none for sam o'steen?

before the break:

while we were watching the opening sequence to the graduate in my editing 1 class, some of us noticed an edit that looked a little out of place in the scene. i wasn't for sure if the cut was done intentionally, or whether it was just the vhs tape. if the cut was intentional, it was forgivable considering the rhythmic pacing of the scene. the cut was also unnoticeable to the majority of the class, which might have been what the editor was purposely trying to accomplish, and get away with.

after viewing it, we went into brief discussion about the opening sequence. a student sitting a few seats behind me pointed out the same edit that looked out of place. as we rewinded the tape and looked at it again, the student blurted out something along the lines of: "oh wow, that was a horrible edit! even i can do better than that, and i'm only a beginning film student!"


i wanted to throw something at him

Found a moment

Oh man, I swear.. for the past month, I've been opening up this blog site day after day without being able to write anything down. Been trying to find any spare moment I could find to sit down and completely note anything that's been going on. Lemme see if my memory is able to re-call the past month of events! Or past week...

All hell pretty much broke loose between week 5 and spring break. I don't think I've ever been so happy about spring break in my entire life. Towards the end of that last week of school, my body and mind was literally giving out more and more each day. The last day didn't go so well. After getting into a bike accident while rushing to class (which was a first), and almost missing a project deadline (which was another first), it felt like a miracle to see myself through it.

But.. seems like my bad luck kind of stuck with me just a little while more. The next day, I almost lost my laptop in an online scam. Feels pretty awful when you figure out what a person was set out to do to you after working out a deal with him for hours. Thought things were going to turn around for the better during the upcoming Tahoe trip. Although I had a good time, it's been a while since I got into a pretty nasty boarding accident. Tailbone injuries are the worst.

All in all, I guess things could have been worse-- I haven't fallen into any deeper crap. I accomplished what I needed to accomplish during that last week of hell, and I'm still able to walk right now. The rest of my spring break was very pleasant-- a day of solitude, and another few with familiar company. That made up for a lot--




It's now week 9, and the first day back from spring break. Getting back into routine. Even though the semester isn't ending till mid-May, we're already starting on our final projects.

I think out of all of them, I'm looking forward to completing my photo storyboarding final the most. We've finally started learning how to use the super 8mm cameras for our short film final projects. Heh, after getting hands on with it for the first time today, I can only imagine how terrifying it's going to be while shooting with the kinoflex. Definitely makes me appreciate my mini DV camcorder a lot more.

I'm pretty set on an idea for my short film.

It will be titled "Advent".

Week 5

Before my photo storyboarding class began, I over heard a conversation between a few students about their thoughts on Hollywood's progress today. There was an inevitable agreement about the lack of fresh ideas the industry has been coming up with lately. One of the students stated that "we've already used every idea" in motion pictures and television. That was a bit discouraging to hear.

I truly hope that this isn't what we've come to think of our modern day cinema.

The films that started it all (Citizen Kane, Kurosawa, your favorite Hitchcock movies) are generally loved for what they've accomplished and created-- the many genres we've come to know and love today. While great films have still been made to this date, there is no doubt that Hollywood has lost grip of original projects year after year. Now, we all so often hear: "Movies aren't like what they used to be." It doesn't have to stop there.

I really hope that we're not forgetting the fact that there are filmmakers out there who are greatly improving the genres. Filmmakers like Welles, Coppola, and Hitchcock have all pushed forward in creating new feats in filmmaking; much of the following generations have followed their footsteps. There was really nothing new, except people learning how to do things faster; for example, the use of computer graphics. There was a time when the use of CG animated landscapes, and characters became a breakthrough in filmmaking/visual effects. However, the use of CG in a film has quickly been abused. We've forgotten the importance of balancing the use of CG in a story.

Hitchcock's achievement with Psycho, the widely known film which has popularized the horror genre, parallels to the creation of CG and it's once successful breakthrough in filmmaking. What we now see today are horror flicks overusing the same forumla, and the constant need to resort to CG for our stories.

