Spoiler Level: Moderate to High

(Profanity Level: Earmuffs – Not safe for work or tiny ears)

The Setup: Glengarry Glen Ross is director James Foley’s adaptation of the 1982 David Mamet play, about four real estate salesmen struggling to keep their jobs. After an edict from their disembodied bosses Mitch & Murray announces that all but two high performers will be fired, things get tense. That edict, by the way, is delivered by Blake (Alec Baldwin), in what many might consider to be the film’s essential scene. My pick is a bit different, but equally withering.

Early in the film, rock star “closer” Ricky Roma (Al Pacino) attempts to sell insecure James Lingk (Jonathan Pryce) on a shady real estate investment, finally snagging him after a lengthy monologue. During a series of interrogations surrounding the burglary of a stack of coveted “leads”, Lingk returns to the office to back out of the deal. With help from a ruse by Shelley Lavene (Jack Lemmon), a sad sack with no major prospects, Roma is able to falsely calm Lingk into thinking that the sale is moving; a safe bet, but not final. When cocky John Williamson (Kevin Spacey), the office manager, bluffs that the investment is already made, and that the check is cashed, it screws up the whole deal. Williamson’s attempt at being “one of the boys” blows up in his face, and consequently, he must face the wrath of Ricky Roma.

The provided clip comes in a little late, but it’s still amazing, and ends right on point, before the film shifts into its final revelation.

Why It’s Great: David Mamet is a master of simple emotional trajectories, always making his characters’ motivations clear and concise. James Foley seems to understand that intuitively in his direction of the adapted script, arguably Mamet’s most famous story. While Foley hasn’t ever really recaptured the dynamite he bottled in this film (his films since have included the Mark Wahlberg pictures Fear and The Corruptor), here he shows the restraint and craftsmanship of a true veteran.

The entire film is set in closed, sterile, man-made rooms, taking a cue from the stage play. What Foley conveys with cinematography, production design, and shot design is a sense of early 90′s office life that exudes the frustration and banality of bureaucratic control. Just look at the apparently elusive natural light that attempts to seep in through frosted windows and closed blinds, and the jagged walls of the room that seem to only exist to reveal more corners stuffed with filing cabinets and paperwork. This isn’t where these guys live… it’s a temple built by richer men with a warehouse mentality.

Regarding Foley’s coverage: as Roma’s plan starts to unravel, we get a good idea of what’s happening not only in the foreground, but the background, following Levene’s retreat. We stick with Roma’s POV, as he circles Williamson like a hungry lion. The shots become increasingly singular as Roma moves into his interrogation session.

Pacino could be accused of playing to his own cliche here, but his performance as Roma is perfectly apt. Meanwhile, Spacey just dies quietly in front of the camera, as the false bravado his character has established throughout the film deflates in at least one direct perspective shot.

An element that’s used brilliantly throughout the whole film is a nearby city train track, as the film presumably takes place in Mamet’s Chicago. A noisy passing train comes at a strategic time in this scene in particular, as the outside world – and a nearby investigating officer – interrupt Roma’s tirade to bring things back into perspective.

There’s a no-frills quality to this scene that relies heavily on performance and production design, and that’s why it’s great. Glengarry Glen Ross is a fantastic movie, one of my all-time favorites, one that treats informational revelations the way an action-thriller might treat explosions. It went a long way in influencing me as a writer and director, and – with all humility – while the traces might not be extremely evident, there is a lot of Glengarry Glen Ross in The Nocturnal Third.

“You wanna learn the first rule? You’d know it if you’d ever spent a day in your life. You never open your mouth, ’til you know what the shot is… you f*cking child.”

(In a bizarre side-story, I worked for James Foley’s brother, Jerry Foley, for a day in 2006. He was directing an Andy Kindler bit shooting at Huntsville’s US Space & Rocket Center for The David Letterman show, and I was on the camera crew. At the time, I didn’t think it’d be polite to rave about how awesome his brother’s 14-year old movie movie is.)

