“One True Thing” – the documentary starts

December 7, 2010 / / No Comments

First, the clip, then the story:

There are a lot of projects on my short list, but it’s the usual excuses of too long a list, and not enough money or time.

But excuses just don’t cut it anymore, so my plan to get this documentary project going is to just do it — and structure the plan in such a way that all the shooting can be done on incredibly flexible schedules, and the budget can remain miniscule (for now, at least).

So here’s “One True Thing”.  The idea is that our team sits down with someone at their preferred location, and once everything’s set up, all we do is ask for your first name, and to tell us one true thing.

It can be anything, from trivial to profound. So long as it’s true to you.

We also have some ground rules for ourselves/the project:

— First name only

— We won’t edit your response once you start on your true thing. That means once you being, we’ll run until you stop. So, no edits to make you look better, worse, or more concise.

— You can have more than one thing to say. We’ll just treat them separately.

— Don’t pressure yourself. We don’t expect Dalai Lama-league answers, so no worries. Something about your cat is acceptable…

What do WE get out of all this? Good question.

Expectations:

Sure, the first clip is three guys of various ages working in various levels of seriousness.

The real payoff should be when we reach a certain critical mass and broader themes emerge. Personally, I fully expect this to start focusing on religion, relationships and philosophy — but I could be completely wrong.

Maybe folks hone in on sports and cosmology, who knows?

If I were to point to an existing model for how I expect this to turn out, I’m going to reference one of my all-time favorite books and life guides: Directing the Film: Film Directors on Their Art, edited by Eric Sherman.

Yes, you’ll find a lot of practical advice on nearly every aspect of filmmaking by some of the greatest in the field — but that’s essentially a bonus.

What I find great is that within Sherman’s 352 pages of collected wisdom, you can read one absolutely sterling, profound and compelling piece of advice put forth by an absolute master of their craft — and on the next page, there’s another absolutely sterling, profound, and compelling piece of advice from yet ANOTHER master, completely and absolutely contradicting the first.

Example: Think about rehearsing your actors. There are a number of directors that weigh in on how their actors must be absolutely well rehearsed and prepared, so there’s no doubt about the lines, nuances or inflections before the cameras roll.

And there are a number of directors that talk about why anything beyond nominal rehearsal kills the energy and dampens the creative sparks from fresh discovery.

Who’s right? They all are. And that’s the point — the truths within this book are the truths that work for each person.

So that’s where I personally see “One True Thing”‘s potential. But we’ll see.

Technical Points:

As we add in clips, we’ll update the master video, and keep individual clips for easy reference.

We’re also COMPLETELY OPEN AND ENCOURAGING of outside submissions. So feel free to crank up your webcam or video recorder, work up a segment, and send it on.

Contact me at OneTrueThingDocumentary@gmail.com, or visit the project site at OneTrueThingDocumentary.com .

And of course, a special shout-out of thanks to my Creato Destructo compatriots, Jerry and Shay Stifelman. (Tracey, let’s get you taped!)

– James

Paradise, something-something-something.

December 22, 2009 / / 2 Comments

I’ve been lax here after one decent inaugral bit. Shame on me; my excuse is travel and work. But that’s not even an excuse given the fact I’ve been connected most all the time. Maybe I should blame social-media fatigue and take 2010 off…

Anyway, I just finished an interesting trip from Chicago to Asheville, NC,  my hometown.

Interesting in the sense that it was punctuated by bad weather, heartbreaking football results (at least for my fantasy league standings), a detour to Oak Ridge, TN, where my Dad worked during and after WWII and then dealing with the aftermath of this, maybe one of the best “Hey turn on the camera and let’s see what happens” moments in recent history. And yes, they’re still digging out and no, there aren’t great detour options.

But at the risk of sounding like a Chamber of Commerce geek, it’s worth it to be in Asheville. Why?

Because it’s a beautiful town set in a beautiful mountain location, with a downtown that’s kept many great old buildings, and a progressive feel that translates into more cool things to do, see, eat and drink than a town this size would deserve, normally. But Asheville isn’t a normal town by any stretch.

I also feel like a whore for giving this place even more publicity, because as some stoned millionaire rock star once pointed out, “you call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye.”

Still, this one posting hopefully won’t bring on the next tsunami of moneyed hipster-wannabees, or drop a Starbucks on every alternate corner, or force the kids out of the drum circle.  But maybe it will.

It’s a bit like announcing to your barroom friends: “I have the most awesome girlfriend in the world!” and waiting to see what happens 3 months down the road….

Anyway, more later. I have video to shoot and a road trip to Athens, GA. I hear things about that place…

Give thanks you’re not playing for the Bears

November 25, 2009 / / 1 Comment

I’ve been on the road this week (in fact, drove 850 miles in 11 hours on Monday — it wasn’t a great idea, but I will brag about it), so this post isn’t exactly timely. But I want to vent before tomorrow’s post-turkey overdose.

I’m generally not a sports assclown, but I am a huge fan of football, and would like to note that the Chicago Bears lost AGAIN Sunday, 24-20, at home to the Philadelphia Eagles.

But the Bears could just as easily lost to the Eagles, the band, in their current touring lineup:

  • Glenn Frey – vocals, guitars, keyboards, harmonica
  • Don Henley – vocals, drums, percussion, guitar
  • Joe Walsh – guitars, vocals, keyboards,
  • Timothy B. Schmit – bass guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals

And Frey has no wind at all because he doobed his way through the 70s, 80s, and 90s.

Why do the Bears suck so bad? It has to come from the top: ownership, management, coaching, star players. That’s obvious, but not too interesting.

What’s stunning to me as a current Chicago resident is that the sports base in the greater Chicagoland area actually puts up with this crap. Come on, this is a storied franchise! Why the suckball for so many seasons? And who in ownership is so in love with Rex Grossman that they’ve essentially cloned him as Jay Cutler?

But I don’t put this on Cutler. It takes a village of underperformers to keep things this mediocre, and few QBs could stand in the pocket as their O-line collapses like Iceland’s economy. Not to mention not having a true 1-WR, stand-out backs and ends, et al.

I didn’t grow up a Bears fan, so I feel more objective in my criticism. Being from North Carolina, the choices then were the Atlanta Falcons or Washington Redskins, which is why I pulled for the Miami Dolphins and the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Oh, speaking of, here’s hoping the Panthers suck just enough to get their head coach, John Fox, booted so Bill Cowher can step in with little fuss. It may not happen, but it would be sweet.

So the Bears will likely not collapse completely — they play the Ravens and the Rams, although they have to play the Vikings twice in 30 days — but it can’t look good for next season.

Posts like this may explain why Lovie hasn’t yet accepted my friend request on Facebook, though.