Nerves of Steel

A scene from Whitmore Park (The Epic Story of My Life Part 4)

People often ask me if I get nervous before a screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, to which I reply, "ME? NERVOUS?!" and then I proceed to eat my own tongue.

I'm joking, it's really not the bad. In fact, by the time I premiere a film I've spent so much time sweating over every detail that part of me doesn't even care how it goes over, I'm just glad it's finished.

The most nerve wracking thing for me at a screening is the technical part. This is particularly a factor at a screening of several short films, because there could be many different screening formats in one program of films and this always increases the chances of something going wrong. At TIFF there's digi-beta tapes, HD Cam tapes, and 35mm film in two flavours: flat and 'scope. There's also different sound formats in 35mm as well. I decided to go Dolby Digital this year because that seems to be the most common audio format and therefore the most trouble-free. For anyone interested in the nuances of 35mm optical sound tracks, see my older post about that.

One of the things I like about making films is the ability to control all the possible details. I'm responsible for every frame of my short movie, it's like I 'approve' every single one of them. So my greatest fear is that one, or several of my precious frames will somehow not see the light of day. TIFF has an excellent projection record and a policy that the film will be started over if something terrible happens, but of course you want it to work right the first time so that everyone can just experience the film.

I find it amazing how something as simple as volume can make a big difference at a screening. One notch too low and the audience might be straining to hear. One notch too loud and they're uncomfortable, wondering if they should cover their ears or go tell someone to turn it down. As a filmmaker you can feel when it's not right and you can tell if the audience is uncomfortable. I've often thought someone should study audience response under different screening conditions just to see how much effect projection can have on the perception of any given film.

I think quality control is going to be a huge factor in the ongoing battle between cinemas and home viewing. George Lucas, bless his geeky heart, had the right idea when he created the THX standard for theatres. His notion was to finally establish some kind of visual and sound standard that cinemas would stick to. The problem was that cinemas had to pay a big wad of cash for the THX privilege, and when money gets tight that stuff goes out the window. With the advent of Blu-Ray—which is unbelievably sharp and clear—people might soon be wondering why they're paying big bucks to watch a large, but possibly blurry picture at their local cinema, when their HD screen at home is razor sharp.

One of the great things about TIFF and other big festivals is the promise of a great cinema experience. The film prints are usually fantastic, often struck from the original negative. The projection has been sweated over by TIFF tech crews and is the best possible. Like I said a couple of posts ago, it's like once a year films are given the respect they deserve.

Hopefully this post has not angered the mighty projection gods, and they will show me mercy at my upcoming world premiere. Look for my film in Short Cuts Canada program 4, at the times below.



cross posted at TIFF08.ca

TIFF08 DAY FOUR: INSTRUCTIONS

My Favourite Moment of TIFF08

I should just pack up and go home because nothing will top the TIFF moment I had at about 6:45pm on Day 2 of the 2008 festival.

But before I get to that, I want to talk about theatres. All of my movie memories are inextricably linked to the cinemas I saw them in. Name any movie going back to 1970, and if I saw it in a cinema I'll be able to name which one. This actually becomes more difficult with recent films because the cinemas are not as singular and distinct as they once were.

With screenings at incredible venues like The Elgin, TIFF allows us all to travel back in time to the era of the grand cinema. For ten days in September movies are given the respect they deserve, and are treated to an evening out in a grand setting with a large audience.

I have been to The Elgin many times, but Day 2 of TIFF08 was my first time inside the Winter Garden Theatre. The Winter Garden is actually stacked on top of The Elgin, an amazing construction dating back to 1913. They are the only Edwardian stacked theatres remaining in the world and they are a sight to behold. Here's a link if you want to know more.

I was in the Winter Garden yesterday to see the world premiere of C'est Pas Moi, Je Le Jure, by Philippe Falardeau. I sat in the balcony which is always my first choice for a classic theatre because, hey, it's got a balcony! It also allows you to get up close to the ceiling, which in this case is a hanging garden. I've never seen anything like it.

