7 Quarters down - 4 to go.
It's Wednesday night and this quarter is a few days away from being OVER. I am ready for the break - 3 weeks off - from school. This quarter has been difficult for several reasons...but the level of difficulty is not the point. And I'm not sure what the point is - only that I kept on going even though I wasn't liking school very much the last 11 weeks. Is this burnout?
Feels like it.
I am taking 3 weeks off and will not look or think about school for that time. I hope this will give me a rest and freshen my eyes to "see" REQUIEM with a new POV. I'll need that to be able to tackle the production tasks ahead...not for the lazy, poorly organized or complacent.
Actually one thing I will do is to start talking to vets. I am also working on the REQUIEM story creating a pitch package to stand it up as an episodic.
A few words about the students I've encountered along the way. Some have been incredibly lazy. Many have been hard workers and great comrades in the process. And some are gone - quit, dropped out, whatever.
It's the story that keeps me engaged. It demands to be created. Like some beast that followed me home and now lives yowling in a dark room - waiting to be fed.
Let it starve for 3 weeks.
D_
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Monday, June 11, 2007
Spring Quarter 2007 - Week 10: Really Lost
I lost a week somewhere.
Don't know where or how but I am officially a week off pace. The good news is that with this blog entry I am caught up for Week 10. And this is our last week...number 11. I think I am happy about that.
I could go into the craziness of school + work + selling a house + moving. But I won't. Suffice it to say - nothing at all.
I will therefore rant about crappy sloppy workers. Last spring about this time we contracted to have an attic fan installed. Cost was about $600 or so. Steep but I wasn't able to do it myself because of time.
Two guys came out. Eastern European - I won't say from where because I don't want them coming back to "be making the red revenge" on us for exposing their scam.
They said they couldn't find a way to tap into a power source so they wired the fan into one of the hall lights. My wife asked them to set the thermostat for 85* to make sure the attic cooled fast enough. They said: "Ees no prawb-lum, we do for you." They got their check and left.
My spidey sense tingled a bit. But I let it go. the fan worked only when we had the hall light on but I thought that I'd get around to fixing it someday.
Now it comes time to sell the house. We have it inspected. The inspector looks in the attic and takes some nice pictures of the Brothers Karamazov's work. They had clipped the line to the light and wirenutted their cable into it. No junction box - just exposed wires and wirenuts. BAD
I fixed that and moved into the depths of the attic...following the cable to the fan where the guys had once again simply wirenutted the bare wires outside the junction box for the thermostat control for the fan. No strain relief...bare wires = BAD
I open the box to install a cable strain relief. They hadn't even connected the thermostat - bypassed it altogether. I fixed it and on my way out of the attic stapled the cable up and out of the way and rewired it into a free circuit. All done, all clean...all in all about 4 1/2 hours of work.
I cleaned up the mess they left.
We paid $600.00 for a fan and some materials we could have bought at Home Depot for $70.00. Being scammed feels bad - part shame and anger mixed with more shame and anger. I really wish there was a way to get even...but revenge is not mine. Instant Karma will find them.
The good thing about the inspector is that he also found rotting posts holding up our patio cover. Now that I am digging them out and replacing them I'm really not sure what has been holding the wood cover up. Yep...that rotted.
It feels good to fix things up - to make things like they should be. I joke that when I get to the end of my honey-do list I will die. The good thing is that the list never gets shorter...no matter how much I do. This means I will live forever or at least long enough to see 2 scam artists from a company in Corona, CA (do I dare publish the name?) get some payback for cheating and lying to people.
Or not...leave that to higher powers.
D_
Don't know where or how but I am officially a week off pace. The good news is that with this blog entry I am caught up for Week 10. And this is our last week...number 11. I think I am happy about that.
I could go into the craziness of school + work + selling a house + moving. But I won't. Suffice it to say - nothing at all.
I will therefore rant about crappy sloppy workers. Last spring about this time we contracted to have an attic fan installed. Cost was about $600 or so. Steep but I wasn't able to do it myself because of time.
Two guys came out. Eastern European - I won't say from where because I don't want them coming back to "be making the red revenge" on us for exposing their scam.
They said they couldn't find a way to tap into a power source so they wired the fan into one of the hall lights. My wife asked them to set the thermostat for 85* to make sure the attic cooled fast enough. They said: "Ees no prawb-lum, we do for you." They got their check and left.
