[Weekly Updates] June 20, 2022

This is the last update before I go on a trip. I won't even have access to Photoshop, so expect the next few updates to just have random title images. I'll keep the update as consistent as possible, though!

CHANNEL UPDATE

All of the July videos are done, with the last one being Ringu. They are shorter videos, but they are all still 10+ minutes, because after 3 years of doing YouTube, I'm incapable of writing short videos anymore. This is how your channel eventually inflates into feature length stuff... Like Contrapoint.

Script preview will be uploaded next month instead.

It's a bit early, but I also have plans for August update already. We have a video planned for Audition, our first Miike video! We also have a video on a film that's essentially a hit piece made by Wong Jing, after Jackie Chan publicly diss City Hunter. Oh yeah, it's crazy.

Now I just need to finish up the bonus video.

MEDIA TALK

This is not specifically about my short film shoot. But being on that shoot did remind me how weird film set actually is. I don't know how many of our patrons are actually filmmakers, so I hope these random facts are fun for you.

So, since a good chunk of our short film is undercranked (filmed in fast-motion), there is no reason to record audio. So we shoot all the fight scenes MOS. What's MOS? It means we are recording a shot without recording the audio. As to what MOS stands for... Nobody really knows!

Supposedly, it stands for broken English "Mis Ohne Sound", because a lot of early Hollywood directors were German immigrants (like Frtz Lang).

There's also another theory that it stands for "motor only shot". But that just smells like a retronym to me.

Another weird lingo: C-47. What's C-47? Clothespins! Specifically wooden ones. They are used to attach color changing gels or diffusion to lights.

Again, no one really knows why it's called that. In fact, I have not met one person on set that actually calls it that, but we all know the nickname.

The rumoured origin was that film studios were not happy with filmmakers buying so many clothespins. The studio heads had no idea what they were for and thought they were a waste of money. So the accounting wrote down C-47 to make it sound high tech and stuff.

I think most of us know what ADR is. It's a type of dubbing, but not into another language. It refers to an actor dubbing over the on set dialogue in a studio recording.

This one we actually do know what it stands for, but it sounds super unintuitive: It means "Automated dialogue replacement". But no, the process is not automatic. Instead, it's referring to automation, which is a mechanical set up that allows audio tape to be rewind and play with precision. With automation, they can keep looping a single line of dialogue for the actor, so they can mimic and exact pitch and temple.

Okay, one last one. There's a specific type of wooden boxes we use on set called Apple Boxes. As wikipedia puts it: "These boxes are specialized pieces of equipment belonging to the grip department, and should not be confused with simple crates, other boxes, or boxes for apples."

But really, they are just boxes, very well-built ones that you can prop things up on top. Once again, no one knows why they were called that. I have heard that old apple boxes were actually crates, and have a forward opening. However, apples are traditionally stored inside open top boxes. More likely than not, apple boxes are called that because it has the hole for handle, in the same way apple crates do.

Oh and when you lay it down on its tallest position, it's called New York. On the side, it's called Chicago (or Texas, although I've never heard anyone calls it that). Laying it down flat is called LA, but let's be honest, we just call it flat because it's so much easier.

And that's all the weird little things about film set that I have to share today. Sometimes I forgot how specialized I actually am. To me, these seem like common knowledge, but then I'd go on Reddit and see people ask "why do movies look smooth in 24fps, but games look choppy at 30".

So, if you have any question you'd like to know about film set lingos or filmmaking in general, leave a comment!

Oh and new video coming in a few days. See you then!