Incredibles
Phew....yesterday was a really cool experience. Went about different places with Lance, recording sounds for the film. Sound is so crucial for any program and we needed them to start creating sound layering to the movie to make it feel right. Good image is only half the job, good sound is the other half; after all it is an audio-visual medium. Had the first good summer day yesterday, with clear skies and no rain; and it definitely got all the people out into the markets, onto the beaches. And today the trend is still the same. Love it.
Just came back from watching
'The Incredibles' which was an incredible experience...it was so much fun, especially watching it with a hall full of kids. It was a thrill ride and a must see for all ages - just because it is total fun and unlike the other candyflossed Disney cartoons. You got to watch it.
Have a viewing of the second fine cut today evening and will probably write an update after that. Bye for now
Ciao
Amit
UPDATE - Finished watching the fine cut and it is definitely working much better, the first 10 minutes of the film will be crucial and that is where we have no major sound right now. Not too worried about it because once the ADR and voice over falls into place with the music score it will hold its own.
Also watched a second viewing of 'INCREDIBLES' later in the evening, courtesy Lance. It was as much fun watching it the second time as well.
Catch-22
Saw a fantastic film yesterday night : .
CATCH-22 based on the book of the same name by Hellen Keller. The movie was a pleasent surprise and I was dreading watching it after having read the book so many times but Mike Nichols does a fantastic job directing this anti-war satire and it is so true to the book.
If you are wondering what Catch-22 is, it is a military term that is confusing and difficult to describe. In short, its basic meaning is that if there was a rule, no matter what the rule is, there is always an exception to it. So Yossarian, one of the main characters, can not escape the war because a concern for one's own life provs that he is not really crazy, and to get out of combat you have to be crazy. And thus creates this endless circle of trying to get away from something you can't. The movie was hilarious and you have to watch it to believe it.
The more and more I am seeing Mike Nichols work, the more I bow to him with respect and awe. The body of work he has done is fantastic and include classics like 'The Graduate'; 'Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf'; 'Carnal Knowledge' to name a few.
Today is a sad day because the first thing I read today morning was the massive earthquake(the biggest in the past 40 years) near Sumatra and the resulting Tsunami causing havoc and death in six countries across southern and southeast Asia. The latest death toll was about 10,000 and it is rising steadily and the effects are being felt right across Somalia where atleast 9 people were killed. The magnitude of the disaster is hard to comprehend and it almost seems surreal. Death is a transition, to where -I don't know but it definitely effects the living. Incase you are reading this post, then please close your eyes and observe silence for a minute in rememberance for all those who passed away and for all those families who lost their loved ones.
Amit
UPDATE - My bad - thanks for the correction 'dd': Joseph Heller wrote Catch-22 and not Helen Keller... I think I wrote Hellen Keller's name because I was totally confused and I had quoted her in one of my short films, which says " Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content."
Sequels & Media
Back from watching 'OCEAN'S TWELVE'.. not bad at all for a sequel. Mixed feelings on it though. liked it in parts but there were parts which i did not like. but overall there is some real nice humor in it. Also watched 'KILL BILL VOL.2' yesterday evening and it was totally crap - i would call that self indulgence on the part of the director. I didn't like it at all.
It has been a happening day - one of the music composers dropped out because of reasons i don't wish to discuss on a public forum. So things have become a little more interesting and challenging but then thats the name of the game for independent film making - you win some, you loose some. Another composer who is in LA will now be doing the major scoring along with Brett, which I am excited about. I think we will be stretching ourselves a bit in getting things done in the set deadlines but we will be able to achieve it.
Also the other note -which might seem totally random and is addressed to whoever wants to read it and take note ; is this : media is a high risk industry, you are risking not only financial security but also emotional security, which makes it prone to teething problems like people becoming negative or carrying a pessimistic attitude all the time. you might think that you are being cool or being smart by degrading someone or something but then you are in for a big surprise. if you really want to get into this industry or survive in this industry, don't give yourself into the temptation. And back talking about people never helps either. We live in an imperfect world and expecting things to be perfect is making a fool of oneself. And the word does travel around fast -do good work and you get more jobs but do bad work and be negative about it then it won't really help your cause at all. this outburst of mine comes from seeing so many people just fall into this temptation and not even recognizing it when they are doing it. This is a field which needs perseverance, a positive outlook and the right attitude; and make no mistake about it - the biggest human fault has always been vanity, if you think you are too good for everyone then you are probably right, no one will want to work with you. enough said.