Note to Film Nerds readers: This  blog entry is particularly “inside baseball”. I simultaneously apologize to and thank the reader for allowing some indulgence. I promise I’ve got a more Film Nerd-ish entry in the works.

It seems like I start every blog entry with “boy, I haven’t written one of these in a while.”

In March, the company I worked for over the past 3 years as head video editor closed. I have a wife and a dog that demand food, but since one of those is healthily employed, and because I’m a member of the Dave Ramsey cult, we were never in danger of starving. However, the American spirit and my German breeding wouldn’t allow me to bum off of my wife and our savings account, and I had to be honest with myself and admit that the fear spread by the media about our nation’s economic situation had officially reached our little City of Tomorrow. So, I was looking a grim situation in the face, and I knew this was going to be an interesting couple of months.

We were going to have to boil things down to essentials for the second time in our young marriage, and I realized there were two ships to keep afloat – my relationship with my wife, and The Nocturnal Third.

When faced with adversity, it seems like two easy coping mechanisms are to punish those closest to you and to drop long-term goals for the sake of short-term solutions. To ensure quality time together, we organized a Summer Date Night Screening Series, the results of which I hope to post soon, and I joined in on her triathlon training (periodically). Add to that, I never entertained any job options that would jeopardize any forward movement on the film (working an oil rig in Alaska, taking out a loan and going to grad school, etc.)

Consequently, we enjoyed a lean summer full of fun and productivity, but the entire time I felt I was performing a high-wire act, as God seemingly provided the right amount of work right when we needed it to meet our budget. It was pretty amazing, and now I feel like I’ve been taught that ever-elusive virtue that this fiscally conservative dorkus has been missing for so long – flexibility. The killer schedule of A Genesis Found and the directorial experience of The Nocturnal Third went a long way in keeping me guessing, but now I feel like we could survive anything.

In the midst of “struggling” (let it not be said that I’m not aware of the real hardships many families are facing here and abroad), I had a few tools, beyond a great family, ever-evolving faith, and the aforementioned dog. I’ve finally picked back up the amazing Neal Gabler biography Walt Disney: Triumph of the American Imagination. My mom got it for me for Christmas 3 years ago, and after reading a few pages in 2007, I quickly realized this was going to be less of a breezy read and more of a side project. At 880 pages, it functions as a comprehensive history of early Hollywood, the art of animation, and global pop culture. My renewed journey through the book is complemented by my mission to fill gaps and watch every animated Disney feature I’ve missed over the years. What strikes me about Disney and the principles he was able to establish is the idea of enacting almost subliminal social change through positivity and shared experiential joy. Intentional or not, a Mickey Mouse cartoon is constructed in such a way that it immediately triggers endorphin release. I’ve even been listening to tracks from the various Disney musicals in an almost therapeutic way. It’s hard to have a bad day if you’re jamming “Whistle While You Work”, or “Prince Ali”, or “When You Wish Upon A Star”.

I also spent much of the summer reading up on the Space Race, and revisiting films like The Right Stuff and Apollo 13. Again, NASA in the late 50′s exudes optimism and stubborn bravado.

This interest in progressive-thinking genius (or at least the image thereof) is definitely informing a burgeoning concept for my second feature-length screenplay, but it’s also reflected in The Nocturnal Third. In addition to learning resourcefulness in my personal life, the themes of utilitarianism in your surroundings that surface in N3rd are also becoming more and more clear and clean to me as I mold each scene in sound editing and in examining the film from a “marketing” perspective. Producer Lee and I were recently talking about how refreshing it is to have a story still speak to you in its various stages of development, despite being conceived of three years ago.

I’m currently enjoying the bizarre process of recording foley, basically acting out the aural consequences of decisions our actors made a year ago. It’s a slow-moving process, as it’s location-based, which is harder to schedule, and dependent on location operations and weather. In the meantime, I’m working on writing copy for marketing materials, prepping the glitzy web site, and chatting with the other artists working on the film.

Let’s not forget that there’s plenty to be done for the upcoming Southeastern Campus Tour of A Genesis Found… Follow director Lee Fanning’s blog (http://sonofarkie.blogspot.com/) to get the latest info on that, as well as some great insight from him.

