View Full Version : The mark f thread
I realize that there's a very good chance that this thread will die out quickly. I normally like to respond to specific posts or write up ny own "reviews", etc., but lately I've found myself unable to participate quite as much as normal, so if I just post here what's on my mind, maybe the few people who care will notice it. I will definitely NOT dump random reviews in here. I'm WAY over 100 films behind at this point and have no intentions of writing any kind of mini-reviews in here. Rather, I'd feel better just posting things which mean something to me regarding the site, my own personal world view, or current events. If you haven't noticed, I have completely stopped reading and contributing to the more "political" threads here, and I intend to continue with that.
Now that all that is said and done, I suppose I don't have much to add to this first post. My health is horrible, although when push comes to shove, I can almost act normally in public. My daughter is in the process of finishing a major film at USC, so I'm going to watch it next Saturday with as many people I can get to accompany me, no matter how much I bleed all over the place. Is there anyone who lives near USC who would like to watch the film at Norris Theatre? If so, I can give you more info, but I believe there will be at least two dozen short (five minute) films shown that evening. The reason I'm asking is that we seem to have many members from SoCal and many of them seem to be involved in film.
I'm WAY over 100 films behind at this point and have no intentions of writing any kind of mini-reviews in here.
So the chance of you seeing a film this week becoming number 12 on your list is small?
If you haven't noticed, I have completely stopped reading and contributing to the more "political" threads here, and I intend to continue with that.
I should adopt that policy, but about once a year, I can't help myself.
Now that all that is said and done, I suppose I don't have much to add to this first post. My health is horrible, although when push comes to shove, I can almost act normally in public.
I'm sorry to here that Mark.
My daughter is in the process of finishing a major film at USC, so I'm going to watch it next Saturday with as many people I can get to accompany me, no matter how much I bleed all over the place.
Congratulations Sarah!
Thanks, Loner. I meant to say that I'm over 100 writeups behind, but I basically stopped doing those when it became painful to sit and type for so long. I need a laptop although in my case, I don't have a lap.
Sorry about the increased pain, Mark. Looking forward to hearing whatever odds and ends come out of your head in here. :)
GreenEyed Vixen
10-16-11, 04:24 PM
mark f, you are always so upbeat. I will read anything you choose to write about. Im sorry for your pain and your health. I hope with all my heart that you start feeling better, I will send good and healing thoughts your way :yup:
Thanks MoFos. I'm doing things to try to correct the problem but it will apparently take a lot of time and self-control.
Sexy Celebrity
10-16-11, 05:00 PM
What's wrong with your health?
honeykid
10-16-11, 08:47 PM
As always mark, I'm always interested in what you have to say about film. You're pretty good on most other things, too. :p
Hope you feel a bit better today. :)
What's wrong with your health?
I'm not ready to get into that but I have enough problems with me to have seven or eight specialists competing for my time, at least if I went to the doctor. However, I'm not going because I realize that I'll be in a revolving door or admitted into the hospital which I will not do. We have excellent insurance so that's not the question. The main problem is obesity which is causing extreme pain and occasional external bleeding around my trunk area. That's already way too disusting to go into any further, but I will say if I lose some weight, the pain and bleeding will go away and I then might attempt to go to my GP for some other minor help. My wife has tried every which way to get me to go but I'm stubbornly trying my way, and I can see now that it's a long haul. Of course, some days are better than others.
I'd much rather talk about other things than my health in this thread though.
will.15
10-16-11, 09:22 PM
Go see a doctor.
External bleeding ain't cool.
I was in the hospital last year. It was kidney stones. I got out and I'm still here.
OK, MoFos, I expected to read things like these. Thanks for your concern. It appears though that nobody who has read this is in the position or the mood to come to USC next Saturday.
Brodinski
10-17-11, 04:18 AM
I'm not ready to get into that but I have enough problems with me to have seven or eight specialists competing for my time, at least if I went to the doctor. However, I'm not going because I realize that I'll be in a revolving door or admitted into the hospital which I will not do. We have excellent insurance so that's not the question. The main problem is obesity which is causing extreme pain and occasional external bleeding around my trunk area. That's already way too disusting to go into any further, but I will say if I lose some weight, the pain and bleeding will go away and I then might attempt to go to my GP for some other minor help. My wife has tried every which way to get me to go but I'm stubbornly trying my way, and I can see now that it's a long haul. Of course, some days are better than others.
I'd much rather talk about other things than my health in this thread though.
I'm sorry to hear that, Mark. If you need any help figuring out how you're going to lose weight in a healthy manner, give me a shout. I could offer anything ranging from the most general of guidelines to detailed daily eating programs. This is by no means an obligation, just a kind hand if you need it.
Seeing as you don't want to talk about your health, tell me about the films you've watched released in 2011 that you think are worth-watching, special, or really top drawer material. I'm not only curious for your views on 2011 in movie terms, but also to see if I missed any good ones so far.
will.15
10-17-11, 04:33 AM
Which USC?
The one near where you live, I think... the University of Southern California. My daughter is a junior at the film school. Last semester, she made five short films but they technically belong to USC so she can't post them online. This semester, she just finished writing and directing her first film, and since we paid for the permits and a venue to shoot a concert scene, she ("we") own this one and she can submit it to festivals. Her film is debuting on Saturday. After that, she's working as the cinematographer/editor of her partner's film, doing the same jobs he just did on hers.
Sexy Celebrity
10-17-11, 04:37 AM
Have you two met before already?
No, I just have ideas based on some of his posts.
Bedtime: Later, Gators.
I'm sorry to hear that, Mark. If you need any help figuring out how you're going to lose weight in a healthy manner, give me a shout. I could offer anything ranging from the most general of guidelines to detailed daily eating programs. This is by no means an obligation, just a kind hand if you need it.
Seeing as you don't want to talk about your health, tell me about the films you've watched released in 2011 that you think are worth-watching, special, or really top drawer material. I'm not only curious for your views on 2011 in movie terms, but also to see if I missed any good ones so far.
To tell you the truth, I've only seen four films released in 2011. That's out of 425 I've watched this year. I haven't even gone to the theatre once. The four, in order of decreasing quality to me, are The Lincoln Lawyer, Thor, Source Code and Hobo With a Shotgun. So, in reality, I should be asking you the question. :cool:
Maybe I'll PM you about the first paragraph, but even though I find myself in a poor current situation, I used to exercise an enormous amount each day and was a normal-weighing person through most all my twenties. Before that and afterwards, I've always had a weight problem but I was still playing full-court basketball at lunch with the teenagers as recently as five years ago.
Used Future
10-17-11, 10:37 AM
Hi Mark. As I've said in PM's before I really hope your health improves. I'd also like to say what a fantastic post that was from Sexy Celebrity on page 1.. You're a much loved member of this site mark. Word.
Seeing as you don't want to focus too much on your health in this thread, and seeing as I'm on the wrong side of the Atlantic (not to mention the US) to come to USC. Are you able to tell us anymore about Sarah's film?
I'm certainly curious because I know you've worked on script ideas with her before (granted this was unrelated to college), and well let's face it; she's had one heck of a movie influenced upbringing.
Please tell us some more if you can.
I haven't seen the final film yet. I saw the video lock version which has some excellent transition cuts between reality and fantasy as well as impressive cinematography, but that was before all the sound was cleaned up, added, foleyed and the score was put in. She's got a few more days before the final version is due. It's about a rock musician who seems adrift in the world even though he's just been offered a contract from a label. He's having visions of being pursued in a forest and hearing loud gunshots and also of a knight who tells him to go on a quest for the tree of life. He really has no idea what that means. For a five-minute film Sarah wrote far too-complicated a script which required shooting in a forest and at a local rock club, it was a big step up from her earlier films which basically used only one or two locations at her apartment, our home or a friend's home. What also gummed up the works was that it was difficult to get extras for the scenes at the club and the forest, and the band she lined up for the concert scene even cancelled at the last second. This caused her to have to improvise and make the whole film seem more dream-like. The lead character also never speaks in the film although he does sing. Everybody around here is looking forward to seeing how it turns out.
Used Future
10-17-11, 11:08 AM
Thanks, it sounds intriguing. Is this a black and white or colour film? Something about the description makes me think black and white, but I'm probably wrong. Also was the music specially composed for the project, or did Sarah source it from elsewhere?
Sorry to hear about the troubles, Mark. Hopefully you get some respite soon!
Thanks, it sounds intriguing. Is this a black and white or colour film? Something about the description makes me think black and white, but I'm probably wrong. Also was the music specially composed for the project, or did Sarah source it from elsewhere?
One of her films last year was in black and white but this one is in color. She could not use any music without getting permission from the sources which would have meant paying for it if it shows at a festival or she earns any money from the film. She's using the music from two sources. One is a USC music major who has done scoring jobs for other students' movies, and the other is our good friend Nick who's in two bands and composed a new song for the movie. One thing she slightly "stole" is her opening title colors -- she used the yellow and black style at the beginning of The Tenth Victim although she changed the font. The film's title is Quest For Life. It sould be changed later if it goes to festivals. I thought that was an OK title, if a bit underwhelming. I preferred Eat the Fruit. :cool:
Sarah's radio show, as always, streams on kxsc.org (http://kxsc.org/bandwidth/) from 5-7 PM Pacific time each Tuesday. That means it starts in about 10 minutes. If you click the link, once it gets to the page, click on "Popup Webplayer" in the top right corner above "What's Playin'". If Sarah isn't on yet, the robot will be playing music culled from most every type of genre. You can play it while checking out the site or surfing the web. :cool:
Brodinski
10-21-11, 08:38 AM
To tell you the truth, I've only seen four films released in 2011. That's out of 425 I've watched this year. I haven't even gone to the theatre once. The four, in order of decreasing quality to me, are The Lincoln Lawyer, Thor, Source Code and Hobo With a Shotgun. So, in reality, I should be asking you the question. :cool:
I watched all of those, except Hobo with a Shotgun. I thought Lincoln Lawyer was decent, Thor unworthy of my time and Source Code the best of the three. So far, Source Code cracked my top 10 of the year, even though I've got some minor issues with the plot.
The best film I've watched this year remains Bullhead, the Belgian bid for an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film. My runner-up so far is Super 8, a film that damn near moved me to tears. Other good ones are Melancholia, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Essential Killing, La Piel Que Habito, Le Gamin Au Vélo and The Trip.
OK, first off, I did see Source Code three times (as well as most the other ones, whether they were worth your time or not). It's a very thoughtful film, but I got the "mystery" in the very first scene, and if you believe, as I do, that the mystery was more about the resolution of his personal life than the resolution of the disaster, then I got that about halfway through. I thought it was a good movie and should be seen by people, but it's just not a Top Ten film in my book. Neither was Moon. Both films seemed like "Twilight Zone" episodes deserving of an hour (including commercials) but I honestly don't believe that Bowie's son has crafted a full-fledged film yet. He's great at what he does but I find it somewhat limiting, and I would say the same thing about my own daughter (and have) too. Now, I will admit that Duncan does come up with a few flourishes here and there which almost make it seem like he's made a fully-complete film, but I'm not backing down. Thor could be considered stupid, I guess, but it's pretty damned funny on Earth and Branagh gets to turn the other stuff into something resembling pseudo-Shakespearean. Even so, it's the Earth stuff which works for me in Thor.
Maybe I will add the 2011 movies I watch into this thread. I was actually going to go into detail about Sarah's screenings last night, but it's way too late. I could add my viewing of SCRE4M, but I'm not really into it right now. I'll go into that one after I watch a few more from 2011.
I watched Source Code with three different people, and since it's only 90 minutes, it's really very easy to watch it that many times, but yes, of course, I watch movies 24/7, at least in general. :cool:
Well, what do you want? Is he supposed to psychically understand that you're watching and you're perfect for him? That's taking movies to an interactive extreme, I'd say. Sorry, but of all the persons laid out in front of him in the movie, I'd go for her too. I mean, the "officer" is hot too but there's no way that's gonna happen.
Hi, Guys!
I need help from you on two fronts here. First, I'm posting the link to Sarah's last film. I saw it on the big screen at USC on Saturday, but this is the first time any of her films has been posted online. She couldn't post last semester's films for some silly reason. I just watched some videos at another site before I watched this, and I could see and hear them fine playing at normal speed. Now, either my computer or my connection is so slow that I can't tell if the audio is all synced up with the picture here. I could hear all the audio, and it's the finished product but my visuals were slow, frozen and skipping around.
So basically I want everybody to watch the video. It's six minutes, including the credits. Is it synced up properly? Also, please make comments about the film. I have many more than I already said earlier in the thread, but I'm not adding any more until I hear what others say.
There is supposed to be a password to watch the video, which is "quest", but it started up when I clicked on it without a password. Maybe you can also tell me if you need the password. Thanks in advance for all your time and consideration here. :cool:
Quest For Life (http://vimeo.com/31066717)
I did indeed need a password, and I should note that it's case-sensitive: "Quest" doesn't work, but "quest" does.
The audio is a bit off for me as well, though only a bit.