Self portrait, balcony, Winter Garden Theatre.

Inside the Winter Garden

My favourite moment of TIFF08 is coming up. C'est Pas Moi, Je Le Jure is absolutely wonderful. There's an amazing score by Patrick Watson, fantastic cinematography by Andre Turpin and amazing performances by the entire cast. There is also a very special lead performance by Antoine L'Écuyer as ten year-old Leon. Like the Winter Garden Theatre, I've never seen anything like it.

Here's the moment: after the film Antoine wandered out on stage and was treated to a well-deserved standing ovation. No matter where the rest of his life may take him, I'm sure this will remain as a very special moment for young Antoine, and it was a thrill to be a part of it.

And that, is my favourite moment of TIFF08.


The sun sets on day two of TIFF08

The Good Life

No, the great life. After all, Lake Ontario is not just a good lake, it's a great lake.

One of the great things about going to TIFF as a guest is that it's a wonderful way to experience Toronto. When you live here—as I did for nine years—the days can filled with long commutes, high rents and the general rat race. This is the fantasy Toronto, the one filled with movie stars, free food, free drinks, dawn til dusk screenings of new films, and 29th floor views of Lake Ontario.

On tap for me on Day 2 of TIFF 08 is an afternoon screening of C'est Pas Moi, Je le Jure, the new feature film from Quebec filmmaker Philippe Falardeau.

Day 2 dawns at TIFF08

All Me, All the Time

Check out me in conversation with Toronto International Film Festival programmer, Alex Rogalski. Brian Stockton and a place called Saskatchewan

The Dolby Dilemna

I'm probably the only one that cares about this, but I guess that's the point of having a blog. It's all me, all the time.

Our story begins in the fabled era of the 1970s when I started making films at the age of 11. I began by shooting regular 8mm film with my parent's Kodak Brownie, then moved up to Super-8 in the days when you could get a little Super-8 viewer and edit your film by physically hacking it apart and splicing it back together with scotch tape.

Later in the 1980's I made my first 'proper' 16mm film. I shot it on negative stock, spliced the workprint with tape, got a neg cut, and made prints with optical sound. It was an amazing feeling to hold this film print in my hands that was just like the scores of 16mm prints I had seen over the years.

The only problem with 16mm was that I found it almost instantly limiting. I never liked the squarish aspect ratio (1.33:1), and no matter what you did it never looked like a 'real' movie because they were always shot on 35mm film. The old 16mm optical sound track was also legendarily poor, but there was a certain warmth and consistency that you learned to enjoy.

16mm film strips with optical sound track (those squiggly lines on the left side)

It took me until the 21st century, but I finally made the move to 35mm film. I love the widescreen 2.35:1 aspect ratio that I've been shooting with, and I also love the huge bump-up in sound quality. An optical sound track in 35mm sounds way better than 16mm because the film is much larger and moves through the projector more than twice as fast, allowing for much more detail and fidelity in that little squiggly line.

The problem with optical sound lies in the 'progress' of technology. The great thing about 35mm film is that the standards and systems for it have been in place for over a hundred years with very few changes. This is a mature technology that is a universal standard all over the planet. I love that you can ship a 35mm print to any cinema in the world and they can play it.

Even though I'm working in 35mm I have kept most of the production techniques I established back in my 16mm days. I'm a hands-on filmmaker and I like to keep it simple and hand-crafted. I also like to keep it cheap, because if I want to keep working in film I have to watch every penny and develop a production model that is sustainable.

When I made my first 35mm film there was no question for me about the optical sound track. Lots of people were doing Dolby SR and Dolby Digital or DTS, but I knew that a normal 35mm optical track sounded a thousand time better than 16mm optical, so that was all I needed. Simple, cheap, and really good quality. I also liked the idea of it from an archival standpoint, since the standard for optical tracks goes back to 1927.