So, that’s how I spent my summer. I’m now working part time at a job with one of the best companies on the planet, as well as working with some great freelance clients doing interesting work. It really does feel like school is back in session, as balance seems to have been restored. Above all, we have a release date set for The Nocturnal Third… April 2011. Myself and the other filmmakers working on the project are excited about the ever-approaching day when the world can see our movie.

In the meantime, I’m looking forward to getting in Melody Time from Netflix… the last of the post-war anthology features in the Disney line-up. Watch out for my blogging activity to hopefully increase now that I can afford to make a bit more time for such “distractions”, including an entry into the “Great Scenes” Film Nerds series, a look at our Summer Date Night movies, and a comprehensive look at the ENTIRE Animated Disney canon (expect that 4th quarter 2014).

Also, if you’re not already, come follow @WonderMillFilms on Twitter. It’s a little less formal and more abstract than much of our dialogue on Facebook. www.twitter.com/wondermillfilms

Thanks for reading, guys, and for letting me indulge.

God Bless,

Ben Stark

Writer/Director, The Nocturnal Third

But did the future ever actually happen?

It kind of feels like the machine gobbled up the rage, doesn’t it? I suppose artistic revolutions usually tend to yield a lot less interesting and cohesive work than the boring standards of discipline and consistency, but really, what came out of the indie pillaging of Hollywood? The information age trend of viral marketing, popularized by Blair Witch, sure came in handy, but what about the stories themselves? They got bigger and bigger, that’s for sure. It feels like the independent spirit has just been relegated to a market niche at this point. Throw enough dysfunction and awkward framing together, and you’ve got the modern American indie.

I suppose there’s an inherent flaw in looking at content, though. Maybe storytelling in the cinematic medium peaked by the 80′s? Even if that’s true, I’m not sure there’s anything wrong with it… arguably, the novel form peaked with Moby Dick, and we still get great novels. I think what’s important to most revolutionaries is less the what, and more the how. That’s where the indie spirit resides, anyway: thriftiness. It’s the part of the 90′s indie movement that the machine has failed to consume.

A special case is this year’s District 9. When Peter Jackson’s pet producing project Halo fell through, he promised the refugee director of that project, Neil Blomkamp, $30 million to make whatever he wanted. So, utilizing the (relatively) inexpensive RED camera system, and the backing of the (2nd) hottest director on the planet, Blomkamp made an extremely profitable summer blockbuster. Say what you will about the WHAT of District 9, an okay sci-fi action movie, but what’s important to me is the HOW.

The question is, why didn’t this happen sooner, and will it happen again? Low cost digital cinema has been available for at least 5 years. The star system has been declared dead for as long. Yet, bloated productions have only accrued more and more overhead, necessitating safer decision-making, and increased branding. Does a Spider-Man movie need to cost $300 million? Maybe… Let’s go with a more down to earth example? Does a sequel to the $50 million* Raiders of the Lost Ark need to cost $150 million? What about a sequel to Die Hard? $110 million? Really? $230 million for Quantum of Solace? No aliens, no supernatural elements… and it costs more than two Lord of the Rings movies?

One is reminded of Tugg Speedman, in Tropic Thunder: Looking up after performing an emotional scene (armless), to see a director huddled over him, with about 500 crew members watching. Film production, like regular life, necessitates moderation and a proper handling of waste and over-expenditure. If not, fear of failure becomes a crippling motivation, no?

So what do you all think? Should we be optimistic that, instead of running for foreign money and sacrificing autonomy, Hollywood executives will sacrifice luxury, and shoot digital, write economically, and second-guess in pre-production rather than post? I think we can be more hopeful now, since we have a smash hit “real” movie (not a one-camera mockumentary) made with fiscal responsibility. It would seem that there, the independent artists can teach us all a lesson: Do what you can, with what you have, to create good work… rather than what you must, with what you lack, to impress the establishment. Will this next decade see the fruition of that idea? Will this recent  “recession” play a part?

