It's been awhile...

...I've been very lazy/busy lately. Anyways, here are two films i worked on within the past few weeks.



The first one is a project I did for this stupid required college writing class. The theme was "Identity" and how it related to us. We were allowed to use any medium to present our view, and naturally I chose film. So without further ado, Enjoy!





The second film is a short film myself and a few others made for UCSC's Film Production Coalition. The final edit didn't turn out as well as I thought it would, but overall I'm happy. This was my first film with a green screen. I want to warn you that the buildup is very repetitive and long, but is well worth the wait! Trust me.

11 hours of filming...

... and we're still only halfway done. Yesterday, a few friends and I decided to make a short film. I don't want to give away any details now, but I promise it will be good. Here are some production photos from yesterday.




then we moved the set to my room





and we actually got to use a green screen in our movie! (So you know it's gonna be good)





Well that's all for now. I'll post up the finished product in a few weeks!

Took a trip to LA this past weekend...

... had a lot of fun, filmed a lot, met a lot of cool people, good times.

Elliot was kind enough to let me chill at his house when I was up there. Thanks a lot dude. Best night sleep I've had in a long time.


Saturday turned out to be a waste of a day until we finally found a ride. We went skating into the night at a rail spot in Culver City. Elliott decided to snap a few flicks while I was filming.




Elliott decided to get all stylish for the camera.



The next day we headed out early to meet up with some people at 9star. Headed North to hit up some valley spots. We skated this gnar ditch spot. It was so hot I was sweating all over my camera, but we still managed to film some sick clips (Check the montage).

After everyone got their tricks, we headed up to Holmes Elementary school to skate a 9 stair rail. Props to Donnie for taking home the sickest trick award


Unfortunately, I was supposed to be in Santa Monica by 6PM and by the time we finished skating/filming, it was 7PM. As I was trying to call my girlfriend to work everything out, my phone died. Luckily, Elliot came to the rescue and lent me his phone. I had to wait an hour for them to pick me up at the school, but everything worked out in the end.

Long drive home where we almost got in a major car accident.


Definately glad to be back in Santa Cruz, but miss skating back in LA. Can't wait to head back down to LA again. Thanks to everyone for good times.

Check the footy

Got some film developed...

... I recently invested in a Lomography Holga toy camera and I'm hooked. With the age of digital electronics upon us, it is so easy to fine tune every facet of everything. With a Holga they have 2 aperatures (sunny and clouy) and 4 focal lengths (1 person, 3 people, group, and mountains). You can never ever really predict what your pictures will look like before the're developed, but I must say, I am extremely happy with the way these came out. Check em' out

Went to the skatepark today...

...for five hours and practically fried my brains out. Anyways, I did more skating than taking photos but I snapped a few.

here's Jeff with the FS Flipper


and Jannik with the crook

The Encounter...

...here is our submission for the 2007 Insomnia Film Festival hosted by Apple.


"The Encounter"
A misunderstanding between a shy girl and a fellow student leads to a harrowing chase...and just maybe something more.

Please watch and vote for our ideo starting October 19th at http://www.apple.com/education/insomnia/

Insomnia...

... On October 13th was Apple's second annual 24 Hour Film Festival. I decided to enter it along with a few other people on my hall. We all woke up at 6AM Saturday morning to receive an email with a list of required elements we had to use in our short film. From that point on we had 24 hours to get our film written, directed, edited, scored, and uploaded. We finished around 5:40 AM October 14th. Sleep never felt so good.

Here's a few pictures from our chaotic Saturday

First Rain...

...haha wow what to say... every year at the first sign of rain in UC Santa Cruz, students strip down and run through the campus naked. I took it upon myself to document the magnificent event. I later found out that (to my surprise) this was not the "official" first rain. This upcoming friday is supposed to be the actual first rain. Please note, this montage does indeed contain both "mommy" and "daddy" body parts that we don't normally see on an everyday basis. If there are any younger audiences present, please note that this video is about a boring conversation between grownups... nothing of any real interest! Enjoy.

Dorm Room...

...tried to make this space as comfortable as possible. Many people relate the dorm rooms at Porter College to those of a prison cell. I'm fairly happy with the way things turned out.

Summer's Over...

...and college has started. It was a weird adjustment, but I'm starting to get used to the swing of things. Life in Santa Cruz is so much different than that of Los Angeles. The air is so fresh and crisp up here that my nose is in constant euphoria. Breathing in LA smog can't be too good for you, and I'm definitely glad i got away from it when I did. Life in Santa Cuz is so different... I feel like I'm just away at camp, not so much at college. Every morning I wake up to the smell of fresh forest air. I hear birds chirping and students talking outside my window. At night, i can actually see the stars. And the sunsets in Santa Cruz are none like I've ever seen. The college is located up on a hill so the view of the city and the ocean is breath taking. I've been meaning to take some pictures of the view, but I've just been so busy.

Going to college marks a new chapter of my life, one that I will hope will leave me with many expierences and numerous friends. Although many of my friends have gone their seperate ways and gone to different colleges, its a good opportunity to meet new people. But I still miss my old buddies. So far I've met a lot of intersting people. I've met a bunch of kids are interested in film and we are planning on joining a "film production club". I'm pretty siked on that because UC students don't really get to work on student films until their junior and senior year, and this club will allow us to start right away. I've met a few kids on my residence hall that seem cool. The only downside is my roommate would rather be on the computer than go outside. He's a nice person and all, but there are some things that really bother me. Apparently he is not a fan of taking many showers, and he doesn't like to brush his teeth much. The smell has gotten so bad, that I actually went out and bought a glade air freshener. You can probably figure out by now why I try to spend as little time as possible in my room.

Other than that I'm having a great time. Classes started yesterday, and I really like all my classes. Also, my classes are all very close to my dorm so I don't have to run around campus (considering UCSC is VERY large). I'm taking a film class where we watch old movies from the 70's, a class on astronomy, and then a mandatory writing class that has to do with "writing across the arts." I actually have a lot of homework i should probably doing right now, but here are a few recent pictures I've taken of Santa Cruz so people can get a taste of what it's like up here... and trust me, the pictures don't so this place justice!