January 2011
78 posts
8 tags
Watchvia Mark Rigler : 100,000 starlings fill the skies
9 tags
Universal Goodness of Humanity →
I was running last night after a fresh snow, and a patch of perfectly shoveled sidewalk in front of a small, humble church struck me as significant. Suddenly I knew why this particular stretch of concrete was so meticulously maintained. It wasn’t shoveled for neighbors or public safety. At the heart of it, this sidewalk was shoveled for God.
So I thought I’d start a church without a deity...
17 tags
Watch1) Erica listening to Xander read her his library book over the phone. 2) Up very late editing the most-recent narration track into FToM. Breaker is apparently keeping me company whilst giving herself a bath. 3) Testing out a newly purchased Royalite Holland typewriter. 4) Eating lunch on the kitchen rug, enjoying the sun coming in through the windows and listening to the news on my phone. 5)...
16 tags
“The very meaninglessness of life forces man to create his own meaning. Children,...”
– - Stanley Kubrick
I couldn’t tell you where Kubrick stood on religions, I know I could very easily look it up, but it’s really not at all important in response to this quote about purpose and meaning. It’s a very articulately made point and I think it cuts right to idea that only...
15 tags
camcorders vs dSLR cameras
An email via Brian Van Peski
I was hoping to pick your brain briefly. I’ve been thinking about new gear and was considering dropping my current SLR and Canon HF S10 and going for a Canon t2i that shoots HD video. Have you ever considered moving towards a DSLR-centered setup as opposed to the Canon HF S10. If so, what are your thoughts on the matter? That DSLR footage sure does look...
12 tags
“If your government shuts down the internet, shut down your government.”
– via Barrett Garese
8 tags
8 tags
Watchvia four word reviews : Suggestive but incredibly useful.
On the day that Erica and I left for Vegas with Lan and Vu, she was talking about how she has a tendency to say too little, for example, a question that might be better answered, “yes, I can deliver that to Chris tomorrow afternoon”, might instead become, “yea”. Somehow all that lead to an idea for Four Word...
6 tags
10 tags
WatchDamn. This animation is beautiful. The lines of trailing smoke and the details in the clouds have me super excited about an upcoming project Erica and I are working on. Also - I can’t wait to see more from this film.
10 tags
13 tags
13 tags
via Hit Record Joe : an open letter to my friend Peter Travers
[…] Yes, you could focus on the friend-counting narcissists, but you could also focus on countless meaningful relationships formed across national borders and cultural boundaries that would have been logistically impossible before sites like Facebook. And yes of course, there’s the spam-bots slinging Viagra, but there’s also...
9 tags
via @joestump
For the second year in a row, the U.S. military has lost more troops to suicide than it has to combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
We’ve been at war for the better part of 8 years now - how long do you think we’ll have to wait before we experience 8 years of peace?
8 tags
22 tags
Watchftomfilm:
via Robert Holt
It was great to see the 1st of these videos come in - Robert’s turned out perfect, my favorite moment is at 1:10. I’m really looking forward to seeing more of these moving portraits from people!
If you missed out on the original post explaining all this, here’s an excerpt:
In the last two years we have lovingly packaged-up and mailed-out FToM t-shirts to places...
11 tags
13 tags
8 tags
Why 3D Doesn't Work and Never Will →
via sujay:
This letter is from Walter Murch, seen at left, the most respected film editor and sound designer in the modern cinema. As a editor, he must be intimately expert with how an image interacts with the audience’s eyes. He won an Academy Award in 1979 for his work on “Apocalypse Now,” whose sound was a crucial aspect of its effect.
Maybe a bit of an overstatement in the title, but it’s...
7 tags
22 tags
Watch1) I might not love the way it smells in the morning, but I do love watching the swirls of coffee steam in the sunlight. 2) While Erica and I were walking Willie around the block, a guy 40 feet away yelled out from behind an SUV; I asked if he was okay and he replied yes - but as Erica and I started to slowly walk away he yelled “cunt!” at the driver and started punching the SUV. I...
8 tags
8 tags
“An essential element of any art is risk. If you don’t take a risk then how are...”
