friends with films

3 Hour Film Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 01:24:00 +0000

Test: Green Screen Test with Horses

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 02:37:00 +0000

Test: Spencer Takes a Walk

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 04:01:00 +0000

Test: another green screen test

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 03:53:00 +0000

Green Screen Test 3

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 02:02:00 +0000

Green Screen Test 2

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 02:02:00 +0000

Green Screen Test 1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 02:01:00 +0000

I Started a Film Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 16:01:00 +0000

Here is a poorly filmed recap of how it went.

New License for J

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 00:07:00 +0000

Happy V Day from J

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 01:57:00 +0000

JJJ #1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 01:50:00 +0000

Crystal Clear (I did not make this)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 01:19:00 +0000

Crystal Clear

I wish I could embed this, but just click on it.

This was a movie I forced myself on shortly before production for the Lansing 48 Hour Film Festival.

It was fun to see how a different group of people works together on this stuff. I wish I could expand my group of people I normally work with so I wouldn't have to own every part of the production.

Anyways.....

Script:
I'm not use to reading a script that's actually formatted. It was confusing, and shocking how little dialogue there was. I didn't like my part, so I decided early in to make it as creepy as possible. Most of which was cut, probably for good reason.

3 people viewing a house, me and another group... not sure if I buy it but it moves quick enough that it's sufficient for 5 minutes.

Sound and Video:
What a difference actual training and a crew can make. Aside from a few really dark shots I think it looks and sounds great. The neighbors were mowing the lawn for a good part of this and there was a hum through out the house, most of which was inaudible.

Overall:
I wanted to write this up because it was a fun experience and I think it came together really well. It won second place, I think they are mad that it didn't get first place. It's a winner either way. But now I'm out of things to say about it. It feels kind of impersonal... but I wasn't around for writing or editing so maybe there is a hidden meaning over being a homage to Arrested Development.

A++++ would work with again.

Open Position (a Kalamazoo 2880 film festival entry)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 02:38:00 +0000

This is the 4th 48 hour film festival video that I've been involved with. Actually make that 5th. This one went k considering the resources we had to work with. We pulled bio pic and some other crap that was quickly ignored.

Anyways:

Premise: biopic is stupid and I had way too many people involved for this to be anything like Titus was last year. I leaned on some of my cartoon tricks of just throwing awkwardness at the screen. Interview and the quickest way to fail without requiring much in terms of acting, props or planning.

It wasn't a biopic although for a brief moment I thought we were going to follow around the interviewer documentary style.

Video: the goal was to just have 3 cameras running at all times. The goal was not met as one immediately failed and the other two had battery issues. I wasn't able to pay attention to everything so the focus is all over the place.

Audio: I borrowed a nice boom mic from the public access station but as you can probably hear I didn't use it. On camera audio was all I had time or effort for as usual.

Script/Acting: we wrote some questions for the interviewer and I shouted stuff at the interviewees. Everyone sat in a room and figured most of it out while I played with the set. I think the prep or at least the comfortability shows, which is great because we had a lot of new people and the returning "favorites" were tired/unmotivated/pressed for time.

Editing: for the first time in these things I thought I was doing better than I was. Had a watchable first cut at 11 minutes before 10pm on Saturday (8minute final due at 6pm Sunday). After calling it an early night and having a couple hours wasted Sunday I was pushing it for time. I wanted to do a color correction and sound fix but I realized that I had accidentally deleted 3 minutes in the middle and that Final Cut Pro decided it was done working for me on this project. A last minute search and rescue of footage and slicing for time constraints made this come out a lot rougher than I was hoping for. Thankfully I found a fun public domain track to edit for transitions.

Overall: it is more of the same from mr, I keep having the dream of stepping my game up and making something that is interesting to watch on a visual/audio level. Something that can live on its own without having me force it on people. But considering I had about half the time and effort to give to this as normal there is an efficiency savings that I should be proud of.

Longer slightly prettier to see and hear cut coming soon.

10 things that would help me be more creative/productive

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 01:03:00 +0000

1. If I didn't have to wait for video to render/upload/convert. I would be more willing to try new things if there wasn't such a lag time in seeing how it turned out.

2. If I had an on camera surrogate. So I could pay attention in front and behind the camera.

3. If I had a larger living area to setup a permanent/semi permanent video room.

4. If I didn't have to drive so far to/from work. I would have more energy to work on worthless things.

5. If I had a way to accurately dictate ideas while driving.

6. If festivals/competitions were easier/cheaper to enter.

7. If I had the same amount of subscribers that I had when I did the cartoon.

8. If I could trust anyone to do anything without my direct supervision.

9. If I could light and record sound easier and quicker.

10. If I didn't have any other relationships, interests, or obligations outside of video stuff.

How many shots can I cram in 30 seconds?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 05:05:00 +0000

THIS MANY

John Carter is lavish, long, and not interesting

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 05:00:00 +0000

I have heard two things about the movie John Carter; that it won't make its money back and either it changed too much or not enough from the book(s). I will do my best to talk about other things.

