horan

Found - Directed by Anthony Bushman

The Maiden and the Princess - Directed by Ali Scher

GoldenBox - Directed by Matt MacDonald

Mother's Milk (Sữa Mẹ) - Directed by Andy DeJohn

Cupid - Directed by John Dion

Awards at the Kuwait International Film Retreat

To Rest in Peace won three awards at the first annual Kuwait International Film Retreat! We placed second in editing and directing, and first in cinematography.

If you attended the screening, and missed Leah Curtis's award-winning song for the end credits due to the technical glitch, you can listen to it here:

Congrats to the other winners, Dawood Shuail, Meqdad Al-Kout, Marwa Marafie, and Jude Chehab. And, of course, Mousaed Khaled and Mansour Al-Mansour, who won special jury prizes for acting. There were also some great legends of Kuwaiti and Egyptian cinema who were honoured at the event. It was wonderful to see them in person.

Congrats also to Hasan Abdal for his excellent film War Zone. I've had the great pleasure to see several films by Hasan over the years. This one starts off as an action drama, but turns into an Abdal-esque comedy of the imagination. There is such a quality of childlike wonder to his vision, reminiscent of E. T., Hook and Indiana Jones. If his career fulfills its promise, I imagine some future Drew Casper will be lecturing on his oeuvre as the arab Steven Spielberg.

The picture above is of me with Ali Younis, the talented cinematographer for War Zone, who was indispensable for the Kuwait unit of To Rest in Peace.

Unfortunately, my friend Vachan Sharma's film Tokai was not screened, but you can see it on YouTube. The film was co-directed by Abdulrahman Alaskar, and Abeer Tebawi.

This was a great beginning for Kuwaiti cinema. Thanks to the visionaries who put it together. And a personal thanks to Sheikh Nasser Al-Sabah, Sheikha Al-Zain Al-Sabah, Yousef Al-Malik and Abdul Sattar Naji, who very generous with their hospitality and praise of the film. Thanks also to Abdulreda BenSalem and Tarek Jammal, who went above and beyond to organize the events.

I look forward to what the next year will bring!

Goldilocks wins!

In other-project news, the web series I edited, Goldilocks, just won "best film" at the first ever iPhone Film Festival!

Congrats to Anna Elizabeth James, Michael Koerbel, and the talented Team Goldilocks!

Here is the most recent episode, edited entirely on the iPad 2.

And here is the all-important Goldilocks and the Gummi Bears video I directed for their April 1st release. (Erratum: not-at-all-important).

Today is the last day of the Kuwait International Film Retreat, which has been delightful. I will post an update with pictures soon.

Goldilocks

One of the fun projects I've had recently is editing the web series Goldilocks, which is shot and distributed on the iPhone. The story is a Bourne Ultimatum or Alias sort of thriller, about a former spy, now mom, whose espionage life comes back to threaten her son.

This episode was cut on the flight over to Dubai for the festival. I had a little LaCie Rugged hard drive, and Avid Media Composer on my laptop. Put the tray table down, put the head phones on, and suddenly the Emirates A380 becomes an editing suite. One of the things I love about making films in the digital age.

The series is up for YouTube's Telly Awards. If you enjoyed watching it, you can help us win by voting here.

You can also check out the producers and directors of Goldilocks, Michael Koerbel and Anna Elizabeth James of Majek Pictures, in the New York Times, and at MacWorld Expo.

Trailer

Here is the new trailer for To Rest in Peace, edited by Zachary Dehm.

The blog has been quiet for the last little while. There was a funeral, some traveling, and a couple of other projects. But in the meantime, Josh and I have been busy submitting To Rest in Peace into festivals, and Zachary Dehm has cut this trailer. More updates to come.

Unsung Heroes of Production Design

To Rest in Peace is unofficially picture locked, awaiting a thumbs up from its faculty mentor, Amanda Pope. This is a good time to reflect on some of the great work that never made it into the final cut.

