Film and Life

The Wild Thing Is Right Here

2009-10-17T01:00:00.001-06:00

Loved this movie.
But a certain someone asked me what it was about and I found myself realizing how complex this story is.
If at first I had to put it in only a couple words I'd say love and forgiveness. But there is a deep complexity to that.
Hidden within everyone is an instinct for anger and rage. It bursts out every now again and it is something very real to life. I remember feeling that way as a child, ready to explode. Whether it was sister rivalry or being at odds with mom or brotherly impatience, you could feel it bubbling to the surface and all you wanted to do was scream, let it out, make someone listen. As you learn and grow older, gaining a certain level self-awareness, you can begin to step back from the situation, but that feeling is still there, ready to fly out. When it does, being human it will, you have to be ready to forgive because love is the greatest part of humanity. How do we show that even when we're scared or angry or hurt... when we're lost, or lonely or confused we still love each other? To accept that feeling, let go and forgive. It's that kind of love that connects us. Life is a wild thing.

So for me, Where the Wild Things Are is about what it means to be human.

Oh Dear Its been a long time...

2009-06-29T13:33:00.006-06:00

Curiously enough people do find another's blog interesting...
What an adventure... I'm in the strangest place in my life right now. Things are falling away and while I still have the tendency to act like a child sometimes, I am back in my home town finding out how people tick... how life is endlessly changing. I'm evolving and trying to adapt. It's unnerving.

So far this summer... going with the theme of this blog... I have an internship at a local production company and I just participated in the 48 Hr film festival:

1) The Internship. I've learned some and yet have been kind of disappointed. Transcriptions, research, casting assisting, production assisting, extra, QC, etc. It's good, but I just want to be needed for more than just a little job here and there. Shadowing associate producers I guess is the best I can do.

2) Almost a complete fail... We didn't make the deadline but we did complete a film. There's a little success. I got to understand production dynamics a bit better with what is really necessary not to overlook. I also got to see how a team can really not mesh.
I'll link the film if it's ever put online :)

Leaving for the mountains in a few days... it's so damn hot here.
That's all I got.

Maid of Honor and Philosophical backup that needed to be let out

2009-02-20T08:39:00.001-06:00

From June 1st 2008:

Okay I have a lot of things just stirring around in my head so I'm just going to start writing...

Yesterday was my mom's birthday. She's 43 now. We went and saw Maid of Honor at the theater, super awesome chick flick. Kadeem Hardison (lead guy in Cassidy Kids, the movie my brother is in) was in it and I couldn't place him until the credits. Patrick Dempsy is still looking fine for being old :) lol The movie made me really want to marry a guy who has become my best friend... and I don't think that's a false idea. They preach to you that these chick flicks give women a false reality about love (and albeit some do) but others have great themes. I recommend Maid of Honor to any girl looking for a decent chick flick :)

Last night I was contemplating a statement my friend made on the second to last day of school.
After reading my sentence I was using for my project he goes,
"That's cool. I don't believe in absolute truth. I wish I did but I just don't."
"Oh okay."

So whenever someone says they don't believe in something I believe in, I like to reexamine my belief... so as I lay in bed thinking out how I logically see absolute truth this is kind of what came to mind...
I believe that there is an absolute truth that we must find for ourselves... and there are many paths to getting there. Now I thought well what do people believe in the most generic of terms possible: either there is an afterlife (some sort of heaven) or we just die. To me, the earth being the end-all-be-all to the meaning of our existence (Atheism) seems just so limited when you really look at how amazing life itself is and how in the grand scheme of this galaxy/universe we live in, if things had been just perfect we wouldn't all be here... there's a design. That is my opinion but just like my friend I just don't see how there cannot be a creator... Random luck? Naw, I've seen karma at play too many times to believe in pure random luck.

Now if there is some higher power, then there is probably some sort of heaven or afterlife (though Agnostics might just think there is a high power but we still die and the end). As for all the other religions, I believe they are just different paths to same end: absolute truth...
The universal truth that we will all come to find when we die. There is one but it's a constant journey toward it through some sort of means of truth you believe is right. For me I'm Christian (Catholic to be specific) because for me that is the absolute truth I have found.

That doesn't mean I can judge whether or not you will go to "Heaven", nor does it mean either of our paths to truth are "wrong" (esp. to the point of needing to threaten me). It is what I believe is right and I will tell you about my beliefs, but you have the freewill to take it or leave it.

While it all is a mystery, there is a logic to it that gives my life stability. With relativity (ie. you're right and I'm right and he's right...etc) there is nothing stable to believe in... because if everyone is right we are just contradicting our own belief. That is why I believe in absolute truth.

One thing though... if you ever take a good hard look at each religion... there are underlying themes that bring peace to people's lives that are all the same. I think there is a connection to these philosophical principles that would keep us from being so divided. Another friend in the same class... his belief was that Religion divides and racism will always exist... I don't think its religion that divides i think it is ignorance (because if we were truly following a christian, hindu, muslim, or jewish... etc life then we would understand the principle of do unto others, sacrificing love... we are to judge for ourselves not for others... etc. Disrespect, hatred, causing physical harm to those who don't think or look like us... are all preached against in every faith and yet it never occurs to anyone that they are contradicting their own beliefs).

Just somethings I've been thinking about... I wouldn't mind someone playing devils advocate and giving me a good argument as to why there is no absolute truth. I'm up for philosophical, or musical, or cinematic-al or just plain random discussion any day... Ramble away (or rather Ramble on...)

EDIT: (6 Months Later)

Alright I've been reading a book called Consilience by E.O. Wilson... this is some more thoughts that pertains to this idea:
After finishing the last three chapters of Consilience, I wonder if consilience is something else. As he states toward the end, his book is focused on the “gap analysis” of his goal of unity, growing increasingly complex with each chapter on another area of integration. The gaps are huge, almost dauntingly so. But what is consilience really? Filling in the holes in science? Filling in the personal holes?
I’m going to define consilience as something personal. Personal consilience is at its core synthesis. We gather all this knowledge from all different realms to what end? We don’t need to flippantly disregard any knowledge gained by non-scientific means. Sure people might give hierarchy to the knowledge base they indentify and understand the most (in regard to our modes of inquiry for the world: practical, scientific, spiritual/ethical, and aesthetic), but consilience can still succeed in our lives even if I am an aesthetic and spiritual viewer. When Wilson gave his interpretation of a transcendentalist’s account, I found myself agreeing. When Wilson gave his own Empiricist view I found myself questioning. His broad rationalizations left me wanting. I am not a zombie; emotional relationships with the world and within the world are defining.
In a three-hour conversation with my friend, feeling depressed, we discussed religion and life, coming to the idea that if you listen long enough you realize everyone is arguing the same thing. War, which Wilson makes as his first point for dispelling religion, is an irrational construct of man, not of religion. Since if people rationally synthesized all the views they are presented, we would see encompassing similarities. With religion and race, I don’t know if it’s natural or artificial, but man seeks out (and often focuses negatively) differences rather than fully embracing similarities. Christianity, although painfully divided in denominations, has a set of pretty much the same beliefs, Judaism very close, and so on. Even in Eastern traditions I see overarching beliefs that are all leading to personal fulfillment and understanding. Returning to consilience, even if religion and spirituality have some biological basis, we can use both elements to better understand the faith, fulfillment and morality found there.
The other thing that bothers me about religion becoming purely biological firings in our brains as Wilson states is that we become godlike in status, a power not meant for fragile humanity. This idea follows Heidegger; man is god. That understanding may or may not fundamentally alter how we see, interact, and support each other. Unfortunately I feel it will affect us negatively. If there is one thing religion does (in hopes of gaining science’s support) is humbling man into a gratitude and altruism for this world. Global climate change can be helped through man’s efforts, but if man thinks he’s godlike and has this power to overcome anything thrown at him, he will wait until it is most convenient for him to do so. And where does that leave man if he finds out he waited in vain? In a sort of hell, hoping that we survive it.
To sum this up, in a personal sense, consilience is attainable within my transcendentalist view of the world. It’s how I synthesize the knowledge I gain from all facets of my life that brings those views together into a unified wisdom of my being. Humanity is not merely the sum of its infinite parts, but the whole as found through consilience.

