Steady/Hold/Hold/Hold/Now

Well this is it. I've got about 12 hours left before I need to stop editing. I've finally been doing this long enough that I can say, "Well, as they say in the business," after this day is done, It Is What It Is. Indeed.

I'm tired if you can't tell. Not good when it's 230am and you feel like you're only just getting started. I will say this though: I ate alligator flesh today. Not bad. Kind of spongy.

Why are we doing this again...?*

So last night I was educated on the ways of the hedge fund and the absurd amount of money their owners make.

Apparently there's a guy who makes a million dollars. A day.

*jk

Our Stuff On MTV.com...("again!")

In quotes because Last December, it was Video Games Live on MTV-Owned GameTrailers.com. This time, 2 Player Productions is seeing a little face time (Paul's face anyway) on the actual page.
You can click here to see the episode (watch out for two incredibly annoying and unavoidable ads). Basically, the clip gives a quick overview of chiptunes (with demos/interviews from Mark Denardo, Bubblyfish, and Anamanaguchi) and the significance of Blip Fest with Paul's interview tying the whole thing together.

I know it seems a little odd to get excited about exposure on a network that is, from a philosophical standpoint, so divorced from the one we're covering but it doesn't mean I'm not grateful (thanks to Jack & Tob(e)y for putting the piece together).

That and it never hurts to see one of our team's name in print.

I'm especially amused by how companies that exist in name only can be granted a small shred of legitimacy by being set in a bold typeface in the bottom third of a frame. One of these days we'll actually have to become incorporated...

It's a shame that there's no mention of our actual documentary in the piece but hopefully they'll be able to slap on a link to the Blip Festival's page if nothing else. Not too much going on otherwise. The Wedding Thing is shaping up nicely. Talking about starting some sort of videography service with the bride. Good working relationship. All very difficult to say. Everything's so up in the air...and the Bent Festival is this weekend...too much.

once May gets here, all I want to do is see the sun for more than the six minutes I spend walking to and from the health food store and, more importantly, work on Blip Fest. That's enough for now. Did you see Hot Fuzz yet? Don't download it. It's one of those things you need to see with an audience.

Here's The Rub

The Unwelcome Week has arrived. The busiest of bus...ies. (Busies?) When this tape finishes rewinding I have to stop so I'll get right to it. In less than a week, my schedule will go from Plaid back to Kind of Human. The editing task before me is massive: 25 hours into 25 minutes but everything post Sbox pales in comparison so I guess I shouldn't really complain...Still, we had months to cut that, not one week. The good news is I'm being paid in trade for overtime. This includes a free massage (first time, yeah). Your only assignment between now and then is to see Hot Fuzz. Gotta go.

more on this later

just got back from shooting a launch party for a luxury condo. After meeting/seeing/interviewing various celebrity/socialite-types, I am haunted by the fact that I will never fit in to their world but comforted by the fact that I have no desire to do so. The only thing that they have that I want is the small army of people carrying around delicious finger food on stylish black trays.

it's obvious that i'm exhausted. i will write more in the future.

Brazil Postponed!

You heard it here first. Owing to [x], the documentary on the tribe in The Amazon has been moved to later this [y]. Like New Mexico before it, this is the last I will speak of it until I'm there...or, in the case of the Internet Cafe-less rain forest, until I'm back with pictures.

No other news to report.

Blip Fest Interview

Not much time for an update. PL had his interview over at emTeaVee today for this program. They were doing a little piece on the chiptunes scene and our Blip Fest documentary. I only got to sit in on it for a the first third or so because of a doctors appointment I had to run to. Haeyoung, Mark, and Pete (all performers at the festival) were also there to talk about their individual approaches. Wish I could have stuck around there and wish I could stick around here but I've got too much to take care of before going to Brazil on Sunday morning. The end.

PS - Bud, I don't know if you're reading but this is an apology-in-advance if they keep the part where it says you're from Arizona (sorry).

Too Early Too Late

A night hasn't passed like that in a long time.

