crewless news and notes

Still working on the rough cut of Hide and Creep. We’re trying to get some scenes “locked,” so Eric can finish writing music cues and start recording. We’re also trying to shoot a few “pick up” shots, mostly outside stuff, but it won’t stop raining. Hopefully, I can make some good progress this weekend, since I’ve got an extra day off because of the holiday. And maybe one of those days will be sunny.

Happy Independence Day, by the way…

The number of spam e-mails I receive has gotten completely out-of-hand. Literally hundreds per day. And, lately, some of them are written in German.

The nerve of these people. Not only do they expect me to buy their (illegal, no doubt) prescription drugs and pay them to refinance my home, but I’ve gotta go out and learn a new language, too?

I was flipping channels on the radio while I was out for lunch today and heard Rush Limbaugh doing a parody of Michael Moore. Now, I know Moore stands for everything the Republicans hate, but Limbaugh’s parodies are usually reserved for high-ranking Democrat politicians, not indie filmmakers. I think a more effective strategy for the GOP would have been to ignore Moore and his movie. It was number one at the box office last weekend, and I’ll bet all the free hype (even if it was negative) from the Right had something to do with that.

Also, this is the second time this year I’ve heard Limbaugh and his imitators/comrades (O’Reilly, Hannity, etc.) get worked up over a movie. A few months ago, they were raving about The Passion. Unlike Moore’s flick, they liked that one. In fact, they were so hot for it, you’d have thought Jesus himself directed it.

Just for the record, I haven’t seen either of these movies yet. Just thought it was interesting that these jabber jocks can’t seem to get excited about a movie unless it’s pro-God or anti-Bush. If these guys were real patriots, I think they’d be giving up some love for Spider-man 2.

Slightly-related note: for a guy against gay marriage, Sean Hannity keeps his head awful far up George W. Bush’s ass.

Got my fingers in a couple of today’s columns over at Movie Poop Shoot. In Part Eleven of “This Movie Ain’t Gonna Shoot Itself,” I try to explain how to edit a movie in less than 2200 words. Do I succeed? You’ll have to read the column and see for yourself.

Also, Josh Jabcuga asked me and a bunch of other ‘Shoot writers to opine about summer blockbuster movies. He combined those opinions to create this week’s edition of “Squib Central.”

Just got back from playing drums with the Exhibit(s) at City Stages ‘04. They’d apparently managed to locate the 107.7 “the X” stage, where we were playing, about 10 feet from the sun, ‘cause it was hot. Like dementia-inducing hot.

Anyway, we had a good time and even played a couple of songs we’re working on for the Hide and Creep soundtrack.

I mainly wanted to post this as a public “thanks” to Mark, Smokey, Drew, and all the other guys working the “X” stage. They were 100% friendly and accomodating. I have a few issues with City Stages in general, but I’d gladly play for the “X” guys any time they’ll have us. Stand-up guys, each and every one.

Now, I’m going to try to get back out there and catch Lunasect…

Good friend Carol in New York turned me on to this site, which contains some shocking information about Dubya’s new plan for the 2004 presidential election.

Stacey, my girlfriend, roommate, and a Hide and Creep producer, has an interesting theory.

Ronald Reagan has been dead for years. His family waited until now to have the funeral, retrospectives, and celebrations of Republican-ism because Bush 2 needed a push, given his current poll numbers.

I would dismiss this as left-wing paranoia, but Stacey’s a card-carrying Republican.

Regardless, I bet Lee from Hide and Creep would be totally on board with this theory.

There’s a new “This Movie Ain’t Gonna Shoot Itself” column up at Movie Poop Shoot. After taking a break from technical stuff in the last column, it’s back to business in today’s look at location audio.

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned my first “director of photography” gig – shooting a short movie (Programming to Die For) for Sam Frazier on the Crewless Aaton 16mm camera. Yesterday, Sam and I went to CineFilm in Atlanta to get the film footage transferred to videotape.

We got to watch the footage during the transfer, and it looks pretty good. Aside from being my first DP job, we tried a filmstock I haven’t used before, Fuji’s 500T. Given all the “firsts” going on in and behind the camera, I’ll admit I was a little relieved to find out that everything came out okay.

Aside from getting the transfer done, we got to hang out with Ron and Mark, who work at CineFilm, and see their new Hi-Def setup, which I wonder if I’ll ever be able to afford (their Hi-Def rates are about twice those of their standard-def rates).

This has been a fun project so far. I’m looking forward to seeing what Sam does with the footage in the editing room.

Eric McGinty, who plays “Ned” in Hide and Creep, is currently performing in Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Birmingham Festival Theatre. Eric’s also one of my best friends, leader of one of my bands (the Exhibit(s)), and the dude writing the music for Hide and Creep.

Anyway, I caught Hedwig Friday night, and I was totally blown away. Don’t be scared off by the fact they’re performing in a “theatre…” Hedwig is a full-on rock and roll show. It just happens to have a plot, too.

Really, I can’t recommend this thing enough. I’m going to try to go see it again this weekend.

For more raving, check out the review at AL.com.