Killer of Dreams: Looking for Sheep to Count

2008-11-19T13:15:00.004-06:00

Paper I wrote for class:
While most people enjoy being told a story, art, even film, does not always seek to tell us one. Sometimes every image is simply placed together to form an idea or theme, or the series of events is merely a portrait of a person, situation, or historical event. In the case of Killer of Sheep, Charles Burnett paints the picture of the slum life for African Americans in the late seventies. To do this, Burnett creates a unique, unstructured narrative, and combines it with untrained actors, raw cinematography, and a real setting to convey and comment on the dreary social situation for poor African Americans during this period of history in the United States.
Killer of Sheep is an examination of Watts, a Los Angeles ghetto where the protagonist Stan lives with his wife and kids. The film follows various events that happen in his life and his family’s lives with very little plot structure and a sense of detachment from the rest of the world. The general audience also becomes somewhat alienated since the situation is not one they can directly relate to, nor is there a storyline to pull them in. By making the audience feel this way, Burnett uses the film as a whole to convey that growing alienation within Stan’s character, which is a distinguishing feeling amongst black men of this slum society who could hardly hope for anything better for their families.
During the seventies, African Americans still had to fight for equality in society as the Civil Rights act had passed only in the last decade. To put the setting of the film in a historical context, twelve years had passed since the huge riots in Watts had destroyed much of the area. Economically incapable of rebuilding the area, the film shows the audience still bombed out buildings, piles upon piles of rubble, and ever-deteriorating homes, which no one seemed to have the capacity to overcome or reclaim. Yet, the outside world had moved on and had no interest in these people. They had no ability to escape the past that was present all around them. As shown in many scenes in the film, the majority of the people in impoverished Watts were African American, and were either unemployed, or had a dead-end job with no prospects of getting more money or a better position. This defeating social climate left this rather unnoticed population living day-to-day with hardly a dream of escaping or rising above. The lifestyle presented in Killer of Sheep does gain sympathy from viewers, but there is little to no hope to which the characters can cling or the audience can feel.
The oppressive nature of living in the unchanging society of Watts captured in the film could not have been as effective without Burnett’s choice in doing away with a distinct story. Without a story, the film is static, the characters are stuck, and the audience is forced to analyze what is going on in this time, in this society. They are forced to look at how these people live and what they go through. Even in the alienation of being stuck in a world the audience has probably never experienced without any kind of plot structure, Burnett makes it evident that he wants viewers to watch life in Watts as plainly and truthfully as he can. He offers no solutions to the problems the characters face, but his film does foster discussion of whether there is any hope of a solution for the social situation to which these people are confined.
Along with this lack of a plot, the way Burnett chose to make the movie adds to our experience of the characters’ situations. Within the cinematography aspect of the film, Burnett shot on black and white 16mm film stock, which gives it an older, grittier, feel (not to mention, it was cheaper for him as a student). Black and white, in particular, gave things a stronger contrast and yet a duller view of the world. The film stock Burnett chooses, in a sense, is the pair of glasses the audience is forced to view the world he presents to them. Thus the high contrast black and white image makes one feel that this dreary world is all there is, and this is how it always will be.
In addition to the stock, many of the shots Burnett uses are unique from the mainstream shot-reverse-shot pattern. There are usually very long continuous takes of the children fighting or playing or trying to escape the cruelties in their world. One scene that stood out in this way was the scene of Stan’s daughter in the dog mask. It illustrated the continuous imaginative escapism that the children of the slums were using to cope with the fear and hopelessness of their situations.
While some of his shots were characteristic of being an amateur, Burnett’s mainstream-quality compositional skills enhance this torn-apart world in a way that accentuates the details. In one of the opening scenes where the boys are playing and fighting, the viewer sees the endless rubble in an old train yard that is their playground. Again, while using the world imaginatively, the reality of the situation these kids are in is emphasized by these wide shots. Additionally, shots in the house accentuate the bareness of the walls and rooms, as well as the overall worn-out feel to every part of their home. What little these people had was mostly falling apart to the point of being un-repairable, adding to the overall feeling of oppressive hopelessness.
The scenes in the slaughterhouse with Stan are artistic montages where repetitive shots graphically feature the killing of sheep represent the mundane, yet disturbing and queasy nature of his work. Each shot seemed to add another layer of detachment and resentment to Stan, causing his character to become more and more indifferent to the world. With little money and little dreams for anything better, Stan’s plight is also evident through the shots in the scene where he tries to buy the car motor. Any possible glimmer of hope he had was immediately killed by ignorance and indifference from the people in the society that he is surrounded by, which was emphasized by the final long shot of the motor lying broken in the middle of the street.
Shots of course could not be made without lighting, but Burnett’s use of lighting was minimal to completely natural. If the scene was inside, characters were either lit by the natural light coming through the windows or directly from light sources in the house, such as the overhead light in the nighttime kitchen scene. The use of realistic lighting brings a sense of integrity and simplicity to the characters’ situation. Lighting is not used in the traditional sense of making the characters or setting look good, but rather to objectively paint a world that outside audiences are meant to analyze truthfully.
As far as motifs within these shots and scenes, the killing of sheep over and over again became a metaphor for the reality of the world in which he lives. His dream that there were no sheep there to count illustrates the lack of opportunities to even dream of a better life. In reference to the area of Watts itself, the slaughterhouse effectively represented the violent undertones and oppressive surroundings that seemed to plague their lives. Even if a man did not have a job in a slaughterhouse, this manual factory labor is the only type of job he could truly aspire to have. If a man was unemployed in this environment, then the next best way to make money was to join a gang or resort to some kind of illegal trade, where violence is often necessary. The violence of killing animals for a job parallels the violence of gang killings in Watts. Either way, dead-end blue-collar employment or dead-end unemployment, the film repetitively suggests these people bare the knowledge that life is without hope for positive change.
Another recurring theme intertwined amongst the darkness in Stan’s life is noticing simple moments of beauty. When he holds the coffee cup to his cheek reminding him of the warmth of a woman’s body, or when he dances with his wife slowly in the living room, or while holding his daughter; these tender moments are the only source of escape Stan has from the harsh realities in which he finds himself. The people of the community understand the permanence of their position and must find ways to cope and be content with what live does have to offer them.
Aesthetically, sound design was a somewhat lacking attribute of the film. Audio replaced with ADR from the studio was extremely noticeable as voices felt out of sync with the image. This was not necessarily a huge hindrance since most of the film was without dialogue and much of the dialogue was mostly meaningless. This being true, the lack of meaningful dialogue suggests that what is said between people has no impact; everyone remains rather unchanged by an argument or a dinner conversation. It continues the theme of an oppressed and hopeless society. Other than dialogue, music popular from the time period is what stands out in the film’s sound design. The songs tend to characterize the emotions of whatever is going on in the scene, since the film hinges on these emotions within this particular setting.
Beyond the image and sounds presented, Burnett chose to use mostly inexperienced actors to enhance the realism and honesty of the film. By bringing sincerity to the characters themselves, viewers, while alienated, are sympathetic to them, hoping they might achieve a better life, but then knowing they never will. While this idea might be cynical and depressing to most people, the characters redeem the world they live in with their frank, un-glamorized performances, through the simple action of choosing the higher road (as Stan does in not helping a gang) or seeing the simple beauty of life and imagination in one of the bleakest areas in the country.
To conclude, Killer of Sheep seeks not to entertain us with a story, but to present a realistic view of a marginalized society in which specific characters represent the thoughts, opinions and actions of those who are a part of that society. It presents hard truths of the impoverished lives of people in our country, while showing an underlying theme of pausing for simple pleasures being a way to cope with these truths, as do people in every walk of life. Beyond this, Burnett sought to show another side of the spectrum of African American films, getting away from the Blaxploitation films of the seventies and providing an artistically unique commentary on the social and historical implications of the time. While detached from any kind of story of development, the audience is meant to analyze not only the world on the screen, but also their own world. The film is not there to provide the viewer an escape, but rather to motivate questions. Charles Burnett’s modern approach and deviation from the mainstream white Hollywood cinema may not be much in the way of what people traditionally think of as entertainment, but it historically and socially remarks on the lives of Americans, thus making it an important contribution to the world of cinema. That is why it was one of the first fifty films declared a national treasure and placed in the National Film Registry created by the Library of Congress as part of an effort by the United States to preserve historically important films made in our country.

LMU Homework - Don't Look Back and Midnight Cowboy - 13 & 14 of 15

2008-08-09T23:40:00.006-06:00

Nearly done.
Though I'm not watching all 20 movies on the list. just 15.

Don't Look Back is a documentary on Bob Dylan while he was in England in 1965.
Pretty interesting... pioneered the use of Cinema Verité, the director had created a portable 16mm camera and made portable sound so to get in the moment footage. But as I suspected Bob was putting on an act. People never act like their "true" self on the camera. But anyway, it was a good documentary nonetheless. I liked that even though it didn't have much of a plot the end note of Bob Dylan being an anarchist kind of summed up a little of the insanity and no rules way he went about things in the movie. Enjoyable... and I really like Bob Dylan's music. I want to see I'm Not There (2007)... a drama based on Dylan.

Midnight Cowboy... ehhh bleh. Good acting, nice editing and use of flashback to further the story. BUT I really didn't like the degrading view of humanity...
Okay so I'm being harsh... its true these people are here and they do immoral and stupid things, but I guess overall the story led to at least Joe finally realizing there are easier ways to make a living that are an actual honest JOB. Haha
So while I was screaming at the screen the whole time saying GAHH just get a job stop being so stupid and stealing all the time... at least the guilt led him to realizing he should look elsewhere to make his life less painful.

