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you fucking idiot.

take me to your hood

So this is basically gonna chronicle my film experiences/life experiences from now on.

I want to track the growth of my work and the mistakes I make and solutions I come up with. 

My 5 month project 'Outcall' is NOW IN POST. lookin great ;)

Here's the stream 

Outcall is done

and that's all i have the energy to write

The Stream

I shot a little film I'm calling 'The Stream' last weekend.

It was just me and my actors. There was a script, but we improvised lines and scenes. There was no artificial lighting, no non-diagetic music, no clunky equipent to carry around. One take for most of the shots. Pure, no budget, guerilla film making with an emphasis on story and acting.

And the thing is...it's probably the best thing I've done to date. 

So I learned a bit from this experience:

Fuck everything that slows you down or takes away from your vision. Focus on the story above everything, then directing, then acting, then presentation.

Film school students tend to focus on the last item in that last far too much. And what really shows is that they don't know how to tell a story.

I think the film fits under the Dogma 95 requirements. Check it out.

And check out the film Ballast...or at least the clips on its website. Go Lance Hammer.

I'll post the film soon. 

Q: What is the only time raisins are good?

A:When you're a broke college student and there's nothing else to eat in your pantry

A girl turned to me tonight and said, "I would gain weight to be a plus size model."

While looking at holograms

I'm going to say it right here and now, holograms are the future in technology. 

Movies+holgrams = telepresent experiences = $$

just a heads up

so while doing research into the technology, i came across someone who said this: 

"In a sense, the idea that man lives in space, that an entire family can fly across the globe, that we can instantly communicate with each other, that you can download knowledge, capture time, play music from a box, entangle particles, summon fire and water at will, revive the dead, cool and cook things in seconds, slow aging, control machines with the mind, could be seen by an ignorant mind as divine or magic."

and the fact that in 1800 there did not exist a map of the world.

that's what's blowing my mind right now

Good inspiration

Encouragement for screenwriters

(click)

It's nice to know that those we revere didn't really know what the fuck they were doing.

why am I always thirsty?

I will be in the midst of chaos this weekend, directing a film I wrote called 'Outcall' (see post below). 

I'm hoping for the best on this one, as it will be my calling card after I graduate film school this year in terms of directing abilities. 

It's like you get one shot at making a solid movie each year, i mean a real solid one, not just some assignment from class.

So hopefully the gods will bless me and almost everything (cause it never will be everything) will work out and this baby will be seeing festivals come winter.

Oh and I'll be drinking age next time I post. ;)

Alright, here it is.
The shooting script for my short, 'Outcall.'
Enjoy.

Outcall

Everybody's a nobody until they're somebody

dear future me,

when you come across this blog ten years from now, laugh

you may tire of me
as our december sun is setting
cause i'm not who I used to be

i remember this

Matisse Tolin
COMS 151

Eulogy for the Last Human Being

I stand before you today to speak about and honor the memory of a life. He was found during our mission to the Milky Way galaxy, on a planet called ‘Earth’, the last member of the human race ever to live. I speak today as a member of our people, on behalf of our beloved planet, before a world in shock upon hearing the news of another intelligent life form being discovered in our universe.
For millions of years our race has struggled in vain to find and identify any further signs of life in this endless universe. As time progressed we were able to send our vessels farther and farther into the deeps of space, in hopes of making contact with anything or anyone out there. Finally, upon the 10th day of the week, in the 14th month of our year 7024, planet Earth was discovered.
It is now known that there was life at one time on this planet, perhaps for millions of years. Our probes found cities in ruin, where at one time we believe the human beings flourished. Under the rubble and on other parts of the planet, green was discovered, which we believe was the plant life on this particular planet. Although our research is inconclusive thus far on how all life was ended on Earth, evidence suggests a great war erupted some three thousand years ago, wiping out most life on the planet.
Out of the bodies we were able to bring back for research one particular man was discovered to be the last human being ever to die. He was discovered in the lower western hemisphere of the planet. His skin is a light brown. He had two slits in his face for visional use and breathed through what the race called ‘lungs.’ But for our researches, his physical appearance is not what was the most captivating. For after doing a memory scan through the human’s head we were able to see scattered memories of his life, and received clues to how this human race functioned.
It seems the humans were always too slow to see their destructive behavior. They had conquered the elements, tamed wild beasts, set foot on the nearby planet mars, and yet were incapable of connecting the dots when it came to their own conduct. Because, while the humans were capable of loving, they let selfishness and hate lead their actions. Human arrogance led some to believe in a higher power and seek meaning through the promise of salvation from the very planet they inhabited. Perhaps it was the clutter of the millions of belief sets and doctrines that had formed throughout their existence that led to their demise.
Every single one of them was different from the rest. But something as beautiful as individuality was the very thing that caused their fighting. Our research shows different parts of the planet being inhabited by different colored skins and different looking humans. To us, it seems ironic how this is what caused so much fighting. As we see it, they were all part of the human race, they were all part of one collective being.
It is a pity that their civilization was cut so short. These humans…. had potential. Indeed they created things that were beautiful and that we will continue to be perplexed by as we search their planet. We’ll never know the things that they could have accomplished had they not destroyed themselves. So many lives had inhabited this small planet, each one with their own smile, their own laugh, and their own wishes. I wonder the thoughts of this human, here in front of us today, when the lasts bombs went off, and his friends and fellow humans all perished before him. Did he know this was the end of the humans for eternity? Or did he simply pass away into oblivion? We hope that there was at least the slightest amount of hope left in him. Hope that one day, others would find his poor planet and the humans there, and that the memory of the human race would live on, and never be extinguished. It is hope, my fellow people, that kept them going, and it is hope that keeps us going. We work towards a better future so that one day we will be remembered. The last human being never died. He will live on forever.

