Here's the thing about apologizing; it's either a lot worse than you imagine or a lot better, it's never quite what you expect it to be.
Of course, when you plan out everything you're going to say in a long cinematic speech like I do, you rarely if ever get the opportunity to say what you have planned out. In the rare instances when you are actually given the chance to say everything you planned to you discover life isn't a movie and the poignant message you had all laid out in your mind is reduced to fragmented sentences and a jumble of words.
This time I was fortunate, the apology to Dean Antonio and Patty Pearson went better than I imagined, although it's difficult for it to have gone worse than I imagined when I was imagining everything from heated anger and screaming that prevented a word from escaping my mouth to physically being struck (to which I had a request planned where I asked that they give me fair warning before hand so I could remove my glasses first.) Eventually often troublesome but this time rather trusty logic prevailed as my mind reminded the rest of me that they were not the kind of people to do either of the above.
So I got my chance to say my long cinematic speech of how I was sorry and didn't mean to undermine them and the program and how I was sorry that I did and ultimately sorry for betraying their trust. Despite the opportunity, I decided on the train ride over to campus that I wouldn't give a long cinematic speech and would stick with KISS (keep it simple stupid), which was the right choice because even I couldn't mess it up then.
The worst part of the entire experience was the anticipation because no matter what I told myself beforehand, which I told myself countless legitimate things, going through the day must have been at least a bit of like what death row inmates feel like on their final day and walking through the hallway of the 9th floor to Patti's office certainly made me feel like I was a "dead man walking".
However, despite all the anticipation and worry, when I reached Patti's office I was, surprisingly enough, greeted with a smile and welcomed into her office and my short and sweet apology was accepted. While everything wasn't "fine" now that I apologized, it was better, and that's how it should be.
Showing posts with label Tisch Summer High School Program. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tisch Summer High School Program. Show all posts
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Good news, and of course, the subsequent bad news that follows
Good News:
Well, folks, the good news is that I now know that people actually read this blog.
The Bad News:
Apparently I can get in trouble with the actual people that read my blog for what I write in here.
The Story:
After a long day of interning after a long night of not sleeping I made my way down to NYU to work on my projects. While I was there I had decided to visit some old teachers and faculty administrators/members that I knew down there, an idea for keeping up good relations with those I respected.
After running into Sam and chatting briefly I made my way to the 9th floor in the hopes of catching Joanne Savio, which, of course she wasn't around so whatever. However, while I was there I thought it would be fun to catch up with Dean Antonio and Patti Pearson (assistant to Dean Antonio) since I've known them for such a long time and have a good amount of respect for them.
I popped into Patti's office and had a not-so-nice surprise awaiting me. Apparently they some how got a hold of my blog, this blog and were very much more than upset about this post, specifically the part that detailed the events of the final night.
I learned from a source whom shall remain nameless since I'm sure someone I don't want reading this is reading this and I would hate to get my source into any trouble, that my blog post was forwarded to Rudy who then sent it over to the film department.
This tells me that whoever ratted me out was either a "friend" of mine on Facebook or has some odd obsession with me because they would have had to google my name and go to the bottom of the second page, skipping over the at least 1 other Matt Chao blog just to reach mine. I have no idea who blew the whistle on me and even though I would like to know, it's not important. If whomever did this was an administrator or teacher or what have you in NYU, I can understand, it in some way shape or form was your job. I would like to put aside the child-ish reaction of saying "whoever turned me in can suck a big fat one," even though they can because they're clearly no friend of mine.
What I would like to discuss here are of a multitude of things. I would like to preface this conversation by saying in no way do I believe I was right in what I did nor do I believe that I should not be punished in some way shape or form by whomever is in charge of administering punishment in this case whether it be the university or the universe itself. I did something wrong and was foolish enough to put it on a public forum for all to see, I'm getting what I deserve.
Ultimately I wonder about the legitimacy of "evidence" such as said previous post that we find on the internet. I have been taught not to trust everything I read on the internet, or, for that matter, not to trust everything I read, so why are corporations and numerous individuals so trusting of incriminating evidence they find in people's blogs?