The design of everything in this movie is so perfect it's boring. 90% of the cast is assisted or composed entirely of CGI and after 10 minutes I was accepting them as if they were the most boring objects in the world. They did not take me out of the movie but they also made no effort to bring me in. It all blended together with its bland design and technical competence.

John Carter is not strong enough a character to make me care about the insane amount of story this movie is trying to cram in. The guy plays him fine, but in Star Wars there were multiple characters that people could identify with to lessen the burden of exposition. But this movie falls on John's shoulders and aside from being a lovable brute, I'm not sure why I'm supposed to care about his issues on Earth and Mars. His alien pet did remind me of Spencer though, so props for that.

This movie takes a while to start and a while to end. The movie has a stuttering beginning and end. This movie starts 3 times and ends 3 times. Cut that out. It is annoying. You are not Lord of the Rings.

The princess in the movie is a much stronger actor and character than John is. I know we need an earth connection but I think there is a better story from her perspective. But then again she is a woman which no one would dare put an action movie around.

I have not given up on this...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 04:10:00 +0000

even though they have given up on me.

SMASH (orchestra tune up sound and lightbulb sign)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 01:51:00 +0000

There is a show called SMASH (all caps) on NBC right now. I haven't posted in a while so I thought I should go over some of the reasons why I like the show, ignoring all of the reasons I shouldn't like the show.

1. Musical!
I am not a cultured person so it is fun seeing how they are putting on Marilyn the musical. I am sure this is nothing how it is like in the real world but it is exciting.

2. Marilyn!
They don't actually talk about her much aside from her getting married to Joe DiMaggio but its neat to hear about in passing. I know nothing of history and Marilyn seems to be ingrained with a lot of it so it's all new to me.

3. Songs!
There are two types of songs in SMASH, the broadway style ones where they are auditioning or practicing with new music and ones where they are singing their feelings or kareoke something. The audition/practice ones are exciting and fun as they transition from real life to an imagined theatrical performance.

The feelings/kareoke ones are terrible and I skip them at first opportunity.

4. Girls! Gays!
I like decent female performances.... and despite a lot of corn this show has some. I also like shows that support my belief that every gay person is part of the New York theater scene.

5. NBC!
I just want this network to succeed. I don't want it to be #1 MUST SEE TV * SEINFIELD NOISE, but I want it to continue to make decent shows that stick around for a couple of years.

Last Monday's episode got 7.9 million viewers (I watch it on Hulu so I'm not one of them), hopefully that is enough for a second season.

CHOPPER FEST

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:50:00 +0000

I haven't decided whether this is the beginning or the end to my video producing days.

200- A Celebration of an Embarrassment

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:14:00 +0000

200 posts and nothing to write about.

I'll probably pull this down when I get too embarrassed. Don't watch it.

Here is more of that stuff you didn't like...

199- In Celebration of a Paid Gig

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:17:00 +0000

I have a paid gig doing almost creative stuff. It is probably closer to 10 gigs, pay and creativity levels are still up in the air. But it is mine, all I have to do now is satisfy the expectations of the customer and my skill/desires for the project. If you have heard about it specifically then good for you, I may be enlisting your (non-paid) assistance in the future, if you haven't then I'll tell you more about it when its done.

1. I want my work to be seen by lots of people.

2. I want it to be loved, I want it to be hated, I want it to be worthy of time and opinion.

I am starting to realize that I don't have the talent or resources to do both.

I was reviewing the new youtube layout and I noticed the view count for Management Material.... it's pitiful. Now even at the time I was making it I knew Management Material was super long and not very pretty to look at, but it had heart and I am so proud of it. One day I swear I am going to go back and make a really solid 15 minute version of it. It was relevant too, if anything it was a couple months ahead of its time.

My new project does not need Management Material, it needs about 80 versions of this and I can barely watch that, let alone make it.

HamilTEN Gaming- Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 06:09:00 +0000

YouTube!

(I have a very large video project coming up, thought I should do some test stuff just to practice. This is part of that test)

HamilTEN Gaming: Kane and Lynch 2

This is the first of hopefully many installments of hamilTEN gaming, looking at some of the current gaming experiences you can have for under ten dollars. The games in this series will be played until we decide whether it’s worth buying and at what price. We will be taking a look at Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days, which was found in a Blockbuster liquidation for 8 dollars.

Kane and Lynch is a third person shooter with online/splitscreen cooperative campaign and a very interesting visual presentation. There are other multiplayer modes but on the Xbox 360 it seemed like other players were nonexistent.

In Kane and Lynch 2 you play as wife beater mullet guy or less interesting dress shirt guy. They swear a lot and are some type of criminals. The story is mostly a criminal on the run type of thing and involves as much generic gore and crude language as the developers can throw at it.