The 5 percent nation

-The 85%, easily led in the wrong direction hard to be led in the right direction, who are the humble masses, mentally deaf, dumb and blind to the truth about themselves and the world in which they live.
-The 10%, who understand much of the truth but use it to their advantage to keep the 85% under their control through religion, politics, entertainment, economics, and other methods.
-The 5%, who are the enlightened divine beings, having repossessed knowledge of the truth regarding the foundations of life and of oneself, and seek to punitively liberate the 85% through education.

lately

I went to the one hour photo today
And the only pictures that came out were the ones of you
I admit I'm new at this
Cause taking pictures and love are hard things to do

I saw you drive by today on your bike
It's been a while since we've talked
I'll let you know I'm still here
And I remember the places we used to walk

You were ready to end it all tonight
That's what you said in your call
I told you that I needed you
And without you I wouldn't be here at all

Lately I've been thinking
About these stories of mine
All the people I know and don't
Maybe it's all a sign

Stephen Pearl Andrews hits it right on the nose

"There are mainly three ways of effecting changes in human habits: first, maternal force directly applied; secondly, legislative injunction or prohibition, with its moral sway first exerted and then backed by an ulterior appeal to force; and, thirdly, what is loosely named and conceived of at present as moral suasion.  This last subdivides, however, into, first, mere unorganized, unscientific and individual appeal, and, secondly, scientifically-founded opinion taught and morally enforced through a competent special organization to that effect."

"Let science decide on and distinctly define what ought to be; let, then, the religious sentiment of mankind, the most universal and powerful of our sentiments, be converged on the persuasion and conscientious devotion of the whole people in behalf of the truth so defined; and let the Church be re-organized into the potent instrument for so converging the religion of the world upon that conduct, the necessity or desirableness of which science may have determined.
Religion is able, to-day, to keep millions of ignorant men and women from eating meat on Friday."

This of course leads to the prediction of cloning:
“Desirable as it might be to see the programme of Mr. Andrews carried out, we have no faith in its voluntary adoption. If it be deemed advantageous to stirpicultivate the human race up to the highest point of physical and mental excellence, it is folly to rely on moral suasion. Surgery is surer. If man and woman are to be bred like [sic] the farmer breeds cattle, then we must deal with our scrub men as the farmer deals with his scrub pigs. If the question were left open, every man would deem himself “physically and mentally” qualified for the work of improving the stock, whatever he might think of his neighbor.”

http://www.spirithistory.com/stirps.html for more

Great stuff, really

Past Point B

"Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works. If it works big, others quickly copy it. Then you do something else. The trick is the doing something else."

Leonardo de Vinci said that. And he did a lot of shit for this world.

The statement reminds me of a premise me and a friend were talking about. I call it 'getting past point B.'
You see, in life we can become successful and make money. That should be the starting point. There is a whole point C that most people never shoot for. It's what you do with your life after you've made the money. There's gotta be something past the point of being financially successful. I'm not talking adopting a kid from africa, nor am I talking about donating money. I'm talking about YOUR GREAT CONTRIBUTION. the thing that you will be written about in books for.

That is point C. Most people are content at point B. But point B should be achieved as soon as possible. and u cannot stop once you reach it.

As a member of this society, it is my duty to change the world

History does not lie. Upon viewing the film 'There Will be Blood' my notions of what is necessary to continue the cycle of evolution proved true.

Evolution rules all. It is the river on which we float, we do not know where it will lead us. Evolution requires a few things:

First off,it requires changers. People that will change the flow of history. They are few and far between, I'd say less then 1% of the population. It is these few people that continue human civilization, allowing the others to survive, carrying them on their backs.

Secondly, evolution requires the breaking down and changing of prior practice and knowledge. This occurs through individual evolution, viewing the group status quo, and recognizing faults in it. We continue to live, survive, and evolve simply through the reparation of past failings. Through this process, the power of our machines and the possibilities inherent in our society strengthen and grow.

It is survival on the macro level. In the capitalist society we live in here in America, it is possible for anyone-let me say it again-ANYONE, to prosper thousands and thousands times more then those around him or her. It is only through this person's thoughts and will to succeed that the evolution continues of the human species.

As I and a colleague discussed this notion of current evolution, a few things came up. Firstly, if we are teaching history classes in all the schools to all the youth, why are we not teaching a future class. Why are we, in the year 2008, not able to predict where things will go EVEN WITHIN the next 3 years. How is this not possible yet? So in essence, we must focus as much on future developments as much as we focus on past ones. Secondly, we are not predicting history right now at a fast enough or deep enough level. Global warming has suddenly crept up on us. And how long was it before we knew it existed that we started to act, even in the least bit. Will we be prepared for the next step in this cycle? And the growth rate of weapons of mass destruction in the world. In 100 short years, how far have we advanced in this field. From nothing at all to what we currently have. And it does not stop.

Where will you be in 30 years when the needs of society outgrow their current boundaries? What will you say when the births of 2020 are more versed and wise in technology then you will ever reach? Will there be certain members of our generation that will set the boundaries for survival?

And will one of those people be you?