Films often have to cut out lines, scenes, or even entire characters. (Compare the director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven to the theatrical release, which is missing a key character in the story). Fortunately, To Rest in Peace has not lost any scenes or characters. But there's a lot of great production design that won't make it onto the screen.

My personal favourite is the 'emergency room' sign in the hospital scene, pictured above. The art department did an amazing job of transforming a drab Santa Clarita set, into a Kuwaiti hospital. At a test screening in Kuwait, several people in the audience were convinced that we filmed at a local hospital. Thanks to Katie Byron the production designer, Henry Alvarado the art director, Rebecca Eskreis the set dresser, and the art PAs Julianne Dome, Cynthia Fox, Monica Sender and Stephanie Wooten.

The scene ended up playing best in one continuous steadicam shot, beautifully operated by David Baldwin. But the shot never looks in that direction. So, dear 'emergency room' sign, we'll miss you.

There was a lot of great work by the art department that never made it into the final cut, or even into the dailies. But what it did was completely free us to shoot in any direction we needed. We were standing in the spaces of our imagined world, and every detail around us was true to the characters and the story.

Valentine's Update

One of the reasons thesis films take so long to make (at least three, but often four or five semesters) is that everyone involved is also working on multiple other projects. This is a great part of being at USC. Multiple projects feed energy into each other, and make each one better than it would have been. (Though there are, of course, exceptions).

I produced a thesis right before shooting To Rest in Peace, and another right after. Now I'm editing one for my friend John Dion. It's a comedy about a disillusioned Cupid, who wants to leave earth and go home. He's tired of causing people suffering by making them fall in love.

John was the 1st Assistant Director on To Rest in Peace, as described in the 'production metaphor' post. And Cupid is proving to be one of the projects that feeds energy into everything else I do, much like our previous director-editor collaboration, Into the Unknown.

To Rest in Peace is now just under the maximum 16 minutes, and close to picture lock! We'll be getting some final thoughts, and doing some final tweaks over the next week or two, and then locking picture and starting on visual effects and sound design.

There's always time for giant chess...

How can you resist a giant chessboard?

Sean and I stopped for a quick game of chess on Failaka. After a few moves, though, the novelty wore out, and the itch to go filming got too big. So, unfortunately, I can't report on a winner. (There was a moment when my king was in check, but we won't talk about that...)

The cut is coming along nicely. This week we'll be showing it to the project mentors for feedback. Once those notes are addressed, we'll be having a small test screening, before we lock. Updates to come.

Progress

Footage from Kuwait is being integrated into the cut of To Rest in Peace. I must say, I'm absolutely thrilled with it.

There's still work to be done on the cut. Once we picture lock, there's sound design, visual effects, music composing and, finally, the color correct and sound mix. But now that the footage is all there, we can see the finish line ahead!

Thanks to everyone who's kept up with the blog, and sent me comments. As of today, the blog will get a weekly update. This will include a progress report on the film, and maybe a little story about production or post-production.

The picture here is from the police station in Failaka. Sean Conaty (the DP) and Ali Younis (the 1st AC, and major producing help) stand under a blast radius on the wall. The building was riddled with bullets and debris from the first days of the invasion. It's haunting to stand there and think of what these marks meant for the people who fought there.

Until next week...

November

I've been bad.

I realize this blog has been left completely unattended. But it's time to wipe off the dust.

A lot has happened since my last update. There were a couple of set-backs, and a couple of successes.

To start with, the script for To Rest in Peace won the Silver Prize at the Page Screenwriting Awards. The feature version, News from Kuwait, made it to the semi-finals of Page, and is advancing in another competition through filmmakers.com

Editing got off to a good start, but then took a long hiatus. Unfortunately, Zach (the editor) was committed to another thesis that was expected to be finished by August, but kept on being extended. We took a three week hiatus from To Rest in Peace so he could picture lock the other thesis. Those three weeks turned into six weeks, before Zach recommended I find another editor. A week later, progress continued with my good friend Ryan Frost, who co-edited Into the Unknown with me two semesters ago.