– - Francis Ford Coppola
This was a great interview with Francis Ford Coppola, very inspiring to read, especially the above line about risk. He went on to say,
The cinema language happened by experimentation – by people not knowing what to do. But unfortunately, after 15-20 years, it became a...
9 tags
23 tags
breakingfangs asked: Re: The Catholic church
The Catholic Church has steered so far away from pretty much anything that Judaism and Christianity stand for that its pointless to even put them in the same category. They have built unbelievable wealth and power through almost purely negative means (fear, slavery, and guilt). Whether you believe in Jesus or not, looking at the historical individual, I...
The Catholic Church has steered so far away from pretty much anything that Judaism and Christianity stand for that its pointless to even put them in the same category. They have built unbelievable wealth and power through almost purely negative means (fear, slavery, and guilt). Whether you believe in Jesus or not, looking at the historical individual, I...
6 tags
9 tags
I can’t take credit for coming across this...
10 tags
19 tags
A Straight Line
ftomfilm:
All of this really started in December, Nathan Kane sent me a 25 minute-long video-letter. There was something specific that resulted from Nathan’s very personal and honest letter, and I admit, I’ve been struggling to find a word to best describe that something, but in any case, one word or not, that something is where the following started. On November 27th, I posted a production...
14 tags
11 tags
11 tags
14 tags
“It refers to a situation that we’ve now moved beyond.”
– - In a response from the Vatican to documents revealing The Pope and the Church’s mass cover-up of sexual abused children.
Well I’m glad you’ve been so able to move beyond it. I’m sure it’s been just as easy for the tens of thousands of abuse victims you’ve left in your wake because of your...
16 tags
8 tags
14 tags
Watch1) I attempted to trim Erica’s slip, attempted being the key word, I need to work on my straight-line scissors skills. 2) Sometimes, when I’m in the bathroom I notice Breaker sticking her paws under the door to get my attention - I find it adorable. I’m not sure if she really wants to be near me, or just me to let her drink out of the sink while I brush my teeth. 3) Waiting for...
8 tags
5 tags
5 tags
“Being “good” at anything is only a reflection of time spent making...”
– - Justin Johnson
This statement is very true. Justin is a wise man.
9 tags
- Jeff Miller
“Second amendment remedies” [comment] by [Sharron] Angle - probably irresponsible; [but] consistent with purpose of 2nd amendment.
One thing that has me pretty f@#king irritated at the moment is the above comment, “consistent with purpose of 2nd amendment”. No, no, actually it’s not, it’s no where near consistent with the 2nd amendment. I am...
9 tags
- Jeff Miller
“Second amendment remedies” [comment] by [Sharron] Angle - probably irresponsible; [but] consistent with purpose of 2nd amendment.
One thing that has me pretty f@#king irritated at the moment is the above comment, “consistent with purpose of 2nd amendment”. No, no, actually it’s not, it’s no where near consistent with the 2nd amendment. I am...
5 tags
“Being “good” at anything is only a reflection of time spent making...”
– - Justin Johnson
This statement is very true. Justin is a wise man.
8 tags
“Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everybody I’ve ever...”
– Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters
8 tags
“Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everybody I’ve ever...”
– Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters
5 tags
25 tags
why won't [the internet] make indie film...
When writing my response to a Filmmaker Magazine post by Anthony Kaufman titled Why Won’t Kickstarter and Twitter Save Indie Film?, I kept finding myself deleting areas of discussion that separated “saving” from profitability in indie film, to the point where I wanted to write a follow up post:
The word “save”, to me, is nonspecific, yet it always seems to suggest...
6 tags
6 tags
5 tags
“Whenever any American’s life is taken by another American unnecessarily -...”
– Robert Kennedy
12 tags
Watchvia Ayz Waraich
Second concept teaser for a feature film I wrote and my good friend Dan Gaud is directing. Judd L. Tilyard and myself will produce. Shooting will take place early 2011 in Detroit.
That shot at :56 is perfect. This new teaser looks fantastic - I want more. Especially cannot wait to watch Stephen’s full performance here.