2011 Look back to Look Forward to 2012

This year was a bigger projects year but less volume which is good for my creative health. 
After buying a house/relocating my office space and doing some renos. The year ended quietly.

Here is some of the work I produced this year but unfortunatly, 2 of the bigger projects are under Non Disclosure Agreements, but I will post up when they are released. 

CRIBSIDE.CA: By far the best thing I worked on this year since it wasn't purly for entertainment but for a good cause. A small group of pastionate Fathers (myself included) collaborated to produce a Website to help new Dads, please pass it on to expecting Fathers and Mothers.

SHAW FESTIVAL 50TH ANNIVERSARY PROMO: A Historical Review of the Shaw Festival.


OTMP: Short series of films exploring Ontario Tourism
 

Now I should get Back to Work (also the name of a great productivety Podcast that I have been binging on as I renovated) and find the next Great thing to work on... Have a great year! 

Anthony K. Baird

Editor/Motion Graphics/Colorist for Gorillaproductions.ca

No Spoilers Episode 2: Last Action Christmas Movie

As the Holiday Season nears; I remember last year's Christmas eve, when my wife and I were preparing the house for Santa. I suggested to my wife that we put on a Christmas movie to play in the background. I was all Grinched out and I like to watch Albert Finney's Scrooge in the morning. So, leafing through my DVD binder. I stumbled upon a hidden gem. Yippikaye Santa!

Honestly, it started as a "husband joke" but the more I made my arguments the clearer it became Die Hard is a Christmas movie!

It' s got all the element of a Christmas movie.

1- The basic plot is about a Jimmy Stewart-like Father who is trying to run back to his familly after he realizes the mistake that he has made. (This sorta gets lost in the gun fire, running on glass and exploding Building.) Also, a little girl (aka Cindy Loo Who) who wants a Christmas miracle.

2- Lots of christmas music (Winter Wonderland, Let it Snow and the timeless Christmas in Hollis by Run-DMC, classic)

3- A Grinch like bad guy who try to stop Christmas from coming (The Germans and the Black nerd from Matlock) by stealing the loot/gifts.

The Studio's Scroogy greed is to blame for not releasing this Mistletoe classic in its rightfully season. I remember first watchting this movie in Summer Blockbuster season. Christmas in July?! Pure Greed. 20th Century expect a visit from 3 ghosts on Christmas eve.

It seems that I am not the only one that thinks this is a Christmas Movie.

Also check it out for it's great Speilberg hermetic story telling (John McTiernan) and Jan Debonts bold use of Anamorphic flares... but I wouldn't want to spoil this holiday classic.

Happy Holidays to you.

No Spoilers episode 0: What is this sections is about?

Like many movie sequels, this blog post should have come before episode 1. So, consider this my Prequel Blog post or MIA 2.

I like talking movies. The people that I have worked with for the past decade, young and old, have heard my editing room, production meeting or creative brainstorming sessions rants about a movie's "epic" creative value. When I realize that they haven't seen this movie, I usually motion like I am going to flip the table in "rage" and film blasphame. (It's a dry joke but I like to recycle)

I thought I would blog about my film geek movie selects so that interweb folk can get some good film suggestions. Sometimes wacky or cryptic, not your classic AFI listings but I am not going to exclude these great movies either.

Not like this guilty pleasure of mine.

But check it out if you want to see how pre-computer graphics were done and a bonus see Dennis Hopper as a proffessor. (He plays a very similar roles as acharacter in one of his famous performances.) 

I don't believe in a good or bad movie or tell you that you should love this but you should probably check it out if want to see good movie making. Like my Philosophy 101 Professor pointed out in the first class, "My goal is to suggest a good lead, you should go and look into it yourself and my your own opinions, I AM NOT GOING TO READ THE BOOK FOR YOU" 

I will try not to SPOIL the movie by writing about the movies' plot twist. breakdown the storyline... Basically, I won't do the things that make reading film reviews frustrating to me.

Enjoy the movie suggest and please send feedback of what you thought of the movie and OBVIOUSLY NO SPOILERS in your comments please!

NO SPOILERS ep1: Top 5 Best Westerns Most People Haven't Seen

I was just finishing unpacking my gear and boxes into the new house/office space when I opened up a box containing my old DVD binders and Boxsets. (These days Netflix is usually faster if I am looking for reference material for work but I'm a collector, so I like to keep some of the old physical media around.) I noticed my wacky variety of movies and it go me thinking.

