Observing my surroundings...

Full Circle

2009-09-14T02:11:00.000-07:00

Summer quarter has come to an end. The final quarter is about to begin.

I was transferred rooms again. For the entirety of freshman year I was in a room on the first floor. For the past 2 years, I have been on the second floor. Now I am back in not only in the same apartment, but the same bedroom. It is interesting how things end up.

What is different? The walls are better colors than white. The room is much more used than before, but better decorated. Better furniture, a bigger tv, and no video games. (first time in all of college. You have no idea how happy this quiet is!)

But I won't really be in my room until school starts again. What with my crazy filming schedule of the next 2 weeks, I won't have a spare second! There will not be a moment to breathe until classes start again.

From concept to reality

2009-09-08T23:39:00.000-07:00

This quarter is almost over. 2 more days before the final Final is due.

Today one of our final projects was due. It was an Adobe AfterEffects clip, of the title intro for our individual companies that we are each starting through the University's business launchpad.

As you probably know, the business I am starting is "Evans Media". Today I went downtown with Steve, and we registered the name with the county clerk, then went to Chase bank to open a company account. Much excitement on our part ensued, following this big step for small men. I'm pretty sure a small bottle of cheap champagne is in order. To be celebrated at some bench by a parking lot somewhere, since this is a dry campus...

But back to the AfterEffects project.

A few weeks ago, I had to create storyboards to outline the intro that I wanted for the company. (Our own version of this, this, or this.)

Here is the old version. I like it, but it seems to come across as rather evil:

He told me to put together some images that embodied the look, feel, and/or message of the company. Since we mostly do promotional videos for other companied at this point, that was a tough assignment. But I did it. Here's what I got.

Look & Feel

The photo in this album that the class liked the most was the one with the hand & dirt. The professor suggested I make an opening where the logo somehow shows new life. These are the storyboards I came up with, that I showed the professor:

(here the hands lift up dirt, out of which a plant grows, and from the plant the E blossoms. This then evolves into the logo.)

The suggestion was that perhaps there shouldn't be a plant, but only dirt. Perhaps the E, instead of coming out of a plant, would BE the plant. And it would be spinning at first, as though it is organic, and we can't really tell what it is at first until it slows down.

I struggled a lot with it. I did not learn this program very quickly, so it was hard for me. But eventually it worked. I used stock music, which I am pretty happy with, until something is composed. This music gives it a classy feel, without making it look sinister.

Here is the new intro:

Waves of Excitement

2009-08-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

I couldn’t have picked a better place in which to grow up than Seattle. I love the pines, I love the thorns, I love both the mountain ranges, I love the water, and I love the intellectual atmosphere. But there is just one thing… the waves are really small, and really cold.
Being in the Puget Sound, the currents and tides and general volume of the water decrease the waves to little more than a lapping ripple. And for most of the year, you could put an ice cube in that ripple, and it wouldn’t melt.
As a result, I only went to the beach to “look”, or do other mostly dry activities. We also did not own a pool, so I was never much of a swimmer. This meant that on vacations, when we would go to the ocean, and the big waves would crash higher than anything in Seattle, my parents would always caution me, “Don’t go far out into the water; the currents will pull you in, and you aren’t a good swimmer”.
Now that I attend college in San Diego, we go the beach more often. But still most of my time is spent high and dry, enjoying other’s company, and soaking up the sun. Just listening to the waves. Until recently.
When Elizabeth’s family was visiting from Missouri last week, we went to the beach. I brought my swimsuit, and decided to venture out into the water. I went out deeper than I have ever gone in my life. To be precise, I went neck-deep (I am 6’3”).
What an experience! If you have never experienced this, you must. Right now.

Close your eyes while you read this: Picture yourself standing chest deep in water, facing toward the shore. Perhaps waving to someone. Suddenly the water level drops to your knees. Remember the feeling of water pulling the sand from under your feet in the shallows, as you sink ankle-deep? Imagine that pull of water all the way up to your waist.You turn around, and there it is; a dark blue mountain of water, twice your height, rushing toward you, just beginning to break on the top. Quickly, you jump. The swell lifts your feet off the ground. The water slaps you across the face, getting in your eyes. And the wave sets you back down gently. You release your breath, and watch from behind the wave as it crashes over all the boogey-boarders in the shallow end. You turn back again, to see the next swell rising over you. It’s way too big to jump. It’d knock you back to your beach towel. Quickly: take a deep breath and duck under it. You place a hand on the sand under the water, to allow the wave to pass overhead. Suddenly a powerful wall of water lifts you off the sea bed and hurtles you about like a rag doll. The power of the wave dominates, and you become a toy in the prongs of a trident. Then you realize you are curled up on the floor in 3 feet of frothy water. You stand up, and have to run back to your towel to get the salt and sand out of all the holes in your head.

It is incredibly exhilarating and exciting. It’s a free roller coaster with a splash ending. It’s really something I would recommend, and something I will do many times again.

Alice in Wonderland Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes

2009-06-26T14:06:00.001-07:00

Here are some PD pictures from Burton's Alice In Wonderland film. I am pretty excited; I liked the book, and I love the director. I'm glad the story is taking a less "cute" Disney approach in this version, and coming across as a slightly bizarre dream, like it was probably always intended to be.
Personally I still like Through the Looking Glass better, but maybe that will make a good sequel...
Alice in Wonderland Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes

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When you're being chased...

2009-05-27T18:32:00.000-07:00

When you're being chased, take the offensive.

Skin Deep, Episode 2: Sunshine Typhoon

2009-05-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

Here is number 2 of 4 for our Skin Deep series. This one involves the art classroom, which proved very hard to light. I like this episode better, but boy, was it tough to film!

Swine Flu

2009-05-07T01:47:00.000-07:00

Recently there has been a big scare about this new disease they are calling "swine flu". If you ask me, it is the most over-reported, exaggerated deal in a long time. I guess it was a really slow news week, and they were desperate for a story.
They say it's deadly. But so is regular flu! More so!
Really the only reason it is scary is because we don't have an immunity to it yet. Big deal. The symptoms are exactly the same as regular flu. And chance of fatality is extremely low.
So don't worry about it. Last week I had all the symptoms except vomiting. I didn't go to the doctor, but I am perfectly fine now.
Swine flu is nothing to be scared of. It's an exaggerated news story for lack of anything better to report. Take off your mask, and breathe easy.

Skin Deep - Pilot

2009-05-03T14:57:00.000-07:00

Last quarter we had our Production Simulation class. I directed a four-part webisode series about love and lust in high school. It was a big deal, but we struggled a lot in the editing room. Finally it is being released online. Right now the Pilot is up. Episode 2 will be going online this evening!
Here is the first episode. Enjoy.

So... what's up with my blog?

2009-05-03T00:25:00.000-07:00

I haven't been posting in a while. The legacy of my blog is dying!!
Allow me to skip my long list of excuses. I have a lot, and they are all good ones. But you don't need to know them. I haven't been posting. That's all that matters.

My college graduation is approaching. December '09! Then I will no longer BE a jpstudent!
But the legacy of this blog must live on. Therefore I make it my goal between now and then to regain momentum here, and turn this once more into the blog that is, as the first post ever posted here said, your center for entertainment online!

For starters, I would like this to not be known as a blog. I prefer to think of it as a website. Websites are cooler. And blogs are about people. This website will not be about me much. It is about what I observe. And I rarely observe myself.

For second-starters, here is a new wallpaper for you to enjoy: I snapped this photo myself while I was in Europe a few weeks ago.

Going to Europe.

2009-02-26T23:01:00.001-08:00

I am on my way to Europe. I will spend one week in Ireland, and one week in Rome. I am having all sorts of visions about being robbed, missing my flight, or having to sleep on the street after getting lost.
I am also very excited. I believe this will be an experience to remember...

Reinventing the wheel.

2009-01-29T00:25:00.000-08:00

This video is great. It captures the essence of Mac-user culture to a T. And makes fun of it in a way that will not offend an avid mac user like myself. Watch and enjoy.

The clever thing about it is the subtle things. Like the sentences to be found in the sentence completer, like "The abortion went well." "The aardvark admitted its fault." "The actor asked for an aardvark." "The agile aardvark bathed with beauties". "The apple was consumed by the amiable crocodile." "The attractive peanut farmer graded the ladies paper". "The awning covered the agile aardvark during the amiable rainstorm."

Or some of the text on the lower third of the screen, like "To reduce energy use, screen goes black after four seconds." And the text in the email being awkwardly typed reads, "Dear Robber, you wont believe where I am# I)m at the Mac Expo ænd i am USING thep colic new MacWheel laptop. I'll BET YOU ARE JEAlouz".

I love it.

The fun part about casting

2009-01-27T11:45:00.001-08:00

So this quarter we are making a webisode series in our Production Simulation class. I am directing it, so I am kept up to date on all the casting info, and I am at the auditions, etc.
This is the most rigorous casting I have ever been a part of so far, and I am just discovering the unexpected "joys" of casting. Allow me to share some of our experiences with you.

Our main character, Robby, is in high school. He is a comic book nerd, and a social outcast, except for his two best friends. But over summer break, he takes on a job as a lifeguard, and comes back with a tan, toned muscles, and an Abercrombie outfit. The casting call described it as "The body of a Greek god". When he comes back to school, all the girls start throwing themselves at his feet.

We had narrowed it down to three possibilities. Here is the little video of auditions that we have from our Behind-the-Scenes:

We ruled out Cadden. The final decision was between Kevin and Josh. Josh really is an Abercrombie model, and has the muscles and face to match the part. But Kevin is a better actor. In the end, Kevin got the part.

But there is one individual who persistently emails our casting director, ever hoping to get the part. I think he is Indian, or maybe Arabic. But he is middle-aged, if not elderly. He sent us some pictures of his younger self, where he looks like a dashing young, but slightly frightening latino father. But he made the mistake of sending us a recent photo, where he looks at least 40, and not as dashing.
Here are some excerpts from his emails:

Hello freind,
> I had seen your Ad on the Mandy.com. I am a professional Good Male Actor
> and can do all kinds of roles Action,Comedy,Serious,Dramatic,Romantic & non
> serious. Forwarding you my resume and headshot as attachment. Seeking for a
> suitable role for your oncoming project.I am based in los
> angeles/California/USA.
> Waiting for your earlier response.

> Credits= Film- Temple city one of lead good role of cop
> Film- American Dream- one of the main male Actor role.
> FiLm- No Return one of the main roles.
> Commercials- soda- Rasika motion advertisement in Asia
> Commercial- Cycle stills for posters and magazines
> short film = Acted in short film for govt project
> Currently doing various Auditions for different films.

> Ht- 6ft 1 inch /185 inch

> Personality- Having excellent personality with Athletic muscular physique
> suitable for all kinds of commercials and Films roles.Very good in action
> fights sequences judo/karate scenes and a Good Dancer as per the role
> desired.

> voice quality= very good and having very good command over english language
> & speak broken dutch language.

> Currently seeking lead role in films and commercials.
> I am a very Good actor can do all kinds of roles trust me.

I could've sworn...