With the exception of a series of breaks that add up to no longer than 90 minutes, I've been importing selects from the 20+ hours of footage for Wedding Story (really have to think of something less ridiculous sounding...damn working titles) for the last 14 hours. I've still got a lot to go through before my Later Today Deadline so I'll try and keep this brief.

Really all I wanted to say is that certain elements of my more recent history have been a welcome change. Pulling an all nighter used to be synonymous with sloppy term papers, pointless exam cramming, and a miasma of general self loathing. Now it's for a paying job in a field that isn't a safety net or a second choice but something I've wanted to for over a decade. I know, this is quickly turning into a sentimental and steaming pile.

Point is, as far as work goes, things have really shaped up over the last year in a way that I'm actually proud of. May not seem like much of a milestone but trust me, the feeling is not a familiar one. I'll be sure to consult this entry when the work dries up and I'm back to eating Ramen and eggs like when I first moved to the city.

(If you stick your head out the window and look to the right) this is what the view from my bedroom looks like right now.
That, coupled with a soundtrack by The Boats makes for a pretty perfect morning.

back to work...

post script: Also, in a moment of weakness at around 3am, I had to resort to chugging a Red Bull and chasing it with a MDX (mostly for the placebo effect) but, how the hell do you people drink this crap? I feel like my teeth are disintegrating...

Keep It Secret. Keep It Safe.

It is just as I feared.

Every so often, I like to poke around the IMDb message boards for movies I've worked on / will work on to keep my eyes open for production/release updates or links to press coverage. As far as TN goes, there was one user in particular who seemed to know quite a bit about the day to day and I often tried to guess which member of the crew he/she was.

Well, I was in for quite a surprise when I noticed that one of the threads mentioned the start date for our Behind The Scenes (???). Intrigued I read on (you can see the short post here). It was business as usual until a couple of details caught my eye: "two main characters stretched out on the runway as planes pass directly overhead?" The 'No Prostitution' sign written in green marker in the topless bar? The fact that "Heartbreaker" was half-nakedly danced to later that evening?...they were all taken from an old post of mine on this blog!

Exactly what I didn't want to happen. Well, not exactly exactly. Thankfully, the individual had the decency to leave out my name, occupation, and (most importantly) a link to this place. So, to "jeane_a79," I say this: I'm not going to bother with withholding information (now that I know some of it may appear elsewhere) so long as you continue to refrain from mentioning me or this page (for the sake of my job and, by extension, more info for you if nothing else).

That seems a fair trade, right?

ps - for the record: MC never poked her head in to the bar to my knowledge. It was merely an assumption. Definitely didn't happen while her song was playing.

Up the Updates

Initially, this blog was created to keep my friends updated on the current status of my many projects. Those were boon times - morale was high, cynicism was low, and we were (as LD loved to say ad nauseum) "fixin' to blow up."

Of course now, a little over a year later, I know better.

One after the other, prospects floundered and diminished to the point where I almost stopped being grateful that anything was happening at all (note: it never got to that point...just asymptotically close). Tennessee was steadily delayed for a year after we were "definitely going next [x]," Behind Shadowboxer never saw the light of a cathode ray tube, and PLAY is pretty much dead in the water at this point while we (try to) focus on Blip Fest.

But "prosperous" (i say this cautiously) times are upon us again. I have more work than I can handle and (what feels like) even less time to manage it. However, in the interest of keeping myself motivated, I will try to hold myself to a certain standard. We already know what a disaster Blogging Every Day is so I'm going to start off small with updates twice a week. As a subset of this resolution, I will try to make them every Sunday night and every Thursday morning but I won't be as firm on those - just a helpful guide.

Of course, this means I have to have more to talk about so what the hell I'm going to just make the leap and start commenting on films I've seen* and general thoughts on other related matters. I know I'm joining the ranks of countless others who assign a disproportionate amount of value to their own opinions (not any of you guys) but know that I'm doing this without a trace of self importance.

As always, this was meant to serve as a means of communicating with my friends (since, sadly, I don't have the time to keep up with everyone as much as I used to) so, at the very least, I can say my intentions were good.

The other half of it is that I need to get off my ass, read up on what's being made these days with what technology, and just see more films. Hopefully this will jump start this process. I don't have a lot of free time between now and Saturday morning but at some point after that, I expect to have seen something new and either recommend or warn against come Sunday night.

