The Hours...

...were long.

So we did this 44-hour film fest thing these last few days...myself, Mieke, Tim Brom, and Dave Einfeld were on a team together. I wanted to do something serious/dramatic at first, but everyone else kinda just wanted to have fun with it and be farcical. Interestingly enough, I was the one that came up with the idea that they all loved and we ended up doing.

The requirements were that we had to use a certain line from Godfather as dialogue and we had to use a rubber ducky as a prop. So what we did is just imitated/parodied like 17 different movies and just stuck the duck in as the character from each movie.
We covered stuff like Titanic, Star Wars, Taxi Driver, Psycho, Chariots of Fire, Lord of the Rings, James Bond, and a slew of others. We had a few other ideas too that we didn't have time to get into the final cut.

So after two full days of filming and editing, we got a finished product and turned it in. I had to admit, it was pretty funny, but I assumed other teams (of the 12 other teams involved) would have something better- ours was basically just a montage. And I think part of the judging was on narrative. Not to mention we technically cheated, because Jordan said we couldn't use copyrighted music since there was prize money, but since ours were parodies, and parody falls under free use "laws," we used movie theme songs and stuff. So the judges viewed, and it came time for the premier.

I absolutely loved some of the films shown. They were totally creative and were things I would have liked to do. The whole time, I knew we'd get the most laughter and that people would remember ours the most, but none of us expected to win. Turns out we tied for second place (out of two places), even after a re-vote to try and break the tie. So the $200 got split between us and the other team, and since there were four of us, we each walked away with $25.00. Which is totally awesome, because now I'm going to buy that LEGO Star Wars XBOX game.

I do feel a bit bad about it, since I think some of the other films deserved to win, but I'll take $25. I submerged myself into a fricking 35-degree pond for this thing, plus all my muscles hurt. Did we deserve to win? I suppose. But a few other teams did too. I'm sure they put more creative effort into thiers.

"Luck" was on our side, too. We wanted a school bus, and there just happened to be an elementary school field trip to Calvin that day. I wanted a piece of fishing line, as there one was, just hanging that I normally would never have noticed. Buncha stuff like that. Anyway...good times.

Well, until next time...I'll be in my office...which is here...so I'll be here. Keep it, yo.

The American President...

...is on his way.

Shot Mieke's script last Sunday at the coffeeshop. Went pretty smoothly. Editing tonight.

Screenplay's coming along, I'm on page 28. That's due in a couple weeks. Just turned in my Brian DePalma paper (director of such classics as The Untouchables and Mission: Impossible), here's hoping he doesn't grade so hard this time. So other than the screenplay, all I have left is a term paper for World Cinema and finishing Coffee and Paint (Mieke's script). Side projects are the 44-hour film fest thing, and another short some of us are trying to do. Home in less than a month, where things will return to completely normal.

Too bad I'm leaving on the 17th, it would have been interesting to stay and hear MR. PRESIDENT BUSH at the graduation commencement this year. For some reason he accepted Calvin's invitation to speak, along with Yale and Notre Dame. Which of these things, is not like the other?

Hmmm what else? I'm bored. I should work some more on my script. Sleep pattern is getting messed up, so that sucks. Oh I'm working my way through Halo 2 on Legendary. It seems to be a lot easier after all those rounds I played online. Filming the final few shots of Coffee and Paint tomorrow evening- the script itself wasn't all that exciting, so I jazzed it up a bit stylistically- partially by interjecting quick shots of the things the girl character is thinking about during the coffeehouse conversation. The guy is supposed to look all majestic to her and stuff, so we're gonna add like what she imagines him to be like in these short "imagination cutaways." Sooo yeah. Maxxout. Keep it, yo.

Idle Hands...

...are completely foreign to me.

Yeah, yeah, I know I've been slacking. But that's cuz I've been NOT slacking on other stuff. Like:

1) Beating stupid (if by stupid I mean awesome) X-Men: Legends FINALLY, since that's like the longest game in video game history. And I can't figure out how to "use" whatever I unlocked after beating stupid (if by stupid I mean STUPID) General Kincaid and his army of human-robot hybrids.

2) Finally getting on with writing my screenplay, which so far I'm enjoying much more than I had anticipated. One thing I've found interesting is the level of freedom I feel like I have- for instance, I haven't allowed any language in the William Steel series. And I'm not bound to length. The requirement is 30 pages, but I'll be WAY past that when I'm done. So far I think it reads pretty smoothly. Gotta research some stuff for realism sake though.

3) Trying to get this Coffee and Paint script of Mieke's shot. The stupid (if by stupid I mean impossible to deal with) woman at the coffee shop said she'd call me about Sunday. That was a week ago. I'm going to have to call them in the morning. The deal is, we pay someone to stay while we shoot during closed hours. Mieke and I always cross our fingers when we talk about filming.

4) Figuring out my future. Granted, this is a constant deal, but there have been a few plan changes recently. I'm going to stop making plans. They never finish.

