The Jets Came Back, The Very Next Day

See? I didn't imagine it.

Food in San Francisco: Gussie's

Sometimes, things should just be fried. Went to Gussie's Chicken and Waffles and tried catfish sliders and fried okra.

Both were good, but did not live up to fond memories formed in restaurants around 116th Street in NYC. Still, reasonable prices and good flavor, so a positive experience. Learned there's a type of drink called Soju. Will research this further....

Above: iPhone snapshot. The iPhone is not exactly good for macro work.

Context

A broader view from today's afternoon of noisy, noisy jets. This is the view that's a bit northwest of us.

Air Show Practice Over San Francisco

Seen today, out my window.

Backgrounder on 12th and 3rd

Ah, the Web is a funny place. Things come and go.

A while back our short documentary 12th and 3rd in Brooklyn screened at the ASU Art Museum Short Film and Video Festival. This lead to an interview about the film with Arizona-based writer Cassandra Nicholson.

I was happy about the interview, as it gave a bit of background into how the film came to be and the process we followed to make it. Recently, however, the link I have for the interview stopped working -- so I assume it has gone to the Web Burial Ground and is no longer online anywhere.

On Monday, October 11th at 7 p.m. the film will screen once again, serving in support of the feature documentary Takedowns and Falls at the Film Courage Interactive Screening in Los Angeles. The format of the event sounds great -- they show two shorts, then a feature and put the emphasis on the filmmaking, interviewing the directors in Question and Answer sessions.

I can't attend, however, since I just moved to San Francisco. So, below I've rescued the text from the disappearing interview in hope that it will provide background on the film for anyone interested.

Cassandra Nicholson: Can you describe the extent of your role in the film? It appeared you had a small crew with you while you documented Brooklyn's Best. How big was your crew, and how did your crew members participate in the making of this film?

Ted Fisher: "12th and 3rd in Brooklyn" was made by a crew of three people. I had moved to New York only the year before, and in the fall of 2006 I went back to school at The New School to study documentary media. In the first few weeks of the program, I found myself very inspired and sent out an email inviting other students and a few friends to collaborate on a film about New York. I suggested looking for a stickball game -- I had heard it was a New York tradition, but I realized I had never seen it.

Maya Mumma, who was also in the program at The New School, and Iris Lee, a friend I had known from California, decided to participate. The three of us started in The Bronx. There's a street named "Stickball Avenue," and we arrived there and realized we'd come on the wrong day. We tried taping many different things, but didn't find what we needed. Later that day, a friend sent us a cellphone picture of a flyer announcing that "Brooklyn's Best" would play the very next day.

So the next morning the three of us went to the location in Brooklyn, and found a nearly abandoned street. We hung around a long time, and just about the time we were ready to give up, a car rolled up in front of us -- with some of the players. All three of us ran cameras, and we even got to play a little. Later, the players -- a great group of guys -- took us to their favorite bar.


CN: What is your education and experience, and how did it prepare you for taking on this project?

TF: I used to be a photography curator. My background is in photography and art -- I have an M.F.A. from Claremont Graduate University and a B.A. from Cal State San Bernardino. When I moved to New York, I discovered that the New School was starting a Graduate Certificate program in Documentary Media, and that seemed like the perfect way to get into documentary production. Much of my background in photography -- even the work that was aimed at "installation art" -- really came out of the documentary tradition. So our process on this film -- go and meet people and get a glimpse into their life -- seemed really natural.


CN: Your submission came from New York, New York. How did you find out about this quirky group of characters, and what inspired you to focus on their once-a-year reunion?

TF: Well, we arrived just hoping to see any signs that there was still stickball in New York. I had lived here one year and never run into it all. It was just a huge bonus that we accidently found great guys with roots in the community and history that went back decades. It was a very rich experience to get to hear their stories -- and see that they were hoping their kids would keep playing the game. We were lucky enough to find them on the day of their once-a-year reunion. Sometimes, that's how documentary goes -- you find something that is so much better than any fiction you might have imagined.


CN: If you ran into any problems or adversities while making your film, what were they, and how did you overcome them?

TF: Before we found "Brooklyn's Best" we had wandered around in both The Bronx and Brooklyn -- and found ourselves in a few places where cameras were not welcome. So when we found that location at 12th and 3rd, we had no idea if the guys playing there would accept us. Well, they took us right in -- even let us play -- and later took us to their favorite bar.


