Capitilize on Your Vision with Bennett Sommer
In this episode we talk with Bennett Sommer about capitalizing on your creative visions!
Transcript
This is Film Center, your number one show for real entertainment
Speaker:industry news, no fluff, all facts.
Speaker:Now, here are your anchors, Derek Johnson II and Nicholas Killian.
Speaker:Hey everyone, I'm Derek Johnson II, welcome to Film Center News.
Speaker:I'm Nicholas Killian.
Speaker:And today we're here with someone special, we're here with Bennett Summer.
Speaker:Hi Bennett.
Speaker:How you doing?
Speaker:I'm good.
Speaker:Thank you guys for having me.
Speaker:I'm excited to be here.
Speaker:Yeah, dude.
Speaker:Yeah So we're here in Westlake again.
Speaker:We're in our office.
Speaker:We're in our office.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah Where are you from?
Speaker:I?
Speaker:Originally grew up years 1 through 8 in Huntington Beach, California.
Speaker:Oh nice.
Speaker:Years 1 through 8.
Speaker:You have it mapped out?
Speaker:1 through 8.
Speaker:This guy has the calendar.
Speaker:So what about from 0 to 1?
Speaker:Zero to one was my mom's stomach, I believe.
Speaker:And did you like that better than Huntington Beach?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And then I moved year eight to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Davie specifically.
Speaker:Oh, no way.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:South Florida.
Speaker:And then eventually went to college in Boston at Emerson college.
Speaker:Oh, awesome.
Speaker:Awesome.
Speaker:Shout out to Florida.
Speaker:I went to Florida state.
Speaker:Oh, really nice.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:For a college.
Speaker:You party?
Speaker:You go crazy?
Speaker:Ah, I do a little somethin A little somethin I might have
Speaker:gone to Miami a little sooner before the weekend sometimes.
Speaker:Yeah, that's a crazy school.
Speaker:I got some friends there, visited once on, and interesting
Speaker:culture that got going on there.
Speaker:Yeah, I was actually in their circus they had over there.
Speaker:Oh, really?
Speaker:No way.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I was going crazy.
Speaker:They had a lot of interesting stuff, but it's not about that.
Speaker:That's not what we're talking about.
Speaker:What precipitated you to move from Huntington Beach to Florida?
Speaker:My parents mostly wanted to move closer to family.
Speaker:We had a lot of cousins and stuff in South Florida.
Speaker:So it was nice to grow up with them, right down the road.
Speaker:Wait, but if you're living in Florida, you ended up going to Boston.
Speaker:Hold on.
Speaker:Let's back up a little bit.
Speaker:You're in film, like you're a filmmaker.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:So we always interested in that when you were younger.
Speaker:When I was younger my mom actually jokes a lot that.
Speaker:When I was younger, I wanted to be an astronaut and yeah I think honestly, I
Speaker:just liked the idea of floating in space.
Speaker:I, and then once I learned that it takes actual science and math and all that
Speaker:stuff that you got to learn, I was then we moved to Florida where you could be an
Speaker:astronaut, and then I'm like, actually, I think I want to do the Hollywood stuff.
Speaker:I think I want to do film and acting.
Speaker:Now that we've left, okay, great.
Speaker:I want to go.
Speaker:We were just in Huntington Beach and you didn't want to do it there.
Speaker:Yeah, but I've always had a passion for film in general.
Speaker:I've just, I always liked it and then once I got older and
Speaker:realized, you could actually do it.
Speaker:I started making stuff just with a computer on iMovie with the camera
Speaker:on the actual computer, just moving that around, pulling the camera.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:The whole computer in the backyard.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:When I was that young, didn't even have cameras on computers.
Speaker:They had I found a really old camcorder and I think it was like
Speaker:a, it wasn't so I'm from Morrisboro, Tennessee, outside of Nashville.
Speaker:So it's.
Speaker:It's something now it's like a city now, but when I lived there was
Speaker:like nothing there We got a Walmart.
Speaker:It was like in our newspaper.
Speaker:Then we were getting a Walmart.
Speaker:It was huge But I had a really old camcorder, but like you had to actually
Speaker:carry around your like computer and stuff But you didn't ask a choice.
Speaker:I didn't have to Make it harder on yourself.
