EP. 2 Wet Pants and Chopped Lettuce

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0:0

Kevin: So, I left my headphones at work so we are going to be flying deaf. But! Welcome back to the second, ooh, the second episode of the Filmmaker's Blog podcast. I am in Oklahoma working on a feature. Chillen’ in my hotel room. Podcasting for you all. There’s a lot we’re gonna talk about today. Everything from some travel mishaps, I always love to talk about food, and of course, we’re gonna get into filmmaking and the three things you need to be doing as a filmmaker. If you’re starting out, if you’re, you know, deep into your career. If you haven't been doing these three things you need to start.

0:45

Kevin: So. Oklahoma. It’s not bad, actually. You know, a little bit different than I expected but a lot of the same, a lot of the things that I expected, as well. It truly is a very flat place. You could see extremely far in every single direction. And if you just look to the distance, you’ll just see tons of fast food signs, twenty, thirty feet up in the air in any direction really. 

1:18

Kevin: But on the way here I flew. So, I know in the last podcast I said that I would be driving to Oklahoma. A 19, 20-hour drive. Well, thank God that I was flown here and that only took around four hours, so. And that's, that’s flight time. It doesn't include, like, security and stuff. But that is so much better than a 19-hour drive, especially if you're driving through a hundred-degree temperatures. I was in an air-conditioned plane. 

1:48

Kevin: The problem is, well not really a problem. But, I don't know if you’re like me, but I can't seem to relax on a plane or even be mentally coherent on a plane. Like there's sleeping and there's focused. And there's this middle ground that's, you’re just kind of in limbo of Consciousness. And that's where I get when we’re 20,000 feet up in the air. I can't do any work, I can barely think, and I'm really tired but I can't seem to fall asleep. It's really hard for me to fall asleep on a plane. And just this trip alone, I was going in and out of consciousness. Trying to fall asleep on the second plane ride to Oklahoma is about two hours. The first one is just about an hour and a half-ish with a layover.

2:47

Kevin: And as I was dozing off, just about to close my eyes, I felt this really cold sensation all around my shorts. And I realized I was holding a glass of ice water in my hand and as I was falling asleep the cup was just tipping over and I spilled ice water all over my crotch. And it woke me up, for sure, but it was also extremely wet and unfortunate. So, I had to ask the flight attendant for some napkins and I immediately just grabbed it from her hand and shoved it under my butt and I just sat on it for the rest of the plane ride, just hoping that everything would dry up and I wouldn't be walking out of the plane with the big wet ring around my butt. But fortunately, I was able to kind of dry up before anyone other than the person sitting next to me notice ‘cuz I played it off as a joke.  

3:50

Kevin: As I usually do. That's the only really way you can get away with, with that sort of circumstance. ‘Cuz if you just make fun of yourself and that's what you got to do in those times. But something that actually really caught my eye during the American Airlines flight was their safety video. They actually had a really intense safety video play instead of the flight attendants doing a little shindig with the seatbelts and whatnot. They had a bunch of monitors all around and this video played. And they basically said the same thing that the flight attendants said but in a really cinematic way.

4:30

Kevin: And I was probably, I’m pretty sure I was the only one watching this thing because every time they did something really cool, like, they played with reflections in mirrors a lot. And she would, or the flight attendant that was giving you instructions, would kind of walk through the mirrors and appear and disappear in different parts of the frame. And I'd like look around the cabin for anybody that possibly saw that that wanted to like give a little nod to me and so I could nod back at him. Just kind of, you know, mutually recognizing that we saw something really cool. But nobody was watching and I was the only person watching and, and/or appreciating the cinematography in that video.    

5:15

Kevin: So after landing in Oklahoma, checking into my hotel, doing all of those logistical things, it was time to eat. And I was with my buddy Scott who is the DP on the project and his nephew Micah who is a PA on the project. And, funny enough, I never thought that this would happen but the first thing that I ate in Oklahoma was Mexican food. And I swear I thought there was no Mexican food throughout the entire state or nothing that really resembled Mexican food. Like maybe a Taco Bell, but nothing like, you know, a Taco Shack. Or, you know, one of those good greasy places in the hole in the wall where, on the corner somewhere, one of those a frame type of places. Like El Armando's in Poway, if you know what I'm talking about? Or maybe even El Patron. El Patron's pretty good in Scripps and in Mira Mesa. Those are good spots. 

