Friday, December 28, 2012
Friday, December 21, 2012
Thursday, December 20, 2012
The Home Stretch
I just finished my second rewatching of the final product. Is it perfect? No. I'll never make the perfect film though. In fact, I'm usually the kind of person who is very self conscious about his work and dreads presenting it. That isn't the case with this though. I want to show this to everyone! Hopefully you all can help spread the word when the time comes.
Once I finish writing this, I'll start putting together a trailer. I'll hope to have that up tomorrow or Saturday. From there, I plan to release the final product (hopefully) on Friday, December 28th, 2012. Why then? Well, for one, it is a movie about the 2012 season, so I had always hoped it'd be done in 2012. That will give the trailer some time to spread and by then you people will all have unwrapped your Christmas gifts, the eggnog has worn off, and you're going a little stir crazy in that odd week between Christmas and New Years.
It has really meant a lot to me that people have still been checking up with me about the progress of this project. It is good to know that people care. I probably would have just gotten lazy and abandoned it had it not been for you. I'll write a sappy thank you post naming names later, but for now, just know that pretty soon you'll be seeing the finished product and I'm really excited about that.
Once I finish writing this, I'll start putting together a trailer. I'll hope to have that up tomorrow or Saturday. From there, I plan to release the final product (hopefully) on Friday, December 28th, 2012. Why then? Well, for one, it is a movie about the 2012 season, so I had always hoped it'd be done in 2012. That will give the trailer some time to spread and by then you people will all have unwrapped your Christmas gifts, the eggnog has worn off, and you're going a little stir crazy in that odd week between Christmas and New Years.
It has really meant a lot to me that people have still been checking up with me about the progress of this project. It is good to know that people care. I probably would have just gotten lazy and abandoned it had it not been for you. I'll write a sappy thank you post naming names later, but for now, just know that pretty soon you'll be seeing the finished product and I'm really excited about that.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Editing underway
Yet another post that starts with me scolding myself for not updating this often enough. I guess I'll start by saying congratulations to the San Francisco Giants for winning the World Series. Who would have seen that coming?
Anyway, I just wanted to touch base with you all again to say that I am officially starting to edit this documentary. I'll fess up and admit I was procrastinating a little bit, probably because this is the biggest project footage-wise I've dealt with. I think another part of it was just how disappointing this season turned out and how much I'd rather just move on. But I made a promise to you all that I intend to deliver. Now that I'm getting everything into a timeline, I like how it is all coming together. Certain things aren't turning out quite how I pictured while there are a lot of happy surprises I'm discovering as I go along, but I guess that's the magic of editing.
Unfortunately I'll have to stay vague as far as official release dates and all that. I promise you all I'll put out a trailer to get you all excited and get your friends and family to want to see the film as well. I've put a lot of work into this so far so I'm eager to hear your reactions once it is all done.
Anyway, I just wanted to touch base with you all again to say that I am officially starting to edit this documentary. I'll fess up and admit I was procrastinating a little bit, probably because this is the biggest project footage-wise I've dealt with. I think another part of it was just how disappointing this season turned out and how much I'd rather just move on. But I made a promise to you all that I intend to deliver. Now that I'm getting everything into a timeline, I like how it is all coming together. Certain things aren't turning out quite how I pictured while there are a lot of happy surprises I'm discovering as I go along, but I guess that's the magic of editing.
Unfortunately I'll have to stay vague as far as official release dates and all that. I promise you all I'll put out a trailer to get you all excited and get your friends and family to want to see the film as well. I've put a lot of work into this so far so I'm eager to hear your reactions once it is all done.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Losing, losing, and more losing
I'll skip the apology for not updating in a while. I don't think anyone can blame me for not wanting to write about this team with much frequency. I'll skip the doom and gloom, but while I love baseball and the Pirates, I'm going to be looking forward to this offseason more than anyone.
I mentioned a lot of this in an on camera rant that will probably show up in the final project, but I'll put some of those thoughts here. Like anything, there are two sides to how you feel about this losing streak as a Pirates fan and like most issues, most of us reside somewhere in the middle of the spectrum rather than one far end or the other.
