Wires And Light

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 12:54:00 -0700

Check out my latest project: Comedic shorts promoting the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival!

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Wed, 4 Jul 2007 15:05:00 -0700

DISH premieres at OUTFEST 2007!

Come see my latest short, DISH, at this summer's Outfest -- LA's gay and lesbian film festival.

Monday, July 16th 7:00pm at the Barnsdall Theatre in Silverlake, 4800 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027 near Vermont.

DISH features in-depth interviews with fans of a popular television talk show host -- and you're just going to have to see it to find out who it is! Quick paced editing and eye popping animated graphics fuse the interviews together in a “Greek Chorus” of enthusiastic opinion. Whether they agree or if they’re in total opposition to each other, the interviewees form a virtual community where no one’s opinion is too obscure or outrageous.

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Mon, 5 Feb 2007 00:11:00 -0800

A friend asked me to go see BECAUSE I SAID SO tonight and I was game, if only for the fact that I knew NOTHING about the movie. One of the benefits of not having TV (that's right! No cable, no rabbit ears, just a DVD player) is not seeing commercials for movies so much so that I'm sick of them even before they arrive in theatres. Of course, I've been known to even close my eyes and turn the channel (that is, when I did have TV) if a trailer or commercial came on for a movie that I am really excited about. But the last time I did something like that, it was for SLEEPY HOLLOW and, after I saw the piece of crap, I'd wished that I HAD opened my eyes!

But I digress.

I suppose I did know something about the movie from the poster. I knew Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore were in it. Two actors that I like. And, from the looks of it, Diane's the mom and she's kinda bossy. Got that. Whatever. So it was going to be a chick flick romantic comedy. That's cool. As a gay man, I don't have as big a problem with chick flicks as much as a straight guy might. Predictably, I was a big fan of DEVIL WEARS PRADA. But I'm also a pretty tough critic for romantic comedies, ANNIE HALL being the penultimate golden ring to reach for. I'm pretty sure it was the Diane Keaton card that possessed me to spend 11 bucks on this one. Fine. You caught me. Plus, Michael Lehmann directed it and HEATHERS is definitely in my top 20 and by far the best high school comedy EVER (CLUELESS and FERRIS BULLER running a close behind.)

Needless to say, Diane and Michael, I was pretty disappointed. ANNIE HALL or HEATHERS this movie is NOT.

Everything started out well enough. Single mom raises three beautiful daughters and lives her lonely life through them, marrying the first two in a pre title sequence montage of upper class wedding cake bliss. The hair, the clothes, the prop husbands who NEVER speak (then you would have to pay them). I've been on this train before.
I soon realized that the movie was going to be one long string of romantic comedy cliches. And I settled in to enjoy the ride.

Mandy is the youngest and unlucky in love. Mom places a personal ad for her without telling her and interviews the guys herself. Cue the "ugly guy" montage. But one emerges as the "perfect" guy for her daughter, Jason (Tom Everett Scott) , but a dark horse, Johnny (Gabriel Macht) crashes her interview session.

Cheesy montages aside, I was still holding out hope of a decent movie going experience. But I totally threw in the towel when Mommy turned a suspicious eye on Johnny and made her best guess on his past by clicking off various cliches about him without even asking. His comeback is "Thanks. I love being reduced to a stereotype." I waited for the clever comment from Diane's character, calling him on his ANNIE HALL reference, but no ... nothing! NOTHING! Can you believe this? A line stolen directly from one of comedy's masterpieces is one thing, but not acknowledging the source while an actress FROM THE ORIGINAL MOVIE is in the scene is blatant plagiarism. If Woody Allen were dead, he'd be spinning in his grave.

In case you don't remember, the scene in ANNIE HALL is when Alvy meets Allison (the amazing Carol Kane) at a political fund raiser and he flirts with her by totally guessing her family's history which he finishes by saying "Am I right?" and she says, "No, that's great. I love being reduced to a cultural stereotype." Is such a friggin funny scene and this piece of crap movie totally stole it. Diane. How could you let this happen?

I won't bore you with descriptions of other scenes. Suffice it to say, Mandy is torn between the two hotties and, at different parts of the movie has both, neither, one and then the other and she's all conflicted and stuff. Mommy and daughter fight and make up and, of course, Mommy finds love, too. And just guess where the final scene takes place. That's right! A wedding cake cutting sequence! How hilariously predictable!

One last thing, though. There's way too many overheard phone conversations and answering machine messages, online postings and cell phone confessions in this film. It's become a little pet peeve of mine: the cell phone as a plot device. You wonder sometimes what romantic comedies did without cell phones. So many opportunities for instant knowledge of a character in a place other than their homes.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there's ONE phone conversation in ANNIE HALL. Wait a sec. There is and it's hilarious. Alvy's broken up with Annie and in bed with Shelly Duvall's character and Annie calls begging for him to come over. He arrives and is dispatched to kill a large spider in Annie's bathroom. After he kills it, in one of the movie's most heart wrenching scenes, Annie confesses that she misses him and she breaks down crying. Now there's a good reason to use a phone: to bring two characters together in a scene. Lately, it seems that all phones are used for in movies is to suggest a connection between characters when they are in totally different worlds. Kind of a sad commentary on our modern culture.

CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS had some pretty kick ass phone conversations, too, by the way.

But I digress.

Long story short, don't go see this movie, BECAUSE I SAID SO.

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Sun, 4 Feb 2007 23:48:00 -0800

Last night a friend asked me to go see the worst movie ever made. I said to myself, "But I've already seen Episode III." Well, it turns out there's two worst movies.

This one was called "The Room" and it has become kind of a cult phenomenon here in LA among industry-type hipsters. This guy, Tommy Wiseau (he of unspecified nationality -- I would say Transylvanian) self financed this film for $6 million. Never a good sign when the producer is also the writer and lead actor. Can you say "Vanity Project"?

We were advised to go to the screening drunk, so we had a few cocktails before and we entered the theatre with a bunch of other people who were there for the same reason: to mock a really bad film. When we entered the theatre, a spirited Q&A was in progress with Mr. Wiseau holding court in a surreal environment mixed with hostility and admiration. I'll say this for Mr. Wiseau, he is not someone to back down from defending his masterpiece. I guess this is the first requirement of any filmmaker.

I got the feeling that the crowd was made mostly of entertainment assistant bottom feeders who have had to sit through one too many interminable screenings of self important movies followed by too long asskissing Q&A sessions where they had to hear the same questions over and over. I mean, really, how many more times do we have to hear "What was your budget and how many days did you shoot?" This was our opportunity for payback and Tommy was game. I wish I could remember a few of the questions, but they wouldn't really make sense if you haven't seen the film. He answered all with appropriate sincerity and seemed to like the attention.

But the fun really started when the theatre went dark. From the first frame, the audience couldn't sit still or keep quiet. This was an interactive experience if there ever was one: throwing things at the screen, calling out lines of dialog and asking questions out loud. Needless to say, the movie was a trainwreck with characters coming and going so fast, you couldn't keep any of their motivations or identities straight. Basicly, we're introduced to Tommy's character, Johnny, and his girlfriend, Lisa, in what was to become a love making scene forever burned onto my soul. When I die and my life flashes before my eyes, I fear these few minutes (too many minutes as far as I'm concerned) will take up too much time having been filed away so deep in my unconscious. I'll just give you a few visual cues from the scene and you can go from there: rose petals, gauzy lace curtains and a very confusing method of lovemaking on the part of Tommy.

Soon we discover Lisa is not as in love as she lets on. In what is, like, five scenes of BLEEPing about how much she hates Tommy (to her cancer diagnosed mother, her BLEEPty best friend and her lover, Matt who is also Tommy's best friend -- a fact he mentions over 5 times.)

The bizarre scenes continue including an assault on Tommy's adopted friend, Denny by a drug dealer who we never see again as well as a scene where all the men gather wearing tuxedos and play football. Apparently, in Mr. Wiseau's America, Football is a formal affair.

The crowd didn't let up. Some brought footballs to throw during one of the many "male bonding" scenes where the tossed the ol' pigskin around. And everyone was given spoons to throw each time a framed photograph appeared on screen -- placed in the background of the apartment set. I don't know what the big deal, was. I mean, I have framed photos of all of my kitchen utensils around my house.

All in all, it was a very cathartic experience. I seriously couldn't go to sleep until my adrenaline was calmed by some Ben and Jerry's later that night. There's something very therapeutic about seeing a bad movie not just for the endorphins released by laughing my guts out. But there is also the assurance I'm given that, yes, I actually DO know something about making movie and, no, I will NEVER make a movie as bad as THE ROOM.

If you want to know more about it, check out the IMDB page. It has a lot of funny posting from fans and crew on the movie. NPR also did a spot on it and their web page has some video of some fans doing an impression of Tommy's infamous line: "LISA YOU'RE TEARING ME APART."

Tommy, I feel the same about you. Peace, my filmmaking brother. Here's hoping you get to make that epic vampire movie you've always dreamed of, if not only for the merciless late night screenings it will no doubt inspire!

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Sun, 1 Oct 2006 15:56:00 -0700

Here's a clip reel of a documentary I've been producing and shooting for the last few months. It's called RISE UP AND SHOUT and it follows some young gay and lesbian performers featured in a live talent showcase held in early September. You can read more about the event here. In addition to filming the event, the director, Brian Gleason, and I have been interviewing the performers as well as the organizers. What has emerged is a unique profile of what it's like to be a young gay person in LA and the challenges they face while navigating identity, ambition and community.

It's been challenging and exciting shooting documentary. I found myself pulling from my background in photojournalism. It's a pretty awesome experience when I am able to capture a moment, a look, an emotion as they surface in the moment. It's a lot like hunting, I suspect. You have to always be looking out of the corner of your eye for an opportunity to capture something special.

I would like to give big props to some of the people who helped out on the doc: Matt Johnstone, Mark Thompson, Don Kilhefner, Jason Dollar, Josh Smith, Peter Tang, Brad Sample, Kim DeRose, Abigail Severance, Julia Gandelsonas and Scott Hatcher just to name a few.

We're currently finishing up principal photography and moving into editing. Eventually we hope to screen it at festivals and, perhaps, sell it to a TV network.

In other news...

