mid week thoughts (updated)
That photo above is from our visit to the big huge Star Wars convention that was held in LA (photos here), which was not all that huge and pretty much kind of a yawner. I will write more about this later, because it has been very interesting to read about the creation of the film (concepts, characters, hardware, philosophy and the actual movie itself) and then go deep into this celebration of mass consumerism that has overshadowed much of what made the movies so interesting in the first place. Yeah, I bet you can’t wait for that one.
(I might already be done, actually.)
Anyway, pretty nice day today. My friend Peter brought me in to do a public service announcement to be aired in conjunction with Al Gore’s Live Earth concerts. I did a spot with a pretty well known actress...actually, she is really well known, but I think it makes more sense for me to wait until the spot comes out before I actually talk about my experience with her (which was very pleasant and really quite cool, if brief). I don’t know the etiquette, honestly, regarding talking about actors whom you work with that are regularly in the public eye and would much rather their fellow actors....well, I just don’t know. On the one hand, it’s a terrifically interesting experience, when you are brought in to work with someone who is literally being stalked by paparazzi even while you are working with her, I mean, that’s a fundamentally different experience for me, something I have not talked about at all on this site. On the other hand, my goal is to be a working, contributing, and constant professional and my gut tells me that while it’s probably fine to talk to friends about the experience, it’s probably best to just lay low and let the spot come out and then comment on the work then. Happily, it should be out in a few weeks.
But what IS cool about today is that Peter brought me in to help out, and given that I admire Peter so much (he’s an actor and feature director and quite a good friend and mentor), it was, personally, a Very Big Deal that he thought of me. It was really cool, and quite an insight into that bit of Hollywood that everyone talks about, the Hollywood that is very much into charities and causes and that sort of thing--everyone worked for free (no residuals, nothing) and it was a really professional set. It was just awesome, okay? I said it. It was really awesome.
So, I am changing the site a bit. Rocco and I finally figured out how to export movies made using digital cameras in a more web-friendly way, so I am adding a “videos” section with lots of different videos I have taken over the past year or so. “Real” stuff that I am is not in the “reel” section. The top video is particularly awesome, when Roman did his Klingon love ballad during our wedding. The footage is super dark, but you can still just make him out (I did what I could do bring out the picture) and hear the song. It’s hilarious. The other videos are from our Tokyo trip, the Star Wars convention, out trip to the aquarium and Coachella. More vids will be posted as I dig ‘em out.
* Update - I fixed the videos page so they won’t all load at once. It’s a lame fix, but it’s better than automatically loading all the videos every time you visit the page. Definitely something Apple needs to fix. I did add a video Sean, Brooke and I made after we filmed the Comcast spot, so that might be fun for ya. Have a good weekend!
Friday, June 1, 2007