187

Things have changed.
Things have changed quite a bit.
I’m still pushing forward with my 365 adventure. I’ve just been, well busy. And in certain times not so busy.
Here’s a break down of what I’ve done so far:

I’ve continued my work with ‘The Free Box‘. We have now completed 20 episodes. This is an impressive feat based on the fact that none of us really have any money. We basically buy food for the crew. Everybody lovingly works for free. We’re one psychotically dysfunctional family on set. It’s really fun! Mike Lazear and I have completed (and are still working to make better) thefreebox.tv. This site has proved to be very instructional and helpful to Mikes web development skills.

Dielaughingmedia.com (Mike Lazear and myself) is up and running. We’re still working on getting content up to make the site interesting to visit. We’re also both looking towards really getting are feet wet with Flash design, which I already am relatively familiar with.

I paid off the camera I was buying from my friend Jared. I used this camera to do a photo shoot with Lila Miles. This was my first real attempt to do a fashion shoot. I personally believe that it was a very good shoot. I learned a lot and came out with a mess of awesome shots. Soon I plan on doing a photo shoot Drew Hicks and doing some head shots for people too.

I moved. I really don’t like moving. It’s exhausting! However, I also don’t much like living in suburbia. In my case I lived in suburbia in a fairly trashy neighborhood. So I got to hear traffic, cop sirens and neighbors yelling at people on the phone in their back yard. I now can luckily claim that I hear light traffic, rooster calls and basic forest noises. it’s very peaceful.

I began working on my writing again. I have several screen plays in mind and I’m diligently working on one of my own as well as working on another with my friend Casey. It can be a bit overwhelming, but it will be worth it in the end when I’m either selling or making a movie.

The 2009 film racing tour came through portland. This is the 24 hour film fest. My team decided to do something different this year. Since we almost always go for comedy we decided to try something new. So, we did a thriller. With a 3:30 limit (not including credits) it can be crazy to make something that really works well. Our placement has yet to be posted, but here is our film.

Lesson learned, yet again, have a dedicated sound guy. Bad sound can ruin a film.

On top of all of this I’ve been working out regularly. Especially since I live in the woods. I have trails all around me and I’m using them. Plus, I’ve been hitting my gym regularly and have begun to do research towards becoming a personal trainer. If I keep up at the rate I have been I should be able test for a certification and then I’m good to go.

That pretty much puts us at the present.

I have a new idea. Which is going to be a testament of will. In which I will be trying to write a song a week for 10 weeks and documenting the entire process of writing, recording and gathering a band to play the songs live. Once done I’m going to submit the it to a film fest and release the songs for sale. I have the time and the drive to do something like this. The real question is… can I write a song a week for 10 weeks? Or more importantly, can I write a quality song each week? This is quite the challenge. Quite the way to spend 4 or 5 months.

More to come

274

So, a month has passed since my last post and I have gotten a fair amount done.

1. I’ve been working on “The Free Box” as Producer (I do a lot more than produce the show. I act as camera assistant, sound/boom op, lighting, as well as a little editing help here and there and I’ve played a bit part in an episode) for a couple months now and I’m trying to get it to start snowballing. The first step to this was to get a website built. So I built one, and it’s functional on most browsers. Not including IE, but lets face it… IE sucks!!! Anyway, the site is up and working and I’ve just about finished the DVD of the first 10 episodes. Also, I’m working on posters and I will be making buttons soon-ish too.

2. I worked a lot these last couple months and it’s all about to pay off. I’m going to be able to pay the bulk of my smaller debts so i can put more focus and money towards the line of credit I took out to purchase my video equipment and car. It’s a small step, but it’s a step in the right direction. I’ll soon be able to chunk out portions of it rather than allocating those funds to other credit bills. Unfortunately I, like many other people around the world, got myself into some financial troubles. I’m not going to be there for any longer than I need to be now from here on out.

