Last week was Thanksgiving break. We had the full week off. I wanted to film. Things didn't work out.
I wanted to film Sunday, and everyone was set. Until the night before. At about 10 pm, after Carlos went to sleep, Kevin informs me that his house is no longer available.
Well that sucks. I found a replacement location however! So, crisis averted.
The next day I woke up early so I could pack and prepare. I was able to contact Carlos and discuss the situation. However, my other three actors were no where to be found. Filming was planned for 12 noon, and it was 11:30, and I hadn't heard a peep from any of them. Shit.
Finally, after many stressful (and anger-ful) calls, I got an answer. Apparently, all three of these actors went out last night for the midnight showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show. That's fine and all, but they were out until about 4 am. So they didn't wake up till about 12. Great.
Carlos and I headed to Kevin's house to get the lowdown. Upon ringing the doorbell, a red-eyed, loopy Kevin struggles out of the door in front of us. He looks as if he's been hit with pink-eye or something. He could barely stand straight, and he was slurring his words, and his hands were shaking. There was no way he could act in this condition. As much as I hated to say it, I had to reschedule the filming.
Later that day, about 3 pm, Julien texts me, saying that he can't make it to filming because he just woke up. Derp.
So we rescheduled to Tuesday. But then, Carlos got sick. I pardoned him immediately because you can't avoid illness. Plus, he's my main actor, and I wanted to make sure he was 100% before he acted. So we postponed again. But by that time, I just wanted to enjoy my vacation. So I did.
In two days, filming will happen (I hope). I continue to have high expectations for this film. I have a ton of great actors who are ready to be in the film. I are excited.
Anyway, that's my story. Don't tl;dr me or I'll find you and kill you while you're asleep or in the bathroom. :D
12/2/10
11/17/10
More Movies!
Here are some other movies I've watched recently.
The Social Network: Okay, it was good. It was a solid movie that never strayed away from its purpose. It had good dialogue and good cinematography. The story was non-linear and developed characters. But really, nothing really stood out to me. Yes, it was a technically solid movie, and yes, it has garnered many high reviews, but it didn't wow me, it simply left me content. At least it wasn't a bad movie. The actors were pretty good. The whole process of making Facebook was a drama waiting to happen. But once again, I was failed to be completely wowed. I feel like it was playing it too safe. But that's me. Failed to wow, but was a solid movie otherwise. My verdict: 8/10.
Chungking Express: Okay, now THIS movie was different. It follows the stories of two heartbroken cops and the way they deal with their sadness. I liked this movie because the way it was filmed was completely different from any other. The chase scenes involved low shutter speeds, but you were still able to see the characters' faces through all the blur. My favorite line in the movie is "Do you like pineapples?" That itself should interest you. I liked this movie a lot because it had very interesting dialogue, had a great set of characters, and extremely unique storylines. The cinematography in this movie was very different from other movies so it stood out like a sore thumb. Thing is, it works. There's something about this movie that makes it one of my all time favorites. I could watch it all day long. The "Dreamlover" sequence never fails to make me smile. My verdict: 10/10
The Social Network: Okay, it was good. It was a solid movie that never strayed away from its purpose. It had good dialogue and good cinematography. The story was non-linear and developed characters. But really, nothing really stood out to me. Yes, it was a technically solid movie, and yes, it has garnered many high reviews, but it didn't wow me, it simply left me content. At least it wasn't a bad movie. The actors were pretty good. The whole process of making Facebook was a drama waiting to happen. But once again, I was failed to be completely wowed. I feel like it was playing it too safe. But that's me. Failed to wow, but was a solid movie otherwise. My verdict: 8/10.
Chungking Express: Okay, now THIS movie was different. It follows the stories of two heartbroken cops and the way they deal with their sadness. I liked this movie because the way it was filmed was completely different from any other. The chase scenes involved low shutter speeds, but you were still able to see the characters' faces through all the blur. My favorite line in the movie is "Do you like pineapples?" That itself should interest you. I liked this movie a lot because it had very interesting dialogue, had a great set of characters, and extremely unique storylines. The cinematography in this movie was very different from other movies so it stood out like a sore thumb. Thing is, it works. There's something about this movie that makes it one of my all time favorites. I could watch it all day long. The "Dreamlover" sequence never fails to make me smile. My verdict: 10/10
11/10/10
Analysis of Nickelodeon
I've watched shows like iCarly, Big Time Rush, and True Jackson enough and I think I now know why I don't like these shows and why I think it has a negative impact on the viewers.
