I've been reading Josh Becker's book again and have become quite fascinated by him and his work. His book on low-budget filmmaking reminds me so much of Richard Bare's book The Film Director which I also enjoyed. I now discover that Becker lists Bare's book as one of his influences! I think the similarity is that both directors are very serious about their work and yet they are known primarily for low-brow TV shows. Becker directed episodes of Xena and Hercules. Bare directed some obscure features and every episode of Green Acres.
The reason I like these books is that they are immensely practical. They remind me of the times when I was directing live-action industrial video in the late 80's. You're not worrying so much about aesthetics. You're thinking "did I get the shots?" and "is this going to cut?" Bare's book is filled with tips like how to make a non-moving train look like it's leaving the station. Becker's book emphasizes one thing: if your goal is to shoot 24 setups in a 12-hour day, you have 30 minutes a setup. How do you do that?
I find Becker's career really interesting. I was reading a thread on the Xena bulletin board called "Josh Becker fallen on hard times." There was a lot of back-and-forth about his most recent writing/directorial effort Alien Apocalypse and how good (or bad) it was.
[side note: I find this clip from Alien Apocalypse really funny.*
Alien: "Who am I? I am the Leader."
Astronaut: "Leader? You're not even human!"
Astronaut: "Where are you from?"
Alien: "Oregon."]
In my thinking, every movie of Becker's that I've seen really does have a B-movie sensibility: bad acting moments, an unwieldy sense of proportion and an all-around clumsiness. A lot of his self-financed films are also severely undershot. If I Had a Hammer (available on youtube) looks like it was shot primarily as masters. As Becker himself writes, if you shoot 24 setups a day, you can't finesse much. Considering all of this, I think Becker has done great. It's as if he's created a career through sheer force of will.
Now, to the screen shot above from Becker's If I Had a Hammer. Notice that the female lead is using the exact same mimeograph machine that Ben uses in our film. I discovered to my horror that in use, you actually see the mimeograph master spinning around and around on the drum. In our film, you don't. Of course, mimeography is such an obscure technology no one seems to notice. Also notice that she's standing on the side of the machine. That seems really awkward to me but that's probably how it was done. I don't know who the female lead is. She reminds me of Ellen Degeneres. See the clip here—
*Is Alien Apocalypse intentionally funny or not? This is what writer/director Josh Becker says in response to this question on his website—
Dear Robert:
It's a silly movie and was meant to be a silly movie. However, unlike most of the SciFi films which are severely humorless, this film doesn't take itself quite so seriously. I truly think we're in a world of hyperbole, and movies are either "a masterpiece" or "the worst film ever," whereas almost everything falls into the gray area in between. I don't accept you or anyone else calling the film Ed Woodian because it's just patently not true. If fake beards are the criteria for being Ed Woodian, then "Gettysburg" would win that award. And if it's using foreign actors and dubbing them, then all of Sergio Leone's films are Ed Woodian. I cruised those message boards, too, and there are some really stupid comments, which people are certainly allowed to make, and the internet now allows for that. But considering that, and I quote a letter from the head of SciFi Network,"'Alien Apocalypse' is Sci Fi's number ONE stand-alone movie ever," I guess I had the right elements to at least get people to tune in, then stay tuned in.
Josh
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