3. I’m feeling pretty sure about my chance to play bass in my buddies project. My good friend Jared and I went yesterday to have a group tryout. Ryan and I play really well together. Jared and I used to play in a band together and after that project fell apart Jared jumped over to play bass in Ryan’s previous project, Aisle 3. So, we all know each other and how we play. It’s really kind of a perfect setup. In the next few weeks I’ll be invited over to play in front of Ryan’s producer and lay down a few tracks to see how i grove with the project. If all is good I will simply have to patiently wait for Ryan to finish recording. Once done we will begin practicing like crazy getting ready to hit the road and I will begin a new chapter of my life.

4. I’ve been interested in photography for a long time now. I prefer video and went that route with most of my schooling but I’ve always loved certain forms of photography. That being said, I’ve decided to take it on as yet another hobby. I started with my brother, Geof Happens, as a subject and came out with some very interesting results. I now have three others lined up to shoot. I’m going to be experimenting heavily with different lighting when I do so. My goal is to have very dark and beautiful shots with a lot of shadow play along with blown out imagery. I think both of those extreme differences are quite rad!

5. Finally, I’ve been working with my buddy, Mike Lazear, to get Die Laughing Media up and running. We’re setting it up to be an all inclusive web/video/photography/print business; specializing in modern, abstract, fresh and interesting designs. My goal is to get work making interactive media for bands and movie based projects.

I will be attempting to keep up more regularly from here on out.
Possibly a weekly post

Until then

304

This is the first post that I’ve done in a little over a month. I’ve been busy!

Here’s a break down.

First and foremost I’ve been working more. I picked up five jobs from Turnhere, whom I get freelance video work through. For what I have to do the money is alright. I would prefer to make a little more but I’m not going to complain about it in this economy. I’ve been putting my time into video tutorials as I like to do. The ones I’ve been focusing on as of late have been custom Flash video player and Action Script 3 as well as honing my CSS skills. I’m really starting to understand it now. I can actually read and visualize the code. It’s pretty neat! Also, I’ve been looking into becoming the videographer for the Rose City Rollers Portland Roller Derby. It would be a pretty sweet gig. I’m not going to hold my breath, but my brother is an MC for them so i sort of have an in.

So… I’ve now built 3 websites. One for myself (which will be changing soon as I change my company name), one for Lukas Ketner (which needs a few little tweaks and then it will go live) and one for Ryan Dain (which will go live once everything is ready to go. A couple months most likely). I’m now also building a site for The Free Box a portland web series that I’m now acting as producer for. The site is in the design stages and will probably be ready to go live in the next week or two. I will also be helping to design and create the first volume DVD of the show. This means I will hep to create the DVD menu and the package art. I’m also going to through down an attempt at writing an episode or ideas for them to implement in the show: Gags, Scenes, Dialogue, etc…

And to top off what I’ve been doing.
I’ve been working on getting my bass chops back in an attempt to be the bass player for my buddies project. I’ve jammed with him a couple times now, the last time being a couple days ago, and we play really well together. Our musical tastes and styles mix really well and our general personalities are a good fit too. Basically at this point I have to play for his producer and see what he thinks. If I can convince him that I’m a rock star, then I will be a rock star! That would be a great accomplishment for the year.

Until next time

335

These last couple days have been pretty productive. I’ve managed to get my website up as stage one. I’ve got some stuff to do to it still and some more stuff to add to it to make a nice functional website, but it’s up and working. I’ve been watching a lot of Flash tutorials, learning how to write Action-Script. It’s a bit of a pain in the ass! But I’m getting it. My plan is to make a really nice all encompassing media player that I can put on my site and possibly sell for a few bucks here and there to whomever might be interested.
I’m very possibly going to be working with a new acquaintance on a workout program/website. There are some interesting details going into it, but he’s a programmer and I’m becoming a Flash designer. So, it could work out.

I’ve gotten back onto the writing train. Bringing some scripts back that I need to get done. I have two of them in the works and I’m going to start putting some serious attention towards them to hopefully get first drafts done here in the next month or so. I did some brainstorming today with Drew from ‘The Free Box’ and got some serious headway.

To top things off for the week, Kim (my lady) and I took a big step and got some of our collaborative designs onto Zazzle in an attempt to make some extra income. We’re not banking on this coming through, but if it does… cool beans. We plan on making new designs every couple weeks and keeping it fresh and fun.

