The Boys Are Back

I am struggling to keep my eyes open right now, but I must stay awake. I have to pick my mom up from work in twenty minutes.

This week has been a whirlwind of craziness, weirdness, and fun. I've had to put summer reading and a little bit of running on hold. Tomorrow night is it. We are officially filming the first scenes of the short film.


The only minor obstacle is the fact that we don't have a location yet. The city manager is yet to get back to me. Sigh.

But all things considered, the project is coming together pretty nicely. I'm making a movie again, and it feels good.

I've been running around trying to get things done, but I have Ryan and our life-long best-friend-nieghbor Adam to help.

I'm really nervous. I hope we can pull this off. But whatever happens... happens. I'm just going to have fun.

Wish me luck!

Mystery Team

Jason: We are mature and legitimate detectives.
Kelly: What the hell is that smell?
Duncan: I drank dog urine.

This strange low budget comedy pretty much defines my life right now. Consider renting it. Good night.

(Warning: There's some strong language in the trailer. And in the movie.)

Dawn is Breaking

I don't remember all of the events of last week. It was sort of a dizzy haze of parties, running, school shopping, and phone conversations.

But today, the sun broke through the clouds. After failing to find an actor in the past week, I was feeling defeated. Then, Randy called me. I had gotten Randy's number because he is a local actor. He's going to try to fit my short film into his schedule. I really hope everything works out. I have a ton of work to do in order to get this project done.

I also finished Snow Falling on Cedars. I really liked it. Now, I have to read Hamlet and The Awakening. Hopefully, I can read at least one of them before school starts.

Countdown to school: one week.

And finally, I have completed the list of colleges I am applying to:
1. University of Southern California
2. Chapman University
3. Loyola Marymount University
4. Florida State University
5. Temple University
6. DeSales University.

I will do everything in my power to attend one of the first three, but I can make any of them work.

I also found out today that I might be going to New Orleans in November. My cousin Danielle landed a job as assistant to director Scott Hicks. He is the director of the latest Nicholas Sparks adaptation The Lucky One starring Zac Efron. Hopefully, I will be able to visit the set with my brother Ryan and my cousin McKenzie.

In other news...
I watched two Michael Cera flicks this weekend. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was crazy and hilarious. It really feels like a video game/comic book and makes for an interesting night. Youth in Revolt was also really funny. I loved seeing Michael act as Francois. It was different from every other character that he as ever played... which is always the same:himself. I also decided that I am a badass.

I had a lot of fun adventuring with Alaina this week. It's been weird because I've been sleep deprived. Plus I'm still gowing through that growing phase, so I can't stop eating (thus the stash of pretzels sitting next to me) and my hormones continue to rage.

I am going to be really busy this week, but I hope to write a little about Chapman University sometime soon.

Oh... I turn eighteen in less than a month. What am I doing for my birthday?

LMU

Today, I want to write a quick review of Loyola Marymount University, but first a few recent happenings:

After Wednesday night practices in the summer, the cross country team hangs out at Eat'n Park - a chain of family friendly diner-like restaurants that are famous for its Smiley cookies. Last night was our last Eat'n Park adventure. It was fun. A few friends and past runners dropped by to say goodbye before they left for college. That will be me in a short year.

Speaking of college, I am still working on finalizing my list. My parents are worried because I haven't begun to apply yet. They are now clocking my time. Yesterday, my mom yelled at me because I watched America's Next Top Model for twenty minutes while I ate lunch. This means I might have to do some secret blogging.

Finally, I keep hitting dead ends with my short film. On Tuesday, my faithful french teacher gave me a list of possible male actors. Two days later I still haven't found someone. Sigh. Summer feels as if it has been over for awhile.

And now introducing Loyola Marymount University.

I'm pretty sure that Loyola has schools across the country. LMU is a small Jesuit school in LA. My cousin Danielle went there. I'm not sure of the differences between the Jesuit and Catholic faiths. They seem similar.

Danielle and Erica took me on a little tour of LMU on the Saturday after film camp. While there, we got locked outside on a dorm roof. It also rained (drizzled actually). Rained in LA - I told said the weather was weird while I was there.

I went back later that week with Carol Anne, and we got a personal tour of the film building. The student who gave us the tour had some good information, but he also talked a lot of trash about other film schools in the area. He came off as a bit biased and arrogant. He also mentioned that he was attending LMU and his brother was going to attend USC because they had "connections." Which is what it's all about folks.

LMU sits in the middle of LA on top of a mountain. The location really is beautiful. It's in a safe environment - a residential neighborhood. It's also a short drive away from LAX and Manhattan Beach - one of my favorite areas of Los Angeles.