Something that bothers me is that I could have easily spun my situation into something that seemed as though it was a prank I pulled to test if the university was stalking me. I didn't because, despite the fact that I didn't think of it at the time, it's not the kind of person I am nor that I want to be, I'd rather not lie to keep myself out of trouble. If there's anything I've learned from Sam it's to own up to your mistakes and learn from them. However, the case still stands that I could have spun this easily to make it seem as though it had been all fabricated because it very well could have been. Aside from there being hundreds of false blogs out there (just a handful that we've just now heard of over the news), there is no physical evidence, no tangible evidence that confirms that I actually did what I said I did. People lie all the time, so why is my blog taken as immediate truth? A bragging confession?
Now, I'm not going to deny that I did what I said I did and I'm not going to pretend that I'm not sorry either, because I am, Patti and Sheril have a right to be mad at me, but I think that this internet stalking of employees has got to stop. I think that, even though there is no privacy on the internet, there's a need for additional evidence beyond a blog post because just because everyone can see who say I am doesn't mean who they see is necessarily me. On top of that, it's just fucking creepy.
Well, folks, the good news is that I now know that people actually read this blog.
The Bad News:
Apparently I can get in trouble with the actual people that read my blog for what I write in here.
The Story:
After a long day of interning after a long night of not sleeping I made my way down to NYU to work on my projects. While I was there I had decided to visit some old teachers and faculty administrators/members that I knew down there, an idea for keeping up good relations with those I respected.
After running into Sam and chatting briefly I made my way to the 9th floor in the hopes of catching Joanne Savio, which, of course she wasn't around so whatever. However, while I was there I thought it would be fun to catch up with Dean Antonio and Patti Pearson (assistant to Dean Antonio) since I've known them for such a long time and have a good amount of respect for them.
I popped into Patti's office and had a not-so-nice surprise awaiting me. Apparently they some how got a hold of my blog, this blog and were very much more than upset about this post, specifically the part that detailed the events of the final night.
I learned from a source whom shall remain nameless since I'm sure someone I don't want reading this is reading this and I would hate to get my source into any trouble, that my blog post was forwarded to Rudy who then sent it over to the film department.
This tells me that whoever ratted me out was either a "friend" of mine on Facebook or has some odd obsession with me because they would have had to google my name and go to the bottom of the second page, skipping over the at least 1 other Matt Chao blog just to reach mine. I have no idea who blew the whistle on me and even though I would like to know, it's not important. If whomever did this was an administrator or teacher or what have you in NYU, I can understand, it in some way shape or form was your job. I would like to put aside the child-ish reaction of saying "whoever turned me in can suck a big fat one," even though they can because they're clearly no friend of mine.
What I would like to discuss here are of a multitude of things. I would like to preface this conversation by saying in no way do I believe I was right in what I did nor do I believe that I should not be punished in some way shape or form by whomever is in charge of administering punishment in this case whether it be the university or the universe itself. I did something wrong and was foolish enough to put it on a public forum for all to see, I'm getting what I deserve.
Ultimately I wonder about the legitimacy of "evidence" such as said previous post that we find on the internet. I have been taught not to trust everything I read on the internet, or, for that matter, not to trust everything I read, so why are corporations and numerous individuals so trusting of incriminating evidence they find in people's blogs?
Something that bothers me is that I could have easily spun my situation into something that seemed as though it was a prank I pulled to test if the university was stalking me. I didn't because, despite the fact that I didn't think of it at the time, it's not the kind of person I am nor that I want to be, I'd rather not lie to keep myself out of trouble. If there's anything I've learned from Sam it's to own up to your mistakes and learn from them. However, the case still stands that I could have spun this easily to make it seem as though it had been all fabricated because it very well could have been. Aside from there being hundreds of false blogs out there (just a handful that we've just now heard of over the news), there is no physical evidence, no tangible evidence that confirms that I actually did what I said I did. People lie all the time, so why is my blog taken as immediate truth? A bragging confession?
Now, I'm not going to deny that I did what I said I did and I'm not going to pretend that I'm not sorry either, because I am, Patti and Sheril have a right to be mad at me, but I think that this internet stalking of employees has got to stop. I think that, even though there is no privacy on the internet, there's a need for additional evidence beyond a blog post because just because everyone can see who say I am doesn't mean who they see is necessarily me. On top of that, it's just fucking creepy.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Ramblings 2
I saw Confidence Man again, this time I actually got to see Nick's scenes, which were rather good and quite enjoyable. I want to go see it again but it might be overkill if I go again in such a short time so maybe in a week I'll try to go again and see another show.
