It's almost Halloween.

yay. woot. and who gives a fuck.

if you've been around since last halloween, you'll know how sucky it was last year. AND if you've been around since last halloween, why haven't we had drinks?

i'm not looking forward to it (and it's funny that i took a vacation during last halloween as well - though then i was finishing up the DVD for "The Bet" and this time i was supposed to be doing a website for someone who failed to provide any materials to do so, so I've been left to my own devices for the past three days) because i'm afraid i won't see any return on investment - the decorating and all that, only to have 15 kids show up. not sure how to fix that. but i hope it's better this year. or i'm putting razor blades in the apples next year (kidding).

there's been shit for horror on tv this year. and i failed to plan ahead with a stockpile of DVDs. ugh. And, since my wife is working swing and my older son is out of school around 2, there's really only a 4-hour window where i'm alone. meh.

we'll see how this halloween goes. if nothing else, it's not gonna be as good, because halloween last year was still surrounded by cool stuff with "the bet" - shooting interviews, a screening at shockerfest, the imminent DVD release, etc. this year... nothing. BUT, stay tuned for something that MIGHT be cool.

Super 8

I just bought a Super 8 camera off eBay (which means it may not work). It's a Kodak Instamatic M26. And it was $3.99. I don't know anything about Super 8 cameras except that I love the look they produce (hence the faked 8mm look of "The Bet" on the DVD - or was it faked 16mm? either way). I checked, and they actually still make 8mm film (though I have no idea if it's the same film this camera uses). Basically, I bought something I might not be able to use. But if I can, then, well... how awesome.

This is the first of what will (hopefully) become an arsenal of "looks," if only to use as a reference to fake with stuff shot digitally. As I mentioned before, I'm also getting the Nikon D90 (as soon as the money comes in) and a Holga. I think I may also get a Polaroid of some sort - there are a number of instant picture cameras available.

We'll see how this whole adventure pans out.

Would like to add some other cameras as options, like a Kodak M8 Instamatic which has auto/manual zoom and a range of frame rates. Could geek out some more. But I'll stop.

If only I were 10 years younger and embarking on this journey.

I hate the world

or maybe just america, i don't know. it could just be vegas.
i don't like to hate. i really don't. i feel better as a person and have a better day when i don't hate people. but i'm really, really starting to hate them. and for very personal reasons that would affect no one else, so you might as well stop reading now. this is just a vent. a hate vent.

i hate people who think the government should control their right to have an abortion, but not their right to have a gun. even though the second amendment is called "the right to bear arms." it actually states "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." so, is my dad, who is a retired police officer, part of a regulated militia? he has guns.

full disclosure: i have shot guns. many guns. and i never liked it. i shot them as a kid at targets. my dad said i aimed with the wrong eye. but i had amazing aim. i went on hunting trips with my family. i refused to eat what they shot. i'm not a vegetarian, but i won't eat food that looks like an animal. i can't eat ribs or chicken wings, but a burger or chicken fingers are fine. my mom killed a rabbit on a fluke one hunting excursion. i remember that, and that i had fun in the camper playing with paper dolls. no i'm not gay. and i remember my aunt saying to my mom i was at an age where bed meant sleep. i was. it took a few more years before i understood what she meant. i. forget. nothing.

traffic in vegas is the worst. we have too many people from too many places with too many ways of driving. ten years ago it was shocking water cooler discussion if there was an accident on the freeway. now, it's noteworthy if you don't see one (and if ou're not stuck in traffic for an hour because the looky-loos wanna see the expected gore). people treat the freeways like a raceway, jockeying for pole position. just drive on the freeway for at least 10 minutes, pick a car - any car- and count how many times they change lanes.

people are impatient. they have to be the first on the freeway while yapping on their mobile phone (i don't doubt a starbucks over-caffeinated something-or-other is in their cup holder and their kids are zoned out on an LCD screen somewhere in the cavernous transport that sucks more gas in a day than i use in a week. but you shop at fresh & easy, so it's okay. and you recycle your US weekly after you discover how stars are just like you.

ok. this is getting to the boiling point.

i hate the world. it hates me. it's a dysfunctional relationship. maybe one day it won't be this way. my only fear is that that "one day" is when i'm living off 13¢ a day and mailing bombs to people.

