Filmmaking - Glimpse of Werner Herzog

Filmmaking - Glimpse of Werner Herzog

I have always enjoyed the films of Werner Herzog,
but after this perverse interview, by
documentarian Errol Morris, I am not so sure.

Ghoulishness, mass murder, bizarre behavior, and worst of all, procrastination. Something for everyone. Filmmakers take note.

film school
filmmaking
film financing
film production
digital filmmaking handbook

© 2008 Sam Longoria, All Rights Reserved

Filmmaking Gear - Film Synchronizer

Filmmaking Gear - Film Synchronizer

When you're shooting real film, and you need the magnetic sound film to match up to the picture film time-wise, sometimes you have to get your hands dirty. You need...the machine.

Although you'll probably be cutting the sound on a digital workstation, you might see a venerable "film synchronizer" or "sync block," on a shelf somewhere in your editing facility, because they're still useful for measuring print length, and comparing exact length or duration of any two pieces of picture or sound film.

A film synchronizer is a blocky aluminum casting, usually painted green or silver, some are black. A common shaft on bearings supports 1 to 8 sprocket wheels, called "gangs," each a foot in circumference, with keeper rollers that clamp down, and keep the film on the sprocket teeth. The gangs can be coupled or decoupled from the shaft, and so can rotate independently of one another.

65mm film has 12.8 frames per foot, 35mm has 16 frames per foot, 16mm has 40 frames per foot, Super 8mm has 72 frames per foot, Regular 8mm has 80 frames per foot, so each turn of the synchronizer's shaft moves the film one foot, and is geared to a mechanical counter, which displays how many rotations (feet) have gone by.

Yes, they're still made, and new they're thousands of dollars. You can find shiny brand-new ones at good old Christy's Editorial, or EEP (Editorial Equipment Parts.)

I can remember how much of my early filmmaking training was geared (pardon) toward learning how to use, borrowing, renting, or finally buying, a film synchronizer.

It was a lot, and they were soooo expensive, hundreds of dollars then, and now I see used film synchronizers cheap on eBay, and like much film equipment, I've bought at least one of each film gauge.

Film gear still works fine, and this current topsy-turvy situation, where heavy metal quality is cheaper than junky ephemeral digital gear, somehow feels rich.

Sam Longoria

film school
filmmaking
film financing
film production
digital filmmaking handbook

© 2008 Sam Longoria, All Rights Reserved

Sam’s Oscar Report Sun, 24 Feb 2008

Filmmaking - Oscar 2008


Dear Film Friend,

I wrote another Prediction Edition of my Oscar report, and you can find it here. See if your guess is as good as mine.

If you are watching the Oscars, enjoy yourself!

But...

I urge you to examine if you're wasting your precious and all-too-finite time, watching others' success or failure.

Or, if you are instead, consciously and with intent, living your own life, and making your own movies.

I'm not watching!

Time is short, and getting shorter. I'm working on my books and movies, and furthering my own projects, rather than watching or attending the Oscars.

Good wishes to my friends who are nominated,
and may all our dreams come true.

My Oscar reports of previous years can still be found here.

Best to you,

Sam Longoria


film school
filmmaking
film financing
film production
passion for cinema
digital filmmaking handbook

© 2008 Sam Longoria, All Rights Reserved

Sundance Film Festival 2008 - Aftermath

Filmmaking - Sundance Journal

Seattle filmmaker Paul Fraser returns from Sundance 2008, to a media frenzy with Sam Longoria and BJ Shea, on Seattle's #1 Morning Radio show, KISW - FM's the BJ Shea Experience.



Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Paul Fraser and Sam Longoria are interviewed by BJ Shea at Seattle's KISW radio station.







Paul explains the finer points of his filmmaking,
and his film "The Battles of Tim Eyman."
















BJ comments on clips from the film, in which he appears and speaks.








Sam tells what it takes
to promote an indy feature film.





























Studio video, shot of Sam at the end, at 4:20. Quite vulgar up to that point, and perhaps during.


Here's Paul and Sam's interview itself.
NSFW!
It's a guy show,
#1 Seattle morning show.

