The love is gone

There is no more spark. The gas has run out. I've got no drive for it.

Today I was going to work on my second Callaway Golf Ad for Poptent. But I just don't see it happening. I had it in my head and it seemed like a great idea, but I'm just not feeling it anymore. I never want to work on anything I'm not 100 percent into. I've worked on so much crap in the past and projects that didn't stimulate me, that I'm at a point now where if I don't feel it, then I don't do it. Even if it is for paying jobs. If my only motivation is the paycheck then it's really not worth it to me.

Money comes and goes, and yes these are "tough times" apparently, but I'm not so strapped for cash that I'll just do anything creatively despite how I feel about it. I've passed up plenty of projects in the last few years, paying projects, simply because my heart just wasn't into it. A certain monster movie comes to mind. A few years back, very wealthy man who was into this particular monster, wanted to hire me to shoot his script about said monster. Getting paid to direct is always the goal for me, but not when the script is this bad. Try watching Meatballs and Aliens back to back in reverse, while listening to a Toby Keith album and you'll get the basic feel of this script.

It's why I stopped doing weddings and depositions. Weddings are lovely, but to shoot one is such a pain. Dealing with carzy Brides and Moms, haggling with the photographer for the best spot, and then having to relive the entire thing over and over in editing. Depositions are worse, because it's just point and shoot for long drawn out dialogue about mind numbing details. Depositions are almost as bad as shooting a catholic wedding. Long and boring. Very much like watching Titanic, in reverse, with the sound off. (I don't know where I'm going with these "watching in reverse" references, just bare with me.)

So I try to choose to work on things that I am passionate about. I've got a few VLOGS that I'd like to produce. I've got Tadcast, Jim Beam, and Stella Artois submissions to think about, as well as the usual Poptent Assignments. But right now, I just want to work on Monster Cops.

I'm quite happy with the great feedback I've been getting for the vids being posted so far, so I'm anxious to get a ton more shorts/webisodes up. And I'm anxious to get the next 4 10 to 20 minute episodes up and out to venues and fests.

There is one particular webisode I want to do, but it sorta breaks my rules. I'm very big on originality. Meaning everything I make, I make. I shoot it, I cut it, and I compose all the music. Sure we'll pay an homage to something, make references, and borrow classic comedy bits, but for the most part the material is original, especially the music. I always cringe when I watch video contest submissions where the rules strictly prohibit the use of copyrighted material and there's a video using music from The Dark Knight or Pirates Of The Caribbean. I make my own music and I never want to use anyone else music unless I can pay for it.

Now if you're doing a spoof or a vlog where you're not making any money off it, then I think it's perfectly fine and falls under Fair Use. But for shorts trying to compete or make money, it's a big no no. With that said, I have this great idea for a Monster Cops webisode that features a very popular copyrighted song. I want to see it happen so badly I'm considering actually producing it. Sure YouTube may take it down, and we may not be able to sell it on the DVD, but it's just one of those things that's just gotta be done. At least it'll be online for folks to see. It should survive Vimeo, Metacafe, and Myspace and you'll definitely be able to see it at Monstercops.com.

I shall ponder this some more. Gonna go work on a Monster Cops Short and check on my pot roast, then I think I shall get on the recumbent bike. LOL. Recumbent. I dunno why that word makes me laugh.




----------------
Now playing: Craig Armstrong - PM's Love Theme -Craig Armstrong
via FoxyTunes

Monster Cops: Phone Call

Monster Cops Short. 1 min. 47 sec. A conversation about killing monsters is interrupted by a phone call. Patrick A. Prejusa, Brandon White, Chris Plouffe, and Danielle Motley.

nbc

Let the midnight special shine a light on me

The signs are everywhere and I can't ignore them. I've been reminded full force of things from the past and it gives me clarity when working on the future.

Credence Clearwater Revival's classic song "Midnight Special". I listened to it constantly when working on the first Monster Cops script, The Midnight Special.



It was this song and 2 others.

