Keith

Movie of the Day: Ugetsu

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:37:50 GMT

Today I took a break from my Div 3 for a bit and went to see one of my favorite movies on the big screen. The Japanese film Ugetsu was screened at the Amherst Cinema today. I've seen it several times on DVD but I honestly never thought I would get the chance to see it in a theater.
Ugetsu is about four peasants living in 16th century Japan. A war has broken out between two small nations the peasants have no connection to. The men try to use the turbulent economic climate to make a fast buck, despite their wives insistence they take a safer route in life. Their greed and the violence of the war catches up with them all.
And along the way a great little ghost story comes about.

Excellent story and characters. That and it is beautifully shot and directed. If you have any interest in film, Ugetus is worth seeing for the subtle and awesome sound design alone.

I went to it today because I will not have time to see it next Thursday when it returns to Amherst Cinema. To tell you the truth I haven't been spending nearly enough time editing my Div 3 today.

Ugetus (1953)
http://imdb.com/title/tt0046478/

Smoking and Graduation

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 23:40:41 GMT

My subject for today: Smoking!

I’ve taken up smoking cigarettes recently. Not heavily but I’ve had a one or two every day for about 2 weeks. Sometimes I go a day without one and I don’t feel any “addiction pangs”.
However, I smoked five today before 12:00PM. I really think that smoking them kept me from having a full out panic attack. I was having a very stressful morning.
My Div 3 is not going well. I screwed up majorly this morning.
I’ve calmed down since then. I’ll make it work. There are certain things I really do like about how my project is going

I don’t like the idea of being a smoker. It feels way too “artistic Hampshire student” for one thing. About 2/3rd of my Div 3 Film/Photo/Video Class are smokers. Nice enough people on the whole, though.
There is a lot of people in Maine I dislike who are heavy smokers. In my head I associate smoking with being a redneck AND a hipster.

I also hate what it does to the environment. Don’t get me wrong – I am not very environmentally minded. I don’t even believe in recycling (but I do it anyway).But I hate the amount of cigarette butts I see lying around everywhere. Hampshire College has a nice coating of them, often directly around the cigarette waste buckets.
I generally throw away my butts into trash receptacles (after wetting them down) or into drains, but I’m still a part of that annoying problem.

I don’t care about my health or appearance right now but I will say I dislike the smell. I always go outside to smoke of course and I tend to go on long walks when I do, but it really does stick to you.

If I didn’t mention it before I went back to Hampshire and am trying to finish up this semester. I regret not finishing up when the rest of my 2003 class did. I know that at least 1/3 of those who entered dropped out or transferred, but still.
I took a semester on leave two years ago. I was planning on finishing up during the Fall semester of last year. I had financial problems and was forced to go on leave two days after I moved on campus. This is my 8th semester as a Hampshire kid.
I did a lot of overtime at my job and bartering with Financial Aid Department as well as picking up more Student loans. All the time I had problems with process because I really didn’t want to go back to Hampshire but I felt obligated to finish up my time there.
My job could be stressful and had crazy hours but I generally felt a happier before I had to return to school. The times I was miserable last semester it was when I was having to deal with Financial Aid and work on Student Loans.

Which brings me to another point: should I go to my Hampshire Graduation Ceremony?

I hate graduation ceremonies and I regret coming to Hampshire. I will get my diploma either way. I don’t want to go to the ceremony. But it’s a tradition for a student to go to their graduation. My parents want me to go but they don’t feel very strongly about it. They have been screwed over by Hampshire countless times financially (every semester was after my first year was a problem). I figure they’ll understand if I don’t want to go.
I'm just not sure if there are any good reasons for me to go graduation. I have a nagging feeling that I should. I might have been interested if George Takei was still the speaker. :)

----KW

Living Situation and Birthday

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 01:00:24 GMT

So it's going to be my birthday on Saturday. I'll be 23...real eff-ing old in other words. Maybe I should be trying to arrange a celebration but it's really not worth the effort. I'm not depressed about my birthday this year, which is nice.

It looks like I have a place to live now! I can move in on 7 or 8 days!

Not At Hampshire For A Semester

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 20:05:34 GMT

I was planning on returning to Hampshire this semester but that's not going to be. A financial problem came up and I have to go on leave. I will come back and finish my Div 3 next semester. That's my plan anyway.

I'm not too upset about this. I wasn't looking forward to this semester as it was. And I was hoping to get an apartment in Amherst or Northampton. Now I just really need to.

I have a few places in the area I can crash at but I'll need to find a permanent place soon. I also need to find a job but there have been places opening up all over.
The shitty thing is that I need to move out of my mod by tomorrow morning. Might have to scam a couch to sleep on for Thursday night.

My biggest problem with this is I'm going to be socially isolated again. I don't think I can take sleeping on couches at different mods at Hampshire; I'd feel too much like a worthless moocher. Doubt anybody will come to visit off campus so I hope to come around campus and hang out.

But, ironically, this situation is going to give me more time and inclination to work on my Div 3.

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 03:28:25 GMT

"The Conundrum of the Workshops"
by Rudyard Kipling

When the flush of a new-born sun fell first on Eden's green and gold,
Our father Adam sat under the Tree and scratched with a stick in the mould;
And the first rude sketch that the world had seen was joy to his mighty heart,
Till the Devil whispered behind the leaves, "It's pretty, but is it Art?"