I like to think now that I've gotten older and become more of a professional, I can look at things more objectively. Sports mean very little in the grand scheme of what's important in life and things will happen no matter how much I like it or not. I do get very into the analysis and feel like I don't get too crazy emotional over the game. Those that know me know that I'm rarely someone who yells when I'm at the ballpark. I like to just sit and observe what's happening. At the same time, while reporters and the like will tell you different, it's hard not to get emotionally attached to what's happening on the field. 162 games plus PirateFest and Spring Training is a long time. Think of how many hours you or I have spent watching or listening to games this season. I can recall about 4 or 5 games that I missed from start to finish this season. That's really it because I'm lucky enough to have a job in which I'm usually pretty close to a television or radio. So if you lowball the season total to 150 games at 3 hours per game, that's roughly 450 hours of non-stop baseball watching. The Simpsons is the longest running American sitcom with 508 episodes, so you could knock out the entire series in 254 hours. Obviously fans of that show have grown to become attached to those characters. Or imagine reading a novel followed by dozens of sequels. At the end of the day, professional baseball players are entertainers and like all entertainers, they make their living by evoking emotionally responses from us. So I guess what I'm trying to say is, the Pirates losing makes me feel bad.
That being said, I guess all we can really do is look at what our preseason expectations were. I don't seem to be able to see it on here, but I know before the season I predicted the team would win 77 games. This was based on me thinking that the FA acquisitions were a slight upgrade and our younger players would get better to make up the rest of that 5 win improvement. The season took many twists and turns and at one point I laughed at my prediction when it looked like we'd win over 90 games. I'm certainly not patting myself on the back now.
With that being said, I'm still pushing on with this progress, but as with the nature of documentaries, the story has unfolded before me and it looks to have taken quite a turn in the final act.
If any of you are in the Pittsburgh area and want to share your thoughts with me on camera for the documentary, please get at me on Twitter (@piratesfandoc) or email me at piratesfandoc@gmail.com.
I mentioned a lot of this in an on camera rant that will probably show up in the final project, but I'll put some of those thoughts here. Like anything, there are two sides to how you feel about this losing streak as a Pirates fan and like most issues, most of us reside somewhere in the middle of the spectrum rather than one far end or the other.
I like to think now that I've gotten older and become more of a professional, I can look at things more objectively. Sports mean very little in the grand scheme of what's important in life and things will happen no matter how much I like it or not. I do get very into the analysis and feel like I don't get too crazy emotional over the game. Those that know me know that I'm rarely someone who yells when I'm at the ballpark. I like to just sit and observe what's happening. At the same time, while reporters and the like will tell you different, it's hard not to get emotionally attached to what's happening on the field. 162 games plus PirateFest and Spring Training is a long time. Think of how many hours you or I have spent watching or listening to games this season. I can recall about 4 or 5 games that I missed from start to finish this season. That's really it because I'm lucky enough to have a job in which I'm usually pretty close to a television or radio. So if you lowball the season total to 150 games at 3 hours per game, that's roughly 450 hours of non-stop baseball watching. The Simpsons is the longest running American sitcom with 508 episodes, so you could knock out the entire series in 254 hours. Obviously fans of that show have grown to become attached to those characters. Or imagine reading a novel followed by dozens of sequels. At the end of the day, professional baseball players are entertainers and like all entertainers, they make their living by evoking emotionally responses from us. So I guess what I'm trying to say is, the Pirates losing makes me feel bad.
That being said, I guess all we can really do is look at what our preseason expectations were. I don't seem to be able to see it on here, but I know before the season I predicted the team would win 77 games. This was based on me thinking that the FA acquisitions were a slight upgrade and our younger players would get better to make up the rest of that 5 win improvement. The season took many twists and turns and at one point I laughed at my prediction when it looked like we'd win over 90 games. I'm certainly not patting myself on the back now.
With that being said, I'm still pushing on with this progress, but as with the nature of documentaries, the story has unfolded before me and it looks to have taken quite a turn in the final act.