Paul and Sam and BJ and the Crew had a great time,
and it was very good radio.

BJ Shea's "Steve the Producer's" blog explains all of science, including quantum string theory.
Video Blog of part of the show.  At very end, slow-mo Sam Longoria and his moustache.


Hope you enjoy it!

Paul Fraser
Sam Longoria

film school
filmmaking
film financing
film production
passion for cinema
digital filmmaking handbook

© 2008 Sam Longoria, All Rights Reserved

Sundance Film Festival 2008 - Homeward

Filmmaking - Sundance Journal

Our Sundance correspondent is Seattle filmmaker
Paul Fraser, who has just enough time in the numbing
Sundance cold, and mind-numbing Sundance blur, to
snap a few pics and pen some notes from the festival.


Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Hey Sam,

The Toxic Avenger roams the streets again! As you know,
TA's the mascot of Troma films, a distributor promoting
its own film festival. Of course, it's "Troma Dance."

Went to "Traces Of The Trade," a moving film I saw at
Holiday Village Cinema, all shot on video, chronicling
the tragedies of several families in the Katrina disaster
in Florida.

A first-hand personal account, it's directed by the
ironically-named Katrina Browne. She did a great job.

Afterwards, took a flight back around eleven,
and got back here in Seattle around Midnight.
Man, am I tired, but it was all very well worth it.

Today was especially good, I networked like
crazy and got my film out to a lot of people,
and met with all those I'd scheduled.

Came home to an invitation to guest on the
"BJ Shea Experience" radio show
on KISW, the Rock of Seattle!

Thanks Sam,

Paul Fraser


film school
filmmaking
film financing
film production
passion for cinema
digital filmmaking handbook

© 2008 Sam Longoria, All Rights Reserved

Sundance Film Festival 2008 - Snow Problem!

Filmmaking - Sundance Journal

Our Sundance correspondent is Seattle filmmaker
Paul Fraser, who has just enough time in the numbing
Sundance cold, and mind-numbing Sundance blur, to
snap a few pics and pen some notes from the festival.


Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Sam,

Today, woke up to at least a foot of snow in Salt Lake. Got in
my car and braved it, driving the icy roads up to Park City.
Hotel manager told me not to try, but I did it anyway!






















































Caught a little of the talk at the Filmmaker Lounge,
"The Producing Cap." Panel discussed obtaining financing
to get projects off the ground.

















So many of us crowded into the Lodge, some had to
watch it televised, in the room next door.
















Handed out promo materials for my film,
"The Battles Of Tim Eyman" to press and producers
along Main Street. Also entered my film into an Avid
pitch contest, at the New Frontier.

Paul Fraser


Filmmaking

© 2008 Sam Longoria, All Rights Reserved

Sundance Film Festival 2008 - The Play's The Thing

Filmmaking - Sundance Journal

Our Sundance correspondent, Seattle filmmaker
Paul Fraser, has just enough time in the numbing
Sundance cold, and mind-numbing Sundance blur, to
snap a few pics and pen some notes from the festival.


Monday, January 21, 2008

Hey Sam,

Supporters for a film called "Len Bias" throng Main Street,
handing out DVDs of their trailer, can't miss them. They've
been on Main Street every time I've been out, since I got
here on the 17th.

I've done my share of film promotion, too, as I shop
my film, "The Battles Of Tim Eyman." I give out DVDs
and posters, to press and distribution people.













Word up - lots of other filmmakers leave promotional
materials in the lobby - and Big Brother Sundance
throws them into the garbage, if they're not in the
festival. Can't blame them - this is business, after all.
















Next stop, the Sundance Filmmaker's Lodge, where
I listened to Martin McDonagh, a playwright-turned-
film-director, notorious for his dark comedy writing.
















I asked Martin if a film like "Bug," adapted from Tracy Letts's
play of the same name, would have an easier transition to
the screen, since it was a play to begin with? He disagreed,
saying, in his work, he prefers to keep a play a play,
and not try to "turn a dog into a cat."

Really crowded at this event. I had to wait in the
hallway, to get into this old rustic-looking building.

Later, over at the New Frontier, on Main Street...
















