Are you kidding me?

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I wonder if some of you might be interested in sharing some funny experiences with me. I'll go first

Since we all have a certain amount of knowledge, some more than others :), but there are some things that we know about filmmaking that people who are not in filmmaking don't grasp as readily. For example:

Over the summer, there was a film being shot in Flint, Michigan. The film is called "Semi-Pro" and has Will Farrell in it. There was an open call for extras for the film and the news told of how they needed some people to volunteer.

I was told about this by a relative who suggested that I go down and see if I could be involved.
"Oh, I don't want to be on camera. They need extras," I said.
"Maybe you could help them with their cameras," they said.
"No, a movie that big won't need my help with cameras," I said.
"Oh, you don't know...."

And though I know they were well meaning, they were also irritated that I didn't go down there to help Will Farrell and his movie crew with their cameras.

Am I the only person who has had a moment like this with friends or family members? I still laugh alittle at this memory....:lol:

"Semi-Pro" had its Flint Michigan Premiere over the weekend....

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I actually just dealt with this on Sunday. My mother-in-law kept drilling me about when I was going to get to work on this "feature film" I've been talking about for the last year or so. I said, "It's not a feature, it's a short."

"What do you mean, short?" she says.

"I mean it's only about 7-10 minutes long," I replied.

"How is that going to fit with commercials and everything? You can't even fill 30 minutes".

I explained, "It's not meant for TV distribution. It's just for Internet and my own education. It's just a short story."

It then took my wife and I twenty minutes to explain to her the concept of a short story. I compared a magazine article to a novel. She still didn't get it. My wife finally used the example from one of the Super Bowl commercials from Budweiser and the Clydesdale who didn't make the cut, where the dog had to train him. That was only a few minutes long but told a complete story.

She finally got it. But she still couldn't fathom how I'd make any money from it. I told her, "Well, I could write feature length scripts based on these short stories, and use the shorts to help pitch the features to potential investors or perhaps get a studio to pick up the project." That worked well. She's always about the money.
 
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Not so much funny as aggravating.
A movie company rolled into our little town of Statesboro, GA to shoot the picture "Now and Then". It was set in 1970 and the call went out for old cars.
My brother in law and I both had old Buick convertibles, mine was a 1970 Electra and his was a 1969 LeSabre.
We showed up on the appointed morning and collected our $75 for the day's shoot.
No paperwork, contract, release form, nothing. Just $75 in cash and I handed over the keys to my baby. How's that for asking for trouble on my part?

Anyway, they shot the scene; from a crane a newlywed couple runs across the courthouse lawn and into their yellow 1970 Buick Electra convertible with "Just Married" written on it in shaving cream and as the camera pans across the town the car drives away.

Of course the movie company couldn't get the "just married" off my car.

They sent it to a detail shop that kept it for two days, I have to say it really looked like new when I got it back.

That was fine, the aggravating part was that they didn't want to use the car anymore since they considered it a "principal" but they used my brother in law's car for several days and paid him over $300.

Don't look for his car in the movie, it got cut.

But I did get a nice wash and wax for mine! :lol:

If you ever see the movie on TBS there's usually a big network logo right in the corner where my car shows up, so technically it doesn't get in the movie either!

Neil
 
I do know that in the last decade of watching movies with my stepfather, he eventually got into the habit of discussing certain shots, perspectives, general filmmaking things I know he didn't know about before he started watching stuff with me.

I mean, I'm a million miles away from being an expert, but I like to think I know slightly more than the average person, and I think it's really kind of cool that my stepfather has expanded what he takes in and pays attention to when he watches a movie.

I also occasionally get him to watch stuff he might not normally check out on his own.
 
barnaclelapse said:
I do know that in the last decade of watching movies with my stepfather, he eventually got into the habit of discussing certain shots, perspectives, general filmmaking things I know he didn't know about before he started watching stuff with me.

I mean, I'm a million miles away from being an expert, but I like to think I know slightly more than the average person, and I think it's really kind of cool that my stepfather has expanded what he takes in and pays attention to when he watches a movie.

I also occasionally get him to watch stuff he might not normally check out on his own.
Click to expand...

Paying attention to detail is the biggest thing that a lot of people lack. Sometimes if they are just around someone who pays attention to detail, it catches on.

Of course, if you watch the same movie enough times, and if the movie is good enough, you'll notice new things all the time.

I remember watching Caddyshack with my dad and stepmom last year, and I noticed for the first time in one of the shots, waaaaay in the background, some guy threw his golf club in the air and started jumping around for no reason.

I laughed for a good two minutes. :)
 
The "well-meaning complimenter"

This is more “funny annoying” than “funny ha ha” but something I’m sure a lot of you can relate to (unless you are a “big-time” filmmaker!)

It’s dealing with those people who I like to call “well-meaning complimenters”. They think they’re being nice by introducing you to new people as “an amazing filmmaker who is going to be the next Spielberg!” but all they end up doing is putting you into an awkward position of having to explain that "it’s just a hobby, I’ve only made only a few short “movies”, none have been over 10 minutes, none have even had a script, and friends and family have been my only actors..."

I work for a small franchise company in Southern California that sells and manages a national chain of stores so we’re always having new franchisees come in from all across the country to our office for training. So it happens at least once a week that I’ll be sitting in my office and a co-worker will come around with a new franchisee and introduce me as “an amazing filmmaker who is going to be the next Spielberg!” Now it’s this persons first time visiting California, they’re all excited to be in the “land of movie stars” so they start getting all excited and ask me “what movies have I made?... have they seen anything I’ve done?” … I’m then left in the awkward and humiliating position to burst their star-struck bubble… :blush:
 
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