Some news items. My publicist has been working especially hard, so I have some fun things to share. Some clippings for the old scrapbook.
- Morgan Spurlock started a new company called Warpaint for making TV commercials. It’s somewhat innovative in how it handles its directors, and I’m one of those directors. It’s a separate thing from Sandwich Video, which remains intact. I hope to make an animated booger or anti-depressant commercial at the very least.
- Today, the new LA Weekly comes out. It’s the People 2012 issue and I’m one of the people. I guess I’d mentioned my deep and abiding love for “Kentucky Fried Movie” and why wouldn’t I, as all facets of my work can be traced to it. I’m working on something superfun right now that’s basically a shot-for-shot reproduction of A Fistful of Yen, but with karate.
- Shopping for cereal last week, I happened to remember that one called Blueberry Morning had been my favorite, but was absent from store shelves for months. A quick search turned up that it had been discontinued by Post, reason not cited. But I guess you can order discontinued/expired cereal from the Internet, which I did. Here’s what I can say about doing that: don’t order discontinued/expired cereal from the Internet.
Ben Kingsley and Martin Scorsese on-set of Hugo (2011)
MS: “And then you say these words right here, you’ll be like I USED TO MAKE MOVIES A LONG TIME AGO but say it like you’re sad.”
BK: “But I’m not sad, Marty.”
MS: “You should pretend you’re sad though. Just say the words like you’re sad. When we press the button on the camera, pretend you’re sad and say these words, just like on this script page. Okay, I’m filming. Okay pretend now.”
Ted made a beverage vid in the mold of my own, and I love it. Who will follow suit?
THE CHALLENGE: Put that camera to use. Pick your favorite fussy beverage-making tool. Show the world how you use it. Cut it up real nice. 60 seconds. At the end, make us laugh. Maybe tag it with something. I don’t know, #bevmercial.
@lonelysandwich made a spec spot for his favorite fastidious and persnickety beverage preparation device.
I found it throughly delightful and decided to make one of my own in the same style.
For about $100 you can have a piece of plastic in your kitchen that carbonates water. If you’re part of the 1% or something you can add in flavored syrups, but I prefer just the straight up bubbles. When you’re out of gas, you can get more carbonators from your local artisanal kitchen store (hi, @hillskitchendc). I didn’t even know this fanciful home-carbonation technology existed until a former roommate of mine put it in the kitchen last July.
I shot this on a 7D and cut it in FCP.
Special Thanks to Roommate Adam S. for helping out with a few things during the shoot.
Comical outtake/VFX demo from AeroPress “Ritual”
I’d already styled 9 cups of picture coffee for this shoot, and I really wasn’t in the mood to style a 10th. So I gave myself one take for the puck shot, and when something went stupidly wrong, I decided to fix it in post. Ta-da.
This is a short tribute to my AeroPress. Two years ago, one was given to me, and it changed everything.
For a little more than $20, this marvel of science will produce arguably the best cup of coffee you’ve ever made in your home. It makes no sense.
Here’s where to buy it: amzn.to/IiqlhO
(Source: sandwichvideo)
Took some me-time to watch the John Cleese Creativity Lecture everyone was going bananas about last week and noticed the similarity of his company’s logotype to my logotype, which is unintentional but I don’t mind it at all. Let’s call it homage. Mine was designed by Tag Sexpigeon in 2011 and I love it.
Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown takes actor Danny Lloyd for a ride on his Steadicam just outside The Shining’s Hedge Maze set on the backlot at MGM Elstree Studios. Brown discovered that Danny was about the same weight as the camera, so he would often have him ride in a makeshift swing hanging from the device.
The You Look Nice Today Starter Pack
Welcome to this annotated introduction to You Look Nice Today, A Journal of Emotional Hygiene.
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It’s a start.
It brings me great pleasure to have this back in my life. We started it four years ago. Nixon was in the White House. No one knew what “post-PC” meant (I did). Scott was in short pants. Merlin was in short shorts. Woodstock.
But things change. Interest rates fluctuate. We grew apart. Editing is hard.
Long story short, there’s a new guy in town. His name is Claude Zeins but we insist on calling him Klaus, and the boy can edit. Which frees us up in a whole new way to rock the microphone. Which we’ll be doing on a regular basis, even when we’re “not in the mood right now”. The output of which, Klaus will make beautiful and we’ll release to the stream on the 2nd of every month, a strategy we’re marketing under the banner “Dropping it on the Deuce”.
The deuce is nigh, you guys.
(via youlooknicetoday)
Ron Burgundy just announced ‘Anchorman’ sequel on Conan
Oh my goodness. When he said the bit about the sequel coming, I pumped both fists in the air like no one was watching. Ronald Joseph Aaron Burgundy made me pump ‘em.
I’d like to mention that the jazz flute scene from ‘Anchorman’, on the Venn diagram of things I find funny and things I find musically satisfying, sits heroic and squarely in the center, all big in a nice font. At :45 when he does that first run, I get chills. Every time. Please do me the honor of watching. I could not be more excited about this.
Out with the team for lunch in our neighborhood and we found a new Banksy.
