Serendipity to the Max

So remember how I was telling you I needed ideas for a short documentary? Well I found an idea yesterday and am already done filming my short.

The way the idea/opportunity came about was perfect...

I was forty minutes early to my Marketing class, and already on campus, I decided to get a latte and sit outside on a bench to enjoy the beautiful day. I called Shiloh, one of my good friends who is currently living in Maryland, and we chatted for a while. It had been quite some time since we'd talked, and it was nice to catch up.

I got off the phone with about ten minutes to spare before class started. As I was headed into Price Hall, I heard music coming from the grassy area around the other side of the building. Obviously curious, I walked around and came upon an eight-piece band jamming out on the grass between Price and Wagner. They were fantastic. Their music was a blend of rock and folk music, and the eight of them looked like they were having more fun than should be legal. You could tell instantly that they connected with each other and were passionately in love with playing music.

I was hooked. I sat down on a nearby bench and listened to another song. The time ticked by. I really didn't want to go to class, but I knew I had to, since it was an attendance day.

There was a pause between songs, and the guys approached the scattering of surrounding spectators, encouraging them to come out to the Deli (a local bar) to watch them play that night.

And then it hit me. And before I stopped to think of all the practical reasons why this might not be the best idea, I popped up from the bench and approached them. Immediately encouraged by their smiles and receptive attention, I told them that I was a film major and needed to make a short documentary by the end of the week. I asked them if they would be willing to let me record their show that night and document them.

Instant nods in consent.

I introduced myself to all eight of them, remembered half their names immediately (which is a huge accomplishment for me), and got the phone number of the guy in charge (Todd). Before I ran into class, I miraculously remembered to ask them the name of their band.

"The Giving Tree Band," said Todd. They named it after the Shel Silverstein book by the same name.

I went to my Marketing class in a bit of a euphoria. I had a story!

Of course, by the time class was over at six, my stomach was in knots. I didn't have a camera and I didn't have any crew members. I certainly couldn't do the thing alone, and I really needed at least two cameras to successfully film a live concert. On top of that, I had only three hours to round all this up, because the band started setting up at nine.

The next hour and a half was filled with frantic texts and phone calls to everyone who might possibly have free time, a camera, or both. My friends came through for me. I managed to round up three cameras and one fellow filmmaker to film with me. I also was able to find another person to drive me around to pick up those cameras and then take me to Best Buy to buy miniDV tapes and AA batteries. I have awesome friends.

I then spent another frantic hour or so google-ing the bejeezees out of the band. And I found a ton of interesting things about them. For example, they are an entirely eco-friendly band. They are all vegans, don't smoke or drink, and drive a van fueled by biodiesel. Their last album was recorded in an entirely carbon-neutral building, and they camped out at a local state park nearby during the recording session, biking ten miles in and ten miles out every morning to the "studio" (and ultimately commuting over 500 miles on bike). Very interesting people, by the looks of their website.

So when nine came around, I was ready. Or as ready as I'd ever be. I was so nervous that my hands were shaking. I'd never filmed a live concert before.

It turned out to be a breeze. I haven't seen the results yet (will log and capture my footage tomorrow), but I think it went really well. My friend Wes and I recorded The Giving Tree Band's entire two hour set. During the "intermission," we filmed them outside, chatting about their bus, how many miles they'd logged in the last few months, and that the bars in Oklahoma-- unlike most other states-- still let you smoke inside (and how uncomfortable that was on their lungs).

And forgetting the filming element, their concert was a blast. I absolutely love their music, and they have fantastic stage presence. More than once, I caught myself grinning at their antics. And just watching them up there, you can tell how much they loved what they were doing. These guys are living their dream.

After the show, we stifled yawns as we arranged to meet the next morning at 8:30am for breakfast. Brain spinning and ears throbbing (everything sounded muffled after the loud music), I headed home and stayed up late to compose my list of questions and to try to find an "angle" for the story.

This morning, I woke up waaaaay too early for having been out so late. Of course, I didn't wake up early enough (I have no will power at 6:45am), and once I did manage to drag myself out of bed, a mad frantic dash ensued, as I rushed around my room to make sure I had enough battery power and miniDV tape space for the morning's filming (since I'd apparently forgotten to do that the night before).

My wonderful roommate let me borrow her car for the morning, and I drove to The Earth Cafe, a vegetarian/vegan restaurant on Campus Corner. I wasn't the first one there, and I chatted with one of the guitarists and banjo players while the rest of the band slowly assembled over the next ten minutes.

It was a beautiful morning, and we decided to stay outside to eat and film (there wasn't room for us inside anyway). While I filmed them all one at a time, the rest ate their breakfasts of tofu eggs and soy sausage-- an interesting breakfast. The "sausage" looked normal, but I'm pretty sure they just added a tacky yellow food-coloring to the tofu to try to make it look more like scrambled eggs.

The filming went well, mostly because the guys are awesome. They answered my questions perfectly-- they're articulate and interesting. And as natural entertainers, they were all completely comfortable in front of the camera. In fact, they really love to talk. So while I went in expecting to have to drag answers out of some of them, I instead started wondering how I was going to edit to pare down their answers.