2009-01-20T16:06:00.001-08:00

Interesting. Ironic? This commentator is in my book of Yes.

iPod Touch

2009-01-20T01:23:00.001-08:00

For Christmas I recieved an iPod Touch. This seems a very popular gift this year; one of my roommates got one, and another asked for it, but his dad got one instead. A couple other guys at schoolbgot one as well. Either it is the new fad, or I'm only noticing it because I got one. My friend works at Starbucks, and he says that it seems like everyone got a Starbucks gift card this year...
But I highly recommend the iTouch to anyone on the go. I did not want the iPhone, because I use verizon, and my phone works just fine, thank you very much.
But the iTouch is a handy little machine. It gets wifi anywhere there is a hotspot, it has an iCal, which syncs with my laptop's calendar, it has a notepad, an alarm, stopwatch, and timer. I downloaded other things for it like a dictionary, a to-do list app, games, and even the Bible.

The new one is slimmer, faster, has an external speaker, and is motion sensitive. (good for games.) The only downside is that it doesn't get internet anywhere, like the iPhone does. But I'm not complaining. It's more than I could ask for in the palm of my hand.

I'm starting to not even bother bringing my computer to school any more. I just bring my textbook, and slip this little tool in my pocket...

Christmas Break 2008

2009-01-09T09:21:00.000-08:00

I went home for break once again. Three weeks with the family. It was a much needed breather. When people pass me in the hall and ask, "how was your break", I like to give them a little more than the usual "Good". So I have been saying, "It was great, very relaxing. How was yours?" "Pretty boring, actually". "Good! That's how it should be! It's break."

But in reality, my break was not as relaxing as I make it sound in passing...

The firs week I got home we went and cut our Christmas tree. In Seattle there is a great tree farm north of us that we have been going to for the last 20 years. There was a recent snow, and so hunting for a tree this year meant wading through knee-high drifts, and shaking a tree clean to see what it looked like before moving on. We brought it home and decorated it.

We went to the Latin Mass, which is now celebrated at our old parish. Lots of memories at that parish. My filmmaking career was born in that parking lot. Most of the first week was spent in preparation for Christmas on Thursday. Laundry day. Cleaning day. Lots of time on catching up on my own projects I fell behind with during finals. Decorate the tree. Play cards with my 4 siblings.

Christmas came. Went to the vigil Mass and the morning mass. Snow had now been on the ground for a week. It had snowed 6 inches, started to melt, turned to ice, snowed another 3 inches, and frozen over. 8 inches to a foot of snow is not easy to drive in. The snowplows were overworked, because as soon as they would finish, the sky would dump a little more white stuff on us. Blech. People would just shove it aside and slip on with their lives. I almost fell over 3 times on the way to the Church from the car. When we got home after morning Mass and un-bundled, it was great to feel the heaters, and taste the warm breakfast. Cue Bing Crosby.

Presents for us always start late. About 1pm. The rest of the day we kick back and do nothing. No visiting or visitors, maybe a dvd in the evening, but that's it. Big dinner.

The day after Christmas, Elizabeth came. We had one more week of break, and we had to show her everything we could while she was in town from St. Louis. She had lunch with her uncle, who lives in town, and we brought her home and let her settle in.

The next day we had dinner at a friend's house. Big homeschooling family, like us. Good times and good memories. Elizabeth adapted to the confusion very well. Sunday Mass. Early rise, sleepy in car, meeting old friends at Church. She didn't really bother trying to keep track of anybody.

We had two families over for brunch. More family friends. Lots of laughs and joking around. Then when the sun set, we went to another friend's caroling party. Add another 3 families on top of the 2 brunchers. Elizabeth told me she was now overwhelmed. But we went caroling, in the 15 degree weather, and came back freezing and in high spirits. Snacks and chatting.

My sister and Elizabeth went shopping together, so I went and played pool and had a beer with my friend until they were done. We had lunch with Elizabeth's cousin.

New Year's eve was our annual traditional potluck at our friend's house. For Elizabeth it was the climax of the trip, because all the different people who she had met individually came together in one spot. And there were several other big families on top of that. Standing room only in the house. Very chaotic. But I think everyone had a good time.

For the rest of the week we visited some of our relatives who lived locally. And on the night before we left for School, my cousin came home from his break, and so I called some of my friends and we all went to Applebees.

Leaving on Sunday was melancholy because I realized it could be a while before I am home again. Summer job or intern possibilities may limit my ability to go home. And I graduate next Christmas, and I'll be staying down here most likely.

Happy 2009.

Snow

2008-12-21T15:44:00.000-08:00

I am home for the Holidays! And snow covers everything! Ice all over the roads makes driving a hazard. And the temperature has not been above freezing in over a week! We have not had snow for this many days in a row here in over 16 years!

We cut our own Christmas tree, as we do every year, and I am taking the opportunity at home to catch up on some extra things I have been putting off. (Screenwriting, photoshop work, etc.)

It's good to be home.

Going to Europe!!

2008-12-13T17:28:00.000-08:00

I just purchased my ticket to Europe. Our whole class is doing a study abroad program in March, where we will take classes in Ireland and Rome.

We will head to Dublin on February 28th, stay there for a week, taking a Global Cultures class in County Cork, taught by Dr. Derry Connolly. Then we will fly to Rome, and take a Masterpieces of Art and Music course there, taught by Michael Barber. We will fly home on March 18th.

We were given the opportunity to stay an extra two weeks, cruising all over Europe, visiting wherever we wanted. Some of the other students are taking advantage of that, and visiting several other countries. But I am eating into my food money as it is, so I am happy enough to finally visit the Eternal City alone! And to go to Ireland on top of that... wow!

Christmas movies

2008-12-12T14:46:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year! Time to start filling up your Netflix Queue with Christmas movies! There are so many, though! There is no way you can possibly go through all of them in one Christmas season. That means you have to decide!
But even if you are one of those people who wish there were only ONE kind of peanut butter at the store, because there are too many CHOICES, I will reassure you that making decisions like this can be fun.

I challenge you to pick your three top favorite Christmas movies. In fact, I'm going to play a game with you. Read this, then I will tell you the rules.

Here are my top 3:

It's a Wonderful Life
White Christmas
Die Hard

The first two were easy. The last one took some deliberation. There are so many good ones. Here are some honorable mentions for you:

Elf
A Charlie Brown Christmas (for TV, but still good on DVD)
The Santa Clause
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Babes in Toyland
Die Hard 2: Die Harder
Holiday Inn (True, not strictly Christmas, but still worthy of mention, for it's Christmas segment)
Miracle on 34th Street
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
Home Alone
Rudolf, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Meet Me In St. Louis (again, not strictly Christmas, but it has a great Christmas segment. And the song 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas was written for this film)

I should also mention for the record that my girlfriend agrees with my #1 favorite, but her 2 & 3 are Elf and The Santa Clause.

Now here are the rules to the game: Anybody who read this blog post HAS to comment with their top 3 movies. (I know you won't, but you should) Yes, even Dr. Connolly, Alan Lane, Dad, and Seth Elmenhurst. Just your top 3. Even if you are someone reading this in the summer. Just go ahead and comment. It's fun to read.

UFO

2008-12-11T04:20:00.000-08:00

It seems that aliens do exist. Here is a video proving it:

Pretty hard to deny it now, isn't it!

Thanksgiving is nuts!

2008-11-27T11:43:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving break is much needed. So many different things to do have been piling up faster than I can do them. I am editing a documentary for the school, which I am praying I can finish before Christmas break. But I might have to delegate it to another editor.

I am also going to film my final for Directing class this week. That means right now I need to work on shot lists, call sheets, storyboards, and making sure everything is ready to roll starting Saturday afternoon.

Not to mention all the other homework I need to do for finals. More editing, a paper, a website, a presentation, and a completed movie. Insane. And that's not all I have to do, either. I have a couple other projects I'm working on on top of that.

For Thanksgiving Elizabeth and I are in Fallbrook, visiting the mexican family of our friend Jessica. This is an unusual Thanksgiving for me, because there will not be a special Thanksgiving dinner, but rather a Thanksgiving Brunch. And there will be no turkey tonight. Instead, Ham. Which to my mind is an acceptable substitute.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

A small step for mankind, one giant leap for man.

2008-11-09T17:10:00.000-08:00

I'm 21. I got to film a wedding on my birthday, which I thought was rather appropriate. It looks like Evans Media will be creating a sub-branch, under Elizabeth's direction, for wedding videography.

That night a couple of the guys took me downtown and we did a little "bar hopping". I did not get drunk. I had 8 different drinks, too. I only got a little dizzy, but it was gone in the morning, and there was no headache or anything.

Actually, the affect of alcohol is different than I expected. I thought it would go straight to my head and make me all stupid and bumbly, and wake me up with a splitting hangover. But instead it made me a little groggy, and put me to sleep. And the next day I simply had a bit of an upset stomach.
But I don't expect I'll be much of a heavy drinker at all ever.

Oh, and Obama just got elected president. Whatever.

The good news is that prop 8 passed in California, Florida, and Arizona, defining "marriage" as being between one man and one woman. So now the homosexuals are upset and trying to complain about it. Maybe they will succeed eventually, but for now our children are safer.

The bad news is that prop 4, Sarah's law, did not pass. That means that if a juvenile girl wants an abortion, she still does not need to notify any family members.

Hmm. Pray for California, it could use it.

A tribute to the classics

2008-10-22T00:53:00.001-07:00

I am surprised at how many people have not seen this classic clip. The Marx Brothers' mirror scene from Duck Soup. This scene has been replayed in various forms in other films since, but I believe everyone should see this at some point in their lives.
Just for a little setup: Groucho Marx has the big mustache. In this scene, Harpo Max has dressed up as Groucho, (for various reasons), but Groucho hasn't yet discovered this. This comical bit is where the two meet, and go through a routine to see if it is a mirror or not...

Vote like a Catholic.

2008-10-19T12:22:00.001-07:00

Here is a great video that shows the importance of voting. Even if you don't like either candidate, you should never not vote. Choose the lesser of two evils.

But when there are such grave moral issues as life and family at stake, they become the priority over the other issues. Even if Obama would save our wallets and give us a socialist empire that would make everybody as rich as everyone else, he would still say it's okay to kill my unborn. He would still give teachers rules saying that they have to tell my kids that homosexual marriage is just as acceptable as het., and that if a boy wants to be a girl, his school has to accommodate for him.

Vote this november. And tell everyone to vote for the right reasons:

Labor Pains

2008-10-09T13:31:00.000-07:00

That's the name of my latest video. It's my first of 10 videos for the Directing II class. It was all very last minute, and I have some problems with it, but I guess I'm pretty proud of the end result.

Here it is. Enjoy:

Death

2008-10-08T01:52:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to tell you how my mind came to think this; it would take too long, and distract from the point. Suffice it to say, "I was reading my ethics homework when..." as an appropriate opening to my thought:

I was thinking about death. Actually, I was thinking about the afterlife. And how heaven is the ultimate happiness. People who are lucky enough to obtain heaven are those who have suffered in joy much to earn it. They have been either cleansed by purgatory, or have built their souls up to the level where, when they die, God decides that they deserve happiness that will never end; extreme happiness.

Death is not something that happens to you. It is something you have to earn.

I have told Elizabeth this several times. And I like to think how true it is. It is foolish, I think, when people say, "he deserves to die". No, I don't think he does; he was bad. How come he gets to die? I don't even expect he'll go to heaven! And suicides... well, that's just silly; even if you've been a saint, it doesn't count if the last thing you do is as selfish as rewarding yourself with death. Psh. Besides, if the last thing you do is a murder, I doubt you'll be seeing the other side of the pearly gates.

I know I don't deserve to die. I don't fear death, but it does scare me a little, because I know I'm not ready for it yet.