If any of you are in the Pittsburgh area and want to share your thoughts with me on camera for the documentary, please get at me on Twitter (@piratesfandoc) or email me at piratesfandoc@gmail.com.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Post Trade Deadline Thoughts
I'm not really going to talk about the actual trades as I'm a bit late on that and there are much more knowledgable minds debating these moves in more detail and more articulately than I ever could. In short, I am pleased with what has gone down, but like with any trades we'll just have to wait and see. I will say that I love all of the discussion that has taken part regarding the trades because that just emphasizes the success this team has had. Winning breeds interest.
Really I just titled this post that because I'm bad at coming up with titles and I still consider it to be a bit too early to call this the home stretch. Though you better believe I will have my eyes glued to the TV for this Reds series.
I just wanted to give you a bit of an update on the progress. I attended the 3rd Annual Gathering of Pirates fans put together by the very friendly Cocktailsfor2. I've experienced it before this documentary, but now especially I'm starting to become used to that awkward, unsure, nervous, exciting feeling of meeting people "from the internet" and putting faces to screen names. It is quite interesting to see the diversity of these dedicated Pirates fans from young and old and of all different backgrounds. The Gathering on July 21st the the epitome of that. Good times.
I think one thing I want to focus on in this documentary is mixing a bit of Pirates history and the "fan experience". So I'll pose a question to you, what Pirates related things do you like to do aside from going to the games? I plan to head down the the Strip some weekend morning to load up on Pirates loot. I also hope to take a tour of The Clemente Museum in the near future. I'm also going to trek out to Oakland to see whatever remnants of Forbes Field remains. Anything else you suggest I take a look at?
Oh, I almost forgot, I finally caved and bought a 10 game plan, so that will probably hamper the goal of sitting in every seat of PNC Park. I ended up choosing upper deck behind homeplate. I love it. Press box accurate view of the game, great view of the city, and only $16 a ticket. My main reason to get them was as I explained to the ticket lady, "To, uh, you know, move myself up the ladder in case, uh, you know, there might be some more games... later... that I might need tickets for." She understood perfectly. As Michael Scott once said, "I'm not superstitious, but I'm a little stitious."
Part of me can't believe it is already August though. I do hope to make it to at least one minor league game. I also may go out to New York to catch a game or two from the Mets series in September. And while my ticket plan is mostly Fridays and Saturdays, I am pretty sure I will make it to the final regular season game against the Braves.
Thanks for keeping up with me and as always, feel free to contact me with any questions, suggestions, ramblings, or future lottery ticket winners.
Really I just titled this post that because I'm bad at coming up with titles and I still consider it to be a bit too early to call this the home stretch. Though you better believe I will have my eyes glued to the TV for this Reds series.
I just wanted to give you a bit of an update on the progress. I attended the 3rd Annual Gathering of Pirates fans put together by the very friendly Cocktailsfor2. I've experienced it before this documentary, but now especially I'm starting to become used to that awkward, unsure, nervous, exciting feeling of meeting people "from the internet" and putting faces to screen names. It is quite interesting to see the diversity of these dedicated Pirates fans from young and old and of all different backgrounds. The Gathering on July 21st the the epitome of that. Good times.
I think one thing I want to focus on in this documentary is mixing a bit of Pirates history and the "fan experience". So I'll pose a question to you, what Pirates related things do you like to do aside from going to the games? I plan to head down the the Strip some weekend morning to load up on Pirates loot. I also hope to take a tour of The Clemente Museum in the near future. I'm also going to trek out to Oakland to see whatever remnants of Forbes Field remains. Anything else you suggest I take a look at?
Oh, I almost forgot, I finally caved and bought a 10 game plan, so that will probably hamper the goal of sitting in every seat of PNC Park. I ended up choosing upper deck behind homeplate. I love it. Press box accurate view of the game, great view of the city, and only $16 a ticket. My main reason to get them was as I explained to the ticket lady, "To, uh, you know, move myself up the ladder in case, uh, you know, there might be some more games... later... that I might need tickets for." She understood perfectly. As Michael Scott once said, "I'm not superstitious, but I'm a little stitious."
