Life Update...

Heyall. Blogging has become harder and harder to keep up with these days. And I want to start a MySpace site... Right.

Anyway, I am currently 3 weeks from throwing a baseball. A few months ago, I was unsure as to if I was ever going to throw again. This is amazing. My doctor walked out of the room after our meeting today and I overheard him say to my secondary doctor "He looks unbelievable." EEEEEEEEEE-awesome!

In other news, Vicky and I are planning a trip to go camping May 14-21 in Tennessee! We might spend a night or two in a motel/hotel or something, but other than that, it will just be her, me, a tent and a blanket of stars... We get out of class the 12th (13th for me) and I have to go back for summer school on the 23rd. I get one week of break and I can't be angry about that simply because I'll be out in the wilderness with Vicky. ^_^

We had originally planned on going to L.A. and SanFransisco, but we thought it would be too much in a short period of time (and I'm not sure it would have flown over too well with her dad, either). Camping seems to be a good alternative, though. Time away from a busy city is probably the better option for us considering we live and go to school in one every day.

School is coming down to the wire. I am still a little behind in some classes, but I'm not doing too horrible. I should be getting A's and B's which considering my class load will be considered a success.

I've got to figure out who I'm going to get to help me on my final Production I film. I don't think I'll need much of a crew, maybe two or three people. I feel bad because this one guy who I've worked with twice keeps bugging me about getting on my shoot 'to learn from me' and help out in any way. Frankly, he would not help me in any way whatsoever. He would slow me down and I don't have time for that. I think I'm just going to get my people and if he asks I'll just tell him that I didn't have time to deal with him. I just finished working on his film and it has been hell working with him. Not only is he incompetant, but he's got extremely bad luck! Those two things do not go together well. I do feel sorry for him sometimes, and then I remember that he calls me three times a day for pretty much no reason and that he is 29 and married! DAMNIT, MAKE A KID ALREADY!

I also worked on another student's film this weekend and it was pretty good. She was open to suggestion (as was the other guy, but that was only because he had none of his own) and knew her strengths and weaknesses. She knew her strength was working with actors, so she came right out and said, "You're the camera operator and cinematographer. I don't know shit about that stuff and you do." It's an attitude like that that makes for a quick, easy shoot. There are some shots in her film that I REALLY hope come out because I think they would look great on a reel for me.

I've got a lot from this semester in terms of potential shots that would make up a pretty impressive Production I reel, but I have no way of getting copies of all of the films I've worked on. Also, I have worked on, by far, the most films this semester out of anyone in my class, and that makes me feel good because I have been proud of almost all of it. I just need a way to get it on a reel, DAMNIT!

So after I dropped Blaszczyk off the other night, I came running up to my porch and SPRAINED MY FUCKING ANKLE AGAIN. So I suffered through this guy's shoot and the FRIGID Cubs game with a sprained ankle. However, since this was not nearly as bad as the two last summer, I was able to recover in a day. It still is tender, but at least I'm not bed-ridden for a few days.

Now Playing: Nick Drake - "Thoughts of Mary Jane"

P.S. - OMG. I just told this guy that I didn't want him on my shoot flat out, and he took it as though he will be there on saturday. omg.

BULLS...

I AM GOING TO THE FINAL BULLS GAME OF THE REGULAR SEASON!

They are going to rip the Raptors apart and will get the 6th spot in the east.

Now Playing: Kousik - "Ride Out"

Uhhhh... Hey.

Been a while, sorry.

It's been a busy semester what with the full-time job of keeping up with school, the other, more pleasurable full-time job of having a girlfriend (which, thanks to Vicky, is more like a really great temp job with benefits) and the hectic nature of becoming the local film shoot slut. I've been on 7 shoots this semester so far, only 3 of which were required. It's been a great experience and each one has been different. It's strange how each one has sucked the life out of me and yet breathed it back in at the same time.

My first two films have turned out pretty awesome. The first one, shot in Grant Park, was great to begin with. I had great shots and since I, for the most part, shot it linearly, I was able to just cut it that way. The most impressive shot being a rack focus of my two characters. One walking towards the camera in the foreground, out of focus and the other one chasing him in focus. It was a difficult shot to pull off, but it turned out great and has single-handedly gotten me three other shoots under my belt.

My second film starred Vicky (with an appearance by Blaszczyk) and the rushes I got back were gorgeous in themselves but I was unsure as to how I was going to get my message across in editing. It was about a deaf girl and its hard to convey that in a silent medium. I tried to do it by visually emphasizing each sense but sound and it worked great. I spent 7 hours editing it today and I did things in that little room that I had not planned or even thought of for that matter. Once again, there was a great rack focus shot of Vicky, only this time it was so much more pronounced because of the low-key lighting I used. It was a great short.

Vicky and I are good. We both get excited about each others' work and it adds a nice little dimension to our relationship. She's a doll for putting up with me. ^_^

Oh. And we get a new lazyboy on saturday... That is all.

Now Playing: UNKLE - "Gi Mix"