I sat in on an event called "Avid Presentation:
From Production to Post to Distribution."

Editor Kevin Trent ("Sideways," "The Golden Compass," "Blow")
discussed challenges faced by today's digital Editors, and their
computer systems, such as Avid.

Kevin described how the editing process has been streamlined,
from thirty-odd people working on the editing (on the film "Reds"),
to a single Editor and two Assistants, a total of three.














After I took this picture at the Eccles Theatre,
it started snowing like mad, and I caught the
midnight show of "Just Another Love Story"
at the Holiday Village Cinema.

Another dark love story actually, along the lines of
"Strangers," and Michael Keaton's "The Merry Gentleman."

So dark, the Danish Director (Ole Bornedal) warned us
in advance. It was really an involving and original film.

Three-quarters through, the young woman sitting next to me
lost her nerve, and left, because of its energy and realism.

Who knew the Danes were so dark and moody?
Oh, wait, there's Hamlet.

Made it back to my room, through the snow,
in one piece, without driving off the road.

Talk soon!

Paul


Filmmaking

© 2008 Sam Longoria, All Rights Reserved

Sundance Film Festival 2008 - It's a riot!

Filmmaking - Sundance Journal

Our Sundance correspondent is Seattle filmmaker
Paul Fraser, who has just enough time in the numbing
Sundance cold, and mind-numbing Sundance blur, to
snap a few pics and pen some notes from the festival.


Sunday, January 20, 2008

Hey Sam,

Today at Sundance, more people than ever crowding
the frozen downtown streets of Park City. Sidewalks
literally so overpopulated you must walk in the street!

People communicate and schedule by bulletin boards
and flyers, and notices, and pictures. Like a riot,
a war, or a natural disaster, I can't decide which.




















More interviews, it's all chaos. I was interviewed by
tv news, and discovered the HP Broadcast Studio,
where I spoke a bit more about my filmmaking,
and my film, "The Battles Of Tim Eyman."

















Up the street, at the Sundance Filmmakers Lodge, a
wine-tasting event called "Wine Escape." Industry
Producers, Actors, and Directors mingled there.

Later, at the Egyptian Theater, I viewed a great Israeli
film called "Strangers." The Director, Erez Tadmor, was
there, and spoke of the film's production. Very moving
and gritty romance, shot on HDV and converted to 35mm.

Story was completely improvised, and written, by the Actors.
The war that tore the protagonists apart was a real
situation, and framed the story. Shot in under a month,
for under $100K.

That film is the second I've watched here originated on
HDV, then upconverted to 35mm. New trend? I wonder.

Tomorrow will be a busy one, I can feel the buzz of
filmmaking rising in pitch. Gotta go. Talk soon!

Paul


Filmmaking

© 2008 Sam Longoria, All Rights Reserved

Sundance Film Festival 2008 - Park City - NOT!

Filmmaking - Sundance Journal

Our Sundance correspondent is Seattle filmmaker
Paul Fraser, who has just enough time in the numbing
Sundance cold, and mind-numbing Sundance blur, to
snap a few pics and pen some notes from the festival.


Saturday, January 19, 2008

Sam,

Thousands pack the streets of Park City, Utah, for
the Sundance Film Festival. One of them this year is me,
and I'm happy to be here. It's every independent filmmaker's
dream come true.

I don't know what will happen, but nobody does. There are
lots of great movies, and crazy colorful characters. It's
really the filmmaking business in a teaspoon.

Just meeting people here is a positive step. I'm astonished
how few people have business cards. They just meet and
bounce away, only colliding occasionally in the chaos.

My strategy? I'm finding out where people go, and going there.
Hardest part is parking my car. I drive from Salt Lake City,
and park miles away and ride the shuttle bus.

I expected lots of parking for my car because
of the name, Park City, but no.














What I wasn't expecting - I've been interviewed a couple
of times today, about my filmmaking, and my film,
"The Battles of Tim Eyman."

It's a documentary about a Mukilteo, WA
watch-salesman / citizen-activist, and his battles
to get his tax-cutting agenda onto Washington state
ballots, using the initiative process.