Part of me can't believe it is already August though. I do hope to make it to at least one minor league game. I also may go out to New York to catch a game or two from the Mets series in September. And while my ticket plan is mostly Fridays and Saturdays, I am pretty sure I will make it to the final regular season game against the Braves.
Thanks for keeping up with me and as always, feel free to contact me with any questions, suggestions, ramblings, or future lottery ticket winners.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
How Bout Them Buccos?
Just checking in once again. I've been in a bit of a hiatus with some work picking up and moving apartments the past week or so, but luckily I still have been able to enjoy this ride of a summer we're having. The Pirates sit tied for first place as of 15 minutes ago and the last time they were this many games over .500 (8), I was in diapers.
If this keeps up, it certainly changes the focus of this documentary. Way back at PirateFest it was said in jest by myself and others that this would really be something is this little movie followed them the year they broke the streak. As much as I hate to admit it, I am a very superstitious person, so I won't quite drastically change things or anything, but these recent developments will certainly influence what type of footage I shoot and what kind of questions I ask people.
I started this whole thing with the thought that Pirates fans were the most dedicated fans on the face of the planet. I greatly admire the people that run various blogs and things of that nature because when you turn on SportsCenter, you aren't going to see many (if any) Pirates coverage. And with the Steelers and the rise of the Penguins, even coverage in our own city was lacking to those of us who crave as much Pirates coverage as they can get their hands on. I admire the Pirates bloggers who continually dedicate their time so fans like can learn about the team. Their passion for the Pirates has given them a lot and with the old media caught up in trying to cover this extraordinary season, I keep noticing some of the Pirates bloggers being featured much more prominently in more mainstream coverage. It is an honor they deserve.
And as for the fans, this season is what we deserve. This team is far from perfect, but they keep managing to get the job done. I certainly hope this continues. Over the years I've become a bit of a snob at games, preferring weeknights where I don't have to deal with the fireworks crowds. But as the season goes on and the Pirates continue to win games, it is the team, not the promotions that has people coming in and having been to some bigger games in recent years (the Saturday night vs. Boston last year comes to mind) I can tell you there is nothing more magical that a packed PNC Park with the crowd hanging on every pitch. I've often thought about what on Earth a playoff game at PNC Park would feel like. I don't want to say it yet, but who knows, maybe I'll find out sooner than later.
#WhyNotNow
If this keeps up, it certainly changes the focus of this documentary. Way back at PirateFest it was said in jest by myself and others that this would really be something is this little movie followed them the year they broke the streak. As much as I hate to admit it, I am a very superstitious person, so I won't quite drastically change things or anything, but these recent developments will certainly influence what type of footage I shoot and what kind of questions I ask people.
I started this whole thing with the thought that Pirates fans were the most dedicated fans on the face of the planet. I greatly admire the people that run various blogs and things of that nature because when you turn on SportsCenter, you aren't going to see many (if any) Pirates coverage. And with the Steelers and the rise of the Penguins, even coverage in our own city was lacking to those of us who crave as much Pirates coverage as they can get their hands on. I admire the Pirates bloggers who continually dedicate their time so fans like can learn about the team. Their passion for the Pirates has given them a lot and with the old media caught up in trying to cover this extraordinary season, I keep noticing some of the Pirates bloggers being featured much more prominently in more mainstream coverage. It is an honor they deserve.
And as for the fans, this season is what we deserve. This team is far from perfect, but they keep managing to get the job done. I certainly hope this continues. Over the years I've become a bit of a snob at games, preferring weeknights where I don't have to deal with the fireworks crowds. But as the season goes on and the Pirates continue to win games, it is the team, not the promotions that has people coming in and having been to some bigger games in recent years (the Saturday night vs. Boston last year comes to mind) I can tell you there is nothing more magical that a packed PNC Park with the crowd hanging on every pitch. I've often thought about what on Earth a playoff game at PNC Park would feel like. I don't want to say it yet, but who knows, maybe I'll find out sooner than later.