Wherefore he called to his wife, and fled to fashion his work anew --
The first of his race who cared a fig for the first, most dread review;
And he left his lore to the use of his sons -- and that was a glorious gain
When the Devil chuckled "Is it Art?" in the ear of the branded Cain.

They fought and they talked in the North and the South, they talked and they fought in the West,
Till the waters rose on the pitiful land, and the poor Red Clay had rest --
Had rest till that dank blank-canvas dawn when the dove was preened to start,
And the Devil bubbled below the keel: "It's human, but is it Art?"

They builded a tower to shiver the sky and wrench the stars apart,
Till the Devil grunted behind the bricks "It's striking, but is it Art?"
The stone was dropped at the quarry-side and the idle derrick swung,
While each man talked of the aims of Art, and each in an alien tongue.

They fought and they talked in the North and the South, they talked and they fought in the West,
Till the waters rose on the pitiful land, and the poor Red Clay had rest --
Had rest til the dank, blank-canvas dawn when the dove was preened to start,
And the Devil bubbled below the keel: "It's human, but is it Art?"

The tale is as old as the Eden Tree -- and new as the new-cut tooth --
For each man knows ere his lip-thatch grows he is master of Art and Truth;
And each man hears as the twilight nears, to the beat of his dying heart,
The Devil drum on the darkened pane: "You did it, but was it Art?"

We have learned to whittle the Eden Tree to the shape of a surplice- peg
We have learned to bottle our parents twain in the yelk of an addled egg,
We know that the tail must wag the dog, for the horse is drawn by the cart;
But the Devil whoops, as he whooped of old: "It's clever, but is it Art?"

When the flicker of London sun falls faint on the Club-room's green and gold,
The sons of Adam sit them down and scratch with their pens in the mould --
They scratch with their pens in the mould of their graves, and the ink and the anguish start,
For the Devil mutters behind the leaves: "It's pretty, but is it Art?"

Now if we could win to the Eden Tree where the Four Great Rivers, flow,
And the Wreath of Eve is red on the turf as she left it long ago,
And if we could come when the sentry slept and softly scurry through,
By the favour of God we might know as much as out father Adam knew.

Playing With My New Toy

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 14:32:03 GMT

My computer arrived much faster than I thought it would. The salesman told me it would probably take two weeks given the configuration and shipping time. It arrived on Tuesday or Wednesday.
I'm going to be protective of this little machine. I'm not going to let anybody else use it for at least two more weeks.
I've added Final Cut Express 3.5 to it so far. It is different from the versions of Final Cut used in Hampshire's Media Basement but it should work well for me. As long as I don't have to really solely on going down to that dungeon 10 hours a day I will be a happier person. I like the glossy screen I got for it. The colors look nicer for whatever reason. Maybe it's just because I've never seen the normal high-res 17" screens, however.

Unfortunately I also had a rough time that Tuesday my computer arrived. Among other little things I lost my parking card when I parked in the UMass parking garage to pick up computer accessories. I had to pay $20.00 to get out of the damn place because of the automatic penalty. I've had to stop by UMass a bunch of times this summer to drop friends off, see doctors, et al and the parking situation there has always been awful. I'm a rural boy at heart, the idea of having to pay $0.25 to get the right to park for 15 minutes just seems ridiculous to me.

Well, the UMass situation has made me realize how I really need to watch my spending. I just don't have the money to spend on diner runs, bar runs, DVDs, dates, etc. since I splurged on this computer and it's accessories. I'm going to need to focus only on food & gas at least for the next month's worth of time. That shouldn't be a big deal. I'm going to keep my Netflix account but I was able to get my parents to pay for that one.

Now as soon as I can I've got to sell my old G5 iMac. That will involve me returning to Maine. My dad does a lot of business on E-Bay, so I'd like to sell it through his account. Now I'm really not sure when I'll be able to return home since the "Project" will be getting super intense soon.

Movie Geek Moment:
On a side note I finally watched the old Orson Welles movie Chimes At Midnight recently. It's one of the man's last movies, based on Henry IV, Henry V and a number of other plays by William Shakespeare, focusing on the character Falstaff. Welles is very good as the fat, comic and tragic main character but I don't agree with the director's belief that it was his best film. There are some technical problems stemming from the low budget (although the print I saw of it was pretty good, no bad dubbing). Also I honestly thought the story could have been tighter. There are a few times times when the film feels like it is meandering and going nowhere. Chimes is a good movie but not a great one. I would place Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, F For Fake and even the flawed Touch Of Evil above it.
I think I may be done with Orson Welles movies for a little while. I think he was a fascinating cultural figure who made some great works in radio and film, but his career was pretty uneven (not entirely his fault of course). If he had retired or died at 26 I wonder if he would be even better regarded than he is now.

Computer

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 19:39:52 GMT

So I finally got around to buying that computer today. It only took me three months or so of thinking about it to actually do it.

Well, I’ve ordered it through the UMass computer store. That way I made sure to get the student discount and not have to deal with on-line things. The machine will officially be ordered from Apple this weekend. Massachusetts has a ridiculously tax free (no sales tax) period then and UMass is helping me take advantage of that. The computer will actually get to me in around 2 weeks due to configuration and shipping time.

I’m picking up a Macbook Pro. The screen is a 17” Glossy High-Resolution Widescreen Display. I’m getting 4GBs of RAM for the memory, which is as much as I can get for a laptop. The hard drive is a 160GB Serial ATA Drive 7200 rpm so it should give me decent speed. Not the best consumer computer for video editing but I think it’ll do. I’m hoping that it’s money well spent.

