NJFILMCORE the blog

Is it Hard to Make Those NJFILMCORE Episodes?

Last night as I was finishing up the last of the editing for episode 6, someone IMed me on the njfilmcore screen name and they asked me if it was hard to make njfilmcore the show episodes.  I don’t believe anyone has ever asked me that before, and the funny thing is, I don’t think I have ever even asked MYSELF that question before.

Sure, if you were to break it down and put it all on paper, it is very VERY time consuming.  So I guess I would say it is more of a time issue than a difficulty issue.  Let’s take a look for a moment at just how much time goes into making the latest episode of njfilmcore the show (episode number 6).

*Actually interviewing Cold World – 2 hours (including set up and break down)

*Actually interviewing Pellinore – 2 hours (including set up and break down)

*Actually interviewing Manny (minoritythreat.com) – 1 hour (including set up and break down)

*Shooting Tommy and Booch segment – 2 hours (including set up and break down)

*Shooting the monster skit – 3 hours (including set up and break down)

*Miscellaneous filler shots for the show – 3 hours (including set up and break down)

I know when the typical person looks at these numbers, they might say “This cannot be true” but I think that anyone that works with digital video will back me on these time estimations.  So right there alone it is 12 hours worth of work (I hate using the term work because it isn’t work to me, it is art.  So I suppose lets us use the word “creating” instead of “work”).  Also, I am not even factoring the fact that I am driving to all these shoots.  So in theory I could tack on some more hours right there but I will just keep it basic for this post.

Now it is the fun part, I physically have 12 hours of footage in my hand.  Now I need to capture (add) all 12 hours of video into your computer.  How ever much footage you have is how long it takes to add.  So if you have 12 hours of footage, it takes 12 hours to load in.  So this brings us to 24 hours so far for one episode.

After the footage is captured into your computer, this is when editing starts.  Essentially, njfilmcore the show is a mish mosh of events that really don’t make sense so during the editing process it is my job to put a slight rhyme to reason.  For example, I make the hosting/segway parts properly introduce what is next, etc.  Little things like that.  That is what takes the most time, you are essentially writing a script around footage you already have.  Maybe I should have written the script before hand?  I hate scripts though.  I am more of an improv guy.  I like to let things happen, sticking to a script is for chumps.  In my opinion, it is the non-creative people who stick to scripts; they are the ones who are too afraid to just let things happen and roll with the punches.

So long story short, I am going to estimate that I spent 20 hours over a course of 6 days editing episode number 6.  Grand total = 44 hours of work for one 20 minute episode. 

Where did I find 44 hours to do this?!  I have no idea.  I am a full time graduate student who is knee deep in the insanities of my Master’s Thesis.  I go to class, I never skip class, I have a part time job, I study, I have friends, I have a girlfriend, I go to hardcore shows, etc.  I guess it is time management.  I don’t know where I learned the art of time management, maybe my mother?  All I know if I have the ability to prioritize correctly and when you do that, you can accomplish a lot.

In closing, episode 6 drops this Sunday.  Enjoy and thank you for supporting my little website as well as my little web show.   

P.S. If you really want to be awesome, preorder the new NJFILMCORE dvd.  It is only $3.99 for the preorder.  Blood and sweat went into making the dvd.  A lot of people out there throw out the term “Support DIY” blah blah blah.  Half the people that use the term DIY are bogus, trust me, I know.  NJFILMCORE, on the other hand, that shit is DIY.  It is pure and it is what I live for.  Be a cool dude and buy the DVD.

P.S.S. This message is so long, I know you 99% of the people won’t read it but to the one or two of you who make it this far… THANK YOU!  Stay true!

RANDOM NEWS

A few weeks back, my good friend Dave Seger posted a great blog about himself.  A portion of it read “I had a new friend tell me she found my wealth of internet videos and wanted to know why I wasn’t MYSELF around her like I am in all these crazy vids. Loud and exciting. Jim Henson fighting crimes. It was a fun conversation, because I like the idea people seeing my videos and deciding who I am by them. Chumps. Am I being myself in silly videos? Nah. I’m generally a calm dude, I just turn it on for the camera, right?”

I never noticed it before but I get that all the time.  When people see me for the first time in real life, I usually get “Are you feeling ok? You seem tired, etc.”  It is so interesting.  I guess they expect me to be all wacky and such like my movies.  It’s just like what Dave said, “I like the idea people seeing my videos and deciding who I am by them.”

In other news, huge thank you to my great friend Josh from Pretty Neat Solutions for doing the wonderful new NJFILMCORE MYSPACE LAYOUT. 

In other other news, I interviewed Pellinore a few days ago.  Love the dudes, love the band.  Look out for ep6: Cold World / Pellinore / and more craziness.

In other other other news, congratulations to The Mongoloids who just got signed to Eulogy Recordings.     

What do you love more, music or movies?

Did you ever take the long way home from somewhere just so you could hear a certain album in it entirety?  I just did.  It is 3:30AM. I could have been home about 30 minutes earlier but I chose to take an alternate route because it just felt right with the CD I was listening to.

Tonight, as I was in Atlantic City, one of my friends asked me this question: “What do you love more, music or movies?”  I don’t think anyone ever asked me that before.  I thought for a moment and then said the cliché “I don’t know…” and then we moved on with our conversation.

The answer to that question hit me during my drive home back to Jackson.  I was listening to Sleepaway’s self-titled debut album.  I was singing and hanging on to each and every single word as I was driving northbound on the empty Garden State Parkway.  It is at this very moment that I realized that it is MUSIC that I could not live without.

Movies just don’t move me like music does, and I know what you are saying; “Dude, have you not seen Juno?!”  Trust me, I’ve seen Juno and to me it just doesn’t compare to Sleepaway, one of the greatest bands you never heard.

EPISODE 005 OUT NOW

NJFILMCORE THE SHOW - EPISODE 5