tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44617839246363696712024-03-13T20:42:39.630-07:00Great SatanThe Sisyphian tale of turning the short film, "American Bomber," into a feature film.Trenkamphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112149606773286795noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461783924636369671.post-1220723919975209492013-03-19T08:05:00.000-07:002013-03-19T08:05:29.919-07:00A.D.Rrrrgghhh<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A.D.R. - Automated Dialog Replacement, except that there's nothing automated about it. An actor stands in a sterile booth with a microphone trying to recreate their performance so we can replace the audio that is hard to hear because the director decided that shooting along a noisy intersection was a good idea.<br />
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Spent six hours Friday night replacing a handful of lines. The first two were spent just getting the room in working order.<br />
<br />
Tip #3,432: when going into a post-production space, A) never assume that it will be set up and in working order, and B) it will take more time than you think to set it up and get it into working order.<br />
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R gave the most amazing ADR performance I've ever seen. Not only did she nail almost every line perfectly on the first take, she copied her performance exactly even though it's been almost a year and half since we shot her scenes.<br />
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It could've been a tedious night but M kept it fun. As a producer, he is especially skilled at finding the right people for the job. As a performer, he excels at making sure everyone is having a good time.<br />
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However, the Hero Award goes to Dancing Mike, a professional ADR expert who has worked for Spielberg and the Cohen Bros., among many others. Watching him work the console was like watching a great composer at work - you're not sure why he's contorting his body a certain way but you're glad for the results. I am so thrilled that he's mixing our film.<br />
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<i>Next Stop: Mixology, Pt. 1: Shaken, Not Stirred</i>Trenkamphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112149606773286795noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461783924636369671.post-19181333402274206332012-09-13T12:30:00.000-07:002012-09-13T12:30:10.340-07:00The Beginning of the EndTwo months ago we had the wrap party celebrating the end of photography on "American Bomber." The next night I was filming.<br />
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A month ago we had the cast & crew screening of the film. Days later I was still editing.<br />
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We shot the first footage for the film on June 6, 2010. Last night, September 12, 2012, I shot the last piece of footage (knock on wood).<br />
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I thought doing the research and writing the script would change me. It didn't. It was the shooting. The day-to-day of having to find the words to express my feelings - instead of my thoughts - and having to navigate those feelings with people who are incredibly intelligent and talented. It's like slicing off a limb and examining it from angles you would never be able to naturally. Equal parts terrifying and fascinating.<br />
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The journey has changed me. And given the quality of my companions, I know it is for the better.<br />
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<i>Next: This Is the Sound of (Not) Silence...</i>Trenkamphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112149606773286795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461783924636369671.post-82233432905267064942012-04-16T13:39:00.000-07:002012-04-16T13:39:34.300-07:00Lord Have MercyI love St. Patrick's. Not the cathedral. The little Irish/Latino church in Astoria. They were very open to a couple of heathens trying to make a movie about the worst possible sin and so we did our best to try not to defile their house too badly.<br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The best thing about shooting in a church is that it is absolutely quiet. The worst part is that it's too quiet and nobody, including actors speaking dialog, want to get any louder.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">All things considered, this is one my favorite scenes of the film so far.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Only about 5 more days of shooting left. I have no idea when those days will be, but there are only five of them...I think.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Coming Up: The Philadelphia Experiment and Back to the Dungeon...</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div>Trenkamphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112149606773286795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461783924636369671.post-26721353285645922642012-02-23T13:54:00.000-08:002012-02-23T13:54:03.570-08:00Setting Tourist TrapsSaturday:<br />
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Pop quiz: It takes an hour and a half to get to the top of the Empire State Building. It takes another hour to work around the crowds of tourists to get the shot. It takes another half-hour to get out of the building.<br />
<br />
Total time spent: 3 hours. Total screen time: 10 seconds.<br />
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Now multiply this by Madison Square Park, the BX9 bus, Central Park East and yet another trip to Port Authority.<br />
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Your answer should be: total time spent: 6 hours. Total screen time: 30 seconds.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>Ain't math fun?</div><div><br />
