Project Greenlight 2 (The Complete Second Series Plus Film The Battle of Shaker Heights) [DVD]

First let me say I was disappointed in the show which was project Greenlight 1, but liked the movie by the winning writer/director Pete Jones, STOLEN SUMMER very much. I would watch STOLEN SUMMER again. The show, on the other hand, with what seemed to me phony senseless bickering between producers Jeff Balis and Chris Moore seemed to lack the insight into the movie making I would have liked. Come on, Chris Moore fussing because Jeff and Pete postponed the lake swim because the water was too cold for the child stars, made Moore look like an idiot. And made careful thinking about what you'll need to get the movie done seem bad. I do want to point out that Jones went on to make other movies.Project Greenlight 2, was an inversion. I loved the show, and found the movie, BATTLE OF SHAKER HEIGHTS lacking.Now I have made a feature film. I made my feature KNAPTID for $6,000 and wrote about how in my  How to Make a Low-Budget Digital Movie  short. Even though I had some bad actors I think  Knaptid--4 Days After The First Abduction  is a better movie than BATTLE OF SHAKER HEIGHTS. So my comments here are those of an experienced low-budget filmmaker.Project Greenlight 2 does give you some real insight into how a Hollywood film is made, and what all happens. The way in which the parent company tried to change the movie after it went before a test audience is a lesson by itself for the would-be filmmaker. The casting problems which I experienced myself--though not with stars, struck home, and the list goes on. What might really be of value to the independent filmmaker here is watching the problems develop.Greenlight 2 makes producers Balis and Moore look good, and the winning directors look like idiots, while the writer, Erica Beeney is treated sympathetically. The question is: did the show treat Potelle and Rankin fairly or just make them look bad? (One does wonder after watching the show if the winner had been the director candidate who said she would only make SHAKER HEIGHTS or the one who actually did the best job on his directorial sample, the one with the crazy person in the psych ward, whether the end product would have been better. )How bad are the directors? Here is an example. We see them filming at a church. They need the church for outside shots of Shia LaBeouf as Kelly at his best friend's sister's (Amy Smart) wedding. So what do the directors do. They spend way to much time filming LaBeouf in a Limo talking to Smart in a scene they never get right, and then have to set up lights to fake daylight in a scene that has to be outdoors. In the final movie there is a shot of LaBeouf riding away from the church before the daytime service starts, while cars on the street have their headlights on because it is actually dusk. They only had the church for a day. LaBeouf did okay, but Smart never got the 'in limo scene' right. We never get the idea that she is being confronted just before her wedding by a guy she may have made love to while on the outs with her fiance. (Want to see the surprised bride done right watch THE GRADUATE.) The thing is there was no background in focus, so they could have shot the 'in the limo shot' anywhere after spending a little time directing Smart.When the movie making was beginning, I can't believe the directors didn't ask the casting director right up front 'who can we reasonably get? LaBeouf was a bad choice here for example. LaBeouf may be great in comedy, but he did not always deliver here. Example, the bully.The bully picks on LaBeouf because LaBeouf harasses the bully's father who is a history teacher. But the bully's demeanor and LaBeouf's is cartoonish. The fact that the bully has motive to hate LaBeouf is important as LaBeouf later regrets the trick he pulls on the bully. The interaction of the two characters comprise some of the worst, most wooden acting in the movie. In fact, LaBeouf barely seems bothered by the bully, emotionally detached.Speaking of emotion to really show it in a movie you need close-ups. This movie seems shot entirely in medium shots. In fact, one extreme close up is of a tiny doll held by LaBeouf's best friend's father. The problem is instead of a real character the friend's father is a caricature.Directing the actors: Didn't these people ever rehearse? Kathleen Quinlan does this scene that ends where her saying 'because' she loves her husband. This is an emotional scene yet she doesn't seem real because she goes from smiling to serious without really being the character.Some of the problems could be placed on Beeney the writer. But if you watch the show you'll see the directors tried to rewrite her. And the studio heads redid the movie edit. So who is to blame for some of the movie's problems is up in the air, for example: Why LaBeouf hates his father is not revealed until the end of the movie. Meanwhile we go through the movie finding his 'I hate you Dad' attitude unbelievable enough to make him unsympathetic.Here the directors made mistakes, the writer may have, the studio heads obviously did, and so what was in Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's heads when they actually said the fiasco that was THE BATTLE OF SHAKER HEIGHTS was better than STOLEN SUMMER.(By the way: The directors and the writer here have not gone on as Pete Jones has. At the time of this writing the SHAKER directing gang has one movie of their own they are working on. Beeney has no further credits. Pete Jones seems to have done a few things.)This all makes for an educating show. They show these guys making mistakes people can learn from. So enjoy the show, endure the movie and learn.

Shame, this. "The Battle of Shaker Heights" is a slight time-waster with some fun dialogue and great performances. But there's a much stronger, deeper movie in here somewhere. Unfortunately, that movie is somewhere on the Mirimax cutting room floor.This year's installment of "Project Greenlight" was really amusing. I liked all three of the winners - Kyle, Efram and Erica - and the movie seemed like it had potential to be a great one. But K & E, who seemed to get unfairly villified as arrogant control freaks, were unprepared to get slammed against the Mirimax machine.They made mistakes. They weren't team players. But they have talent and an honest vision, and their movie really could have been great. Instead, we have this, a 75-minute lightweight job that touches on many subjects and characters, only to "resolve" them with two-sentence exchanges.Think of all the missed opportunities here. The parents. The fiance. The bully, who is fascinatingly literate and short of stature. Bart's parents. And, most importantly, Kelly himself. Shia's performance is deeply perceptive and natural, but this cut of the movie refuses to let us see the source of Kelly's anger and intelligence. All we get is an awkward "One day I got angry" speech.There's a heart in "The Battle of Shaker Heights," and there's genuine talent on the screen and behind the cameras. Unfortunately, the Chris Moore's and Harvey Weinstein's of the world have molded that heart and talent into a shapeless piece of throwaway Mirimax entertainment.

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I'm interested in what goes behind the scenes of a motion picture. Turns out there is a lot more to the process than one might expect.Project Greenlight lasted a mere three seasons, the first two on HBO, the last on Bravo. Only the first two seasons are available. I enjoyed the first year with Pete Jones, so I ponied up the bucks for the second.The second season features a change from the first season. This time, there were to be a writer whose script was chosen, and a different director to direct the film. There was still a competition that narrowed down the list from the thousands of scripts submitted, and the hundreds of potential directors.The format was similar in the competition. Each screenwriter and director had to make a pitch to a team of studio executives as well as Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Once the screenplay and the director was chosen, then the team had a short period of time to do pre-production.The main problem this year was casting. The directors wanted certain actors/actresses, but Miramax (who was funding the film) had final say. This caused a LOT of friction. The final casting was not done until the film was underway (!).All-in-all, a superb entry in the short series. I enjoyed it immensely, and felt it was as good as, or even a bit better than, the first season.Highly recommended if you have even a passing curiosity about the filmmaking process. As Affleck and Damon comment, it's a lot harder than it looks. And infused with a lot more drama, arguments and strife than you'd think. Probably more so than some of the films that result!