On another note, today was Joyeux Noel's last day at PBS. She was the associate producer of Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound, which will be premiering in October, so congrats to her for finally getting off the project!
This, of course, meant that I went into PBS today, a day that I usually don't go in, but it was a good decision to do so.
Part of me worries that if I continue too far along this path that I'll get stuck in documentary film making, which, although it is something I want to do, it's not what I solely want to do. However, even saying that I immediately remember something a professor of mine, Sharon Bedal (head of programming for the Tribeca Film Festival I believe) told the class and it goes somewhere the lines of this: "No one really keeps you from doing what you want to do, only you keep yourself from doing what you want to do,". So that's that and I shouldn't worry about it and just stop procrastination on developing my 150 ideas and just develop them. (Essentially I should just stop bitching and do the damn work)
Lastly, on my way home, while waiting for my train to begin boarding in Hoboken, I wandered around the train station and noticed, from across the water, the two pillars of light that stand now where the twin towers used to stand. I then came to the realization that 9/11 was 9 years ago and thought of my high school kids, who spoke about Hurricane Katrina with limited knowledge (which confused us until we realized it was 5 years ago and they were 12/13 at the time of the hurricane). I realized that these kids were 7/8 years old the day the towers fell, and that kind of scares me. 9/ll babies will be turning 9 in 6 days (happy birthday?) and 9 years after the fall of the towers, ground zero is STILL just a giant whole in the ground. Am I the only one who thinks there's something wrong with that?
Speaking of 9/11, I need to go finish titles and etc on my Doc. I guess I'll be working on that Tuesday evening.
On another note, today was Joyeux Noel's last day at PBS. She was the associate producer of Joan Baez: How Sweet the Sound, which will be premiering in October, so congrats to her for finally getting off the project!
This, of course, meant that I went into PBS today, a day that I usually don't go in, but it was a good decision to do so.
Part of me worries that if I continue too far along this path that I'll get stuck in documentary film making, which, although it is something I want to do, it's not what I solely want to do. However, even saying that I immediately remember something a professor of mine, Sharon Bedal (head of programming for the Tribeca Film Festival I believe) told the class and it goes somewhere the lines of this: "No one really keeps you from doing what you want to do, only you keep yourself from doing what you want to do,". So that's that and I shouldn't worry about it and just stop procrastination on developing my 150 ideas and just develop them. (Essentially I should just stop bitching and do the damn work)
Lastly, on my way home, while waiting for my train to begin boarding in Hoboken, I wandered around the train station and noticed, from across the water, the two pillars of light that stand now where the twin towers used to stand. I then came to the realization that 9/11 was 9 years ago and thought of my high school kids, who spoke about Hurricane Katrina with limited knowledge (which confused us until we realized it was 5 years ago and they were 12/13 at the time of the hurricane). I realized that these kids were 7/8 years old the day the towers fell, and that kind of scares me. 9/ll babies will be turning 9 in 6 days (happy birthday?) and 9 years after the fall of the towers, ground zero is STILL just a giant whole in the ground. Am I the only one who thinks there's something wrong with that?
Speaking of 9/11, I need to go finish titles and etc on my Doc. I guess I'll be working on that Tuesday evening.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Another End
The first wave of students had just gone, leaving myself with two kids for the night. It was difficult and surreal knowing the end of yet another summer high school program had come. What was more surreal was how quickly the program moved after the end of the first week as well as the fact that there would not be any more summer programs for me after this. This was truly the end of my relationship with NYU.
Despite that, however, I did manage to ensure the enjoyment of my and other kids' final night. The major events, in a nutshell, was buying my kids beer with the other PA's, learning the photo kids got busted and then playing Super Smash Bro's with a kid named Woody. Eventually we started free-styling and, well, he's good but even after spending a semester living in tight quarters with a rapper, I am incapable of stringing rhymes together in a consistent beat. We also quoted "I'm the Juggernaut Bitch" while playing Super Smash Brothers.
Overall, I'm glad that the kids had a good time without getting caught. It makes me a little proud.
I don't know why, though, but my endings here never seem to go the way I want them to. Or, well, to be more accurate, they go great but what I go to seems to be rather hard. I guess that, also, is an inaccurate statement, it may just be that I've spent all of this summer postponing the inevitable; ending my college experience and moving home.
Family is a funny thing because they always manage to get you to hate them and love them at the same time.
