To the shattered, blood-soaked whites of my eyes, I give this salute–a thank you, a ticker-tape parade of twenty-six letters arranged in pretty patterns–which are, in turn, zeros and ones arranged in pretty patterns, filaments in liquid crystal, themselves burst liquid veins in waxy casings…
Obviously, I’m tired.
Eight, nine, hours of staring.
Click. Click. Click.
A shot. A single shot. Five seconds long. Three hours of work. For a shot. No one will notice this.
Before…
After…
…I suck all the colors out. I correct the red-soaked junk in the upper left corner (a rookie cameraman’s–i.e. my–mistake). The film has this Saving Private Ryan-ish look now. It’s a mockumentary, and I want it to look like it was shot on dirty 16mm film. Like D.A. Pennebaker directed it.
I shouldn’t be putting this much effort into this film. I shot it two years ago. I’ve completed dozens of projects since then.
It needs to be mixed. I am halfway through. This film will require about ten times as many sound effects as I’ve ever used in a project. I needed a break from it, so I decided to start color correction. The sound recording was not great. Some of it may not be fixable.
But I believe in this film for some reason. It’s called The Shrub Whisperer, and I’ve only been talking about it since like forever ago. It’s fifteen minutes long. I am directing a feature film right now. I want this thing outta the way so I can move on. But I also refuse to release this one until it’s finished. FINISHED!!
I am definitely bringing someone else in to mix Razorwire.
So, to the bloodshot whites of my eyes, I give this salute. Thanks for sticking with me.
—
So also, I’m working at church now. I had a five hour meeting with Pastor Chris Chadwick this past Monday. It was riotous fun. It was nice to talk about the vision of Canyon Ridge Baptist Church as well. We went over a massive amount of material. But while the job will be fun, it also has some tremendously sobering aspects, and will be a Titan-load of work. I’m still a little overwhelmed. I’ve got about 4,354.38 (I rounded the decimal point up) tasks to break down into achievable goals, spread out through the year.
Media. Video. Powerpoint. Tracts. Website. Blogs. Vlogs. Twitter. Facebook. Wordpress.
Love God. Learn Truth. Live for Others. Leave a Legacy.
Teens. Games. Fun. Laugh. Mentor.
Read your Bible and pray.
I went home and went to work. Later on, I went running. The intimidation hadn’t quite worn off. Suddenly, that old Rudyard Kipling poem–the one Ms. Hays taught me in seventh grade English class at Odenton Christian School–popped into my head…
If you can keep your head when all about you…
It’s funny–at the time (I was thirteen), I thought the poem was–and this is a crowning irony in my life–childish. Like it was too easy for me. Now, it’s a great comfort.
Thank you, Ms. Hays.
Now, all that said, I’m really enjoying all this so far. It’s been tremendous fun. I love having the opportunity to serve you guys.
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Quick note:
Hoop Dreams is now available on hulu.com. This is probably the greatest documentary ever made. I highly recommend anyone interested in any kind of filmmaking (or interested in basketball, for that matter) see this film. It is one of my inspirations. Lord willing, the director’s autograph is being mailed to me as we speak (I have awesome friends!). Watch it.
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