Read a great article about David Lynch in this week's New York Times. Here's something Dave had to say about finding the inspiration behind his new feature, Inland Empire...

Mr. Lynch has repeatedly advanced a poetic, democratic notion of ideas as independent of the artist, waiting to be plucked from the ether, or, in his preferred analogy, reeled in: he’s working on a book about the creative process titled “Catching the Big Fish.” With “Mulholland Drive,” he said the eureka moment came while he was meditating. With Eraserhead his indelible debut in 1977, inspiration came while reading the Bible. (He declined to specify the passage.) There was no equivalent lightning bolt on “Inland Empire,” but in due course “something started to talk to me,” he said. “It was as if it was talking to me all along but I didn’t know it.”

Pretty awesome, Dave.

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 00:29:00 -0700

Hey! Check out a short that Andy Blubaugh did for the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival trailer this year.

HEART, my latest short, will be showing at SLGFF's Boy's Shorts program, Saturday, October 14 at 4:30 at the Cinerama Dome. So check it out if you're in the neighborhood.

Peace,

DAve.

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 07:49:00 -0700

Awesome quote from Ingmar Bergman from the LA Times Obituary of Sven Nykvist, his long time cinematographer and friend.

“Sometimes I probably do mourn the fact that I no longer make films," Bergman wrote. "Most of all I miss working with Sven Nykvist, perhaps because we are both utterly captivated by the problems of light, the gentle, dangerous, dreamlike, living, dead, clear, misty, hot, violent, bare, sudden, dark, springlike, falling, straight, slanting, sensual, subdue, limited, poisonous, calming, pale light. Light."

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 21:24:00 -0700

Hey.

I know. I suck. It's just that, if you're want to make a videoblog, you either have to be independently wealthy or unemployed. For the last few months I've been neither. which is my lame excuse for not writing or posting.

Lately work has been kinda slow, though, so I went and made this little audition for a travel video website startup. They didn't seem to like it, but I kinda dig it.

Let me know what you think.

DAve.

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Tue, 4 Jul 2006 23:21:00 -0700

As promised, here's PUSH IT, the next installment of my Eargasm Guy Series. I've used a link to YouTube.com because 1. It's easy and 2. I've been having all these issues trying to upload to my usual ourmedia account. There's some kind of weirdness when it comes to uploading anything with my computer, these days. It's enough to make a young man give up trying to videoblog.

I've been getting ready for my Oufest Screening of HEART which is the third episode of my series that started with EARGASM and continued with PUSH IT.

Oh, I've redesigned my website. Check it out. There's all sorts of clips and pictures. Take a look and let me know what you think (www.davidquantic.com). I'll be adding more pages after Outfest.

And post a comment about PUSH IT!

Lub,

DAve.

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 21:53:00 -0700

Well, it's another self promoting entry this time. But Papa needs a new pair of shoes. Whatever. I mean, I don't get cash for recruiting people to come to my screenings, but it make's my heart wealthy. I need to pay for my recent trip to NewFest in NYC. I DID buy a new pair of shoes while I was there and, even though I can write off most of the trip as business, I'm not sure I can write off the new fabulous pair of Steve Madden's that I got. So...

Come check out my latest short, HEART at this summer's Outfest!

It's my love letter to that incomparable 80s rock duo with big hair and even bigger ... voices. Watch me sing karaoke to "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You," quite possibly the greatest rock song ever made about having sex with a hitch hiker and having his baby.

I'm gonna be in the "BOYS SHORTS" program which screens twice:

Saturday, July 8, 11am, DGA Theatre 1, 7920 Sunset at Fairfax, 90046.

and

Monday, July 10, 5pm, Village Theatre, 1125 N. McCadden just north of Santa Monica, 90038.

To order tickets, check out this link:

(http://www.outfest.org/tixSYS/2006/filmguide/director-detail.php?Range=QS&ShowShorts=Y&ShowPast=Y)

and, while you're at it, check out my website:

www.davidquantic.com.

I'm going to be updating it shortly with a whole new look. And, yes, i'm going to post PUSH IT soon, too. I tried doing it the other day before I went out of town, but there was some problem with the upload. Sometimes the web is a difficult mistress.

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Mon, 22 May 2006 00:02:00 -0700

Come back to blockbuster filmmaking, James Cameron, James Cameron.

We have this group called the BBC: the Block Buster Club. As fellow film school rejects and film buffs, we all enjoy getting together every week or so during the summer, stuffing ourselves with fake buttered popcorn and laughing ourselves silly through all of the block-buster movies pumped out by Hollywood. Call it a vacation from intellectual pursuit or just an opportunity to feel morally and artistically superior. The motives don’t matter, in a way. The idea is to have fun by going to a movie with friends.

But lately there hasn’t been a lot of fun involved. In fact, I find myself just getting angry or depressed or just plain old stressed out. Inevitably, after viewing MI:3 and POSEIDON, I’ve come out of the theatre wishing I just stayed home watched a James Cameron movie on DVD.

You’ve probably already been underwhelmed by the mediocrity on display in MI:3. I knew I was in trouble when they decided to put a climatic scene at the start of the film and then go backwards in time to tell us how we got there. This lame device is about the most overused theatric tool in movies today (Okay, so Citizen Kane used it. At least that was a good movie.) It’s as if the filmmakers are saying “Please. Sit through the boring first hour of the film because, look, we have this cool scene that is really suspenseful and we just have to rewind a bit and show you how we get there.”

