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Swine Flu Revised

Joe Zen — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:20:00 GMT

So the naproxen wore off and my fever went back up a little. But it's lowering and I think this will be the last sick day, hoping that I don't get a sinus infection right after this.

My wife went to the Texas Medclinic of rip off and tried to get a prescription for Tamiflu now that she has started showing symptoms since she has to take care of the high risk two year old, but the doctor refused to write a prescription. He said it didn't really make a difference overall but only if you were high risk. He checked her blood pressure and breathing rate again because he thought the nurse had done it wrong. There's a vote of confidence. Your first hour of waiting has been spent in incompetence, now let me tell you how you're wrong. Twenty dollars please.

Actually I told her just to walk out and not pay anything. She was clear that she wanted Tamiflu up front. It's like waiting an hour to go on a roller coaster and then finding out you're not tall enough when it's your turn to ride. Anyhow, they still owe me thirty five dollars for fraudently charging me because their double bills to insurance were denied. They tried to bill the insurance company for both a new patient visit code and an existing patient visit code.

The swine flu is over

Joe Zen — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:22:00 GMT

Finally, this morning I wake up and feel a world of difference. I think I actually slept from 2:30 to 7:30 as well. So it was about six days of having swine flu and three days of complete misery. But really, it's like flipping on a light switch. The main thing that remains is the annoying drainage and cough. Robert lost his fever Tuesday morning but he's still got a bad cough.

New Swine Flu

Joe Zen — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:02:00 GMT

Well, it's pretty certain, even as I feel even more like crap this evening. I have the oinker flu. What's worse is I didn't even eat any pork products. Then again there was that bacon at Jack in the Box....

I started my symptoms last Thursday with what seemed like an unexplained allergy response. Then Friday it got worse, and since there were no pollen alerts I knew it was something more. Lightheaded, coughs, sneezing, fever, runny nose.

Then last night it escalated to another level. I'm coughing so much I can't sleep. And then the disease screws up my sugar levels by acting against insulin and in pumping out extra cortisol into my blood stream. My fever is still around 101 most of the time. But last night the soreness set in. I don't know why it's been so slowly progressing.

This morning I went to the doctor's office. And they said insurance didn't cover a swine flu test and it cost $507. I can't afford that, but CDC said just assume flu like illnesses are swine flu and pass out flyers on what's happening. They didn't prescribe me any anti-virals since I'd already had it for the weekend. It's only supposed to last five to seven days.

I took my digital voice recorder with me and hopefully I can post something up of my experience.

Still working on the rough cut of the horror film. No word on the festival submission but the due date for the Luminaria submission is end of October.

Rough cut

Joe Zen — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:50:00 GMT

This is the rough cut of my last film

Rough Cut

San Antonio Highway B Roll

Joe Zen — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 18:29:00 GMT

Couple of videos for b roll for driving through San Antonio

North Star Mall Drive By

281 downtown approach

All night long

Joe Zen — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 18:48:00 GMT

Finally got home at six o'clock in the morning after arriving on set at 8pm the previous night.

My organization was a little better this time but I still failed to organize so that some actors could leave before other actors or arrive later than other actors. The dream shoot would be like a detailed schedule of what time crew arrives to help out and which time each each actor should arrive and what time their scenes would be shot at.

However one of the better experiences from the shoot was being able to film two scenes at the same time. We distributed out the filming so that some of the night vision or voiceover was being done inside and then other stuff was being done outside. I was afraid that since I didn't have a dedicated DP that I would start tripping over things and forgetting stuff. That could still be true but I didn't feel like it last night. I think the detailed shooting schedule is the key though. Know everything that must happen and when it must happen.

Now our footage is sort of divided up. The second assistant director has the minidv tapes that he has to export. I have the voiceover and hi8. The lead has the primary footage on his camera. We'll bring it all together and we have to get a product out by september 5th.

Another note to myself. I'll have to have multiple slates if I want to do more than one shot at the same time.

Planning a shoot for this Friday

Joe Zen — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:27:00 GMT

Planning a horror film short for this Friday and I really want to go all out in making it the best shoot possible. While I've already kicked myself in the balls by waiting for the weather of my mind to clear up, I can't help but feel lucky by the talented actors and crew I've got committed to the task so far. While dark horror isn't outside of my inner core of experience, it will be difficult to balance the humor. Really, to me, life is a joke. So why shouldn't there be plenty of humor in any genre?

