The Blog of Derek Kovacevic

This blog ain’t dead yet.

Though, if you’ve been visiting regularly during the past two months, and seeing nothing new, I could see how you might be thinking that.

The main reason it’s been so long is I was away in London for the better part of three weeks. In addition to running my own video production company, I work part-time at Best Buy in the cellular department, which recently went through a major overhaul (re-branded as Best Buy Mobile). Thus, the training.

While in London, I stayed at the Delta Armouries Hotel. It was a pretty nice place overall, but it certainly wasn’t without its…quirks, shall we say? During the first week or so, it was overrun by elderly women. It wasn’t just a few here are there, they OWNED the place with an overwhelming majority. While standing outside, I witnessed one taxi after another unloading 3-4 at a time. It kind of felt like a Twilight Zone episode. We wondered if there was some sort of Golden Girls convention in town. As it turns out, we were invaded by the Daughters of the Nile. Once the “daughters” left, there were US military the following week. It seemed like you had to be part of something if you wanted to stay at this hotel. I was among 30 Best Buy employees, so it applied to me as well.

During some of our training in one of the conference rooms, a horrible noise would randomly occur. It sounded like a helicopter. The explanation we were given was they were turning on some pipes that had been shut off for a while. Uh, ok.

And then probably the worst was when one of the elevators went down for a whole day and change. There were only two so this REALLY slowed things down. To make matters worse, the one “good” elevator would automatically stop at each floor, whether or not someone requested it. So we had to wait 15 minutes for an elevator. Awful!

The girls at the nearby Subway should be fired. I stood there for 10 minutes before the person working at the adjoined Mac’s went and banged on their desk and yelled “Subway, you have customers.” They were slacking in the back, and said they couldn’t see me in the camera because I wasn’t standing in the right spot. As if I know what their camera can see. Regardless, what reason, other than a serious bathroom escapade, possibly a Russian invasion, do you have for not checking the desk for over 10 minutes? Where’s Donald Trump when you need him? You’re FIRED!!!

While London is only about two hours away from Windsor, I had spent next to no time in the city prior to this training. I noticed that their population is more polarized than Windsor’s. They have more rich people driving Audis and Lambos but they have way more bums, whereas Windsor is more middle-classed all around. I don’t think they have an equivalent to our EC Row Expressway, so getting from one end of town to the other takes longer. While dining at Jack Astor’s, I proudly wore my Windsor Spitfires t-shirt, just in case they forgot who knocked out the Knights and went on to win the OHL and Memorial Cup crowns.

Overall, it was good times and I hope to go back before Winter on my own terms. No training, just fun stuff.

Once I finally got back, I had so much catching up to do on my business and routine home stuff that the blog had to be put on hold until I got caught up.

Now things are falling back into place and I’m writing once again.

One thing about this long layoff is it has provided me with plenty of material to write about, so stay tuned for more…

I’ve had a hankering for a 35mm adapter for quite some time. Everyone is getting that really shallow depth of field look with them, and I want in on the action too, especially since I want to start making films now.

But which adapter to choose?

There are three popular choices: Letus, Red Rock Micro, and Cinevate. I decided to go with the M2 Encore from Red Rock.

Why?

I was initially leaning towards one of the Letus products, either the Extreme or Elite (no way would I shell out $4500 US for the Ultimate), as they seemed to be the most popular lately. My friend owns a Cinevate Brevis and says that constantly having to clean the dust inside the unit has made it almost unusable.

That didn’t sound too appealing, so I quickly ruled out the Cinevate Brevis.

The same friend had worked with the original M2, and said it was built very well, but had issues with vignetting, sharpness, and light loss was around 1.5 stops. Not great.

But Red Rock recently rolled out a new M2 called the Encore and it seems all those issues have been addressed. Better image sharpness, no vignetting, and only half a stop light loss (that’s WITH the flip accessory)!

So the unit itself looks great, but the nail in the coffin for me was the quality of the Encore’s accessories. The follow focus looks great, and it too actually is a new and improved edition of their original one. In addition, Red Rock Micro has good shoulder mount and matte box options. So you can really complete the cinematic experience with those add-ons.

