Day 1: Success and Learning

I am quite happy with how well the work moved today but I am also aware of the lessons to be learned. We didn't nail everything as well as we could have but we will definitely be prepared to do better the next time... if we pay attention and remind ourselves of that particular learning. What good is any of it if we don't take the time to reflect on it after the fact?

Pulling through the gruff.

Cars break down. It's what they do. It's not really a bad thing, either. It's just a part of life. And the key to it, for me, is basically managing the experience and moving forward through it like I would any other trial. One step, one helper, one moment at a time. Easy. Really.

Big things coming.

This week should be full of delightfully challenging, highly important events. I am mostly referring to the two scheduled shoot dates for the production company I would like to work for. I expect that the work I do this week will have a somewhat significant impact on my future with the company. I hope to do better than I have before!

Anticipating the upcoming shoot.

Now that we're down to the last couple or so days to go I am quite excited for the possibilities. There are many different potential scenarios which could grow out of it nicely. How fun this wall of words has become. Ha.

Far from invincible.

Is the mind of this sleep-deprived creature. I really felt the effects of it today after all the energetic elements of my checklist were completed. I am glad I was able to take it easy throughout the evening, though, as it was highly appreciated me time that refueled my self-awareness a bit along the way. Tomorrow should be a bit easier, I expect, just because of it.

Working every waking moment.

It is entirely unnecessary but I tend to do it from time to time anyway. I really need to allow my brain to cool off once in a while. It will begin to break down if I am not careful. This is a fact. Everything responds to stress eventually.

A possible trip to the U.K. also?

This stuff is all pretty exciting, I'd say. I have a good deal of ground to prove before the best stuff can happen for sure but I feel confident I am up to task. It is a good deal of tough but fun work that sits right in my wheelhouse, so to speak. Now comes the 90% part of life... you know... just showing up!

Exciting things!

Today we had a meeting with the production company we will be doing work for on the upcoming car project. It looks like things are very well in hand and we will have a lot to do over the next couple months or so at the very least. It looks like we will have the prospect of some travel abroad as well as working with some very high-end clientele. Should be quite the adventure!

A surprisingly smooth transition?

I broke the news to my boss that I might be leaving soon and he almost sounded excited. I told him I would try to give him a month advance notice if I did indeed plan to move on and he almost insisted that I only give two weeks. He seemed like he was genuinely interested in helping facilitate a smooth exit. It was kinda weird and somewhat unexpected. I won't complain, though. I appreciate it, in fact. One of the more human moments I have had with him.

One step closer to the offer.

Today presented an exciting possibility in the development of my career. I was unofficially invited to take a position with Screaming Flea Productions. This is something which I had already been contemplating lately and had even been thinking of ways I could ask for the very thing which had been offered. I say it is 'unofficial' because there were no times, wages, or exact job descriptions discussed. The owner was feeling out my availability and ability to move out of my position at UPS into one with the Flea. I don't know how long it will be before anything official is offered but she claimed that patience was not one of her finer character traits... I imagine I will have greater news to share sometime soon. Fun!

Half-way through.

Given the much higher-than-normal number of expected hours to work this week, I am certainly glad that my normal UPS stuff is quite a bit easier than usual. The lengthy hours are somewhat mitigated by the generally higher positivity level preceding them. This is probably true of all work... I just hope it is something I can remember to do when the expectedly challenging stuff is on the horizon.

Flour is fun... add zombies for bonus flavor!

Even though it was something like a million degrees out today I still found it fun to round around in a field throwing flour-filled nylon balloons at people. It creates a bunch of clouds in the air, it harmlessly coats your enemies faces and hair, and begins to cake up a bit once people start sweating. It's kinda strange that I've never done this before. I've been to numerous F.H.E.s in my time. Glad to experience something new, that's for sure!

Oh... and zombies. That's always a fun twist. Basically self-explanatory, I'd say.

Cowabunga: A un-intellectual glance at the Renaissance.

