This past month I have been working on my father’s campaign. I designed his political signs and brochures. This was a cool experience for me. This past weekend, I went home for Easter and as I drove through the city, it was really awesome to see the signs I designed in peoples’ yards and in business windows. The signs turned out really well I think and the people like them. A lot of people have them in their yards. It was a really good experience. I don’t have much to say besides that.
This was okay overall. It was difficult to find the locations and some of the photos didn’t come out the way I wanted. But I think some of them came out really well. I had a really good time hanging out with my family and girlfriend taking these pictures. Even though everything didn’t turn out exactly how I wanted, they came out pretty close to my drawings. It was really hard to find a ship. But I found one at a playground which I used for the photos. But up close, it just looks like a wooden fence. The bar, I was lucky enough to be able to get into a restaurant and they let me do the photos. The celebrity shots were done outside downtown. (I went home this weekend, so it was all done in beautiful Michigan City, IN.) Anyway, I hope you like it.
This week I have been really sick. I haven’t really done anything media wise. I watched a few movies. I watched Don’t Mess With the Zohan and Catch Me If You Can. They were really cool movies. I think the Zohan is such a funny movie. It is awesome. Catch Me If You Can is cool too. It is such a great story. I’m going to sleep now because I’m really sick.
As most of us know, this weekend is “the greatest college weekend,” Indiana University’s Little 500. What interests me is not really the races, nor the drinking. The thing I like the most are the concerts. The past week, the “greatest rapper alive” made a stop in Bloomington. Lil Wayne was here. Here, at Assembly Hall. I saw Lil Wayne at Indiana University. It was the most crazy experience of my life. Weezy played to a sold out crowd of 15,000 people. It was amazing. Joining him were Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, Birdman, Corey Gunz, and some other people that follow Wayne around. Naturally, I figured if one of the biggest names in rap music comes to perform with his entourage, he might only play a few songs and leave the rest of the concert up to his peeps. In reality, Lil Wayne performed the longest, doing two sets. Rick Ross was first. He only has a few good songs, but the good songs he has are really good. I really like them, my favorite of course being “Hustlin’.” To quote Katt Williams, “that’s my shit!” Anyway, it was an awesome performance by him. Then Weezy came out and the crowd went crazy. He played like 10 songs in a row. It was awesome. Then Nicki Came out and did my favorite song by her, Roman’s Revenge. That was cool too. Then Weezy came BACK OUT. IT WAS CRAZY. Something was weird though, he was wearing a Notre Dame basketball jersey. Does he realize that he’s at Indiana? If he would have worn an IU jersey, the people would have gone even crazier than they did. Anyway, eventually he put on an IU jacket. That made the crowd go nuts. It was just an awesome concert. I’m glad we had the opportunity as IU students to see him. It’s even cooler that he wouldn’t waste his time at Purdue.
This assignment was okay. I didn’t really like drawing because I wasn’t able to draw it the way I wanted. The scenes didn’t come out the way I wanted, but they look okay enough I guess. I should have really stared this sooner, but then again this is Little 5 week. I really think the scene with the guy smoking the cigar turned out really well. That is the one I am most proud of. I just think it is cool, and when I make the actual picture, I think it will turn out nicely. I am however a little worried how to do this. I think it will be difficult to find places to shoot my scenes. But I’m sure I’ll be able to figure it out.
This past weekend I participated in Campus Movie Fest where a team of my friends and I created a 5 minute movie for the competition.
This was definitely a cool experience. Wednesday of last week, I went down to the IMU and picked up the equipment that they let us use: a Apple MacBook and a handheld Panasonic HD Video Camera. After 5 minutes of waiting in line, filling out some forms and talking to the people that worked there, I was able received the equipment. The previous two weeks I had been working on a story for the movie. For some reason, I wanted to do something with a homeless guy. The main reason behind this was because my friend Kyle has a beard and can be easily made to look homeless. The idea for my movie is this:
A homeless man has had a long day begging for money. On a sunny afternoon, a stranger in a suit walks by and drops a pocket watch. The homeless man picks up the watch and looks down the street. The man in the suit is already gone. After some examination of the watch, the homeless man discovers that the watch controls time. He uses this new power of time control to steal money and alcohol and perpetuate his drunken homelessness through crime. Later that afternoon, he passes out on a park bench, drops the watch and time freezes. Then there are a series of flashbacks in his life that show how he came to be homeless. First we see him getting the watch and freezing time. Then we see him being homeless, then him being kicked out of his house by his wife, then him losing his job, then him and his wife being happy; a series of reversed flashbacks that show us his life. After these flashbacks, the man in the suit returns to the homeless man. The man in the suit says “he couldn’t handle it,” meaning he had the power to change his life with this watch and he chose to steal and get drunk instead. The man in the suit leaves. The homeless man awakes to find himself trapped in a world of frozen time. When he dropped the watch, it broke and time froze forever. He now must pay for his mistakes.