Maybe so. Then again, I hear a new Spider-Man is on the horizon. And boy, those giant Transformers movies keep making money… and you know how people still love playing Battleship…

(*Budget adjusted for inflation)

• The Nocturnal Third Production Journal

Ah, editing. The world is at my fingertips, and the world is cutting rather nicely. All that sweat, stress, and concentration already feels like a distant memory. Every shot’s got a little story that runs through my head when I rediscover it. No real news here, other than that I’m about halfway done with the first very rough cut. The story seems to clip along pretty nicely, and all our intentions seem to showing up well. I had an early scare, when I looked at everything laid out before me, without a solid place to start. I was afraid that the whole thing wasn’t going to work, or that it was all a collection of bad decisions made in a stupor, but after a chat with Lee (who could relate) and laying out a game plan, everything started to come together. Just think, only another few shoot days, some sound editing, scoring, animation, more editing, and about a year, and we’ll have another film under our belt!

Dang, there’s that feeling again.

• This Week’s Hypothetical Speculation

So I think I’ve found out what kind of movie-watcher I am. I know, I know- I’m 26, I’m a filmmaker, I’m a Film Nerd, I should know this by now. I’ve always known about these distinctions in storytelling, but it’s never occurred to me that I had a preference.

To start, let’s assume that there are 3 different types of cinematic stories:

1. Plot-Based. Good examples would be Jaws, No Country for Old Men, or Die Hard. The important thing here is “what happens next”, a logical progression of events, usually with a physical or external impact.

2. Character-Based. Examples might include Raging Bull, The 400 Blows, or There Will Be Blood. Here, the stakes, rather than “what happens next”, ask “how will they react”. A character study explores the behavior of an individual or group of individuals, with most of the major events happening internally (with definite external consequences – we’re still watching movies here).

3. Mood or Environment-Based. My examples would be Mulholland Drive, Edward Scissorhands, or Nosferatu der Vampyr. Here, much of the film’s tension lies entirely in atmosphere and environment, often invading plot and character.

You could also argue that a fourth type of cinematic story has evolved, based in Emotion. Without showing my hand too much, this could be a film that seeks to do not much more than engage an emotion, whether it be horror (Hostel), adrenal glee (300, Transformers) or just plain weepiness (pick the generalized Lifetime movie).

Now, certainly there will be crossover. Every great movie will have a forward-moving plot with strong characters, consistent and defined mood, and emotional involvement. One of the reasons Citizen Kane is so great is because it makes a character study into a plot-driven mystery story.

Maybe this discussion should be limited to screenplays, because I am presuming here that crafts such as performance, cinematography, editing, music, and design are all being performed competently. Regardless, it seems that these three or four categorizations are what I most often react to when I realize a movie is or is not working for me. So, my revelation.

I’ve discovered myself to be a plot junkie. If a movie pushes from A to B to C effectively, I tend to overlook a lack of characterization or environment or even emotion. This explains why The Departed is my favorite Scorsese movie, or why The Life Aquatic is my favorite Wes Anderson movie, and why I naturally gravitate towards science fiction or thriller or comedy films rather than dramas or horror movies, or even documentaries, which are almost by necessity character studies. I just have a hard time watching behavior without somewhat immediate consequences.

In my defense, I’m also of the mind that cinema is tailor-made for plot. Novels, in which you can explore every fiber of a character’s consciousness in minute detail, are perfect for character studies. They also allow a reader to follow a character through vast expanses of time, something that film stories always struggle with. Music or painting or comics are an excellent form of exploring mood, not just because of the lack of budgetary restraint, but because their abstract nature allows the audience to fill in gaps with their own imagination, to ride the wave of mood to whatever their own personal emotional destination. Speaking of emotion, I’ve said before that I think music is the most inherently emotional art form, without the boundaries set by accompanied images.

In addition, as film is a visual art, it’s imperative that we’re shown behavior and reaction, and in those things, lies character. If a plot is working, chances are, characterization has been effectively established, as has a believable environment. You know a character well if you’ve seen them behave. We’re getting into very subjective waters now, but I’m also convinced that it takes more skill as a writer or director to convey subtle character information into heavy plot. It feels, to me, like a bit of a cheat to allow oneself, as a storyteller, large margins of time for character to develop. Without action, reaction, behavior, character is nothing.

