Tyler Gibb

Cutting ain’t easy.

Let me tell you a little about me. See, I have a tendency to over-think and over-work things. I scheme, I plan, I contrive to the best of my ability in order to fulfill what I speculate to be the the best result for whatever project I’m working on. Unfortunately this generally backfires on me because I tend to sacrifice artistic integrity in order to please the masses.

Screw the masses.

And while I’m at it, screw artistic integrity as well.

The masses are fickle and artistic integrity if not kept well within limits leaps right into the domain of pride which the Catholics made a mortal sin for a reason.

These days I’m looking for the middle ground. Filmmaking seems to be, if nothing else, about making compromises. People who say they don’t compromise are lonely idealistic fools or soon-to-be-dead tyrants.

I’m currently in the throws of applying these punchy little catch phrases to the editing process on Refrain. See the argument over which a compromise must be found is; do I cut the movie down to an easier to swallow 90 minutes or leave it at its current 110 minutes. These days I’m seeing movies geared toward the mainstream running as short as 80 minutes, credits in. Clearly our attention spans are diminishing. However I’ve also seen some 2hr flicks paced so slowly that it makes you want to file your taxes early just to add some excitement to the evening.

So which is Refrain to be? The movie was planned to be anything but a roller coaster, that’s for sure, it’s a drama and a quiet one at that (despite the knife wielding ninjas and shocking lesbian action). But will it work on that level without putting the audience to sleep?

Pleasing the masses says, cut it down and punch it up.

Artistic integrity says, stay true to the vision of a quiet slow-boil drama.

So where does that leave me? At about 100 minutes even I guess.

Well… Maybe 105… If I’m going err, I’d rather it be on the side of integrity.

T

I have notes scribbled in margins all over my shooting schedule reminding me of one thing:

Get coverage.

I know there’s an important reason those notes are there (Past Tyler’s always looking out for Future Tyler) but sometimes, in the heat of the shoot, I neglect the importance of this self-directed wisdom.

I have a tendency toward pragmatism when time allows which is why I storyboard and plan like a madman before getting down to the fleeting business of shooting. What I’ve realized while shooting Refrain however is that my pragmatism has led to me to trim the fat as it were where insert shots are concerned. Maybe this comes from my animation background where if you don’t need it in the final cut, why on Earth would you create it in the first place? So I have wound up planning very few superfluous shots. Superfluous or so they seem at the time when the clock’s against you, your volunteer cast and crew are waiting on you and you’re about to collapse from exhaustion. In reality such inserts become a very valuable asset to the editing process where what you took painstaking measures to plan comes out slightly different when filtered through reality.

Or so I’ve noticed while venturing into the editing process while still activily shooting Refrain… Which is why the “get coverage” messages are scribbled in the margins rather than typed bold face into the schedule itself.

You can never have too much coverage. And you can never have too much footage of that coverage. When something just isn’t playing right in that simple dinner scene between two people and all you’ve got is two sides and a master… You’re left wondering why you didn’t just shoot someone’s fork digging through their meal, just a little more of each person simply chewing, or even a shot of the damn salt shaker would do!

Anyway. This week’s advice from someone with no real credentials to speak of: From Past-Self to Future-Self, do yourself a favour and get coverage.

T

I don’t know who first said it but I’m a firm believer in the notion that luck is when preparation meets opportunity… But when you watch a number of independent meteorological sources forecast your doom for a solid week and then pull off a dusk til dawn outdoor shoot without the predicted severe thunderstorms then it’s hard not to wonder, just for a moment, if there aren’t greater cosmic forces at work.

Compound that with the fact that you’re shooting on Friday the 13th, 150 yards from a cemetery five days after a black cat crossed your path several times while you were out there scouting the location and you may start to think about buying a lottery ticket on the way home.

But I don’t know… You go down that road to superstition and before you know it you’re pulling your car over by a park to jump out and knock on a tree because you had a negative thought about the meeting you were headed to.

What? … It can happen.

I’m just saying; coincidences that masquerade as serendipity are great moments that make you feel like maybe there’s more to what you’re doing than what you yourself can take responsibility for but that’s all it really is. A feeling. That kind of feeling can get pretty addictive to anyone in a creative field where so much of what we base our careers on seems to come down to luck. Chalking things up to bad luck is the slippery slope that comes next and before you know it, you’re not even trying anymore you’re just throwing salt over your shoulder and calling it a day. But the truth is, the Refrain crew and I got what we needed shot this weekend because we were prepared and despite the odds stacked against us, when the opportunity not to get rained on presented itself we were ready.

Preparation meets opportunity. No luck required.

Meteorologists are charlatans anyway.

T

Refrain is officially… Half shot! And I’m still standing so that’s good news.

