Fortress Of Freedom Board

Maurice Ali · Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2004 7:38 pm Post subject:

Not much more to buy now. I just got a head cleaner and will look for a lens cleaner tomorrow. The lens cleaner is one of the most important items to have around - yet I try to make due with toilet paper and water.....what I fool I am.....

Maurice Ali · Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2004 2:07 am Post subject:

We may do some on-location shooting this weekend at night. So I need professional power bars and cables. I have a heavy duty twenty five foot cable that can handle the power requirements of the big lights (they arc when you plug them in.....). I got lucky with the power bars, I had purchased some professional power bars from an electronics company a few years ago.

Power bars.....

These power bars are black metal and brushed aluminium. These items are really industrial works of art; and when I dusted them off, I actually cleaned up some small bits of rust and will wipe down with some protective (I love them so.....).

We are almost at the end of our equipment procuring phase and some may wonder why I am submitting them to this constant parade of equipment. First, this is a running diary of our experiences producing The Fortress TV Show. Secondly, what you are actually looking at is the birth of a production company. I have already registered the corporation with Videoscope (a professional rental and equipment sales vendor) as a customer and will soon have an account so that I can have pickup without paying for it point of purchase (in case I have to send someone down there to get the product). This is not a fantasy project; but real individuals confronting the very real problems of putting on a TV Show..... That means some boring stuff, exciting stuff and the occasional period of inactivity. I live whatever the Gods thrust at me..... It is almost three thirty in the morning, if I hit the sack I can get a few more hours of sleep - It is going to be a busy weekend.....

Maurice Ali · Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2004 1:04 pm Post subject:

This is definitely the last of the equipment purchases.....No More! What you see is the best in cleaning equipment I could possibly get, a reflector for use at the park (white and silver); and a table top tripod for the camera (needed since the tripod I have is dedicated to the Sony with mounting hardware specific to the camcorder.....). I now will forget about the camera stores and concentrate on the production end of the scripts and lens craft.

Maurice Ali · Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2004 8:23 am Post subject:

Some closeups of the new equipment:

First of all is the table top stand for our digital camera. We need this for advertising and timed self-portrait work, etc. This was the best (and most expensive) stand I could find and should look like the all machined metal stand on the cover; then I opened the box, I found some cast replacements..... Normally I would return this thing, but the metal ball is probably a replacement for galling of the brass ball and the stand is now all metal instead of the plastic handle (an improvement for me!):

Table Top Camera Stand

Here is the reflector for extra light in the park. This reflector is about one foot in diameter and is folded up in this condition. This particular reflector is manufactured by a photographer called Booth whom I knew personally; what an honor to personally buy one of his products!

The Reflector As Packaged

Here is the reflector unfolded - or should we say "released"..... the reflector now should measure about four feet across. I had a bastard of a time folding the thing back into the packaging. You have to twist the disc into a figure eight and then fold it together!

The Reflector Opened

Maurice Ali · Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 2:32 am Post subject:

Sue will be doing the bulk of the scripts now; count on seeing her entries in the scripts thread. There are only about 20 days left until filming day! Hard to believe that we have come this far. I will make some sheets with times and a map and cell phone numbers, etc.

On a personal note: I have also been thinking of my own mortality as my 45th birthday comes up..... We are only on this earth for a short time and then it is all gone..... It is more a strange feeling to know that things will keep happening without you to see it. It also makes it easier to be bold and more daring in the things you do when you realize that playing it safe does not matter in the end..... Strange as that may seem.....

Maurice Ali · Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2004 10:00 pm Post subject:

Looks like we will be doing some filming tomorrow night! A chance to test out the lights. This show is a very fluid thing, and quite unlike anything I have done before. There are more interpersonal relationships; and reading people properly and dealing with the conflicting personalities with pressure is a challenge. I never thought about the numbers of people who could possibly see this show, but even a fraction of the total viewing audience is staggering! I have more problems one-to-one and no problems with groups, while others are the opposite. I have to keep this in mind dealing with people who are nervous about TV work.

