Edgar & Everything Else I Want To Remember

Tropfest New York 2013 TSI "BRIDGE" "Tropfest Signature Item"

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 15:17:00 +0000

Favorite Shots From Alan Algee's video

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Fri, 04 May 2012 01:58:00 +0000

Audience Retention Score - Victoria Victoria Promo

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:55:00 +0000

Take a look at how Victoria Victoria is tracking in Absolute audience retention.

Absolute audience retention shows the views of every moment of the video as a percentage of the number of views of the beginning of the video. Rewinding and re-watching a particular moment or starting viewing mid-video will push the graph upwards (perhaps even above 100%), while fast-forwarding or abandoning the video will push the graph downwards. Pay close attention to the first 15 seconds of every video. That is when your viewers are most likely to drop-off.

Doodle

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 13:45:00 +0000

Victoria Victoria Short Film Promo

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 23:42:00 +0000

"Victoria Victoria," is a short film produced by Patrick Miao and the NYC Filmmaker and Actors Meetup Group, written by Edgar Bajana and directed by Amit Sharma.

Starring Anna Clay, David Vega, and Riva Di Paola

This video was edited by Edgar Bajana. Title character and Victoria Victoria logo was created by Edgar Bajana

Red Card Production Photos DAY 2-3

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:09:00 +0000

Victoria Victoria Photo

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 04:00:00 +0000

While editing a trailer for Victoria Victoria, I found this shot that I really liked.

In this shot, David Vega is playing the role of the screenwriter.

Red Card Short Film DAY 1

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:44:00 +0000

Just finished up production on a short film called "Red Card." These are the behind the scene photos of Day One of production. Red Card is a drama about a married couple breaking apart. I assisted the cinematographer with lighting setup and some camera work on this day.

Terry Sasaki (Director)

John Vincent (Screenwriter)

Riva Marie (Producer)

Bunch of dudes looking at a camera

Guy with mustache is Patrick Miao (Cinematographer)

Janelle Gaeta (Female Lead)

Susan Vitabile (Crew)

Dennis Blackmen (Male Lead)

Cinematographer Jody lee Lipes

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 03:57:00 +0000

Jody Lee Lipes

Jody Lee Lipes' work in the film "Martha Marcy May Marlene" is the best photography that I've seen so far in 2012. Every frame has composition, rhythm and emotion that draws the audience's attention into a subtle story line where nothing really happens, until after the last shot. I highly recommend this movie for the cinematography.

Here's a link to some of his commercial work. http://jodyleelipes.com/commercial.html

Happy Birthday Candice!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 06:27:00 +0000

What I see is...

A Beautiful Woman

A Great Photographer

An Urban Adventurer

A survivor

A wonderful wife

These are the things that I see.

Happy Birthday Candice

In Today's Sketchbook

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 20:23:00 +0000

I have no idea why I drew this. EB.

So Beautiful, She Could Get Away With Murder

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 02:50:00 +0000

I was working on the Victoria Victoria story and I came up with character sketch below. The Victoria Victoria title card logo is suppose to depict one side of Victoria shattering, her unstable side.

Victoria Victoria Character Sketch

Victoria Stern went by the name of Victoria Victoria. It was her stage handle, a show business identity, a gimmick, a name she used to stand out from a burgeoning crowd of actors. It was the only name she decided to use after she left Big Blue and headed east to The Big North Easy, the Megalopolis of the Northeastern Seaboard, the Monster that ate New York City.

Of course, everyone who heard her stage couldn't help, but follow up with the next question. "And what's your real name?"

"Victoria Victoria." She always responded. She lowered her sunglasses down the bridge of her nose just so and deeply stared into the eyes of her inquirer.

With that one look, Victoria instantly disarmed them. Combined with a single facial expression, her silent stare screamed the following: I'm so fucking serious about my name. And that was a real fucking stupid question. And don't fuck with me - all in one glance.

Right after they saw how serious she was, her inquirer always stumbled back and tried to follow up their initial stab at her with a clumsy smile.

"It's all right. I always get that question." She helped them along in the right direction.

Victoria's beauty and stature demanded respect. She was elegant and regal. And people submitted. She expected nothing less but total control of the conversation, of her surroundings, of her future.

Anyone who saw Victoria saw something special about her the instant they glanced in her direction. Everyone's eyes poured over her like water. All they knew was that she was something special that they had never seen before. Her clear blue eyes captured the attention of anyone who spoke to her, even if it was only for a moment.

Long after anyone ran into her, they never forgot her.

Her eyes were the kind of blue eyes that Linda Carter, once had. Victoria's eyes were gorgeous and starkly contrasted with her dead black hair. Pass the glowing healthy sheen of her mane, there was something dark and inviting. If you stared into her long deep black mane, you could lose yourself for hours.

