Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Focus

I just wanted to share the music video I finally finished for local artist Chris Burns, on his single Focus.

Written, Directed, and Edited by yours truly.
Performed by Chris Burns, Joanna Eliza Stevens, and Johnny Sawyer.
Cinematography by Marco Cordero.
Assistant Direction by Jesse Chapman and Priscilla McEver.
Makeup and Costumes by Janine Godfrey.

I will have a list of the extras up here soon, but the band The Fling is also featured in the video, during the beach scene. Enjoy, and please tell me what you think!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Announcement!

Hello, fans and admirers. I have officially finished an assembly of my Capstone film - Edgar's Last Donut.

Woo!

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Some Inspiration

I've been mulling over something I read last night. Occasionally I stumble across something that I read, something true, that strikes me as so deeply sad that it's ingrained in my memory forever.

Last night, after revisiting A Hard Day's Night, I was reading an interview Paul McCartney did for Playboy in 1984, where he was asked about his response to John Lennon's death, which he'd never really talked about. Not surprisingly, he said he still hadn't really let it process, because it was just too much to take in.

But this story really, really got to me:

---
PLAYBOY: Once you began to understand Yoko, Paul, did you two talk about
John?

PAUL: Yes. We did. In fact, after he died, the thing that helped me the
most, really, was talking to Yoko about it. She volunteered the
information that he had . . . really liked me. She said that once or
twice, they had sat down to listen to my records and he had said, "There
you are." So an awful lot went on in the privacy of their own place. So,
yes, it was very important.

---

Anyway, I guess there's really no need to explain why that hooked inside of me so firmly. It's horribly tragic, isn't it? They had this incredible bond, and it never really got to be completely repaired. The rest of the interview can be read here.

So, like I said, that piece of information has been tugging at me all day. And then, to top it off, I found this amazing photograph by David Bailey that is now my desktop image -



It's possibly the jump I needed to get my brain working again. I've been in a creative slump for the past few weeks, with school and all. I'm very intrigued by this whole relationship and story. I don't know if anything will come of it, but since it affected me so, and sort of got the gears running again, I felt it necessary to share.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Snow



So, apparently we had snow flurries in the Central Florida area this morning; a capper for the coldest day in years.

And I missed it. I missed it, and I've never once, in my whole life, witnessed snow. Sigh.

Snow Falls in Central Florida

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

New Year's News

I don't even know where to start. I suppose first, and foremost, let's talk about what happened on New Year's Eve, and then we'll move on to other stuff.

1.

To the left of the screen, you'll see a picture that looks kind of like a crater in the middle of a street.

It looks like that because it is a crater in the middle of a street.

Last night at approximately half past one in the AM, a bomb was detonated about four houses away from where my family lives in Tampa. That's right, a bomb. In a suburban area. Mere feet away from my mom and brothers. WTF.

My family is all right, and according to the news, there were no serious injuries, because the bomb was placed mid-street instead of near a house or vehicle, where it would've caused, obviously, quite a bit more damage and possibly fatalities. The windows in most of the houses down the street have been blown out, and from the photos it looks like there's some minor charring.

If you don't believe me, (though if you've known me for any significant amount of time, you've learned not to question stories like this by now) check out the very brief news coverage here.

Hopefully, this was just kids screwing around with Internet how-to's and not practice for taking out an abortion clinic or some such nonsense. I'll keep press coverage up here if any develops, though, judging from that article, Tampa news isn't much for thrilling readers.

2.

I've decided to move to London.

I'll probably talk more about this, and in much greater detail over the next few months while I'm finishing up with school, but I've made the final decision, and will probably move sometime this summer. It will initially be for six months, through what's similar to an internship program, but hopefully, while I'm there, I will be able to secure permanent employment and get a work visa.

If the visa through employment thing doesn't happen, and I still want to stay for longer, there's a special visa meant for recent grads that allows two years of occupancy and an additional year of employment. It's all a bit complicated, but I'm working through it.

Putting my resume and CV together is presently giving me more stress than the legal stuff. I think I'm going to attend one of those campus workshops.


3. I'm really, really, really sick. I think I have the flu, and it's my own fault for not getting that damned shot before I started shooting my Capstone.

Gifts and pop-up sympathy cards are welcome.



4.

I finished the Gemma Doyle trilogy. Being sick, I've had lots of time to read. I'm going to go ahead and recommend this one, even though it's technically YA reading. I've been following this thing since I was a YA, and the final book came out the day after Christmas.

Oh, I feel weepy.

5. My 2008 Resolution

Okay, so, how do I phrase this? I know that the next year is going to, without question, change everything in my life. Chances are, the jolt from the schoolroom to the workforce, leaving the country, etc. is going to be jarring and I know that I'll want to have lots of crying fits.

I'm not going to say no crying fits. Sometimes they're justified. But, dealing with life in an optimistic manner has always been important to me, and I think an unwavering employment of that this year will be crucial to the life that follows.

So, here's to keeping my chin up, and good luck to you all on doing the same.