#WhyNotNow
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
49 games down
Hard to believe we're a quarter of the way done with the season. Just wanted to post a little update to let you all know I'm still out there, still going to at least one game every homestand. It hit me that perhaps a way to enhance me showing the "fan experience" is to really make an effort to sit everywhere I can. I don't have all my ticket stubs handy, but so far I think I've exhausted the upper deck behind homeplate (315 or so). My last game was in section 21, right behind the ball girl on the 3rd base line. Last season I sat a lot in the lower section behind homeplate (section 117 or so). Now I'm going to make a conscious effort to sit out in the outfield and try to get into some club/suite seats. Hopefully by the end of the year I'll have a fairly educated opinion on what seats are best for what you may be looking for.
One thing that has been on my mind lately is that there are two types of people that I think would be interesting to include in this documentary, that frankly I don't seem to be finding at games.
1. The ones who gave up. It's obvious why I can't find these people at games, they aren't there. These are the people that got sick of this team trading away fan favorites and losing and just decided to ignore that there is professional baseball in Pittsburgh in favor of devoting their time and money to the Steelers and the Penguins. I know these type of people exist and I would love to hear their perspective. Most of the people I've talked to just admit to liking the Pirates because that's their team, but clearly not all Pittsburghers share that unconditional love. If you know anyone like this, I would love to talk to them. And to be clear, I'm not going to set out to embarrass or demonize these people just because I'm a Pirates fan. I understand where they're coming from. I've thought about joining them. I just need to hear them and share what they have to say or else things tend to be a little one-sided.
2. The hard-hardcore fans (may not exist). I seem to remember stories, whether on game broadcasts or what about fans that attend every single home game. While that seems difficult, I suppose it isn't impossible. If any of you know if such a person exists, please contact me. I'd love to talk to them.
Remember you can email me at piratesfandoc@gmail.com or just tweet to me @piratesfandoc. I'll probably respond to tweets faster since I'm using Tweetdeck now and it gives me a nice little chime when people hit me up.
One thing that has been on my mind lately is that there are two types of people that I think would be interesting to include in this documentary, that frankly I don't seem to be finding at games.
1. The ones who gave up. It's obvious why I can't find these people at games, they aren't there. These are the people that got sick of this team trading away fan favorites and losing and just decided to ignore that there is professional baseball in Pittsburgh in favor of devoting their time and money to the Steelers and the Penguins. I know these type of people exist and I would love to hear their perspective. Most of the people I've talked to just admit to liking the Pirates because that's their team, but clearly not all Pittsburghers share that unconditional love. If you know anyone like this, I would love to talk to them. And to be clear, I'm not going to set out to embarrass or demonize these people just because I'm a Pirates fan. I understand where they're coming from. I've thought about joining them. I just need to hear them and share what they have to say or else things tend to be a little one-sided.
2. The hard-hardcore fans (may not exist). I seem to remember stories, whether on game broadcasts or what about fans that attend every single home game. While that seems difficult, I suppose it isn't impossible. If any of you know if such a person exists, please contact me. I'd love to talk to them.
Remember you can email me at piratesfandoc@gmail.com or just tweet to me @piratesfandoc. I'll probably respond to tweets faster since I'm using Tweetdeck now and it gives me a nice little chime when people hit me up.
Friday, May 4, 2012
As promised, Episode 1 "Opening Day"
Here it is. Thanks to Meeting of Important People for the music. Be sure to check them out and be sure to let me know what you all think. I really want to hear your feedback so I can keep it in mind for the future.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Quick Update
Just wanted to give everyone a quick update. I'd like to reiterate once again to feel free to contact me about anything you'd like to bring my attention to, whether it's music I can possibly use, Pirates related clips in the media that are interesting, or fans like yourselves with interesting stories you'd like to share.
In the meantime, I wanted to let you know that I just spent a few hours editing a little Opening Day "episode". It is still just a rough cut, but I hope to have something uploaded for you all next week. I'm looking forward to hearing your feedback.
Moving forward, while I do work a lot, I am going to try to attend at least one game from every homestand. If you're an out of towner or anyone that wants to be involved, feel free to contact me. Even if it is a game that I won't be at, I live really close to the ballpark so there is still probably a good chance I can meet with you somehow even if I'm not actually going to go inside and watch the game.
