Parallelogram (2011)

Parallelogram is now up on YouTube in full 1080p HD. A special congratulations to Athena & Brad (who star in this) on getting engaged this weekend. Such a special night & I'm so happy to have been a part of it. Brad surprised Athena at her Logan's Run themed 30th birthday party with a video many of us friends contributed to, then proposed to her at the end. It was sincere, funny and a total tear fest. So happy for the both of them!

Enjoy!



Parallelogram on IMDB
My YouTube Channel
Athena's YouTube Channel
Brad's YouTube Channel

Parallelogram

I have submitted my short film, Parallelogram, to a handful of festivals. I'm not holding up much hope for getting in, but it is a cute 4 minute short. I submitted to a couple out of town, but really am trying to find ones that are within driving distance, or at least close to anywhere I would call home. I'm also not trying to break the bank! Festivals are expensive & since I have now put off doing this since November, they have only gotten more expensive or too expensive to enter. So I'm going to limit myself at 10 festivals. That number may dwindle down depending on how much money I start to spend and some may have to wait until next year's submissions start up again.

It's funny, after everything is done there is always something you wish you did instead. In this instance, I really wish I added more leader in the beginning. It's the small things that will irk me over time. I would also enjoy some music for the film, (or overall sound design) but as it stands now, I think it works without any. I'm sure there are minor edits I could also do, but originally this was a project for fun. Of course, my wheels are now turning just thinking about how I would prefer any future films to look.

This all started out with one of my college friends sending a message asking to participate in a film festival. We would all make a short film over the next few months, get together & have a little screening. This was a great idea however it kept getting pushed back again & again. That was actually a good thing for me b/c I kept putting off doing it. Finally when I felt the pressure and there was only a week or two to go, I asked some friends if anyone would be interested in being in the short. I had no story, only some visual ideas. It wasn't until 4 of my friends volunteered to be actors (I was looking for 1 couple) that the wheels started turning. My co-worker, Joe, provided a lot of inspiration from his mannerisms and love of math, and out of that came Parallelogram. A story about parallel universes, couples, electricity, light & mystery.

Officially on IMDB! No poster yet.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2238885/combined

Festival Rundown:

Rooftop Films Summer Series (NYC)
Cannes Independent Film Festival (France - Dreaming the dream with this one!)
The Other Venice Film Festival (Venice, CA)
SoCal Independent Film Festival (Huntington Beach, CA)
Brooklyn Short Film Festival (NYC)

Tick tock Tick tock

Naturally because I'm starting work in a couple weeks, the amount of things piling up to do is getting bigger & bigger. There are art projects & a movie to finish. My car still needs to be repaired & pass the smog check. I somehow have still not bought my new set of pots & pans, which are supposed to be my Christmas present from my parents... but that could be a good thing since my brother has been living with me again(!!!).

It's amazing how busy I have been this year. I don't even know where the time goes. It's certainly not spent working, although I have been fortunate enough to have some good jobs this year. More likely, I've been sleeping too much.

I've been working on my movie for the last two days. I keep feeling so bad for my actors who have waited for it to be finished, but since I don't have my own editing system I am at the mercy of my friend's schedule. Which means, I haven't worked on it since January... but I think I'm close to done. I really ran out of steam today b/c I spent so much time on it yesterday. The issue of music has been brought up & although it'd be nice to have some, I'm not sure who I can find to do that for me. I feel so close to being done with this that the thought of putting the effort into music is exhausting.

I spent Wednesday helping at my friends' house. It's the never-ending construction battle. We did a lot of work & I honestly can't wait to see another room completed. I just hope there are no more set backs for them so we can get the main room finished soon. Crossing my fingers!

I also spent a day this week at the beach. My main reason for going was to try to take a picture for a friend as part of an art project I'm doing. I don't think I got any pictures I'd want to use, but it was awesome to spend some time at the beach. We headed up to Leo Carrillo & caught the end of the low tide. I was disappointed by the lack of starfish, considering last time we went there were tons.

I'm getting close to being finished with these art projects too. I did this chain letter type of thing on Facebook where my friend offered to make something for 5 people, as long as they in turn made something for 5 people. So I'm all wrapped up in this and hoping that the 5 people I am making art projects for actually make something for 5 other people. There's no restrictions on what you have to make and it just needs to be done this year... so I hope that will encourage them to do something, anything. I have 2 drawings and 1 book finished. I need to buy a few old picture frames. I am still working on getting a photo to use for one project, and a friend of mine is going to photograph some other drawings I made so I can make a note card set for the last project.

Speaking of photographs, I think the magazine photo issue has been resolved. It looks like it's happening and that's pretty exciting. The down side is they are looking for stock photographs & I'm not getting a lot out of the deal. Compromises I guess.

Hopefully lots of photos to post soon. I've been too tired to go through my beach photos & I'm like a frame away from bringing in 5 rolls of film to Lomography to get developed. I'm super excited to see those!

Parallelogram

I've certainly been keeping busy. There have been a lot of work & birthday parties these last few weeks. I went for jury duty & got out, but I still had to show up for 3 days. Yes, I earned that $34. Don't be jealous. I spent many days helping my friends renovate their new house, which is far from being done. I went over to Eagle Rock Music Fest, which I haven't gone to in 4 years. I somehow only managed to see a couple bands which was really disappointing. I don't know if anyone good played there or not.

I also decided that since the screening my college friends are having was less than a week away, I should really shoot a short. I got my location, equipment & actors all before I even had a story. I even had a title. That was a little stressful. I needed it to be 1)short, 2)not completely stupid & 3) easy to shoot. Scriptwriting is a little torturous for me. Luckily I had a couple visual ideas & once I knew who'd volunteered to be my actor, I had a way easier time writing. Now the story isn't anything mind shattering. It's gonna be a little goofy. The screening is on Friday & I have yet to find a place to edit it. It's not easy getting stuff last minute. So I may just edit this thing in movie maker to have something for the screening then edit it for real down the road. No matter what, I'm really just doing it for fun & all for the cost of a hard drive and food. Not bad.

I'm very angry at myself for not taking a photo w/ my diana while we were shooting. I had so much on my mind I didn't even think about it. Grrrr... We had to shoot so quick since I set it at night. The cops even stopped by the first night. Ha! Thankfully PJ was able to talk to the neighbor and get a curfew for us. We had about 3 hours each night for 2 nights to get everything done. Challenging! But we did get everything and hopefully it'll cut together well.