I had waited until the morning to begin packing, as I always do. Generally it's a big mistake but this time it was okay because I didn't have a lot of stuff. Eventually the last of the kids left the program and I was left in an empty dorm. I was, for the most part, packed and ready to go, the first time I ever left the program on move-out date for the students. They tried to take my I.D. at the front desk so I had to explain to them that I am (was) a student of NYU and not a student of the program so I could still get into Tisch and edit my film.
At any rate, around 3PM my parents came to help me move home. I knew it was going to be bad when, even before I checked out of the dorm they started to bother me about stuff I had to do once I got home.
I wonder sometimes, though, if they have bad timing or I just have an extremely reduced amount of patience with them.
I finish up at my dorm and check out and get home, sadly leaving New York and sending a thank you/goodbye text to my fellow PA's and I come home to a group of overly sarcastic cousins. I think that it has a lot to do with perspective. It's always difficult coming home to my family because no matter what happens, they remain skeptical and confident that they know better.
I guess part of it is because, especially with the film/entertainment industry, there's so much behind the scenes of what happens that they just don't understand how things work. I think there's also a disconnect with them because work is just work for all of them, but for me, film making has become a sort of life for me, breeding a community and family of it's own, a family and community where, at least when connected with NYU, I feel like I can navigate it comfortably. Even without NYU I still feel like I can navigate these treacherous waters while only gaining a few cuts and bruises.
I guess you have to wake up from the dreams some time, but I guess that's when you try to find a way to turn them into reality.
Despite that, however, I did manage to ensure the enjoyment of my and other kids' final night. The major events, in a nutshell, was buying my kids beer with the other PA's, learning the photo kids got busted and then playing Super Smash Bro's with a kid named Woody. Eventually we started free-styling and, well, he's good but even after spending a semester living in tight quarters with a rapper, I am incapable of stringing rhymes together in a consistent beat. We also quoted "I'm the Juggernaut Bitch" while playing Super Smash Brothers.
Overall, I'm glad that the kids had a good time without getting caught. It makes me a little proud.
I don't know why, though, but my endings here never seem to go the way I want them to. Or, well, to be more accurate, they go great but what I go to seems to be rather hard. I guess that, also, is an inaccurate statement, it may just be that I've spent all of this summer postponing the inevitable; ending my college experience and moving home.
Family is a funny thing because they always manage to get you to hate them and love them at the same time.
I had waited until the morning to begin packing, as I always do. Generally it's a big mistake but this time it was okay because I didn't have a lot of stuff. Eventually the last of the kids left the program and I was left in an empty dorm. I was, for the most part, packed and ready to go, the first time I ever left the program on move-out date for the students. They tried to take my I.D. at the front desk so I had to explain to them that I am (was) a student of NYU and not a student of the program so I could still get into Tisch and edit my film.
At any rate, around 3PM my parents came to help me move home. I knew it was going to be bad when, even before I checked out of the dorm they started to bother me about stuff I had to do once I got home.
I wonder sometimes, though, if they have bad timing or I just have an extremely reduced amount of patience with them.
I finish up at my dorm and check out and get home, sadly leaving New York and sending a thank you/goodbye text to my fellow PA's and I come home to a group of overly sarcastic cousins. I think that it has a lot to do with perspective. It's always difficult coming home to my family because no matter what happens, they remain skeptical and confident that they know better.
I guess part of it is because, especially with the film/entertainment industry, there's so much behind the scenes of what happens that they just don't understand how things work. I think there's also a disconnect with them because work is just work for all of them, but for me, film making has become a sort of life for me, breeding a community and family of it's own, a family and community where, at least when connected with NYU, I feel like I can navigate it comfortably. Even without NYU I still feel like I can navigate these treacherous waters while only gaining a few cuts and bruises.
I guess you have to wake up from the dreams some time, but I guess that's when you try to find a way to turn them into reality.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Pillow Fights and Drawings
EXT. SIDEWALK DAY
Over 100 students and program assistants (think camp counselors only in the city) gather outside the front steps of the residence hall clutching pillows. The one in charge of the entire program, RUDY RAMOS, an office dweller always dressed in a shirt pants and tie with slicked back hair stands in front of everyone making an announcement.
RUDY
What we are about to do is in celebration of the
end of this program. It is also highly illegal, but
that's not gonna stop us is it?
CROWD
NO!
Cheers emit from the crowd, several members raise their pillows in the air triumphantly.
