Teaser poster

No, we haven't changed the tagline. When we were getting ready to shoot, Mike came up with a list of possible slogans for Sawyer's Bail Recovery. There were a wide range of options. One of the most interesting was "We make your problems reappear." It didn't have the instant recognition pop, because you have to think about it for a second, but I liked it. Besides "Bounty knows no boundaries" was too perfect for the movie. Another entry was "Criminal Magnets" which just seemed appropriate for this image. This shot arose on one of the days when we let Nicholas out of the office prison and I like the result.

Seeking Adrenaline Friend

Okay, so something happened.

While deciding what to watch the other night, it came to my attention that Susan had not seen "Point Break". This was a cause for some concern on my part. Some people in "Hollywood" use a phrase to indicate that a production is coming together with a solid vision, "we're all making the same movie." Essentially, all the pieces fit the whole and serve the key idea of the story. That our producer had not seen one of the seminal films of the 90s and possibly the single greatest Patrick Swayze-Keanu Reeves collaboration, meant a key piece of filmmaking DNA was absent in her person. I mean, how could she even begin to understand where Kennyboy came from if she had never seen Gary Busey punch John C. McGinley?(If you know of this event occurring in a different film, please let me know immediately)

Having prechambered the film on Netflix Instant Watch, I immediately fired up 120 minutes of thrill-seeking ecstasy. Yes, it's a bankrobber surfer movie and Keanu's character arc basically consists of him being able to summon enough adrenaline to beat Swayze at each new challenge, but there are some smart choices that separate this movie from most action fluff. Setting the two sides of the same coin story around their thrill-seeking testosterdome and having Keanu's choice to bust Bodhi be not about purely breaking the law, but crossing a personal code wherein ego caused friends to be injured makes things interesting. It's not "Five Easy Pieces" but I think even that bit of character subtlety amidst the action has been burnished off of most recent Hollywood productions.

Susan had issues with the end. Being 'tough on crime' she thought Bodhi should be denied his chance to go out in the waves-that was the point of punishment. I maintained that yes, that was the right choice for her perhaps, but that Keanu's character would not necessarily agree. Protagonists need not make the decisions we might but should make decisions appropriate to their situation and personality to be realistic and our empathy latches on to those parts of them with which we can identify. This did not satisfy her, so I suggested that perhaps she needed to spend more time staring into the eye of the tiger. Immediately, she made this post on craigslist:

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22f Seeking Adrenaline Friend - Seattle

I just saw Point Break. I have no friends like they are friends. Will you be my adrenaline friend?


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Amazing.

PS: Not having seen the film in many years, I was astonished hen Keanu went to fight Swayze at the end. All I could think was, "What is he doing? Swayze is just going to Roadhouse him. Right in the neck." And he does. Only through trickery does Keanu overcome the galaxy's greatest bouncer.

Magnum P.S.

Apparently there is also a Magnum, P.I. episode where he decides to give back to the world after a brush with fate. Offscreen, he experienced an encounter where two people opened fire with him between them and he escaped without a scratch. Shortly thereafter he finds a fortune cookie that encourages him to repay his karmic debts. Anything you want to say about Pulp Fiction, Mr. Quentin Tarantino?

Fits with his M.O. is all I'm saying. And it proves conclusively that all great things stem from Magnum. Would Thor Peterson wear hawaiian shirts if not for Magnum? Would anyone have ever watched that show Friends if Tom Selleck wasn't on it? Would Ted Danson ever have played Gulliver if not for...ok, nevermind.

Yes, it's been a slow week for editing. Obviously.

I also don't think Thor's hawaiian shirts came from Magnum, but now I can't remember what the inspiration was. Probably Magnum after all. I know Andrei's helicopter that Mike is still trying to cut from Corporate League definitely would be painted like TC's.

Magnum wins

Who knew there was a Magnum PI-Simon&Simon crossover episode? Two really since it was cliffhung. The only problem with Netflix increasing their watch instantly lineup is that I'm far more likely to get stuck watching it now that they've added 30Rock and Kubrick films. Oh well.

We had another viewing session last night sans Patrick unfortunately. He has apparently violated the Don't Have a Life rule of filmmaking. Nevertheless, we keep adding minutes to the movie.

Mike is a machine

So I've secretly been keeping track of 'blooper' takes while editing. Not to ever show anyone of course, more from an accounting perspective. What's amazing is that a number of takes make me wonder if they're bloopers or part of the film. Something will happen in a shot that makes me go, "oh, blooper", but Mike will simply roll with the event and play some new element off of the mistake. So instead of ending in laughter or chaos, the scene keeps going. It's kind of a trip to watch. There are two keys as I see it: his improv background and his focus.

Focus is the essential part. One need not riff on top of every unexpected event, but strong focus lets a scene progress despite adversity. It's an important trait for actors. If something falls off a table in the scene and someone breaks that concentration, you have to reset the whole scene and run the take again which always takes more time. Whereas if everyone keeps going, that little element can often be trimmed out and you have a usable performance that often is blessed with a unique spontaneity. If you're in a situation with a gifted comedian or improviser, that focus is even more important because you might only have the single take where they add a fresh bit and you don't want it disrupted.

Anyone can get caught off guard and break out for a moment and you accept that. Mike the machine is not immune, as one of my favorite moments during editing proves. But actors should work to develop concentration and focus so that between 'action' and 'cut', they never break character.

Credits?

Mike is like a computer generator. Voting now open.

Jason Cage
Rick Yondle
Rodney Ramathorne
Marcus Feedback
Louis L. Moor
Fender Robinson
Tyler Time
Fistro Rosebud
Juke Boylston
Samsom Stitt
Victor Stepania
Jonathan Johnson
Will Cunningham
Lucas Tripple

Apparently, hiding

Sometimes scenes just don't go together. Little combinations of performance, positioning and the space just make assembling some takes really difficult. It's always a drag when you run into that, because it really slows down the pace of editing as you explore different ways to try and get the thing to work. Often it's painful because the best performances might get tossed in order to have a nice even flow. I've been working on a scene like that and have been a bit demoralized because it's a cool scene. I think I've finally found something that works though, so I can move forward again.

I rechecked Imdb and apparently it can be 6-8 weeks before some people can show up on the site? Wow. So it may be a little while before everything comes through. It's not like Jim and Ted need to be in the credits anyway. So be really patient if you don't see yourself. The trailer went up as well, but it looks better on youtube so watch it there for best results.