But I've got to complete the immediate task right now. A script that can be shot in five hours.

Breakdown of a shot

Joe Zen — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:01:00 GMT

The scene isn't too elaborate on the script. The trannie-transformed Fred "Flash" chases after the killer "Cookie" and disarms her and arrests her. The only lines of dialogue are "I know you did it" and "Red Velvet Dream"- referring to the evidence. Anything else is improv.

Before going outside the DP decides that because he'll be moving the camera with the action that

he'll attach the shotgun mic to the camera instead of using a boom. The GRIP becomes

the PA and one role is reduced. The actors go to make up. The trannie-transformation make over

takes about 30 minutes to complete.

The actors wait inside while the unobscured sun beats down on the PA, the DP, and b camera

operator (CAMB ). The PA holds up a white sheet of paper for white balance. The DP asks him to

angle it so that it reflects the full light of the sun. Both the DP and CAMB focus on the white

sheet of paper, zoom in, and initiate auto white balance. The manual ring controls behind their

lenses automatically whirl and adjust.

THey compare gamma values on their screen to make sure they match. Sounds like F-stop values or

something. The DP looks into each camera to make sure the exposure and temperature match. They

go through this process a couple more times until everything matches up.

The DP then calls the SLATE GIRL over to work with the DP to simulate the actors. The DP firsts

suggest that the PA will come down a slight incline into frame and the SLATE GIRL will already be

about four feet in front of the PA. The DIRECTOR intercedes and points out a safety issue and

has the PA practice coming in from left of frame on level ground.

The DP gets the SLATE GIRL to start running and then signals when the PA should start running

from behind. The DP signals for the SLATE GIRL and PA to stop when they get to the desired spots

within frame. He has them position up and then marks their positions on the concrete so the real

actors will know the right spot to stop and use some dialog.

The PA and SLATE GIRL proceed with the rest of the test acting so the DP and CAMB can determine

their camera and tripods' (sticks) positions. The DIRECTOR calls for the actors, COOKIE and

FLASH to come out. MAKE UP blots the shinyness from the actors.

The SLATE GIRL gets the scene number and angle from the SCRIPT SUPERVISOR and writes it on the

slate- along with take 1 and the timecode from the DP. The DP asks for the PA to page him by

guiding him as he walks backward. The DP signals he is ready. CAMB and the DP focus on the

slate and it snaps. The DIRECTOR calls action. The actors perform the scene. FLASH's hair gets

knocked off during the action. The DIRECTOR calls cut. MAKE UP resets the wig and blots sweat

from the actors and makes sure their costumes are same. The PA gathers the high heels they

kicked off during the chase.

They reset the scene except this time they don't carry out with the full scene. The SLATE GIRL

marks take 2 and the new timecode and the SCRIPT SUPERVISOR makes corresponding notes from the

DIRECTOR regarding the results of take 1. Slate snaps and DIRECTOR calls action. The scene

goes normal, and the steps are repeated for takes 3 and 4, except the DP and CAMB get various

close ups of dialog and actions happening, like the shoes getting kicked off.

The DP then asks the PA to get an extension cord, or stinger, while he sets up CAMB on sticks. Some clouds are now covering up the sun so we gets MAKE UP to hold up the script while both cameras do white balance. MAKE UP resets the actors. They hookup CAMB to external power and they then do two takes of the action and wrestling scenes.

The DP then has FLASH fight the camera for about two minutes, alternating between punches and getting hit. The DP then has COOKIE fight the camera for two minutes, same alternating style of punches, kicks and getting hit.

The DP then resets white balance so he can do a POV shot from the point of view of COOKIE tackled supine on the ground. FLASH does his lines. COOKIE is finished and goes back inside to clean up. The DP then has the PA setup an air mattress where he can get a shot of FLASH jumping to tackle COOKIE.

That's a wrap.

Film school in 48 hours

Joe Zen — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 01:56:00 GMT

So after working 29 hours in a 42 hour window I can say that I've learned lessons that I might not have learned any other way except through film school or some other long drawn out experience. And while I was sad that I wasn't able to get off the waiting list and into the competition as our own team, I was glad that I was able to join another team of well established professionals.