Whodini's Classic of Hip-Hop "The Freaks Come Out at Night"



And the one that really inspired me when working on Monster Cops (and still does to this day): The Hollies classic "Long Cool Woman"





It's these three songs I had put on a repeat over and over the entire time I worked on The Midnight Special. To me these songs captures a strong part of the spirit that is Monster Cops. CCR's Midnight Special had that down home rock and blues tone that you really don't associate too much with horror and monsters. Which is why I found it well suited for Monster Cops. It was the feel of how the Cops operated while under the strain of hunting creatures. Cool and groovy, a tone you wouldn't put with hammering stakes in to Vampire hearts. That's the tone of Monster Cops.

The Freaks Come Out at Night was a song that felt right over images of patrol cars looking for, well, freaks. Cops on patrol, investigating strange situations hunting zombies and ghouls. Like driving through neighborhood streets on Halloween Night, seeing costumed creatures roaming around. Plus it was an old school song that did remind me of that Halloween feel, only because it would always end up on someones Halloween music mixtape along with Thriller, The Halloween Theme, and Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes.

And finally Long Cool Woman was always a favorite of mine. Definitely my fav song from The Hollies and in my top 10 of classic rock songs. This song always felt like great background narration for some undercover cop closing in for the arrest, or DEA agents on a bust. Desipte what it's lyrics may define it as, to me this was the action theme for Monster Cops. The bouncy rock rhythm and feel of CCR's Midnight Special but with a harder edge and faster pace. Rock and Blues for Cops on the move, and that's Monster Cops. Burnt out and blue on the job, cracking jokes about the bust, and all the while the Vampires burn and the Zombie heads explode.

Odd, strange, quirky, funny, and thrilling with monsters and guns thrown in.

All this means that I'm nowhere near done with Monster Cops. There is that specific feel and vision I'm going for and I feel like if I can really nail it, it will really be something great. Not that I wasn't already aiming for that, it's just tonight has been very motivating, and a little inspiring.

Still have many many other videos to work on of course. The video work never goes away, but I do hope to get on the ball with Monster Cops and get as much of my vision out there as possible, more shorts, more episodes, much, much more Monster Cops.

Ryan Started The Fire

I love The Office and Billy Joel. So this fan made video was definitely up my alley.




Thanks to @rainnwilson for the tweet.

I was going to try to put together 3 minutes worth of Archangel to submit to Bigstar.tv anyhow. I've been trying to upload it all day. It keeps giving me an error message.

I'm entirely too sick to deal with it. My ear is stopped up, my nose is runny, I've got a sinus headache and a cough.

No Bigstar contest this month. Or any month as long as my comp and their uploads don't agree with eachother. Not gonna make that midnight deadline.

I'm going to bed.

Putting It All Together

I've been busting my ass trying to submit to as many Video Contests and Assignments as possible. I was pretty successful last year making videos for XLNTADS/Poptent, as well as Metacafe, and ExpoTV. So far this year I've submitted and got Honorable Mention for the Acer Aspire One Netbook Contest. Finished and submitted my ad for Callaway Golf Diablo Promo. Currently I'm working on another Callaway Golf Ad and thinking about Tadcast.

I was working on submitting my Archangel action trailer to Bigstar.TV's Action Short Contest, but it's due this Saturday and I'm a minute short. So I won't be making that one happen.

My apologies to Chris Plouffe. He's been a major supporter of my work and he's lent us the use of his office so many times. The last time we shot we ended up breaking his window. We were going to fix it, but apparently it wasn't fast enough for the owners. They've told him to move out by next week. Chris, I am immensely sorry we got you kicked out of your office. Indie Movies successfully destroys yet another location. Again, so sorry Chris. I feel bad about it.

I am working on those contests above as well as others. Also writing a couple of shorts and working out a possible feature. And as usual, I've been working on my baby, MONSTER COPS.

The main goal as it stands is to just keep producing as many shorts (5 minutes of less) and episodes (10 minutes or more) posting them at monstercops.com, and just continue to get the word out about it as I try to get my vision for it produced. I feel strongly about it, and if I had the right budget I know I could produce an amazing feature film out of it AND get it distributed.

