"The Triboro" Independent Television Pilot on 35mm

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jon Pivko
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This is outstanding. Had the feel of an HBO series. Why aren't you completing the 1st 3 eps?

You should be proud that you wore so many hats for the production. Writer, Director, DP? Wow. Sounds familiar. But you pulled it off at a really professional level. All three areas were very strong, especially the cinematography which was gorgeous.

Tell us more about this. I'd love to hear about your adventures producing this.

Thanks for sharing.
 
Ok. Fair enough. It's just I want to see how the story ends. That was one hell of a teaser.

How about post? How was that handled?
I noticed a very professional sound mix also.

Tell us about posting 35mm film (telecine, coloring, etc). I thought this would be really expensive to do. What was your budget like?

How did you handle the sound? Re-record all of the dialog/ADR?

Thanks.
 
Wow. I didn't realize you did all the sound design yourself. It sounds really pro.

So when you telecined to MiniDV and edited, did you use the EDL to do an online edit at a higher res? I ask because it's in HD on Vimeo, the colors look great, and it doesn't appear to have MiniDV artifacts or compression.

Did you use Final Cut to color grade also, or is this pretty much what the raw film looked like?

How long would it take to cut the rest of the episodes? I assume you don't yet have all the sound effects for the remaining eps. Maybe additional ADR would be required...

The thing is, you've already sunk 100k into the production. Is it really not worth it to just finish the thing?

Maybe if you were able to sell this as a series or feature (direct to video?), you could recoup your sunk costs and justify spending the time to finish the project?
 
I can respect that. 100k in an unfinished film is better than 100k in a classroom, that's for sure. Good luck with the future projects and thanks for answering all my questions.
 
I liked it too. It's hard to imagine it as the work of a lone filmmaker. I'm one of those filmmakers who enjoys shooting by himself. I've been making films for 40 years. I've come back to working alone now, after working on bigger movies with a lot of crew and for normal budgets.

I just finished a rock'n'roll musical, Felliniesque Players, and I'm now thinking of working in this vein for a number of projects.

I understand your feelings about completing this film; but also I have to warn you, you will regret not finishing it twenty years from now :-) But not everyone is the same, it's just what I think, because I've done this a couple of times. LOL

Good luck, you're definitely a very capable filmmaker.
 
That was really well done. I'm surprised you shot a television pilot on 35mm because it seems like a lot of TV shows are doing HD now. That's a great (though not budget-friendly) way to separate yourself from the rest of the bunch. My advice would be that though the other episodes might not be as professional or even watchable if they have focus problems and removed scenes, you should at least edit them to give to the actors who weren't in the pilot, as it looks from the teaser like there were a lot of other people involved who we never got to see. I mean, if I acted in such an unusual and engaging production, I'd want to have a copy of my work, to see how it came out. But that's just me.
 
Very nice work all around. Probably the best thing about it was that you created what seemed like a fully formed, living, breathing world. Really good stuff. Looking forward to other work from you.
 
He Jon,

I just finished watching your pilot and I must say that it left me wanting for more. I think that says it all. ;)

It must be a little underwelming though to step down from 35mm to the HV20? The SGpro is a great choice though.

Cheers
 
I had the "pleasure" of knowing Mr. Pivko and working on this "Independent Television Pilot"... It's really a shame to see what has become of this overly ambitious student feature (which is what it was originally intended to be). Jon called upon all of his friends for help - but he didn't need it. Jon made the classic mistake that every arrogant film student wanna-be makes, he needed to have his greedy little fingers all over every part of production. If he had followed through with film school, he'd eventually come to realize the talents of his peers, he would learn to trust them and he would learn to give not take. But he was better than film school. The entire time I knew Jon, one thing was clear, he knew how to take. Jon didn't care what other people had to say or care to listen to other opinions or suggestions. Everybody else is always wrong in Jonathan Pivkos book - he can do everything. But he can't. He barely knew the basics of production and lacked fundamental elements of filmaking. Im sure he thought the whole time that it would be great to see his name all over the credits - but that never happened. Through the entire process, he forgot about the one thing that mattered most, directing. That much is evident in the finished product. Working with Jon was a terrible experience and only made me realize how important working with and respecting a team is. Through all of his arrogance and ignorance, he managed to make everyone else feel somehow less important and inferior, even though i'm fairly certain that has come full circle now. I really hope the past 3 years have taught you a painful lesson, Jon.