I will give just one example of why this movie sucked so hard: the action sequence involving Tom’s attempted rescue of Keri Russell. (I won’t bother using their character’s names since I was never really convinced that I wasn’t just seeing celebrities on screen dressed up in costumes.) This sequence was filmed using what I call the Greengrass-Stew Style of filmmaking. (For those who don’t know about my dislike for The Bourne Supremacy, please see the entry from April 10, 2006.) This style of filmmaking involves shooting as much disorienting “action” footage (usually handheld) and shipping it off to the editor to let him/her worry about making a logical sequence. No attempt is made at establishing a space’s obstacles. No satisfying cat and mouse chases. Just lots of explosions and gadgets and one kind of cool slow mo shot of Tom throwing Keri a gun. Has an action sequence ever felt so inert?

So, instead of just being a whiny little bitch, I’ve decided to give an example showing how much James Cameron kicks JJ Abrams’s ass.

For an example of a truly satisfying action sequence similar to MI:3’s Keri Russell sequence, please see T2’s “Target: Syberdyne” (Chaper 52 in the ultimate edition) where Ah-nold and friends have to destroy a top-secret lab and escape without killing anyone.

Notice how the sequence begins: a quiet introduction as the “gang” approaches the security guard and tie him up. We’re led up an elevator and through a hallway before we ever get to the lab. Here, Cameron is orienting us to the space, making sure we know the steps our heroes will have to take (and the obstacles in their way) when they escape minutes later. It’s not all smooth-sailing for them as they head towards their goal of destroying the lab. Cameron establishes parallel action with the guards downstairs who trip silent alarms and the “bad ass shape-shifting nasty” who is also pursuing them. Following these other characters helps move the pace along. Each time we come back to one of the three elements of the story, the other two continue without our knowledge and a sense of urgency is created.

In MI:3, we’re never let in on the bad guys cunning or get a sense that they are a formidable obstacle to the heroes. After escaping with Keri, she still gets her brain blown up. Geez. All that work for nothing.

In T2, characters (yes, characters – remember what those are?) are constantly proving themselves heroes. For instance, a security pass suddenly doesn’t work so the kid’s “computer smarts” get them a necessary key to a high tech security chamber. Ah-nold’s cyborg skills help them get into the labs. But there are casualties, as well. The police soon break in and the heroes must leave one of their own behind who’s injured: “The Black Guy.” (One of Jim’s few missteps. Please, all of Hollywood, why does it always have to be a minority who ends up taking one for the team?)

And we’re only half way done with the whole sequence! But already, there have been all kind of satisfying obstacles overcome by our heroes.

For more proof of how James Cameron could kick JJ Abrams’s ass, see TRUE LIES’ sequence when they blow up the bridge and compare it to a similar “blowing up a bridge” sequence in MI:3.

POSEIDON provides even more opportunities to compare lousy filmmaking to JimBob’s superior talents on display in TITANIC. In addition to offing the minorities first (save for the old gay guy. Gee, thanks Mr. Petersen) this piece of Hollywood fluff at least has a minimum of dialog and throws the boat upside down ASAP and delivers the thrills in a tight 100 mintues. That’s when you know a movie is truly bad: when you’re thankful it’s over in a short amount of time.

This weekend I decided to boycott Da VINCI CODE, not because of it’s blasphemy of the Catholic Church (that would be a reason to see it, in my book). Instead, I’ve been feeling guilty of giving my money to mediocre filmmaking so I decided to go see a feature by one of my favorite filmmakers, Olivier Assayas.

CLEAN is his latest feature featuring the amazing Maggie Cheung in a heartbreaking performance of a musician / drug addict desperately trying to turn her life around. Any expectations you have of a Lifetime Movie of the Week treatment will be shattered when you see this movie. True to its French filmmaking roots, the narrative wanders through her fight through recovery and her attempt to get her child back. The camera work and editing is eye-popping. Is there an Academy Award for camera operation? One revelation I had was Assayas doesn’t have a rigid “rule” system for storytelling. He’ll switch from hand held to dolly work from scene to scene. The effect is that the viewer is always kept guessing what’s going to happen.

I end with a selection of a New York Times profile about Assayas. I found myself a little less depressed after reading his thoughts on filmmaking… Here’s hoping that I can make my first feature one tenth as good as one of his…

Mr. Assayas believes in movies as a dialogue between director and audience. A movie, he said, "has to leave things open up to a certain level so that somehow the viewer has some space within the film." As for his approach, Mr. Assayas said he believed in the marriage of instinct and analysis.

"I think that it's important to understand, intuitively understand, what you are doing," he said. "But when you are doing it you must follow instinct. There has to be a certain level of risk, creating images, characters, emotions, it involves something a little brutal. You must be prepared to go in areas where you lose control."

At another point, he elaborated: "There's such a broad way of representing the world, and specifically representing a world that has become so complex with totally different ..." after a long pause, the word he came up with is "articulations."

"I like the adventure of making films," Mr. Assayas said. "And the adventure of making films has to do with the capacity you have of listening to your guts."