It has Tim Eyman, and Washington State Senator
Ken Jacobsen, and radio talk-show hosts Michael Medved,
B.J. Shea, and Dori Munson. It was a fun film to make.

















I'm surprised I was interviewed. I didn't expect much
interest in Washington state politics. Nobody's ever
heard of any of the people in my film, but they pointed
video cameras at me, so I told them about it.

Documentaries are very big right now, and I hope to
see what others are doing with their filmmaking.
Gotta go, it's freezing, and lots to see.
Write more tomorrow.

Paul

Filmmaking

© 2008 Sam Longoria, All Rights Reserved

Sundance Film Festival 2008 - It's cold outside!

Filmmaking - Sundance Journal

Our Sundance correspondent is Seattle filmmaker
Paul Fraser, who's shopping his documentary film,
"The Battles of Tim Eyman,"
about a Washington state citizen activist.

Paul has just enough time in the numbing Sundance
cold, and mind-numbing Sundance blur, to snap a
few pics and pen some notes from the festival.


Friday, January 18, 2008

Sam,

Very chilly down here at Sundance. Main Street is crowded
with Producers and Press, at the various filmmaking events.

I attended the "Filmmaker Lodge" opening reception.
I met Joe Kleber from Red Acquistion Warehouse, and he
demonstrated his Red digital motion picture camera to me.

Also attended a seminar, at The New Frontier on Main Street,
"Creating A Low-Budget Film". They discussed production
workflow, and editing techniques. It gave me new insight.

Speakers were the Producer and Editor from the film
"Jack In The Box," who talked about productive collaboration.

The Editor, a USC professor, described filmmaking techniques
to keep the audience interested, and on the edge of their seats,
while telling the story.

I always get a lot from these seminars, and there
was also free food there, too! Can't lose.

9:30pm tonight, at the Eccles Theater, I attended the film
premiere of "The Merry Gentleman." The Director is
Michael Keaton, who recounted the making of this film.
It is his first feature as a Director.

Keaton seemed apprehensive about "Merry Gentleman's"
running time, but the film was warmly received by
the audience.

Pictures are on the way, took only a few on Main Street.
I'll shoot off a roll tomorrow, and I'll send some
along to you. Hope all is well with you!

Paul

Filmmaking

© 2008 Sam Longoria, All Rights Reserved

Filmmaking - Biggest Mistakes Filmmakers Make Raising Money

Filmmaking - Film Financing

Are You Making These
10 Film Financing Mistakes?

Special free report, "10 Biggest Mistakes Filmmakers
Make Raising Money."

Describes exactly which devastating errors to avoid in your
search for Film Financing. Are you making them right now?

Mistake 1: A money attitude you learn from Parents,
Teachers, and Friends. Unlearn it, or it will destroy you.

Mistake 2: You finally have five minutes with your Movie Angel.
Have you done your Homework?

Mistake 3: You know "It takes money to make money,"
but what does it take to raise money?

Mistake 4: Guessing how much to ask for, or what to
give in return, is a one-way ticket to failure.

Mistake 5: Even if you know the right thing to say,
saying it the wrong way will sink you.

Mistake 6: Pitching the wrong Prospects.
Do you know who yours really are?

Mistake 7: What never to say to a Movie Investor Prospect,
and what he's hoping you'll say.

Mistake 8: These 8 POOR PITCHES never get you money.
You're probably doing one right now.

Mistake 9: Even if you really believe in your project,
this one little mistake will send you home a Loser.

Mistake 10: You found and approached your Movie Angel.
He said, "Yes!" Can you still screw up? You bet.

And much, much more...

Discover the right way to raise money for your movie, regardless of your filmmaking or film financing experience or location.

Filmmaking

© 2008 Sam Longoria, All Rights Reserved

In praise of Fred Astaire

Filmmaking - There Was A Man Dept.

What's kept me going, and sane, and alive this year, is watching Fred Astaire dance, over and over, in this particular picture,
1955's fantastic "Daddy Long Legs."

I have rented it so many times, I could have bought a dozen copies of it on DVD by now. It's onscreen in my editing room, where I'm hard at work on my book and editing a little feature I shot.

