Boom Chicago - Comedy Shorts from Amsterdam

So many things have slipped off the plate in the dash to meet our commitments before I take a week off - e-mails, meetings, script rewrites, shoot days, computer maintenance which is now threatening to close down some of our production capacity, and in the words of the late great Yul Brynner, "etcetera, etcetera, etceteraaa...!"



It's as if I am not allowed to take time off without giving up the proverbial pound of flesh (taken directly from my cranium, it feels like). Ah well, 'nuff bitching & I hope people forgive my slackness in returning their missives...

In the mean time, enjoy our latest video, 'Amsterdam Safe?'!

So the great thing about taking a little time off with this gig is that I can't just not do the work or delay it until I get back on the job, but we have to really cram the work of all the time I am taking off into the week preceeding. So I am making this week's video today and making next week's on Monday. Maybe Tuesday if I hold so the sketch's author can be in it - Tim Sniffen is in Frankfurt just now, on a tour show that's been going two weeks. Coming up is our Harry Potter/Reality TV take-off for the release of the new book, and the next week's video will be on the buyability of TV media in the setting of Hurricane Season. It's funnier than it sounds.

This last week's video came out well and got a great response from the crowd at Heineken Late Nite.

A still from the video 'Amsterdam Safe?', spoofing reasons why Amsterdam is not a great target for terrorism:



This was also a fun show as it was the first for our four new actors (they did really well getting shoved out of the improvisational nest, jetlag & all), and I had some fun video improvisation bits as well, which I don't get the opportunity for every day anymore...

So the last two weeks have been a flurry of work which has left me somewhat confused as to where we are, exactly. I just have to concentrate on getting out two new videos before I leave on a brief vacation. Actually make that three - as I discovered last night, we had cancelled one video shoot and hastily scheduled another to cover the hole left by our 'Sponsor a Terrorist' video we shelved due to the attacks in London.

That hasty shoot, as it turns out was another casualty of the event. Never rush a shoot unless you have a rock-solid script and visualization and even then it's a bad idea. Several hours of my life and that of the two actors just kind of got wasted. Guess we wouldn't know for sure it wouldn't work unless we tried...

So today it is script day and we need to come up with two+ scripts to meet our production commitments for July. Subjects are Terrorism in Amsterdam, the new Harry Potter book release, and ringtone animals. As to the last one, I know we're a bit late on the bandwagon, having just seen several death scenes with Crazy Frog and Sweety last night while researching - dating back to March - but I had the idea weeks ago and I let it be quashed when I pretty much knew better. Boo. Maybe I'm too late with it now, but we'll see...

After this is following up with our contacts in various areas of operation - our distributors, viral sites, tv people who want to air our work, etc. Much to do...

Off to Boom for now, wish us luck!!

I often end up thinking that making 'edgy' videos about what is happening in the world is great, creative fun and I am happy to flick the noses of sacred cows that people are far too serious about for everyone's good. And I know that my PC-California sensibilities, which I am in constant battle with, will usually filter out the pieces which cross lines.

However after the awful and truly outrageous bombings in London today, we clearly cannot release a piece of satire called "Sponsor a Terrorist". No, this is not a bit.

So we are pulling that rather well-written piece of cultural satire and scratching our heads. Part of the purpose of laughing at the sad true facts of the world are to make them somehow more bearable. This simlpy isn't the time for that as it is still being absorbed as an event - we're not quite sure what it exactly is we have to bear. Too much - for some no doubt...

Here are stills from the other 3 videos I finished this week - yep - long frickin' week...


From our pilot we made entirely in dutch for Talpa TV.


A still from the Star Trek send-up we did for a custom video we sell as part of our "Gold Shows", custom comedy for corporate clients. It really did look great.


From a video we were hired to make for a call center software developer. If the first is successful, it will lead to a series of 8 training videos that are meant to be fun and funny. Hmmm... One interesting thing is that this, like the the other two videos, was shot all with the use of a green screen. Much easier than a location shoot! Only the people, tables and coffee cup are real in this picture. And, of course the scripts (shhhh... don't tell the client!).

So this is two down for my total of 5 videos for this week (deadline is Monday, so I'm not totally screwed.) Thought the video would've done better with adding in commentary from fleeing members of the crowd - it would've given us more room with the comedy and latitude with subject matter. Ah well, that's the point of writing all this down, right? Remember it for the next time...

I am pretty happy about the use of the old-movie spaceship - actually a photo of a model, not an actual production pic, but it looks pretty good in the video and makes Tom Cruise a little creepy in a spider-like way for some reason.

The video should be up later this morning, visible at the Boom Video page.

Poor Boston:



* The title of this entry is adapted from the IMDB's Tagline listing for the original movie. IMDB pretty much rocks.