Ah yes, technology has its perks. Check out this view from my "command center" - that's the Beastie Boys rockin' London on the big screen while John Mayer is on the live feed from New Jersey on the laptop. At one point, I even had golf in the picture-in-picture on the TV.
BTW... This post was made from 100% recycled bytes.
Happy Friday to ya! Today’s edition of On Tap is in the form of a special video presentation. Below is a short movie titled “The Script.” I shot it on 16mm black & white film while at NYU in the fall of 1989. I lost the original soundtrack. The version presented here has been re-cut with a new original soundtrack added. Two quick notes: again, I do all my own stunts and yes, I realize this film has the same theme as the “One Step Away” video. Enjoy the show!
The Script (2007)
About the Film: The film was shot in New York City and Jersey City, N.J. A couple scenes take place in front & behind the Tisch School of the Arts building. The chase scene in the park was shot in Washington Square Park where many a student epic has been filmed. The romantic park scene was shot at the park down the street from my apartment in Jersey City. That was my apartment in the film where Neil is typing and then tosses his notebook out the window.
That’s Neil Webster as the writer. I worked with him in the Dramatic Writing Dept. I believe Neil was a graduate student. He was working on a screenplay at the time about a motorcycle gang that pulls some robberies. I remember him watching a lot of “Easyrider” videos for research.
I don’t recall the girl’s name. She was in my class and part of our production team. There were four members on a team and you would take turns directing a short film. When it was your turn to direct, the other members acted as your crew and many times were also the actors.
“The Script” was my final project for the semester and although we were shooting without audio, we were allowed to add a single non-synchronous soundtrack. The original soundtrack was a phone conversation with “Neil” and “an agent” discussing his latest writing idea, and also consisted of a music track. Originally, I had used the music from the end of “Badlands,” a 1973 film with Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek. A lot of people like that film, I did not. But, I liked the music at the end.
I remember when we shot the scenes in Jersey City, I drove into the city and picked up Neil and the girl. Later when we finished, I had to go to work and didn’t have time to drive them back. I paid for their train fare, but that was all I could offer.
The scene where the girl hides around the corner as I run past in the background, hopefully you saw me, it should have been redone at a closer distance. She’s actually in plain view and I used the angle to make it appear that I couldn’t see her.
You may notice there are actually two shots of me falling over the park railing, one from behind and one long shot from the side. We had only one camera, so I had to fall over the railing twice. The fact that a police/security officer was in the scene and turned when I fell was purely coincidental.
There was a scene I cut out of this version at the end where I grab the girl by the shirt. When I shot it, I wasn’t really sure how I was going to end the film. I didn’t tell her what I was going to do and she looks very surprised that I grabbed her. In the scene my character lets go of her shirt and then walks off. I know, not much of an ending and in this re-cut I took it out all together.
When the film was originally edited, I physically cut and spliced the film on a flatbed editor. This new version was edited electronically via Sony Vegas - Vegas baby!
Sorry for any “fans” looking for more from my NYU days. I had only transferred one other film to video and while it looks great (rainy days are excellent for black & white film), I wasn’t pleased with how it turned out. I placed a still image from that film in my opening “Timmay Programming” stamp. Perhaps I can re-cut it much like I did with “The Script,” who knows? I still have more new and old projects to share, maybe that's good news or bad news - c'est la vie.
Hello all and Happy July 4th! I'll spare all of you the history lesson and cut to the chase. Despite our history, this is the day we celebrate our independence. I wonder how many of us have thought about what independence really means. We are the richest, most fortunate country in the entire world! We are permitted, by our own law, to celebrate our religion, opinions, bear arms, be capitalists, collect welfare...and the list goes on. We are the land of freedom and promise. I am honored that the Lord has smiled on us and allowed us to be here. If it wasn't for our brave men and women of the armed forces, we would not be able to enjoy our luxuries. So tonight, let us pray for their safety and thank God for their dedication and bravery. It is because of them I sleep well at night. God Bless our servicemen and women. Tonight I celebrate my Dad, Vince(army), my father in law, Walt(marines),Poppa Gar (navy), my great Uncle Frankie (navy. deceased), my Unlce Sil, Uncle Joe and my father's other brothers who bravely served in the army, Tom Anderson my brother in law(navy pilot), MichaelEarl, ML's son(airforce) ..there is also Boy Howdy the black and white dreamer(USCG), Sean(USCG), Steve Marston(USCG), all my marine friends, and of course,the Green Berets in St, Kitts who kept us students safe and my husband Timmay(USCG)....should I mention Tom Feary(army)? Thank you all for your service,bravery and dedication in times when your country needed you. I am truly grateful for all I have learned from you.
