In the land of Fruits and Veggies…

I am not sure when we became such a grain and meat society, but I feel that this is something that has been sorely lacking in my life.   I recently read an article (well two) about how eating canned food can raise weight due the BPA levels.  I have always eaten canned veggies, every since we were kids.  I think, and this is slightly tied into another article I read: http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-develop-growing-up-poor/ 

Now, my parents always made sure that we ate well, however we did eat canned veggies more than we ate fresh veggies or frozen, it just never tasted right.  And yes it’s been proven that eating fresh or frozen food is more healthy than canned food due to the salt in take (though several cans now have no salt added to them).   This is what makes losing weight a struggle, all the things out there that say ‘do this or wait no do that,’ it can be overwhelming.   However, I’ve decided to try and stay away from canned vegetables and see if that helps.  So this month, I’m clearing out the canned food (expect for tomatoes, I hate, hate cutting tomatoes) and making room for fresh and frozen veggies. 

This will be a challenge since the cost goes up more, but if it helps with weight lose and eating better, I’m down for it.  Thankfully I live in Cali where they may have a million burger joints but have lots of farmers markets and cool places to get stuff that’s fresh. 

As I mentioned before I’m working on portion control, trying to at least.  I’ve been doing a little bit of research on it and found this very interesting: http://web.mit.edu/athletics/sportsmedicine/wcrservings.html

There tons more out there like this and once I’ve complied a list that makes sense, I’ll make sure to send the websites your way.  But it’s a good way to start getting your head into the game in how to cut back.   Smaller plates and eating at the dinner table has been a huge thing offered, but I feel kind of silly eating at my table by myself.   I can’t watch the Daily Show that far away!  So, maybe it’s time to start looking at my dishes and find the ones that are super big and maybe put those on a higher shelf and bring the smaller plates down instead. 

On the rant note of this… this serious overhaul of how I eat, and what I eat wasn’t nearly that big of an issue when I was a kid.  I do believe a lot of it steamed from the fact my father was the cook in the family and he made sure we ate right.  Plus, I did sports as a kid.  I know, I know hard to imagine but I was very talented in volleyball and basketball, but due to our schools rules, I was not allowed to play after grade school.  I should have kept it going and fought more for it, but when you’re a kid it’s hard to stand up to adults who seem to take a pleasure out of beating your spirit out of you.   It goes to show you, never give up at any age. 

As for the work out, I’m cooling slightly on the Yoga (I can only do so many poses before it becomes a clown show) and starting to focus a little more on cardio.   Cardio seems to work well with some of the Pilates as well so I’ll be mixing those up.  

If you’re looking for a decent warm up I am digging her stuff: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xuvxaf2qvbk&context=C33df12fADOEgsToPDskIFxvlQVcQyeuBwNw3_GK6C 

She talks way too much for my taste, but some of those moves are good for someone whose body is a little bigger.   

Next time will be about weighing in, something we all look so forward too!

Till Another,

Ne in Hollywood

Working it out in the land of Eternal Sunshine...

I realize I haven’t written in a while (to my handful of friends who follow this) and decided I needed to.  I use to write on a daily base in a diary, but sometimes my life becomes work, sleep, work, sleep, repeat and rinse that I often lose sight of it.

However, as I’m in a little down time from the insanity that is working in the ‘biz,’ I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting about myself.  The last three years (it’s almost been 6!) out here has been nothing short but reexamining my life, the direction it’s going, and the person I want to become.  You would think, after going and getting a masters degree, a person would have an idea and direction they are going.  Yeah, I did, and then I made a film that pretty much made me see that while I was doing everything that I wanted to for the ‘planned’ type life, I was emotionally unprepared for all of it because I had not dealt with some personal matters in my life. 

So, why the sudden surge to write again?  Because now that emotionally I’m getting where a normal person should be (only took 20 some years), physically I’m not happy with the outer appearance.  I had spent a whole year back before I dated the ‘big ex’ and lost about 75 pounds.  Guess what I got back, not the ex.  I’m tired of this yo-yoing of weight and the only person who has that control is me!  Plus, I live in the land of skinny girls; I won’t get a job, sadly, if the outer appearance is not up to code.  It sucks to say, but true out here. 