When I die, the first thing I want to hear after being shown the highlight reel fresh out of heaven's editing lab is, "well done, My good and faithful servant."

God, give me a little more time to earn death.

Channel 6

2008-10-04T00:34:00.000-07:00

I was on the news today. Just thought I'd let everyone know. Steve and I were interviewed about the Prop 8 videos we made (that I put up before). A reporter team came to the school, set up camera and lights, and interviewed me about how I thought it was good that we were using YouTube as a medium for our videos, and whether I thought it would help sway the voters opinions.

I answered confidently, with a lot of "um"s and such, and hoped that it would be edited down. Steve had a nice line about how on YouTube, people click on the video on purpose, whereas on tv, people zone out the commercials.

That night, at 10:00, the common room was overflowing with students waiting eagerly to watch the few seconds of air time we would receive. We watched and waited, and suddenly, the moment arrived.

Here it is. Watch for yourself and decide whether it was worth it: (note: the video may not show up in some browsers. It would only work in Safari for me.)

QUINN

2008-09-27T10:21:00.001-07:00

Here is the film I made for my final project for Nathan Scoggins in our Directing I class.

Enjoy:

iTunes Genius

2008-09-19T01:14:00.000-07:00

iTunes came out with a new feature called "Genius". In the optional Genius sidebar you can see songs from the iTunes store that are similar to what you are listening to.
And the new Genius button allows iTunes to create a playlist based around the song you are listening to at the moment. I was skeptical at first. I didn't want to turn on "Rocky Mountain High", hit the Genius button, and have it offer me the entire John Denver Greatest Hits album. But I was not disappointed. It actually gives you a good variety.
You know when you are listening to your iTunes on shuffle and something comes on that you just skip over, or spend the next ten minutes looking for something you want to listen to? For instance, I'll listen to Jack Johnson's Banana Pancakes. Then My Chemical Romance comes on, and somehow I'm just not in the mood for that. Skip. No, I'm not in the mood for Sinatra, either. Not right now. Hmm... scan, scan, scan. How about a little Bublé. Ooh, or some Kenny G. Now you're talking. More Jack Johnson? No, not right now.

Well, that's all well and fun, but if you have homework or something to do, I suggest making use of the Genius feature. It tends to be pretty god about finding those songs you'd probably hunt down anyways. All you have to do is give it something to start with, and it does all the browsing. A handy little feature, if you ask me!

Prop 8

2008-09-15T16:19:00.000-07:00

Proposition 8 in California is about prohibiting homosexual marriages. Tom Dunn gave me some files and narration, and I edited this following commercial in favor of it:

We were pretty proud of it, and it seems to be having an impact, considering there are many scathing comments from the opposing side. One video response took our commercial, and made some adjustments to it:

Tossing Flowers, Throwing Eggs

2008-09-08T13:05:00.000-07:00

I have another blog. Or rather, Elizabeth and I have a blog.

It's a movie review site. We watch so many movies, and being film students, we decided to pair up and tell everyone what to think.

We have good links to other top movie review websites, and links to trailers, box office results and things like that, that will constantly be updated.

You can subscribe to us, and check up on us regularly. It's new, and it's still in the startup stage, but I think it should turn out to be a pretty good site.

Read it and enjoy:

emreviews.blogspot.com

A tale of a phone, pt. 3

2008-09-06T21:21:00.000-07:00

One week after I got the LG Chocolate 3, and earlier this morning, I was on my way home from the school's monthly Open House. I received a phonecall from Patrick. He said I kept breaking up. He asked me to try to get ahold of someone to keep the school open long enough for him to go there and get something. For the next half hour I tried to make many phonecalls, but my phone continuously dropped the calls, or wouldn't even let me dial out. Then I would see people who would say, "I just tried to call you!" and I would answer that I hadn't received any missed calls. My phone was beginning to upset me.

Finally someone said, "that's not a service problem, that's a phone problem." So I took my new phone back to Best Buy, and they said I could trade it in.

I picked a completely different phone, which was actually $32 cheaper. So I received $32 in cash, and a better phone.

My new phone is the Samsung Alias:

It's pretty nifty because it opens sideways and clamshell as well. It charges normally, it's a proper size, and I still can't use the music feature because of my Mac. But I like it a lot better.

I had another scare, though, when I actually used it. The same thing seemed to be happening at first. Not as bad as before, but I dropped a few calls, and people were still having trouble getting through to me.

But then I heard other people were having trouble with their phones also. Several other dropped calls, and conversations being heard only from one side.

So it's very encouraging to know that it's not just me, and it's probably not my phone. Which means it hopefully is the service. In which case it will pass soon.

I still don't know if there was anything wrong with my first phone after all, but I think I ended up with the better deal. $32 back and a phone I like better.

A tale of a phone, pt. 2

2008-08-31T10:50:00.000-07:00

It's the end of the weekend, and, as promised, I have a new phone to brag about. It was surprisingly inexpensive, (fitting perfectly between the "awesome phones that I could never afford", and the phones that are "cheap in every meaning of the word.")

It's a bit big in the hand, and the mp3 player that I liked the idea of only works with PC computers, not my mac. So that's a near-letdown. But it's pretty and sleek, and it works just fine, so I like it.

It's the LG Chocolate 3. I actually didn't know it was the 3 until I was halfway done with the purchasing process at Best Buy. I thought it was the old new chocolate, which is a "slider" phone, and actually the one I wanted. But I kept my mouth shut, because the one I got is better.

I didn't get insurance on it, because that would have been $500. I passed up their generous offer there.

The chase scene

2008-08-28T11:43:00.000-07:00

Here's this week's film for our directing class. Nathan talked about editing and shooting a chase scene, and told us to go make one.

I was with Adrian and Chris. We shot it in 2 hours, and I edited it for the rest of the day. It could be a lot better, but it was fun, and it accomplished the goal.

Enjoy.

Just my luck: A tale of a phone, pt. 1

2008-08-27T17:59:00.000-07:00

A year ago I had a terrible misfortune, where I sat in the hot tub with my cell phone in my pocket. I remembered it was there more than five minutes after I had been sitting in the hot water. The phone was ruined, and I was able to go to Verizon and replace it. Rather expensive, and very annoying.

The phone served me well. It was impervious to pain, told me what I needed to know, fed me, nurtured me, put me to sleep and woke me up in the mornings. It did have a restless and roving spirit, though, and on multiple occasions slipped out of my pocket, and I had to go look for it.

Last weekend I was at the beach. The phone, tired of being cooped up in my linty pocket, waited until I started to frolic. When I attempted a sort of tumble/cartwheel/handstand, I saw it slip out of my pocket onto the sand.

"Shame on you." I thought to myself. But it was too late. Before I could pick it up, a wave washed over it. Like a flash, I grabbed it, took out the battery, took off the back, dried it, cared for it, loved it... But it was gone. Dead. Deceased. No more. I took it home and buried it and cried. And am now in my period of mourning.

But no college student should be without his phone. So I am taking this opportunity to upgrade to a new and better phone. I don't know yet what I will get, but I have my eye on one or two phones; ones with leather cases that strap to the belt and don't have very free spirits.

Stay tuned. I will let you know the results of my searching at the end of this weekend.

Technology advancements that make me smile

2008-08-20T18:42:00.000-07:00

Seriously, this is really awesome. I love making movies. Stuff like this will really help enhance production quality appearance. It's basically cheating when it's ok to cheat. Nothing better!

Using Photographs to Enhance Videos of a Static Scene from pro on Vimeo.

My political side

2008-08-20T02:07:00.000-07:00

I tend to stay away from politics for the most part. The most important issues don't usually last more than a few years, and they tend to be pretty boring and pointless.

Some of them, however, are not so pointless. So I do my little part to help nudge things in the better direction, so that I'll have potentially less issues to worry about later than if I had done nothing.

Case in point, here in California, the issue of legal homosexual marriages is becoming a bigger and bigger problem. For our directing class, we were assigned the task of making a little video for this or another political issue. Josh Maas directed this, Matt Salisbury acted, and I edited.

Capturing the Wedding

2008-08-18T11:35:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday one of my good friends here at school, Chris Lane, was married. I was the videographer for his wedding. It was the second wedding I filmed, but since I knew him so well, I really enjoyed this one. Besides, I think it was probably the most fun I've had at any one wedding.

I came to the rehearsal, where I practiced setting up, and got a feel for the Church. At the rehearsal dinner, his sister showed me her wedding video so I could see what they like. (The dinner, by the way, was awesome; it was at his house, and they ordered the In'N'Out TRUCK to come. There was an In'N'Out buffet! It was great. And even though I only knew a few people, the whole family atmosphere was addictive, and we all felt like we knew everybody.)

The day of the wedding had a scary start; it turned out I had the wrong tripod. So I braced myself for standing with the camera through the entire day.

Fortunately, we were able to clear up the mix-up in time, and I successfully documented the entire occasion, using 2 1/2 hours of tape.

The wedding was beautiful, the reception was amazing. The toasts were all incredible, funny, moving, deep, and meaningful. I have been to several weddings, but never heard any toasts as good as those ones. And the dancing was loads of fun, the food was superb, and I got some really good footage.

"A great marriage is not when the 'perfect couple' comes together. It is when an imperfect couple learns to enjoy their differences."

~Dave Meurer, "Daze of Our Wives"

Chris and Mercy, in my opinion, are a perfect couple.

IMAX

2008-08-13T14:45:00.001-07:00

I hear a lot of controversy over the topic of IMAX movie screens. When the theater next door installed a brand new IMAX screen, everyone was really excited. But when we went to go see Spiderman 3, I was surprised at how many people came out saying, "What was that? I thought the IMAX screen was some sort of wrap-around thing. This was just... a bigger screen; so disappointing!"

Well that frustrates me because I feel that they are missing out on the experience. They expected the wrong thing, and so were of course disappointed. But they fail to see what a splendid experience they just subjected themselves to!

...Allow me to elaborate.

___________________

Definition of IMAX:

IMAX
noun trademark
a technique of cinematography that produces
an image approximately ten times larger than
that from standard 35 mm film.

___________________

Here is the link to Wikipedia's page on the IMAX.

Basically, IMAX films are shot on a much larger frame, with the resolution increased highly. It is said that the IMAX film strip is so strong, it could pull a pickup!

IMAX is not some 180°, peripheral-viewing dome screen thing like some people think. If you want that, go to your local planetarium.

Actually, there is something called the OMNIMAX, or IMAX Dome, which is very rare, and is only found at museums with scientific focuses. Such domes can be found at only a few places in

the country, such as the St. Louis Science Center, the Science Museum of Minnesota, and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. (OMSI)These screens are projected onto with a highly-distorted image projected through a fisheye lens. This bizarre imagery is not projecting any wider image, but simply stretching the image so it wraps around, and then distorts it, so it doesn't appear stretched.

Below are some images of the OMNIMAX, or IMAX Dome screens.

But do not expect this when your local theater installs a new IMAX screen. What you can expect is a much larger, much clearer image, with much, much better surround sound quality, and in some cases, an enhanced 3D experiance (if the movie was shot in 3D). Some IMAX screens are bigger than others. Ours here is relatively tiny for an IMAX screen, whereas the one in Seattle is massive.

Below are some pictures of what a real IMAX screen looks like.

Some films that are shown on IMAX were not actually shot for it. I saw Star Wars the Clone Wars on IMAX, and at some points the CG characters looked a little... fuzzy.