In celebration of our nation’s heritage, I thought it would be appropriate to share a video showcasing the brave men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard, whose motto Semper Paratus, Always Ready, says it all.
I compiled this video in 1996 while serving as a U.S. Coast Guard public affairs specialist in Boston, Mass. All the video is actual rescue and mission footage shot by Coast Guard crews. A couple of the medevacs and the shot of the grounded tugboat were my own contributions. All the edits and music are original, the only update is my new Timmay Programming “video stamp” inspired from my last video post.
Look for a Special 4th of July Edition of On Tap later today. Enjoy!
As you can see from the music video I made back in 1989 (see videos below), my goofy video antics can be traced back to the decade known for synth-pop and unfortunate hair and fashion choices.
Remember those classic MTV music videos that featured movies clips spliced together with clips of a group performing their latest hit that was included in the movie. This is the idea behind this video for “One Step Away” by the now defunct group Benediction.
I had to produce a 30-min. TV show to air on local cable as part of my Advanced Video Production course. The show could be any format - talk/interview, news, sports, etc. - as long as it filled the 30 minutes. I decided to make an original scripted drama-edy called “Desire.” I wrote, directed and starred in the show that aired on local cable in Easton and Bethlehem, Pa., in March 1989.
A portion of the show featured Benediction performing their original song “One Step Away.” The group featured Steve Gilbert and Rab Sharpe (a.k.a. Rob Monkey) at the time of production.
The story behind “Desire” was this guy falls for a girl, but isn’t quite sure how to ask her out. One night, he’s sitting in a bar and a friend gives him a quarter to call the girl. He calls and they go out. They kiss, but as they’re kissing we see this was only a video production - none of this is real. When he’s finished editing the video, he runs into the girl and we see in “real life” she has a boyfriend. We also see that he really does have a crush on the girl, but there’s nothing he can do about it.
The video for “One Step Away” received two awards in our very own Lehigh Valley Video Festival, Best Editing and Best Videography.
I have a commentary about the video below that you may want to read after watching, but a couple notes before viewing. Yes, the video is supposed to have a blue tint, and yes I do all my own stunts.
I pulled a George Lucas and thought it might be cool to update the video and include a different music track.
Below, I offer you two versions of “One Step Away” – the 2007 version I replaced the music track a la’ Wizard of Oz/Dark Side of the Moon, and the 1989 version is the original video and music track with one small editing update. Enjoy the show!
One Step Away (2007)
One Step Away (1989)
Commentary - The Making of “One Step Away” I suppose I could have done an audio commentary like they do on DVDs, but since the edits are so quick, I thought it would be best to include a written commentary.
When the video was first shown at the video festival, they thought there was technical problem with their equipment when the video appeared with a blue tint. I assured them it was OK and the blue was intentional.
The video was shot in Phillipsburg, N.J., Clinton, N.J., Easton, Pa., and the Northampton Community College (NCC) campus in Bethlehem, Pa.
The opening and bar scenes were shot at the ultimate dive bar in Phillipsburg, N.J. My oldest sister knew the guy who ran the bar and allowed us to shoot there. The book I’m reading in the opening scene is a dictionary, which is actually pertinent to the show “Desire” because it begins by displaying the definitions for “desire” and “passion.” I guess I’m just a romantic, what can I say?
