Imagine-Asian?

First of all my title has little to no relevance to what I'm about to write, I just thought it was hilarious, and the first time I laughed out loud to a film article, no offense intended.

This was a great article because it took me through so many different opinions that I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to believe myself. During the first page or so I was thinking, "This is bullshit, I'm not a film geek, I don't do this art-cinema crap, There's no money in it." Then I realized that Rebecca was talking about the very thing that pisses me off about filmmaking. Great content gets overlooked and not talked about anymore these days. This random vomited collection of movies contaminates the film market and appeals to all the stupid people while all of us sit and squirm and wish we could do something about it.

'The spirit of the art house' combined with money making possibility is what I'm looking for in film. There Will Be Blood I feel is a perfect example and gives hope to us all. Beautiful work that somehow gets noticed even by simpletons and earns some real dough is what I want out of a film-oriented life. You may call me a dreamer, but I want art, content, skill, notoriety AND bucks to fly the hell out of films I work on (everywhere).

I want microcinemas to expand to gigantocinemas while still containing the same community and respectful aspects of small-town arthouse theatres. And then I woke up...

Crew Call

Finally...collaborative filmmaking. I've been looking forward to this music video project but did not think to expect different crew positions. I've worked on set before. It was for Nelson Oliver's Honors Thesis, and the film was a 20ish minute short about the 1898 Wilmington Race Riots entitled: "The Red Cape."

I've already had experience with grip/gaffer/dolly grip/PA/extra work which is why I wanted to dive into the position of cinematographer. But then again, so did everyone else, so the luck of the draw ruled me out there. As Shannon was saying in class, the Grip/Gaffer job is going to take more artistic and hard work than any other position, BITCH! I'm ready...

I Don't Even Know Myself

For the upcoming Self Portrait project, I'm drawing blank. The harder I think of what I want to do the less I understand myself. Maybe I should make the project be exactly about that; the fact that I just go with the flow and have no large ambitions as of yet. I found that living life structured and how society and culture expect you to live your life only defeats the purpose of living in the first place. I'd like to do something like an "anti-culture jam." I don't know if I'd actually film something or just use found footage to express my extreme dislike of almost every part of this world. Whatever I'm going to do, I'd better figure it out fast.

Painting with Sound

This was probably one of the hardest projects I've done in a while. For some reason, I guess my brain just doesn't work in the way it needs to in order to create a successful soundscape. Emily and I had some trouble getting started and there was a slight learning curve for me, mainly concerning how to do in-depth sound editing on Final Cut. I looked at the project more rhythmically than abstractly. I kept finding myself thinking along the lines of creating a narrative out of sounds, only to remember that was exactly what we were not supposed to be doing. It ended up being all about patterns and repetition and learning through trial and error which sounds went good together and could envoke some sort of feeling or meaning.

I really enjoyed the screenings of everyone's projects in class. Although I couldn't exactly 'paint' an abstract image in my head while creating my own soundscape with Emily, I could definitely close my eyes and imagine all sorts of things while listening to everyone else's. Bravo to everyone's hard work that went into these projects.

Light Blog (at 35,000 feet)

The light in this new plane matches the sound...dull and sleepy. The plane speeds eastward, away from the long-retired sun. It is around 9PM and 95% of the light in the cabin comes from the reading lights of those that are still awake. These lights feature soft yellow bulbs and beam downward on their subjects like spotlights on a Broadway stage. The cone of radiance they emit illuminates the tops of heads and sparkles off reading glasses. My reading light is off, unlike my neighbor's. Looking into my window next to me, a clear reflection is created of her tray-table. The light is yellowy and displays her elderly hands nimbly crocheting a small scarf. As I look past the reflection of her reading light out the window, a sea of sparkling blues, yellows, oranges, whites and some greens group together across the black backdrop forming floating cities and pathways. Barely visible are the veins of moving white lights from the larger highways below. The patches of sparkling lights are constantly marred and then unsheathed again by what can only be the dark shadows of clouds. *Ding* Ladies and gentlemen we've begun our initial descent into the Charlotte area and the Captain has turned on the fasten seat belt light.

Light Blog (number 7 for takeoff)

A crude ambiance of manmade fluorescents flood the inside cabin of the outdated 737 from above the overhead bins. Various soft reading lights are overpowered by the hard, white light as the plane taxis down to the takeoff runway. The overheads finally go off and half of the plane is covered in deep shadow, half bathed in scattered, warm, yellow midafternoon light. This light spills through the cabin windows, half of which are closed because Phoenix, AZ is 96 degrees at the time. A few fellow window seaters open their shades and pockets of shadow are dispersed by the welcoming soft orange light. As the plane turns on the runway, narrow bands of dancing sunlight travel across the seat in front of me from my window to the other side of the plane. Flashes of harsh reflected light off other airplanes and airport windows cause me to squint as they strobe through my window. *Ding* The orange and red LED Fasten Seatbelt lights all throughout the cabin flicker momentarily as we ready for takeoff...

