Geez, I was really frickin' on today.

I solved problems large and small at work, pedaled out to my salsa class on the other side of the universe, followed everything Garincha threw at us, pedaled allll the way back east to the Khyber, sang stuff people genuinely enjoyed hearing, hit it off really nicely with a whole lot of people and bumped into not only a crew from the salsa scene but also a guy from one of the other 48 Hour Film Project teams.

This never happens to me. People say Philly is too small but my worlds rarely collide these days.

My third and final song of the night was marred by a very persistent, very loud heckler... a hater, even. But I'm actually kinda proud of that: somebody was sufficiently moved to expend his energy trying to subvert my performance. Wow. Dude, it's only karaoke, get a grip. Am I really awesome enough to hate on?

(Edit: not a frequent occurrence at all. The Khyber on Mondays is highly recommended chillax and don't take it so damn seriously-oke.)

My only regret is that I didn't have a date tonight. As that would presumably have gone well too.

I'm putting it all down to the caffeine molecule T-shirt.

Tags: 48, dance, karaoke, salsa

I can't do that much to improve the sound on Goodnight Jeannine (*). The fact is that we goofed when we (a) went ahead filming in the bar after discovering that the fridge couldn't be unplugged, and (b) never really gave overdubbing a shot. After that, well, it is what it is.

I've been advised that ADR is Hard And Scary, but I haven't found it all that difficult really. I need to give myself credit for what I do know— I'm pretty fly when it comes to chopping up and rearranging audio snippets. And I think it's significant that many of the better 48-hour films were narrated or overdubbed (if you paid close attention it wasn't that hard to spot the latter, but it didn't detract). With practice I think I could manage it for a 48-hour film. So long as I got straight to work Saturday night, that is.

But anyway, enough groaning on my part. Here are some great things about this year's film: Bobbi Block acting in a Lindsay Harris script. The Slater wimminz and their incredible location-finding and musician-finding skillz. The all-singing, all-dancing, self-motivating philadel crew, the friendship of which I am daily grateful for. Hearing the words "when we do this next year..." from people I absolutely want to make a movie with again. And discovering (even if too late) that we have more video editors and sound people in our midst than I knew. You can bet I'll do my darnedest to bring those resources to bear on next year's film.

There is already talk of participating in other festivals this year. As for how involved I'll be... well, we'll see. Like I said, I'm deeply involved in an art form already and I'm serious about giving it the energy it deserves. But I'd love to help out and keep on catalyzing good things.

(*) Those who haven't seen it can find it in my earlier post today.

Tags: 48, movies

I'd like to work on the sound for this... a lot... before youtubing it. But I won't keep the non-locals on my friendslist waiting any longer. You deserve a chance to see what everyone else saw, warts and all.
( Watch the film! )
The Windows Media version is missing one credit: thanks to opadit for the loan of her lighting rig.

Tags: 48, movies

Just got back from the 48HFP afterparty. We had a great time. The winning films (not ours) were thoroughly deserving.

Many members of the Greater Delaware Avengers have expressed that (a) shit yeah we're doing this again, and (b) we're not doing jack until we get sound right. Hearing sentiment (a) expressed by people with serious professional-grade skillz was greatly inspiring. Sentiment (b) echoes my own strong feelings in the matter.

I already have an art form— salsa— that takes up 99% of my free time, with the other 1% divided between writing the occasional sonnet and everything else, so where film is concerned I see my role as catalyzing matters and helping creative people in my various spheres to find each other and get together and make good craziness happen. Folks who previously were not involved have outed themselves, or been outed, as film editors and sound people and all sorts of good things. This is good, because as a producer if I am doing something myself I have already failed. 2009 looks interesting. And if Laura has her way there might very well be more films in 2008. q00l.

Yes, I will be posting the film to youtube, after I give (b) a little more love as a learning experience.

Martini drinkers in my life, be advised: Silk City serves a fine martini, but the Continental is undeniably superior.

Tags: 48, movies

Timecatcher: judged the best 48 hour film project film of 2007, worldwide. Hebrew with English subtitles (you won't have any trouble following it). Under 7 minutes, you have time.

It is indeed an amazing piece of work, especially considering it was made from scratch in 48 hours.

Tags: 48, movies

Wednesday at 9:15pm at the International House, 3701 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. Twelve films (including ours, natch) for ten bucks. Such a deal!

Tags: 48, movies

Yes, the Greater Delaware Avengers made a movie this weekend! Yes, we finished on time! Yes, it will really be screening on Wednesday at the International House, 3701 Chestnut Street, at 9:15pm! Yes, you should get there early to get a ticket ($10) for screening group D!

Tags: 48, greater delaware avengers, movies

I'm part of the 48 Hour Film Project again this year, along with improv goddess Bobbi Block, ms_violet (an accomplished playwright), skilled director mrlich, location mavens glttrgirl and her sister Ann, the remarkably talented rookie director Laura, a convincingly deranged Brett and possibly real-for-serious videographer nohx at the editing controls.

"What?" a festival of short films made during a 48-hour period beginning this Friday night and ending this coming Sunday.

"When?" Wednesday April 30th, 9:15pm.

"Where?" The International House, 3701 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA.