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 21:20:00 -0700

Hey kiddies...

I'm giving myself the week off. That's what's nice about being self employed and making my videoblog for myself and not the "man."

I wish I could say it's because I'm on a tropical island somewhere, bleaching my hair and getting seaweed wraps, but it's really because I'm working on a feature and shooting other stuff on my days off. All in all, it's good cuz' it's busy.

Next week will feature a sequel to Eargasm, so stay tuned.

You can now see my stuff on YouTube. Eargasm has already had over 11,000 viewings!

Talk to you next week!!

DAve.

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 02:14:00 -0700

Eargasm, Episode 8 of Wires And Light.

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 02:03:00 -0700

Okay, let’s get the self promoting part over with first:

See Me: This Wednesday at the American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theatre (6712 Hollywood, 7:30.) I’ll be screening my short, PUSH IT with a few other excellent shorts at Outfest’s Annual Queer Shorts Program. Want free tickets? Give me a holler and I can hook you up, but you gotta reach me before 5 on Monday.

Hear Me: Ohmygod. I’m gonna be on the radio. This Monday night, a few of the filmmakers with films in the program on Wednesday are going to be interviewed on local radio channel, KPFK FM 90.7, at 7 pm as part of their IMRU (Get it? “I am, are you?”) gay and lesbian themed program. Steve Pride, the host has a cool movie site with MP3s of his past interviews and stuff. It’s my website of the week!

Feel Me: Well, first you gotta buy me dinner…

Saw HARD CANDY. It was alright, but, once again, I feel like I’ve gotten about $5 worth out of a $14 dollar film. (Yes, that’s right, folks, in LA, if you want to see HARD CANDY opening weekend, you have to see it at the Arclight: the most expensive – and best – movie theatre in town.)

I’m getting tired of half-baked films. And I’m not just talking about Hollywood stuff. It’s everywhere. Independent, foreign and, please, let’s not forget, queer cinema. I feel like most films I see these days maybe got past maybe the second draft and the writer decided to call it a day and go get a cocktail instead of staying home and doing his/her homework.

I’ll just use HARD CANDY as an example because it’s fresh in my mind.

SPOILER ALERT.

After a middle aged man, Jeff, meets a 14 year old girl, Haley, on the internet, they have a coffee date and he takes her home to “hang out.” Soon they’re sharing Screw … drivers (he he) which Haley mixes up herself. Jeff passes out, but it’s not ‘cause he’s drunk. Haley has slipped him a roofie and he wakes up tied up to his beautiful Aeron chair – where he stays for most of the film. Seems Haley has quite an axe to grind with guys like Jeff. A young girl has disappeared recently and Haley (out little Nancy Drew dominatrix) believes she has the murderer.

And here’s where the movie hits a brick wall.

Turns out, Haley’s right to tie up Jeff. From the very beginning, we know that she’s tied up a guy sleazy enough to bring an underage kid over to his house. Soon we learn that not only is he into kiddie porn, but he also met the missing young woman the day she disappeared. Good enough for Haley. She proceeds to perform a mock castration on Jeff, shock him with a taser and prep him for a simulated suicide by stringing him up to the rafters.

With the exception of a few moments of freedom, Jeff is tied up for most of the movie. He is never really in control for any major part of the film. And, hey, don’t think I didn’t enjoy seeing cutie pie Patrick Wilson tied up. (I’ll set you free, Patrick!) But what happened to the Hitchcockian twists that this genre begs for? Jeff could have been more clever in his attempts at psychological manipulation, and more successful in his attempts to free himself. An attempt at the nosy neighbor threat (for example, the visiting officer in the much more interesting PANIC ROOM) is introduced but it goes nowhere. Maybe Haley could have made a few mistakes in her mischievous plan. Maybe she’s the murderer. How many of these men has she caught? What has she done to them?

I’m betting the film was made and sold on the basis of the trailer – one of the best trailers I’ve seen in recent years. It’s all there: the set up, the torture, the tension and it’s beautifully shot and edited. It made me want to see the movie. Too bad it WAS the movie.

Oh well, I’m probably going to keep going to these kinds of movies – hoping that they provide the kind of edge-of-your-seat thrills that I want out of a good thriller. In an effort to not be such a Sour Sally, here’s a list of a few of my favorite thrillers. Please do yourself a favor, save the $14 and rent these films or see them at the New Beverly or wherever you go that shows classic film. I guarantee you, a frame of these films will be better than 2 hours of HARD CANDY.

Some of Dave’s Favorite Thrillers:

Hitchcock’s VERTIGO and SHADOW OF A DOUBT
Fincher’s PANIC ROOM
Verhoven’s BASIC INSTINCT
Polanski’s FRANTIC
The Coen Brothers’ FARGO.

Good, evil times brought to you by master filmmakers at the top of their game.

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 13:29:00 -0700

Wires and Light, Episode 7. "Opal." Written, directed and performed by Pretty Things. Check out more at www.prettythingsss.com.

Wires and Light is a weekly podcast featuring short films and photography. Visit us at www.davidquantic.blogspot.com.

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 13:22:00 -0700

This week’s episode is the first “guest” episode of Wires And Light: a comedy sketch by my very talented friends at Pretty Things.