My spidey sense tingled a bit. But I let it go. the fan worked only when we had the hall light on but I thought that I'd get around to fixing it someday.
Now it comes time to sell the house. We have it inspected. The inspector looks in the attic and takes some nice pictures of the Brothers Karamazov's work. They had clipped the line to the light and wirenutted their cable into it. No junction box - just exposed wires and wirenuts. BAD
I fixed that and moved into the depths of the attic...following the cable to the fan where the guys had once again simply wirenutted the bare wires outside the junction box for the thermostat control for the fan. No strain relief...bare wires = BAD
I open the box to install a cable strain relief. They hadn't even connected the thermostat - bypassed it altogether. I fixed it and on my way out of the attic stapled the cable up and out of the way and rewired it into a free circuit. All done, all clean...all in all about 4 1/2 hours of work.
I cleaned up the mess they left.
We paid $600.00 for a fan and some materials we could have bought at Home Depot for $70.00. Being scammed feels bad - part shame and anger mixed with more shame and anger. I really wish there was a way to get even...but revenge is not mine. Instant Karma will find them.
The good thing about the inspector is that he also found rotting posts holding up our patio cover. Now that I am digging them out and replacing them I'm really not sure what has been holding the wood cover up. Yep...that rotted.
It feels good to fix things up - to make things like they should be. I joke that when I get to the end of my honey-do list I will die. The good thing is that the list never gets shorter...no matter how much I do. This means I will live forever or at least long enough to see 2 scam artists from a company in Corona, CA (do I dare publish the name?) get some payback for cheating and lying to people.
Or not...leave that to higher powers.
D_
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Spring Quarter 2007 - Week 9: Keeping Fresh
This quarter is almost over - Weeks 10 and 11 are ahead. It is always interesting to me to compare the list of what I wanted to accomplish with what I will finish by the end of term. The Cantonese have a saying: Ngahhn Fut - Tou jaak! Translation: Fat Eyes - Narrow Stomach. It's their version of "Your eyes are bigger than your stomach". A universal meme with application in our world.
I always reach higher than I can achieve. I am addicted to having more than one man can be resonably expected to do. I know where this comes from and I have done my own exploration of how it works and doesn't work in my life. However I have also discovered that I enjoy the challenge. I enjoy being stretched but only if it is my choice. This is the paradox - I am a hard worker but also enjoy my time of doing nothing.
Many students are proud of the fact that they work during the breaks between quarters. The one coming up is one of the long breaks - 2 weeks I believe. The short (1 week) breaks are hardest because after only 1 week I'm just getting in the groove of doing nothing and wham I have to start up again. It's funny to me that one of the "ice-breaker" questions routinely asked at the start of a quarter is "What did you accomplish on your project during the break?" It gives me great pride to answer - "Absolutely nothing - I didn't think about school!" And I think that this is the appropriate answer. The break is there for a purpose and the purpose is to recharge myself and refresh. Last year during break time - I played "Jade Empire" and "Strangers Wrath" all the way through during my evening hours. Loved it!
During the quarters I also routinely play dvd's as I do my work. Last year during the 3 quarters of production on Speed Trap - I watched all 9 seasons of X-files, Alien at least 6 times, same for the Matrix and Lord of the Rings Trilogies as well as the 30 other favorites in my library. These productions are masters classes in the art of visual story telling. I watch them over and over because I really enjoy them and they are inspirational and educational to me as an artist. This is something that I have learned in the past few years - the importance of studying the work I enjoy. I don't subscribe to studying works that other people think, or proclaim to be masterpieces. I study what I like. I study the directors that inspire me...the ones I want to emulate. I have not reached my potential as an artist or a storyteller...and these masters are my tutors.
D_
I always reach higher than I can achieve. I am addicted to having more than one man can be resonably expected to do. I know where this comes from and I have done my own exploration of how it works and doesn't work in my life. However I have also discovered that I enjoy the challenge. I enjoy being stretched but only if it is my choice. This is the paradox - I am a hard worker but also enjoy my time of doing nothing.
Many students are proud of the fact that they work during the breaks between quarters. The one coming up is one of the long breaks - 2 weeks I believe. The short (1 week) breaks are hardest because after only 1 week I'm just getting in the groove of doing nothing and wham I have to start up again. It's funny to me that one of the "ice-breaker" questions routinely asked at the start of a quarter is "What did you accomplish on your project during the break?" It gives me great pride to answer - "Absolutely nothing - I didn't think about school!" And I think that this is the appropriate answer. The break is there for a purpose and the purpose is to recharge myself and refresh. Last year during break time - I played "Jade Empire" and "Strangers Wrath" all the way through during my evening hours. Loved it!