Steve had this manikin that for whatever reason was part of their stage show. Many people thought we put stockings on the manikin, but that was only an accidental shadow across the manikin’s legs. I didn’t know what to do for a backdrop behind Steve & Rab performing in the TV studio, so I set up two portable 500-watt lights pointing up at them from the floor to cast shadows on the wall. I’m sure I saw this in a video somewhere. If you look closely, you can actually see an electrical cord plugged into the wall for one of the lights.
Timm Miller joined Benediction when I was putting together the music video. I shot some extra footage of them rehearsing in Rab’s basement and that’s Timm Miller with Steve in what looks like a hallway – that’s because it was a hallway outside the NCC TV studio.
My buddy Splatt-Man makes an appearance in the video – he’s the guy who gives me a quarter to call the girl. Later in the video, I return his quarter.
The lead girl in the video – I don’t even recall her name. I met her at a bar in downtown Easton. She knew my other sister who bartended there. I thought she was cute so I asked her to be in the video. I asked her out in real-life later, but that didn’t happen. I remember the night she first showed up at my apartment to shoot, she brought this big guy with her to make sure everything was on the up and up. Once he saw these couple dorky knuckle-heads with our camera and lights set up he left.
The other girl who pops up a couple times in the video was Allison. She was a friend of Rab’s and she plays my friend in the video.
There are out-takes from the production for “Desire” included in the music video. One scene Rab and I are standing next to the fountain in Easton and I’m actually pointing to the camera and telling Rab how we’re going to shoot the scene.
This was way before computer video editing. The blue tint and the candle were added after the entire video was put together. I ran the video through an effects process for the blue tint and the candle was put in live as it was recorded to another tape. I had another person bring in the candle from another switching console on the other side of the room, so there is one time where it comes up too soon and then re-appears. I decided to leave it in.
The scenes of me falling down the steps and running down a long hallway, I shot at the Foster-Wheeler (FW) building in Clinton, N.J. I worked security there from midnight to 8 a.m. I was there by myself most nights, so I set up the camera and did my thing. I added some effects later to make it look more like a dream. The shot of the camera moving down the long hallway, many people thought was done with a steady-cam. I ran down the hall and loosely held the camera trying to let my arm absorb the shock much the way a steady-cam works. Some people thought I threw the camera down the steps in one shot, but no, I just kind of flipped it around from ceiling to floor and back – the camera never left my hand.
Aside from the scene of Benediction performing in the TV studio, this was all shot on a VHS camcorder. The video was edited on the now “old school” 3/4-inch decks.
The first film I ever made appears on the wall in the scene where the girl and I kiss. We did three takes – one for the camera to go around in each direction and then one from above.
Rab also appears in my first film. He buys some drugs and then gets killed. This was shot in downtown Easton on black & white 8mm film.
Shots where the camera moves backwards and appears to be on some sort of dolly where done with an office chair with wheels.
The scene where I’m running after the girl outside, some people thought the girl was actually walking down the steps behind me. It’s not her, just someone walking down the steps.
In the original video, I thought it would be more realistic if I landed in the bed from my dream and then a second later woke up. In my thinking, that’s how it would really happen. Most people thought that it was just a bad edit, because it didn’t sync up. I updated it here for the first time so that I land in the bed and wake up in the same motion.
The shots of me falling just before I land in the bed I did by setting up the camera to point at the ceiling at FW and then proceeded to dive over it about four times and land on the floor – a cement floor with that thin un-padded office style carpeting. Yep, do my own stunt work.
The guy who plays the girl’s “real-life” boyfriend and the guy at the switching console were a couple guys in my class who I asked to help out.
One final note, in a scene that was in the opening of “Desire,” but was not included in “One Step Away” – I panned the camera across some building tops in downtown Easton and then brought it down to street level. In the finished production, I cut the scene just before the camera gets to street level. When I originally did that shot little did I know there were some dudes sitting on the steps who did not want to be on camera. They threatened to smash us and the camera. I managed to talk them out of any smashing and gladly still here to write about it.
Ah yes, technology has its perks. Check out this view from my "command center" - that's the Beastie Boys rockin' London on the big screen while John Mayer is on the live feed from New Jersey on the laptop. At one point, I even had golf in the picture-in-picture on the TV.
