Monster Media 1993 #3/MONSTER.ISO/textfile/ghost.txt

Text File | 1993-11-12 | 17KB | 267 lines

From: [e-mail] (Mike Jittlov)

The oft-told, but forcefully forgotten true tale of yours truly's

MY LIFE AS A GHOST

>I have a question though.  I know Jittlov was involved in "GHOST".
>One of the guys from CWI up here mentioned at one point that his
>job was to be a stunt stand-in.

Originally, the "Dark Spirits" were full-size armatured skeletons, and
stop-motion-animated to coordinate with the actor's movements.  The skeletal
demons looked pretty fierce.  I don't recall the exact reason they chose me
over the figures - but from my own experience on SWING SHIFT (my 1973 short
film promotional), it can be surprisingly difficult to smoothly animate
6-foot armatures.  John knew from WIZARD, that I was expert at stop-motioning
myself.  Add a full-body costume, and it just might make things a little
easier.

>Evidently the scene where the murderer bites it and gets dragged
>away needed a lot of depth of field.  So what do they do?  They >hire
Jittlov to put on an outfit and animate himself over a long
>period of time.

Jeez, it's wonderful how rumor can simplify history.  And it's very tempting
to leave it at that.  But...

John Van Vliet once animated the spirits for RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. Kathy
Kean once animated the spirits and witch woman for CONAN.  They met and
married, and formed their own Burbank company - Available Light - gathered
some of the finest artists under their roof, and are now justifiably reknown
for their effects animation (check out HONEY I BLEW UP THE KID). We'd known
each other since 1980, when John (then working at ILM) bought a 16mm print of
the original WIZARD short from me, and showed it to George Lucas [that's
another story].  In 1986, when I was in the throes of completing the WIZARD
feature's 400+ special effects scenes by myself, with virtually no money,
John let me use his rotoscope equipment. It was complete trust - "Here're the
keys, here're the alarm codes, track your own hours and whatever materials
you use, just make a miracle." Friendship like that is extremely rare in
Hollywood.  Or anywhere.  I was very happy to get the opportunity to repay
some of that, when John needed help on GHOST. Well, almost.  I read the
script.  Good story, by the same guy who wrote BRAINSTORM.  But I was
supposed to play all these shadowy things, called "clickers", that drag souls
off to Hollywood South. "John...I'm sorry, but I don't do evil spirits." -
"No, Mike, they're _not_ evil, they're more like, chauffeurs to hell, they're
taking this _slimy, murderous, evil, business partner_ to a more appropriate
place." (John is a wizard at knowing the right buttons to tap.)

A small digression for background info:  a smooth-talking Hollywood producer
(and ex-used car salesman) found me through one of my video promotional
tapes, and made me an offer.  He had some financing and distribution
contacts, and would help me get my first feature made, if he could be my
business partner - and also play a slimey, foul-mouthed, embezzling,
sociopathic Hollywood producer in my movie.  In early 1986, I became aware of
some problems in our corporate bookkeeping records. My esteamed business
partner, who was also our Corporate Secretary- Treasurer and CFO, promised
that he'd put everything in order, no money was missing, there was nothing to
worry about, I should just get back to work.  When I couldn't find _any_
books of account, I called our Financier and urged him to have his own
accountant look into this.  The Financier downplayed it, but finally said
he'd have a little talk with my e.b.p. A few weeks later, I got a call from a
life insurance company, apparently to reinstate the Financier's policy on
me.  I had no problem with that.  Fine, they just needed a token medical
exam, they'd send a paramedic right to my house.  However, my chance question
revealed the beneficiary of the $1,000,000 policy on my life was not the
Financier. It was to be split between my e.b.p. and his close friend, the
president of SGE (who would later distribute our movie without my
authorization). Against the agent's protests, I cancelled the exam.  And I
called my e.b.p.  His voice was shaking, he was sorry he hadn't told me about
it first, but it had to be done, and he deserved the policy because he'd been
working with me for so long on this project.  I said that if anyone deserved
a million-dollar-policy on me, it was my mother.  Fine, urged the e.b.p.,
he'd be willing to negotiate, he'd even cut her in for half! [End digression
- but things got more bizarre]

Suffice it to say, I had no problem with my acting motivation for this role.
And actually, it was quite cathartic.  My spirit-shades were being directed
by John Van Vliet to grab, rake, and otherwise attack this film's embezzling
murderer.  And it was a great exercise for the imagination - because there
was nothing else to work with.