Until next time, hope everyone is doing well. Let's hope our team's trip to Atlanta works out a little better this time around!
EDIT: By the way, what do you all think we should title this documentary?
In the meantime, I wanted to let you know that I just spent a few hours editing a little Opening Day "episode". It is still just a rough cut, but I hope to have something uploaded for you all next week. I'm looking forward to hearing your feedback.
Moving forward, while I do work a lot, I am going to try to attend at least one game from every homestand. If you're an out of towner or anyone that wants to be involved, feel free to contact me. Even if it is a game that I won't be at, I live really close to the ballpark so there is still probably a good chance I can meet with you somehow even if I'm not actually going to go inside and watch the game.
Until next time, hope everyone is doing well. Let's hope our team's trip to Atlanta works out a little better this time around!
EDIT: By the way, what do you all think we should title this documentary?
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Music anyone?
Hope everyone had a fun Opening Day despite the outcome. Just wanted to make you all aware of some things that were crossing my mind.
While I am looking to release the final project during the offseason, I've been toying with the idea of releasing short "episodes" here and there during the season. Maybe just a few. This will give me a chance to do some editing on some sequences that are more or less self-contained (like Opening Day) which will make the final edit a little less overwhelming because I'll at least already have some things done. This will also give you all a taste of the style and feel of the documentary and allow me to hear your feedback of what you liked and what you didn't so I can keep these things in mind when making the final edit (this documentary is for you after all).
That being said, I want to reach out to all of you for some thoughts on music. Specifically, I'm looking for people who know any local bands/artists because not only would I be able to get permission from them to make this a little more official (and hopefully not get sued), but why not use this opportunity to help them reach some new ears? Of course I would give them proper credit in the film. I'm interested in all genres, though I will say that if it is rap, I may be only interested in the instrumental (don't get me wrong, I'm a big rap fan, but since it has such a heavy emphasis on the lyrics, it doesn't quite mesh well for this kind of thing). So if you guys make music or have friends that do, send their info my way, I'd love to hear what we can come up with.
While I am looking to release the final project during the offseason, I've been toying with the idea of releasing short "episodes" here and there during the season. Maybe just a few. This will give me a chance to do some editing on some sequences that are more or less self-contained (like Opening Day) which will make the final edit a little less overwhelming because I'll at least already have some things done. This will also give you all a taste of the style and feel of the documentary and allow me to hear your feedback of what you liked and what you didn't so I can keep these things in mind when making the final edit (this documentary is for you after all).
That being said, I want to reach out to all of you for some thoughts on music. Specifically, I'm looking for people who know any local bands/artists because not only would I be able to get permission from them to make this a little more official (and hopefully not get sued), but why not use this opportunity to help them reach some new ears? Of course I would give them proper credit in the film. I'm interested in all genres, though I will say that if it is rap, I may be only interested in the instrumental (don't get me wrong, I'm a big rap fan, but since it has such a heavy emphasis on the lyrics, it doesn't quite mesh well for this kind of thing). So if you guys make music or have friends that do, send their info my way, I'd love to hear what we can come up with.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Quick Thoughts As Opening Day Approaches
First of all, I want to give a big thank you for the support and feedback I received so far. The response has been great. This is a project that I really want to be special and I am my own harshest critic, so knowing that there are plenty of people waiting for the end result is good motivation to drive on when things start to get rough. So thank you for all of your emails and continue to spread the word and send me your thoughts.
With that being said, I just wanted to address some things for the short term and things to keep in mind as the season begins. I will be at the open practice tomorrow (Wednesday) as well as the opener on Thursday. I added a profile picture on this site, but it seems to automatically resize it to a very small size. I'll include a picture of me at the bottom of this post. If you see me around in the next two days or at any point during the season, feel free to say hello and if you're up for chatting and I have my camera, perhaps we can have you share some thoughts for the documentary. I promise I'm always up for talking to new people so don't hesitate to stop me to chat.