Regarding the film itself: should I comment here or on the video itself?
I want your comments here because I want to respond to them here. However, I would appreciate any comments being put at the other site too. It will make Sarah see that people are watching it, and maybe get her to post her thoughts there and perhaps here again. Thanks.
This is that time of the week: Sarah's radio show is at 5-7 PM Pacific time. That's in about 30 minutes. Today's show is split into two halves. Intern Mike is doing the first hour on his own to try to pass his "test" and prove he's ready to be on his own show. Sarah will come on the second hour, and her theme is Music from "Gilmore Girls", and that means lots of Grant-Lee Phillips songs. That's Super Cool!
Here's kxsc.org (http://kxsc.org/bandwidth/). When you click the link and get to the site. click in the top right corner on "Popup Webplayer". That should take you to Sarah's "French Connection" show or the robot will automatically be playing random music until she and Mike arrive.
I agree with you that it's probably "confusing", at least if you think all of it is real. There were problems which had to be addressed based on limitations in cast members, extras and band members not showing up. The "Asian man" was the main guy who wanted the role of "the billionaire" and since only two out of 80 guys interested showed up, he certainly earned it. You think that Asians shouldn't be allowed to act such parts? His part was cut way down though. What was 'hipsterish" about it?
I appreciate your comments, but please try to get more specific.
will.15
10-25-11, 09:22 PM
I couldn't watch it with my connection,
Everybody looked like a hippy.
will.15
10-25-11, 09:31 PM
Where did they find so many people that look like they think it is 1969?
I couldn't watch it with my connection,
Everybody looked like a hippy.
You may have the same crumbum-kinda connection I have. They were supposed to be from "any era" but, yes, some of them seemed like hippies.
Thanks for trying and commenting.
No, but there's something about it that just seems like a cliche. Asian men are often portrayed, comically, as these crazy, yelling, psychotic people, and I just thought of that when I saw him.
Do you think that character is supposed to be comical?
The music, the way the people dressed, and that moment where you see the film through a camera lens. Made me think about all those hipsterish people I know of who are into photography and use Holgas and special lenses and such. Call me unwashed, but it all seems so pretentious to me.
Your comments seem to have as much to do with the people you know (and their cameras) as the film. Do they really use 60-year-old cameras regularly? I realize this is changing the subject, but since we've discussed Source Code elsewhere (and that's a "real" professional movie), do you think the music in that film is hipsterish?
Thanks again, and keep it coming.
Mind you, I'm not really too bothered by anything hipsterish, but it's just... is there supposed to be some kind of message/story, perhaps pertaining to The Bible or something, in here? Something hidden, something you need to figure out? If there was, I didn't really get it, but that might be because I'm not a student of religion.
The film has nothing to do with religion. It might have more to do with something similar to what DSM is going through, although it has nothing specifically to do with that either.
Well. since films are personal messges, I have no desire to explain "what it means", if anything beyond cinematic communication. If everybody else comes in here and says it's incoherent, maybe I'll "try" to explain it. Then again, it's not my film, so what right do I have to "explain" it. Needless to say, you are correct though. It has a strong personal message for Sarah and others who came up to us and talked about it after the screening. I really probed their minds, but I'll admit, most of them couldn't exactly put in words why they liked it. Maybe I'll back off a little and say that it may have to do with people unable to express themselves creatively. You know, something similar to Writer's Block, Director's Block or Musician's Block. If that's true, then I guess you DID get more of it than either of us think.
Look, I agree with you, and I'm happy that you've spent so much time on this. I would certainly hope that people would watch this short more than once, just as I would hope that people watch The Usual Suspect's short films over and over. There are lots of things hidden in films, and you might catch them more easily in a very short film than in a feature, but it will help anyone to appreciate all that cinema has to offer, whether it's crap or cream.
People, if you want to bash, this is your thread. Just remember, this is a film which tries to be more than just a cookie-cutter flick. I'll admit that this is an anti-USC film because they want commercial hits.
Brodinski
10-26-11, 04:59 AM
I've watched it. For a short film, I think this is pretty good. I like the editing (when he falls into the sofa, but wakes up in bed), the camera shots (the shot when we see the guy filmed from behind those other 2 guys' heads, thought it was a nice touch) and I think the lighting and use of more 'artsy' features (the old camera, the white light, the knight) was fine.
Now, I have to say that I like that it makes you think. It's not a story that moves from A-to-B. Because you hinted at dealing with writer's block, I personally think it has to do with the guy not being satisfied with his creative output. Therefore, he has no interest for the record contract that his group members are psyched about. So in his dreams or dreamy lapses when he's awake, he goes looking for a mystical object (the tree of life) in order to get his artistic flows pumping again.
What I didn't get however was the Asian. I don't understand his role in the film. As a result, I thought he was unnecessary and made matters perhaps more complicated than they should've been.
So in short:
* technically sound
* nice artsy touches
* depth in the story BUT a little too complicated for being such a short film
The Asian guy was supposed to have a much larger role. First off, he was supposed to be a billionaire and looking for the "Tree of Life" also so that he could live forever. The scenes which were deleted were: (1) Outside the concert venue, his "minions", including the "black guy", were supposed to be looking for the "tree of life" for him and (2) an extended scene in the forest where the minions tracked down the singer and shot him to see if he somehow got the "tree" to work for him because he was more "into it" than the other guy who got shot and "failed". I realize that this is trivia the way the final film ended up. Sarah's logic was that the Billionaire was important enough to keep in the finished film, especially since it was so difficult to go out to the mountains and shoot in the forest, but he was then going to end up being more of an opposite of the lead character than an actual nemesis. I think a line of dialogue could have "clarified" his reason for him being in the current film as a "real" character, but the entire crew was so far out in the middle of nowhere that nobody's cell phone worked at all, whether I was calling from 75 miles away or the people a few yards away from each other were trying to communicate. All the terrific editing transpositions were written by Sarah into her original script.
Sarah may disagree but I believe the final decision was made to have this Billionaire character stay in the film as an added reason for the singer's rising up from the depths of creaitve despair. He became more of a fantasy character who pushed him to find and eat from the tree of life to overcome his own lack of commitment to his choices in life.
Sarah, where are you? :cool:
I just now saw your post Sexy. Very nice. That woman in the forest is indeed the one and only Sarah. Now, if she's playing herself, we'll have to drag her into this thread (which I'm trying to do). I know for a fact that someone else was supposed to play that role but as I mentioned before, many people who said they were going to that forest never showed, and Sarah had to think on the fly and adapt.
See how much fun it is to "dig deeper into movies"?
No, I don't think you're superficial and shallow, but sometimes I do wonder what makes you take that extra step to "love" something.
linespalsy
10-26-11, 02:25 PM
I liked it, it made me want there to be more of it, which I mean as a compliment.
What was the significance of that picture of the knights? Has Sarah seen Raising Cain (I'm thinking of the extended dream sequence)? I also don't see what the problem with young people using (showing off?) old cameras is. I always used to play with my great grandfather's original Rolleiflex (which we still have) whenever I visited. Anyway it's a little obvious (my comment, that is) but the scene with the camera just adds another layer of ambiguity to the "what/how are we seeing?" question implied by/about the movie. Lastly, nice lighting in the bedroom scene, really creates an ambiguous mood.
Best wishes to sarah, I hope all is well and that she will post more.
Woohoo, I got it right! I assumed that was Sarah in the forest, too.
My feelings are mixed, but knowing a little of the backstory about it, as provided by you, bodes well, because all the things I like are about her innate filmmaking talent (the way it was shot, the cuts, the sound, etc.), and the things that threw me about it were things that sounded like they were beyond her control (not totally fleshed out, hard to guess at the meaning of it all). I enjoyed watching it and, like lines, really just wished she'd been able to see it through the way she initially wanted, with more emphasis on the dream sequences and more time to spell out what was happening, though I was able to guess at most of it.
Great stuff. Really dug it and I'd love to see what Sarah can do with more resources in fleshing this stuff out. The only things that I felt were off were largely due to the things you mentioned, and because her goal for this actually sounds overly ambitious for such a short film for such a budding young filmmaker. I feel like, if she'd had a more modest goal, she'd have probably knocked it out of the park. Trying to make symbols and dreams and things work coherently strikes me as a really hard thing to do, so kudos for aiming high and doing quite well with such a high degree of difficulty. Please thank her for sharing it with us. :)
will.15
10-26-11, 05:21 PM
This isn't sounding like something I would have liked. Autobiographical usually is boring. Yeah, I know they say write what you know so most people figure they know themselves and write about that. What was the last autobiographical movie that won Best Picture? Annie Hall? That had Woody Allen writing about himself and Diane Keaton and he and Diane Keaton are a lot more interesting than your average person or even artist. USC is right. Go commercial.
will.15
10-26-11, 05:24 PM
Okay.
Used Future
10-26-11, 05:29 PM
Many thanks for making us all privy to Sarah's project Mark...:cool:
What do I think?
If nothing else Sarah is going to make one hell of an editor...
You mentioned earlier there are some wonderful cuts between reality and fantasy, and at the risk of souding sycophantic; it was those very transitions that drew me in...
I didn't watch the film for a story because I imagine this is more of a technical exercise; though to Sarah's credit the film is certainly coherant.
The photography is strong as I'd expect, and I think limiting the dialogue to hokey 60's cliches (the band at the end) was very amusing...
One thing I didn't like is that some of the film appears to have been shot on campus (correct me if I'm wrong) but I'd have prefered an exterior shot before the library scene, even though the rest of the editing was flawless...
I always think shooting anything other than discrete exteriors on campus detracts from authenticity...but I'm nitpicking...
I particularly liked the zoom into the dictionary entry 'halucination' which gave it (at least for me) an exploratory B movie feel, and I can honestly say the whole thing was entertaining. Thank god you're taste has rubbed off, because it didn't play like some detatched abstract art project...at least for me...
I want to see more...I also agree that 'Eat the Fruit' would have been a better title...please keep us all posted:up:
I want to respond to all of today's posts, but first I'm trying to rewatch the film. I downloaded it but I'm still having some serious problems trying to watch it. I don't think they'll be resolved before the World Series in a half hour though. I just want to say that I appreciate the comments, and there's a good chance that Sarah will come into this thread soon to get more personal about the film and to comment and thank you all.
HitchFan97
10-27-11, 10:05 PM
Cool stuff, the editing was fantastic. Quite a lot to interpret, especially for a short, but it did seem to have a lot of religious and/or mythological themes. I was a bit surprised when the credits rolled though, that was an interesting way to end the film.
Deadite
10-27-11, 10:49 PM
Mark, I tried to watch and couldn't connect. The short sounds interesting from what I've read here so far. Stuff that blurs the line between dream and reality is generally my cup of tea.
I'll try again soon. Thanks for the heads up.
Dog Star Man
10-27-11, 10:55 PM
I'm a bit mixed on the matter.
While the narrative is a bit convoluted, I do enjoy the style in which it was filmed. (Falling from one place and cutting to falling down into the next, which seems recurrent). It's a style which merits hallucinations, which I'm presuming is what the narrative was supposed to be in the first place. I think she can do better, but that's the film making process right? You strive to become better as your projects progress. So tell her I said to keep at it!
TheUsualSuspect
10-28-11, 12:52 AM
I watched this short twice, once from a filmmaking point of view and the other from an audience point of view. Also not reading any comments yet, to go in with a fresh mind.
I'll start with the filmmaking point of view.
Not a fan of how it opens, the transitions seem very quick with the fade ins and outs.
I had no connection problems, it played fine for me, which tells me there is some audio issues. ADR is very evident for me, when they spoke I could tell the audio was recorded in a sound booth somewhere, as it's not synched up PERFECTLY and sounds very out of place with the environment. The most obvious part is when the two "hippies" talk to Jethro at the beginning. This goes hand in hand with the foley work: footsteps, drawers opening, papers shuffling, etc. To me it all seemed artificial. If it was done on purpose, it's a tricky thing to pull off because it will just take the audience out of the experience. Just in my opinion, of course.
I like seeing the world through the lens of the camera, it immediately sets an "age" to the setting.
The camera work is good, I liked the zoom in on the Tree of Life words in the book.
I thought the black man's death scene could have gone better. He slowly falls down backwards and is very staged.
Not a fan of the lead, it's hard to portray a character with no dialogue, but he really seemed unnatural to me. I liked the billionaire Asian man, he came off as an experienced actor, or one that takes it seriously.
From my point of view, it looks like he's looking for some sort of inspiration. The tree of life is put on by the record company and it seems that the billionaire represents them in the hallucinating sequences. Does he find inspiration? Does the record company kill the inspiration he finds? These questions are left unanswered by Sarah, but a slight grin from the lead makes us lean towards yes, he found something.
I find it interesting that she used a Dutch Angle for what I thought was reality, which makes me question which reality was real.
For those who think Sarah edited this, read the credits. She wrote and directed it. I know she had a vision on what it would look like, but I give credit to the editor, Alex.
