Commuter Illiterate: See you later, escalator.

Many times have I stood on an escalator and wanted to shout out loud, "What is this, an amusement ride?" Some people seem to think so.  Well, I'm sorry but that is not how we view this device around these parts.

New Yorkers are busy people.  "When in Rome," as they say, "you do as the Romans do."  In New York and its surrounding areas, you do not stand on the escalator.  Not when there is a swarm of commuters behind you.  Not if you are an able-bodied person.  Not if I just saw you run towards the escalator and shove yourself in front of everybody.  Generally, we'll tolerate it if you're obviously elderly or physically challenged, but we would like to remind you that they do have elevators at the station.

It seems silly, I know.  The escalator is already moving.  Why expend energy when the machine already does the work for you?  How much time can you really save by walking on an escalator?  Well, basically, the faster we get through there, the farther away we can be from people like you who need to ask those kinds of questions.

Now if you happen to come upon a moving stairway wide enough to accommodate two lines of people, notice that those who chose to stand, do so on the right side.  They wisely keep the left side clear for those who prefer to keep moving.  If you happen to be one of these people standing on the left side, remember the old saying, "Lead, follow or get out of the way".

When you finally get to the top or bottom of the escalator, please do not stop.  You may not know where you're going, or you may simply want to take a breath since the narrow confines of the moving stairway can be claustrophobic, whatever the reason may be, please move along.  You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.  There happens to be a mass of commuters being herded towards you by the conveyor from which you have just alighted.  They have no choice but to head towards the space you are currently occupying.  Please choose to wisely step aside if you feel disoriented.

If you can't follow these simple suggestions, you may have to stay home during rush hour or move to a different city.  Otherwise, you'll have to endure loud sighs and eye rolls as you block our path to or from work.  Even worse, we may even blog about you.  So there.

Queue Tips: It's not anything.

I recommended "Black Swan" yesterday.  It's not out on DVD yet, so you can't have it on your Netflix queue apart from the Saved section.  But you can stand in an actual theatre queue and get your tickets to it.  Interestingly, it looks like Darren Aronofsky's next movie will be about Wolverine the superhero, starring Hugh Jackman.

I've never been a die-hard X-Men fan or anything, but I've always found them interesting.  I have noticed though that everytime I've read a comic or watched a cartoon, there always seems to be a different storyline.  So I don't really know what the original plot should be.  I know many of my friends were complaining about that with "X-Men Origins: Wolverine".  As for me, I had no expectations or predispositions, and I was able to just sit back and go along with the ride.

I actually found the story interesting.  I've enjoyed the other X-Men movies as well, and of course, I recommend this one.  Hugh Jackman as the title character didn't disappoint.

He was also in "Australia" with Nicole Kidman.  That was disappointing.  First of all, the title is too bold and broad for what turned out to be a simple action movie, especially if you can tweak a few elements and set it anywhere else.  There were scenes involving half-caste kids which seemed like cheap imitations of "Rabbit-Proof Fence", but maybe that's just me.  They tried to incorporate World War II in the story, and it was about as historical as "Pearl Harbor" was.

Speaking of history, WTF happened to The History Channel?  Where's all the education stuff that you would normally expect?  History, as I understand it, is a written record of the past.  "How The Earth was Made" is actually a great show, I think, but it's not strictly history, is it?  It's a bit of a stretch that I can sort of accept, but when they show stuff like dinosaurs walking around eating, hunting, fighting, that's a bit too much for me.  That's considered prehistory, I believe, before written records existed.

And now they have "Pawn Stars", "Ice Road Truckers" and many other reality-type shows.  According to their slogan, they produce these shows on their channel because history is made everyday.  Wow!  By that standard, so much history is made everyday that they are being made on every other channel as well.

It's a free country, I suppose.  But what really irritates me about this, is that this channel probably survived through the years because there were many history buffs out there who supported it.  This is no way to thank them, I think.  At the end of the day, it's all about the bottom line.

While I'm at it, I'd also like to mention MTV, formerly known as Music Television.  This channel who became so popular because of the music videos they showed, no longer shows music videos.  But now you can check out MTV2, MTVU, and other offshoot channels if you want music videos.  That is, if they show them there anymore or at all.  Likewise, The History Channel has many other permutations out there.

As for The Animal Planet, they used to have all these nature shows like "Wild Kingdom" and "Meerkat Manor".  Now it's just full of reality shows about people and their pets.  Who wants to see that?  I can see cats messing up our trash cans or dogs pooping on the sidewalk when I step outside.

