I subscribe to several screenwriting blogs and every now and again, they will mention some overused movie cliches conventions that you would see that either advances the plot or informs character development. Recently, Scott from GITS mentions a “running through the streets of NYC” montage and The Bitter Scrip Reader discusses the newscasters as an expository device.

As a kid who grew up on 80’s action movies, it would be those training/preparation montages along the lines of this classic:

…or like when Arnold gears up for the big rescue of his daughter (played by Alyssa Milano) in Commando. Sorry, I couldn’t find a YouTube clip of it, but it’s various shots of Arnold sliding a big survival knife in his boot, painting his face with tiger stripes, slamming a magazine into his machine gun, and hanging some grenades on a vest he zipped up a few cuts prior. There’s usually some dramatic horns with a snare drum in the back and throw in a few snap zooms for emphasis.

Now I was watching Defiance last night and realized there’s one that’s very commonplace in action/war flicks – the explosion next to a character who becomes temporarily dazed. It usually takes a moment to come to – usually due to another character screaming his name to get his attention. This device is pretty effective because it uses sound design and post-production to get its point across.

I’m sure this has been done prior to this film, but I really took notice during the Omaha Beach landing of Saving Private Ryan. It happens at around the 4:40 mark on the video below:

This sequence is cut in such a way that the audience becomes Capt. John Miller. They see what he sees and hears (or doesn’t) what hears (or doesn’t) all in a heightened state of consciousness. The sound goes in and out and you hear that eerie high-pitched tone after your ears get pounded by high decibel levels. You see another soldier trying to get his attention, looking straight at the camera to give you Capt. Miller’s point of view. Miller comes to and the sound is now back to what you would expect to hear in the middle of a fierce gun battle.

[NOTE: I should say that I've never been nearby when an explosion goes off, so the way this event is portrayed could actually be accurate. The closest I ever came was when a pretty large firecracker named an onion went off in a big steel drum next to me during a New Year's Eve celebration in the Philippines. I was probably about 5-6 when this happened so this memory isn't vivid, but I do remember that strange hum. No slow-mo, though.]

This is all great, except it’s becoming more and more common. Several years later, you would see a similar sequence in Ridley Scott’s Blackhawk Down and just last night, I saw the same sequence in Edward Zwick’s Defiance when the refugee camp was bombed by German plans. Same explosion nearby. Same close-up of the disoriented character (in this case it was Daniel Craig). Same other character getting his attention.

In fact, I’m curious if there was a similar sequnce in The Last Samurai. I can’t remember off-hand, though.

Don’t get me wrong – these sequences do a good job of breaking that wall between the audience and the character on the screen. The audience is supposed to experience what the character experiences. Put that on the list of cliches conventions you will likely see over and over again…until someone comes up with a fresh way to do it.

Can anyone else remember other movies that incorporated a similar sequence?

Yesterday marked a year since Tess and I moved out of New York. I’ve expressed how much I loved my time in New York in this venue many times in the past, but now a year later, on the opposite side of the country, I can appreciate the role it’s played in my personal and professional growth.

“These streets will make you feel brand new. Big lights will inspire you”

Empire State of Mind – Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys

Boy did they ever. New York was a fountain of youth. It fun and exciting to paint on a blank slate. I forced myself to get lost and just wander about the town. I started working in an entirely new industry at the age of 29 with no contacts or experience. It was a fountain of youth. And at the end of it all, I’ve got credits, stories, and most importantly, friends.

Is the grass really greener?

Working on movies can be pretty damn fun, especially as a grip. Yeah, you have to lift heavy stuff through doorways, narrow hallways, and up multiple flights of stairs, but we do get to do some pretty cool stuff. It’s like playing with Tinker-Toys or Legos except in the middle of New York streets (but usually in cramped-ass apartment buildings). But let’s face it, gripping is a young man’s game. Sure, I’ve met some old dogs – very skilled technicians who have decades of experience. These are the guys who can command that ever-elusive full-rate (600/10hrs). As a 31-year old griptrician with only 3 years of experience, I could easily be competing against a 21-year old griptrician with the same experience for a job that paid a fraction of that rate. Do the math and it’s clear time isn’t on my side. And while I’m not in the best shape of my life, I can usually hump just as many sandbags, mombo combos, and Fisher 10 dollies as cats younger than me. But I’m just one set accident away from getting a career-threatening knee or back injury. In fact, I’m surprised I stayed pretty injury-free save for a burn on my forearm from a stupid inkie (the smallest tungsten head on our truck for that show)! 31 year old bodies don’t heal as fast as 21-year old bodies.

And besides, I don’t want to be a grip for the rest of my life. I want to write stuff and direct it.

But passion is overrated.

I’ve had some discussions with some really good friends about what it means to pursue your passion. It’s rewarding to do things you are passionate about (in my case, writing and directing), but Emory asked a profound question: “do you have to do it as a careeer?”

