Merry Christmas

To celebrate, I demand everyone go and watch a Christmas Classic ....

 

Back when Chevy Chase was frickin amazing!

Smart Girls At The Party

I'm constantly fascinated with "new media" and the evolving uses of webisodes, web series, and online content.  Dr. Horrible is a great example of someone established in the industry successfully creating and distributing content online.  Joss Whedon hit a homer with it for sure.  Writer/Director James Gunn is working on short series content called PG Porn, which is a dark comedic series that pokes fun at porn movies.  Other artists use web/new media to highlight social issues.  Darryl Hannah's Love Life showcases Darryl Hannah's love for all things green and explores developments in green culture and highlights the varied ways one can save the planet.

Another such piece of web content, that just recently caught my attention, comes from Amy Poehler, and as much as I would have loved for her to do a comedy based web series, her current project is much more important.  Smart Girls At The Party celebrates the creativity, the fun, the brilliance, and the overall awesomeness of young women.  Poehler interviews and showcases different young women who are passionate and creative.  Each interview is shot like it was Larry King or rather Charlie Rose, but instead of celebrities you get REAL important people, kids.  In a time when young women have role models like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, its great and refreshing to see content that, as Poehler puts it, “celebrates extraordinary girls who are changing the world by being themselves”.  I think that kicks ass.






Edit (12/15/08): Amy Poehler, you will be greatly missed on SNL.

Bettie Page

I'm sad to find that Bettie Page has passed away.

Thanks for the Hotness babe.  Calling you an Icon is an understatement.

I hope your life was a great and full one, even well after the pinup days.




Bettie Page dies at 85.

 

 

We Three Kings

I thought this was cute.

If My Life Wasn't Funny It Would Only Be True

I love this book cover.



Carrie Fisher. One of my biggest crushes and certainly my longest. Always respected her, not only for being Princess Leia, but for being a smart and funny author. She will forever be on my favorite list of writers. Her wit is sharper than ever.





I love her anecdote about Cary Grant.

And this quote speaks volumes to me.
"You're only as sick as your secrets."

Buy her new book and, if you haven't yet, check out her other writings specifically Delusions of Grandma, and my fav, Postcards From The Edge.

Since Bing Crosby tap danced with Danny Fuckin Kaye

Picture post. Put up the tree while drinking Apple Cider with Christmas Vacation on in the background. God I love that movie.

 

  

I'm glad to see my wife happy decorating the living room in the house she grew up in.  This was the same living room we saw her mom pass away in.  I thought for sure at the time that none of us would want to even set foot in the living room after that night.  Thankfully the healing set in and the grief went away, and instead of pondering the negative, we celebrate the positive.  Each Christmas has gotten better and better, but still not the same without Brenda.

Now I've got to see about actually putting some presents underneath the tree.

Chainsaw Bayonet

I can't believe I didn't think of it first. I've seen something similar before, but to actually make one? This would be great for Monster Cops.



Chainsaw Bayonet

Rest In Peace Uncle Forry

I can't sleep. So I get online and what do I find out? Forest J. Ackerman has passed away.

He did what most of us wanted to do for a living.  He was a professional fan of all things Sci-Fi, Horror, and Fantasy. 

This was the man that coined the phrase "Sci-Fi."


 I always enjoyed seeing stories about him on TV because they would always show his museum full of movie memorabilia.  The "Ackermansion" was a HUGE collection of all things Horror/Sci-Fi/Fantasy.  Spocks ears, Drac's original cape.

He was such an enthusiastic lover of the Sci-Fi / Horror Genre that it would make the geekiest of geeks fall in love with it all over again.  The man knew how to be a fan.  He made me proud to love monster movies.   His magazine, Famous Monsters of Filmland, was really the first Monster Magazine, long before Fangoria.  He really did make me proud to love this genre.

I'm sad that I'll never get a personal tour of the Ackermansion.  But mostly I'm sad that I'll never get to meet him.

Rest in peace Uncle Forry.

It took me sometime, but here you go.

So in accordance to the rules set forth by Mr. Marcellus, since he tagged me and all, I have to reveal 7 things about me. So here we go.


1) In 1993 I was held up by airport security in St. Petersburg, Russia, because the X-ray showed that I had some sort of specialized military handgun hidden in my bag. Several Russian Military gaurds surrounded me, followed by Airport Security, all of them armed to the teeth, hands on their weapons, ready to shoot me down or beat me with clubs. They all laughed when they realized it was a video camera. All guards and personell left giggling at the situation, as the gaurd at the end of check out asked in a thick Russian accent: "How much is camera?" I shoved the camera into my bag and replied, "It's not for sale." I walked away.

2) I play blues harmonica, and for the past 2 years have slowly been learning to play classical harmoninca.

3) When I have writers block or when I am in deep thought about solving a problem, I do magic tricks.

4) My first concert was going to see Tiffany at Six Flags Over Texas. The, then unknown, New Kids On The Block opened for her.