I ordered mine a little more than two weeks ago, so I’m getting a little antsy. The web site says lead times can be up to 15 days, so hopefully mine ships very soon. I already bought a 50mm Zeiss lens, so I just need the Encore.

I’m looking forward to receiving it and testing it out. I’ve never worked with a 35mm adapter before so I’m very eager to get my hands on it. Stay tuned for sample footage.

I’m a big fan of comedy, and one of my favourite TV shows is Flight of the Conchords (FOTC for short). Last night, I got to see them live in Detroit at the beautiful Fox Theatre.

But before they came on, we were treated to some stand-up by opening act Eugene Mirman. Mirman has a recurring role on FOTC as the landlord, but it’s a small role with short lines, so you never get to know him all that well. This was his chance to really showcase his material, and, I have to say, I thought he was great. His jokes sometimes got a little weird and out there, but he always seemed to bring it home or get you with his next bit. The most memorable bit was probably his Delta Airlines incident. He had been on a Delta flight and they lost his luggage. So he made 1000 postcards with hand-drawn images of a person and a plane and the words “I hate you” written on them on one side, and a long nasty letter to Delta on the other side. He actually handed these out to audience members and encouraged us to use them. He said he’ll stop using them if he can have controlling stock in the airline or $10,000, whichever is greater.

And then, out came Jemaine and Brett to a roaring Detroit welcome. This was actually their second show that night, an 11PM start time. I wasn’t sure if it would just be the two of them or if any of the other characters from the show would be part of the show. Basically, it is just the two of them, although, for some of the material, they are backed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, which is comprised of one man, Nigel, on cello. Nigel wears what appears to be a 1970’s prom outfit, complete with a blue ruffled shirt. Jemaine says this is the compulsory uniform for the symphony, and also that there used to be three members in the symphony which had to share the single uniform.

Their music on its own is pretty funny, but if you’ve watched the TV show repeatedly or have their albums, you kind of go to the show hoping they do more than just play their songs. Luckily, they do.

Their was plenty of banter between most of their songs. While much of it is probably loosely scripted, you can tell that they do improvise a lot. Sometimes with each other, sometimes with the audience, and sometimes even in the middle of a song. A couple times, Brett forgot the words and Jemaine would call him on it and then they’d just come up with material.

Because of all the banter, and the need to play some of their new songs, some of their classic hit songs had to be cut from the show. The first one that comes to mind is “Business Time.” This is arguably their most popular song, their “Hotel California” or “Stairway to Heaven.” That surprised me. Maybe they played it for the first audience, or maybe they’re just tired of it. Either way, I forgive them.

If you get a chance to see these guys live, I highly recommend that you do. Because of their improvisation, every show is different, so you can go home knowing that you saw something unique, and you can’t say that about every act you see.

Dave riding in my car

Last year, Dave and I drove up to Clinton, ON (small town an hour north of London) for a video shoot. We had a lot of fun on our trip, especially north of London, where most people would have little reason to go, as it’s made up entirely of small farming communities.

We made remarks and observations about all the odd things we saw. For me, I couldn’t help but notice how almost all the buildings were made of yellow brick. This included houses, commercial properties, churches, basically everything was primarily yellow brick. It was a sort of Twilight Zone moment.

I was looking forward to us going on this journey again this year, as the shoot is an annual gig, and I know Dave was eager to go again as well.

From Windsor, Clinton is about a three hour drive, and the shoot is only for about an hour, then it’s another three hours back home. Ideally, one would have a travelling companion to kill the boredom, but no one else I asked was available. I guess it was just meant to be me and Dave.

When I was at his wake, I took some extra memorial pamphlets, knowing I’d find a use for them. For this trip to Clinton, I slid one in the visor on my passenger side. I’m going to keep it there, so Dave can go with me to Clinton every year, and everywhere else I go.

I took Highway 4 from London to Clinton, and along the way, I heard a song by Raine Maida (former frontman of Our Lady Peace). It was called Yellow Brick Road. I didn’t think much of it right away, but then I started seeing the yellow brick houses again and it hit me. I may be on the road most would refer to as Highway 4, but from that moment on, I would know that stretch of highway as Yellow Brick Road.

