My Thoughts on The Host.

I have finally been able to break out of my cave of a home and break free from some of my schoolwork (just finished laying down my timeline for my short film, "The Hero"), and I was actually able to go see a movie tonight, which one did I pick? Of course, The Host. I had heard mixed reviews about this film, although surprisingly not enough chatter. Maybe that's because I was so secluded this last month trying to get projects done for the end of the semester. But, I have to give my two cents of course. I actually enjoyed the film, I enjoyed it so much that I didn't even take a bathroom break, and for those of you who know me know that's incredible. I was interested enough in the story and to see how they told it through images that I actually locked eyes on the film and didn't take them off. I forgot so much about how they were going to do Meanie's voice inside Wanda's head and so that was a bit jarring at first. Wasn't sure how I felt about it, but I really couldn't see any other way to do it. And really, that's how it reads out in the book. Of course I was sad not to see every tiny detail from the book make it into the film, but I think they actually did a good job hitting on important points. Although I would have loved to see more of a build up to the romantic side of things, which I truly felt they could have done by adding on an extra hour--why not? I would have gladly watched. Important point got in the film and it was lovely to see it play out--the caves and the wheat fields were cool, the cryothingy's and all that was fun to see to. I'm guessing people who didn't like it probably felt it was a bit anticlimactic. It wasn't super actiony, and if you are going to make a 2 hour and 5 minute film, make it fun! Regardless of all this, I had to enjoy it and so did my husband--not having read the book or anything, he was intrigued by the film and felt that it demanded his attention and really drew him in. So, there you have it folks! My opinion of the film, "The Host". I'd like to see what other people thought of it, especially since I haven't had any time to view the reviews of it.  Please do share your opinions. 

The Hero is on it's way!!

Well, after a month of sleep deprivation, twelve to fifteen hour shoots, and working these grip muscles. I can say I am beginning to feel like I know something about film. The Hero, my student film about a unique story of PTSD, has been processed and I now hold the DVD Cam of my raw footage. I get to start importing this into my editing software next week and I can't wait to see how it all turned out. Bower VFK52C 5pc Filter Kit 52mm (Google Affiliate Ad).

Joe Mascort

Some of you know that we filmed these films on 16mm film. That means there is no LCD screen to tell you you have the lighting right, and your depth of field is not really visible through the eye piece and so you are relying mostly on calculations to ensure your film get's shot the way you envision. I learned so much about the Scoopic camera and about lighting techniques, it was an awesome learning experience.

I'm sort of on a filming high right now. I want to do more of it, be involved somehow and I know I'm not alone. I believe most of my group felt the same way after. I remember how difficult it was to even work an eight hour day in a regular nine to five, but with filming, I'd gladly work a fifteen hour shoot and enjoy it, not only that but ache to do it again soon.

Joe Mascort as Lucas

Anyway, I can't wait to start editing my film and entering it into film festivals. There are a ton here in Arizona and I intend to submit to as many as possible. Afterward, hopefully I can list the film on Mindplate.tv,  a website that launches this month that lists independent films for download. I'd love to share it with you all, I had so much fun filming the project, telling the story that is so close to me (there were some scenes that just absolutely made me cry, my actors did so good and I could just see everything come together).
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Three films in 72 hours with half the sleep!

Nicki Farnsworth, Joe Mascort, Topher Tebow and Emma Daley

Well, we finished our first weekend film shoots for our student films. It was two days of 12 hour shoots with a 15 hour shoot to top off the last day. And the best part was being sick with the flu the very last and longest shoot we had. We had one film student no show because of the flu and another had to leave early, so on the last day we had only three of us working for the last ten hours or so. You don't even have to do the math to know that this was a very exhausting venture. But, very rewarding.

Nicki Farnsworth, Courtney Carter, Joe Mascort,
Topher Tebow and Michael Capra

The films had so much thought put into them and we all worked really hard to help each other with our vision. And, although times were tense, I've learned a lot about my group and admire their strength.

Nicki Farnsworth and Joe Mascort

Joe Mascort

We shot our films on a 16mm Scoopic camera and I get why the school made us do this, even though I was not particularly happy with it most of the time. You really get the art of filming down, there couldn't possibly anything harder than filming this way. And, when I think about how the films are going to turn out it makes it all worth it. Sure, it would have been easier to shoot in digital, but I feel like we can all say we feel that much closer to being professional. We were setting up C-stands and moving lights like it was second nature by the time out last shoot came.

I feel like everything we learned about lighting a set just fell into place once we'd done it and experimented for hours. We really came up with some unique ways to add depth to the films with lighting and I can't wait to see how it turned out.

Courtney Carter

                                                                                    Oh yeah, and I got to do some pretty greusome makeup on Courtney's hand. 

Film Student Roller Coaster....

Well the ride never stops. This month has been ober crazy, which is why I chose now, tonight, to write something. But, I have to keep you all updated cause I have been up to a lot of exciting things this month and have many more things to accomplish already.