Overall, I can see this playing at some festivals, just make sure she researches the right ones. Otherwise it will be a waste of time and money. Know what type of films the festival plays and rewards.
Despite the short not being clear with whatever she had intended, she clearly had a vision. A short like this is meant to make people debate about what the message is. With my personal experience with schools telling people what type of films to make...f*ck em. They are, in my opinion, trying to make their success off the minds who put their time and money into a passion project. They want something that will appeal to all and throw their name behind it. At least in my experience.
Congrats Sarah and starting out with literally NOTHING and then having a finished film on your hands that people watch and talk about. The highest compliment I can give you is that you sparked discussion.
akatemple
10-28-11, 01:21 AM
I really liked the short, I am not one of those people who analyzes a film bit by bit, sometimes a tree is just a tree. But I liked it and wish there was more and I think that is a good thing.
Why does it not allow people to leave comments on the site or page that your daughters movie is on?
For those who think Sarah edited this, read the credits. She wrote and directed it. I know she had a vision on what it would look like, but I give credit to the editor, Alex.
This is true. Alex was the chief editor and photographer, just as Sarah will be for his film which starts shooting next week. However, I do want to say, and I have a copy of the ORIGINAL script, if anybody wants to see it, that Sarah wrote in almost every one of those edits into the script. Sarah was also in the editing room 95% of the time (she has a little problem with arriving on time) and she and Alex thorughly discussed all the shots and lighting. I will be trying to post their next film, probably in December.
But I do want to thank you, TUS, because you're one of the few who probably understands all the hassles you have to go through with a time limit, especially considering all the releases, forms, permits, access to all the actors, extras and locations, etc. Last semester was a good learning experience but the five movies really didn't cost much and most of the locations involved Sarah's place or ours or one friend's. Also, she was a one-man film crew, except for the occasional boom operator, and she could use whatever sound, movie and music references/songs/clips she wanted since she knew the films would never be shown anywhere.
re93animator
10-28-11, 03:18 AM
I'll start by saying that I've never been to film school, nor am I familiar with what would be considered typical of student films, but I was pretty impressed by this. It blew most of the amateur YouTube films I've seen out of the water!:D
Like others, the plot didn't seem too coherent (intentionally so), but I love ambiguity, and it seems that if Sarah were looking to expound upon this, it might make a better lengthy film. I'm always interested in the sort of films that question reality by presenting the plot through a character's distorted perspective. If anything, it's usually great food for thought.
... and I liked the Asian guy. The deleted scenes you described could have added positively to the character, but I like the randomness of his appearance as it is. The unexplained panic that it evokes puts the viewer into the main character's shoes, which is something that typically works well in this sort of film.
People, if you want to bash, this is your thread. Just remember, this is a film which tries to be more than just a cookie-cutter flick. I'll admit that this is an anti-USC film because they want commercial hits.
Kudos to Sarah for going against the grain of commercialism in the name of artistic integrity!;) If there are two things I advocate more than anything else, they're individuality and creativity.
I really liked the short, I am not one of those people who analyzes a film bit by bit, sometimes a tree is just a tree. But I liked it and wish there was more and I think that is a good thing.
Why does it not allow people to leave comments on the site or page that your daughters movie is on?
I don't know about the comments. It seemed as if anybody could post comments up until yesterday, so I'll talk to Sarah about that. If I can't get ahold of her earlier, she is coming over for the weekend, if only so I can watch the flick properly since I'm still getting screwed when I try to watch it. Boo!
I'll start by saying that I've never been to film school, nor am I familiar with what would be considered typical of student films, but I was pretty impressed by this. It blew most of the amateur YouTube films I've seen out of the water!:D
Kudos to Sarah for going against the grain of commercialism in the name of artistic integrity!;) If there are two things I advocate more than anything else, they're individuality and creativity.
Thanks a lot, re93, since I respect your opinion a lot. It's obviously unfair for a proud papa, but I thought that Sarah's and Alex's film also blew away most of the other films shown that evening, at least on a technical level. I'll admit that I preferred some of the original sound to the added-in sound, but even on the big screen the only part which bothered me was at the "concert". Most of the other films were also good and heartfelt, but there was a certain safeness and repetitiion to most and a boring predictability to some of the others. Obviously, if my child had made them, I would think they were gold. I think my other faves were a documentary about people eating potato chips because they just can't help it and a sweet flick about some lonely guy who thinks he's too much of a loser to introduce himself to his new class, even though he's an awesome artist nobody would know unless they look at his journal.
Anyway, I'm happy to find that Sarah has some potential fans for her upcoming work. :cool:
Sexy Celebrity
10-28-11, 04:59 AM
Hope you're doing alright this week health-wise, Mark.
Thanks. I was doing pretty well, but then I drank some light beer.
Used Future
10-28-11, 07:21 AM
For those who think Sarah edited this, read the credits. She wrote and directed it. I know she had a vision on what it would look like, but I give credit to the editor, Alex.
Yeah I agree with some of your sentiment, but I was really refering to the editing from an artistic point of view. My mum's partner is a freelance television producer/director and always sits in on the editing process. The editor is really just technical support for her (with only occasional guidance and artistic input), so even though she isn't twiddling the knobs; she's still directing and making the majority of the artistic decisions. Though it has to be said she does a lot of rudimentary editing on her Mac these days before going into the editing suite. Now I understand I made an assumption earlier as everybody works differently to a certain degree, but mark's subsequent comments do seem to back this up. :)
akatemple
10-28-11, 06:50 PM
You said that your daughter had to cut a lot out of the film, is there any chance she can put the uncut version on that site. If that is a stupid question then just completely ignore this post.
Sorry to hear about all the health stuff, hope you are doing better
TheUsualSuspect
10-28-11, 07:07 PM
I did mention she had a vision, most directors do and I don't know any director that wouldn't sit in on the editing process. To say the editor is just taking directions and is the technical aspect of it is a bit low in my opinion. It's a collaborative effort. How many times do you see films that are poorly edited? Batman Begins is a great film, with mediocre editing.
I'm not taking any credit away from Sarah, but I'm also giving it where *I* think it's due.
As I'm currently prepping for my horror flick, it's a big hassle. So again, Sarah, get in here and receive mucho congrats.
wintertriangles
10-28-11, 07:45 PM
To start, the story alone is good. It has the potential to work very nicely, and it was mostly shot well, aside from the fact that there were MANY times where the focus needed to be used to make one things stand out more than another.
Aside from that, there were a lot of problems. First, as others have said, the editing is poor; poorly paced and whoever's job it was should have cut a few specific extra shots. I can go into detail if need be. Also, half of the score was was not at all fitting. The actors were bad. I would do a quick rewrite, recast, get a new editor, and try again because it could be really cool.
That said, I know how much effort goes into these projects and I don't want or mean to take away from that.
You said that your daughter had to cut a lot out of the film, is there any chance she can put the uncut version on that site. If that is a stupid question then just completely ignore this post.
That will probably not happen since those "adjustments" were made because there weren't enough people to film the scenes properly. Therefore the scenes were never shot as intended. That happened a few times -- at the concert (remember, the band never even showed up and Sarah could only use the venue on one specific evening) and in the forest which was way out in the middle of nowhere. Each director has use of the camera for four weeks. Now, that may seem a long time, but with going fulltime to college and working, it narrows down how much time you have to actually film. You have to fit in with people's schedules concerning the locations and the actors. Just so you're clear, the lead actors all basically act as a profession. These aren't students or people you get off the street. Most all the people Sarah and Alex see during casting all have TV and film credits and many are SAG. There were lots of friends and students who were extras in the party scene and at the concert though. Anyway, the way it broke down was that almost all the shooting was done between Friday nights through Sunday nights. The weekdays were for school/work and the weeknights were spent in editing the film, sound and music. Sarah (and everybody else who made their movies) were basically exhausted for a month, and it's about to start up all over again.
By the way, I think the last time I checked the vimeo site, one could enter comments. :cool:
To start, the story alone is good. It has the potential to work very nicely, and it was mostly shot well, aside from the fact that there were MANY times where the focus needed to be used to make one things stand out more than another.
Aside from that, there were a lot of problems. First, as others have said, the editing is poor; poorly paced and whoever's job it was should have cut a few specific extra shots. I can go into detail if need be. Also, half of the score was was not at all fitting. The actors were bad. I would do a quick rewrite, recast, get a new editor, and try again because it could be really cool.
That said, I know how much effort goes into these projects and I don't want or mean to take away from that.
Thanks for commenting, but yes, please be more specific about the editing and the music.
About some of the actors...
I hated the guy that played "the hallucination guy" as I call him - the shaggy haired, bearded guy who said Jethro was destined for greatness. His attitude came off very "jokey" and spirited in a humorous way -- it's in his voice and his eyes. It rubbed me the wrong way. I would have liked him to have been more serious. He did almost the kind of delivery that I would imagine an actor like Jack Black would do -- the "everything's silly" attitude. It didn't mesh well with Jethro, who was so quiet.
As for Jethro... I've gotta rush off of here real quick, but, there was a moment in the film where he smiled and I didn't like it. But that's probably a silly comment. I might get into more later.
Intersting ideas, Sexy. Let me address these. You do realize that "guy" is a Knight and he never "talks" - does his mouth move? And no, you're not supposed to know that but they didn't use his voice. It was added later and was supposed to have a booming voice to imply he's sent from "God" or at least very important. Jethro "hears" the Knight in his mind. I didn't see the actor as being jokey at all but your reaction is your own. Also, earlier you said that guy looked like me. Am I supposed to draw some conclusion about your hating me? :cool: (Just a Sexy-type "joke"; I'm not Serious.)
That scene where Jethro smiles was one that Sarah wanted to at least cut down a bit and maybe cut the whole thing out. I'm probably responsible for that being in there because it was the first time he actually showed some positive emotion in the film since he was happy he had a clue to the "Tree of Life".
EDIT - My comment about Jethro's smile is completely wrong. Sarah was referring to another shot which did get replaced by the smile in her film. That's one of Sarah's and her teacher's fave scenes.
You completely lost me in your rant about guys trying to act funny. I don't see anything like that in the film at all. As far as Jethro goes, he was mostly a downer, yes, but the whole point is to have him get on with the business of life, and there's only six minutes to his brief life so what's wrong with a flash of joy along the way. Even Travis Bickle smiled in Taxi Driver.
wintertriangles
10-28-11, 08:52 PM
Ok first sequence is the dude running between black cuts and forest sounds. If she's going for a suspensefully paced thing (which I think she is), I would just slightly blur the picture, leave the black cuts running for a bit longer, and add moody music to replace the chirping birds. Also, instead of the same shot setup each time I would change positions to the side of him for one time and then an extreme close-up of half his face.
Next part, the party. I'm just going to focus on the main guy because the rest of the actors are pawns. He needs to do a lot less with his hands and more with his face, a lot of subtle acting would do this character justice, especially if he didn't look like he had a hangover every sequence. Question, why is he filming/photographing? In the shot where he's in-between the two faces, I would focus on the main character instead of having the whole shot in focus. Second question, why is it a knight who is the messenger? Also, at this point, the party music should turn down, but still be present, to make way for a moody score section.
Don't have another problem until the library. The scripting of that scene is just wacky, I don't know why he would be researching something starting with a question on graph paper. I also find it odd that his face still looks drunk and not curious. The cut to the "hallucination" page is unnecessary as well.
Next section, when he is walking down the sidewalk with the posters, there's a long shot of him walking away with a poster in focus. The problem with this is that this is cut next to a "revealing shot" of sorts of the poster which we already saw 2 seconds ago, it's redundant. His smile is super awkward btw.
The sudden interjection of dialogue is fine, but something about it is off I'm not sure what. Also there's another part where the main dude is between two faces, I mentioned the focus idea before.
Next part; for an emerald forest, the music is kinda wimpy. Replace with some good score stuff. The part between the asian and black guy is too fast, dialogue-wise and pacing-wise with the camera. The music playing when the black guy gets shot makes no sense, not even in an ironic way. Actually I like the asian guy's acting.
Ok he's running and stuff. I would add more of the dude stopping at different trees seeing these people, giving his own finding more intrigue.
The music he fronts is questionable considering his mindset.
And there we go
I have some responses but I'm going to watch Game 7 of the World Series. Sarah is coming home tonight. Maybe this post will get her in here to answer the questions because I enjoy responding but I don't know ALL the answers. I haven't even been able to watch the film since I saw it on the big screen last Saturday.
I'm just wondering winter, how many films have you made and can we see them?
wintertriangles
10-28-11, 09:16 PM
I'm just wondering winter, how many films have you made and can we see them?I've made about 6 shorts of my own, helped on a bunch of others. This may sound like a cop out but it's literally impossible to see them because my hard drive crashed and I have yet to get money for data recovery. Plus the last one I did I never even got a hard copy of somehow. I can see if I can get some of my scripts from a couple people if you want?
Also tell Sarah if she reads that I'm not trying to put her down at all please
thracian dawg
10-29-11, 06:29 PM
I think I would have preferred more visual information. Costume is a great shorthand into character. I think the two band mates (they are already in their band costumes!) and the spiritual forest people accomplished this, but the others seemed kind of generic.