Looks like the cat is out of the bag, Dave.

My good friend Dave (for more on Dave, read my post called “Meet Dave“) had a certain mystique to him. For a number of reasons, I gave him the nickname Bourne, from the Jason Bourne movies.

Author Tim Ferriss (who wrote the best-selling “Four Hour Workweek”) just posted this entry on his blog about how to become Jason Bourne.

Tim’s post is in reference to the new release from Neil Strauss called “Emergency.” Neil Strauss is also the author of the best-seller “The Game,” which, oddly enough, Dave lent me a few months ago.

Funny how all these things are connected. Strauss’ “Emergency” will no doubt be on my personal bookshelf very soon. I can’t help but wonder if Dave helped him write it.

Two weeks ago, on February 9th, my best friend Dave Inverarity passed away.

Rather than focus on all the sadness and emptiness that I’ve felt since then (which there’s been no shortness of), I’d prefer, at least for today, to simply introduce you to him, in case you never had the privilege of meeting him.

Dave was…Boy, where do I even start?! Well he was certainly one in a million, maybe 10 million. He had an unbelievable mix of intelligence, wit, good looks, and heart. Dave definitely fell into that select group of individuals where women wanted to be with him and other men wanted to be him. The guy was member of MENSA, though you’d never hear him brag about it. I remember him telling me he “just liked to do the puzzles,” referring to some of the mind teaser books MENSA members could order. On his living room shelves and in his bathroom, you’d find everything ranging from tech magazines to books on philosophy, business, culture, psychology, travel, interior design, and much more. He was a walking encyclopedia of information (or maybe wikipedia in his case). He was an avid Mac user and very fond of social media and all the current web trends. While this should all sound impressive to you, I still don’t believe it describes just how smart he was. I guess I can only say that if you ever met him, it’s quite possible he was the smartest person you ever met. 

Dave was also a very funny guy. Being a pretty funny guy myself, I think our common taste in humour was one of the key ways we bonded. There are no shortage of pictures of Dave making faces, wearing goofy things, and just hamming it up with the boys. He loved shows like The Office, Flight of the Conchords, Kids in the Hall, and Entourage to name a few.

Dave was a very caring person. Growing up, I went through various “best friends” as I got older. While I cared for all my friends, there was something missing. I never felt like I had that one pal who would always have my back and really make an effort to help me maneuver through this obstacle course we call life. I always felt like I’d be willing to go further for my friends than they would for me. Abbott had Costello, Laurel had Hardy, Butch Cassidy had the Sundance kid, these guys were in it together. And so were Dave and I. And I was not alone. At least three or four other people called him their best friend. That’s how much he did for everyone. He had a plan for us all and we were all going to make our dreams come true together. I think myself and the rest of the gang know we need to remember that and do whatever we can to help each other. He would want that.

He also loved animals, especially his dog, the aptly named Einstein. He trained the hell out of that dog. Einstein was learning something new all the time. I’m SURE it was only a matter of time before he answered the phone for Dave. They walked together every day. It didn’t matter if it was sunny, raining, snowing, or a tornado was on its way, they walked every day. It’s hard to think of Dave and not think of Einstein. They were inseparable.

Dave loved life and experiencing all its wonder. He was handsome, polite, smart, funny, and caring. The bastard was pretty much perfect, making us all look like puss. He had the looks and smarts to do whatever he wanted. While he could’ve been a model or an actor, Dave decided he wanted to teach. It made perfect sense. All that knowledge bubbling in that noodle of his was dying to get out and be shared. I’m sure he would’ve been a fantastic educator. Knowing Dave, it also wouldn’t have surprised me if, perhaps after 5 years, he left teaching to do something else. Maybe he’d become a lawyer, then a marine biologist, then take it easy and be a carny for a while before running for mayor. Laugh if you must, just don’t doubt it. Dave loved life, and life loved him back.

