Dreaming of Timecode

He films, he edits, he runs audio, he creates bumps… he’s loosing his mind, and he’s even referring to himself in the third person. Yes, this has been a crazy week. Tuesday evening I got roped into being floor director for a show on campus called Crossing the Line. For those of you who don’t know, the floor director is the person that stands back with all the cameras and tells the hosts to speed it up, slow it down, which camera to look at, and is just generally in charge of what goes on inside the studio during taping. Now, I had never, before this point, ever even been out in the studio during taping. I had always been in the control room. So, to all the sudden be put in charge of a show that I’m not familiar with, in an area I’m not familiar with was quite an experience. But, it all worked out fine. And it turned out to be a good thing, because the next night, while taping PTN I ended up being the Camera Operator for Cameras 1, 2, 3, and yes camera 4 as well. Topping that, I was also floor director for the last half of the show when the usual floor director went on air as an interviewee. At that point, it was just me, the equipment and then the hosts in the studio… very interesting. Of course, during the entire week, I was doing a number of random tasks for the Randumb Show. I had to film bits, edit bits, create bumps, even act a little bit, crazy stuff.
Here’s one of the bumps I made:

But it gained me a credit, that you’re not likely to find in many films… “Randumb Angel” I was also credited this week as camera operator(s), floor director, audio director, editor, and actor. Quite a week. I need to sleep now, but I’ll accept caffeine as a viable alternative, since it’s really my only choice… I still believe that freshmen should not be given caffeine. And oh yeah, the last time I did sleep for more than 3 hours at a time, there was definitely a timecode in my dream. The time code is the numbers that let you know exactly what frame you’re on when you are working on editing something, in Final Cut it’s right here:

In After Effects it’s here:

But there was a running timecode in the upper, lefthand corner of my life as I was walking around in the dream. I was also editing my life as I lived it… very trippy dream. I’m trying to write it up into a screenplay now, I think it would be the kind of movie I really enjoy, but it’s very hard to get the continuity to work on it. I’ll let you know when that one hits theatres. Have a good one ya’ll, adios.

When I’m working on film and video projects I tend not to be a big fan of tri-poding everything. It’s just so much more interesting to have sweeping, fluid camera movement rather than just pans and tilts from a fixed point. The problem is that hand held shots have inevitable camera shake and you lose the purpose of fluid shots. Thankfully, a number of filmmakers that have come before me have experienced the same desires and problems and have come up with a solution… the SteadiCam. SteadiCams come in all shapes and sizes, from the humongoid contraptions costing in excess of $100,000, to the small, almost worthless varieties costing as cheap as $800. Ah, now we’ve hit a problem, the cheapest ones out there cost $800, not exactly something I can afford on a college filmmaker’s budget, which consists mainly of lots of begging. So, I decided to make one. I found that you can do that for about $25. Here’s the result:




Just a simple weight, counterweight system… works wonders! You know you love it.

Incarnation of Nerds’ Dreams

I think it’s a pretty safe assumption on my part that all of you who are reading this,know me pretty well and understand that I have a fairly strong passion for technology. Much of this passion gets spent on Apple. Well, as I’m sure each and every one of you is already aware Apple released a new version of their iPod yesterday.

This is the most significant revamping of the iPod since its original conception. A quick run-down of the changes. First of all, as with each and every iPod update, there is expanded storage capacity: 30GB and 60GB. Second of all, again as usual, they’re smaller. And thirdly they now support video.

Video has always been the future of the iPod. Since they were first introduced as an incredibly small brick three years ago… remember those? Looked like this:

…even since then people have been wondering when the iPod would support video.

Before I continue on that topic and establish how I believe Apple recognized iPod’s potential for convergence from the very beginning, I have to take a second here and extend a huge amount of appreciation for my father’s recognition of the iPod back then. When I got my first generation iPod as a gift I was only vaguely aware of their existence, but it was perfect. That 5GB brick was nothing less than an oracle. People thought I was weird for walking around in between classes with white ear bud headphones in… after all, who in the world has white ear buds? Plus, back then the iPods were either dedicated Mac or dedicated PC, and my parents got me a Mac version. While I could have switched to a PC one, I think already possessing a piece of Apple actually helped me decide to get an apple laptop rather than a PC, which helped me make the decision to go Telecom over business or some other major. So, with that said, if I become a successful Hollywood producer some day the gift of that original iPod helped me along that path. (How’s that for a slippery slope fallacy?) Anyway, Dad… Great Gift… thanks again. But I digress…

Like I said before, there have been calls for an iPod video since the original iPod. I think Apple recognized that this would come, and that the iPod would be revolutionary and change in unexpected ways along with the expected ones. That’s why they called it the iPod, not the iMusic Player, or something else. iPod can go anywhere. The only reason, I believe, that the iPod didn’t go video last year when the iPod photos were introduced had much more to do with licensing agreements with the Record Labels than with technology. Right now, you can buy music, music videos, Pixar (owned by apple) Animated Short Films, and some TV shows in the iTunes Music Store. While each of these categories only has a few offerings as of now, it’s only a matter of time till they explode. Now we sit back and wait for Apple to make the required agreements with film distributers.