This was the general gist of the framework for the competition. I arrived at our headquarters, a business office used by the assistant director downtown, and we met with some of the other team members. The team leader/producer and the lead actor left for the pick up point where teams got five guidelines for the script. After a little waiting we got the call from them. Our genre was detective cop- comedy or drama. We decided to go against swapping for wildcard genre (who wants a musical?) and then we received the other guidelines. The film had to be between four and seven minutes long. One of the characters had to be named Fred or Frida "Flash", who comes off as the walking encyclopedia. We had to have a cookie as a prop. And somewhere we had to use the line "I'll go back and check." So we then began brain storming while the producer and lead actor travelled back to HQ.

I think rather than tell the whole story chronologically I'm going to focus on roles and what I learned:

Lead writer:

The script writer for the team last year played this part. Amid the cacophony of everyone else's suggestions she drowned them all out and wrote seven pages of script. If things were done again, I think it would've been best to save all the arguing for after the first draft was completed and then go from there. Or even run it more like a regular production. Give the writer a catalog of what's feasible: locations, wardrobe, props, etc. And then leave them alone in silence to do their thing. Then only have the director, producer, and lead actors write their notes on the script. Then go on to the rewrite. The ability to come up with a solid and slim script is paramount to this competition. The lead writer did an excellent job of focusing and writing quickly. But in writing you've still got to have the flexibility of improvising. I don't know if it would've helped but I imagine a system of where you can color code, block out, or somehow specify in the scripts your essential elements. Like this event is the hero's or villain's motivation. Or this is where we show that the character is a walking encyclopedia. This is the setup for a later twist. This is a resolve. Or this is a supporting actor's trait that builds later reversals. This way if things have to be changed on the fly then the technical structure of the script can be maintained while allowing other things to be adjusted.

One thing I will say when trying to write a low budget script. If there are any big make up changes or transformations to the character this should be imagined like travelling to a far away location. Like we had a bar scene that had a pre-make up transformation and then a post make up transformation. Because applying the make up took thirty minutes- and takes just as long if you want to take it off- the bar scene really became two locations. Like the equivalent of driving thirty minutes to another spot. So while our script of four locations might have seemed possible, when you separate scenes that required make up and didn't require makeup, it suddenly becomes six locations which is very ambitious in a 48 hour time period. But I think we had a really difficult genre. Detective cop almost explicity implies multiple locations. And if everything is in just two locations then how much detective work is that? I think most people's dream genre is horror for this competition.

Production writer:

This might've been my role but I still felt like I could've done better. Looking beyond circumstances that were beyond my control or bad luck, I think the production writer has critical value in reinforcing the structure and characters setup by the lead writer. I think it's important that this role is different because you need instant objectivity that just can't be gained by the usual two week waiting period that a writer takes when working on a spec script. So after the director, producer, and lead actors make their notes on the original script the production writer should then incorporate these changes into a shooting script. He should then work with the script supervisor, assistant director, and line producer to make sure all actors, props, locations, and shots are scheduled. Some of these are things that the lead writer might do or the production writer does while others are taking notes so that calls can be made before midnight.

Then when it comes to shooting days, if there are revisions made to the schedule the production writer or lead writer should be on hand to come up with slim dialog or lines that maintain the technical soundness of the script while accomodating the changes made. We experienced this in a bar scene when time was running short. The scene required six angles and three speaking actors. However with one actor short and time running low, they combined the drug information role with the bartender role. This brought the scene from six to three angles- we had two cameras on the scene- so this saved a lot of time. And since the drug informant role only happened once in the script it had no substantial value for providing twists or resolutions. It really only served to allow the plot to move forward and provide some action where the hero roughed up the drug informant. The super psychic production writer should be prepared in advance to make changes that allow for scenes to be slimmed down in case time starts running out.

Director:

I think the best way to describe the director on a set like this is to be the master jedi for the whole team. He's the guy who in spite of all preparation finds himself in the trenches of the death star, dodging turretts and Darth Vader's TAE fighters, radios home that things are going good so they don't have to worry, and then suddenly has to fire two torpedos in a basketball goal across the court without the use of a targeting computer and save the day. In a perfect world the director makes the artistic vision of the film happen and helps the actor's realize their potential. In actuality the director is the fire chief putting out a high rise fire, and it's more a challenge on how to be the successful manager in an extremely high stress situation. Especially when you're also helping produce the film. I know from my past shoots you can't help but think in your mind, my money is on the line so don't f*** up people! In fact it may still be an educational experience for me to see what it's like when the producer and director are two different people.