5) I am taller than both Dennis Hopper and Jackie Chan, both of whom I've had the privilege to stand next to.

6) My first feature length film was a black and white horror drama called Vampire Killer, and no one will ever see it, unless you are one of the unfortunate souls who has a copy of it. I apologize.

7) I have a major obsession with anything and everything about weaponry and combat, especially it's history.

Tactical Research

Brushing up on the Tactical Research. Thank god for YouTube.


Tactical Reload


Tactical Reload Demonstration


Scene From WAY OF THE GUN.
Benicio DelToro does a tactical reload.



And for good measure, the PROPER way to clear a room.


More room clearing examples.



And just for shits and giggles, Room CLEANING procedure.



And I thought this one was funny as well.

OMG

Well I'm excited.

Sfumato

For many Sfumato is the Italian term for a painting technique which overlays translucent layers of colour to create perceptions of depth, volume and form.

Sounds like movie making.

Da Vinci himself described sfumato as "without lines or borders, in the manner of smoke or beyond the focus plane"

Certainly this can relate to movie making.

I know the word Sfumato from Michael J. Gelb's book How To Think Like Leonardo DaVinci. There he lists Sfumato as one of Da Vinci's 7 principals. "A Willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox, and uncertainty."

Now that definitely sounds like movie making to me.


Sfumato, for me, has evolved from just an art technique, into a way of life. To embrace uncertainty. As stated in Gelb's book, to literally go up in smoke. The artistic technique refers to using brush strokes to blend tones together. No harsh lines means a more realistic blend of colors, giving you a better expression of realism. The best example is the Mona Lisa. If we didn't know any better we'd almost think it was a photograph. The paint blended together to recreate reality.

In a way this is what I'm trying to achieve with Monster Cops. It's pretty easy to paint vampires and zombies with harsh lines. Monsters in general lend themselves to a more comic book type world, where the art work can be expressive in it's well defined lines. Just the idea of a Vampire or a Chupacabra does not blend in well with reality. It sticks out, because it's not the norm.

But with Monster Cops I'm trying to blur those lines in order to create a perception of depth. In order to recreate reality. It's practice with each episode, with each shoot. The question always being, how would this play out in reality. If we were REALLY dealing with zombies, vampries, werewolves, etc., how would this secret government agency react? How would we see it on video realistically? What is the most realistic way we can achieve this with the budget we have?

It is practice. It is trial and error. And I'm learning. The first Monster Cops project was The Midnight Special. With it I felt close to the look and feel I wanted, but not really there. With the Shadow Company episode I feel we hit the mark slightly. A good start, but we can do better. I do feel we're on the right track. In the end it is about the essence of your story. What is it we are trying to achieve with Monster Cops? What exactly is that vision?

It's a realistic look into a group of Government Monster Killers. The action, the thrills, and the horror of the investigation and the hunt for creatures of the night, mixed with humor and pathos.

In other words, Cops meets The Office meets Blair Witch meets Monster Squad,

An action, comedy, reality tv show, with realistic depth.

And how do we achieve that depth? How do we blur those lines to recreate reality? By embracing ambiguity, paradox, and uncertainty.

Yup, that's definitely movie making.


Working on the scripts for the next few episodes. Shooting starts back up this Saturday, but with the cold weather, we are relegated to indoor shots. We'll see how it works out. I'm confident we'll have one more episode up before January.

Most likely going to add a cast and crew call page soon.


Ambiguity, paradox, and uncertainty? Where are you guys? Come here, gimme a hug.

Ideo

IDEO Global Chain Reaction from IDEO Labs on Vimeo.

August to October

New Monster Cops Production Update on the Video Blog.


MC VLOG Aug to Oct 08 Update from one spartan on Vimeo.

Picture Post 11-12-08

Unfortunately I did not take any pictures of my dinner with the guys. Ate at Chilli's then hung out at Starbucks with Chris and Brandon. Met up with the wife later, she hadn't eaten yet, so we went to Olive Garden. Doing my part to keep all the corporate franchise stores alive.



We were surprised to find all this stuff outside the waiting area of Olive Garden. I understand having some coffee or a drink while you wait...


but there was a McDonald's bag, an empty bag of chips, and an empty Pringles container. Damn.


Such a random thing to hang on the wall of an Italian Restaraunt.








Groceries



Back to the drawing board.

I honestly thought it was already canceled

Fox cancels Mad TV

Seriously, I didn't know it was still on.

Hello, I am Patrick A. Prejusa, and I am highly dissatisfied with my work.

No this isn't me having a pity party, nor is this me trying to buck myself up. This is me being real. The year is almost up and I'm only semi satisfied with the work I've done this year. I'm only semi satisfied with that Shadow Company episode of Monster Cops.

Nothing in particular, just everything in my creative control. I know some folks seem to like it, but this is me being my harshest critic. I scold myself because I know what I am capable of and I have yet to even come close to putting my full potential on the screen for you to see.