6:17

Kevin: But funny enough there are two big Mexican restaurants right next to the hotel and we went to one called, oh man, I don't remember what it was called. It's called Ted's. Yeah. I don't know a Mexican guy named Ted. But now I do. But it's called Ted’s and it was actually pretty good. Not gonna lie. There was some pluses and some minuses. The taco, a fat minus. Should have got the soft taco. I got the hard taco. I thought it was going to be like a corn tortilla that was fried into a hard taco, which is usually how it's done, but it was a taco shell. Just reminded me of Taco Bell and that one was rough. 

7:08

Kevin: But! The chicken enchilada was absolutely fantastic. Chicken enchilada was bomb. The rice and beans were good and the chile relleno was good. Something funny about the chile relleno, though, was the cheese was so freaking sticky. Like there was so much, I don't understand how they pack so much cheese into there, it was unreal. Absolutely unreal. But first Mexican experience in Oklahoma, I give a solid B minus. 

7:40

Kevin: Alright, we’re gonna get back to food because I have a really interesting experience with Whataburger coming up. But first, let's talk about what the heck I'm doing in Oklahoma. So I'm working on a feature and I am working as a DIT or a dit. And a DIT stands for digital imaging technician. And what the role is is that I'm in charge of all digital media in terms of management and just making sure that the media captured by the cameras is transferred to the hard drives and into a Premiere Project without anything missing. Everything is accounted for and it's all peachy. So that’s my job.  

8:25

Kevin: On top of that I am also doing some assistant editor types of jobs like prepping the timeline, trimming the clips, putting them in order by scene. So that when the editor gets the project it's all perfectly laid out for him. I have all the scenes grouped together with all the shots so when that he gets the project he doesn't have to do any media management. He doesn't have to organize anything. Everything has been done for him and he can go straight into editing and being creative and put the movie together. 

9:00

Kevin: So that's my job. And it's sitting a lot. A lot of sitting. I mean, I'm on my computer for most of the day just, you know, making file transfers and organizing and everything I just kind of said. But while I'm, while I'm downloading the footage, I'll get up and watch the production and help out in any way I can, but then I'll be back on my computer, you know, getting it ready for the editor. So I'm going to be working in Oklahoma for the next couple of weeks and then I'll be back in San Diego. 

9:32

Kevin: So, let's get into the meat and potatoes of this podcast. I want to talk about three things that every filmmaker should be doing and relate it into kind of a real scenario so that you know that these things are legit and that they will help you with your filmmaking career. So let's go ahead and start with number one. 

9:55

Kevin: The best thing I did when I started to make my first film was work. Wait! What, what does that even mean? Well, I was working at a Chick-fil-A when I first got accepted into San Diego State and I worked there for just under a year saving up a ton of money. And the thing about San Diego State is that when you apply to the college, and even if you get in, you still need to apply to the film school. So there's kind of a two-step application process. And on the second application, you need to apply with a portfolio. 

10:31

Kevin:  And within that portfolio, there's like a script, a treatment, some other stuff I can't remember. But most importantly, there is a reel, or a collection of works, or just maybe one or two full films. And what I thought was interesting was we needed to apply with films, or with videos, but we weren't allowed to use any of the equipment that the school had until we were in the film department.

11:02

Kevin: So for a lot of people who didn't have any equipment, how are we supposed to make videos to apply to the film department? Seems like a catch-22. I don't know if that's supposed to weed out people but it definitely didn't deter me from making anything. Luckily my brother at the time had an FS 100, so he was able to lend me the camera so that I actually had something to shoot with. But as for any other gear, we were kind of out of luck.

11:41

Kevin: So what I did really early on, and what I continue to do, is to invest in myself. I decided to take a big chunk of the money that I saved up from Chick-fil-A. Not only did it pay tuition for college, but I used it to buy some equipment. My Chick-fil-A sauce bought me was some impact cam lights, so I could do some lighting. Bought me a Sennheiser MKE 600. It's a shotgun microphone to get quality audio. And when you have a shotgun microphone you need a boom pole and you need an audio recorder. And I have a DR-60D. 

