Day 34: Stairs to Nowhere

There is a condemned house right next door to one of my friend's and it keeps getting more and more demolished as the days go by. As the ocean pounds at our backyards and erodes the cliffs, more and more houses are being torn down to be built back up again. What remains at this house are some stairs that have no end. The stairs have been up for a considerably long time compared to the rest of the house which is weird because I'd think that it would be one of the first things to go.

Day 33: Rotan and his Quest for Vicodin

My housemate, Spencer, stubbed his big toe on our stairs earlier yesterday. Being the good friend that I am, I let him borrow my cane that I got in Ireland. Spencer decided that the best use of the cane would be to hit his big toe with it so when he went to student health the next day the doctor would be more inclined to give him Vicodin. Enjoy...

Day 32: FIFA 11

The day has arrived. The release of the greatest sports game of all time has been awaited by millions and we have been blessed by its awesomeness for years. We drove to Gamestop today, walked in, and yelled, "FIFA 11-XBOX 360" and the cashier rung us up in seconds. I am extremely impressed with the drastic changes this game has made from last year's copy, but am already counting down the days until FIFA 12.

Day 31: Storyboards

Yesterday I found out that the claymation I pitched for an advanced production class wasn't accepted. While I thought myself and one of my producers, Kyle, had a great pitch, I guess the story just didn't sack up to the other ones. Now the project is in an interesting position because I don't know if we are still going to make it or not.

Roslyn Hernandez drew all of these storyboards and I am very impressed by her work. She drew over 90 of them but we could only fit 60 onto these blackboards.

Coming up with the shots were easy but translating them to paper was impossible for me. Here are some that Roslyn excelled at...

Day 30: Rejected

Shit happens, life sucks, then you die.

Day 29: Beach Screening

Tonight a film I made, "A Sample of Sampling" played at Goleta State Beach. It was a part of a showcase for Otter awareness week. Some of my professors came but I was too scared to say what up to them. While I excel in production classes, all the other film classes I am in are definitely secondary in importance. I'm not saying I don't learn a lot in them because I do but I have come to realize that taking tests and writing papers are not what I am trying to do for the rest of my life.

I really like this picture but can't really figure out why. "There is only one valuable thing in art: the thing you cannot explain." -Georges Braque

This is officailly the first picture of the blog that I didn't take. Thanks to Brian Langner for taking this picture of Chrissy Mercier, who did music supervision for the movie, myself, and James Benson, the star.

As always...

Day 28: GGGGGAUCHOOOSS

The fucking men's soccer team got soo wet tonight! They beat UCLA 2-0 but the picture I took was too good.

I almost got in a fight with an old guy when he pushed me and said "Excuse me!". I kindly told him to go fuck himself and that everyone else was getting pushed and that he didn't have to be a little bitch about it. He then turned around and gave me rape face but I didn't step down. After that he walked away like the little bitch he was. One of those great days again. Proud to be a Gaucho.

Day 27: First Day of Fall

Fall is here, hear the yell

back to school, ring the bell

brand new shoes, walking blues

climb the fence, books and pens

I can tell that we are gonna be friends

Day 26: Fun Fitness Festival

The Fun Fitness Festival was today and it was a huge success. Bunch of people came (especially freshmen) and it was pretty fun to film for the Rec Cen.

There was even a 20 foot tall Gaucho there.

      He wasn't feeling too good later in the day though...

I love how the sun dial is pretty much always wrong.

Doug and Brian even came and got weeettt. 

Day 25: Freshman Orientation

The Film and Media Studies Department had their freshman orientation today in the new Pollock Theater. I remember going to this four years ago and hearing the exact same things from the exact same people, but it sounded different now after going through it all. In the end the message was "while we have an incredible department for critical studies, theory, and history, you have to work outside of class to learn about production."

Dana Driskel, Head of Production, was the ultimate badass as usual when he stood up and said, "Hi, I'm Dana Driskel, Head of Production, and we are not a production school. Since everyone else went over their time, I will bring us back." Then he introduced the next speaker and sat down... done like a true boss

Day 24: Hookah Bubbles

So I cut it pretty close tonight but Evan Bertolli let me borrow his comp and camera. We started taking pictures at 11:40pm of their wall decorations. I've come to understand that wall decorations are what makes a home really a home and '26 has their walls covered.

This beauty is above their sink...

This picture is my personal favorite. The randomness fits perfectly above on the wall behind the T.V. Classy yet down for a good time.

As we got closer to midnight, they brought out the Hookah and some soap on a plate. 

'26 does have a flag the same size as ours, but its not as Amerrican.

Day 23: Buscemi the Badass

Thank god Scorsese is back to doing period piece, gangster, history projects once again. While he has made some good movies not within the gangster genre, his best work is still those ruthlessly gory mafia films like Goodfellas, Raging Bull, and my personal favorite, Casino. 

Its also nice to see Buscemi finally getting his due after all of the joke roles he usually gets. While he is one of the ugliest people to walk the Earth, word is he is the biggest pimp with the ladies. Apparently he was banging so many extras on Boardwalk Empire that Scorsese had to have a sit down with him because it was getting in the way of production. 

My prediction is that it will be the new Deadwood. It would be nice for it to run for as many seasons as The Sopranos but given that its based off of actual events, I'd give it three seasons with a total of 18 Emmy wins by the time its done.

Day 22: Izzy

This is our other dog Izzy. Her and Brooklyn have their occasional scuffle but in the end, they get along. If your cool enough, she can give you a double high-five...just not right now.

Day 21: L.A.

There were so many things that could have gone wrong today... but they didn't. I drove down to L.A. this morning to get Eres Tu Telecined. It always feels weird being in L.A. after everything you see in the movies. Even though I've been there many times now, it still takes a moment to convince yourself that you aren't going to get robbed, shanked or raped. It is funny though how I found a blood spot in the bathroom of Albertsons.

After talking to a couple people, I decided to go to Cinelicious. They have been in their new spot for about a year after moving from a garage. I took these pics with my cell phone so they arent very good but I didn't feel like I knew Cinelicious well enough to take pictures with my camcorder. When I return, I am not leaving without some. Here's Andy editing...

This is the actual telecine machine they use to convert the film to a digital format. New ones can cost up to a million bucks but this one is an older one.

The design of their building was really modern and cool. They work in a very dark, cave-like room with concrete walls and huge open spaces.

I took a bunch of pictures today, most of them from my car. Not for this one though.

I can't wait to go back to L.A. for a day to just find graffiti.