[vimeo 7599482 w=600&h=340] This is an (unfinished) trailer for a short film called Prego that my friend Tim recommended me for. The project got put on hold, but I thought my version 1 was good enough to put up as an example of my abilities as a trailer editor.
Freddy and Francine: Live At The Mint!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjJwI0ZaNgc&w=480&h=300&fmt=18] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2f8Utr8ZOA&w=480&h=300&fmt=18]
Back again after an extended blogging layoff because of work and projects! Coming up for air long enough to point you to the latest installment of What I've Been Working On.
Freddy and Francine is an awesome band and friends of robgwilson.com after their music was featured in a short film I edited called Chris And Steve (IMDb). You can check out more about them here and here. In June their song Brownstone Alley was featured on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic as their Top Tune Of The Day, which is only the coolest thing ever. In case you don't live in Los Angeles, KCRW and that show in particular is the best place to find great new music in the city of Los Angeles.
So F&F and I got together and decided to up the ante on their video work online. With the help of my friends Adam Deyoe and Katie Goldschmidt, the three of us got together to shoot a concert at The Mint in Hollywood. Dating back to 1937, the venue has hosted everyone from Stevie Wonder, Willie Dixon, and Ray Charles to more recently Ben Harper, Macy Gray, and The Wallflowers.
These two videos, 8 Pages and Brownstone Alley, were the first two songs from their set, with more to come. Hopefully we'll be working together again soon. They're a pleasure and their music is kickass. Go see them if you get the chance.
Amy K. Harmon Reel 2009
Her Private Practice Scenes:[vimeo 4751713]
Her Complete Reel: [vimeo 4737204]
Amy Harmon is a friend of mine and a great actress. She was recently featured in "Private Practice" and the pilot "Inside The Box", both for ABC, and in the Brimmer Street Theater Company's original production of "<3". Get more information on that at brimmerstreet.org
Her reel is a fairly standard edit I do, employing simple dips to black between scenes and sometimes employing an occasional re-edit to focus the scene on my client.
David Doesn't Dance
Just a little nice piece to embarrass my friend. Let this be a warning to all your drunk dancers. Don't let me get my hands on that footage. :) [vimeo 4738745]
What I'm Working On: Milo
This documentary was my BFA thesis film at Emerson College. The film details a moment in the life of Milo Matthews, a subway musician in Boston. He struggles with his past and his career, all while the city cracks down on subways musicians as a potential security threat in a post-9/11 world. We travel to his home and to visit his son in Seattle, getting a glimpse of the sacrifices that people make to pursue their dreams. You can check out Milo on myspace.com/milomatthews and at lovelifemusic.com. He's a great man and I'm forever thankful of how he opened up his life to me.
Also special thanks to Robert Kellough, who mixed the film but is absent from the credits.
[vimeo 4190218]
What I'm Working On: J. Claude Deering - Reel 2009
Claude and I have been great friends since elementary school. I've been doing his reel for years and I'm always impressed with his work. His reel is called a "speed reel" where all his scenes are chopped up and reorganized to create one sequence that jumps back and forth as the drama works best. This is different compared to Mike Terry's reel which is a collection of independent scenes.
Clips from this reel are from Entourage, Criminal Minds, and the internet comedy series "Untitled Sketch Group", available at FunnyOrDie.com. He's soon to be featured on the upcoming film "The Ugly Truth" and in "Inside The Box", a pilot for ABC.
[vimeo 4185561]
What I'm Working On: Untitled Sketch Group
I have been friends with J. Claude Deering, the writer/director of Untitled Sketch Group, since we were literally children. Our families are great friends. So literally, I jumped at the chance to work with him and our friends Chris Frontiero and Jared Swanson. Turning Entourage on its head, USG is the story of a group of sketch comedians in Los Angeles who dream of success but find little of it. I am the cinematographer of all four episodes and edited Episodes 2 and 3. Untitled Sketch Group: Episode 1 A local LA sketch group get a meeting with a big agency. Cinematography by Robert Grigsby Wilson.
[embed]http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/d03918b77b/[/embed]
Untitled Sketch Group: Episode 2 The gang pays a visit to Jonathan to make sure he's doing them right... Shot and Edited by Robert Grigsby Wilson.
