On The Lot - Season One Thread (1 Viewer)

[Jason Harbaugh]

All of the 24hour shorts are now up on their website, as well as both episodes and some deleted stuff covering some other people.

http://www.thelot.com/episodes/

It is nice to see that some of the judges did actually go around and watch the filmmakers work so they actually saw how they were on set.

Edit: They also have 'outtakes' which are 5+ minutes long each and cover all of the 1 hour shoots including their judging. Maybe that is the only way we are going to see them?? If so you might want to check it out, since they may just pick right up with the final 18 on Monday.

 

[Chris]

Here's the thing I didn't like about these eps so much: we focused exclusively on the teams with conflict or perceived conflict. You looked at some of the work the other teams did, and you think: I have NO IDEA who any of those people are because we spent all of our time with basically 9 people, of which 3 have been eliminated. The team that did the segment on "good deed" ? We saw nothing of theirs until they showed the short.

That I find a bit frustrating. Give me more time seeing the final output and less time with fake drama.

 

[Brian W. Ralston]

This is how it is more often than not Aaron. Especially in post production which is my area. The longest I have personally gone without sleep while on a job was 72 hours. Looking back I don't know how I did it but I did. In that case, I had last minute changes that were asked of me, the deadline for our sound mix was not moving (scheduling and contractual reasons) and it was 2 days away. There was no increase of budget to get additional help and frankly, it was creative changes (music) that needed to be done...which I don't like farming out anyway. So...I plowed through and got it done in the two days straight...went immediately to the first day of the mix (day 3) spent all day and evening there...and was finally able to go home the night after the first day of the mix. I had about 6 hours sleep and had to be back the next morning at 8AM.

So...making these young filmmakers be creative and produce a good product with little sleep and little chance to "think about" what they are doing...is pretty common to a lot of situations in Hollywood. Basically, everyone wants you to be done yesterday with whatever it is you are doing on a show. And...time is money. You factor in those two things and you get basically what you saw in the 24 hour film assignment. It is not just about being talented, but being talented and quick at what you do. If you can be at the top of your game under those conditions...you might have a shot at an entertainment career.

A lot of TV shows work on similar tight schedules and deadlines.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I transferred halfway through my undergraduate degree from a university with a strong film program to a college with a strong film program. I wasn't a film major at either, but I know dozens of people from the film departments at each that are EXACTLY how the groups were portrayed last night. Huge egos, enormous ambition, with incredible personal investment in their work.

The biggest shocker to me was how good most of what we saw was, considering the time frame and budget they had to work with. 90% of the student films I've seen are terrible. That's part of what makes this show exciting: all 50 of the finalists are presumably from that other 10%.

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

BTW, it does look like the only way you will see how the 1 hour/1 page shoots went is by watching the 'webisodes' at thelot.com. There is basically an entire episode there split into parts called 'outtakes'. They go right through to eliminations and reveal the final 18. Most of it is with bad temp voice over which sounds like maybe they just didn't have enough time to finish the episodes properly and decided not to air them. They might do a quick recap on monday but if you want to see it all, the web is it. I must say that the actual footage they showed on the web was better than anything they aired so far. It showed a bunch of different people tackle the 1 hour shoot along with showing the clip and comments from the judges.

They are definitely editing the pieces to make certain contestants look bad. At the end of the aired 2nd episode it showed Claudia from Italy spending all sorts of time and not shooting anything and basically making her look like an idiot. Watch the webisode of the same footage, cut in a different way and see the outcome.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I'm just coming to the table here. I had a lot of shows piled up
on my TIVO last week, and with company down for the weekend,
I didn't get to the first two installements of On The Lot until now.

I was rather looking forward to this show. Like all of you, I love
film and have always had a dream of becoming a filmmaker -- but who
hasn't?!

After these initial two episodes, I'm rather lukewarm towards this
show.

First off.....by all means, the female host needs to go.

Secondly, I don't know what it is, but the show seems so blatantly phony.
There are many of you who have already nailed the faults. Like
American Idol, there is too much emphasis put into the
trials and tribulations of an offbeat individual and/or group and
we really don't get a better idea of what everyone else is doing.

Furthermore, we get to see so very little of the short films
themselves.

I was also surprised by the interaction between the little runt
guy and the bully with black hair and glasses. I had viewed the
runt guy as being the problem and the bully knowing what he was
doing. It was kind of cool, that in the end, the short film showed
otherwise (as did the judges decisions).

The show seems to be changing itself next week. If I understand
correctly, the shorts will be shown LIVE in front of an audience and
either "they" or "we" will get to vote on them. It sounds exciting.

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

Yeah Ron, it looks like these first 2 episodes were basically thrown together at the last minute.

From here on out, we are supposed to be able to watch every single film in their entirety and then vote, American Idol style, and the results show will be the next day.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Jason,

That concept sounds rather exciting.

I'll be watching!

 

[Patrick Sun]

There is a new host for the show, Adrianna Costa.

http://www.thelot.com/pressrelease/2...20070525.xhtml

 

[Jon Martin]

I was rather shocked that they hired Chelsea Handler as the host. She was the star of THE CHELSEA HANDLER SHOW on E! that aired last summer. It was a beyond offensive / vulgar show.

But I guess they finally got around to doing a background check, as she is gone and there is a new host.

I'm watching the new episode now. I think I like it more than IDOL. It makes more sense judging these shorts than it is a singing performance, as music tastes are so subjective, yet camera placing and timing isn't so much.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Adrianna Costa reminds me of a brunette Scarlett Johansson.

I do like the concept of this show in terms of showing us the finished product and getting rid of the butting heads "drama", but some behind-the-scenes footage could prove to be entertaining.