Speaker:You wanted to struggle for the art, just streamline the whole
Speaker:thing Just record right in there.
Speaker:You don't even download anything.
Speaker:It's already on the computer.
Speaker:Yeah what was the initial, what was the candid event?
Speaker:What did it what propelled you to want to do?
Speaker:Yeah, did you have some sort of inspiration?
Speaker:I actually started with more of an interest in acting.
Speaker:So I started doing that in elementary and middle school and stuff like that.
Speaker:And then probably towards the end of high school is when I decided
Speaker:I actually wanted to do it.
Speaker:Commit more to the filmmaking, the writing, the directing stuff.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I had done stuff, in that whole time I was more committed to acting.
Speaker:And then I realized I can do both because it was really the point
Speaker:where I had to pick a major, I think.
Speaker:And I realized, I can act in my own stuff at the same time.
Speaker:I'm learning more of a filmmaking craft.
Speaker:Obviously, there's so much to learn about acting if you go to school
Speaker:for acting, but I wanted to There's a lot of theories, acting theories.
Speaker:Absolutely, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But yeah, I think I just decided I wanted to do both.
Speaker:That's actually super smart because what I did stupidly was I was just trying to
Speaker:be in people's stuff and then it got to a point where I was like, you know what?
Speaker:What am I doing?
Speaker:I'm just going to do my own stuff, produce my own stuff, and then just be in it.
Speaker:As someone who started off on the other side, it's one thing I hate
Speaker:hearing from actors, and it's all it's, that's not their fault, but
Speaker:one thing I hate hearing from them, it's oh, I didn't get my footage.
Speaker:I'm like, then who are you working with?
Speaker:There's some people are so desperate to do, to act in general.
Speaker:They don't ever evaluate the person they're auditioning for.
Speaker:You know what I'm saying?
Speaker:Or the material.
Speaker:They're just like, oh, as long as it's a job, it's whatever.
Speaker:But, how many times, and how many times have you heard this, that an actor or an
Speaker:actress didn't get the footage, right?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:They can't use it for their own reel, the footage is gone, or it's lost somewhere.
Speaker:Happened countless times.
Speaker:Countless times.
Speaker:Those actors are still stuck in the same loop.
Speaker:Because they're not evaluating the person they're actually going for.
Speaker:Yeah, it's such a competitive space that I mean actors are
Speaker:hungry to get whatever they can.
Speaker:Yeah, it's tough in that way for sure.
Speaker:And then what made you realize?
Speaker:Besides the fact that you were like I can just if I really want to act I can just
Speaker:start my own stuff Yeah, just start my own stuff besides that what made you like you
Speaker:said you decided you had to pick a major What made you want to go on the production
Speaker:side as far as the theater side?
Speaker:In high school, I started making like skits and goofy music videos
Speaker:with my friends and stuff like that.
Speaker:And I had so much fun doing that stuff and editing it and writing
Speaker:it and doing the whole, pre to post production the whole way through.
Speaker:I found fun.
Speaker:So I decided, why not commit to that in the long term?
Speaker:So you stumbled upon it.
Speaker:A little bit, yeah.
Speaker:Start at age probably 13 doing little Lego sti or what is it called, stop motion.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And so, progress, stop motion to skits, kind of music videos, and then
Speaker:it's okay, I'm gonna commit to this.
Speaker:To a lot of people that start off, like, when they're young, start with the Legos.
Speaker:I have a younger cousin.
Speaker:Who, when he was a lot younger, he set off doing stop motion.
Speaker:Yeah, my cousin too, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, with Legos, yeah.
Speaker:Was there a reason why you started with stop motion?
Speaker:Was there any particular reason?
Speaker:No, honestly I really don't know why I guess I thought it was cool.
Speaker:I thought it was, I always had this theory that because that's what you're
Speaker:playing with anyway, you want other people to see what you're seeing.
Speaker:Cause when you're a kid, you're playing with your action
Speaker:figures or Legos, whatever.
Speaker:You're like, Oh, okay.
Speaker:Then this is the part where Batman, he's going to fight the Ninja Turtles.
Speaker:And then yeah, then he gets in the river and this is this big
Speaker:underwater explosion that is just there just because I say it is right.
Speaker:So he's okay, cool.