The story and characters are ignorable but the graphics definitely aren’t. Everything is a bit on the generic side but it is coated in tons of digital video filters that make the whole experience look like an episode of cops shot on a cellphone camera. Shockingly the gimmick works and adds a sense of urgency to the shouting and shooting.

The gameplay is a loose gears of war style third person shooter. Things feel imprecise but it seems with the perpetual forward motion that the affect was intended. There is really only one path through every encounter and the answer its always shoot and move forward. Some of the non-shooting mechanics such as reviving a fallen partner are not implemented well and can result in some unnecessary restarts.

For what the game is the sound is well done. Guns and other effects have a meaty and slightly too loud sound which fits the setting and embedded camera person style graphics. Voice acting is competent although the script leans heavily on the 7 words you don’t say on television. The music is random chaos broken up by a random generic 80’s sounding pop song.

Mainly purchased this game due to the price and my interest in the graphical style, both areas the game succeeds with everything else being competent. The competitive multiplayer modes look very interesting, but if no one is around to play them then its not a selling point. The game seems short, I played it for about 3 hours and it seems like I am at least halfway through the campaign.

If you are a fan of third person shooters, split screen coop, or visual gimmicks we recommend this game at the ten dollar price point. Thanks for budget gaming with us, we’ll be saving our pennies until we can tell you about some other bargains soon.

Did you read it? BECAUSE I READ IT.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:34:00 +0000

First watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IAhDGYlpqY

Did you watch that video?

Good because I didn't. As a reasonably active Christian I see around a dozen links to Christian opinions or "analysis" everyday on facebook. They are usually posted, without comment or with a worthless comment like INTERESTING! This is what I think you are saying every time you post a Christian link.

"LOOK AT HOW I LOOKED AT THIS THING"

I don't think you care about what the article says or if I read it. I think you just want me to know that you read something. And maybe you want me to comment or like that you read something. Or maybe you want me to get offended at what you read because I have a different opinion. But then you can go back and say "Oh I just read it and thought it made interesting discussion." And then I would throw up.

This is turning into just another way to get into a pissing match over the Internet. You are smarter/closer to God/wiser/hipsterer than I am. See I admit it, and so does everyone else on your friends list. So now that we are on the same page, this is how you can tell me about the Internet.

"Here is a skit from Portlandia about people using how much they read as a way to compete with each other instead of actually enjoy themselves/learn about stuff. It also shows how we latch on to random crap we see over taking in the world we live in on our own. I liked it because it went along with how I feel about 90% of the links that people post on Facebook. The whole show is awesome and it's streaming on Netflix."

A while ago on the blog I went off on how people use their interests as a way to block others out. Don't worry if you didn't read it. That video right above? I really enjoyed it and I'm willing to not only post it but post my opinions about it and what it meant to me. I'm not trying to show you how awesome I am for finding it. I want you to experience it and would love to discuss it with you.

That link at the top of the page? I WATCHED IT BECAUSE ITS ABOUT RELIGION (I didn't actually watch it because its about religion, it was posted context free, and I want to punch the title/creator of the video in the face).

You are a Valuable Member of Our Team- Full Script/Outline/Junkpile

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 02:33:00 +0000

Here it is, a long outline of an idea that has haunted me since high school:

It was rushed and not as good as it was in my head. And in an effort to get all the plot down in a reasonable time I didn't write a single joke... they were all terrible so you aren't missing anything.

More egregiously I didn't write out any of the hypnotic monotony that comes with working in retail. In 2006 when I started experimenting with making stuff for the Internet, I tried to put some of these retail feelings in video form. This is how it turned out.

I don't talk about this cartoon anymore, so don't ask.

Thanks for reading, or pretending to read.

YOU ARE A VALUABLE MEMBER OF OUR TEAM- Epilogue

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

Our hero and A died with much media coverage, but little fanfare. Their deaths were spun into larger stories of upheaval and unrest. For some reason the police investigating the incident didn't really know what to do with the smorgasbord of history between the former project manager and our hero, so they offered a plea of vehicular manslaughter and it was accepted. The former project manager enters his correctional facility... not as a hero, but reasonably respected... he enjoys his time in prison.

The media coverage of the event scares away Wal-Mart and any other potential buyers of SS. With general merchandise cleared out and half of the stores empty, the founder worked with his family while on his deathbed to come up with a new strategy for the store. SS would not restock the shelves, they would lease out the empty store space cheaply to small businesses. This plan was not an overnight success but overtime SS became known as an incubator and champion of small businesses. Slowly SS reclaimed it's territory from Wal-Mart and evolved from an irrelevant superstore to a business that supported the community.

This transition included interviewing all employees for a third time and hiring them back in. Those that made the cut were happy to have health insurance and a paycheck that came from the place that they worked, not some worthless middleman of a contractor. SS used this time to clean house of store management, replacing bottom tier college grads with people who knew and cared about their workplace. Service manager was one of the few that turned down the job at SS, having our hero watch the store gave her a chance to think and explore other carer options.

One of those options was the recently vacated project manager position.