12 Films In 12 Months

We Need Your Help!

Ian — Mon, 18 May 2009 01:32:06 +0000

Christina and I are finalists in a contest for Lowes and we need your help (and votes) to win! This time the prize isn’t fame or glory, but rather something completely practical that we could definitely use: lawn equipment.

Here’s how it works: go to YouTube.com/Lowes, click on “Vote”, find our video (you can watch it below), and give it a “thumbs up”. There doesn’t seem to be any limit on how often you can vote or how many times, so vote early and often! Thanks!

Susan Boyle & Reordering the Measure of Beauty

Ian — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:38:43 +0000

If you haven’t seen Susan Boyle’s performance from a recent “Britain’s Got Talent”, I recommend clicking here to check it out. It is a remarkable and stunning clip.

I absolutely love Lisa Schwarzbaum’s commentary on it over on the Entertainment Weekly PopWatch blog:

In our pop-minded culture so slavishly obsessed with packaging — the right face, the right clothes, the right attitudes, the right Facebook posts — the unpackaged artistic power of the unstyled, un-hip, un-kissed Ms. Boyle let me feel, for the duration of one blazing showstopping ballad, the meaning of human grace. She pierced my defenses. She reordered the measure of beauty. And I had no idea until tears sprang how desperately I need that corrective from time to time.

Thank you Susan Boyle for reordering the measure of beauty for us this week.

The Beginning of Indiana Jones

Ian — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:54:01 +0000

This is fantastic. Someone somewhere came across a 125 page transcript of the story meeting between George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Laurence Kasdan when they first sat down to brainstorm and create “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and the character of Indiana Jones. That same someone then scanned it all to a pdf and posted a link to it here, so that the rest of us could enjoy it.

I’m still working my way through it, but it is wonderful to be a virtual fly on the wall as Lucas & Spielberg dream and plot their way through the characters and story ideas that would become “Raiders” (as well as a bunch of ideas that got cut from “Raiders” and then used in the later Indiana Jones films).

For a few highlights from the transcript and a great analysis of it from a screenwriters perspective, check out this post from the Mystery Man on Film blog.

Melting Chocolate Bunnies

Ian — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:45:56 +0000

I saw this video a little while back & it came to mind this morning. It’s beautiful, odd, playful, sad, & strangely tragic all at once.

A little post-Easter chocolate bunny video art for you:

A Short Love Story

Ian — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:01:12 +0000

I saw this wonderful stop motion mixed-media short in the collection of 50 Incredible Stop Motion Videos that I posted a while back. I think it’s sweet and beautifully made:

VOTE FOR TOM!!! (and Tom…and Tom…)

Ian — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:37:17 +0000

Tom Pollard, who was part of several of my short films last year is one of five finalists in the “Sing In The Shower” contest put on by Garnier. He needs your help to win! To view the video of Tom performing Madonna’s “Material Girl” while being accompanied by himself &…himself, click here & then select the “Online Video Contest” (the “hot” shower handle on the left). Be sure to vote for Thomas P.! You can only vote once in the contest & if you do, you’ll be entered in a contest to win a 8GB iPod Nano! So head on over and vote now!!!

Where The Wild Things Are

Ian — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 03:37:45 +0000

This trailer is absolutely wonderful. I’m very excited for this movie:

April Fools Day (in HD)

Ian — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 01:52:26 +0000

In celebration of today, here’s last April’s film, “April Fools Day”. Now in HD! (click here & then click the “HD” button to watch the larger version)

TED Talk: Elizabeth Gilbert: regarding creative genius

Ian — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:53:20 +0000

I felt a subtle ring of truth as I watched this paradigm-shifting talk from author Elizabeth Gilbert about her study and thinking on the nature of creative genius.

ht to bob carlton

12 Films Movie Posters

Ian — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:08:11 +0000

For Christmas this last year, my wife Christina surprised me with an incredible gift: she had full-size movie posters for all 12 films designed, printed, and framed for me. Needless to say, they turned out incredible. They were designed by our friend Daniel Benitez, and he did a fantastic job of giving each one its own unique style and look.

Film #1: Mystery Box

Film #2: Click Click

Film #3: Paper Covers Rock

Film #4: April Fools Day

Film #5: I Don’t Want To Live On The Moon

Film #6: Eliza’s Last Day

Film #7: The Pick-Up

Film #8: No Rest For The Weary

Film #9: Shadow Of Revenge

Film #10: Going Postal

Film #11: Skytalkers

Film #12: Home For Christmas