[embed]http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/1c244b8845/untitled-sketch-group-episode-2-from-untitled-sketch-group?rel=player[/embed]
Untitled Sketch Group: Episode 3 Chris tries to clean up the mess after his hit-and-run accident while Jared and Claude try unsuccessfully to brainstorm new sketch ideas. Shot and Edited by Robert Grigsby Wilson.
[embed]http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/b1dde61f82/untitled-sketch-group-episode-3-from-untitled-sketch-group?rel=player[/embed]
Untitled Sketch Group: Episode 4 The guys from Untitled Sketch Group make a Boost Mobile ad. Cinematography by Robert Grigsby Wilson.
[embed]http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/f330846163/boost-mobile-from-untitled-sketch-group?rel=player[/embed]
The trailer I also edited for USG:
[embed]http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/c1d00560cd/untitled-sketch-group-new-trailer-from-untitled-sketch-group[/embed]
What I'm Working On: Michael Grant Terry - Reel 2009
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/4139233] This is a reel I edited for Michael Grant Terry. It showcases some of the editing work I put into a typical reel job. Here, each of his scenes have been edited to refocus the drama on his character. I have been cutting Mike's reels for years now and have seen him grow from an unknown to a common face on television and in commercials. Currently you can see Mike on FOX's Bones as Wendell Bray. He just emailed me today to say that he'll be on tomorrow night's episode, Wednesday, April 15th at 8pm on FOX, and the season finale, which he believes will air May 14th. Congrats Mikey!
What I'm Working On: Brimmer Street Theater Company - "Severance"
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/3612808] A montage that played on a loop at an art show fundraiser for the theater company.
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/4139461]
A promotional reel used by the theater company for marketing and publicity.
These are two promotional films I cut for The Brimmer Street Theater Company's original work "Severance," which premiered in Los Angeles in 2007. The play is based on the premise that the human head lives for ninety seconds after the moment of separation, and in that final moment the mind continues to remember, ponder, and regret.
"For those who feel that theater has grown stale or predictable, here's something different...a coup de theatre." ~Terry Morgan, Variety
What I'm Working On: Hitman FX Reel 2008
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/3481058] Visual effects reel for Huey Carroll and his company Hitman FX.
(i'm posting a few old projects to get the blog history caught up)
What I'm Working On: Katie Goldschmidt - Reel 2007
Katie Goldschmidt - Reel 2007 [vimeo=http://vimeo.com/4154162]
Katie Goldschmidt is a cinematographer friend of mine. We studied film in Prague together back in college. A couple years ago Katie applied to the AFI Conservatory for Cinematography and commissioned me to edit her reel. She was accepted and just recently graduated. Congrats Katie!
(I'm posting several old projects to get my blog caught up)
What I'm Working On: Every Day (Local 700 baby!)
Every Day Written and Directed by Richard Levine (Nip/Tuck)
Edited by Pam Wise, ACE (Secretary, Transamerica, Then She Found Me)
First Assistant Editor: Robert Grigsby Wilson
Local 700 baby! My first union job. After busting my ass for years trying to get a shot on a union gig, Pam hooked it up and gave me a chance to be her Assistant Editor on her indie feature. I met Pam way back when I was a production assistant for Carl Byker on a PBS Frontline documentary called "The Meth Epidemic," which she edited. We've stayed in touch since then, so now here I am!
The film was shot on the RED Cam, which is basically the "new hotness" of digital filmmaking. It records at 4k resolution (although its quality is frankly debatable) which is comparable in quality to 35mm film. The essential benefit of this is that you can shoot without the constraints of film, film equipment, and film processing on your budget. In addition to that, there was no need for heavy editing equipment either. Pam and I are editing the entire film on our new MacBook Pros and a couple 1 TB drives.
Oh we had problems, but mostly it arised out of not being able to manage the original RED media ourselves. A lab in New York (that shall remain nameless) received all our original media and downconverted everything into DNxHD 36, Avid's new compressed HD codec. In an ideal situation, this would've been fine, since they would have taken that extra step out of my hands. However, this was all during the time when Final Cut Pro had exclusive rights to the SDK for RED, which essentially meant Avid and Red didn't always want to talk to each other correctly. Thus creating huge headaches with converting media, all while trying to stay on schedule. I'd say, if you plan on making your film with the RED, either edit in Final Cut Pro or at least manage all your RED files yourself.
Some RED links: Avid and The Red | Spilling The Beans On The Red One | Avid/Red Forum on Reduser | Peter Jackson shoots RED | Soderberg shoots RED
Not bad for a first entry, eh?