12:21

Kevin: Now the beauty about investing yourself and owning your own equipment is that you own your own equipment and it's with you forever. There's no rentals baby, you don't need to give it back and it's always good. Just a thought that you may want to consider when buying things, but I always like to buy things that are quality and that will last for a long time. I'm currently recording this podcast on the DR-60D, the audio recorder I bought my freshman year of college. And I’ve used this recorder on nearly everything I've shot since. It was on my latest big project, The Long Walk. It was on Hot Flakes, it was on Ghost. It was on...it was on everything, all right? Just take my word for it, I can't really remember. All the corporate stuff and all the narrative stuff.

13:15

Kevin: It's a beauty. Along with that, I also use my shotgun and my boom pole. All of that audio equipment was solid. Where I went wrong, though, was the lights. I probably should have got better lights. But right now I don't use those lights anymore. Those impact cam lights were super hot, they drew a lot of power, and they were a pain just to deal with. 

13:37

Kevin: You had the body of the light and then it had a metal hood over it and you always had to screw 3 tungsten bulbs into the hood. And whenever you’d use it, it’d get super hot. Everyone would get sweaty. The talent, the crew. This is before I actually had makeup artists on set to take care of all that stuff. So, we were just shooting sweaty talent whenever we used those lights. And the worst part was tearing them down. When once you shut them off you had to wait a good 20 minutes before even touching the bulbs. And you had to wear gloves before touching the bulbs otherwise the hands on your oils would get on the bulbs and then the bulbs were more likely to break. It was just a big thing every time they were used, so that’s why I don't like to use them anymore and they’re just sitting in my garage. But everything else I bought that year is solid.

14:33

Kevin: Getting back to the point, using that equipment to make some films to apply to college with was really beneficial for me. One: I was able to make more creative, cinematic videos starting out because I just had the tools to do so. It's really tough to light if you don't have anything to light with. Yeah, you can harness the sun. But on my first film, the idea was in a completely night time shot film. I mean it was indoors but it was shot at night. So there’s no sun, there’s no way to harness it. And I really knew at that time, if there's a couple things that I did know, it's that audio is important and audio will ruin the film if it’s not good.

15:27

Kevin: And so that was my intention, that was my drive, or my push, to buy some quality audio equipment. So, having those things, I was able to make a pretty decent first short film that had good audio, good enough lighting, and a good enough idea and boom there's the first film. 

15:53

Kevin: Now, am I saying that you can't make a good film without the proper equipment? No. I'm not saying that. The thing about indie filmmaking or just filmmaking in general, whatever level you’re at, is your resourcefulness to make things happen on a budget. No matter what level you're at, you're never going to have enough money, you're never going to have enough crew, and you're never going to have enough time. 

16:23

Kevin: I know this from the first film I shot to the last film I shot. The budgets ran from $0 to $2,000. And both times we were saying, ‘Man, we need more money. How are we going to think creatively and think of ways to stretch a dollar so that we can finish this film and make it great.’ So with that in mind, know that equipment is not the end-all-be-all. But what it is is definitely a tool for creativity. Equipment is definitely a tool for you to be more creative and possibly execute better than you would without them. 

17:04

Kevin: And that's why the tip is to invest in yourself. Whatever you can do, whether it's a small amount or a large amount. You know, figure out ways to invest in yourself. And that's not just buying equipment! It could be the next part and that's to connect with people. 

17:23

Kevin: Connect with people. Talk to other people about film. And you know what? Every once in a while you'll talk to someone who's into film or that makes films and the more people you know that make films, the more likely you're going to get on a film set. That is just mathematics. That is as simple as I can say it, in a way. But it really comes down to this one thing: you know, filmmaking is a job. When we break it down when it comes down to it. And when you think about jobs, over the course of your life you're going to get more jobs from other people then jobs that you’ve created yourself. Especially when you’re starting out.

