The Archetype Archive Part 10: The short version

I jumped in too early with the Craigslist postings, and having to field all the cast and crew queries basically caused me to stop writing Archetype. I've decided to delay the film two months so I can get the script rock-solid and so the shoot starts at the end of winter instead of shooting through winter.

At the end of the project, this will be for all the better. Better to delay two months now and have something that still stands up two years from now rather than start something too quick and have a sloppier film.

So sorry to everyone, both cast and crew, who was hoping we'd get to start in November. I hope everyone can bear the delay, and I hope it makes for a much more positive shooting experience.

Pat Ginter, Street Artist, Paints Brett Favre

The Archetype Archive Part 9: God bless Army surplus

This gear is actually more for Old War, but I'm sure it'll make an appearance in Archetype.

Also: Dear potential actors, actresses, and crewpeople covertly sizing me up through the non-covert URL of this website that's in the signature of my e-mail,

Hello. My name is Jack Kentala. If you polled ten people, four would say I'm normal, four would say I'm the most hilarious person that they have ever met ever, one would say I'm a little weird (quit polling my sister, seriously), and the last would say I'm set to become the premiere filmmaker of my generation (who says I can't poll myself?).

On this fine blog you'll notice several posts relating to Archetype, several posts rambling about music, and some posts about nothing at all. As per the Archetype and other filmmaking posts, note that the header of the blog also describes the cinematic process as film-aching.

I just wanted to toss out there that I want to document the making of Archetype in as transparent a method as possible. Filmmaking isn't all magic and funfunfun. It's a lot of hard work, a lot of money, a lot of phone calls, a lot of reams of paper/printing/three-ring binders, a lot of credit cards that have a minimum payment that seems to mysteriously rise from time to time, a lot of time, a lot of money (listed twice for a reason), and a lot of luck.

I think I was going to wrap this up with some really insightful statement, but instead I'm going to red-pen my script (read: revise/rewrite), eat a banana slathered in peanut butter, and, if I fall asleep reading, I'll set my phone really, really loud so if someone calls I'll have a minor heart attack.

Hey look, another list of albums!

And yet another gun-to-my-head scenario, in which if said gun was held to said head, and if said gun-holding thug demanded that I rank Pitchfork's Best New Music my ten favorite albums of the year, in order of preference, it'd go like this:

1. Japandroids - Post-Nothing
2. The Antlers - Hospice
3. Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
4. WHY? - Eskimo Snow
5. Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
6. Dan Deacon - Bromst
7. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
8. We Were Promised Jetpacks - These Four Walls
9. Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer
10. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

Also, here are some albums I liked once or twice but have yet to give a fair/full shake:

• Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue
  
• Eyedea & Abilities - By The Throat
  
• Dinosaur Jr. - Farm
  
• The Dodos - Time To Die
  
• Health - Get Color ("In Violet" is easily one of my favorite songs of the year)
  
• Mount Eerie - Wind's Poem
  
• Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
  
• A Place To Bury Strangers - Exploding Head
  
• Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
  
• The xx - xx
  
• Yacht - See Mystery Lights

And what hasn't come out yet that might surprise me?

• Annie - Don't Stop (which is apparently all-new beats and some new tracks compared to the mass-leaked version I have)
  
• Los Campesinos! - The Sea Is A Good Place To Think About The Future
  
• Weezer - Raditude (probably will have one good song)

The Archetype Archive Part 8: The state of MPC

Forming MPC as an official entity is new and exciting and everything, but sometimes the realist gets the best of me. MPC is:

• A certificate on my corkboard that cost $35, and an upcoming notice in the newspaper that cost an additional $35
  
• The four credit cards in my wallet
  
• An idea in my head
  
• Producing a film that probably needs another $7000
  
• An office, if by "office" you mean "bedroom in my parents' house"

But I figure, the only place to go is up.

If I had the skrilla, I'd enroll in Werner Herzog's Rogue Film School

(Did I just say skrilla?)

From the AV Club:

During the ‘70s, a generation of “film school brats” like Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, and Brian De Palma transformed American cinema, but times have changed and attitudes about film schools have changed along with them. But now, in the digital age, there’s a counterargument that real filmmaking isn’t sanctioned by these conformist factories of academic privilege, but something that anyone with a camera and a vision can learn on their own. Or, better still, with a little guidance from the mad German visionary responsible for Aguirre: The Wrath Of God, Fitzcarraldo, Even Dwarves Started Small, and the batshit new “remake” of Bad Lieutenant.

Welcome to Werner Herzog’s Rogue Film School, a wacky new venture that offers filmmaking novices the opportunity to learn from a master via weekend seminars at an undisclosed time and location. Here’s the mission statement:

The Rogue Film School is not for the faint-hearted. It is for those who have traveled on foot, who have worked as bouncers in sex clubs or as wardens in a lunatic asylum, for those who are willing to learn about lock-picking or forging shooting permits in countries not favouring their projects. In short: it is for those who have a sense for poetry. For those who are pilgrims. For those who can tell a story to four-year-old children and hold their attention. For those who have a fire burning within. For those who have a dream.