LMU Homework - Citizen Kane - 12 of 15

2008-08-07T01:05:00.002-06:00

I just watched "the greatest movie ever made". And for its time, its relevance and technical beauty, it pretty much is the most cutting-edge film of the age. I will not rave that Citizen Kane is my new favorite movie, no it's not, But that does not mean I don't deeply admire it. In fact it's very inspirational as a filmmaker (besides that Wells was incredibly lucky, but luck is when opportunity meets preparation...). One other thing Wells had was such a deep multi-layered understanding of his main character as a hybrid of himself and Hearst, And it played well on the screen. Their shots and angles were fresh and the editing was unique... I adored the crane-ish shot through the club sign into the skylight that cross faded into the scene. :)

Power is self-destructive.

LMU Homework - The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs - Freshman book

2008-08-04T01:30:00.007-06:00

Alright so I have semi-mixed feelings on this book. While I adore its dedication and exploration of the bible, I'm too much in love with faith in God to see how this secular Jewish man can keep such a guard up to believing. Eh... maybe its how we grow up. At least he's open minded and that's where many people fail to understand that in keeping an open mind we can see all the view points and more fully come to know why we believe what we do.

His conclusion is interesting. While I've been told in church not to be a "Cafeteria Catholic" (and I agree with not being such within Catholicism because to embrace your confirmation as such you should believe in the teachings of your faith.), his view is that practically every sect of christianity and judaism has a Cafeteria grasp on the Bible. Which after reading it is basically true... you can't really embrace every minute detail and expect it to work out, in fact the contradictions in the Bible make it near impossible. Old Testament laws weren't "abolished" by Jesus' coming, and yet as a christian we hardly follow most of the old ritual laws... this book helped give me a better understanding of the rituals of Judaism and their meaning. But do these contradictions and very varied interpretations (is everything literal or is most of it figurative?) that make the bible any less sacred? No, at least in my opinion.

This book is thought-provoking, hilarious, and humbly truthful. You'll probably be saying hey I've thought that or Hmm, never thought of it like that before. But whatever your spiritual walk in life is right now agnostic to mormon... this book is a nice refreshing read. :-)

LMU Homework - Ladri Di Biciclette and Rashomon - 10 and 11 of 15

2008-08-04T00:34:00.004-06:00

While I almost immediately loved Rashomon, Ladri di Biciclette slowly grew on me as I realized the profoundness of the Italian neorealism movement.

Ladri Di Biciclette, or Bicycle Thieves, follows the story of a poor man and his stolen bicycle. His son also tags along. Generally it has hardly a plot... just lots of random encounters in Rome... This being the basis for neorealism, its point was to pare down the story and focus in on reality, the situations and walks of life in a truthful, documentary-seeming way. It moved the shooting off the set and into the streets with real people, with real architecture. The man never gets his bike back and is under such increadible pressure because of the poverty following the war and trying to provide for his family, he attempts to steal a bike himself... failing miserably. It ends with a big question mark, which emphasizes the fact that while we are obsessed with the future we have no control or answers to what is going to happen. We just have to live out what life gives us and that's the reality.

With Rashomon, Kurosawa completely questions reality. In this murder-mystery-esque Japanese drama we are told five completely different stories of a man's murder (the only fact we seem to have). All are shown to the audience, who, with artful camera work, seemingly become the interrogators trying to find the truth. Each story is completely different and suits each person's need to defend their honor, except that of the woodcutter, whom at first his story is a lie but then I think the truth finally comes out under the pressure of knowing. But then this again emphasizes that all men seem to be liars, and as the priest fears how can he trust humanity after all of these lies and betrayal.
There are so many great themes in this movie, its just such a smart look into a sort of psychology of man... we lie, we succumb to evils, we are selfish, we blame and yet are guilty, we hope and yet we fear, we trust and yet are skeptical...etc
But I like the way this movies ends, because there's this respect between the priest and the woodcutter that there is hope for some good in people, even if its only a few.

Anyways very interesting movies! :)

LMU Homework - Harlan County USA & Thin Blue Line - 8 and 9 of 15

2008-08-02T13:31:00.005-06:00

DOCUMENTARY FILMS!
Oh how I adore your justice seeking ways!

Thin Blue Line by Errol Morris opens with a shot of Reunion tower in DALLAS!
That made me smile, but the rest of the film made me shake my head in disgust...
Dallas (the city itself) is one of the worst in the country for crime. We have the 6th largest prison in the US, and our criminal justice system is notorious for being pathetic and brutal and this film really highlighted that. Then again it certianly isn't uncommon in most the rest of the USA... Jurys putting away OBVIOUSLY innocent people.

The best thing that came from this film was that soon after its release the innocent man was finally released after 13 years in jail. I don't know whether to be happy this film made it possible for his release or if I should be upset to see another man's life ruined by the justice system. I'm pretty sure I would never want a jury trial... my fellow man is rather incompetent.

One other interesting thing was that in the bonus section of the DVD there was an episode of Morris' tv series... it looked into the range of human evilness, if there is a rating system at all and the extent of the horrendous things people do to one another. It was interesting despite its morbidity.

Harlan County, USA... Again a great documentary that lets you really get to know real people and their struggles. It focused on the coal miners strikes during the late 60s into the early 70s. It showed the point of view of why people wanted unions, these very poor people trying anyway to get what they needed to atleast live semi comfortably instead of straining in pathetic housing with no plumbing and no means to climb out of their situation. A undereducated, resilient group, coal mining is all they knew or had but they fought for better conditions and pay that they truly deserved...
Won the Academy Award in 1976.

In the News...

2008-07-27T12:27:00.003-06:00

Interesting Article on a late Egyptian director:Click here

Also, I watched The Shining yesterday. The acting was awesome in that every single character was disturbing in some way. I was very well cast. I loved the moving/following shots...like something was always watching them. Great filmmaking. :)

LMU Homework - Raging Bull, It Happened One Night, and Talk to Her- 5 thru 7 of 15

2008-07-25T23:19:00.008-06:00

Okay so in the last week I've watched several movies:
The Avatar Movie (Show Finale)
The Dark Knight
Raging Bull
It Happened One Night
and...
Talk to Her.

First, non homework movies:
The Avatar series is one of my favorite animated shows along with Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends. It has great messages, very likeable characters, and an interesting plot. The movie was an awesome sum up of the whole series, very wise. I enjoyed it.

The Dark Knight... oh there is lots I could say on this and I'm sure each person has their own opinions. I loved it! (*SPOILER*) My dad said the fact they HAD to blame everything on Batman ruined it for him, and the fact Harvey was portrayed as such a strong person but then fell apart so swiftly into a villain, was kind of odd... somewhat akin to Skywalker's quick transition into Darth Vader... just didn't seem developed enough.

HEATH WAS AWESOME, the Joker was phenomenal! The whole battle against this anarchy-thriving villain was thrilling and scary... because it is really something we can fear... it is basically terrorism. And how far Batman could use violence and aggression to fight it was another concern that parallels current situations in the world. Also, Bruce's realization that his identity is Batman and Bruce is the mask is interesting... he can't just walk away from this life.

To me the best thing was that the characters were very real in their internal struggles... they came alive to me. The superhero, good vs evil, traditional structure is always fun but twisted with the smart, maturity of the overall plot it created a truly awesome movie... That really kicked butt with new box office records! :) I recommend this, (but for children over 12... because it is disturbing).

Homework Films: (more on these later)

Talk To Her - This is a really well acted and directed film despite its somewhat disturbing material... but I liked the way it was handled.
Utilized the movie within a movie style as a metaphor for what made this movie oddly disturbing to me... but it also kept you in suspense about the whodunit
The main character Benito was a likeable creeper, you were sympathetic to him until you really know what he did.

Funny thing... my waiter at Anamia's reminded me of him because of the intensity of his friendly-ness lol.

It Happened One Night by the legendary Frank Capra! Witty little romantic comedy that even though the actress did not want to do it, that played right into her little pretentious character... she won an oscar for what she thought was her worst performance ever. Clark Gable was the lead man, the Brad Pitt of the day... well I don't think so but most sources will say so. :) Fun watch if you are interested.

LMU Homework - Psycho - 4 of 15

2008-07-10T16:07:00.008-06:00

Alfred Hitchcock. Master of suspense. The thriller.
I loved Psycho (although I could have done without the know-it-all psychiatrist at the end.) Anthony Perkins was awesome for the part and his acting was perfect... best I've seen for an old movie. Great twist (too bad I learned the entire story before seeing the movie, but my sister didn't know so it was fun watching her keep guessing). You think the story is about this girl's romance and lapse of judgment but no its about Mr. Bates and his mother. The very end was awesome... Anthony's creepiness was so great! :-)

Themes:
1. Madness, and how it effects people.
2. Traps, being in them
3. Mothers, their omnipresence
(there are many more... but these ones stood out)

Interesting thing about old shot-on-film movies is that they often have long continuous shots, many times starting from a full shot of the conversation and moving into a medium close up of one of the characters, or following them about the room at a steady full shot.

