Hey blog about videos, it's been a while.

I can't believe I never wrote here about my video class. it's good stuff.

As a result I'm now working on a one-minute video. I've filmed half of it, maybe even the whole thing. Actors, man, actors are a pain. But the actress says she's astrologically aligned. I'm not very good at talking to girls, though, not good at it, no, not really good at it very much.

Do you wonder what my one-minute video is? I will post the idea sheet I sent to the professor.

Abstract:
In climbing a tree, a student progresses from what looks like overwrought unease to brilliant free-spirited hippie-type. He hops down from the tree a king.
General Specific:
A young man -- college-age and dressed as an ordinary student -- walks in apparently deep, troubled, and deeply troubled thoughts. He nearly breaks his face on a tree. It’s a rude awakening that strikes him dumb, and as he stares, or even gazes at the tree, his face registers with some kind of resolve. As though bumping into the tree had bumped him through some kind of mental barrier, he puts his things down and with an air of compulsion makes for an arboreal scaling. This is all too literally the rising action of the video. As he gains altitude and more branches pass under his feet, his appearance becomes gradually (but by some point obviously) less ordinary/bland. He slowly manifests the stereotype of the contemporary free spirit: a scarf, rectangular-black-rimmed glasses, a knit sweater or well-fitted tweed jacket, tighter pants, scene hair (http://classes.design.ucla.edu/Spring04/161A/projects/Ricky/hairstyles/hairstyle.html), maybe even a cigarette appear one at a time on his person. Approaching his destination of the highest possible branch on the tree, he pulls himself up – the tone is dramatic, by some accounts sensationalistic. Seating himself on the highest branch, he looks out at the beauty of the universe. He then hops down and continues the way he had been going, with a change in attitude.
Notes:
Alternatively, a boy and girl bump into each other in front of the tree, and then climb it together. All would be much the same, but with the romantic theme representing, for one thing, the practical idea that things one loves as a child, like tree climbing, aren’t incompatible with the things one loves as an adult, like a serious relationship. The idea being that a person can be child-like without being childish, that it can even be a good thing to be child-like (which is already an idea in the other version). However, the use of two people complicates the blocking and filming considerably, and so is more ambitious. Perhaps which tree is chosen will be important in deciding this.
Yeah, no tree has been chosen yet. That’s as of today, September 16, 2007. Between now and class, though, I hope to find at least some contenders. It ought to be big and suited towards climbing and stable in-tree filming, and ideally off relatively by itself (for long shots used at the beginning, highest point, and as the climber continues on his way). Professor Gallagher, if you know of any such trees, please direct me their way – or keep an eye out, anyways. But I think this campus has enough trees that there’s bound to be at least one that qualifies.

I am using the second options. I have a tree. I give this to you, anyways, because you don't have a choice now, do you? You don't have a choice, now, yeah, see?

Yes! As in, I actually exclaimed "yes!" when typing that. As in, I continue to yell it every time I read it.

I'm finally registered in my film production class. Ahhhh

which means I'm taking down priority on the Tokyo Police Club video and upping priority on the films for the class.

first thing we have to do is a one-minute enterprise. I have to submit what amounts to a treatment on my idea by email as soon as possible. I guess by the next class. One girl is already scheduling the thing.

No official ideas yet, but do you really think you'll be left out when I finally settle down on something? Oh, but I was thinking it would have to do with climbing trees.

Film Career

I just started looking into transfer applications for going from UBC to some other film school. I was looking at the top brass film programs: USC, NYU, UCLA, CalArts, Art Center College of Design, and then also SVA in New York (where someone particularly interesting from eighth grade is going). I glanced at Chapman. I hope I don't have to go there.

USC, UCLA, and SVA don't require portfolios. I think I could get into SVA. And it'd be a lot of fun. I mean, for one, it's a film school. You get experience directly from the get-go and it's highly technical, as well as artistic. You live and breathe filmmaking for four years. And, it's in goddamn manhatten (which is most of what distinguishes it from Chapman, which is in God damned Orange County). So, it'd be more than fun -- it'd be like the best and longest summer camp ever. But I'm not sure summer camp is viable on a resume.

UCLA explicitly states that it requires grades that I don't have (though I'd like to think of it as not having them yet). And probably USC is the same, although I've done a lot more in terms of what classes I've been taking in order to appeal to their tastes.

Meanwhile, the portfolio requirements for CalArts and Art Center are pretty reasonable, and pretty similar. But I don't meet them -- which is to say, my work is not of high enough quality and there's not enough of it. With Art Center (if I interpret things correctly, but I'm really not sure about this), the application is due all the way in March, which gives me time to build things up (especially if I do get into that production class I so desperately need). So, I could make a couple to a few one-minute shorts between now and then. Unfortunately, CalArts's deadlines fit more into usual university standards, and they'd expect a porrtfolio from my by November 11th or something if I want to be accepted into the fall term of 2008.

Before any of this, I looked at the UBC Film Production website.
So apparently, which is to say basically, I can't even apply there, it seems, evidently, is how it appears, or that's my interpretation at least. If you find a way there where I can apply, please tell me. But that is one barren webpage in as far as I can tell.

Did I mention this is all so terrifyingly huge that I have no idea how I'm going to deal with it all and deal with my grades and make some short films all at the same time? And this isn't anything like the totality of the schools I think I want to apply to, it's just the surface scratched. So I'm feeling, um. It's like... what do they call it? ...Stress? Is that the word? It's not one I use a lot... or at least, it hadn't been. I now expect to consider it a true and powerful force in my life, for the rest of the term and year, if not indefinitely. But I must have control over what happens in my life. I must be on top of things and anticipate things before they even know they're going to happen. Yes. I must be the least like I've ever been in my life.

Hey, so, I'm here, I'm in Vancouver.

I'm studying a lot and eating sometimes and there are classes.

When it comes to film, I have a roommate who's also interested in film. He's two or three or four years older than me, and he has a lot more material that he's done. He seems totally down on the video idea. Or pretty much any idea. So, I just have to finish outlining. But I think it's far enough along that we could actually jump into filming at any time.

But I'm awfully hesitant. It has to do with the fact that I don't know this guy, Chris, very well. Or something, something more debilitating and personally my fault, yet which I can't put my finger on. It's very hard to decide why I hesitate. I think I'd feel a lot more comfortable getting started if I just finished outlining it first.

But when it comes to that, it's hard to keep coming up with ideas. It's hard to set aside the time to work on it, too. But I'm sure that there's always more ideas, because there's always new approaches to things, I think.

Also, I'm trying to get into this film production class. It's the basic video production class that you pretty much have to take to get in the film program. It's full, and I'm on the waitinglist. I went to the first class last week, the professor is a really nice guy, absolutely correct about everything he says about film -- I mean, he's really got a handle on what it should take to make a good short, that's my impression. But my first impression was that he looks very similar to William H. Macy. Except that he's sort of a platinum blonde. As if William H. Macy didn't look strange enough, you know? here he is, although I haven't looked at the site or his bio at all -- maybe after I post this I will.

There's two other kids who came to the first class who're on the waitinglist. But in an email (because I'm such a go-getter that I inquired about another class of Gallagher's I could take but only with his personally making an exception for me), he said, "As you know FIPR 233 is full but should there be any drop outs you will be first on the list." So, I'm first on the list. So all I gotta do... is make sure somebody drops out. I will enjoy this opportunity to exercise some evil. Ehehehehehe...



I will also try to just keep coming to classes until he caves.