Ben from Vanish Productions talks about some iPhone apps for acting and finding actors. The list includes:
Comment with some other ideas!
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From the monthly archives:
April 2010
Website secrets, o boy bombers, Mexican fairy tales, heavy bellies and Gogol Bordello
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Last night I saw Gogol Bordello for the 5th time. Leading up to the show, I wondered if there would come a time where these guys wouldn’t blow my mind. I now know that day will never arrive. I’ve seen many great bands at Red Rocks and other venues throughout my years and my five favorite shows of all time are all Gogol Bordello shows. I don’t think anybody can touch them. More importantly, their explosive movement inspires me every time I experience it. I want to make movies more than ever after a Gogol show. Here’s why:
Vision
- Romanian folk music mixed with punk?
- A banshee-like lead singer with a stunning handlebar mustache who will play a bucket on a microphone?
- A mobile violin player on the other side of 50 who wears a Slayer muscle shirt?
- A dub-influenced rapper?
- An accordion player who burns the ax like a madman?
- A pair of women in killer workout gear running around the stage playing hand cymbals and a marching band bass drum?
Are you kidding me? I think they got this area covered.
Passion
I’ve attended too many shows where the artists just dial it in. I have never (and will never) put a Gogol show in this department. They live for this shit! You can see it and feel it. They want to be nowhere else than in some strange town blasting a heat wave for two hours. You feel like they’re giving you everything…because they are.
Energy
You may think this is the same as passion but I disagree. Passion is the sun and energy is the heat from the sun. Take a look at the video above again. Imagine what that is like when you’re in the same room as these guys. Gogol literally gets the whole crowd bouncing up and down, alive with crazy energy. The whole crew brings the energy all the time, every time.
You can do this with your art and creativity! You have a vision, you have passion, and you exude energy about your art. If you ever question the possibilities, go see Gogol Bordello. I’m confident you’ll see they are endless.
So do your own thing! Show some cube! And start wearing purple…
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Have you ever heard a song that gives off such a visual vibe that you can actually smell the environment? Some songs have this power. I listen to music constantly, hoping to find the killer neurons. They can be the catalyst for an outburst of creativity. For our filmmaking ventures, I use music to create something I call emotional circumstances. In order to produce them, you have to dig deep into the mental visuals that accompany the music and ask what the visuals feel like. Here’s a few examples:
Wolf Like Me – TV on the Radio
It feels like I don’t know what’s better – the thrill of the hunt or the fear of being hunted.
God’s Gonna Cut You Down – Johnny Cash
It feels like the wheels are about to come off the hinges and I’m too tired to rationalize it.
Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose (Remix) – James Brown
It feels like I’m starting to shiver from the excitement, or vice versa. I got to move.
Hoppípolla – Sigur Ros
It feels like a military ceremony where sorrow is official surrendering to hope.
White Chalk – PJ Harvey
It feels like I’m breathing down the back of my own neck.
After documenting several emotional circumstances, I think about the locations we have available to shoot a film. Then I place one of them in this specific location. An idea may not present itself immediately but an atmosphere will be there. This is fertile soil for great story ideas.
Joan Jett’s “Do You Wanna Touch Me?” produced the emotional circumstance that led to “Sweet Damnation.” Oh yeah!
So what music inspires you in your creative endeavors? Hit it with some comments…
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Recently we discovered a filmmaker who shares many of our philosophies regarding the filmmaking world – M dot Strange. His creativity when facing filmmaking obstacles should be noted by anyone who ever dreamed of making a movie. Also, his willingness to scrap the old film distribution model is a Grade A, bona fide, sizzling prime cut. Below is his presentation at Power to the Pixel in 2008. Make sure you check out around the 14 minute mark where he talks about his experience at Sundance Film Festival.
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Film festivals have rules. We don’t like rules.
Film festivals usually require money to submit a film. We don’t like paying money to show our movies.
Film festivals prevent you from releasing your movie before the festival. We don’t like preventing people from seeing our movies.
Most filmmakers want to break into the business. Money is on the mind. Don’t get me wrong. It would be cool if Vanish was our full time gig. But if that’s at the forefront of your mind you will follow the well-worn trail of heartbreak, of which film festivals are a crucial pit stop.
What about approaching filmmaking like gardening? People garden because they love being outdoors, digging in the dirt, and watching their vegetables grow. After harvest, they enjoy the vegetables with people in their lives or give some to their neighbors. Maybe a neighbor serves your vegetables to a rep from a grocery store chain and you get a phone call. It could happen, but does it have to?
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“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
- Teddy Roosevelt
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If you’ve never seen “The Straight Story,” do so. It’s about an old guy who drives a lawnmower several hundred miles to visit his ailing brother. Better yet, it’s based on a true story. I regularly think about the film’s simple yet compelling narrative. Recently, it popped into my mind while I was at a local Guitar Center. My mission was to find the cheapest USB keyboard to help record our film soundtracks. Lo and behold, they jokingly pointed to the Korg model. 50 smacks. As he handed me the very light box, he stated “This is just for demo stuff, not for any recording to play for people.” Maybe he was trying to sell me something better but I knew he meant it. If I wanted to create something “decent” I would have to rent or build a studio.
(imagine the DIY cringe)
In the Straight Story, they tell the old man he can’t drive a lawnmower 600 miles. Why not? It has wheels, an engine and a steering wheel. If you fill it with gas, it should run. Granted, it will take you 2 months. But you can drive a lawnmower 600 miles. Actually, you’re not supposed to drive a lawnmower that far and you’re not supposed to mass produce a song created with a cheap keyboard. That’s what the bastards want you to believe. However, YOU CAN DO IT, just like the old man from the Straight Story. You know the best part? The fact that the old man took his trip on a lawnmower moved his ailing brother to tears along with everyone who experienced the story. That is remarkable.
Many people told us what we weren’t supposed to do. We weren’t supposed to film a movie on an everyday video camera. We weren’t supposed to cast people without acting experience. And we certainly weren’t supposed to create a movie production company in the middle of nowhere.
But we did. Now ignore the bastards, do your thing, and show some cube.
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