I just got home today from spending the weekend with some friends. I drove up to their house on Friday to help them produce a film to enter in the 24-hour Christian film contest on Saturday. Our film, Waiting for Love, was the 41st of 72 entries to be submitted — and we submitted it between 3:30 and 3:45 AM Sunday morning. Understandably, I am tired and will be hitting the sack as soon as this entry is posted. However, I hope to soon post a little more about this movie.
You can watch the movie in the player below. If you are unable or unwilling to view it via YouTube, contact me privately and I'll see what I can do.
My roles in this film were cowriter, director of photography, and editor/color-corrector/grader. The music that fit so perfectly was taken almost unaltered from one of Digital Juice's StackTraxx albums.
Showing posts with label film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label film. Show all posts
Monday, March 3, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
BIG NEWS RELEASED
Christian Filmmakers 24-hour Film Contest
January 18, 2008: On March 1st, Christian filmmakers across the country will participate in an exciting and challenging event — a 24-hour film contest. Organized by members of ChristianFilmmakers.org, an online discussion and networking tool for Christian filmmakers, the contest will be sponsored and promoted by several noteworthy organizations and will offer a prize of $500 to the winning entry.
The competition will begin at 6:00 AM on March 1 with the publication of a list of “security elements,” three of which must be included in every film submission. This will verify that the film was produced within the 24-hour time limit. Each entry must be uploaded to YouTube and the link given to the judges by the contest deadline of 6:00 AM on March 2. Membership in Christian Filmmakers.org is not required.
Nathaniel Bluedorn, administrator of Christian Filmmakers.org and the driving force behind the 24-hour film competition, explains, “Christian Filmmakers.org is a growing network of faith-based filmmakers. We started in August and we have more than 250 members now. We’re doing this contest to energize filmmakers and incite interest in filmmaking. More importantly, we want to expand networking among Christian filmmakers.” Christian Filmmakers.org boasts an international membership of Christian
filmmakers at all skill levels from hopeful to veteran, specializing in every aspect of film production.
More details on the competition, including a complete list of the official rules, can be found at http://www.christianfilmmakers.org/contest
###
Christian Filmmakers.org is the outgrowth of a Google Group which was originally conceived as a means for maintaining contact among alumni of the 2005 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival. Launched on August 22, 2007, ChristianFilmmakers.org has rapidly grown to include 273 members at the time of this writing. The site is focused on facilitating discussion and building relationships between Christian filmmakers without excluding anyone on the basis of gender, race, or denomination.
Website: http://www.ChristianFilmmakers.org
Contact: info@christianfilmmakers.org
January 18, 2008: On March 1st, Christian filmmakers across the country will participate in an exciting and challenging event — a 24-hour film contest. Organized by members of ChristianFilmmakers.org, an online discussion and networking tool for Christian filmmakers, the contest will be sponsored and promoted by several noteworthy organizations and will offer a prize of $500 to the winning entry.
The competition will begin at 6:00 AM on March 1 with the publication of a list of “security elements,” three of which must be included in every film submission. This will verify that the film was produced within the 24-hour time limit. Each entry must be uploaded to YouTube and the link given to the judges by the contest deadline of 6:00 AM on March 2. Membership in Christian Filmmakers.org is not required.
Nathaniel Bluedorn, administrator of Christian Filmmakers.org and the driving force behind the 24-hour film competition, explains, “Christian Filmmakers.org is a growing network of faith-based filmmakers. We started in August and we have more than 250 members now. We’re doing this contest to energize filmmakers and incite interest in filmmaking. More importantly, we want to expand networking among Christian filmmakers.” Christian Filmmakers.org boasts an international membership of Christian
filmmakers at all skill levels from hopeful to veteran, specializing in every aspect of film production.
More details on the competition, including a complete list of the official rules, can be found at http://www.christianfilmmakers.org/contest
###
Christian Filmmakers.org is the outgrowth of a Google Group which was originally conceived as a means for maintaining contact among alumni of the 2005 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival. Launched on August 22, 2007, ChristianFilmmakers.org has rapidly grown to include 273 members at the time of this writing. The site is focused on facilitating discussion and building relationships between Christian filmmakers without excluding anyone on the basis of gender, race, or denomination.
