Orson Welles on Voice

"Create your own visual style... let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others."

For a lot of new/young filmmakers that is a tall order. They spend too much time and effort trying to copy their heroes (like Spielberg). That model has his or her own "story", a unique background and experience mix.

Orson Welles on Movie Directing

"Movie directing is a perfect refuge for the mediocre."

There certainly is a lot of evidence to support that assertion.

U.S. Television Commercials Far Superior

Television commercials I generally tune out, much like the programs that frame them, but here's something I noticed a long time ago: TV adverts made in the States seem, at least to this non-believer, to be far superior to those made here in (Toronto) Canada. Why is that?

A few years ago I got a first hand polling result while sitting in a diner. I faced away from the wall-mounted television set but two gentlemen, who sat apart and apparently did not know one another, enjoyed their respective plates while taking in programming from an American network: Commotion, commotion from the CRT; laughter; I looked over to the two viewers; one guy said to the other, "American commercials are so much better", to which the other readily agreed.

We Canadians do not produce stupid people who cannot tell an entertaining story -- look at James Cameron, for one -- but we just cannot make good television commercials. (I exempt Public Service Announcements, and the like.)

Ford Quality is Job Won

GM's not less than stunning announcement that it'll cease production at its auto plant in Oshawa, Ontario, next year is disconcerting for many reasons, not the least of which is the apparent loss of 2,500 jobs.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford does not hold a seat at General Motors' head office, but his stance on business is not helpful. Idiotic slogans and road signs proclaiming "Ontario's Open for Business" are one-dimensional at best, and Ford's disdain for the common worker, as exemplified in his freezing of the province's minimum wage, bodes not well for our economic state of affairs.

Unfortunately, we Ontarians will witness a bumbling and simple premier fumble about as he and his maleficent mates try to explain and validate their plans for those essential elements of the social support system: jobs and a realistic minimum wage.

Doug Ford's wholesale cancelling of green energy contracts, for instance, demonstrates a magisterial incompetence in attracting business to this great province.

"Ontario's open for business, you say?"

Avatar, I Call You Over

James Cameron has finished principal photography on two of his long-awaited Avatar sequels? This I learned from an article in today's edition of The Guardian:

Steve Rose on film - Avatar
Break out the blue paint! Will James Cameron’s Avatar sequel tank?


Avatar did not impress me when I saw it in underwhelming and dim 3D at the Scotiabank Theatre here in Toronto, so my anticipation for more Avatar is 1D.

James Cameron's highly successful first in a now chain gang is the most recent narrative film I've seen in a movie house. Did he take the popcorn out of my movies? Perhaps not, but he took the money out of my wallet and gave back to me 162 minutes that I'll never get back.

Thanks for your enlightening piece, Mr Rose.

Good honest cynicism. Very refreshing.

But you're right. We cannot count Cameron out.

Thanks a Bunch

Riders of mass transit systems know about "bunching". No bus for many minutes; then two or more buses all at once; then another multi-minute wait. Fine. It's the big city, after all. Traffic jams are worse; which, of course, can contribute to transit bus bunching.

There's another kind of bunching, which is avoidable: buses that speed and tailgate a lead bus so they don't have to pick up riders. Same goes for streetcars. A few years ago I found myself standing beside a TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) inspector while I stirred my coffee in a King Street coffee shop. While chatting with the gentleman I mentioned this curious transit malady. He said: "(The drivers) are supposed to be self-governing." I asked if they all do. He just shook his head gently from side to side.

We think we might have bad bunching at times here in Toronto. As I read this morning in the Boston Globe, it's a big problem in that town.

Status Liberals, In Memoriam

In today's Toronto Sun: A headline to a letter to the editor reads as follows....

REMEMBER YOUR STATUS LIBERALS

I had "Status Liberals"? Did you, dear reader?

Remember the Status Liberals. May they live on in our memories....

Sunday Fun: Darkroom Opening

Darkroom is another cursed feather in my cap; yet another television series that I liked and actually watched but one which ran just one season or less. Less here: seven episodes.

The stories were varied in tone, but the best variance was that of running time. In the one hour a story could be long or short, some really short. In total we saw sixteen stories over the show's limited run. The advantage of flexible length is obvious.

No doubt a big reason Darkroom got left in the dark was due to its anthology nature. The television viewing public, as a whole, demand continuing characters; people they can watch: grow up in front of their eyes; get into trouble with the law; dispensed with at the altar; or reveal a deep and dark secret, even after loads of episodes -- more often than not the shock was unplanned but created by the show writers in an effort to reinvigorate the program. (Diarrhea of the Writers' Room.)

