7
Oct
Posted by docsandtv in Writing for Television. Tagged: baseball, documentary, draft, film, John Drennen, minor leagues, Time In The Minors, Tony Okun, Tony Schrager. Leave a Comment
Time in the Minors
Two Players.
One Dream
A film by Tony Okun
Every year in June approximately 1500 new players out of high school and college are chosen from the amateur baseball draft and sent to play in the minor leagues. Trying to make it in the fiercely competitive world of professional baseball can make or break you. “Time In The Minors” documents the lives and passionate dreams of two minor league players on their arduous journey to becoming Major League Baseball players. John Drennen (19), a High School All-American from San Diego, California was selected in the first round of the 2005 amateur baseball draft by the Cleveland Indians and offered a one million dollar signing bonus. 2006 will mark John’s first full season in professional baseball. Tony Schrager (28), a 1998 and 6th-round draft pick out of Omaha, Nebraska is an 8-year veteran of the minor leagues. The 2006 season may be Tony’s last shot to make it.
Click here to view the trailer.
“A timeless and compelling film; I loved it!”
-Craig Calcaterra
(NBC Sports.com)
“I really enjoyed this great
documentary.”
-Tim Kurkjian (ESPN)
“Baseball fans will
love this film!”
-Chuck Murr (Editor, Indians Ink Magazine)
1
Jun
Posted by docsandtv in How To's, Television Production, Writing for Television. Tagged: angle, backdrops, backround, camera, comfort, indoors, interview, interviewee, lighting, lights, make up, outdoors, props, wardrobe. Leave a Comment
Conducting a television interview may sound easier than it actually is. Yes, you need an interview subject, a camera and a microphone. But if you want your interview to look professional or at least not be distractingly bad, you’ll have to take a few things into account.
- Lighting – Lighting is perhaps the most crucial element to creating a nice looking interview. If you are shooting indoors, you’ll want to have a couple of sources of light that you can manipulate. A key light is aimed at the interviewee to make them stand out from the background. A fill light can add shadow and depth to the interviewee’s face but is not always needed. A back light adds depth and texture to the background. A poorly lit interview will look drap and murky. If you are shooting outdoors, be aware of the sun position. The noon day sun can sometimes be too bright and cause harsh shadows. An overcast day can be just right for a cleaner look without shadows. A nice white board or silver shiny board can help you manipulate how the sunlight plays on the interviewee’s face.
- Wardrobe – What is your interview subject wearing? If it is a sitdown interview and you’ll only be shooting from the shirt up, make sure the shirt is a plain shirt. Blue or bright, solid colors work best. Stay away from all black, all white or busy patterns. They make the camera do funny things. Let the interviewee know ahead of time if their pants or shoes will be seen so that they can dress accordingly. A nice outfit with scuffed up shoes can be distracting.
- Make-up – Let your interviewee know if you will be providing make-up and/or hair services. If not, bring some translucent powder or oil absorbing sheets to keep the shine down. Use powder on bald heads too.
- Angles – Do not set your interviewee against a flat wall. It makes the interview look flat and therefore visually boring. If you only have a flat wall, say a brick wall for example, positional the interviewee at an angle that will allow the wall to veer away from the subject in one direction or another. Shooting the interviewee from a bird-eye (from above) or worms-eye (from below) can be fun and interesting.
- Backdrops – Interesting backgrounds can say a lot about your interviewee. You may want to keep it simple for quick, information interviews. But for documentary style interviews, consider placing the interviewee in the surroundings that apply to their storyline. For example, a basketball player may be placed in a gym or teacher placed in a classroom. Sitdown interviews in offices or living rooms can get boring. Try adding some interesting props to the background or foreground. Lamps, books, computers and flowers or plants are pretty standard and easy to come by. Trophies, hats, pictures, statues and toys can often help convey the theme of the interview. I’ve even used the corner of a chair to break-up a plain-looking space.
- Comfort Level – Don’t forget to make your guest as comfortable as possible. If they guest is uncomfortable, it will show on their face. A comfy chair is a must-have for long interviews. Make sure to have some water on hand to keep the interviewee hydrated.
- Chairs – In addition to a comfy seat, a stationary seat is recommended. Seats that roll around or swivel allow your guests to move all over the place within the frame. Also, if the chair back is too high, it may make your guests to look stiff. Too soft and the guests may slouch. That said, stand-up interviewees can help boost the interviewee’s energy. But I never have guests stand for more than 30-minutes.
- Be Prepared – Write down your questions before the interview.
Also remember to have fun. You’ll get more out of your guests and your shoot that way.