Batman, The Dark Knight was shot with IMAX cameras; so if you get a chance, see it there.

Here is what the IMAX website says about their screens:
"SEE MORE, HEAR MORE, FEEL MORE — IMAX is the ultimate movie experience. With crystal clear images and wraparound digital surround sound, IMAX lets you feel like you're really there.Almost a billion people around the world have been spellbound by the force and beauty of The IMAX Experience. Technically advanced and visually stunning, The IMAX Experience is the world's most powerful and immersive movie experience."

I recommend checking out this little video on the IMAX website about Batman being shot in IMAX. It's a good little clip. Click HERE to see it.

I still haven't seen it in IMAX.

I am going tonight.

The clown movie

2008-08-13T01:56:00.001-07:00

Here's the one we did last week. It was lots of fun. Enjoy.

This week's videos: Matt Salisbury

2008-08-12T11:31:00.000-07:00

Here is Matt Salisbury's movie for this week's directing class. He had to make a movie about someone getting fired.

I'll be putting mine up soon; we shot in HDV widescreen, so I have to compress it properly so it maintains the aspect ratio. I'll get on that this afternoon.
Oh, and by the way, I used some behind-the-scenes clips from this movie for the montage I edited together for our open house. I put together clips from a bunch of our student films to get prospective film students fired up about what we do here.
Here it is, if you want to watch it. It's just a first draft; the plan is to make a better one later on.

Survival

2008-08-05T13:16:00.000-07:00

This week's video assignment was to create a short scene that takes place in an enclosed space. We chose a shower. Hope you enjoy.

This is really cool.

2008-08-03T15:40:00.001-07:00

Lots of new technology that comes out makes me think how cool stuff will be that comes from it. For example, the PDA was cool, and it led to the iPhone. (Sort of)

Here is something that is almost amazing. It's a really cool step, that could lead to some ridiculously handy technology in the near future:

Check it out HERE.

Fail

2008-08-01T01:17:00.000-07:00

I love FAIL pictures. Here are a few good ones:

Better Together

2008-07-29T00:14:00.000-07:00

This week's assignment for Nathan Scoggin's Directing 1 class was this:
The three of us had to create a short film that was one minute long, one shot only, and it had to be about two people being reunited.
Mollie O'Hare was the director, Andrea Lynch produced, and I did the camera and editing.

Oh, and I would like to point out: That little lens flare there at the color transition; that's completely artificial, I added that flare in post. Yeah, I'm gonna brag about that one.
Amazing performance by the actors, wot? Smooth direction by Mollie, I say. Very good, team. Very good.
Hope you enjoy.

Funny animation

2008-07-28T14:00:00.000-07:00

This is nuts. (And in case you didn't know, "the chosen one" is a reference to the Matrix, where the chosen one is basically the computer destroyer/best fighter ever.)
But I really love how they screwed around with the desktop icons.

Class projects

2008-07-23T16:59:00.000-07:00

Each week in our "Directing 1" class, Nathan Scoggins will be assigning video projects. Last week our class was divided into 3 teams, and we were instructed to create a 30-second short about "boy meets girl", without any dialogue.
Here is our result:

Here is another team's video that I'd like to share:

Air conditioning

2008-07-14T12:17:00.000-07:00

I hate air conditioning. I will use it, of course, if it is too hot and my body needs it to survive. After all fans, iced water, and open windows have failed, and I am losing pounds by the second. Then I will turn on the air conditioning, until the condition of the air is good again. Then I will turn it off. Amen.

Sitting in the common room, the classroom, my bedroom, or in the car, I always find myself looking into an open vent that is breathing what I like to term ''Satan's icy breath''. Seriously, the stuff gives me a sore throat, dries my eyes up until they are like prunes, making them water profusely, and it makes my ears cold. I hate it. I'd rather die from heat stroke. I would get upset at whoever invented it, but I'm pretty sure it is a spawn of hell, so I'll just sprinkle holy water on air conditioners and hope it breaks them.

Classes begin

2008-07-09T19:56:00.001-07:00

The classes have begun!

Already I can tell that this quarter is going to be a roller-coaster; fast, crazy, and fun.

Dominic Iacco is a perfect teacher to help us launch our businesses, with Tom Dunn helping, and Jerry Jackson there as well. We received our syllabuses today, and I am pleased with the way things should turn out. Also, the theology class is going to be a phenomenal crash course of spiritual mortar, and the directing class, the production class, and the negotiating class will supplement the incubator like flying buttresses!

Late nights, groggy mornings and good moods lie ahead. Prepare for countdown.

5.....4.....3.....2.....Zzzzzzz

Back

2008-07-06T15:34:00.000-07:00

Back from a fast summer. Three weeks went by quick, but it was very relaxing, and much needed. It was good to see everyone at home, and experience Seattle just long enough for me to miss it.

Coming back to SD is also good. Hugs all around. Tudi is back after his long absence, and we have a new RD who is from Seattle, so she's probably going to be pretty awesome.

This quarter we (the media major juniors) take 5 classes:

Theology of the Catholic Church

Overview of Deal Making

Market Assessment and Research - Business Launch

Directing 1

Advanced Production

I am also looking forward to continuing work at the school, developing the system for equipment checkouts and editing lab use. Also, we have several film projects lined up and company growth should be something worth looking forward to! Barbecues, movie nights... junior year.

1/2

2008-06-15T15:21:00.000-07:00

I'm halfway done with college. Weird. It goes by so fast.
I'm really looking forward to next quarter, though. It looks like it should be really good stuff. Summer break is only three weeks long, so we'll hit the road where we left off.
I like the short summer break, but I do miss this beauty of Seattle. I absolutely love it here, and I wish I could come visit more often. It's a shame, but I guess it makes it even more of a special occasion.
This break will be very good for me, though. I need to crash on the floor for a while, eat some real food for once, see people shorter than 3 feet who love me and don't skateboard, and to not have to worry about... anything. For three weeks.

The internet at home is worse than ever, so I think I'll just sit back, do some writing and thinking, a little eating and a lot of loving.

Then it's back to the grindstone.

Evans Media

2008-06-05T01:37:00.000-07:00

The company I am starting is still in it's very first stages of thought, but next quarter we begin our business launchpad for school, so hopefully before Christmas it will be pretty dang legitimate.
In the meantime, I created a blog page for the company, on which the core team members will post at their will.
Add it to your favorites, check it whenever, and if advertisements start appearing on it, feel free to click on them... ;)
Here it is: http://evansmediacompany.blogspot.com

Chuck Norris saves the day.

2008-06-01T01:18:00.000-07:00

Tonight we filmed more of Unto Dust. Yes, it is taking absolutely forever, but such is the result of trying to shoot a complex half-hour film with a large cast of main characters who all have different and conflicting school and work schedules.
Tonight we had a rather large filming sequence, which took longer than expected, and was rather monotonous. People were starting to become drowsy and fidgety, when Elizabeth pulled up some great Chuck Norris jokes, and put everyone in a good mood again. And in case you didn't know, Chuck Norris is an action hero who beats people up and is invincible. Here is a list of some of the things Chuck Norris cannot do: . That is all. Everything else he can do.
Allow me to share with you some of my favorite C.N. jokes:
-Chuck Norris once shot a German plane down with his finger, by yelling, "Bang!"
-Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.
-What was going through the minds of Chuck Norris' victims before they died? His shoe.
-Chuck Norris CAN believe it's not butter.
-Chuck Norris is the reason why Waldo is hiding.
-If at first you don't succeed, you're not Chuck Norris.
-A man once asked Chuck Norris if his real name was Charles. Chuck Norris did not respond. He simply stared at him until he exploded.
-Chuck Norris does not cheat death. He wins fair and square.
-Once a cobra bit Chuck Norris' leg. After five days of excruciating pain, the cobra died.
-Chuck Norris can delete the recycling bin.
-When Chuck Norris donates blood, he passes on the syringe, and asks for a bucket and a hand gun.
-Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are the names for his left and right legs.
-Chuck Norris once drank an entire bottle of sleeping pills. They made him blink.
-Chuck Norris doesn't believe in Germany.
-Once Chuck Norris roundhouse kicked a horse. Now it is a giraffe.
-Chuck Norris has already been to Mars. That's why there are no signs of life there.
-Chuck Norris is not funny. Stop laughing.

I love to edit.

2008-05-24T00:59:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday three of us went to the Pink Lagoon, a fashion boutique in Solana Beach for this stylers event. It was our job to document it for a short promotional video to be put on stylexplorers.com. Brian Hawkins, our marketing professor runs the website, and hired us to do the job. He was so excited when we showed him this finished product earlier today; he almost cried, he said it looked so professional.

I filmed it and edited it, Steve Marshell produced and organized it, and Cherisse Alvarado conducted the interviews.

Enjoy:

The 2008 Giuseppe Awards

2008-05-03T23:14:00.000-07:00

Last night marked the first annual Giuseppe Awards at John Paul the Great Catholic University. There were five films submitted. Each team had been given a logline and 3 weeks to complete their film. The first week was given to pre-production and writing, the second week was for shooting, and the third for editing.
The films were:
An Axe to Grind - "A man wakes up in the woods with an axe". (Made entirely by business freshmen. The only film that was completely on schedule.)
Friendship on the Rocks - "A love triangle" + "An epic duel".
High Blues - "A guitar player signs a contract to become a public musician.
But after trying many genres, he returns to the only form of music he loves." (Mostly a series of small music videos. One 'emo' part made it slightly awkward to show...)
Good Intentions - "A serial killer on the loose shows up in someone's home..." (only one scene was turned in on time, which was a shame, because the complete film turned out to be great. Unfortunately, only the one scene was judged.)
Scullery - "A burrito must uncover the organized crime of the kitchen..." (not one we were very enthused about seeing, wondering if it would jeopardize the school's reputation)

There were 5 judges: Dr. Connolly, the president of the school, teacher of business, and possibly the most critical eye on the planet; Professor Barber, theologian and academic, knowledgeable in every moral aspect; Professor Hawkins, Marketing professional and advertising guru; Tom Dunn, professor of production essentials, worked with Entertainment Tonight, now teaches students how to make movies and put them on screen; and Chris Riley, professional screenwriter, director of Act One, former Screenplay Proofreader for Warner Brothers Studios, currently working for Paramount.

The judges each filled out the paperwork Steve Marshall and I gave them, and Steve calculated the scores. We worked hard on last night, and I believe it was a great success.

The winners were:
Best Actor: Brian Olson in High Blues
Tudi's Choice: Friendship on the Rocks
Best Writing: Jason Robles for Scullery
Best Director: Michael Rossi for Scullery
Best Editing: Juan Pablo Ramirez for Scullery
Runner-up: Good Intentions
Best Picture: Scullery

I presented the best picture award. Here was the speech I gave:
"Being a judge is not as easy as it sounds. I'm no judge, but I realize that much power is given to opinions, prejudice is set aside, the judge's eye becomes that of a critic. Every film is compared to the other, and by circling a four one a piece of paper, and a three on another, each judge plays his part in dashing people's hopes, or helping build people's careers.
Today is the first of an annual award that we hope may become a renowned college film festival. Years from now, the students may be able to look back and tell their future employers, 'I was the first to ever win the famous JP Catholic Giuseppe Award.'
With this in mind, it is my great honor to present to you the very first winner.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the award for Best Picture goes to......."

