Sunday, May 1, 2011

Tandoori Chicken Feet!

Hello readers,

Today I made the mistake of barefoot running to the Festival of Books at USC.  The problem?  Bricks get hot.  My feet sizzled.  Smelled good though.  Like Tandoori Chicken.

Anyway, I haven't posted in awhile because I've been doing all kinds of stuff.

Mostly, I've been writing my next script and dealing with questions of narrative structure and comprehension.  I'm experimenting with a more fractured narrative structure; one which forces the viewer to actively participate in the structure and comprehension of the unfolding narrative.  I played with this idea in my first feature film, "Hustlas," but it was executed in such a half-assed way that no real lessons were learned.  Anyway, I've posted that film on Youtube for anyone who wants to frustrate themselves for wasting 90 minutes of their lives.

I also posted my last completed film, "Life Sucker," for any interested viewers.  I love this film.  It's basically my love letter to Takeshi Kitano, hands down one of my favorite filmmakers.

I've also been overseeing the editing of my third feature, "Suite 101."  The rough cut is about 97 minutes and it's still not completed.  This is good, since I'll be able to cut a lot out.

I also put together a wedding video for my big brother, Jorge.  It was his wedding present.

http://youtu.be/fJbEVdhVo7Y?hd=1

As to my obsessions with technology, a lot of new stuff has been coming out that simply amazes me.

First, there's Adobe's CS5.5.  It will be released in a few weeks and the advances in shot stabilization will destroy the necessity for Steadicam operators.  CS5.5 will basically take your shaky hand-held footage and automatically stabilize the shot to make it look like a dolly track shot.

Second, Apple announced Final Cut Pro X.  It basically will do everything except go to the bathroom for you.  And it will only cost $299.  What?

Third, I've been learning Lightworks.  They came out with an update that really improves this open-source editing program.  Check it out if you want to start learning how to edit video.  The program is completely free and very powerful.  It's the same program most of Martin Scorsese's films have been edited in.  What?

Fourth, Technicolor has released their 100% FREE Cinestyle picture profile.  If you have a Canon HDSLR Camera, download the picture profile.  It basically lets you completely fuck up a shot, in terms of exposure, and allows you to correct it in post.  Specifically, it's a file that you upload to you Canon and it alters the camera's sensor to capture color and light by an S-curve instead of a linear curve.  This means you can recover details and color in the really dark areas of a shot as well as in very bright areas.  And it does this with very little digital noise.  Awesome, right?

Anyway, back to the screenplay.

Love,

Chicano Lawyer