New Video!

Announcing my new upcoming feature, The Blood Exchange!

No details on what it’s about yet, but I will say that it will star Carlos Cortes, Roger Lau, and Anthony Lucido. Filming went incredibly smooth, and we took our times to make it as awesome as possible. And I must say, even before editing, this video looks promising.

Here are some screenshots :D












They look pretty good in suits doncha think? Anyway, I’ll be releasing more information and development photos as editing comes along. It shouldn’t be very long before it’s done. Stay tuned!

Upcoming Project

This weekend I’ll be filming my next video. Here’s the lowdown on why this is a big deal for me:

Filming was originally slated for Thanksgiving weekend (yeah, in November). The first day, my main actor (Kevin Dewey) woke up feeling woozy. My other actors (except Carlos Cortes) also woke up feeling sick. Also, Kevin’s house was supposed to be the setting of the video. It was unavailable. No filming that day.

We rescheduled a few days later. Then, Carlos got sick. No filming that day.

We rescheduled ANOTHER day. Kevin had to be at his brother’s football game that evening, so he wasn’t available. No filming that day.

And now, I have recast my actors (except for Carlos) and scheduled a new location and a new date. I seriously hope this date comes through, because I seriously want to film this damn video!

Update when I update :D

Why Filmmaking?

Filmmaking is, in my opinion, the best kind of storytelling out there. I don’t know about you, but the reason why I don’t like to read is because imagining things happening simply isn’t enough for me. I enjoy seeing a story in an entertaining way. I like to be immersed in the story, with sound, visuals, atmospheric music, etc. Movies are like my escape. It’s like entering a completely different world and viewing the story firsthand.

Movies can take many shapes and forms. However, the differences between movies and other kinds of media are simple:

1. They provide motion, and
2. They provide visuals mixed with music and sound effects.

Photography is interesting to look at, and some may argue that the whole story can be captured in a single picture (which is true). However, film is MOTION picture. It’s a bunch of pictures linked together to create the illusion of motion. I don’t know about you, but the motion makes everything seem more real. I like real.

Also, have you ever had those moments where you think “Damn, I just did something awesome. I wish awesome music could play to celebrate it.” That might just be me, but honestly, music creates atmosphere. Combine music with motion picture, and you have one entertaining movie.

I love filmmaking because it’s entertaining and it feels more real than just pictures or books or other kinds of storytelling. It’s a medium unlike anything else out there.

My Biggest Influence

Of all the directors and all their works, no other director has influenced me as much as the big man, Quentin Tarantino. Why?

He’s taught me what makes a good movie.

When I watched Inglourious Basterds,I expected more action than it had. This was because I was used to seeing Hollywood movies with tons of action and suspense. Instead, I was presented with a ton of dialogue that I thought went on forever. However, it was interesting, so I decided to investigate further with his movies, because I had heard good stuff about them.

Reservoir Dogs was where I began to understand Tarantino. The bulk of this movie is just acting and dialogue. But the way it tells the story is incredible. The characters are beyond real—there’s no cheesy dialogue or anything that sounds stupid. It is an intense movie with bits of action and amazing suspense. I learned, right when I finished that movie, that good movies have good stories.

I began to see the emptiness in Hollywood films. I began to ask, “Why are they fighting? Why is it so drawn out? There’s no way all those bullets could have missed him!” While I understand it’s for entertainment, I began to become repelled by the ridiculousness of these scenarios.

Then I saw Pulp Fiction, and I became obsessed with following his tactics.

I’ve seen other directors who are similar to Tarantino, such as Stanley Kubrick (another amazing director). I find so much power in their storytelling that is lacking in many films that come out today. My goal as a filmmaker is to resurrect that power and emulate it in a way that will become successful.

Thank you, Quentin Tarantino, for making great movies. For better or for worse, my outlook on film has changed forever, because of you.

2010 in Retrospect

Overall, 2010 movies were relatively disappointing. There were a lot of big movies that came out, but none that I saw were up to my expectations.

While Inception was very popular among Beckman (so many Facebook posts about it…), I found it was pretty good, but not GREAT. I think the two great things that I saw in the movie was the soundtrack (which is orgasmic it’s ridiculous), and Joseph Gordon Levitt. My biggest thing was that it was too Hollywood. It was so convoluted that I was not able to get absorbed into it as much as everyone else did. I don’t know why. It also relied too heavily on special effects. Much like Transformers and Iron Man, I was almost repelled by the effects because it was used too often. However, it wasn’t a bad movie. I did like it. I loved the cinematography and the soundtrack. Also, the story was interesting, though very confusing sometimes.

The Social Network received similar reaction in me. Maybe it was because I was sleepy or expecting too much, but I found that there was nothing about it that seriously stood out. It was a well-made movie. There were no noticeable flaws, and it kept the audience interested. But, contrary to much of the buzz, I didn’t see anything stand-out-ish about it. Maybe it needs another viewing.

The one notable exception this year was Toy Story 3. Pixar does NOT disappoint. I don’t have to say much about this one. Let’s just say, it was like a huge nostalgic punch to the face that made me feel so good inside. It was a great way to end the series, and it’s become one of my favorite Pixar movies (behind Wall-E).

I hope to see more great movies this year.

Should I?

I'm debating whether or not to change to a Tumblr.

It's not that either site is better. I don't investigate this stuff too much, and I personally like Blogger. However, I want to be able to reach out to more of my friends so more people read my stuff. This will result in more of my friends actually WATCHING my videos.

But man, 110 posts.... It's almost too much to give up.... Which is why I'm debating.

I'll ask around.

Action Jackson

Because filming plans on different movie ideas failed more times than I would have liked (five times), I decided to take the initiative and film something on my own. Introducing, Action Jackson!

It was my short, special effects, handicam, and HD test video of winter. I decided to try a ton of new stuff because it was such a small project. It's short, yes, but I think it's pretty exciting :D

Action Jackson

Enjoy!