Here is Scullery. The film that practically swept the first Giuseppe Awards:
Part 1

Part 2

toys you don't play with

2008-05-02T01:37:00.000-07:00

We started shooting our film we are making for our production simulation class yesterday. It was slightly chaotic, but we got everything done we had scheduled.
We brought in two professional actors who were willing to volunteer for the roles of our main characters. It was my first experience directing actors whom I did not previously know. It went quite well; it is very nice to ot have to teach someone to act while directing.

What is also very nice is the new equipment our school obtained; a sound mixer and a field monitor.
The sound mixer has a lot of dials and flashing lights on it, and I don't know how to use it. It scares me. But the field monitor is a luxury for any director. I can now sit in the other room with a pair of headphones and the hi-def little 7-inch screen, watching what the camera sees on the set. This makes it easier for me to actually see what is going on, without trying to peek over the DP's shoulder. (It proved extremely useful while we were filming in a bathroom.)

Picture of the moment.

2008-05-01T02:49:00.000-07:00

Saw it. Loved it. Shared it.
Credit to Anne Geddes.

Filming again

2008-04-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

Today we did some more filming. The weather was quite chilly, and the wind decided to abuse us. As a result, the wind screen over the boom mic. was almost useless. We'll have to do some dubbing...
We were scheduled to shoot until 5pm, but we were able to finish before 2. Again, it was great to learn how to work together as a team.
Some interesting production adventures involved the use of a cigarette, as well as using a truck as a dolly. I wanted one actress's character to be gothic and smoking, but she had
never smoked a cigarette in her life...
So we taught her how to fake it. She was suddenly the center of attention as she laughed and practiced, and talked about how gross it tasted. (I didn't force her to do it, but she was quite willing.)
We put the camera in the back of the truck, and left the engine off for the noise. Two guys pushed the truck while the actors walked behind, performing. At one point, I was pushing, and trying to control the camera at the same time. It didn't work too well; the truck rolled over my foot. (No, it didn't just nick my shoe, the truck tire rolled over my foot.) But it didn't hurt, so I ignored it, and finished the shot.
From what I could tell, the footage is stuff to be proud of. But I guess I won't really know until I edit it. The only thing I'm worried about is the sound. I'm afraid it's going to sound painfully amateurish. I really need a good mixing team.

How to make rain:

2008-04-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we continued shooting Unto Dust. It was definitely one of the bigger set experiences of my career so far. (Not the biggest, but up there.) It is awesome to see everyone on set knowing what to do, and doing their respective roles.
It was the biggest shoot where I had someone else doing the camera work. It was really nice to be able to show him a storyboard or say, "give me a good establishing shot, and close in to a medium tight O/S angle on him." -and it happens. I am left with plenty of time to direct the
actors. The camera and lights are handled by others. All I say is, "Okay, guys, give me some moonlight in here. Make it creepy." And it happens. I can really see everyone applying what we learn in class.
And my assistant director is a great addition. I've always had to keep track of the time, and make sure I move on to the next shot before I run out of time. But one of the jobs of the Assistant Director is to keep me on schedule, so I don't ever have to look at the clock.
I tell you, it keeps my creative juices flowing. Directing without an A.D. is like shaving without shaving cream; it's not impossible, but it makes things a lot rougher.

We shot in two parts: we filmed an outdoor sequence, where someone gets a creepy phone call just as it begins to rain, and part of an indoor scene.
The rain was something tricky. Fortunately, we have creative people here, and conveniently our location was under the window of one of the girl's dorm rooms.
Two of the ladies held their screen out over the set, and placed a towel over it. They then dumped water over the screen, and it filtered across the towel, dripping out over the actors like sheets of rain.
We had to experiment with it, though. The first time, the actor was drenched in a sudden wave of water from above. Then it was raining on the right side of the screen, but not anywhere else.
Eventually, though, we conquered the problem, and after another 5 hours of filming, ended up with a highly satisfying night.

Here I am

2008-04-16T15:40:00.000-07:00

Hey, look, it's me.

Not that this makes anything very official, but I guess it does "get my name out there" a little further.

Believe!

2008-04-15T01:34:00.000-07:00

This song has become a legend in our brains, thanks to the editing class here.
Last quarter, this song was the music we used to practice editing Sea World training videos of orcas. We used Final Cut Pro, and each heard this song over and over, pieces of it, backwards and forwards.
It got to the point where if someone forgot to have their headphones plugged in, and accidentally let a snippet of the song burst from their speakers in class, professor Dunn would pop his head up and say, "Hey! Who's Believing?"
Hear the song. Hate it.

Candid Camera

2008-04-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

When the people are fully aware that the camera is there... but are still caught off guard: (Warning: may cause your sides to hurt)

Inferno

2008-04-12T16:54:00.000-07:00

In class we've been discussing Dante's Inferno, and it is amazing to me how many subtle things lie in the words of the great poet. Connections, interesting facts, morals, hints etc. riddle the work.
It makes me wonder, though; how long did it take him to write it. Did he do a first draft, and re-write it numerous times? Did he go through it paragraph by paragraph, linking them all together in a painstaking process? Hid he have to ponder his options for a while about character development and choices? When he chose Virgil, of all people, to be his guide, just how random was it, and how many other people did he discard before deciding upon him?
When he wrote Lust as the 2nd circle of hell, was he deliberately pointing out that it may not be as serious a sin as most others, but it is much easier to fall into?
When he wrote the punishments for each sin, were they carefully thought out and structured, or was it partially coincidence that the punishments only sometimes or only vaguely resembled the crime?

Sometimes I wonder if we are drawing more meaning from it than the author ever intended. Is it possible that we can pull more symbolism from things than there actually is?
I once wrote a 6 page paper on my short film Instant Action. I was able to fill 6 pages with concrete symbolism, structure and meaning that I never thought of when I made the film.
Is that a bad thing, that we are able to do this, or is it a gift of a sort?

And yes, reading the Inferno makes me want to consider it as a film idea...

Song of the moment

2008-04-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

Here is the song to have stuck in your head right now:

Welcome, Holy Father

2008-04-02T18:49:00.000-07:00

Last week Prof. Tom Dunn informed myself and producer Steve Marshall of a video project the diocese of San Diego asked us to work on.

Pope Benedict is coming to Washington D.C. and New York this month. There will be a large crowd in Yankee stadium, and they need to be entertained before the Holy Father begins. There will be about a 4 hour gap between the opening and the Holy Father's arrival, and the actual ceremony.

So to fill this gap, video clips from the diocese across the country will be playing.

The San Diego diocese contacted our school, and asked if we could put together a 90 second welcoming video. "If you could be there to greet the Holy Father and represent the diocese, what would you say in 90 seconds?"

We had a week to make the film, and it happened to be Easter week. So the three of us sat down, knocked out a script, sent it back to the diocesan center for approval, received approval, and began filming first thing after Easter.

I did all the camera work, and helped with the story development. Originally I was going to do most of the initial editing, but I was swept off to Anaheim in a flurry of last-minute spring-breaking.

Here it is on YouTube:

How awesome is it, by the way, that one of my first film projects, and the first I help with that is shown on a big screen, is made especially for the Holy Father?!

The first of April

2008-04-01T19:09:00.000-07:00

While I was in class this morning I sent a rather convincing message to Elizabeth telling her I had just spoken with the faculty, and my grades were so bad last quarter that I would have to leave the school. I waited a few minutes before sending another text saying April Fools. She got all upset and I was satisfied.

Later, on our break between classes. I was called into the office, sat down in a chair, the door was closed, and I was faced by three members of the school faculty.
"Tim, being an upper classman you need to be more aware of your public behavior."
"We've received many complaints from several students, and we think there might be a problem here."
"We never thought that you, of all people, would have a problem like this, and we realize that people might have different views on what is right or wrong, but you really need to be more aware of your behavior in the common rooms."
I quickly scanned my conscience, and found it to be clean. How could I argue my way out of something I don't even remember doing?
"What exactly were the complaints?" (my spine was trying not to go numb) "I'm pretty sure they're unfounded, because I am careful to set a good example..."
"Really, Tim? Think about it, can you seriously not think of one of any of the instances you need to resolve?"
"..."
"Do you want us to act out what you did wrong?"
"!?"
They couldn't keep straight faces any longer, and told me it was an April fools joke. Elizabeth had come to them while I was in class, and told them to do it. Outside the office was the rest of the faculty, who had been in on it, but had decided they would have been unable to keep a straight face. We all laughed, and I admitted it was well played.

And Michael Barber walked into the freshman class in the middle of class with a special announcement that they had to purchase a $200 book for his class.

...I love our school.

Oh

2008-04-01T14:45:00.000-07:00

Classes have begun once again after the much needed spring break. I find myself in a whirlwind of tasks, plans, difficulties etc. The classes this quarter look promising, and the filmmaking is revving its engine.
So rather than go into great detail on anything else, I am going to leave you with a desktop wallpaper from a photo I took. Enjoy it, gaze at it, and wait for my next splurge of thought.

Bonus Quote:

"Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself. That is why some people with mediocre talent, but with great inner drive, go much further than people with vastly superior talent." ~Sophia Loren

I OBJECT!!!

2008-03-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was my last chance to go get a Shamrock Shake from McDonalds.
The Shamrock Shake is one of the greatest things on the menus of earth. Thick, light minty flavor in a beautiful green color for a wonderfully low price. It reminds one of the thrills of commercialized irish festivities, leprechauns, etc.

When Elizabeth told me that it was the last day, we realized our obligation and our duties as humans to go to the nearest McDonalds.
When we got there, we stepped eagerly up to the counter, and happily ordered the blessed dessert.

And were tragically informed that they were no longer selling them.

"Oh... when did you stop?"
"Two years ago."

Despair, ruin and devastation! (I'm slightly skeptical, because for one thing, there was no trace on any of their menus that they even had shakes at all, and the big billboard on Mira Mesa Blvd. that reminded me so happily of the elusive drink upholds my suspicions as to whether the evil little woman behind that counter should keep her job or her life.)

I have made my own shamrock shake before, but it tasted far too healthy and organic, and did not nearly do justice to the actual.

I have not actually researched this yet to see if it is true. Once I can see clearly through my tears, I should...

"The Happiest Place on Earth"

2008-03-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

That's what they call it. Disneyland.

"Here you leave today, and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy."

Day trip up to Disneyland with some classmates last Saturday. We all had a great time. We went on all the good stuff, some of the other good stuff, and saw everything else.

We had a good seat for Fantasmic, the light show over the water, and made it in time for the ever-impressive firework display over the castle. We had a curbside seat for the afternoon parade, enjoyed the foods of the park's nice restaurants, and got our silhouettes cut.

It was well-timed, and well-enjoyed, right before finals week, which is next week, giving us a good little vacation day to enjoy ourselves.

the heat of the moment

2008-03-03T14:57:00.001-08:00

My surroundings right now are full.
I have a to-do list so intense right now that I hardly have time to observe anything.

By the end of the day I have to:
Read the assigned chapter from our text and outline it, and come to class prepared to present on the chapter.
Read the Holy Father's new encyclical "Spe Salve" for discussion in class.
Catch up on my assigned screenplay pages to hand in tomorrow. (I have to write 20 pages by tomorrow.)
Capture the footage we shot last night.
By the end of the week I also have to shoot another scene and work on editing. I have to prepare the DVD packets for the Giuseppe Awards to give to the contest judges. I have to mail in my tax return form after I hunt down an address and envelope. I have to write an article for our university newsletter. I have to shoot a short for a contest I want to enter. I have to kill a bunny. I have to go buy groceries very soon. I have to keep caught up on homework. I have to finish this blog post very soon. I have to plan future shootings and screenings. I have to update inventory for our media lab. I have to watch Inside Man so I can return it to Blockbuster.
...the list goes on.
Keep me in your prayers so I don't die. Because if I die then I won't be able to update this page, and you will wallow in the void of the internet without anything interesting to go look at.
Good luck.