I had put some good thought into getting a large Mac Pro desk top. However, I have two big-sized external hard drives that I own already and have my projects on. The Mac Pro comes with a wonderful amount of internal space that would make my expensive external hard drives a waste a money. I also really want a lap top. I am and will continue to be pretty nomadic in my lifestyle (the room I live in right now doesn't have a desk, for example), so it would be a lot easier for me to carry around a small laptop.

I'm excited to get a computer that I can actually do some real video editing with. My iMac (which I plan to sell) was always problematic since it was lacking in the RAM and software departments.

---
I'm still planning on writing a review for The Nightingale Princess DVD. I'll get on that eventually.

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 19:28:51 GMT

“Take away the right to say fuck and you take away the right to say fuck the government.” – Lenny Bruce

"Art is the imposing of a pattern on experience." —Alfred North Whitehead: Dialogues

It's been a while since I've updated or even looked at Livejournal. There is a lot of annoying things about this little website that make me want to get rid off of it completely.
So I'm almost done with my second DVD of the Magic Mirror. That play and my little part in it has given me a lot of stress lately. I'll be glad to be rid of it. That is hoping that this new DVD version won't up and die on me like the last one.
During my many hours in the Hampshire media basement over the past week or so I've run across a friend of mine doing research on Political Correctness. I've always felt uncomfortable about political correctness in our day and age. It's a form of censorship; I question what good it does. A person simply not saying an offensive word will not change his/her negative point of view, only hide it. A hell of a lot more than making individuals not say certain words needs to be done to change anything in our society.
As the 50's comedian Lenny Bruce once said: "it's the suppression of the word that gives it the power, the violence, the viciousness." He'd usually speak that phrase after opening up a sketch by saying damn near every ethnic/racial/religious/sexual slur that might apply the to the audience he was performing to on any given night. And hearing a stand-up comic say the "n-word" was MUCH rarer in the 1950s and early '60s than it is nowadays, despite our time period supposedly being more enlightened & socially conscious.
I don't really have an answer for any of this, I'm just sort of thinking on paper.

The Infinite Monkeys Project is under way. As I've said before what we really need right now is to improve the structure of the project. Tighten things up. Art needs a pattern (structure) to be truly considered art. Filmmaking and theatre especially need it to come together. Of course improv is a little different. I like the subject matter that we've chosen and the core group of people are good fun. I have faith in "The Project".

I've been thinking a lot about the movie Paprika (2006) since I last saw it. I'm a little disappointed with it on the whole.
I'm a big fan of director Satoshi Kon's other movies: Millennium Actress. Perfect Blue and Tokyo Godfathers. I'm not sure what exactly is missing in Paprika that I found in those other three. Paprika is fun, pretty light hearted and beautifully animated. The storyline is cool and not nearly as trippy as I thought it would be.
The characters aren't as interesting, that might be my main problem with it. But whatever the case it's a pretty good film. A nice way to end Satoshi Kon's "Dream Trilogy". That trilogy is made up of 1. Perfect Blue 2. Millennium Actress 3. Paprika.
Tokyo Godfathers comes in the middle and is much more straight forward than the rest of Kon's movies.
It is a well-written action/comedy/drama about three homeless people in Tokyo discovering an abandoned infant and trying to find a home for her. Hell, I recommend all of the man's movies.

Computer Help (Buying and Selling)

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 00:06:15 GMT

I'm a computer illiterate individual. I have been a video and film student at Hampshire. I now realize that I need to buy a new computer that will allow me to edit using Final Cut Pro on my own. For years I've been using a 17" iMac G5 desktop - made in 2004, but it was never made to do what I want to do. I usually go to the Media Basement.

I would like to buy a good, fast Mac that I can use for video editing. I'm not sure what to look at. I can't afford to spend a huge amount (probably not over $5000). Would any of you be able to suggest computers for me to look at?
If possible I would like to buy notebook/laptop that can serve my purposes (I have been using external drives, so space won't be so much of an issue).

I would also like to sell my 17" iMac G5 desktop. I've been trying e-bay, looking at other models like mine to see what I can get for it. Is there a better way to go about selling it?

(also posted on Hampsters)

Movies I Have To See On The Big Screen!

Wed, 30 May 2007 00:00:40 GMT

OK, OK, two posts a day is pretty nerdy. I just came up with this thought. As a film fuck I watch a lot of movies. If the story is good enough I don't think there is that much of a difference between watching a movie on a big screen and watching on, say, a smaller big-screen TV.
That being said there are a few movies that just have to be seen in a theater to be really appreciated. I've started making a list of Movies I Have To See On A Big Screen Before I Die! (Just the beginning...)

Black Narcissus (1947)

A beautiful nitrate print of this is shown every year in California at a museum. The distance is pretty damn far but I promise myself I will go to see it some day. This movie has what perhaps the most beautiful color cinematography captured on film. Technicolor at its very best.

It also has a great story and musical store. I’ve seen it several times on DVD but I’ve been told the film print is way superior.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
This was screened in Cinerama originally, this weird 70mm curved screen. Heard it was really gorgeous. 2001 is not the kind of film I normally like, but it's an experience even on a small screen.

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Another film I’ve seen a number of times on video and DVD. I can’t imagine how much more the experience would be improved by showing it on a big screen.

