What do you see?

Another writing technique I have is to write a scene specifically for a location. Its so much easier than writing for a specific actor. This is the fishing pier at the Benecia waterfront. Ever since I've seen movies like Dark City and Requium for a Dream, I've always wanted to have a pier scene. I kinda wanna use this spot for The Escape Pod, where Carl Unix proposes to his GF right before he goes off into space, where he ultimately meets his untimely demise.

I can't help but think about those scenes from other films. Where there is a woman in a dress at the end of the pier. And no matter how hard he runs the man calling her name can never reach her.

What does that mean? (my one and only double rainbow reference haha)

Elton Fucking John is such a badass

I remember when rock was young Me and Susie had so much fun. Holding hands and skimming stones. Had an old gold Chevy and a place of my own.

Crocodile Rock has been stuck in my head for a bit. How I long to be a turtle in a half shell. (Turtle Power!) I stood outside my house this morning and watch the garbage truck collect the trash cans. A huge mechanical arm grabs it and dumps the contents into the truck. It was kinda a cool sight. But damn those things are loud.

I'm starting to get that feeling again. The one where I really want to go to sleep but sadly can't. Fuck you insomnia. Fuck you very much. I'm gonna blame you for all the things that have gone wrong in my life.

Dear Academy of Art; please call me back. I really want that job and I'll freakin kick ass over there. Put me in the game coach!

Sunday is my new tuesday

Its morning and I watched night turn into day yet again. I can't say I watched the sun rise cause there wasn't one. Last night I played Guess Who. I think I was asking too many difficult questions like: does your person currently collect social security? or Does your person have a pile of credit card debt? I wanna make a customized guess who game with pictures of my friends. I need 20. I don't think I have enough. I was playing Modern Warfare 2 all night. Thats like one of the only @ video games I still play. (The other is Marvel Vs. Capcom 2) hmmm my dog is snoring right now.

Rant

fuck. do you really think your shit's gonna go somewhere? I mean, ok, yeah.. your stuff is just OK.. but then what? what are you gonna do with it? It hits a dead end and it becomes one of the millions upon if not millions. if I ever offered one tidbit of advice then here it is. USE REAL ACTORS. real actors are good actors. I stopped putting myself and my friends in my fucking movies years ago. NETWORKING. I have that. Do you? probably not. most of you are socially inept. IDK dude you're hopeless if you think your shit is good. RULE #11: THERES SOMETHING WRONG IF YOU START LIKING YOUR OWN WORK. I will admit, I have never liked any of the things I've made. (but thats the way we're supposed to think.) You have to know that this is the biggest gamble of your fucking life. I know this. and thats why I'd do whatever it takes to get this right. Like I always say Anyone can work in the industry, but you'd have to be crazy to stay in it. and judging from what I've seen from you. You play it safe. textbook. BORING,... Crazy? You are not.
(Of course I'm talking to myself, but if you happen to swing by this blog and feel offended by this, then maybe I am talking to you?)

The dead in question

In keeping with today's motif. I've been working on a story about a guy that buys a used car. He got a grand taken off the price due to the fact that there's a dead girl's ghost siting in the back seat. I'd say thats a bargain.

Oh yeah, this is how funny the people around me are. I get a call at 3am from seth. And all he was thinking about was the Banana scene. (the picture of adam with a banana, see posts below.) He's developing a story called Heterosapien. jeez.

Susie Q

I remembered this old made for tv Disney movie called Susie Q. I just downloaded it and I'm totally reliving some childhood memories. haha. The film stars Justin Whalin andAmy Jo Johnson. Or you may remember her as the original Pink Power Ranger. Its the story about a new kid that moves in to a house and he meets this dead girl. It sounds cooler than it is.

We Were Perfect

So The Kitchen Sink has been really busy. Our Bandcamp has a lot of our demos up. Pretty much all works in progress. And super rough. getting a lot of positive feedback so I guess thats good...

