Production Pics!

M hurr...

So, we got our set together and we did some shots outside to get a feel of the light at certain periods. We also thought it would be nice to share with you guys what everything is gonna look like.

Do Not X-Ray

M here-

Life is weird. After setting up the Bolex, I freaked out for a hot second because I could not see ANYTHING in the viewfinder. The problem? I had forgotton to OPEN the viewfinder using this little nob located at the top of the camera. Up means closed. Down means open. DUH.

But in a strange twist of fate, because I had fretted over the camera for about half and hour, the sis and I were late to lunch, and in turn we were late coming back to the room.

But the thing is, if we hadn't of been late coming back to the dorm, then we would not have seen the DHL truck racing down the street to our dorm with our package of film. If we hadn't seen the truck, we probably would have had to wait for the RAs in the dorm to alert us of our package (and our film inside) until tomorrow or Thursday, totally screwing up the shooting schedule...

So, even though I almost had a heart attack wondering if I broke a school camera that I could definately NOT pay for, it was worth it. Because we got our film on time and in tact.

YES!

Can We Make a Community With You?

K here.

We've been hearing a lot of rumors about the "On The Lot" community/forums, not just from KarmaCritic, but from other writers and filmmakers as well.

It seems that if you use certain words, or talk negatively about the show, your post is censored, the offending words *bleeped* out.

According to this Aint It Cool article:

"Even to this day, if anybody, no matter how established or respected, posts the words "karmacritic" over there... the words first turn automatically into "BLEEP". Within 5 minutes the post is deleted, within 10 minutes the user's account is banned, and in 15 minutes his whole IP is banned (so he wont make new accounts). Then all the posts that person EVER made, go byebye too. OTL uses drupal, like you do in aintitcool.com, like I do in karmacritic.com, so you know all these things are possible with Watchdog triggers. They do it."

Hmm...I wonder...?

Expect an update soon.

ABC Writing Fellowship

M here!

Today, July 1st, 2007 was the last day to postmark any scripts for the ABC Writing Fellowship. For Directors and Actors, there are separate deadlines.

Good luck!

The Sekonic Light Meter

M again!

Since I am a complete dumbass and technology scares me like low income mothers and blakc people scare Paris Hilton, I decided to search out exactly how to use the Sekonic Light Meter.

And, since we did tell you all that we were gonna share any and all information with you, here below, are some sources that might help you too!

1. How to Use the Sekonic Light Meter from The New School

2. Extensive Guide to using the Light Meter.

Go Out and Do It, Damnit!

Ya Girl M. Here-

I'll admit it, I'm scared.

No, not in the "USA Terrorist Alert Raised to Orange" way, but in the "Damn, it's time to make it or break it" way.

You see, starting THIS TUESDAY (ahhhh!!), the sis and I will attempt to make our own short film. Now, even though the short is about five minutes, we're freaking nervous. The film, entitled "Refugee" is gonna be filmed on a wind-up Bolex, you know, those ancient cameras that are heavy and hard to manuever? We're gonna shoot for 3 consecutive days, in the mornings starting whenever the hell the sun chooses to rise. We're probably going to do some running and using stuff that isn't ours and trying to route people away from the set (which is outside) and blah, blah, blah (nothing too illegal).

Because we're poor and we can't afford that digital shit, we're gonna have to do a meter reading (and I swear, I just learned how to use it semi-correctly today) for each shot...and because the film is Kodak B&W Reversal, we're gonna have a helluvah time getting the light readings correct, so that when all is said and done, we're not looking at blown out or too dark film.

We just got through a shoot on another woman's film (pics will be up soon) and it was a really great learning experience. I was a bit nervous ( and still am) about how her film will develop. I don't want it to be ruined because I didn't know how to use the light meter. And I don't want MY film to be screwed up because I didn't know how to use it either. That's why I am forcing my professor (who, even though he's a nice guy, seems to be not that into teaching) to actually show me FOR REAL how to use this thing.

All in all though, that shoot was pretty exciting, even if it was tiring. Besides, the director fed us coca cola and tuna and crackers! Seriously, it was free and FREE always=DELICIOUS.

To make things a bit more complicated, as you all probably know, I have to create ANOTHER film for my class this weekend coming up, which is making this week, REALLY HECTIC. I have some actors, a location and my crew...I just gotta geta movin' on it!

Yet, even through all of my complaining, I still think that the sis and I are going to have a great time. I mean, we're making a film...and not just your lame "watch me do stupid shit" Youtube videos. We're making a film that we CAN and WILL submit to festivals.

We're making a film! We're making a film! We're making a film!

There, I said it three times, and I'm still scared.

Because even though we may try our hardest and our ideas may be the most awesome ideas to hit the film industry, we still have to rely on OTHER people to get it out there. It'd be amazing to get accepted to some film festivals, and it would be ever more so to actually win something (preferrably a cash prize for a certain someone's student loans, *ehem*), but we're still left in the hands of other people who may not agree with our philosophy or our "artistic visions".

But, I'm just happy that we're putting ourselves out there, and that at least, even if it doesn't turn out the way we want it to, we can say we gave it our best shot.

Now, off to filmming!!!