Liz has a Twitter! Follow It!

So as you may or may not know, this is the summer of self-promotion here at the Min and in the works are an updated reel and even an official Elizabeth Allen website coming soon(big shout out to Ali Hamed for facilitating that one).  While we finish up on those, however, Liz does have a brand spanking new twitter. Right now, though, she only has something like 5 followers. So we ask you, readers of the Min blog, please follow Liz! If you don't have a twitter, here's the perfect reason to get one!

Liz's twitter handle is thisislizallen
link to Liz's twitter profile

The more people who follow, the more we'll get to see the witty humor and exciting window into the life of a director that are Liz's tweets. Already we have cameos from Michael Rosenbaum, Joey King, and Selena Gomez. Get excited for what's to come and follow follow follow!

                             Liz was really cool as a 5 year old

DIRECTING ACTORS Project - "American Beauty"

Hey guys!

Here's my project for our "Directing Actors" class.  This is a scene from American Beauty between Lester and Carolyn.  We were supposed to go into the project with limited knowledge of the original, so here's a different take on it.



DIRECTING ACTORS - "American Beauty" Scene from Elizabeth Jaeleigh Davis on Vimeo.

I'm excited to see everyone's original projects next!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Moustaches: A Practical in Pitching

This past Wednesday night we had a very unique exercise in class where each of us had to prepare and give a pitch for our respective short film projects that we will be shooting soon. Just as in a real pitch situation we practiced coming into the studio, working the room, engaging in small talk, transitioning into the pitch, having an engaging and well-thought out presentation, and how to wrap up and be concise so as not to seem too desperate or long-winded. After each pitch, one person was appointed the "head studio exec" and came up with questions to ask about the pitch and why it would be marketable and then Liz gave feedback on the pitch as a whole.

Now all of this would be cool enough and pretty important as is, but with Liz there is always that extra something. To feel more like a "real" pitch situation we added something that is present in all studio executive situations...moustaches. Yes, each of us  became mustachioed thanks to the party store up the street, so as to add that level of gravitas that only a French handlebar moustache can add. Annie seemed to really fit best into her facial hair as she took on the role of studio exec whole-heartedly bringing up a very tumultuous merger within the studio and her younger, wild days.

The whole process was really informative and we learned a lot in very little time with each pitch and the personalized feedback we got was pretty much priceless. For directors, a pitch is a lot like an audition, just in addition to selling yourself , you are selling an idea, a team of creators and collaborators, and an inspiration. In today's industry where money is scarce and in general less movies are being made than ever, these kinds of pitches are integral to staying in work and getting things done. Each of us brought our own flair to the different pitches with stunning visuals, music, charisma, information, and even some ridiculously addictive chocolate crisp things that Sarah brought.

Luckily, the Flat Pretzel Films Production company was very generous and bought all of our projects...except there's no pay. Woops.  Guess that's why you have an agent.

Shout out to Linda's mom who visited the Maxwellton Workshop this week and wins the photography credit for the post.

--Jesse

Photo Shoot and Q&A

Hi everyone!

It’s been a while since my last post, so kudos to Jesse for keeping everything up to date.

First off, we wanted to let you all in on a project we’ve been working on for Liz.  She and Shiri Appleby (see previous post about our awesome trip to the set of Dating Rules from my Future Self) have a meeting in a few weeks with Hulu and were asked to pitch an idea for a web series.  They came up with a concept, and I helped out by fleshing it out and preparing a little pitch for Liz, Shiri and the other Minterns.  At this point, Jesse, Elizabeth and I have each gotten a chance to do such a pitch to practice conveying our ideas and visions for a project.

So on Tuesday, the Minterns headed over to Shiri’s for a photo shoot.  The plan is to create sample posters so Liz and Shiri can show off the concept’s marketability.  We can’t reveal the full concept of the potential series, but suffice it to say that big love can come in small packages!