Fight Club (1999)
Yeah, it's new and it's not as "cultured" as my other choices. But what the hell, I love it. Fight Club is a great looking movie and should be seen on a big screen to be fully enjoyed.

Can you guys think of any movies that you really want to see in a movie theater someday? Maybe I'll hijack the Main Lecture Hall next semester and project some of these.

Tue, 29 May 2007 23:40:00 GMT

Not the most eventful day, but I feel like posting something.

I have finally switched over to a Gmail e-mail account. I've been wanting to replace my secondary Yahoo e-mail address for a while.  I don't like my Middle School title Evildead167@yahoo.com anymore. I'm keeping "evildead167" as my screenname for now, but it'll change some day.
My new e-mail address is KeithHWard@gmail.com. All my Hampshire mail gets redirected there now.

Gym kicked my butt today but things seem to be starting off well enough on that front. I'm going to try & keep that exercise summer resolution.
It's tough getting started again after "taking a break" for so long.  My two mile run yesterday really exhausted me. I look like a weakling next to the big guys when I lift weights. I just have to slowly work my way up again.
Nothing interesting in the work department to talk about here.

Colby Today

Mon, 28 May 2007 03:17:17 GMT

I went to my cousin Alex's graduation from Colby College today. She is currently pre-med.
Al will actually be going to Mt. Holyoke next Fall for her graduate work. She'll be living in an Amherst apartment so I'll have to make sure to visit her. She's a cool person, I'll introduce her to some of my Hampshire friends. Hell, Al even introduced me to the word "Gaysian".

My friend Allison Cole also graduated from Colby today. I met her during my semester away from Hampshire.

The graduation was so much nicer than this year's Hampshire graduation. Not nearly as long and the speakers didn't speak for as much time. The weather was sunny but not hot & humid.

Some Goals For The Summer

Mon, 28 May 2007 03:09:37 GMT

Here are some goals I've been working on for myself this summer. Thought I might share with.

1. No more coffee or soda -
           Until I really need it. Just tea. The level of coffee & "energy drink" addiction I've seen in my fellow college students scares me.

2. Exercise at least three times a week-
        I've begun to go to the gym regularly again. It really does make you feel better although I doubt I'll ever enjoy running.  I'll sign up for the local YMCA when I go back to Amherst

3. Don't become a vegetarian, but limit my meat consumption-
              Not so much for health reasons; meat can be pretty damn expensive.

4. Learn to hem my clothes-
                They just don't make clothes (especially pants) for young men of my limited height. I need to shorten most of the clothes I buy. I had been relying on my relatives to help me out sewing-wise over the years. I've done some of my own hemming but I'm going to try and learn to do it well.

5. Stop being such a "nice guy"-
              It gets you nowhere in life.

6. Write my script

7. Do a kick ass job on "The Project"

8. Do some good work on my Div 3

Anyone Want A Free Ticket For Tonight?

Fri, 11 May 2007 16:01:38 GMT

I have an extra ticket to a film festival tonight. It's a showcase of all the winners from the 5 College Student Film Festival.
It begins at 9:45PM. It's at the Amherst Cinema 28 Amity Street, in the center of Amherst.
http://www.amherstcinema.org/
I was hoping to go with a certain someone but it didn't work out. I will need to go late since I will be going to Asher & Dycee's Div 3 screenings, something that will gone on from 8PM to around 9:45PM.
I can say that The Nightingale Princess and Lupita's short film Decolonizing The Mind are very much worth seeing on a big screen. I would also love to see Alison Boland's Div 3 Denkmal, as I missed it when she screened it at Hampshire (it won best Narrative at the 5 College Film Festival). I'm also sure that Josiah's animation piece is good, but since it's at the beginning I will have to miss it.
Give me a call (207-233-3346) or leave a message on this journal entry if you'd like a free ticket. I'm so much looking for someone to go with as much as I am trying not to waste a ticket. I'll need to be late but whoever gets the tickets can go whenever they feel. Just so long as they consider saving me a seat.

Here is the official note with the order of the screenings:

Winner of the Five College Film Festival's "Best of Hampshire," my film, DECOLONIZING THE MIND will be showing along with other winning films. My first real big screen affair!!!

Bound to be a great night.

Total run time of festival screening: 166
Tickets: $5

Order of films:

Best Animation
COUNTDOWN
Josiah Aiken-Drake, Hampshire College, 3 min.

Best of Amherst College
ON AND ON AND OVER, THROUGH AND BETWEEN
Emilie Friedlander, Amherst College, 12 min.

Best Experimental and Best of Smith College
OBJECT LESSON
Julie Casper Roth, Smith College, 5 min.

Best of Hampshire College
DECOLONIZING THE MIND
Lupita Nyong'o, Hampshire College, 7 min.

Best Narrative
DENKMAL
Alison Boland, Hampshire College and PROJECTIONIST AT AMHERST CINEMA, 55 min.

Best of Mt Holyoke College
TRAVERSING TEXTURE
Marie Muir, Mt Holyoke College, 5 min.

Best Documentary
YOUTUBE: A MEDIATED COMMUNITY
Ashley Hunt/Loren Robertson, Mt. Holyoke College, 20 min.

Best of UMass
DOG VS. GOD
Benjamin Sydney, UMass, 10 min.

First Prize, Best of Festival
NIGHTINGALE PRINCESS
Daniel Gilbert, Owen Granich-Young, and Chris Dreisbach, Hampshire College, 46 min.

