Jump to content

Is it S...L...O...W... out there, work-wise?


Workometer Poll  

117 members have voted

  1. 1. How busy working are you?

    • I'm working more than usual.
      23
    • About the same as I usually do this time of year.
      18
    • Definitely slower than usual.
      37
    • It's dead. I'm catching-up on yard and house work.
      39


Recommended Posts

A special bonus prize to the person who introduces the Kennedy assassination in the most ingenious way.

 

I was actually told the most amazing anecdote about the Kennedy assassination by a director of the "Kennedy" 1983 mini-series, if anyone wants to hear it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 201
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Hmmm, that sounds a bit like a capitalist/Republican ideal, should you not be passing on any work you are offered to some one who is not working? :D

 

R,

 

 

Hmm, it is a slippery slope of logic. :unsure: Then I'd be out of work and would have to rely on the charity of others in order to survive. Good thing there are some states I can move to that do that! :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, have you seen this one:

 

Even if the guy was a paid assassin, it is terrible to make light of his death like this.

 

Why does the passage of time seem to erase the pain and terror of terrible moments like this?

 

 

On a historical note, I think it was a History Channel special I saw on the JFK assassination back in '03, that said that film labs were temporarily inundated with record film volumes from TV film crews following the assassination.

 

What is sick about the Oswald assassination is that, A., obviously the party that paid him to shoot JFK did it and, B. everyone saw it happen on live TV.

 

Belly buttons were considered bad back then, how about a guy getting shot and killed in real life, live?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just realised a man was getting shot in that photo, I thought he was screaming at the camera and having a mad mad politically motivated moment. That's disgusting! And I thought that 1999 photo of 'Tiny' Davis wasn't bad enough, this is so much worse. What sort of oddball doctors a photo like that to have him play a guitar?! And was the man who shot Oswald ever prosecuted? I bet he walked free after a night in a police cell. Oswald would have been executed on late night TV! <_<

Edited by Matthew Buick
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oswald didn't kill anyone...

 

 

How can you know for sure....?

 

Hey perfect now we can start in on the death penalty, any Texans here? :D

 

R,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member
And was the man who shot Oswald ever prosecuted? I bet he walked free after a night in a police cell.

 

That's Jack Ruby. He was convicted of Oswald's murder on March 14, 1964, and died January 3, 1967.

 

 

 

 

-- J.S.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oswald himself famously declared that he was 'just a patsy'.

 

Funny enough, i've just driven past Obama's motorcade, who knows if he was in it or what it was doing driving through Barnes....

 

Its amazing how the imagination rockits when you hear such a simple sentence as that: just -- a -- patsy.

 

 

Jim Goddard, a really cool director who did shows like Reilley: Ace of Spies and the film Boys from the Blackstuff did a grand mini series 'Kennedy' staring Martin Sheen in the early 80s. He told me as part of his research he was viewing footage taken just after the shooting and noticed Jackie Kennedy did a strange thing where she got up and sat for a second kneeling on top of the boot of the car. Goddard had no official method of contacting the Kennedy family for his research, but asked the producer to ask unofficially through his chiropractor who also treated Jackie Kennedy.

 

Her response was something like this: "How come after 30 years it takes a limey to ask it, I was picking up the crown of my husbands scalp off the rear of the car to put back on his head."

 

If its true or not, its an amazing anecdote!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back on topic.

With things being so slow here and the bad economy, etc., why do I still see film production going to Eastern Europe? It is just the cheaper production costs? Unless it's some specific location that can't be cheaply replicated, I'd think that production people (in the U.S.) would rather work for less than money, than not work at all. Most recent crew posting for Hungary promised airfare, food, lodging, no stipend, no frills. Even if you are nineteen and live with your parents, you still have monthy expenses. How can anyone afford to work for four weeks for nothing?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back on topic.

With things being so slow here and the bad economy, etc., why do I still see film production going to Eastern Europe? It is just the cheaper production costs? Unless it's some specific location that can't be cheaply replicated, I'd think that production people (in the U.S.) would rather work for less than money, than not work at all. Most recent crew posting for Hungary promised airfare, food, lodging, no stipend, no frills. Even if you are nineteen and live with your parents, you still have monthy expenses. How can anyone afford to work for four weeks for nothing?

 

The sad truth is that there's a huge population in this industry that really are hobbyists (either with trust funds or high-earning spouses) rather than people who truly make a living from their craft. As long as these people would rather be doing *something* rather than sitting around bored, they'll always be willing to undercut those who actually have to earn a living, and therefore producers feel free to offer no/low pay first to see who nibbles. The trick, if you want to earn a living at what you're doing, is to make sure your work is significantly better than everyone else's in order to make it clear that you *deserve* just compensation for your efforts. Collective bargaining also helps a lot, too, provided it doesn't put the cost of production out of reach for anyone who doesn't have a studio budget (which is why there's so much pressure on union members not to take non-union jobs).

 

As for why the pros in the U.S. don't just lower their quote to match their Eastern European counterparts, remember that the cost of living here is significantly higher. Our poverty line would be an upper-middle-class income in many other nations. So the pros just can't afford to lower their quotes enough to compete with the folks overseas. All we can do is, again, make sure our work is that much better, and/or work to improve the standard of living overseas in order to make runaway production less and less cost effective. Well, that or adopt a bunch of protectionist legislation that is well-intentioned but ultimately does more harm than good, but I don't want to start that debate. (Oops.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, that or adopt a bunch of protectionist legislation that is well-intentioned but ultimately does more harm than good, but I don't want to start that debate. (Oops.)

 

You mean like how Barrack Obama promised to re-negotiate NAFTA while he was running for president? Oh well I guess he forgot :D

 

Fact is that Hollywood desperately needs the foreign markets to make any money from their films, especially when they are now spending 100 million or more per film.

 

Hollywood simply can't risk Germany or Japan slamming the door shut on their movies. Which is what would happen if a tit-for-tat trade dispute erupts. Plus the US economy is still in a gigantic mess and won't be cleaned up until who knows when?

 

If Canada slammed the door shut on US movies we would finally have a film business here, it would be the greatest boom in the history of Canadian cinema. Canadian films only make up 3% of the screen time in Canada, there is now only one direction we can go!!

 

Right now it's boom or bust, CDN dollar down Hollywood rolls into Vancouver and Toronto, CDN dollar up, and Hollywood goes away again.

 

R,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member
If Canada slammed the door shut on US movies we would finally have a film business here, .....

 

Ah, but if all the countries did that, you'd have a potential audience pool of only 30 million to draw from. Budgets would have to be quite low, though there is a viable business there -- sort of like the old time Yiddish westerns, very few of which survive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

-- J.S.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah, but if all the countries did that, you'd have a potential audience pool of only 30 million to draw from. Budgets would have to be quite low, though there is a viable business there -- sort of like the old time Yiddish westerns, very few of which survive.

 

 

-- J.S.

 

But we could still export the end product to other countries. And thanks to the internet pirates, it can all be done for free now! :lol:

 

R,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

Forum Sponsors

Visual Products

Film Gears

BOKEH RENTALS

CineLab

CINELEASE

Gamma Ray Digital Inc

Broadcast Solutions Inc

Metropolis Post

New Pro Video - New and Used Equipment

Cinematography Books and Gear



×
×
  • Create New...