The fee for Herzog’s seminars (which start on a Friday night and extend all day Saturday and Sunday) is $1450, and the application details can be found here. The website itself is a treasure-trove of bizarre rules and philosophical nuggets. Our favorite: “Censorship will be enforced. There will be no talk of shamans, of yoga classes, nutritional values, herbal teas, discovering your Boundaries, and Inner Growth.”

Werner Herzog: Will you be my dad?

The Archetype Archive Part 7: The teaser one-sheet

The Archetype Archive Part 6: Prospect

This post has been retconned (e.g. deleted) because it didn't make a lot of sense in the first place.

Thanks,
The Management

In consideration: Wait... I already made a film?

That's what it feels like now that I'm full-speed-ahead on Archetype. (Random: So many people have complimented me on the title that I'm glad I didn't stick with the working title "Kraid.")

Also: The official response from Austin mentioned that I shouldn't get discouraged from not entering one festival, and that by entering many festivals, my film will "find an audience." And here we are, facing a clean sweep.

The other day I described Transmissions as "not an audience film," meaning I can't envision a room full of people communally watching it. Archetype, by contrast, could definitely be seen by a room full of people.

Oh, right, the stats.

The tally: 16 rejected, 4 pending; 20 total.

• Ann Arbor (Michigan)
  
• Austin
  
• BendFilm (Oregon)
  
• Big Bear Lake (California)
  
• Charlotte
  
• Chicago International
  
• Chicago Underground
  
• First Take (Georgia)
  
• Landlocked (Iowa)
  
• Maine
  
• Midwest Independent (Chicago)
  
• New York
  
• Rhode Island
  
• Sacramento
  
• Sausalito
  
• Slamdance
  
• Stony Brook (New York)
  
• Sundance
  
• SXSW (Austin)
  
• Toronto

16 rejections:

• Austin
  
• BendFilm (Oregon)
  
• Big Bear Lake (California)
  
• Charlotte
  
• Chicago International
  
• Chicago Underground
  
• First Take (Georgia)
  
• Landlocked (Iowa)
  
• Maine
  
• Midwest Independent (Chicago)
  
• New York
  
• Rhode Island
  
• Sacramento
  
• Sausalito
  
• Stony Brook (New York)
  
• Toronto

4 pending:

• Ann Arbor (Michigan)
  
• Slamdance
  
• Sundance
  
• SXSW (Austin)

3 yet to enter:

• Los Angeles
  
• Minneapolis/St. Paul International
  
• New Directors/New Films (New York)

The Archetype Archive Part 5: Interesting responses

I received an e-mail for a casting query yesterday. I forwarded it to Caroline and thought nothing else about it; it seemed standard. Then she sent me what the guy had additionally responded with:

(This has been reposted with the author's/actor's permission)

ABOUT MYSELF well that is my favorite subject since I am a huge narcisist, my Favorite piece of art I have is a Mirror.

my best feature would have to be my Hair, no my eyes, no no my lips, well the ladies do love my ass, ohh no my arms are amazing. Nope its my hair, ahh who am I kidding I am flawless.

more about me, I dont smoke-drink- or do drugs. Yeah I know I sound perfect right? Well that is because I am, I do have one small addiction, SEX. okay maybe its not a small addiction, been to sex rehab like 12 times but all I learn there is more techniques and possitions. yeah thats a Brilliant Idea take a bunch of sex addicted people lock them in a room together with nothing else to do. That is like going to drug rehab and putting you in a room with a mountain of Coccain and saying okay I am going to leave you here alone now dont you touch that coccain.

as you can probably see by now, this email is full of spelling errors, yeah I cant spell I get it I dont care, so what. its not like you spelll words out when you are speaking to someone so the way I see it who needs spelling as long as you get it close you get your point accross.

I am completly hairless I shave everything but the hair on my head!!!!! WAS THAT TOO MUCH INFORMATION????

Music well of course I would have to say I am a fan of my own work, I am a big time metal head. And I will kick anyones ass that trys to claim Lincoln Park, Nickle back or Limp bisket are Metal, Simply put they are not METAL they are just shit, aside from very few bands (Priest, Maiden) anything you hear on the radio is complete shit.

The reason I should get not just a part in this movie, but one of the main parts is because I AM AWESOME, if you dont believe me just ask one of the 3 people I paid to agree with me.

I often talk to myself, OUT LOUD in public. I dont do it because I am crazy, I just do it because I prefer to have an Interesting conversation with an intelligent person.

I smell like a mixture of lilac and butterscotch.

I like to cook- and I am awesome at it. my spicy chicken makes people cry.

I dont cry because it hurts tooo much seriously it is as if my tears are made of acid.

Movies, The Princess Bride is the greatest movie ever made, I like Willow, and really anything with a sword in it. Anything with Stallone is great or Salma Heyak, The underworld Movies. Napoleon Dynomite, Goonies, the Burbs omg there are sooo many great great movies.

Did you ever notice in the movie Waynes World the first one all the "good guys" have long or longer hair, where as the evil company excs, parents anyone that is in the authority possition "bad guys" all have short hair. I always felt that near the end of that movie when Rob Lowe's Bald assistant trades sides and helps wayne that his hair should have instantly started to grow.

Long hair people Rule yes we have our own secret club.