Mod 71

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 03:38:32 GMT

So I'm living in Mod 71 next semester. We were gunning for Mod 65 but lost it by a very slim margin. It's a shame, I would have liked the use of all of that free furniture.

So Apparently I'm A Racist

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 16:45:25 GMT

God damned pretentious morning film classes. And I am also probably sexist. I'm so sick of this crap.
Time for my nap.

How About Reviews? Or More Splurging

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 01:44:01 GMT

Hey yo.
I decided to take off time from Hampshire and return home this week. I left on Monday afternoon and have been home in Maine ever since.   I was having various kinds of issues come up in my life and was needing time away from Western Massachusetts.
I've never done this sort of thing before.
I may have shot myself in the foot academically but I needed time away from Hampshire. I'll make up my class work when I get back easily enough. It also really hasn't had a negative effect on my Div 3, if anything my trip has allowed me to think more clearly and find good filming locations.   I'm in a better place right now (figuratively) and that's important.  I plan on returning to Hampshire by Saturday night. I would hate to miss Easter Keg Hunt.

The annual keg hunt is one of my favorite Hampshire traditions. Hey, it's a party where I'm not expected to dance or listen to dance music! What more could I ask for?
(I've decided to avoid high school/college-style dance parties. I've tried for years & years to like them, because "normal" people are supposed to like them. It just doesn't go along with my personality. I'm happy enough to finally come to that realization & decision.)

On a side note, it snowed a lot when I came home. I didn't bring a winter coat since Spring had arrived in Massachusetts and I assumed it had made it's way up to Maine. Boy, was I wrong. My parents' house saw more snow than it has in the last three years. That's ok, it looked pretty. And it gave me an excuse to stay inside and relax.

I'm thinking about making a regular DVD Review thing using my livejournal account. I'd like to try using the format of www.horrordvds.com.
Each review would have a short Introduction, a The Story section where I would summarize the story and review the film, an Image Quality section, a Sound Quality Section, a Supplemental Material (Extras) portion, and a Final Thoughts part as a closer.
The reviews on horrordvds.com are always in-depth and I'd like to try my hand at writing movie reviews.
I would also try uploading stills from the movie I would take on my computer using a screenshot program. Not sure how I can make it work in the Livejounral format. I'd like to try reviewing the DVD version of The Nightingale Princess when the OCD group finally puts it out.

A Poem

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 03:05:08 GMT

"Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy. "

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.

Procrastination Tool

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 04:16:25 GMT

From Settern: http://settern.livejournal.com/ (I don't know how to make the link)

1. How did you meet Jim and why did you two start working together?
I don’t remember exactly when I met Jim, to tell you the truth. I think we spoke in passing a few times. I know we both did this awful internship with for a documentary filmmaker two summers ago and met up there. We spoke a few times and took one or two classes together. We never were really good friends until last semester.
We met up and Jim told me about how he had to go on academic leave but was living in the area. He offered to help me with some films projects.
We hung out more and found that we had many things in common. Interest in narrative filmmaking, bitterness with Hampshire’s flaws, taste in movies, a hatred for self-important art-fuckery, similar tastes in women, etc.
We worked together most of that semester and became really good friends. I’ll be sad to see Jim go.

2. What do you envision your dream project (theatre, film, art, etc) to
be? When in your life would you work on it? What would be the result?
Some day I’d like to be able to produce, write and direct my own modestly sized feature film.
There are so many amazing things you can do with film that you can’t do in theater, or radio or in a written story. I’d like to push things, evolve the medium a little more. How have we really evolved since, like, the 50s? Stories have gotten more disjointed & fragmented, movies have gotten longer & louder, but when you come right down to it we haven’t changed all that much. I’d like to do something to change the medium, but still tell a accesible, entertaining story. I don't know exactly how I would do this. I'd be interested in bringing in elements of theater and short fiction writing, maybe a three-part story incorporating each.
As for when in my life? Well, I’d say my 40s would be great time. Best case I'd work my way up in the hellish world of filmmaking until I reach that point.

3. What is your favorite part about Maine? (I love their blueberry pancakes. :)
The waterfront, definitely. I had an awful job over the summer working with horrible people, but during the last weeks of it I got to sail out to do my duty on an island. Each morning I got to take an hour long beautiful trip out there, seeing seals and the occasional dolphin swimming around. I also like seaport areas even if the smell of rotting fish can get a little much. Something really beautiful about that. I have a lot of respect for fishermen of the area and often find them more approachable and friendly the average working class joes in Maine.

4. Do you find yourself walking more or less since you've had your car?
A little less. When it rains outside I tend to try and drive to different locations. I’m weary of it, though, there is always the risk of getting parking tickets on campus. I try to walk most of the time. Atkins is too far for me, though.    I'm a lazy guy, after all :)

5. What do you wish people would see in you that they generally miss?
I’d like to think people see me as a fun person to be around.   That’s not the first impression most folks get of me though.    I can even be a little crazy the better you get to know me.
I used to be really quiet and still am a bit. I’ve been told that I used to just hang around groups of people my first year & not saying anything. Hate to think of myself as being that creepy little guy in the back. Hell, maybe that just makes me unique.

1. Leave me a comment asking me to interview you.
2. I respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better.
3. Update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. Include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you ask them five questions.