I think the most interesting thing I learned though was how Alfred directs... because he has storyboarded every shot and how his camera moves... basically what he tells the actors is that when my camera moves, you move, what you bring to the character and what gets you to the next mark is up to you. If you need help, I'll be there. Janet Leigh said often actors said this hindered them but she felt it was a nice challenge for her to find the motivation to move when he wanted her to.

Fun Facts:
1. The blood in the shower scene was Chocolate Syrup
2. There were 70 setups for the shower scene which took a total of 7 days to shoot.
3. First time a toilet was ever seen in a movie
4. The censorship department had a cow over the word "transvestite".

LMU Homework - Blade Runner - 3 of 15

2008-07-09T08:56:00.005-06:00

Blade Runner. Hmm... I guess the good points about this movie are:
1) Technically it's awesome. The special effects are good for its time. The shots are interesting, with the lens flare sci-fi style. The red-eye flicker for the Replicants is cool symbolism (also key to second guessing Deckard's humanity).
2) It leaves you with more questions than when you started. Sometimes movies give you all the answers and you don't have anything to talk about after the movie. This one on the other hand wants you to think about the social and ethical implications of human-esque robots and just the value of life, as well as the idea of living in constant fear in this world.
3) I think its very intriguing how this movie combines, historically the fears and beliefs of the time.

The ambiguity got me. I still can't decide if Deckard was human or a replicant (the director, Ridley Scott, says he's a replicant). I also don't understand... Why a unicorn? I guess if he's a replicant that could be an inserted memory and the reason the creepy cop knows is that he oversees Deckard's operations. And also why does it end with him running out with the girl replicant? Sure they are acting on their newly developed emotions... but does that sum up the story? I don't know.

Overall this movie examines a lot of the fears of the future and are still present today as technology continues to develop.

LMU Homework - The Triplets of Belleville - 2 of 15

2008-06-22T21:40:00.005-06:00

This somewhat silent film style animation, has quite a different story. The general plot... a little boy lives with his grandma (I'm assuming his parents have died) who tries constantly to make the boy happy, she buys him a dog... which helps but when she figures out he truly wants a bike she gets it for him right away. The boy's life is focused on training for the tour de france. In the race the boy along with two other of the last racers... are captured by the french mafia and put into a sort of derby-gambling bike show as a money making scheme. All the while the grandmother is in desperate search for the boy with his dog companion. When she starts to give up hope she befriends the triplets of belleville (old singers). They make music together until one day they discover the mafia and are able to team up to track down the boy and take down the mafia. The movie ends with a lovely chase scene where the old ladies kick butt!

Overall the main thing that surprised me was that this 2 hour was story was quite engaging for being nearly silent! The sound was either music or the over dramatized sounds of life. The animation was quite awesomely done everything was very big and proportions being completely distorted were very surreal.

There was a lot of satire in the film... Belleville seemed to represent New York. People are animated very large... obesity seemed to have a certian beauty or status in this society. The dog dreams made me laugh... and they were in black & white.

All in all a very interesting film and a very unique and unconventional way of telling a story. Watch it.

LMU Homework - Chinatown - 1 of 20

2008-06-21T22:53:00.007-06:00

Chinatown has pretty much nothing to do with chinatown.
The basic plot as best I can retell it because this story was not predictable and quite unique... goes something like this:
Gitties (Jack Nicholson), a personal spy, is hired to pin Evelyn's husband as an adulter by a woman who we later find out isn't really Evelyn but Ina Sheilds. Anywho Evelyn (Faye Dunaway) later comes files a lawsuit against Gitties, while Gitties tries to figure out who set him up.

His next pursuit is of the husband himself... whom he finds dead. Now that he's dead Evelyn comes back and drops the lawsuit and suddenly the tables turn to where now Evelyn decides to really hire Gitties. As he still tries to unravel the mystery of her husband's death many things unfold coming upon these final facts: Kathrine (who the Husband supposedly had the affair with) is really Evelyn's sister and daughter... her father (who owns all the water supply of Los Angeles County) killed her husband due to disagreements about who should own the water and who should have kathrine... Everything was a huge set up to hide the father's power and money scheme... in the end evelyn is killed by the police (who her father owns) and the father takes the daughter, and Gitties is let free instead of arrested ("as a favor")... corruption and injustice win...

There were some great shots... and as with many movies made on true film the continuous shots have to be made more interesting to keep the story moving and the audience engaged. There is one shot where there is a spot on the lens!!! (even the classics have blunders) The sound is nothing brilliant... everything has a noise... props are more pronounced and sound Fx are seventies cheesy. One thing I noticed was there was hardly music... just when it was getting tense and/or something was about to reveal itself.

Roman Polanski (Rosemary's Baby, The Pianist) is the director and has a wonderful little cameo where he cuts Jack's nose.
Just before watching this movie I watched a documentary on the trial scandal on his conviction: Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired. It was interesting to see footage of this man and here about his life. His mother was killed by the Nazis, his father was sent to a German concentration camp 2 years into the war and was killed... but he survived. From an early age he knew he wanted to have something to do with cinema. He moved out to London, free from the communist life he'd known, he now strove to become what he always wanted and nearly overnight became a sensation. He moved to Hollywood and made huge productions married Sharon Tate and generally was living the lime life. When Sharon, pregnant, was brutally murdered (Charles Manson)... Polanski crumbled and the media twisted it as though he was the murderer. He was able to recover from the slander but he was more insecure than ever. And as the trial unfolded the media never ceased to defame him and print lies. So he fled the country and has yet to return (until recently if he did return he would have been arrested). He is still held in high regard as one of the most influential directors of the time.

They talk in the documentary about how almost every Polanski movie dealt with how corruption and injustice triumphed over the young and innocent... Chinatown is no exception. The corruption of power wealth and greed in man.
Its odd though too that Polanski's life would continually be tortured by injustice specifically in the media.

Thinking about all this has left me with a question... What makes a great person?
Polanski is a star-studded, unique, talented director; but his morals seem to have been lacking greatly... was it just then? was it a lapse of judgment? Or do some people have a dark side?... Do you have to have morals to be great? (I would like to think so... but many could say Hitler was a great man in history for his amazing command over so many people but he had absolutely no morals... I do not know. Maybe its not about greatness... its about how humble you can be while believing in yourself.)

Adventures In Humanland

2008-06-18T08:10:00.001-06:00

My teacher asked me to shoot and edit his film he wrote, cast, and directed.
This is the finished product in four parts:

The movie -Dailies

2008-06-17T17:31:00.001-06:00

For my non-facebook readers to check out some dailies of my film go to:
http://vimeo.com/user268809

Thanks for any and all support.

Documentaries and Features

2008-05-31T13:01:00.002-06:00

So I think I've got a pretty smooth version of my documentary done.
watch it if you like:

Jail Diversion Program from Ashton Kennedy on Vimeo.

Life update,
Band fell through for a scene in my movie so I'm begging my other friends band.
but if that fails... guess I should start begging my uncle to DJ. hah oh well

Pre-planning is happening.. slowly but surely... And hopefully I'll be ready.

Time to get back to work.
Au revior!

The Effects of Tragedy

2008-05-28T18:44:00.003-06:00

I am making a full fledged movie.
For Reals.
This is not a joke. I'm going to do this.

The Effects of Tragedy:
Sydney is the self-made invisible wallflower who lost her father at a young age. Now that she's a senior things are going to have to change... or so it starts with her maintainence worker friend Darrell. After he is transferred Syd begins to realize she should participate in her life and this movie deals with what unfolds in her transition, ultimately culminating in new found relationships and hopes.

The Cast:
My wonderful classmates, teachers and friends!

The Crew:
The kids who know I'm into what I do and are happy to help.
(a nice handful I'm thankful for)

Rehearsals and prep are all this week.

Shooting begins June 2nd! AHH I'm so psyched!

BTW, Come help out!

EDIT: So a couple days ago Sydney Pollack died of cancer. He was a great director. He will be missed.

A simplified crew

2008-05-28T18:28:00.000-06:00

Director and Producer - Sometimes same person, better if they are different people... Director is in charge of the artistic vision and the performance of the actors, the producer secures the details and the finances.

1st Assistant Director - Scheduling and timing, keeping the production moving, mediator.
2nd Assistant Director - paperwork, runner.