Website: http://www.ChristianFilmmakers.org
Contact: info@christianfilmmakers.org
Friday, January 25, 2008
Big news
Watch out ...
Something big is coming soon...
It is related to ChristianFilmmakers.org (no information posted there yet, though, so don't bother looking for it).
Stay tuned ...
Something big is coming soon...
It is related to ChristianFilmmakers.org (no information posted there yet, though, so don't bother looking for it).
Stay tuned ...
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Police!
This actually happened about twelve days ago, but I thought it might offer some enjoyment to my readers.
On the way home from Ruby's Cafe, I stopped at a QuikTrip to use the restroom and pick up an Arizona. I climbed back into the van and switched on the reading light on my instrument panel (the dash lights are extremely flaky; on the rare occasion when they actually come on, they will suddenly go back off without warning). I started up my music again (The Altar and the Door, borrowed from my brother) and pulled out.
After about a mile, I stopped at a red light. While waiting for it to turn green, I heard a very loud whistle coming from my left. I turned to look, and some guy in a white minivan was pointing at me and trying to get my attention. I was quite offended — was this some crazy homosexual trying to solicit me? The light went green, and we continued on our way. The van stayed right beside me for a mile. At the next intersection, I arrived just as the light was turning yellow. Hoping to lose the minivan, I sped through the intersection on the tail of the car in front of me. A little green car in the right-turn lane of the intersecting street honked loudly at me as I passed. Boy, some people are rude, I thought.
Four miles further down the road, I was convinced that two or three particular vehicles were following me, and I was eager to get home and away from them. But as I passed the library I remembered that I had a book in. Not sure how late they were open, I decided to stop by and find out if I could pick up the book. I turned into the neighborhood near the library, and a white pickup turned after me. I was quite disturbed. As I wound my way through the neighborhood, I kept glancing at my rearview mirror ... he was following me, but at a distance — as if he didn't want me to know he was following. But I knew.
I turned onto "B" Avenue, which goes right past the library, and was struck by how dark the road was. No cars were around, so I flipped on my brights. Nothing happened. My heart skipped a beat as I realized that my headlights were turned off. I quickly switched them on, and now things began to make sense ... the guys in the van weren't being weird, they were trying to tell me that my lights were off. The green car wasn't being rude — with my lights off, I was nearly invisible; I had narrowly escaped an accident. I took a deep breath and thanked God for keeping me safe.
But things only got crazier.
Shortly after I turned on my headlights, a white car turned into B Avenue heading in my direction. I realized that my brights were still on, so I clicked them off. The car was a police car, and as I passed it, it stopped. I turned into the library and glanced at my mirror. The police car had turned around and was following me, as was a second police car. I pulled into the library's back parking lot and parked.
The first police car pulled in behind me and turned on his lights. What on earth...? I wondered. Did I just go 30 in the 25 mph neighborhood? Do they have my van confused with some dangerous criminal? Could it have anything to do with my lights? ... No way, you can't get pulled over for that. Great, I must have been speeding. Now I'm going to get a ticket ... $200 fine ... insurance costs will go up ... this is not my day.
I turned off the music, rolled down my window, pulled out my wallet, and fished out my license. The police officer slowly walked up to my door, shining his flashlight into the windows of the van.
"Evenin'," he said.
"Good evening," I replied.
"Mind if I ask what you're doing at the library this late at night?"
"I have a book to pick up, and I'm not sure how late they're open." I handed him my license. The officer accepted it, then shone his flashlight over at the library window, where in large letters were printed "MON - THU 12 - 8"
"Ah, eight o'clock," I read, feeling rather silly.
He looked at his watch. "It's nearly ten o'clock. I don't know of any library that's open this late." I felt even more foolish.
"You going somewhere?" he asked.
"Yeah, I was on my way home," I answered. "I just had a meeting with some friends at Ruby's Full Cup Café; we left about nine." He nodded.
Then he hit me with the crucial question. "So, do you mind telling me why you just drove six miles without your headlights on?"
My stomach flipped. Okay, this was the reason they pulled me over ... now I'm going to get a ticket. Wonderful. I tried to keep my voice calm as I answered. "I forgot to turn them on when I left the QT at 101st and Memorial, and didn't notice until I turned into this neighborhood where there are no streetlights," I explained.
He nodded disbelievingly. "So you didn't notice? No headlights?"