Speaker:This is the hard hitting stuff they need to see.
Speaker:In Lego form, this is what I want them to see.
Speaker:Batman versus Ninja Turtles?
Speaker:This is generational.
Speaker:Which then eventually happened.
Speaker:The stuff the big studios would never dare to do.
Speaker:I'm an inspiration.
Speaker:Yeah, so then that was going on when you were young and
Speaker:you're starting to stop motion.
Speaker:Then you're like, okay, I'm going to start making my own stuff.
Speaker:So then when you were going off to college What was the major you decided on?
Speaker:Yeah, it's it's technically called visual media arts, which is just
Speaker:an umbrella term, Emerson college.
Speaker:Which the school's kind of cool in a way that they really let you navigate
Speaker:your classes in a way that inspires you.
Speaker:So if you're really into writing, you can choose writing classes
Speaker:as well as a couple others.
Speaker:I mainly focused on writing and producing most of my time there.
Speaker:Why writing and producing?
Speaker:That's just what I was drawn to.
Speaker:I think my first and second year especially, I thought I just
Speaker:wanted to hammer down writing.
Speaker:I thought I wanted to be a writer through and through.
Speaker:Even though, we have production classes along the way, and those classes
Speaker:actually helped me realize that I do the actual production side too.
Speaker:I like being on set, and I like doing all that stuff.
Speaker:And obviously now that I'm doing music videos and stuff, that's, More
Speaker:production than writing actually.
Speaker:So I think I fell into it just through the classes and over time.
Speaker:There's a lot more work in music videos too, than in more traditional stuff.
Speaker:Cause everyone's shooting music videos everybody.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I think that if you're going into writing there, you should know
Speaker:some things about producing because it affects the way you can write.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I've spoken to a lot of different writers to where Oh, I want this big scene here.
Speaker:And it's But you don't have the budget for that.
Speaker:So not that you, not that, the budget should constrain your
Speaker:creativity, but you should use that challenge as an opportunity to come
Speaker:up with something truly creative.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:We were just writing a script two days ago and we got to this part where
Speaker:we're like, okay, they're on a train.
Speaker:And then I was like, how are we going to film on a train?
Speaker:And then we decided, no, I just pushed past it.
Speaker:Just blow by.
Speaker:We'll come back to it later.
Speaker:We can set it in a different place.
Speaker:If we decide that it's impossible to shoot on a train.
Speaker:But.
Speaker:Yeah, it's definitely overcoming those sort of logistics when you're writing, but
Speaker:also, like you said, letting creativity flow and not hindering yourself.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Also going back a little bit, like I said like we said last
Speaker:week our favorite question.
Speaker:So you go and pick this major, but beforehand you
Speaker:have to talk to your parents.
Speaker:You have to tell your parents.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Do you have any siblings?
Speaker:I have an older sister.
Speaker:Two years older to the day, actually.
Speaker:We have the same birthday.
Speaker:That's crazy!
Speaker:You have the same birthday?
Speaker:Yeah, it's still her birthday.
Speaker:Did you ever accidentally get some of her gifts?
Speaker:No.
Speaker:They're like, oh hey, this is dollhouse, here you go.
Speaker:Here's these stockings.
Speaker:Oh, wait a minute, this is for your sister.
Speaker:Oh, wait, this is for yours.
Speaker:What did the conversation look like and did they see it coming?
Speaker:They definitely saw it coming.
Speaker:I think they actually the conversation was more about Whether or not I go
Speaker:to college at all with I really yeah, I You know i'm exiting high school
Speaker:I didn't even have a graduation.
Speaker:And so I think that kind of flustered me a little bit too.
Speaker:And because the world was over, essentially, the world was ending.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Oh, I have a graduation.
Speaker:If it's going to be gone tomorrow.
Speaker:So then I, I was like I could just move out to LA.
Speaker:And, I'll figure it out.
Speaker:My parents were like, nope, you're not going to do that.
Speaker:You're going to go get a degree.
Speaker:And that was, I think, a great call for me at least.
Speaker:I think some people can make that route and just move to
Speaker:somewhere, learn on the job.
Speaker:Totally fair.
Speaker:I think I still needed some time to grow up a little bit.
Speaker:A little structure maybe.
Speaker:Meet some people.