Me Being Stupid.

2008-02-28T13:37:00.001-08:00

So last Sunday I went to Mass, as I do every Sunday. For lent I have been going daily, and I wear the clothes I wear to school. But on Sundays I like to let vanity take over a little, and get a little extra dressy. Not too much, just a little extra.

I arranged a ride to the morning Mass with Jessica and Elizabeth. It was raining outside. It has been raining a lot recently, contrary to stereotypical So-Cal.
"You can sit in the front, Tim."
"Are you sure? It's fine, there's leg room, I can sit in the back if you want to sit up front."
"No, it's ok."
"Why are you giggling? Should I take this as a warning or something? Maybe I'd rather not sit in the front."
"No, really, it's okay, sit in the front."
...
"I told Tim he could sit in the front."
"You did? okay. ......OH!! oooohhh... okay. Did you tell him?"
"No. heehee."

This part of my life is called being stupid. But I am afraid of nothing! If the seat is broken, I can ignore it. If it has zero leg room I can deal with it. If it is extra jittery, I can enjoy it.
So I make myself ignore the suspicious behavior of the ladies, and climb cool-ly into the front seat. At first the seat belt wouldn't buckle, and it crossed my mind that that might be their little secret. But when I succeeded in buckling it and they showed no reaction, my fears began to subside and I relaxed. I stared absent-mindedly at the empty Gatorade bottle in front of me.

Jessica started her car, released the brake, and shifted into reverse.
For a split second I thought Elizabeth was trickling water down the back of my shirt. (I was looking at the bottle, so it was a natural thought). But a moment later I decided that "trickling" was an understatement. She was "pouring" water down the back of my shirt. But I was able to tilt my head slightly and use my peripheral vision to see that in fact Elizabeth was NOT pouring anything down the back of my shirt. She was rolled up in her seat, out of breath with laughter. Jessica was red in the face and pounding her steering wheel.

The water continued. to dump out of the skylight above me in a steady gush. There was no way that that much water could have fit into a single bottle. Has anyone ever dumped water from a large bucket down the back of your shirt? I believe I felt like I just led my team to winning the Superbowl, but without the happy vibes that come from being drenched in liquid. (the only difference was that all the gallons of water were mysteriously being funneled down the back of my neck, down my spine, and into my... seat.

They kept laughing at me.

I did not tense up. My eyes did not bug out at the cold. I hardly reacted externally, but internally I was screaling.

I enjoyed the joke because it was the sort of thing I would have done. I don't know if rain water trapped in the car ceiling is clean or not, but I think if it had happened after Mass I would have enjoyed it a little more. But it was in good taste and directed toward me for a change, so it's all good.

Whoo! Wow. Good stuff.

It really does happen.

2008-02-27T02:41:00.000-08:00

It's not just groundhogs. She's really afraid of her shadow... should I feel mean watching this?

Hey There!

2008-02-26T12:38:00.000-08:00

This kid is something else. He doesn't understand a word of the English language, but he simply annunciates the sounds and tones he hears. He's better at this than I am! He was put on Japanese tv, hyped up and commercialized because of this little video:

80th

2008-02-25T02:02:00.000-08:00

We watched the Oscars on the tv in the common room last night. The 80th annual Academy Awards. The biggest event in Hollywood. This year it was hosted by Jon Stewart. There weren't too many upsets this year...Click HERE to see the list of winners.

I think my favorite part of the oscar ceremonies are the little reminiscent montages they screen, giving us little flashbacks to the golden eras of Hollywood. That is what really gets me fired up about the business.

Action!

2008-02-21T11:35:00.000-08:00

Unto Dust has finally moved from the pre-production phase to the filming stage.
The other day we filmed the opening credit shots in our garage.
This production has been in the works long enough where you should now say, "oh my goodness, that is SO exciting!"

Balance

2008-02-20T12:06:00.000-08:00

I received this email from an old friend/fellow Washingtonian. I thought it rather clever. Hope you appreciate:

God was missing for six days. Eventually, Michael, the
> archangel, found him, resting on the seventh day.
>
> He inquired, "Where have you been?"
>
> God smiled deeply and proudly pointed downwards
> through the clouds, "Look, Michael. Look what I've made."
>
> Archangel Michael looked puzzled, and said, "What is
> it?"
>
> "It's a planet," replied God, "and I've put Life on it. I'm going to
> call it Earth and it's going to be a place to test Balance."
>
> "Balance?" inquired Michael, "I'm still confused."
>
> God explained, pointing to different parts of earth. "For example,
> northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth,
> while southern Europe is going to be poor. Over here I've placed a
> continent of white people, and over there is a continent of black
> people. Balance in all things."
>
> God continue d pointing to different countries. "This one will be
> extremely hot, while this one will be very cold and covered in ice."
>
> The Archangel , impressed by God's work, then pointed to a land
> area and said, "What's that one?"
>
> "That's Washington State , the most glorious place on earth. There are
> beautiful mountains, rivers and streams, lakes, forests, hills, and
> plains. The people from Washington State are going to be handsome,
> modest, intelligent, and humorous, and they are going to travel the
> world. They will be extremely sociable, hardworking, high achieving,
> and they will be known throughout the world as diplomats, carriers of
> peace, and producers of software."
>
> Michael gasped in wonder and admiration, but then asked, "But what
> about balance, God? You said there would be balance."
>
> God smiled as he said, "There is another Washington . Wait till you
> see the idiots I put there.....

Animal screen tests?

2008-02-15T14:05:00.000-08:00

These two video clips are amazing. A short clip of an animal just being an animal, add music, and it is hilarious:

The next Star Wars movie

2008-02-12T20:03:00.000-08:00

George Lucas just announced:

There will be another Star Wars movie. It is being released in August.

It is animated.

It is a feature length pilot for the animated Star Wars spinoff TV series The Clone Wars.

HERE is the link to the news story.

Any thoughts?

...haha. Charlie.

2008-02-11T21:12:00.000-08:00

Charlie bit me...

...and it really hurt!

I love this video.

A slip of the mouse

2008-02-09T13:13:00.000-08:00

For our Marketing class our professor, Brian Hawkins, assigned us to email him a small report on what we thought will be the next big trend.

I sent the email.

A couple days later, I get an email from my friend, Brian Harkins, telling me that overall it looks pretty good other than a couple of typos and the fact that it probably wasn't meant for him...

I immediately sent the email to my professor with an explanation.

Dang. Laugh at myself. Stupid.

Call me a monkey's uncle and I'll think about it

2008-02-01T12:07:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday in our theology class, Professor Barber was sick, and did not come to class. so we found ourselves sitting around a conference table with no professor.

We began to talk about the reading. Then we began debating on little side tangents. Soon we were disputing topics of civil rights and Church teachings, namely the death penalty.

I'm pretty sure I learned more from that class than I would have learned from a lecture. It was amazing.

One topic we discussed was this: what makes us different than animals?

"Well", one answers easily, "Animals do not have the ability to reason. We do. Therefore we have souls, and are greater than animals.".

But what about humans who do not have the gift of reason, due to some brain disorder or something?

Are they not people? They have as much intellect, if not less, than monkeys. But what is it that makes us decide that a person is a person? Obviously it is not the ability to reason, and obviously it is not just appearance.

We didn't really come up with one straightforward answer, but talked about it in various aspects and arguments. To my mind, though, I believe that even brainless humans still have souls, which makes them people. Do one-celled humans, at the moment of conception, when no reasoning is possible, have souls? I believe they do. I don't know how the government officially decided that a human becomes a person once it is completely born. (You can still abort the baby if it is halfway born? Does it not have a soul if it's only halfway out? Does its free will become fully downloaded only after it is all born?)

By the way, this has nothing to do with evolution. I might talk about that some other time. (But for the moment I'll just say I don't necessarily think it's false. The Church has not condemned the idea, and it could fit in with Biblical history, but my opinion remains set in *wet* concrete.)

42

2008-01-28T00:18:00.000-08:00

We were discussing various things in class that set my little mind in extracurricular motion, producing fruits that are sweet to my taste, but I'm not sure how beneficial they actually are. Maybe they will be beneficial for someone else.

In this life, can anything be really certain? Apparently not. Don't forget the possibility that we are simply in some sort of matrix, or are some high tech computer program, and everything we think, the decisions we make, the God we may believe in, the senses we have... are all programs designed by scientists in some other dimension or something.

...We cannot prove a lot; we can only come up with some very convincing arguments. For example, one of my favorite "proofs" of the existence of God, I think it is called the ontological argument, points out that if we observe the beauty, perfectness and splendid detail around us, we see that it is impossible for any of this to be "chance". God must exist, right?

Not necessarily. Although I'm convinced, I see this is hardly a *proof*. It might disprove the Big Bang or something random like that, but it certainly doesn't disprove any computer program we might actually be.

In Michael Barber's class this quarter, he pointed out that to believe in most things we simply have to have faith. Faith is when we simply accept authority to be true. Some things we simply need to believe in, even if they cannot be explained logically.

I was thinking about this. Is there, honestly, anything we can really be certain of without divine revelation? I believe that I am thinking right now, but only because, through divine revelation and Church teachings, I believe I am not a computer chip.

But what can people believe in without divine revelation?

I believe the answer is Absolute Truth. It is only logical that we believe in truth, whether we believe in anything else or not.

Here is my reasoning: if someone said that truth does not exist, they were stating a truth. Except that that truth would then be proven wrong by the fact that the truth that they just stated does exist. Therefore, it cannot logically be denied that absolute truth exists.

To expand upon this thought, we can also be certain that since truth exists, then false must also exist. Since truth has to exist, then the statement that truth does not exist is a false statement. Therefore falsehood exists. Truth is what is right, and the opposite is wrong.

Now we can see that right and wrong exist. And to follow through with that thought, I realize that "the difference between right and wrong" is the definition of morality. When we choose right or wrong, we are making moral decisions.

Two points come from the realization of morality: the first is that morals are laws. Laws are created. Even if all the molecules and galaxies flew together by chance, and fish evolved into monkeys who typed all of Shakespeare, we still proved that moral laws exist. And laws are not some natural code can evolve out of molecules or fly together by chance. Laws are created. Therefore, there must be a creator of the laws, if of nothing else. So we see that there must be a creator of morality.

The second point is that since morality exists, we have the ability to choose between right and wrong. We can see, however, that animals follow instinct. They do not choose to evolve. They do not choose to type out Shakespeare. They simply do it reflexively; accidentally. When a lion kills a gazelle, it does not do something wrong. When a bear kills a bear, it does not do anything wrong. When a black widow spider kills her mate, she does not do anything wrong. But when a human murders a human, nobody who can follow logical thought would deny that it is wrong. And nobody denies that people have the ability to reason and choose between right and wrong. (And I don't mean they have a "different definition of morality", I mean if they know it is wrong, but choose it anyways.)

