there's only time to do a project.. and another one.. and another one after that. when there's leftover time, i get to catch up on tv shows, grab a burrito, play one exhibition game of mlb the show, or do this. what i really should be doing is catching up on my sleep... right? sleep...

i've been working on a short film recently which i've been pretty excited about. the title of it is "rise" and the theme of the story revolves around the act of letting go of our burdens.

i'm pretty excited because this is the first time i got to shoot a project on my new hd canon hv30 camcorder-- capturing in 24p. although this higher format requires a little more patience during post-production, the results definitely make up for it.

like in any new project, i'm trying to experiment with new methods of storytelling. for "rise," i've been focusing my attention on sound design, and placement of music. i'm hoping to create a compelling experience through moments of silence, and allowing the subtlety of that to help develop the characters in the story.

i'm still in the middle of editing it right now--

i should be finished with it by next week!

this blog has been deserted for some time now.

i noticed that i haven't followed up with any updates for my involvement in the "sink" production... oops.

well, pre-production went fairly well for "sink." there was definitely a lot of logistics to cover for this 35mm shoot.

i was given another role for this project-- i got to work as the second AC... very exciting! my job was to pretty much work closely with our first AC, and cinematographer. i responsibilities were to clean and provide the lenses, handle the slate clapper, and haul a whole bunch of equipment. not to mention safeguarding the arriflex camera at all times.

we began shooting last saturday, at 7am, and finished production around 11:30pm on that same day. it was roughly a 17 hour shoot. having had no experience with working professionally on a 35mm project before, this was quite a learning experience for me haha.

it got very difficult to work as the second AC, and location manager at the same time. helping out the the rest of the crew while sticking close to the arriflex got frustrating at times. but i guess that just made things a whole lot more interesting for me during the shoot! there was a tremendous amount of effort put in by everyone on the team. miraculously, we had little to no complications with following our shooting schedule. i believe it's pretty common to run into some delays on this type of production-- but we powered through in time.

oh, and it was very exhausting... fun, but exhausting.

anyways, i don't think i have much more time to talk about anything else in detail right now. during this past month, i've basically settled into my new apartment, and began my fall semester at academy of art. i'm pretty thrilled about my third semester here...

for some odd reason, i was going through a very uneasy time during the summer-- and a lot of it had to do with my doubts concerning my stay at AAU. but i'm feeling very content right now...

some very exciting news--

i've recently been attached to a short film project, titled "sink." getting a pretty good taste of collaborating with different roles during the pre-production phase. i've been assigned as the location manager for the project-- hopefully i'll also get to help out with the grips for our cinematographer when we get into production. for now, i feel pretty content with what i've contributed; we have our locations set, and the crew seems pretty happy about it.

what's also exciting is-- we'll be shooting on 35mm stock footage, which just makes everything so much more legit. i dunno how i'm gonna contain myself when that arrives...

limit spectacle

when franz found out about the death of his closest friend, mccandless, he renounced the Lord, and became an atheist. "i decided i couldn't believe in a God who would let something that terrible happen to a boy like alex." (into the wild)

i think for the longest time, i always thought that i would blame God if he ever took away something that i could absolutely not live without. but, after reading what became of franz at the end of chapter six, i felt like.. that this wasn't the right way for him to feel. the mourning is what we inevitably will need to go through in order to endure, and overcome a tragedy. but to blame God no longer makes any sense to me.

mccandless was one of the most extraordinary people, and best of friends that franz has ever met in his entire life. mccandless changed franz, and showed him that there was more for him to seek, and grab in life.

God gave us gifts, your closest family.. friends. to say that he was the one responsible of taking away any of those relationships "away" from us-- who are we to throw those gifts away, and not appreciate what he has given us. shouldn't we be thankful for the time we've spent with out loved ones? and be thankful for what we've learned from our loved ones, and experienced with them?

in the last letter that mccandless sent to franz-- he wrote:

"you are wrong if you think Joy emanates only or principally from human relationships. God has placed it all around us. It is everything and anything we might experience. we just have to have the courage to turn against our habitual lifestyle and engage in unconventional living."

franz has been given a gift from God, and an experience which changed his way of living. i hope franz eventually gained the courage to put down the whiskey once again, and thank God for His gift to him.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/105580

"One night, as I'm standing on LaSalle Street in Chicago, trying to line up a shot for "The Dark Knight," a production assistant skateboards into my line of sight. Silently, I curse the moment that Heath first skated onto our set in full character makeup. I'd fretted about the reaction of Batman fans to a skateboarding Joker, but the actual result was a proliferation of skateboards among the younger crew members. If you'd asked those kids why they had chosen to bring their boards to work, they would have answered honestly that they didn't know. That's real charismaóas invisible and natural as gravity. That's what Heath had.

Heath was bursting with creativity. It was in his every gesture. He once told me that he liked to wait between jobs until he was creatively hungry. Until he needed it again. He brought that attitude to our set every day. There aren't many actors who can make you feel ashamed of how often you complain about doing the best job in the world. Heath was one of them.

One time he and another actor were shooting a complex scene. We had two days to shoot it, and at the end of the first day, they'd really found something and Heath was worried that he might not have it if we stopped. He wanted to carry on and finish. It's tough to ask the crew to work late when we all know there's plenty of time to finish the next day. But everyone seemed to understand that Heath had something special and that we had to capture it before it disappeared. Months later, I learned that as Heath left the set that night, he quietly thanked each crew member for working late. Quietly. Not trying to make a point, just grateful for the chance to create that they'd given him.

Those nights on the streets of Chicago were filled with stunts. These can be boring times for an actor, but Heath was fascinated, eagerly accepting our invitation to ride in the camera car as we chased vehicles through movie trafficónot just for the thrill ride, but to be a part of it. Of everything. He'd brought his laptop along in the car, and we had a high-speed screening of two of his works-in-progress: short films he'd made that were exciting and haunting. Their exuberance made me feel jaded and leaden. I've never felt as old as I did watching Heath explore his talents. That night I made him an offeróknowing he wouldn't take me up on itóthat he should feel free to come by the set when he had a night off so he could see what we were up to.

When you get into the edit suite after shooting a movie, you feel a responsibility to an actor who has trusted you, and Heath gave us everything. As we started my cut, I would wonder about each take we chose, each trim we made. I would visualize the screening where we'd have to show him the finished filmósitting three or four rows behind him, watching the movements of his head for clues to what he was thinking about what we'd done with all that he'd given us. Now that screening will never be real. I see him every day in my edit suite. I study his face, his voice. And I miss him terribly.

Back on LaSalle Street, I turn to my assistant director and I tell him to clear the skateboarding kid out of my line of sight when I realizeóit's Heath, woolly hat pulled low over his eyes, here on his night off to take me up on my offer. I can't help but smile."

- Christopher Nolan

watching the dark knight tomorrow night-- can't wait!

my interests are swaying.

i see white earphones everywhere-- i think i'd rather read a book, and keep my ears open to conversation.