• QuickTime
• | Flash

Hi. So this week’s oldieo is a follow-up to last week’s post.

As I mentioned, CLOSE QUARTERS is a pilot project I rushed out with the help of my friends in two weeks time for F/X a few years back. Last week’s video was the series teaser, and this week’s is the short 2 1/2 minute scene that follows. We submitted both which proved fruitless at the time, but forced our hand to produce something original and fun amongst ourselves, and that’s all that truly matters (says the upbeat afterschool special). Considering the crap that F/X picked up that year, I’m not exactly losing sleep knowing we weren’t the chosen ones. My goal with the scene was to show a random lazy weekday situation at the CQ residence.

Jason is hooked up to some wacky experimental lab wiring while he hurls Mike & Ikes at the sleeping Big Daddy, Ed is hustling to find the keys to their car in order to meet his ladyfriend Erica at the Super Chinese Buffet (how romantic), and Garrett is off trying to avoid the guys by working on his memoirs. Jay’s casual game of “sink candy down Chris’s gaping mouth” gets competitive when Ed jumps in on a cash bet. The two make so much noise that Garrett is forced to see what the commotion is all about, then he too gets sucked into the money match. Jay finally hits a shot and wins the bet, however in doing so the candy gets lodged in Chris’s throat, and he begins to choke. The three gambling fools aren’t the coolest cats in pressure situations, and scramble the best they can to execute the proper safety procedures to rescue Chris. Ed’s life incompetence pushes Chris so far that he begins to choke his roomate in a fit of rage. Mr. Morris (the sage elder) finally dislodges the candy by pounding on Chris’s back, and for a moment the guys are allowed to catch their breath until an exhausted Chris collapses on the couch and unconsciously begins to swallow fistfuls of Mike & Ikes, concluding with a self-induced choking situation to the guys’ utter disbelief.

MY FAVORITE MOMENTS IN CQ:

1) The Credits - opening and closing. I originally wanted a steadicam and desired to somehow sweep down the street to settle on the front of the house a la Mama’s Family or The Beverly Hill Billies. I grew up a big TV junky and have always had an affinity for cheesy sitcom openings. IMHO, The Three’s Company intro shot at the Santa Monica pier is easily the best opening in sitcom history. I wanted to keep in that vein of cheese. Even the theme song closely resembles the whining guitars from Saved By The Bell. Considering the limited time and resources, the simple act of waving at the camera with Garrett looking out of place is a sufficient way to open and close the clips for sure. Plus, I had a lot of fun hurling a 5 lb Sunday paper at Chris and J-Raff’s head.

2) Garrettisms - the clip of him being mezmorized by a crumpled ball of ones and muttering “money” while in said trance is the funniest line in the project hands down. During the traveling montage in the teaser, Garrett is on the phone with the electric company arguing about a delinquent bill. The audio isn’t very clear in the sequence, but watching him create a situation with an imaginary customer service rep during the take was extremely entertaining. He is still one funny dude!

3) The establishing shot of inside Garrett’s apartment while he listens the horse race - the Andy Warhol-inspired portraits on the wall, the cluttered Morris memorabilia and photo shrine on the mantle - David Lukan did one fantastic job on set design considering the money constraints.

4) The chemistry and energy amongst the four guys - like I said last week, these guys just loved busting each other up, and the shoot was more fun than business. Garrett was a sport for making fun of himself and playing in a project opposite three little brats.The funny thing is I can produce a project of this caliber once every other week. I work fast, the material is cute if not legitimately funny, it’s quasi-professional considering the video garbage produced now-a-days.

I have 4,000 ideas that have yet to be realized. WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING BLOGGING ABOUT WANTING TO SHOOT SOMETHING??? Why am I not out there just producing right now? Things cost money for sure, but if you want it that badly, there’s always a way. If this is the kinda cute crap I would like to consume the rest of my life with, then why am I complaining about being poor and unrealized, and not making strides towards career success?I’ve recently reduced myself to a 5-6 month window of opportunity in LA. If I don’t produce something I truly sink time, thought and energy into, then I will leave California and return back East. I moved out to LA at the age of 21, and have skipped down many different career avenues, yet I now find myself here talking to you at the age of 25-26. No one’s getting any younger, and it’s time I really gave this thing a true shot instead of being embarrassed of my old student projects or rushing through shorts like this one. If this is what I’m supposed to be wasting my life on, then the next 5 months shall be very telling. I’ve always been the type of person who is capable of running the show himself, but mentally I need at least one commrade or pillar of support to fascilitate the process. On this project, I had Lukan there pushing us through. On the BU projects, I had crabby professors and deadlines staring me in the face. These next few months represent the final shot I’m giving myself- I need to attempt it once more, for if I don’t and leave without doing so, I’ll be wondering “what if” for the rest of my life (aww, how cliche).I need some support. Give your kid a little encouragement. I can’t help being an impractical dreamer, it wasn’t by choice I can promise you that. I’m sick of playing in the sandbox, I wanna crack at something real. BOTTOM OF THE NINTH is as big of a shot as I’ve ever taken, and seeing that was five years ago, I’m due for one last hurrah.

Hoo-rah!
Christo

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 at 8:43 pm and is filed under Oldieo Videos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.