Maurice Ali · Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2004 4:29 am Post subject:

Some pics of the set when I shot some tape of Zahava:

This was the first set up on location at night with the lights.

More later - I have to go to work.....

Maurice Ali · Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2004 9:31 pm Post subject:

Here is a picture of Zahava taken during her film debut:

And here is the voice of Zahava:

Zahava's Voice

Maurice Ali · Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2004 9:45 pm Post subject:

I now have audio files and pictures for everone that will be in the TV Show. I will add the audio to those that do not have the link yet. Therefore, you should all somewhat know the others when you meet them on the 18th of this month. I am turning in to bed early tonight.....I am really tired.....

With regard to the night shooting - The lights worked flawlessly and the SM58 microphone did the best job for Zahava, eliminating the cars and extraneous noise (like myself); Dave now has a good chance of excellent audio when he performs.

Maurice Ali · Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2004 8:38 am Post subject:

This is a long weekend here, so I will be doing nothing but working on the show..... We should have all the scripts ready to be handed out on Tuesday and I will take the camera and have one quick narrative for the documentary part done this weekend too. Next weekend I should meet will all the people doing the production side of things and finalize what is going on during each segment of the show.

The narative is for the documentary. Speaking of which I talked to Dan about an actual music video shoot, and he is interested. I would probably want to do a more formal music video with Dave if he wants, so that we have two videos to go with his album (which we are producing). Just ideas we are tire kicking around here, nothing concrete.....

Busy times.....

Maurice Ali · Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2004 5:23 pm Post subject:

I did a practice interview. The interviewee was a antiques dealer by the name of Tony Clayton who runs an antique shop called: Military Antiques. This guy specializes in Militaria in and around the Toronto, Canada area and we went inside to sample some of his swords and metals and helmets. After the interview (which went quite well), I took a couple of photos outside and took an audio promotion for his shop:

Outside shot of the Store and proprietor!

Tony Clayton

Tony's Voice

Maurice Ali · Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2004 2:44 am Post subject:

Can't sleep.....I was also contemplating our progress thus far as an organization and have noticed some changes.

Fortress Of Freedom is now considered a real corporation with contracts and agreements with many in the entertainment industry. They constantly hint that I should apply for Provincial Sales Tax exemption (for those in the film industry) and such. I feared this when I started the organization, the line between profit making and sustaining the organizations would always be a difficult one. After the interview with the Antiques fellow (the post above this one.....) I noticed that this could have easily been a taped commercial for TV.....money! We may very well do this at some point to sustain ourselves.

At the present moment, our organization is just one big money pit for me right now.....but things should stabilize in a little while. I categorize the past as a series of critical decisions that would have resulted in the disbandment of our organization. Policy, philosophy and then the monetary decisions of late concerning equipment and format and such - were critical choices that I am happy to say we did well! Now we move into the difficult phase of our growth as I now worry about cash flow (another crippling problem) and the lobby to get accreditation and respect of others in our industry. These are problems that can be worked out if we do not do anything very stupid. Paying off the big purchases and paying for editing equipment and keeping the newspaper printing are real challenges, but I am willing to go the extra mile now to keep my baby growing.

The other side of this is that people are becoming more interested in the financial side of things. Not that big a problem now as those close to me can figure out that I am just bleeding money into the corporation right now.....but I can see that some can see the financial side of things and one model is hinting at looking at the financial end sometime soon; others are wary about contributing freebies to what may be a commercial concern in their mind. Running a "for-profit" corporation like a "not-for-profit" because the regulations were too restrictive is why we do it this way.....but I am not in this for the Audi coupe with the blond bimbo at my side! I am here to promote our agenda of free speech and thought for all - This is my legacy.

At any rate, the effort seems to be worth the cost so far. People seem interested in our growth and probably feel we are going somewhere.....time will tell.