So I travel towards finishing what I can before the years end, to see if I can even come close to what I seek. I know it's a part of that eternal struggle in life, to continually seek to improve upon ones work. To always aim to the next level. For me I don't even feel as if I've even hit any sort of level. That Monster Cops episode is child's play compared to what I have in me.

No offense to everyone who participated in it's creation. I feel that everyone did an amazing job, and we put together a good episode. But for everything on my part, I know I can do better. As a writer, editor, producer, and director, I feel I've just barely been scratching the surface. I wish I could show you what is in my brain. One day I will.

And it's not about the money either. I don't like hearing comments like, "well if you had more money then maybe this would be better." This is not about pushing yourself financially. Perhaps a few bucks will make things a bit easier. It doesn't change the fact that this is about pushing the creative envelope not the financial one. Hollywood throws money at problems all the time, and often times to no avail. Indies can bitch about not having any money all day long. As long as you have a camera and a means to edit, then you have absolutely no excuses. There is always a way to tell the essence of your story, I don't care how much money you don't have.

Your obstacles and limitations should be your strengths not your weaknesses. I know this and still I waste my time trying to "raise money." I need to raise my creativity. I need to refine my editing skills and improve upon my direction, not worry about weather or not I've got enough tactical vests to go around, or how much the price of blank ammo costs. All this is nothing without that creative spark. It's not about what you don't have, it's about using what you've got.

And even with nothing I should still be able to blow your mind. Nothing should be able to hold back the ability to tell a story. Absolutely nothing. Even at the bare minimum I should still be able to give you a great show. This is what I need to strive for. Excellence at no cost, but with great expense of personal ability. To create with full force of mind and soul.

Maybe I'll never be satisfied. But I have to try.

Time to step it up. Time to work harder and more efficiently. I need to make production days count, with tons of preplanning ahead of time. Time to do more, time to do better.

I'm better than what I have accomplished this far.

I have to agree

I am not a Pirate. I believe that downloading movies illegally is incredibly horrible karma for an indie moviemaker, so I don't do it, EVER.

But I do have to agree with this article:

Piracy Leads To Less Crap.

Knight Rider

This is pretty much the worst show on television right now. I've tried to make it through 4 different episodes, and I just can't do it. They had the opportunity to remake the franchise into something brilliant, but I think it's just as cheesy as the original, just minus the fun. Flat writing, bad direction. Yup, this one is pretty mediocre.

And that's all I have to say about that.

I'm thinking about ending every post now with that phrase. Good idea? Probably not.

Dammit

Unfortunately, I will NOT be at the Screenwriting Expo next week in L.A. And of course two of my favorite screen writers of all time will be there together to hold an exclusive session on writing. Aaron Sorkin and William Goldman. SORKIN and GOLDMAN!

I cannot believe I am not going to be there.

Thanks Harry

Looks like I may be doing quite a bit of traveling next year. Texas in January then to Washington on the 20th. Atlantic City most likely in March, and then back to Texas in April. If I'm lucky I can add Park City, Utah in January. But since I've missed Park City every year for the past 6 years, why break the streak? If I'm really unlucky I'll be in L.A. before summer for a few weeks. I really don't like L.A. No offense to my L.A. peeps, but you know it just ain't my scene. Great place to visit. As long as it's a short visit. I'll stick around for your sake Beks, but only for production reasons.

I'm not as adventurous when it comes to traveling. Not like I use to be. I think it's mainly because I'm focused on the project at hand, and right now that doesn't really require alot of traveling. I am determined to make as many out of town screenings as possible. Nothing like watching an audience full of strangers watch your work. Something I haven't done since 2001.

I'm on Twitter now. I find it beneficial to rattle off random updates in short form, especially when I'm working on scripts. Right not I'm working on 3 MC episodes, 1 short, and next years Feature Film. Don't even ask me about it cuz it's going to change, it always does. Thankfully I'm not as sick as I was, and I can concentrate more steadily. But in my short bursts of stoppage, I do sound off on Twitter now, or I post here, or on my super secret (but not really) LJ.

I'm also trying to keep up with learning about New Media, how the new PR techniques apply to New Media, and examining different business models. This whole entertainment landscape is changing everyday, especially with regards to the internet as it applies to the DIY Moviemaker. Tell you what, wanna keep up with it yourself, then keep an eye on Scott Kirsner's blog CINEMA TECH as well as Lance Weiler's THE WORKBOOK PROJECT. Both sites that will definitely help you stay ahead of the game, or at least keep up with it.

But no matter what new media I observe, no matter what new marketing, tech, model, idea, strategy, etc. The old adage still applies. If you put on a good enough show, people will surely pay the price of admission. Marketing becomes easier when you've got a good product. It's an easy sell when it's something they wanna see.

So back to writing I go.

Shibolleth

Is it coincidence? Is it fate? When things seem to come together at just the right time. Is it God talking? Or is it just random for random's sake?

