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Musiwaukee

Making a music video right now of Milwaukee, in my spare time of course.  Most likely I will be putting it to something by Sackcloth Fashion. Go here if you want to hear an example of their work: LINK

PS I've decided to pick up where I left off with my tv script and maybe in the next month we'll have 2 more episodes to share with you all.

What to write

It's hard to develop characters that will interact with each other.  For instances if I write about a old bus driver named jack who punches kids in the face when they bring sunflower seeds on his bus, well bad example he would be easy to incorporate in a script or screenplay because he is so dynamic...this is why i for me its easier to write comedy than drama.  In drama there are characters that are relatable because they are so real and thats what makes a drama dramatic.  But in comedy you can put anyone in a room and have them interact.  The key to writing is predicting what the audience will expect and do the opposite.  Sounds easy right? Try it sometime. :)

Production Notes #6

I have an incredible idea but I dont know if I want to share until I actually have it written down in script format...ideas are so easily stolen online.  But I will be hopefully copyrighting this one because I think it is that good. :)

...I'm such a tease.

The Incredible Hulk

Apparently the Incredible Hulk is following my blog...that is all.

Production Notes #5

With Sound (updated)

This is the latest splash screen with some royalty free sound effects added in.  I still want to change it a bit though.

Production Notes #4

Fabricated NonFiction Productions

The above link is to the Fabricated NonFiction Productions splash screen that I created for my production company, Fabricated NonFiction.  More to come tomorrow.

Syndicated Note: Who knew you actually had to do something to succeed?

I've found myself thinking the past few days about the future and what it has in store for me. Is it a rock future where I skin my knee on every rough surface until I finally give up at the end or do I take those scrapes and turn them into a lesson I teach my kids when we're living out of a cardboard box and selling crack on the street as a team... because nothing spells teamwork like crack dealing.

This is the deal, I've chosen to pursue a career in film and the success rate is low. It isn't that I would consider myself a failure if I didn't make it big, it's that if I didn't make it big I wouldn't be able to live because of healthcare. See diabetes has become an issue as of late, what will I do if I fail? What will I do if I cannot make it to the comfortable level of supporting myself? These thoughts have found their way into my head this week. They make me uncomfortable. It's hard to grasp failure at this point because failure in my mind is not an option. At this point I wish I wasn't as smart as I am so that I wouldn't understand what is at sake, or even better I wish I was smarter so I could work the problem out and plan accordingly. But I don't have those options because I am who I am and that's who I'll be. The only comfort I find is that I would probably be in this situation with any career I tried to pursue, not just film. So in the meantime, from now until future me becomes defined (either as a crack-dealing dad or film executive), I will continue to hope for the best cause that's what they (parents, teachers, and you) have told me to do. Just in case I don't make it, does anyone know the going rate for crack right now? And is it rate? I mean I don't know the terminology for selling smack...

Motion

I was just messing around with Motion, holy crap that is the best program ever.  I may actually like it more than final cut pro...meh maybe.  I can't wait to show what I can do with it in a project. 

13

What kinda sick person decided the number 13 was superstitious?  It's a good number, a nice even TEN plus a three (some say holy trinity), three isn't a crowd; it's a democracy with easy voting : P .

Vimeo

Starting tomorrow I will start to edit and upload movies I make onto vimeo so I can embed them into my blog.  We have some interesting footage coming... :)

Oh Wednesdays 2.0

This seems like the longest day of the week to me.  Some aspects of Wednesdays are enjoyable like going to bed Wednesday nights haha.  No really though Wednesdays feel like I have accomplished a lot, for the most part.  I am always exhausted come 10:30PM and Thursdays are so much more enjoyable because they feel like Fridays and what also helps is how much I love my Tuesday/Thursday classes :)

In the comments for this one please list some movies I may not have seen that I should so I can add them to my list of need-to-watch movies.

Sick

So for the past few days I've been feeling under the weather.  But it comes and goes for some reason, so for instance right now I feel about 75% which is not bad for being sick...but its just annoying either kill me or let me be.  Well please don't kill me : ( haha

Production Notes #3 update

So I failed to mention what kind of photographs I would want to use in this project.  I would like to show off Milwaukee.  The architecture, the public transit system, the lake front, the 3rd ward, the art museum, the interstate just south of the city, miller park, and other things I may have forgotten to mention.

Batman and Production Notes #3

This post has nothing to do with Batman but I thought I'd title it such just cause Sarah mentioned him.  Anywho, this post has to do with my project idea...Here is a link to a short 30 second video I made that that shows what I want to do. (It's in ".mov" format)

Ding Ding Round 2

I'm just ripping on superheroes and their girlfriends today.

Just was watching superman returns and lois should of died somewhere between 9 and 21 times already and the movie isn't done yet.  If I was the executive producer I would rename this movie "Lois" + something derogatory.

Stick a fork in me I'm done.