I don’t think I do. Let’s get serious here. Becoming a Hollywood director seems less and less likely the longer I stay here in LA.* And even becoming a regular director – one who does small commercials and industrials – can’t be that fun. I’ve worked commercials and industrials where the director is really just a puppet for the client. The director directs the actors, but always looks over his shoulder to make sure the client is happy with it. Where’s the fun in that? I do understand that there are projects that pay bills and projects that satiate the creative hunger. So really, what’s wrong with having a day job to pay bills and then doing the passion projects on the side?

Nothing. And guess what I was doing right before I moved to NY. I re-read some of my old posts – the ones from the Bindlestiff and Revival Arts productions I was involved in. I remembered how much fun and fulfilling it was. Imagine what I may be able to accomplish now the knowledge and experience I’ve gained in the last three years. Of course the whole job-that-pays-the-bills part needs to be sorted out.

Smells like a cop-out, right? “He just couldn’t hack it in LA and was too lazy to put in the work to achieve his goals.”

It’s a fair argument – maybe I can’t. If I was 6 years younger, I think I’d stick it out and see where things would take me. But in the past 3 years, there’s been probably close to 10 weddings and about 7 kids within my circle of friends. There really isn’t any pressure on me to hit those milestones just yet, but continuing the pursuit towards a filmmaking career will likely push that all back. And I’m not sure I want to do that.

Earning a living making films would probably make me happy, but it’s not the only thing that would**. There are other things in my life that will always be more important than a career – family (current and future) and friends. Being able to make films – whether for love or money – is a bonus. And I think I’m at peace with that now.

The conclusions I’ve drawn have everything to do with how the cards fell when I first moved here. I do wonder what it would’ve been like if circumstances were different. What if the handful of contacts I had coming into town called me for a job which led to another job which led to more jobs? Perhaps I would’ve gotten lucky and somehow made it onto a studio lot as a grip. Maybe I got a different day job – one that recognized my skills and experience and challenged me.

But things didn’t happen this way. It’s humbling and even embarrassing to be slumming it at an entry-level position. But it’s just as humbling and embarrassing being a 29 year old who left a cush job only to work for free on a student film as an Art PA. Such is life, after all.

* I get the sense that you do things/go places in this town with the hope of meeting a person who can introduce you to someone who can actually make a decision that can impact your career in the movie business. I’ve grown up to be too bitter and jaded to have the patience to deal with that kind of BS. In this biz, luck plays as big a role as talent in defining someone’s success. But I don’t have the luxury of waiting for that lucky hand.

** On the list of things that would make me happy is a PS3, a Vestax VCI-300 with Serato Itch (all the turntable loyalists are groaning, but really – who has the space these days?), and a vacation back to NYC.

We’re coming to the time of the year when it’s tough to be strapped for cash. Halloween festivities, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas and New Years. And of course, snowboarding season is also around the corner. All this compounded equals a dwindling bank account. And since my current income does not allow for any extra spending on regular months, this particular fall and winter look particularly daunting.

Knowing this, Halloween was pretty easy. Tess and I went as Lucy and Schroeder from Peanuts and made our own version of this iconic photo.

The costume was pretty wallet-friendly – just spent on the wig and some tubes of tempera paint for trusty ol’ Target. Throw in another $15 for a 12-pack to donate to the party and that was that.

But it was the week that led up to Halloween that proved to be tough. On Tuesday, I woke up with a tickle in my throat. By the early afternoon, the aches kicked in. Damn. It. I know what this feels like – the flu. It was all downhill from there. The next 3.5 days became the worst bout against the flu I’ve ever been in. The symptoms seemed to be running around 125%-140% of the normal flu symptoms I usually get. Now I’m pretty proud of my immune system – I’m susceptible to illness here and there but I usually bounce back pretty quick. This time, a particular symptom would hit me hard one day and it felt like it would subside by the next. However, another symptom would appear…and with a vengeance. I remember coughing so hard that it actually really hurt my chest AND throat.

Now while my immune system worked overtime, it meant I was home…not working even regular time…and thus not meeting maximum 34 hours I can work during the week…which I really need to ensure my financial obligations are met. This is a week before I’m set to go to Virginia for a long weekend to celebrate my grandfather’s 86th birthday with many of the Lim clan. Losing out on 20 hours during a pay period HURTS.

But somehow things always seem to work out. On Saturday, I got a call from Jason Inouye, a DP I met through Patricio Ginelsa to work on some promo interviews for the upcoming film Precious. Interview setups are easy peasy so even though I wasn’t fully recovered from (what I’ve now deduced as) swine flu, I knew I would have the energy to work this job. It was a decent rate for a half a day of work so it’s tough to say no. And considering I had already missed three days of work, I couldn’t really afford to turn it down in the first place.

So this weekend is VA. Next weekend, I’m headed to the Bay for a day so I can go pick up the bed and box spring that Eric has graciously stored for me in his guest bedroom. Soon after, the Thanksgiving break and then Christmas after that – which means MORE unpaid days off.

But like that last-minute phone call, something always seems to work out.