18:12

Kevin: Now if you’re on the track to creating your own production company, then possibly you're on the track to being the job provider. But starting out, whether you’re creating your own production company or not, you gonna receive the most of your jobs from other people. And if you're that person that wants to start your business, or start your production company, know that most people that actually do start a business work for another business first. Not only to support themselves while they're trying to start their own business but to learn and to get an idea of the do's and do not’s and kind of get familiar with that part of the industry.

18:52

Kevin: Now to put things in perspective, this job I'm on right now I didn't create. I'm not the creative behind this film. I'm not an investor behind this film. I didn't create this job. We’re going to play like Seven Seconds or... what is it? Seven...Seven Points to Kevin Bacon. Or 7 Something to Kevin Bacon? If you know, shoot it in the comments. But we’re going to play that game. We’re gonna do Seven People to the Job and see how far we get. 

19:20

Kevin: So if we string out kind of the who knows who for this job offer it was me to my brother, to my current boss, who wasn't my boss at one point but now is, to my boss's friend to my boss' friend’s friend and boom. That's five points. So we’re five points to job. And I guess, I guess we would beat the game but the point is is that there's, that's a lot of connections in terms of how many steps it took, or people to know, before I was able to even be offered this opportunity. 

20:04

Kevin: So that's just a really quick glimpse into how meeting people, connecting with people, being kind to people so that you can create friendships is really important in film. And not only in film, but you never know who you're going to meet. You never know who you're going to meet. I have to be reminded this every once in a while, especially, you know, when you're out and about or if you're being strung along somewhere where you really don't want to be there and you just kind of want to go home and nap. The thing is, in the video industry it’s a very social industry and you never know who you're going to meet. It may be someone who potentially is looking for someone to help them with a job or it could be a potential client who needs video needs, you know? And you never know what’s going to happen.

20:55

Kevin: So if you always just try to make connections and just talk, talk to people about video and your video and how it excites you and motivates you and how that's what you want to do and you continue to grow this network of people you know, eventually you're going to get some jobs out of it.

21:14

Kevin: Now hopefully your own business takes off, if that's what you want to do, and you can have a successful production company, but even then a lot of the jobs you're going to get are from referrals and through other people. All right, so we're going to pause right there and before we hit our third and final point, something happened the other day that I just have to share. And I thought it was a good time, so I'm going to share it with you guys. 

21:48

Kevin: But I've only heard of Whataburger. I've never actually seen a Whataburger until yesterday. And the only, the only way I even know what Whataburger is from like a YouTube channel kind of rating the top 10 best fast-food burgers. And I forgot where Whataburger rated on that list, but I’m pretty sure it was pretty high. Pretty sure it was in the top four. If I have to remember. And In-n-Out I believe was number one. In-n-Out is the absolute bomb. Go eat some In-n-Out.

22:23

Kevin: Anyway, so we found this Whataburger on the side of the road and - me, Scott, and Micha, the same crew, Mexican crew, now we’re the Whataburger crew - and we go in and we’re gonna try out this bad boy because I was like I’ve never been here before, I’ve never even heard it. Well, I have heard it. I’ve never been here before. I’ve never even seen one. Scott was down to try it and I’m pretty sure Micah...No, Micha hasn’t been in there either. So it was a new experience for everybody! 

22:49

Kevin: So we all go in, get to the register. And our cashier is super, super soft-spoken and kind of doesn't really say anything as we walk in and go up to her. She kind of just stares at us and we stare back at her. And after a couple awkward seconds go by she says ‘Can I help you?’ So Scott goes up to order and right before he orders he asks her ‘This is our first experience at Whataburger, what do you think we should get?’ And she responds ‘I've never had anything on the menu.’

23:26

Kevin: I just look around to the other two and we’re thinking in my head ‘you work here and you've never eaten here?’ That's probably the worst first impression you can get at any restaurant. Period. And so Scott follows this up quickly with ‘Oh, are you a vegetarian?’ ‘No.’ And then it got really weird.