I've got the entire process and agenda mapped out on how to produce, distribute, and market a feature film for less than $400,000 and make the money back. So lemme just pull that out of my ass and we can get to work on it. But seriously, I know it's a rough economic landscape right now, but I also know I still see alot of people out there still spending money. Perhaps raising money for an indie film may not seem feasible, but I know it's possible. But all I can do right now is work on making monstercops.com as great as I possibly can. Keep producing good material, getting it out in front of people, and hoping that people like what they see and will want more. Like old Harry Anderson use to say:

If you give em a good enough show, the people will be more than happy to pay the price of admission.

So that's where I'm at right now. Working the day job, working on making more videos for money, and working on Monster Cops. So far so good.

Here's the semi-new intro for Monster Cops. It's actually the old vid recut to include some new shots and old clips from The Midnight Special. To me it's a little bit closer to what I see Monster Cops as. Action, Horror, RealityTV, mixed with Comedy. I'm hoping to achieve more and more of those things with each short and episode.

Diablo

Here's my video for the Callaway Golf Promotion. They're trying to promote their new driver called the Big Bertha DIABLO.





They wanted to stick with the theme of "Release Your Inner Diablo." So I decided to take it literally. I immediately thought of an Exorcism scene, capped off with a cheesy punchline.

Irreverent? Yes. Corny? Most definitely. But I just had to see how it would turn out. Chris Plouffe as the Priest, Sarah Vroom as the possessed girl, and me, Patrick as the corny looking Monk at the end. Additional production help from Brandon White, Richard Gaither, and Darrin Chamberlin on lights, wind, and paper.

The actual words of the exorcism were mostly taken from a Supernatural episode with a few words thrown in from Chris.

I am quite proud of the opening shot of the skyline with clouds and lightning. Those were two public domain photos, one of Long Beach, the other of a cloudy sky. I animated them using Sony Vegas. The final shot of the golf club was a still of the Diablo club cut out using After Effects and placed on video of papers being dropped on the floor. Lightning and pan and crop done in Sony Vegas.

We'll see if it goes anywhere, but as always, it was fun to do, which makes it worth it either way.

I F&#CKED A MERMAID!!!

I love the Lonely Island.

Christian Bale, REMIX!!!!

So Christian Bale flipped out on some lighting guy on set. Apparently it was quite a rant. The media got hold of the audio and has been having a field day with it. Personally I like Christian Bale and I don't know the full circumstances behind the rant. I am intrigued as to how crystal clear this audio is.

Anyhoo. The interweb will never let you down when it comes to creativity. In this case, a nice little techno remix using Bale's F-bomb filled Rant. I love this song. It's stuck in my head.

This one is created by revolucian.



Download the mp3 here:
http://www.revolucian.com/BaleOut-Download.html

Show your support for revolucian by subscribing to the YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/revolucian

This video is almost as catchy as this one:

Honorable Mention

So as expected, I did not win the Aspire One Contest. Just wasn't getting the views, and comments. But I am glad that the top 3 videos that won, were some that I liked a lot and I felt actually deserved to win.

And as a nice gesture, my video was featured as an Honorable Mention. Although there are no prizes for honorable mention, it is a great honor just to have my work recognized. So thank you so much to ACER for the opportunity to compete. I live for video contests! And congratulations to all the winners and my fellow honorable mentionees. I felt everyone got what they deserved, especially those that worked hard and used true creativity for their videos.

Here's a list of the winners and honorable mentions:
http://www.wantonecontest.com/video_contest_winners.aspx

And just for the heck of it, here's my video for the Acer Aspire One Netbook Contest, ALIENS and COW LIPS.

Playlist Test

Just trying out the playlist embeds. The above are 9 of my dvd reviews.

Updated Zombie Hunt Clip

Here's the zombie hunt clip from an upcoming Monster Cops episode. This one includes shots of the MKX300 at work.

Keep Makin Those Vids

Got this article off Twitter via angelmcclinton.

Economic Crisis Will Make Online Video A Champion in 2009

Perhaps we're all on the right track after all.

