Thursday, August 11, 2011

Exhibit B


Storm's a-Coming

Ladies and gents, it's been quite some time.

NoiseFest Film Project Update:

The dinner party was a success!  We appreciate the support of everyone that came and glad that they had a good time.
Above all, I am very thankful for the enthusiasm and creative ingenuity of our friend, "The Touring Vegan Chef", Joshua Ploeg

We are also planning another food-filled fundraiser to be held in mid-October.
This will be a BBQ; perfect for those who weren't brave enough for a four-course gourmet vegan meal.
What sets this BBQ apart from most that you may have attended is that this one will be held on the former property of a recently departed murderous old biddy.  For those that are in the know of Sacramento history, good for you!  For others, here's her Wikipedia page
Perfect for historians, Sac spooksters and anyone wanting to get in the spirit of Halloween!


Our IndieGoGo funding page have been live for a few weeks, but has only received little love since then.
As the project's broke-ass producer, I'm taking drastic measures as far as getting traffic on this page.
I'll be posting videos, fliers and other items to hopefully spark curiosity and at least direct traffic onto our page.

The rage comic below is one of many examples.  It'll be posted in various galleries, forums and where ever goons may hide:



Stay tuned....

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Alive, Kickin' and With a Stubborn Sense of Gusto

It's been a while since the last update and much has occurred over the past two weeks.

Since the beginning of January, I have been actively involved in creating a documentary about the longest running experimental music festival in the WORLD, the NorCal Noisefest.
This documentary will also cover the history of the experimental music genre as well as the discussion of whether or not it is music.

I am genuinely excited to be working on this documentary and not afraid to pour my personal finances into this.

Fortunately my daring partner, Chad, and I are not afraid to ask for money either.
Below is the video Chad made for its Kickstarter page, and if this doesn't get you excited about the documentary then you are clearly catatonic:





With the unfortunate tanking of the Kickstarter funding page, we're now setting one up on Indiegogo (note: unlike Kickstarter, you will receive funds regardless since there is no set goal to be reached).
We have also gone over several other fundraising options such as: benefit dinner (currently organizing), social/mixer while viewing footage of previous Noise Fests, possible benefit show with noise-friendly troupes and so on.

For the Noise Fest XV meeting held on May 29th revealed that unlike previous festivals, this year will have five days' worth of performers instead of three.
For us that will mean nonstop filming from 10am to midnight for Wednesday, September 28th through Sunday, October 2nd. At this point in time I know we will have at least 3 cameras and 4 volunteers for the show.
The logo used for this year has also been revealed, which I find a perfect and total encompassment of the genre.
All of the above can be viewed at the NorCal Noisefest webpage.

In the meantime, we will still continue with filming the meetings and making travel arrangements for our interviewees.

'Til next time!

Friday, July 16, 2010

Four highs and a Low

This year I made an effort to participate in the Trash Film Orgy Zombie Walk.
This year also happens to be the 10th anniversary of TFO and all their loyal fans/Sacramento
weirdos will try to break the current record for number of participants in a zombie walk.
As some know, the Trash Film Orgy is credited for starting the first ever zombie march in
attempt to gain publicity for their B-movie festival. The record is currently set at 4,016
(set by a college campus, no fair!) while us, the humble trend-setters, were only able
to gather 700+ people. Later that evening there was a bungled attempt at forming the
world’s largest zombie conga line.

You can watch the full parade of zombies here (try to find me):




The Trash Film Orgy will have midnight showings every Saturday (July 10th - August 14th) at the historic Crest Theater.


On a more academic note:

About a month ago (but realized today) CRC has finally granted me an Associates of
Arts degree in Film and Media Studies. I understand that in the eyes of employers an
AA is about as valuable as a high school diploma, but I finished it with a 4.0 GPA giving me and Honors award. Too bad I didn't pay to attend the graduation, I would have gotten to wear a gold sash or something to that effect. It does feels good to finally have a
collegiate degree to wave in people’s faces. Either that or tastefully hang it on the wall.
This Fall semester is going to be the kickoff for a long year ahead of me. After only
spending two semesters at CSUS, I’ll be able to submit my petition to graduate Fall
2011. It’s incredibly exciting to think that I’m almost near the finish line. Done with one
degree and onto another!

