Assistant Director Extraordinaire

With apologies to Ali G. my main man when it comes to assistant directors is Normann (yes, three N's- that's how it's done Skokie-style) Pokorny. Normann is my friend, occasional golf partner, and regular member of the 7am omelet club at the local diner. He is also the person who answers all my (and many of my friends') computer questions, "Hey Norm what's a USB?"

Even if we weren't friends, Normann would still be our first call for a.d. He works on the BIG Chicago jobs, E.R., when it shoots here, many films- Stuart (Smalley) Saves his Family, Normal Life and TV series such as The Untouchables and Early Edition. When not busy on those type projects, he slums it and works with us.

Most assistant directors look to run an efficient show- time is money. Normann does too, but he is also always thinking about how to make the film better. While we have worked together often, my favorite time was on this little film for the Batesville Casket Company. I had written the script and was going to direct, but I just couldn't "see" the film in my mind. I think I was so wrapped up in the writing- I finished the last draft just a day before production began- that I was burned out. So, on a dreary Saturday before our Monday shoot Normann- on his own nickel- asked me if I wanted to go to our location and we talked through the shots. The time we spent together and with Jim, pre-visualizing the film was priceless. Normann saved the day for this dumb filmmaker.

For that I say to him, "respek." Thanks Norm.

PeterH

The Filter Factor

I had several good comments and questions on my "more collaboration" post about filtering out those bad suggestions cast or crew members might have. I am going to try to answer that issue here.

As I indicated earlier, I like to create an environment where cast and crew can feel comfortable sharing their ideas. I am open to anything but, I only take the ones I feel are good. To me it all starts with the culture we create on the set. Jim and I are very easy (I like to think) to work with. We aren't egomaniacs or pretentious (this improved greatly after I stopped wearing jodhpurs, a beret and carrying a riding crop) and we truly value everyone's efforts.

I think when new crew is hired they can take a quick read of the situation and know how to act appropriately. I also believe I have a pretty good filter for siphoning out bad ideas. It is not unlike teaching when students make comments- I take the Socratic approach and ask them a series of questions to get to an understanding of what they are thinking. So, if a p.a. suggests something crazy I will ask them why, and try to teach them a little about the bigger picture of what we are trying to accomplish. To me this helps create that collaborative atmosphere I so appreciate.

Finally, many suggestions from crew members come not to me directly, but via the assistant director. And the assistant director is what I am going to post about next.

PeterH

Video Assist

A big part of professional filmmaking- especially when clients are on the set- is the video assist set up. Video assist (invented by Jerry Lewis so he could be in the films he directed) taps into the optical system of your film camera and allows you to run a video feed to TV monitor or a series of monitors. On many larger shoots you create a video village, a little area just off the set often shrouded in black to cut down on the glare, for the clients and executives to watch what you are shooting. It is at the same time ridiculous- they could just look up and see it with their own eyes- and mandatory. Video assist is de rigeur.

When I first started I thought video assist was an indulgence. In fact I thought it was a sign of sloppiness. Once when asked if I wanted video assist I said , "No thank you I have an imagination." I quickly changed my mind when I had clients breathing down my neck. Not only can you see what you are shooting, live, but you can roll back the video assist tape and check what you just shot. My imagination is pretty good, but not that good. In addition it is a giant safety blanket for those trust-challenged clients, who really like to belt and suspender everything.

My biggest lesson about the benefits of video assist came from Jim's wife Kim. Before she was a nurse she worked in the film business as a video assist person. As such she spent a lot of time in the video village with the clients. The information she learned- not only about the shoot, but about office politics and agency worries was invaluable. Often Kim would come up to Jim or me and tell us something the client was worried about, BUT was afraid to tell us. Sometimes is was something mundane like there wasn't enough lime flavored bubbly water and other times it was pretty critical. Once Kim told me the client wanted me to consult with them more. After she told me I made it a point to check with them after every take and to spend more time with them.

It was a valuable lesson. Not only did I learn something about my own dealings with clients, but I learned that they don't always tell you what's on their mind. Thanks to Kim's eavesdropping we were able to make the client more comfortable and they called us often for more jobs.

PeterH

More Collaboration

It has been said that film directing is the last dictatorial job left in the world. That might be true. There are many directors famous for their tyranny and outrage and their good films. On my sets, however, I like to create an atmosphere where everyone feels free to contribute. I don’t pretend to have all the ideas and I will take any help offered, but at the same time I don’t turn around and poll the crew as to what we should do next.

We have worked with a gaffer named Tom Lewis many, many times. He always sort of intimidated me. He was a little gruff, until you got to know him. He has worked on thousands of projects over the years so he knows more than I ever will and he didn’t take fools lightly.

On the first job we did together I could tell he was a little skeptical. Here was this kid filmmaker with- in my projection- a million-dollar idea and a 50-dollar budget. I was asking for lots of lights- big, expensive and time consuming. One full day was going to be devoted just to readying the set, the next day to a pre-light, then finally a shoot that would only last 3-4 hours tops- a lot of work for a very short payoff.

Like any pro, Tom and his crew did the job and by the time we were shooting I think he realized I wasn’t quite as crazy as he first assumed. Over the hours I could see him understand more of my vision and his work was really helping me achieve it. As we are setting one of the last shots, and the shot that will conclude the film, Tom noticed something that escaped me and everyone else. As our lead walked off into the “sunset” it appeared as if the window sash was growing out of his head.