For instance, if the billionaire character was a baddie, was there a visual way to establish that? Hokey (an eye patch) a little less hokey (a facial scar) a little subtle (an asthma pump) even more subtle (all his minions do all the dirty work) Why did he want the tree of life? Did he want to exploit spirituality for his own benefit?
I didn't think there was any real confrontation between the protagonist (Jethro) and the villain. Jethro sees him murder of one of his henchmen, and he himself is shot in a nightmare, but that's about it.
As for the best case scenarios, the same budgetary and time constraints will never ever go away. One has to learn to work around them. DVD commentaries are filled with shooting calamities and horror stories.
Also, Jethro's dilemma to be or not to be a rich and famous rock star, isn't a spiritual quest, it's a merely a career choice. You become a rock star, first of all ... by looking like one, and secondly, by acting like one. It has nothing to do with music. The music and movie business are factory systems with a series of interchangeable clogs, the first thing to go, is originality and uniqueness. The idea he'll only make deeply personal and spiritual art within a commercial entity is a delusion.
With the short film, there's just no time for the plot and characterization, what really makes one film stand out from the rest of the pack is the surprise or zinger ending. My two cents.
Godoggo
10-29-11, 11:39 PM
So I finally got around to watching Quest for Life. Sorry it took me so long, Mark. I've had lots of company in and out of the house the past few days and in the course of 6 minutes I probably would have been interrupted at least 5 times. :frustrated:
I was surprised at how much story Sarah was able to put into six minutes and make it coherent to boot. If someone told me I had to make a movie in that time frame I'd probably have someone walking down the hallway and finding a penny or something.
The acting wasn't great, but I expected that to be the case before I watched it though. Just wondering if there was any specific reason for not having Jethro speak?
I'm a little confused about the knight and why there was a knight. What's the symbolism?
I might have more comments later, but I'm being bothered again. :mad:
Plainview
10-30-11, 11:34 PM
I watched it. I thought it was cool and I could imagine how much work she put into making the film. Good job Sarah.
honeykid
10-31-11, 12:16 AM
Just watched it mark. It looks good, very good in the forrest and I like the lighting choices throughout. However, the stand out feature (for me) was the editing. Not just the match shots and the more eye catching stuff, but the rhythm of it. It works really well.
Right, now I'm off to read what everyone else has said and, probably go "oh yeah", a lot. :)
Thanks, everybody. Sarah may well eventually show in here, but right now she says she feels way too behind, even though I told her to just pick a particular post and respond, even if it's old. I will be trying to catch up myself tomorrow. One thing Sarah clarified for me was that she only had three weeks to shoot, not four. For some reason I thought she shot during part of another weekend. That makes the results even more impressive in my book.
Sexy Mommy
10-31-11, 04:08 AM
You better stop telling him what to do, my little Veda.
TheUsualSuspect
10-31-11, 04:31 AM
Thanks, everybody. Sarah may well eventually show in here, but right now she says she feels way too behind, even though I told her to just pick a particular post and respond, even if it's old. I will be trying to catch up myself tomorrow. One thing Sarah clarified for me was that she only had three weeks to shoot, not four. For some reason I thought she shot during part of another weekend. That makes the results even more impressive in my book.
3 weeks for production? Or 3 weeks all together (pre/post as well)
They had a weekend of casting and location scouting and finalizing. Remember, these are students who are taking a full course load during the day and also working a part-time job. They shot on three consecutive weekends and used the evening time in between to do film editing. They had an additional week after shooting wrapped before picture lock which had to include the final visual edit including credits. Then there was a little over another week to finish up all the sound and music editing.
To start, the story alone is good. It has the potential to work very nicely, and it was mostly shot well, aside from the fact that there were MANY times where the focus needed to be used to make one things stand out more than another.
Aside from that, there were a lot of problems. First, as others have said, the editing is poor; poorly paced and whoever's job it was should have cut a few specific extra shots. I can go into detail if need be. Also, half of the score was was not at all fitting. The actors were bad. I would do a quick rewrite, recast, get a new editor, and try again because it could be really cool.
That said, I know how much effort goes into these projects and I don't want or mean to take away from that.
I try to respond to most of these within the later Quote, but who do you think thought the editing was bad? There were a couple of comments about a specific scene (TUS about the opening) and UF (about the library transition), but overall, there has been high praise for the editing. Your comment about redoing the whole movie seems quite harsh and that's all I'll say about that, except if that were true, then there are lot of happy filmmakers at USC right now who are deluded and have thrown away lots of time and money -- not that it couldn't be a possibilty.
Ok first sequence is the dude running between black cuts and forest sounds. If she's going for a suspensefully paced thing (which I think she is), I would just slightly blur the picture, leave the black cuts running for a bit longer, and add moody music to replace the chirping birds. Also, instead of the same shot setup each time I would change positions to the side of him for one time and then an extreme close-up of half his face.
These comments are interesting, however the one about changing the camera positions is weird because the camera positions are changed during that scene. You want to blur the image and slightly extend the black screen as well as redo the sound by putting "moody" music in. Well, that's fine, but I don't inherently understand what makes it better. Just by trying to imagine it doesn't make me understand why it should be done that way. It seems like a personal preference without connoting any value judgment concerning quality. What does "moody" music mean? It seems like it could mean almost anything. Do you think those scenes in the forest ever really happened or only in Jethro's mind? It seems the way you want to do it would imply it's all fantasy from the beginning.
Next part, the party. I'm just going to focus on the main guy because the rest of the actors are pawns. He needs to do a lot less with his hands and more with his face, a lot of subtle acting would do this character justice, especially if he didn't look like he had a hangover every sequence. Question, why is he filming/photographing? In the shot where he's in-between the two faces, I would focus on the main character instead of having the whole shot in focus. Second question, why is it a knight who is the messenger? Also, at this point, the party music should turn down, but still be present, to make way for a moody score section.
You believe the Jethro character needs to be subtler, so how would acting with his face make him subtler in the party? He's photographing because he finds the party just as boring and pointless as the rest of his life, but at least he's got an artistic temperament and is trying to do something creative. Besides, it does highlight the fact that something weird is going on since he's actually recording "reality". The reason a knight shows up is because Jethro has seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Excalibur and the other films where someone goes on a quest and he associates it with knights. It's not for a religious reason unless you somehow believe those films are religious even though they aren't. The music in and surrounding the knight scene seems good the way it is to me.
Don't have another problem until the library. The scripting of that scene is just wacky, I don't know why he would be researching something starting with a question on graph paper. I also find it odd that his face still looks drunk and not curious. The cut to the "hallucination" page is unnecessary as well.
The actor brought his own graph paper notepad and wrote those words on there himself. If that's the way he'd do it, I don't get the problem. The key to that scene was to convey visual info from books. Sarah thought that using a computer and the internet would be far less-cinematic and she loves the look and feel of that library. As far as the guy looking drunk, he's not supposed to be drunk, but he is supposed to be having trouble sleeping and going through something bordering on an existential, if not an actual, life-threatening crisis, even though he's not that concerned about living at this point. Also, for all we know, maybe he does spend his free time running from some menacing danger and therefore looks sweaty and dishevelled. This is just my personal attempt to respond to such concrete complaints which I don't especially understand. It's a movie, and it's up to you to interpret what it means although the info is there for all to see. Actually, I forgot to mention above that Jethro's band name is the Drunken Souls. That should explain him "being drunk" all the time.
Next section, when he is walking down the sidewalk with the posters, there's a long shot of him walking away with a poster in focus. The problem with this is that this is cut next to a "revealing shot" of sorts of the poster which we already saw 2 seconds ago, it's redundant. His smile is super awkward btw.
You really seem to miss the point of that shot. Yes, the audience sees the poster from the beginning, but Jethro does not. He walks by it several times never noticing it, but then his eye catches sight of it. Therefore we have the audience in on it before the "reveal" to Jethro. The reason that shot is in the movie for a few seconds is because both Sarah and Alex are very proud of it. Besides, the audience already saw a glimpse of that poster in the opening of the film although it didn't have any clear meaning at that point. As I edited in back at an earlier post, Sarah and her lead professor both love the smile, so it doesn't matter that you don't. I mean, sure it matters to you but not to them. :cool:
The sudden interjection of dialogue is fine, but something about it is off I'm not sure what. Also there's another part where the main dude is between two faces, I mentioned the focus idea before.
I've got nothing here because I don't see anything to comment on.
Next part; for an emerald forest, the music is kinda wimpy. Replace with some good score stuff. The part between the asian and black guy is too fast, dialogue-wise and pacing-wise with the camera. The music playing when the black guy gets shot makes no sense, not even in an ironic way. Actually I like the asian guy's acting.
You still have a difficult time explainihg what you mean regarding the music. I know you're a musician and a composer, so you probably hear it in your head. Using terms such as "wimpy", "Good score stuff" and "ironic way" don't make it clear what you mean. Maybe if you link to examples of what you mean, then I could understand your point. Sarah loves all the music there though, but I'd still like to hear what you're trying to get at. As far as the scene with the billionaire and his "minion", I agree that scene could have been improved with another line of dialogue and another character or two to bounce those lines off (as was originally intended). However, that scene also has some of the strongest acting the way it is. I mentioned before that the forest was remote and there was no cell coverage, so there was no way to communicate with potential extras or to even talk to me about possible additional dialogue ideas due to lack of cast members since I wasn't on set. The bottom line is that there was no time or way to film another scene once that location wrapped based on the time available for shooting and turning in the picture lock (the visual version of the film which MUST be used).
Ok he's running and stuff. I would add more of the dude stopping at different trees seeing these people, giving his own finding more intrigue.
The music he fronts is questionable considering his mindset.
And there we go
The basic part of the film (without credits) was supposed to be five minutes. Some of your ideas work better in a film with a little more time, but there wasn't the time and your ideas aren't Sarah's, so that's another reason why they're not there. The song used at the end is the same song playing at the party, just done with the full band. What is his mindset at the end? Has he eaten from the Tree of Life and been rejuvenated or is he still "drunk" and unengaged? This may explain why the music seems so different at the end.
Anyway, your comments are interesting but many are difficult to "answer" because your concept is different than Sarah's and even if people may be unclear what to take from it, I need to know why you think your changes would clarify what HER point is. I hope this doen't make me come off as some kind of defensive jerk.
To other people who have posted in here, I'll try to respond later on, but that took a long time and I'm busy now.
What was the significance of that picture of the knights? Has Sarah seen Raising Cain (I'm thinking of the extended dream sequence)? I also don't see what the problem with young people using (showing off?) old cameras is. I always used to play with my great grandfather's original Rolleiflex (which we still have) whenever I visited. Anyway it's a little obvious (my comment, that is) but the scene with the camera just adds another layer of ambiguity to the "what/how are we seeing?" question implied by/about the movie. Lastly, nice lighting in the bedroom scene, really creates an ambiguous mood.
No, Sarah has not seen Raising Cain. The knights were included to add more visual info in the library and to add a tie-in to the quest at the end. Sarah did include many of her own things in the film, and the camera is one such object. We have a few of those cameras but that specific one Sarah bought for herself.
One thing I didn't like is that some of the film appears to have been shot on campus (correct me if I'm wrong) but I'd have prefered an exterior shot before the library scene, even though the rest of the editing was flawless...
I always think shooting anything other than discrete exteriors on campus detracts from authenticity...but I'm nitpicking...
I particularly liked the zoom into the dictionary entry 'halucination' which gave it (at least for me) an exploratory B movie feel, and I can honestly say the whole thing was entertaining. Thank god you're taste has rubbed off, because it didn't play like some detatched abstract art project...at least for me...
The library is the only on-campus location in the film. To me, it looks like it could pass for a traditional library though, but your radar detection got it. However, the scenes before and after the library scene do not contain the campus at all.
As I mentioned earlier, the point of the library was to include as much visual info from books as possible, I also enjoyed all the shots into the books.
Not a fan of how it opens, the transitions seem very quick with the fade ins and outs.
I had no connection problems, it played fine for me, which tells me there is some audio issues. ADR is very evident for me, when they spoke I could tell the audio was recorded in a sound booth somewhere, as it's not synched up PERFECTLY and sounds very out of place with the environment. The most obvious part is when the two "hippies" talk to Jethro at the beginning. This goes hand in hand with the foley work: footsteps, drawers opening, papers shuffling, etc. To me it all seemed artificial. If it was done on purpose, it's a tricky thing to pull off because it will just take the audience out of the experience. Just in my opinion, of course.
The sound problems may well mostly exist in the original film, but Sarah did say that she had to upload the video and the audio separately to the vimeo site, so she thought that might have added some additional flaws when watching from that site. I watched it on her computer at home last weekend and could hear some artificiality but didn't especially see any, at least until the concert scene.
I like seeing the world through the lens of the camera, it immediately sets an "age" to the setting.
The camera work is good, I liked the zoom in on the Tree of Life words in the book.
Thanks.