Speaker:Wouldn't have met John without it.
Speaker:Yeah, the structure, absolutely.
Speaker:Just becoming an adult in college is so valuable.
Speaker:Yeah, because you're out on your own for the first time.
Speaker:It's oh, okay it's not like you were locked in a cage in high school, but
Speaker:when it's like, No, this, it's just you like when you call your parents, when
Speaker:you're staying at your parents house and you're in high school, it's okay,
Speaker:if I'm wanting to see my dad or my mom, I might just wait till I get home.
Speaker:To tell them something when you're off.
Speaker:I got to call them.
Speaker:They might not pick up cause they might be at work.
Speaker:So then I got to call them after work, but then they might have, then I have
Speaker:to call me back cause they missed it.
Speaker:And all I'm trying to do is just get an emergency phone number.
Speaker:Or the thing is that.
Speaker:If you do something wrong, or if you get in a situation where you might need them,
Speaker:they're not going to come instantly.
Speaker:Oh yeah, because you went to college in Boston.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:They're not going to instantly be there from Florida.
Speaker:No, not at all.
Speaker:No bailouts.
Speaker:Why Boston?
Speaker:I had always heard it's a great place, college town Because it is
Speaker:starkly different from Florida.
Speaker:Yeah really honestly the schools I applied to, Emerson was the one I was most excited
Speaker:about that I got into, and the idea of going to Boston and having cold weather,
Speaker:which I hadn't really had my entire life.
Speaker:Oh yeah, Cali and then Florida.
Speaker:Yeah, just something different.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I think I wanted to change it up.
Speaker:How was that first snow storm?
Speaker:Oh, it was pretty brutal.
Speaker:First year, like walking through the streets, the alleys are
Speaker:just so much wind coming down.
Speaker:It's.
Speaker:I was not ready for it, but then, learn to layer up.
Speaker:You learn to adjust.
Speaker:Do you like the cold now?
Speaker:Or do you prefer the, I prefer being out here excited for the beach days, man.
Speaker:Were there any nights where you were like, You know what, man?
Speaker:I don't know why I came to Boston.
Speaker:It is so cold out here.
Speaker:The first year, a couple of times, I think I would walk outside and I
Speaker:was just completely underdressed.
Speaker:And I was just like, I don't belong here.
Speaker:Like what, what's going on?
Speaker:That's an interesting experience.
Speaker:Cause you're thinking that you're like, Oh, it's so cool.
Speaker:But then also you're doing something that you like.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You know what I'm saying?
Speaker:It's I love what I'm doing.
Speaker:I just wish I moved it somewhere else.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But those experiences like.
Speaker:I think my dad honestly got me to look at stuff in this way he always says
Speaker:like if it's bitter cold or it's really hot you just got to try to enjoy it
Speaker:in any way because that just makes you feel alive it's like I'm freezing yeah
Speaker:I'm suffering for the heart yeah I mean it you try to enjoy the highs and
Speaker:the lows Those colds are pretty low.
Speaker:Yeah, I mean I I did spend some time in Pennsylvania I used to snowboarding a
Speaker:lot and then my mom she's from Alabama despises Snowflakes anything like that.
Speaker:She's no way.
Speaker:So when we used to go snowboarding check cool.
Speaker:I'm gonna be back here at the condo Guys enjoy yourself.
Speaker:No, I'm just kidding.
Speaker:Did your parents ever come visit you?
Speaker:Yeah, they did a couple times and they loved it there.
Speaker:It's always nice having the parents in town.
Speaker:It gives you a reason to go out and actually explore the
Speaker:town and go to restaurants.
Speaker:Yeah, nice restaurants that you could never go to.
Speaker:Did you ever have to usually when you do, what do your parents do?
Speaker:So my dad owns a mobile notary signing business and my mom
Speaker:works with housing mortgages.
Speaker:Oh cool.
Speaker:But when you're in a different, our industry is, usually your parents
Speaker:don't work in the same industry.
Speaker:Do you ever find it difficult explaining what you do to them like, like this
Speaker:is the first year they're coming up to see you at college like I'm fine.
Speaker:This is what I'm doing X, Y, Z.
Speaker:So you just so much energy coming from you trying to explain what you're doing.
Speaker:But did it really come across where they understood what's happening or
Speaker:they're like, Oh, that's good for you.