Continuity/Wardrobe (this can usually be combined on smaller sets but you have to find someone committed to every day of the shoot) - Very detail oriented person!
Make-up Artist - exactly what they do

Director of Photography - Behind the camera at all times, decides the shots with the director (good to plan the shot list before the day of the shoot)
1(2?) Camera Assistant - moving tripod/other camera equipment. getting timecode for the shot list (since they are standing there this makes it easier)

Sound Head - knows sound well, sets the sound equipment up for each shot
1 Sound Assistant (boom operator) - helps the sound head and holds the mic

Lighting Head - Knows light and works with the DP to get the lights set up for the shot
2 Grips - Sets up lights where the light head tells them to and fixes other light problems for each shot.
2 Production Assistants - Runners, extra assistants and extra grips.

approx. 16 people on crew (pre-planning can help combine jobs)

AFI Dallas, Projects, Life

2008-04-21T17:49:00.002-06:00

I've been so busy lately!

AFI Dallas Rocked! I volunteered nearly every night. I saw The Guitar (Amy Redford's movie... decent). I saw Amal (AMAZING! I loved this movie!). I saw Resolved (very thoughtful doc). I saw shorts program 2 and chatted up James Duvall ( Frank from donnie darko! He is so cool! so is director SJ Main!) I also saw one of the documentary shorts: Movement (enjoyed it!)
Escorted lots of really awesome filmmakers around. Saw some great talk show panels.

2nd AD on a shoot the other weekend. T'was fun! Got to work with 16mm for the first time.

Now I'm still working on shooting (last scenes to be shot tonight) and editing my teacher's movie...

Tomorrow I'm shooting part two of the documentary/promotional video for Judge Wade at the Dallas court house. Its on their mental health jail diversion program. Got to edit that

Still editing my friend's band's music video.

Working on a segment on the Genocide in Darfur.

Working on two screenplays (shorts).

Working on preproduction for my friend's screenplay (feature length).

Prom was this weekend and Now I AM DEAD TIRED! 2 weeks till AP testing, 6 weeks till graduation.

Hopefully I can start getting things knocked off my list... or my head might explode!

A film musing

2007-12-17T14:21:00.000-06:00

Hollywood sells us movies it thinks we will buy, each ruled by the almighty dollar. We are stuck spending $8 hoping that the fourth version of Saw or the next overly hyped comedy is not as horribly overdone as the last one; that we might actually get something out of spending two or more hours at the movie theater. In fact this year was full of movies that were the third addition to a series; Rush Hour 3, Ocean’s 13, Bourne Ultimatum… etc. of which, I only felt Bourne was decent enough to say it was worth those 8 bucks. This reoccurring pattern in today’s cinema has consumers trying to avoid the noise of contrived Hollywood dins, in search of the few gems making a theatrical release. As box office sales trickle down this year, what if the Hollywood idea of what will rake in the cash is really not what their audience wants?
Of the several films I went to the theater to see this year, only a few stood out from the noise to gain my admiration. Most recently, Bella and Juno have found a place on my favorites list. With great storylines and important pressing issues found in everyday life, both movies made me think about the complex choices we constantly are faced with. Juno, in particular showing the decisions made surrounding a teenage pregnancy (including abortion), gives viewers a new window to the world of a teenager learning about herself through unplanned circumstances, which we all can relate to in some way. It entertains with its sarcastic humor and holds you in the drama of the story of Juno. Bella, while dealing with abortion and another instance of an unplanned pregnancy, gives insight into the deep longing humans have for redemption and forgiveness. Both deal with one of the most hotly debated subjects in society today and yet give a somewhat neutral, but positive view on having the baby rather than terminating it. This what I look for in a film; a truth about average life it is looking to share with its audience. Why then do we still get films that have a plot centered on farfetched ideas, or unoriginal remakes, or pointless sequels, or crude, unnecessary humor? Does this noise really sell, or is just because that’s all they have to offer?
Will it change? I hope so. I believe that future filmmakers should find it necessary to leave their mark on cinema that changes the noise into a decipherable message. Instead of adding another unwanted sound of the stereotypical pile of Hollywood films, producers and directors should want to bring something unique to the screen, something we can leave the theater questioning or pondering, and knowing our 8 dollars was spent supporting cinema that sings with purpose.

JUNO is a new all-time fave.

2007-12-08T20:08:00.001-06:00

JUNO is a fabulous movie and I recommend you see it!Ellen Page does a wonderful job of creating a unique character on screen. I love how goofy she is and she's completely comfortable with that.
The story is an eccentric twist on a girl who gets pregnant as a teen. Diablo really knows how to write clever dialogue.
I also got to talk to Jason Reitman while he was here, which was amazing! He's so laid back and the nicest guy ever. Definitely watch Thank You For Smoking if you haven't already! It rocks! Also check out this short film by Jason (it's so good);

More to come... :)

WGA Strike

2007-11-17T10:20:00.000-06:00

I fully support the writer's strike. Here's a couple videos about the strike and you can see more at the Writer's Guild of America's YouTube page.

Bella!

2007-10-27T12:13:00.001-06:00

What a great movie! Everyone should go see Bella! It's about how life changes, God's plan is different from your plan. It's about two people who work together take a day to learn about themselves in order to make some decisions that will alter their lives. It's about redemption. It's about love. I really can't imagine how to better portray life and all its complexities into a better movie. I am also amazed at how subtle the religious and pro-life undertones were, that was really great. Performances were very good throughout the movie.
just wonderful!
Here is the story behind it all:

Beethoven's Hair and other news

2007-10-09T20:46:00.001-06:00

I went to see a documentary film set up by AFI Dallas at the Meyerson called Beethoven's Hair (www.beethovenshair.ca). It's a canadian film and the writer/researcher/producer was there! He was extremely interesting and is part of Xenophile Media. I got to talk to him briefly which was awesome!

The film was very good as it intertwined the journey of this lock of Beethoven's hair and the journey to discover what may have caused Beethoven's death. The story was a nice balance of lighthearted jokes and feelings with the intense drama behind who beethoven was. They incorporated many clips from old beethoven movies to make everything more dramatic. What I loved most about the film was how they incorporated so many different people from different backgrounds and how Beethoven's music and hair had affected them. It was truly an amazing documentary!

I think it's a sign I should look into documentary filmmaking... It's so much more meaningful... and that's what I need!

Now for other news... That documentary on Hope For Africa I made as well as some press releases have created a ton of press for our movement, Blake and Kate were on Good Morning Texas today! I am amazed at how its taken off!

Next we are trying to plan a benefit concert for HFA and Water is Basic! We may have sanctus real and/or Meriwether to headline along with local/student bands to open! I'm SO EXCITED!

BTW, If anyone wants to help please let me know!

The first draft of a documentary short

2007-10-02T23:06:00.000-06:00

Hope for africa... this is what i've been working on for the last week and a half. check it out:

Game Plan

2007-09-28T18:57:00.000-06:00

My friend Madison Pettis is the star of this movie... go see it ;)

Movie watching

2007-08-14T11:57:00.000-06:00

So I went to the movies 3 times this week with my favorite people.
And my evaluation of the what i've seen in the box office at the moment

Rush Hour 3 although completely unoriginal its generally quick pace and nice fight scenes make up for it. It's mildly amusing, though chris tucker humor has never been a favorite of mine. I will say George is a highlight! lol

Becoming Jane, a lovely romance! I liked it and the acting was overall decent with the exception of one or two scenes. I was sad at the end.

Bourne Ultimatum, I'm loving this series. The third is no exception with great fight scenes, nice acting performances, and intense cinematography (which is kind of overboard at times). I want to read the books to compare the adaptation from novel to screen. Definitely one to pay money for to see in the theater.

Hope you're enjoying the last days of summer! :)

Broadcast Camp

2007-07-20T09:17:00.000-06:00

At the end of June, five of our journalism team went to a broadcast camp at UT in Austin. This was the short film we made over the 4 day camp:

Film idea

2007-07-12T21:53:00.000-06:00

I have a short film idea loosely based on my love life.
This is exciting. haha

It's going to be called "3 Weeks Later" because that's the magic number that I decide I really don't see a point to be the relationship I'm in... until one day.
:)

LA Film Schools

2007-07-09T18:57:00.000-06:00

I've been working on this so it's still rough but I thought I'd let you take a look and add things you might know... I'll add more later. (maybe tomorrow)

Over the past week I have toured Loyola Marymount University, Chapman University, and the University of Southern California and their respective film schools. All are private universities, highly selective and competitive, and cost between 40,000 to 47,000 dollars a year.
Here are the Pros and Cons (in my opinion):

-LMU-

The Pros: Location (in LA by LAX airport). Small (5000 undergrads). Very independent "do-what-you-want" feel. You own the films you make at LMU. Decent studios and equipment. Plenty of Internships.

The Cons: Limited Avid. No 35 mm/ film cameras. Facilities are not as great as CU or USC.

