In this episode we talk with Bennett Sommer about capitalizing on your creative visions!
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.