</div><div>Sunday:</div><div><br />
</div><div>One hour. One shot. One broken heart. M continues to amaze me with his ability to expose his rawest of nerves. I think we're both gonna need a good cry if we ever get out of this.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Next: We're going to church. No, seriously.</div>Trenkamphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112149606773286795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461783924636369671.post-26838951335637566212012-02-10T09:29:00.000-08:002012-02-10T09:33:31.495-08:00Smoking In the Boy's RoomThe good news: you're filming near the film department of a major east coast art school. All the camera, lighting and electronic tools you could possibly want are at your finger tips.<br />
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The bad news: your location doesn't have a working power outlet.<br />
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Tip # 643: Don't assume that because a room has electricity, it has a power outlet. And if it does have a power outlet, plug something into that outlet to make sure it actually works.<br />
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Filming in a public restroom is always fun because you know eventually someone is going to walk in to use the toilet. In the case of Wednesday night, the magic moment of innocent bystander intrusion happened to be when M is sitting on the toilet and I'm on my knees in front of him. Having a camera in my hand probably didn't make things look any better.<br />
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This was only the second most awkward moment of the evening. First prize goes to M watching me record the sound of my urine for the soundtrack. Probably the most disgusting director's cameo ever.<br />
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Coming Up Next: <i>Port Authority III: The Final Chapter</i>Trenkamphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112149606773286795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461783924636369671.post-16572319850022149502012-01-30T08:44:00.000-08:002012-01-30T08:44:25.585-08:00Seventh Inning Stretch (and other sports metaphors)Shot R's last scenes last Wed. Didn't think we were going to get to shoot at all as both of our locations were public transit spaces, but M knows just the right way to kick me in the ass and we got things done and done well. Going to miss working with R, though.<br />
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I love shooting in NY because no one cares. We're filming on a stalled subway car and the conductor walks through our shot, looks at us, shrugs and goes back to his business. Oddly, it's the homeless people who keep asking us if we have a permit.<br />
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With both R and F wrapped, we enter into the home stretch. Only about 12 more days left. However, this is like football where 2 minutes of game time can take an hour to happen. Looks like we'll wrap around late Feb/early March.<br />
<br />
Remember back in September when I said we'd be done by December? Hahahahaha...sucker.<br />
<br />
<i>Next stop on the Pork Chop Express</i>: well that's the $65,000 question, now isn't it?Trenkamphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112149606773286795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461783924636369671.post-31541591306345788242012-01-24T07:30:00.000-08:002012-01-24T07:30:54.823-08:00Bowled Over By the MTANever trust the MTA. Especially when you're planning on illegally shooting on a train. Despite the MTA website declaring that our train would have "good service" it was in fact not running at all. Neither was our back up train. So what do you do when you don't have a location? You go bowling, that's what.<div><br />
</div><div>Shot about an hour's worth of M and R bowling for what will ultimately be 10 seconds of film time. Also shot (what I hope is) the last scene in R's bedroom. Can't believe how gracious she's been about letting us stink up her home. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Wednesday will be our last day with R. We've been shooting with her for over 3 months. It's going to be weird to move on without her.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Next time on <i>Project Gangrene Ligh</i>t: There's No Authority Like A Port Authority & Who You Calling A South Ferry?</div>Trenkamphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112149606773286795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461783924636369671.post-12885430078191741192012-01-19T08:03:00.000-08:002012-01-19T08:05:36.124-08:00When Irish Nostrils Are FlaringThere are a lot of hurdles when you're a small film crew working on the street without permits: weather, sound issues, the cops shutting you down, etc. Last night's was the most daunting - coked out Irish couple alternating fighting/crying/making out right next to the camera and sometimes in the middle of our shot.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>This must be what dinner theatre feels like. Luckily M and R are becoming old pros at not letting random hilarity ruin their concentration.<br />
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</div><div>Next: "What's a Staten Island?"</div></div>Trenkamphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112149606773286795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461783924636369671.post-82119938226688231892012-01-13T08:08:00.000-08:002012-01-13T08:08:00.444-08:00For Sale: A Bridge In BrooklynThings got crazy right before the end of the year as we became a well oiled filmmaking machine taking down scene after scene. Stairwells, carousels, bikers, pool tables - nowhere was safe from our monkey business. Then the holidays hit.<br />
<br />