Speaker:Yeah, I think.
Speaker:Over the years as I've become more passionate and just go on these long
Speaker:rambles to them and whether they're like interested or not, or pretending they're
Speaker:pretty good pretenders if they are.
Speaker:But I think my dad, especially I've noticed has genuinely started
Speaker:caring about film and the process of filmmaking as my interest has grown,
Speaker:which I obviously love and appreciate.
Speaker:So I think he's always excited to hear about that kind of stuff.
Speaker:And I think he's really understanding, start to finish the process and You know
Speaker:even growing up you would watch like the behind the scenes of films with me So
Speaker:it's always nice having and how long did it take for him to get to that point?
Speaker:Do you think?
Speaker:Cause you said they didn't, they saw it coming.
Speaker:So it was like, they see you doing it in high school, but then I think there's
Speaker:a huge difference when you tell your parents this is something I want to do.
Speaker:Comparative to, I am doing this, you know what I'm saying?
Speaker:It's it's different to be like, I could say I want to be a firefighter
Speaker:all day, but actually being one is a totally different thing.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:They never actually voiced any sort of concern to me,
Speaker:which I'm so appreciative of.
Speaker:But if I was a parent and my kids told me they were going into film it's hard
Speaker:to not be a little bit like, okay, yeah, so like, how are you going to eat?
Speaker:Let's see how this plays out.
Speaker:Because that's what my parents did.
Speaker:They were like, okay, cool.
Speaker:So like, how are you going to eat?
Speaker:Like, how are you going to survive?
Speaker:Also, don't get anybody pregnant or you're going into construction.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:My dad said a lot about my, my mom was, my mom, she doesn't really care about.
Speaker:Booze and TV as much she was just like, as long as you're making
Speaker:money and paying rent I guess I don't really care what you're doing.
Speaker:And then my dad he's really into comic books and stuff like that.
Speaker:And So he's oh cool.
Speaker:I have no idea what you're talking about half the time if you could tell
Speaker:me anything about the Marvel movies, I'm cool with that Do you ever have
Speaker:one of these moments where you're like, I really want my parents to see this
Speaker:because I feel like, you talk to some creatives and they always are, it's
Speaker:always feels really good when your parents or someone who you look up to
Speaker:or someone who you're close with, right?
Speaker:For so long.
Speaker:And they give you that validation, right?
Speaker:Because obviously they care about you.
Speaker:But at the same time, it's I want them to see me up there.
Speaker:This is what I do.
Speaker:You know what I'm saying?
Speaker:And they'd be like, Oh, that was awesome.
Speaker:Yeah, I feel that.
Speaker:Honestly, every time.
Speaker:I really love showing my work to my parents, and I respect them a lot,
Speaker:and I care about their opinion a lot, to be honest, and Yeah, it's
Speaker:always an exciting feeling showing my work to the people closest to me.
Speaker:Obviously, it's nice when people I don't know like it.
Speaker:That's cool Yeah, the people closest when they when you can tell they
Speaker:really appreciate something you made it's just the most gratifying feeling
Speaker:So what's so what genres really are inspiring you here to be creative?
Speaker:Currently i'm on a pretty big sci fi kick.
Speaker:Oh, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I love how you can use sci fi to talk about what's happening now.
Speaker:Obviously I love speculative futures.
Speaker:And they are speaking of speculative futures.
Speaker:They're trying to remake Logan's run.
Speaker:Do you read that?
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That I'm like, I honestly, I never saw the original, but I probably
Speaker:should have before they, Oh my gosh.
Speaker:If you watch the original Logan's run, I have a whole bunch of things to say
Speaker:about that we're not about to get into, but yeah, no, it's but um, when you
Speaker:sometimes when you watch older movies and you're like, if they do remake this,
Speaker:I actually wish they cut this part out.
Speaker:Logan's run has a bunch of those and I think mainly
Speaker:because it's based off a book.
Speaker:But, when you base something off a previous work, if sometimes you should
Speaker:just cut things out because it doesn't make any sense without the other parts.
Speaker:But you can't cut out only half of that and then keep in the other part.
Speaker:There's a whole storyline with like people being frozen.
Speaker:That's in the original, I'm not gonna, no spoilers, but about
Speaker:people being frozen in Logan's run.