Okay I would love to continue to write more but I do have to get back to work now. Good Bye.

The Archetype Archive Part 4: Weeding potential crew down to 22

Via a haphazard system of Gmail tags and folders:

The Archetype Archive Part 3: Another MPCer and a dramatic synopsis

Another busy day. Bought some spray paint, duct tape, office supplies, and sent out some DVDs of Transmissions to curious cast and crew candidates.

I have also enlisted the help of longtime-reader-of-my-blog(s)/Canadian cohort Caroline Gaston to handle casting queries for MPC (should be called Mercenary Production Company for Arc given the disparate talents involved). So now I just have to handle crew queries... which are still coming in a bit too fast. I have two extremely solid prospects, and I'd be willing to be myself two dollars that they'll end up as the camera operator and the AC. And, gasp, one is a girl! That was always the extreme rarity at Columbia - girls in the cinematography program. I actually dropped cinematography as an official concentration because it was such a goddamn boys' club.

Also, I whipped up a mostly-true synopsis of Archetype that I'll now use standard when people ask what it's about. So here goes:

In the near future, politically-motivated violence and fear of a devastating pandemic are commonplace. The country nears a second civil war, and while some try to continue their normal lives, others flee the cities in spurts of mass panic.

Two young men, Ridley Kraid – a cynical ex-soldier – and James Drake – a zealous left-wing spy wannabe – form a partnership to illegally deal weapons to anonymous clients whose motives are unknown. While selling arms, Kraid tries to maintain a balance by going back to college, and both have to deal with the mental toll of living in a nation about to burst at the seams.

(And then there's this scene where there's like a sniper shootout [pending location/dubious legality] and it gets all crazy and shit!)

Here's a random thought I had earlier this morning: Other than shooting the whole thing outdoors (with problematic fluctuating light), Archetype is far more logistically complicated than Old War.

The Archetype Archive Part 2.5: Mopping up

More e-mails required another schizopost.

I feel like I'm in a time warp. I'm written variations of the same e-mail... how many times? Fifty? A hundred? Two hundred?

I have to keep two e-mail windows open just to remember who I'm talking to and what I should say differently than all the other mails I've sent out. If this goes on for any longer than three days, I'm going to write a form e-mail and copy-paste that shiz.

I invariably pick apart people's resumes and find like one point they put on that they probably think is a throwaway (like "speaks fluent Russian") that results in me actually writing a new scene just to utilize this.

(So many people list random things. Like they can jet-ski and that they know like all these martial arts. I need to stop reading the bottom of resumes lest Archetype turn into a circus of people performing obscure talents in tacked-on scenes.)

I need a co-producer. Someone to be nice to people and to deal with all this. Anyone want to be my co-producer? This could start off as a remote job. I'd forward you e-mails and you'd respond and you might coordinate some stuff. You'd be part of the awesomeness that is MPC. And if I worked with you regularly in person I'd bake you cookies. And I don't even bake cookies for myself.

Sweet christ I'm tired. Why did I wake up at four?

The Archetype Archive Part 2: Stream of blogishness

(Note: This is a collection of tweets and Facebook updates that quickly spiraled out of control and coherency.)

Let the madness begin. Craigslists ads up for cast and crew. http://bit.ly/16fBUj, http://bit.ly/zpLXg. First priority to friends, obv.

Craiglists responses have literally BLOWN UP my inbox. I had to scroll down to get to them all. DOWN.

This is not fun. I have to simultaneously keep my head above water, keep an eye out for talent, and crush people's hopes and dreams.

This is why people don't like producers. Producers have to be mean.

Went to St. Paul to shoot Paul's paintings. Came back to another BLOWN UP inbox. I need a casting director.

YES just looks like I found an AC who happens to have an interest in production design. AND there's a headshot that looks promising!

Also: the rate at which I get e-mails is four every ten minutes.

If I have to close another e-mail with "Sincerely, Jack Kentala" two hours from now, I'm going to shove my fist in my mouth.

I just know how much it sucks sending out a response and waiting forever, so I'm trying to get through as many as I can before I just lose perspective and start typing like muh handds r frozzzzn.

I think I've gone through about 200 e-mails. I have two candidates that sound like a lock for camera/AC, and I have two actors who'd (look like they'd) be great for the lead and one for a smaller part.

No matter how painful it is, I will kindly respond to every last e-mail.

Also: Note for people writing an e-mail to Jack Kentala, Founder and Head of Direction-Production of MPC International - Religious reference do not bode well. DELETED... after I respond to you.

I need a drink. And I don't even drink.

Oooooooooh! So THIS is what's it's like to "be busy"!

Was gonna write off some guy but he speaks fluent Russian. Russian! In a movie about arms dealing! And I bought a replica AK-47! All I need to do is write a scene that involves all these elements somehow!

Now I know why form letters exist. I'm so sorry I hated on all you film festivals... except the ones that had shitty form letters.

Unrelated: Wait a tick - Who the hell has my bass-only cover of "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers up on their Last.fm insofar that it now shows up on some crap lyrics website? Now the whole world will want it.

I'm getting sifting-through-random-people fatigue. Guitar Hero drums, stat! OH WAIT, I was so generous that I seemed to have loaned my Guitar Hero! Oh! What a pickle!