She was so beautiful she could get away with murder.

And she did.

Murakami, Auster, Salinger, Carver

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 02:30:00 +0000

I tried reading- what was that called again - Asimov's Foundation Trilogy. And I really couldn't finish it. I really couldn't understand what the heck was going after a hundred or so pages. So I put the thing down and moved on. And that's okay. I'll pick it up later. I thought about the authors that I do enjoy. So far, it's Murakami, Auster, Salinger, Carver. Their writing has as a rhythm that is similar in feel to poetry, like Murakami.

Murakami's "Kafka on the Shore" has the magical realism that reminds me of Carlos Castenda' "The teaching of Don Juan." I thought of the the passage below when I saw the Trailer for Alejandro Gonzalez's film called Buitiful." Javier Bardem's character is staring at a flock of birds circling around him.

Murakami writes: "Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isn't something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn't get in, and walk through it, step by step. There's no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverized bones. That's the kind of sandstorm you need to imagine.

An you really will have to make it through that violent, metaphysical, symbolic storm. No matter how metaphysical or symbolic it might be, make no mistake about it: it will cut through flesh like a thousand razor blades. People will bleed there, and you will bleed too. Hot, red blood. You'll catch that blood in your hands, your own blood and the blood of others.

And once the storm is over you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what this storm's all about." Murakami, Kafka on the Shore.

Turning Midnight Marauders into Penniless Poets

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 02:33:00 +0000

She turned on the light and an aging poet hobbled through the wooden arch of the spare room. He felt the cold air whisk up his nose. The room was a sunken place owned by an old love. The unmemorable poems that he had once dedicated to her long ago had finally paid off. And, this had made him feel meagerly warm. He felt content that his youth had produced something, something that he finally could run his hands over. He felt assured that whatever those words were. They turned the key counterclockwise and opened his eyes to a humble and meek living quarter. For now, this room was his bunker, a place to keep preserved from the cold and pale concrete streets.

He looked back. And, an old love was gone.

Alone at last, he thought.

Above the bed, the wooden frame of the window rattled from the pounding winds of fall. The restless leaves raced along the side of the house.

He walked a couple of short steps and sat on the bare mattress. The cushion bent down till his thighs felt the wire frame. He looked at the second hand desk next to the bed and somewhat thought of the prose he would compose there. Such as, when the walls of ones home cannot bare it no more, may the tide find a shore.

And, he had. He had found a shore to lay his thoughts on.

But to put those words on white sheets tonight were as impossible as laying on clean sheets tonight. The wooden pencil in his gray jacket, unsharpened for months. No. For years, he had felt uninspired to grab a moment and write an inch.

But, there was reason why his old love kept believing in him, while his family doubted him, forgot him. Or better said, he forgot them, his wife, his teenage daughter, and his little girl. But, there was a reason to stumble upon.

Tonight was his first night in the room and he wanted to be back with them already. If he thought they would take him back, he would trudge through the desolate lamp lit streets for miles, until he arrived at their door.

He blinked his eyes and they felt tired. Even in his tired state, he could not fall asleep. So he looked endlessly around and around his room touching everything with his blacken eyes. He thanked god that his old love never left the city. Even though they never spoke for more than a couple of sentences, they had something that people who lived together would never have, an unconditional love that never needed to be reassured. Somewhere decades past, he stumbled upon a kindred spirit. She knew him well, when he lived on the street converting midnight marauders to penniless poets.

During the whole time, she still helped him whenever she could, even if it was not right. And tonight was no different. If she had any common sense, she would have let him shiver underneath the bridges to learn something deeper, something harsher.

Then, his eyes passed the ragged rug and swiveled toward the corner of the concrete floor. He spotted something leftover from the last transient. It was a dust-covered pacifier. He walked over and grabbed it with his aching brown fingers and held it up to the glaring bulb. He knew exactly what it was and where it came from. It came from someone who stayed there not that long ago. It was someone who he loved or still loved now.

Megalopolis: The Big North Easy

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:10:00 +0000

Every writer has their own universe. In my story, I place my characters in New York City or Chicago. It did not feel right. All the these preconceived notion about story setting start to appear in the story. I want to create my own vision of a city, my own universe. I did want to call my made up city "Megalopolis 01." That sounds contrived and too futuristic.

So I looked up megalopolis and hit the wiki page. There are several megalopolis in North America. There is one on the North Eastern Seaboard and stretches from Boston to Washington. They used to call it the BoWa, but the name never stuck. So I decided to call the urban setting where my stories take place, THE BIG NORTH EASY which is the colloquil name for the "Megalopolis of the Northeastern Seaboard". This is a name that I can imagine my characters interacting with.