Empty Your Cup

There's been a few comments this week, just things here and there that I've been told, that I don't quite agree with. I don't like being told what to do, no one does, and I certainly don't like being interrupted when I'm in the middle of discussing one of my projects. Especially when this same person asked me to explain the project. I like it even less when I'm interrupted in the middle of explaining a project by someone who is telling me what I "should" do.

I understand people have ideas, but if I've got an idea that I've decided to commit to actually shooting and producing, then I'm pretty solid on what it is I'm going to do and I need no further feedback. If you're part of the crew wanting to advise me on the lights and you just happen to be in the lighting department then that's fine, give me your feedback. But if you're feedback has nothing to do with your department, or even worse, if you're just someone I barely know trying to butt into production, then it's unacceptable.

Thing is, I am a control freak. When I decide on a story or an idea for a project it's most likely because I see the full vision for it. I don't like it when people try to intentionally get me to change that vision. It's going to change all on it's own when you bring in the actors, and you look at the set, and when you edit it together, the original vision evolves, and it should, and that's completely natural. When someone else decides to step in and tell me what needs to be changed solely because they had a "neat idea", that's different. That's tampering with what I've ALREADY PLANNED! Don't tell me what my vision should be.

This is why I have a hard time collaborating with other writers. I hog the vision. When I come up with something to create, it's usually because I've gotten so passionate about what it is I see in my head that I NEED to be the writer and director and editor and composer. It's because I know, and feel, and understand EXACTLY what the spirit of the story is. I have no room for someone else to just butt in and say, "Ooh what you should do is..."

No.

Now when it comes to doing some improv on set, then that's fine. Improvising is great, and you get a lot of really great material comedy wise, but it's all placed within the context of the base vision and stays within the established essence of the story. It does not detract from the story of the script.

I have no patience for people who ask me to tell them what my vision is and then proceed to tell me what it should be. This is why I hardly tell people what's going on. You'll get a script if you need to get a script. You'll know the end result if you need to know, otherwise just wait til I'm done cutting footage and you can watch the final cut like everyone else.

I hate posting negatively, but I believe that your blog should be there for the occasional venting. So this is me with my venting hat on.

I use to talk about what my ideas and scripts were. I don't now. Because there is no need to. You'll see my ideas once I make them happen. Also because I end up talking to people who just talk. The talkers are the ones who have ideas, but will never do anything with them. They just wanna hang out all day and never shoot anything. This is why I do alot of projects on my own or with minimal help. Thankfully I'm working with some fairly smart people who are motivated. But these past few days I've gotten cornered with a couple of people who are talkers, and I made the mistake of describing one of my projects when asked.

There's this old tale that I never ever remember all the details of, but I believe it was something of an old Buddhist parable. About an old man and a young man drinking tea. The old man pours tea into both cups and they proceed to drink. The Old mad drinks his tea, while the young man proceeds to talk, ALOT. As the Old man finishes his tea he pours himself another cup and then sets the tea pot down. The Old man drinks his second cup. The young man get's upset and says "Why haven't you poured ME a second cup?" The Old man says "How can I pour you tea, if you have not emptied your cup."

I know I just totally butchered that story. But the essence of it always stayed with me. The talkers talk and they complain when the rest of the world has moved on without them. They're too busy complaining about not getting there second cup, when they haven't even enjoyed or even appreciated their first one.

And I do bump into these people. Ugh.

Their existence is necessary, though. Like all things that are opposite of you and your goals, they are their to help define who you are, and who you are not.

"The path of the righteous is set on all sides by the inequities of the weak and the tyranny of evil men."
- Jules 4:20

Let the talkers and the morons and the general stupid people in your life help define the fact that you are none of the above. Let them outline your greatness and while they complain about their full cups, you can sit back and enjoy your ability to empty your own and receive even more.

Venting hat off.

The traditional eating...

The traditional eating a hot dog outside in the freezing cold of January while sipping Diet Coke has been accomplished. Yeah hey.
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Holy crap. It's snowing....

Holy crap. It's snowing.
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It's official, I am...