The day after my birthday (with some rest for recovery), I sent out some new goals for myself.  I had already been working towards some of them already, but I’m going to put the list out there for all to read (yes all 3 of you). 

1.     Get sugars under control. 

2.     When eating out, eat better food (this is helpful due to Cali now showing you the calorie count on the menus for a lot of things).

3.     Cut back on caffeine (this will be tough when working on set)

4.     Cook more (Very easy to do when your poor!)

5.     Portion/Serving size control. 

6.     Workout.

7.     Cut back on soda (this one isn’t hard since I drink maybe 2 or 3 glasses a month, and I prefer to the taste of water over soda).  

8.     Go the doctor more to help monitor this all.

I’m sure there are more, but those are the ones I’m focusing on at the current moment.  And since I’m poor, I’m seeing if the web can truly help in this area of learning how to lose weight (hey if it can help people watch porn, it’s got to help people lose weight right?). 

Now, here is what I’ve been working on so far.  I’ve replaced my blood sugar monitor and have been using that to get control of the sugars.  I’ve only spiked a few times, but have dropped too low more than once.  It’s still a learning game for me with the insulin and the sugars, but I’ll figure it out.  I’m getting better at taking my meds BEFORE I eat.   This is KEY of course to controlling ones sugars.  In truth, if I can get it under control, I won’t need them (per my doctor), so that’s what I want, I want OFF the meds. 

Working out, I’ve started doing yoga and Pilates, badly, but I’ve been doing them almost every day.  Each day I try and add another 5 minutes (or work harder in the time I’ve carved out) to my routine and will hopefully build by the end of this month to a full hour of working out.  I’ll be changing it up and this weekend going to buy some weights since Pilates really like to use them for their routines.   As I mentioned before I said I wanted to use the web and for this I’ve found a ton of yoga and Pilates websites on Hulu.com, I have the plus and use my Sony streaming device so I can watch it on my TV.  So far I’ve done about a 7-8 minute warm up with about 10-15 minutes of doing the yoga or Pilate moves with a 5 minute cool down.  The kitties are quite freaked out by watching me do this, but I work up a sweat and can feel my heart going and I think that’s the point.  I’m going to be doing walking next week since I live so close to a bike path (this will not happen as often depending on job and hours). 

As of today, this is what I’ve been tackling.  I’m currently working on figuring out serving/portion control sizes and will be marking those websites out for anyone who wishes to learn with me.  The important part is having the support and as my cousin Sarah informed me the other day ‘if you don’t do it one day, do it the next day.  It’s really a day by day process.”  I couldn’t agree more with her!

Till Another,

Ne in Hollywood…

The aging (and possible death) of a good friend: Film

We are moving into a very digital era in our time. I remember the buzz when Lucas announced he was going to only “film” on digital because he felt film would be obsolete in ten years. While that was over 14 years ago this statement came out, it seems to be ringing true when a good friend told me that our local place we see films at (AMC Burbank) has gotten rid of all of their film projectors and have now been replaced with digital ones. In a way this made me want to cry, because while digital is a nice feature it still is in no way touch the beauty and depth that is film. I think this is one of the reason why I don’t like watching movies on TV’s (no matter the size, or dpi, or HD quality which I’m sorry I still don’t find is great for films, fine for sports though) because it’s on film and I don’t think a TV can capture what a filmmaker was trying to convey when it’s on a movie screen then a little TV. You loose so much. I know many disagree with me on this, that’s fine. I grew up in theaters. My father and I would always go see two films together and honestly it was because of him and my grandma Eilene who taught me the love of film.

And yet as I write this I’m sitting here staring at a script and thinking to myself how in the world can I afford to put this on film. Film is expensive and while it was nice having the school pay for some of it (with my tuition money) I simply do not have those means anymore. So do I go digital? Ugh.

Dilemma.

This past weekend I was a 1st AD for a short film a friend of mine was directing and they used the 7D by Canon (if you recall this camera was used to shoot the last episode in the Fox show House), which of course was cheaper (just need a hard drive to transfer your footage). So while I sit here and figure out the balance I need (cuz you need a figure in mind when you want to start fundraising) it comes down to money. As much as I don’t want to shoot on digital, the hard fact is to make this film I want to make I may have too. Unless there is some magical fairy out there who can grant me unlimited amount of film and processing?