Speaker:There's a whole beginning part in the book that explains that but they only
Speaker:kept in the part where they discover the frozen people in the movie.
Speaker:So they're just walking along and all of a sudden people are just frozen.
Speaker:Some question marks hanging in this movie.
Speaker:Yeah, if you had to remake a sci fi movie that you've seen,
Speaker:That's not Star Wars or Aliens.
Speaker:I was going to say Alien, but fine.
Speaker:They got a new one coming out, it looks pretty good.
Speaker:Yeah, what, is there a sci fi movie that you're like, Okay, I know I
Speaker:would kick ass at remaking this.
Speaker:OG sci fi.
Speaker:Or actually any sci fi in general that you've seen that you're
Speaker:like, I want to hit a crack at this or at least a franchise.
Speaker:Yeah, um, you could do like Revenge of the Body Snatchers.
Speaker:Oh, that could be a good one.
Speaker:Or The one with the gl they live.
Speaker:I think that Oh, with the shade!
Speaker:I really Yeah!
Speaker:I really appreciate that one, and just Ever since I first saw that
Speaker:image of him putting the glasses on and the billboards changing Yeah!
Speaker:I was like I don't know that i've ever looked at billboards the same thing Yeah,
Speaker:I would love to do that but also just so much respect for the original yeah Some
Speaker:movies do you even need to remake them?
Speaker:Some just need to be re released.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Oh, yo, yeah Go to a local screening of they live if it's near You
Speaker:know, it's actually great answers.
Speaker:You're talking about re releasing because when they released re release spider man
Speaker:2 earlier this year It hit like number two in the box office I believe it.
Speaker:What a film.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:They really Spider Man too.
Speaker:And they hit number two in the box office.
Speaker:And I'm like, that really shows that you guys are messing up.
Speaker:They're like, we don't want to see any of the martyrs, the current
Speaker:stuff you're making, we want to go back to the Spider Man two thing.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So since you're, so you're really on this sci fi kick, where are
Speaker:you pulling your, sci fi from?
Speaker:Is it mostly Novels or comics or you're like, oh, okay.
Speaker:I'm watching animation.
Speaker:I'm watching live action or is it like everything?
Speaker:It's a bit of everything.
Speaker:I my taste is more towards modern stuff.
Speaker:I think John my my partner you guys just talked to he's more of a oldies
Speaker:and i'm more of a Contemporary guys?
Speaker:Historical fantasy sci fi or then you just said modern.
Speaker:Oh, yeah but game of thrones.
Speaker:That's a modern historical.
Speaker:It's not sci fi though.
Speaker:No, it's not
Speaker:Although it's great though, yeah, it is also though I forget
Speaker:the difference between fantasy and sci fi, I get it mixed up.
Speaker:Recent stuff, Dune.
Speaker:What an inspo of that.
Speaker:Dune Part 2.
Speaker:We had an interesting experience with Dune Part 2.
Speaker:It was the first time we had d seats.
Speaker:You ever try that before?
Speaker:Oh, was that the moving ones?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yo.
Speaker:That's the next step in filmmaking, I think.
Speaker:It's gonna be those big IMAX moving chairs.
Speaker:It's gonna be raising the spectacle up.
Speaker:We get invited to a lot of I would say experimental stuff and we have
Speaker:been invited to what do we see that was in the 280 or 270 degrees?
Speaker:Oh, yeah, we went and saw the we went and saw the racing We went to gran
Speaker:turismo the one where they took the best People video game players in the world
Speaker:and then tried to see if they could make them an actual race car driver.
Speaker:And we went, did they make them?
Speaker:Yeah, it's based on it.
Speaker:It's based on a true story.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:So we went I think it was 180 degree.
Speaker:Was it 180 degrees?
Speaker:No, it was 270 because it was Part of the movie was in front of you and
Speaker:then for random scenes it felt like it would stretch out like the sides.
Speaker:Oh wow.
Speaker:So it would be on like the left and right of you and then it would shrink back to
Speaker:the front and it would, we're talking about really cool, like it really cool
Speaker:especially, and then it got old a little fast 'cause like we don't do it right?
Speaker:It's it like it needs to be shot for two 70.