23:51

Kevin: So she doesn't eat anything here, she's not a vegetarian. Those are like two big warning signs at the beginning of the whole experience. I don't care if you like Whataburger, the thing is that's a warning sign. Straight up. So Scott ends up ordering the BBQ bacon burger. Micah orders. I order. I decide to get the double meat Whataburger. I thought I'd just go for a straight-up Whataburger. And add another patty because I was hungry. Just wanted to taste what a Whataburger was. No fluff. No sauciness. Straight up. You know, give me your best shot. I don’t know, I almost feel like if you go to Burger King for the first time you need to just get a Whopper. Standard. I don’t like Burger King but it’s like the same train of thought that’s going on here. 

24:46

Kevin: Anyway, Scott comes up after and Scott’s doing this whole keto diet thing, well he was doing this whole keto diet thing, now he's doing like a 98% keto diet thing. And so he doesn't want the bun. So he goes up to the cashier and he asks for a bacon spicy BBQ Burger. But he asks if they can just do a lettuce wrap. And she responds with just straight eyes. Just, you know, no expression. Like, what are you talking about? No one does lettuce wraps around here. And that’s kind of the vibe that we got. 

25:28

Kevin: And I was trying not to crack up because it got really awkward at that point. But Scott then immediately said, again, ‘Oh, you know, a lettuce wrap. No bun.’ And so she was like ‘Oh, no bun! Yes, we can do that.’ And so we’re all like great, great, great. So she does the whole no bun thing. We sat at our table. We get large drinks which literally look like a half gallon. We give them back. We switch to a medium which looked like a pint. It was a lot. Anyway, I decided to get a little bit of coke mixed with some Fanta. If you've done that before it's rad. 2/3 Coke, 1/3 Fanta. Orange Fanta to be specific. And that’s good. 

26:17

Kevin: Anyway, we got our food back. And we get this plastic box looking thing and two burgers wrapped in paper like usual. So Scott goes to grab one of the burgers and I was like ‘Scott, that's my burger. Your burger’s in this box.’ And he looks at the box and it's just a meat patty with cheese with two slices of wrapped bacon next to it and that's all that's in the box. It is just a lonely Patty with cheese with a little bit of bacon. And he looks straight up to the, I guess waiter at this point, who is the same person as the cashier, and he was like ‘this doesn’t come with lettuce?’

27:04

Kevin: At this, he was so dead serious. And he didn't say it in a mean way, it was he was just so genuinely surprised that whatever his order was, which would be super easy anywhere in San Diego. Like ‘Lettuce wraps that thing? Oh, we know what you mean. Understand it. We got you.’ That...he literally got no bun, nothing else. No lettuce, no tomato. It was a barbecue sauce burger and that was actually on the side. So he actually did get his barbecue sauce but no veggies, no bun. And that moment right there is, was just gold. It was absolute gold. 

27:45

Kevin: Right after that, she was like ‘I can go get you some lettuce. If you want.’ ‘Yeah. Yeah. I'll take some lettuce, please.’ And so she goes back into the kitchen. And you know we start eating and even, even Scott starts to go to town a little bit. But he kind of waits for the lettuce. And she comes back and she’s like ‘Is chopped lettuce okay?’ And I don’t know why we thought that was so funny, but whenever we mention lettuce now, we always have to make a chopped lettuce joke. It was just like one of those experience things, like you had to be there. Like the whole situation was funny, so therefore anything you said afterward could totally catch on as an inside joke. But she was like ‘Yeah, yeah. Chopped lettuce is fine.’ 

28:37

Kevin: So he grabs, she grabs him some chopped lettuce and he just pours it right on his burger. So we kind of had a burger salad in a way. With maybe around, you know, eight or nine pieces of chopped lettuce. So after Scott gets his chopped lettuce I realize that I don't have any cheese in my burger. I have a hamburger when I ordered a cheeseburger. Not the biggest deal, but I really missed my cheese. Anyway, as I was eating it turns out Whataburger is just okay. It kind of tastes like if Burger King was good. That's kind of what it tastes like. It kind of has a Mcdonald's feel to it. I will say that the fries are almost like McDonald's. The fries were actually really good. The burger itself? So, so. Would I go back? Probably not. Yeah, I wouldn't go back. In-n-Out’s where it at. I’ll just wait. Just wait to go back to San Diego to get that In-n-Out. Whataburger? What a disappointment. 