Production Notes #2

First of all I just want to say that I don't want to have a huge wedding when I get married lol... I know out of the blue but I was just watching spiderman 2 and freaking mary jane left her fiance at the alter for Peter.  Really? I mean who cares its a movie but she's a freaking whore for saying she'd marry someone else and then leaving what's-his-name at the alter for Peter, I'd be so embarrassed that's why I wanna go small on that day.

Enough ranting and raving, let's get to production notes haha :

So what I was thinking while walking around today taking pictures was 'what hasn't been done yet that could be done on a small scale with ease and a small crew?'  It doesn't even have to be all video.  I came up with an answer.

So maybe you've seen this vimeo video I posted on my facebook page titled "Fat City Reprise" If not here is the link.  Basically the director of photography took 45,000 photos and made a music video out of them.  I was thinking that could be fairly easy if you took in mind a few things.  

1. Don't think too big.

2. Simple shots, let the editing speak for itself.

3. Pans only? (Zooms could be a little difficult and if you zoom in to far then what's there to look at?)

Anywho, the idea that popped into my mind was to take roughly 5,000 images place them to a song that keeps a beat and tada something special.  What song did I think of?  Baba O'Riley by The Who.   Towards the end of the song it starts to speed up which is where I think the number of photos per second needs to increase.  (4:30? and even more around 4:55)

Raise your hand if you think it's doable or eyebrow if you think I'm crazy and I'm biting off more than I can chew for right now (maybe a summer project then?).

TX and GS400

Going out in this gorgeous weather this morning to take some more photos for cinematography and shoot my first video project for basic video.  I know exactly what I want for my video project I hope I don't master this one and then have trouble topping it later with my next two projects.  Well I'm certainly thinking high of myself... we'll see I guess : P

Stressed much?

Hello stress, where did you come from?  I don't know why but I had a mild panic attack this morning.  It had a lot to do with a dream I had last night.  Basically, in the dream I was in the situation of deciding whether or not I wanted to go back to Augustana for school or move on to UW-Milwaukee...it was weird because in my dream I chose to go back to Augustana and finish speech communication out before moving on to UWM.  I guess the stressful part about it was waking up and realizing that I didn't have that option any more AND the fact that possibly my subconscious really wanted me to stay at Augustana?  That was what caused this mild panic to ensue for like 12 minutes.  However, I was able to subdue it by thinking about a friend who packed up here belongings and moved out to Hawaii and what must have gone through her mind during that whole ordeal with the Augustana administration.  So where are we now?  Well somewhere between glory and shame, success and failure, life and death.  Getting my bearings and feet braced for anything is the best I can do for now... Also don't have so a lot of salt/sodium before you go to bed, load up on potassium if you want a good nights sleep, that's what I'll be doing tonight.

Production Notes:

What would you guys think about me posting my copyrighted pilot to my blog?  I don't know if it would fit but I could put it in Acts/Scenes.

Trond

So I thought this morning I'd post a link to a photographer I know, he does wonderful stuff.  The only problem is he isn't in the states!  He lives in Norway where base-jumping is king. He base jumps himself.  His name is Trond.  Spell check wants his name to be spell "Trend" but he is far from a trend he is unique in his field, so without further introduction here is his website. 

http://www.trondteigen.com/ 

Oh Wednesdays

One day of the week that couldn't be any longer.  Even though I don't have class until 3:00PM I don't get home until 9:30PM...sucks.  Anywho, I have a really good idea for a "short" film.  It might actually turn out to be up to 45 minutes long but I think each second will add to the film.  Without giving anything away before I have even wrote anything down, it will basically be about four peoples' lives that are connected in small ways and how little things affect the out come of their day.  It will be dramatic, nothing that will go into the film will be that shouldn't be there, and I will be determined to reshoot anything that I don't like in the editing room.

Canon TX

As I thought the film in my camera did not catch.  Therefore I had to retake all the photos I took before.  In addition to this I couldn't figure out how to rewind the film, I know it sounds stupid, but I tried to rewind the film and the film ripped and so I had no chose but to expose the film to the light of day and ruin my 2nd attempt at taking pictures.  But now I am on my 2nd roll but 3rd try at taking these images lol

I feel like an idiot.  I'm using my dad's old camera to take these pictures (I hope to upload them when I get a chance).  He got the camera from his dad before he died so it makes the images I take much more meaningful to me.  I hope you will feel the same way when you see them.  It's a Canon TX, the first camera my dad ever owned.

Hello February

Wow where did January go?

It seems like the new year was just yesterday and now its already February 1st.  So my first week of classes are already over and here it is Monday again, we've restarted the week.

My back problems are less now that my parents visited and dropped off a mattress pad, its like sleeping on clouds...big puffy clouds!

I've been out talking pictures this weekend, I hope that the film caught on the winding mechanism in my camera or else we might have a small problem.  The film is due tomorrow and if I took 24 pictures of nothing... that would suck.

Production notes to follow in a later post.