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
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