RUDY
Ok, so we can't converge in the park or we'll
get arrested.
The crowd starts to moan.
RUDY (CON'T)
BUT! But, we're going to go over to Washington
Place right around the corner and do this right in
the middle of the street!
The crowd cheers again. They're all anxious.
RUDY (CON'T)
Alright! So we're gonna head over and when I say go,
and only when I say go, we'll start!
The crowd erupts in cheers yet again and begins to follow Rudy down the street to the location. MATT, 22, holds his pillow with an excited grin on his face. He turns to NATALIE, 21, a fellow PA who stands next to him and smiles a wide and devious smile.
NATALIE
You're excited.
Matt nods his head in assent.
NATALIE (CON'T)
Hmmm
A blond drama queen in a pink zip-up hoodie from the Drama department starts laughing flamboyantly and causes a commotion around him.
MATT
(practicing swinging his pillow)
He's first
NATALIE
(eyes lighting up)
Yea!
There's more to this but maybe next time. It gets kinda long. However, it does involve me catching pillows swung at me and just beating the owner of said caught pillow relentlessly with my own. It was a glorious 4 minutes of unadulterated pillow bashing before the cops came and we ran back to the dorm.
Aside from all that I have a picture to post that I just did. I've had this image in my mind for a few days and, of course, it looks so much cooler in my mind than on paper, but I guess I'm getting a little better.
I guess I aspire to be him; a *puppet master, the mind behind the plans working from the shadows to get everything done. It's quite difficult now because more often than not I feel more like one of the puppets in his hands.
*I guess the aspiration has something to do with a power trip of some sort. I hope that should the leadership role ever be placed in my hands I would handle it well, but I guess the only way of telling with that is seeing if it happens.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Running
When I got to NYU freshmen year, I had managed to keep a memento of my high school career with me pretty well. Running was a passion of mine and a stress reliever, a cathartic activity. I often wrote about this act or running along the West Side Highway at 3AM in my writing classes (see writing the essay). I believe I even had a script and, sophomore year I did a sight and sound film project about it, which I lost somewhere in the steinbeck lab. It was through this activity, this stress reliever, that I developed a sort of relationship with the city. I was introduced to different places at odd hours and rewarded with a view at the empty and naked streets of Manhattan and the beauty that comes from underneath the hustle and bustle a normal day brings.
I ran quite frequently freshmen year, during all seasons; fall, winter, spring, summer. A lot of it stemmed from my desire not to sleep and the lack of alternative activities I could do. It was a wonderful thing, when I think about it.
However, sophomore year I ran less, maybe managing to get out once or twice a month. I still loved running but it wasn't something that was immediately on my mind. I was often busy with other things and it was no longer a need that I felt. Plus, my roommate was a very light sleeper, which left me sleeping a little earlier (at least occasionally).
Junior year and senior year I didn't run at all. Well, that's not entirely true. There was a brief stint of me running in the Czech Republic on my summer study abroad in Prague, which was an amazing idea and one which I am glad I did. Additionally there were times I made my way to the gym and ran on a treadmill and hated myself for it. For some reason, maybe because Junior year I was rarely in my dorm and senior year I was always busy working on other things, I never got myself to go running again. I guess I could make up a million excuses as to why in particular I couldn't go running, but the bottom line is that I was too lazy, and even though I knew I would really enjoy the experience once I started, I couldn't get myself out of my seat to go and actually get started.
This brings me to today, or rather, tonight. I had promised myself, before I got back into the NYU dorms for the Tisch Summer High School Program, that I would do my night run at least one more time before I moved back home. This run would, in a way, represent a closer for me, the end of a particular chapter of my life, my goodbye to living freely in NYC. So tonight I changed into a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt I use for running or sleeping, rubber banded my I.D. to my phone and left my doors unlocked. As I laced on my running shoes I marvled at the lightness in their weight. They felt like nothing compared to the boots I had been wearing for the past two years.
As I set out I felt myself explode. The wind raced through my hair and my feet glided over the pavement; I was off.
From this experience I realized two things:
1.) I need to remember how to pace myself better.
2.) I'm out of shape.
I guess I also realized that I should make sure I'm well hydrated, but that doesn't count because I wasn't poorly hydrated.
This run has been good for me. I have rediscovered a part of New York that was lost to me and I have once again realized that I don't want to leave it. Tonight I didn't want to come back.
