Study Break?

This afternoon a good group of us went out to Celebration Bridge to do some hiking and a few decided to jump on the windy/cloudy day. It was nice to get out and do something; plus it was a great end of the year get-together with friends. I have made some fantastic friends over the last 4 years (mainly freshman year) but this last year I have really seen myself making more friends and coming out of my shell. I have enjoyed it and I hope others have too.

Here's some pics from the day...

Well we climbed as high as we could on this; on the way down I lost my footing and basically ran down a cliff wall. Pretty crazy.





This is not staged, this is for real; Nate "I love this man!"




Jenna pulling off the "wind-blown" look.


Joey pulling off the "Brazilian/possibly Hispanic" look.


Andrea trying not to look scared out of her mind on the bridge. She pulled it off too.




Uh oh...

Andy

Tragedy, questions our sanity, second guess theology, leads to despondency, despondency turns into atrophy, so hard for us to see, the way that God sees.

The Simple Road Less Traveled

I'm not sure what road I am on at the moment, but I do know that I coming to the fork in this road. Graduation is near and I am extremely excited to see my family. I love them with all my heart and only really care to have them all together again. It's been a long time since we were all together. That's what I am looking forward to, not really graduation.

Everybody seems to be coming to this celebration of me lasting 4 years through school and getting a diploma; it's pretty cool and a big step, but anyone can really get a degree, let's be real here. I am so thankful for coming to NNU and the GREAT friends I have made over the last 4 years. I am so glad I threw those other school applications away that night (ask me about how I got here if you want to hear the story). If it wasn't for my dad and mom pushing me to apply to NNU, I would've been at Point Loma or Olivet and probably missing out on some great stuff.

I am preparing myself for my family getting here; it is always a good time, but this is going to be the most unique times for us getting together. Ian and Jamie haven't met Brigid (my dad's new wife), Leo and Jenny have never met Waylon, and my Aunt Sharon is coming; it is all just different, but I am really excited nonetheless. I am saddened though...this is one of those big steps that I always saw in my mind: seeing my family in the seats cheering me across the stage. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my family, especially my mother.

My mom, as I have mentioned so many times, was HUGE in my life. She basically made a christian school for me to go to in high school. She and my dad told me I HAD to apply to NNU even though I hated it. She supported me in my computer science major, she supported me in changing my major, she prayed constantly for me and my friends, she checked up on me during these difficult transition years. She is no longer with us, and won't be there in the stands cheering for me persay; but she will be cheering where she is in Heaven.



When she passed away there were moments in my life that I just knew I was going to miss her tons and this is going to be one of them. It's been easy getting to this point in life, but this next week is going to be tough. I'm so thankful to have a supportive and loving family to help me through this time because things aren't the clearest for me and my future. I am unsure of what my next move is, but I know it will be a great one. I'm not sure what the fork in the road leads to but I choose the Simple Road Less Traveled.

New Phone Number

Well I got my own cell phone plan with Verizon now so I no longer have my Alaska number :( sad day. So my NEW NUMBER is 208-860-8257. I will try and let everyone know. If you can think of someone who would like to know let them know. Thanks.

Rice Krispie Treats/Waterbaloons/Car Insurance/Phone Bills

I have my moments when I feel like an adult, getting my own insurance and phone plan, and then I feel like I'm still a kid, throwing water balloons at Main Eventers. I enjoy the balance.

I won't lie, but I was kinda dreading tonight, Saturday night, cause people have lives outside of our house. Andrew worked tonight, Matt and Joe V had the military banquet, Adam and Cassie went up to the hot springs, and Kyle was hanging out with his gf too.

I have no job, gf, or banquet to attend so I was nervous about what I was going to do. I planned on just staying in, being lame, and working on hw. Luckily Nate and Evan stopped by for a while and we watched videos on God Tube and then made some of our own. I then picked up Jenna, Kristin, and Andrea and we visited Andrew at Starbucks. It was a good time just chatting and enjoying the environment. We then drove home listening to some great music; we decided to just drive and listen to music for a bit.

I love just driving and listening to music; I haven't really done this in a long time. I then met up with Evan and we waterballooned Main Eventers; attempted to I should say. We had terrible aim and power. So we waterballooned some of our friends which was fun.

I then had to act a little more "mature" when we were hanging out with Jenna's folks. It was good just chillin and talking. Good times good times.

Then much later, Evan rolled into our casa and got Andrew and I to go out and throw waterballoons at kids some more; we got chased by security and had to hide out for a bit. We had a good night. Thanks all for the great night.

Capturing

Today I captured all of my footage for my senior film! Now I am cutting them into scenes. Fun stuff! Here is a taste of it. Enjoy.

More Pandora...

These pics are from Friday and Saturday (Desert 1 & 2 and Postal Source locations). Enjoy.



This is our Desert 1 and 2 location. We setup the truck in its position and setup dolly track. This is out near Jump Creek (Marsing area). Great hiking out here.



Setting up dolly track.



Cork checking his audio levels as I talk through the lines and actions with Jeremiah and Katie.



Our second position on the dolly; basically we started at a wide shot and dollied into a close 2 shot.



Dollying in from afar.



Still dollying.



Jeremiah laughing and Becca doing the same in the background. They were great to work with.



This is our houses living room where I transformed it into Mr. Harris' house where Mr. M was rummaging through some stuff looking for Pandora's Box.



