My dad told me that if I want to succeed in my field, I have to start reading more. I love reading a good novel, but it takes just as much time to do those things as it does to plan things, film stuff, edit and homework. But I supposed I could read a little of something everyday. Reading's always good. But how to find good books ...

He's also sent me links to articles about voice acting and internships and he's bought me at least 3 books about either Disney animation, creative thinking (imagineering) and film.

My mom helped me get an HD camera.

I love my parents for supporting me but I hope this whole artistic career isn't just some dream I'm chasing that's not really going to go too far. I hope I can make them proud.

I think I might transfer to art school next year and I'm a bit terrified of the debt it may cause. Why is art school so expensive!

Lessons

Lessons (lost track of the number and i cant look back cause i need to write this down before i forget)

- Detach the battery from HD cameras when not in use. They slowly drain the energy, even when off

- Do not put the ports or the battery near metal

-If not using battery for a long time, discharge it completely. If you don't, the battery will lose lifetime

- Take more time to get a few more seconds of the shot. (i have a tendancy to take a bunch of quick little shots which are hard to use after they're put in stock cause you have to keep cutting or stabilizing everything)

-Respect all departments of filmmaking

Spring Break 2010

Huh ... so I'm looking at my Winter Break entry and you know? Sometimes ambitious to-do lists stay the same for years. Ughh I want to be productive. I just wish I didn't have academics to worry about during BREAK.

So here are the things I'd love to finish before I have to go back to school:

1. Draft out and film some of my Collective @ The Coppola film festival entry (i'm thinking forest and horror and freaky stuff for this)

2. Be prepared to do Devil's Mark vanity makeup as well as a bloodied wounded person (Devil's Mark is a short film by some students at my school. I think it might be their thesis project)

3. Film and post for AUDFACED:
- Stacie Orrico Prom tutorial
- What's in my prom purse video
- Pre Prom Skincare ideo
- Telephone: Tough Girl tutorial
- Harajuku Girls: Doll Faced tutorial
- Miracle Products: Olive Oil
- Miracle Products: Vaseline Jelly
- Stupid Things I've Done With Makeup talk video

4. Figure out where I'm going to school next year and what my major will be

5. Read No Country For Old Men (it's for my ENG 230 class)

6. Understand stats so I don't fail again

7. Post Powerpuff Girls and AVATAR (Azula) voiceover videos

8. Open AUDIVILA FILMS website & release experimental reel 2009

9. Figure out what I'm doing this summer

10. Design a THREADLESS t-shirt entry

11. Apply to Ringling, Full Sail ... ?

12. Look into buying Final Cut

13. Do a photo shoot? Figure out your photography craving

14. Draft SF State 2009-2010 Reel

15. Draft The Making of Jurassic Park video

*14-15 are time sensitive and things I really want to have but not might get to complete if not done within the remaining semester

16. Watch PS I love you (for ENG 214)

17. DO ALL HOMEWORK, basically

18. Learn some animation programs from Dad

Collective @ The Coppola

At my school there's this bi-annual event called Collective at The Coppola. It's basically an open film festival for films 2-5 minutes in length. All criteria, just give them what you got. I didn't get to enter last semester and this one starts accepting entries after Spring Break.

I have been determined to enter this and try to get screened and accepted into their submissions. But what idea to use and when to film it ...

I'm excited, I haven't gotten to make my own narrative film in awhile. All I've been doing is makeup product reviews and documentary shorts - both made of material that is mostly predestined, not really created if you know what I mean.

I have a midterm coming up ... one of those midterms where you didn't really start learning the material until well ... the midterm started coming.

Nahardydingerdinger.

I posted a voice dub last night: Flapjack. I had a bit of a talking session too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY3ro47Gdpg

I also went to the protest at California's state building today. 6 AM-4 PM! So tired. Running around filming again. But not as tiring as March 4. I think I got a bit of a cold though.

Will keep updated!

20. In this industry, people are going to ask you to do something and you're going to think, "I can't do that. I'm not good enough. I don't know how. I'm not qualified." What you do is say Yes, take the assignment into your room and figure that sh*t out.

18. Write down or type down an idea when it comes to you. No, you probably won't remember it on your own later. So write it!

19. I find that good ideas sometimes come in bulk. So those late late nights when they just start flowing ... forget that sleep and RECORD THEM! *crazy woman eyes*

Lessons I'm Learning

7. Opportunities don't make time for you, so when they come around you simply have to make time for them. There is rarely a "good time"

8. "If you're too busy making sure you don't make mistakes, you won't do much of anything else." Go outside your comfort zone, try something different, try something even if you're thinking it's never going to work. In this industry, I'm beginning to believe that "experience" is the #1 educator

9. Sleep on it. Don't ever rush editing if you can help it. Why? Because you'll think of something brilliant the next day, when you're not sleep ridden ... most of the time.