Tip # 452: If your film centers around a key prop, say a backpack full of homemade explosives, and you're dragging your cast and crew down under the Brooklyn Bridge in the middle of the night to shoot the big climactic scene where one character gives that prop to another, MAKE SURE YOU BRING THE PROP. It really sucks if you don't. Really sucks.<br />
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We haven't filmed in almost a month. But that's going to change next Wed when the gravy train gets back on the wheels. We've got three more days to shoot with R and then we're into the home stretch.<br />
<br />
M has had the same haircut for four months now. He wants to shave it so bad. Once we wrap, I'll operate the clippers myself.<br />
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Up next: <i>Deja Vu and Where Did My Boyfriend Go?</i>Trenkamphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112149606773286795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461783924636369671.post-89853133806891067512011-12-05T13:56:00.000-08:002011-12-05T13:56:11.666-08:00Rime of the Awesome MarinerLast Wed:<br />
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Albatross is a bar in Astoria. A real bar with a jukebox, a pool table, the occasional poker game and lots of gay karaoke. In other words, a perfect bar. And exactly the kind of place the character of Amy would work in and Hidell would find himself having one last beer in. I really like Albatross.<br />
<br />
The first scene we shot was great - Amy and Hidell sharing a cigarette out back by the dumpster. Even though she doesn't smoke and just had a tonsilectomy, R lit up a smoke and gave M hell, exactly as I always pictured Amy would. R gets Amy and it shows in such brilliantly subtle ways.<br />
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The second scene - frostbite central. No more shelter from the wind and it's literally freezing out. The only thing that saved poor M from catching pneumonia was the fact that we rolled out of memory on the camera after the third take.<br />
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Last Sat:<br />
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We invaded R's apartment at 11am and didn't leave until 14 hours later. The longest day of the shoot and one of the best.<br />
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The great thing about not having any money is that you have a ton of time. When you are using someone else's money (or your own) to pay for your shoot, you are constantly working against the clock. When money is not in the equation there is no clock. Something doesn't feel right, you can take a two hour sushi break to talk it over with the cast and crew and work it out. This is a luxury that well funded filmmakers would kill for.<br />
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Next on <i>Lifestyles of the Poor and Infamous</i>: First kisses and bedtime for bonzo...Trenkamphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112149606773286795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461783924636369671.post-25262543835945557562011-11-30T14:07:00.000-08:002011-11-30T14:07:59.947-08:00Not Getting Arrested Is Always AwesomeSpent Saturday chasing footage around town. Almost got all of it, too. Employees at Port Authority were visibly nervous about the way we were casing the joint, yet security at the U.N. was very helpful and even suggested a couple of angles to us.<br />
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Tip #327: The U.N. only hoists their flags Mon - Fri. So that awesome establishing shot of all the member nations flags imperiously flapping in the breeze while your hero stares down the cold blue walls of the Secretariat Building - not happening on the weekend.<br />
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Got some great stuff of M being a scary mutha in the bathroom. I keep telling myself, "it's only a movie. It's only a movie. It's only a movie."<br />
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Up next: Rime of the ancient lesbian mariner...Trenkamphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112149606773286795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461783924636369671.post-50596854645208026352011-11-14T12:38:00.000-08:002011-11-14T12:38:41.502-08:00Newtons & CoffeeIrony: when you're filming at the film dept. of a major east coast art school and you have to bring in all of your own equipment. Who do these students think they are, using the school's gear to make movies and whatnot?<br />
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Originally we were going to film in the summer, so Hidell's costume of t-shirt and jeans was selected. Which is fine, except that we now filming in near winter and the temp on Friday night dropped into the 30's.<br />
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Good acting is not about a 1,000 yard stare or screaming "hoo-hah" at the top of your lungs, it's when your body is shaking uncontrollably because you're going into hypothermic shock, but the minute you hear "action" you're as still and smooth as a balmy night in the tropics. M is turning into quite a fine actor.<br />
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After working for hours in the freezing cold, fig newtons and shitty office coffee suddenly become the greatest meal ever.<br />
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We got to get these exteriors done before it snows. Or the cast catches pneumonia.<br />
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Next stop: ahh, um...I'll let you know when we get there...Trenkamphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112149606773286795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461783924636369671.post-30997051448713702442011-11-11T13:18:00.000-08:002011-11-11T13:18:14.036-08:00Car Crashes & Other People's GarbageFeed your crew first, then they'll be more willing to freeze their asses off while you try to figure out which unmovable shadow you hate least.<br />