Not a fan of the lead, it's hard to portray a character with no dialogue, but he really seemed unnatural to me. I liked the billionaire Asian man, he came off as an experienced actor, or one that takes it seriously.
How is a "mute" someone who's having visions and nightmares exactly supposed to act? I would think "unnatural" would probably be appropriate, but I can understand it being a block to some people.
I find it interesting that she used a Dutch Angle for what I thought was reality, which makes me question which reality was real.
For most of the film, in Jethro's mind, the scenes without strange things happening would seem more bizarre. He's basically lost contact with day-to-day normal life.
Despite the short not being clear with whatever she had intended, she clearly had a vision. A short like this is meant to make people debate about what the message is. With my personal experience with schools telling people what type of films to make...f*ck em. They are, in my opinion, trying to make their success off the minds who put their time and money into a passion project. They want something that will appeal to all and throw their name behind it. At least in my experience.
Congrats Sarah and starting out with literally NOTHING and then having a finished film on your hands that people watch and talk about. The highest compliment I can give you is that you sparked discussion.
Thanks again. I hope she comes in here too.
I think I would have preferred more visual information. Costume is a great shorthand into character. I think the two band mates (they are already in their band costumes!) and the spiritual forest people accomplished this, but the others seemed kind of generic.
Just to clarify, those two band members are in a different band than Jethro's. They do tell him though that Jethro's band, the Drunken Souls, are one of their faves. In reference to wintertriangles, maybe Jethro is indeed a "drunken soul". :cool:
For instance, if the billionaire character was a baddie, was there a visual way to establish that? Hokey (an eye patch) a little less hokey (a facial scar) a little subtle (an asthma pump) even more subtle (all his minions do all the dirty work) Why did he want the tree of life? Did he want to exploit spirituality for his own benefit?
I didn't think there was any real confrontation between the protagonist (Jethro) and the villain. Jethro sees him murder of one of his henchmen, and he himself is shot in a nightmare, but that's about it.
I believe the billionaire doesn't need a costume gimmick. An extra scene and/or line of dialogue would have helped define him and show how he was also looking for the Tree of Life. The billionaire wanted to eat the fruit of the tree to be able to live forever.
As for the best case scenarios, the same budgetary and time constraints will never ever go away. One has to learn to work around them. DVD commentaries are filled with shooting calamities and horror stories.
Also, Jethro's dilemma to be or not to be a rich and famous rock star, isn't a spiritual quest, it's a merely a career choice. You become a rock star, first of all ... by looking like one, and secondly, by acting like one. It has nothing to do with music. The music and movie business are factory systems with a series of interchangeable clogs, the first thing to go, is originality and uniqueness. The idea he'll only make deeply personal and spiritual art within a commercial entity is a delusion.
With the short film, there's just no time for the plot and characterization, what really makes one film stand out from the rest of the pack is the surprise or zinger ending. My two cents.
It's true that there will always be constraints and compromises, and that's what this type of film is supposed to prepare one for. There are deadlines and there is a lot of required paperwork. There are also a few palms to grease because you have to pay for certain permits which seem unfair and expensive but are still a legal part of the process.
Your use of the word "delusion" is quite telling since Jethro is indeed delusional, or so it seems. Are you saying that Sarah's film is devoid of originality and uniqueness because she's already in the system or that it isn't because she's not actually in the system yet? Whatever the response, how can you tell? I'd also like to know what you think happens at the end. Did Jethro really get shot or didn't he? Is the ending a downer or an upper? Why does he "find his voice" at the end?
The acting wasn't great, but I expected that to be the case before I watched it though. Just wondering if there was any specific reason for not having Jethro speak?
I'm a little confused about the knight and why there was a knight. What's the symbolism?
I don't know the original reason why Sarah chose for him to be mute, but as the character and script progressed, it was a way to show that he's going through some serious communication problems and is in need of a drastic overhaul of his physical and spiritual being. When I say spiritual, I don't mean "religious" but I do mean looking for a way to find some meaning in the context of this world and what it does and doesn't have to offer.
I interpret the knight in one of two ways. Either Jethro's mind created it to get him more involved with life by confronting him with something he can culturally relate to or the knight was indeed sent by "God" to give Jethro a quest which he doesn't truly understand. In the latter case, it may well be similar to what happens in Star Trek V when Capt. Kirk asks "Why does God need a starship?" In Sarah's original script, Jethro did actually speak and say, "Why does God need me to find the Tree of Life?" To which the Knight communicates, "Because He bloody well asked you!"
I hope you get some more free time to relax, Godoggo.
Godoggo
11-01-11, 06:01 PM
In the latter case, it may well be similar to what happens in Star Trek V when Capt. Kirk asks "Why does God need a starship?" In Sarah's original script, Jethro did actually speak and say, "Why does God need me to find the Tree of Life?" To which the Knight communicates, "Because He bloody well asked you!"
I hope you get some more free time to relax, Godoggo.
I would have liked that to be in there. It would have added some humor which would have been fitting for the knight because he did look a bit comical. :)
The reason I asked about Jethro not speaking is that I think it probably put a heavy burden on the guy who played him. I can see the reason for her decision now that you explain it though. He didn't do a bad job. I've seen worse. ;)
I can relax now. House guests are gone and I'm a happy camper again. Thanks!
The French Connection (http://kxsc.org/bandwidth/) is great so far! When you get there, click on the Popup Webplayer in the Top Right.
wintertriangles
11-02-11, 12:02 AM
Anyway, your comments are interesting but many are difficult to "answer" because your concept is different than Sarah's and even if people may be unclear what to take from it, I need to know why you think your changes would clarify what HER point is. I hope this doen't make me come off as some kind of defensive jerk.Well I had no idea what her point was and obviously I know that those are my ideas but you asked for a critique, which I view as what could be improved, and naturally, without knowing any opinions/input/criteria other than the actual film, didn't come off correctly, so the changes I discussed were me interpreting the film in one way and running with it. As far as the music thing goes, all the relevant problems I pointed out just bothered me as a viewer not a musician, and I'm not writing her score, I was just pointing things out. I don't know how you would prefer I be specific either, but I can tell you I liked the atmospheric music that was there.
honeykid
11-03-11, 01:12 AM
To start, the story alone is good. It has the potential to work very nicely, and it was mostly shot well, aside from the fact that there were MANY times where the focus needed to be used to make one things stand out more than another.
Aside from that, there were a lot of problems. First, as others have said, the editing is poor; poorly paced and whoever's job it was should have cut a few specific extra shots. I can go into detail if need be. Also, half of the score was was not at all fitting. The actors were bad. I would do a quick rewrite, recast, get a new editor, and try again because it could be really cool.
That said, I know how much effort goes into these projects and I don't want or mean to take away from that.
Until I read the later comments, I honestly thought this was a joke/sarcastic post.
thracian dawg
11-06-11, 01:04 AM
Are you saying that Sarah's film is devoid of originality and uniqueness because she's already in the system or that it isn't because she's not actually in the system yet? Whatever the response, how can you tell?
Every single person in her film class is outrageously talented but it's safe to say, five years from now, 3/4 of her class will have moved onto other things and will no longer be making films. At this point in time, ambition and drive trumps originality.
This is one of my points actually. There is something about anybody becoming a student at the USC Film School which somehow implies not only being talented but being incredibly lucky and having an angel watching over them. I'm not talking about a "religious" angel but the same kind of angel who finances Broadway plays, films, etc. I've said this before, but it's worth repeating... it's more difficult to get admitted into USC Film School than it is to Harvard Law School. That's based on the actual number of those admitted versus those who apply. I'm not saying that everybody who graduates from Harvard Law becomes a lawyer, but I would bet a lot of them do if only as a kind of stepping stone to something else, such as [cough] politics.
Sarah doesn't care about politics but she does care about lots of other things than just film, but when the bottom line hits, she's most interested in every single kind of "art"/"craft" which film has to offer to a student of such and one who wants to make their living as a filmmaker of some sort. I had an aptitude but it was basically relegated to still photography and a few home movies. She has an aptitude but is much farther advanced in specific skills and comprehension than I ever had a chance to understand. I honestly hope that Sarah falls into what you call the "1/4" who succeed at their love, but it really does have a lot to do with who you know and what you do to get to know them. It seems that Sarah needs another "Angel" to get her foot through the door, whether it's an independent door or a Hollywood door. We just hope that she will be able to convince them that she's worth it because she's creative and not because she'll sell her soul.
The main reason I'm an "underachieving bum" is because I never sold my soul. Maybe we'll all end up at the poor house but maybe we'll be happier there, together.
Brodinski
11-07-11, 04:36 AM
I honestly hope that Sarah falls into what you call the "1/4" who succeed at their love, but it really does have a lot to do with who you know and what you do to get to know them. It seems that Sarah needs another "Angel" to get her foot through the door, whether it's an independent door or a Hollywood door. We just hope that she will be able to convince them that she's worth it because she's creative and not because she'll sell her soul.
The main reason I'm an "underachieving bum" is because I never sold my soul. Maybe we'll all end up at the poor house but maybe we'll be happier there, together.
I guess everyone hopes that for their kid, but you gotta be realistic as well. I know you're a realist when it comes to this, so what I have to say might sound obvious to you.
How many people really get to do their dream job? I'm talking about the kind of job that you have dreamed about having since you've been a kid. There are no exact stats here, but I'm guessing very, very, VERY few people. Fact of the matter is, many people give up on that 'dream' even before they tried to accomplish it. I myself had to make a choice at age 18 between pursuing a career in boxing and getting a university degree. I am happy with the choice I made, because I'm about to sign a contract that'll allow me to earn a living and save up for later. In the end, when I look back at that pivotal moment in my life, I made the safe choice and I don't regret it. It was the responsible and pragmatical thing to do.
I want to talk a little about the notion of 'selling your soul'. Just what does that mean? Sell off your artistic integrity for a cheque? Give up on your basic principles in life? If you are offered funding and a fat cheque for your project, but with the condition that you alter much more than you would like to, does that mean you have to reject the offer? Everyone's gotta pay the bills...
How much satisfaction can you really get out of your job if you aren't paid your just due? It's easier to start loving a job if you make a lot of money off it than it is to keep loving a job if you're barely making enough to make ends meet. You would need an incredible amount of will power and perseverence to keep chasing that dream without guarantee of ever reaching it and while being in financial dire straits.
Brodinski
11-07-11, 04:46 AM
we all need angels.
We most certainly do...
http://vipphoto.ru/idata/5115-0.jpg
Well, hell, this is the mark f thread so I might as well lay MY cards on the table. This has nothing to do with the other members of my family though. For example, my wife has always worked her butt off and is currently a member of a demonized group (such as I but I don't care and her job is tougher since she teaches 10-year-olds). She's a teacher and is somehow supposed to be responsible for the downfall of the United States because she/we have a decent retirement plan. Go ahead and let those Wall Street thieves swindle us and get off scot free and blame everybody else who invests in what the U.S. stands for as the real problem people.
Back to reality. I graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in Biological Sciences from University of California at Irvine in June, 1977. I immediately went to work at a gas station earning close to minimum wage. I was offered higher-paying jobs but I refused them. I suppose you can say that I went to college when it was cheap and my parents could easily afford to "support" me since I basically took care of them in their old age. When I graduated, my Dad was 67 and my Mom was 64. Maybe this is completely irrational but since I couldn't respect my fellow Pre-Med students (they were almost all back stabbers), I felt disgusted taking almost any kind of biological job.
The main thing which saved me during college was taking 11 different film classes and acing most all of them. The problem was that I was too far ahead of my time since UCI didn't have a filmmaking school at the time, but I was introduced to many films I've actually rarely seen since, and this was way before there were any VCRs. Every film was shown on a projector, so no, they maybe didn't look as pristine as you expect them now, but you could still easily grasp the director's intentions, at least up to a point.
As far as our current financial situation stands, we owe lots of money because of Sarah attending USC Film School, but since she told me that it was really what she wanted, I have no problem with that. However, that's another reason why I hope Sarah gets further in her dreams and working with her angels than many others do.
More later, perhaps, but I need to crash.
Brodinski
11-07-11, 05:29 AM
As far as our current financial situation stands, we owe lots of money because of Sarah attending USC Film School, but since she told me that it was really what she wanted, I have no problem with that.
Jesus, that is just so strange to hear for me. I know that getting a higher education is incredibly expensive in the US and also UK. I don't get why your government doesn't invest in its young people. Those are the future of your country and you shouldn't burden them or their parents with debts in order for Uncle Sam to **** them again by taxing them through the roof when they finally get to earning a living.
At risk of sounding like a broken record, my university education (5 years) cost my parents about 5000 (~ $6900), excluding my 6 month Erasmus stay in Sheffield. The universities get allowances from the government for every student that subscribed. The flipside is that Belgian citizens are taxed for this. But isn't it much more logical for a country's citizens to collectively pay for their childrens' future? It's an individualist vs collectivist thing I guess.