-CU-

The Pros: Small (4000 undergrads). Avid Exclusive (industry standard). State of the art facilities, just built last year (over $40 million building). Attracts many professional studios (students get to work on those projects).

The Cons: Location (Orange is an hour drive from LA and from San Diego). Internships maybe harder to get with the location (but you probably won't be able to take advantage of them in the production track).

-USC- (The Top School)

The Pros: Location (Downtown LA). Avid Exclusive (industry standard). State of the art facilities, with a whole new building being completed and occupied in December of 2008 ($175 million endowment from George Lucas). Tons of internships and Alumni/Faculty recommendations (but you probably won't be needing them until you graduate).

The Cons: [It is easier to get into Harvard Law than this program; 45 get in out of 1700 applicants] Large (14,000 undergrads). No hands-on till Sophomore year. Course load is so heavy virtually impossible to intern or study abroad. Not possible to double major in screenwriting or most other majors. Minoring is hard too. You do not own your films at USC.

Other Questions:
How many students double major or minor who are in the production program?
Are students able to study abroad at all in the production program?
How hands on is your program in the freshman year?

Cory in the House...

2007-07-04T01:22:00.000-06:00

well I haven't updated much but I'd thought today would be a good day to catch up.

Happy Independence Day!

Tonight I got to be a VIP guest of Madison Pettis (Sophie) from Cory in the House, to be in a live studio audience recording of one of the upcoming shows (it'll show sometime in August)! It was actually very interesting to watch. They had a four camera set up in the studio where they moved from set to set for each scene. The booms were on these fancy automated mounts (the boom operators just sat there and twisted knobs and pressed buttons). There were a ton of people on set, a crew of at least 40... I'm used to about 20 or less. After they were finished shooting, we got to meet the entire cast and have a piece of cake for Jason Dolley's 16th birthday! It was awesome.
Then we chilled in Madison's dressing room for a bit, which was decorated very cute with an awesome purple couch. Check out her next movie The Game Plan with The Rock coming out this fall!

Evan Almighty was corny but cute.

And Fight Club is one of my new all-time favorites.

The White Stripes new album Icky Thump is fabulous go pick it up and check out The Bravery if you haven't listened to them yet.

and that's about it on new stuff...
Next post: Los Angeles Colleges and their Film schools

Advanced Screening week

2007-06-21T08:14:00.000-06:00

I went to two movies this week, Steve Buscemi's Interview and the movie Introducing the Dwights (formerly Clubland). Both were quite enjoyable.

Steve was lead actor and director of Interview, which is a remake of a recent film by a dutch filmmaker who was assassinated. He was at the screening and answered questions, though I never got called on unfortunately (and I didn't have one of those multiple 3 part questions; "What was your goal for the film as a director versus and actor?"). The end plot twist was a nice finale to the movie. I was surprised at how well the movie moved overall, despite being in one place and with only two actors. Steve and Sienna did an excellent job acting and bringing depth to their characters. They shot the entire movie in 9 days on a budget of under a million. He also said they had rehearsed for two weeks prior to understand the limits of their spontaneous blocking (instead of it being choreographed like a stage play). It's a good movie to go see and not too long, so check it out.

Introducing the Dwights was a fun romantic comedy with a bunch of crazy people. Everyone in that movie was slightly insane or had something weird about them. The acting was pretty good, not my favorite but not distracting. It's mostly about a boy who falls madly in love with a girl and the mama doesn't like it one bit and doesn't want to let go. An Australian production, the US theatrical release isn't until July. Definitely a nice date movie.

Also good movies to check out: Me, You and Everyone We Know (a poetic and extremely odd tale of love, also a sundance and Cannes winner) and I <3 Huckabee's (a philosophical comedy you can enjoy).

Hope you all are having a wonderful summer!

film randomness

2007-06-11T01:28:00.000-06:00

a news article

Four Eyed Monsters

2007-06-09T16:29:00.000-06:00

Watch this movie... it won sundance audience award.
I really like it.
I hope you do too.

Surf's up!

2007-06-07T14:46:00.000-06:00

Went to the premiere of Surf's up! check it out!

Deception Day 1

2007-06-04T23:52:00.000-06:00

I began working on my third production of this year, today!
After driving through extreme rain, where I couldn't see but 10 feet in front of me on the highway, I made it to the set in Mansfield which would be the site of Tye's (the serial killer) house. Very creepy stuff! Then we had SWAT team guys come for their scenes where they arrest Tye. It was super intense! (I was watching the shots as they came barging in and they were pointing guns right at me.)

While we were getting ready to shoot the SWAT van scenes the sky began swirling like it really wanted to develop into a tornado. That was a bit unnerving but I always wanted to see one in real life. (As a little girl I used to want to be a storm chaser/ weather girl. Twister always was a favorite movie of mine. lol)

In the end, we got all the shots we needed and we ran 20 minutes early! (that's definitely a first for any shoot I've been on! lol But there were very few shot set ups and takes) I'm excited for Friday! More movie making!!

Today I also ordered 2 books on filmmaking and screenwriting so I'm excited for those to come and hopefully it will help me jump start more of my own projects.

This movie is going to be awesome, I'm sure of it!

Once

2007-05-25T21:57:00.000-06:00

This movie is AMAZING!
Once is a masterpiece that unlocks the deep emotions felt by people in love through inspiring music. It's not some magical romance, nor is it a chick flick. Truly, it captures the reality of love. It's work and it's inspirational. The cinematography was interesting, the director John Carney chose a very real, unstable style with many unique shots and angles. Very much a work of art... and as some critics say "nearly perfect".
I HAVE TO GET THE SOUNDTRACK!
It's so passionate; very Damien-Rice-esque.

If you get the chance, Go see this movie!!!

A good one to watch...

2007-05-15T12:42:00.000-06:00

I really enjoyed watching the movie The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio.
I suggest you check it out, especially if you are or want to be a mother.

2nd AD.

2007-05-07T20:54:00.000-06:00

Production has begun on "Why Do I Look Like My Father?" and I have been given more responsiblity on this set as 2nd assistant director. Its exciting! A somewhat more structured producing machine than Bicycle Bobby, I have learned alot more about movie making on this set which I can use in the future. Part of my responsiblities is to wrangle talent, but since the set is very tight on space its near impossible feat to fufill and normally they hear Carolyn and by the time I get over there they're out of make up and on set. Heh, Maybe I'll get the hang of anticipating my superiors one day.

Our location is in South Dallas which really sets up the tone for this movie about how Raymond's relationship with his abusive father affects his family. We're shooting it on a Panasonic DVX100B (love this camera). They are shooting it in normal 3:4 aspect ratio then dropping in the 16:9 frames. Lighting is supurb! When making my own production I'm really going to want to invest in a good lighting tech (and of course someone skilled with audio). Those two things are what takes an amature look to golden professional quality.

I am going to love watching this film come together in its final stages.

Joined IndieClub

2007-05-02T20:21:00.000-06:00

So tonight I had a crew meeting and then a IndieClub meeting. Met the crew (several from Bicycle Bobby which was nice). Had dinner (Cajun catfish, mmm!). And listened to Jon Keeyes speak about his filmmaking experiences.

Jon Keeyes has made several horror indie feature films and has made a profit on them all. This is very VERY hard to do. But with the right determination, His first film gathered a large enough underground following to make money and then land him directing jobs with production companies that were able to help him with distribution (which often relies in part on the foreign market).

He started off in journalism and as a script reader for large production companies. He had thought about being a writer, his words of wisdom on that were to TRULY learn how to write a screen play (suggested book "How not to write a screenplay"). The script readers will immediately throw away your script if it isn't formatted correctly and if you get past that they will give you 10 pages to prove yourself.

He talked about many aspects of production and really pushed that a filmmaker should learn everything they can to hone their skills and make them their own. It was a great evening.

Afterwards I had a white-knuckle drive home through the end of the tornado weather. Pretty sweet lightning. Hydroplaning sucks. But I made it home alive on the last of my gas (hope I make it to the gas station in the morning).

PS. Newbie actors... I have a request for you: Learn everything you can from books and the like and take film lessons for at least a year and then ask questions. And not to filmmakers but to other actors and acting coaches. I'd be happy to tell anyone about the do's and don'ts of getting into acting for film, shoot me a comment or message.

A bittersweet ending

2007-04-29T13:42:00.000-06:00

Bicycle Bobby (the independent production I've been working as a production assistant on) wrapped last night. Very sad. But its been so much fun working with everyone and making friends. And with all that I've been given two more jobs for this summer!

I'm working on a short called Why do I Look Like My Father? and a feature called Deception, which is about an american family destroyed by greed. On both of these I will be working as an assistant director trainee. I'm excited!

I love filmmaking!

School has been good (I'm a co-program director for KCBY next year!) and stressful (AP tests, Finals, SAT all around the corner... plus multiple projects).

