I am so
overcome with thoughts, I really can't imagine this
being a cohesive entry. The only way I can sum up how
I feel is this:
When I get on
that plane tonight, and we all die, I won't be too
bummed. LOL. Ya see, every single time I get on a
plane I assume "this is it". Most of the time that
sucks and there's things I wish I would've
done. But not this time. Because if last night was my
last performance, and the video I'm slaving over as we
speak from last night is how people remember me...then
I'm happy. I know it's horribly morbid and
overly-dramatic - but hey, I actually do think
like that every time I get on a plane.
Heh, a month ago
Jess and I were ecstatic that this was a direct flight
to Columbus (something we've never had before) - now
it's just more fuel for the BOMB. LOL. Wow, I sure am
tempting fate aren't I. Anyway - this is a Trinitron
Chronicle...right?
And the final
chronicle as well (barring a Bob Saget ammendment).
Last night (to me anyway, I'm still awake at 5 AM) the
public got to see what I saw nearly 2 months ago
on my computer that made me pee my pants. It was that
early morning when I woke up to an overnight
render of the first 8 minutes of the show and got to
watch it for the first time. Of course last night the
final piece was added with Live Adam and The
Trinitrons, 8 MONTHS after the entry in which we
named them, came to life.
Of course to get
to this point required an absolutely STOOPID amount of
work. From the time I last wrote you until the
performance I worked 18-20 hours a day everyday.
And I BARELY made it. As I said in the previous
Trinitron Chronicle I had everything done up to where
Bob was to come in, so I needed to rework the
alternate ending, do a final sound mix on it adding
sound effects, voice-overs, and harmonies, then of
course write and record the opening (where eveything
is explained) - and have everyone's stats up for when
people are walking in. About 160 hours of work. Had I
been paid, that would've been $4000. LOL.
Ahh, your first
look at Live Adam. Each set of stats runs in the 4tvs
for 1 minute. Eveythings movin' and lookin' all high
tech.
LOL. Did I mention
that Live Adam's the arrogant prick? Here's the other
4:
As you can see,
everyone is in uniform here, and that's to set the
tone for the opening of the show. Unfortunately you've
all seen what they change into, so it isn't a suprise
- but I just couldn't help but show you those
pics back in July. Oh my GOD. 3 MONTHS ago?!!
Wow.
Then of course the
opening sequence that explains The Trinitrons. I was
gonna do a Behind The Music Spoof but simply couldn't
come up with the appropriate way to explain
everything. There's really two options here: First,
and what we somewhat based the FILMING on, was
that these guys LIVE INSIDE the TVs. It
would lend way to some funny ass pictures and so
forth. Of course there were problems with that since
Cameron and Adam are brothers...you could start to
explain it but then it starts getting stupid.
Secondly, and what I ended up going with, was that
they were all real people and performed in TVs to keep
from killing each other...
...and it was at
the rehearsal you see above that Gary said he'd never
perform in the same room with Adam again...and thus
4tvs was born to keep the band going. Yeah, it seems
all obvious now doesn't it - but I swear the
hours I spent thinking about how to do this the
right way are innumerable. Honestly, EVERY NIGHT
as I went to sleep - I tried to invision the opening
in my mind, and I kept coming up with stumbling
blocks. So finally, 2 days before the show, I set
up a green screen in my living room, turned on the
camera and for hour after hour after hour I just
started a speech. Honestly - I did it for 4 hours
until I was exhausted at 6 AM...got up at 10:30 and
did it for anouther 3 hours before I finally got
it. The opening's isn't even 3 minutes, but for some
reason doing it one take, and staying within Cameron's
character of dry wit was just impossible. Here's a
shot for you...
My first Green
Screen. Ahhh...I love my computer.
Then came working
on Live Adam. Unfortunately I couldn't do this until
about 4 PM on Saturday and I was gonna do a
dress rehearsal for Jess (since she was gonna be
working on Sunday) and Charlotte at 7:30 PM. Needless
to say, even though I wrote the damn thing,
getting the timing down was nothing short of a
miracle. I can't even begin to tell you how badly it
interupts your acting ability when you're only
thinking in "technical" terms of how many seconds you
have to say certain things. There is no "acting flow"
with 4tvs. Whereas on stage you move with another
actor and play off each others words, here - you've
got 4 people that will never change. They never hear
the audience laughing, or not laughing, and to make it
look fluid is FREAKIN' rough. I got fairly good
by the dress rehearsal but trying to make Live Adam a
seperate character from Spencer was just
mind-mumbingly frustrating.
First off, those
glasses made me appreciate ZORRO's acting a bility a
bit more. LOL. That's about what it's like to try to
convey any emotion and character when you can't see
your eyes or even EYEBROWS. That's the biggie. Go make
some faces in the mirror, and then imagine not being
able to see your eyes or eyebrows. It sucks. So
Charlotte Jess and I sat and brainstormed for about 2
hours on what could be done differently. Everything
from changing accents, to changing character to
traits, to even clothing.