This is the FOURTH film version of the "Daddy Long Legs" novel. It's a musical.

I love musicals. MGM musicals were the best. ("Singin' In The Rain," and "The Bandwagon," are my two favorites.)

I love MGM musicals, and this is one of the absolutely best MGM musicals ever made, right up there with "Singin' In The Rain," and "The Bandwagon," except for two things:

1) It was not shot in 1:37 three-strip Technicolor, but in really good 1:2.4 Cinemascope De Luxe color.

2) It was made at Fox, not MGM.

Fox made good musicals, too, like "Hello Dolly," and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," and many others, but Fox musicals were different from MGM musicals.

Fox musicals were a little more...adult than the MGM product, but the MGM dancers were better dancers, the MGM cameramen were better cameramen...they wore their art on their sleeve at the Freed unit. Trust me, MGM was the best studio in town.

Other Fox musicals were really good, but "Daddy Long Legs"...swings! Man, it's great, and the reason is the incomparable Fred Astaire.

Astaire beyond compare.

To call Fred Astaire merely a dancer is to label Einstein a failed patent clerk. Yes, Fred danced, in many ways he was the dancer, but he did so much more, including think up new ways to dance, new music to dance to, new props to dance with, new styles to dance in, and new ways to be photographed while dancing.

(Fred's contract gave him unprecedented control over how he was to be photographed. He insisted he be shown head-to-toe, in long single takes with minimal cutting and camera movement).

Camera technique following Fred is sparse and elegant, and the "cutty" approach of a music video is nowhere to be seen, which is why we still can watch them. The excitement comes from the dance, and is not synthesized from the cutting or camera gymnastics. Fred does the dancing, the camera follows.

As he said: "Either the camera dances or I do."

This is bold stuff, when your main competition, making dance pictures, is Busby Berkeley, just down the street.)

Fred's ability to sing and act, and do these incredibly intricate dance routines, and astonishing work with hand props, (while actually playing the drums), all while looking as though this wasn't grueling hard work at all, as if it was
EASY, and as if he was having more fun than human beings ought to be allowed, lead me to the inescapable conclusion, that without any exaggeration, Fred Astaire is obviously the coolest human being who ever lived, in the history of the world.

Fred here at the age of 56, as good as he ever was, a decade past his announced retirement, enjoying the silly "Slue Foot" college dance, with young and lovely and incredibly gifted Oscar-nominated dancer Leslie Caron. (She's still working, and won an Emmy in 2007.)

Who wouldn't enjoy a talented gorgeous 24-year-old partner? C'mon. Force yourself.

Check out Leslie's college swain, who's hopelessly outclassed. Sure, Fred's older,
but he's FRED ASTAIRE. Sorry, kid.

Even when Fred dances silly near the end of this number, he's just too cool for  words. Notice how they use costume color to draw your eyes to Fred and Leslie, past 200 or so pastel background jitterbuggers? Music by Ray Anthony and his Orchestra.

I've met a few of these cast members, including stunningly gorgeous Terry Moore (Howard Hughes widow), who turned my knees to water, in person in 1985.

Terry plays Fred's niece, Linda, who watches the outclassed kid's reaction closely, a little concerned Uncle Fred is Slue Footing with frosh Leslie, like their age difference is significant or something.

The bittersweet undercurrent to this picture is that Fred had just lost his real-life wife of 21 years, just before "Daddy Long Legs" began production, and they had to delay shooting for Fred to cope with his grief, and work through it. Unbelievable.

This picture was written by Henry and Phoebe Ephron, Nora Ephron's parents. (Nora wrote and directed some favorite pictures, among them "Sleepless In Seattle," "When Harry Met Sally," and "You've Got Mail.")

Breeding will tell. The writing in "Daddy Long Legs" is just wonderful.

Fifteen years earlier, Fred at 41 sparkled with Eleanor Powell, known at MGM, as "The best tap-dancer on the lot." Here is an electrifying terpsichorean courtship display, as Fred & Eleanor "Begin The Beguine," in "Broadway Melody of 1940."

In many ways, this is as good as it gets.