CN: "12th & 3rd in Brooklyn" has a rather unique, black-and-white style. How did filming and editing style play a part in your project?

TF: When we shot and edited the film, we were studying the history of documentary film. There's a whole tradition of gritty, New York docs that we had been looking at and that clearly had a big influence on our approach. Once we saw the site for the game, it seemed like a perfect match.


CN: What advice do you have for aspiring filmmakers, who are hoping to get over the first few creative or financial hurdles?

TF: Well, there does seem to be a lot of pressure put on aspiring filmmakers to feel they need top- of-the-line equipment, a huge crew and a big budget before shooting the first frame. But I've shown at a lot of film festivals and I've never had anyone who pulled me aside and wanted to talk production values. The thing that gets audiences excited is story -- and there's no reason you can't find a compelling story on a small budget. So my advice for any filmmaker is that there are times when it's most important to just go and do it and see what you can make out of whatever you manage to get. There's no perfect shoot in documentary, and that's actually a virture, in my opinion.


CN: I went to school for documentary filmmaking, so I have to say that your project was one of my favorites from the festival. Do you prefer producing documentaries over scripted films?

TF: Well, I love fiction film -- but I find that nothing matches real life for richness of material. That is, if you do a fantastic job imagining a world, writing characters into it, and finding a way to translate that vision onto the screen, you can make a terrific, nuanced and deep narrative film. But documentary always thrills me because if you just go out into the real world you'll find that there are profound and surprising stories already written there.

It's an intense challenge to find them and to work with them -- but the material that's there is already deep. Real characters have built-in mysteries, wants and needs and quirks -- and while one can write any ending you like for a fiction film, in documentary whatever happens, happens. I find myself more often surprised by documentaries than by fiction films, so that draws me to the field very strongly. I get the sense that while narrative cinema is very developed in our time, we are in some ways still early in the era of documentaries.


CN: Do you have any current projects in the works, or future projects you would like to get off the ground?

TF: Maya and I have worked together since this film on a few short documentaries. We also work separately on a lot of projects. The last time I saw Iris, she had gone back to school -- but I wouldn't be surprised if she makes some films in the future. I think the tougher goal in documentary production is to shift to making feature-length films. Making shorts has been fantastic practice for that -- but to me the future I'm hoping for is one of making full-length documentaries.


CN: Ultimately, where do you see yourself in five years?

TF: Well, I teach television production and editing, and I do a lot of freelance editing. I will probably continue all three types of work. But I'd like to be in a place where another channel in my life will be making documentaries, both short and feature length.

Food in San Francisco: Pride of the Mediterranean

Needed vegetarian chow, on a low low low budget.

Found Pride of the Mediterranean. Nice selection of dishes, several vegetarian, and Lebanese beer as well.

We weren't adventurous enough to try the hookahs, though.

Food in San Francisco: Frjtz

In the Hayes Valley, stumbled upon Frjtz. A lot of possiblities there, with a Belgian angle on things.

Above: The Matisse is a crepe with smoked salmon, crème fraiche, and chives. (Most items on the menu are named after artists. I guess that's a good idea, maybe.)

Inside, Looking Out (Again)

iPhone snapshot.

Inside, Looking Out

Have been trying to get a sense of San Francisco by walking around aimlessly. So far, that seems like a good strategy.

Film Courage

It's Sunday. I'm in San Francisco. That doesn't mean I can't listen to a radio show in Los Angeles. In fact, I recommend that -- if you are interested in film -- you do exactly that:

Today at noon PST, check out Film Courage on LA Talk Radio. You can listen live, or check out the archived shows. Definitely look through the archive list -- there's some great stuff there, including a session with John Sayles.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I should note that our short doc 12th and 3rd in Brooklyn is tentatively set to screen at an upcoming "Film Courage Interactive" on October 11. Details on that soon. No connection, really, it just reminded me to mention the radio show.)

The Uncanny Hayes Valley

So far, the thing I like about San Francisco is that you walk around a corner, and there's something there that you didn't expect. And not in a bad way, as sometimes happened in The Bronx.

How to be Certain You're in San Francisco

It's easy to get disoriented in a big city. You've got to look around for subtle signs that will let you know where you are.

If you don't see any, just stop inside whatever bar you find on the corner and ask.

Incidentally, I normally look at signs and think: "What terrible typography. Who made that?" Not in this case: there's a subtle reference to "Western" fonts here -- check out that "S" -- but without getting too scrolly and frilly. The Cowboy association is blended with just a hint of Varsity / College / Letterman's Jacket text -- look at the "U" -- creating a good balance that seems right on target.

