Friday, October 24, 2008

Production Meeting... At the Beach

California coast

Alex and I have been talking about ideas for our next Atlantis fan film for some time now. Since today was a rare day that we were both going to be home in the afternoon, we decided to film our new movie. But then we got distracted by the beach, so we decided to hold a production meeting on the sand to plot out who will be in which scene with whom (the most important part of filming our movies, actually, since there's only two of us)!

As you can see, we were ready to really get into it.

Haha! You totally thought I'd post a picture that revealed some of the plot, didn't you? Okay, fine, you're right, we're so unimportant that that never even crossed your mind...



Just a minor glimpse of my retardation

We were working, okay?




A quiet day at the beach

Unfortunately, however, we only got a little bit plotted out. And we didn't even have time to film anything today? Why? Well, it could be because I decided to make chocolate chip pecan cookies (and stuck a few marshmallows on top of some just to see what would happen) and then had to finish some grading I'd neglected, but I'm going to blame someone else. This guy. I don't remember his name.

His football "happened" to land right in front of us. I hope he never reads this because then he'll know that he noticed us looking at him in the first place because we were laughing at him. We saw him run towards the water, pose like he was about to dive into a wave, then decide against it. We're evil little shits and all we do in public is spy on people and make up crap about them (why we love Costco so much -- it truly is a magical place). So I guess we weren't really laughing at him not diving into the wave, but rather at the character we built up around him within seconds.

"Cómo estás?" He asked.

I automatically replied with, "Bien, y tú?" He blinked and stepped closer. I think I threw him off guard. Remember that post I did about "what is white?" This is stereotyping, but I think he had assumed I was hispanic, then noticed my coloring and was surprised that I answered in Spanish. One of the first questions he asked was "Where did you learn Spanish?" in Spanish, of course.

He had a seat on the sand and introduced himself and we chatted in Spanglish and learned that he is from a city two hours from Mexico City and that he has a little girl who, on her first birthday, plunged into her cake when he told her to take a bite. Adorable story. But he seemed content to sit there and ask me personal questions in Spanish (which he assumed my mom and sister wouldn't understand, but of course they did. California used to be Mexico, after all). At least I could honestly tell him that I couldn't go out with him or anyone tonight because I would be stuck home grading then watching my favorite TV show, Stargate Atlantis, that is for nerds.

And true to form, I graded until 9:10 pm. Luckily we have Comcast digital cable so we could pause the show and wait until we were all ready to watch it.

So I blame a random Mexican for our movie not getting done on schedule!

Here are some random shots. It was a gorgeous day!

A prety bridge with pretty, fecal coliform infested water below.

Beautiful restaurants that I'm pretty sure only tourisst eat at. I never have.

Wharf

Other part of wharf.

Cliff

Water

Friggin lens! At least this one turned out kinda cool.



Pretty coast

Oh yeah. I talked to a producer yesterday. He said, "How would you like to work on a picture with me?"

I gushed that I'd love to. He said I should come down to the set. I have no idea what I've gotten myself into. I guess if I suddenly want to back out I can say, "Oh... I thought you meant you wanted help drawing..."

Today's music selection isn't one of my favorite songs, but is one that I've had stuck in my hear ever since I first heard it. I think the raw quality of Justin Nozuka's voice combined with the subject matter work well. And the kid wrote it (he's 20, I can call him a kid) and has talent and is making his own way. Good for him!

"Save Him" by Justin Nozuka



Mackenzie's Momma -- Hmm... maybe I should've mentioned that the radio station I'm going to be on is a pirate station, operating illegally for a decade or so, I think. ;) It's one of our area's pride and joy... that sounds so gramatically incorrect but it's late and I can't think straight! Ooo The Pricess Bride = one of the best movies ever. I was Buttercup for Halloween in Kindergarten. :)

Mo -- Ducks? Haha that's awesome. Maybe McKay/Aberticus was one of them... I've never been on the real radio, only fake shows we made for class for my Radio/TV/Film minor. ;) Ooo if you guys do start making fanvids, you have to share! You'll be like me, I act, edit, film, and direct. My sister also acts, films, and provides directing input all along. And of course, we come up with the insanity together. She's a genius. But since I'm the one who edits, the workload is a little lopsided. But it's a labor of love. I do it just as much to hear my family laugh while watching it as to put it on the web. And I was in the same position as you for ages -- my family's income was too high to get help from the government to pay for school. Then I hit 24 and all the sudden I was legally an independent, and now I get some help!

2 comments:

melissapaakkonen said...

See, now I'm really jealous.

Its in the negative degrees, the leaves are all gone, and the wind is so cold I have to bundle up. Its like living in the Arctic.

I wish I could lay outside at the end of October at the beach....I could but I would probably get hypothermia. (I still owe you pictures, I know, but I keep forgetting to grab my camera!!)

Oh how I miss grading! Do you want to shoot undergrads yet? The first years at my university are dumber than dumb, and like to use words that aren't really words....Like "Relatable". I don't even think its a word...

What did the marshmallows do? Curiously however those cookies would kill me. Allergic to nuts and all.

There is only arctic scenes to be made in PG. You know, with all that snow and cold here. I'm in the process of convincing my parents to get me a new video camera for Christmas. I keep on telling my Mom that I need to be artistic and can't with my camera that doesn't like to work anymore.

Money just sucks! I have to wait until next year to be considered legal. Then I need to make a decision to either go for my Masters degree or go get my Teaching degree...or my Early Childhood Education.... Its a real dilemma!

Mackenzies Momma said...

Oh man, I just wish we had a beach. Though I did discover that our coast apparently has sand(shuddup- I hadn't been there before). Oh how I detest rocky beaches.

Princess Bride is really the best movie ever, lol. I totally want the 20th anniversary special edition for christmas, but I may hold out a few years and get the 25th anniversary special edition instead(or I might get the 20th AND the 25th cause I'm crazy like that ;) )

Though I really could get behind the toddler's newest obsession- A Dog's Breakfast. I was watching it the other day and she happened to come into the room and it was the bathtub scene(you know *THAT* one) and she saw the ducks and FLIPPED out(she loves ducks) now she demands to watch the 'duck show'(though she is more 'duck shoe' but meh).

I can't wait to see what you come up with for your next fan film!