I started PreProduction for Blood Runners Last night.. So far I'm looking at a Cast/Crew of 10+ people. damnnnnn. This is gonna be a fun one. July 31st is the point of no return. If I don't have everything set up by then. Then I'll have to push it back. Everyone says I know a lot of people, or that I have lots of connections and sway to get the ball rolling. Apparently I've built up a reputation for being able to get shit done. And they say I can save a project in shambles. Lets hope theyre right.

Good Morning Monday

So I put a crapload of songs on our bandcamp site. I labeled the album as "The Digital Shit". Its all the techno-ish kinda stuff that we've been working on the side. It has a really wide range of styles. I hope it shows a little dimension to our music.

So I guess the next script that we're gonna try to get produced is As Tranquil As A Catnap. Adam, Seth and I wrote that script one night. Whats funny about that one is the fact that we each took one of the three characters and just acted it out in Adam's room while simultaneously typing out the dialogue. It was certainly a different approach to writing. And that was like more than a year ago already.

Here's a photo of the latest project we shot. I'm not gonna say the name of it cause that will give the joke away. haha.

im watching my stories

I'm a sucker for unconventional story telling.

Blood Runners: A dark comedy about two delivery men working for the largest Blood bank in the country. Oh yeah and vampires.

Anne Frankenstein Vs. The Wolf Nazi. (do I really have to explain this story?)

Z Squad: Set during the Vietnam war. Jimmy, a young military journalist, is assigned to the military's top secret Z squad. (hint: Z stands for zombie)

Dear Darla,

I hate your stinking guts. You make me vomit. You're scum between my toes.

Love, Alfalfa

I love Little Rascals.

layin' tracks, mofo

completely rough and shitty sounding. I'm a little torn between recording songs live (like this one) or recording in layers. doing them live is great cause it'll sound exactly like how we sound during shows. But I really like doing layers cause the quality will be top shit, but the downside is that most of the songs I record by doing layering I cant even play those live cause they're too complicated to sing and play at the same time. weird... I kinda hate singing my own songs now. I mean i have no formal vocal training. I can scream my lungs off like a champ (lately i've been thinking of getting in a hardcore band) but i cant sing for the life of me. however, Seth's voice sounds like god having sex, and is guitar playing is getting better. He got that from me haha.

Internships

I'm so tired of scouring the crew ads and keep seeing all these projects that are looking for unpaid "interns". I totally get that some project are little to no budget and they say that most positions are volunteer. But they try to get free labor out of the younger inexperienced filmmaker. To be completely clear, in the state of California, unpaid internships are ILLEGAL. there are a few exceptions like the college credit intern but that has to be worked out with a college's production course as part of the curriculum. To be qualified as an unpaid intern the job has to have no benefits toward the company. Basically interns are a learning position for potential employees. Say a production company lets an intern provide feedback on a script. That script has to be one of those "it'll never get produced scripts". and thats fine, its completely legal cause it does not provide any financial gain for the company. But if its the latter, and the script is in current production, then that requires compensation. so please... don't take an unpaid internship job, its too much of a hassle.

On the edge

Its images like this that make me proud of what I can accomplish.

I needed this. Heroin status. lol

There's only so much you can take before the pressure gets to you. I've been able to keep it together for a while. But the truth is, I'm really scared for my future. I can't do this by myself. Sometimes I feel like an asshole when I look at these blog posts and count how many times the word "I" is typed. Everything isn't about me. me. me. I learned that the hard way. I'm kinda fucking lonely. I'm not looking for a relationship and I'm not looking to get my dick wet. I just. Feel lonely. I just wish somebody would give a fuck about me. I feel like I'm on the verge of doing some amazing shit. I'd just like someone to cheer me on. There's no point in doing anything if no one knows you did it.

equipment check

what am i bringing?

camera -batteries, cards, caps, plugs

lights, gels, clips, cords

jib, steadicam. screws and bolts

tape, tripod,

2nd cam (just in case)

Jesse

knife, screwdriver, gas money toll money

pen, pencil. My A game.

script

I know I'm forgetting something.

My new years resolutions checklist..halfway point

they're pretty much all attainable. and they all open for interpretation.