So what do you think? Am I wrong? Am I stating the obvious? Or, am I just defending a life spent being indoctrinated by American studio filmmaking?

As usual, I’m a little behind on picking up the latest movie news. I read earlier this week about two very strange upcoming projects. The writing team of Bill Collage and Adam Cooper (New York Minute, Accepted) have been hired by 20th Century Fox to write a retelling of the story of Moses, on the heels of their finishing a popular script for a re-imagining of Moby Dick. From the first article: “‘Moby Dick’ was pitched as a “300″-like reimagining of the Melville story as a visually stunning action piece, and the story of Moses is conceived similarly.”

This reminds me an awful lot of the apparently Snyderized version of Sherlock Holmes that will hit theaters this winter.

This is all conjecture, but it seems like the latest branding trend has finally come to the point of studios pursuing classical “properties” to sell to familiarity-hunting audiences. Now- I, for one, like branding. It can produce some great, epic continuities (Harry Potter, Star Wars), shoehorn interesting discussion into mass appeal storytelling (Nolan’s Batman, the Jason Bourne films), and it can force new and interesting brainstorming into still-profitable veterans (Star Trek, Casino Royale). Brand recognition is our bizarre, corporate-oriented version of nostalgia and comfort. It sounds cold and alien to accept it this way, but hey, I’m an optimist.

What’s not so sunny, however, is the fear that new interpretations of established classic stories will taint the legacy of said classics. Does a generation really need to see Sherlock Holmes as a Jack Sparrow-esque party animal? Does Ahab need to be redefined as “a charismatic leader”? Isn’t this just taking established icons of literature and – at the risk of sounding reductive – making them stupid? Does everything need to happen in slow motion or with visual garnish to be worth paying attention to? At this rate, how will the legacy of these characters continue? If more people watch Timur Bekmambetov’s AvD than read “Moby Dick”, will the story survive? Will our grandchildren laugh at the crazy, free-wheeling Sherlock Holmes of their culture?

Again, it looks like the discussion is veering towards the inevitable counter-argument: through providence or the strength of the human intellect, great stories survive. Really, what’s the difference between the Snyderization of bible stories and, let’s say, the Muppetization of Dickens? What about “Classics Illustrated”, or other demographic-targeted “reimaginings”? I suppose a bigger audience will see these mega-high-budget reinterpretations (in fact, they HAVE to for the studios’ high stakes gambles to pay off), so that would be one argument… Never before have the powers of classic-twisting been so motivated or powerful. But again, it seems like no one remembers King Kong ’76. No one cares about Crystal Skull a year after it was released. We still all sit there and ogle Empire Strikes Back when it comes on TV. But these aren’t tried and true literary icons, either… What do we accept as Dracula, the character in Bram Stoker’s novel, or Bela Lugosi? Who do you see when you read “Frankenstein”?

What are your thoughts on these Classics Snyderized? Is it as harmless as a Mickey’s Christmas Carol or is it a corporate conspiracy to make us all dumber? Are you anticipating these movies?

When YouTube hit the mainstream in 2005, the big question was, “When will YouTube be a legitimate threat to DVD or theatrical film distribution?” I found the definitive answer this week: Never! Late, I know.

A few days ago, I received a message from YouTube that a dorky video I created in college with primitive After Effects skills has gotten over 500,000 views. Apparently, that makes my account eligible for “partner” status, and available for ad revenue profit sharing. I talked to a good friend that happens to be very e-commerce savvy, and he told me that if I can generate content that will attract YouTube viewership, I could make decent amounts of money. I wondered if posting trailers or other Wonder Mill Films content would be a good way for our films to get YouTube exposure, and he answered that it would really have to cater to YouTube audience demands… that is to say, “No.”