Script Not Ready: THE TELEPATH

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:30:00 +0000

Met with my filmmaker's meet up group today. Went over several scripts that are being considered for production. There were some really good ones. The following is a screenplay that I submitted to the filmmakers group. In it's current state it is not ready, feels unfinished and hard to follow. When I'm writing, it's hard to tell out what is working in a script and what isn't. I have to take another stab at this. Maybe I should storyboard this? Now, let me think. What is a working and what isn't? #1, stick to real names for settings. What is a dark orange room? And the list goes on.

The Telepath

Edgar Bajaña

Int. Dark Orange Room

Close up of a metal pendent swinging in and out of a warm spotlight.

Therapist (o.c.)

`Settle your mind Robert. Let go of everything outside of this room.

Wide shot of hypnotherapist, back lit with top half of body in shadow. There is warm light on the notepad, lap and legs. Robert West is lying on couch with a spotlight on his chest, breathing deeply. Close up of the pendent completing one full swing. Close up on Robert West eyes following the pendent.

Therapist

Are you relaxed?

Robert

No.

Therapist

Why?

Robert

Because you're not relaxed

Therapist

How so?

The metal pendent swings again.

Int. Dark Red Room

Therapist walks into a dark red room. A computer screen plays a newscast, but the volume is turned off. She is tired and stretches her neck. The therapist sits at the computer. She Google’s telepathy and reads an article about it on the computer.

Int. Dark Orange Room

Shot of a metal pendent swings again.

Robert (oc)

Your tired and you don't know what you've gotten yourself into?

Therapist

How so?

Robert

When I called I asked you if you've dealt with a telepath before and you said yes.

Pendent swings.

Int. Dark Red Room

Door knocks and therapist looks at the door. The therapist gets up to open the door, but there is no one in the hallway.

Therapist

I have dealt with a Telepath before...

Robert

Who? Give me a name.

Therapist

...Me.

Int. Dark Orange Room

Therapist leans closer to Robert.

Therapist

I can't help you, if you won't let me inside your head. So, stop pulling images out of my head and relax. You're safe here.

Robert.

Fine.

Robert follows the pendent swinging.

Therapist.

I want you to tell me the truth. Who are you?

Int. Dark Blue Room

Robert sits up at the edge of his bed.

Robert (to camera.)

My name is Robert West and I'm a Telepath.

Int. Dark Orange Room

Therapist crosses her legs.

Therapist

That's better. Why did you come here?

Int. Dark Blue Room

Robert sitting on his bed flip opens the laptop with the news of the day.

Newscaster One

A report has just come in. Five explosions have gone off in New York City. One in Queens one in Manhattan. Another in the Bronx, and...

Robert closes the laptop.

Int. Dark Orange Room

Robert (emotional)

There's a man out there blowing people up. And I'm the only one who can stop him.

Hypnotherapist:

Do you really think that you can stop him?

Robert

Yes. And you know who he is.

Therapist tenses up in chair.

Victoria Victoria Storyboards 1-9 (Bathroom Scene)

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:18:00 +0000

Here, I have some storyboards.

I wrote a screenplay called "Victoria Victoria," that was produced toward the end of last year. I also drew the storyboards. It was directed by Amit Sharma and produced by the Patrick Miao and the good people at a meetup of group in NYC that I participate in. (Go to connect page to find out more about them.)

It's a seven minute short film, about a mentally deranged New York City Actress that will do anything and become anyone to make it to the top.

There is a bathroom scene and these were some of the storyboards. In this scene we see Victoria in the bathroom. It is morning and she being confronted by one of her hallucinations.

First Author Bio. It's Kind of Personal

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:08:00 +0000

I wrote my first Author Bio today for my Smashwords website. I came up with the following. It's a bit non-traditional, but I like it.

AUTHOR BIO

The last time I went to South America, I traveled there to meet a writer. I was riding a bus up the Andean mountainside to a small village called Baños. A place that was well known for a network of rejuvenating pools and mud baths, heated by several hot springs.

Half way up the mountain, I was a frightened by the driver who took the curves of the road, hard and fast. I looked around at the other passengers, but they carried on without a care. As the bus jerked from side to side, I remembered my mother asking me why I was traveling so far away to meet this writer, this woman.

The first time I met this writer, I met her in a little shitty restaurant by the coastal town of Guayas. After fell into a conversation, we got to know each other better. Inevitably, I leaned over and asked her.

"What inspired you to become a writer?"

She said, "Each combination of words is a solution to a puzzle, a puzzle that completes a riddle."

"How so?" I asked."