Yeah didn’t think so.

So I will leave you with a quote I’m stealing from a friend’s facebook that I think rings very true to those who get to play with film (because they have studio backing or a benefactor or well you get the idea).

‎"Every digital camera is trying hard to emulate 35mm film, and there's a reason for that.-Wally Pfister, ASC

So, so true.

Till Another,
Ne in Hollywood.

Wait a minute, it's July already?

This blog doesn’t have a lot to do with the film industry (or a story that relates to something I’ve done recently, well maybe) more on a personal note for myself.   I was walking out of my work last night (I work the late shift at my job) and thought holy cow it’s July, where did the last six months go?  Hell the last year?  I thought about this as I was walking to my car that I feel like I’ve only really been paying attention to my life since April which makes sense because that is when I got rid of some bad energy in my life.  It’s strange how we sometimes latch onto something potentially toxic to us and either a) don’t want to realize it or b) just have no clue how bad that relationship is for you.  Doesn’t matter if your friends or family are throwing down the red flag and calling stop!  It just happens, even if you are thinking to yourself that you’ve never been there, trust me I’m sure you have, we just like to pretend we were not like that.

The thing with reflecting on this is remembering that a little over a year ago I gradated and got my MFA, big accomplishment that suddenly made me feel like I dropped to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and it was flooded so badly that the tides swept me from here to there, got knocked around a little bit by the rocks and swallowed enough water (bullshit) to last me a lifetime.   I can’t say it won’t happen again, life has it’s ups and downs but as a recent film I worked on said – ‘choose your destiny’ and that I am.  I sat on the sidelines far to long for my taste and feel myself getting back into the game.  This could potentially have something to do with my drive for wanting to direct again.  Directing is a beast in itself, it’s like having a child and giving birth and then watching it grow up and either fail in life (festivals) or thrived (winning awards or getting noticed in festivals).  After thesis I felt I had just paid for a giant therapy session of my life, I didn’t take the risks that I normally do because frankly I’m a risk taker.  Yes there are consequences to taking risks but if you succeed you get so much more reward for it… think Michael Douglas in Wall Street only minus the jail time.  Go big or go home. 

With that said I’ve decided it’s time to go big.  I’m writing a feature and learning about raising money, grants, and all that jazz about it.  I’ll blog about it soon but currently elbow deep in research, writing and of course working my normal 9-5 job that actually pays my bills.  I hope that because of the subject matter I can raise money and maybe, maybe finally make my first feature.  This of course terrifies me greatly, I’ve made shorts nothing more.    But at the same time it enthralls me, makes me excited when I get out of bed and my head is bursting with ideas that my friends from all over want to get involved because they believe in me.  I think that is what saved me from the depths of the Grand Canyon of despair and made me start climbing back to the surface, my friends and family who have always given me so much support.  I tuned that radio out for a while and maybe got a little selfish in my thinking but now I’m back (or I’m working on being back, might still have a bit to climb).  Always remember to utilize who is around you, the people you think that might support you and don’t, move on, figure out who they are.  Who is your sounding board?  That has been one of my biggest struggles but I believe I understand that now and will be sounding a lot more off their boards!

Till Another,

Ne in Hollywood

Making the short film versus the feature film.

I have a dilemma. It’s one that I think a lot of people struggle with when they’ve graduated film school, or maybe it’s just me. The issue is this: Do I write a feature or write the short? Which one will get me where I need it to be? Can I raise the money for a feature or would the short be a better way to go? Can I tell my story effectively enough through a short or will it be too confusing and ergo must do the feature?


These are things that I think about when it comes to writing a script. Currently I’m just seeing where it takes me, feature or short but sometimes it’s a real dilemma because I’m a ‘starting out’ director who is trying to get my foot in the door for that bigger (paid) project. If you watch the Oscars (especially this last year) they did a small segment on the past directors who went on to director features from their shorts, but that’s just five films in the span of how many shorts made over a year? So, while that would be ideal to get in that short program it’s also very unrealistic at times to think you’re film can get in there. I’m not saying I don’t have the ability or the skill or the talent to get there, someday.