On Monday, we were lucky enough to get to meet Josh Randall, an actor Liz directed on Franklin and Bash.  He’s been featured on Joey, Cold Case, CSI: Miami and CSI: New York, Lost, The New Adventures of Old Christine, The Mentalist, Law and Order: SVU and Grey’s Anatomy and has completed character arcs on Ed, Scrubs, Courting Alex, Men in Trees, Pushing Daisies, Raising the Bar, Greek and Criminal Minds…among others.  He came by and we trapped him in the Min so he could answer our questions about life as an actor in L.A., the TV industry, and what he likes in a director. 

Since television directors are usually hired by the episode and often are neither producers nor creators of the show, they are in a very unique position compared to film directors.  It was interesting and very helpful to hear what Josh had to say about his preferences for a director’s balance between letting the actor handle his character and trying to find new angles or richer layers.  Essentially, the take-home message was that you really have to play it by ear; he said he’s had directors who have been able to deepen his character and his character’s relationships, but he’s also had directors who have turned to him for advice about a show’s tone or comedic style.  And it seems like both can work well, as long as each party respects the other’s input.  Of course, that might not always be the case.

Thanks Shiri and Josh!

Paramount (part 2)

As promised, here is the sequel to our Paramount excursion, this time with the entire Cornell in Hollywood group.

Through Cornell in Hollywood, we all met Lee Rosenthal, President of Physical Production at Paramount. Lee was really great at explaining what his role at Paramount was and how he got there and was really inspiring with all of the zeal he had for the work he does. He also showed us behind the scenes clips from different films he has produced including the Mission Impossible movies (he was there when Tom Cruise jumped out the window of the Burj Al Arab in Dubai--which was apparently real), the Paranormal Activity movies, the Transformer movies, and 8 of the Star Trek movies--just to name a few.

Some of the highlights of Lee's tour included explaining to us the process of using the parking lot/water tank for different scenes and using it also as a reflective sky for the latest Star Trek movie. Also he showed us different iconic spots on the lot where movies like Sunset Boulevard prominently featured parts of the lot.

For me, the best part of the tour was when we got to check out the different New York streets backdrops and came across a film shoot for the upcoming Broadway musical turned movie Lucky Stiff. One of the producers, Victor, came over to our tour group and chose me to come sit with the director (who directed Memphis on Broadway) and Tony-award-winning lead actress Nikki James (from Book of Mormon) to watch a few takes complete with rain towers on the director's monitors. It was very cool to soak it all in.

The set of Lucky Stiff

Finally, we all went back and had a Q n' A with Lee about pretty much anything we wanted.

Definitely a good finish to our Paramount experience. Looking forward to what comes next!

--Jesse

Paramount (part 1)

Our most recent studio drive-on was at Paramount Studios. The old school backlot with all the history. You'll notice that the title to this post says part 1. That's because in addition to Liz's internship rocking, Cornell in Hollywood likes to hook us up too so we are going there again today and meeting the President of Physical Production. I'm sure we'll have some pretty cool stuff to talk about after that visit as well.

We got onto the lot with a drive-on to meet Sasha Alexander of Rizzoli and Isles. Although we didn't expect to meet the famous Ms. Alexander, we did end up walking right by her and only Elizabeth realized what was going on. Just to be sure we quickly IMDB'd her to match picture to face so as not to make giant fools out of ourselves only to find that when we looked up from my phone, Sasha had vanished.
Unfortunately we didn't get to see Sasha again for the rest of the visit, but if you're reading this Sasha, it was nice to sort of meet you.

After that we did an intensive self-guided tour of the historic lot. We walked down the streets of the different city backdrops moving from Chicago to Brooklyn to Soho to some rundown city in just 10 minutes. It's pretty amazing how detailed all of the sets are. 

We also saw the sets for Dr. Phil and The Doctors (which was what was set up at that time) and took pictures in the star's chairs backstage as we eluded to the more legitimate tour groups as they actually toured the set. We just can't be tamed by the conventional tour group.
   

As we went from stage to stage and as the weather got hotter and hotter, we started to feel our energy wearing down and decided to head back to the car. The lot itself isn't that big because it is relatively old and in the middle of West Hollywood (as opposed to the rest of the lots we have visited so far which have for the most part been in Burbank in the Valley with a lot more space). That being said (and I take full blame for this since I claimed to know where I was going) we got lost a few times and ended up taking the very long windy way back.