"Yeah, with all the streeghtlights ..."
"And no dash lights?"
"My dash lights don't work. That's why I have this," I answered, showing him the reading light on the instrument panel. He looked in. The dash lights were off and the headlights were on, so I was obviously telling the truth, at least about that.
There was silence for a minute. My heart was racing, my stomach was twisting, and my voice was starting to shake.
"Sorry, I'm kinda nervous," I added; "I've never been pulled over before."
"Yeah, well, people don't usually drive around at night with their lights off," he pointed out.
"I know. I'm sorry; I realize the danger in that. In fact, I think I nearly got hit going through one intersection," I answered. "It won't happen again."
He nodded distantly. "So, can I ask ... just a standard question ... you haven't been drinking anything, have you?"
I picked up the half-empty Arizona bottle from my cupholder. "Just tea," I answered.
"Just tea," he repeated. "OK. Hang on a minute, let me call this in." He took my license back to his car.
I took a deep breath and finished the Arizona in an attempt to calm myself down. Then a second police car pulled in with its lights flashing as well. Oh, great, now what? I wondered. I fished out the registration and proof of insurance for the van while I waited. An officer got out of the second car and talked to the officer in the first car for a minute. Then the first officer came back up to my window and said, "Sir, could I ask you to step out for just a moment? We just want to run a quick test to see if you've been drinking anything ... just a standard procedure to satisfy —" he gestured in the direction of his superior officer.
"Sure," I said, climbing out. "Oh, do you want the vehicle registration?"
"Sure," he replied. I handed him the registration paper. He glanced at it and said, "That won't do me any good; I need to see the proof of insurance."
"Oh, insurance," I answered, feeling stupid again. I traded the registration for the proof of insurance. He looked at the proof of insurance, nodded, and handed it back to me.
He had me stand in front of him and watch the end of his pen with my eyes (not turning my head) while he moved it back and forth in front of my face from directly in the beam of his flashlight to the darkness of the surrounding night. He watched my eyes to check the pupil dilation rates — the eyes of a person who is under the influence of alcohol or drugs have trouble adjusting from darkness to light and vice versa. After a couple of passes, he nodded to the other officer and said I was fine.
"Thanks; we just wanted to check on that 'cause we've had several people call in concerned about you driving with your lights off. And some people were trying to get your attention ... ?"
"Yeah," I answered, "one car honked at me when I went through an intersection, but I just thought they were being rude. And somebody else was whistling and pointing at me, but I thought they were ... you know ..."
"Trying to get a date?" he chuckled.
"Yeah."
"All right. Well, have a safe trip home," he said.
"Okay. Thanks," I said. I also thanked the other officer and shook his hand. They returned my license and left. I sat for a minute to recover my breath, then drove home. My stomach was still twisting when I walked in the front door about fifteen minutes later.
On the way home from Ruby's Cafe, I stopped at a QuikTrip to use the restroom and pick up an Arizona. I climbed back into the van and switched on the reading light on my instrument panel (the dash lights are extremely flaky; on the rare occasion when they actually come on, they will suddenly go back off without warning). I started up my music again (The Altar and the Door, borrowed from my brother) and pulled out.
After about a mile, I stopped at a red light. While waiting for it to turn green, I heard a very loud whistle coming from my left. I turned to look, and some guy in a white minivan was pointing at me and trying to get my attention. I was quite offended — was this some crazy homosexual trying to solicit me? The light went green, and we continued on our way. The van stayed right beside me for a mile. At the next intersection, I arrived just as the light was turning yellow. Hoping to lose the minivan, I sped through the intersection on the tail of the car in front of me. A little green car in the right-turn lane of the intersecting street honked loudly at me as I passed. Boy, some people are rude, I thought.
Four miles further down the road, I was convinced that two or three particular vehicles were following me, and I was eager to get home and away from them. But as I passed the library I remembered that I had a book in. Not sure how late they were open, I decided to stop by and find out if I could pick up the book. I turned into the neighborhood near the library, and a white pickup turned after me. I was quite disturbed. As I wound my way through the neighborhood, I kept glancing at my rearview mirror ... he was following me, but at a distance — as if he didn't want me to know he was following. But I knew.