Parting Shot

Because I couldn't resist. Here's Fred at 47, at the peak of his powers, fittingly in a picture at Paramount. 1946's "Blue Skies."

It was billed as "Astaire's last dance" of "Astaire's last picture," the Technicolor send-off of his (first) retirement.

Yes, the cane jumps. Yes, those 9 guys are all Fred. Yes, he makes it look easy, but this number took "five weeks of back-breaking physical work," to shoot.



Not bad, Fred. Not bad at all, for one Frederick Austerlitz of Omaha, Nebraska, whose RKO audition report read, "Can't act. Slightly bald. Also dances."

Sam Longoria

filmmaking
secret film school
film financing
filmmaking
Filmmaking

© 2007 Sam Longoria, All Rights Reserved

Filmmaking - Getting Started Writing

Filmmaking - Scriptwriting

My thanks to Rodney of Marietta GA, who writes me this letter:


Hey Sam, :)

...Yeah, I'm pretty new and want to start actually, in the writing area first. I like to use my imagination, but still haven't written my first screen play. The formatting gives me fear, and procrastination stalls, but my goal for the next couple of years is to move to L.A.

- Rodney

Dear Rodney,

At least you've identified the problem!

“Procrastination is the thief of time.”
– Edward Young (1683-1765)

No excuses. You're smart and young, the problem is thinking you have a lot of time. The fact is, none of us knows how much time we have, only that it's going away every second. Get going!

Screenplay work is the easiest work there is, and among the highest-paying, if you work at it. All you need is a pencil and paper. Let somebody else type it in, or you can, of course.

The good thing is, you work when you want to. The bad thing is, most persons (including writers) don't want to, and they spend a whole lot of time "getting ready."

Moving to LA is nice, but it's even better to have a job ready for you when you get there, or at least something to sell.

That means start writing NOW. You can write from anywhere. When your scripts are done, all it takes to get them to people who buy scripts is some stamps.

Formatting? No problem. Get software. I use Final Draft, but just as good (and FREE) for any computer is celtx.

Download it, install it, and write something. Anything. If you write a word, I guarantee you'll write some more. The only way to learn to write, is to WRITE!

Classes and books are good, (for people selling classes and books), but reading is reading, talking is talking, thinking is thinking, and only "writing" is writing. It's the only thing that makes you a better writer, too.

If you must have a book, spend $10 measley dollars, and buy my friend Viki King's book, "How To Write A Screenplay In 21 Days." It's good, and it really works.

I write from an outline. I jot down scenes and lines I see and hear in my head, and then sort out the order they happen in, later.

I spend the most time getting the story to work, before I write any scenes or dialogue, I put that part off as long as possible.

When I finally start writing what people do and say, it bursts forth in a flood, and I write as fast as I can, until it's done. I don't write any better slowly.

Don't ever re-write until you're done with the whole thing, or you'll never finish. Re-writing is a trap to avoid. So is "getting ready."

Good luck! Write any time, I'm your friend in Hollywood.

Best to you,


Sam Longoria

filmmaking
secret film school

filmmaking

Filmmaking

© 2007 Sam Longoria, All Rights Reserved

Filmmaking - Whither Animation?

Filmmaking - Animation

Here are two articles (Relax - a quick read) that are the most encouraging things I've read about the state of commercial
animation, in quite a long while.

If your heartbeat still accelerates at the thought of really good animation, you should read this. (Both parts!)

Filmmaking

Filmmaking - The Penultimate Movie Ending

Filmmaking - Favorite Endings

In Response to many emails, "What is your SECOND favorite
movie ending, I'd have to say it's this, the last sequence
from Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece, "Paths Of Glory."

After an uncompromising feature-length look at the First World
War, both from the trenches and the palaces of power, this last
reel is redemptive, hopeful, and somehow manages to speak of
human compassion.

As Steven Spielberg said, anybody who thinks Stanley Kubrick
was a cold, misanthropic, unemotional filmmaker, might do well
to watch this immediately, and perhaps form a differing opinion.