In the end we used up the last of our energy to check out the gift shop, where, per usual, we bought nothing because everything was insanely priced, and took pictures with the banners (well the ladies did) and the famous Paramount Gate. 

All in all it was a nice break from all the work we've been doing for Liz on an upcoming project and very cool to see a place with so much history, but it will be even better after today when we get a personalized tour, explaining what exactly we are seeing.

                                                                                      

The girls and their men (there are more but I figured, 5 pictures of virtually the same thing would be a little overkill)

The Minterns in the classic Sunset Blvd. shot

Excited to tell more about this awesome lot soon, also shout out to Carla from The 24 Hour Plays who works at Paramount that we had the good fortune of bumping into for a quick hello!

--Jesse

First Screenings in The Maxwellton Workshop

This past Wednesday night was pretty exciting. In class, Annie and I screened our first scene shorts for everyone.
Annie screened a scene from Thelma and Louise and I screened a scene from Squid and The Whale. It was very exciting to hear feedback on our work, especially because actually just going out and making your own work is something pretty new to both of us and this whole experience was very telling as to what it takes during pre-production, production and post to make something you're proud of.
Personally I learned a couple important lessons while screening:

1. Always do quality-control before screening. This may seem obvious but when you're finishing up the project it's the last thing on your mind. But lo and behold, neither me or Annie tried the DVD's on the system before screening so in the end they weren't the right kind and had to be screened on the computer.  Definitely not the kind of thing you want to happen in any kind of presentational setting; screening, pitch, or whatever else. Technology is great---when it works, when it doesn't it tends to make you look unprepared and dumb.

2. Checkerboarding in post-production. This is a technique in editing where you overlap sound so that speech comes before you cut to the speaker's face, thus quickening the pace and taking some of the unnecessary air out of the scene. It's a lot like in theater when people overlap one another in conversation for comedic timing or for intense drama, just in film, you want to have the actors give each other space in shooting so that in editing you can choose exactly how much they interrupt each other and where. It may seem weird to do during editing, but by the time you're done you'll be glad you did.

3. Finally, don't be afraid to play. Both in production and post, everything is digital, which means you can make a copy of your footage and play around with it. You can add effects, coloring, sounds, tracks, whatever you want. During shooting you can improv, have the scene be done silently, or without scripts, or in a Boston accent. Don't be afraid to screw around a little, because in the end it will actually make the performances come off as more real and full-bodied and will help you discover really cool takes on the scene. And then you edit together all those true moments in a creative way and suddenly you win an Oscar. It's just that simple. We'll have James Cameron verify that soon.


Anyway, the best thing that comes out of this experience is that you can learn and gain so much from just one shoot and that in today's world, shooting is so easy that there is no excuse not to always have some project in the works. Shoot with an iphone/flipcam/anything and download Avid/finalcut/premiere and edit in bed or if you're me edit with a beer outside barefoot. You'll have a movie within 2 weeks.

Here are mine and Annie's videos.

Enjoy!

Excited to see the next screenings for class next week and our 2nd shorts in a few weeks!

--Jesse

"Directing Actors" Shoot - Photos from the Set

Hello All!

Last Sunday we shot my project for our weekly "Directing Actors" workshop.  I chose to direct a pivotal scene from American Beauty.  With the talent of a couple wonderful actors, my cinematographer, classmates acting as production assistants, and Jesse's gorgeous house, we recreated a charged moment between the mid-life crisis-ing (yes, I just made that a verb) Lester and his uptight wife, Carolyn.  

We started the day doing glamorous location duties--picking up piles of dog poop in the backyard--and ended the day sweating in the hot heat of the Valley.  But all in all it was lots of work, lots of fun, and a really invaluable experience.

My DP (Director of Photography), Tim Merrill and I.

The very talented Chris Connell (as Lester) and Lucy Egerton (as Carolyn).

Can't wait for the next project!

Cheers,

Elizabeth