Speaker:It seemed like it was shot regularly and then they made so
Speaker:it could be 270 But he's right.
Speaker:It was cool though when it worked.
Speaker:It was really cool It was like when 3d movies just came out like
Speaker:you remember like spy kids 3d.
Speaker:Oh where?
Speaker:So the thing was is like It was almost like it was shot for it But it was also
Speaker:like a gimmick cuz it was like reaching out at you and stuff like that This
Speaker:is back in the day movie either, I'm saying yeah But it was back in the day
Speaker:when everybody thought 3d movies That was like that was going to be the new
Speaker:standard and then it was just like a phase All right, so we're talking about
Speaker:movies now talk about Stephanie Theorist.
Speaker:Okay, you have you so you've tried of the D boxes before Yeah, I love the D box.
Speaker:Okay, so And we had an episode about this where we're like, okay, the
Speaker:difference between the box seats and like 40 rides that you would get at,
Speaker:like universal studios and like that.
Speaker:Like I think it's Kung Fu Panda now, but it used to be Shrek that.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:The 270, the 4D, the D Box seats, we're talking about them being
Speaker:possibly the future of the theater.
Speaker:This is how you get people back into the theater because people really
Speaker:then want the experience and it's scientifically proven that seeing it on
Speaker:a bigger screen makes it more enjoyable.
Speaker:But how does this affect you as a filmmaker?
Speaker:For example, like we just said, it seemed like there was a disconnect
Speaker:between the actual technology being used, the 270, because when we saw
Speaker:Dune in it, the scenes in which they were quiet and nothing was going on and
Speaker:the seats were still, I was like, eh.
Speaker:All they did was vibrate.
Speaker:But during the action, like you feel like you're going over the dune, like
Speaker:it's tilting down, that's super cool.
Speaker:It was amazing.
Speaker:Do you think that first of all, do you think that this technology is positive
Speaker:towards the what they're trying to go for?
Speaker:And do you think there's something that They should be doing that.
Speaker:They're missing.
Speaker:I think it's absolutely a positive for the filmmaking or film going experience.
Speaker:And the filmmaking is going to be a whole different approach.
Speaker:If you want to go there, if you really want to think about,
Speaker:okay, this is a D box movie.
Speaker:I'm curious if they thought about that at all with Top Gun because
Speaker:it felt like that in some ways.
Speaker:Because I hear the people who program it aren't even the filmmakers,
Speaker:they're the people at the theaters.
Speaker:And they, so they watch the movie prior to obviously the audience seeing it.
Speaker:And then they're programming as they're watching it, like it's like a, not like a
Speaker:joystick exactly, but they're controlling what the seats should be doing while
Speaker:they're watching it in like a real time.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Let's say that, okay, you're going to be on this, let's say you're going to
Speaker:have to make this next sci fi movie.
Speaker:You know ahead of time that part of it's going to be 270, and it's
Speaker:also going to be a D box seat.
Speaker:How does this affect your creativity your what you're producing?
Speaker:Yeah, it would be hard not to think about that kind of stuff.
Speaker:But at the same time, you want to make sure that you're serving the story first.
Speaker:And so you don't want to be doing some unnecessary camera tricks.
Speaker:The spy kiss 3D thing, as you're saying.
Speaker:If it feels like a gimmick, then it's going to come off inauthentic.
Speaker:And over time, I think it's going to, it's not going to play as well.
Speaker:Because not everybody's going to be watching it in a different way.
Speaker:Deboxed theater their entire life.
Speaker:You're gonna be seeing it at home a couple times and then how is your movie
Speaker:actually gonna play once you get it home because I know watching Spy Kids
Speaker:3D on a car TV and they start doing the hand reaching out towards you.
Speaker:It's like this feels When you first see it, it's like whoa, yeah, but then
Speaker:five years later you're like Why is it why are you reaching their hand?
Speaker:Yeah, but that whoa experience is so like Important And it's
Speaker:in the movie going games.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And I'll never forget going to see Top Gun or Avatar in those
Speaker:Dbox seats and literally just like giggling for the first 10 minutes.
Speaker:'cause it's just oh my gosh, this is so crazy.
Speaker:Imagine how crazy that'd be if you were watching Star Wars
Speaker:and two 70 and Dbox Seats Pro.