The school seems religious. Each dorm has an in-house priest. Although from what Danielle tells me, that doesn't stop the students from having a good time. As a whole LMU reminds me of a local college - St. Francis University. A ton of kids from my high school, Bishop McCort, go there. It has earned the nickname 13th grade.

After attending a small Catholic school for my whole life, I am anxious to break out. I want a big school in a big city. Just visiting LMU makes me feel chrostophobic, and I worry that I might go crazy there.

The film school itself is a tiny, and I mean tiny, little building. It is pretty hard to get accepted into the school. LMU has a two sound stages, a nice theater, and a cool editing suite. It sits in the heart of the action and seems connected to the industry. A bunch of cool people come to talk to the film students. Advanced film screenings are sometimes held. Plus, students can break out and explore opportunities in the city.

All in all, LMU is not my top choice. But the campus is very nice. LMU just got a brand new library that was probably one of the nicest buildings I have ever been in. The film school is reputable and connected to the industry. It serves as a good backup school if USC and Chapman don't work out.

I want to end by introducing you to Pratley. I know it's random, but my good friend Christina introduced me to his music. He's a student at USC. Listen to Fall Wind. After all, Autumn is around the corner.

http://pratleyproject.com/

UCLA

I just got back from a super nice twilight run. Literally 15 people beeped/screamed/waved at me. I'm not sure who all of you were, but "Hi! I love you!"

I'm about to go lock myself in my room and work on my summer reading. Right now I'm reading Snow Falling on Cedars, and I'm pretty hooked. It's suspenseful, sexy, tragic, and beautiful. Check it out. (Alaina, don't comment on this.)

Before I return to San Piedro Island via my too-small-for-my-growing-body bed, I wanted to write my review of UCLA.

Having spent two weeks at the University of California, Los Angeles, I feel like I know the place inside and out.

First of all, the campus is actually like a small city. In fact, it was overwhelmingly huge at first. Coming from a small town and a history of small schools, I loved this aspect.

The campus has plenty to offer - many places to study, eat, exercise, whatever. UCLA had nice cafeterias and an awesome central hub with a cool bookstore and some nice places to eat including Panda Express and Jamba Juice. Woot! Woot!

The campus is really pretty beautiful. Everything is well kept and perfect. It doesn't feel like you're in California. UCLA almost had an east coast feel. The athletic area was cool too. I liked running on the track, and the gym was huge - complete with a rock wall inside.

Believe it or not, you will most likely start to feel the grasp of the black hole at some point. In that case, you can escape to Westwood - the neato neighborhood outside of UCLA. It's fun even thought it's not as hoppin' as it used to be.

Unlike USC, UCLA is in a very safe neighborhood: Beverly Hills. The Sunset Blvd. strip is only a 30 or 40 minute drive away. UCLA is in the perfect spot for internships and access to studios.

The dorms at UCLA looked like hotels from the outside. The rooms were pretty nice inside too.

As for the film building...

It was a little run down. The equipment we used had a few issues. The hallways were white and small and made me feel like I was in an insane asylum. Compared to USC and Chapman, the facilities at UCLA needed work. But that's because unlike the other two, UCLA is a state school. California is broke.

Still, UCLA had everything you needed. What I did like was the emphasis on story. It seemed like the school focused a lot of attention and writing and creating truly worthwhile stories. The techanical stuff came last. Some of the teachers we met were cool. UCLA is definitely more of an independent film school. It felt very different from USC. The two are bitter rivals.

UCLA's film school is actually combined with the theater school. This guy is in charge: Myrl Schreibman. I actually met him last summer when I was walking through the school with Carol Anne and Danny. He told us about the U.S. Performing Arts camps. No doubt, he is an influential and helpful dude.

However, there was some negative talk about him at the film camp. From what I can gather, he lacks a welcoming and warm attitude, but his heart is in the right place.

Finally, UCLA is extremely hard to get into. And you can't apply to the film school until your junior year in college. It's a gamble.

The junior year risk, the rundown facilities, and the negativity around Myrl were enough for me to cross UCLA off of my list. But it may work for other people and is definitely worth looking into.

Saying Goodbye

The dorm building we stayed in at film camp had many groups staying in it, but the sixth floor remained unused. On the last night, my mentor David was on night patrol. He helped some of us break out and sneak to the lounge on the sixth floor.

By the time we got there, it was very late. We sat around and talked for awhile, and soon everyone started falling asleep. We headed back to our rooms knowing that tomorrow we would finally get to leave the black hole. But did we want to now?

After two weeks, we had truly become afamily. I knew some of the kids at film camp better than I knew kids at my own school. Together, we managed to complete some sweet short films and maintain our sanity.