Anyway - have nothing to do. And wil stick to that...since today will probably be my last holiday for a long time.
Cheers
Amit
Extended Editions and Filming
It is christmas and i just got from filming a couple of shots in downtown auckland with Richard, Lance and Benji. It was really cool...i think we got a couple of shots which will add to the film. It was not as quite as it was last year. There seemed to be more people around for some strange reason. But it was still great, just being in downtown Auckland filming a couple of shots which would be nearly impossible to film in normal conditions on a low budget film.
Richard walking down the empty streeets
Loneliness
Lance and Benji in the 'special' caps
Lance gave the most pleasent and unexpected christmas gift ever..he got 3 custom made caps made with 'Memories of Tomorrow' written on it. It was just fantastic.
Yesterday, got out the special extended edition of 'Return of the King' and was disappointed. The added scenes did not make any sense and could clearly see why they were cut out of the theatrical release. It made me wonder as to how much more they are gonna milk 'Lord of the Rings'... But anyway...have 2 days of rest, doing nothing - so am gonna stick to that..do nothing. will keep you posted if anything exciting happens.
amit
Viewings
Just finished watching the fine cut with Benji. The movie is a lot tighter and it is working really well... a few minor tweaks here and there and it should be moving in the right direction. Audio definitely needs a lot of work and Benji has made a list of audio pickups we need to fill in spaces. ADR for some scenes is pending as well, which we can not do before 1st week of Jan, when everyone will be back from the holidays.Rewrote the voice overs to fit the mood of the film and I think they will work fine as well. Onlining will definitely be the long haul and an interesting part of the post production process. It is good to have Jamie and Matt on board for onlining and special effects.
Saw the trailers of 'Sin City' as well as 'Batman Begins'today morning. The look and feel of Sin City rocks and what a killer cast. Absolutely loved the music in the trailer. It looks like Robert Rodriguez has indeed pulled his socks together after the Spy Kids-2 and Spy Kids-3 detour. To watch the SIN CITY TRAILER click on the poster
.
'Batman Begins' trailer was cool as well... enjoyed the beginning of it but the end was too franatic and loved what i saw but did not see enough.
I am absolutely waiting for this one because it looks more true to the comic book than the crapped out versions which Joel Schumacher made. The cool thing with Batman is definitely the internal conflict he goes through while trying to maintain dual identities and his dark psyche is foreboding. Christian Bale looks perfect for the part and really love the wide wing span in the new batsuit, which is true to the comic.
Anyway..off for now. Cya
Amit
UPDATE:
Just finished watching a hindi movie called '
'Munnabhai MBBS - saw it at the local video store and got it out since it is rare that a hindi movie would be available at the store. It has been 2 years since I watched a hindi movie and it was a mixed experience.
The running length was about 2 hours 40 odd minutes and i did not bother with the end credits. Man, I am so not used to watching bollywood movies now. It was bit of a mission sitting through the movie. And the song and dance sequences left me squirming in my seat.
The story was like a bollywood rip off of 'Patch Adams' except that in this case the kids are replaced by adults. It gets like a typical bollywood movie running high on emotions while nothing is happening with the story. This was supposed to be one of the better movies from last year. I really think that Bollywood has got to change the way they make films or else the industry will suffer stagnancy. But by the same token if things haven't changed in the last couple of years then there is not really much of a point in me arguing against it. India has got the money and the creative talent - all they need is to channelise it and move away from the standard bollywood fare. When it will happen is but a fool's dream.
1st Fine Cut
It was an exciting day today as we finished the 1st fine cut. We did run through it pretty quick -about 3 days of intensive editing. Benji and me will be having a viewing of the cut tomorrow. The movie will be about 90 minutes...which i think is a good length and the story is holding itself and we worked on the ending today and it is a good ending. atleast i think it is a good ending.
the past 4 days have been a blur. the only memorable thing i can remember is watching
'John Safran V/s God'. It was hilarious. A must watch.