-An old friend.
 
Wonderful moment in this thread. Humility. It's none of my business, but you guys should get together and talk about it. It's an important part of being filmmakers.

There are two sides to this issue. When you just start out, you want to preserve what independence you have, hold on to your vision; but you're not in a position to hire a professional crew and pay them to be just that and not collaborators.

I'm talking about film as art, not "genre filmmaking," and there's nothing wrong with genre filmmaking :-)

I commented earlier, Jon, because as a filmmaker I understand the frustrations of making your first film and losing control on account of biting too much to chew.

Now that I have a glimpse of what happened, I'm thinking that you shouldn't let thousands of feet of 35mm sitting around just because you don't want to deal with your demons. It's time to find an editor who will preserve your vision, and you'll find that he/she will not just do that but surprise you.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck.
 
Interesting issue. It makes me wonder if any director has walked away from their first ambitious project with everyone smiling.

Filmmaking is often compared to war. When conducting a military campaign, it is important everyone understand that there will be casualties. Geroge Lucas suffered chest pains and a nervous breakdown after A New Hope, James Cameron pissed off his crew during Aliens, and Ridley Scott's crew mutinied during Bladerunner. And these guys weren't green film students.

I think on the 1st big project, it's hard to let go and delegate, especially since the director is learning so much about the job during the actual process. This is definitely something I myself am trying to come to terms with. How do you get others to care about your project as much as you do? Is it even fair to expect them to?

I compeltely understand why Jon would want to Direct, DP, edit, mix, and score his own film - on the first project.
Who else would be willing to spend 6 months editing somebody else's film for FREE? It's unthinkable to me. I'd feel silly even asking of such a thing.

Yes, filmmaking is a collaborative process, but these collaborations take time to form. As directors, we often start off alone, and slowly forge the relationships necessary to telling our stories in a collaborative way.

I think Jon has some great things ahead of him, and I'm not at all surprised his ambitious student feature left behind some casualties.
 
Yes, Duke, it may be war, but after the victory (principal photography completed), if the general (the director) is dead, who finishes the movie? Somebody has to finish the movie.

In this case the director-cinematographer-producer-editor all survived, and principal photography was completed; but the movie wasn't completed. The director refused to complete the movie because he's not happy with some of the cinematography and with some of the direction. So what has to happen is that the Producer has to step in and take the movie from the director-editor (the cinematographer is gone), and the Producer has to finish this movie. He's the only one with his A$$ on the line. LOL

Jon has to his producer's hat on and fire the director and the editor. He has to fire himself twice over, and hire a new editor. I know it's hard, and maybe he won't do it; but that's essentially what has to happen for the show to go on.

:-) Just an idea.
 
I had the "pleasure" of knowing Mr. Pivko and working on this "Independent Television Pilot"... It's really a shame to see what has become of this overly ambitious student feature (which is what it was originally intended to be). Jon called upon all of his friends for help - but he didn't need it. Jon made the classic mistake that every arrogant film student wanna-be makes, he needed to have his greedy little fingers all over every part of production. If he had followed through with film school, he'd eventually come to realize the talents of his peers, he would learn to trust them and he would learn to give not take. But he was better than film school. The entire time I knew Jon, one thing was clear, he knew how to take. Jon didn't care what other people had to say or care to listen to other opinions or suggestions. Everybody else is always wrong in Jonathan Pivkos book - he can do everything. But he can't. He barely knew the basics of production and lacked fundamental elements of filmaking. Im sure he thought the whole time that it would be great to see his name all over the credits - but that never happened. Through the entire process, he forgot about the one thing that mattered most, directing. That much is evident in the finished product. Working with Jon was a terrible experience and only made me realize how important working with and respecting a team is. Through all of his arrogance and ignorance, he managed to make everyone else feel somehow less important and inferior, even though i'm fairly certain that has come full circle now. I really hope the past 3 years have taught you a painful lesson, Jon.