Three contests

A few months ago we submitted an in-progress draft of Detox to the Wildsound Screenplay Contest as they provide feedback on every script submitted - whether or not it "wins" and is given a live reading with live feedback. I never heard anything back from them and contacted them to check on the status. Their records showed feedback had been sent; however, I never received anything. So they said to resubmit, and it would go through the process again. So I did and, not knowing exactly which version of the script I'd sent through before, I sent the final version. That was a couple of weeks ago, so hopefully in about a month we'll hear something.

We also submitted the script to two other contests. The first is The Movie Deal. Their grand prize is getting the script produced. By them. Not exactly my favorite option as I want to direct the film myself, but, if it does win, we have the option of not accepting the offer. So why enter? They can also offer a cash prize in lieu of a production deal. And, really, if it did happen to win, at least we know it's good. Winners will be announced November 15th.

The third contest is the Cinequest Screenplay contest. That one's a bit more appealing. The grand prize is $5000, a consultation with a "seasoned" producer and a physical award (cool!). The top ten finalists (including the grand prize) get a roundtable with producers, agents and experts on the business of writing and some other cool little things. The top ten finalists are notified mid-January and have a month or so to polish the script based on feedback from the judges before final judging.

Fingers crossed on all of the above.

The script has also been sent off to a couple of friends (Kurt Rauf and Dan Kauppi) to get feedback from them as well.

Until we get some outside notes, we're taking a break from working on it and from submitting it to any other contests. Chris and I both think the story is rock-solid, and only anticipate issues with the characters' arcs, motivations, etc. But you never know.

Sign a petition for 24fps in the Canon 5D Mark II

I don't know if these things actually work, but it doesn't hurt to try. Yes?

Canon is releasing the 5D Mark II in November. It's a great still camera and one of the first to shoot video. However, it only shoots 30fps. There is no option for 24fps. If you don't know, 30fps is a video frame rate while 24fps is a film frame rate. It's why a soap opera and a motion picture look so different (well, aside from lighting and all that). As a filmmaker, I can't shoot 30fps and pass it off as "film." "The Bet" was shot digitally at 24fps and people assumed it was shot on 35mm film.

Anyway, even if you don't know why it needs to be there, many people do, and we want the choice of shooting 24fps. Go HERE to petitiononline.com to request the feature.

My geek is showing

Okay. So I spent about 6 hours this weekend building a Steampunk aircraft out of LEGOs. So what. And yeah, sure, maybe I went to Fresh 'n' Easy with my goggles on. SO?!?!?

2 words: Zombies. LEGOs. FTW!

Oh SHIT!
Zombie Apocafest (love all of that) 2008 took place at BrickCon (love the idea of that) 2008 in Seattle (god, i love seattle), WA between October (my favorite month) 2 and 5.

i. am. in heaven.

and as jealous as mom when she caught dad making naked hugs with uncle roger on the porch swing.

I grew up (just a little).

My office spouse, Shannon (yes, she's okay being called my office spouse and I'm glad to have her as one), is insane. For many reasons. But the reason that relates to this blog is that she's very politically involved. She's actually going to spend her Sunday morning canvassing the neighborhood to educate the undecided voters why Obama is the better choice for president. I say she's insane, but in I respect that kind of involvement. I myself, have been rather proud of never having registered to vote. If I didn't turn on the news (which I don't) or listen to friends when they talk politics, I'd have no idea who was president, what congress did or why we have a vice president. Nothing that came out of Washington DC ever really impacted me (I thought) and my one voice wasn't going to change it if it did.

Don't get me wrong. I also never whined about what the president did or didn't do. I cashed my stimulus checks. I laughed at the stupidery. But other than that, democrat or republican, it didn't really seem like it mattered who was going to be eligible to be on a coin or a bill after they died.

Then Shannon said that her mother was voting for McCain and gleefully told Shannon that she would effectively cancel her vote. Then I found out Nevada is a swing state and my one little vote might actually mean something.

So I decided - if only to show appreciation for all of her time at caucuses and canvassing and all the other things she does - to register. Yes, after 20 years of refusing to do it, I did. But I was kinda scared. Not that my name was now in some secret system being tracked by the government for potential UFO abductees. But that I couldn't just go and vote willy nilly and mess up the chance to finally have a say in how our government is manned. I was actually going to have to pay attention and know what the hell these people were promising and how feasible it was and what it meant to me and my family.