Until next week

331

So, it’s been a little while since I last posted. I’ve been busy and lazy.
I’ve decided that I’m not going to post everyday. Currently I don’t have a whole lot going on, so my posts are short and boring.
instead, I’m going to do weekly posts summing up I’ve accomplished that week. Unless there is a large development, in which I will post about it.

So, to sum up last week:
I spent the most of my time last week watching tutorials and Flash. I’ve been studying it for a while now, but I’m really starting to understand how it works now. The language of coding isn’t all too difficult, it’s simply a matter of memorizing across different platforms. Anyway, I’m working on it and I’m going to begin building a Flash site just so I can implement the skills I’m learning and get them to sink in.

I got to act a short role in ‘The Free Box’. I’ve now been involved in two shoots for the web series (I’m leading my camera equipment) and may be building a site for them too.

I’m waiting to hear back from Lukas about his website. I showed him what I’d come up with and left him with a screen shot to change as he wanted. As soon as I hear back from him I can get back to work and make it look how he wants it to. At that point I will have my first professional site done, meaning I will be professional web developer (I’m getting paid). The Ryan Dain site I’ve been working on is coming together nicely and will soon have all the back end PHP work done. So, in a couple weeks (when Mike returns from Alaska) I’ll be able to see the site function as it should. Then we need to get all the content in and set up a payment system. The site will be kinda awesome! it’s really nicely laid out and the functionality is clean, so far.

And of course, I’ve been practicing bass. I’m going to be trying out to play for Ryan Dain. I’m Going back and doing music theory lessons on line to get all my modes and scales down. I’ve always kinda known them, but know I’m forcing all this into my head so that I’m not just playing by feel anymore. I want to be knowledgeable about music. Also, I’m doing some picking exercises to increase my accuracy and speed. It’s going to probably sneak up on me, so I want to be as ready as possible. If I get it my life is going to take a huge change of direction. I’ll be a paid musician.

Until next time,
How much can you accomplish.

344

(late)

I’ve been spending some time editing photos I took of my brother. I’m trying to key out the green screen we used. It shouldn’t be too hard, but sometimes chroma key can be touch and difficult.

until later

345

(late)

Today I didn’t feel like doing anything. I was feeling tired and kinda out of it. We all have these days. So, I did very little.

until later

346

(late)

I’m constantly trying to keep myself busy so that i have things to write about. I’m finding that it’s rather hard. Some days I don’t really do anything but watch video tutorials and go to work. I sometimes don’t feel like doing the tutorials, so I just watch other things and screw off on the internet until I have to go to work. it was kinda nice having a day job simply because it gave me something to do. Now that I’ve been laid off from my job I need to find things to keep me busy. Luckily web design is vast and I have tons of information available to me through Lynda.com. Unfortunately, there’s nothing quite as boring as watching video tutorials. It’s really not too much fun. But, I have learned a lot in the last couple weeks. I now understand CSS and can build functional web pages. So that’s good.

until later

347

I got up a little late because Kim didn’t have to be in to work until 11ish, so we stayed warm. Once up I got dressed grabbed my equipment and shot out the door to go down town for a photoshoot with my brother Geof Happens. Geof is preparing to be an announcer for the Rose City Rollers and is trying to build a personality. So, I took my camera and lights and got some pretty awesome shots. After the shoot I spent a little time setting up his soon-to-be website. It shall be interesting to see it all come together.

Kim met me at five and we went home to grab some food before going to see Stella. It was a great show! I’ve been a big fan for a while now. Following them sense they were in ‘The State’.

until tomorrow

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Today was mostly spent with Mike working on web stuff. We got to a stage were we have to wait until he is able to finish some of the back end coding for us to move forward. But everything is looking good.

I’ve been practicing bass and I’m getting my muscle memory back. It’s always an interesting process to get your body to do something that it did regularly for a while after not doing it regularly for years. It can be frustrating at times because you feel like you should be able to do right away but you can’t.

This week I will mainly be practicing bass, working on web designs and watching video tutorials. I told myself that I would get good at this stuff and I’m going to no matter how boring it may be some times. Perseverance!