5) Editing William Steel 3: Redemption. It's coming along swimmingly (for those of you who are British I guess?), and I often play the first scene and just watch it. I've played a bit with music, but haven't thought seriously about that yet. That's like the last thing to get in. The official release date has been bumped up from end of August to early-ish August. Puts a little more pressure on for me, but filming should start up again by the end of May...gee it's hard to type with your fingers crossed. Expect a trailer out sometime in June. ON DVD!

6) Yeah that reminds me, I finally got my DVD burner to work. The software Kevin gave me only burns +R, but I didn't know that when I tried it on my -R disks. Spent a good 20 minutes trying to figure out some crazy error message, then realized +R might work. After that, I burned a good copy of Jen's DVD teaser and music video, finished a project another student requested, and threw together (if by threw together I mean worked tirelessly on) a "Kutschera Happenings" DVD, composed of footage I took of family events during the year. It's funny, they complain about the camera, THEN they appreciate the final product. Good times I guess.

Enough. Oh man, I've been dreaming like crazy lately. Normally I like dreaming, but this is starting to get on my nerves. I should sleep less tonight, not give myself a chance to get any in. Keep it, yo.

In the Heat of the Night...

...I await my dryer.

Okay short and sweet. I'm waiting for my stupid laundry. I was *this* close to starting my script today. I went and chilled in the field by a tree and was gonna start writing but I started writing something else. Something more entertaining. Details to come.

I'm 2/3 through Rainbow Six and I'm stuck on this stupid level that I seriously need to hire Sam Fisher for. Why can't they all just work together? Huh? Ding Chavez could shoot through Chaos Theory in no time. I also played a little more X-Men Legends...hate the camera in that game.

Looks like we might be filming Mieke's script this weekend, I'm not sure. I just hope my roommate can act at least a little. My biggest concern is that my actors won't feel comfortable with each other or the situation. Lord knows I'm not a people-person, so I'll have to count on my screenwriter to make them feel comfortable. Argh.

Okay now, what do we do with laundry? We keep it, yo.

You Can't Win 'Em All...

...but I can!

Just two scenes left to capture from all my WS3 footage. Plus I finished Crimson Skies and beat a few more Rainbow Six boards. Spent some time reading homework stuff today, and I plan on finishing that last Halo novel tonight or tomorrow. AND- I just got done editing the rough cut of the first scene of William Steel 3: Redemption. WOO-HOO! It's spec-frickin'-tacular...just sucks that I have to spend 8 hours shooting a 5-minute scene :-).

My roommate asked me if I was going to watch “the game” tonight. I kept from laughing, then asked who was playing...suffice to say I didn’t know baseball season was starting. I don’t really keep in touch with the world, see. I’m surprised I know the Pope died.

Church was fine this morning, but they’re doing a series on forgiveness, and I don’t think I’m getting anything out of it. Think I’ll bounce out to Kevin’s next week if they’re gonna be around.

I’m ready to start writing my script for screenwriting, but I have a meeting with my professor tomorrow first. We’ll see what he has to say. He’ll say I have too many scenes, I’ll say I can’t think in terms of a 30-minute script, and he’ll suggest I cut things out. I won’t. I really should start working on it though.

So LEGO: Star Wars the video game comes out next week for XBOX, and I’d really like to play it- maybe purchase it, but no rush. I’ll probably pick it up used if I think it’ll be worth it. I like to consider myself pretty cautious about what I spend money on, but they can’t just go and stick two of my favorite things together and expect me not to buy it. I mean seriously, if they drank Pepsi in that game, I’d have it already. And technically, I get to see my Baby in a video game…technically. Some day when I’m workin’ out there and I make a movie with Natalie Portman, I’ll have to bring the game rights to Bungie and direct the game too…oh and we can drink Pepsi in the game. That’ll be like health- you have to find a vending machine and drink to stay alive. And then make out with Natalie to beat the game. No, sounds too much like Leisure Suit Larry. Skip it.

Goals for the week: finish the last Halo book, beat Rainbow Six, start screenplay, finish capturing, continue editing, keep it, yo.

Dead Calm...

...for now.

This must be what they call the calm before the storm.

My World Cinema professor is in London for a week, which means no class, plus Screenwriting is off this week 'cuz of one-on-one meetings to discuss our scripts. So, things are easy for a bit. But there's lots and lots to do in the weeks to come, including production of two short films and who knows what else.

Captured three more WS3 scenes today, plus beat like two Rainbow Six 3 levels, AND fit in Sin City. Which was...sinful. Yet redemptive? I was like praying for this one guy to die 'cuz I hated him so bad...and he was like protagonist-ing. Blah.

Saw Keri online today, which was lovely since I haven't talked to her in like a year. Every once in a while I think about e-mailing her, but...I dunno. Well anyway.

I need to eat. Keep it, yo.