But still I think for the director it is the hardest role to nail down a succinct OCD checklist. You've really got to be able to do everyone's job to a certain extent or at least know what things to check for to make sure they are doing their job right. You've got to quickly evaluate who is doing a good job and who can be left alone to help maintain your level of perfection. And then you've got to know how to replace, inspire, or train the people who aren't there yet to the level you want. I ultimately think the more you learn about all the other roles involved in the film the better the director you become. Or the better the manager. And hopefully when you're not managing there is some small room left for enjoying that powerful role of artistic director that you signed up for.

Script Supervisor:

This is a role I can say I knew existed but I knew nothing about how important it was to the shoot. The script supervisor works with the director, DP, line producer, writers, and AD to map out the shot list. Whatever is written on the slate, is written on the script supervisor's notes. They then write down the time codes and label the different angles and takes. The script supervisors tells what needs to be written on the new slates. They also write down the director's notes on whether or not a take was good. The script supervisor is the editor's savior. The editor should be able to then look at the script supervisor's notes when importing footage and then easily organize and separate each angle and all the bad clips from good clips.

Our script supervisor, the DP's wife, had a system to where she would write down something like 5.1b 11:34. The 5 was the scene number. The .1 was the take. the b was the angle. And then the last variable was the timecode on the tape. I think it was really cool that the DP and script supervisor had a really solid teamwork thing going on. Seeing two people with very different talents working so well to complement each other is really inspiring.

On my next shoot I'll definitely have someone do this role. Editing can be so time consuming and stressful, or at least the time between when you capture all the footage and then finally have it all sorted. I think the script supervisor can make editing a happy place.

The boom operator:

I did this role a couple of times. The main difference I saw between this and past shoots is that the director was the one that always had the headphones on and not the boom guy. And it really makes sense that way too. It's better if the editor just knows when it's best to start shooting- like when traffic or an airplane is passing by. The boom guy should be primarily focused on staying out of the shot and getting good sound. I've had past shots where the boom guy was totally pointing somewhere else besides the actors for some reason or another. You've got to be dependent on feedback from the DP or director on if you are pointing the shotgun mic in the right direction.

The director of photography/ Cinematographer:

I think having an excellent DP is the number one stress reducer for the director. You really don't want to have to worry about if someone left the slate in the shot, or someone's reflection is in the shot, or if the boom is hanging down in front of it. The DP makes life easy when they are synced with the director. As always you really can't pinpoint an exact description on the DP other than he knows his cameras and his technical stuff.

Some of the things our DP did to make sure things went right: he made sure the second camera was pointing on the slate so the audio could be synced. He made sure the white balance values with the second camera matched. He was aware of when the sun changed so exposure and white balance levels could be recalibrated. He listend to the sound to make sure it was coming through without static. He made sure the actors knew what positions were within the camera's range of motion. He let the actors know which focal points worked best for the camera, like when an actor did a contemplative shot or a fighting shot. Anything not related to the unnatural aspects of acting, the DP was the guy that made sure they were doing the right thing in the right spot for the right amount of time.

Gaffer:

We didn't really have a gaffer since the DP setup all his own lighting. Before the shoot I expected there'd be a bigger need for a gaffer on set. I was surprised that there wasn't some stereotypical person walking around to match this funny name.

Grip:

Again, the DP setup all his own lighting and we didn't use any gels or shutters. So no grip on set.

Assistant Director:

The assistant director stayed behind and supervised the editing process- though I think he also did editing too. The assistant director made sure all releases were obtained for the project. He got all the actor's contact information and did casting with the director. He made sure someone called the actor's and scheduled their times on the set. He knew the general schedule of the day and when things were supposed to happen. I think the AD is also one of those big stress reducers for the director.

Editor:

I didn't participate in the post production process. We only had a couple of machines with editing software and many editors. I also have never edited in final cut so that pretty much exempted my part in that process as well. I did sit in on the editor while other shooting was going on. After the first scene had been shot, the tape was sent to the editor so they could then start loading the tape into the computer and mark all the ins and outs on the footage. They then binned and categorized all the clips according to the Script Supervisor's notes. I think this is a key process I would've left out had I done my own team this year. I would've found myself working Saturday night to Sunday at 7 trying to get all the editing done when what I really needed was someone who could've start the editing process the second we started shooting.