In the meantime, I want to remind you all that if you see anything of note in the media that I may have missed that you think would be interesting to include, let me know. I can always just chose not to include it, but it's better to have that choice than not have it at all. Things I'm talking about are ESPN guys joking about the Pirates or Regis Philbin once again pronouncing his love for the Pirates after Opening Day and then never again. Any interesting tidbits like that they may have slipped by me are welcome.
Another thing I wanted to ask for is (if possible) YOUR footage from games. The official television broadcasts have their advantages obviously for showing the action, but they don't quite capture the incredible atmosphere of the stands. Videos like this get my adrenaline pumping just as much as the official replay and having multiple views of epic moments like this is something that would be great to have. And with higher quality cameras coming to the iPhone and other phones, things will only get better. Now I'm not asking you to ruin your game experience by trying to stay perfectly still while recording every pitch. I'm just asking that if you feel inclined, at high leverage moments like this, consider pulling out your phone/camcorder and recording the situation and subsequent reaction. Another thing to keep in mind is don't worry too much about zooming. For one, often times zooms on those camcorders are digital zooms which are just making the pixels bigger. That's something I could do afterwards if I really wanted to. Also, the more something is zoomed in, the shakier it will be. While it is completely understandable to have some shakiness when you and 30,000 people around you are celebrating an amazing comeback, if you've zoomed in too much it may be hard to tell that you're even at a baseball game. Besides, I'm not concerned with you necessarily capturing the action on the field (that's what ROOT is for).
My interest is in YOUR reactions and YOUR celebrations. I want to see perspectives from all corners of the ballpark so outsiders can really see how gorgeous PNC Park is from all angles. Shoot, even if you're not at the ballpark, but if you're at a bar or somewhere else where you have a ton of fans glued to a television screen with every pitch, I would love to see that footage soon (side note: now that I'm 21 and new to the bar scene, if anyone has any recommendations of great places to catch a Pirates game, let me know). I hope you are all noticing a common theme in that I want EVERYTHING you have to offer. The more material I have, the more I have to choose from to make an awesome final project.
That about covers what's on my mind at this point. Stay tuned for updates on the progress of the film here and there and feel free to email me and tweet me. Oh yeah, here's that picture of me (taken at PirateFest). Hope to see some of you in the next few days!
With that being said, I just wanted to address some things for the short term and things to keep in mind as the season begins. I will be at the open practice tomorrow (Wednesday) as well as the opener on Thursday. I added a profile picture on this site, but it seems to automatically resize it to a very small size. I'll include a picture of me at the bottom of this post. If you see me around in the next two days or at any point during the season, feel free to say hello and if you're up for chatting and I have my camera, perhaps we can have you share some thoughts for the documentary. I promise I'm always up for talking to new people so don't hesitate to stop me to chat.
In the meantime, I want to remind you all that if you see anything of note in the media that I may have missed that you think would be interesting to include, let me know. I can always just chose not to include it, but it's better to have that choice than not have it at all. Things I'm talking about are ESPN guys joking about the Pirates or Regis Philbin once again pronouncing his love for the Pirates after Opening Day and then never again. Any interesting tidbits like that they may have slipped by me are welcome.
Another thing I wanted to ask for is (if possible) YOUR footage from games. The official television broadcasts have their advantages obviously for showing the action, but they don't quite capture the incredible atmosphere of the stands. Videos like this get my adrenaline pumping just as much as the official replay and having multiple views of epic moments like this is something that would be great to have. And with higher quality cameras coming to the iPhone and other phones, things will only get better. Now I'm not asking you to ruin your game experience by trying to stay perfectly still while recording every pitch. I'm just asking that if you feel inclined, at high leverage moments like this, consider pulling out your phone/camcorder and recording the situation and subsequent reaction. Another thing to keep in mind is don't worry too much about zooming. For one, often times zooms on those camcorders are digital zooms which are just making the pixels bigger. That's something I could do afterwards if I really wanted to. Also, the more something is zoomed in, the shakier it will be. While it is completely understandable to have some shakiness when you and 30,000 people around you are celebrating an amazing comeback, if you've zoomed in too much it may be hard to tell that you're even at a baseball game. Besides, I'm not concerned with you necessarily capturing the action on the field (that's what ROOT is for).