Why the hell do all these actors/actresses (for the record: I call them all actors, male or female) list their shoe size on their resume? Also: I've yet to get a guy's resume who's under six feet. I love Minnesota. THE SIX FOOT RULE WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED.

Also, I hate to out people, but never, never, never start your e-mail with the following (which I recently received): "I might be interested if I'm made into a main character." That was the FIRST SENTENCE. You better be Daniel Goddamn Day-Fucking-Lewis if you want me to consider you.

DONE FOR NOW THANK YOU GOODNIGHT.

The Archetype Archive Part 1: Diving in headfirst

As I tweeted earlier (come on, you can find the link without my help if you're so inclined), I put up Craigslist ads for cast and crew. Already I have some hits for both categories that are very promising. And it's not even 10 am on a Saturday.

But I already have some MPC crew (new and old) on the job. I'll give them a shout-out now so I can obscurely refer to them in the future.

Myself ... Direction-Production
Kyle Tam ... Location Sound, Sound Designer
Justine Gendron ... Post-Production Advisor
Ian Flomer ... Original Film Score

Isn't this exciting? Because I'm excited. So excited that I'm not even concerned with the enormous amount of money I've already spent!

The MPC International Ten-Year Plan

Within the next ten years, I want MPC International to:

• Have at least ten full-time employees/key crew members who receive full health-care benefits completely paid by their employer (e.g. Uncle Jack)
  
• Own a Red camera and the editing horsepower to finish films at 2K resolution
  
• Own an HDCAM deck, a Blu-ray burner, or whatever is the best technology for outputting high-definition films for both commercial and consumer viewing
  
• Purchase the music rights to the songs used in Transmissions and make it available to view online, for free, forever
  
• Produce Archetype and finish the film by the end of 2010
  
• Get DVD or streaming distribution for Archetype from a third party (e.g. Netflix's Red Envelope Entertainment)
  
• Producer Old War in 2011 and get accepted to a major film festival
  
• Have a theatrical run of Old War on a limited basis; make it a special event with cast and crew Q&As, etc.
  
• Establish a yearly college scholarship for promising young filmmakers to attend an accredited film school
  
• Teach summer filmmaking workshops to high school students using state-of-the-art equipment
  
• Save baby seals
  
• Produce Meridien K and Decade
  
• Begin pre-production and some production on The Chronicle
  
• Establish a physical film studio with both indoor and outdoor locations in both Oregon (for the forests and mountains) and Minnesota (for the snow and so my mommy can cook for me after shoots)
  
• Write more lists
  
• Meet Steven Soderbergh

After ten years of pretending...

...I have now officially (pending) morphed into MPC International. Hello corporate credit cards. And debt. And dreams.

Some assholes in Ham Lake are "MPC" so I had to add the International. I hope people get the joke.

Two more albums on my shortlist for the year's best

Dan Deacon would be proud

Mux034: Minimux

Consider this the EP of the Muxtapes. And oh, yeah, it's noisy.

Handy drop.io download link.

1. Fuck Buttons - Surf Solar
2. HEALTH - Die Slow
3. A Place To Bury Strangers - Ego Death
4. Radiohead - These Are My Twisted Words

Live show: Japandroids @ The Turf Club in St. Paul on September 13, 2009

A friend and I were sitting outside the Turf Club in St. Paul. It was a nice night and we thought it’d be too hot in the bar. Smokers came and went, and when the door opened, a brief blast of music came out that involved a lead singer who sounded very much like Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse. It was 11 p.m.ish, so it was the second band. We were waiting for the third.

“Who’s playing after this?” some girl asked some guy near us.

“I think it’s some band called ‘Japanbots.’” said the guy.

Once we made our way inside a bit later, after hearing guitarist Brian King’s random strummings to check his array of superamps, it was clear this wasn’t an audience made up of rabid fans. There were probably about a hundred people at the start of the set; unknown how many were there for a night at a bar vs. for the explicit reason of hearing a Vancouver band blast through a set culled mostly from their rather-short debut LP.

I first saw the Japandroids at the Pitchfork Music Festival this summer from about a distance of about fifty feet. Now here I was, five feet from the stage, close enough to, well, knock over a monitor or something. And while the Japandroids played the smallest stage at P4K, Pitchfork’s site had awarded them the coveted “Best New Music” status for their album, Post-Nothing, so it was crowded there if only for such a hipster honor and/or curiosity. Here, I wasn’t so sure many knew about that. They - the bar patrons - probably just wanted some rock.

And that’s what Japandroids and their music are: unpretentious rock. Call it lo-fi or garage rock or semi-core, but it’s rock from any direction you hear it. There’s no bassist, but Brian and drummer Dave Prowse pound their way through a blistering set that leaves no room for anything below a high beats-per-minute count and an into-the-red volume. In brief: They've made my favorite album of the year.

Their setlist was - not surprising given their gargantuan North American tour - almost a carbon copy of what they played at Pitchfork. There, they opened with an EP track (specifically, “No Allegiance to the Queen”), played most of Post-Nothing (excluding two tracks), and tossed another song from their Lullaby Death Jams EP (“Darkness on the Edge of Gastown”) if only to lengthen the set.