Maurice Ali · Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2004 5:47 am Post subject:

There is less than two weeks to go till the big filming date..... The antiques interview really gave me a lot of confidence as the interview and tour of the store (wich featured a French helmet with colorful plum, swords of all kinds, medals and an old flintlock rifle) looked professional with zoom-ins on the smaller items and interesting to the casual viewer. I actually hooked up the camera and viewed all our tape on TV for the first time. The results were: GREAT! Crystal clear images (and on big screen television), vibrant colors and audio without fault! We can put this on TV! I then rendered the tape to our archive for final editing and transferred it to VHS for others to look at who are in the technical side of the show.

This really gave me the confidence I needed to secure the reality of what we are doing....I know there is no halo needed to produce the show. We are only limited by funding for accessories. We could do with a better tripod. The one I have is all metal and good with the rail adapter for the camera; but professional with ball bearing or other such articulation is the best for fine-tuning the camera with a subject that moves around (and a dolly would also be nice!). But at hundreds of dollars just for the basic tripod.....this will have to wait. Closeup and telephoto lens are available with some filters are also a good idea.....but again they cost in the hundreds.....no more money right now for this. We will have to make do with the equipment I have provided. I have all the necessary things needed to get us where we want to go, we just have to accommodate our shooting style for this reality.

I need to finish the scripts for today and start the rough draft of my "speech of a lifetime". Actually I may change that to the "speech" as the U.N. is closer to reality and I should save that "speech of a lifetime" for the U.N.! I am going to show all of our on-air personnel and their voices in one place below so that all participants and friends and others connected with the event, can familiarize themselves with the folks that will be showing up on the day of filming.

Maurice Ali · Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2004 6:18 am Post subject:

Participants Of The Fortress TV Show!

I have included all (though some may be unavailable) as situations are constantly changing:

Emily

Click Here For Emily's Voice

Punita

CLick Here For Punita's Voice

Corra

Click Here For Corra's Voice

Zahava

Zahava's Voice

Dave

Dave Performing!

Mark

Click Here For Mark's Voice

Dan

Click Here For Dan's Voice

Maurcie

Click Here For Maurice's Voice

Maurice Ali · Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2004 11:17 pm Post subject:

I am also making sure I know every function of the camera especially the audio. The good thing about the audio is that it is locked in DVCAM mode. I already know someone locally who shoots music video with this cam and I will be shooting three in the foreseeable future. I love this camera, the PD150 (earlier version of the PD170) is the cam in use in Iraq and this really is the run and shoot ENG (electronic news gathering)/documentary camera standard. That is what we are about. Some may mention HDV (not out yet and still in infancy) but the first model always have problems not to mention reliability and on and on.....maybe in the future but not now (and they shoot in the same medium (dv tape). Progressive shooting in 24P is an attraction to indi/film makers as the material can be easily formatted to film. We will never shoot for film here, but I should note that interlaced is still the best for picture quality. The camera is neverhteless very capable of indi filmaking and the majority of these people used the PD150 camera.....I could be swayed to make one in the near future if there is interest..... We shoot video as in documentary for TV and Music Video. We run to events and shoot with whatever lighting there is unlike a fictional contrived location in film. The Sony can operate at one Lux.....no other camera can operate at such low levels of light! If you fail to appreciate this, then remember that our biggest problem last year was archiving events at low light during the late fall and winter - check out the Michael Jackson Candlelight Vigil:

CLICK HERE!

The PD170 is great for me as the ordinary person realizes that the camera is not your ordinary consumer camera. The huge wide lens adapter and added size over the PD150 (truly compact) make it larger than most consumer cameras - yet not as large as the videographer shoulder mounted camera that really does have it's own "fear factor" when pointed at the regular public. I can still calm nerves by telling folk to imagine we are just shooting home movies (an important distiction here); the camera is two tone and rather inconspicuous on purpose - The Canon rival is a white thing with an offset eyepiece that just screems "film" and can put off some people. Sony has done it's homework here and gives a person like me what he needs to do his job.

Our major purchases are some of the most important ones we made and that is why I was careful in our choices.....