My interest is in YOUR reactions and YOUR celebrations. I want to see perspectives from all corners of the ballpark so outsiders can really see how gorgeous PNC Park is from all angles. Shoot, even if you're not at the ballpark, but if you're at a bar or somewhere else where you have a ton of fans glued to a television screen with every pitch, I would love to see that footage soon (side note: now that I'm 21 and new to the bar scene, if anyone has any recommendations of great places to catch a Pirates game, let me know). I hope you are all noticing a common theme in that I want EVERYTHING you have to offer. The more material I have, the more I have to choose from to make an awesome final project.
That about covers what's on my mind at this point. Stay tuned for updates on the progress of the film here and there and feel free to email me and tweet me. Oh yeah, here's that picture of me (taken at PirateFest). Hope to see some of you in the next few days!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
An Introduction
Fellow Pirates Fans,
My name is Greg Allison. I am a lifelong Pittsburgh Pirates fan and a recent graduate of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh where I majored in film making. This past winter I started toying with the idea of combining my two passions into a project exploring what drives people to still root for the team with the most consecutive losing seasons in history (19 and counting). As a 21 year old, I have no memory of winning baseball here in Pittsburgh.
For that reason, I feel like the Pirates fans that are still here are the greatest fans in professional sports. There's no other way to describe their dedication and loyalty. I want to make a film that explores who these people are. Why do they still buy tickets? Why do they buy jerseys for players that will be playing for another team before August? Why do they comment and debate over who should be the back up middle infielder on a 90-loss team?
I want to shed some light on the people that support these lovable losers who are treated as a laughingstock by the rest of the league. I want this to be a film about us. I want to hear your stories about the season tickets that have been in your family since the 60s. I want to hear about that trade that made you want to rip your hair out. I want to hear about your love for the game and for this team. I'm interested in talking to fans young and old.
I can't do this alone. This is not my story, this is our story. I want this to be a season-long celebration of our fandom. This blog and following contact information are a means of opening a dialogue between you and I. If there's something you want me to include, let me know. If you have a story to tell about your Pirates love, let me know. I want to hear your feedback and keep you updated on what's happening. I'll likely be doing a lot of question asking myself. Some documentaries form with a story in mind. While I certainly have some things I want to emphasize or touch on, this project, like the season, is just beginning and like the season, I'm extremely excited to see what it has in store for us.
With that said, spread the word and check up on this blog. Don't be afraid to get involved. You can email me at piratesfandoc@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter @piratesfandoc
My name is Greg Allison. I am a lifelong Pittsburgh Pirates fan and a recent graduate of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh where I majored in film making. This past winter I started toying with the idea of combining my two passions into a project exploring what drives people to still root for the team with the most consecutive losing seasons in history (19 and counting). As a 21 year old, I have no memory of winning baseball here in Pittsburgh.
For that reason, I feel like the Pirates fans that are still here are the greatest fans in professional sports. There's no other way to describe their dedication and loyalty. I want to make a film that explores who these people are. Why do they still buy tickets? Why do they buy jerseys for players that will be playing for another team before August? Why do they comment and debate over who should be the back up middle infielder on a 90-loss team?
I want to shed some light on the people that support these lovable losers who are treated as a laughingstock by the rest of the league. I want this to be a film about us. I want to hear your stories about the season tickets that have been in your family since the 60s. I want to hear about that trade that made you want to rip your hair out. I want to hear about your love for the game and for this team. I'm interested in talking to fans young and old.
I can't do this alone. This is not my story, this is our story. I want this to be a season-long celebration of our fandom. This blog and following contact information are a means of opening a dialogue between you and I. If there's something you want me to include, let me know. If you have a story to tell about your Pirates love, let me know. I want to hear your feedback and keep you updated on what's happening. I'll likely be doing a lot of question asking myself. Some documentaries form with a story in mind. While I certainly have some things I want to emphasize or touch on, this project, like the season, is just beginning and like the season, I'm extremely excited to see what it has in store for us.
With that said, spread the word and check up on this blog. Don't be afraid to get involved. You can email me at piratesfandoc@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter @piratesfandoc
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)