I turned onto "B" Avenue, which goes right past the library, and was struck by how dark the road was. No cars were around, so I flipped on my brights. Nothing happened. My heart skipped a beat as I realized that my headlights were turned off. I quickly switched them on, and now things began to make sense ... the guys in the van weren't being weird, they were trying to tell me that my lights were off. The green car wasn't being rude — with my lights off, I was nearly invisible; I had narrowly escaped an accident. I took a deep breath and thanked God for keeping me safe.
But things only got crazier.
Shortly after I turned on my headlights, a white car turned into B Avenue heading in my direction. I realized that my brights were still on, so I clicked them off. The car was a police car, and as I passed it, it stopped. I turned into the library and glanced at my mirror. The police car had turned around and was following me, as was a second police car. I pulled into the library's back parking lot and parked.
The first police car pulled in behind me and turned on his lights. What on earth...? I wondered. Did I just go 30 in the 25 mph neighborhood? Do they have my van confused with some dangerous criminal? Could it have anything to do with my lights? ... No way, you can't get pulled over for that. Great, I must have been speeding. Now I'm going to get a ticket ... $200 fine ... insurance costs will go up ... this is not my day.
I turned off the music, rolled down my window, pulled out my wallet, and fished out my license. The police officer slowly walked up to my door, shining his flashlight into the windows of the van.
"Evenin'," he said.
"Good evening," I replied.
"Mind if I ask what you're doing at the library this late at night?"
"I have a book to pick up, and I'm not sure how late they're open." I handed him my license. The officer accepted it, then shone his flashlight over at the library window, where in large letters were printed "MON - THU 12 - 8"
"Ah, eight o'clock," I read, feeling rather silly.
He looked at his watch. "It's nearly ten o'clock. I don't know of any library that's open this late." I felt even more foolish.
"You going somewhere?" he asked.
"Yeah, I was on my way home," I answered. "I just had a meeting with some friends at Ruby's Full Cup Café; we left about nine." He nodded.
Then he hit me with the crucial question. "So, do you mind telling me why you just drove six miles without your headlights on?"
My stomach flipped. Okay, this was the reason they pulled me over ... now I'm going to get a ticket. Wonderful. I tried to keep my voice calm as I answered. "I forgot to turn them on when I left the QT at 101st and Memorial, and didn't notice until I turned into this neighborhood where there are no streetlights," I explained.
He nodded disbelievingly. "So you didn't notice? No headlights?"
"Yeah, with all the streeghtlights ..."
"And no dash lights?"
"My dash lights don't work. That's why I have this," I answered, showing him the reading light on the instrument panel. He looked in. The dash lights were off and the headlights were on, so I was obviously telling the truth, at least about that.
There was silence for a minute. My heart was racing, my stomach was twisting, and my voice was starting to shake.
"Sorry, I'm kinda nervous," I added; "I've never been pulled over before."
"Yeah, well, people don't usually drive around at night with their lights off," he pointed out.
"I know. I'm sorry; I realize the danger in that. In fact, I think I nearly got hit going through one intersection," I answered. "It won't happen again."
He nodded distantly. "So, can I ask ... just a standard question ... you haven't been drinking anything, have you?"
I picked up the half-empty Arizona bottle from my cupholder. "Just tea," I answered.
"Just tea," he repeated. "OK. Hang on a minute, let me call this in." He took my license back to his car.
I took a deep breath and finished the Arizona in an attempt to calm myself down. Then a second police car pulled in with its lights flashing as well. Oh, great, now what? I wondered. I fished out the registration and proof of insurance for the van while I waited. An officer got out of the second car and talked to the officer in the first car for a minute. Then the first officer came back up to my window and said, "Sir, could I ask you to step out for just a moment? We just want to run a quick test to see if you've been drinking anything ... just a standard procedure to satisfy —" he gestured in the direction of his superior officer.
"Sure," I said, climbing out. "Oh, do you want the vehicle registration?"
"Sure," he replied. I handed him the registration paper. He glanced at it and said, "That won't do me any good; I need to see the proof of insurance."
"Oh, insurance," I answered, feeling stupid again. I traded the registration for the proof of insurance. He looked at the proof of insurance, nodded, and handed it back to me.
