I'm Mad as Hell.

Kony 2012 has absolutely erupted. It has taken the world by storm, and as all such things that gain such a quick "following," I'm weary. I understand the basic premise: Bring a sadistic evil motherfucker to justice. I haven't posted any links though, because practically all the people, already know, AND I haven't watched any films. I can get behind the concept of "get the badguy" though.

It's left me with a lot of interesting questions for humanity as a whole, but that is a different blog.

Anyway, someone who I used to be friends with on facebook (After this, I hope you understand) posted the following:



"Holy shit," I thought, "is this person really this stupid?" And then, "Why am I friends with this person?" And promptly deleted this person, despite having a few nice conversations a few years back. (Good excuse to clean out facebook friends: especially these sort.)

Anyway, when I get angry I tend to think. A lot. Way too much for my own good. And then I get mad.

I started thinking about how much I'm weary of the entire Kony thing. I'm pretty certain there are a lot of humans in this world, who do this, on a larger, smaller, equal, scale. Kony has gotten himself some attention. Bad guy, yes. Should he be stopped? Yes. Should we stop pursing bad guys after we get one? No.

Anyway, so I got to thinking of the stupidity behind a fore mentioned post.

Did she really just make that comparison? Is she saying, she would rather a child be born, the mother raped and murdered, the child to grow up enslaved, heavily abused, rather than someone have an abortion? That is what I hear.

And then I thought about how many countries have lax child labor laws, and how common child labor and children are exploited.
I could say a lot of things. I really could. I'm trying to keep a clear head. It is so hard though when you feel so angry at the world for letting these things happen. And a single mother who is so blinded by the desire to "stand for something" she is willing to say, "Slavery and abuse is a better existence than no existence at all?"

Did it not even occur to this person that this is not the thing to be pushing anti-choice propaganda on? Do most people not THINK about what the world is becoming when atrocities are just another part of the daily grind? Is it to the point even ordinary people are thinking about the best "marketing approach" when it comes to tragedies so they can pimp their own causes?
When did atrocities become part of a business model? "Yeah, the world is shit, so what else is new? I've got sweatshop labor to exploit. You call it slavery, I call it maximizing my returns by cutting every cost possible during the manufacturing process."

Hell...do people just not THINK anymore?

Do you see why I'm mad? Do you see why I'm mad, at a large chunk of the world?

I'm mad as hell.

I'd keep going, but I'm so mad that it is hard to stay adequately coherent. So do this one simple thing.

THINK.

What I have Learned about Film Production

So it has been a while since I updated, but that is how it goes.
Let us jump right in.

Thing's I've learned so far from film production.
1- Never let anyone who says "it's just a student film" or "who's going to see it?" or any other such excuses, make creative decisions regarding the film.
Yes, it is a student film. If we make it as amazing as possible, then people will be blown away and love it. If we cut corners, it'll be not as great, and possibly even shitty, all because someone didn't care to do things RIGHT or do something cool.

2- Make sure everyone is on the same page for what is happening.
So is the shoot time at 12.30 or 1.30? You told me 12.30, then texted me 1.30...which brings me to my next one.

3-Stay on schedule!
First day or 2 is going to be rough. Once everyone gets in the groove and knows how everyone works, it goes MUCH smoother. Also, part of this, means not re-shooting footage you already have.

4- Never let the director do the rough cut.
Yes, they will have to check off on the final version, however, if you let them do the rough cut, they are more likely to hold on to bad editing decisions.

5- Trust the other departments.
Share your ideas, but trust them to make the right choose. this goes for everyone, ESPECIALLY the director.

6- Don't waste time explaining things that don't need to be explained.
This happened a lot on a project I was working on..

7- Bury your bad films. Deep.
And thank god your director kind of hates you, when he doesn't put your credits on IMDB. ;)


In all seriousness, I really enjoy Film Production. My last project, Fanboy Apocalypse, had a lot of potential, but it suffered from a director who just wanted a grade from the class. The screenplay was ok, but it needed more variety. I shared my ideas, and they ignored me.

But I can laugh about it. I did my job. I recorded the best audio I could, and I converted and synced the footage. In the end, I did my job.