When Sarah started at USC in August 2009, it was $53,000 a year to go there (at least for Film School). Now, it's $57,000. That includes living on campus. I have to admit though that USC grants pay for about half of that amount every year, so we do have angels splitting the costs with us. These grants aren't guaranteed, but we've received them each year so I have no reason to expect them not to come through again next year. If it wasn't for the grants, we most likely wouldn't be sending Sarah to USC. Even so, when all is said and done after four years, we will have paid and/or borrowed over $100,000 for Sarah's education. None of these costs actually include things like most food, gasoline, textbooks, special added-on fees for use of Film School equipment and labs, clothes and basic daily living expenses. Those all are getting paid by us and aren't included in the $100,000. I'm not ready to get into the breakdown of how this $100,000 is being paid. The majority of it so far has already been paid, but between Sarah's student loans and our parent loans to pay student tuition, we have a rather huge student loan debt which will take 10 years to pay off. We're currently paying off our own loans, but Sarah's don't start getting paid back until she graduates. OK, that's enough for now; way more than enough.
Brodinski
11-08-11, 04:40 AM
That number beggars belief, Mark. By your age, you should be carefree of any debt and living the good life. You know, pay a life insurance fee on a 3 monthly basis to cash that monster cheque when you turn 60 (or 65) and just treat yourself to nice things, because you've earned it.
I can't understand it for Americans' children either. They already have a debt to pay off before they even get to work. That's not a healthy basis for a starter in the job market. When I compare that to my situation, I can save up a big, big amount of money in the next 3 years now that I'm still living at home with my girlfriend still in uni. I don't have any debts, so even if I save up that 80 % of my monthly paycheck, I can still spend a good amount of money on buying clothes, going out to dinner, to the movies,... That's how life ought to be for someone who is just starting out as a professional. It shouldn't have to be: I MUST find a job to pay off my huge debt. That's all kinds of wrong to me.
One of the reasons we don't have enough savings to pay for all the college costs up front is because we both started our teaching jobs in our mid-30s. Our "retirement" money is mostly tied up in things we can only access after we retire, unless we want to take a beating on income tax. Our money from when we were air traffic controllers is either in an IRA or some of it was actually used up years ago during an emergency. We aren't really planning on retiring anytime soon although we do have a strong pension fund from being teachers. It just makes no sense to take a monster check up front though because that reduces the overall amount of money you ultimately receive if you live long enough to enjoy it. However, it's quite shocking how little some of the other plans have grown over the course of about 20 years. We have "earned" some good money but lost a huge percentage in the last five years. The overall growth for the last 20 years is far less than any other 20-year time frame one can compare it to, at least during our lifetimes. We are, of course, not the only ones in that boat. Plus, I made my bed based on the stubborn way I've lived my life, so I have myself to blame for not selling my soul to work for the Man much earlier and therefore have more financial freedom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U59z_KhAbnI
Last Friday, Brenda and Sarah went to USC for "An Evening with Pedro Almodovar". He was interviewed and also asked questions from the audience. Sarah had a guaranteed ticket but Brenda was on standby although she got in easily despite having to wait for almost an hour.
http://dailytrojan.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Almodovar_web.jpg
Brenda found Almodovar very funny and charming, but she likes his movies too, especially the comedies, so that wasn't very surprising. He spoke mostly in English but he did have a translator who was used occasionally. For example, Almodovar told a joke and Brenda said she laughed before it was translated. One thing which Almodovar said was that he had to try to rein in Antonio Banderas' emotions in his new The Skin I Live In. He said that in most of his movies that Antonio is very much his naturally-emotive self but this time he wanted something different from him.
It was a fun evening for mother and daughter to share as they went for a quick bite to eat at the Lab Gastropub after the event.
Godoggo
11-15-11, 10:36 PM
Last Friday, Brenda and Sarah went to USC for "An Evening with Pedro Almodovar".
Lucky Brenda and Sarah. I'm a huge fan of his. I gotta say, I don't get jealous often but I am a little bit right now.
A couple of songs from Sarah's French Connection radio show yesterday.
"Wowie Zowie" by the Mothers of Invention
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3uuJxZX7s4
"Crosstown Traffic" by the Jimi Hendrix Experience
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUCNsZXCd58
Since no one has actually acknowledged that they listen to Sarah's French Connection radio broadcast Tuesdays at 5-7 PM Pacific Time (a little over an hour from now), I'm going to post another link to the show one final time. Her show has evolved to something quite wonderful. Her track sequencing and segueing between songs has become very sophisticated, and she always has a few songs you won't hear anywhere else.
The show streams on the internet at kxsc.org. Here (http://kxsc.org/bandwidth/) is a link to the Bandwidth page. In the right corner, click on Popup Webplayer. Eventually the webplayer will show and if it doesn't start playing after the play button appears, you can click on it. Before Sarah's show, "The Robot" plays randomly selected music. When she arrives in studio, she removes the Robot and plays one song before she comes on the air to briefly discuss today's show. That's how you know that she's there since she doesn't always start the show at exactly 5PM. One other fun thing is that while she's talking about the songs which she has played, you can hear a movie soundtrack on in the background. :cool:
honeykid
11-22-11, 11:50 PM
Sadly, I rarely listen to music I like anymore, let alone anything new.
Hope you're well. :)
Powdered Water
11-26-11, 03:16 PM
Hey Mark, sorry I haven't checked in sooner. I did finally catch her film and thought it was pretty damn good. I have yet to make it through this whole thread though, so I don't even know if she's done another since then or not. But I'll try to get to them eventually. Hopefully you're feeling a little better big fella. I love ya, and I'm very happy your daughter is doing so well.
http://seablogs.zenfs.com/u/7UG.8Z2WBEU7LpCPTWZgUMo-/photo/ap_20090809045630135.jpg
http://www.menumagazine.co.uk/archive/june11/mofos4.jpg
Hope you all get to spend the holidays with your families and loved ones.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtCDjV_WrDc
honeykid
12-14-11, 09:13 PM
Cheers, mark. You too. Merry Christmas. :)
linespalsy
12-14-11, 09:25 PM
Merry X-Men and a happy New Mutants.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iobTXPgETOY
What's new? Nothing that I can share with a lot of videos or personal photos and such. Sarah did finish another movie last month. This time she was the Director of Photography and Editor while her partner took the Directing/Writing credit. However, this movie isn't on the Web yet, but if it appears, I'll post a link to it.
Sarah has been going to see a lot of 3D movies lately. She, her Mom and her Grandma saw The Adventures of Tintin. Brenda said it was "non-stop action" and Grandma almost got vertigo/motion sickness because it was the first of the "modern" 3D movies which she's seen and the scenes at great heights got to her. Then Sarah went with some old friends from high school to see Hugo down the street, and finally Sarah went to see Wim Wenders' documentary Pina in 3D. It's Germany's official selection for the Docu Oscar. Sarah wrote a review for USC's Daily Trojan newspaper which you can read here (http://dailytrojan.com/2012/01/11/new-film-explores-movement-via-dance/).
Sarah's French Connection radio show will be back on the "air"/internet beginning Tuesday, January 17. It streams at kxsc.org (http://kxsc.org/bandwidth/) from 5-7PM Pacific time each week. Just click on Popup Webplayer in the right corner after you get to that page. Sarah plays music from all eras and genres but she's been especially corrupted by my record collection. In fact, I'm sure she plays more vinyl than almost any DJ at USC.
As far as my current state of health, it's still quite poor. I always tend to overdo food and drink during the Thanksgiving-New Year's stretch, and since my alleged regimen involves making the first step of eating and drinking less, nothing very good has happened as of yet. I have been able to move about a little more comfortably but I'm especially in bad shape if I'm stuck in a confined space for any length of time, so I didn't make any long-distance trips to visit family and friends recently. I'll see how things go now that the "season" has changed.
I hope that everybody had at least a decent time this past month and that many of you are doing very well and staying safe and warm (unless you're down in Australia -- you guys need to keep cool. :cool:)
linespalsy
01-19-12, 11:26 AM
Thanks for the update on yourself and Sarah, mark. I enjoyed Tintin, by the way. My favorite parts were probably the scenes that made your mother-in-law the most motion-sick. How old is Brenda's mom?
The last film which Sarah worked on is now up at vimeo. She was the DP/Editor. Here (http://vimeo.com/36454604) it is. It's called Just Give It Time. The password is TIME.
This seems appropriate here, so I copied it from the MoFo Personal Pictutes Thread.
Here are some from yesterday.
Sarah
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t203/bejmaf/2012-02-19164538.jpg
Brenda
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t203/bejmaf/2012-02-19164232.jpg
A couple with Mark and Baby
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t203/bejmaf/2012-02-19165605.jpg
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t203/bejmaf/2012-02-19165710.jpg
Sarah and I
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t203/bejmaf/2012-02-19164717.jpg
lundy1026
02-22-12, 03:52 PM
Cute pictures!! Everyone looks so happy and smiley. :) And your kitty is so darn ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!
sarah f
04-15-12, 01:58 AM
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t203/bejmaf/RatsoRizzo.jpg
sarah f
05-29-12, 01:41 AM
Here's my cinematography final from last semester. I was going for a kind of Film Noir thing. It's just 3 1/2 minutes. I used the new Fiona Apple single for the soundtrack. It's pure coincidence that my actress has the same first name!
https://vimeo.com/42821259
Let me know what you think!
There are so many things for me to post in here at this moment, but I suppose the most-significant ones are that I'm actually going to doctors after several years of ignoring them. I'm seeing a cardiologist and probably the biggest thing which is happening now is that I've scheduled a day-long meeting with all the hassles involved for a gastro-intestinal bypass surgery. That's the one which shrinks your stomach and lets you lose about 150 lbs. right off the bat. God knows I need it, but I've been so stubborn that my wife and daughter don't believe I'll be around too much longer. Now, I'll keep you guys who actually care informed (based on any responses here) but there's no guarantee that I'll actually qualiffy for or get the surgery. But, at this point, I'm temporarilily seeing the docs. It may well completely obliterate my recent problem with bleeding (that's already improved quite a bit).
Make sure you check out Sarah's projects. They're SO GOOD!
Later, Gators.
Brodinski
06-06-12, 02:26 PM
I hope you'll qualify for that surgery. Sounds like you've got a pretty serious issue with your weight. Don't really know what it means that you 'qualify' for a surgery. Does your body have to be in seriously bad condition or does your insurance have to cover it or what?
Skepsis93
06-06-12, 02:43 PM
Good luck to you, Mark. Hope everything works out. :)
The Rodent
06-06-12, 02:43 PM
Good luck Mark. Hope everything works out...
I think doctors usually like to make sure that it's being done out of necessity, and not just to avoid more arduous weight loss efforts. I think in Mark's case it's pretty clear that it's a reasonable decision, from what I've heard from him.
Glad you're seeing a doctor, Mark. I hope it goes well. Please keep us posted!
Sorry to hear about all the troubles, Mark. Alas, I am glad you have turned a corner and are now getting some medical attention. Please, let us know how things are going as time wears on. :)
linespalsy
06-06-12, 04:49 PM
I'm glad you're not going to try performing gastric bypass surgery on yourself, mark! It's dangerous enough when doctors do it, so stay strong. You'll be in my thoughts (well, more than usual).
What the Hey? I make a post about my bleeding, and the ad says, "Demand a briefer period, period!" And now it's advertising bariatric surgeons. I know: Old News.
honeykid
06-12-12, 08:17 PM
Good to hear that you're finally doing something about it, mark. I wish all the best and hope you keep us informed. :)
Boy, I'm getting handed off from doctor to doctor, but I have to admit that things are getting really complicated. Yesterday I spent four hours with the gastro-intestinal bypass people, and I fulfilled several requirements, but a few things came up. First, the surgeon said that my panis (that's spelled correctly) is way too large for a safe operation. No matter how stupid the internet is about the subject (they think that panis means penis), the panis is the part of a fat person's body which overhangs a normal body's stomach area. They are referring me to a plastic surgeon who's the type of doctor who does panis removal.
After I recover from this surgery, which may well reduce my weight by 100 lbs. but take a month or two to recover, I'll have to do six months of doctor-monitored dieting (to fulfill an insurance requirement), go to several classes, see a psychologist and keep my overall cool. There will be several tests involved. Just in case you don't know, a stomach after a bypass operation can only hold one ounce of food/liquid at a time. This surgery is basically permanent, and the average person can no longer drink any carbonated beverages. That basically means that I'll have to become a literal WINO since I've been living off Diet Coke, Beer and the occasional Champagne. However, if I drink some wine after the operation, the rumor is that my head will start spinning after a sip or two.
More later.
Powdered Water
06-16-12, 03:26 AM
Well that sounds like a hoot! Not sure I could face life without a Diet Coke now and then though. Good luck to you sir.
will.15
06-16-12, 03:52 AM
Good luck.
Surgery sucks.
I had kidney stone operation.