10. Always charge your battery.

11. Take care of that camera. Don't be loose with it.

12. Invest in a good tripod.

13. Own a monopod.

14. Give yourself time to eat healthily and use the bathroom. *thumbs up*

15. Take time to watch the work of people out of your league, in your league and your peers.

16. Never hesitate to tell someone you enjoyed their work or that they did a great job.

17. Appreciate style.

Film Class

Right now I'm an English major. Though that doesn't mean much, I figured I'm going to start writing about anything and everything I learn about film along the way. Here's what I got so far

1. Shit will happen. Batteries die, memory cards get left behind, tripods don't work, the sun won't come up, actors may not be able to say the lines quite as you imagined, soem files just won't export, sometimes iMovie doesn't save all that font editing you did, the audio didn't catch, the boom pole got in the shot, someone laughed, someone looked at the camera .. yeah. Stuff happens. It's ridiculous sometimes how perfect a person wants a scene to look to the point that it's rarely ever natural.

2. Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate. I have done no collaborations yet. Yet as much as I want to be director, producer, cinematographer, actor, makeup artist, screenwriter, editor and a film groupie ... I know I can't. But maybe I can take on different roles each time. I realized there's so many talented people out there, people who are my friends and those who aren't. Sometimes, it's just time to be solo. But sometimes, the most brilliant, amazing work comes from a group of people truly working together. You'll fight, you'll learn, you'll create something.

3. Maybe film school isn't necessary. I have no evidence to back this up. And I might change my major to cinema and I was counting on taking that Digital Video Intensive in the next 3 years. But many people in the artistic and media world never went to school for it. They were just good at it.

4. "It's not where you go, it's what you've done and who you know." -AAU Student (2010)

5. "Practice and originality will take you much farther than any high quality end brand."

6. "Some ideas are like wine. They may take a little waiting and aging to get them at their best!"

I'm still working on my Audivila Films website. The longer I wait to post my reel, the uglier it becomes to me haha. It's mostly made with my old digital camera with low quality but hey! I worked hard on it for many nights.

I continue to have my art school freak outs, but once again I think I may just stay where i am.

I really want to submit a voiceover video to places so who knows - maybe I'll be a voice for the next show on Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon. Or a short film. :)

Spring 2010: New Ideas

I contemplated keeping this blog for awhile. Some things just need time to figure out, honestly. And I realized that if I could just created a nice place to put this blog, I would want to keep it and record lessons i learn, frustrations or exciting things along the way during this whole film business thing I've been trying to get into.

So on YouTube, I'm constantly thinking of way too many different kinds of videos to talk videos, makeup tutorials, product reviews, short trailers for things that don't exist, music video parodies, animations, voice dubs and gyaah! On top of school sometimes it feels like too much. I have to remember NOTHING I do outside school is required, but when ever is there time to do what you want? Gotta make time!

I keep getting bits and pieces of ideas for future films in the most odd situations and I'm always scrambling to find my phone so that I can save the ideas in a draft text. Recently, my best friend I went to a museum by the water and I got the most random inspiration for an idea that seems reachable enough to be my first BIG kind of film where I'd really try and hire an actress that I didn't know before hand, deal with production, makeup, locations, microphones - all that stuff. I REALLY like the idea. I think I'd call it Mirror Vanity or Vanity Mirror. It's basically about a vain, beautiful girl that has to pay a price for looking in the mirror one too many times by becoming a slave to the show of beauty in an old fashioned arcade store (the kind where you paid like 10 cents to 25 to see a peep show, get your fortune told or see a wooden puppet show) I'm thinking - Imaginarium/Alice in Wonderland status. Real circus-like, artsy, dark but beautiful and meaningful. I'd honestly honestly spend lots of time and even some money on this, and try to enter it into a bunch of film festivals. But I'd need a lot of special effects, that's the thing. I'm just afraid the locations i want will be gone by the time i'd ever be ready to film it!

So that's that.

I wanted to do a Making Of Jurassic Park: The Gist video before I don't live on campus anymore, but it seems so trivial that I never have time for it. I'd LOVE to make that video though. It just seems like no one would care though once I got it out though, haha. Just me and a handful of people, but that should be enough, shouldn't it?

I've also been wanting to ... you know. I could go on forever about my ideas, but right now it's almost 4 AM, tomorrow's Monday and I should get some sleep!

But I did tweak the layout of this site a little to make it more likable on my terms so I think I shall be back soon! :)