Again, I think it's mandatory for filmmakers. Just see what
Stanley was able to do, with practically nothing - only a roomful
of good actors, his beautiful wife singing, and a camera that
lingered on faces.

Please let me know what your favorite movie ending is.

filmmaking

Sly's 10 Tips For Success

Filmmaking - Motivation

From out of the blue of the western sky, from
Missoula, Montana and Alain Burrese's great blog,
come these great tips from Sylvester Stallone.
Things aren't happening? Make things happen!

filmmaking

Filmmaking - The Best 10-minute Movie Ending Ever

Filmmaking - Favorite Endings

This is my favorite last reel (10 minutes) of a movie, ever.
30-year-old Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, in Frank Capra's
"It's A Wonderful Life."

I think it should be mandatory watching for filmmakers.



If you are unaffected by it, check your pulse, you may be dead.

Maybe the best thing ever filmed in the San Fernando Valley in August. (Temperature over 100F in the "snow.")


Some little-known facts about this wonderful movie.


Please let me know which is your favorite movie ending.

filmmaking

Eva Longoria Birthday Countdown!

Date: 15 March 2005 (3 days after mine.)

People ask if I'm related to Eva Longoria.
According to Esme, her nice and devoted sister,
who has researched such things, the answer is "yes."
Eva is my distant relative. (Well, she's in Pasadena.)

I had a small role on "The Young And The Restless" a
decade before Eva was on it, (so I doubt nepotism was
involved, in either direction), and I'm glad the public
loves her. She's very talented, I think she's great.

Since Eva's gotten famous, I don't have to spell
my last name for people nearly as much.

Happy Birthday Eva, and "Hi" to Esme!
(Write Eva yourself, or just tell ABC you like her.)

Filmmaking

Sam's 2007 Oscar Report...

Filmmaking - Oscar 2007


Dear Film Friend,

I've decided the best use of my time this year is to work on
my own projects, rather than watching or attending the Oscars.
I will be working on my book, and my movies.

So I will not be there, watching, or even thinking about,
the Academy Awards in 2007.

My best wishes go out to my friends Mark Stetson and Bill Neil,
who did Special Visual Effects on "Superman Returns," which is
nominated, and Richard Edlund, who was awarded a John Bonner
medal by the Motion Picture Academy this year. We all worked
together on "Ghostbusters," 24 years ago.

Those who enjoyed my Oscar reports of previous years can still
read some of them here.

Best to you,

Sam Longoria

ps.

Okay, okay. Thank you for all the email and voicemail.
I have written a 2007 Oscar Report, and it's available here.
See if your guess is as good as mine.

Sam Longoria
Top Secret Film School
Passion For Cinema



Filmmaking

Sundance Film Festival 2007

Filmmaking - Sundance 2007

I will not be in attendance at this year's Sundance
Film Festival.

I will not support a certain nameless, tasteless
video that mocks my beloved home town.

I will be home, working on my own projects.


Filmmaking

Best Use of Extra $5k?

Filmmaking - Using Resources Wisely

"What Would You Do With an Extra $5k?"

Camera equipment? Lighting equipment? Editing software? Let's imagine that $5k has just fallen in your lap. What to do with it? Shoot your short, film your feature? As far as you can go, until the money runs out? What should you buy?

If I were you, I'd spend the $5k to pay my rent and bills for a couple months, and quit my job, or take some vacation time, or a leave of absence.

I'd sit in a room and turn off the phone and tv, and eat spaghetti and raw vegetables 2 times a day, and exercise in the morning and skip dinner and take a walk in the evening, so I didn't get fat.

I'd get up early, and go to bed late, and not even look at, listen to, or answer my voicemail and email and filmmaking sites, until the evening.

THEN...I'd turn on my computer, and WRITE.

And write and write and write and write and write and write. Then I'd write and write and write and write and write and write and write. Then I'd edit, and write and re-write.

Until I had a really great movie script. That's what you should do with the money. Write.

That effort would give you an asset in the world of filmmaking that most filmmakers simply don't have.

Ever wonder why you're not getting anywhere? The answer to becoming a great filmmaker is not "camera equipment." The answer is "writing."