Childhood is often a confusing, yet wondrous, experience. Early on, you notice how big every body is and how small you seem to be by comparison. This makes you jealous and forces your hand when disappointing meal insults are cast on your plate... you have to grow big and strong somehow, thus ensuring meals of your own choosing from then on! It's a twisted sort of blackmail that occasionally found reward whenever the dessert that followed was awarded to you for your diligent(or begrudged) consumption of said insults. I am not going to say that a certain Michael Bay-produced movie actually follows this shoddy sort of metaphor(if that's what it seems like I am building here) but, rather, I am glad to say that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles do remain firmly rooted in my childhood. The aforementioned movie merely, and somewhat faithfully despite its many other faults, echoed the Ninja Turtles of my youth in a generally confusing, yet wondrous, way.(if this paragraph is also confusing and wondrous I will parenthetically blame Michael Bay right now)

The movie starts on a semi-high note of intensity and I have to say that this is basically the most annoying thing about the movie. I don't mean it is all actiony right from the get go... more that it doesn't give itself any time to breath or flesh out any real character development. It follows April O'Neil, meagerly played by Megan Fox, in a way that gives her a bit too much prominence, in my opinion. I don't normally have a problem with Megan Fox as an actor but I think she was pretty ho-hum for most of the movie. Will Arnett's character, a basically uninspired tagalong, was equally ho-hum and it tends to make me think that the director is more to blame for their general blandness than anything. All the ho-hummety basically creates a problem for the first half of the movie since April, as the main focus of the movie, is not really able to carry it very well from a lead sort of position.

However... once things started to pick up, somewhere in the middle of the movie, it all changed for the better. Mostly, the turtles themselves actually saved the movie. They really are heroic! Ha. They brought in all the action goodness that I hoped to see and basically squashed out all of the lackluster nonsense permeating first half of the movie. And, even though the turtles themselves, along with Splinter and the Shredder, were quite visually different than the 1990 film of the same name, they definitely commanded the leading role of the movie quite well throughout the rest of the movie.

Each turtle was visually distinct, uniquely characteristic, and reflected well the turtles of old in their individual personality as well as their group dynamics. I scoffed at the visual changes to their faces when I first saw a preview of the movie, thinking they tried to make them too "human" looking, which basically made them creepy/goofy-looking instead of radical. I got used to it fairly quickly, though, and even though their facial look is not as good as the original movie, their overall look was pretty gnarly.

The plot was nothing too mysterious. The cinematography was pretty good. The music was fine.

Overall, I will rate this movie 6 bo staffs out of 9. Good enough for repeat viewings, though, not at full ticket price... you know... on Netflix or the like. Good times.

Continuing plans.

I really like checking off items in my list of things to do. Big or small, it always feels good. I really like it when somebody else's check list also gets checks because of my actions. I really dig. It is these little things in life that really make things nice overall. Ha.

Exciting things on the horizon.

And maybe even IN the horizon... if I am able to travel like it seems might be the case. I need to get a passport(and probably learn a bunch of Spanish) first but it's all part of the excitement if you ask me. I like traveling, I like video production, I like earning money... it's a triple win!

15 hours of awesome.

I am pretty sure it was awesome anyway... mostly because I earned a lot of money that I can really use. Work is, therefore, always awesome. Even when it absorbs pretty much my entire day. Even when it hurts and is somewhat emotionally difficult. Even when I don't actually know when I will be getting paid. Ha.

Artistic gratitude.

I am always thrilled when someone I am doing work for appreciates what I have done for them. It is never assumed, or taken for granted, because I know how subjective art can be. I am quite glad I am even able to enjoy doing it at all. I know it is a blessing not everybody takes advantage of and not many take advantage of as often as I do... and I could be doing so much more. And I certainly plan to!

Professional encouragement.

In my industry study today I came across a remarkable piece of video footage that I had seen before but had not really paid much attention to the first time around. Certainly I thought it was remarkable the first time I saw it but this time I watched it through the lens of my own experience and it became something new entirely.

This time I watched it for its camerawork... more specifically, steadicam operation. As someone who is working to improve his steadicam operating skills, and watching this particular example of it, I found it quite encouraging based on the feeling that I could already be very near to the skill level I witnessed in this clip. I don't have a totally comprehensive view of how challenging it actually was but I think I could have done something quite close to it already. Now I just need to prove it.

It's gonna be a busy weekend.

The extra work will be highly appreciated but certainly won't be easy to squeeze in sanely. No worries, though since it is pretty much just this weekend. I don't like giving up any time on Sundays, generally speaking, but I think it will be fairly worth it in this case. I am really looking forward to the relaxation of the coming Monday!