"On The Lot" tonight

Lol. Different movie studio. you need to go over the hill to the San Fernando Valley for that.
 
Mark Harris said:
With your metal crotch, was it called "RoboC*&^?" :)
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Now that's a pitch! And then he gets hit in the head with a ninja star. The show was pretty untertaining.

"Would all those I called please step forward. All those in the back are eliminated."[Next Group]
"Would all those I called please step forward. All those who stepped forward are eliminated."

That was genius! Which people are going home? I really was nervous there for a couple groups! Compelling television.

EDIT: Oh and how di@#ish was it of the producers of the show to give groups the same location?
 
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some people i saw may have some potential but it seems there is a good amount of typical reality show wild card lunatics with marginal talent. always like this on a mark burnette show. i wonder if the crew shooting the show is getting a kick out of watching these guys trip over their own feet trying to make a film.....
 
I watched some of On The Lot, and was not surprised to see what they produced.

Interestingly, there was a [somewhat] similar TV program that aired on Austrian TV some 20+ years ago.
IIRC they shot with Super 8 cams back then (?); basically they sent a half dozen people around the world, giving them assignments to shoot in various locations.
Not only was the program cleverly made, the produced short films (of mainly docu nature of course) were a pleasure to watch also.
I believe the program only lasted one season because of some legal/safety issues with the contestants being in some not-too-savory places, and the winner (films were also voted on by the public by the way) not accepting his win, and during the ceremony declaring that he was sharing his prize with all other contestants.

My point is, the concept of this type of program is a good one, and can work if done correctly, which is probably why many here had such high hopes for this OnTheLot.
Unfortunately Burnett is incapable of producing such a worthwhile program.
 
Last night's episode was unnecessary. They would've been better off starting the season with the 18 competitors. There wasn't enough time to feature all 50, so we get highlights of a few and extra focus on some that lose. Not a good use of time constraints. Focus on the 18 that win.

With 10 minutes left, we get a partial episode that sets the groups on their way. Start the next episode with that, don't lead into it at the end of the show. Use that extra 10 minutes to highlight more of the 50 during the pitch competition.

No mention of the crew they're supplied with other than the two actors. Do they get a sound guy? The only sound guys on screen didn't look like any of the 18.

I'm not impressed with Brett Rattner as a judge. His films are fun, but they lack substance. All explosions and action. But maybe he can be the yang to the ying of Carrie and Garry.
 
The pitch was an interesting concept, however, when people tuned in to watch, they expected to see people 'filming' not pitching. We understand it's a necessary part of the program, but it's not that entertaining.

I see several here lift their noses against the three judges, I find that really amusing. I would be very surprised if anyone on this site comes close to having blockbuster movies such as Brett, have the legacy of Gary, or the sauve of fixin' dialogue for scripts as Carrie (for those of you who don't know, Carrie is a script doctor for Hollywood and gets paid $$$ bucks for fixing dialogue).
 
If they wanted the reality tv feel they should have staged an open audition where random people pitched ideas. That way they get there Idolesque "weird people pitching" clips and other random stuff. Then from there they could have boiled it down to 18 and then made those shoot a short film in 24hrs. Then it would have been more in-line with the current trend of reality tv.

Right now it seemed to me to be very poorly done. There were no truly interesting parts that made me want to stick it out.
 
Charli said:
The pitch was an interesting concept, however, when people tuned in to watch, they expected to see people 'filming' not pitching.
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I dissagree. Producers/Agents want Directors that can also write/pitch. Pitching is vital to Directing. The first question an Agent will ask after watching your film is, great, what's next? I personally thought it was a great part of the show.
 
Tonight is the second episode. we'll see how it is... I did like the pitch thing as well... just laughed at some of the people :)
 
The ability to pitch is crucial. Especially if you're a director. You have to pitch everything in this business. You've got to sell people on your ideas. If you can't do that, you're going to have a hard time working in TV or film.

I mean, when you're coaching an actor, you're pitching your idea of the character to them. When you tell your DP what look you want, your pitching. The stronger the pitch, the closer to your vision things will stay. I could go on, but I think I've made my point.
 
The writer does pitch stories when trying to get a script greenlit...but I think the ability to pitch falls on everyone in the film industry. The primary goal being, not just to get funding, but to sell people on your idea.

In theory you should be making a film because you are passionate about telling the story within the film. If that's true, that passion should show through when you tell people about your story.

This exercise, IMHO, was to see how well these "potential filmmakers" could sell their passion. See if they could take a concept, turn it into an idea they believed in and then champion that idea.


The second exercise seemed, IMO, to be an exercise to see how well these "potential filmmakers" could work with people they've never worked with before. Yes, in this situation they all come in as "directors", but the reality is they should be aspiring "filmmakers". To that end they should be able to join up with people they've never worked with before and begin to establish a working relationship that enables them to get the most work done, in the most efficient way possible.


Just my $0.01 9/10
 
OMG! Wow! The films we saw were pretty good. The bickering was pretty good too.

-Nate
 
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They should make two shows out of this series.

1) Reality show played on Fox that focuses on the people and the conflict.

2) Web series that focuses on the craft and technical details.

I would love to hear some discussion from some of the film makers on this show about their films and how they pulled off what they did.
 
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