Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Memory Gland: A couple Thanksgivings.

I started my job around six years ago.  I was glad to have it, but I thought I would be doing bigger and better things by now.  I'm still here, which is kind of sad, although I still have a job, which is pretty good.

I was pretty lucky to even get a steady gig in the first place.  I happened to be friends with this guy Ross Asia, who was the roommate of the guy who was leaving the position, who I will call Michael J. Cox.  Ross hadn't even seen any of my work but he recommended me highly to Michael. 

Ross and I were actually more of acquaintances than friends.  On Thanksgiving '98, my friend Rose Asia (no relations, especially since these are fake names) went to visit Ross at his dorm, and she asked me to tag along.  It was just a quick visit, but after that, Ross and I would say hello and sometimes exchange a few words when we would see each other around campus.

So I guess it's good to be nice to everybody because seven years later, that association led me to steady employment.  Michael even said he remembered me, even though we only saw each other that one time.  I don't recall this at all, but he had a camcorder and he's got me on video on that visit.  I'll have to ask him for a copy of it.

Before my job interview, I told Ross that I only knew how to edit on Avid.  He said to tell that boss that I've worked on Final Cut a lot anyway.  So I did.  After my interview, the boss asked me to spend some time with Michael so that he could give his opinion of me.  It was pretty much just a formality with him, and he told the boss he liked the fact that I was asking questions about the job, how to handle clients etc.  The whole time though, I was paying attention to what Michael was doing because I had little idea how Final Cut worked.

I then spent the next few days at the school's editing suites learning the program.  The funny thing was, my professor saw me there one day and approached me.  He said that one of the tutors had to cancel, so he asked if I could teach Final Cut to some students for a couple of sessions.  I'm not sure why, but I said yes.  I taught them all I knew at the time, which was basically setting up your scratch disk and capturing, and I told them that their regular tutor would teach them the rest.

I was pretty much learning on the job when I started in October 2005, but what really impressed my boss was my attitude.  I was good with handling clients and keeping my composure with some of the more difficult ones.  With all my complaints about his managing style and commitment, I'm very grateful that my boss gave me a chance.

In November, a client came in and asked for a sizzle reel.  I had never done one before, not even anything like it in college.  This was right before Thanksgiving, and with the break coming up, I decided to take advantage of the days off and learn how to do it.

So my girlfriend and I decided to make a day of it.  We planned on going to the parade in the morning, but we woke up late.  We saw a few balloons near the end of the route at Madison Square Garden.  We picked up some chili from the Wendy's in front of the Empire State Building and headed to my job at 38th Street.

And that's how we spent Thanksgiving '05.  I was learning PhotoShop and how to incorporate layers in Final Cut, and my girlfriend was on another computer on MySpace.  (Remember MySpace?).  Just the two of us at my new job, and it turned out there wasn't any heat in the building.  It was a cold Thanksgiving that year, probably because we decided to come out to the parade.  The other time we went in 2009, it was freezing also.  All the other years, like this year, were nice and mild when we decided to stay home.

Actually, we weren't always alone there.  Michael J. Cox stopped by to work on a freelance project, but I'll save that story for another day.

My girlfriend and I came back that Friday with a small space heater.  I don't remember if we came back on the Saturday and Sunday.  But that's how we spent that Thanksgiving day, with me trying to get better at my job and my future wife sitting by my side.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Queue Tips: Herbie Verstenck

There are many things I would have done differently with "The Beaver", directed by Jodie Foster, who should probably just stick to acting.  Firstly, instead of calling him Walter Black, I would have named Mel Gibson's character as Herbie Verstenck.  Also, I wouldn't have picked the director of ambitious projects like "The Passion of the Christ" and "Apocalypto" for fear of being undermined.  However, Forster seems to really like him, based on how she talks about him in the audio commentary.

Secondly, the film starts with Walter being deeply depressed.  He's got a great job and a family, but he's not happy.  So why should I care if the guy is sad?  And why should the filmmakers bother explaining that minor detail?  I don't see any reason why I should root for the character at all, and I don't feel sorry for him.  I was glad when he gets kicked out by his wife Meredith, played by Foster.

There were so many missed opportunities with the introduction of the Beaver.  When Walter finds him in the dumpster, he's just laying there in plain sight.  And then Walter just picks it up.  Why?  I guess, just because.  And he does so right after throwing away some of his belongings, which apparently, had been important enough that they were the things he chose to take when his wife kicked him out.

When the Beaver starts talking, Foster makes sure the audience knows right away that it is Walter moving its mouth and providing the voice.  I think it would have been better to have some ambiguity at first, especially when the film begins with narration by the Beaver's voice.  They could have tried a quirky approach with the puppet seemingly coming to life before revealing that it's Walter controlling it.  Better yet, since this happens after a television falls on his head after a failed suicide attempt, just have Walter conversing with himself in different voices, and then cut to a wider shot where you see him animating the puppet.

When Meredith comes home to find Walter with their young son Henry, they could have showed the audience how great a father Walter could be as the two of them play with and talk to the Beaver.  As his wife, Meredith may be concerned that Walter has returned, but we see her being happy for their son.  And then it becomes apparent her husband is using the Beaver for more than just play, which confirms to her that he really is nuts.

