Arguments Worth Having

The most important thing you need to have in a coolaboration is trust. You have to trust your actors to do what they need to do, the actors need to trust the directors decisions, the director needs to trust that the cinematographer knows what he or she is doing, etc. This is especially difficult on super-low-budget films, because most of the time the people working for you are not being paid. This means you have to rely on them to show up on time and do the work with no incentive other than professionalism and a desire to work. A lot of the time this means that I end up doing a lot of the dirty work myself, because I don't want to ask someone else to do it for me for free.

Moral of the story: having money is nice.

Observational Journal: I Need to Stop Eating Dinner So Early

The other day I had one of the most vivid dreams I have ever had, and it was odd because it wasn't vivid in terms of image or sound. It was vivid in terms of taste. All I remember about the dream was that I was eating chocolate ice cream, and it was the most delicious chocolate ice cream I have ever tasted. It was more smooth and creamy than words can describe, and there were chunks of chocolate within the chocolate, giving it an amazing texture. It literally melted in my mouth, and I felt full for a few minutes after I woke up (after that I felt extremely hungry). It was like my brain imagined the most chocolatiest thing it could imagine and made it real for a few seconds.

Stop, Children, What's that Sound

This soundscape idea is for my lifeguard movie. Pools have an array of sounds associated with them that I would use to open the movie, and to put the audience in the location. There are the sounds of water splashing and being sucked into the filters; the rythmic sounds of lap swimmers swimming back and forth; the sounds of children playing, and jumping into the pool; the occasional lifeguard whistle; the patron's conversations; and the wind as it blows through the trees. The soundscape would end with the most beautiful sound a lifeguard can hear: the sound of thunder off in the distance. This means that the lifeguards get an extra break, and it would transition the film from the black screen to the opening shot of the movie.

A STONE down by the RIVER.

This color scheme was inspired by trombones.

In middle school, I was in the school band and I played the trombone. During band class me and the other trombones would usually goof off and make snarky comments to each other (our section was in the back and in the corner, so it was pretty easy to get away with). We would also discuss episodes of the Simpsons quite a bit, because we were all fans and we all liked making each other laugh. In a way, we all bonded over our shared love of pop culture and goofing off. I don't think any of that could be turned into a movie, or even a short film, but I do think it could serve as inspiration for a group of characters or a scene within a movie.

"My Nature-Place, Part Deux"

They most obvious difference I noticed was the temperature. It was not cold, but it was cooler, with a cool gentle breeze blowing through the plant life. I could almost feel the freezing cold of winter coming, even though it was not here yet. The breeze made everything seem much more serene, which was a little ironic because I could here someone blaring death metal off in the distance. The plants had begun to feel fall's effects; the trees above me had turned a dark purple, and many of the plants were slightly browner than I remembered. Of course, this also could be because of the end of the rainy season, and I suspect that many of these plants are not native to the desert. The sun has definitely moved, because where there was once shade there was now sunlight, which was nice, seeing as it was significantly less hot. My thought was for the fish in the pond, and what will happen to them once it freezes over in the winter.

Dream Film: A Life Unguarded

Dan is a lifeguard at a local pool. He is not exactly the ambitious type, does not really have any aspirations. One day, his boss decides that the pool needs two lifeguards, so she hires Mike. Mike was a lifeguard a while ago, and has since fallen on hard times and needs the money. Mike also hates lifeguarding, while Dan is mostly ambivalent. Mike spends his days trying to do the least amount of work possible, and he usually brings Dan into his schemes. Their boss, Amber, constantly lays down new and ridiculous rules, but she is too naive and unassertive to actually enforce them. Eventually, Mike is fired/quits, and goes on to bigger and better things, while Dan continues to work at the pool.

Observational Notebook: The Man in the Old Camaro

The man is grizzled in every meaning of the word. He has grizzled white hair, his face is tan, wrinkly, and grizzled, and his dusty leather jacket is grizzled. He looks like he has been lying in the desert for 20 years, which probably is not far from the truth. The car is similar to the man. It is a late '60s Camaro, and it also looks like it has spent far too much time in the desert. It is dusty and rusted around the edges, it is still going strong and looks twice as badass because of it. In the passenger seat sits a young woman of Mexican heritage. She is not grizzled at all. How did they meet? Is she his girlfriend, his wife? I would guess that she would be his friend, except I don't think this man is capable of non-traditional male-female friendships. Eventually, I think, this man will probably be responsible for saving the world. And we won't even have to thank him for it.