Good work, Anonymous Sign Typographer.

(Now, that "D" could be kerned a bit closer to the "U" -- but that's just a personal preference.)

When is a Film Finished?

Watch more free documentaries
So here's one of the problems of the digital era: when is a film finished?

In 2009, my co-filmmakers and I shot and edited Hoop Springs Eternal in five days as part of the International Documentary Challenge. We were disappointed the film didn't make it to the finals (we made it to the finals in 2007 and 2008) but were basically happy with the film.

Apparently, the Doc Challenge folks liked it enough to distribute it via SnagFilms, which is great.

But after living with the film a little, I decided to give it a recut. I took out almost a minute, changed the order of a few sequences, and essentially fixed issues we just couldn't address in the short edit time of the Challenge. I liked the recut better, and started submitting it to film festivals.

The recut version then screened at Olympia Film Festival, All Sports Los Angeles Film Festival, and Coney Island Film Festival (just this past Sunday).

Still, there are a few things I'd change in the recut edit. So is this film really the version on Snag? The version that made it to festival audiences? Or, if I polished it a touch further, would that be the "final" version of the film? Could we go and re-interview the film's characters (Loren Bidner and Miss Saturn, Jenny McGowan) in 2012 to see what's changed -- and revise the cut further?

Since digital work is inherently changeable, can we revise and revise and call it the same film?

Defacing Public Property, Part Two

Look, it's wrong to go around marking up advertisements. But if you're going to do it, do it with some skill ... like this example found on Geary Boulevard yesterday.

Defacing Public Property, Part One

Let me guess: that would be the 4:20 bus?

Annunciation

Ahem. We have arrived in the city.

Too Many Suitcases

Got into the city in the afternoon yesterday.

Hazards of Suburbia, Part 6

It was 109 degrees in Los Angeles yesterday. If only there were some city, cooled by bay breezes, that I could visit.

Hazards of Suburbia, Part 5

In Southern California, you can't not go to the mall.

Hazards of Suburbia, Part 4

Storage: anything could be in those damn bins of stuff. To get to the family photographs (glad I found those) you might have to wade through thousands of CDs and DVDs. Above: snapshot from yesterday's grand clearing out.

Hazards of Suburbia, Part 3

Hey, remember that time when I was going to have cornflakes on the porch and the mantis came and hung upside down from the railing and just ... stared?

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

When I was growing up, I lived close to Pomona, home to drag racing events of all kinds. (Well, the kinds with cars, nothing involving cross-dressing. As far as I know.) During the season, there were endless ads promoting the big events -- and that darn "Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!" announcer about every 15 minutes.

I feel a bit like that, as I've been promoting our next screening a bit heavily. Hey, I just want the tickets to sell out.

So, here's the spiel:

This Sunday, 1 p.m., our short documentary Hoop Springs Eternal will screen at the Coney Island Film Festival in Program 12. A fun time will be had by all. Advance-sales tickets are available for $6 so buy them now.

Don't make me come over to your house and act out the TV commercial version of this post.

Hazards of Suburbia, Part 2

Hey, remember that time when we went swimming and realized there were really quite a few more bees than there should be, then the beekeeper guy had to come and seal them into the wall?

Hazards of Suburbia, Part 1

Hey, remember that time when we moved to the suburbs and I made my First New Friend?

Well, there have been ups, and downs.

"Hoop" Screens This Sunday at Coney Island

Our short documentary Hoop Springs Eternal -- about two people who came to New York hoping to act who became professional Hula Hoopers along the way -- will screen this Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Coney Island Film Festival.

Buy your $6 advance tickets now, since the festival -- named one of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals by Moviemaker Magazine -- will probably sell out.

The film shows in Program 12.

Hint, Hint

Well, first there was New York Portraits. Then there was Los Angeles Portraits.

Above: a clue to the next site.

Healdsburg, More or Less

Just returned from visiting family a bit north of Southern California. Way, way north. News soon.

Something Something Portraits

It's important to look ahead.

Struggle

Some things don't go as easily as one might hope.

Took

A car to a train. Then, a train to Los Angeles. Then, a bus to another train. Then, a train to Oakland. Then, another car.

Meanwhile, on the Other Side of the Country

To me, it's really disappointing when I have a film in a film festival and I don't get to attend. I really really want to go.

It's good to want things. (I still don't get to go.)