"How much?" a $10 ticket gets you twelve awesome short films on the big screen.
Of which ours will of course be the most awesome. In part because you will all be bringing your aunts, all of whom will vote for us! Yeah!

"Is there an afterparty?" Hellz yeah there is. The official 48HFP afterparty will be at the Silk City Diner, with prizes awarded at midnight. Those who are still mad about the demise of the old Silk City may wear black armbands.

There are no advance ticket sales. Please arrive early to be sure of a ticket and a seat!

"I want more!" If you love this stuff as much as I do, I suggest arriving earlier so that you can see another screening group of short films starting at 7pm. And if you love this stuff to a scary degree, there are groups of films being screened on Tuesday the 29th as well at 7pm and 9:15pm.

"Should I RSVP?" You don't have to, just show up! But RSVP comments here or by email would be awesome.

Tags: 48, movies

The weekend was quite freaking stellar actually.

Friday afternoon was Eleanor's after-school play, an adaptation of "Alice in Wonderland." The excellent made-for-TV version a few years ago, the one with Whoopi Goldberg, treats it as a coming-of-age story in which Alice must learn to stand up for herself and stop taking shit from people, real or imaginary. But in this version, Alice didn't take any crap from anybody from the get-go.

Any given scene:

FANCIFUL CHARACTER: "absurd demand! Bizarre assertion!"

ALICE: "WTF?"

EXEUNT WITH ALARUMS

Friday night I took Eleanor to the opening for Never Mind The Dewdrops, Katie Henry's latest show of sewn paintings. There were mint juleps. Most rocking. There were no mini-cupcakes, which was a bit of a disappointment for Eleanor, but she was cool with it— that girl takes her art seriously and she loves Katie's stuff. Which was wonderful— and she's begun giving her characters names, names that match the sort of thing that runs through my head when I look at them.

The only non-alcoholic beverage on offer: bottled water in the shape of a whiskey flask. Ooooo-kay!

Saturday we hit the Academy of Natural Sciences with Eleanor's friend G. and his father. Eleanor is a regular listener to Kids Corner, Robert Drake's radio show for chilluns at XPN. She's been calling in and winning tickets to the Academy... and we still haven't managed to use any up, because G. and family have a full membership.

We were there for the Ends of the Earth exhibit, which focuses on animals and exploration at both poles.

This freaks me out: the Arctic Tern migrates from pole to pole in order to experience two summers per year. Damn, bird, there's this thing that goes all the way around the planet and it's WARM there all the TIME, it's called the EQUATOR. Just sayin'.

Saturday night was the Philly Salsa Jam which was just plain awesome. Great dancers from all over, great performances, sincere compliments given and received. I must've stepped out on the floor twenty, twenty-five times. Somehow I made it to class on Sunday morning anyway. Only to find it now starts half an hour later. Rrr.

Sunday afternoon mah peeps descended on me to plot world domination strategy for the 2008 Philadelphia 48 Hour Film Festival. Last year was fun but this year we have access to better equipment, better technical skills, better acting, and great shooting locations. I'm fortunate to have other burning souls in my corner on this one.

Last night I caught the premiere of my friend and former dance instructor Kate Slovich's film, First Person. The film follows six lower-income Philadelphia high school students who hope to attend college. Most of the story is in their own words, and most were in attendance after the show to take questions. Though the film opens with Lyndon Johnson's Great Society speech, it doesn't waste time pandering and overexplaining. We get into their lives; we see how it all works out... or doesn't work out. It's a remarkable film and I strongly recommend Saturday's encore showing to you.

Thanks to the sellout, I had no ticket... So I inaugurated the waiting list line an hour-plus before showtime, started work on Monday Fourteen and was oh so patient and understanding... and lo, at 9pm someone turned in a ticket at the booth.

My weekend wrapped up at the First Person afterparty, where I had a chance to hang with Kate and some more of the Society Hill Dance Academy crew and say hello to Scott Johnston, one of my favorite Piladelphians— filmmaker, Film Festival producer, burlesque emcee and general lunatic.

Whew! Writing about it just takes too long. So much for lunchtime. Heisenblogging strikes again.

Tags: 48, alice in wonderland, children, eleanor, film, first person, lewis carroll, philly, salsa

Oh wow, all of the Philly entries from last year are on 48.tv, the official 48HFP film-watchin' channel. q00l.

Some fun entries to watch (all are seven minutes or less, none are pr0n):

Spaghetti Western deserved to win, in my opinion.

My neighbor's team: made up entirely of professionals, ready for anything. Anything, that is, except their assigned genre: the Film de Femme... which mandates a female lead. They dialed up a storm, but it seems every actress in Philly had a better offer that weekend. Pieces of Bob was their response.

Bill Dyszel hits many a 48HFP city and, as I vaguely understand it, always turns in a movie entirely on his own. The Ballad of Kevin O'Mara was his Philly '07 effort.

The winner, Science: the Musical, is a wonderfully consistent design piece but it doesn't have the heart of Spaghetti Western, which is also very well designed IMHO. (I've linked to YouTube for this one as it is mysteriously missing from 48.tv. A very painful site to use, I gotta say.)

And as for House of Capers... well, you know all about this one.

(No, not all of the good entries were wacky; I'm just a little fatigued from trying to navigate the site.)

Tags: 48, movies, philly