I think I will keep this post short because I am having a massive headache which my flatmate gave me by constantly playing his music tracks...can't think at all...
bye
amit
Graduation and Immigration
Aaaha…. Writing this update after a long long time. Atleast it feels like that – what an eventful time it has been: the graduation party, the staff party, the immigration news, the pickup scenes at TVNZ. It feels thrilling to be at this point in time.
Had the graduation ceremony and the after party on Wednesday evening and it was simply fantastic.. it felt really weird being on the stage as a tutor. Really enjoyed the ceremony though. It has been a fantastic year and I credit all that to this year’s editors who were a fantastic bunch. I took quite a few snaps and have put them up on the
‘Moments of Life’ section in the photo gallery.
Antony,Ollie, Russell and me.
The socializing graduates
We had the staff party the next day afternoon, and it was fun as it was an indoor summer beach party. Darryn switched on the studio lights to get the desired effect. It was fun and I got to meet Will, Gerben’s grandson – he is such a fantastic person, I have never ever seen babies to be so quite and observant. He simply loves observing people and he communicates heaps through his eyes.
Will looking on
Gemma, Aroha, Angela and Darryn
Darryn spraying pink foam over my head.
After the 2 days of partying, it was really hard going into Friday. Lindsay from TVNZ got back saying that we could film our newsroom pick up scene there and it was exciting as hell because that’s not a common place occurrence and only one person has ever been allowed to film inside there. So it was a great honour. The rest of the day was spent visiting TVNZ as well as VTR – both of whom have employed so many of South Seas graduates over the year. Roger took me through a technical tour of TVNZ facilities and it was fascinating and interesting. Met 4 graduates from my year – Logan, Brian, Vlado and Tracey. It is like a South Seas mafia out there.
Today we went filming at TVNZ and it was exciting and that one shot looks so much better and looks like an actual news room {because it is one}. Lance then took us to the Studio-2’s studio place and it was such a fun place, so many toys and costumes and stuff. Later on went and brought some speakers so that both Benji and me can listen to whats happening during the fine cut. Tomorrow morning we will be having the viewing of the refined rough cut and I am thrilled about it.
Sarah Owen in TVNZ newsroom
Me in Studio-2 in a pirate hat.
Immigration called up on Friday evening and they said a piece of paper was missing from my application – the police clearance certificate which I provided was not valid any longer. But the case officer said that he was extending my visa by 6 months and as soon as I gave them the police clearance certificate – they would extend my work permit to 2 years- which is fantastic. So I am now waiting for my passport to come back so that I can apply for a police clearance from the Indian high commission in Wellington. So that’s a big weight off my mind. It is funny though that I had in my head that the immigration will call me on 17th to tell me that I had got the permit and it happened that way – premonition, coincidence – who knows?
Anyway, will leave u to it…and don’t forget to check the new photos and stuff..
Amit
posters and movies
Just finished watching
THE SECRETARY and it was different but it was so sweet. Love speaks different languages but the emotion is the same. Really enjoyed the acting of both the leads and it was fascinating seeing them explore the subject. So much was not told but shown and it was great, since it kept me engaged as audience. Definitely worth a look.
Maggie Gyllenhaal playing the role of Lee Holloway
Yesterday - watched
JAPANESE STORY which was a lovely and poignant love story and an unusual love story. Absolutely loved it and it was one of the better aussie films I have seen in a long time. The movie really rocked in every sense. the cinematography, the editing, the directing, the acting and just the lovely australian topography. It was just a terrific experience.
A still from the movie "Japanese Story'
Also watched
T3: Rise of the Machines again as it was showing on TV and it wasn't as bad as i thought of it when i watched it the first time when it was released at theatres. I still like Arnold in the movie - he kicks ass. The story was alright but nothing can match T2: Judgement Day.
Terminator using 'basic psychology' against John Connor
And now if you are thinking that I am spending the rest of my blog writing about the movies I have seen recently then here is the surprise. I am not. :-)
Today I went up to Britomart and put up the posters there and it was fantastic. Maurice Banse, the PR and marketing person was kind to allow us to put them up and promote our film. Have a look at some of the pics here and i have put more of them up at the photo gallery.