One of the other potentials that the new technology supports is Video Podcasting. Many of you know that you can subscribe to Podcasts in iTunes. This makes me very happy cause it allows me to keep up with KTCK in Dallas by downloading the Ticket Top Ten each morning after it airs. Now the hope is that people will start making Video Podcasts for people to submit to. Depending on the cost of bandwidth and such limiting factors, I am exploring the possibility of doing something like that to share my video projects here at Pepperdine. More specifically, Scott and I would like to be able to Video Podcast our episodes of DRIVEN once we get them completed next semester.
For now, I'll repost the link to the video I have posted on last time in case ya'll haven't seen it yet.

Sooner than any video podcasts though, you will be able to hear the broadcasts that John Deniston, Brandon Milan, and myself send out every week over the airwaves of 101.5 KWVS LP, Malibu. John’s nearing completion on the reemergence of CultureShockFM.com. I’ll be sure to let you know when that happens!

I have more I would like to say about the issues of convergence, the past, the present, and, most importantly, the future. But I’ll save that for a later post since this one is way too long already and I need to go to class. Take care ya’ll.

Da Boys

The cowboys looked incredible today! Glad they actually put it on TV out here!!!!

Kevlar Soul

As many of you know, the last bit of my life has been utterly dedicated to my first TC 270 (Field Production) class. Since I room with a man who has a complete mastery of the mighty internet at his fingertips, I have been extended the opportunity to share the final product of that project with you. The video has been posted under the understanding that John can take it down whenever he needs to for whatever reason, so watch it while you can.


Just click on the still frame to link to the video.

The instructions for the project were to create a short video that tells a story and conveys an emotion without the use of words, and without necessarily making a “music video.” I assumed that a number of my classmates would try to tell stories with more of a slapstick humor flare, so I decided to try a more serious note. Leave some comments and let me know what ya’ll think.

The music used is by a band from Sweden called Kent. If you've never heard of them, check 'em out, they're incredible.

In case the link doesn’t work:
http://www.johndeniston.com/williams/WebKevbtr.mov

Junior Writing Portfolio

Today I had to turn in a folder containing a new Pepperdine General Education requirement ominously called the “Junior Writing Portfolio.” Those of you who just did the same thing undoubtedly are asking yourselves the same question that everyone else who had to do it is… Why in the world did they think this would be a good idea? A quick rundown for those of you who don’t know what the JWP is; once you’ve achieved the status as Junior at Pepperdine University, you’re required to compile a portfolio of your past essays, write a cover letter explaining your specific choices, and detail each of the assignments. While this might not seem like a monumental task, the fact of the matter is that it’s extremely difficult to find the graded essays that you wrote during freshman year. Discounting whatever difficulty it may take to compile these essays, let’s assume that that was the easiest thing in the world to do. The fact remains, it’s still a completely superfluous assignment. Are we to assume that the school doesn’t have enough faith in their professors that we’ve made it this far passing classes without being able to write adequately? The English 101 requirement is designed for the exact same purpose; to ensure we can write critically, clearly, and decisively. This program is nothing more than busy work at a time when we can’t afford busy work. Furthermore, it is an insult to the professors and the students of Pepperdine University.

Going TC

I believe that I’ve noted before that I’m working on a number of productions going out on the airwaves from here at Pepperdine University, here’s the rundown:

First of all, this is my second year (not consecutive) producing CultureSchockFM on KWVS 101.5 Malibu, LP. The show is hosted by my good friend and roommate John Deniston and for an hour every week on Wednesday from Noon to 1pm we attempt to drive the California liberals crazy by bringing a little conservatism to the media in LA.



The next production I am a part of this year is a TV 26 show called PTN (Pepperdine Television Network.) The premise here is to take student’s projects from various telecom classes and put them on the air while critiquing them. Last night’s episode featured my first TC 270 project, which isn’t actually due for another three weeks. It also featured an advert I created for Driven, which we’ll come to presently, and a new countdown that I created. Yesterday saw a lot of edit and studio work for me.



