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But What I’d Really Like To Do Is Direct…
Rob Long has been MIA from the site this week, but for good reason. He’s been busy directing the season premiere of Sullivan & Son, which shot this evening. Somewhere, Erich Von Stroheim is smiling (thanks to S&S writer Tim Fall for the clip).
…and then he stomped on a beautiful segueway.
I didn’t say actors were cattle, I said they should be treated as cattle.
Years of training went into standing at a dais to speak “Action!”.
I need one of those Hollywood gigs asap.
“segue”
You’re supposed to step on Segways.
Love that! Thanks for posting, Blue Yeti. I hope that James puts the audio in his montage next week.
Sitcom director? Pfft. That’s child’s play.
Come to me when Rob directs his own student film with nothing but a couple of hundred bucks, a borrowed Canon Scoopic, some work lights from Home Depot, and 300 feet of black and white reversal film.
On that day, I’ll be impressed.
;-)
Herr Long ist nicht in das Haus! Neine, nein, nein nein! Das ist ganz Unkerfuffelt!
Next thing you know Peter will be busy fishing in the Scottish Highlands and get himself caught up in a local murder mystery.
No, really, where is he?
Mr. deMille… I am ready for my close up now.
Misthiocracy, I can’t believe you mentioned the Scoopic. Matter of fact, I can’t believe that another human being besides me remembers the Scoopic. Like the Beaulieu and the Bolex (at least fitted with electric drive) they were all at least marginally capable of sync sound and were used as news cameras, but were always in the shadow of the aristocratic European nobles, Arriflex and Eclair. Eclair was self-blimped; Arri needed soundproofing until the BL.
Remember the Japanese Doiflex, a cheap Arri imitation, back when Japan was still copying the West? Remember the single system Auricon, cheap US-made choice of TV news departments of the Ffities? (“Here they come!”)
Look up Erich von Stroheim in the film “The Man You Love to Hate”. Given to creating epic films at the time (Six hours in a theatre, mind you) this did not set well with movie house owners. More butts in the seats for shorter films made more money. In the end, the man hated Hollywood for it’s greed and lack of appreciation for art and walked away from directing. Movie and TV production and viewing is a “Slam bam thank you Ma’m” enterprise.
When I was at university (University of Windsor), the film department of the Communications Studies program (there was no stand-alone film school) used Scoopics.
I loved the U of W’s film classes, because you got to make your own films right off the bat, while other “real” film schools made you work on senior students’ films first before they’d let you sit in the director’s chair.
Today I have my own Beaulieu R16 as well as a Canon Scoopic. I’ve also had the opportunity to work with the Arri 16 BL a bit. Strangely, I’ve never used a Bolex.
Personally, my preference is the Canon. Since it was designed for news gathering, it’s so much more rugged than the Beaulieu or the Arri. Way easier to load film as well.
Sadly, both my Canon and my Beaulieu are non-functional at the moment. Whether to fix or sell is a ongoing internal debate I have with myself.
The Stroheim chapter from Hollywood Babylon is quite fun.
Somehow, he actually manages to come off a bit better than the rest of the nuts in that book.
The BL is still pretty loud. On a quiet set we’d put a blanket over the darn thing.
Of course, since the audio equipment we used was equally ancient and recorded a lot of hiss anyway, the blankets were probably unnecessary.
For sound, the Sound Scoopic had ’em beat cuz it recorded to a magnetic strip that was embedded right into the film, guaranteeing sync.
Sadly, nobody makes that kind of film stock these days, so a Sound Scoopic is really no better than a regular Scoopic. Actually, it’s worse, since it’s quite a bit heavier.
Single system sound could be transferred immediately to double system right at the lab, and after that point, editing and even A and B roll preparation was utterly normal. It was a semi”secret” of indie filmmakers who were poor, or cheap, or both…I speak with some authority here…
People thought we used Bolexes. Actually, we never did. Sure, your news cameras were rugged, Mist, but not as tough as our bulletproof Bell and Howell 16s. We regularly broke the (t00) delicate winding keys that looked like props from “Mr. Machine” and discovered that ordinary U.S. doorknobs fit the keyslot.
If you are at a Hollywood party standing next to a man who claims to be Marty Scorsese, ask him how to wind a Bell and Howell 70DR 16mm camera. If he does not answer “With a doorknob”, he’s an impostor and you should feel free to kick him in the (C-of-C violation).
Yes, I said right in the (C-of-C violation). Be confident. You can’t possibly be making a mistake.
(RICOCHET’s legal team confers with the esteemed brother member posting the advice)
Uh, never mind. Hey, Marty, how’re you doing?
I tweeted out the picture of Rob Von Longheim, only to see it favorited tonight by one of Rob’s writers and his star, Steve Byrnes. I guess everybody likes to make fun of the boss. Now if we could get Valerie Azlynn to chime in around here…
You have friends in low places.
EJ Hill
Now if we could get Valerie Azlynn to chime in around here…
That brings back a 50+ year old Reader’s Digest memory, during the then-notorious filming of “Cleopatra”. An earnest young pastor asks his congregation to pray for Elizabeth Taylor. A man speaks up: “Reverend, I pray for her every day, but I never get her”.
E.J. Hill has produced another work of sheerest genius. Come to think of it, Rob looks so–well, so right, so completely himself–that I’ve begun to wonder whether the hair we usually see on his head isn’t just an unusually convincing toupe.
EJ, Peter: That’s all real hair up there. Give it a tug if you want. But EJ’s lightbulb-head Photoshop does have a certain majesty. I’ll think about it.
Gary, Misthiocracy: It would break your heart to see the units we use now. Mostly on pedestals, all digital, and in a year or so they’ll be the size of still cameras. And we don’t shout “check the gate!” anymore. Because there are no gates.
Rob, Mist, I went to a taping of “The McLaughlin Group” about fifteen years ago and was amazed…first time I’d seen unattended cameras; It hadn’t occurred to me that the production drill would change so quickly. My mental image of the set was “My Favorite Year”, or “Quiz Show”, or “Good Night and Good Luck”; this was oddly like watching Barnes, Kondracke and Buchanan hanging out in a chilly warehouse for TV cameras.
Just a few BTW notes:
Buchanan was friendlier than I expected, and off camera he offered a few words in support of Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing”, an unexpected touch; there was no security at WRC and little if any formality pre-9/11. No bleachers for the audience; we just sat in folding chairs out of camera range. And, to me, the most funny and down to earth thing was seeing the childish joy on the famous faces of the distinguished panelists as (was perfectly obvious) their pay envelopes were handed out in mid-program break; I guess Father John liked to make sure they’d show up to collect. Rob, is that how you do it in Burbank?
Like I wrote earlier, directing a sitcom in that environment is child’s play compared to an impoverished film student in 1994.
;-)