After making a couple of 35mm films without any Dolby encoding, I have found that the results are simply too unpredictable. As new sound standards have evolved, every cinema on earth has a different kind of 'decoding box' to handle all the possible kinds of encoding on optical tracks. In some theatres my 'normal' optical track sounds fantastic, in others it sounds terrible. It just seems to depend on what 'box' they have, and whether the projectionist understands the different settings and how to adjust them. The trend in most 35mm projection booths is to entirely automated systems. This is great when it works, but when it doesn't the projectionist usually has no idea how to change the settings.

35mm film print with optical sound track

Extreme close up revealing different 35mm optical/digital sound systems. Dolby managed to stuff their digital system in between the sprocket holes, and also managed to stuff their logo in there, which I have to admit is kind of cool. I believe the DTS time code syncs the film up to an external sound source, like a CD player. The normal optical track looks like stereo, but is also somehow encoded with Dolby magic to produce surround sound effects that are not as precise as Dolby Digital.

So with my new film I decided to bite the bullet, go Dolby and pay a license fee for something that used to be a free, universal standard. I do like the quality of Dolby Digital, and I do get 5.1 surround sound out of it, but I wish I didn't have to pay a license fee to get sound on a small, hand-crafted film. The other issue is that you have to mix in an 'authorised Dolby mixing facility' or they won't even give you a Dolby Digital license. The 5.1 mix sounds great and if money were no object I would always choose to mix with the pros in a high-end mixing studio, (big thanks to Talking Dog Studios in Regina who really came through for me) but I'm sad that the options for independent filmmakers are shrinking.

The great iconoclast Woody Allen still mixes and releases every one of his films in mono sound. To paraphrase what I've read about this on the web, he's a purest who just doesn't like the distraction of sound coming from anywhere but the screen in front of you. The film is the thing! I like surround sound, but he's certainly got a point. Every time there's some new advance in filmmaking technology I always go back to the history of cinema and think about all the great films that were made with the simplest analogue technology and standards dating back a hundred years. Filmmaking at its best is simply one shot after another, and everything else is just window dressing.

Ironically, Woody Allen's sound tracks are currently mastered in Dolby Digital. That's Dolby Digital MONO, of all things. To go through all of that digital encoding and licensing fees to end up with one mono sound track that probably sounds only marginally better than good old mono optical seems a little odd to me, but I suspect that's really the only practical solution in the age of The Dolby Dilemna.

I'd love to hear from someone who knows more about this, or if anyone knows of any other optical sound options for independent filmmakers. I think one of the problems is that labs who do optical tracks without Dolby encoding still use something like Dolby SR encoding, which plays well on some systems but not others. These modern projection systems will play back vintage optical tracks from the 1950's just fine, I'm just not sure where one goes to get a vintage 1950's optical track made.

GUEST POST

BY EMMETT L. STOCKTON, AGE 3
(edited for length and clarity)

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About the author
Emmett enjoys playing with toy trains and eating sugar. This is his first time near the keyboard since the infamous 'projectile vomiting juice on the laptop incident' of 2007.

Emmett L. Stockton (seated, front) 2006

Brad Pitt and Me

The guest list for the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival is out. Look closely at the list of 500 names and there I am, three spots away from Brad Pitt. Here's an excerpt from the list, highlighted to highlight my importance, or at least my alphabetical proximity to importance:

...Bill Maher, Bill Sales, Bob Martin, Bohdan Sláma, Brad Pitt, Breno Silveira, Brian Goodman, Brian Stockton, Brianna Scarfone, Brigitte Pogonat...

Forget for a moment that 'alphabetical by first name' is a bizzarre and revolting aberration of the computer age, I'm there! On the list! Near Brad Pitt! I'll be there to premiere my new 9 minute short film called Whitmore Park (The Epic Story of My Life Part 4). Pitt will be there screening something longer and more expensive.

As the festival gets under way I will attempt to blog from the scene. It's my fifth appearance as a filmmaker, so maybe I'll get a gold watch or something.


Me, Brian Stockton, in a scene from Whitmore Park (The Epic Story of My Life Part 4). Photo by Charity Christie.