29:41

Kevin: An incredibly weird experience. But I'm glad I tried it ‘cuz...it was interesting. Anyway, now, I hope you enjoyed that little tidbit of Oklahoma fanfare as we explore the flatlands of the Midwest. But the last thing I want to talk about in terms of three things you need to be doing as a filmmaker. We went over: investing in yourself. We went over: making connections. Now this the third thing. This will make you more valuable. Period. And that's to learn new things. Never stop learning. I don’t care what you want to be. Director, editor, cinematographer. There's always something to learn in that niche, or in that department, to make yourself more valuable and to make yourself a candidate for more jobs. 

30:46

Kevin: So let’s say you want to be a director. Okay, it is - actually let's switch this up. Let's say you want to be a cinematographer. It is so hard to go zero to a hundred out of film school, or just out of anything, straight to cinematographer on an actual paid, important, professional project. If  that's happened to you, let me know. We can all do a really quick bow. 

31:16

Kevin: But for most of us, that doesn't happen. Now you also need to know a lot as a cinematographer, I’m not gonna lie, you need to know a lot. But the thing is a lot of cinematographers deal with a vision of lighting and camera, kind of like how a director deals with the vision of the movie. Some cinematographers, even though they know it, don’t actually operate the camera or operate the lights. But there's a lot of avenues that you can choose to go down to finally end up being a cinematographer. 

31:50

Kevin: You can go through the camera department. How about camera operator? An assistant camera. A second assistant camera. A DIT. Which I believe is actually a part of the camera department, you can correct me below. I think it's more a part of the camera department but we’ll think about that. Any of those stuff. You can also go down the Grip and Electric Department. There's a lot of things you can learn and pick up to get yourself into jobs and situations where you can eventually rise up, perform better, and get the job that you actually want. But the only way you can get that job is if you know how to do it and the only way you can know how to do it is if you learn how to do it. 

32:31

Kevin: And that’s why the third thing you should be doing as a filmmaker to get yourself better and to be more valuable is to never stop learning and embrace new things. For this job I kind of knew what a DIT did. I have done digital media unloading on my past shoots but I've never done it in such a logistical form. And as my only job, as well as some on-set post-production assistant editor stuff. So that was all new. I learned a whole new program ShotPut Pro 6 to be able to do that. It wasn't actually that difficult. Pretty quick. Took me like, you know, 30 minutes to an hour to get the hang of it and, you know, after you get the hang of it then, you know, it’s easy as hell.

33:18

Kevin: But, you know, that first initial step going into the tutorials and figuring out what the buttons do and how to use it to the best of your ability? Now that's a process and that takes some commitment. But it was so worthwhile. And if I didn’t learn those things I bet I wouldn't be in the position I am right now. So never stop learning. Always try to find new things to learn. And, you know, if you're struggling, you know, there’s a couple resources. One, you got YouTube University, my guy. 

33:51

Kevin: There's so much stuff on YouTube. Ask a question, visit the Filmmaker's Blog videos. You know, drop a question in the comments asking on how to do something, any questions at all. I'm here for you guys. I'm happy to help. Another thing is, man, open up the book, man. I know we haven't touched pages in a long time, maybe you're allergic to the fine print, but I'm telling you there's a lot of good stuff in all kinds of screenwriting, filmmaking, cinematography, directing books that you can really absorb. And the best way to learn, honestly, is either by reading or by writing. You watch a video, take notes. You will remember it so much better than just watching the video. Guaranteed. Take notes. Write it down.

34:38

Kevin: All right guys, those are the three things. I hope you enjoyed this podcast. Let me know your favorite story or your favorite tip in the comments below. Make sure to follow me on Spotify, I'm going to be pushing Spotify. Or you can follow me on anchor, Anchor.com, and just type in the Filmmakers Blog on either platform. You can follow me on those so you don't miss an episode. And thank you guys for listening so much. I’m really excited to start the next podcast when I have time. I've been working 12-hour days, you know. I was surprised I had enough energy to do this podcast. But I am excited to talk to you guys and to share the knowledge and experience of being on this feature and just, you know, starting to work towards the goal, the Dream guys. I know you have that dream, too. So it’s just exciting to be able to share it with you all. All right guys, I will catch you in the next podcast in a little bit.