I imagine a secondary role that could be assigned for the 48 hour project would be special effects editor. So if there were any complicated special effects scenes they could be done first and then handed over to a special effects editor so they could then start doing their magic with plenty of time to spare.

Sound Editor:

I didn't get to peak over the sound editor's and music composer's shoulder. All I saw was that he had a keyboard and direct MIDI hookup to the computer where he could watch the film and then compose music for the scenes in real time.

Line Producer:

I think a couple of people played this part or at least different people took separate responsiblities for each scene. I'll have to pay more attention to this role in the future but I can imagine they would be the person who secured all the props and maintained the continuity for each location across different scenes.

Make up:

We had heavy make up in our shoot since we had a cross dresser transformation on the main character. Other than this task, there always had to be a make up person with blotter and powder to de-shine people's faces and make sure continuity was maintained like between different takes, especially in action scenes. The make up artist also did all the preliminary make up before scenes started rolling.

Hair stylist:

Our hair stylist worked with maintaining continuity in apperance and sometimes did make up as well.

Photographer:

It's real easy to miss those funny moments on set when you don't have a photographer around. There's also moments where you need photographs for scenes instead of live footage.

White balance person:

On each shot there was always one person ready with the blank back side of a script to provide white balance for the camera operators. For those not familiar, the white balance person holds up the blank sheet so that it is evenly and brightly lit up. The camera operators then zoom in on the sheet and use their auto white balance function to calibrate their cameras.

Slate person:

There was always one person that had the responsibility of writing down the script supervisor's and DP's information on the slate for each shot.

Kraft Services:

We had a great crew member who made breakfast each morning and made sure snacks were available for all the actors and crew. This is always a great director stress reducing role.

Producer:

Always be mindful of who is forking out more cash than everyone else on the shoot. Even though teams usually pool money together there's always a couple of people who are donating a lot more. Electricity and air conditioning ain't free and neither are all the favors that the producer may have had to pull to bring everyone together.

Production Assistant/Associate:

I played this role a lot during production. Being the OCD-plan-for-the-worst-freak that I am I made sure I packed anything imaginable within the trunk of my car. Some of the things that came in handy were rubber bands, an extra mic shock absorber, gaffer tape, extension cords (which are called stingers), adhesive putty, a US to european mic thread adapter, and an air mattress. Some of the things I could've used were jumper cables, superglue, and pliers. Some of the things I didn't use: first aid kit, paintball gun with wood debris, clamps, rope, and posterboard.

Overall the 48 hour film project was a success for me because I learned so many things that I would've never learned in any other way. And in spite of the hours that I spent on set, it was much less stress than my regular job. If I had done my own team I probably would've spent around $200 out of my own pocket. I got to learn from pros for only $50. That's a bargain to me. Next year if I don't procrastinate then I'll try my own team. Or I might have fun and team up with someone else again. Either way, this is my type of vacation. Meeting lots of new people and learning lots of new things.

Health normal maybe?

Joe Zen — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 01:33:00 GMT

On a side note I think some of my health problems have become clear and things are starting to become much better. I'm still doubtful of the longevity of my turn for the better but I suppose I should just go with it. I think we had come to the last couple of things that could explain my low testosterone issues, a big part of the problem. One is a 24 hour cortisol test to see if my hormone system is being thrown out of balance by weird adrenal glands (I still have secret hopes that my cancer insurance will finally pay off), and the other test was a sleep study to see if I had apnea. Well, I thought there's no reason in spending more sick time at yet another doctor's appointment- especially since I'm all out of flex money and I know my circulatory system is 99% in the clear after the carotid ultrasound- so I decided to do my own sleep study.

I setup the camera on a tripod and then set my mic on the couch. I then laid back and went to sleep. Of course before I made any health discoveries the first revelation was a strange behavior that I like to think of as sleep typing. Just unexpectedly I raise both arms straight up into the air like a sleeping zombie. I hold them up there for two minutes. I don't know what I was doing since my hands were out of frame though I like to pretend there's a rational explanation like I'm coding genius software in my sleep or some nonsense like that. (In the morning my wife confirmed that this is a common occurrence for me and that my arms will often hit her when I finally lower them.)

But sure enough after awhile I do have an apnea-ish experience. From what sounds like blockage in my nose, I stop breathing for about five seconds, make a choking noise and then resume normal breathing. And then after becoming aware of this apnea it affected my dreams for the next couple of nights' dream experiences. I occassionally in my dreams I would be choking or being strangle for a couple of seconds- though I wouldn't die. Then the dream would resume as normal.