James Coburn with Darkroom's fix, the continuing character. The veteran actor exuded a commanding presence and an authoritative voice, excellent for introducing tales of horrors and thrills.

Red filter.

"Remember Darkroom?...."

Nicolas Roeg a True Voice

This morning I heard the sad news that cinematographer and director Nicolas Roeg died yesterday; he was 90.

See! Don't Look Now (director - 1973)
See! The Masque of the Red Death (cinematographer - 1964)

There are many more, needless to say, but those examples exemplify the two crafts.

This made me respect the man even more: Roeg couldn’t understand how someone could become a director without first working as a cinematographer.

And more:

“I shoot a lot of stuff. I think that’s probably come from not having gone to film school. Things work themselves out. You’ve lost the showmanship thing, the fairground barker, come-see-what’s-inside aspect of filmmaking when you try to plan everything for the audience.”

Bravo, sir!

Jerry Goldsmith on Creativity and Fear

"I think that the great part of creativity is overcoming fear. Fear is a given. When you sit down and have to begin something, don't be afraid to be filled with fear, because it goes with the turf."

Very true. And it's even worse when one's paid a lot of money to be creative, especially where there's a delivery date.

John Williams on Jerry Goldsmith

"His chameleon adaptability was a prerequisite to longevity and success in Hollywood. We used to call him Gorgeous. He was the golden boy, a beautiful presence. His music had a freshness, and he had a freshness."

He would know.

Jerry Goldsmith on Writing a Piece of Music

“For me, writing the theme for Star Trek The Motion Picture was the toughest I've ever written, but it was a remarkable achievement.”

And it sounded like nothing else. Musical brilliance.

John Waters' Career Advice

From September of last year:

Don't I know this:

"You should always have backup careers."

John Waters dispensed that piece of advice last year when he was interviewed by IndieWire journalist Dana Harris. He outlined his other careers besides making films (which he has not done in over ten years): Art shows, articles, books, and speaking tours.

To Repeat Some Career Advice for Me

Advice from March of 2016:

This morning a friend of mine seemed to be a little annoyed after reading a newspaper story on a guy, with less than minimal film & television production experience, who got a decent job on a television series.

My late father, who was "career air force", knew the score for those of us who haboured any pretentions of wanting to work and excel in the film and television business. He dispensed a certain line of sage advice on more than one occasion, even after I had a small record of the Barrie Examiner, Barrie Banner, and CKVR Television doing stories on me and my pals making film. Here it is, made even more relevant now that the wonderful explosion in media technologies allows anyone to make video:

"You have to know how to sell yourself. Stand out from the pack. Otherwise you just get lost in the crowd."

Going Solo For the Moment

A friend said to me on the weekend, "you should watch one of the Disney Star Wars movies". I responded: "I should. Okay. Give me Solo."

This special offer I mentioned to another friend of mine, another friend who is probably bemused I've seen no Star Wars flicks since the painful -- the third and final of three very painful prequel films -- Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. His answer with a laugh: "You picked the worst one."

That I realized this evening, actually last evening as I'm putting this late to bed, not long after I fired up Solo: A Star Wars Story. I made it to the 27 minute mark then shut off the player. (What exactly was that? Someone said "worst"?)

Next episode: "From the 27 minute mark on."

A Designer Checks His Plans

Me in October of 1985 working on a set build in the Graveyard Shift workshop. It's really a matter of holding the architectural ruler against the blueprint to make sure the calculations are right.

That gig was a lot of fun. And I learned a lot. It's true: You make it work. There's never enough time and money, but somehow it all comes together.

Terrific shop crew: Dave Fiacconi, Chris Leger, and Mark Lang.

Sunday Fun: The Waltons Opening (1st Season)

I'll admit right off the top that I was not a regular viewer of The Waltons, a very popular television series from many years ago about a fictitious but authentic American rural family from many decades ago. With the general public, however, the long-running series (1972 - 1981) was good family viewing. I caught bits and pieces.

Created by writer, producer, and novelist Earl Hamner, who based the series on his book "Spencer's Mountain" which was based on his experiences growing up in Virginia during the Great Depression, The Waltons was actually an offshoot of "The Homecoming: A Christmas Story", a television movie first broadcast in December of 1971.

The series version caught on to became a television classic. Classy: The catchy and classic theme music.

Canada Geese Grazing in the Spring

I took this picture back in the Spring; no doubt the little ones are now fully grown and down south, with colder temperatures beginning to settle here in Toronto.

Connectivity: A Disconnection Notice

Jerry Goldsmith Obituary (Toronto Sun - 7/23/04)