Since Wonder Mill creates relatively mainstream narrative work, it wouldn’t fit into the YouTube menagerie of absurdist sketch comedy, celebrity gossip, shocking videos of humiliation and/or failure, or political rabbit trails. And so, like Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, I stare into the creeping abyss. Do I put my soul at hazard? Do I say, “Okay, I’ll be part of this world”? Or, like YouTube success story Andy Samberg, do I throw my keyboard to the GROUND and scream “I’M NOT A PART OF YOUR SYSTEM”?

I’m sure there’s some preaching to be done about the lost potential of YouTube, like the entire internet before it. The sermon would go, YouTube had the opportunity to become a unifying source for positivity in the world, but instead humanity has soiled it to become a spawning ground for new ways to hate, spy on, and ogle other people. I’m not going to preach that sermon, however, for fear I’ll discover some dark stuff I don’t really want to confront on a Wednesday.

I will say, though, that while I don’t think YouTube will ever become a legitimate home for real filmed storytelling, it has emerged as a solid alternate news source and educational tool. Where else would I find, for free, documentaries on transhumanism, or the terrors of the World Bank, outside of intra-library exchange? It could also be commended for opening the door for real internet-based film distribution, like Hulu or Netflix’s Instant Watch.

So, for now, I still need to make my decision. Sure, Wonder Mill will ultimately find a suitably visible internet home for its feature films. But what if my crummy college tornado video does generate market demand? Like I said, it’s got 500,000 views, 1,339 ratings (1.5 stars, baby!), and 840 terrifying, vitriolic comments (see the end of the entry for some of my favorites).

What if I’ve got a gold mine of a channel on my hands? Anyone want to get together to make an absurd skit about Kanye West, or badly imitate Lonely Island? Aw, forget it, I’ll just hire this guy.

• Disparate Movie Thoughts

-Since principal photography has wrapped, I’ve allowed myself to watch movies again. In addition to working my way through Justice League, I also recently watched the new Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. Check it out for big, crazy superhero fights, but for cohesive and well-paced storytelling, stick to the serialized DCAU. I should start Justice League Season 2 soon, in hopes that the second season gives Superman more to do. That’s barely a complaint, though, as the first season worked hard to set up the Green Lantern and J’onn J’onzz. Highlights include the introduction of Jack Kirby’s Demon, Gorilla Grodd, Mongul, and the Injustice League.

-I’m also doing the required Halloween viewing with my wife, having finished the original 1941 Wolf Man starring Lon Chaney. Good stuff. We started Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man last night, and I’m itching to get back to it after a great opening.

-I still haven’t been able to venture back to a movie theater since wrapping, and I think I might be saving the experience for The Fantastic Mr. Fox, which I anticipate more and more. Check out this awesome featurette for a glimpse at their in-field voice recording method.

• And now, the Dark Pit of Hopelessness brings you Wacky YouTube User Comments!

From osky5, translated via Yahoo Babelfish:
“so that your you are so *sshole and nonbeams a good work I am sees bie excrement… you are mamao. cabron sucks tiny beast *sshole son of puta… if you are going to remove to me from my time to see something that are good, pendejooo”

From pasm837:
“The Tornado is very realistic, the weird house spoilt it however. But I must say a lot of work went into making it, have you got any video’s of a sesible realistic Tornado”

From LajonSmit:
“r u an rtard?”

From billycorn54:
“Whoever made this is a f*ggot.”

From wxfreak101:
“I lost… 40 seconds of my life… I could have…texted someone… or something… ahhhh!!!”

From fatcar1:
“i thought the simplicity of it was quite funny. i wish that would hapen to the house this d*ck head i know lives in, his name is dayno. Pray that his house is destroyed in this manner.”

From MDHmodder:
“this is the worst video I have ever seen.”

From themangodess:
“God d*mnit you f*ggoty JewTube users stop using misleading titles or else you’re going to get hit by a bunch of complaints”

From thewhoissuperb24:
“Could the author of this video be any more retarded? If you wanna see a house get picked up by a tornado, then go into a town that has a tornado in it! Then watch a house go up.”

From scubasteve0225:
“i hope your daughter gets raped”

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Have a great week!