Now I can't eat chocolate! I don't care about the peanuts, green beans, and yams. And a bunch of other stuff I never ate in the first place.
honeykid
06-16-12, 05:56 PM
Hang in there, mate. I'm sure it'll all be worth it. :)
Godoggo
06-16-12, 09:49 PM
That sounds like a lot to go through, Mark. I'm sending well wishes your way. My friend's mother had gastric-bypass surgery a long time ago. Everything went really well for her and she is still doing great. I hope you have the same kind of success.
I feel for you about the no carbonation thing. I am a soda fiend.
Sounds arduous, but it all makes sense. Glad the ball's rolling, Mark. I imagine starting the process at all is pretty tough, so that's a big deal, yeah? :)
Sexy Celebrity
06-20-12, 03:13 PM
Now I can't eat chocolate!
http://www.thecupcakeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Box-of-Chocolates-Cupcakes.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EmD4HqPa_0Y/Te0aqHx6e0I/AAAAAAAAAls/8RvA0SVcFIM/s1600/3525434659_1e63b3cae8.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tpcbYGs8xgY/T4mxTbDrCoI/AAAAAAAAACg/iihwd33PfvY/s1600/chocolatemilk.jpg
Sexy Celebrity
06-20-12, 03:23 PM
I'll have to ... see a psychologist
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I94kqjsDxO4/TMTOLIll3TI/AAAAAAAACMo/oPIQD_XY7D4/s400/dr_phil_mcgraw.jpg
I can put you in for Fridays from 4pm to 5pm. Afterwards, we can go out and get a Diet Coke with Rum.
Powderfinger
06-20-12, 03:27 PM
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I94kqjsDxO4/TMTOLIll3TI/AAAAAAAACMo/oPIQD_XY7D4/s400/dr_phil_mcgraw.jpg
That guy needs a Shrink. We have him on our tv in Australia...Why!!!!!@!!@@!:mad:
sarah f
06-28-12, 01:31 AM
Something I recently discovered:
https://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/269309_10151064709003200_1944416654_n.jpg
DexterRiley
07-02-12, 02:42 PM
Something I recently discovered:
https://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/269309_10151064709003200_1944416654_n.jpg
Burton Cummings wants in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AReU2zUTgs&feature=related
Hey everybody who has been paying attention. I'm out of commission for probably the next couple of weeks because of a stroke. I'm at the hospital but will be transferred to a rehabilitation center for probably the next couple weeks. So I won't be posting for a while. That's all there's to say about that.
http://www.wipwapweb.com/image_cache/comps/4cf7a225f3f14-image.axd.jpeg
genesis_pig
10-19-12, 05:48 PM
Take care man. See you soon.
Wow, sorry to hear about that Mark. Get well! I hope we'll be seeing you again soon.
The Rodent
10-19-12, 06:45 PM
Get well soon Mark... hope everything works out well matey.
Come back soon though, the forum isn't the same when you're away.
linespalsy
10-19-12, 06:51 PM
i hope you get well, mark. take care of yourself!
Sexy Celebrity
10-19-12, 07:12 PM
What kind of stroke was it? Also, were you by chance watching a movie when you had it and if so, which one? Hopefully you weren't here reading one of my posts or watching Dr. Phil.
Powderfinger
10-19-12, 07:36 PM
Mark, when I did speech therapy at hospital we had a group sessions and also one on one with the speech pathologist. I was the only one with a brain injury the others all had stokes. Two had stokes and they were (the guy was 32 I think) the woman was 40.
There was an older gentleman, probably 50 + anyway, he was a school principal and he was right handed, though he learnt to write left handed. He wrote better than me and the teacher...unbelievable.
Skepsis93
10-19-12, 08:44 PM
So sorry to hear that Mark. I did notice your absence from the Millennium 100 thread. Get well soon, man. :)
honeykid
10-19-12, 08:55 PM
Take good care of yourself, mate. We'll be here when you get back. :)
I had noticed your absence Mark (I was wondering were the rep for my reviews was! :p) and was going to ask in the Shoutbox or somewhere if anyone knew what was up. Sorry to hear about your stroke mate, hope you get better soon and are back posting and sharing your love of movies with us. :up:
will.15
10-19-12, 09:19 PM
Get well.
donniedarko
10-20-12, 01:32 PM
Get well Mark, see you soon
honeykid
10-20-12, 02:36 PM
Once you're up and about again, I recommend you treat yourself and find a showing/copy of Good Vibrations. Saw a bit about it on tv yesterday and immediately thought of you.
Used Future
11-12-12, 06:37 AM
This is really sad news. I've been away for the last month but almost immediately noticed your absence on returning to the forum. So used to seeing your avatar in the Who's Online? box and had to post a shout asking where you are.
Look after yourself and please do everything the doctors tell you (unless they tell you to hurl yourself off a cliff or some such nonsense). We miss your posts and need you back here. :)
I'm back but don't expect many posts or even long ones. I miss all of you. :kiss:
Brodinski
12-05-12, 05:58 PM
A sincere welcome back, Mark. Hope all is well.
Sexy Celebrity
12-05-12, 06:00 PM
I'm back but don't expect many posts or even long ones.
Goody. Welcome back.
Great news. I'll certainly take an abbreviate Mark over no Mark. :) Hope you're feeling better.
Great to see you're still around Mark, hope everything is ok and you're feeling well.
And while I hope you can resume normal service sometime soon, a part-time Mark is still something to delight in. :up:
Harry Lime
12-05-12, 07:20 PM
Welcome back, Mark!
honeykid
12-05-12, 07:40 PM
Good to see you around the place again, mark. :) I hope the recovery's going well.
Skepsis93
12-05-12, 07:48 PM
Great to see you around again, Mark. Hope you're feeling well, or at least better. :)
donniedarko
12-05-12, 07:54 PM
Welcome back Mark, looking forward to what you think of the Millenium countdown
Godoggo
12-05-12, 09:55 PM
Glad to see you back, Mark! We've missed you too.
The Rodent
12-06-12, 01:53 AM
Hellooo Mark!
Take your time matey and get back into the swing of things.
We all missed you too mate. Welcome back.
TheUsualSuspect
12-06-12, 03:40 AM
Glad to see everything is well and you're back, even in short appearances.
Sexy Celebrity
12-06-12, 05:27 PM
I still wanna know what happened, in detail. Tell us a story.
I can't type that long yet.
I can't type that long yet.
I thought you weren't going to be posting much because you didn't have the time or energy at the moment, but are you actually physically incapable just now?
My right side hasn't come back that much yet. I can use my right hand on a walker, but I typed this with my left hand only. I need more time and therapy and hopefully it will get better.
Sexy Celebrity
12-09-12, 09:35 PM
http://image.funscrape.com/images/d/dr_phil_at_an_event-1551.jpg
Did someone say they needed more "therapy"?
Powderfinger
12-09-12, 09:44 PM
My right side hasn't come back that much yet. I can use my right hand on a walker, but I typed this with my left hand only. I need more time and therapy and hopefully it will get better.
Mate, it takes time. As I did speech therapy with stroke people and one Woman was about 30 something, she was in a wheelchair and then a cane, then walking.
Physio helps if you have private insurance?
My right side hasn't come back that much yet. I can use my right hand on a walker, but I typed this with my left hand only. I need more time and therapy and hopefully it will get better.
Fun, relevant fact: the longest word you can type with just your left hand (without crossing over) is "stewardesses."
My insurance paid for 6 weeks in a rehab hospital plus four days when I went to the ER. 6 weeks is just about a high-end record time. Now I get home visits twice a week from a physical therapist, an occupational therapist and a nurse. Then I'll have outpatient care.
Sexy Celebrity
12-09-12, 10:09 PM
I never hear much about strokes -- heart attacks are way more popular. I did read that book being touted by Dr. Phil's friend, Oprah, called My Stroke of Insight. It was very New Agey, though. I recently threw it away. This woman I worked with once told me that she had a stroke and that it was caused by the aggravating African woman whom I was assisting. She seemed perfectly normal post-stroke. I'd love to hear all about your stroke whenever you're ready. I am not quite sure if you had a big one or a small one.
DexterRiley
12-09-12, 10:37 PM
My right side hasn't come back that much yet. I can use my right hand on a walker, but I typed this with my left hand only. I need more time and therapy and hopefully it will get better.
Conserve the energy. I need some decent competition in Fantasy baseball.
Powderfinger
12-10-12, 10:14 AM
I never hear much about strokes -- heart attacks are way more popular. I did read that book being touted by Dr. Phil's friend, Oprah, called My Stroke of Insight. It was very New Agey, though. I recently threw it away. This woman I worked with once told me that she had a stroke and that it was caused by the aggravating African woman whom I was assisting. She seemed perfectly normal post-stroke. I'd love to hear all about your stroke whenever you're ready. I am not quite sure if you had a big one or a small one.
Strokes are in neurology department. I've met and went class with a few. The brain affects people differently.. There are mild strokes, stokes and acute strokes and I have seen a few.
Sexy Celebrity
12-10-12, 09:15 PM
I'm so scared of having a stroke. Heart attack sounds a little more easier to handle -- a sharp pain, a clutching of the chest, bye! But a stroke? An eerie dysfunction of the brain? Perception issues and all that... I can't really imagine it. I want Mark to tell us all about it. Sorry, Mark, but I do.
I went to a funeral once of a guy who I think may have died from a massive stroke. I'm not sure if they ever really figured out what he died from, but I heard massive stroke. He was only in his early 60's.
The guy from Malcolm in the Middle - Frankie Muniz - had a mini-stroke - last week, I think, in fact. He's only 27. That's younger than me.
Powderfinger
12-10-12, 09:31 PM
I'm so scared of having a stroke. .
I don't get that scared much, though I'm always aware of having a seizure. You have no control and I've learnt to do good breathy at onset of a seizure.
Sexy Celebrity
12-10-12, 09:35 PM
I don't get that scared much, though I'm always aware of having a seizure. You have no control and I've learnt to do good breathy at onset of a seizure.
Oh, that's right -- you're an epileptic or something now thanks to your brain damage, right?
OBVIOUSLY you don't get scared much, Mr. Addicted-to-Bouncers-Beatin'-The-Crap-Outta-Moi.
Powderfinger
12-10-12, 09:39 PM
Stroke people get epilepsy too.
Sexy Celebrity
12-10-12, 09:41 PM
I saw a guy seize one time. It was at a gay pride parade.
Powderfinger
12-10-12, 09:44 PM
I saw a guy seize one time. It was at a gay pride parade.
Never ever hold their tongue. Clear any chairs and such and if it last over 4 minutes call an Ambulance.
Sexy Celebrity
12-10-12, 09:45 PM
Never ever hold their tongue. Clear any chairs and such and if it last over 4 minutes can a Ambulance.
Why not hold their tongue?
(Sorry to junk up your thread, Mark, but this is educational.)
Powderfinger
12-10-12, 09:48 PM
Why not hold their tongue?
(Sorry to junk up your thread, Mark, but this is educational.)
People think I will swallow their tongue but they don't.
Some Youngsters who have epilepsy they have seizures every day. As the the medication doesn't work. It's terrible!! :mad:
Sexy Celebrity
12-10-12, 09:50 PM
People think I will swallow their tongue but they don't.
So, which is it? People think you will swallow their tongue or they don't think it?
You can swallow my tongue. I want you to! May it give you proper nutrition.
Powderfinger
12-10-12, 09:56 PM
You can swallow my tongue. I
They don't swallow their tongue. Some people think they may do?
At work one time I had a seizure and they called the Ambulance but I said "F off" when the Ambulance officers wanted take me to hospital. You're not great for an hour or so, though some epileptics have to go to hospital as they might have another seizure.
Sexy Celebrity
12-10-12, 09:59 PM
At work one time I had a seizure and they called the Ambulance but I said "F off" when the Ambulance officers wanted take me to hospital.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You would.
*seizing* F**K OFF! F**K OFF! *seizing* F**K OFF! *seizing* F**K OFF! F**K OFF!
You were probably throwing punches and calling everybody fat, too.
Powderfinger
12-10-12, 10:09 PM
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You would.
[B]*seizing* F**K OFF! F**K OFF! *seizing* F**K OFF! *seizing* F**K OFF! F**K OFF!
No you idiot! After the seizure the Ambulance officers said "we will take you to hospital for a check up" then I said "F off".
Sexy Celebrity
12-10-12, 10:12 PM
No you idiot! After the seizure the Ambulance officers said "we will take you to hospital for a check up" then I said "F off".
It doesn't matter, Susan Powterfinger. I like it better my way.
DexterRiley
12-10-12, 10:33 PM
Never ever hold their tongue. Clear any chairs and such and if it last over 4 minutes call an Ambulance.
SC isnt exactly known for holding his tongue.
just sayen.
Powderfinger
12-10-12, 10:43 PM
SC isnt exactly known for holding his tongue.
just sayen.
I wonder if his Mother and Father washed his mouth out with soap? ;)
Sexy Celebrity
12-10-12, 11:19 PM
I wonder if his Mother and Father washed his mouth out with soap? ;)
They did, but like everything else, it got dirty again.
Powdered Water
12-10-12, 11:24 PM
Didn't this used to be a thread?