The way you get good at writing is not college or reading books or hanging out with friends. The way you get good at writing is by "writing."

You can sell a great script, or get hired to write another one, or talk somebody into lending you money to make your great script into a movie, but you need it written first.

Great scripts don't write themselves. They take time and effort, more than anything. If your scripts aren't very good, chances are you haven't put a lot of actual time and effort into them.

By the same token, if you have a script you wrote it in your spare time, from dribs and drabs and scraps of time, in between working all day at your job and family and school and church and bills and relationships and pets and all the crap that gets in the way, chances are it isn't very good.

So, take the time. Invest the money - $5k is real money - and buy yourself something nobody can give you. Buy some time alone, and write your script. It is the best possible use of that money.

That's what I'd do if I had an unspoken-for $5k. Just my opinion, because I want you to succeed.


Best to you,


Sam


filmmaking

Filmmaking - Shoot Real Film

Filmmaking - Format

Peeved filmmakers ask, "How can I afford to shoot 'Real Film?'"

I shoot mostly 35mm four-perf, flat or scope, but I have shot
VistaVision (8-perf 35mm going sideways) and 5, 8, and 15-perf
65mm. (Todd-AO, Dynavision, Imax). I have a 65mm camera I built
that will pull those formats. I shoot 4x5 and 8x10 stills in
negative and transparencies. So I know a little about it.

I love film, it's the real deal, just needs more guys on the crew
to carry everything. Oh, and a truck.

I've shot a lot of Super 8mm and 16mm, but only for the grainy
effect. I blow those up on my optical printer. I don't shoot
small-formats or video to make a movie on. My movies are 35mm, as
God and Tom Edison intended, so I can show them in any theatre
anywhere in the world.

Expensive? Not really, your customers pay for it. It's only
money. 35mm can be sold, so expense is deductible, the cost of
doing business. I shoot video too, good luck selling it for a
decent price.

Perception of value for film is very high, so you can ask a high
price. Mention your production is digital to a distributor, you
might as well say you are giving it away.

He's read all the stupid articles, how it don't cost nothin' to
make digital, so that's what he figures you spent, and that's
what he offers you. (Never tell anybody your real budget, for the
same reason.)

35mm stock is about half a buck per foot, retail. Processing is
about .20/ft. You can buy short ends and recans for about half
that, or make deals for lower prices. You can even buy chemicals
and a processor and bypass the lab, there's a whole used market.

I build cameras, so I buy cameras and hotrod them, but that's
just me. I'm restoring a reflexed early Mitchell BNC right now,
and it's delightful. All the high-tech stuff is on the film
emulsion. Put new film in it, and you're on a par with anybody,
you just upgraded your 1938 camera to 2007. 10X resolution of HD.

I stay well-connected to raw stock people, and never pay retail.
I pay about .09/foot. 50,000' for a feature's worth costs me
about $4500. You can find a raw stock source like that on IndyCine.

Lab costs can be cheaper than 16mm because they do so much more
in 35mm than 16mm, and the lab treats you much better when you're
a 35mm customer.

That's getting worse, too. Last couple of 16mm projects run
through a lab (Hollywood and Seattle, both used to be good,
how the mighty are fallen. Best are now DuArt, NY and
Fotokem, Burbank.) had all kinds of dirt on them, and the
lab "just couldn't figure it out." I can - use clean chemicals!

Here's a great interview Audio CD on the subject.

I make a print and a window dub. I rough-cut on my mac FCP, then
conform my print and do screenings, in theatres and my editing
room. (My Cinemonta 8-plate flatbed table can project a big,
bright image onto my white wall.)

Based on audience reaction, I do the fine-cut on film, and
conform the negative. Video is tweaked, matched to my print.


Good luck!


Sam Longoria



filmmaking

Beatles For Christmas

Filmmaking

Happy Christmas, Merry Krimble, and a Happy Goo Year!

Six reasons why I love the Beatles:
John, Paul, George, Richard, George, Richard.

Even just goofing around, they were still the best.
This includes a number cut from "A Hard Day's Night."



Anybody know where I can reach Richard Lester?
Any contact info gratefully accepted.

Filmmaking