Does it really matter when it's inspiring?

A little late but

I just thought this was brilliant. I didn't get to see it when it broadcast and actually from what I heard this years emmy's were pretty horrible, but I adore Ricky Gervais and Steve Carrell and it was great to see them play off eachother here. John Stewart and Stephen Colbert, added bonus.



Yup, this is what I do when I reach a block in writing. So expect more tonight.

Remember, Remember, the 5th of November!

Michael Crichton

I am sad to find out that Michael Crichton has passed away. Bestselling author of many books that have become movies, Timeline, Sphere, The 13th Warrior, Westworld, Andromeda Strain, Congo, Jurassic Park, and many others. He was also involved with projects like Runaway, Coma, and Twister. He also created the hit TV show ER.

He took SciFi to whole new level. I remember when everyone I knew was reading Crichton. Your vision, your tales, your creativity has been a grand influence on so many, myself included.

Thank you.



Best-Selling Author Michael Crichton Dies
"Jurassic Park" Author And "ER" Creator Succumbs To Cancer. He Was 66.

Yes We Can

You know what, I don't really feel sick anymore.

Watching, Waiting

I'm on all the channels. CNN, FOX, MSNBC, and then some.

It's getting exciting.

And I'm still sick.


sigh.

Exciting yet Crappy

Exciting because it's going to be a historic day in what is already a historic campaign. It's going to be neat to watch how it all unravels.

Crappy because I'm sick. I've been sicker. But I'm sick enough to not be able to do anything truely productive, yet still not sick enough to not do the day job, of course. It's cool, I heal fast. I was just really looking forward to calling everyone, getting things organized, and get the rest of these shots done for the next two Monster Cops episodes.

Speaking of Monster Cops, apparently Brightcove, the video platform I use to stream video on MONSTERCOPS.COM, will stop there Brightcove.tv platform (which was free), in order to concentrate on their Brightcove Business platform (which is not free). I totally understand this move, and I should have seen it coming, thing is I don't think I can afford to pay for Brightcove just yet. Great timing since I just posted the first Monster Cops episode. Oh and thanks to everyone for their kind comments about the episode, glad you all liked it.

Anyways, it's disappointing because I really love the quality and how easy Brightcove is to use. Oh well. I know their are other video platforms that can be used, just gotta find one that has equal quality and affordability (meaning free.)

Ooh I wonder if PopTent would let me upload a 24 minute short.

All that aside, I urge everyone to go out and rock the frickin vote. Doesn't matter who you vote for, just go and VOTE!!!!

Who Is The Master?

You've got to be kidding me.

Samuel L. Jackson lands role as Sho'Nuff in The Last Dragon remake. Samuel L. Jackson is preparing to take on the villainous lead role in a remake of kung-fu cult classic The Last Dragon. Jackson will star as Sho'Nuff in the remake of Berry Gordy's 1985 classic centring on the story of tough street kid Leroy Green's quest to become a martial arts legend.

Bosses at Columbia Pictures, who are the helm of the remake, have signed Jackson up to play the legendary baddie role made famous by late actor Julias Carey.

And Jackson can't wait to bring the character back to the big-screen, telling the Hollywood Reporter, "I'm a huge fan of the original and look forward to bringing Sho'Nuff into the 21st century."

The original The Last Dragon, starring Taimak, The Cosby Show star Keshia Knight Pulliam and William H. Macy, grossed $26 million (GBP16.2 million) at the U.S. box office.

- imdb.com


You've got to be effin kidding me.

As fed up as I am with the remakes, I think I'm a little bit excited about this. I don't think you could have picked a better role for Sam J. The Last Dragon is one of those movies that just cannot be described. It was 1985 a year that is very special to me. A year when some of the coolest movies ever made would totally influence my soul. The Last Dragon is one of the more unique, goofy, oddball, and might I add KICK ASS movies of not only that year, but of the 80's period.

Mowtown meets Kung Fu. You can thank this movie for bringing DeBarge into popularity with there hit "Rhythm Of The Night." And then of course El DeBarge's solo hit "Who's Johhny" from the movie Short Circuit. Oh my god this is all bringing back so many memories. I just had to get this when they put this out on DVD a couple of years ago.



I am surprised that they mention William H. Macy and Keisha Knight in the above article. It's not like they had big roles. Why not also mention Chazz Palminteri as one of the Thugs. I can only hope that this movie will be just ass ridiculous and cheesy as the original. I expect more modernized and improved Kung Fu, but you can't possibly make this movie completely serious with a character like Sho'Nuff. I mean here's a picture of the guy.



A part of me is a little disappointed about the remake. Mainly because The Last Dragon was always somewhat of an underground thing. It was like an injoke with the cool kids. Only the truely elite lover of the 80's knew and appreciated this movie. It was like people who were fans of (dreadful) movies like Garbage Pail Kids and Howard The Duck. Not everyone I knew had even heard of The Last Dragon and if I mentioned it and you knew what I was talking about, then you were in the cool club. But you couldn't just know about it, you had to know how "The Glow" song went. Or you know what the answer is when I say "WHO AM I?" (SHO'NUFF!). Or perhaps you had a crush on Vanity like I did.