In the film industry you always bump into that young cinefile that hasn't seen film pre-1990's, who know LL Cool J and Will Smith as actors or have only seen the required classics Movies assigned by there Film school proffessor.

So, I thought I should highlight some great Westerns that are on my shelf and in my heart as some must see shoot'em ups that are not the Classic recommends. Please feel free to add to the list since I love me a good Cowboy movie! 

1. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
James Coburn, Chris Christopherson as Billy, Slim Pickens and a young Bob Dylan that you can understand what he says. Directed by Sam Peckingpah, so lots of ketchup style 70's blood, complexe storytelling and his particular raw filmaking style. If William Holden wasn't in the Wild Bunch this might be the best Peckingpah flick for my taste. It is definetly "Knocking on Heaven's Door".
 

2. Duck You Sucker aka Fist Full of Dynamite
I obviously have a Bromance for James Coburn. Add in this Filck directed by Spagetti Western King Sergio Leone, you have the perfect movie about the West transitioning into the modern era. Lesser know fact is that it is the 2 part Sergio's Trilogy, the first part being Once upon a time in the West, the third being Once Upon a Time in America.

3. The Proffessionals
A rag tag crew of mercs are assembled to get a woman, Claudia Cardinale. Might sound as a familliar plot but the "X factor" is Lee Marvin. Bang for the buck better than Magnificent Seven. Once again, Lee Marvin!

4. The Way of the Gun
A modern day Western with Benecio Del Toro, James Caan, Ryan Phillippe. At the time the writter Christopher McQuarrie of the Brian Singer crew of the 90's directs this raw flick about a kidnapping mixed in with great scenes that have great dialogue delivered by Fred Fenster himself. If you don't like the first scene with Sara Silverman stop watching there, this is not for you.

5. Pale Rider 
Probably blasfemy to not include a Clint movie. So here it is. A Macbethian western. It's got all he fixings, the looks from the man with no name, a big bad Company controling the town and  lots of avenging.  About 100 times better than "The Wraith" Charlie Sheen 80's disaster movie with same plot but with a bunch of teenagers and fast cars.  

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Please Add or comment on what you thought of the movies or if you want to add your favorite to the list.

That's it for now... 

Time to look for #NextNewThing

Not only an "A" in team or The A-team

This year I have worked on many small team projects. Meaning that we were a smaller team than what usually a regular production company would assemble to execute a project. I must say that all the projects were successfull and executed as well or even better than a bigger production could have done with larger ressources.

In highnsight, I looked at why this small team concept was successfull. I must say right off the bat that it wasn't always an all-star crew and I realize now from these last few projects that it doesn't have to be an The "Best of the Best" (BOB) to pull off an exeptional result. The real key is a good dynamic. Like most great sports stories the cast of players on the team were not an amalgamation of all the best players of the league but a rag tag crew of derelligues that rise to the occasion to win the Super Bowl ('83 Raiders) or the World Series ('94 Montreal Expos... I know they didn't win because of strike but the romantic in me likes to Dream).

This is not to say to try to get the best people but in most occassions I have been in a dynamic where it was BOB; the interactions between the various creative and administrative personel created a sculpture out of "poop". Meaning, in the end the result was looked good greek sculpture but it's composition was lacking. On my scale, good is not something to aspire to or even settle for. Basically, a gathering of the "Best of the Best" doesn't guarantee a strong result sometimes it it implodes.

I use Hitchcock as an exemple to my point when I work with directors or in creative meetings. Hitch was a genius director because he didn't storyboard the shower scene or create the sountrack for it. He got Saul Bass and Bernard Hermand to work on it for him. Genius.

Being able to assemble a great team, work with different personalities, get the right people connected with the right people on any level is talent that is underated, undervalued and often overlooked.

One last thing on The "BOB", they don't always work/interact with other properly. One thing that I noticed is that if one ore more of the extremely talented team is not participating for some reason, the team dynamic as a whole becomes chaotic and leads to the demise of the project. Film is by nature chaotic and minimizing the pieces that risk your project is the ultimate goal to put yourself in the best posible positiion. Assembling The BOB is no guarantee of success, I would even say that building a team that way decreases your chances at success.

My 2 cents... now back to the #NextNewThing.