Movies aren't what they used to be because we've been recycling the same concepts over and over again. Great movies didn't end before the day I was born. As a person growing up in the "MTV" generation, I won't limit my appreciation to the good fellas who started it all. I can't say that "[they've] already used all the ideas."







Onto some other related (and somewhat tangent) notes:

I guess like many others, the films I favor are the ones which grab a hold of me. A film that evokes the strongest emotion out of me, or strongly engages my mind, are the ones I enjoy. However, the films which absolutely stun me are the ones which take up the challenge to improve a genre.

Judging from the large amounts of criticism coming from the IMDB boards, It's safe to say that Paul Greengrass isn't widely accepted as a "good" filmmaker. It always bothers me to hear complaints about his documentary style or shaky cam technique. It's an unfamiliar form of filmmaking which definitely goes against the medium, but it works. I see no other filmmaker capable of mastering that technique ( If it's not your preferred method of looking at somebody's painting, or listening to somebody's music, or watching somebody's method of cinematography, then that's understandable. Mocking a filmmaker for not being able to use a tripod is just absurd.)


The reason why I'm inspired by filmmakers such as Greengrass, Nolan, Boyle, (Spike) Lee, and (Ang) Lee is because of how they constantly make an effort to approach their stories differently. They seem to better understand how to tell a story without falling into a redundant rhythm of repetition. (What further deepens my appreciation for filmmakers like Greengrass, and Nolan, is how they work with their actors, and production crew.)

As a beginning film student, I am eager to pursue the same languages in improving storytelling. I want to start doing this by learning more about how any person chooses to live. With no regard to class, ethnicity, or any kind of background, there is a biography worth telling for every person on this planet. A story about a person's life never falls short of becoming interesting.

Sunset

I sat down, and began reflecting about some things.. about how I wake up in the morning, and get ready for the day. About every step I take from the 4th floor to New Montgomery street. Then I looked around the cathedral and began thinking about my faith. I looked around and felt overwhelmed with frustration.

I'm always battling with the choice to step away from my faith. But I know that I can't do that-- as much pleasure as walking away from it would bring me, it would not be worth destroying the peace He has given to me. Why would I want to forget that?

Another look

I've decided to name the short film project "No Joke".

I've started editing it a couple of weeks ago, and I think I'm about half way there. I'm trying out a lot of new things with this project-- finding a different approach to the storytelling, and using newfound tricks on Adobe Premiere. This project is definitely becoming a newer experience as I continue to work on it.


As great as exploring this new experience is, I find myself having the toughest time trying to tell this story. And I think I've realized why.

During the final days of shooting, and past week of editing this project, I've gradually come to realize that I don't want to involve myself in these kind of stories again. Not to say that this type of genre doesn't interest me-- it very much does. Making "No Joke" helped me better understand what type of stories I would prefer to tell over others.

Like I've always said, making this project was an experience I wanted (and needed) to look into. I wanted to see how far I could put myself into one extreme direction. And through that experience, I've gained a new perspective in filmmaking.

Shapes under lamps

Our drawing exercises in sketching for communication are becoming therapeutic.

I wouldn't mind spending more time on drawing those still-life objects in grayscale, or as my roommate majoring in fine arts would say, "five year old sh*t."

Man, I like it.




Looks like I'm gonna be having a pretty eventful weekend.

Heh, the project my Editing 1 professor just gave me is strongly pushing my emphasis away from editing at this moment. Learning how to make those .gifs on photoshop in my Intro to Animation class was tight-- definitely wanna try to do more than the required 4 frames. As for photo storyboarding, I'm just hoping that my slides will come out clean.

Same trial?

Been feeling a bit uneasy lately. I don't know if I'm just being paranoid about things, but I keep thinking about the wrong steps I've taken.. whether it be in the past, or even just something I did hours ago. It's really been wearing me down. It very much goes to the point of worrying about my hold with God. Falling away from that is the worst feeling.


Seeing that things turned out to be this way raises more questions about what God wants me to do. He definitely throws more things at me which I don't see coming at all-- like things that I wanted to forget about for a long time. I ask him why He would give me something that already caused me so much pain before. It's something I really wouldn't want to go through again.


All I can do is ask why, and continue to follow.