May arrived in such a lovely way. The
weather at this end of town has been truly wonderful. It's pleasantly
warms with a crisp cool breeze and the colors of the flowers and
trees are vibrant and brilliant. The jacaranda trees are beginning to
bloom. Even the most mundane errands are a pleasure as it is deeply
pleasing just to be out of doors. Of course, all of my work keeps me
in my small, often dark apartment looking at glowing screens. I
suppose I could take the writing and manga script editing outside.
But we have a concrete courtyard with a pool that's too big for the
area. There is almost no where to sit where I wouldn't be in
someone's way. How I miss the days in Playa del Rey. We had a balcony
there where there were pretty trees to look at along with the daily
death match between a psychotic squirrel and a chubby gray tabby. I
kept a high powered water canon on hand to defend the cat. The
tabby's owner was a very attractive fireman who firmly believed pants
and under shorts and blinds were optional inside his apartment. Come
to think of it, I never got much done on that balcony. Never-mind.
Where was I?
Stand Aside Avengers
Not hardly, as we said back in the day.
My little production is just over five minutes sans special FX or Thor's hammer. Without further ado,
here it is! It was the first time I used this serious film editing program. And
I've never manually synced dialog or corrected color. This sounds
strange for all the fussing I did about how much work post on this
video was, but I got a lot of other work done at the same time.
Practical issues like the PC slowing down as the RAM got clogged
forced me to walk away while the machine rebooted. Other times, I had
to walk away, so I wouldn't throw the PC out the door and into the
pool. I kept up the pace of my various writing projects and the manga
editing. Despite the flaws that remained (and I can see and hear them
all), there came a point where I had to move on and apply the lessons
learned to the next effort. Boy, were there ever a lot of lessons to
be learned. The great thing is that I am not discouraged in the
least. I'm probably delusional. But then again, I have yet to meet a
filmmaker who isn't.
Month of Fun
 |
| MIB in the alley next to Central City Studios |
The Month of fun is going well despite
how much I'm chained to a PC. The trip to the Farmer's Market was
again corrupted by a detour to the Culver Hotel Bar. I really do love
those Dirty Harry Martinis (made with vodka, olive brine and extra olives)! I also discovered that I like couscous
and roasted green olives. I know, it's weird that I have never tried
couscous. The odds were fairly good that I would like it. After all,
I love hominy grits and polenta. I'm just not brave enough to buy and
make something I've never tasted. One, I wouldn't know if I'd made it
right. And I may waste the purchase if I don't like it. That was why
I was so frustrated about zucchini flowers. I'd never had them and
didn't want to risk buying them for myself. The only way that
stalemate was broken was how ridiculously cheap they are in season.
At this Happy Hour were Marie and one of her long time buds that I've
never met. She was every bit of a hoot that Marie described. I
chuckled about that conversation for the rest of the week. I also had
a treat that helped me get through a very difficult day. I very
rarely eat at fast food joints anymore. My reasons are much the same
as everyone else's. But there is one item that I can't quite get
right making it from scratch. It's the sausage biscuit with egg.
Every once in a while, I crave one. And on Friday, I had a three hour
commute to pick up something that took all of three minutes to get.
Instead of getting back on the bus for the long slog back, I popped
into Mickey D's to indulge. One treat that anyone not in the
Entertainment Industry would find odd was visiting the updated sets
at Central City Studio. It had changed so much that I worried about
losing my way in the labyrinth of groovy sets. Check out who's been
filming there in the photo above! Of course, I managed not to make it down to meet them.
Ah, well. It was a fun visit. Trips to sound stages always fill me
with ideas of what to shoot. And it was fun to see the other half of
Dragoncor/Earthdraggon productions. For my birthday week, much is
afoot! I'm planning all manner of girly things (facial, mani/pedi,
etc.). I may even buy shoes! I really hate shopping for shoes, but
it's time to embrace pretty things again. I'll also be setting up
some firm lunch dates for the rest of the month. And be warned,
elusive lunch dates – I now know how to text!
Updates
I seem to be doing a lot of script adaptations
of late. The degree of difficulty and success varies wildly depending
on the project. It's been frustrating trying to dance in another
person's shoes. They are such beautiful shoes that I am thrilled to wear. What is with me and
shoes today? I'm nearing the end of one phase of one of these
adaptations. I've come to the point that I did with the video. There
is a point where I have to send it on, so it can go to the next
level. I really hope I've done it justice. We're about to put another
manga to bed. We already have a four volume series to replace it. And
I think I'll be working with another translator soon. I am anything
but bored. There are a whole bunch of pretty boys to focus on in the
next couple of weeks.
Stay tuned.
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