I hope to do more of these runs, even if I have to do them at home on the streets of Bloomfield. There's a peacefulness in running by yourself and I'm glad I rediscovered it. I feel as though this may have been the answer to my focus issues.
Lastly, along my run I was able to visit my favorite spot in NYC: (actually, one that I discovered on my earlier runs freshmen year) South Cove. I took some shitty photos on my phone and will post them if I can figure out how to get them onto a computer. Maybe I'll go there with a real camera next time (or at least a slightly less fake one).
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Motivation
One thing that tends to be extremely difficult in the film industry, at least on the creative end, is finding motivation. I think that that search, or rather, that struggle is what seperates those who stay in the industry with those who quit; the ability to keep ourselves motivated.
I know, for myself, it is extremely difficult to keep myself motivated. I have 3 projects that have yet to be completely finished, although they're always 2 or 3 steps from completion, I have 2 scripts which are stuck at around page 30 and I have quite a few other ideas on the back burner just waiting for the other ideas to finish so I can start on them and yet I find it so hard to pull it together, to do what I am supposed to do.
Today we looked at the music videos of the high school kids, and while they weren't perfect, they were done. I think it's been a while since I have seen a project all the way through to the end, which is a feeling that I really miss. It's good that I saw all those music videos today, because I think they got me motivated to finish my own projects. I hope this motivation stays. Links and vids when I get them done.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
A return to New York and a return to the basics
Monday night I packed up my things and made the move from my home in New Jersey back to NYU to stay in Weinstein for a month while I look after high school kids, which I've done for the past 3 years.
The students arrive on Sunday, and it looks like we have some "V.I.P.'s" this year in the film program, which should make it... if nothing else, interesting. Aside from this, this past week a few interesting things occurred, although not too many.
Tuesday I was coming back from PBS and was around Washington Square South when a student I had passed by dropped her ID and kept on walking without noticing. Seeing this I went to pick it up and give it to her, so to get her attention I tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. Upon turning around, the first words out of her mouth were "Oh my God," but not in a good way. It sounded more like a homeless man just went up to her with his pants down and asked her if she wanted to join him in his box for a few minutes.
Then, of course, she processes the words that were coming out of my mouth ("You dropped this,") and says "Oh my God," but this time in a good "oh what a cute baby you have there," kind of way and says thank you and we go our separate ways. I wonder though, do I give off a creepy aura or am I extremely hard on the eyes? Because I feel like that initial "Oh my God," was quite unnecessary.
On an entirely different note, since I feel as though this blog should talk about film or creative stuff that I'm working on or helping on or what have you, as opposed to my daily random life, I feel as though I need to post something film related here, which is hard because I haven't done much film related as of late. Despite that, I started to think about some questions about stories and story structure. It seems like, and it just might be because I'm too close to the material, that whenever I look at the projects I do I feel like something is missing. I started to wonder, "What makes a good story?" Here are some of the things I've come up with:
1.) A clear protagonist.
2.) A goal the protagonist needs or wants to achieve.
3.) An obstacle preventing the protagonist from achieving their want or need.
4.) Achieving or failing to achieve their want or need.
5.) A clear world and rules of said world that our characters live in.
So basically I've listed the main points that have been drilled into me in film school and STILL I feel like the projects I've done so far are missing something (aside from my personal take on whatever, because its not that) so I think I need to take some time and figure out just what a good story is so that I can try my hand at making one. I guess I'll try to post my findings if I come across any.
The students arrive on Sunday, and it looks like we have some "V.I.P.'s" this year in the film program, which should make it... if nothing else, interesting. Aside from this, this past week a few interesting things occurred, although not too many.
Tuesday I was coming back from PBS and was around Washington Square South when a student I had passed by dropped her ID and kept on walking without noticing. Seeing this I went to pick it up and give it to her, so to get her attention I tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. Upon turning around, the first words out of her mouth were "Oh my God," but not in a good way. It sounded more like a homeless man just went up to her with his pants down and asked her if she wanted to join him in his box for a few minutes.
Then, of course, she processes the words that were coming out of my mouth ("You dropped this,") and says "Oh my God," but this time in a good "oh what a cute baby you have there," kind of way and says thank you and we go our separate ways. I wonder though, do I give off a creepy aura or am I extremely hard on the eyes? Because I feel like that initial "Oh my God," was quite unnecessary.