Art Cinema

Sun, 25 Feb 2007 21:33:18 GMT

My Div 3 Committee is giving me some issues. Specifically my chair Abraham Ravett.
I feel like he is pressuring me to do abstract, "experimental" work for my Div 3. He thinks that what I do, narrative work using the help and skills of other people, is too limiting. He says he will support me in whatever I do, as a Div 3 chair should do, but I don't know if he will.
Abraham is an experienced filmmaker but I do not want to make what he considers an "art film".
I have seen many, many abstract non-narrative films since I came to Hampshire. I have learned to appreciate them for their form and themes but I very rarely like them.
What drives me crazy these days is that there seems to be a disdain for the concept of narrative. Abraham has an apparent disdain for the narrative. I brought up in my final Div 2 meeting (he replaced my original Div 2 member) the filmmaker Georges Melies. Melies was a magician who made films from the late 1890s to around 1910. He made the first narratives and experimented with many special effects techniques that no one had thought of before. All of his short movies I have seen are entertaining and tell clear, cute little stories.
Abraham cut me off, telling me that the narrative in Melies work had no importance; the French filmmaker was only interested in the "Magic of Cinema". And apparently, the "Magic of Cinema" has to be separate from story. Bullshit.

So I guess if a "piece" has a story of any kind it is not art. If it is entertaining it is not art.
It seems as though he has been telling me that if your work can engage, interest and entertain the "common" person it is not worthwhile.
That is an elitist and arrogant position that I have seen many "experimental" filmmakers and artists take.

I worked on a Div 3 movie this Janterm that can be called experimental. But the project didn't have any of the pretentiousness that I too often see in "experimental" work. I am sure that the end project will be intelligent, interesting and (dareIsayIt) entertaining. I look forward to seeing it screened. By no means is all experimental work detestable or un-enjoyable.

But last week I had to watch a 37 minute film of a man lying in front of a camera lens. He sprawled himself out, smoked cigarettes, leared at the camera talking to a woman he must have been stalking and playing random songs on a record player. That's it.
And that kind of unimaginative, narcissistic bullshit is being called art.
(Outside of a gallery or classroom where else is anyone going to watch that man masturbate both metaphorically and literally?! It's art, huh? It's art because the self-proclaimed cultural & bohemian elite say it is art. Just because something is shown in an art gallery does not make it art)

Often times with nonnarrative & non-actor films I feel a certain coldness and distance. They are about form, separate from more human issues.
A filmmaker named David Gatten came by and gave a presentation to my Film 2 class. The man obviously loves his work, really lives for it. He got us involved collaboratively as a class and we made a short film using his techniques. It was fun and interesting.

That night there was a screening of his work. I have never been more dissapointed in my whole time at Hampshire. His films were dull, totally form-based (as far as the viewer could tell). None of the passion he showed as a teacher or a speaker was evident in them.
I stayed for 3/4 of the presentation. He would speak between each film. Gatten talked about his inspirations and was very interesting. But those inspirations were not visible at all in his movies.

I want my Div 3 to have some sense of passion and emotion to it. If my inspirations and feelings are only evident to me, I don't think the film would be worth making. If I cannot involve and engage my audience, I don't know if it would be worth making.
I'm not an artist. I just want to the kind of movie that interests me.
I can respect "art cinema" but for the most part I don't like it and I don't want to make it.

Collaboration is important to me. That made working on Continuity Error enjoyable at all for me. I guess I take that from the theater side of my personality. To go out and make movies all by myself has always been depressing for me. I like working with a group. You can get more done. Telling a comprehensible narrative and using the aid of a group of people in my Div 3 may take it down artistically to a commoner's level but its what I want to do. Hell, it's what I need to do.

I will do what I need to do in my Div 3 but I fear it will be a much more difficult journey than it needs to be.

P.S.-
On facebook I have a list of images from films. The game is that people have to guess where they are from.
In one part I had an image of from the movie Derek Jarman's Blue. It is a feature length film made up of an unchanging blue screen. There is also music, sound effects and audio performances. I found the piece very dull and not to be a movie in the technical definition. I include a pic of it.
http://hampshire.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30242444&id=22700308&ref=mf
Asher, maker of the Div 3 I worked on over Janterm, posted a comment stating: "Why are you mocking my Div III."

I have no idea how I mocked his Div 3 in any way, so I posted this as a reponse:

"Are you removing all of your well-crafted visuals and replacing them with an unchanging blue image, but leaving the audio in tact?
Otherwise Derek Jarman's Blue has no relation to your Division 3 film Authority Party aside from fitting into the incredibly gigantic vague definition of being an "experimental" movie.
And even then Derek Jarman's film is driven by the audio alone, dispensing with the visual element nearly entirely by the use of the single blue image. Your project from my understanding is driven by the power of its visual elements: cinematography and physical performance.
Notice I didn't pass judgement on "Blue" itself, but stated that it is a piece that many "average" people would hate because it breaks from what one could call a "movie". The fact that is uses only a single unbroken blue image takes away from what essentially first draws an individual to films in the first place.
I cannot see any relation to your work, but I apologize if I offended you."

I'm not sure how I was mocking his Div 3, but it was not my intention. I do respect the absurdist nature of his film "Authority Party"; how his approach may be non-traditional but still incorporates things that show a sense of humor, humanity, visual style & technique. Hell, I'm sure it will be entertaining. I do hope I didn't insult him and I really do apologize. Asher's way of thinking confuses me sometimes.