*this should be interesting since you all know how I like a good nap two thirds of the way in (the point where, in my opinion, 60% of the things I see just fall flat). So if I managed to stay awake through the whole thing, it probably means it's got something going for it (in my book of snobbery anyway).

I Only Missed By One Word

Nearly two weeks since my last post, I know. Things these days have been crap to say the least but I'm also so busy I've barely had time to catch my breath and process it all. Going to be pretty sour once the laughter stops. Looking back on the last couple of entries, it's amazing to think that so much has transpired in the last 13 days. So much to tell. I don't even know where to begin. I'll work backwards from the most recent entry.

MTV
PaulPaul&I had a meeting with a sr edit0r @ MTV dot calm (google makes me nervous) to discuss the possibility of a series about gaming/music culture that was stripped of all the goofy bits n skits that characterize your average gaming show. PL likes to sum it up as having the same feel as Insomniac with Dave Attell but with circuit benders and chip musicians instead of hookers and alcoholics. Unfortunately, the meeting was kind of a bust but with a consolation prize. We showed them some stuff from Blip Fest and they agreed to run a little segment on the scene and our movie, giving appropriate links to both. It's nice but not particularly high on the list for a number of reasons. The two most important being that em-tea-v is something of a dying breed these days and the kinds of kids who frequent the site aren't going to give two shits about what we're interested in.

BRAZIL
So as I've mentioned before, there was only enough room for one of us to fly into the Amazon for the short piece about That Tribe. Unfortunately, PO won't be able to acquire his passport (and therefore, his visa) in time for the trip so now I'm going. I want to make it very clear that regardless of who gets to go, I think it's a piss poor idea. If anything, it's even worse that it's me since I feel P has a better idea of how to put a cohesive documentary together. I just know how to spin eye candy and, even then, my low appraisal of myself hovers just between Crippling and Able To Function (not fishing, seriously).
But really, we were hired based on the quality of our collaboration. And because I'd like to think that our combined efforts are greater than the sum of our parts, the potential to screw this up is too great for me to not feel anxious. I leave the Saturday after next for one week. Naturally, it's the worst week for me to be 100s of miles away from a system with Final Cut Pro on it.

Wedding Story
Several degrees of Tennessee separation landed me a pretty interesting gig that has dominated the majority of my time since my last update. Long story short: I'm putting together a short documentary for an engaged couple about their roller coaster of an 11 yr relationship - interviewing family and friends (including this guy). They're finally tying the knot next week and they want to play this thing at the their reception at the end of the month. There's way too much to tell about this project so I won't even bother. They're great people and I'm having a good time working for them. The editing is going to be a little daunting given how much footage there is and how little time I have to put it together but the days are going to pass one way or another so we'll see what happens.

Building a Legacy (working title)
Now, that project isn't even over but they've already recommended me to a close friend of theirs, JG. He's a surprisingly altruistic real estate developer putting up a couple of luxury high rise condos on the upper east side (i know i know, whats so charitable about that...trust me, he is). One of the buildings (well, the model apt anyway) is set to launch while I'm in Brazil. So as far as that goes, I'm just putting together a profile of his company and their philosophy for his personal use (maybe extending to a post on their website). The real project is going to be a more in depth documentation on the construction of his next project a few blocks away. It's just a hole in the ground right now but he wants to capture a behind the scenes look at real estate development in Manhattan 2007. Could be pretty interesting given what a character this guy is. Takes me back to when i first began pondering the potential of working for LDE.

(Wow. That was three years ago next Thursday. I'll have to remember to write some sort of Docuboy thank you letter with the other guys. Really wouldn't be anywhere without those guys.)

But yeah, the best part about the Development Documentary is that I'm finally getting paid something closer to what the average money grubbing, union loving videographer makes these days.

Ok. this is why I haven't updated in such a long time. I wanted to clean my room and actually cook dinner and it's already 930pm. I guess cleaning will have to wait. agh.

Also, Alanis Morissette covering "My Hump" ?!? Surprisingly, this is genius.