24
Feb
Posted by docsandtv in Opinions, Television Freelancing, Television Production, Writing for Television. Tagged: Amy Chua, authors, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, books, interviews, motherhood, parenting, Sydnye White, Tiger Mother, traditional Chinese parenting. Leave a Comment
Today I met the Tiger Mother. I booked Amy Chua, author of the Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother on a show that I currently produce. Chua’s book chronicles her journey of raising her daughters the traditional Chinese way. She had mixed success with making her daughters practice the piano of minimum of two hours a day and not allowing them play dates or slumber parties. First, let me say that she was intense, charming and too tiny to appear to be anyone’s task master.
The challenge with preparing the interview with Chua was that she has already been interviewed almost anywhere you turn – on television, on radio and in print. Her book and the reports about her book have drawn ire from some parents and praises from others. The critics are much louder than her supporters. It seems that they have sent her on a back-to-back damage control media tour. She’s been accused of being a callous and tyrannically to her kids, of being condescending to western parents and of back peddling by trying to explain some of the harsher moments in her book away.
My job was to find a line of questioning that both addressed the controversy surrounding Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother but also to compose questions that would elicit answers that viewers had not heard before. In other words, my job was to make the interview fresh. The questions had to be approved by my supervisor and asked by the host. We had the luxury of a half-hour show so we could go deeper than just discussing the headlines.
I felt for Chua. I think a lot of what she has to say makes a lot of sense. As a parent, I sometimes push my kids to do things that they don’t want to do or don’t think they can do. I agree with Chua that some western parents think that to build a child’s self-esteem, you have to cater to that child’s ever whim. I don’t agree with her making her children practice a song without a bathroom break or something to drink until they got it right. But the interview wasn’t about me. I wasn’t even the one doing the interviewing.
After reading the book, digesting existing reviews and watching countless interviews, I noticed that few people, if any, were asking Chua about her day-to-day life. Spending all that time drilling her kids couldn’t have been easy. What was her daily schedule like? Few people asked her about her previous two international policy books and how they related to her memoire. What were some common cultural insights in all of them? I tried to put the book on a broader scope, to find out what, other than the controversy about her tough love, could we learn from her and her work. I feel the question covered a nice range and that the host did a good job making the conversation flow naturally and seamlessly.
Working with authors and literature is one of the best parts of what I do as a producer. It is always difficult to find the line between not repeating what has already been covered, respecting the author, and asking the probing questions. In the case of Amy Chua and Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, the production staff was happy with the interview. Chua and her publisher seemed pleased as well. Now it’s time to wait and see what the viewers think.
18
Jan
Posted by docsandtv in How To's, Opinions, Television Freelancing, Television Production, Writing for Television. Tagged: cliche, copy, creative process, dance, deadline, documentary, draft, film, freelance, interview, jet lag, producer, San Francisco, script, Television Production, word flow, writer, writer's block, writing tips. Leave a Comment
I am currently on a shoot in San Francisco. I’m primarily here to conduct interviews and tape B-roll for a series of short videos. In an effort to complete another project due at the end of the week, I am writing scripts in my “downtime.”
I have nothing against San Francisco, but I am jet lagged, miss my family, had to change rooms at 2:30 in the morning because of water dripping from the ceiling onto my bed and, if I may be blunt, my gastronomic system is a little backed up. None of this has put me in the mood to come up with pithy and energetic host script copy. So what to do?
I’ve devised a few tactics over the years to help me continue writing even when I really don’t want to. A deadline is a deadline. So it’s handy to have a cadre of tricks to help bust through that block when necessary.
- Dance to fast music – This is my number one, go-to block buster. I put on one song with a driving beat, sing loudly and dance passionately. For me, this is a shortcut to meeting my muse because I totally leave the writing behind for 5-minutes and come back refreshed and energized.
- Take a chore break – If I am at home, I find it helpful to work on rhythmic activities like washing dishes or folding clothes while my sub-conscious works on the work. I almost always come up with an exciting breakthrough this way. If I am in an office, I might clean my desk or do some filing, anything to keep my hands busy but my mind free.
- Walk away from the writing – Get out and take a walk. This is another way to get the blood pumping and the words flowing.
- Go over the top – Write wild and crazy, over the top stuff. Try alliterations or some rapping and rhyming. It’s fun and you just might come up with ideas that make the final draft.
- Check out a list of clichés – If I am having difficulty with a subject matter, I often look up a list of clichés on the internet. Yes they are staid but they can also be entertaining. And even better yet, they can help me get a grasp on concepts in a focused and fun way.