As soon as the next pay check came around I went and bought a salene rinse and some nasal strips. I've used the salene rinse a couple of times and then every night I take a 12 hour mucinex D and then wear a nasal strip. The restfulness I feel upon waking up is unimaginably astounding. I really thought everyone else was tired and groggy in the morning after eight hours of sleep. My energy is restored and I have secret hopes now that I might actually be able to successfully pull off my two job schedule again.

However I still feel acute numbness in my face. And the more I think about it the more it becomes clear that the numbness is appears to be focused around my sinuses. I don't know what this means but I'm going to see an ENT doctor next month. He'll be able to tell me if any type of nose job would out weigh using nasal strips and decongestants.

Another match up I came across with my symptoms was relating my heat stroke of 13 months ago with minor traumatic brain injury. It would most certainly explain the severe dizziness I felt the month or so after the incident and then the slight increase I've seen in attention span, anger, mood changes, and memory problems I've experienced lately. One friend said mTBI's can't be seen through any imaging tests but about all that can be done for them is the same as ADHD treatment- ritalin or similar. Luckily I've already been on that-I thought it was an ADD flare up if there is such a thing- and I think it has helped.

So hopefully with a week or so of good sleep behind me I can go to my endo in a couple of weeks and then get tested for testosterone and zippity doo da everything will be a wonderful day. Except for the sinus facial numbness- but maybe that's related to the mTBI too or hopefully the ENT will know.

My thoughts on healthcare reform

Joe Zen — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:42:00 GMT

I felt like I had to write this before I could do anything else. It's been bugging and I finally completed it and faxed it to my representatives. Now I can sleep soundly knowing that I will be ignored. Click the link below to read.

Health Care Is Immoral

If a blogger stops writing in the middle of a forest does anyone really care?

Joe Zen — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 05:58:00 GMT

I don't know what I'm doing. It's late at night and I should be in bed except for the 128oz Diet Dr. Pepper I've just drank to help me finish some coding. I'm walking through the kitchen, I suppose checking my OCD stuff but really that's second nature. But then what do I see but that unmistakable shade of brown. Like the brown of a nice piece of cherry wood that gradiantly rolls to black except that it's a sick transluscent matte polish. The little twin wires feel the air, wondering if they've been spotted by the big moving mass. He's probably trying to tell me I'm blocking his light.

For me it's a panic decision. Do I risk trying to find a suitable flat heavy object or do I use my hands. The loathing wins over the fear of stickiness on my hands. I swipe at the roach with the tips of my fingers. I make contact. But it's not a fatal blow. The brown behemoth twirls on it's legs like a dog chasing it's tail. I grab a napkin. No I'm holding one. That's what I'm doing here. I use the napkin- makeshift kleenex a minute ago, now makeshift body bag- to grab and deathly squeeze the roach. Quickly. Throw in trash. Wash hands. Scrub. Soap. Wash hands. Shake rinse.

The roach always seems to be the reminder of the American dream and our manifest destiny. While I think what can I do to eliminate all insects and foreigners to my civilization, I ask myself if I'm really fooling anyone. Outside the house is grass. it may be trimmed but under that grass is dirt. And in the dirt is bugs and insects and worms more galore. They'll eat my house, eventually. If I do nothing, it will consume me. A constant reminder. Like the sweat and adrenaline that begins to drench me now from my hypoglycemic state. If I do nothing it will consume and destroy me. Yet I choose to write about it just a little bit longer as I watch my recording of the Colbert Report and pound on my laptop just a little bit longer because it sure beats the cacophony of the typewriter.

But yeah, I really hate roaches. I've been in a bit of a writer's block of laziness lately. I've been helping others with their projects and pretending occasionally to work on my own. It's been a stalemate and I don't really know how to fix it. However I did purchase a 1966 manual typewriter that hopefully prove my cure. It's satisfying to type slowly and deliberately, having the comfort that there is no delete or erase key. In August they'll hopefully have made a trailer for the Alvarez film. http://www.thealvarezvietnam.com/ Yolanda does a great job.

Went to a workshop at the San Antonio Film Festival. Adrian Belic talked about making documentaries. It was enjoyable. I still get way too excited talking to successful film people. There's more I could write and educate but the low blood sugar is calling.