 

[Citizen87645]

I like the show (albeit I didn't catch the premiere). It reminds me of going to a film festival. Some shorts work, others don't. What's most interesting is when two directors handle similar material and one works better than the other. Hopefully the show will have this as one of the challenges.

 

[Brent M]

Well, I'm glad I didn't let the horrible first two episodes of the show turn me off because I rather enjoyed it tonight. Thank goodness they wised up and got rid of Chelsea Handler and Brett Ratner who had the nerve to criticize one contestant last week saying "it was all style and no substance". Um, pot meet kettle.

There were a couple contestants that really stood out for me: Zach, Shira Lee and the guy that did the puking aliens(I think his name was either Andy or Adam). I look forward to seeing what the voting public thinks about these contestants.

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

Much better this time around. Some of the films were great, some were just downright horrible. WTF was with Kenny's and his cab driver? lol

Overall, with just that 1 minute you can really tell who has genuine talent and who got there by sheer luck.

The new host was annoying and stiff as hell during the first hour but she slowly started to loosen up. She just need to get out of that stiff arm, directing planes movement. I thought her elbows were sewn to her side for awhile.

It was really funny watching the judges reactions. When the first 'bad' film was shown, they really had a hard time getting the words out. You could tell they wanted to be nice to everyone, but that did slowly go away and while they kept it good natured, they said what they didn't like and were mostly honest. Hopefully they keep being honest and tell the director when something just doesn't work.

#1 cliche in independent film....on screen character being hit by vehicle.

My favorite 3,
Puking Aliens - not so much the filmmaking, but just the puppets themselves were great.
Replicating fart - was rolling my eyes at the beginning but he had me at the caveman scene.
360 Safety room - not really that funny but impressive and breaking the molecule twice was a good gag.

 

[Citizen87645]

I voted for dancing man, lucky penny, the airport security, the one-take disaster, and the replication theory.

 

[Jason_V]

Thank god we got to the show proper last night. The first two dreadful episodes were nearly enough to make me stop watching.

I only found three of the films to be head scratchingly bad: Wack Alley Cab, ...To Screw in a Lightbulb and The Big Bad Heist. Every other one had something positive in it, considering the theme.

I'm going to guess none of the projects for the rest of the season are going to involve any sort of juvenille humor like farting or peeing, seeing as how the judges REALLY don't go for that stuff.

 

[Scott-S]

I liked most of them. There were a few exceptions.

I didn't like "Soft" at all. First of all, the director pulled out the race card from the start. Then, he says he is from the inner city etc. He was working on Wall Street for god sakes!!. Hardly the poster boy of the "hood". The main thing I disliked was the idea that robbing an old lady was the first thing that the protagonist thinks of. That is offensive to me for some reason. I don't think a white director would have gotten away with that stereotype.

On the other hand, I thought "Get a Rhoom" was clever. I guess I would have been offended had I not just been told that the guy was a "Nerd". The actor did come off as more "challenged" than "nerdy" but I was able to accept it and not get offended. All that short really needed was an initial shot that made it more clear that this was a nerd.

As much as I love the fact that Zack(?) is able to do all these effects on a shoestring budget, I am worried he is coming across as just a special effects person, not a director. He should tone down the effects and make them integral to a story, not the whole story.

The judges were sort of getting on my nerves. They all agreed with each other every single time. It was also a bit hypocritical to say negative things about the potty humor, then love the last one (I liked it a lot as well).

As far as the host goes, she is ok but do they really have to tell us the same thing 18 times!!!!!! Why not just give the instructions a couple of times and simply put the numbers up in text? Hearing her say the exact same thing 18 times was mind numbing.

My top 3 were:

Spaced Out
Danger Zone
Lucky Penny.

My bottom 3:

Soft
Screwing in a Light Bulb.
That crazy cab mess.

I am looking forward to seeing what is next.

 

[Citizen87645]

It may have been hypocritical, but it also showed how something "inappropriate" or taboo can be effective if handled properly. That was the most interesting aspect of the show - having more than a few of the directors do potty humor but only the last one really do it right.

"Soft" also bothered me for the same reasons.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

....yeah, after a really shaky start, let me join everyone else
in saying that I am enjoying this show, though I have a few minor
complaints...

Maybe I just don't like female hosts. Adrianna Costa just seems
to be a pebble in the shoe. Everything she says is overhyped, and
how many times do we have to hear the same drivel about the
chance of a lifetime?!

I also have a love/hate relationship with Carrie Fisher. She seems
to be a bit too animated while being careful not to hurt anyone's feelings.
I don't care if she was Princess Leia -- she's borderline annoying.

...and to show just how bad the premiere episodes were by concentrating
on the real duds, we are actually meeting contestants for the first time
here that we never knew were in the competition.

Other than that, this seems to be a really great show. I'm certain
that each week will bring the challenge of making a different genre
of film and that running times will also be longer.

My favorites? Well, seem to be the same as yours: Drunk Aliens,
Lucky Penny and Danger Zone. The worst of the night was most
certainly the cab driver short. Had no idea what was going on there. I
also didn't care for the light bulb changing short, though I think the girl
who did it is awfully cute. Hate to see the cuties go!

I'm looking around in this thread and am very happy to see the
people that are aboard for discussion. I can tell that the real film
enthusiasts are the ones tuning into this show.

What worries me is that this thread doesn't have the popularity
of some of the other TV shows, and I hope that's not a reflection
on the show's appeal. Certainly, On The Lot is geared
towards a more upscale audience than Idol, but I am hoping
that it can be nearly as successful for Fox. It's a great concept and
I am very much looking forward to watching it all Summer long as
well as discussing it here with you guys.

 

[Jason_V]

This isn't directed toward any one person, but "Drunk Aliens" is titled Spaced Out.