Upper walkway of Britomart station
Maurice from ARTNL helping put up the posters
One of the walls with the posters.
In the evening, Lance confirmed that he had put up couple of posters at TVNZ in the cafeteria, which is great and I will see when I can get some pics and put them up. But it is exciting putting in marketing efforts, however small to aid in getting the team's efforts recognized.
Brett has also put up those posters up on the movie section and you can access them by clicking
HERE. Please feel free to download the posters and print them out for your purposes.
Today, Annette and Lance McDonald confirmed that they got the internship positions at TVNZ which is exciting and fantastic. So now there are another 3 immediate jobs on the market and will get to know soon if South Seas graduates have got them or not. It is hard to describe in words how fulfilling it is when your students are placed in jobs. Most of the paperwork for this year is complete and it is good to see all this stuff out of the way before next year begins. Tutoring staff goes on leave from 17th of this month which means that it is my last week at school for this year. It means I will now be able to sit in with Benji on the fine cut. It is another exciting thing seeing the movie come together.
Anyway, will let go for now. Otherwise might end up babbling about the weather -which by the way is kind of strange at the moment.
ciao
amit
Unimaginative
The last 3 days have been a complete blur - I have been intending to write the blog but just couldn't. My brain is a bit fuzzy because of the flu and the events might get muddled up in terms of days.
Day before yesterday evening, went to Devonport and were driving around when we came across 'Art by the Sea', the art gallery which gave us permission to film one of the scenes there, so thought I would pop in and say hi to them and introduce myself, since it is always good if people can put a face to your name. Met Mike Geers, the gallery owner and he was really cool, had a nice chat with him and I must say it is a fantastic gallery. We will probably shoot one scene there.
Took a couple of snaps at the Devonport sea side with Benji. It was really damn windy but still a magical evening.
View of Auckland Downtown from Devonport
Benji at the edge of the walkway
me bracing the wind while admiring the view.
Yesterday went into being the backup camera operator on Triangle Studio Show. One of the guys who was scheduled to camera operate had to pull out at the last minute because of a personal emergency and since I could not get anyone to fill up the spot in 30 minutes time, I decided that I would do it. It was fun.
The day before, David Coddington asked me if I could help out with On Screen Acting course auditions and that was fun as well. It took nearly half the day but had fun doing the standup for people applying for the course.
Today, helped Benji move across to the international flat. Gerben has been kind to allow Benji to stay there till the next batch of international students come in. I think that will help in the fine cut process because the school is hardly 5 minutes walk from there. The fine cut is coming along nicely and am excited about it. We also had a post production meeting and Jamie and Matt eased off the doubts I had regarding special effects and onlining. It is gonna be heaps of fun when it comes to that stage.
Yesterday watched
'The Graduate' and it was really cool - it was definitey ahead of its time and they tried some really cool stuff and Dustin hoffman was fantastic. Later on in the evening watched
'Salvador'
It was strange but really intricate -the production on that one must have been really hard but it was an Oliver Stone movie so that kind of meticulousness is to be expected. The editing was fantastic and the ending was kind of abrupt but otherwise definitely worth a look.
Anyway am off for now. Will catch ya later.
Amit
Real Groovy
Yesterday I went over to the immigration office and dropped in my work permit papers, now keeping fingers crossed that eeverything will be fine. While walking back to the car, I noticed
Real Groovy, one of the major music shops in Auckland. so i thought it might be a good idea if i could display a couple of the posters there. I walked into the shop wondering if they would give permission or not. Talked to a couple of staff before they pointed me towards Justine. She was really cool and gave permission for the same. So now a couple of posters are up there. While I was there I also talked to the acquisition department and suddenly I can see self distribution for NZ as a real opportunity.
The posters on display at Real Groovy
Walked over to Britomart after that and I will be putting up the posters next week. I have to get some dark background sheets to put them up otherwise the posters will get lost in the white walls. Rest of the day was paperwork and sorting out job openings with Gerben. 6 editors have already been employed and another 4 jobs are currently on the market and this years editors are in running for all those 4 jobs - which is really exciting. Hopefully in another couple of weeks we will have another 4 editors employed.