On an entirely different note, since I feel as though this blog should talk about film or creative stuff that I'm working on or helping on or what have you, as opposed to my daily random life, I feel as though I need to post something film related here, which is hard because I haven't done much film related as of late. Despite that, I started to think about some questions about stories and story structure. It seems like, and it just might be because I'm too close to the material, that whenever I look at the projects I do I feel like something is missing. I started to wonder, "What makes a good story?" Here are some of the things I've come up with:
1.) A clear protagonist.
2.) A goal the protagonist needs or wants to achieve.
3.) An obstacle preventing the protagonist from achieving their want or need.
4.) Achieving or failing to achieve their want or need.
5.) A clear world and rules of said world that our characters live in.
So basically I've listed the main points that have been drilled into me in film school and STILL I feel like the projects I've done so far are missing something (aside from my personal take on whatever, because its not that) so I think I need to take some time and figure out just what a good story is so that I can try my hand at making one. I guess I'll try to post my findings if I come across any.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Film Shooting and Couch Surfing
So this past week was spent diligently shooting, interning, home working, class attending and, when time allowed for it, crashing on couches that did not belong to me.
Three weeks ago I spent 11 days with 17 to 20 other people cramped in a small house in rural Connecticut shooting a film for my good friend Matthew Troy. I distinctly remember the creation of the idea for this film; it started in Sophomore year and finally came to fruition this summer. For more information, although the site is outdated, please click here , I was sound mixing for that shoot. Anyway, It was a great shoot with many great stories but I'm going to go ahead and steer us away from that story because this post isn't about that shoot. This post is about the shoot that I was contacted to be on while I was on that shoot.
Andrew Roehm is a friend of mine whom I've known since high school. No, I did not go to the same high school or live in the same town, quite the contrary, Andy is a native Californian who spent his time playing Baseball as well as many other sports. I, on the other hand, have spent my life up until now... or college... living in New Jersey. Also, I've only been to California once, and no, I did not meet Andy there.
Andy and I were part of a decently large group of kids in my year that attended NYU's Tisch's Summer High School program and actually got into NYU afterwards. At any rate, while we were in the summer high school program, Andy was in my group two of the three times we formed/reformed groups and we worked on each other's projects in that program. Fast forward 3-ish years and we're Juniors in NYU. Once again we're in the same class and same group making films for our Color Sync class. For Andy's film I took on the role of Cinematographer, which I'm told looks pretty good, despite the fact that I still haven't seen the final film, but that's fine.
This all comes up because while I was in Connecticut I was called to work on Andy's senior film, this time wearing the hat of an AD. I was in, without a question. Andy had stepped in and helped me out on my film this past spring; the least I could do was help him out with his.
At any rate, what I found myself doing was working on this film, which, in all fairness, was not bad at all (with the exception of everyone being too distracted by the Hispanic tranny porn used in one of the scenes of the film, which wasn't even that bad either.) What got bad was doing this film while doing my internship while taking a class in a 3-D animation program I am barely getting a grasp of the basics for all while I no longer have a place of residency in Manhattan.
I graduated about a month ago, meaning I had to pack all my things and hold tight to my possessions as NYU housing gave me the boot. This left me rather homeless for the duration of the shoot, the late night shoots making it quite impossible for me to return to Jersey because my particular NJ Transit line stops running after 12:30AM, so I was reduced to couch surfing, which, all in all, isn't really too bad.
I spent the first night on Andy's couch after drying off from the torrential downpour we got nailed with half way through packing up all our equipment. Once I was all changed I lay down for what was going to be a surprisingly chilly night without a blanket.
The next night I spent at Nick's place. For those of you who don't know him, Nick is my curly red-headed Jewish friend whom I've known since Freshmen year and have collaborated with since. Many people are put off by his brutally honest personality, but his heart is in the right place a good 95% of the time.
At any rate, I spent the second night at Nick's, which is a small (very small) street-level studio apartment in SoHo. I spent a comfortable night on his futon with his sleeping bag as a blanket. As a side note, I'm not sure how many people know this about me, but I find it a little more difficult/ less comfortable sleeping without a blanket or something like a blanket, be it a jacket or what have you, even when it's 80 degrees out.