Stealing again

Sat, 10 Feb 2007 18:37:00 GMT

Settern has made an interesting post/game that I thought I might try myself. Here are the rules:

Step 1: Put your media player on random.
Step 2: Post the first line(s) of the first 15 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
Step 3: Post and let everyone guess what song and artist the lines come from.

Give the songs a guess or two. I'll post the actual song titles some time later.
I've got some pretty obscure title's here but some are obvious.

Lyrics:

1. OK, this one was a short monologue bit, not a song per say so I went to the next one.

1a.
I'm on my time with everyone, I have very bad posture

2. In constant sorrow through his days, I am a man of constant sorrow, I've seen trouble all my day.

3. An instrumental, doesn't count

3a. I'm not your stepping stone, I'm not your stepping stone, You're trying to make your mark in society Using all the tricks that you used on me

4. Oh mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head and as I climb into an empty bed, oh well, enough said

5. If there isn’t light where no one sees, then how I can know what you might believe?

6. Ship mates listen unto me, I’ll tell ya in this song, Of the thing that happened to me, When I come home from Hong Kong

7. Black girl, black girl, don’t you lie to me. Tell me where did you sleep last night

8. So afraid you were gone, That I found out I was wrong, I found out that I’m serious, So is she, so is she

9. This one was in French, sorry I can't transcribe or translate it

9a. Before you slip into unconsciousness, I'd like to have another kiss. Another lasting chance at bliss.

10. Efil’s good and the time is right, I’ll bundle up and slip away, the count is down and the drip is up

11. Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans, way back up in the woods among the evergreens, there stood an log cabin made of earth and wood

12. The way the light hits the road, The way I am unable to protect you, O I'm running away

13. I am not frightened of dying, Any time will do, I don't mind, Why should I be frightened of dying?

14. Wake up it's time, Need to find a better place to hide, Make up, your mind

15. Come you masters of war, It’ll build the big guns, It’ll build the death planes

RE: Moviemovieme

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 01:12:33 GMT

This is a reply to JP thread that I got tagged for.

Well, let's get my "Guilty Pleasure" list first:

1) Meet The Feebles (1987) - A movie full of gore, sex and horrible violence? AND its all done with Puppets?! Sign me up! Too bad Peter Jackson doesn't make movies like this anymore.

2) South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut (1999) - I saw this with my Mom in the theaters. She liked it.

3) Detroit Rock City (1998) - Takes me back to pseudo-Metalhead days. A bunch of idiot highschool students take a wild & crazy trip to a Kiss concert in 1978. They even beat up a band of disco lovers to the tune of Iron Man. Classic bad movie.

4) The Beyond (1981) - This is a Italian horror "classic" done by gore hound/maggot fetishist Lucio Fulci. Terrible writing but at least its got plenty of violence.

5) Fantasia (1940) - My favorite Disney movie. You got to them one thing: it took serious balls to pull this together. A 125-minute cartoon movie set to 8 pieces of classical music. It's amazing but hey its still a cartoon.

HONORY 6TH
6) Zardoz (1974) - What did Sean Connery do when he quit being James Bond? He dressed in hooker boots and jumped to the mouth of a giant floating head. This has to be seen to be believed. They honestly thought they were making a great film.

Shiiiit, lets get to a top five. Gah, I dunno if I can do it. I'll give it shot

1) Leon (1994) - My favorite movie for sentimental reasons.
And here are a bunch of other movies I might put in a top 10 list:
Groundhog Day
Captains Courageous (1937)
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Black Narcissus
The General (1927)
Trainspotting
L. A. Confidential
City Lights
The Docks of New York
The Godfather 1 and 2
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Alien (1979)
The Bride of Frankenstein
Requiem For A Dream
Harold and Maude
King Kong (1933)
On The Waterfront
The Princess Bride
The Thing (1982)

Blah, I can't make a top ten list. It really is like pulling teeth.

Smokin' Aces

Sun, 28 Jan 2007 17:42:45 GMT

I got talked into going to see Smokin' Aces last night. It wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be but its a pretty stupid movie.
My biggest problem with it is that the film didn't know what it wanted to be. Part of the time its the movie that the commercials made it out to be: a silly, funny ultra violent action movie. But sometimes it tried to take itself seriously. Like one moment you'll be laughing at a bunch of overacting rednecks cutting up security guards with chainsaws and then it will cut back to Ryan Reynold dramatically lamenting the deaths of innocent people. It doesn't work. Either murder is funny or its serious. You can't make it both.
There are a lot of characters and none of them get enough screen time to make you give a shit about their fates. There isn't one three dimensional, interesting person in all of Smokin' Aces. There's no main character until about the last third of the picture. It's all really disjointed; a sign of a poorly written screenplay. There's a big twist towards the end. It was a nice idea but wasn't handled very well. I just didn't care.
There's even a scene where they get a close-up of a 12-year-old ADHD case's erection (through underwear). I guess that was supposed to be funny. Fuck, I thought I was watching a Larry Clark movie for a second.
The battles that happens towards the end is a let-down. With all the colorful pychos the screenwriter throws together you'd think they could at least have had one gigantic fight involving all of them.

That being said its not all. Ryan Reynolds gives a good performance, better than the movie deserves. It's got a good cast over all. Andy Garcia, a decent Ben Affleck, Ray Liotta (Good Fellas), etc. Even Alicia Keys is adequate. The action scenes as frenetic and fast paced, although there's no real suspense. There are some cool ideas. A few scenes are really, really funny.
Too bad the picture on a whole sucks.