Our short documentary Hoop Springs Eternal will be screening Sunday, September 26th at 1 p.m. at the Coney Island Film Festival. The film shows in Program 12 with a number of fun films. You can buy advance tickets for just $6.

On the bright side: watch this space, as I'll be announcing an upcoming Los Angeles screening of another one of our docs.

His and Hers

In the past, I have taken an opportunity or maybe two to post photos of toilets on the streets of New York.

But don't think Southern California isn't a pretender to the throne.

Coney Flix Picks Pics, Sells Tix

THE FAUX REAL: TRAILER! from Suzanne Hillinger on Vimeo.

New Yorkers: is it too early to buy your tickets to the screening of our short doc Hoop Springs Eternal at the Coney Island Film Festival? No: I'm hearing it's likely to sell out.

But wait: there's more.... The film is showing in Program 12 -- Sunday, September 26th at 1 p.m. -- with a fun block of films.

Among the highlights: Suzanne Hillinger's The Faux Real. Check out the trailer above, and then buy your tickets -- just $6 for advance sales.

Dowser Interview Edits, Part Three

Dowser Video: Joan Sullivan, Bronx Academy of Letters from Dowser on Vimeo.

A while back, I edited four interview-based pieces for Dowser. Three are now online, so here's the third one.

Dowser Interview Edits, Part Two

Dowser Video: Elizabeth Scharpf, Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE) from Dowser on Vimeo.

A while back, I edited four interview-based pieces for Dowser. Three are now online, so here's the second piece.

Food in Southern California, Part Three

Look, sometimes you just want to smell like garlic.

Dowser Interview Edits, Part One

Dowser Video: Maura Minsky, Scenarios USA from Dowser on Vimeo.

A while back, I edited four interview-based pieces for Dowser. Three are now online, so here's the first one.

Food In Southern California, Part Two

The toughest adjustment for me since moving back to Los Angeles, foodwise, has been accepting that there's great food in minimalls.

I grew up as LA turned into a sea of minimalls, and I'm inherently opposed to them. I associate them with uncomfortable chairs, eating while staring at the parking lot and a busy street, and bored employees waiting at a cash register.

All those things are present at My Vegan in Pasadena. The food is so good, however, that it's worth it.

No ambiance. We sat within ten feet of our car, and our view was terrible. The sate with peanut sauce, however, was fantastic. My recommendation: try the "Supreme Fried Rice" as a sort of sampler of their treats, and add a Thai Arnold Palmer.

Labor Day? Time for Brooklyn's Best

12th and 3rd in Brooklyn from Ted Fisher on Vimeo.

This film was shot four years ago on Labor Day.

Like Arizona, but with Fewer Imaginary Headless Bodies

I grew up in Southern California. The strange thing is that, since returning, 100 degrees fahrenheit doesn't seem as hot as I remember, but I also don't remember having to put so much effort into avoiding the sun or sunburn. Midday, the sun just seems ... blazing and unfiltered.

Panasonic GH1 1080p Camera Test

Panasonic GH1 1080p Camera Test from Ted Fisher on Vimeo.

Food In Southern California, Part One

New York was a great city for food. Anything, anytime. Southern California requires a little more inside knowledge to do well. My best baked-goods snacking tip: go to a panaderia. Grab anything that looks like a jelly roll, and anything shaped like a shell. Inexpensive, fresh, tasty.

Hoop Goes to Coney Island Film Fest

Our short documentary Hoop Springs Eternal will screen at the Coney Island Film Festival on Sunday, September 26th at 1 p.m. in Program 12.

Last year, Moviemaker Magazine named the festival one of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals.

If you'll be screening a film, attending the fest, or are just interested, I've started a Twitter list to follow filmmakers screening at the festival this year as well.

GH1 1080p Camera Test (After Firmware Hack)

Panasonic GH1 1080p Camera Test from Ted Fisher on Vimeo.

Previously, I posted a one-minute video showing a "Stress Test" of the Panasonic GH1 in video mode.

For that, I shot 720p / 60 footage in Central Park -- and found generally great results, but that the camera clearly had its limits. A sharply-focused shot of highly-detailed trees combined with camera motion could hit the limit of the codec -- resulting in "mud" in the shot. (That is, poorly-resolved digital smearing. Think of a low-resolution JPEG.)

On the plus side: most footage turned out great, and if you planned your shooting you could get excellent HD video without some of the issues (moire, for example, and false detail) that the Canon HDSLR cameras were reported to be experiencing. (And the Panasonic allowed twice as much footage per gigabyte of memory, had no need for a specialized add-on viewfinder, could autofocus during video, presented a live histogram -- and so on.)

