old school Posted October 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 Mike Nichols is worthy of a trip back in time in my book. #! "Virginia Woolf" as this is one of my favorite films as I have noted early on in this thread. #2 "Catch 22" a masterful job of a difficult novel IMO. I just saw it again and I dig it more now than when it came out. #3 while "The Graduate is great, I think "Birdcage" is a comedy of the highest order and I would of loved to try not to laugh out loud as those scenes were filmed and recorded. I must say that he wasn't/isn't a one trick pony. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 this has become a nice "director's I like" thread, but I liked the original posts, when folks had a couple movies they wished they had worked on for particular reasons... There are, for example some SFX movies I would have liked to have worked on to see how they did stuff... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted October 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 I hear ya Mike. It is all a bit silly for a topic, but RVD and I like it as we seem to do most of the posting. BTW, what SFX movie is your wish? Your post begs that question. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Wexler Posted October 16, 2009 Report Share Posted October 16, 2009 I hear ya Mike. It is all a bit silly for a topic, but RVD and I like it as we seem to do most of the posting. CrewC Silly or not, I have enjoyed this thread, while not even posting myself, and I think everyone could lighten up a bit regarding criticism of any potential highjacking... Everything is so good about this Group (if I do say so myself and I just did) with the best bunch of people I could ever have hoped to participate... 'Topics", threads, categories, etc, are just tools... I wouldn't want to see any of these things hold anybody back from speaking their minds, expressing opinions, involving others in the things that interest us personally. Happy posting to all. Best regards, Jeff Wexler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted October 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2009 RVD stay and post. There is no harm or foul or hijacking this topic IMO. All are welcome and encouraged to jump in. No wrong answers here. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Blankenship Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 Even though I may have added little on this one (so far?), I took this topic as a group of us sitting around a friendly barroom table -- each with our own favorite potable -- chatting about the biz. Someone (Crew) brings up, "...have you ever wished you could of worked on a film, or recorded a scene from the past?" and off we go... uncharted waters... who cares... such is the meandering of conversation as we relax the night away in good company. There's no moderator at a barroom table. Toward that end, I took Senator's comments as voicing preference rather than criticism. So, I hope no one leaves the table... John B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted October 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 I enjoy John B's analogy of the bar, pub, or even a campfire setting. Subjects such as this one about our favorite films coming up and why we think this way. I have a few more posts for this topic. I haven't even mentioned 2 of my favorites. Later on that, been a long week and it's not over until tomorrows daylight is gone... For me @jwsound is about the people, not all the tech gear that drifts up on our shores. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Blankenship Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 ...For me @jwsound is about the people, not all the tech gear that drifts up on our shores. Let's don't get into a "Great taste"/"Less filling" debate cuz I gotta admit I like the people AND the toys. John B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted October 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 Let's don't get into a "Great taste"/"Less filling" debate cuz I gotta admit I like the people AND the toys. John B. Funny old cultural reference John. BTW I recorded many of those old Miller Lite spots. That alone should get me in the 'Hall of Shame'.... if not those, plenty of others. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Wexler Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 For me @jwsound is about the people, not all the tech gear that drifts up on our shores. CrewC For me it's all about JWSOUND... oh, that IS me (just kidding). I love it all! What a terrific diversity of people, and gear, we have here. - Jeff Wexler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 " I took Senator's comments as voicing preference rather than criticism. " Thank you JB, that is what I meant... I was enjoying the reviewing of favorite movie-makers as well, but had also enjoyed reading the specific original posts about: 'I would have loved to have been there to see them parting the Red Sea' stuff, too...How about: I'd have really loved to have been on "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane" to witness the cat fight...or Cleopatra to witness the spectacular set-ups (also Ben Hur, watching Yakama Kanut stage the chariot race shots... there you go, Crew! sadly, my comments took the whole topic away, so please folks: AS YOU WERE!! (including my friend RichardVD!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted October 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2009 So many reasons I like films and directors. Sometimes it is when I first see a film, but mostly it is the multiple viewings of a film that reveal what I admired in the 1st place about a story well told via the cinema. So many movies influenced my taste in the 70's/late 60's, that I have a bias for that era, but I love them all... So there I was, recording a commercial today on a 'Shooting Ranch' in a valley between LA n Palmdale. This location could/has stood in for many Western Stories from many decades. Beautiful to film in, but a hot dusty hell to spend time shooting in. Got me thinking about Westerns and Sam Peckinpah and his influence on making them. Actually, I think I will do this tomorrow. Too important to me as a 'Wish I were...' subject and I am spacing after 2 days in the hellish dust and heat of Soledad Canyon. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted October 19, 2009 Report Share Posted October 19, 2009 I'll take a shot at reviving this thread... I was re-watching Mama Mia, and found myself wishing I had been on that movie! Playback would have been as good as mixing, maybe better, 'cause of all the dance rehearsals. Sure, it must have also been tough, but it really looked like they were having a good time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted October 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2009 I never had the good fortune to work on a musical, but I would certainly like to. Well maybe "Flashdance" was a musical on some level, but it is hard to classify what to call that film. Maybe a $$$ making mistake. To me there are 2 schools of musicals, old and new school. I can only imagine working on "Wizard of OZ", "Singing in the Rain", or "The Pirate" and so many more from the genre's hay day. They were very formal and no one seemed to notice when people broke into major song and dance numbers. A trippy way to tell a story by todays standards, but a crowd pleasing mash up of stage and cinema in it's day. I enjoy the old school way and still think it works today when done by say Frank Oz and his outstanding version of "Little Shop of Horrors" , but that was from a well established play, from an obscure b movie, so it may be its own thing altogether. I can't count the times my kids and I watched that one. Same goes w "OZ"... I like the new school musical even more on some levels. This is often in the form of a 'Biopic" like "La Bamba", "Walk the Line", "Ray", where music is a major part of the hero's story. The realistic integration of music to the scene has to be difficult as well as rewarding to pull off. Jeff Wexler did "Sweet Dreams" and "Almost Famous" and "Bound for Glory" which all had this new school musical element. Many of us get to do a number in a film now and then, but seldom a new school musical. I even do a couple of singing commercials every year, but believe me when I say they are seldom fun. The other new school musical form I enjoy is "Across the Universe", "Moulin Rouge", "All That Jazz" as an re imagining of the form. Like all film genre's, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I have yet to see "Mama Mia", but if Mike likes it, then I will check it out. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted October 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Cont. from Saturday night. Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah de/re mythologized the 'Western' for me and many others. I grew up on the old school horse opera's, some great but most average at best. When Sam n Sergio n a few others showed up in the 60's, KABOOM! they blew up the old black/white, good/bad guy story into a million shades of grey. I admire the work of both, but Peckinpah's work, from "Ride the High Country" (62) until "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" (74) were as personal to him as they were outrageous to the public at large and mirrored his main theme of men outliving their time and trying to do so in a honorable manner, like his life if you ever read about him. Aside from John Ford and few others, most 'Westerns' looked about as real as a picnic on Mars. Hairdo's, costumes, make up, dialog were all Hollywood smaltz n smoke n mirrors. Sam and Sergio changed that in a big way. Their characters lived in a sweaty/gritty violent amoral n nihilistic violent world were a mans word was all he had and a gun did most of the talking. If 'Sound Crews' were paid by the word, those that worked for them would of been poor, but richer for the experience's. I still feel their work holds up today. The 3 Peckinpah films I would love to have worked on, #1 "The Wild Bunch" a life time in the making and not a false note or performance IMO. Epic, yet personal. I have seen it a 100 times and hope to see it another 100. #2 "The Ballad of Cable Hogue". This is my favorite in many ways because I feel it express's his theme best and in a way not associated with Mr Peckinpah. A warm and revealing story of a man who out lives his times and is killed by the modern world coming his way. Jason Robards was never better. #3 "Junior Boner". Another look inside the real man and not the legend of Peckinpah. A modern re stating of his theme of men out living their time. Kind of like many of us old time mixers here @jwsound I suppose. CrewC BTW, the story of a man who's time is coming to an end, and a man who's time is just starting, is expressed with great success in John Fords mostly shot on stage/backlot classic "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (62). Just guessing, but I feel this film and his others influenced Sam Peckinpah. I know they influenced me. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Blankenship Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Funny old cultural reference John. BTW I recorded many of those old Miller Lite spots. That alone should get me in the 'Hall of Shame'... Ironically, as I was writing that analogy, the thought crossed my mind that you might have worked on those commercials. Psychic, I guess. John B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 Mama Mia is a new musical from the "old School", and the characters keep bursting into song and dance. different from the old days, all the actors do their own vocals (prerecorded, of course), and in the by-gone days, Pierce Brosnon's voice would have been replaced a lot quicker than Audry Hepburns was in My Fair Lady!! Moulon Rouge is another one, and that one, too, is among my favorites, but what I am discussing are movies I particularly might have wanted to be on - its not that I wouldn't have liked to be on Moulon Rouge, My Fair Lady, Singin' in the Rain, All that Jazz, Chicago, or many many other fine (or sometimes not!) movies, but Mama Mia really looked to me like everyone was in a great location (probably a bit difficult, though) and having fun while working hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted October 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2009 Senator Mike, I walked into the house today and "Mama Mia" was on the tube/cable/plasma. It was bright n colorful in a exotic location and yes they were singing. Watched for a minute and left because I don;t want to watch it in pieces. Looks wild. Later. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted October 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2009 RIP Soupy Sales. I would love to have boomed your great show. You were very influential in my life. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundtrane Posted October 23, 2009 Report Share Posted October 23, 2009 EVERY FILM BY ALTMAN. I would have been satisfied (well... not quite but then...) to serve coffee/tea on the sets. I am revisiting THE PLAYER right this moment when i am writing this post. The film is on pause. Here's Tim walking into a restaurant and meeting Burt Reynolds and another guy (don't know him) and the shot is with these guys, and then Tim moves on to the background to meet someone else. Burt says 'asshole..." and this other guy and him have a conversation. Very quickly the AUDIO focus is shifted to the background where Tim is settling down saying "Take this away..."... The camera loses Burt's table and zooms into Tim's table, a little later. Incredible.... Back to the film now.... -vin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted October 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2009 Hey Vin, Robert Altman is my favorite from the day. I am going to post about him next. Glad you are a fan as well. L8r. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 The realistic integration of music to the scene has to be difficult as well as rewarding to pull off. Jeff Wexler did "Sweet Dreams" and "Almost Famous" and "Bound for Glory" which all had this new school musical element. Many of us get to do a number in a film now and then, but seldom a new school musical. The current hit Fox show Glee is a rare case of a musical TV series, and it's very well done, at least technically (due in part to Phil Palmer's sound work). It's almost a combination of High School Musical and American Idol, and the numbers on the show are huge so far. The plots and characters are total fantasies, but technically, I think it's one of the best-looking and best-sounding shows on TV. I personally think they're Auto-Tuning the vocals on the songs too much, but then, you could say that about half the hits on the radio these days... --Marc W. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Smith Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 Hey Crew: Great titles all. But don't forget Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West". No, not a musical, but a classic in its own right. That tracking shot of Claudia Cardinale coming out of the train station gets me everytime.... --Scott Cont. from Saturday night. Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah de/re mythologized the 'Western' for me and many others. I grew up on the old school horse opera's, some great but most average at best. When Sam n Sergio n a few others showed up in the 60's, KABOOM! they blew up the old black/white, good/bad guy story into a million shades of grey. I admire the work of both, but Peckinpah's work, from "Ride the High Country" (62) until "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" (74) were as personal to him as they were outrageous to the public at large and mirrored his main theme of men outliving their time and trying to do so in a honorable manner, like his life if you ever read about him. Aside from John Ford and few others, most 'Westerns' looked about as real as a picnic on Mars. Hairdo's, costumes, make up, dialog were all Hollywood smaltz n smoke n mirrors. Sam and Sergio changed that in a big way. Their characters lived in a sweaty/gritty violent amoral n nihilistic violent world were a mans word was all he had and a gun did most of the talking. If 'Sound Crews' were paid by the word, those that worked for them would of been poor, but richer for the experience's. I still feel their work holds up today. The 3 Peckinpah films I would love to have worked on, #1 "The Wild Bunch" a life time in the making and not a false note or performance IMO. Epic, yet personal. I have seen it a 100 times and hope to see it another 100. #2 "The Ballad of Cable Hogue". This is my favorite in many ways because I feel it express's his theme best and in a way not associated with Mr Peckinpah. A warm and revealing story of a man who out lives his times and is killed by the modern world coming his way. Jason Robards was never better. #3 "Junior Boner". Another look inside the real man and not the legend of Peckinpah. A modern re stating of his theme of men out living their time. Kind of like many of us old time mixers here @jwsound I suppose. CrewC BTW, the story of a man who's time is coming to an end, and a man who's time is just starting, is expressed with great success in John Fords mostly shot on stage/backlot classic "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (62). Just guessing, but I feel this film and his others influenced Sam Peckinpah. I know they influenced me. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old school Posted November 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 Hey Scott, I could not agree more. Sergio Leone's "Once in..." is a semester in film school as is "G, B, n U". Huge influence on my visual style and thinking about the language of film. I wish I were the Boom Man on "OAATITW" so I could watch him work with that cast. That applies to so many other films as well. Peace. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Smith Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 Hey Crew: Thank for the note. While I never had the luxury of attending film school, one of my pals during the mid-Seventies studied cinematography at Columbia College in Chicago, and we had many long drunken evenings discussing the merits of various films. I was also fortunate to attend many a screening at the film theater run by the Detroit Institute of Arts when I lived in the Motor City. At the time, it was the only place in Detroit where you could see independent and foreign fare. (This was before the days of consumer video and DVD's. At most, you might be lucky to be able to rent a 16mm print from someplace like Films, Inc.) In fact, I just had dinner a few weeks ago with the guy who started the program around 1973, and who still runs it today. Great guy. A truly enlightening time in my life-wish I had taken advantage of it more. Also just happened to see "A Fistful of Dollars" on TV a couple of months ago. I haven't seen it in some time, and it was a truly enjoyable film. Totally worth renting. They really knew how to make 'em then.... --Scott Hey Scott, I could not agree more. Sergio Leone's "Once in..." is a semester in film school as is "G, B, n U". Huge influence on my visual style and thinking about the language of film. I wish I were the Boom Man on "OAATITW" so I could watch him work with that cast. That applies to so many other films as well. Peace. CrewC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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