The thing is that in these shows, stardom seems to just come one day when they choose to. iCarly begins with three teenagers who want to make a web show. That's all fine and dandy, but then, out of the blue, they have their own studio with expensive equipment and everything. This is where things start going off track. The thing is, viewers at this point don't watch because they relate to the story. Instead, they're brainwashed that success appears at your doorstep when you want it to. I don't like this depiction of instant success because it's simply not what life is. Also, no one cares who dates who. It blows up the magnitude of relationship drama that is incredibly poisonous to younger viewers who strive to be like Carly, i.e. yelling at every moment that you want to get your point across. Come on, this show isn't even funny.
Same with True Jackson. When would a big company pass their executive position to a teenager? Are they stupid? Not only does it immediately stray away from reality, but then it shows viewers that it's okay to screw around when you supposedly have a high position in a big company. Once again, how does this relate to anyone? If people mess around in school, they get in trouble. Success doesn't just show up one day, and even if it does, it shouldn't lead to goofing off. Once again, these shows fail to relate to life and the viewers and only brainwash young viewers into thinking that this is actually how things work.
Let's go back to the days of Drake and Josh and Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide. Why did I like these shows? Why did everyone like these shows? Because they depicted the lives of relatively ordinary people in ordinary situations (albeit excluding Megan). Drake and Josh was about two step brothers who have to deal with each other and life in high school. This was something that everyone could relate to in some way. It's just life, even though it gets silly. They don't just jump straight to stardom when they want to.
Ned's Declassified was the same. It had goofy characters, yes, but it also dealt with common occurrences in middle school and school in general. Everyone could relate to this show, even though it was pretty silly. It depicted the school lives of ordinary people and exemplified the stereotypes, like the bully and the jock, and placed them in an environment that people could relate to.
I feel like those older shows had more heart behind them. We could watch Ned and feel like "Hey, we're not alone. Other people deal with similar things in middle school as I do." We could watch Drake and Josh and laugh because brothers did act that way, and the two different personalities would always clash in some way, much like they would in real life. But shows like iCarly and True Jackson have no relatability factor. It's simply a means of making people wish that they could have success like they do. It is for this reason why I hate these new Nickelodeon shows the most. I'm still waiting for a new, organic show that doesn't have to be disgusting to appear.
The thing is that in these shows, stardom seems to just come one day when they choose to. iCarly begins with three teenagers who want to make a web show. That's all fine and dandy, but then, out of the blue, they have their own studio with expensive equipment and everything. This is where things start going off track. The thing is, viewers at this point don't watch because they relate to the story. Instead, they're brainwashed that success appears at your doorstep when you want it to. I don't like this depiction of instant success because it's simply not what life is. Also, no one cares who dates who. It blows up the magnitude of relationship drama that is incredibly poisonous to younger viewers who strive to be like Carly, i.e. yelling at every moment that you want to get your point across. Come on, this show isn't even funny.
Same with True Jackson. When would a big company pass their executive position to a teenager? Are they stupid? Not only does it immediately stray away from reality, but then it shows viewers that it's okay to screw around when you supposedly have a high position in a big company. Once again, how does this relate to anyone? If people mess around in school, they get in trouble. Success doesn't just show up one day, and even if it does, it shouldn't lead to goofing off. Once again, these shows fail to relate to life and the viewers and only brainwash young viewers into thinking that this is actually how things work.
Let's go back to the days of Drake and Josh and Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide. Why did I like these shows? Why did everyone like these shows? Because they depicted the lives of relatively ordinary people in ordinary situations (albeit excluding Megan). Drake and Josh was about two step brothers who have to deal with each other and life in high school. This was something that everyone could relate to in some way. It's just life, even though it gets silly. They don't just jump straight to stardom when they want to.
Ned's Declassified was the same. It had goofy characters, yes, but it also dealt with common occurrences in middle school and school in general. Everyone could relate to this show, even though it was pretty silly. It depicted the school lives of ordinary people and exemplified the stereotypes, like the bully and the jock, and placed them in an environment that people could relate to.
I feel like those older shows had more heart behind them. We could watch Ned and feel like "Hey, we're not alone. Other people deal with similar things in middle school as I do." We could watch Drake and Josh and laugh because brothers did act that way, and the two different personalities would always clash in some way, much like they would in real life. But shows like iCarly and True Jackson have no relatability factor. It's simply a means of making people wish that they could have success like they do. It is for this reason why I hate these new Nickelodeon shows the most. I'm still waiting for a new, organic show that doesn't have to be disgusting to appear.
10/30/10
A Tale of Unspoken Revenge Reflection
I was going to do a video reflection but I'm being lazy so I'll just stick to this for now.
A Tale of Unspoken Revenge was technically a very neat film. Other that some less-than-stellar Steadicam shots (by me), every angle benefited the film and showed exactly what needed to be shown. I dedicated a lot of our film time getting the tripod down and getting exactly the angle I wanted. Even if they were a teensie bit off from where I wanted them, I asked to start the take over again because I wanted to be picky.