YOu bet your ass I was hot for her!

Or you've told someone more than twice to "Kiss my Converse".


This movie paid tribute to Bruce Lee's classic yellow jumpsuit long before Kill Bill. See a pattern?




OMG! I hope they use Ernie Reyes Jr. Does anybody remember the TV Show Sidekicks?

No? Holy crap I feel 33.

Ooh! I just found this on YouTube.



I've always been fond of the pull back shot when Sho says "Why don't anybody that wants me to sit down and shut up, come down here and make me?" The camera pulls back as Sho's peeps fall into place and Enter The Dragon plays behind them. I always really loved that shot.

Here's the beginning of the movie. I swear to God this beginning song I've had stuck in my head since I first saw this movie in 1985.

The Choice Is Clear America!!!!!!

Funny!

See more Natalie Portman videos at Funny or Die

Monster Cops Episode!!!!

The 24 Minute Monster Cops Episode entitled Shadow Company is now online for all to see.

Click Here to watch the episode now!




MONSTER COPS: SHADOW COMPANY
Plot Synopsis:
The team falls into a slight depression as lead agent Cutter seems to be "Missing Things" due to unresolved issues with the death of his wife. Carl gets Weir obsessed with a conspiracy theory concerning The Mothman. Greenly's psychic powers come into question when she develops her own obsessions with the conspiracy surrounding the death of Tupac Shakur. Bryce attempts to cheer everyone up with a "smiley face sticker" campaign, and all the while the team has to deal with a Werewolf hunt, a zombie attack, and a Vampire who likes to set traps. Also, learn how to kill Vampires and Zombies using the MKX300 weapon.

SCREAM w Bunnies

Been a huge fan of Angry Alien Production's work on the Bunnies shorts. 30 second animations summing up your favorite movies, with bunnies. Here's scream.



Check out more from Angry Alien.

Hallowindow

A creation of artist Mark Gervais. A brilliant idea if you've got a projector and an available window on Halloween. I'm so doing this next year. Heck I'm doing this for Easter.



Check out more of Mark's work:
http://www.markgervais.com/

Get the Hallowindow animation to own:
http://hallowindow.com

Chad Hates Aliens

So the Halloween celebration has begun. How am I going to celebrate Halloween? I must be doing something amazing seeing as how I'm such a big halloween freak right? Well I am doing something immensely amazing. I'm going to work tonight.

I've actually been celebrating Halloween for the past few months. It kind of feels that way when you're working on Monster Cops. Today we watched some scary videos, Ghosthunters, Supernatural, bought some Halloween decor and put it all up. For the past few years we've always been just so busy that we couldn't celebrate Halloween the way we truely wanted to. Have a party, get dressed up, go to Haunted Houses, make Halloween Themed Goodies, go all out on the decorations. We're just not there yet. So it's all about the little things. A scary movie here, a few pumpkin lights there. And the main thing for me is to make a Halloween Tribute Video.

I always feel the need to do something special to mark the Halloween occasions, and the best thing I know to do is make a video of some sort. Something I've done for years since I wasa kid. I've always had the video camera out, during trick or treating, or tried to sneak it in to Haunted Houses, always trying to capture that Halloween Spirit as it was happening.

In 2005 I made my HALLOWEEN NERD video. It's right after I had just moved to NC and I needed to do something to not just celebrate Halloween but to make myself feel at home. It was a basic compilation of the little things me and my wife did for Halloween as well as a few observations on the holiday itself. In 2006 I didn't make one although I had planned to. Juli's Mom would pass away that year and the thought of celebrating anything at all was far from out minds. 2007 was still a time of healing as we marked the anniversary of Brenda's death, so the idea of celebrating Halloween just wasn't there either.

Now it's 2008, and I think we're ready to celebrate Halloween again, but of course the time and the money just aren't there. But I am going to make a video. Right now it's called THE LONG HALLOWEEN, and it will be similar in fashion to the 2005 Halloween Nerd video. A sort of video essay on what Hallloween means to me, the little ways we celebrate it, and how sometimes for the die hards that celebration doesn't ever really end.

Of course I'll be shooting and editing well past Halloween so it'll probably be done just after Halloween, but it's something I have to do, for me, and for that Halloween Bug that bites me every so often.

So until MY Halloween Video is ready, I think I'll just post random vids in the Halloween Spirit. This one is definitely a fav, it's Hilarious! And it definitely has that Monster Cops feel to it. Awesome!

CHAD HATES ALIENS

Magic Mirror

This is totally the kind of project I would take on for Halloween. A sensor activated Magic Mirror. Check out the video as well as the instructable. Very impressive stuff.

Magic Mirror Instructable.

I came here to tell you how it's going to begin.