There was also something very mysterious about Dave. You often felt there was something he wasn’t telling you. He didn’t lie, he was honest, but he liked secrets and played games from time to time. It starts with something as basic as his name. His real first name was Ronald. David was his middle name. But no one ever called him Ronald, he was Dave. Also, he just seemed to know too much. You could call him with any problem and if he didn’t know how to solve it, he probably knew someone else who could. This is how he earned the nickname “The Wolf.” This of course refers to Harvey Keitel’s character, Winston Wolf, from the movie Pulp Fiction. But that was only one nickname of many. Because of his interconnectivity with his Macbook and hacking and such, I called him “Morpheus” or “Neo,” taken from The Matrix. I’m pretty sure he also had some hand-to-hand combat training and I know for certain he had weapons training. Sometimes he would sort of disappear, as all secret agents do from time to time. You know, go dark, off the grid, that sort of thing. Because of all this, and because he travelled quite a bit, and was doing who knows what on his Macbook, I called him “Bourne,” as in Jason Bourne. That’s the one I used by far the most. He liked it.

When I got the news about his passing, I really didn’t believe it. I was convinced he was just doing some sort of odd social experiment that we’d all learn a great deal from. Eventually I stopped believing that. But, a part of me believed this was all just part of a plan to get him “off the grid” again so he could begin a new mission. And even tonight, I continue to wonder if, maybe 5 or 10 years from now, I’ll get a call from Copenhagen, Berlin, Fiji, or some other far off place, and the voice on the other end will say “Mission complete. I’m coming home.”

I’ll be waiting.

I wish I would’ve started this blog at least a couple weeks ago because a lot has been going on. Some good, some very, very bad, but all interesting…

I hate to start on a sour note but one of my closet friends, probably my best friend at the time, recently passed away. It’s been almost two weeks now since it happened. Dave Inverarity, my very dear friend, was only 31. As for how, there are still no real answers. All we know is he went quietly in his sleep, listening to his iPod. It was sudden, totally unexpected, and a devastating loss to all his friends and family. I plan to discuss this further on Monday.

Back in December, I had a couple students from the local university approach me about shooting a short film called “Bleach.” They had a script and a vision, but no equipment. That’s where I came in. I agreed to at least meet with them and explore the idea of filming it. Fast forward to this past Thursday - we just wrapped day three of the shoot. All three days included filming at the primary location, a luxury condo on the 13th floor of the Portofino complex on Riverside Drive. Getting a chance to experience this condo was one of the reasons I agreed to come on board. These suites run upwards of $500,000 (and more), and I’m not sure I’ll ever be in a position to own one, so I took this opportunity to see how the other side lives. It certainly is a treat to look out your window any time of the day and see the Detroit River and the Detroit skyline, especially at night. But while the views are fantastic, I personally would rather have a $500,000 house. In Windsor, especially these days, that buys you a whole lotta house.

The production days have been long and tiring. It might seem even longer because there is not much action or even dialogue in the script, but there was one night that went by pretty quick. We did film a love scene (quite well, I might add) and there were no shortage of laughs, wisecracks, and inappropriate gestures by the crew (including me).

Filming resumes Sunday, we’re off Monday, and we wrap on Tuesday. Stay tuned for production photos and video clips.

You might also expect to see updates on this film (and others) at WindsorFilm.com. Windsor Film is a site I recently created to help local filmmakers (and writers, actors crew, etc.) get together and, what else? make films! If you are from the Windsor or Essex County area and want to be involved in film, check it out.

Fans of alternative music may be familiar with Neverending White Lights. Daniel Victor is the brains behind NWL and also a friend of mine. I ran into him on Friday and he expressed an interest in having me film his band doing an acoustic set. Sounds groovy. Stay tuned for more on that.

I read a pretty interesting e-mail today. Two partners are asking if I’d like to help them produce a pilot for a TV show. It’s a “Curb Your Enthusiasm-like show set in a local TV station during the production of an 80’s wrestling show.” A TV pilot is one thing I haven’t done yet, so I’m certainly open to exploring this further.

Whew! I told you there has been a lot going on! And there’s probably more. But, let’s save some for another post. You’re up to speed. Now stay there, and come back soon.