The 79th Academy Awards...

I, as well as millions of people across the nation, tuned in Sunday evening for another year of watching the award presentation of a little gold man named Oscar to the crème de la crème of the film industry.

To highlight some of these awards I would like to start off with a woman filmmaker, Torill Kove, for her animated short The Danish Poet. She is from Norway, which this is the country’s second Academy win, and this was her second nomination for the category, the first being her short My Grandmother Ironed the King’s Shirts. Best Animated Feature was Happy Feet, beating out Cars and Monster House. I loved Happy Feet and Cars, both were very cute and the animation was superb, though I will agree with the Academy on choosing Happy Feet.

Pan’s Labyrinth (El Laberinto Del Fauno) went home with 3 of the golden statues: one for Cinematography, another for Art Direction, and the last for Make-up. I saw this film and was awed by its magical beauty, grotesque characters, and deep intertwined plot. It was completely unique and an all- around great fairy tale movie!

For Costume Design, Marie Antoinette walked away with Oscar on her arm. Sophia Coppola’s filmmaking is very good and this movie was no exception. It made fun of French royalty as it documented Marie Antoinette’s life. Every scene she was always in a new, elegant, elaborate, ornate outfit, I could definitely see why the costumer behind this production deserved the award.

Martin Scorsese finally nabbed his Oscar for Directing The Departed, which also won 3 more awards for Editing, Adapted Screenplay, and Motion Picture of the year. After over 50 years in the business and with movies like Gangs of New York, the Aviator and now the Departed, Mr. Scorsese deserved this award.

On the acting side of things, Best Supporting actress went to Jennifer Hudson for her performance in Dreamgirls. This former American Idol contestant has proved Simon wrong and become even better, proving herself to the Academy. Her voice is spectacular! Helen Mirren won Best actress for the Queen. In an interview with Barbara Walters, Helen, an Englishwoman, explains how she fell in love with the character, and it’s very different from many of the sexy roles she is known for. On a side note in the interview, Barbara comments on how Helen only wears skirts and dresses, then Helen says yes and wonders how American women can wear those “horrible shorts”. Haha! I love my shorts.

For a complete list of awards check out the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences official website. And if you Tivo-ed the wonderful ceremony, be sure to check it out; Ellen DeGeneres hosts the show with her quirky comedic flare and watch for Will Ferrell’s appearance!

Photography

Click this:
to view a selection of my photography

Special (Creepy) Talents

This was the shorts program I saw at the San Francisco Independent Film Festival here are some details about the 4 different movies:

Bad Dreams:
This Swedish short was about a man who loves scary movies but lives in his nightmares. "Your nightmares are like film sequences" the doctor says at one point. You never know when he is dreaming and when he is not. The film does a great job of making you scared and it was relatively unpredictable. Very well done, but confusing, I will have to watch it again sometime

4U:
This super short film (4mins) was unexpectedly funny. It is about a lonely man in a cabin with a hit list. The movie is pretty much a continuous POV shot of the man beginning with him dragging a body to his cabin and chopping it up and putting it in a grave. You later find out that the body was his mom's, the seemingly last person on his list. It ends revealing that YOU are actually the last person on the list, and that DVD the director handed out before the movie was actually meant to kill you. It was really well done!

Chickenfut:
The short film my brother was in. This is my second time to see it and I still loved it! Its about a boy who loves his chicken Giselé and when some bullies at his school kill her, the chickens soul takes over the boy (Gunter) who ends up getting his revenge. My brother is the "next" Chickenfut, the boy that the woman telling the story about Gunter to. It is an absurd horror, that everyone played serious very well and it turned out to be awesome!

Cherry Bloom:
A story of a little girl who has psychic ablities to see the future, her mom ends up using her to get money and in the end the girl sees her death with her mother's continued abuse of her powers. The cinematography was excellent. The girl's charater needed to be developed a little more to really make us sympathize with her, but overall it was a good film.

Afterwards there was a Q&A with the directors of all except Bad Dreams. The most interesting thing was that the director of 4U did 2 months of preproduction on it and went so far as to film it all himself and then hire a crew and shoot it again.

More than anything, going to this festival reaffirmed my love for shorts programs. There are so many great stories you can tell in 15 minutes that make better movies than full length features. When you put a few together with a common theme, you get a really unique and enjoyable experience. I recommend that everyone attend a film festival and go to a short film program at some point in their life. It's quite fun!