Pretty Things is Michael Lucid and Amanda Barrett, two filmmakers and comedians living here in LA. I met Michael a few years back at Outfest 2002. At the time he was showing his amazing animated short Lady of the Lake. I was attending the festival with After School Special. Michael and Amanda have had a Pretty Things episode in every Outfest since.

You can read all about their history and see more clips at www.prettythingsss.com (my website pick of the week, of course.) My personal favorites are the continuing adventures of Opal, the distant listener, and the high school intrigue of Mulberry Commons.

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 13:10:00 -0700

So I saw Brick, the movie I was talking about last week. Fun stuff. In case you didn’t know, Brick is a crime thriller in the old school, Maltese Falcon, Big Sleep sort of way – right down to the hard boiled speaking rhythms you might associate with Humphrey Bogart, but set in a present day Southern California high school.

The writer/director definitely had ambition, which is more than I can say about most films these days. I appreciate anyone who makes a film in an original and compelling way. Johnson is a great craftsman and you can see that he took real care in building his movie. I especially enjoyed his action sequences and the fights which had the satisfying jolt of a good Tarantio blood ballet instead of the handheld muddy confusion that is the preferred mode of hack filmmakers recently (a good example of this awfulness is The Bourne Supremacy.)

Another nice thing about Johnson’s work was that, with all the noir gimmicks and clever writing style, he wasn’t afraid to sit back now and then and let the actor’s do the work. One particularly beautiful scene was between the lead character, Brendan (Joseph Gordon Leavitt) and his femme fatale (Nora Zehetner). One of their more intense scenes, the dialog was delivered in a tight close up profile and holds there for almost the entire duration of the scene. At first I was annoyed and needed a cut. I was distracted by the fact that I didn’t know what each of the actors was talking about, but then I really started to study both of the faces and look at the reactions of the person who wasn’t speaking. It’s rare these days that a movie would allow us the opportunity to dig deep into a scene and trust that we’re going to pull things out of it ourselves. So much filmmaking is supposed to be all fireworks and roller coasters and it just ends up, well, sucking (again, The Bourne Supremacy.)

Unfortunately, towards the end of Brick, the conceit begins to buckle under the weight of it’s own cleverness. I found myself confused, which is not always a bad thing. I can watch Chinatown and LA Confidential and Touch of Evil time and time again and still learn something new each time about character and motivation (and filmmaking, for that matter.) The thing I realized with Brick, however, is that, in the case of noir, I like to have a broad age range of actors because so many of the noir themes that I like are about youth running up against an establishment. There is often a generational push and pull and the hero usually runs up against an corrupt leader. There were a couple of cute scenes between Brendan and the principal of his high school, but their relationship really didn’t develop much.

Also, one of my favorite ingredients with noir is the femme fatales. Usually older women, the femme fatale is someone who’s given up on finding love and uses their quickly disappearing seductiveness to manipulate men. I mean, really, what could be more fun? As Brick taught me, it’s hard to believe a femme fatale voice in the body of a high school girl. The Femme Fatale really needs to have kick ass legs, torpedo breasts and be smoking a cigarette – all the while nursing a needy, desperate desire to love and be loved.

Finally...

One other thought crept into my mind as I watched Brick. Here’s this guy, Rian Johnson. I haven’t ever heard of him, but he seems like an interesting filmmaker who’s arrived. He definitely has the chops. How cool is that that he got to make his film the way he wanted to? It’s easy to get down on Hollywood. Living here is especially hard sometimes with the traffic and the endless cold calls and rejection letters. But then comes along a movie like Brick that, even if it’s not the best thing you’ve seen in your whole life, there is something there that is unique and true and pure and I’m hoping Mr. Johnson will become the kind of filmmaker that will bring something new to the table each time he makes a movie. And here’s to hoping that, someday, everyone with a unique voice will have that same opportunity.

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Mon, 3 Apr 2006 23:23:00 -0700

Wires And Light, Episode 6. After School Special, Part 3 of 3.

Plot Recap: Alex is having a bad day. She caught her best friend, Benjamin, using her father’s cell phone to make 1-900 phone calls to a gay phone sex line and she humiliated herself in front of a girl who she likes from her soccer team. Because Benjamin stole her father’s cell phone, she can’t call him to pick her up at school and is forced to walk home. Benjamin tries to catch up with her, but soon gives up and goes home.

Episode 1
Episode 2

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Mon, 3 Apr 2006 22:39:00 -0700

Let’s try this again.

After a day of deliberation, I’ve decided to take down my original cut of After School Special’s third and final episode and replace it with an edited version.

The reason is because (spoiler alert) this final part contains a sex scene. Originally, I included it here, uncut – exactly the way it appears in the theatrical version, but, in this new version I have simply lifted out the racy shots and replaced them with a black title card.

I regret posting the original version. I thought about it a lot and finally decided that, when my actors agreed to be in my movie (the amazing Daniel John McCoy and Crystal Robison), they took a risk in creating a memorable performance and they trusted me to respect their craft. I didn’t make the film for the web, I made it for a movie theatre, and, let’s face it, viewing a sex scene on your personal computer is a much different experience than seeing it on a screen in a movie theatre and you just never know where that clip is going to end up.