“We only have one record so we’ll play some other stuff,” Brian said in his usual post-song breathlessness, jiggling his mic stand, which he has a tendency to knock aside or, once, completely over.

For the show at the Turf Club, they added a few surprises: from what I heard over the background noise of the amp, it sounded like Brian said they played a song from a 7” coming out next year, along with a cover song “for the guys” before launching into “Crazy/Forever” “for the girls.” And while I’ll get to it later, a few delays led them to treat us to the American premiere of a live rendition of album closer “I Quit Girls.”

The intimate venue gave the show a great casual vibe. This wasn’t solely because of the small space, the enough-room-to-more-one’s-elbows attendance, and the proximity to the stage and band. Like I said before, it’s rock with any unnecessary pomp or sound-worship. The closest is Brian's frequent act of raising his guitar in the air when sustaining a chord. I also find it impossible to refer to Brian and Dave as (Brian) King and (Dave) Prowse, given they have a sort of trademark of Brian opening the set with, “I’m Brian, that’s Dave, and we’re Japandroids.”

They’re just guys playing some rock. It didn’t look like they had a full road crew. Or any crew at all. Which what made it frustrating for the band when gear malfunctions stalled the middle of their set and damn near derailed them at the end.

First, Brian thought an amp was the culprit of some cutting-out sound, and after some fiddling around, and some, “Hey, Dave, say something funny"s usually met with silence, the problem seemed fixed. They were back to blasting whatever jerry-rigged sound setup they’ve used since their main gear was stolen in Calgary.

Somewhere during that time, a weird sort of effect happened. More minor gear malfunctions occurred, and the band’s own morale started dropping, while the front-row guys (myself included) started giving them nothing but encouragement. I didn’t hear a single heckle. I didn’t notice any drop in attendance, either. Call it Minnesota Nice, or call it an inability to slack on some guys trying their hardest to rock the shit out of the Turf Club.

During some of the lulls, some humorous incidents occurred. A guy in front of me threw his shoe onstage; not in anger, but in joy. Brian held it up and mused, “Usually, guys start rock bands so they get girls to throw their bras and panties onstage. Not... shoes.” That prompted, through the rest of the set, a small group in front of me throwing their shoes, socks, and stockings onstage, along with what looked like a hooded sweatshirt. “So I get it,” Brian said at some point. “You’re throwing everything that’s not as expensive as a bra.”

And while unrelated, there was a particularly-spirited (read: drunk) girl in the front center of the crowd who seemed to favor a method of dancing that involved endlessly twirling in circles. She was so visible to Brian that he decided to write, perform, and dedicate a twenty-second song to her during a pause in the set. He also expressed his enthusiasm at being in Minnesota for the first time in contrast to peoples' endless recommendations to go to the Mall of America, which is, well, just a mall. He gave the guys in attendance some envious tips in saying that Minnesota girls are beautiful and that we should treasure them dearly, etc. The latter was repeated during the improvised set-ender “I Quit Girls," in which Brian told us to not quit girls (before the song, not during).

So other than “Wet Hair” (which I, obnoxiously, yell-requested about twenty times louder than the obligatory “Free Bird!” guy whenever they seemed at a Which Song Should We Randomly Play? break), the crowd heard everything off Post-Nothing, plus some cover song, a track off a future 7”, two EP favorites, and the American premiere of a live performance of “I Quit Girls.” By that point, though, Brian’s voice was gone, and hitting the falsetto proved a bit difficult considering how many fans insisted on buying him shots to consume on-stage.

At that point, though, “I Quit Girls” seemed like the band throwing up their hands in defeat after Brian’s primary guitar decided to simply stop working. Before the “I Quit Girls” finale, they literally tried to start the album's penultimate track “Sovereignty” four separate times before getting all the way through. Again, the “very patient crowd” (in Dave’s words) wanted to stick around until the very end. (I was also holding a hidden hope that they’d play “Wet Hair,” even after asking Dave point-blank between songs if they’d play it and getting a straight-up, “Nope.”)

At the show’s end, Brian disappeared backstage and Dave came down off the side of the stage, greeted immediately by a group of front-row guys (self included) telling them not to worry about the gear problems (which Brian claimed were the worst that ever happened) and that they played a killer set.

Once they dispersed, Dave was gracious enough to not only to sign my CD of Post-Nothing, track Brian down backstage and get his signature on it (“I think Brian might’ve had a few too many shots,” said Dave upon displaying Brian’s sharpie scribbles on my disc), get a picture with me, and chat for a minute before he went over to the merch table proper.


“The gear was just...” he said, trailing off.

“But fuck Calgary, right?” I said, referencing the band's van-gear theft in Calgary, resulting in all their best equipment stolen, including Brian’s prized guitar of many years.

Dave laughed and agreed.

“And fuck Grizzly Bear,” I said. “You guys have the best album of the year.”

“I appreciate that. Awesome,” said Dave.

“Who gives a shit about a 9.2?” I said, referencing Pitchfork’s score for Grizzly Bear’s much-ballyhooed album Veckatimest, which seems to be on everyone’s short list for the year’s top ten (mine included). “And 9.6? Fuck Animal Collective,” I added.