Tom, very quietly, said to me, “Why don’t we lower the camera (we were on a jib arm that could move up and down) as he walks away. It will change the perspective of the window sash.”

It was a great idea, one that didn’t really change the film at all, but an idea that came from Tom being present and in the moment and buying into my concept. It would have been easy for him to say nothing- it wouldn’t have mattered, and I would never have known the difference, but from that moment on we were able to forge a working relationship that lasted through dozens of projects.

PeterH

Collaboration part 2

One of the first big breaks I had as a TV commercial director was shooting a Windex commercial. It came about very fast- another director was supposed to do it, but I got the call on a Saturday morning and we shot the following Thursday. Casting was Monday and Tuesday, we built a set Tuesday and Wednesday and shot Thursday while the paint was still wet. We transferred film on Friday and it was cut and finished the following Tuesday.

It’s a spot many of you have seen. A man and a woman are cleaning windows, she is using Windex and the man is using “the other leading brand.” Her window gets so clean, the plant growing between them bends over to the cleaner window. Hilarity ensues and viewers race to the store to buy more Windex.

As a filmmaker and a film watcher I really like to believe what I see with my own eyes. I don’t really care for Special FX and in these days of green screen and computers it is very easy to create a new reality. So, when it came time to make the plant move, I wanted to make a real plant, really move. I didn’t want some sort of rigged animatronic plant. I had no idea how to do this (see the posts above about my lack of technical skills) but the beauty of working on a film set is that if you hire the right people, someone will be able to figure it out.

Enter Jeff Renfro, an otherwise unremarkable grip, gaffer, and handyman. After lots of discussion with the ad agency, the producer, Jim and anyone else with two cents, Jeff suggested the simplest of all solutions- fishing line. We strung two pieces of line to the plants, sat off camera and on cue gave it a tug and like magic the plant moved to the clean window. After about three takes Jeff added a change. He pulled the taller branch over first, waited a beat and then pulled the lower part towards him. When they added the music, it was just the right extra beat and chuckle the spot needed.

I would like to say it was great direction that made this happen, but the truth is it was, as always, a collaborative venture. We had worked with Jeff enough to know what he could do, and he was comfortable enough to come up with the simple solution while everyone around him was over thinking the problem. While just doing his job, he made me look good.

Thanks Jeff.

PeterH

Collaboration

I am going to devote a few posts to collaboration. I think too many young filmmakers feel the need to do everything themselves- write, shoot, produce, direct, edit. But that's not how good films are made. Films are made by people with a diverse range of talents coming together to contribute their own piece of the puzzle. The group is stronger than any individual member. (This is probably why we have never had a great Ringo Starr or Charlie Watts solo album.)

I tell students they do not have to know how to do everything, they just have to develop
the language to get what they want. This is often a hard lesson to learn and with the advances in technology sometimes I feel it is an uphill battle because it is so much easier for a beginning filmmaker to be a one-man band.

In one of my first posts I described how Jim and I began working together. He was shooting a TV commercial for a production company I worked for and he saw the longer form version of Denny Dent. He liked it and suggested I edit it to 30 seconds. He invited me to his home a few days later to cut it and we have been working together ever since.

That was 15 years ago.

Our collaboration could have easily lasted only a few hours but we hit it off right away and together we were better than apart. We had enough in common as filmmakers (how we approach an edit or shooting a job- we always look to tell a story) that we didn't have to reinvent the filmmaking wheel. Jim takes on pieces of the puzzle like shooting, lead editor and even billing, that I couldn't do as well as he does and I write, conceptualize and schmooze with the clients. Together we somehow make it work.

Over the next few posts I am going to share some stories about key crew members who have made very subtle, yet very important contributions to projects we have worked on. My hope is that you will see how collaboration makes the work better.

PeterH

iphone

Everyone who knows me, knows I am all about the latest and greatest technology. I must have the fastest computer, the most gadgets and toys, and be connected to the internet all the time. I just can't get enough.

That noise you all just heard is everyone who knows me laughing their heads off because in reality I am a Luddite. Sure, I have a computer- a pretty good one, though a couple of years old- and I know how to surf the web, but that's about it. Jim covers me technology-wise at work, the IT guys at school and teaching assistants in the classroom.

So, with that as a preamble, I got an iphone over the weekend and it's pretty cool, especially for a boring old guy like myself. I have barely scratched the surface of what it can do but here is a mini-review. Aesthetically it is great. A little smaller than I imagined, a black front with a silver back. A nice weight to it. Functionally it was very easy to set up and get going. There are hardly any instructions I just followed my nose.

I heard about problems with the keyboard- it's not tactile- but it wasn't an issue for me. There is a smart function so when I typed Windu for Windy, it corrected me. The internet was great. A few button pushes and I was on the Windy Cine website watching our demo reel in the middle of the park. A few more pushes later I was reading this blog. It wasn't DSL fast, but middle of the park connected to nothing, on my phone it was plenty fast.

I haven't played with the ipod or the video functions yet, I need to update my operating system first, but the biggest drawback so far is the ATT network. Its reach is not as good as other providers. My other concern is that I don't get carried away with surfing the net as I drive down Lake Shore Drive. I can see the headline now, "Dumb filmmaker101 kills himself while Googling himself."

PeterH