In the evening, Lance came over and took a couple of posters to put up at
TVNZ cafeteria - which is a major hub for all people working there. And since they are the national broadcasters, both Lance and I are hoping that it will give us some more exposure. Lance sponsored our tickets to see 'National Treasure'. I got a slight headache after seeing it. A typical hollywood movie - too cliched. But I must say that there were some parts which were really exciting but overall the movie was plain average. Later on at night, Benji got to know that his visitors visa had been extended till August,2005 - which means that they will be no mad panic at end of Jan to try and sort something out.
Time to go to school, more paperwork for the day.
Ciao,
Amit
Scruff Cut and Interviews
Watched the ‘scruff’ cut of the entire movie with Benji yesterday. Let me first define what a scruff cut is – this was a term which Benji came up with to define an assemble edit –which is a rough ‘rough’ cut. All the shots and scenes have been laid in order according to the script without any music or sound effects or cross edits. So what we have is an assembled cut of the entire movie which currently stands at about 2 hours {120 minutes}.
My impressions from the viewing – the final duration will be closer to 85-90 minute mark and it is working. One of the biggest fears you have as a director is that the movie is not working for you and that fear is at its peak while watching a scruff cut which does not have any extra movie magic at all. After watching the cut I think both Benji and I were excited because it was holding together even without all that. The middle of the movie is seamless and almost feels like one big scene. More work will definitely go into the beginning and the end of the film to make it a strong and cohesive piece. So yeah – really excited that the movie is coming along nicely.
After the viewing Lance came to the school and we did the interviews for the UK based website – I will be sending it over to them sometime this week. Let us see how the report comes about – will give a link and tell about the website as soon as the interview is up. Today will be a day for just research and writing Voice Overs for the movie and writing that one extra scene. I’ll be getting my medical reports back tomorrow and will then be able to apply for the work permit renewal.
Anyway – I think I will start off my day and start sorting out things which need to be sorted out.
Ciao
amit
Racist Rants and Posters
I am excited about the posters, i got them printed and laminated and they look niceee.. i will be putting them up at britomart early next week...that is also the time when i will be getting my medical results and also utting in the papers for work permit renewal. I will be putting up the posters on the site when Brett returns back to Dunedin.
The intro course finished today and it was also the last day for all editors/directors {well not quite}. All the projects are now on tape, barring a couple of dramas which are still lagging on. Paula's short movie which she did for OSA was nice and powerful. Enjoyed that a lot. Benji is going all nicely with the editing. He has now done the scruff cut and tomorrow we will be having a complete viewing and then decide where to go from there. He is doing some wicked stuff with the movie and it is going in directions that I was hoping for.
And the racist rant that i mentioned in the heading earlier - well it so happened that we went to 'Harbour Arms' - a pub two roads down from the school, to have a drink for Rhys's farewell before he moves down to Wellington. We were having a couple of drinks, before a maori guy who was really pissed, invited himself to our table and started started saying rude things to the ladies on the tables and then went into a violent verbal racist rant. All of us simply left the place to avoid any further embarassment and situation. It really left me more surprised than shaken. All the maori people I know are so generous and welcoming and such nice people that it almost becomes a shame when people like that drunk guy give everyone a bad name. No matter what anyone says there is a bit of racist tension underneath all the normality. Brought back the small incidents of racism which happened at the beginning of 2003. I can't comprehend why people can be so stuck about race or religion. Anyway..all i can say about the whole incident is that it was sad.
South Seas Singapore has been launched - as in the press releases have come out and the building has been finalised as well, so it is an exciting phase in south seas history. Surprisngly the encouragement for such a practical and training orientated course is more in singapore than here in NZ, where the government is being extra hard on private training institutions, making life as difficult as can be. I think NZ tends to go to extremes in each case - same as immigration, first they tightened the knot so much that people stopped applying for immigration altogether and now they have just loosened the rules up so much that they will not get as many good applicants. But anyway who cares for the rantings of a madman.
Off for now. Will tell you when I put up the posters on the website.
Ciao
amit