One other channel I'd like to mention is TruTV.  Their tagline: It's not reality, it's actuality.  What's the difference?  I don't know.  I do know their shows aren't actually real.  A while ago, they had a marathon of this show about a tow truck company, and my wife and I actually found it interesting.  After a handful of episodes, we started to notice a pattern that everybody was always irrational and for people who had been in the business for a long time, they certainly didn't seem like they knew how to handle irate customers.  Once they had a man pretending to be handicapped, and they find out that he wasn't when he decides to stand up and fight them.  Once they were towing a very expensive sports car and of all the things that could happen, they get into an accident and total it.

I got Fios not too long ago.  I like it.  It's already cheaper than what I was getting with cable, and I'm already getting so many more channels.  But it's really frustrating because I still can't find anything to watch.

Queue Tips: Black Swan

Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan" is kind of like "The Wrestler" with dancers.  (I wonder if I'm the first one to say that.)  I knew Natalie Portman was in it.  I wasn't aware of the rest of the cast or the story.  And I definitely didn't expect some of the scenes that were in it.  They were pleasant surprises.  Very pleasant.  So yes, I recommend it, and I won't say much more.

One movie that I would really love to watch while it's still in theatres is "True Grit".  I generally get excited about Coen brothers films and want to see them right away.  If I can, I would love to see this one on the big screen.  If I don't get to, however, I don't think I would really mind so much this time.  I've already seen the earlier film with John Wayne, so I know the story.  Now this new version might be different, especially if Joel and Ethan stick to the book.

I would like to see their take on it since it's already out.  Otherwise, I don't generally like remakes, even for them.  I haven't seen the original versions of "Intolerable Cruelty" and "The Ladykillers".  Both were okay, for the Coen brothers.  I really should check out the earlier films so I can make up my mind whether they needed to be remade.

Then there's "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader".  I would like to see this one as well if I had the time and money (for popcorn and such).  I liked the two previous "The Chronicles of Narnia" films, but they were both directed by Andrew Adamson, while this third one is directed by Michael Apted.  I hope it won't be a disappointment.  I can probably wait for the DVD though.

Speaking of DVDs, apparently, "Last Day of Summer" is not the sequel to "(500) Days of Summer".  As I had mentioned in previous posts, I had my Netflix account canceled, and so I am now at the mercy of my friends who still subscribe to it.  One was kind enough to lend me this DVD.  I had no idea what i was watching.  It's about this guy who has had it with his job and decides to do something about it.  Don't rush to put it on your queue, but if it somehow ends up being mailed to you, I don't think you'll hate it either.  However, I don't know if I was only tolerating this because I didn't have to rent it myself.

By the way, I watched "Inception" again recently.  Or did I dream it?  (Okay, that's an old joke by now, but whatever).  I just wanted to mention how much I love that slow motion of the van falling off the bridge in the end.

Also, I love the fact that the twirly thingy that Cobb keeps is called a totem and not a token.  A totem pole, of course, is a bunch of heads on top of each other, as the characters in the film go through layers of dream after dream.  And lastly, for all the talk about how important it is not to let other people touch your totem, I find it interesting that the first time we see Cobb's totem, it has already been touched by a projection in the dream.  Also, it wasn't his totem in the first place; it was Mal's, if I remember correctly.  She locked it in a safe which he opened.

Trying to make sense of this movie is really an exercise in futility, I think.  But it's still fun.  For all we know, the whole film could have been a dream.  Perhaps Mal is still alive and it was her dream we've been watching from start to finish.  Including the credits.

Chum Bucket: Mona Lott.

I received a text message not too long ago from Mona Lott.  She was updating her contacts and asked if it was still me on that number.  I ignored it.  I've just had it with some people.  With most people actually.  It's just my personality, I'm afraid.  I put up with people for so long, and then all of a sudden I'm done.

It's partly my fault because I don't say anything.  It's what frustrates my wife sometimes.  I keep to myself when I'm mad about something and still expect people to change anyway.

Maybe I should have told Mona that she talks too much about people and that she's too self-absorbed.  Too many years have passed since we became friends in high school and it's just a little too late now, I think.  If I saw her on the street, I would probably say hello and move on, but I don't feel much like chatting on the phone or online about mostly her life while she largely ignores mine.

The last straw really came about a year ago after my son was born.  She had her daughter a couple of months before, and I remember her emailing me pictures of her daughter Wynona Lott*.  When my son Rocky* came, I made sure I emailed her pictures of him as well, and I put on the subject line, "Here's Rocky!"