- Get help – I have a couple of producer friends that I can call or email with a problem section and they help me work it out with a fresh eye. I do the same for them. It’s kind of like having a writing elf. And let’s face it, two heads are better than one.
In this particular San Francisco block, I’ve elected to write something else, something that I know would flow – this blog. It’s been fun and I’m feeling ramped up to continue the writing-for-hire. If you have any other tricks let me know. I’ll post them and maybe try them next time. Happy writing!
9
Nov
Posted by docsandtv in How To's, Television Production, Writing for Television. Tagged: motherhood, documentary, film, movie, ideas, characters, broadcast, TV, television, episode, movies, family, series, shows, brainstorming, signs, messiah, rap music, hard rock, lyrics, jesus, music, science, rock, concerts, ears, hear, brain, instruments, humans, sing, microphones, extreme collectors, snakers, colorful, 6 degrees of separation, celebrity, Kevin Bacon, couch potato, beery belly, hosted, lifestyle, comfort food recipes, entertaining, tools and technology, tivo, politician, ronald reagan, jesse ventura, arnold schwarzenegger, reenactor, researching, errnactments, fictional, cartoons, dogs, doctors, lovers, villains, heroes, cars, cliff huxtable, gregory house, trapper john, american psyches, count down, top-10, mommy bloggers, phenomenon, wall street, blogs, moms, child rearing, sponsorship, backing, hindus, berkeley, diwali, west indians, dc, carnival, brooklyn, fun, internaitonal, holidays, passport. Leave a Comment
So many ideas and so little time. So I thought I’d share some ideas for free in the hopes that someone in the universe will stumble upon them and turn them into wonderful, fun, insightful shows, series and documentaries. Or at least, get some good brainstorming going. Did I mention that they are absolutely free?
Signs of the Messiah – This would be a documentary following people who are looking for signs that the Messiah is coming in whatever religion in which they believe. I have a friend who studies rap music and hard rock lyrics because he believes that the second coming of Jesus will be announced through music. This made me wonder how many other people out there are sign seekers in such unusual and interesting ways.
The Science Behind Rock Concerts – This documentary would follow one popular music group as they prepare for a concert. As they prepare, the film would delve into how our ears hear music, how our brains process it, how instruments make music, how we are able to sing, why humans respond to music, how microphones pick up music and how speakers broadcast music.
Extreme Collectors – I was amazed to learn that there are people who spend thousands upon thousands of dollars each year to collect sneakers! What other crazy collectors are out there? I’m sure some of these collectors as colorful characters.
6 Degrees of Separation – On each episode, contestants draw a name of a celebrity out of a big name drum. Then they have 48 hours to get in touch with that celebrity. The less steps/contacts it takes to find the celebrity, the more points they get. They also get more points for face to face meetings. The show could be hosted by someone who sort of knows Kevin Bacon. The
Ultimate Couch Potato Life – this lifestyle series would be hosted by a good looking guy with a bit of a beer belly. On each episode, he would give tips on how to maximize the coach potato experience. The tips could range from comfort food recipes to entertaining on game night. There could even be a “tools and technology” segment that explores the many uses of TiVo and such things as chairs with built in refrigerators.
From Celeb to Politician – What makes celebrities like Ronald Reagan, Jesse Ventura and Arnold Schwarzenegger decided to turn in the glamour for a politician’s life? And what makes them so good at it?
A Week In The Life of A Reenactor – Reenactors tend to be pretty colorful characters. They often dedicate all of their spare time to researching, practicing and preparing for reenactments in an effort to make them as real and as accurate as possible.
Greatest Fictional Characters – and their impact on society. These characters can be from books, TV, movies or cartoons. They can be dogs, doctors, lovers, villains, heros or even cars. For example, what effects have Cliff Huxtable, Gregory House and Trapper John had on our collective American psyches? This could be done as a top-10 count down show.
Mommy Bloggers – this is a phenomenon that has reached Wall Street. Many blogs started by moms about family, child rearing and motherhood now have the backing of major sponsorship. Who are these mommy bloggers and how can you cash in?
International Holidays in the U.S. – I’d love to see how Hindus in Berkeley are celebrating Diwali and how the West Indians in DC go all out for the Carnival in Brooklyn. There are lots of international holidays being celebrated in our own back yards. You don’t even need a passport.
If you’ve any of these ideas on air already, that only proves that they are good. Hey, now that I’ve written these ideas out, some of them look kinda good. Hurry up and produce them before I do! If you have any ideas that you’d like someone else to produce, please share.