She continued on, "The word is a password. A sentence is a puzzle. Every scene creates a narrow passage. And each sequence in a story unlocks a door. In the end, every room you pass through brings you closer to your own heart. And that's what you want."

After I heard those words from her lips, I was completely taken.

The rest of the way up the mountain, I tried to rework those words she said to me the first time I met her. I replaced a word here and there, but nothing worked. Finally, I arrived in the village of Baños and there she was. The whole time I looked at her and I could still not get her words out of my head.

Today I Sold My First eBook

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 23:50:00 +0000

Today, I took a screenshot of my Smashwords control panel. Smashwords is the website I use to make my ebook available on the internet. Right now, I have one ebook up.

I self-published "Man Before Machine" on 1/8/2012. And today, I sold my first copy. I am ecstatic.

Unofficial Widgets and Badges for Smashword Authors

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:23:00 +0000

I was looking for a Smashwords forum and I found one. Then I found a post linking to a page with unofficial smashwords widget, which are good for author websites and blogs. They have several types of badges and widgets and buttons on their site. One example of a badge looks like the one below.

Example of Bagde

Designing an eBook Cover

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:02:00 +0000

The cover design for MAN BEFORE MACHINE happened over several stages. I was inspired by a an image of a man standing in a wheat field. I liked the composition of it. Since the book is about robots, I decided to make the man a robot and the stems of wheat into tubes. The composition was simple and design changed very little from the beginning to the end. There were four stages.

The design began with a pencil drawing in my sketch book.

I took a picture and worked on it in photoshop and worked the contrast levels.

In photoshop I used a filter called plastic wrap. It gave the piece a 3 dimensional feel.

Finally, I added text in Photoshop.

My First Self-Published eBook

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:16:00 +0000

Last Sunday, I self-published my first short story through Smashwords.com. It was easy, fast and kind of amazing. I designed the cover and created the artwork. I have probably already made some mistakes. To live and learn, right?

What makes a good ebook? I don't know. But I do know that I will be able to figure that out, through trial and error. Read a sample of MAN BEFORE MACHINE at Smashwords.com On to the next one.

STORY PITCH

MAN BEFORE MACHINE

Episode 1: The Hunting Fields

Before John Pierce became a hero to the world, he was a teenager. He was a scrawny 15 year old kid who was kidnapped by a world much larger and darker than anything he'd ever known. Trapped and terrified inside the trunk of a speeding car, John had no idea that he would discover his true identity inside The Hunting Fields

Read a sample of MAN BEFORE MACHINE at Smashwords.com

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/120963

Pencil sketch into Adobe Photoshop

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 15:58:00 +0000

Original sketch

Adobe Photoshop Version

I'm Not Net-Worthy

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:06:00 +0000

Content I'll look up later.

1. Screenwriting Business Insider Book

Updated for 2012 this edition provides essential information, advice & guidelines for Screenwriters submitting their Scripts, Treatments, Samples & Synopsis' to Agents/ Producers/ Festivals/ Script Consultants & Development Organizations.

2. David Fincher explains his 9 movies

3. Laurence O'Bryan Publishing Journey with Harper Collins Part 3

4. Sean Andrew Murray's Sketches and Paintings

5. The Book Deal's ON WRITING A GREAT ENDING writing advice

6. Dead Robot Society Podcast #206 About Writing Groups writing advice

7. JUDGE DREDD Storyboards

8. Watchmen 2 Concept Art: Silk Spectre

9. Upside Down MOVIE TRAILER

The film stars Kirsten Dunst and Jim Sturgess as lovers of a sort. They inhabit two different worlds, visualized in the film as inverted images of one another, and where the world ‘up top’ is far more well to do than the one ‘down below.’

10. Christian Bale and Rooney Mara in Lawless

11. Terrence Malick's Tree of life Story Board Cain and Able Shots

12. Website Relaunch for 007's Skyfall

13. Raiders of the Lost Archives

Shot-by-shot comparison of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" vs. scenes from 30 different adventure films made between 1919-1973.

14. "L" Movie Teaser Trailer

A man lives in his car. He’s 40 and separated from his wife and kids, who live in a different car. They meet in parking lots. A professional driver, the man delivers honey to a narcoleptic man and often dreams of his friend, who was killed when a hunter mistook him for a bear. Frequently late delivering honey, the man is fired, and his driving skills are questioned. Thrust into existential uncertainty, he abandons “car life” and joins a rogue motorbike gang.

15. Music of Mission Impossible -Ghost Protocol with Brad Bird.

SoundWorks Collection: The Sound and Music of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.

Blade Runner Sketch Book, Syd Mead

noreply@blogger.com (EDGAR) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 02:44:00 +0000

Open publication - Free publishing - More blade runner