It's official, I am sick of food.
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Miracles and Montalban

Of course I have to comment on what is being called a Miracle on The Hudson. It's great incident, great story, great way to kick off the new year. This entire story just chimes with hope and heroism. For the most part, as far as we know from the news so far, this was fairly simple. The plane hits a flock of birds, the engines fail, the plane goes down into the water. Not exactly movie of the week material, but I'm sure they'll find a way to milk it into one. The bigger picture is really about how the pilot put the plane down and how the crew got everyone off of the plane swiftly and safely, with everyone alive and intact.

Much praise on the news today for the pilot and the crew. And so far there is an overall good vibe in the air about it all. Good vibes are certainly something the world needs more of. I'm a great believer in the power of mass consciousness and I hope we get more "good vibe stories" of heroism and heart to help contribute to that.

On a side note I would like to say that I think Brian Williams on NBC is the coolest anchor on the planet. I just like the way he reports. He actually used the phrase "went into the drink" when describing the plane going into the water. That's just some cool shit right there. If this guy gave a poetry reading, I'd be there. Let Brian Williams do the vagina monologues. It'll be a hit.

And on a way more somber note. Ricardo Montalban has passed away. I grew up watching him on Fantasy Island. He was so cool on that show. And my hopes are dashed that he would ever reprise his role as Khan on Star Trek. Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan is one of my favorite movies. I always thought the conflict between Khan and Kirk was amazing. And Motalban had such great dialogue, God he hated Kirk so much. FOrgive me, my Trekkieness is showing.

Wrath Of Khan


Fantasy Island Intro.
OMG! This brings back memories.



I was very sad to find out he had passed away. R.I.P. Ricardo Montalban.

Now that I think about it. Sometimes when I watch LOST, I get thie Fantasy Island feel every so often. Especially watching that above clip, there are certainly elements of Lost in there, at least that's what my Spidey senses are implying. Yeah, I said Spidey senses!



And now because I don't do them often. Here's a your typical, vanity, all about myself, celebrate me, type survey. I wonder if they call it a Meme, because these things are usualy about ones own self. Hmmm. I will attempt to answer this one semi seriously, as I hardly ever answer them seriously at all.



Who will alway's tell it to you like it is, no matter if it's going to hurt or not?
Juli

Do you want your phone to ring at the moment?
What?


Hate is a strong word but do you really hate anybody?
Nope

Are you easily confused?
I don't understand.


If the last person you dated said they were in love with you, what would you say?
Seeing as how that last person became my wife, I think I'd say I was in love with them back.


When was the last time you wanted to punch someone?
It was right after Johnny had swept my leg. Damn you Kobra Kai!


Are you someone who worries too often?
Why, should I be?


Do you want to get married and have kids one day?
Married, Check. Kids, working on it.


Do you believe your ex thinks about you?
I don't quite know who would qualify as my ex. I'm still married.


Whats currently bothering you right now?
Well, that whole Global Warming thing is getting annoying.


What are you currently hearing?
CNN Headline News and MSNBC in the background. Lil Sonny New King Of The Blues Harmonica coming from the computer.


When were you last outside?
2 hours ago. It's 1:30 am right now. I was out there looking for my testicles as I'm pretty sure they had frozen off.


What was the first thing you thought this morning?
That's not my underwear.


Are you afraid of the dark?
Only when there's a crazed axe murderer waiting in it.


Are you currently frustrated with a boy/girl?
I don't know, I'll pass you a note after P.E. and tell you all about it then.


Have a best friend?
I have extensive tech support yes. And a wife. ;)


What did you last eat?
Broccoli, as usual.


Who was the last person to text you?
Brandon.


Who was the last person you had a phone conversation with for more than 2 minutes???
Crystal


When is your birth?day???
July, 16th, 1975


Have you ever gotten a sunburn so bad it hurt to move?
I'm Filipino, so no.


Ok so I'm going to stop answering this now, because 1) It's it's quite crap, and 2) My writer's block is gone.

So back to studying Exorcism rituals and Sword history. Didn't realize how tough making a golf commercial was going to be.

Because Danielle demanded it.

Here's  yer damn pic.