But that all begins with the script, it starts with an idea that you shape into that script. I was explaining my issue with another fellow director who said it is a struggle as well to know which direction to take your story. Feature or short. What is considered a ‘legal’ feature would be a film that is over 80 minutes in length (i.e. or you could just do what Jonah Hex did and draw out your credits very slowly to make it the legal limit). But for features in festivals it can range from 59 minutes up to 80 minutes to be considered a feature, so the question is when page count starts to really matter, what’s the right number? That, I wish I knew.


But as I stated before I’m seeing where the story takes me. I have not written a script in over a year at least and so I’m a little rusty in some of the formats but I’m whittling through it. I think I’ve found a story that I enjoy telling: current social issues that threaten what this country is founded on. It takes you a bit to really know what kind of stories you want to tell, sometimes you don’t see it until you start to notice what you drift towards. I collect a lot of newspaper articles, seeing great stories in them and wanting to make them into films. I do this with books as well but I think from my undergrad days taking a class on how to find ideas for stories we focused a lot on newspaper articles, plus they are shorter reads and by the time I’m done reading a book it’s already in production to be made into a movie (not all though thankfully). It is also a question that is asked of you a lot in this business, what kinda story do you want to tell. What kind of movie do you want to make. Or as my master’s program I just finished last year ‘what’s your story’. It all will boil down to that and once you figure out what that is, go with it.


As for me the debate will end when I’m finished telling my character’s story, her journey that she is currently on and then from there I’ll see – feature or short.


Till Another,
Ne in Hollywood.

The Life and Times of filmmaking for a 1st AD that's a director

The Life and Times of Filmmaking.

When you look at a film and watch it do you ever think to yourself the amount of time it takes to construct a scene? Do you think, I wonder how the 1st AD pulled that off? I do, cuz I enjoy 1sting when I can get the opportunity to do it. 1st ADing is a lot of fun and extremely stressful at times. You are basically commanding a cast and crew sort of like a conductor orchestrates a band. It is why it’s very important I feel to know how being an Assistant Director works.

I think for directors there are two avenues that really help with becoming a great director (well maybe three but it depends on the person). The first is being an editor. I got my undergrad in editing and it really does help you figure out how to cover scenes so that your editor has something to work with, to piece together a film. Inserts really are a lifesaver sometimes (as well as getting thirty seconds of room tone for the room you’re shooting in so that when you find out there’s a lawn mower going in the background you can remove and put that in it’s place). The second is being a 1st AD. Not only do you get to figure out how a crew works, how long things take and the happy accidents or mistakes that occur to help you better prepare for your own shoot. I sometimes feel that filmmaking is like going into battle - you need a plan in order to win. The third one is learning cinematography, you find out how to utilize your camera, what are it’s limitations and how can you make those work for what you’re shooting. I will fully admit it that cinematography is not my strongest avenue of filmmaking. When I shot my thesis I did work on learning more about shutter angles and filters, which I feel, really will help me down the road. School was a very good place to learn these experiments in an environment where we had mentors who could help us (and they did with our questions about it) instead of trial and error while on a film set. These three things really help directors I feel become stronger for their other teams like production design.

That’s kinda of the life of filmmaking for directors however the TIME is really where I feel being a 1st AD comes in handy. Why? Because you understand how long things do take to set up. Recently I was on a film that was shooting with the new 5D HD Camera, which is now the hottest thing to use in creating shorts. It’s awesome because it can save you time and money – as long as you understand how it saves you time and money. I’ve been on a few shoots with this particular camera and I will say this much that I’ve learned about HD shooting – you get slightly faster however, lighting still takes time to set up. HD allows you the latitude to shoot longer, but it doesn’t mean shooting faster. You should not push your crew to shoot nearly 60 shots, on 10 pages, with 4 different locations (even if in the same house or otherwise) in one day. A, it’s just rude to your crew to push them that hard and B, you’re not going to get nearly what you need. This is where being on a few sets as a 1st AD HELPS!