Spoon boy: Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Spoon boy: There is no spoon.
Neo: There is no spoon?
Spoon boy: Then you'll see that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.

I think the real trick is in knowing you are in constant creation. Even when you're not trying, you are creating. Constantly setting the atmosphere in which you operate. Your situation is noone else's fault but your own.

This is of course me talking to myself. The circumstances in which I find myself sometimes, the predicaments, the obstacles, are all of my creation. In the past it's been about tha age old silly human question, "why do bad things constantly happen to me even when I'm trying to be good?" And the answer of course is, I'm stupid. The bad things are not happening to me, just life reacting to my reactions and me not understanding that there are no obstacles, just new ways to create. And also I don't need to try to be good, just be good. Whatever your definition of that may be.

Do or do not, there is no try. Or in my philosophy, be or be not, there is no try.

I believe that I am in constant creation. That I'm constantly sending out vibes into the universe, and that the universe is constantly giving me what I ask for or in response to whatever vibe I'm putting out. If I give shit, I get shit. If all I do is want a thing, then I shall receive the feeling of wanting that thing. If all I do is try, then the universe will keep me in the constant loop of trying. And if all I do is nothing, then I will get nothing.

But if the universe gives me what I want in accordance to my vibe, and I choose to "be" something, then the universe may very well say "yes you are." I decided a long time ago that I wasn't going to try to be a movie maker, but that I was a movie maker, I am a movie maker. And now I am. And despite what ever level of success you want to measure me at, I am still very much a movie maker, and I don't think I can be disputed at that. Now the time I claimed to be a Pro Wrestler, the universe actually called me out on that one, and I lost. I don't look good in tights flying off the ring side. So, good call universe.

But I do find myself in constant awe of the process of constant creation. And I think a part of that process is forgetting. Forgetting just how much control I have, or even worse, thinking that I don't deserve to have such control over my life. I think alot of people fall into that trap. Sometimes you feel like it's not even your life.

For me it's about getting caught up in the routine. The day job and paying bills, the yearly worries about family and friends, about celebrating births and mourning deaths. It's the cycle of life that you're supposed to get caught up in, but then you forget about the control you have separate from the routine. Life's like this video game, where you can play however you want and reach any level you want, you just have to remember to play and that you hold the control.

I do forget, and as I said I think it is part of the process of it all. We forget to remember. And thankfully I have such great inspirations to remind me often of my path. And despite what I thought was happening 3 and a half years ago, it's actually all working out how I thought it would, and then some. Not saying there are no surprises, there have been. But my life as it is now are matching up with the goals I was aiming for then. I said to the universe what I was, and the reply was, yes you are. And I'm thankful for that.

You get what you give. And I try to give the universe nothing but good material to work with. So the next time the shit hits the fan, I have to realize who was doing the throwing and who put the fan there in the first place. Well that's a heck of an analogy.

This entire dialogue is a reminder to me (as most of my blogging is). So that maybe the next time the forgetfulness won't last so long.



Neo: I know you're out there. I can feel you now. I know that you're afraid... you're afraid of us. You're afraid of change. I don't know the future. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin. I'm going to hang up this phone, and then I'm going to show these people what you don't want them to see. I'm going to show them a world without you. A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you.
- The Matrix

Change

Mark Wahlberg Talks To A Necronomicon

I couldn't help it. The title of this post sounded so absurd I had to use it. Anyways.
There's no better way to celebrate Halloween then perusing or participating in Instructables. Don't know about Instructables? Then check it out for yourself. http://www.instructables.com

It's simply a place to see and post How to and DIY projects of all kinds. From "How To Bake a Cake" to "How To Blow Up a Cake" people have submitted projects of all kinds. So Halloween is a great time to see what people are doing, or to post your very own instructable.

I decided to submit my Prop Necronomicon How To Vid as my very first Instructable, and I'm proud to say it's being FEATURED on the Instructables home page. How nifty is that?



I've been a longtime lurker on Instructables and it's pretty cool to have my first submission be featured. Glad so many are enjoying the project and I appreciate all the feedback, comments, and messages I've gotten. Feel free to take a look at the step by step instructions as well as the posted video there.

INSTRUCTABLES: Necronomicon: Book Of The Dead

This will certainly be a neat addition to the Halloween Video this year. So exciting.

In other news. I CANNOT BELIEVE THEY DID WHAT THEY DID ON SNL.

My wife and I joked about what they should do next to follow up Mark Wahlberg Talks To Animals skit, and as I was watching SNL this passed weekend they actually did exactly what we were joking about.



I'm still laughing my ass off. So this makes Mark Wahlberg pretty cool in my book and almost redeems him for doing the movie Fear.

DIY NECRONOMICON The Video

I can't believe this took me two weeks to put together. Anyways, here it is in all it's Evil Dead glory. How to make your very own Evil Dead Necronomicon Ex Mortis Book Of The Frickin Dead.