Anyway, I thought the idea for the movie was really cool. I ran into a lot of problems though:
1. I thought editing would be easy. I was wrong.
2. I didn’t get all of the footage I wanted, and some of the footage I did get didn’t add up when edited together.
3. My friends have busy schedules and it was hard to get them all together.
4. I didn’t have all of the people I wanted as extras to perpetuate the idea of frozen time.
5. I was unable to export my footage to Adobe After Effects and edit the frozen time the way I wanted.
However, the film did come together alright. With more time and a little more know how, I think I could have done really well. This is however my first time ever writing/directing/editing/creating music for a film. Considering all of that, I think I did okay.
The movie, The Watch, will be available after IU’s CMF finale on SundayApril 10th.
This week I watched bits and pieces of A Clockwork Orange. It was really really really really really really really really really really really really really really etc., weird. I didn’t really get it; but then again I wasn’t watching as intently as my roommate. I did like the classic music, and I like that it made me feel creepy. I like that it could have that effect on me. I wish I would have paid more attention to it. Oh well. I really don’t have anything else to say.
"Say hello to my little friend!"
Full shot. I didn’t have access to a drug lord’s mansion, so I didn’t have his office, but I tried my best. Things to notice are the desk, the chair placement, the gun, and Corey’s suit.
"I made him an offer he couldn't refuse."
Mid shot. I worked on this one in Photoshop because I wanted to make it look more artistic like The Godfather.(Notice the orange filter that Matt talked about during one of the classes?) Things to notice in this shot are Cody’s tuxedo, the rose (I enhanced it in Photoshop), and the dog in his arms (it’s dark, and I don’t like cats, nor do I have access to one).
"NOOOOOOOO!"
Close up. Important scenery information is the the Corey in the background it the gun. Also the window in the background fit this scene perfectly. Important props were Andrew’s revolver shaped cologne bottle and his costume. I asked him to dress like he was in the Deer Hunter and this is how he came upstairs. He used melted chocolate chips as dirt on his face.
I really enjoyed this assignment. These are my favorite movies and I really liked recreating the iconic scenes. I think my friends and I did a really good job. I was really impressed that they are were able to get into the photos so easily. I think they did a great job. The hardest part of this was setting up the Scarface shot and editing The Godfather photo. I wanted a good background for the Scarface photo, but it was hard to duplicate. All around, a lot of fun.
10 55 Word Treatments
A man hastily attempts to clean up the frozen snot on his lip with a lime green handkerchief; the white snow thick atop his gray hair. His long black trench coat flapping in the howling wind, he opens the door for a giggling couple. The slip a crinkled ten dollar bill in his outstretched hand.
A group of five men clad in red walk along a dark alley. They splash through the puddles as they slowly move through the abandoned city block. The man on the right squeakily lifts the lid of a rusty orange brown dumpster. A cloud of flies all abuzz zoom out.
A woman in a short black dress slowly walking down a lush red carpet trips and falls as the thin, wooden heel of her right show snaps. Flashing lights from the paparazzi light up the fallen starlet. A tall short-haired man in a black suit reaches out his hand to help her to her feet.
The room dark, two men sit several seats apart at an expensive bar. The young bartender is washing glasses while talking to the old gentleman in the gray suit. The man on the left is laying with his head on the bar; one hand clenching a bottle of whiskey, the other a thick lit cigar.
Three young girls dressing in white are running through a green field, smiling. Flowers in their hair, they sit down on a yellow picnic blanket. One girl opens the whicker picnic basket and pulls out three sandwiches wrapped in shining cellophane. Just as the girls are unwrapping their sandwiches, a dark shadow overcasts them. Rain.
Kyle sits at messy table alone. The clanking of his spoon against the glass bowl cuts through the silence. He slurps the milk and crunches the cereal. His half-grown beard is rough on his face. He scratches the short stubble. He reaches in his right breast pocket and pulls out a red package of cigarettes.
Anna sits at the helm of the ship; her hand resting on the cold golden wheel, a fine mist of sea blowing everywhere. The boat is rocking in the storm. As she begins to make a left turn, the boat tips with a giant splash. Cold rushing black water fills the top of the ship.
A group of students sits at their tan desks in the beige room, patiently awaiting the teacher’s arrival. The black hand on the clock strikes three. Class is set to begin. The silver door knob slowly turns. A short man in a white suit walks in; his shoes clicking as he strides across the tile.
The black leather briefcase slips from her hand. It opens with a thud. The pasty manila envelopes documenting each detail of the plan spill on the cold, gray concrete. A gust of wind sends the papers flying down the busy boulevard. A dark sedan arrives and the passenger door opens. A man emerges with sunglasses.
A red sports car speeds along the gravel road; a cloud of white rocks flying in its wake. The man gripping the white leather wheel cuts it sharp. The vehicle spins in a cloud of dust. The car stops and he gets out. The man opens the trunk and pulls out a black plastic case.
AHMORSE WAS HERE 