Someday I'm going to finish this side job

Joe Zen — Wed, 13 May 2009 03:05:00 GMT

I've been spending most of my spare time these days to working on a side job- that'll hopefully allow me to buy a Canon HV-30- and in getting my health checked out. About three weeks ago I did do a comedy shoot. I've still to edit it though I have to get it done before the 15th if I want to submit it to the local festival. Though the cholesterol and pain medicine I take in the evening make it nearly impossible to stay up late. Even now I'm staying at my computer wondering how I'm going to stay up another couple of hours to get something workable out for this client.

One of the guys who did the audio on my last shoot is organizing a shoot for Sheryl Faber's Another Day in Paradise script. He heads the local screenwriter meetup.com group. I need to lead the production efforts, though I hope I'll be able to give it the same or more attention than I've been able to give my own filming as of late.

As far as the health the neurologist couldn't find anything. So no Lupus, MS, or B12 deficiency. Next is an echo cardio gram from a cardiologist this Friday. Sometimes I think I could have weird chest feelings, other than indigestion, sometimes but I've forgotten a very long time ago what it is like to feel normal and healthy.

Anyhow, the secret to all avenues in life is to first have cash. The second secret is persistence and diligence. The third secret is charisma and luck. If you don't have cash then you'll need to get two jobs. If you don't have persistence then you'll need a boob job or freakish looks.

Filming Speed- Down to 4 hours for 3 minutes

Joe Zen — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 02:52:00 GMT

Did my second big shoot today. I was stressed out a lot last night and this morning but it ended up going pretty good. Hot muggy rooms are never fun from all the lights and people, but I think it still went well. I think the two biggest reasons: I had a list of shots I needed, I had a checklist of all the items I needed for the shoot, and I DID NOT ACT. I really don't know how some do it, except that they have like thousands of people behind them to make their job easier so they can pop in front of the camera. There was four actors and three crew- including me- and then one extra. I was hoping to make two quick vids but by the time we finished filming Out of Air we only had like twenty minutes left and the lead for the next vid had another gig at 3. But I hope next time I can figure out how to do multiple sketches in less than four hours.

I think one thing that would help would be if I do a more thorough shooting schedule where I only used the actors when I needed them. That would maybe one person could arrive late and then others arrive at a certain time. Also I can know for sure when I'm done with a certain actor for the day. The whole filming process has my cogs thinking of ways to make the process for efficient. Like wouldn't it be cool if you assemble the film as you shoot? Like if you had a camera you could upload a storyboard into and then press the frames you are filling in when you start a certain take.

I'll probably download it to my computer tomorrow and then leave it alone for a couple of days. Then go back and do the long editing haul. At least it's in 4:3 standard and not HD.

This morning's filming

Joe Zen — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 21:12:00 GMT

Day 1 working vacation

Joe Zen — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:57:00 GMT

Today is day one of vacation and so far I've spent this morning working on my latest sketch. Of course it's been full of time wasters from the get go. I setup my light bulb explosion contraption. Wrap foil around the top of the fixture and then tape some ice in there so the water will drop on to the hot light bulb. Onlyyyyyyy, I couldn't find one of my 100 watt light bulbs. I only had a 60 watt one. So first time the ice took forever to melt but no explosion! However while setting up the other lights, one of my tungsten 120w flood lights blew up. Maybe there are ghosts! Wasn't too much velocity, looked like the big end of the bulb just decided to detach and it feel to the ground to a million pieces.

So I search the house again for the 100 watts I thought I had but no go. Did find a 75 watt. (And today is zero budget, so no trips to the store.) But of course the 75 watt doesn't work. So I said screw it, I'll cheat. So I reset the ice rig and then aim with my bee bee gun. Water drops fall down, boom! I did it at 60fps so hopefully it'll provide some interesting detail.

But that has taken so long that now I have to recharge the battery on my camera. And a lot of the shots are like right on the ceiling so I don't think I have any cords that could reach that high without tilting the camera. I rigged the tripod up on one of trash bins.

Anyhow, still no numbness today. Wish I could've done some of this last night but was too tired. But I do have a script this week with more defined events and angles. I think the only thing that will take is compositing the light bulb explosion with me telling jokes in the background.

Okay, this camera has charged enough. Let's have another go.