Long story short, there was a little game online at ABC News where you pick which quote you most agree with. Now, I am a political n00b, so there was no chance I'd heard the candidates saying one of them to sway my vote. So I played the game. Out of 13 questions (on issues like economy, the Iraq, health care, immigration and "hot topics") I agreed with Obama on all but 2 (and, to be fair, saying is one thing).

I think the toughest decision out of this whole process was whether to tick "Democrat" or "Libertarian" on the registration form.

First 50 of Empire's Top 500

Empire Magazine Online listed their 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.

I love the fact that Empire Strikes Back is #3 and no other Star Wars film even breaks the Top 20. Though I'm not exactly thrilled that Aliens beat Alien. Nor that Evil Dead 2 is in the Top 50, but no sign of Evil Dead.

Here's the first 50:

1. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981)
3. Star Wars Episode V: Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner,1980)
4. Shawsank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994)
5. Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975)
6. GoodFellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
7. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
8. Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly, 1952)
9. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
10. Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999)
11. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980)
12. The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)
13. Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)
14. Once Upon A Time In The West (Sergio Leone, 1968)
15. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2007)
16. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
17. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
18. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz)
19. The Godfather Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
20. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)
21. The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949)
22. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (George Lucas, 1977)
23. Back to the Future (Robert Zemeckis, 1985)
24. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001)
25. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (Sergio Leone, 1967)
26. Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
27. Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959)
28. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
29. Die Hard (John McTiernan 1988)
30. Aliens (James Cameron, 1986)
31. Gone with The Wind (Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Sam Wood, 1939)
32. Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid (George Roy Hill, 1969)
33. Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)
34. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Peter Jackson, 2003)
35. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (James Cameron, 1991)
36. Andrei Rublev (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1969)
37. A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971)
38. Heat (Michael Mann, 1995)
39. The Matrix (The Wachowski Brothers, 1999)
40. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
41. The 400 Blows (Truffaut, 1959)
42. Kind Hearts And Coronets (Robert Hamer, 1949)
43. The Big Lebowski (The Coen Brothers, 1998)
44. Schindler’s List (Steven Spielberg, 1993)
45. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
46. On The Waterfront (Elia Kazan 1954)
47. E.T. (Steven Spielberg, 1982)
48. This Is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner, 1984)
49. Evil Dead 2 (Sam Raimi, 1987)
50. Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)

Decided. D90 FTW.

I've finally decided on a camera. It was not by far an easy choice, believe me. When I've literally dreamed about cameras every night for the past month or so, you gotta understand it's been a pretty thought-intensive process.
I'd been going between the Canon 5D Mark II, which shoots 21MP and video at 1080p at 30fps - I don't even know if any of that makes any sense to anyone out there - and the Nikon D90 which shoots 12MP and video at 720p at 24fps. Yes, the Nikon shoot smaller pictures and lower resolution video. But right now I have a camera that shoot 2MP and no video camera. DVDs are lower resolution than 720p. Oh, here's a number that might make sense: the Canon (with kit lens) is $3499. The Nikon (with kit lens) is $1299. That's a pretty big difference. Yes the Canon shoots larger images and higher res video. BUT the Nikon shoot 24fps (which is the same as film) and the Canon shoots 30fps (which is video rate and LOOKS like video).

I kept leaning towards the Canon. They have better lenses. I know two people with a LOT of Canon lenses and accessories. Scott shot with a Canon. But I also have recently fallen in love with the whole Lomo line of cameras. And all their imperfections. And realised the Nikon has a more human feel, more organic, more... happy.


Nikon D90 try out from Laid Back on Vimeo.


D90... day 1 from William Carnahan on Vimeo.

So, I could buy the Nikon, a Glidecam (a kind of steadicam to minimize the jello look of both the Nikon and Canon when hand held), a color calibrated monitor, a tripod, some SD cards, a Lens Baby Composer (awesome) and even the whole Lensbaby Accessory bundle, a backpack and the necessary accessories for what it would cost to get the Canon.


Plus, I'd still have money left over to get a Holga - a 120mm, medium format, plastic lens, awesomeness of a picture taker.


And hire some models for a music video.

I think when you watch the samples of the D90 on Vimeo and look at the gallery from the Holga, you'll get where my aesthetic is headed.

Decision made.