>>>>(letter lost - but someone asked for details on the GHOST garb, in order
to make a Halloween costume)

Ah, the costume.  First, my old black pants, a black sweater, and two pairs
of black socks (the floor was very cold).  Then a pair of long black gloves,
painted with white skeleton bones.  And then the spirit garb (fashioned by
animator Beth Block) - a silk tube-robe, with an explosion of shredded white
silk and hundreds of gauze strips hanging from the shoulders and arms, all
attached to a stiffly-domed hood with a skull-mask.  (It was an aerial spirit
- there were no legs - until the director saw the footage, changed his mind,
and we had to reshoot most of it later.) It all felt very spooky, very
surreal...I was wearing an isolation tank - completely covered, my only
contact with reality through the two little eye-holes on the mask.  Checked a
mirror - I looked more like Captain Jicama, or an albino Scarecrow of Oz.
And I kept singing, "If I only had a brain.."  Luckily, no one could hear me
over the roar of the wind-machines. "What were wind machines for?", you may
wonder. The stop-motion (pixilation, technically) was being filmed with long
exposures - 8 seconds of open shutter, 8 seconds closed/recycle. I would hold
my position (or move, for a needed blur), while the wind machines whirled the
costume around me, to cause a "spirit flame" aura.  (The effect honestly
seemed too chaotic to me - but it wasn't my film.)  I'd take a postion and
hold still - 16 seconds - change slightly - 16 seconds - and so on, until the
camera had filmed 4-7 seconds worth (with 24 frames for each movie second).
We were filming in a large, empty warehouse (code-named "Dead Sam's") in Sun
Valley (north of Burbank).  The cold cement floor was covered with black
plastic.  The walls were black-backdropped.  I was acting without a target
dummy, C-stand, or anything else to reference, to look at, to touch, or lean
on.  I couldn't see much anyway - the skull mask kept slipping lower on my
face, we never had time to rework it.

>>>>So how do you know what to do? Were you touching the actor, or what?

We never met (until later).  The production footage, of the actors flailing
at invisible spirits, was shot in New York, and months before. John was on
that set, noting every camera postion and detail.  And now, in this warehouse
limbo, he had to duplicate those camera moves and set perspectives.  And
spirit-shapes had to somehow be generated, that would perfectly interact with
the filmed performances. I studied each shot of the production footage on a
Moviola, and drew storyboards with critical gestures at certain frame
numbers.  I gave those count-downs to John, Bill Arance, Joseph Thomas and/or
Deven Chierighino (my feature's co-star, "David Conrad", i got him involved),
and had the numbers shouted at me through the wind-machines' racket. Again,
the only thing I was reacting to was my own projections - of every ounce and
ion of anger, every frustration I'd been holding inside for the past 6 years,
and firing them at my e.b.p. - wherever he might be. [I'm a Los Angeles
native.  This behavior is considered normal.] Unknown to me, said e.b.p. was
out of the country - attending MIFED in Milan, Italy (where does he get the
$$$$$ for these trips?).  But a month later I got a call - had I heard what
happened?  My e.b.p. had suddenly been attacked by one of his fellow
distribution consultants, and soundly beaten up.  ("Coincidence?  Or Fate?
YOU be the Judge!") (or like, his Karma just ran over his Dogma, y'know?  8>

>And Mike had to stop when his back went out.

No, I have a very strong back now, quite proud of it.  Though that wasn't the
case in 1977-8, when I was diagnosed with pretty hopeless arthritis, and my
lower spine was disintegrating.  I remember using my camera tripod as a
crutch - I was determined to complete TIME TRIPPER, and got the last shot
just minutes before they turned off Hollywood's Xmas lights.  Two doctors
said I'd be lucky to walk again.  But in the fall of 1979, I was running
20mph, in a green robe, for the original WIZARD OF SPEED AND TIME filmshort.
[And that's Another Story - where

I learned some very important lessons about healing, and subliminals, and the
real magic of movies...and also that "M.D." doesn't stand for "Minor Diety".
I saw a recent x-ray, my back is perfect.]

What happened, was a severe muscle spasm.  Allow me to illustrate: Hold your
arm out from your body, for 5 minutes.  Does it hurt?  Every body feels the
same thing, there's no real damage, the pain's in your mind.  So...keep it
out there, don't relax it, and hold it for another 5 minutes.  Just remember,
"pain is certain, suffering is optional". Holding your arm out for 10 minutes
was our old high school test for virginity (guess who always "won"). Now try
continuing that...for, oh...another 80 minutes.  With both hands and arms
out.  And maybe one leg.  Eventually moving yourself a quarter inch, every 16
seconds, in the slowest t'ai-chi possible, in a simulated three-step walk
over a 55-foot stretch, that when stop-motion filmed and projected at normal
speed will look like a wraith coming out of the ground, and stalking forward
to grab an invisible and intangible moving target.  And it all has to look
natural. If you blow it, if you forget to move a finger right or arc an arm
left, if you sneeze or itch or lose your balance, then you've just cost the
production many hours of time, and much money.  There is not a little
pressure on you. Now keep it up, for 132 hours.  After we worked out just how
to do this, after tests, trials, takes, and director's retakes, I had enough
wits and energy for the gaggle of geists (I was all of them) at the feature's
finale scene.  Then (and during) I had to contend with SGE's plans for
releasing/dumping my own feature, and then biting my pride for a last-ditch
chance to edit the video version to a better cut.