Powderfinger
12-10-12, 11:25 PM
They did, but like everything else, it got dirty again.
Your Father and Mother didn't do a good job..Lol! ;) I would've used dishwashing liquid, as it cuts through grease and grime! Lol!
Sexy Celebrity
12-10-12, 11:25 PM
Didn't this used to be a thread?
Mark F can't really talk, so we're talking for him.
Powderfinger
12-10-12, 11:27 PM
Mark F can't really talk, so we're talking for him.
F'n hell! Mate! :rolleyes:
Sexy Celebrity
12-10-12, 11:29 PM
F'n hell! Mate! :rolleyes:
I'm not being mean.
Powderfinger
12-10-12, 11:30 PM
Yes you are...very much so.
Powderfinger
12-10-12, 11:44 PM
I can talk fine.
Mark, don't listen to that knob head.
Sexy Celebrity
12-10-12, 11:45 PM
I am his doctor.
Powderfinger
12-10-12, 11:47 PM
Dr Stangelove...:D
Sarah's last radio show at USC just started at kxsc.org (http://kxsc.org/listen/).
Hey Mark. :) Just thought I'd bump this thread and see how you were doing health-wise, and to see how Sarah's doing at film school. We wanna know! :)
Sarah graduated in May. She's gone on some interviews and was accepted by a temp agency that hires exclusively in the industry. She has been doing some editing work for a friend. She's back to living at home now.
I'm pretty much the same; only slightly better. I guess that's better than slightly worse. :)
Slightly better is good news, in my book, yeah. :)
And congrats to Sarah! Sounds like things are really moving there. That's pretty dang cool.
Greetings,Mark.I enjoy reading your posts. I am sorry to know about your health problems and hope you get well soon.
honeykid
09-13-13, 05:30 PM
Yep, better's always better, regardless of degree. I hope you keep improving, mate and never forget you're MoFo Royalty.
http://rlv.zcache.com/royal_king_stick_figure_sticker-p217404608146605461qjcl_400.jpg
Brenda and Sarah saw William Shatner in concert last night at a local club. He's touring with a band including two former members of Yes, promoting his new spoken word (with rock accompaniment) album. They all wore charcoal gray suits, and Shatner had his hair (or toupe) cropped short. They said he looked and sounded pretty much like they expected (better than his 82(!) years) and was pretty funny too. When he came out for the encore, someone in the crowd requested a song he's well-known for, and he responded, "No, it's not "Rocket Man" :) and proceeded into another song about the joys of marijuana.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9h8A3PMZJo
AFI just finished their festival in LA and they offered me 12 free passes, but since I couldn't go, I let Sarah make her choices online so she went. She stayed at a friend's and went to seven of her choices (she was too late to make it to Opening Night of Miyazaki's final film The Wind Rises). She did see Ti West's The Sacrament, Xavier Dolan's Tom at the Farm, Ari Folman's The Congress, Todd Sklar's Awful Nice, Asghar Farhadi's The Past, Spike Jonze's Her and a special screening of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's The Marriage of Maria Braun. The first six had the director afterwards being interviewed and answering questions. She said all the films were worth watching but Her was probably her favorite. I'm posting this in the hope that she will write some thoughts on the films on the site soon.
honeykid
11-16-13, 05:26 PM
That's nice, but it's a shame there wasn't anything decent on. :p:D
Sexy Celebrity
11-16-13, 05:59 PM
Did she like Her?
That was her favorite among favorites.
Did she like Her?
Her?
http://media.avclub.com/images/413/413300/16x9/627.jpg?4779
cinemaafficionado
11-18-13, 12:14 PM
Sorry to hear about your health Mark. Change of diet is the first step to a healthier you. Incorporate an hour's brisk pace walk a day and you'll be half-way there. In the last 10 years I've been up and down 50 pounds ( so I still have 4 different sizes of clothes: L, XL, XXL and XXXL ). I've never been really fat but know for sure that I've always felt the best at my lightest weight. I had more energy and moved a lot quicker.
I've also learned that complex carbs contribiute the most to unwanted weight gain ( bread, potato, rice, pasta ). You don't have to eliminate them from your diet as long as you eat them seperately from protein. Try it for a few weeks and you will see immediate results.
I told Sarah she needs to post here more about what she's doing. Until then I'll menton that she's at this year's AFI Fest. This morning she watched Mondo Hollywood (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061988/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1), followed by a Q&A session by the director and PT Anderson, who said this movie provided inspiration for Inherent Vice. Speaking of which, Sarah's going to the 11 o'clock show of Anderson's new flick tonight. :cool:
Cobpyth
11-09-14, 12:26 AM
I told Sarah she needs to post here more about what she's doing. Until then I'll menton that she's at this year's AFI Fest. This morning she watched Mondo Hollywood (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061988/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1), followed by a Q&A session by the director and PT Anderson, who said this movie provided inspiration for Inherent Vice. Speaking of which, Sarah's going to the 11 o'clock show of Anderson's new flick tonight. :cool:
Jealous!
I was planning on watching that documentary when I read about the AFI screening with PTA. Have you seen it, Mark? Do you think it's worth watching?
Daniel M
11-09-14, 12:26 AM
I'm very jealous, that sounds brilliant (both bits), be sure to let us know / get her to post how she finds Inherent Vice :)
I haven't seen it (few have), but apparently that movie was only recently added to the schedule, so when Sarah missed out on the Keaton/Norton interview she quickly switched to that.
Sarah has been editing and color correcting a short film, UFO Diary, to get it ready to be shown on the festival circuit. She recently finished editing the trailer, which can be seen here.
https://vimeo.com/120438750
christine
02-26-15, 12:24 PM
Woo! Looks good. Tell Sarah I'm looking forward to seeing the whole thing :)
honeykid
02-26-15, 06:08 PM
Nice. :) I really like the look of it.
Friendly Mushroom!
04-23-15, 08:43 PM
bump
I'm not sure what's happening, but I seem to just about disagree with everybody about everything. This is by far the worst I've felt this way since I've been here. I don't think anybody cares, but I just thought I'd mention it. It probably doesn't mean anything except that I'm apparently growing out of touch.
Oh cmon Mark, you're just having a temporary case of Internet Forum blues, which happens all the time. I don't think just because people are tending to disagree with you recently doesn't mean you should feel bad or anything. I mean, imagine what Hk would feel then. I'm surprised he hasn't kicked the bucket himself already. :p
The Internet has a way of making disagreements seem sharper and more numerous.
Cole416
06-26-15, 12:27 PM
I'm not sure what's happening, but I seem to just about disagree with everybody about everything. This is by far the worst I've felt this way since I've been here. I don't think anybody cares, but I just thought I'd mention it. It probably doesn't mean anything except that I'm apparently growing out of touch.
Example please?
I think disagreements are what makes a forum fun. Way more discussion and debates on the things being brought up.
christine
06-26-15, 12:28 PM
Hey Mark. Join one of the song tournaments. I always wondered why you didn't cos you like music I know you do!
Haven't seen you around for a bit so are you just reading things and disagreeing with them in your head? I like it when you post , come on have a hug xxx
Daniel M
06-26-15, 12:49 PM
Yeah, chin up Mark. I know it can be hard but you shouldn't take comments about movies, directors etc. to heart. The majority of us on here value your opinion and I've seen countless great films because of you, and have learnt countless stuff because of you too. I know we disagree on a lot of things (cough Godard) but there's a lot of things we agree with as well, and even when we or others disagree, I always respect everyone's opinions.
The Rodent
06-26-15, 12:54 PM
I'm not sure what's happening, but I seem to just about disagree with everybody about everything. This is by far the worst I've felt this way since I've been here. I don't think anybody cares, but I just thought I'd mention it. It probably doesn't mean anything except that I'm apparently growing out of touch.
Meh, I get that too. I call it my time of the month :D
Don't worry too much bud, everyone gets times when they just feel sh*t and in a bad mood.
We're always about if you need us, I'm certainly around to lend an ear if you need it... I think after all the help you given over the years, us MoFos would most certainly band together to help out a friend like you :up:
honeykid
06-26-15, 01:54 PM
I thought you'd been making more sense than usual of late. :D
It can't be helped mark. You've seen over the years just how many times I've had to tell people they're wrong. ;) It comes with the territory.
Miss Vicky
06-26-15, 03:29 PM
Even though we disagree on a lot - but then, I disagree about a lot of things with most MoFos - I always enjoy seeing your ratings and trying to guess what you'll think of certain movies. I hope you don't get too disillusioned with us. We like you. :)
rauldc14
06-26-15, 03:40 PM
I thought you'd been making more sense than usual of late. :D
It can't be helped mark. You've seen over the years just how many times I've had to tell people they're wrong. ;) It comes with the territory.
It wouldn't be bad, but its you who is usually wrong:D
honeykid
06-26-15, 04:29 PM
It wouldn't be bad, but its you who is usually wrong:D
Well we all know that's a blatant lie. :D
Dear Santa,
I've been very good this year - not naughty - so please give me all I ask.
mark's Wish List
Sarah's UFO Diary plays the festival circuit.
Brenda's students behave better next year.
And the usual - Peace, Health, Food, Shelter for all, and certainly MoFos.
(I know there are lots of extenuating circumstances.)
Your most underachieving bum,
mark f
christine
12-24-15, 08:13 PM
Here's to everything you wish for Mark, lots of love to you Brenda and Sarah xxx
honeykid
12-26-15, 04:20 PM
Merry Christmas, mark. :) I hope you're all having a great Christmas.
Yeah, happy holidays Mark! Hope you and your family are having a good time :)
Sarah was mentioned a couple of times in an article in American Cinematographer by the director of UFO Diary who Sarah helped with the editing and color correcting. It'll be great if this flick takes off. Here's (http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ac/ac0116/?ap=1#/16) the article.
I should probably repost this here.
The movie Sarah worked countless hours on, editing picture, sound and color-correcting, is finally on the Internet. Hopefully this will lead to something. :cool:
https://vimeo.com/156232774
Miss Vicky
02-22-16, 07:38 PM
who is sarah
sarah f (http://www.movieforums.com/community/member.php?u=54219)
People are weird. All people. :walter: :cage:
Mr Minio
08-03-16, 05:33 PM
Well, I haven't seen the whole movie Sarah worked on, but the part around 2:20-3:00 has some amazing color saturation. Props for a lot of work put into it.
The last few months have been very difficult for my family.and me - we moved [although we're still not completely out of our old house], I broke my leg and I've been in an ambulance four times. I just wanted to apologize to anyone I may have snapped at this year. Sorry.
Captain Steel
06-15-17, 08:26 PM
The last few months have been very difficult for my family.and me - we moved [although we're still not completely out of our old house], I broke my leg and I've been in an ambulance four times. I just wanted to apologize to anyone I may have snapped at this year. Sorry.
Thanks, Mark. Apology sincerely accepted on my part (don't know if I can forget, but I can definitely forgive), and don't worry, I don't take it personally.
KIDDING!!! I always enjoy your posts.
Good luck with the leg - that really sucks. I may need some of your advice on moving soon! Quick healing!
The last few months have been very difficult for my family.and me - we moved [although we're still not completely out of our old house], I broke my leg and I've been in an ambulance four times. I just wanted to apologize to anyone I may have snapped at this year. Sorry.
Sorry to hear that Mark. Prayers for good things going forward. Hope you know how much your Mofo brothers care about you.
The last few months have been very difficult for my family.and me - we moved [although we're still not completely out of our old house], I broke my leg and I've been in an ambulance four times. I just wanted to apologize to anyone I may have snapped at this year. Sorry.
Sorry to hear that Mark. Prayers for good things going forward. Hope you know how much your Mofo brothers care about you.
And sisters. Mark has always struck me as a top guy.
cricket
06-15-17, 09:31 PM
You're the best brother!!
Cobpyth
06-15-17, 09:36 PM
I wish you the best of luck and a lot of strength during these tougher times, Mark!
Hang in there, Mark. Sorry to hear about the leg. And that's a nice sentiment. We all snap at people sometimes, so no big deal. :)
The Rodent
06-15-17, 10:37 PM
You've not snapped at me bud... but, I think I speak for everyone when I say you're one of, if not the most, respected person on the boards, Mark.
I think if there was ever any altercation between you and whoever, they'd twig that something was up, understand, and simply brush it off.
Wishing you all the best buddy.
Mark just want to say I :love: you :kiss:
I know I'm a bit late to this thread :yup: I like Sexy want to say get help :yup: do what ever the Dr's want :yup:
A few years ago my Dr said if I didn't loose weight and go on a low GI diet she was going to put me on medication :eek: I did what she asked sort of for 6 mths :rolleyes: did nothing to my weight or blood sugar level so medication it was, I begged her for another chance :yup: I went on a low GI diet, cut a lot of things out of my diet for ever :eek: 3 years later, blood sugar level is down to normal, weight is great and I'm full of life :yup:
Stop being stubborn :( your health is very important, don't do it your way :nope: and, we :love: you here :kiss: :kiss:
End of rant :kiss:
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