The third night I was going to return to Nick's apartment, but I got there too late and he was already asleep so I went to Tisch and crashed on my favorite couch in the place, the green sofa in the back of the 8th floor's Animation Department. Again, I was without a blanket or blanket substitute, but I can't complain, my journey from Sullivan and Prince brought me past several homeless people sleeping on steps and I couldn't help but think of how fortunate I was to have even a place like Tisch to spend the night.
The rest of the shoot I spent comfortably at Nick's, but the night I spent at Tisch as well as another night I almost spent at Tisch made me realize how lucky I am to be able to have a place to go in case of emergencies and how it's going to be sad once I have to let it go. I'll worry about that when the time comes, right now I'm glad to be home, where there's an actual bed for me to sleep on.
Three weeks ago I spent 11 days with 17 to 20 other people cramped in a small house in rural Connecticut shooting a film for my good friend Matthew Troy. I distinctly remember the creation of the idea for this film; it started in Sophomore year and finally came to fruition this summer. For more information, although the site is outdated, please click here , I was sound mixing for that shoot. Anyway, It was a great shoot with many great stories but I'm going to go ahead and steer us away from that story because this post isn't about that shoot. This post is about the shoot that I was contacted to be on while I was on that shoot.
Andrew Roehm is a friend of mine whom I've known since high school. No, I did not go to the same high school or live in the same town, quite the contrary, Andy is a native Californian who spent his time playing Baseball as well as many other sports. I, on the other hand, have spent my life up until now... or college... living in New Jersey. Also, I've only been to California once, and no, I did not meet Andy there.
Andy and I were part of a decently large group of kids in my year that attended NYU's Tisch's Summer High School program and actually got into NYU afterwards. At any rate, while we were in the summer high school program, Andy was in my group two of the three times we formed/reformed groups and we worked on each other's projects in that program. Fast forward 3-ish years and we're Juniors in NYU. Once again we're in the same class and same group making films for our Color Sync class. For Andy's film I took on the role of Cinematographer, which I'm told looks pretty good, despite the fact that I still haven't seen the final film, but that's fine.
This all comes up because while I was in Connecticut I was called to work on Andy's senior film, this time wearing the hat of an AD. I was in, without a question. Andy had stepped in and helped me out on my film this past spring; the least I could do was help him out with his.
At any rate, what I found myself doing was working on this film, which, in all fairness, was not bad at all (with the exception of everyone being too distracted by the Hispanic tranny porn used in one of the scenes of the film, which wasn't even that bad either.) What got bad was doing this film while doing my internship while taking a class in a 3-D animation program I am barely getting a grasp of the basics for all while I no longer have a place of residency in Manhattan.
I graduated about a month ago, meaning I had to pack all my things and hold tight to my possessions as NYU housing gave me the boot. This left me rather homeless for the duration of the shoot, the late night shoots making it quite impossible for me to return to Jersey because my particular NJ Transit line stops running after 12:30AM, so I was reduced to couch surfing, which, all in all, isn't really too bad.
I spent the first night on Andy's couch after drying off from the torrential downpour we got nailed with half way through packing up all our equipment. Once I was all changed I lay down for what was going to be a surprisingly chilly night without a blanket.
The next night I spent at Nick's place. For those of you who don't know him, Nick is my curly red-headed Jewish friend whom I've known since Freshmen year and have collaborated with since. Many people are put off by his brutally honest personality, but his heart is in the right place a good 95% of the time.
At any rate, I spent the second night at Nick's, which is a small (very small) street-level studio apartment in SoHo. I spent a comfortable night on his futon with his sleeping bag as a blanket. As a side note, I'm not sure how many people know this about me, but I find it a little more difficult/ less comfortable sleeping without a blanket or something like a blanket, be it a jacket or what have you, even when it's 80 degrees out.
The third night I was going to return to Nick's apartment, but I got there too late and he was already asleep so I went to Tisch and crashed on my favorite couch in the place, the green sofa in the back of the 8th floor's Animation Department. Again, I was without a blanket or blanket substitute, but I can't complain, my journey from Sullivan and Prince brought me past several homeless people sleeping on steps and I couldn't help but think of how fortunate I was to have even a place like Tisch to spend the night.
The rest of the shoot I spent comfortably at Nick's, but the night I spent at Tisch as well as another night I almost spent at Tisch made me realize how lucky I am to be able to have a place to go in case of emergencies and how it's going to be sad once I have to let it go. I'll worry about that when the time comes, right now I'm glad to be home, where there's an actual bed for me to sleep on.
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