I'm pretty happy, and that's a thing good for me. :-)

Life isn't fair and neither is film...

2007-04-22T20:21:00.000-06:00

My short film showed at my church's film festival for high school kids, and being completely unbaised as I can, it was probably the best out of the 5 total films. But did it win? Nope. Well was the film that won at least one of the better ones? No, Ryan's was awesome and freaked me out. Harry/Erik's actually had a great plot. Kristen's was super well edited. And Who won? the film a kid submitted about beating down his friend and then running over him, all over a burger. Not to mention the fact all he did was act in it.

Punch-the-guy-in-the-balls humor is all that sells in theaters these days. A great movie will never be seen because no one appreciates real filmmaking these days. It's like the whole population wants to see something monkeys can do... As long as they don't have to think, its good.
It's frustrating.

I make films for people who want a story, who want to think, who want something to change. And I'm happy doing just that... even if I never get recognition.

The Last Mimsy

2007-04-21T20:46:00.000-06:00

Tonight I went and saw The Last Mimsy with my brother and parents. It was overall a very well done film. Decent acting (a few cheesy lines i could deal with) and an interesting plot. The cinematography was okay, a few shots were distracting or annoying but most were pretty good. My brother actually tried out for the boy's role in this film. Great film to take the kids you babysit to. :-)

Fresh Films 2007

2007-04-15T14:09:00.000-06:00

Hey all you aspiring filmmakers out there!
Are you between the ages of 14-19?
Do you have an interest in the industry?
Do you want to spend 7 days making a short film with 10 other teens from around the area?
Do you want to win cool prizes for your hard work?

If you said yes to all those questions then you maybe just who Fresh Films 2007 is looking for!
This summer 9 teen film crews from across the nation will make a film in a certian category based on where they live.
These films will be judged against each other by industry professionals (such as Christian Gaines of the American Film Institute) and the top three move on to the final round where there will be a vote off!
To apply for this amazing opportunity
Go to www.fresh-films.com

AFI Dallas

2007-03-25T10:19:00.000-06:00

Over this past week I've been to the AFI international film festival in Dallas three times. Twice as a volunteer, stuffing bags and everything that goes along with it, and once as part of the press (last night on the red carpet for David Lynch's INLAND EMPIRE).

This was an amazing experience to talk to all of these filmmakers and actors! I was amazed by their openess and excitement to see a team of high school journalists out on a real world job. I got to talk with Bill Paxton (Twister, Titanic) and Chris Kline (American Pie), as well as many indie filmmakers (including Sian Heder, and her movie Mother).

Sian directed and wrote Mother based on her experiences as a baby sitter at all the 4-star hotels in Beverly Hills. Check it out at www.motherthemovie.com . The movie will be screening at the Magnolia theater on Tuesday (9:45pm) and Wendnesday (5pm).
She also was one of eight to be chosen for the AFI Directing Workshop for Women. Only 4% of directors in the movie industry are women and this program hopes to change that, as well as the perspective that women directors are not limited to "girly" movies but can create anything.

I am so excited to edit this piece for our TV show which airs this Friday!
By the way, AFI Dallas is screening many films all week long and ends on April 1st. So get on down there and see great films you wouldn't normally get to see in wide release. They are some of the finest pieces you can see in the film industry.

I'm still on this red carpet high! :)

Journalism and Iraq

2007-03-24T23:50:00.000-06:00

I found this very informative. I hope you do too.

Two Worlds

2007-03-24T08:21:00.000-06:00

There are two worlds in the movie industry that I know about fairly well; production and acting. My siblings and I all started off as actors, but I went into production, my sister art and animation , and my brother stuck with the acting. Right now, He is in Los Angeles for pilot season, this will be his third year. It has taken him 3 years before he's finally landed a callback out there and now even gone to "network", a term for being selected to audition infront of the executive producer(s). I'm so excited for him!
For me... I'm working on a script, just the bones right now.

For everyone who interviewed for KCBY, you will know the cuts by the end of next week. :-)
For everyone going to prom, have fun! I'll be there filming you.

Shattered Dreams Production

2007-03-09T14:22:00.000-06:00

Every two years my school produces a program called Shattered Dreams. It is to show upperclassman the realities of drink and driving and doing drugs. We show it every year before prom and we film and edit the production. It is amazing how much work and preparation goes into putting this on for the school, but its so powerful. This year I was behind the camera filming people being taken from their classes as victims of drunk driving accidents. Every 15 minutes someone dies in an alcohol/drug related accident. With prom and spring break around the corner maybe people will think twice before driving while intoxicated, after watching this performance. All the emotional events got me thinking and I wrote a little poem about it. Here it goes...

She was beautiful
He was talented
They smiled
Everyone did those days
He liked risks
She liked romance
They took a chance
Everyone loved a party
She was high
He had some drinks
They didn't think
Everyone went for the drive
She pointed, screamed
He swirved, trying to brake
They were too late
Everyone crashed in an instant
She wasn't breathing, crumpled in her chair
He rolled from the drivers seat onto the grass
They were thrown through shattered glass
Everyone; silent, or wimpering in pain
He turned her towards him
She fell limp in his arms
They called the police and now heard the alarms
Everyone was injured or dead
He was arrested
She was in heaven
They were once eleven, now only seven
Everyone learned
Life is a game you don't want to lose.

DFW High School Short Film Festival

2007-03-04T19:27:00.001-06:00

Go to for more info and to be our friend: www.myspace.com/dfwhighschoolfilmfest

The 79th Academy Awards...

2007-02-26T21:08:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-21T21:07:00.001-06:00

Click this:
to view a selection of my photography

Special (Creepy) Talents

2007-02-21T14:17:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-19T06:32:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-17T22:14:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-15T15:26:00.001-06:00

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)

2007-02-15T15:22:00.000-06:00

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?

2007-02-15T15:15:00.000-06:00

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

2007-02-05T20:38:00.000-06:00

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?

Seraphim Falls and Bicycle Bobby

2007-01-25T23:43:00.000-06:00

Lovely weather we're having, eh?

In keeping with the movie theme to my blog...
Saw the early screening of Seraphim Falls at the Angelika. It was alright. Pierce and Liam acted well but other than that acting was mediocre. The actually story failed to intrigue me, overly predictable. Its one long chase scene that ends rather weird and anticlimatic. This movie opens tomorrow... but I would say spend your money on something else.

In other news...
I was able to find a production assistant position on a film called Bicycle Bobby. Their goal is to get it into Sundance! This will be a great opportunity and I'm excited to be apart of it. So I'll be busy every weekend until march 1st.

I'm still doing the happy dance as this has been one of the nicest days in a long time.
Tell me any movies you've seen recently in theaters I should go see!

Pan's Labyrinth

2007-01-20T22:44:00.000-06:00

wow speechless!
In spite of the graphic violence this movie was amazing!
A gruesome fairy tale in the middle of warring Spain it was unique and moving. All of the acting was superb.
I loved it. Its really strange, so if you're not really a movie enthusiast you probably won't enjoy it, but if you want a interesting story that will make you cringe, cry and smile here and there along the way, then go!
Enjoy your day.

The Snow Duel

2007-01-17T16:45:00.000-06:00

OKAY! its ready except for one last finishing touch. I'm excited to show it, but it's definitely a childrens film hopefully I can get it into a children's film festival! that would be amazing.
I wrote it
I shot it over the break in colorado on a cannon gl2 (unfortunately I didn't have a quality mic so my sound isn't as polished as I wished it to be)
I edited it these last 2 weeks
yay for my first short made all by my onesome!

I just wanted to give you the heads up if you were interested in making something!!!

Everything is Illuminated...

2007-01-15T15:41:00.000-06:00

with the past.
What's the best way to spend a snowday? Watching movies of course!
Everything is Illuminated was marvelous! I absolutely loved the cinematography, acting, and even more so the story! We are brought together because our pasts exist and linger. The people we encounter become part of our lives, they are right there along side us.

There was a nice mix of flashback, dreams, and reality to make it a puzzle to put together, not too hard but vague enough to keep you engaged. I also loved how they paralled the old-school vs. new school lifestyles developing in the Ukraine, how the next generations don't know what Ukraine was like before the war. But with these revelations about the past the present is illuminated! An enlightened perspective on your life and how it affects everything and how everything affects it.

Just some thoughts to chew on.

The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories

2007-01-09T16:47:00.000-06:00

The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories

By Tim Burton. One of my most favorite directors.

Let me grace you with a poem:

Stick Boy and Match Girl in Love

Stick Boy liked Match Girl
he liked her a lot.
He liked her cute figure,
he thought she was hot.

But could a flame ever burn
for a match and a stick?
It did quite litterally;
he burned up pretty quick

(O) (0)
--|-- |
../.....|.....