The last day went by quickly. It all ended with a closing ceremony. Many parents and relatives showed up. We watched the movies we had made and got to see work by the screenwriting and comedy improv students.

After the certificates were handed out, I found Carol Anne, Danny, and Danielle, and we started walking toward the parking garage. Just like that, it was over. Walking back to the car, I felt strange. We all felt as if the two weeks would never end, but they did. And as I grabbed my luggage, I knew that I would most likely never see those people again.

I really miss you guys. I hope you are enjoying the end of summer, and I hope that we meet again someday.

"You met me at a very strange time in my life."
- Fight Club

A Pressing Matter

So... after my adventure to WixPix, my weekend turned out to be much busier than I expected - complete with the grand opening of a new building at my school, a meteor shower, a trip to no where Pennsylvania, and a flaming car. I also ran into some dead ends on my short film and had a few college freak outs with my parents.

I want to talk about all of this, but for once in my life I am tired of filmmaking and college. In fact, if someone were to approach me at this particular moment and mention those two words, I would probably hurl my blueberry yogurt at them.

Right now, I want to talk about a much more pressing matter...

The Homosexual Tension between Edward and Jacob in Eclipse.

Normally, I completely boycott all things Twilight, but we had the chance to go to the Westwood theater on Friday at film camp. The theater was really cool, and Carol Anne tells me that a bunch of premieres were held there back in the day.

Eclipse was the only thing playing and surprisingly most of the film students who went were guys. We were really desperate to get off campus.

Eclipse played out as expected. I soon realized that girls like Twilight because it's basically soft porn. Seriously. Jacob was always shirtless - for no reason. Bella was cool but behaved like a whore. She made out with Jacob. Then Edward. Then Jacob again in a neverending cycle. And she tried to get in Edward's pants.

I found all of the violence and sexual stuff to be disturbing since many ten-old-girls are into the series. Girls like my little sister. I quickly called my mom to make sure my sister did not go see Eclipse, but it was too late. Dun. Dun. Dun.

Anyway, the most interesting part of Eclipse was the tent scene. Apparently Twilight fans were anticipating this scene because I found a whole blog devoted to it. The basic jist is that the famous trio are on top of a mountain during a snow storm. Bella is freezing and needs warmed up. Edward can't keep her warm because he's a vampire.

This gives Jacob the chance to say the line, "Let's face it, I'm hotter than you." So, werewolf boy crawls into a sleeping bag with a shivering Kristen Stewart and proceeds to think dirty thoughts that Edward can read.

God, I would hate to know what Stephanie Meyer is like in person.

And what was most disturbing was the fact that every guy in the theater turned to look at each other. We all felt it. The homosexual tension. It was awkward and weird. I can't explain it, but it was like both Jacob and Edward were thinking about ditching Bella, and running away with each other.

Still, not all things were awful. I have to admit... the movie was pretty sexy. At a couple steamy moments, we all squirmed in our seats. Afterwards, everyone admitted how much Eclipse made them miss their significant others back home, myself included.

Plus, Eclipse had really good music. Like this song...

And then there was...

THE TRAILER FOR HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS.

The trailer was greeted with a standing ovation. Being a Harry Potter fan since I read The Chamber of Secrets in second grade, I cannot wait!

Dirty Little B*tches

Heh. Heh. I'm jumping the gun because the finale of Pretty Little Liars was on last night.

The children of my street excitedly tuned in to ABC Family at my neighbor's house. The show of course ended on a suspenseful note, and now I'll just have to hold my breath for the next season.

Haha! Okay, seriously. Pretty Little Liars is a shallow and sort of stupid show. In LA, Danielle and Erica affectionately called it Dirty Little Bitches. They were spot on. Some of the girls in the show behave like monsters. I find it really difficult to believe that high school girls actually act like that. I could be wrong. I do live in a small town.

I feel like teenagers deal with much more realistic problems than the materialistic ones that appear in Pretty Little Liars. So why did I tune into the show every Tuesday night? I really don't know. But it was entertaining in a summer way.

Another confession... I'm a gleek. Earlier this year, my dad and my brother (of all people) got me hooked on Glee. I excitedly tuned into the finale of that too.

However, whereas I would probably be embarrassed to admit I watched Pretty Little Liars, I am proud to announce that I'm a Glee fan.

I found the show to be hilarious and extremely well done. The writing, performances, and overall production values were impressive. Plus, unlike High School Musical, it wasn't afraid to address real high school issues... sex, pregnancy, homosexuality, racism, obesity, bullying, etc. Not to mention that it involved a pregnant girl and the birth of a baby.

If there are any other guys out there manly enough to profess their love of Glee, please stand up now.