Incredibly Excited

Joe Zen — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:06:00 GMT

I'm incredibly excited for the rest of the week. I'm taking off Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to work on my best commercial script concept. I'll finally be able to use that 11am caffeine high. Even better today, the numbness hasn't come back. At least nothing more than normal. Still not sure what caused it. Haven't taken any Alleve or inhaler this morning. Though from looking on wrongdiagnosis.com it quickly becomes apparent how many people have spent thousands of dollars on medical tests only to not find any result. That's the main thing that bugs me with the House show. Thanks Dr. House for saving my life. I could've died and left my family with a 100k life insurance plan but now I can stay alive with 500k in debt.

I'm going to film another Malmood tonight, but then I have to switch to more girly humor. No more dick jokes! The main difference between guy humor and girl humor is girl humor is usually situational and guy humor is usually debasing one liners. Guys are interseted in demeaning the status of others. Girls are interested in getting a status guy. So it's about the obstacles and clumsy luck they come across in that pursuit. If you read most embarassing moments in a Seventeen magazine, it's all about silly things they did to a guy they wanted to impress or on a first date.

I've got a new drug I'm on, Concerta. I'm hoping this will help me stay focused. I've already noticed some improvements this week. If I can become a superman worker again through drugs, I've got no problem with that Tom Cruise. Better than having to rely 100% on caffeine for energy and oomph. I'd rather not have to drink caffeine ever again, but we'll see if that ever happens. Maybe if I start exercising since the caffeine is mainly a crutch for the high sugars.

Is it stress, diabetes, or something else? Losing health...

Joe Zen — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 05:45:00 GMT

This week has been interesting. While I have hopes of developing some ideas and getting some stuff down, the focus and attention isn't there. But especially over the last couple of months the attention problems have gotten really bad. It's a major challenge to get any type of productive work done, writing or regular.

I went to the doctor on Friday and got some tests done. Hopefully whatever the problem is can be diagnosed and cured. Or at least if it's something terminal, hopefully it will be fast. Last Saturday I had my whole right side of my body go numb. I could still feel pain and stuff and my face wasn't droopy but it was bad enough for me to notice a lack of strength in my right side. You can especially notice a general numbness from things like your pharynx or stomach going numb. Like a long lasting strip of chloraseptic. (The pharynx is hard wired to the left side of the brain and not anything to the right.)

The doctor gave me some drugs to help with the focus. Hopefully those can help me finish up my work today so I can be stress free for vacation this week. I just hate the thought of becoming someone that isn't me and living my life disabled like my father. When I die I want my kids to be sad and not relieved.

I'm lazy

Joe Zen — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:45:00 GMT

I've been sort of lazy the last couple of weeks. At least got another video out this week to keep my howtobeterrorist.com channel going and have been trying to secure a location for another comedy series idea I got. But I decided I need to work up some money to be able to at least pay for a camera man. I negotiated with a friend and got an after hours assignment that will pay me enough to buy a Canon HV30 when I complete that. The camera quality looks awesome and you can get kits on ebay that include the aluminum case and wide angle lens amongst other things. When I think about getting that camera it motivates me to work. I'm not sure how I can restructure that for my day job. It's sad but somehow imagining my kids homeless isn't as inspiring as having a high quality HD camcorder. Maybe I can imagine my kids holding HD cameras?

But I also scheduled some vacation to see if I can spend some dedicated time on a commercial script. I know I can sell a story and I have awesome creative power. I just need to get the bleepin script written. Well, back to work.

Limbo

Joe Zen — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 05:35:00 GMT

Went to a local promotion last night for Jesse Borrego and Danny De La Paz. I think in the long run film making is just about setting social networks and connections. My assignment's producer, Yolanda, was there. She introduced me to Jesse and othes there. She's always been real good about that. Here she is standing in for a picture with Jesse and Danny. Jesse's latest role was on Dexter as "The Skinner" or George King. Of course, is it really appropriate to tell another person, "Hey, you were a great serial killer!" Then Danny De La Paz has been on many films, but most memorable for his roles in cult classics American Me and Boulevard Nights.

The event took place in a small street front store that I think Jesse, or Cine-Studio, is renting. It's down in the heart of downtown old San Antonio off of La Presa. They had a DJ playing some Bando music and a neighboring jewelry and crafts store had timed their opening for the same night. Out back they were playing Boulevard Nights on a projection screen. An old but really good movie. Met one of the actors I saw at the Double Dagger premier. Bought an autographed DVD from Jesse and Danny. Not a bad night.