“Hey,” said Dave, “I like Animal Collective. But they just stand around on stage when they play a show.”

“Yeah,” I said.

A few more albums in consideration for my best of '09

Old list prior to additions:

• Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
  
• Dan Deacon - Bromst
  
• Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
  
• Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
  
• Japandroids - Post-Nothing
  
• Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer
  
• We Were Promised Jetpacks - These Four Walls

Stuff added for consideration in the past month or so:

• The Antlers - Hospice
  
• The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love
  
• Eyedea & Abilities - By The Throat
  
• Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
  
• Why? - Eskimo Snow
  
• Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
  
• The xx - xx

I saw the Japandroids at the Turf Club the other night. Fantastic show. I'll have a bigger write-up later today or tomorrow. I'm also set to see Phoenix next week, Why? in early October, and the Dirty Projectors in November. The only other "band" I'd want to see live would be Fuck Buttons, but don't you have to be on drugs just to get in the door? Like as a rule?

Happy half-birthday, Transmissions

March 14, 2009, was the official release of Transmissions. That was six months ago.

Six months later, and I'm a year past my first shooting tests and actual principal photography. I've also entered twenty film festivals and have probably had over 100 people see the film. (If only I could get them in the same room... for a Q&A, of course.)

And do I take the time to look back on it? Nah. I'm full speed ahead on Archetype. Which is, well, a follow-up to Transmissions, which is part of a loose trilogy because I can't, for the life of me, make a standalone film.

I discovered there was no post mentioning the "release" of Transmissions (probably because I had all the YouTube links I had to take down per festival rules), so I just wanted to commemorate its six-month birthday, even though I didn't realize it until today.

What A Six Months It Has Been, honestly. Anyone else who has made an intensive-filmmaking film, be it a feature or even a short, definitely grows attached to it and has a complicated relationship with it. It's just extra surreal that I was a year younger in the film than I am now. As mentioned a few times, the mental toll of the film and the subsequent, botched "release" has made me age an estimated three years instead of the terrestrial one.

In consideration: Calling it against me

This one stings: the deadline isn't until tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure I didn't get into the First Take Film Festival. And since I'm getting more sure by the day that Archetype will get made somehow, Transmissions is the only time I can get into a first-timers festival. Fingers crossed some miracle happens with New Directors/New Films in New York.

The tally: 15 rejected, 5 pending; 20 total.

• Ann Arbor (Michigan)
  
• Austin
  
• BendFilm (Oregon)
  
• Big Bear Lake (California)
  
• Charlotte
  
• Chicago International
  
• Chicago Underground
  
• First Take (Georgia)
  
• Landlocked (Iowa)
  
• Maine
  
• Midwest Independent (Chicago)
  
• New York
  
• Rhode Island
  
• Sacramento
  
• Sausalito
  
• Slamdance
  
• Stony Brook (New York)
  
• Sundance
  
• SXSW (Austin)
  
• Toronto

15 rejections:

• BendFilm (Oregon)
  
• Big Bear Lake (California)
  
• Charlotte
  
• Chicago International
  
• Chicago Underground
  
• First Take (Georgia)
  
• Landlocked (Iowa)
  
• Maine
  
• Midwest Independent (Chicago)
  
• New York
  
• Rhode Island
  
• Sacramento
  
• Sausalito
  
• Stony Brook (New York)
  
• Toronto

5 pending:

• Ann Arbor (Michigan)
  
• Austin
  
• Slamdance
  
• Sundance
  
• SXSW (Austin)

3 yet to enter:

• Los Angeles
  
• Minneapolis/St. Paul International
  
• New Directors/New Films (New York)

But this isn't all gloom and doom, though. I take sort of a teacher's viewpoint: If I made a difference in one person, then it was a success. To my knowledge, I know four people who were fairly affected by the film, so, to me, that's a landslide. That's why I made the film; not for festivals.

Generation Kill and the "Armys"

In one of The Wire commentary tracks, David Simon lamented that he'll never win an Emmy, since "Baltimore is a long way from LA."

Looks like he'll have to change his mind.

While it lost a large number of categories (injustice for losing casting), the fantastic Simon-produced miniseries Generation Kill (based on the eponymous book by Rolling Stone embedded reporter Evan Wright and with some anecdotes lifted from Cpt. Nate Fick's memoir One Bullet Away) actually won for sound mixing (I guess that's good...?) and visual effects. In aforementioned commentary, Simon mused, "What are those awards they give out called? The 'Armys'?" joking that he'd never win one. Granted, it got a few tokens based on technical merits, but some nods never hurt.

But those were just the "Creative Arts" Emmys. The Primetime Emmys might be a different story.

(In other news, The Office was, yet again, completely shut out by the inferior, biz-insular 30 Rock.)

Ben Chaplin and Terrence Malick

Some interview has a choice quote about my favorite director:

TL-G: You've worked with director Terrence Malick a number of times now, how did you find those experiences?

[Ben Chaplin]: Terry, he's a dream. I've worked with him three times now and I'm really proud of that. I think 'The Thin Red Line' is the film I'm most proud of, just to have been involved with that [Chaplin starred as Private Bell]. He is a born director and he's the cleverest man I've ever met, for a start, he's also probably the nicest.