So we see that humans can make free choices on a basic level. This ability has been named by a bunch of smart guys. They called it "free will". Humans have free will. A bunch of other smart guys realized (through a long process) that the ability to make choices that animals cannot must be empowered by something we have that they do not have. It is called a soul. But the soul is not something you can touch; it has no form. So it is a spirit. It follows, then, that spirits must exist.

We realized earlier that something created morality. We also know now that it is the spirit of our souls where we are able to choose to follow the truths set by morality. Let us put that thought on hold for a moment while I realize something else:

It cannot be denied that our bodies die. Everyone will die sooner or later. But let us contemplate for a moment on spirits. If our soul has no physical form, then it cannot die. Ever. It is not physically possible for a soul to grow old and die out because it has no cells. It cannot break or become sick.

But our bodies can. So what happens to our souls after we die? Obviously it is not our bodies keeping our souls alive, but more likely the other way around in a way (to a degree).

Again, a bunch of smart guys thought about this and realized the obvious: there must, logically, be what a whole bunch of everybody refers to as "an afterlife". So now we see that there can't NOT be an afterlife. It's just not possible.

Now that we have this realization, let us come back to our previous thought: there is truth, so there is morality. There is morality, so there is a creator of it. Oh yeah, and there are spirits and an afterlife.

Well, wouldn't it logically follow that this creator of the morality that we follow by our souls be a spirit itself? If it were not a spirit, or something greater than a spirit, it would not be scientifically possible for it to create morality. The logical conclusion, therefore, is that something probably greater than a spirit created morality.

But why? Why would something choose to create morality?

Obviously, morality must have existed as long as mankind has been breathing. So whatever morality was created for, it was for us. To choose right or wrong.

Now the logical conclusion is that it was created out of love; why else? And we have all heard the statement "God is Love".

Therefore, it can hardly be denied that this super-spirit being we call God created morality, and so created humans and their souls, for one purpose: to choose the right decisions and be rewarded after our bodies die. (For it naturally follows that in the "afterlife" we will be rewarded by God for the moral choices we make on earth, right? Makes sense.

Taking a step back and looking at the big picture I realize that it is that obvious that God exists. There is no dispute in my mind.

Now I am going to make a point by establishing a couple other points first:

First of all, the accuracy of the Bible has been questioned. I won't go too deeply into proving the factuality of the Bible, because that takes up space and time. Suffice it to say that if we take a good look at history we find so many proofs that the Bible is historically accurate. True, there may be some apparent contradictions, but these can be explained or understood through processes I won't bother going into right now. All extra page space saved, the ultimate point stands; the Bible is historically accurate.

The second point is a slight stretch that is a bit deep, but it can be seen that when we acknowledge the existence of God, and couple it with the accuracy of scripture, we can draw a series of conclusions that eventually lead us to.... tradition. Tradition is what has passed the Bible and the things we believe in down through the ages. Tradition is where the things we believe that are not in the Bible come from.

I am going to speed through these next few points to conclude. I hope you can follow. If we believe in tradition, we believe in the Bible; they go hand in hand. If we believe in God and in tradition, then we must believe in the Catholic Church.

If we believe in God, the eternal life of the soul, and the Church, then we must believe that there is heaven and hell. This belief is pronounced in tradition.

If we believe in heaven and hell, and that they are eternal (which they must be, if they contain souls) then we believe that the purpose of our life here on earth in these bodies, created out of love by God, is to get to heaven.

The purpose of life is to get to heaven.

The children's Baltimore Catechism says that we are to "know, love and serve God better in this life and in the next."

That's good enough for me.

That was so my idea.

2008-01-23T11:45:00.000-08:00

For our marketing class we had to think of things that might be good business ideas based on market pain.
I thought it would be a great idea to have a website similar to iTunes, but for rentals, rather than purchases.

The day of class, after I was feeling all proud of myself for thinking of this brilliant idea, iTunes announced that they are now renting movies.
Darn. I guess I'll pretend to be interested in shoes or something.

But actually, this is a cool idea, and I'm glad iTunes is doing it. It is just as expensive, if not cheaper, than renting from the video store. But now you don't have to walk to the store. True, you can only watch it on your computer unless you have a TV adapter, but still...
It solves a lot of my problems, like laziness and brokeness.

Oscar Nominations announced!

2008-01-22T11:46:00.000-08:00

Here are the nominations for the 80th annual Oscar Awards. We discussed these films and compared them to the topics in our text book in one of our classes. Great stuff.

1. Best Picture: "Atonement," "Juno," " Michael Clayton," "No Country for Old Men," "There Will Be Blood."

2. Actor: George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"; Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"; Johnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street"; Tommy Lee Jones, "In the Valley of Elah"; Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises."

3. Actress: Cate Blanchett, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"; Julie Christie, "Away From Her"; Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose"; Laura Linney, "The Savages"; Ellen Page, "Juno."

4. Supporting Actor: Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"; Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"; Hal Holbrook, "Into the Wild"; Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Charlie Wilson's War"; Tom Wilkinson, "Michael Clayton."

5. Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"; Ruby Dee, "American Gangster"; Saoirse Ronan, "Atonement" ; Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"; Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton. "

6. Director: Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" ; Jason Reitman, "Juno"; Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"; Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood."

7. Foreign Film: "Beaufort," Israel; "The Counterfeiters," Austria; "Katyn," Poland; "Mongol," Kazakhstan; "12," Russia.

8. Adapted Screenplay: Christopher Hampton, "Atonement"; Sarah Polley, "Away from Her"; Ronald Harwood, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"; Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"; Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood."

9. Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody, "Juno"; Nancy Oliver, " Lars and the Real Girl"; Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"; Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava and Jim Capobianco, "Ratatouille"; Tamara Jenkins, "The Savages."

10. Animated Feature Film: "Persepolis"; "Ratatouille" ; "Surf's Up."

11. Art Direction: "American Gangster," "Atonement," "The Golden Compass," "Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street," "There Will Be Blood."

12. Cinematography: "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," "Atonement," "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," "No Country for Old Men," "There Will Be Blood."

13. Sound Mixing: "The Bourne Ultimatum," "No Country for Old Men," "Ratatouille," "3:10 to Yuma," " Transformers."

14. Sound Editing: "The Bourne Ultimatum," "No Country for Old Men," "Ratatouille," "There Will Be Blood," "Transformers."

15. Original Score: "Atonement," Dario Marianelli; " The Kite Runner," Alberto Iglesias; "Michael Clayton," James Newton Howard; "Ratatouille," Michael Giacchino; "3:10 to Yuma," Marco Beltrami.

16. Original Song: "Falling Slowly" from "Once," Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova; "Happy Working Song" from " Enchanted," Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz; "Raise It Up" from "August Rush," Nominees to be determined; "So Close" from "Enchanted," Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz; "That's How You Know" from "Enchanted," Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz.

17. Costume: "Across the Universe," "Atonement," " Elizabeth: The Golden Age," "La Vie en Rose," "Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street."

18. Documentary Feature: "No End in Sight," "Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience," "Sicko," " Taxi to the Dark Side," "War/Dance."

19. Documentary (short subject): "Freeheld," "La Corona (The Crown)," "Salim Baba," "Sari's Mother."

20. Film Editing: "The Bourne Ultimatum," "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," "Into the Wild," "No Country for Old Men," "There Will Be Blood."

21. Makeup: "La Vie en Rose," "Norbit," " Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End."

22. Animated Short Film: "I Met the Walrus," "Madame Tutli-Putli," "Meme Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)," "My Love (Moya Lyubov)," "Peter & the Wolf."

23. Live Action Short Film: "At Night," "Il Supplente (The Substitute)," "Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)," "Tanghi Argentini," "The Tonto Woman."

24. Visual Effects: "The Golden Compass," "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," "Transformers."

I love this video clip from the 1954 Oscars. Bob Hope is the host, and he exchanges a word with Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Bing Crosby, and Brando. This was the golden age of Hollywood:

Desktop Wallpaper of the Week

2008-01-14T03:03:00.001-08:00

I took this photo the other day when we went down to the beach:...I thought it would make a good desktop wallpaper.

Bonus Quote:
"All sects are different, because they come from men; morality is everywhere the same, because it comes from God." ~Voltaire

Baby and the Tramp

2008-01-13T00:44:00.000-08:00

Here is the long-overdue YouTube video of the film we made back in October for the Apple Film Contest. It's a bit dark, and worse than I remembered, but if you recall the story behind it, it's pretty good:

Out of the pit stop and back on the road

2008-01-08T00:50:00.000-08:00

School has begun again. And again I am finding myself in a flurry of tight schedules.
Old Navy has been particularly bad at remembering my holiday schedule. Two weeks before I left for Christmas I handed them a clearly typed sheet of paper explaining the dates I would be gone for Christmas, the contact information of the Old Navy in Seattle, and the date I would be back.
But the San Diego Old Navy scheduled me to work after I had told them I would be gone, and got mad at me when I called them and said I couldn't come in. The Seattle Old Navy thought I was leaving a week before I actually was, and the San Diego Old Navy thought I was coming back a week after I really was.
As a result, I have now gone two weeks without even being able to work. That means one full no-paycheck. And yes, I am trying now a little harder to get a job at Home Depot.
Such are the joys of college.

Actually, college has suddenly been great. Our class today was very promising. Our professor told us of some internship and paid camera work (such as weddings) that he has heard about. Those of us interested spoke to him and he will get us further info.
Also, he told us that next quarter he is going to form the media majors into a production team and we will make a film. I am really excited about that.
This quarter is an appropriate follow-up to last quarter's production class. Now we are studying post-production. (And pre-production still in Prof. Riley's class tomorrow). We will be doing several editing projects using FinalCut Pro on the new Apple computers in our brand-spanking-new editing lab. It is still in the process of being installed, so this week I am going to be plenty busy for my work study position as media lab assistant. So far, I am enjoying everything.

Back on the road

2008-01-05T11:57:00.000-08:00

I said goodbye to my family for the next 6 months yesterday. I had this song by Billy Ray Cyrus stuck in my head. He sings it with his daughter Miley (a.k.a. the current Hannah Montana) not long before she became big and famous. It is a song about a father being sad to see his daughter go out into the world.

On the other hand, it is good to be back. I had some long conversations yesterday with people about this quarter, and I'm really looking forward to it. We're planning a lot of movie nights, film contests and We're wrapping up preproduction on a 20 minute short film. Also, I'm trying to arrange a trip to Disneyland at the end of this quarter...

Have a great 2008.

Desktop Wallpaper of the week

2008-01-03T22:22:00.000-08:00

Bonus Quote:

"Just because you are blind, and unable to see my beauty, does not mean it does not exist." ~Margaret Cho

The Moose

2007-12-30T23:56:00.000-08:00

A great skit by Woody Allen. Enjoy.

Keep things in Perspective

2007-12-28T23:46:00.000-08:00

I had a couple of interesting experiences recently that made me think about the value of life or how I value life. Sometimes things happen that make you think, "I'm alive! I'm not in jail or the hospital... annnd yeah; about that."

I used my Best Buy gift card to get a new digital camera today. The PowerShot DV1000.
While the young lady was checking me out, she removed the security device from the camera box, swiped the memory card I was also purchasing, and handed me my receipt. It informed me that I still had almost a full gift card.
"Um... I think you forgot to charge me for the camera."
".......oh"
Yeah. I could have just walked out with a $200 camera and nobody would have noticed. I guess I have a warped perspective on life.