I can't think of a good title because I'm too hungry

Assignment 1a was a lot more fun than expected. Everyone met at my place since it is reasonably quiet in Azalea Trace. I had written a list of ideas for cool sounds and we just kind of went with the flow. First was the ambient noises of the woods behind my apartment, and I had the great idea to shut off the noise-polluting AC units for all the apartments. So, all badass-like, I went over to the boxes on the outsides of the buildings near the units and switched all the big switches to 'off' because I knew that would shut off the ACs. The neighbors should be cool without air for 30-45 seconds, right? Anyways, we got our ambiance, and I immediately went back and switched all the breakers back on.

After we got back inside, we all heard a very strange screeching sound which turned out to be my battery backup going nuts. So then we realized I had just shut off all of the power for all the apartments in the two buildings...We were fully prepared to record some good audio of the neighbors yelling at me. Woops.

We went to Target and just kind of waltzed in with the equipment and asked to talk to a store manager to give us permission to record. That went smoothly so we got some great stuff in there from the front registers and snack bar. After the group got back to my place we rolled on through all the SFX and voice based sounds pretty quickly, getting most all of the recordings we needed for the project in about 2 and a half hours or so. Jordan was the man and went and did some guerilla recording of conversations for more voice based in order to finish the project up. Overall, very smooth sailing, and we all got some good experience with the sound equipment.

Sweet, time for some food..

Listen closely...

So it's nearing 4AM and for some reason I'm still awake. I thought it'd be a good idea to go take a meditative sound sample outside on my back porch. I live in the back of Azalea Trace, with only the woods buffering my patio from MLK Dr. Let the ear-drumming commence:

There is a gentle hum/rumble of some kind of generator only heard in this first absolute silence. If I close my eyes I can imagine myself in some kind of spaceship. Time for a sip of beer. A symphony of insects create a gentle lullaby all around. The periodic friction of a single, dominant cricket's legs riddle the silent ambiance with new noise. Just as consistent as his chirps are the harsh sounds of rubber sliding on top of MLK coming through the trees. These automobile sounds ripple off into the distance and oddly there is a piercing of music coming from some unknown source. I can't tell what type of music it is or if it even was music...hmm. Another sip of Miller. I now notice the silent churning of Mountain-Spring condensation which is pouring out of those vents that evidently lead to my running dryer. Scratch the generator, these pipes pushing out the steam are creating the gentle rumble. The BLARE of a train horn is welcoming at first. A new sound. The conductor continues and holds a second, third, fourth....seventh note between 1 and 3 seconds. I can hear the train cars tumbling on their tracks. More train whistles are interrupted by the accent of a distant motorcycle's revving engine. Yet another piercing train horn is a dagger into the silent early morning's heart; the conductor just won't quit. A loud semi speeds past on MLK and the vibration of all 18 tires can be heard. Something dropped in the woods...sounded almost like a rain drop? For a moment there is relative quiet. Then another something snaps in the woods. And then I hear my favorite sound: a single chirping note from some rare night bird. Maybe he's confused...Someone tell that damn train to shut up!

Manifesto?

First and foremost I want to apologize for the vulgarity. But it's a Fight Club quote...so...get over it.

Why am I here? To make movies, of course. Film theory is just fine but the act of creating something so unbelievably rad that people go 'Wow' or laugh to themselves just because they are so moved is what I want to be part of. When I first saw There Will Be Blood I was completely blown away by the fact that every single shot was a masterful piece of art. Like an ever-flowing painting. And I can't forget to mention the sly grin that would grow across my face every time Jonny Greenwood's chilling sound design made every part of the movie come to life. This very effect is what I want in response to my films.

To get there, however, is the biggest question mark. Eighteen hours of production classes this semester can't hurt. I'd tell people I'm taking the maximum hours and all of it is film production and they're all like "Dude, you're crazy" and I'm all like "Dude, this is what I'm in school for." If the major offered nothing but production classes I wouldn't be able to complain one bit. After all of this is over with (in the next year and a half), my plan is to be SoCal bound. Maybe live with my dad for some time and then squeeze my way into the chaos of L.A. Who knows? Maybe Wilmington will explode into an orgy of film and money?

Experimental production is feeling like a tough task for me. I've worked on a film set before and love doing my part and not wanting to let the rest of the crew down. But now I am the crew. I'm not sure I've been able to tug my creativity out from deep inside enough to be able to impress anyone on my own. This is actually what worries me more than anything else. I think I doubt myself too much to even have considered film as a major. After high school, I finally learned the word confidence, but this is something entirely different. I need to trust myself and Just let go! Hey, another Fight Club quote...