Since moving to Los Angeles I've applied the supersecret firmware hack to the camera. (Google it. I'll post more on the details soon.) So I decided it was time to test out the 1080p / 24 mode as well.

For this shoot -- purposefully handheld, shaky, and shooting subjects that tended to bring out "mud" in the stock GH1 -- I used lpowell's "40Mbps AVCHD High Reliability Patch" settings, recording 1080p/24 AVCHD clips. I then processed the MTS files using Voltaic and edited those transcoded clips with Final Cut Pro. I exported a 1080p QuickTime file, then used compressor to create the 1280 by 720 file I uploaded to Vimeo.

My thoughts: the "40 reliability" settings are excellent in quality and stable enough for documentary shooting. As well, all clips play back in camera. Follow the link to Vimeo if you want to download the 720p version -- but trust me that the full 1080p file is even better.

Like Texas, but with Palm Trees

Football. What would a hot Thursday in California be without it?

But What I Really Want To Do Is...

Are documentarians the new cool kids?

I dunno. But the Los Angeles Times, once again my hometown newspaper, seems to think so.

Word of Mouth: Documentaries are proving grounds for feature film directors

Every filmmaker stepping up from a different background brings unique skills, but documentary directors may be better equipped than most to deliver something that's frequently missing from narrative movies: emotional truthfulness. What's more, nonfiction storytellers directing narrative features are comfortable shooting in the increasingly popular verité style that mashes extemporaneous camera moves with scripted action and dialogue.

Of course, one could ask: "What happened to 'dance with who brung ya'?"

Corkscrew Optional

The best thing about the cars in California is that they come with a built-in wineholder.

Other Activities

One thing I've noticed about this part of Southern California is that there are no children outside. They are all indoors, playing video games. So I thought I'd give it a try.

Did I lose to a four-year-old?

No, of course not, I won 199 to something. Oh, you mean the first game? Wasn't that a warmup? It wasn't?

On the bright side, I did win at arm wrestling and the bookmakers currently have me as a 3:2 favorite for our upcoming boxing match.

Somewhat Less Classical

In theory, a sculpture is meant to be looked at from all angles.

That's just a theory, though.

Take the D Train

Our short documentary Hoop Springs Eternal -- made with Linda Goldman, Chris Corradino, Maya Mumma -- is scheduled to screen at the Coney Island Film Festival September 24 - 26.

More details soon.

Good Hans, Nice Arp

Made it out to Pasadena today for a quick stop at the Norton Simon. Above: "Classical Sculpture" from 1960, by Hans (Jean) Arp.

"Hoop" To Visit Coney Island Film Festival

Just found out: our short doc Hoop Springs Eternal will screen in September at the Coney Island Film Festival. Details soon.

Where the Heck I Am

You may be wondering where the heck I am.

I've been posting on another blog. Don't worry, I'll still be posting here.

I know: you weren't wondering, and weren't worried. In any case, here's a link to help you catch you up:

Los Angeles Portraits

Above: an iPhone snapshot from the Mission Inn, in Riverside, California.

Four Years Ago

Four years ago I made my first post on this blog with Beginnings and Endings.

I then marked the 1839 anniversary of the announcement of the invention of photography with Happy 167th Birthday.

Now, I've moved from Manhattan, so -- while I'll keep this blog, after a bit of repurposing -- you can follow my California posts on Los Angeles Portraits.

One more city will be in the news, very soon, as well. Above: one of my last recent snaps in Manhattan.

Two More Friends to the Good

Why yes, he is a wizard mistakenly turned into a dog. And yes, he does have questionable taste in wands. But look at it this way: at least he's not the dog cowering under the table.

Before you begin to think that all I've done here in Southern California is make friends with dogs, today I was able to get my editing computer going and get back to editing a short documentary I shot earlier in the year.

Combinatorics

It's possible I've exhausted the possibilities of my immediate environment.

Two Martinis and the Ghost of Richard Nixon

Attended a funeral on Friday. The end of the day was spent at The Mission Inn, an old haunt very familiar from my Riverside days. Saw the Centennial Steinway and the portrait of Nixon, then sat in the Taft chair.

First New Friend

So far, so good. Been in Los Angeles less than a week, and I already have a new buddy. I think our relationship may be a bit tennis-ball-centric, but I'm okay with that.