>I have been very impressed with your work and your integrity. I remember
>reading about your work on Ghost in Cinefex.  The people interviewed made
>it very clear that you were a) a true professional and b) some one of
>sufficient integrity to not do a role of a truely evil person/spirit.
>They also acknowledged how they almost killed you with the filming of
>the "clicker" sequence.

>>It says, "each ghost was shot individually, and Jittlov played them
>>all, it was punishing work...We almost killed the guy."

"Ghost Killed - Film at 11!"  Again, I didn't play them all.  When I finished
the finale scene, John hired a professional mime to fill my shrouds.  But
after two and a half weeks, it just wasn't working out. Animation is more
than moving slowly - it is a different reality, and timing.  Plus, you have
to sense where the changing frame of the motion -controled camera is, where
the actor is for each frame, where all the furniture and props are supposed
to be.  Probably drove the mime crazy. When pro-animator Bill Arance decided
to don the Ghost garb - and later, John Van Vliet himself - the sequences
were finally completed. I heard they were also both pretty much in agony,
after the first day. Bill said he never realized i was in such good shape.
They did the Dark Spirits that are seen earlier in the film (who drag the
street-thug away) - and did them perfectly (I like their moves much better
than mine).

>My problem is, as anyone who follows film gossip knows, that I
>don't know what he did on the film.  I was told he did titles.
>I was told by ILM he animated the shadow spirits.

>>Were you actually playing the retribution ghosts or whatever they were
>>called that picked up the guy and carried him away into the shadows?
>>I thought you played both the bad guys in a lot of makeup.

I only did what I said above.  No titles or other characters.  Just
stop-motion-acted as seven white ghosts.  These were photographed against a
black background, on b&w film, and the reverse image (black shadows on a
clear film base) were bi-pack composited into the main production footage.
The spirits' shadowy trails were animated (and originated) by John and
company. Well, actually, John also had me planned to play some of the angelic
spirits, when Swayze walks into the heaven-ending.  They'd built some some
beautiful miniatures in the warehouse, and shot breathtaking boiling-cloud
backgrounds - but that sequence was then assigned to BOSS (another effects
house) and done by computer.  Politics, time-crunch, who knows...

>>>at CWI he stood still on camera.  Does some one know?  I would
>>>normally just be curious, but all the different answers are
>>>perplexing.  And I can't find the copy of Cinefex.

Excellent article, Issue 44, pages 13-14 .  There's also a fine mention in
American Cinematographer, December 1990, pages 77-78.

>>I just had my daughter put it on the VCR, and fast-forward
>>to the credits... and there you are - "Dark Ghost".

Second credit.  Bill Arance is rightfully credited first.  Though I did more
ghost-acting, he was much more involved in all the effects production, and
also did some of the roto-animation.  (And there are a lot more people at
Available Light that should be credited here...)

Postscript:  I told John to get some publicity mileage out of this, it'd be a
great story on ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT.  And ET was HQ'd at Paramount's lot.
But Paramount's PR department nixed it, stating they didn't want anyone to
know about the special effects, or any of their movie's supernatural
elements.  (In GHOST?  C'mon...) This was said the same day that a TV
commercial aired in L.A., using the scene with my spirits hauling the villain
away.  I taped the ad, and called John.  John called Paramount - who now said
they'd already done a piece on the special effects weeks ago, that ET had
interviewed ILM (which had done the easier pass-throughs), and that was good
enough. John hired a PR man of his own, and got a reporter from a local TV
news station to video an interview at Available Light.  And he also called
me.  I brought some radio-control gear, put on the spook suit, slipped a
little sound-effects toy in my glove, and sat in a chair just as the TV
reporter and crew arrived and set up lights.  About 15 minutes later, she
began the interview. John gave a great spiel, showed the many rotoscoped
cels, his beautiful storyboards, the equipment, the detailed technology
involved, and picked up the remote control to demonstrate the animatronic
ghost. I slowly clicked and whirred to micro-life.  They were awed.  John
inched a knob, my hand rotated; John moved a joy-stick, my arm racheted to an
odd angle.  The reporter stepped closer to check out the figure. And nearly
broke my eardrums, when I turned to say hello. ...They didn't air the
footage.  Pity.

=============================================================================

The Normandeau Newswire Syndicate, Modem 212-274-8110, 46 lines, Newsgroup # 5
welcomes press releases and other information relating to:
Radio, TV, Film and Video Tape Production.
We do not re-type press releases.
E-Mail your material via Internet to [e-mail]

NN is operated by Ray Normandeau and Rita Frazier Normandeau, two NYC working
members of Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and
Radio Artists.

NN is  part of the Invention Factory BBS 212-274-8110.
Postal address, Normandeau Newswire Syndicate, POB 854, NYC, NY 10108-0854