Published on Tuesday November 30, 2004 .
I finally started shooting scenes for my first short movie. I’ve actually been waiting to purchase a pro-level camera, but I’m tired of waiting so I’m using my crappy old Sony Hi-8 camera and shooting this as a “proof-of-concept”. This will give me a good intro into the whole production/editing world. Once I finally do get my pro-level camera, I’ll re-shoot.
Amazon.com Short Films?
BTW, I noticed that Amazon.com is featuring short films. Honestly I’m not sure what their strategy is unless they’re trying to drive more traffic to their site and increase brand visibility like BMW Films. But it’s cool nontheless.
Published on Monday November 29, 2004 .
I’m sitting in a room full of beautiful people. I feel a little awkward, still not quite comfortable in their company. I sit, trying to relax, trying to fit in. I know they’re judging me. I can sense it. I ignore their judgments and act aloof. Soon I will be called into the room and asked to be the best of myself. To show energy and personality. To prove that my face, my persona and my words can sell a product or tell a story. I have my doubts. I have eight years of memories of sitting in rooms similar to this one filled with beautiful people just like this one, never quite making it in front of the bright lights. But I realize that I’m not the only one. I glance around the room and can see it in their eyes. The hope, the faith, the dreams and the rejection. Then I hear my name - and for a brief second I can see the bright lights flash in my mind. I take a deep breath and in my head I hear the words “fully commit”. I step into the room and the door closes.
Published on Friday November 26, 2004 .
Stupid spammers now think this site is a challenge. I’ve blocked so many spam bots and messages (605 and counting) now they’re making massive attacks on this site. I just deleted 60 spam messages which somehow made it past my spam filters. Luckily it only takes me a couple seconds to delete them all. The new trick they’re using is employing multiple proxies to send spam through. It’s like blocking a telemarketer with caller id but then the telemarketer has 60 of their coworkers call from different phone numbers all at once.
They think they’re so clever. I’m about to use them to my own advantage…
Published on Wednesday November 24, 2004 .
H and I were planning on going to the farm for Thanksgiving, but house construction issues are keeping us here in LA. So this means we will be cooking our own Thanksgiving meal. On the menu is:
Organic Roast Turkey (a 12lb bird)
Broccoli Salad
Oyster Casserole
Horseradish Mashed Potatoes
Candied Yams
Orange Rolls (overnighted from the farm)
Homemade Chocolate Pecan Pie
Homemade Pumpkin Pie
Did I mention that we’re cooking it all? (Heather mostly with my help).
I actually wanted to film the whole cooking process as well to put together a short film in the vein of Tortilla Soup/Pieces of April. But we’ll see how things go…
Published on Tuesday November 23, 2004 .
On Sunday I had the opportunity to attend Joanne Baron’s Master Class Acting Workshop. I had participated in the very first Master Class that she held, but because of scheduling conflicts I was not able to participate this time around. One thing I realized as I sat and watched people perform scenes and Joanne critique them, is that I miss the training. The two year program is pretty intense and requires huge commitment, but I learned so much and it’s really great to be coached by really good acting teachers. It was very inspiring to watch Joanne work with these two actors who in their first peformance, came off very flat and uninteresting but after being coached by Joanne on-stage for a couple of minutes, all of a sudden display an emotional connection with the material that really brought the scene to another level. It made me want to be in class again to continue learning and mastering the art of acting. So I will be calling the studio again to see if the scene study class will fit into my schedule.
Published on Saturday November 20, 2004 .
I noticed I haven’t made a lot of posts lately. That’s because I’ve been fighting back the “barbarians at the gate” who are trying to force marketing messages of porn, gambling, mortgages, drugs, and everything else. So I’ve been doing a lot of research on blocking these nasty people. I’m so sick of ads and marketing. Even at my house, every morning their are several flyers of marketing ads (mostly in spanish) stuck on my fence. A couple of times I’ve actually stood outside like a bouncer waiting for the little marketing minions to come around so I can look them in the eyes and with a stern deep voice say, “DO NOT PUT THAT CRAP ON MY FENCE.” Even the other day, the LA Times somehow got ahold of all the direct phone numbers to people in my office and started calling everyone. When I answered the phone and heard it was the LA Times, I just hung up the phone. I really wanted them to call back so I could hurl obscenities at them.
AND to add insult to injury, I had this russian guy at work call me out of the blue with a damn attitude because he couldn’t find one of the files I worked on. I handled the whole situation non-chalantly, but I really wanted to “pop it like it’s hot“. Afterwards, like always, I wished I would have handled it differently. I wish I would have humiliated him with humor. I can’t have people thinking that they can talk to me like that. Nor can I have cowardly spammers posting their crap on my site.
That’s it. I’m at the boiling point.
Published on Wednesday November 17, 2004 .
We are bombarded by so many messages every second of every day it’s amazing that we are able to think straight. It also doesn’t help that technology makes it easier to access more entertainment almost anywhere at any second. Even worse, most of the information being forced into our brain is just pure junk. That’s why I think it’s good to go on a “media fast” every once in a while. To have a time when you unplug yourself from all media and be with your own thoughts. I do acknowledge that this is a very tough thing to do because we are so used to being drugged and sedated with an overload of media, ads and entertainment, that we are addicted.
So now I’m trying to force myself to do some meditation at night to sorta “defrag” my brain. Actually, H and I just need to go back to Tahiti to get away and have a second honeymoon/vacation.
Published on Tuesday November 16, 2004 .
Heather just called me to tell me that she was just kissed by Colin Farrell at the red carpet premiere for Alexander in Hollywood. She’s up there with friends and I’m sitting at home - somewhat by choice, but now wishing I would have went. She said she’s doing “research” so that when I’m at my red carpet premiere I will know how to treat my fans.
Yeah. Whatever.
Published on Thursday November 11, 2004 .
First thing that comes to mind is that Seinfeld episode where George becomes a hand model and wears oven mits to protect his hands. Well my print agent called me today to see if I was interested in going to audition for a hand modeling gig. At first I laughed. Then my agent told me the job would pay $1000 and I started seriously looking at my hands. I don’t really have man hands. I have small wrists and small fingers. I have girly hands. I have girly hands that are dry, slightly cracked, need a manicure - and not ready for the modeling world. But $1000 for a hand modeling shoot? I’ll have to start taking care of my hands better.
Now where’s that hand lotion?
Published on Monday November 8, 2004 .
I was checking out upcoming movies over at quicktime.com and stumbled upon the science fiction movie PRIMER. The trailer caught my attention with slick visuals which presented a riddle that begged for an answer. So I did an unusual thing and visited the movie website. What I found challenged my ego and lit the fire in my creative drive:
“Thirty-one-year-old Shane Carruth, a former engineer who spent three years teaching himself filmmaking, conceived, wrote, directed, edited, and scored PRIMER and also plays one of the lead roles.”
This is exactly my goal. And this guy is the same age as me and has a similar background. He is/was an engineer stuck in the corporate world dissatisified with his life. But he broke free and achieved his vision, his dream. I on the other hand, I am still stuck in the corporate world struggling to break free.
Right now I’m screaming on the inside. I want to be free from these chains that bind me. I need to get my sh!t together and focus. If this guy can do it. SO CAN I.
I’m glad I stumbled upon this movie. I really needed a fire lit under my ass.