2010 checklist:
1. Meet a new person everyday (or try to)
2. play more music. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
3. watch more movies. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
4 make a pretty girl smile. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
5. Get into a fight
6. make a film that matters.
7. make my mother proud of me.
8. help a stranger xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
9. help a friend. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
10. mend a broken heart xxxxxxxxxxx In a way, I helped you
11. laugh more xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
12. cry more. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
13. see the world through someone else's eyes. xxxxxxxxxxxx
14. skateboard more. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
15. make my life meaningful
16. visit a grave (doesn't matter whose) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
17. make someone spit-take xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
18. get out of california
19. road trip
20 win an eating contest
21 learn to ride a bike xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
22 save a baby xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
23 get in a picture xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
24 win an award
26 tell someone you love them
27 converse with someone that doesn't speak english xxxxxxxxxxx
28 cross off a resolution with a friend
29 meet a celebrity (bonus points if you get a picture)xxxxxxtomhanks
30 get your name in papers
31 sleep xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
32 destroy something beautiful xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
33 earn someone's trust xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
34 fly
35 get lost with a friend
36 celebrate the holidays
37 listen to every song on your ipod xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
38 catch a fish xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
39 start an applaud (bonus points if its a slow clap) xxxxxxxxxxxxx
40 live dammit live!
41. get Victoria hooked up.
42. do rwo resolutions at once
43. trust someone.
44. learn to speak elvish

Whoa, Mozart Season signs to Equal Vision

I had just found that out like 2 minutes ago. Damn thats a good label too. Glad I was able to work with them before they're gonna be too hard to reach. Our video is still up on their myspace page which is really cool to see.

Whats wrong with this picture?

yes that is a tower of mini dv tapes. each tapes has 60 minutes of footage. Theres about 200 of them on the wall (not counting the ones i havent stacked yet) thats 200 hours, which is almost 8 days. So I have spent at least 8 days behind a camera. damn.

Darth vader keeps me on track when I'm working. and he also critiques my songs. (sometimes a little too harsh)

I need to empty my trash can. My walls are painted black. My printer has no paper in it and I'm running out of ink. The chair is actually pink. hmm. that might be the reason for the black and whiteness.

Losing The Magic

me and Matt King are developing a film. The premise should have been concocted while under the heavy influence of marijuana. But we were totally sober. Or you can blame all the fried foods and sugary liquids we were consuming. But losing the Magic is the story of a documentary crew running around finding the last remaining students from the third grade class of a teacher named Ms. Frizzle.. She was known to go on a field trip everyday. More on this in a bit, I have a doc appt at 3:30 and i need to be driving to Vacaville right now! I'm off!

5:30

Sitting in the office. Bored. I pulled out the camera and decided to tinker with it. I'm shooting a short this weekend out in Daly City. The footage I've shot so far is amazing. Yeah, I'm watching Eternal Sunshine right now. Its amazing. I was looking at a post on a friends blog and it made me want to watch it.

Canon t2i and Einstein

I'm slowly figuring out this camera... and Einstein is the only thing I have to practice with haha.

I've got a lovely bunch of... usb drives

There they are all standing in a row...
My dad works at one of the main postal sorting centers. He's in charge of maintaining the machinery that sorts the mail. He tells me that people try to mail usb drives through standard envelopes all the time. When they hit the machines the get destroyed and the contents fall through a filter. Somteimes my dad brings home these usb's after no one claims them for a month. I love checking whats on them. Most the time its family photos or school/work documents. I've only gotten porn once and it was horrible. I would love to return some of these photos to their owners but they never have any documentation. I've even looked at the pictures for any kind of clues as to where these people are. I'm thinking about posting them online and starting like a lost photos blog.
P.s. Please use bubble envelopes to mail your usb's or stuff like that. Don't try to cheat postage.

I have nightmares about googley eyes

Sometimes its hard to distinguish the line between humor and horror when it comes to googley eyes. Seeing them on inanimate objects is funny. But when you dream of sitting at a dinner table and everyone is wearing them and they're all staring at you is a creepy thing. I've been trying write googley eyes into a short but with no such luck. maybe thats a good thing.

im not sure if i posted this already. but heres what started it all.