I wonder what ^^ that^^ feels like? Man, there's something about that photo... Awesome...
OK, I'm going to talk movies and stuff tonight!
I went to the screening for our group for the 48 Hour Film Festival last week (on 7/17) downtown. It was quite an event. It was at the Gaslamp Cenema in downtown San Diego. Ours was Group E, consisting of 13 teams (there were 6 groups total, A through F. That's what? About 75 films?). Each team pulled a genre at random, and had 48 hours to write, film and edit a 7 minute movie. There were 13 films shown, so I assume everyone in Group E finished their film!
We arrived a little early and did the whole "red carpet" thing... I was wearing a new blue shirt and everything!
These are the members of Team Viva that were able to show up. L to R: Me (duh), Lisa Winans (actress), Horacio Jones (director/team leader), Walter Carlin (actor), Fabrice Murgia (co-director/screenwriter), and two other members of the crew - I'm sorry, I don't remember their names! I feel bad! Here, I'll punch myself in the head...
Lisa was the star of our film; she seemed to have a great time.
Another gratuitous shot of me with the star and the director... hoping some of their awesomeness rubs off on me...
So the screening was set to start at 7pm. We took seats about a half-hour early and listened to live music (a local band, don't recall the name). On the way in, we each were handed a ballot and one of those little golf course pencils. Everyone was allowed to vote for their three favorite films at the end.
Before they rolled the films, they had everyone stand up and face the back of the theater, so we could all get a selfie with the big 48 Hour logo on the screen...
After a few announcements and promos, they started the screening. The first film was called MISSING, and was a horror short about a kid killer. Well made, and a nice twist at the end. I gave it a 7 out of 10. I'd link to it, but it's not online yet. In fact, most of them aren't online yet, including ours!
Ours was shown second, called Desert Rose. I think it was a solid effort. If I had to offer some honest critiques, I thought, aside from the apparent audio issues, the story was a little heavy-handed in the emotion department. I gave ours a 7 as well. Making it was a great experience.
I suppose you'd like to know how it was seeing myself on a big screen for the first time? Really, it was no biggie. In fact, it just seemed normal, as it was happening. It wasn't until after the fact that I thought, "Oh yeah, I was supposed to be freaked out, right?" I wasn't. It was cool.
Third up (I believe - I don't have the program with me, I'm going by memory), was a film called Beyond John... this one is available online. I thought it was really funny and well-made, but it has profanity in it, so be forewarned...
Beyond John - San Diego 48 Hour Film from Dampt Productions on Vimeo.
I liked that one a lot. I rated it an 8. Nice settings. I think they said they drove up the coast to film in the redwoods or something...
Honestly, I don't recall the order of the rest of the films from memory, so I'll just mention the ones that stood out in my mind. If I had the list still, I'd talk about each film. But some of the good ones included: there was a film called Uncomfortably Numb, which featured a great performance by the lead actress, and some funny moments. There was a film called "3:28am" that glitched on the sound track, turning it into a silent movie... they raced off to get a good copy of it, and showed it in the screening after ours, but from what I saw of it, it was extremely well made, and the two leads were very compelling. It got second place in Group F, so it must have been as good with sound as it seemed it would... Another comedy took place in a graphic design lab, full of employees who were a little bit nuts. Amusing. There was a black-and-white comedy called The Last Resort that had a couple people I knew in it, which was cool...
But the best of the night for me was, easily, The Affair...
Man, that blew me away. So well done, top to bottom (except for the awkward kiss at the end, lol). These are the guys that won it all last year with "A Man Called McClane". I enjoyed the heck out of it. Gave it a 10.
After they showed all 13 films, they had a representative of each team go up front for a quick Q&A session, which was cool. And then, it was over! For me, anyway... there was an after-event get together for everyone at a nearby hotel, while everyone waited for the results of the audience voting. I skipped that part, but I knew we weren't going to win 1st or 2nd. As I said, it was a good, solid effort, and I enjoyed it... but objectivity being what it is, there were a few films that were better. It would have been hard to top Bad and Classic this year - they'll probably win the whole thing again, who knows...
One last video to post... my acting coach (Stephen Walters) was on a team again this year. His film (called Wish) was in Group A, so I didn't get to see it. But I did see that it won the top slot for his group. I was hoping they'd make it available to see online so I could post it here, and today they did just that! So for those who have heard me talk about my acting classes and my coach for over a year now, this is him, at the beginning and end of this film (yep, the bald guy). Both his kids are in it as well..
Wish from Aly Bucholz on Vimeo.
That will be going to the Best Of screening on August 2nd, which I will attend again this year.
It's really cool to see so many quality actors/film makers in San Diego. Of course, some of the films were... uh... how can I say this politely? Not quite as good... but there are many quality people in the film making industry in San Diego. I met many this year, and hope to meet many more as the year continues.
All things considered, participating in the 48 Hour Film Project this year was a wonderful experience. I'll do it again next year in a heartbeat, given the chance. Hopefully between now and then, I'll be in more things I can post here, including the web series I've been involved with for the past 9 months or so.
Good things ahead!
So I saw the latest X-Men movie on Monday... caught one of the last showings before it gets pulled from the theaters this week! Let me summarize: I liked it a lot, giving it 8 out of 10. The scene in the cafeteria when "they" are breaking Magneto out of "jail" is perhaps the coolest scene in any of the Xmen movies. But all things considered, I like the villain Magneto better than the half-hero Magneto featured in the film. Seemed kinda limp. And, as much as I like Jennifer Lawrence, I just don't really like her as Mystique. Beyond that, great film (if a little over-ambitious).
Going to go to a book signing this weekend! Joe Abercrombie is in town for Comicon, and will be appearing at a local bookstore. I have already purchased a trade paperback copy of The Heroes, which will hopefully have his autograph scribbled onto it, and then be placed on my Shelf of Honor, right between my signed copies of The Name of the Wind (Pat Rothfuss) and Gates of Fire (Steven Pressfield). I will then have my Top 3 books of all time, signed and enshrined.
Next would be to expand it to Top 5... for that, I'd need a signed copy of A Storm of Swords (GRRM) and Have a Nice Day (Mick Foley). Who knows! Maybe it will happen!
Well, I have a script to write tonight. I'll need to save the rest of what I want to talk about for another night.
Adios for now!
Dave the Dude
2 comments:
Looking forward to seeing your group's piece. I really enjoyed your coach's film. It's one of those films that makes one think back, not knowing a key piece of information until the end - hiding it in the soundless clip with narration, living in his mind, fascination with sight and touch, etc...excellent.
BA
Thanks for sharing! The Affair was great and very funny :) I liked the one from last year too that won, though I think I liked this years better :)
Wish was good too, and I'm glad it resolved, cause it made me want to cry in the middle! I didn't realize it was deafness, and all I could think of was the kid had autism. But well done indeed!
Thanks for sharing!
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