Such a deep thinker that you can't even begin to understand the true depths of what he says. He very softly spoken, funny and witty, full of humanity and I loved being around him. The directors I really respect are the ones I love being around, it doesn't matter if I've a small part or the lead, I just love to get to spend some time with them. That's Terry to me.

He's a real film philosopher and understands camera in a way that a lot of directors don't. He has a great understanding of the technical side and then he has this real originality of vision. The more films he makes, he's getting further and further away from conventional narrative which for some people is disappointing but I love it, his films are made for multi viewing. I have watched 'Badlands' about a dozen times and every time I see it, it's like I hadn't seen it before. He's much imitated but no one else comes close. I know it sounds ridiculous, because it sounds like I love him but Terry's like a father to me. When he calls, I run.

Reminds me of all the Thin Red Line trivia, like how a lot of actors, Sean Penn included, offered to work for free just to work with Malick.

In consideration: Rules are rules are rules

Today's victim: Chicago International. Well, technically, the victim is me.

With all this prep surrounding Archetype, I forget that I still have a film floating out there. My only reminders are a few new people I meet who watch the film and the balance still left on my credit card from festival fees.

The tally: 14 rejected, 6 pending; 20 total.

• Ann Arbor (Michigan)
  
• Austin
  
• BendFilm (Oregon)
  
• Big Bear Lake (California)
  
• Charlotte
  
• Chicago International
  
• Chicago Underground
  
• First Take (Georgia)
  
• Landlocked (Iowa)
  
• Maine
  
• Midwest Independent (Chicago)
  
• New York
  
• Rhode Island
  
• Sacramento
  
• Sausalito
  
• Slamdance
  
• Stony Brook (New York)
  
• Sundance
  
• SXSW (Austin)
  
• Toronto

Edit: I'll organize this a different way henceforth.

14 rejections:

• BendFilm (Oregon)
  
• Big Bear Lake (California)
  
• Charlotte
  
• Chicago International
  
• Chicago Underground
  
• Landlocked (Iowa)
  
• Maine
  
• Midwest Independent (Chicago)
  
• New York
  
• Rhode Island
  
• Sacramento
  
• Sausalito
  
• Stony Brook (New York)
  
• Toronto

6 pending:

• Ann Arbor (Michigan)
  
• Austin
  
• First Take (Georgia)
  
• Slamdance
  
• Sundance
  
• SXSW (Austin)

Mux033: September 2009

Back to the future. Officially September, and here's the official Mux. A lot of current stuff. Too much good year-end music.

Download this bad boy over at drop.io.

Tracklist:

1. The Big Pink - Crystal Visions (thanks JC)
2. The xx - Crystalized
3. Sonic Youth - Incinerate
4. Weezer - The Good Life
5. Vampire Weekend - A-Punk
6. Yo La Tengo - Periodically Triple or Double
7. The Fiery Furnaces - Even In The Rain
8. Modest Mouse - Satellite Skin
9. No Age - You're A Target
10. Eyedea & Abilities - Burn Fetish (thanks JS)
11. HEALTH - In Violet

JDK Radio 008: 2004

2004 was a watershed year in music. For me, at least. And there was, like every year, some truly fantastic albums. It was, however, when I moved to Columbia's dorms in Chicago that it became almost necessary to like "cool" music. And with everyone tethered to the same network and able to rip whole iTunes libraries, I ended up amassing quite a collection.

At the time it seems almost baffling that my most-used item for music-listening was a CD player. A portable one, at that, that I shoved into my pocket when walking to class. And yeah, some fancy kids had iPods (like my roommate), but I figured I never needed more than an hour and twenty minutes of music, and that all (single) albums don't exceed the limits of a physical CD. Also at the time I had my files organized in folders for ease of use in creating Winamp play lists, so iTunes lost its ease-of-use sex appeal.

It wasn't until a full year later that I got an iPod and begrudgingly substituted the lean Winamp for the system-resource-intensive iTunes. But by that point my primary CD player broke and I had to use another that didn't have as good a skip-protection feature, meaning that a ten-minute walk to class usually involved only one New Pornographers song stuttering all the way down State Street.

Call me a nostalgia fiend for an era barely five years ago, but JDK Radio 008 is dedicated to music from the year 2004, which, to me, was my first bonafide Year of Music.

So here's that little Imeem thinger, and the drop.io link is right here.

Oh, yes, and the tracks:

1. The Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
2. Stars - Ageless Beauty
3. The Walkmen - Little House of Savages
4. A.C. Newman - On the Table
5. Controller.Controller - History
6. The Killers - Mr. Brightside
7. Felix Da Housecat - Ready 2 Wear
8. Air - Surfin' On A Rocket
9. The Magnetic Fields - I Wish I Had An Evil Twin
10. !!! - Shitscheissemerde (Part 1)
11. The Streets - Blinded By The Lights
12. Kanye West - Slow Jamz

Status report: Archetype

I finished the first draft of Archetype a few days ago. As per tradition, I printed it off and let it sit while I dove headfirst into a new Guitar Hero game.