San Francisco Day 2

The morning began with a nice walk to church. A goregous cathedral with paintings, ornate walls, and elegant statues everywhere. Very gothic. After we went to a little breakfast place and headed to the trollies again. While waiting in line a street entertainer played music and told jokes, trying to get everyone to pay attention to him and send some cash his way. One joke was:
Man: Kids be nice to your parents. I was here on vacation with my parents and I ticked them off. My dad told me to wait right here. I've been here ever since.

We boarded the trolly and rode it all the way to union square. It was fun, extremely loud as it groaned up and down the steep roads, and an interesting experience. From there we walked to chinatown, where the sidewalks and streets were litered with firecracker paper from that night's festivities for Chinese New Year. We did a little shopping where I got some of those firework popper things you throw on the ground, and I ate yummy sechwan (sp?) chicken and egg rolls. My fortune cookie was actually a fortune: A chance meeting with a stranger may change your life. Hmm... I wonder when and who that will be!

After Chinatown we had to catch the subway to The Victoria for the SF Indie Fest screening of Special (Creepy) Talents, the shorts program Chickenfut was playing in. The set we watch also included 4U (unexpectedly funny), Bad Dreams (good idea, but was very hard to follow and left you confused), and Cherry Bloom (interesting, but acting was sub par). Chickenfut, inspite of the fact I'm a little biased, was probably the best out of them all.

Driving back in the cable car was interesting... I sat in front of a man who kept talking to no one, probably reciting a movie he saw. It was strange. The end of the day included going back to the Wharf and eating some Chocolate Heaven chocolates and fudge! Amazingly delicious! A quick walk back to the hotel, grabbed our bags, grabbed a taxi, sat in the airport until 12am, and flew home, arriving here at 5:30am. I'm exhausted. San Francisco was amazing; I could picture myself there... Anywhere in California.

Have a five page essay to write. Hope I finish!

San Francisco Day 1

Clean. Crisp. Cool. It was a gorgeous day in San Francisco. From Alcatraz to the seafood, life is beautiful everywhere you look here. The morning began with a classic diner breakfast, a walk on the pier, seeing sea lions, and a walk to Pier 33 in order to catch a ferry boat to Alcatraz. The boat ride was so enjoyable, cruising under the warm lazy sun. Once you reach the Island its a long steep trek to the entrance of the cell block, which started as a Military base, then became a Federal Prision, and later was occupied by American indians as a politcial statement.

After Alcatraz we ate some yummy clam chowder in bread bowls at the pier. San Francisco is full of culture, and art specially at the pier. I saw several street artists, many musicians, and many sculptures lining the walk ways. There is also a very active homeless community pan handling, creating art, and performing. I saw the world famous bush man and a man sitting there counting his money and then as we passed began asking for donations in an almost radio announcer voice... Pan handling has proved to be a relatively profitable trade... i saw a wonderful documentary about it at the Dallas Video Festival in August. Among the performers was a man "breathing" fire, and another man making animal noises, I thought for sure he had lost his mind. That brings me to the tee-shirt I want to buy, an alcatraz psych ward one. (I didn't end up getting a shirt, but I did get a voodoo doll; the In Love one which is suppose to help me find that special someone... )

I learned that Giradellhi chocolate orginated here... which is one of my favorites. After playing on the pier, we tried to take a trolly to chinatown, but it would take way too long so we walked a little further and explored the Hyde pier with seveal different old boats we were able to go aboard. I met my dream house, it was once part of a boat but it was wonderfully quaint. It was a beautiful day and beautiful night. Now for a movie, Parent Trap (lindsay lohan one.). This movie has a fantastic soundtrack. L-O-V-E it!

Tomorrow, some more exploring and the movie premiere at the San Francisco Independent Film Festival!
Goodnight!

Waiters vs. My Family

This match is almost always quite strange, in a funny sarcastic way.
Tonight was no exception.
Let me recap...

You know when you were little and your mom always nags you with the line "Now what do you say...(blank stare)... thank you?" well she did that to my brother tonight as usual (little boys and manners, do they ever learn?) but it went like this:

Mom: "Did you say thank you?"
(waiter turns away a moment)
Brother: "...what... yeah... thank you"
Waiter: "Oh at first it sounded like your mom but now I heard you, you're welcome"

nice.