I would feel more guilty about my self censure if I didn’t have David Lynch on my side. Lynch airbrushed a full frontal nude shot of Laura Elena Harring in Mulholland Drive’s DVD release. A friend of mine heard that Lynch did this because he was concerned that her image would wind up on websites that lift nude shots of actresses in movies and post them without permission. I’ve seen these sites and they are very creepy.

Other shorts I’ve made contain nudity. I will probably edit these as well. I guess I’m more interested in hearing what people think of the films themselves than debating the ethics of nudity and sex in filmmaking. These elements can distract us from the real meaning of a work of art. It’s most often used to shock and titillate and rarely is it used in an interesting way.

Also, I don’t hate the edited version of ASS. I actually think it’s more funny in some ways. I’m sure that what people imagine is going on in the deleted shots is much more raunchy than what actually appears in the original cut. Guess it depends on how dirty your mind is.

Well, if you absolutely must see the whole short in it’s original theatrical form, drop me a line and I’ll let you know about any screenings that might be coming up in your neighborhood.

Cheers.

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Sun, 2 Apr 2006 17:39:00 -0700

I decided to do away with my intro sequence with the music and pretty background images. They were cool-looking and I liked how they gave a consistent look to each episode (especially considering how different my episodes are) but, in the long run, people don’t give a crap about the name and mission of the blog. They just want to see the “content.” (I’ll write some other time about how much I hate that word.)

I understand why this is. So many blogs start with intros by the filmmaker and inevitably, people’s vanity peeks through. Unless you’re funny or have something interesting to say, please just start the film. I have a similar negative reaction to people who screen rough cuts of their films and spend five minutes before they start it making excuses and providing explanations about why it looks a certain way, etc. If you have to preface a screening with so much information, maybe it's not the right time to screen it.

So, from now on, I’ll just introduce the clips here and give a context to each one that way. People can either read it or not.

Next week's entry will be a short from a friend – my first presentation by another filmmaker other than myself. In the meantime, write a comment and let me know what you think of my lil' video blog.

In other news, I'm going to try and promote one other video blog each week in an attempt at spreading good karma in the blogosphere.

This week's recommendation is not technically a videoblog -- It's Rian Johnson's personal website (www.rcjohnso.com). He's the writer/director of the new film, BRICK. If you've been living in a hole, you probably don't know that BRICK is a murder mystery set in a California high school. Cool idea, eh? Anyway, I haven't seen it yet, but, based on a Mr. Johnson's website, I bet it's going to be pretty fun.

The cool thing about Johnson's website is that it's not just some opportunity for self promotion. In fact, it's pretty damn entertaining. Check out his pictures from BRICK's production, but also definitely check out some of his silly films he made as a kid, particularly NINJA KO, ORAGAMI MASTER featuring a ninja oragami master who can fashion a car out of a cigarette.

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 01:06:00 -0800

Wires and Light, Episode 5. After School Special, part 2 of 3.

Plot recap: Last week we met Benjamin, a typical high school walking hormone who likes to pleasure himself while admiring his friend Alex's soccer coach. He rides home with Alex and discovers a "Lady's Man" porn magazine has been delivered to his family's mail box. Later that night, after another "pleasure" session, he decides to try calling a 1 900 number listed in the magazine, only to find out that his family's phone bill will be charged. He hangs up, disappointed.

Episode 2 begins the next morning on his drive to school with Alex and her dad.

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 00:24:00 -0800

What we need is a Revolution: taking videoblogging to the next level.

Lately I’ve been a little frustrated about the world of videoblogs. I try to tell my friends about a videoblog’s potential to reach a large audience. They’re all filmmakers and most of them have excellent films that haven’t been seen by enough people. But they all plead ignorance when it comes to the world of video blogging (and blogs in general.)

And, frankly, I don’t blame them.

After a few weeks of checking out various vlogs, I have to question if our culture really needs one more “pipeline” of entertainment. It’s too early for me to throw in the towel. (We’ll see how I feel after about a year.) What inspires me to keep at it is, well, me. I know that I have a desire for great, original (not to mention free) content for my video iPod, and, since it’s in such short supply, I feel like if I attempt to supply a little quality somethin’ somethin’ each week, maybe other artists will catch on and try it out. Especially if it becomes easier to post. And it almost certainly will.

Right now, I think it’s a time issue with most filmmakers I know. If they took a few days to educate themselves on how to post a videoblog, they might do it knowing that they have the potential to reach a whole new audience with the medium. Now that iTunes carries popular broadcast shows, people will get used to using their iPods to watch video and, once they do and they see how much they like it, they’ll start to search for even more sources of entertainment.

What videobloggers need is a little more ambition and creativity. We need a Revolution.

What gets me is how truly bad most videoblogs are. I say this not to discourage but rather to challenge. Think a little deeper, please. A video entry should have a beginning, middle and end. It should SAY something VISUAL. It’s not enough to just turn your camcorder in your car while your stuck in traffic and go off on how stupid your friends are or how your commute it taking too long or how the salon fucked up your spray-on tan (Yes, I actually saw a vlog about this very subject.)