So guess what I
did ALL DAY Sunday. LOL. Worked and worked
and worked on making Live Adam a character. Finally,
after a suggestion from Marshall (who also watched the
dress rehearsal), I got it. He told me to just
make Adam stupid. Not ZOOLANDER stupid, but close
to that. My problem was Cameron is a smart ass and at
times so is Live Adam. The similarities come through
no matter what you're wearing or how you're acting.
That TRAIT can't be similar. So by showtime I really
got the character down. One of those arrogant MORONS
we've all met over the years. Charlotte arrived 10
minutes before the show with a new shirt and boots for
Live Adam and it was time.
Too bad it didn't
matter.
I pretty much
could've put a cardboard cut out of myself up there
and phoned in the lines and no one would've cared. It
is absolutely, positively, The G and Spencer show.
Period. Just to give you an example: The audience was
so tuned in, that when G is rapping about kicking
Adam's ass, he has a line where he says: "Don't
believe that your safe! Not from me, and you won't
hear a thing 'cause I copied your key!" And he shows
the key to the audience. They cheered for THAT. They
were happy that Adam was gonna get beat down. It was
incredible. Not only that, but the laughter was SO
loud, and SO long - I could barely keep up. Everything
I had practiced that day went STRAIGHT out the
window, as I tried desperately to hear my cues and
keep my cool. Thank GOD I had those glasses
on 'cause if you had seen the look on my face...LOL.
Ya see, I don't have ANY monitors. None. I'm
trying to hear my front speakers for my sound cues. I
used to have one for the old show, but that was just
to keep time with the music. I didn't think it
was necessary for this. Yeah, well I was wrong. LOL.
Here's
just a sampling
of the
show...
This is almost cruel to do to you... You
just gotta see more don't ya. Damn I
realized I forgot to put the "Trinitron
Chronicles" Bookends on the video...ahh
well. It's not like you haven't seen it 7
times already...
The ONLY downside
looking back at the tape is almost a dozen jokes (and
some of the best ones) were completely missed. Half
the time I was up there I was thinking: "Shut up, shut
up....ya gotta hear this one". Oh and all that sound
mixing I did? Worthless. Absolutely worthless...LOL.
If crowds are gonna be reacting like this, I'm gonna
need a sound guy for every show. Of course every show
though will not be like this. Even though
I didn't know everybody there, there's something
about knowing that this is a guy who lives at your
complex. You automatically want to root for him.
Definitely a home crowd, but man oh man was it the
best reaction I've ever had. I mean ever. In 26 years
I'm not sure I have ever felt like I was able to show
my talents to the world. Uh-oh here comes Live Adam...
But seriously, any of you with artistic talent know
that not being able to truly express it is fuckin'
MISERABLE. That's how I've felt my whole life. In
radio, even though I loved every second, and put every
ounce of my being into it (and my GOD did I), I
knew in the back of my mind I could do more - and
that feeling kept radio from being satisfying. When I
was hell 16-23 and dreamt of nothing but being a solo
artist, I knew that that wasn't all I would
want to do. I'd want to act in the video - I'd want to
produce that video...or maybe this or that or
AHHHH...
But in one night,
assuming everyone knows what went into everything, I
show it all. It's funny, I think personally, I'm most
proud of the video work. I mean this thing is
smooooooth. It looks amazingly professional. Ha. I
need to quite saying that don't I. Uhm, it is
professional. I think I can more than qualify for
that now.
And holy rusted
metal Batman, the video is bar none the best taping of
a 4tvs show ever. I spent quite some time setting up
the camera so the 4tvs take up the FULL 4 corners
of your tv set. I even borke apart some of my set-up
and moved the tvs in closer to get the perfect shot. I
am in the process right now of super-imposing the tvs.
As well, on some parts you'll see the tvs get bigger
and take over the whole screen so it's possible to
get, for the first time EVER, a real sense of the show
live on tape. I honestly didn't think it could be
done. But if you can't get out to LA to see this show,
the only thing you miss with this tape is people
screaming and laughing in your ear. And with a good
sound system, you'll get that too. I'm tellin' you -
the tape ROCKS. And hell, it's the first show!!!!!
WOO HOOO!!!
I'll be back in
Columbus from Wednesday the 3rd to Thursday the 11th,
so email me if you'd like a copy. Otherwise I can
always mail it to ya. I figure to cover costs that $20
is fair. Not lookin' for a profit really, I figure
that'll come in a few months. Heh, you get to own 8
months of my life for 20 bucks.
So there you have
it. All the work is done. The pressure is ALL on
Charlotte now. I told her that and she said: "There is
NO pressure now" She told me as she watched the video
that, and I quote, "If this doesn't win 'Show of
the year' at Aspen I'll eat my hat." I'm putting that
in writing boy. It figures, I'm still praying I'm one
of the 4 picked and she's 2 steps ahead of me. Man,
the next few months are gonna be amazing aren't they.
Fuck what I said about being all peaceful if I die
tomorrow... I wanna see how this ends! "The Journey"
is now a full-fledged mini-series, and we're just
warmin' up! Can you just imagine what some of the
entry titles could be soon? AHHHHHHHH.
I'm so freakin'
glad I've had the discipline to keep this site up.
This may end up being an even more satisfying project
than The Trinitrons.