As anyone who’s ever uploaded a YouTube video knows, because of all this wonderous shiny technology, I’m able to see nearly immediately what the fruits of our shooting labours look like. I’m even able to quickly assemble rough cuts of scenes in no time. Oh, what a world.

This is pretty helpful for being able to see if everything’s coming along smoothly or if anything needs to be re-shot and it wouldn’t really be possible if I didn’t have the playback storyboard that I do. All I have to do is repleace the storyboard illustrations in the timeline with the footage and bang; the scene appears the way I’d planned it.

Great method technically but I’ve noticed that it does have one notable drawback. Planning everything to a tee is great on the back end but it’s a little stiffling on the front end, during the shoot. With only one camera trained on one actor’s side for the most part there’s little room to play with improvisation on the fly and still hope to get a matching scene when you flip your setup to get the second actor’s side. That’s a shame because I really wanted to explore that improv with the enormously talented actors I have the pleasure of working with…

Next time perhaps.

Until then, sticking to the script is going to have to do. Which is fine… Because I wrote the script.

There’s really nothing less artistic then the phrase “Don’t worry about it, we’ll get it in the edit,” but at the end of the day the process of making a movie isn’t only about the process of shooting the actors. So it may suck the spontaneity out of things sometimes but I’m trying not to forget the medium I’m working with.

So the question is, with all the immediateness of this technology will I have some small sample of the movie to share with you shortly? … Hmm…

Boy… You have to be in pretty good shape to shoot a movie. Fortunately I am. Pretty good. I’d highly recommend to anyone endeavouring to embark on this kind of project to get into pretty good physical shape before starting.

Getting a healthy amount of sleep is also pretty important as it becomes harder and harder to do as you go.

I’d like to have some more music and/or video samples for you all soon but it’s not terribly easy to file these field reports while in the thick of our shooting schedule… But soon. Soon there’ll be stuff to share.

Sufficed to say it’s going very well.

As always, more soon!

T

I heard this interview recently on NPR’s The Business that for whatever cosmic reason just resonnated with my life at the exact right moment. The Claude Brodesser-Akner interview was with Dennis Palumbo a Hollywood writer turned therapist to Hollywood writers, actors, etc. Palumbo basically hits the nail on the head with his ovservation that creative types trying to make a go of the entertainment industry aren’t really crazy, they’re just royally screwed.

I’m paraphrasing.

The basic conclusion laid out in the interview (which coincidentally was reinforced in my mind this past weekend over two nights of intense shooting for Refrain) is that whether you’re an aspiring writer, director or actor you essentially must go into this industry even knowing full well it’s going to beat you into the ground over and over again. As a “creative” you can’t help it. You can’t do anything else. Another vocation just isn’t even an option.

It’s a little disturbing.

Anyway, the interview grabbed me, so I thought I’d pass it on.

Refrain’s production is coming along! By the end of next week I’ll need to have my name pinned to my jacket just to remember what it is, but the result is going to be worth it. Who would have thought making a movie would be so exhausting?

T

These days I can’t seem to shake the lyrics “You can always depend on the kindness of strangers…” out of my head. The line is from a Streetcar Named Desire but the lyric is from The Simpsons’s musical version of the Tennessee Williams play… Because I, like most red-blooded americanized kids out there, have picked up most of my important cultural education from The Simpsons.

Anyway, the reason I can’t seem to shake the line is because lately I’ve been putting a lot of faith in that kindness of strangers and so far it’s been going really well… Which comes as a bit of a surprise to a crusty cynical curmugeon like myself. I didn’t spend nearly half a decade by myself animating Minushi because I have a lot of faith in other people, know what I mean?

But lo and behold the universe has yet a new curve ball to send my way (just to mess with my head, I’m sure) in the form of kindness. The kindness that seems to be eagerly bestrowed upon the independent filmmaker by those he calls on for support.

Seriously, I have yet to be disappointed by anyone I’ve gone to with hat in hands, be it to ask for locations, time, talent, back-muscles - what can I say? I’m not sure why I’m surprised; I’d love to help me out. I guess I just didn’t expect such positivity from people sight unseen. It’s led me to question the nature of this kindness… I know, I know, why look a gift-horse in the mouth? Crusty cynical curmugeon, remember?

But wait now, what I’ve come up with isn’t so bad: I think people just generally want to be a part of “the movies” - even little independent ones. And not literally in the movie… I think people just like movies (duh!) and just want to see them succeed.

So - I don’t know - I guess what I’m saying is: Just ask. It’s become my motto anyway. Need help with your project? Just ask.

Cue music!

“You can always depend on the kindness of strangers…
To pluck up your spirits, and shield you from dangers…
Now here’s a tip from Blanche you won’t regret…
A stranger’s just a friend you haven’t met…
You haven’t met…
STREETCAR!”