Sometimes as green directors we forget that lights take time to set up and tear down, sets take time to put everything in it’s place with production design, wardrobe changes, make-up, light bulbs breaking and needing to be changed, dolly’s being brought in and practiced on, focus being pulled for a tracking shot, and you see my point. These take time and this is why knowing how to schedule your shoot is crucial. Yes you can sit there and say ‘oh it’s challenge’ but really it’s not. It’s not shooting wisely if you’re shooting a full weekend in one day. You never really get everything you want in filmmaking even on a normal shooting schedule but when you’re cramming SO much into one shoot it’s quite possible you lose the story you’re trying to tell.

Also listen to your AD as well. They have a schedule to adhere to, people to keep in line, money to save the director and/or producer and it is disrespectful to disregard them because they are working for the crew as well, not trying to kill the production. DP’s are not AD’s and I say this because I’ve been working on a lot of shoots lately (outside of my school DP’s) that think they can do the AD job as the DP. “Sure we can get it no problem” when the AD is like “No you can’t” and then side stepping them and working with the director to get what they want. This is just disrespectful to the people who are trying to get everything you want. Because of this shots are cut later down the line and rewriting of script sometimes has to happen on set and this is NOT good for storytelling. So rule of thumb don’t ignore your AD, it only hurts the production of your story in the long run and understand Directors that while you want the moon, you may have to settle to being a little more realistic with Earth instead. Also don’t push your crew to the point where they want to stop working for you, it’s just rude to expect more then one person to do the job of five people (Unless you’re my friend Diego who thrives on it).

Ok I’m done with my rant for the day. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy and love being on set. It’s one of the greatest times I ever have and did have this weekend. I met some incredible people that I would in a heartbeat work with again because they were so damn good. What I’m more or less talking about is just some general common sense rules that, as filmmakers, should know.

That is all for today!

Till Another,
Ne in Hollywood

Directors are not allowed to miss anything!

I recently had a discussion with someone about how directors could possibly miss things in movies that are so obvious to the viewer. I tried to explain how it’s not like the director purposely misses those things but it can happen. I know people look at the director and the sole responsibility lies on their shoulders but it would be nice to know that it’s a team that the director works with in getting the movie out. Yes, it’s ‘our’ vision in the public eye but it’s a team effort and not a sole effort to accomplish a film.

The best way I can explain it is that a director has two jobs, one as parent and two a marionette orchestra. Yes there is other stuff, creative director and etc but when you’re directing it feels like those are your two jobs on set. You have to make sure you spend time with your actors, get them where they need to be. You have to make sure your DP and you are on the same page. You have to make sure your 1st AD and you are in good communication. You need to be friendly and talk to your crew (when sometimes you are so lost in your own thoughts about how to tell the story effectively it is easy to not notice other people) cuz these people are working their ass off for you. There’s just a lot going on and plus you have to make sure your mom or dad aka the Producer is happy as well. There’s a lot on the shoulder of the director so it’s not like they sit there and let things slide they just have a lot going through their head. I honestly would like people who are very critical of directors to do it once and than see if they as directors miss stuff (even Spielberg misses stuff). It is not an easy job and there are few who can do it and truthfully I feel every time you make a movie you seem to learn something new. New technology, new people, new stories being told, there’s just a lot. So, while something that you catch as the viewer seems so obvious know that it’s not always to the script sup who’s watching the monitor while the director stays behind the camera (without a monitor) and watches the action that way. In a crowd of 100 extras plus your actors you tell me if you will see everything while standing by the camera.

Ok mini-rant over with. My transcriber job has been going well. I watch A LOT of reality TV that for me is a bit strange since I only watched the Food Network Channel. I also worked on the Sy-Fy Mr. Impossible for a day, which was a lot of fun, and I got to have a ‘sorta’ conversation with Sarah Brightman and she was very lovely with her British accent and friendly manner. I really hope this show gets picked up cuz it’s just fun. However I wish it were a little more organized. My 1st ADness (First Assistant Director) kicked in and I felt myself kind of trying to help them as best I can. But overall it was fun because I was able to roll b-roll camera stuff which I NEVER get to do. I really hope the series is picked up cuz they are just a lot of fun people to hang out with and the crew is a lot of fun as well.

Well I’m off…

Till Another,
Ne In Hollywood!