Techno Robot Pudding

well, the radio show is officially dead in the water. and sunk. i opted out of the mess after looking through my outline some ten thousand times and deciding that it just couldn’t turn out as i’d like it to at this time. instead i’m going to go ahead with something more abstract. i plan on using a variety of odd sounds and studio techniques to bring forth something odd yet atmospheric. that’s all i’ll say for now.

speaking of atmospheric, my final film project is starting to take some sort of shape. it will mainly be a series of well-composed shots at unusual angles. the subject(s) will all have a common element tying it together until the simple ending. it will be more of a visual experience, utilizing simple shots with good placement rather than flashy movement and cuts. hopefully it will feel like there is some unifying force behind it.

work work work. sheesh.

so here’s what happened. i got in the edit room at around ten. there was a fellow in there using the flatbed. hm, nice to see he signed up to use it. oh wait, he didn’t. of course, he was rather nice and happened to be finishing up anyways. i had no problem letting him finish his film because i needed to watch my two reels on the projector anyways- which would take a few minutes.

the contrast was magnificent. the image quality excellent. shooting early in the morning was a most excellent decision. there were shots where the rising sun added a soft flare to the frame. i was pleased.

so it comes time for me to use the steenbeck flatbed. well, okay. i loaded my film in. it didn’t go through right. shit. an hour later, still fucked up. goddamnit. so i do it the old-fashioned way. that’s right: the reel-to-reel viewers. the viewers actually suited me better than the flatbed. i could more precisely mark my cuts. so i went through the reels.

my “A” reel (main concept shooting, establishing shots) got split into ten cuts. after making my marks, i cut it up and labeled it. my “B” reel (experiments, flair, seasoning) got split into 8 cuts. i made those cuts and reviewed my notes. it was about midnight. i tried to mentally order the cuts as to make sense, and unfortunately i had to leave one of my cuts out because it just didn’t fit. it was a nice take of a tree growing through a roof. oh well.

so i wrote down the cut order and started at the end. i put my last cut on the spool first, and went backwards with the taping. that way, as i put together the cuts, i could roll them onto the spool. neat and quick. that took until about 115. then came the magic moment: watching the final product. the whole thing fit on a 100′ daylight spool, which means i shot at a bit over 2:1. that’s right; i cut over half of my footage.

i loaded the spool onto the projector. the “leader” blank film that proceeds the actual film is dual-perforated. so i loaded the leader in, not thinking to check and make sure the single-perf film was lined up to the correct teeth. well, it wasn’t. the leader made it’s way through just fine. the real film stopped and jammed. ouch. it took me about five minutes to gently coax the film out. whew. then i actually watched it and it was decent.

so i got home around 2, and slept for about 11 hours. i was talking to my mother, and apparently my grandfather had one of those old reel-to-reel editors. and a projector. a camera? maybe. damn, if only i’d known. so we’re in the process of digging all that out. cool.

also, i picked up Hawksley Workman’s latest “Treeful of Starling.” it’s a very well-written and thoughtful album. the packaging is also very well designed, featuring art from Tim Domoslai and three collectible lyrics cards featuring Tim’s art and HW’s lyrics.

i’ve also begun to take a shining to The Psychedelic Furs. pick up their best-of entitled All of This and Nothing. quite addictive. they’re a band who might have been able to grab the spotlight, but opted out. this sense of mystery about them is what makes them fascinating. speaking of which, i just bought a book on Radiohead. perhaps it will help shed some light on their situation.

the hilarious Ron White has a new comedy special to be aired at 9, so i’m off.

just inhale already.

it’s really a trade off. do you go for an earlier time and get less time? or do you grab the later slot that is substantially longer? i chose the latter. thus i will be spending the fading hours of this day and the early hours of the next in a room by myself, cutting and taping together little bits of film.

for some reason, it’s begun to intrigue me. the image quality is, after all, unique. you can do interesting things with contrast and shadows on black and white film that you just can’t easily do on video. processing and editing is a bitch, but it’s quite an experience running your transparent lengths of optical illusions through a projector- knowing that the only thing processing the image is your mind.

i still prefer video. the sheer speed and ease with which you can do things on video is really what tips the scales. however, i have yet to try shooting video with 24i, which is “film style.” it’s supposed to be silker among other things. just another experience to look forward to.

well, once this edit is done it’s a huge weight off my shoulders. it seems like i’m making a big deal out of it. i am.

go do something creative.

so apparently, i’m a lucky bastard. why? because my film got developed and shipped back in two days- which is ungodly quick. this calls for a plug!

a-1 film lab

there. thanks, guys!

this means i can probably finish things with a nice edit session on saturday (hopefully i can reserve the steenbeck flatbed editor) and have everything ready for monday! perfection.

i think it’d be cool to have a real radio show. however, i do not have the time for such. perhaps i will produce a podcast every now and then. those podcast dealies are all the rage, after all. this would mean i should purchase a mic that’s better than the vibration-sensitive condenser that came with my computer. hmmm. will it be another empty promise? time will tell.

which reminds me. i’m going to put together a retro playlist since i have some time.

jam it like there’s no yesterday.

wow. i saw the season 5 finale of The Shield. just wow. i think every cell in my body froze for the last ten minutes of the episode.

things are somewhat unsure right now. there are several projects in progress, but the direction to which they’re going is something i can’t determine just yet.

speaking of unsure, some things have recently changed focus in my eyes and it’s getting even more dizzying. all i will bother to say is that i’m just going to sit back and let my mouth run. and eccentricity keeps me from getting bored with the tedium i’m cursed with noticing every day.

it sounds odd, but sometimes i wish that i was a blunt moron. you know, someone that never notices anything. they say ignorance is bliss. i could just sit there in a stupor all the time, drooling away with a big cheesy grin on my face while the world falls down around me. of course, should the world fall down around me, i’m going to do that as it is. i figure that you’re screwed so you might as well enjoy the comedic value of the little messes which led you to your doom. so maybe attention to detail isn’t such a bad thing. i know i really enjoy when someone gets a totally obscure reference or when i point out some wacky stupid little detail. then again, sometimes those moments seem faded when stacked against all the stupid little things that are wrong.

gah, i could mope all day and it wouldn’t accomplish anything. i’m going to go distract myself into oblivion with some music and then sleep. i’ve been having some really odd dreams lately.

really odd.