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The "meet-cute" (the scene where the romantic leads first meet and either fall in love a first sight or hate each other at first sight) has been done to death. As a writer, I tried to make mine different, which means instead of love or hate, they're practically indifferent to each other. As a director I respect the writer's intentions, but c'mon, we can do better. Thank god my cast are a couple of patient geniuses.<br />
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And such patience and genius come in handy when a rear-end collision happens across the street from your outdoor location and you have to wait for the ambulances, firetrucks and police cars to go away. Did I mention it's November in New York. And cold.<br />
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However, the Hero of the Night award goes to Jamie, our gaffer/boom op/asst. camera/human swiss army knife for huddling in an entire apartment buildings worth of garbage to work the boom. Her olfactory suffering was made worth it when M forgot she was in the garbage and jumped out of his skin when he saw the mic darting at him through the trash bins.<br />
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The Smoothness award goes to BD. In college we'd make fun of his creepy way of walking, but the man IS steadycam on legs. Which will be put to the test tonight when we're shooting in near freezing temps.<br />
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Up next: "Amy and Hidell sitting in a tree/B-O-M-B-I-NG..."Trenkamphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112149606773286795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461783924636369671.post-77105048031456922072011-11-01T14:04:00.000-07:002011-11-01T14:04:34.543-07:00Dick or TreatIt was the Saturday before Halloween. Both M and R had to work. It snowed. We weren't supposed to film. But I'm a dick.<br />
<br />
Hidell's big moment where he crosses the point of no return had been meticulously scripted, plotted and in all ways prepared. This was the first scene I had envisioned and the entire project has flowed from that initial mental image.<br />
<br />
Then, we lost our location.<br />
<br />
Without enough time to gather the necessary actors, props and costumes to capture the epic moment of turmoil that I had envisioned years ago, we were given one hour to film whatever we could without a crew or sound before we kissed the location good bye forever.<br />
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Stripped of all my pyrotechnics, all we had was an actor in a chair without dialog - and M delivered beyond my greatest expectations. That single close-up of Hidell coming to the inevitable conclusion is so heartbreaking and terrifying that I can't believe I could've wanted it any other way.<br />
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Best Halloween ever.Trenkamphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112149606773286795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461783924636369671.post-77641606485815935232011-10-25T09:52:00.000-07:002011-10-25T09:52:26.184-07:00Wonder & StinkIn the 13 years that I've been going to Coney Island, this was the first time that I've ever been there and there wasn't any wind at all, which means that the sound is a lot cleaner than I expected. The movie gods have smiled upon us.<br />
<br />
R and M are really nailing it. M's instance on riding the Wonder Wheel was inspired. I find that I don't get afraid of heights if I keep my eye to the viewfinder, because then it's just a movie and not a 300 foot plummet to concrete and sand. Unfortunately, R did not have this luxury but did an incredible job of channeling fear into excitement.<br />
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We got to such a good start it really feels like a shame that we won't go again with the two of them for a couple of weeks.<br />
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Took us 3 hours to get a 10 second shot of Hidell staring at the Statue of Liberty. Afterwards M and I joked that we're turning into a real movie shoot.<br />
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Went down to Occupy Wall St., which is not on Wall St. Hippies ruin everything. They glom onto real social issues and infect everything with their lack of reason, facts and hygiene. Got some good shots of Hidell wandering around the mess of screaming people and looking lost - can't tell if M was acting or not.<br />
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Next stop: Dead bodies and smokey treats...Trenkamphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112149606773286795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4461783924636369671.post-56421539400129213762011-10-20T09:04:00.000-07:002011-10-20T09:04:57.479-07:00Half In the Can (which is another term for toliet)"To fail to embrace my dreams now would be a disgrace so great that sin itself would not be able to find a name for it." - Werner Herzog, <i>Conquest of the Useless</i><br />
<br />
All the math says we're halfway finished filming and it's only taken 17 months. But I feel that the next half will take longer, even though we should be wrapped by end of the year. By the time the feature film is finished it will have taken 3 years of my life total.<br />
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Looking forward to seeing Hidell get slapped around by Amy. If last night's read-through was any indication, R will have fun with it. Glad she decided to come play with us.<br />
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J had a good idea about the stoop scenes. I checked it out on my way home and (as usual) she's right.<br />
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Next stop: Coney Island, Liberty Island, Manhattan Island, No Man Is an Island and all points in between...Trenkamphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04112149606773286795noreply@blogger.com0