Some of the best videoblogs I’ve seen are ones that show a unique perspective on the world. Chris Ivanyi is one such videoblogger. A self-taught filmmaker, Chris turns his camera not just on himself, but on the world around him. It also helps that he has a photographer’s eye and a great sense of composition.

But you don’t even need to shoot your own clips to get my attention. I just need to see something that I’ve never seen before. In this regard, insanefilms delivers. Besides being an excellent collector of twisted videos, Eggbert Mullins (the name attached to his emails) is also a true vlog character. One entry features him saying goodbye to his dead partner’s ashes. Another features one continuous shot of Eggbert in his apartment (do any videobloggers ever go outside their homes or cars?) filming himself and his dog listening to the most annoying lullaby ever made (sung by an annoying child) that plays on his computer’s speaker. Eventually, you realize that SOMEONE actually posted this lullaby on the web, programming it to play over and over, perhaps for a parent too lazy to sing to their child themselves.

Eggbert sings along to the song which plays in constant rotation and, the more he does it, the more you realize he’s not really the annoying one, it’s the person who posted the damn lullaby website in the first place. His mocking becomes more and more intense and hilarious, eventually inserting curse words, etc. Unfortunately, the ending leaves a lot to be desired.

Eggbert’s intros can go on a little too long, too, but at least he knows how to create an intimacy with the camera – something that any good blogger “host” needs. Personally, I don’t need to be introduced to a videoblog any more than I need a “host” for a movie. Unfortunately, all most videoblogs contain are the “hosts” venting about something that annoys them. Please. I beg you. If this is all your going to use video blogs for, just write your blog and, for godsakes, please construct your argument and use spell check while you’re at it.

Kind of like what I’m doing now.

So, please, Try a little harder to make videoblog’s worth people’s time to check out. We’ll all benefit from it in the end.

Okay. I'm done for now. Until next week.

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 11:09:00 -0800

Wires and Light, Episode 4. After School Special, Part 1 of 3.

Yeah. I know. I’m a day late (and a dollar short) on posting this. I deserve 40 lashes with a wet noodle.

This is the first short I wrote and directed while at UCLA’s graduate film school. Shot on film, After School Special had quite a dramatic birthing process. After four days of principal photography, we discovered that my camera film loader had loaded the film backwards. I had to reshoot the entire four days of principal photography. 2000 was also the last year that UCLA required their first year grads to edit their first year project on a flatbed. (Insert Grandpa Simpson voice here.) Yes, folks, I edited this baby using a little blade and some tape. Not like kids today with their fancy Final Cut Pro. I knew it was going to be pretty intense, so I decided to rent a flatbed for the three months we were given for editing. A flatbed. In my one bedroom apartment in LA. I actually had a great time editing this film – with the exception of a few moments of panic (“Where did that single frame go? Oh, it’s behind the refrigerator!”)

This story has a happy ending. After School Special was the first film I made that was accepted to LA’s Outfest. I have since had two more films at Outfest and I’ve also discovered a great, supportive community of filmmakers and artists through that organization.

Speaking of which, my short PUSH IT is going to screen at Outfest Wednesdays, their weekly screening event at the Egyptian theatre, on April 19. Hope to see you there!

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 20:27:00 -0800

Wires and Light, Episode 3. The Laundromat. Click here to play the videoblog.

So I decided to go ahead with a weekly posting. I'm going to draw from my "back catalog" first, posting the shorts I've made up to this point in my life and, eventually move into producing original films exclusively for the video blog and podcast. I'm in the process of deveoloping the characters and stories that will hopefully form into a more developed cast of characters and relationships.

I wrote and directed The Laundromat about two years ago, the same day I shot Say Yes. It stars Jim Blanchette and Gordon Vandenberg. The great Jonathan Wenstrup shot it guerrilla style at a laundromat in Echo Park, Los Angeles. It was surprisingly easy to do, given the documentary look I was going for. None of the employees seemed to really care what we were doing.

The greenish cast of the location was added in post to emulate a flourescent look to the space. A friend and excellent filmmaker in his own right, James Yuan helped me "time" (or color) the film once the cut was locked. I've since got a couple of fun plug in's myself, as well as a video camera that can hook me up to my own monitor, so I've begun doing my own color correction here at home where I edit everything.

davidquantic@yahoo.com (David Quantic) — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 00:50:00 -0800

Finally figured out how to feed my podcast to iTunes directly. For anyone who's interested (and knows what the F I'm talking about) here's what you must do: when all is said and done and you've completed submitting your feeds you need to make sure (inside Blogger) that inside Settings > Site Feed > the description must be set to FULL! Otherwise, the feed will not be sent in full, just the first few sentences of text. Full assures that companies receiving the feed (and sending it along to subscribers) will get the video part of it -- kind of the most important part of the video podcast, don't you think?

Or you can CLICK ON THIS LINK and iTunes should automatically load my subscription page.

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=121062652&s=143441

I'm producing more episodes right now. As soon as I have enough in a "backcatalog" I'll begin posting once a week. Until then, it's just going to be every other week. But do please check back. I know the postings seem all over the place right now, but I am working on an episodic series that will have more consistent characters and such. Kind of like a real television show.

In the meantime, please send me your feed links and let me know what you think of my little movies.

Cheers,

DAve.