BOB STEWART – GAME SHOW INVENTOR
Read not only of a life well lived, but how the most simplistic ideas make for the most fascinating shows.
“Once you cause somebody at home to talk to the set aloud, even by himself or herself, then you’ve got a
good game show.
You want them to say, ‘It’s number 2! It’s number 2! It’s number 2!’ before the moment of truth comes out.”
MEMORABLE SHOTS
What camera or FX move stands out in your mind? Or one that always evokes a certain feeling? What shots do you remember or like?
I'll start us off, with one of the most suspenseful, dramatic and effective zoom effects ever, from The Bone Collector. It's the rapid pull back from inside the cab to the apartment blocks away.
Breathtaking the first time you see it. Cool every time after. It's actually in the trailer at 1:18
Check it out:
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So…what's yours…?
ADVICE ON FILMMAKING
Here's a clip from a 2003 documentary. It might seem like an eternity ago, especially given the advances in equipment and technique. (You'll chuckle when John McNaughton talks about having just shot a movie on Hi8.)
But as Stephen Covey points out, principles and the natural laws of effectiveness are changeless.
Point is, don't get caught up in having just the right gear to work with. Tech has, and always will, upgraded every six months. Who can keep up with that?
Sure, shooting 4K at 48fps is [probably] great. But when life hands you an SD Flip and that's all you've got to work with (for years) keep shooting.
Keep telling stories.
Cause maybe — just maybe — someone will let you build and run a film studio. And you'll be ready.
😉
POLL – FILMMAKING BOOKS
The lists abound, but what are some of your favorite books on or related to filmmaking?
One of mine is a little treasure called Movie Speak. I discovered it years ago in the film section at Books-A-Million in Ocala. I've gleaned about a dozen or so terms from it which I use in my course, Video Production: Cinematic Excellence.
Tony Bill is an Oscar-winning producer who's culled nearly every term used on set and in the industry. There's hundreds of them, listed alphabetically in this easy-to-read pocket guide.
It not only immerses you in the parlance of production but draws back the curtain on a world unseen by most.
It's a must-have for filmmakers.
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So…what are your favorites?
JOHN CLEESE ON CREATIVITY
A brilliantly clever man, who through his lighthearted delivery (he is John Cleese after all) sheds incredible light on the time and space in which creatives exist.
While the rare, true creative will watch and giggle with deep understanding, they know that it's also the foundation for being misunderstood, misinterpreted, and most definitely the trait which annoys everyone else about them.
Such uniquely enlightened beings are truly not of this world. And that, I propose, is the underpinning of society's fascination with their fantastical ideas, dreams and schemes.
Folks may love the end result. But few enjoy, appreciate, or really understand how it happens.
It's a lengthy clip, but worth hearing, if only in part.
Enjoy.