On a side note, I spent most of today at WixPix, a production company near Johnstown. They do commercials and videos for a lot of local businesses and companies. I got to job shadow, ask a bunch of questions, and even work the teleprompter.

Unfortunately, they couldn't give me a camera for my short film, but that's okay. I have a few backup plans that will go in effect tomorrow. Production of this short film will start soon... I promise.

The Hipster Within

What the cinnamon sticks is a hipster? People from Johnstown want to know. Hopefully, this link will give a vague idea.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hipster

Hipsters mainly reside in areas such as Brooklyn, San Francisco, and Mexico. However, in LA there were sightings and talk of the hipster culture. My contact with said culture began on the first Wednesday at film camp.

That evening, we journeyed into Westwood for the first time. After eating at In-N-Out, we headed to Urban Outfitters.

Being from Johnstown, this was my first time in the store, and it was pretty cool. It was here that David and Auggie decided to help me define my fashion sense.

Together, we picked out two V-neck T-shirts. That's it. They are extremely comfortable, and I hear that Target is the place to get a bunch for cheap. Truth be told, I had wanted to try out a V-neck long before that night.

I got a short haircut the night before I left LA. Upon returning home, my Johnstown peeps saw my haircut and new clothes and labeled me as a hipster.

I think hipsters are cool, but I don't want to be one. I don't want the hipster mentality. I want to be Chad. Still, that doesn't mean I can't steal some hipster fashion once in awhile.

P.S. Here's a funny blog to entertain and distract you for awhile longer.

http://stuffhipstershate.tumblr.com/

Suck my Lemons

The Making of Lemonopoly.

AsI mentioned earlier, the film students were placed into groups of three or four with each person acting as director, producer, director of photography/cinematographer, or editor/sound.

My group worked great together as we quickly decided that Reid would direct, I would produce, Kevin would work the camera, and Walter would edit.

For actors, we cast Jimmy and Zach who were great. They both agreed that they hadn't made a movie as fun as Lemonopoly since high school.

Our group was mentored by a graduate student name Julio. He was awesome! Making Lemonopoly, I learned that the producer does all of the hard work - scheduling, gathering props, setting locations, working with actors, and keeping the shoot on time. Producing was fun especially since organization is my specialty, but I would much rather direct.

On Saturday we had a blast at the shoot. Unlike other groups, we stayed in one location all day. We threw lemons, created jokes, and made a mess.

We spent the rest of the week editing the film. Because my group worked well together, the whole experience was fun. For having only two weeks, I am proud of Lemonopoly. Feel free to check it out.

The Black Hole of Film Camp

Let me start with a word about the weather. LA. Warm and sunny right? Wrong. My mom told me that I didn't need to pack any jeans. I packed one pair just in case and wore them throughout the trip. I arrived in LA during June Gloom, which carried over into July. It felt like fall in Pennsylvania. While the people of Johnstown were sweating, I was bundling up.

The days at film camp were long. After only a few days, I felt like I had been there an eternity. We often compared the huge campus of UCLA to a black hole that had sucked us in. It felt like time had stopped, and life outside of the college no longer existed.

This being said, we were easily amused by things such as instant coffee vending machines, Panda Express, and any murmur of Lady Gaga.

In the evenings, the people of US Performing Arts planned fun activities. We often had the chance to go to the gym or the pool (so I did get some running in), and we made trips to Westwood, the neighborhood outside of UCLA. Tuesday nights were Improv nights, and on Monday we ate this thing called a pizookie. It's basically this huge cookie of deliciousness that you eat with ice cream. People in Florida call it a cookie pie.

After an exhausting day of filming on Saturday, we took Sunday (the Fourth of July) off. All of the students boarded school buses, and we headed to Hollywood.

My group decided to stick together. We headed to Amoeba Music, the most beautiful place on earth.

The store has a top floor filled with used DVDs. The bottom floor is littered with posters, used and new CDs, and records. Posters cover the wall, loud Cuban music plays in the background, and the whole building has a welcoming smell of dust. I even walked into the back room where old school music is kept. I could have spent an entire day in that part alone.

I ended up buying E.T., Three Kings, and Phoenix's It's Never Been Like That.

After Amoeba, we grabbed some Philly Steak n' Cheese sandwiches, explored a Goodwill type store, and took pictures outside of the Chinese theater.

The day concluded with a trip to the Hollywood Bowl where we watched the cool firework show. On the late night return trip, I feel asleep on the bus. Reaching the dorms, everyone passed out immediately.

That adventure was a highlight on my trip. Getting the chance to just have fun and hang out with new friends for a day was great. The next day, we returned to filmmaking.