While we’re on the topic of earning degrees, I’ve made it a goal for myself to finally get
my lazy butt certified in Final Cut Pro (Level 1) and Apple Motion (Level 1). For quite
some time, I’ve understood that you can’t move very far or get noticed in the field unless
you have degrees/certificates attached to your name. There are no certified testing areas
in Sacramento that I know of, so traveling to either Irvin or San Diego to spend another
$150 for the testing will be a bit of a pain (but worth it in the long run). Spend money to make money, or so I’ve heard.

I'm lucky to have all this motivation and optimism to outweigh the fact that I learned recently that I will be getting laid off (along with 29 other people in my department) sometime in October. So much for that special video project, I won't be around long enough to finish it!


Things will look up.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Second-Hand Cinema Does it Again!

Much thanks to a fellow cult film aficionado, earlier today I had been introduced to this gem from India known to the U.S. as Banglar King Kong.



It's being called "the new Turkish Star Wars" which has immediately captured my attention. For those that do not know, Turkish Star Wa,rs was part of a slew of mock-up American blockbusters (i.e. Turkish Exorcist, Turkish E.T.) re-written and produced in Turkey. These films were extremely low budget, but a cult following had formed from the uniform campiness of these pictures.

With that as background, I hope the lot of you are prepared for this nonsense.
There is a current standstill with the popularity of Bollywood pictures in the U.S.. I blame the incline and dip of many of those viral videos (breakdancing midget, Indian "Thriller"). Personally, I went through my phase in high school (it's great for battling depression!). There's nothing really more uplifting and absurd as a brightly contrasted musical with poor production quality.

The story is still the same: some went in the name of science and others for fame and fortune. Singing merrily on their cruise ship, a ragtag team of an anthropologist, his daughter, some yellow-bellied goofballs, and a pink-shirted Cowboy-Zorro go to an "uninhabited" island where they are greeted by.....Indian men in a Sambo gettup. The chief may be wearing a viking helmet. Our star is a man in an ape suit with a performance that might make Andy Serkis jealous. The giant ape is superimposed with the least subtlety, but at least he and the leading lady are still able to share a tender moment through song and dance. The climax of the film pays homage to Japanese monster pictures, as I can recognize most of the sets and sound effects used for this.

All this points to YES. I honestly can't wait until I download....purchase....a copy.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Bogus and Bonus

After constant struggle with google sites to transfer my blog to my new domain, I've retreated back to the free one. At least I'll still have "makeascene.info" for when I've the will to fight again.

On some brighter news:

My super-supervisor has asked me to take part in producing some skits that are to be performed between the different departments at OTech. These skits will be shown at this year's Holiday party. Personally, I think my co-workers should do a skit about fort wars between the tape operations and tape library folks with the forts being made out of the immense number of soon-to-be destroyed tape cartridges.

I am incredibly excited to finally have a project lined up for this summer, rather than being led on by local musicians to produce their music videos.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Parlez-vous français?




If not, don't worry: subtitles will be provided.


The 9th annual Sacramento French Film Festival Kicks off tonight at 8pm with the 2009 bait-and-switch drama In the Beginning.

Every Saturday and Sunday for the next two weeks, the Crest Theater in downtown Sacramento will be hosting all day screenings of select French feature and short films in its stunning main theater.








The showcase that awaits tonight will lead on with 7 film premieres, a handful of short films and a few classics – including 2 tributes to the late Jean Gabin.

The ending ceremony of the festival will show the 007 satire OSS 117: Lost in Rio (2009) – which is, in my opinion, far more clever and funny than Austin Powers.

So far I have only been able to attend the festival on two separate occasions, neither which have disappointed me.

I highly encourage anyone and everyone who has an appreciation for passion, whimsy or at least a sense of humor to take a chance with this experience. May I remind you that this opportunity is only available two weekends out the year? The wonderfully social atmosphere provided each time I go is reason enough for me to return.

$10 regular admission, $9 for students

Weekend passes and specials are available as well for the zealous cinephile (or Francophile).

For more information about the French Film Festival or to see the full itinerary of the films being shown, please visit:

http://www.sacramentofrenchfilmfestival.org



Jouir!