During the quarters I also routinely play dvd's as I do my work. Last year during the 3 quarters of production on Speed Trap - I watched all 9 seasons of X-files, Alien at least 6 times, same for the Matrix and Lord of the Rings Trilogies as well as the 30 other favorites in my library. These productions are masters classes in the art of visual story telling. I watch them over and over because I really enjoy them and they are inspirational and educational to me as an artist. This is something that I have learned in the past few years - the importance of studying the work I enjoy. I don't subscribe to studying works that other people think, or proclaim to be masterpieces. I study what I like. I study the directors that inspire me...the ones I want to emulate. I have not reached my potential as an artist or a storyteller...and these masters are my tutors.
D_
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Spring Quarter 2007 - Week 8: Lost in a Lost World
I've spent a disproportionate amount of time reworking the story and animatic for REQUIEM. This week (Week 8) I finished the fifth version of the animatic after finding the story line and shots that I felt had been cut out of REQUIEM last year when I tried to make it fit into 2 minutes. It now weighs in at a whopping 6 minutes...which I will trim up as I move forward...maybe.
The plan for visual development includes a lot of matte painting for BG's and other elements. I will take as many shortcuts as possible without sacrificing quality or storytelling...but the length of the story will be challenging to complete in the next 3 quarters. The interesting thing about my current project work is that the show I'm art directing - afterworld - is very limited animation. Creating 6 minutes of limited animation CG is a 3 to 4 week process. I'm learning how much can be done with how little. That experience will certainly have import as I move into production on REQUIEM.
All in all I feel pretty good about the flow of the story, the shot selection and the emotional beats of the imagery.
Adding music and sound always brings goosebumps. I use music at this point to inspire me in the visual development. Although I can't use the music I currently have in the film if I intend to show it publicly - I am looking more for the emotional impact and synergy between the music and visuals at this time. Of course John Williams and James Horner are always exceptionally inspiring. The music from Munich, Saving Private Ryan, Braveheart, Glory and so on...all have elements that carry the soul of the story. Universal elements of bravery, loyalty and the grief of war.
This time in development I call the Lost World. It is an in between time - where nothing is real yet...only the promise of the future finished film. And I am lost in it right now. Not sure where I am...only that I am in the world between what I have seen in my mind's vision and what will someday be a piece of artwork that others can enjoy. I am lost in the lost world...and that's ok. I feel like some artists are afraid of this place and consequently never visit it or intentionally go there...it is too uncertain and fraught with fear for many. I feel fear as well...but the vision haunts me and I have to make this story. So I am willing to wander here for a while...because I know I'll find the path out sooner or later.
D_
The plan for visual development includes a lot of matte painting for BG's and other elements. I will take as many shortcuts as possible without sacrificing quality or storytelling...but the length of the story will be challenging to complete in the next 3 quarters. The interesting thing about my current project work is that the show I'm art directing - afterworld - is very limited animation. Creating 6 minutes of limited animation CG is a 3 to 4 week process. I'm learning how much can be done with how little. That experience will certainly have import as I move into production on REQUIEM.
All in all I feel pretty good about the flow of the story, the shot selection and the emotional beats of the imagery.
Adding music and sound always brings goosebumps. I use music at this point to inspire me in the visual development. Although I can't use the music I currently have in the film if I intend to show it publicly - I am looking more for the emotional impact and synergy between the music and visuals at this time. Of course John Williams and James Horner are always exceptionally inspiring. The music from Munich, Saving Private Ryan, Braveheart, Glory and so on...all have elements that carry the soul of the story. Universal elements of bravery, loyalty and the grief of war.
This time in development I call the Lost World. It is an in between time - where nothing is real yet...only the promise of the future finished film. And I am lost in it right now. Not sure where I am...only that I am in the world between what I have seen in my mind's vision and what will someday be a piece of artwork that others can enjoy. I am lost in the lost world...and that's ok. I feel like some artists are afraid of this place and consequently never visit it or intentionally go there...it is too uncertain and fraught with fear for many. I feel fear as well...but the vision haunts me and I have to make this story. So I am willing to wander here for a while...because I know I'll find the path out sooner or later.
D_