Mega

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 03:36:20 GMT

I saw Pan's Labyrinth on Friday when it premiered her in Amherst. Very good movie. It's nice to see a writer/director not use the "fairytale" title as an excuse for lazy writing. I'd definitely like to watch it again sometime.

I'm procrastinating like crazy. Getting some important things done, but not nearly enough. Things are looking up in a few ways. A Smith film/video professor I really like has agreed to be the third member of my Div 3 committee.
Frankly, I'm a little intimidated by my Chair Abraham Ravett. I've never thought he liked me, his agreeing to head my committee early last semester came as a surprise. I'm pretty sure he'll be a good asset to me I just have to stop being a little afraid of angering him.

I've done a few more shoots for Asher's Div 3. I tend to forget how boring and repetitive acting in a movie can be. It has given me a great opportunity to watch the Nightingale Princess crew in action. I've got a lot of respect for those guys and even working with them in small ways (helping with the lighting, moving equipment) is kind of rewarding. Well, at least the film hasn't taken all that much of my time just as an actor.

Dogma 2006

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 20:55:27 GMT

Dogme 95 was created to bring film back to its "pure" roots. A long series of rules were created that filmmakers would follows to make movies "authentic" again. It's a good idea, but many of the principles I don't like. I see no reason to have to always work outside of any film genre (action, comedy, drama, etc.). I really dislike the idea that ALL the camera work has to be hand held. For the most part handheld looks unprofessional and results in crappy looking editing. I've seen it done well, but it takes a very good cameraman.
Here is another filmmaking "dogma" I've run across that I like more:

Dogma 2006

1. Yes, concentrate on personal relationships and characterization, but that’s in regard to any and every genre, including action, FX, horror, sci-fi, and everything else. Personal relationships and characterization are better than plots, but plots are necessary, as well. But FX in and of themselves mean nothing; they only exist to enhance the drama.

2. Sequels and remakes are evil, and are always a bad idea. Do not make them and do not see them. If you do see them or make them you are part of the problem, not part of the solution.
(I don't completely agree with this, but I want to see more original stories in movies)

3. Shooting an entire feature-film hand-held is not new, interesting, exciting or edgy; it’s lazy, stupid, ugly and a great big cop-out. Give the viewer a break, if you’re not imaginative enough to come up with a cool camera move, then just put the camera on a tripod and leave it alone.

4. Pop songs and music videos within feature-films are always a bad idea, and are to be avoided at all costs. If you feel that you must put a song in the movie, put it on the front or the end titles.
(Love this one!)

5. Not putting the titles up front is not cool anymore. If everyone’s doing it, it’s no longer cool. Meanwhile, the credits go at the front of the movie for a reason, so we all know who was doing what while we’re watching the film. Putting the credits at the end is an inconvenience and a drag.

6. Comic books are, for the most part, bad source material for movies and should be avoided.

7. Novels, short stories, plays and historical accounts are all good source material for movies, and should be embraced.

8. Movies do not need to be interactive in any way. The viewer does not need to be involved in choosing the story’s outcome, does not need to be electrically shocked, nor do they need to be put in the picture.

9. Video games are worse than comic books as movie source material. Avoid.

10. Driving in a car across the country — either way — is not a story. Try harder.

11. Just because you somehow managed to write a full-length screenplay doesn’t make it good. A great deal of writing is rewriting. If your script can’t be improved by thinking about it some more, then it probably just sucks.

12. Vampires and zombies aren’t scary anymore. Try harder.

13. Young, boyish-looking actors are weak and passé. Try casting actors who actually shave and look like grown men.

14. Just because the lead actress is pretty doesn’t mean there has to be a nude scene. Pointless nudity inserted into the script “because sex sells” is demeaning and humiliating to both the actors and the audience.

15. Just because the pretty lead actress has a pretty (or even a plain) female friend doesn’t mean there has to be a lesbian sex scene. Come on, have we all become perverts?

16. Having a large ensemble cast with no lead actor is, for the most part, a lazy, bad idea, and a cop-out. Try harder.

17. You’d better have a really good reason to exceed 120 minutes in length, and you’d better be nominated for “Best Picture,” and deserve it, if you exceed 150 minutes.
(Maybe my attention span is dying but I agree with this. Too many movies nowadays are overlong. The remake of King Kong...gah)

18. Three-hour movies without intermissions are forbidden; they are an affront to human physiology.
(Sounds like a "fuck you" to Peter Jackson)

19. Making the point that there is no point is still having no point. Pointlessness is bad. Try harder.

20. Just because you’ve suffered doesn’t make you an artist. Art is based on craft, which takes practice. Just having suffered is insufficient training for being an artist.

21. Movies are not just for 12-year-olds.

22. Making movies is not an alternative to the lottery.

23. Jump cuts are a bore, and worse, in many, many cases a dramatic cop-out. Go ahead and show me Harold and Kumar smoking the dope and getting stoned, you don't have to jump cut six times to them with joints and bongs and bigger bongs, let me actually see the characters doing whatever the hell it is. Jump cuts were new and cool in 1958 in "Breathless." Jump cuts were even cool in 1976 when Martin Scorsese did them in "Taxi Driver," but that was 30 years ago, now they're neither new nor cool; they are nothing more than a severely overused visual cliche.