october 27, 2008 - san francisco, california
 
every end deserves a new beginning
 
many creative professionals probably dream of having a chance to showcase one's work in the form of a career retrospective, and with that in mind, these last few months have been an interesting time, where i've had the time to update not only the website, but also my showreel and portfolio, aka the book.

this process has been a bit like curating one's own retrospective. there's an opportunity to survey and reflect upon the last ten years of my work, and in some ways, this is quite daunting while in other ways, i can't help but feel slightly underwhelmed - a voice inside faintly cries out "is that all there is?"

aesthetic tendencies emerge, work approaches form something that resembles a pattern. it gives me a chance to contemplate which techniques work and which ones do not, and by the end of all of this, there is a definitive sense of rejuvenation.

in addition to the creative choices, there are the technical challenges of putting together this de facto retrospective. media technology changes with every month, and even more so when seen over the scope of several years. as such, the way in which showreels and portfolios are edited and distributed has changed as well: ten years ago, there was a standard manner to fulfill this, today, there are many competing standards for video distribution, which can sometimes give me a headache.

all the same, these are exciting times for production design, and having now completed the new showreel and portfolio, i'm still thoroughly pleased to be a part of this industry.
 
 
september 10, 2008 - los angeles, california
 
the production design in son of rambow
 
some quick thoughts on the film and its production design. cute story about a strained relationship between two young boys during their school days which develops into a fable about the community building / healing powers of amateur film making, as the boys set out to make an action film, in which they are to play the leads.
 
with a strong emphasis on eye candy, the film looks and feels a lot like a semi-restrained version of napoleon dynamite, with a dash of rushmore and a touch of stand by me. there were even scenes that reminded me of trainspotting. there are a lot of richly created hand props, such as the young boy's handbook (a bible filled with wonderfully detailed sketches) but much of the film's set design and set decoration feels over the top, a bit too clever for its own good, and ultimately, it is a distraction and disservice to the film.
 
a couple of examples follow. the shed in the back of one of the boy’s home. the shed represents the boy’s retreat as a kind of ramshackle garden of eden but it contrasts far too much with the rest of the boy’s extremely spartan, colourless home. it feels unrealistic and put-on.  the retirement home also feels implausible, not helped by the lighting, though the production design comes across as especially attention-grabbing in the entrance to the private quarters (where the second boy lives). there is a solemn white foyer with highly reflective floors and a glistening marble statue placed front and center. it screams too much of clever irony as opposed to a less emphatic suggestion of the theme of innocence lost.
 
the production design tries to sell too many stories at once while it wants its audience to believe in its own cleverness and good cinematic taste. like the film itself, it could have done better with less. there was a rich story to tell but it loses its way in the attractive clutter.
 
 
may 10, 2008 - los angeles, california
 
the passion of the product
 
conference calls. more conference calls. meetings. pre-production meetings. show and tell meetings. client meetings. agency meetings. location scouts. sound stage scout. tech scouts. prop research. set dressings research. graphic design research. meetings on graphic design. design conference. graphic design show and tell. budget meetings. second pre-production meeting. these are independent events that all took place within the first five days of the pre-production for a commercial that i recently finished.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

i know that it is somewhat uncouth to make light of other departments, but, during a job that i’ve recently completed here in los angeles, i had to wonder what in the world the grips and electrics were doing with their time, especially since there were so many of them!
 
at any given moment, i would look over at the guys who are famously known for their wardrobe of t-shirts, climbing shorts, and practical hiking shoes, and i swear that most of them were standing around, adjusting their baseball caps or bandanas or keeping their hands in their pockets, while waiting for the craft service coffee to brew.
 
granted, it is a well known reality that part of film production means sustained amounts of idle time for some departments, in part because the production department traditionally hires a lot of grips and electrics because film lights are heavy, and when you need to move them quickly, it’s better to have a lot of guys moving a lot of lamps, rather than having too few. this means that during the times when one does not need to transport a lot of heavy lamps in a short amount of time, one would encounter a lot of grips standing around, staring at the ceiling or their hiking shoes.
 
still, on this last job, i wondered if we didn’t have too many. i think there were 10 to 12 guys for what was a fairly modest-sized production. there were two guys in particular who caught my eye. one of them spent most of his time out by the truck, while the other one simply walked the interior perimeter of the sound stage throughout much of the shoot, carrying a c-stand with him wherever he went; occasionally he lumbered towards some of the other grips who were gathered beneath a lamp that was suspended from the grid. sometimes he walked towards the truck, and sometimes he walked towards the equipment staging area to inspect the inventory. he never stop moving, but he never really did much on set either. it’s a bit of mystery to me. i’m sure he’s a nice guy.
 
other than sitting down to do paperwork, which is a luxury on a shoot day, the people in the art department never have idle time. almost never. i shouldn’t lie.
  

may 9, 2007 - los angeles, california
i had dinner sometime ago with a friend of mine who is also a production designer.  we discussed the silent limbo one endures during the excruciatingly slow process for a feature film, once finished with production, to travel through the myriad stages of post production, before finally arriving at its theatrical release.
 
as a production designer, one’s involvement in a project stretches over years, and for much of this time, there are very few people who are aware of this – there’s the perception that one has gone underground.  when the film is finally released, the opening night experience for a production designer, as well as for the director and the cast, is akin to arriving at a debutant ball. despite the inclination to combat the vanity, one can’t help but feel enveloped by the toxic and oppressive package of anxiety, angst, and insecurity that one’s work will not quite measure up to the level of respect one hopes to gain from within the industry, as well as from outside of it; this despite the great feeling of pride in one’s own work, and the satisfaction of knowing that the work has been done well, and the steely resolution to make peace with one’s work on one’s own terms and not be affected by outside opinion. 
 
by the film’s premiere, i’ve already been to at least four or five screenings of the finished film, to make no mention of the many sit-throughs of the unfinished product, so i certainly know whether or not the production design has met my own expectations, but something happens at the actual premiere – the hype (or, gasp, the lack of it) painfully overwhelms.  often, one chooses to submit to it, though each time, i vow to be calm, impassive, contented.


april 20, 2007 - los angeles, california
this will be the future page for a modest blog on a life of working in film, with anecdotes, production notes, commentary on the changes underway in the film business, as well as commentary on various aspects of the field of production design. please stay tuned. there will be useful links to production designer resources as well as inspirations and curiosities.