This is the "plate" where the camera attaches to the tripod; the rest is our house and our equipment. This was getting ready for our exterior shot of Mr. Harris' house.



Inside setting up the shot where Mr. M is going through books and what-not then the phone rings and he answers it. Karl does a great job acting creepy.



Karl on the phone, Adam manning the camera, and Jeremy checking focus in the ASC book.



A head turning picture; we're loading up to go to Postal Source Plus for the rest of the filming for the day. I just liked this pic.



Me talking with Jeremiah about what he is to be doing in the next scene.



The "back room" setup with lights and camera.



Another dolly setup at the "front desk" location at the postal store. We had to be real careful with our shadows to make sure the camera wasn't picking them up.



Leveling more track now outside of Postal Source. Becca and Seth, the characters, will run out and into Seth's truck to make a quick getaway.



Getting outta there!



There I am sitting on the ground as usual watching the monitor. I was comfortable.



Adam running through the dolly shot outside; making sure his framing is how I want it. Great cameraman!



Karl a.k.a. Mr. M. He was a great sport and kept us laughing the entire weekend.



Jenna looking "super happy" to be there. Jenna, Becca, Cassie, and Ian showed up for a little bit to see what was goin on. Glad they made it.



"Pandora's Box" slate. Just cool seeing official stuff like that with something I have created.



Mr. M after he chased down the truck; he was this close.



This is Katie, who plays Becca, laughing. She was fun to work with and always reminded me that I need to make sure that my actors aren't afraid of heights, could drive a stick shift, and something else but I forgot...



Yes, that's another dolly shot. This is one of the last shots we did that day.



What it looks like from way in the back.

breath of fresh air

today i visited an old friend. i haven't spent much time with her because of many reasons: i've been real busy, weather has hindered me a bit, and just finding enough time to spend is hard to come by sometimes.

when i arrived at her house i wasn't sure what to expect because it has been so long and she's at a new house too. we awkwardly hugged, had our regular salutations, and dove in to catch up. i didn't do much talking, i like to just listen sometimes and let others talk. i was thrown off at first but i quickly got back to normal.

i have been real grateful to have some really good friends and sometimes you get callused or used to having the bar set so high, and the beginning of this visit was a little bit of a let down. i was expecting one thing and the other was occurring. i soon brushed my preconceptions to the side and let myself go and embrace new-ness.

leslie is her name; leslie gulch. she is beautiful and unique in her own way. this friend of mine is nature/outdoors/wilderness/wild/creation/earth and the list goes on. today myself and three others visited a place we've never been and had a good time hiking around and climbing rock structures.

she has rock structures like i have never seen or experienced. it was the hottest day this year, 80's, and it was a tough getting used to it.

the visit was short because the drive was long and other obligations needed to be met; i will return again...real soon.

Pandora's Box pics

These pictures are from Thursday and Sunday, I am in the process of getting the pics from Friday and Saturday. Enjoy.




Thursday location: Celebration Bridge area
The road we shot on for the night driving scene. We shot it from 4 different positions to sell it as a different road each time.



My friend Puffer's truck that we used. I am looking over my shots until the sun set enough for us to shoot.



Me visualizing the shot down the road.



The infamous cement factory towers. I just like this picture.



One of the many destroyed buildings at the cement factory.



Rodney, key rigger, was setting up a rope and harness for my talent, Katie (character: Becca), to climb up to the ladder on the silo.



Looking up.



The desert 3 location at cement factory. We are running through rehearsals.



Me giving instruction to (characters) Becca and Seth; Mr. M is my other talent behind me in the black.



Our craft services room which Katie and others cleaned up to make a great setup for our food and a place to get out of the wind/rain.



One of a handful of dolly shots. I wasn't planning on using a dolly out at the cement factory but the trailer I rented was HUGE and we had room so I am glad I did because we got some sweet shots! This is when Seth and Becca walk into the Paper Room.



One of my electrics, Troy, attempted to drive his truck up an embankment to drive our equipment around to save time and he almost made it until he started rolling back and his trailer hitch stuck into the road holding up his truck. We got it up there eventually but it was interesting.



A behind the scenes look at filming the Paper Room inside. Adam is on camera and Jeremy is my 1st AC (assistant cameraman). They were both so helpful and great.



Seth and Becca at first positions.



Karl, Mr. M, getting into character as a mysteriously creepy man. It was great; I would look around for him and he would pop up in random places looking very scary.



Adam and Jeremy waiting for power for the camera.



Lunch: hoagie sandwiches, carrots, chips, and moon pies or whatever. There is Katie preparing the food; she was so helpful.



This is me looking through our tap monitor; it sees what the camera sees but in black and white. So I would look through this and direct the camera to setup the perfect shot. I would normally just sit on the ground, it looked kinda funny.



Becca and Seth running away from Mr. M. This was a rehearsal for one of my shots. Love the building.



Katie climbing up the pipe to get to the ladder. She was a trooper.



This is our location for the top of the silo. I didn't feel comfortable getting people up to the top as well as camera equipment, just wasn't safe so we cheated it as they say in the industry. I just shot close up shots so we can't really tell that it isn't on top of something real high. This is where Becca drops the box down into the tower.



Adam getting the monitor up. Thank goodness for rope!



And finally me giving the "stunt double box" to Becca to drop. I didn't want the one that Jenny spent so much time on to get ruined or broken so I had her make a stunt double one to take the falls.