That end of semester stretch.

End of semesters are always tough. This year's got me in a nice time-bind, with two major creative project deadlines and a final exam in under 24 hours. The exams and papers are a little easier to make happen, but the creative endeavours are a little harder to work through on a fierce time frame. It doesn't do nice things to my brain. Alas. The semester's nearly done.

Vancouver's been treating us to some supreme-stellar weather these past two weeks, and my only regret is having to sit in front of a computer pretty much all the way until the 18th of April. Plans for the summer and the shoot in August are forming up slowly - pulling resources together, pulling a script together. I'm so excited to be shooting on the Arri SR-3, on a medley of stocks from Kodak and Fuji. I'll be picking up my Kodak stocks this week and starting to book gear at the same time. It feels like a lot to bring together in the next month or so, but with each step forward, I feel a little more sure that I will be successful in this endeavour. 

The garden sits outside and taunts me, most days. Still overgrown with last year's remnants, come April it'll all be dug up, soil supplemented, seeds started. I can't wait to get out into the sun and get a little work done with my hands.

This summer will yield very few surprises, it's straight shooting until August. I've got to do a great deal of saving/budgeting to make it through til post with my grad film (I can't wait until it has a title, so I can stop calling it 'my grad film'). I'm hoping to get a lot of reading done - I've got a stack of books on filmmaking, directing, cinematography and photography to work through. 

I'm really getting a kick out of an anthology of short stories I picked up at the library last semester. I read a quote by Truman Capote on writing posted somewhere on Tumblr and decided to try reading through some of his work. I have become completely enthralled by his writing style - very visceral - he describes things in such a way that you can, for an instant, feel them. One passage from House of Flowers, "Ottilie was used to boldly smiling at men; but now her smile was fragmentary, it clung to her lips like cake crumbs." It's absolutely fantastic. The stories range from the 1940s to the 1980s and are an absolute pleasure to read. I'm hoping to pick up some of his novels this summer. For those who appreciate an author who weaves their poetry in such a wonderful way so as you want to read them aloud, I recommend Capote.

I'm finally getting out to take some 35mm stills tonight. Lucky one of my classes gives me an excuse. I haven't had a chance to take my new Nikon FA out for a spin this year. It should garner some supreme results. I'm taking some 400 speed black and white out at sunset to see what I can capture.

I had fun rough draft-procrastinating by doing up my titles with ink and brush, scanning them, then putting them through colourizing and prism filters for a unique credit sequence I'm pretty excited for.

With the screening of A Spoonful of Sugar and the preproduction of my grad film commencing, it seems there's very little room in my brain for much else. Which I definitely don't mind.

Happy Easter everyone! Enjoy the sunshine, and happy editfest 2013.




Things to check out!

Our screening! Don't forget! SFU Woodwards on April 18th
I started a film work-specific Twitter account
Colonel Chris Hadfield's Tumblr 
A film hasn't punched me in the heart for a while, but this one did

Summer music. Summer flowers. Summer television. Whatever.

Summer is here, summer is here. So this blog post will be filled with pictures of flowers. Whatever.

Buttercups & Bachelor Buttons

Summer, a time of increased insect traffic in your home, increased beverage consumption when siting outside and increased itchy sunburns. It's a time of summer music, this year it's the Dandy Warhols. I tried out a few others from my middle school days - Green Day (pre-American Idiot), The White Stripes, Blink 182 (oh god, I had forgotten about that video), but none of them have really stuck like they used to. The Dandy's have been playing pretty steady when I'm home. I've found this summer needs a bit more of a robust soundtrack than the combination indie/soft spoken Grizzly Bear sort of stuff that bore me through the rainy winter months.

I finally quit my job last week - which was a difficult, but necessary decision. As much as I really didn't enjoy working there anymore, it still provided a safe little haven where I knew everyone, I was skilled in my skill-less position and a steady paycheque. But really, I just want to get out there and meet people this year, learn new things. I can't do that stuck in the same place, nor can I do that with my perpetual, no exceptions 'better the devil you know' voice of my conscious. I mean really, it's absurd. So away we go!  I am a leaf on the wind. Landed a new job, different service industry, different duties and radically different time schedule. Should be alright for a while, I have a feeling it wont be too prime. But - this summer, I feel, is as much a time to be intrepid as ever. Out we go to experience life in general. I've even got a ladies rugby team all picked out to join once I settle into work.

Violas

A recent daily challenge of mine has been making decent dinner from rice and whatever is left in my house. Solution: super duper stir fry. Base: rice, plus! Leftovers, beans that have been in the freezer forever, egg, spinach, all that business. It turns out not that bad with a bit of olive oil, garlic and sometimes ginger.

And on the note of calling making edible food a 'challenge', I have also been facing tiny other 'challenges' on a daily basis. They're stupid little things, things really not worth telling anyone because they're so... itty bitty and seemingly inconsequential. But knowing how I work in a day to day environment and know how I react to some things (badly), I'm kind of able to make a little list of things to do that I don't usually do that will somehow result in a betterment of person. It goes much like this:

1. Example: after every conversation know what colour the other person's eyes are, or walk around without the protection of a giant bag for a day.
2. ???
3. Profit!

But really. These things just funnel my anxiousness into constructive means. So whatever.

Strawberries!

Transplanting things! First to sprout from my flurry of seeds outdoors was surprisingly pac choi. Closely followed by usual favorites, english breakfast radishes, mescluns and spinach. A few days later, beans and snap peas. On the indoor front, my Brandywine and Sasha's Pride tomatoes just sprouted the other day and are merrily putting up new growth. I recently transplanted peppers, cucumber and canteloupe that were bought as seedlings into larger pots with a healthy dose of Sea Soil Potting Mix. This stuff is gold. Jobe's tomato spikes and a handful of crushed eggshells was mixed in to my fourth garden bed with Sea Soil in preparation for tomato and zuccini transplant today. I've gotta say, in about three or four weeks the garden is gonna be bumpin'.

Anyways, that's what's up. I'm finding that, between my gardening and referring to my tiny animals as 'children', I am sounding rather domestic. Weird.

All the while, I repeat this summer's mantra: "Use your words".



Things to feast your eyes (and whatnot) upon:

   - Maitenance Man is being screened on May 31st at the Pacific Cinematheque, a CineWorks film festival project I gaffed for last month - Back Down the Highway
   - 24 Hour film race, look out for the SFU Film Workshop.
   - Girls - an HBO series in it's first season, I cannot express to you the weird kinds of joy that this show brings me, it's like what Sex and the City should have been, PLUS going through each and every one of my neuroses, making me feel slightly better that someone (however fictional) experiences much of the same. Feeeliiiings.

   - The independent film Choch is available here - read an open letter to supporters by filmmaker Brendan Prost here. Also be sure to check out this interesting independent film distribution phenomenon known as Distrify.