What else is a blog for ...

but to post randomly at 3:30 in the AM.

Once again, using the blog as a break from editing video. Currently working on the Necronomicon Tutorial which I hope those of you who have been searching for a DIY Propmaking solution for your very own Necronomicon will find handy. I'm trying to get down every single step possible, and cut it together in as short of form as possible.

Also have to cut together videos for Monstercops.com. Reorganize all the project folders for Monster Cops episodes, Archangel, and The Long Halloween. The Long Halloween is now the official title for this years Halloween Tribute Video. And I'm starting on the next prop on the list which is a giant mini-gun sorta kinda. It's a huge gun prop I've been working on in my head for months now, and then low and behold, here come the folks over at Indy Mogul putting up their very own video tutorial on making a mini (or gatling) gun. Here it is:





And here's the test film, as usual:




They came up with a few things I did not, so I shall be borrowing some of those techniques. We'll see how it turns out. Again, Indy Mogul kicks ass.

Back to editing the Necronomicon Tutorial. Plus I think it may be time for an actual Video Blog from me.

Life Notes 101308

- I'm completely in love with Poptent.

- I'm completely in love with iGoogle.

- I have a strange fascination with these little chicken drumettes from Lowe's Foods.

- I'm having to reteach myself time management all over again.

- I regret not having more time to practice After Effects.

- I'm extremely proud of my latest prop creation, too bad I can't tell anyone about it, EVER.

- I'd very much like to finish and post the video tutorial on the creation of my DIY NECRONOMICON.

- I could've sworn it was spelt NECRINOMICON.

- I'm having the hardest time writing and really need to re-discipline myself in my own production techniques.

- I need to buy vampire fangs.

- I need another zombie day. Possibly even two.

- I think I'll feel better once I get these visual fx and mkx shots done.

- I REALLY love the 80's.

- I miss driving my Tahoe everyday, but don't miss having to constantly refill the gas tank.

- I'm loving LED flashlights.

- I'm using MOD-PODGE on everything, even on things that don't really need it.

- I'm going to build a Mini-Gun style prop weapon. No really, I AM GOING TO.

- I'm completely obsessed with flax oil peanut butter and natural strawberry jam sandwiches using double fiber bread. It completes my soul.

- I need to do more personal vlogs.

- Fundable.

- I'm praying for Broccoli and Cheese Soup.

- I think I'm just as excited about Quantum Of Solace as I was about The Dark Knight. No really.

- I'm really crushin on Alicia Keys right now.

- I miss the piano.

- Ya know, I'm going to buy me a new harmonica.

- If I can get 3 episodes of Monster Cops up before Christmas, I'll be happy.

- I'm so very anxious to put something else out on DVD.

PopTent

The people over at XLNTADS.com have put together a brand new site. It's called POPTENT and it's pretty much like facebook for video creators. That description is totally not doing it justice. As if I wasn't already a huge fan of Xlntads, and not just because I've won two of their contests. Poptent rocks my socks.

Xlntads was basically a site that would connect video creatives to brands that needed advertising. A brand would need a specific type of video created, Xlntads would put up all the info as an assignment asking video creators to submit videos, the submissions that were chosen (the ones the brand liked) would earn a set amount of money.

Xlntads takes it a step further with the new site Poptent.net. Here it's the same process but video creators can now have their own profile, upload media, basically have their own online portfolio. This makes it easier to not only get assignments and earn some money, but also to connect with other creatives, or anyone needing your specific talents or skills. I'm just a really big fan of how easy the entire site is to use. Easy to edit your profile, easy to upload anything really, music, videos, images, etc.

And their video player kicks ass. Here's the Monter Cops 1.3 intro.




Check out my profile on poptent.

Pool Illusion

Yup, so gonna have one of these in my backyard.

False Pool

Research Videos - Mini Gun

Taking note specifically of the look of tracer fire at night from long distances as well as an understanding of the basic function of a mini gun.

Mark Wahlberg Talks To Animals

I saw it live and laughed my ass off. Thank God they had the sense to upload it. I've been quoting it since Saturday.

Stopping Power

Welcome to the power of stop.

Things get hectic, the world spins, you're going at full speed, trying to do a thousand things. This is when the power of stop comes in handy. In the midst of all the hubbub, it's often a good idea just to say stop. To hit the brakes, take a good long look at the situation, often times this keeps you from running into problems or creating bigger ones. Or as some say, check yourself before you wreck yourself.

I'm kind of at that point right now. Alot going on. And I forsee a collision of sorts if I don't stop and really look at where things are headed. So this week I'm saying stop. Things are spinning on the Monster Cops project. And I need to take a good long look at exactly what needs to be done, and how that is going to happen. Can't get all I wanted to get done before Halloween, but if I work it right I won't really have to. So we are at Stop for this week.

If you have anything to do at all with production, then know that there will be no shooting this week. Not Wednesday and not Saturday. Need to rethink some things. But I will be contacting everyone individually.

