Chad Strikes Back

So I took a hiatus. A long one. The last two months were a whirlwind. At many moments, I encountered something I longed to blog about. But I didn't want to start blogging again unless I knew I could keep it up consistently. That wouldn't be fair.

I turned in my research paper today (I wrote about interracial couples), and so I'm beginning to feel free. Well freeer. Free-er. More free.

A buttload of bloggable events occurred in the past two months. I'll try to pick some ones to focus on over the next few weeks.

A few highlights:

I finished the short film, called it a Dance in Time, and entered it in a few festivals. We'll wait and see what happens.
I also completed all of my applications except for one - LMU, which I plan to start this week.
And I'm starting to grow a little more facial hair. Not quite there yet.

In other news, Christmas is in 16 days. Holy crap. All of the sudden, winter struck Johnstown and we had two snow days. My guidance counselor reminded me again today that senior year flies by. She's right.

But I'm having fun. And I'm excited for what lies ahead.

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!

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.

Live Spontaneously

Today, I woke up early and broke my daily routine.

First, I finally learned how to brew my own coffee. This epiphany is both beautiful and terrifying. Only the future will reveal the consequences.

Then, brother bonding day began. Together, Ryan and I trekked to the Beginnings building. Beginnings is a wonderful non-profit organization that helps children in need. Ryan and I are on the Jr. Board. We volunteered to help prepare the new newsletters for mailing. 1,500 newsletters. Fold. Stick. I'll be going through those motions in my sleep.

After six hours of the fold-stick process, we made up stories about the people in Central Park, ate at Coney Island, attended the film festival (the films were pretty awful), made disgusting frozen food, and even storyboarded for a future short film (this is where the pictures come from).

Today was crazy and hectic, but I actually had fun. Ryan and I went with the flow and made our own fun. So, there's the advice I want to give people. Wake up tomorrow and forget your daily routine. Live compulsively for once. Do what you feel like doing (without breaking any major laws). And most importantly, have fun in whatever you do.