He had me stand in front of him and watch the end of his pen with my eyes (not turning my head) while he moved it back and forth in front of my face from directly in the beam of his flashlight to the darkness of the surrounding night. He watched my eyes to check the pupil dilation rates — the eyes of a person who is under the influence of alcohol or drugs have trouble adjusting from darkness to light and vice versa. After a couple of passes, he nodded to the other officer and said I was fine.
"Thanks; we just wanted to check on that 'cause we've had several people call in concerned about you driving with your lights off. And some people were trying to get your attention ... ?"
"Yeah," I answered, "one car honked at me when I went through an intersection, but I just thought they were being rude. And somebody else was whistling and pointing at me, but I thought they were ... you know ..."
"Trying to get a date?" he chuckled.
"Yeah."
"All right. Well, have a safe trip home," he said.
"Okay. Thanks," I said. I also thanked the other officer and shook his hand. They returned my license and left. I sat for a minute to recover my breath, then drove home. My stomach was still twisting when I walked in the front door about fifteen minutes later.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Michigan again!
Well, as all my readers probably know by now, I went up to Michigan last week for the cast and crew screening of The Meaning of "Choice". Mr. Thompson was kind enough to donate some of his Frequent Flyer miles to get me there — I am very grateful to him for that.
My first flight from Tulsa on Thursday morning took off just after 6:00 AM, so I got to fly through the sunrise. I took several pictures which would have been astounding if the airplane window had not been so filthy.
I had a great time with the Thompsons. I even played a little Airsoft with Collin — and got to use against him the gun he threatened me with the the movie. Ah, sweet revenge.
Friday night arrived and we headed over to St. Michael's Media for the screening. Almost everybody was there.
Sadly, the Thorns were unable to make the trip from Ohio, and a couple of our actors (Leslie Burken, Mrs. O'Connor, Young Sarah O'Connor) were also missing — but we nevertheless had a good crowd.
Zyrek Castelino, our wonderful, indispensable audio engineer and all-around fantastic guy is moving to Indiana this weekend. So we included in the festivities a surprise farewell party for him. We even got Clare to cut the cake with the knife from the movie! (She was reluctant at first — she even went so far as to try to give me the knife ... scary thought! — but she accomplished the feat quite well.)
May the Lord bless you in this new leg of your journey of life, Zyrek!
Here are a few faces of the awesome people I was so blessed to meet again ...
Annick Marshall takes a bite of Zyrek's going-away cake while photophiliac Evan Thompson grins at the camera.
Allision Marshall also samples the cake.
Danielle Thompson and Evvie Marshall chat.
Zyrek and Annick ... two of the most awesome people in the world.
Staredown contest between Catrina Marshall and me. Longest staredown I've ever had. We each won once.
I had a wonderful time with my "family away from family", and hopefully sometime I'll come back to visit again.
Until then....
— The Panther
My first flight from Tulsa on Thursday morning took off just after 6:00 AM, so I got to fly through the sunrise. I took several pictures which would have been astounding if the airplane window had not been so filthy.
I had a great time with the Thompsons. I even played a little Airsoft with Collin — and got to use against him the gun he threatened me with the the movie. Ah, sweet revenge.
Friday night arrived and we headed over to St. Michael's Media for the screening. Almost everybody was there.
Sadly, the Thorns were unable to make the trip from Ohio, and a couple of our actors (Leslie Burken, Mrs. O'Connor, Young Sarah O'Connor) were also missing — but we nevertheless had a good crowd.
Zyrek Castelino, our wonderful, indispensable audio engineer and all-around fantastic guy is moving to Indiana this weekend. So we included in the festivities a surprise farewell party for him. We even got Clare to cut the cake with the knife from the movie! (She was reluctant at first — she even went so far as to try to give me the knife ... scary thought! — but she accomplished the feat quite well.)
May the Lord bless you in this new leg of your journey of life, Zyrek!
Here are a few faces of the awesome people I was so blessed to meet again ...
Annick Marshall takes a bite of Zyrek's going-away cake while photophiliac Evan Thompson grins at the camera.
Allision Marshall also samples the cake.
Danielle Thompson and Evvie Marshall chat.
Zyrek and Annick ... two of the most awesome people in the world.
Staredown contest between Catrina Marshall and me. Longest staredown I've ever had. We each won once.
I had a wonderful time with my "family away from family", and hopefully sometime I'll come back to visit again.
Until then....
— The Panther
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