The Up Minute

Life's made of minutes. One minute you're up, the next minute you're down. The good thing about a down minute is that the next minute you'll be up again. I forget where I heard that from.

I do have much weighing on my mind. Mostly about Monster Cops and what needs to be done next. I've sort of been fighting for time to work on it. My timeline is shrinking, and as usual I pressure myself to get more done than I can. I have to come to terms that there just isn't enough time, not when you have to juggle everyone else's schedule as well as you're own, especially when you're not paying anyone. Welcome to nobudget DIY moviemaking.

The past few days have been a very fast succession of up and down minutes. Just in the past few hours it's been a very long down minute. I normally do a good job of staying positive, but just too much to juggle, and the normal frustrations of moviemaking. We all do it. We create something and then we begin to doubt ourselves. Doubt that our creations are even worth anything or that your ideas and dreams are even going anywhere. That's the down minute I was stuck in as I was cleaning the kitchen I was entirely too tired to clean, and I still had the Monster Cops agenda on my mind.

For the past few days we'd actually been checking the local Fox TV station to see if they were playing the Midway Wicked Woods commercial I had worked on. Occasionally flipping over to the station to see if it would pop up. I saw nothing but commercials for every other haunted house. Tonight as I was scrubbing our George Foreman Grill (yes we have one and we use it often) I looked up at the TV in the kitchen when I heard my voice over.

I'd done work on commercials, made videos and segments, seen my work on TV before, but tonight it was a welcome sight to see this particular commercial. I really love the voice over work I did on the ad, very proud of it. And although I'd done this kind of thing before, it was still nice to see something I produced be broadcast to a wider audience. It always feels good to finally get your creation to where it deserves to be, in front of people.

It put me back on an up minute. Suddenly cleaning the kitchen and scrubbing the grill wasn't so bad. Hey at least I have a kitchen and a roof over my head. There are people in this world who have much less. At least I can say I've put ads on TV, I've made short films that have played in fests, and I've got a movie on DVD. I'm actually very lucky. I mean I do have a George Foreman Grill after all.

Necronomicon: Book Of The Dead. The DIY Version.

I can comfortably say that I've gotten at least one thing done on my list. I made my very own Necronomicon. Or to be exact, Necronomicon Ex Mortis. The horror geek in me has to specify that if I say Necronomicon then I'm refrencing H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon. When I'm actually leaning more towards the Book Of The Dead featured in Sam Raimi's Evil Dead Trilogy.

Legend has it that it was written by the Dark Ones. Necronomicon ex
Mortis, roughly translated, "Book of the Dead". The book served as a passageway to the evil worlds beyond. It was written long ago. When the seas ran red with blood. It was this blood that was used to ink the book. In the year 1300 AD, the book disappeared.

For the current Monster Cops Episode I wanted to refrence Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn, seeing as how I love the Evil Dead movies and this particular episode is titled Monster Cops: Dead By Dawn. The plot itself doesn't actually have much to do with the Evil Dead mythos, but I wanted to make a nod to it. The Monster Cops breach a very evil vampire lair and I wanted them to come across some evil objects. So why not have one of those objects be a Necronomicon? Plus I though it would be fun to build one.

The Necronomicon has actually changed appearance throughout each Evil Dead film. Here's what some of them look liked.

The Necronomicon Ex Mortis from the very first low budget film Evil Dead. This lower budget version looks pretty creepy to me, but I was always much fonder of the look they used in the sequel.


Here's a frame from Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn.


A closer look at the version from Evil Dead 2. The budget obviously went up on the prop making. I do love this look quite a bit and is the look I was leaning towards when creating my own.


And this is the version in Army Of Darkness (Evil Dead 3). The prop making budget went all the way up this time around thanks to Universal Studios. Still holding to eerieness but looked alot more subtle with much better quality.


The limited edition DVD's of Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 came in really cool looking Necronomicon covers. But even they somewhat differ from any of the above designs of the book.



And here's the first pic of mine.

Wasn't going for exactness, but I wanted to stay with the same feel as the Evil Dead trilogy. I wanted the eyes on mine to be much angrier. This didn't actually cost me much to make since I had all the materials already. The base of it is a cardboard box duct taped together to form the actual cover and spine. The wrinkles in the skin were made from masking tape and duct tape. The eyes, nose, and mouth were formed with long rolled up pieces of duct tape then sealed down with masking tape. Then I painted it with acrylic, using black for the inside of the eyes and mouth, and the rest painted with brown mixed in with some cadium red.

Right now I'm sealing the whole thing down with Mod Podge sealer to give it some strength and so the paint won't run, just in case it ever gets wet (have you ever been on one of our sets?) I'm going to finish the back, and then fill the middle in with actual pages of monster drawings and images just as soon as Mr. Brandon White finishes them.

I'll post a video tutorial as soon as it's finished. This will actually only make an appearance in the current episode for about 10 seconds, but I think it will lend alot to the feel of this episode.