Another little eye opener today was this evening while I was in the car with a buddy and was driving on the interstate. We had missed our exit, and were stuck in traffic. Up ahead we could see billowing smoke over the freeway.
On the right hand side of the lanes, about 100 yards ahead we could see flames. Pretty vicious looking ones, too. As we drew closer we made it out to be an open-bed box truck.
It was one of the most visually impressive things I have seen outside of movies and scenery. Imagine those scenes in movies where the car is a ball of flame and it's really obvious they just smeared a car with gasoline and nitroglycerin and lit it.
This looked like that. No joke. It was a ball of flame.
The exit we needed was right past the fire, so we had to pull a couple lanes to the left to get past it, then cut back across to the exit.
As I was driving past it, I could feel a strong wave of heat blasting at us, even though the windows were all closed and the night was freezing.
Suddenly a man banged on the window of the car. I ignored him and kept driving. In my rear view mirror I saw him waving his arms and silhouetted against the headlights of the cars behind me. He wasn't on fire or anything, and I assumed he was in shock and wanted people to call 911. (There were no emergency vehicles there yet.)
This was one of those little experiences where you stop and think "Oh. Heck. I guess I'm glad that wasn't me."

"Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale
Vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man."
~William Shakespeare

On the second day of Christmas...

2007-12-26T17:51:00.000-08:00

So Christmas day is over, and good times were had all round. We all enjoyed a particularly special menu, gave and received almost to our heart's content, and made ourselves think about the true meaning of Christmas.
Now we launch into the part of Christmas that most people forget about while they rush about using their gift cards and returning the stuff they didn't ask for: the next eleven days of Christmas before epiphany. (Don't leave yet, Baby Jesus! The Three Kings are still traversing afar!)

I was thinking about that song that talks about how her true-love gave her a bunch of stuff on each day of Christmas, and I came to an interesting discovery. On the first day of Christmas, she got a bird in a tree. The next day, she got two doves and another bird in a tree. The day after that, the guy gave her 3 hens, a couple more doves and another bird in a tree. (The place was starting to look like an aviary. I wonder what she thought on the 4th day when she was given 4 calling birds, 3 more hens (making it 6), 2 more doves (also making it 6), and yet another bird in a tree (making it 4). So by only the 4th day, she had a grand total of 20 birds!

So I did the math. By the 12th day of Christmas, she had:

12 partridges in pear trees
22 turtle doves
30 french hens
36 calling birds
40 gold rings!
42 geese-a-laying...
42 swans-a-swimming
40 maids-a-milking
36 drummers drumming
30 pipers piping
22 ladies dancing
12 lords-a-leaping

I wonder if he was still her true-love by the time Epiphany rolled around? If so, then what kind of a woman is she? Something about all those guys in tights bouncing off the walls, 36 kids banging on the drums, or maybe the thought of 184 birds...

Actually, the real meaning and story behind the song is explained here. It's actually pretty interesting, I'd take a look at it if you have time to waste.

Caroling

2007-12-24T15:23:00.000-08:00

Throughout advent there is what we call 'Christmas Spirit'. This feeling of Christmas is propelled by certain things like Christmas music, big crowds of shoppers, all sorts of Christmas decorations and some indescribable love of the atmosphere, origin and meaning of the holiday.
There are, however, a few times in the first weeks of December when this feeling reaches another climactic point; where something happens that spikes the excitement level up a few notches.

This can be anything from Buying Presents or Knowing that Someone is Buying or Wrapping Your Presents, Seeing the Pink Candle Lit on the advent wreath, or Hearing That One Christmas Song you hadn't heard since you were kissed under the mistletoe by the cute little girl when you were in third grade, to Cutting your Tree, Seeing the Christmas Lights on your house light up for the first time, baking food especially for Christmas Day, or caroling.

Last night we went caroling. There was a small potluck, about 30 people, and lots of Christmas music and general excitement before our group of about 20 people and a dog trouped out in the dark with our flashlights and song folders.
House after house was subjected to our spirited attempts at music. We would pick a house that looked promising, choose a song in a disorderly way, and one of the smaller and faster members of our group would scamper up to the doorbell, put it to good use, then vacate the front porch. We would launch into hearty song as the front door opened and another victim received a smattering of Christmas Cheer.
Some houses did not get more than a single verse, because it soon became obvious that it was empty and we were serenading a locked door, which made no sense, so we would shun them in a Christmasy fashion and walk away.
One house contained only a dog at the window, so we sang to him. He enjoyed it and wagged his tail.
One house was dark and evil and I warned my fellow carolers that these people probably hated Christmas. The scrooge who came to the door saw us singing at him, grunted, closed the door and left. So did we.
But most people were happy to see/hear us. One lady brough out cookies, one boy got an excited look on his face as soon as he saw us, ran back inside, and returned with a family of about 10.
When we returned to the house, everyone's noses were red and hands were blue. coats came off, hot cocoa came out, and the music came on.
Eventually things wound down and we went home. All in all it was definitely a good experience.

"The best way to spread Christmas Cheer is singing loud for all to hear." ~Buddy the Elf

Create a Caption

2007-12-23T21:26:00.001-08:00

I found this picture amusing. Any caption ideas, please?

Random note of the day:

2007-12-22T21:30:00.001-08:00

Just a little completely useless point of interest I discovered...
I thought of a sentence in which the emphasis can be put on any one of the words, and the sentance will still make sense:

"I Will Eat My Pizza Outside."

Say it 6 times, stressing the next word each time. (e.g. I will eat my PIZZA outside)

'Tis the season to be jolly...

2007-12-22T03:28:00.001-08:00

Somehow my jollyness is on hold. Not that I'm in a bad mood or anything, but it is tough to get into the Christmas spirit when you work for nine hours, sleep for 7 hours, then work for another nine. Especially when you work at Old Navy. It could just be me, but I think that folding little girl's jeans for 8 hours a day is not my purpose in life. But a paycheck is a paycheck, so...
I worked yesterday from 10-7 (with an hour lunch), came home, ate, slept, and now am about to head back to work from 4:45am-1:45pm. It is 3:30.

I feel like someone inserted a large syringe of anesthetic between my eyebrows, and left it there.
"Happyholidayswouldyoulikeanoldnavycardtogowithyourpurchase?"

That about sums it up!

2007-12-20T12:18:00.000-08:00

Here is a clip from an old video called "Why Man Creates".
I like to step back and see history in this sort of general light, with all the highlights leading from one important event to the next, almost visually seeing the development of society:

Now imagine a video like this about the history of the Church or as the story of the Bible. Then take that film and this film and fuse them together flawlessly. That is a video I want to see created.

I might even make it at some point, but not yet. I'm too busy and Dinner's almost ready.

I was told this happened to me when I was about 3:

2007-12-18T23:59:00.000-08:00

We lived in a small house in Ballard. 2 bedrooms and bathrooms, but enough room for our family of 4 at the time.
My grandparents were visiting. Even for a three year old, a visit from the grandparents meant a good time. The food was usually better than normal, and you were allowed to do things you weren't normally allowed. It was on one such happy occasion that my grandfather was playing an innocent game of hide-and-seek with me.
In our master bedroom we had a largish walk-in closet. As a child, these closets are the ultimate place of secrecy and mystery where adults never even THINK of looking. The rows of hanging clothing provide the perfect shield against all eyes. As I melted into the protective fortress of the soft coats and darkness, the old feeling of excitement rose within me and my little heart beat faster than normal. I experienced an ego boost, fueled by my own success and victory. I could stay in here all my life chuckling away at my cleverness.
The time dragged on. My grandfather was not altogether familiar with our house, and decided that the closet in the master bedroom was probably the last place a child should hide.

By the time m grandfather had examined the entire rest of the house, and was beginning to consider the possibility of the master bedroom, my nerves had reached an extreme pint of high-tension. I think I actually grew my first gray hair just in my pint-sized stress in the excitement of the game.

Whoever designed this house must have been a genius. Unfortunately, their genius lapsed momentarily when they designed the fire alarm system. It just so happened that the fire alarm for the house... actually, I think it was the fire alarm for the entire neighborhood... was a round bell about the size of a large pizza. When this bell rang, it was originally intended to bring dead people to life. When the bell went off, we had to replace all our windows, our neighbors windows, our eardrums, and our blood pressure.

It was directly above my tense little figure that this alarm was strategically positioned.

Another display of the homemaker's lack of genius was the testing function of this happy bell. There was a switch, just like a light switch, that was just outside the closet door. When you turned this switch on, the bell from hell told you when you were going to die.

I sat in the dark closet, listening with ears strained against the quiet.
I heard footsteps come into the room. I heard them come closer to the door...
My grandfather noticed the closet was dark, so before opening the door, he decided to flip on the light.

Explosion of death erupted from the back of my skull, filling the void around me with the noise of a thousand demons. The sound of all hell breaking loose can never be described as well in words as it can in 15 seconds of the loudest, worst-sounding fire alarm a three year old should never hear. I heard this sound.

It told me when I was going to die. I had some objections to dying just then, so I sprouted a few more gray hairs, and pitched forth a note to rival the sound of the bell. I burst forth from the room. It was no longer a haven of refuge. No longer was it a place I was proud to call my hiding spot. It had turned against me and sent me screaming from that hated place at roughly 55 mph. I think I left a little hole in the closet door shaped like me.

My poor grandfather turned the devil noise off as fast as he could react, but it was too late. It had done its damage. The tears and dismay that exploded forth from the door in front of him were undeniably the sign of one thing:

I had lost the game of hide-and-seek.

Anticipation

2007-12-17T17:03:00.000-08:00

Anticipation for movies is sort of a magical thing. About as magical, perhaps, as the movies themselves.
On May 6th, a movie about magicalness is sequelling the first Narnia movie. Prince Caspian is one of my favorite books, so the move had better be good. I won't set my hopes too high, or I'll be disappointed.

Cow Shea also briefly mentioned this. To put it in his quotable words, "LWW (aka Das Narnia Un) was a pretty fun effort, and won big points for not disemboweling the allegory or joyful childish quality of the fantasy. So I trust them with Prince Caspian. But Price Caspian needs to be EXTREMELY awesome for me to be looking forward to an unbotched Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which is tied for my favorite Narnia story, and probably one of the harder ones to translate into film."

I vote we all look forward to this movie together, because anticipation is half the fun. Then on May 6th we go cheer the forces of good, appreciate another potentially worthy effort by Walden Media, and start looking forward to something else.

All is calm, All is bright...

2007-12-16T17:21:00.000-08:00

Home for the Holidays. Rain fills the air like snow... but wet. ...yeah. I'm dreaming of a grey Christmas, and it's not a happy dream.

Speaking of sugarplums, have you ever actually had one? It is a dried prune stuffed with almond butter and rolled in a thin layer of sugar. They taste horrible. I feel sorry for those kids who have the "visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads"...then wake up screaming.

Anyways, it's good to be home. Real food, extra sleep and a general aura of relaxation. Of course I miss school, but it's always nice to come home and see the family and old friends. Good times.

The picture is of our Christmas tree that we cut and decorated this afternoon.

Conversation of the Night:

Carmela: "...but we have to order pizza because without pizza, life's not fun!"

Dad: "Who said that?"

Carmela: "Santa Clause!"

Dad: "No, it's sweat and toil and then you die."

What if...

2007-12-12T01:15:00.000-08:00

What if you found a million dollars? What would be the first thing you would buy?

I would debate strongly between a carton of whole milk or a Mazda RX8.

...it's not every day your buying decision is split between those two things.
Actually, if you're asking what I would get first, probably the milk.

How about YOU?