-An old friend.
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An interesting, if not misleading issue has surfaced on the production of this film. I myself was involved intimately with the filming of the Triboro as the gaffer for the production. The crew itself was comprised of various students from the college that Jon and I attended. Most of the crew was meeting for the first time on this film. The 15 or so of us all lived together in New Jersey for over a month in the summer of 2005. We were working and living together, often times during the dead of the night, for no money. The shooting days were often compressed because of the imminent sunrise that would after hour 9, be fast approaching. It was hard work and tough shooting days. It was also the greatest summer I have ever experienced. Since the wrapping of the shoot some of my closest and dearest friends are from that crew. I can speak for 90% of those people that worked on the film, for we remain in close contact, and say that they echo my sentiments exactly. For most of us, this was our film school. This was the film film that I worked on that put the making of a film into perspective.

It was only just the other day that I was working again with one of the ACs from the Triboro when talked about the shoot. We reminisced and immediately joy fell upon us. This film created emotional and working bonds that have only strengthened to this day. I can safely say that The Triboro was the one project that I have worked on that has had the biggest impact on my career and life. Contrary to another belief, I feel I got more from this film than Jon himself. From the Triboro, opportunities to shoot and work on bigger films became available because of the knowledge and experience I gained from that film. In the case for Ryan himself, I remember him there for only about three of the days that we were filming. I understand his perspective, for his feelings are from an outsider. He indeed was an outsider on set. He did not develop the relationship with the crew that the rest of us shared. One specific day I remember was where we worked for hours to tent a car in the middle of the day for a night poor mans process car interior scene. I have a picture of him sitting on one of the Penske trucks that acted as the support for out tented canopy. He sat above there scoffing at what was being performed. His attitude on set was not of support, but to point out what we did was stupid and the wrong way of going about it. Yes things could have been easier, but that was not the point. The point was to make this happen, and that is what myself and the crew did. The crew rose to the occasion and made Jon's scene possible, and Jon and everyone knew who were the heroes for the day. We all sat back and enjoyed the fruits of our labors for at high noon we build a stage for Jon to shoot his night driving scene in the front of his house. Ryan's feelings were not that of the crew that made the film, they seem to be from someone who felt entitled to more or came away with less than he wished.

As for Jon himself, even with all the hats he wore, never took advantage of his crew, and became the life force for this film. His work ethic and determination on the shoot only elevated the work that the rest of the crew performed. It was one of those magical times where we were naive enough to never realize what we could not do, we just made things happen. The driving force for this was Jon himself. It was his vision and will that allowed us all to believe in that we could do whatever needed to be done. An example being that myself and my crew rigged a parking lot the size of a football field with nothing more than 500w work lights from home depot and a honda putt putt.

After three years, being able to see, even the 12 minutes is exhilarating. I am extremely happy something came out of this for Jon with his best director award. It is nice to see the person who took so much of the burden on this film, walk away with more than memories, for the rest of his crew walked away with experience and careers.
 
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Amazing words, from all of you.

This only makes me want to see more of this film! I'm sure there has to be an editor somewhere willing to cut the footage...!!
 
Thanks for setting the record straight Jon. I totally understand where you're coming from. Trust me when I say that I can relate to having to deal with negative attitudes.

And thank you too, Andrew. Just hearing you talk of the production causes me to reminisce about my own. Can't wait to make another film.

Question: What did you guys use to light the exterior suburban house where they dragged the drunk friend? I'm curious since I shoot digital and have not yet lit an outdoor scene.
 
I believe there is some shots of that exterior in question found in the link that I posted for the production stills in the previous post.

http://www.andrewjwhittaker.com/production_stills/olympians/index.html

As I remember it, the background treeline was lit with a 2.5k hmi. The porch at the front of the house was lit with a 1k 30" chinaball (lantern lock) that was rigged to the roof of and house and suspended in front. The walk up to the house and the driveway was lit with 2 650w fresnels that were also rigged to the roof.

The approach to lighting the movie was practicals and realism. Now obviously realism differs from one person to another, but this project the goal was to use practicals or use lights to augment and recreate the look of a practical. The night exteriors, in the case of the exterior of the house also went further than simple realism, and we utilized our bigger sources to add depth to the scene, even if the realism of the scene was compromised on a lighting standpoint. Overall I found the look of the film quite successful. More so than the lighting, I look at the shots and their structure as the visual highlights of the film.
 
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