*fake names

IndieVisible: Maintaining independence.

Here is a video I shot of a good friend of mine.  I hardly see him anymore, but I used to work with his wife at Macky*s.  They're a very nice couple.

One day I needed to shoot a video portrait, and we went to this guy who owns a video store.  We interviewed him and took some B-roll.  But once we got - or, once I got - to the editing room, I found that the sound was messed up (which is what happens when you use on-camera microphone).

We tried going back to the video guy, but he was not cooperative.  He seemed annoyed, and we seemed to be getting in the way of his business.  It was not my idea to come to him, by the way, but I won't go into all that, except to say that I originally wanted to profile the mailman at school, who I call Danny the Champion of the World.



Originally, I had heavy metal music to go with it.  I didn't have a specific reason why.  I just thought you never hear enough heavy metal in movies, shows, etc.  But when I showed it to the class, it kind of threw them off,  and they wondered whether he was into that kind of music.  I said no, and they just kind of scratched their heads. So after a while, I found this song by Yano, a Filipino group, called "State U".  It seemed to fit, so I kept it, although I had to loop the song a little bit.

I wanted to do more of these, focusing on Filipino figures around the area.  I wanted to also profile the lady who owns a Filipino restaurnat called Rowena's Delight.  I wanted to make a piece featuring some of my old friends from a wedding band called UltraSonic.  These never happened, of course.

I also planned on profiling other figures in the neighborhood who were not Filipino.  There was this Indian guy who worked at this video store (not the same guy mentioned above), and his son would come to work with him in the summer.  Years passed, and the son grew up and with the rental business going down, half of the store is now groceries.  I wish I shot the video years ago, and then come back later on to see how things have changed.
 
I also wanted to shoot these little girls at a Chinese restaurant, who have been working there since they were around ten.  They would do their homework during downtime.  They started out just taking orders, and as they grew they would cook some of the food.  But then years passed and I don't see them there anymore.  Now their little sister is doing the same thing.  As with the above, I wish I profiled them also and came back for an update.

Now I'm thinking about doing a profile about the ladies at my son's daycare.  One of the concerns would be whether the other parents wouldn't mind videotaping their kids.  I can always blur out their faces, of course, but I would still need to convince them.  I'm not good at that, involving people.

O-welles.
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Final Cut Bro: TMI.

Most of these entries may end up as negative venting and criticism, so I wanted to make sure I post about the good early on.  I think it's especially important since it's the new year.  I love working with clients, most of them anyway.  I get the privilege of knowing about their life stories and potentially positively affecting their future.  I'm happy to be able to help and wish the best for them.

One area we specialize in is demo reels.  We have actors, dancers, producers and more come in and put together their media appearances in hopes of getting more work.  I get to critique their appearances in movies, TV shows, commercials and even amateur productions.  They trust me with helping them decide which clips are strong or weak.  It's a privilege that I treasure.  Some are highly talented.  Some should keep their day job.  And life is not always fair.

There are some terrific clients who have to keep coming back to tweak their reels in search of that one chance.  Then there are some who keep coming back to update because they keep finding work despite their lack of skill.  There are some who deserve a shot and get it.  And there are some who I never hear from again.  But I love being able to help each one of them, and share what I have learned about the business from their fellow hopefuls.

There are clients who come in to work on presentations for their company.  I love being able to help them look good to their higher ups.  It's great to hear back from them to hear that things worked out and that their bosses and/or clients were happy with the project.  Once in a while, I would even get a tip.

IndieVisible: At the gate.

Here's a video I shot in college.  I was so ambitious that I wanted to direct a whole feature length movie in one semester.  It didn't work out so well.  We only shot this one scene, and we messed up the sound.  I won't go into specifics as to why.

For my part, I didn't organize a big enough crew and thought we could do it on our own.  We didn't rehearse either.  And I don't remember whether I even drew up storyboards.



Obviously, there's no dialogue because of the audio problems (which can happen when you only use on-camera microphone).  I added music for sound, which would have been what I wanted for the soundtrack.  The songs are from heavy metal bands called At The Gates and Nothingface.

It's close to how I wanted it to look, except it should have been set at the heart of summer and not in the fall.  I'm not crazy about the sweaters and the leaves on the ground.  I guess it's a good thing I never shot the rest of it, because I wouldn't have been happy with it as part of the whole.

I like the piece by itself though.  It would have been my first feature, and I called it "First" at first.  But now, I'm trying to re-write that script, so I'll rename this one once I've completed that screenplay.

Happy first day of the year!

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