Speaker:You feel like you're right there in the, by the directors and the
Speaker:cinematographers and it's actually.
Speaker:Not a gimmick.
Speaker:It's just yeah, no, it's, this is basically a ride.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So let's talk about this two 70.
Speaker:So your camera is only facing this one direction, but two 70, you have a
Speaker:left side and the right side, right?
Speaker:So this is obviously going to affect the way you're doing your shots.
Speaker:Do you think are there some scenes that you don't even need that two 70 yet?
Speaker:Because like you said, if you're seeing it at home, you're not going
Speaker:to get the left side, right side.
Speaker:So the focus on that center, but then again, During the movie going experience
Speaker:you have to keep that in mind, right?
Speaker:So I guess you might even need to invent some new type of shots.
Speaker:I think about it Yeah, it would be I guess putting the focus on the center of
Speaker:the screen and then having more kind of noise on the outside Which is something
Speaker:i've found myself doing actually in Making music videos in a day and age where
Speaker:everybody likes kind of vertical content.
Speaker:Sometimes I attempt not to as much as I can, because again, it's, you
Speaker:want to serve the piece itself.
Speaker:It's in the back of your mind.
Speaker:I find myself framing something so that it could be edited in a
Speaker:vertical way and a horizontal way.
Speaker:I guess it would be the same thing for that kind of technology and the
Speaker:sort of difference of doing that.
Speaker:You think, okay.
Speaker:Center image and then outside is anything that you think that they're missing art.
Speaker:270 D box seats It's anything that you think that they could be
Speaker:doing that we really interesting.
Speaker:I Don't know.
Speaker:I'm interested to see where they go with it, though.
Speaker:Not that I can really think of it, you got any ideas?
Speaker:Me personally, I know something I don't want.
Speaker:I don't want any smell stuff.
Speaker:I don't want to, not at all.
Speaker:Speaking of Spy Kids, do you remember the 4D one with the scratchy stuff?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That was too far.
Speaker:They tried it, it didn't work.
Speaker:Imagine them going Oh, the next Fast and the Furious movie.
Speaker:You get to smell.
Speaker:No, I don't want to smell Vin Diesel sweat and gasoline.
Speaker:That's not in any capacity.
Speaker:Um, that's the only thing I can think of.
Speaker:That's just something I don't want.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Would you as a filmmaker want to be more involved with.
Speaker:Those programmings because the people who do program the 270 is
Speaker:done by the filmmakers themselves, but the actual D box seats is done
Speaker:by the people at the theaters.
Speaker:Would you like to be more involved?
Speaker:You think with the actual control of where the seats go?
Speaker:Because then it's since you're it's your film, you want to
Speaker:present it a certain way.
Speaker:That is an interesting point.
Speaker:I think it would be fun to do for sure.
Speaker:I love the whole process of it.
Speaker:So even being in the room when they're doing that would be
Speaker:interesting and fun to contribute.
Speaker:But I also Trust the crew and their job and their position.
Speaker:And I would hope that they're smart in what they're doing.
Speaker:So let them cook, so basically it sounds like what you're saying is you're
Speaker:like, I'd to be in the first two or three, but after a while, do your job.
Speaker:Alright, cool.
Speaker:Dude, it's been really great having you on the show.
Speaker:Is there anywhere people can look you up?
Speaker:Yeah, you can find some music videos and films at SpaceshipJoyride.
Speaker:com or Instagram, SpaceshipJoyride.
Speaker:My Instagram is Bennett.
Speaker:Sommer, S O M E R, and Yeah, thank you guys so much for having me.
Speaker:I had a great time.
Speaker:Yeah, it's been awesome.
Speaker:Guys, this has been Film Center News.
Speaker:I'm Derek Johnson, second.
Speaker:I'm Nicholas Killian.
Speaker:And we're here with Bennett Sommer.
Speaker:And we'll see you next time.
Speaker:See you.
Speaker:This has been Film Center on Comic Con Radio.
Speaker:Check out our previous episodes at filmcenternews.
Speaker:com.
Speaker:Sign up for our newsletter and get the Hollywood trade straight to you.
Speaker:You can follow the show at Film Center News on all major platforms.
Speaker:Tune in next week for a fresh.
Speaker:Until next time, this has been Film Center.