Today I've started reading it and getting ideas for the rewrite. Notice how I said rewrite instead of revision. Transmissions, miraculously, only needed some revisions; most of that involved deleting about sixty percent of the dialog.

But Archetype is a different beast. For one thing, there's a core cast of around five, with a supporting cast up around a dozen. It's not a one-man show. There's also a lot more action and many more locations.

It's no secret that Archetype picks up where Transmissions left off. Yes, Ridley Kraid is the main character. (In fact, KRAID was the working title for a while and is the title of a side project I'm working on in conjunction with the film proper.) But it takes place two years later, and his life couldn't be farther from where he was during Transmissions proper.

But therein lies part of the problem. If I showed Kraid's arc in Transmissions, what's left for Archetype? I wrote a lot of action, but I didn't give much thought to character development. He can't have the same arc. He can't even have a similar arc. He transformed in Transmissions, and he needs to transform again.

So, in effect, I'm doubling any pressure created by the dread of a possible sophomore slump. Not only is my sophomore film a follow-up to my first, but it involves the same character who, in draft one, goes through a minor translation/reposition of what he went through in Transmissions.

Now I'll get vague and say I have a few thoughts on how to change it. If Transmissions was about my experience after college, Archetype is about my experience during college. It's sort of like going back in time, personally. But, as with Transmissions, it's not autobiographical in any sense. That simply wouldn't be interesting. I didn't do a lot my first two years of college except take furious class notes and read on the bus.

I'm putting a bit of pressure on myself because I'm not sure when or how I could shoot this. All I have is a tentative test session with a possible location sound mixer. I have no cast except myself. I have one probable location (my sister's and brother-in-law's house). I need to buy about $1700 worth of props after I finish paying off the leftover credit card balance from the 20 festivals I entered (plus the three more I'm submitting to within the month).

And I don't really feel confident moving forward without a strong script. Otherwise I might as well be making Apocalypse Now and inviting total fucking disaster.

But, in yet another turn of massive contradiction, that's what's so thrilling about all this. I'm at the stage where this is all just theoretical; just a collection of thoughts in my head. It can go anywhere. (Well, given the X budget.) And, just as important, it's a story I want to tell with a degree of urgency that was only hinted at in Transmissions.

So back to work!

Fleet Foxes' Robin Peckinold sums up why Kid A is my favorite record of the decade

Via Pitchfork's Guest List of best albums of the 2000s. Crazy how similar our thoughts on the album are. We were even the same age; hell I was a year older:

I was 14 when this came out; in a lot of ways this is the most important record for me on this list, and one of my absolute favorites ever.

Kid A is what flicked the switch in my brain in regards to music and what it was capable of inspiring in a person. Hearing this record for the first time was like hearing about dinosaurs for the first time when you're four years old.

I was a little late to the party, but not too late: I heard "Everything In Its Right Place" in Vanilla Sky, bought the soundtrack, then Kid A the day after. It was the first "good" album I ever bought, sitting right next to some Sum41 shit on my CD shelf.

In consideration: Rejected from the fest I most wanted to get into

BendFilm passed. Damn. I really wanted to go because a) it's in Oregon and I wanted to check it out before making further plans to relocate there and start the MPC empire, and b) I think there were mad cash prizes.

But what can you do?

The tally: 13 rejected, 7 pending; 20 total.

• Ann Arbor (Michigan)
  
• Austin
  
• BendFilm (Oregon)
  
• Big Bear Lake (California)
  
• Charlotte
  
• Chicago International
  
• Chicago Underground
  
• First Take (Georgia)
  
• Landlocked (Iowa)
  
• Maine
  
• Midwest Independent (Chicago)
  
• New York
  
• Rhode Island
  
• Sacramento
  
• Sausalito
  
• Slamdance
  
• Stony Brook (New York)
  
• Sundance
  
• SXSW (Austin)
  
• Toronto

JDK Radio 007: Classic Rock 3

No need for fancy misspellings. Though this could just be called "Classic Rock from Guitar Hero: World Tour and Guitar Hero 5."

Download via drop.io.

Tracks:

1. The Guess Who - American Woman (Album Version)
2. Deep Purple - Woman From Tokyo
3. Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze
4. Credence Clearwater Revival - Up Around The Bend
5. The Doors - Love Me Two Times
6. Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train
7. The Cult - Love Removal Machine
8. Van Halen - Hot For Teacher
9. R.E.M. - The One I Love
10. John Mellencamp - Hurts So Good
11. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - American Girl

Mux032: drawckaB

Taking songs at the end of albums and putting them at the front; taking songs from the front of albums and putting them at the back. That, or just an excuse to have "Kid A" followed by the intro of The xx's album.

And check it at drop.io, as usual.

Trackz:

1. The Smashing Pumpkins - Daydream (JDK No-Corgan Edit)
2. Why? - This Blackest Purse
3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps (JDK Edit)
4. The National - Trophy Wife
5. The Tallest Man On Earth - The Sparrow and the Medicine
6. The Rural Albert Advantage - Luciana
7. Spoon - Sister Jack
8. My Bloody Valentine - When You Sleep
9. Wolf Parade - We Built Another World
10. Daft Punk - Digital Love
11. Radiohead - Kid A
12. The xx - Intro