Since then, we have gone through a number of cuts, screening it to faculty and industry mentors for notes. We are getting ready to screen it for a test audience soon.

The trip to Kuwait is now scheduled for December, after the semester is over. We should picture lock shortly afterwards, then move on to visual effects, and sound design.

Updates might be sparse for the next little while. This has been a busy, but wonderfully exciting semester. I am taking more than a full course load, TAing two classes on directing, interning on a passion project, and finishing up the first draft of a new feature, The First Apocalypse, based on a true story that has haunted me for years.

Until next time...

Production Metaphor

An appropriate metaphor: The director carried by the ADs.

On the right is John Dion, the 1st AD. We've worked together a number of times, in different roles. Last year, John directed a short film, Into the Unknown, which I edited with my friend Ryan Frost, and which was selected for the Palm Springs Film Festival this year.

On the left is Kaveh Taherian, 2nd AD. His first job as 2nd AD was on Into the Unknown, and he has been a good friend and colleague ever since. You can find his blog here.

In the middle is Isaiah Inderrieden, also 2nd AD. John randomly interviewed him for To Rest in Peace, which was a stroke of good fortune. He recently worked on another USC thesis film I produced.

You can also see the hand of Tony Bushman to the right, a good friend and fellow USC student, who was 2nd 2nd AD for several days. (I never did understand why the title is 2nd 2nd, not 3rd AD).

This team went far beyond their job description, carrying the production through some difficult challenges. The film would not have been possible without their support.

The picture is from our last day of production, after we wrapped.

The Value of Vacation Footage

Some of the transitions in To Rest in Peace are waiting for b-roll footage from Kuwait. In the meantime, we were planning to put up title cards, saying things like "neighbourhood passes by," so we can work out the timing. The 2nd unit trip won't be until we are almost picture locked in October.

Then I realized I had tons of video from my last trip to Kuwait. The driving bits came to almost an hour of usable footage! So for now, the film will intercut beautiful RED cinematography, with my miniDV vacation video. Properly blown up to HD, of course.

Editor's Cut

Monday was the grand unveiling of the editor's cut.

There's an old expression, that your film is never as bad as the first assembly. Something often happens between script and production, that leads to a near heart attack when a director first sits down to see the footage all cut together in script order. That's when the editor comes to the rescue with ideas on how to rearrange, reconceive, and rewrite scenes, so that, draft by draft, the film starts resembling the original spirit of the story again.

So I went to visit Zach's editing suite with our favourite Starbucks drinks, and braced myself for the experience.

Needless to say, Zach delivered a great first cut. So great, that I completely forgot my part in this film, and just enjoyed watching it. He disproved the old expression. We watched it again for notes, then had lunch to talk over the scenes.

The cut is just over 19 minutes, which is a perfect length for what will eventually become a 15 minute film. Editing will last for the next couple of months, as we refine the 'lean-forward moments', and shape the character arcs.

Post-Production Post

Back to blogging, after a couple of weeks off.

To Rest in Peace is now in the capable hands of its editor, Zach Dehm. We transcoded all the 4k RED footage to a more manageable HD resolution, and synched all the audio. Picture cutting is now under way. Once the editor's cut is ready, we'll start working together for long hours, shaping the story. (And thank you to our post-production supervisor, Dennis Castello, for getting the process started).

Zach and I have worked together several times, starting with an intermediate project that he edited and I produced. In USC lingo, it was a 546. We know all our classes by their number. 546 is the first class in which we take on specialized roles, instead of having to be cinematographer and editor together, or director and sound designer, etc. To Rest in Peace is a thesis, so it's a 581.

Expect more posting in the next couple of weeks. There will be updates on post-production, and stories about production. There's even a little behind-the-scenes video to come...