Thirdly, I’m working on a show entitled the Randumb Show. At 12 seasons now, it is the longest running show out of the studios at Pepperdine University. Modeled after SNL, you really never know what’s going to pop up on the Randumb Show…



Finally, I’m co-producing a show with my apartment mate Scott Reynolds called Driven. Right now, Driven mainly consists of promises, preconceptions and a lot of Dreams, so I’ll leave that for another post. But, rest assured there are a lot of exciting and groundbreaking things going on to make this show a reality. More on that later…

One last note, Micah Kafka is the one responsible for the KWVS and Randumb logo posted above. Thanks for letting me steal your stuff Micah… call it advertising.

iPod

Despite my recent horror stories of selling things over the Internet, I'm back at it again. This time I've enlisted the help of the professionals. My roommate John Densiton, self proclaimed internet genius, and Ebay vet, has agreed to list the iPod for me. By the way, Apple messed up and sent me a 6gb rather than a 4gb version, I guess they were out of the 4gigers. In case you’re interested, here’s the listing.

America's Secret War

I just finished reading America’s Secret War by Dr. George Friedman. Dr. Friedman is the founder of Stratfor. Now, in all honesty, I had never heard of Stratfor in my life before reading this book, but the reviews of the book seem to make a big deal out of the company, which bills itself as a “security consulting intelligence agency” focusing in “strategic forecasting.”

The book endeavors to put the current situation of an American War on Terror in some historical and social context in order to understand what’s going on. The main focus of the book ends up being an explanation of the Iraqi war which has almost nothing to do with WMDs. At the risk of missing the point of the argument in an attempt to summarize it, I’ll see if I can give you the main drift. First of all, Friedman claims the United States has a reputation in the Middle East as a country that’s all talk and mostly tries to get other countries to do our fighting for us (as in the war in Afghanistan which was mostly accomplished with troops of the Northern Alliance through the aid of US Special Operations.) With that in mind, the US has been having a difficult time getting Middle Eastern nations to give us the help in routing out Al Qaeda, since the nations have a greater fear of what Al Qaeda has the ability to do than the power the US is able, or unable, to project in the region. This is particularly important with emphasis on some country’s loose control over their cache of nuclear weapons, and, perhaps even more importantly, Saudi Arabia’s refusal to crack down on Saudi financial support for Al Qaeda. Therefore, the US invasion, and subsequent occupation of Iraq was publicly justified with arguments of WMDs and Iraqi harboring of key Al Qaeda members, the former of which did, indeed have intelligence to suggest their existence, and the latter of which has played out true.

Of course, I cannot in a paragraph here convey the overarching themes of the book, which begins in the earliest days of the Cold War, and continues through present day. There is no doubt however, that it is the most comprehensive justification for the Iraqi war within the context of the larger war on terror. I highly suggest you read it.

U.A.E.?

I got a hit from the United Arab Emirates this morning. Just thought I would share that with you.

Don't forget to check out my Photolog.

By the way, if you have a blog or a website I highely recommend Stat Counter. Quite a powerful tracking program they're offering for free. Off to test my knowledge of Modular Mathematics now, audios.

I used to sleep.

Relaxing, calm, slow, peaceful, all synonymous with life in Malibu, California, retirement village to the stars, right? Haha, no. It’s a nice thought though. It’s Sunday afternoon at eleven PM and I’m sitting here under a stack of Math 102 notes wishing I could consider it evening. What was I thinking signing up for over 18 hours of classes, three television shows (one of which I’m co-producing from nothing), a radio show, and 15 hours of work? The answer, of course, is not much, which is exactly what I wish I was thinking at the moment. Alas, I did it to myself, and I imagine that if I am to actually be successful in the industry wherein my aspirations lie it will become something of a normality for the foreseeable future. In all honesty it is much better than the alternative.

For those of you who follow the news, there was a fairly major fire out here last week. Oddly enough, it made things very hot. I highly suggest you check out Micah Kafka’s blog. Micicah’s an alum of Pepperdine University’s Telecommunication Production program trying to break into the film industry. Pray for his success… who knows, some other people currently in the Pepperdine Telecom program might like to be able to beg a job off of him at some point in the future. Someone kind of like myself. Moral of the story is… we want things to go well for Micah.

Finally in this post I’d like to steal an idea which Micah used in his blog. In fact he stole the idea from someone else, so I’m really just propagating a good idea more than stealing it. The idea is to do a google search for your name to find out what kind of people share the same name as you. Whereas Aaron Micah Kafka would bring in some limited results to chose from, Taylor Williams draws something of a large crowd. I am a successful distance runner for the University of Tulsa. I am a Z film actor, who you can look up on imdb.com. And my personal favorite, I am a residence hall at Virginia State University for upper-class honors females.

That’s it for this edition of Taylor Williams’ further procrastination. Tune in next time where we’ll discuss why freshmen should not allowed to come into the Coffee House unless accompanied by an adult.