Thank you Morgan

Colorado... where dreams can come true

2007-01-03T20:47:00.000-06:00

haha! wow my trip is almost at its end.

Some of the highlights
-Skiing imperial bowl at the very top of peak 8 in break
-A-basin, which includes: Flying down West Wall, skiing the bowls, falling down an entire black mogul run.
-Keystone, which includes: Flying down Spitfire and jumping off the ridge on Anticipation!
-Shooting footage on the mountian
-Shooting my short film "The snow duel" (a tale of a strange little boy)

I'll be home on Friday. School starts monday. yuck. homework... :-(

It's a new year. hopefully I'll fufill my resolutions.
Good luck to everyone!
Hope your break has been relaxing and/or exciting!

New/Old Music

2006-12-26T21:49:00.000-06:00

Switchfoot - "Oh! Gravity."
Very Good. Definitely strong alternative rock sound, seems heavier than Nothing is Sound. great lyrics!!!

The Killers - "Sam's Town"
Love it. fun to listen to. Similar to Hot Fuss. enjoying "sam's town" "bones" and "read my mind"

The Fray - "How to Save a Life"
Nice laid back rock. :-)

Pavement - "Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels"
This is a reissue, but I'm really enjoying this 90s indie band. My favorite song is "grave architecture" not sure why but I really like it. looking for something a bit off beat check them out.

Seventeen

2006-12-19T22:52:00.000-06:00

No more curfew and R-rated movies. :-)
Inspite of it being cold again and rainning as usual on my birthday,
it was a lovely day.
Got a couple presents, some "happy birthdays", two books: Essays and poems by Emerson and Walden by Thoreau, a slice of godiva cheesecake, and saw Pursuit of Happyness (good but overly hyped up... I would still recommend it).
:)

Fellow Filmmakers

2006-12-16T14:53:00.000-06:00

was surfing the net and found some great info about filmmaking on this website...
www.rondexter.com

You probably have already seen this but if you haven't I suggest you check it out.
have a lovely day!

Hollywood!

2006-09-14T16:55:00.000-06:00

I'm at the airport. its a school day. Los Angeles here I come.
So this is my lovely account of my trip...

Part 1: DFW Airport

Oh I love our airport, lots of character, pretty nicely laid out. Did you know that you could pick up all of Manhatten and place it in the amount of space DFW takes up? yeah we have a huge airport. So highlights there... Security was fairly breezy to get through, which allowed us some time for starbucks. Sat down and waited. Lady left her sunglasses, but I was able to catch her before she left so that was good. Got on the back of the plane. Them good ole all-american men sat in front of us, they were from nebraska going to the USC vs. Nebraska game this weekend. The chair of the guy sitting in front of my mom was broken so it would always stay reclined. Landed and walked off the plane. got our bags and waited for another half hour for the bus of kids from san fransisco to pick us up.

Part 2: Day One

So Los angeles. Cloudy, pretty smoggy, some of the worst traffic you will ever encounter, insanely tall palm trees, and perfect temperatures. The kids from san fran were quite awesome. We made it to the Hotel Angeleno. its this circular building that looks like a cross between a castle tower and a spaceship sitting on a giant pole. it changed colors too, and was right off the 405 giving us a great view of the highway and some very nice apartment/condos. Room 806. Japanese inspired decor. We had a couple hours to get snazzy for our premiere at the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival.

We met in the lobby then loaded into two Hummer Limos. one black one white, Austin was in the white one. the bottle of smirnoff was still in the back... the driver remembered though so he took it back lol. We arrived with our favorite interns filming us. Kodak moments for sure.

We walked in to the theater and watched our films, then we had Q&A. I was in the first group to go. it was awesome being able to speak to the audience about the film we made. After questions we got to watch the winners of the festival.

Santa Baby, a disturbing comedy about a very younger girl falling in love with a department store santa; The Fix, an intense drama about a father and son boxer dealing with the stress of failure and success; The Passenger, a animated short somewhat like Speilburg's Monster House. The Mouse That Ate My Brain, an absurd horror that was increadibly funny; And The Tested, an amazing film about an inner city teen becoming a gang member (already nominated for an academy award).

Once our films showed the second time we walked a mile down Hollywood to Vine and got some subway, well I got Chinatown Express next door... some of the best I've had. We had the limos come pick us up and take us back to the theater for the third and final showing. While waiting to go back in, someone spotted Danny Devito walking into theater 14... I ALMOST SAW DANNY DEVITO lol. After the premiere we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep for our next big day.

A 308 word sentence

2006-08-10T17:56:00.000-06:00

When you have seen the countless tales of love and romance with continually redundant plots of guy finds girl, guy loses girl, but makes it all up in the end and they live happily ever after; when you have stared, all night, at the horror films with a plethora of monsters, zombies, and daemons that kill, burn, and consume the very flesh of those unfortunate souls who mistakenly cross the ill-doers path of destruction, rage, or revenge; when you have watched the mysterious, puzzling stories of murderers and assassins whose careless error allows their jobs to be discovered, and soon after the chase, are killed or arrested; when you have cheered on every hero in each action flick as they save the day, fight for justice, and laugh in the face of evil, while protecting their most sacred identity, going to a bland job or tiring school, and getting the fiery woman; when you have viewed excessive amounts of wild western movies where cowboys and Indians have at it, and the robbers and bandits are wanted, and the lawless prairies are struck with homicides and deadly epidemics; when you have laughed through cunningly crafted comedies of craziness, stupidity, and clever jokes with an endless quantity of awkward, embarrassing, and painful moments that leave the audience rolling with tears or dully wishing for a fresh riddle; when you have contemplated each psychological or biographical drama that leave you wondering, guessing, questioning the very root meaning of life, love, and death, showing you the depth and complexity of this very reality we each live in then you will know why, as a aspiring filmmaker or even as a seasoned Hollywood professional, it is incredibly hard to conjure up a new, never-been-done-before screenplay that will entertain an America sick of remakes and flops, but this, this is where I come in.

Fresh Films

2006-06-12T23:57:00.000-06:00

Heyyyy everyone back home!
Its been awhile, last week I was in colorado and now this week I'm in Austin for FRESH FILMS! It's sooooo awesome.

We had callbacks today for our actors. Its been very interesting to go through the casting process with real professional actors and a real casting director. I've learned so much that goes into running successful auditions and what rules there are with SAG (Screen Actors Guild).

Also we're going through how to take a script and break it down addressing everything from start and beginning of scenes (which we have 10 of), props, wardrobe, storyboarding for camera shots, scouting locations, and so much more.

I also learned some technical skills such as putting a boom together and how to use an audio mixer. Not to good at audio... but maybe it will grow on me. I knew what they were talking about on the camera but had to learn some new buttons since I'm used to the broken JVC camcorders we use in class.

The crew is awesome everyone is very different but we seem to agree pretty well on things though there are many many ways we could take this script and film and so on. So here are first impressions (which are all good btw lol): First I met Nathan who was very nice and open easy to just start talking to, then Daphne walked in, sweet and really excited! Later I learned we're both cheerleaders (well right now I'm kind of more just tumbling) lol but yes some common ground. Then Clint came in confident and open right away, shaking hands with us three already waiting. He's a sophmore in college (at Texas state WOOT! love that place) and is a broadcast major I believe. Then Clare came in and Jordan. At first they seemed more quiet but I really didn't get to meet them till later on and clare isn't quiet and goes to a tiny school with Daphne; and Jordan... well he was still pretty quiet but open. He wrestles and actually knew CHS bc of it which is another fun coincidence. Then Cathrine came who I had previously met on myspace. I found out the script had in most part been her idea along with daphnes and a few others. Then I met Tommy confident as well. Today i learned he had a lot of experience and had interned before on sets which is awesome and he seemed like a buff on the technical side of things and Eric who I really didn't get to meet all that well on the first day but was in my group today and he also seemed to know some technical stuff as well as the business side of things. Last but not least, Elane who I believe I also mistook for an actor auditioning for Rebecca lol woops but she was very sweet about it, good laugh, she is very easy to talk to.

Those were just the teens we also have four interns who will be guiding us; Parker (FLO MO is where the party's at!!) the director (camera shots) Mark the technical director (that's the right title I hope... or is that Mike (he manages the equip and lurks in the background, though today he taught us some of the technical stuff)) Anna the documentarian and Lauren helping us with contacting and locations and such (forgot this actual title... lol). Also Jeanne the executive producer who helps out in the backround is super sweet.

We were also told that our film and tampas would be used in a 30sec trailer samsung is using to promote fresh films and will be played in movie theaters across the nation! I've gained so much in just two days I can't wait to see where I will be by the end. Our film will premiere on fresh-films.com probably in August most likely... BUT it maybe sooner so check it out and make sure to vote for AUSTIN! So that's my update to all of you. I love and miss all yous guys!
take care and have a great summer!