Life in Hollywood, below-the-line

Life in Hollywood, below-the-line
Work gloves at the end of the 2006/2007 television season (photo by Richard Blair)

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Listen Up!




Circumstance intervened while I was working on another post for today, so -- like a quarterback about to take the snap who suddenly spots a defensive alignment he really doesn't like -- I'm calling an audible.*  

And by audible, I mean it's podcast-time again.  

Last week's post was also a compendium of podcast links, and up 'til now I've avoided putting up two such posts in a row -- but rules are made to be broken, and besides, I'm on hiatus.  If I've got the time to listen to a few podcasts, maybe you do to. 

First up, a fascinating interview with Nic Pizzolatto, writer and executive producer of True Detective, yet another genre-bending show from HBO.  Not that I've had the chance to actually see it yet -- down here in steerage with the rest of the huddled masses lacking HBO, I too await its availability on Netflix -- but the word on this show from critics and viewers I respect is very good indeed.  Pizzolatto is smart, thoughtful, and articulate, which means he's worth listening to.  It's a great interview.

A still-photographer friend (thanks, Bruce!) turned me on to Craft Truck, an interesting website which recently posted this interview -- on video and an unedited audio podcast for your viewing/listening edification -- with the late, great Gordon Willis.  Craft Truck has a backlog of interviews with industry pros of all sorts: directors, producers, editors, and then some.  It's an impressive website, and looks like a great resource for anybody interesting in learning more about how this industry really works.  

Willis was never interested in standard Hollywood lighting.  He had his own way of approaching and lighting a film, and it worked very well for him.  Some of his ideas may sound strange at first -- they did to me -- but when you think about it, he makes a lot of sense.  There's no arguing with the man's track record, so take a look, listen, and learn.

Last -- and most definitely least -- remember this?  Well, the Great Wheel has turned, bringing about my day in the Crew Call barrel -- and if you don’t get that reference, ask the next gray-haired Teamster you run into.**  At any rate, the hungover interview I was subjected to by The Anonymous Production Assistant a few weeks ago is now on-line, and TAPA was kind enough to send me a preview.  Much to my surprise,  it wasn’t quite the horror-show of unintelligible blather I recalled, expected, and feared.  I can assure you, though, all credit for that goes to TAPA and editor/producer Chris Henry.

Let's just say whoever first came up with the phrase “we’ll fix it in post” really knew what he/she was talking about

Still, how it turned out is not for me to say, but for you to decide -- which you can do right here.

That's it for this week.  Next Sunday, no podcasts -- I promise.



* Not that I actually know anything about football, mind you, but I'm currently reading Paper Lion by George Plimpton, wherein the writer trained with the Detroit Lions for a few weeks before standing in at quarterback for the first five plays of the team's first big public intrasquad game.  Football doesn't much interest me these days, but Plimpton made the game come alive on the page.  That's what good writers do, and he was a very good writer.  Paper Lion is a smart book, and a great read.   

** It's a very old joke. 

2 comments:

Chris Henry said...

Hey thanks for the shout out! I had a blast with your episode. Lots of good stuff!

Michael Taylor said...

Chris --

My pleasure -- it was the least I could do after the miracles you worked on that podcast...