Ditto for when their teenage son Porter comes home.

As for Porter, he gets approached by the popular, beautiful and smart Norah to write her graduation speech for her.  Now, she is a 4.0 student, yet she can't muster enough effort come up with something on her own.  Gee, I wonder if the two of them will end up together in the end.  Maybe she only wanted an excuse to get to know him.  Even then, it still seems ludicrous that she wouldn't come up with something else to say to him other than the fact that he's just really good at it.

It would have been more interesting if she had just been so busy with so many other things that she just didn't want to bother with the speech.  Maybe she didn't seek him out and hand him a note to rendezvous, but instead casually asked him if he would be interested.  And maybe he bugs her because he needs to get to know her to ghost write properly.  Instead, it's just like, "Hey, write my paper."  "Okay.  But I need to get to know you."  "Okay.  Come to my house and I'll reveal all my family secrets even though that probably won't be pertinent to a graduation speech that will be delivered in front of everybody at the high school."  "Okay."

And then one day Walter comes to work with a talking beaver puppet.  And everybody there is dumbfounded, confused.  Even though it is a freaking toy company.  And Walter is the boss.  So the boss of a toy company comes in with a talking beaver puppet, and the underlings are judgemental instead of curious, interested, amused.

Walter hands out cards to everyone explaining why he talks to his beaver.  So the guy who has just tried to kill himself apparently cares enough about other people's opinion that the types up index cards to explain his behavior.

So much about this film seems to rely on the simple premise of a guy talking to his beaver.  There's not much else apart from that.  The Beaver itself doesn't exactly have a lot of personality either.  It speaks in cockney, for some reason.  But accent alone is not character.

Beavers are mammals who surround themselves in water for safety.  They constantly build and rebuild their homes.  They seem to always be working.  They are monogamous.  "Beaver" is also slang for vagina, as I'm sure you already know.  A vagina is a pussy, which is a derogatory term for a coward. 
For a story about a man struggling with his homelife and his career, the filmmakers failed to make a lot of these connections.

Producer Steve Golin was involved with "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Being John Malkovich".  I find that very interesting because I wonder what Michel Gondry or Spike Jonze could have done with this story, not that it was a great screenplay to begin with.  Apparently, Steve Carrell and Jim Carrey were considered for the role of Walter, but I don't know if that would have made a big difference if it had been either of them instead of Gibson.  According to Wikipedia:

The film's director Foster opined that the film did not do well with American audiences because it was a comedy-drama and “And very often Americans are not comfortable with (that).”
I would say that the film did not do well because it was intended to be a comedy-drama and Jodie Foster is not exactly comfortable with that, despite what she might think.  When I think of comedy, Jodie Foster is not the first name that comes to mind.  She mentions in the commentary that there was an earlier draft of the script which was of a funnier tone, but they cut out some parts of it.  Time and again, she keeps mentioning editing out some of the more comic elements.  It's amazing how one can lose focus.  They probably kept chipping away and chipping away at a screenplay they initially loved until it became what it is.

There are many who would hear the term "beaver" and immediately chuckle and laugh, but the film "The Beaver" is really not very funny.

I don't recommend putting this on your queue if you are looking for laughs.  Instead, watch "Unhappily Ever After", a sit-com about a nutty dad who lives with a talking bunny.  It's not available on Netflix (another reason to unsubscribe), but you can probably find episodes on YouTube.  Also, Nikki Cox is in it.

In conclusion, forget "The Beaver" and get some Cox.


Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Commuter Illiterate: Premature evacuation.

I generally like it when passengers get off the train.  It leaves more space for the rest of the riders.  It is especially beneficial when the alighting patron happens to be seated.  It gives another person a chance to get off their feet.

What I don't like is when, halfway through to the next station, a passenger decides that it is now the proper time for them to arise.  So when you have a packed train car, the standing patrons end up with even less room because someone is too impatient to wait until the train actually arrives before standing up.  So you end up with uncomfortable people put in even more awkward position, and all the while there is an empty seat right in front of them.

Sometimes the passengers get to witness a funny little dance as one of the standees make their way to the empty seat as the other arises.  Or sometimes two will approach at the same time, and either one is too quick for the other, or one will yield realizing the other wanted it as well.  Sometimes no one will take it and after a moment, someone will look around to the left, then to the right, and if the coast is apparently clear, take the seat.

But why do people get up so quickly sometimes?  It could be paranoia, some kind of fear that the train doors will open and close before they can exit.  I've never actually seen that happen though.  And most instances of premature evacuation that I witness occur during rush hour, a time when most of the riders are daily commuters, so most of them must know that there should be enough time for you to get out.

The best guess as to the reason would really be impatience.  I see this at the end of the line, at 33rd Street in the morning or at Journal Square in the afternoon.  It's a pretty good assumption that everyone will be let out, yet by the time the train approaches the station, almost everybody is on their feet and crowding around the doors.

Impatience.  It's the same reason why people can't wait to let other people off before entering the car.  Then they go for a mad dash to the empty seats.  And then halfway to their stations, they just end up abandoning their seats anyway.