Next... My family loves cheese. Parmesan Cheese. It must be the final layer to any italian dish.
scene:
The waiter grates some for my mom. Then my dad which takes a bit... then my brother... oh he's out of cheese... comes back... finishes my brother's plate which must have the most cheese on it. He pauses, "ok wait a second... (pants, streches arm)... okay" then adds cheese to my sisters plate and my own.
Its quite the arm workout. We always warn them.

Now the meal is done, have to box up the leftovers. Well, tonight, I couldn't decide if I would eat mine later and since I haven't been feeling well no one else would want to eat it... In the end the waiter boxed both.

Scene:
Waiter comes back to the table with boxed food.
Waiter: Since both meals were the same I labeled them: Mom and Sniffles.
Me: (cracks up) thanks...
Waiter exits. I look in to the bag and sure enough... it says "Sniffles"
Me: I can't believe he actually wrote Sniffles on my box!

As you can see dinner with my family is a little different, not to mention the topics that come up. lol It's my favorite part of the day.

Anyone else have wonderfully odd family dinners?

We Don't Die Alone (Donnie Darko)

Have you ever experienced when a bad thing happens everything seems to go in slow motion? Right as you are about to fall everything around you seems to slow down until, SMACK, you hit and time is back in play.

Have you ever considered what might happen when you are dying? That common throught that your life passes before your eyes. Maybe we dream these events. Ever wake up from an hour or two nap and have dreamt an entire day? How much can our brains process in this instant of truama?

Donnie dreamed 28 days 6 hours 42 minutes and 12 seconds.
During this period of time one major philosophical idea that troubled him was the one Grandma death whispered in his ear...

Every living creature dies alone.

Do we all die alone? Is there a God? They are one in the same question.
If there is a God then we do not die alone, and that's what Donnie figures out in his instant of death. He is able to breath easy because there is so much more to look forward to.

This is why this movie is my favorite and always will be.
I hope to make a movie as thought provoking as this one.

Where do I want to work?

Where do I want to work? Where will I be happy and in love with what I do? Well, that would have to be behind the camera with a production company. Not just any camera, a video camera. And not just any production company, one with a mission to always produce a work of art with a greater message and purpose, to make people actually think about their life and how it affects the world.

It is a dream of mine to capture those real moments and put them on film, video, or any kind of digital imaging in order to share it with people. Those moments when you want to cry, scream, laugh, or are just off thinking in your own world. Or those moments when you find a greater truth or figure out that one thing that kept eluding you. The story behind each one of these is beautiful and something to be told.

I love writing, reading, filming or watching something that will make people think, make people wonder, make people change, or see a new side of things. I would take great pride in having helped or taught someone through film production. With this production company we would not only create inspiration films but also travel the world documenting life, the tragedies and the triumphs. We would show what is happening and try to make changes happen. People must see to believe... so that's where we come in.

The art of film is my passion and anywhere that I can make a difference applying this skill would be the perfect place for me. May each one of you find your passion and let it positively influence the lives of those around you.

Set Adventures

This weekend:
-Drove over 300 miles total
-Made a new friend
-Was a Production Assistant (made coffee, ran errands)
-Was a Set Dresser (made the set look good, painted walls in two rooms, moved furniture)
-Was a Boom Operator (held the mic)
-Shot behind the scenes footage (canon XL1 meh)
-Chiropractor fixed my back on set
-Got to talk with a really cute actor (hehe)

and now I'm doing homework.
yay
How was ya'lls weekend?

Update:
so this weekend was relatively short and sweet
Saturday was a full day on set 8am - 10pm
I was boom operator the entire time... last shot I had to stand in the shower to mic the bathroom scene.
The DP (director of photogrphy) had a crazy cat. Even with at least a dozen of us crowding the house, She would run from one side of the house to the other and jump on just about anything. She even walked into the bathroom scene to get a better view of all the ruckus.

after all that I drove part of the way back the grandparents house and spent the night. Had some fabulous food.
Sunday of course was the Super Bowl... nice and dramatic, I espcially loved that it was raining.
Was hoping the Bears might pull it out of the hat but Colts controlled it. Oh well. Fun to watch....
commercials were lacking... my favorites with the Bud Light rock paper sissors and hitchhiker, as well as the Doritos commercial with the guy in the car.

what were ya'lls favorites?