The image looks great (thanks to the spiffy camera I borrowed) and the guys were interesting-- I just hope the audio turns out. We filmed next to a street that ended up being toooooo busy, and I didn't correct that. I should have just uprooted our little operation and found a quieter spot, but I didn't want to go through such an effort, I guess. Now I know I should have followed my instincts. Oh well.

The sound recorder that we used is an expensive, fantastic little device that picks up absolutely everything. In fact, it worked just a little too well. So while it picked up the soft-spoken words of the guys, it also picked up (with annoying clarity) the sound of nearby doors opening and cars passing.

Overall, I think my two biggest challenges will be dealing with the audio (reducing wind noise, etc) and threading together a story that has some sort of conflict in it... because all good documentaries have conflict. As the band is made up of pretty peaceful, all-embracing kinds of guys, I had a hard time dragging from them any kind of frustration about anything.

And even if the audio is worthless and the story is a flop, I don't care in the least. I made friends last night with people who know their passions and are living their dreams. They are funny, generous, and deserve to be ridiculously famous someday. I hope I'll get to meet them again.

. . .

"If you’re susceptible to distraction, reading a screenplay on a laptop

can be like trying to count ceiling tiles at a Victoria’s Secret fashion show."

-Stu Maschwitz

. . .

"If you would not be forgotten as soon as you're rotten,

either write things worth reading or do things worth the writing."

- Benjamin Franklin

Funny on Command

I have a short film due in my film editing class in two weeks, and I still don't know what I want to do it on. I know that I want to make a short documentary, both because I've never made one before and because a documentary requires considerable less pre-production planning than a narrative short film.

I don't have any ideas for a topic. All I know is that I would like to do a character sketch, rather than following an actual event (since I'd probably digress into a news story).

The only problem is that I don't have anyone to document.

I'd like to do something funny, because funny student films are always the best. Serious short films are hard to pull off, and are often rather silly. I mean, I'm only a young college student, so thinking I can tackle giant life issues in seven minutes seems a little pretentious.

So going off that, I'd like to make a funny short documentary. That means I'll have to either document a funny situation or funny people. But I guess I don't have enough funny friends...? No one comes to mind as someone whose life is so crazy that it'd translate well onto film.

And the person would preferably need to be a stand-up comedian on the side, because I can't rely on my comedic timing in the editing room to make things funny.

So... they need to have a crazy life and be insanely funny with zero prompting from myself. And through it all, there'd preferably be a story worth telling about their lives or humanity in general (speaking of tackling giant topics).

. . .

"One can feel some respect for people when they suffer. They have a certain dignity. But have you ever looked at them when they're enjoying themselves? That's when you see the truth. Look at those who spend the money they've slaved for - at amusement parks and side shows. Look at those who're rich and have the whole world open to them. Observe what they pick out for enjoyment. Watch them in the smarter speak-easies. That's your mankind in general. I don't want to touch it...Is it an inspiring sight to see a man commit a heroic gesture and then learn that he goes to vaudeville shows for relaxation? Or see a man who's painted a magnificent canvas - and learn that he spends his time sleeping with every slut he meets?"

- Ayn Rand

Thoughts of L.A. Dance Through My Head

I haven't been able to stop thinking about Los Angeles since I've gotten home. My mind is always there. I'm thinking about my upcoming internship there or what I am going to do after school or where my life will be ten years from now-- all of it ties back to LA.

Today I went to a workshop put on by an OU alumn (Matt Payne) about how to get a job in Hollywood. He handed us a sheet with the five lowest unpaid positions (that we all ultimately start in) and how to network our way up from there into better positions. The sheet had everything from job descriptions, to what to wear on the job, to who to suck up to.

He also had a lot of valuable advice about practical things when moving out to LA. Like don't EVER break any traffic laws, however minor you think they are, because they will cost you a fortune in California (like $450 for running a yellow light and $100 for not moving your car on Tuesday morning when the street cleaner comes by). And scope out the addresses of apartments for sale before signing a lease, or you'll end up in a sketchy neighborhood-- seems intuitive, but apparently happens to a lot of people.

I'm glad I went to the workshop. It was definitely a recap of the things I learned in LA, but the ideas were more flushed out here. And honestly, I could probably go to at least three or four more of those things before I felt that the information was too redundant to bear.

Every time I hear it, I feel inspired. And it's heartening (in a twisted way), because I feel that if I'm getting all pumped up now about working in an environment where people scream and throw cell phones at me, then maybe I am cut out for the business after all.

"Having" a Genius

The first time I found this fantastic video on TED, I watched it at least three times. The woman, Elizabeth Gilbert, intrigued me, and I was fascinated by her way of describing creativity. She interested me so much, in fact, that it was from this video I was inspired to read her book.

And I absolutely love her writing-- "Eat, Pray, Love" is a moving, inspirational, thought-provoking book about what it means to find joy, and I loved every page of it.

Take a moment and watch this video-- especially if you are a creative person in any way.

TED's description of the video:

Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses -- and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person "being" a genius, all of us "have" a genius. It's a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk.

. . .

"The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress."

- Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

Stole this from a friend...

Two atoms are walking down the street together. The first atom turns and says, "Hey, you just stole an electron from me!"

"Are you sure?" asked the second atom.

The first atom replied, "Yeah, I'm positive!

. . .

"The purpose of life is to live it,

to taste experience to the utmost,

to reach out eagerly and without fear

for newer and richer experience."

--Eleanor Roosevelt