We start shooting our student films this lovely Spring Break (yeah, I don;t really get one), and I am excited. I ordered my film, spools of  500t for 16mm and it was awesomely expensive. I feel like I'm the real deal just forking out that much mulah. The cameras that we are using for this class are almost antique, the film is very special film that has to be ordered from California, and therefore processed afterward in California, Road trip! That's right, i get to shoot, "The Hero", my student film about PTSD, my group is going to take a trip to Cali and watch that awesome, old fashioned film strip stuff get processed and transferred to digital, so that we can take it back and edit it together. We plan on scrunching together in one vehicle, hotel room and Telecine room, all after shooting 5, ten hour sets together....let's see of we can even look at each other after :).

Also, this month we get to shoot a commercial, voted on by the class and get that ready for edits. I'll be simultaneously writing my 44 page pilot script for a very secret television drama that I hope to shop around after the semester...Exciting right? Yeah, this is all due by the end of the month. It's so hard to hate the work though, that's when you know you're in the right profession.

I'm going to share this Harlem Shake video I shot for the Sport Clips off the 101 and Warner here in AZ. It was totally fun to shoot, and i squeezed it in the morning before auditions for, "The Hero", which by the way, I will keep you guys updated on hopefully as we shoot and edit it.

I was able to attend the Atoms Fall concert where they opened for Fuel and I must say, Atoms Fall upstaged Fuel big time. I got to shoot some photos and some footage of the show which will hopefully be visible soon on their Facebook etc. But for now, you should check out the bands Facebook and their music, they just released their album, and you guys seriously aren't going to want to pass it up, it's awesome! Best music I've heard in a long time.


Well, that's all I've got time for now. But check out the videos and leave your comments, it's always fun to hear what you guys think. And feel free to shoot me any questions, you know I love answering them. Happy Spring Break, to most of us :/.

Harlem Shake:

Some people Scrapbook, I storyboard!

There are those that scrapbook, spending hours upon hours placing memory after memory down on elegantly crafted paper....and then there's me this last week, spending hour upon hours taking photo after photo of shot that I'd like to use in my upcoming student film creation, "The Hero",  (A short narrative about a retired soldier with PTSD and his wife trying to live a normal life), and then cutting and pasting, old school style, all night long on my storyboarding pages.

Needless to say, and probably felt from my tone, I understand why Directors and Writers decided to leave that to an expert. It took me over 8 pages of storyboard for this three minute film, a couple hours of cutting and pasting--after I discovered that was easier than dragging and dropping and resizing in some software program--obviously I should have downloaded some professional software, but come on, I'm a starving student here! All-in-all, it was a great experience and my board turned out rather nice, but I'll definitely hire a professional when I can.

I think I lost a few hairs--ow! But I definitely gained a forever respect of Storyboard artists.

Help me fund my first film project, and get the word out about PTSD!

Hey, everyone! I have started an Indiegogo campaign to help fund my student film about PTSD. Please check out my video to learn what my film is about and how it can benefit those suffering from PTSD. Thank you.

Bliss and Utter Chaos!

I've had a lot of people want to know more lately about what I have going on in my life. And although I consider my life rather boring; all I do is hide inside the house and write one of my many projects or edit videos--except for the occasion I am out actually filming one of my videos.

But, I suppose that might be interesting to some.

A lot of you come here to my blog for writing advice, publishing advice, or just to learn about my babies; the three books in my Propheticus series. But, that is really just a small part of what I do with my time--although it feels like it consumes so much.

Anyway, I thought I'd make this blog a little more personal and give some of my dear friends a look into what's going on in my life as well as some of my fans. Granted, not everything will seem so exciting--but that's what reality is right? I guess I feel like fantasy is so much more attractive (gosh I really do favor an illogical world), but that's why you guys like me right?  Well, Welcome...to my world.

After living in two worlds for so long--the Propheticus realm and real life--I simply couldn't help the fact that I felt like I wanted more. More ways to express my imagination, more ways to show the world what goes on inside this head sometimes. Perhaps it's a way to be understood and that's why I've always thought that everyone needs to be able to write and express themselves somehow--there's just so much going on inside all of our heads that we need to let flow through some medium, or we might simply get lost in it and never come back. So I signed up for film school!

Last fall was my very first glimpse into the film industry and my oh my was it fun. Learning about storyboarding, film editing and especially screenwriting--it just blows my mind. It is such an art and takes so much more intelligence than I thought ;). I've been having a blast and got to dive right in writing a screenplay that I'll post here for you to read.

My latest projects consist of obviously finishing my next book--no it is not a series, I just wanted to write on good long (only somewhat long) book that could be enjoyed from beginning to end without having to wait to see how things turn out. I'm also working on a television drama series that I had originally thought up as an indefinite book series, and still might write as one--we'll see how it goes. Also, a colleague from school and I are discussing a web series to give us some experience with filming and using our cameras, as well as experience with the web series idea and I'm really excited about that. Then there's the two or three side projects, a music video I promised to shoot--oh my husbands self defense videos, which I love doing, and some promo videos.

Needless to say I have a tendency to overwhelm myself--I think I get bored if I'm not overwhelmed, that could be a problem.

So that's basically what I'm up to these days, and that's all the time I have for now...I'm off to go write my character bio for my television drama idea. Have a wonderful week everyone!