I realize it starts out slow, but that's what I like about it. The story begins with two guys walking to someone's house, and then they break in and beat the crap out of him. Then it settles, talk talk talk, babble babble babble, whoa what the hell, Ryan escaped and beat up Julien! That's when it got good for me. It starts out slow, and I'm not sure how many people can sit through it, but if you watch till the end, it turns out great. I loved the scene where Ryan untied himself. I couldn't have asked for a better turnout than that.
The fight scenes were awesome. We made up those fight scenes on set and on the spot between each consecutive take. I think it ended up very smooth-like and was a good ending to the video.
The tackle scene was accomplished by placing a ton of pillows in front of Julien. Once again, taking time in between takes for scenes like this was crucial.
I loved how Jared was able to pull off his talk scene with Ryan. Albeit, it took a few tries, it was extremely funny in the end. I would have never been able to pull such a scene off. Special thanks to Jared for being awesome there.
We took our time because we had a lot of time. For longer videos, I can see filming spanning multiple days, but for now, I won't go over two days for a video. The filming for World War Z was ridiculously tiring because we were so short on time, and frankly, it just was not fun at that point. When you're in a small group, taking your time, and focusing on quality, I find it a much more enjoyable experience. Lesson from World War Z and Blood Exchange, do not rush your videos, and do not sacrifice quality.
Overall, I'm mucho proud of this video. It sets another standard for me in quality. Taking the scenes slowly with care pays off massively in the end. It showed me the power of the tripod and that I need to practice more with the Steadicam. Until next time, with my next big feature!
A Tale of Unspoken Revenge was technically a very neat film. Other that some less-than-stellar Steadicam shots (by me), every angle benefited the film and showed exactly what needed to be shown. I dedicated a lot of our film time getting the tripod down and getting exactly the angle I wanted. Even if they were a teensie bit off from where I wanted them, I asked to start the take over again because I wanted to be picky.
I realize it starts out slow, but that's what I like about it. The story begins with two guys walking to someone's house, and then they break in and beat the crap out of him. Then it settles, talk talk talk, babble babble babble, whoa what the hell, Ryan escaped and beat up Julien! That's when it got good for me. It starts out slow, and I'm not sure how many people can sit through it, but if you watch till the end, it turns out great. I loved the scene where Ryan untied himself. I couldn't have asked for a better turnout than that.
The fight scenes were awesome. We made up those fight scenes on set and on the spot between each consecutive take. I think it ended up very smooth-like and was a good ending to the video.
The tackle scene was accomplished by placing a ton of pillows in front of Julien. Once again, taking time in between takes for scenes like this was crucial.
I loved how Jared was able to pull off his talk scene with Ryan. Albeit, it took a few tries, it was extremely funny in the end. I would have never been able to pull such a scene off. Special thanks to Jared for being awesome there.
We took our time because we had a lot of time. For longer videos, I can see filming spanning multiple days, but for now, I won't go over two days for a video. The filming for World War Z was ridiculously tiring because we were so short on time, and frankly, it just was not fun at that point. When you're in a small group, taking your time, and focusing on quality, I find it a much more enjoyable experience. Lesson from World War Z and Blood Exchange, do not rush your videos, and do not sacrifice quality.
Overall, I'm mucho proud of this video. It sets another standard for me in quality. Taking the scenes slowly with care pays off massively in the end. It showed me the power of the tripod and that I need to practice more with the Steadicam. Until next time, with my next big feature!
10/10/10
10/2/10
Another Video in Secret
I spat out another video idea. My goal this time was to avoid guns as much as possible. However, I wanted to make some kind of action flick too, so, we did a break-in.
A Tale of Unspoken Revenge is a story about a guy seeking revenge on someone for something. I won't release any more information about it because it's almost done anyway.
I called in Ryan, Julien, and my friend Jared to star in this film. Ryan has no lines in this video. I decided to make him mute, hence, Unspoken Revenge.
I had Kristin come in and be my behind the scenes photographer and make-up artist. She drew a blemish on Ryan's face, but I neglected to get a good angle to see it. Sorry Kristin D: But thanks still! She was a great help being my script supervisor and photographer.
Expect to see the video coming out this week!
A Tale of Unspoken Revenge is a story about a guy seeking revenge on someone for something. I won't release any more information about it because it's almost done anyway.
I called in Ryan, Julien, and my friend Jared to star in this film. Ryan has no lines in this video. I decided to make him mute, hence, Unspoken Revenge.
I had Kristin come in and be my behind the scenes photographer and make-up artist. She drew a blemish on Ryan's face, but I neglected to get a good angle to see it. Sorry Kristin D: But thanks still! She was a great help being my script supervisor and photographer.
Expect to see the video coming out this week!
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