jared hogan

directed by the talented bernardo marentes.

Sat, 26 Nov 2011 16:59:56 -0500

directed by the talented bernardo marentes.

elevation worship | for the honor releasing today on itunes

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 10:36:00 -0500

elevation worship | for the honor

releasing today on itunes

in honor of their amazing new release, i present you with my favorite m83 songs: teen angst from...

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:39:00 -0400

in honor of their amazing new release, i present you with my favorite m83 songs:

teen angst from before the dawn heals us

gone from dead cities, read seas and lost ghosts

graveyard girl from saturdays = youth

let men burn stars from before the dawn heals us

kim & jessie from saturdays = youth

safe from before the dawn heals us

the highest journey from digital shades, vol. 1

lower your eyelids and die with the sun from before the dawn heals us

and my favorites [so far] from hurry up, we’re dreaming:

intro

soon, my friend

my tears are becoming a sea

outro

1. to find the truth, get your own heart to pound while you write. 2. story is metaphor for...

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 07:11:00 -0400

1. to find the truth, get your own heart to pound while you write.

2. story is metaphor for life; no story is innocent.

no story is just entertainment.

3. an honest writer constantly questions the human significance

of what he has done.

4. story lies in the gap between expectation and reality.

5. a writer must use both sides of his brain, right and left, equally.

6. it’s as if one half writes emotive poetry, the other, diagnostic criticism.

7. i encourage you to study both positive and negative examples

of writers you admire.

8. of the five faculties a writer must have - analysis, insight, craft,

interpretation and judgement - judgement is bedrock to the other four.

9. sharpen your working judgement against a whetstone of honest insight.

10. creative judgment is grounded in result, not intent.

[by robert mckee]

the 9 commandments of screenwriting I. thou shalt respect thine audience. II. thou shalt...

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 07:57:00 -0400

the 9 commandments of screenwriting

I. thou shalt respect thine audience.

II. thou shalt research.

III. thou shalt dramatize thine exposition.

IV. thou shalt layer a subtext under every text.

V. thou shalt create complex characters rather than merely complicated story.

VI. thou shalt use neither false mystery nor cheap surprise.

VII. thou shalt not use deus ex machina to get thine ending.

VIII. thou shalt not make life easy for thine protagonist.

IX. thou shalt take thine story into the depth and breadth of human experience.

[by robert mckee]

“being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … going to bed at night...

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:06:40 -0400

“being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful … that’s what matters to me.” - steve jobs

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 09:01:12 -0400

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 10:17:00 -0400

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 22:30:05 -0400

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 06:11:19 -0400

congress. i follow the work of wyatt garfield, a fellow scad alum. he is one of the most talented...

Sat, 16 Jul 2011 18:07:00 -0400

congress.

i follow the work of wyatt garfield, a fellow scad alum. he is one of the most talented cinematographers i’ve seen. “congress” has been kind of a blue print for me. they started on kickstarter by crafting a very compelling video and were able to raise the amount they needed to fund the film. ~~and they are slowly releasing parts of the movie. this ten minute credit sequence, which i assume opens the movie, is breathtaking.~~

- the opening title sequence has been made private -

weston currie, the director, has also done a handful of music videos for grouper. their styles and sensibilities merge perfectly. i love the work both wyatt and weston are coming out with. it is inspiring to say the least.

i can’t wait to see “congress” in it’s entirety.

vacation.

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 08:56:51 -0400

vacation.

an interview with ucla screenwriting professor richard walter Q: What determines creative and...

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 16:20:02 -0400

an interview with ucla screenwriting professor richard walter

Q: What determines creative and great writing within a screenplay?

A: Great screenwriting is integrated, that is, every sight and sound (which is all you get to put in a screenplay) palpably, measurably, identifiably moves the story forward and, in doing so, advances the audience’s connection with the characters.

Q: When you compare the recent films, Inception, The Social Network and Fair Game, what techniques were used by each writer to ensure great characters and story development?

A: I loathed Inception, which struck me as shrill and overbearing. It had no great characters, in my opinion. Never saw Fair Game. Social Network succeeds by making all the characters human; there are no real villains.

Q: What role should television and film (informative, entertaining or commercial) play in educating the public about crucial issues?

A: It should just try to tell good stories. As soon as it tries to teach lessons, it becomes intellectual and self-conscious and heavy-handed, worst of all, it becomes boring. No worthy cause was ever helped by a boring movie. Informative, entertaining and commercial are not mutually exclusive enterprises. In the great dramatic narratives since the early Greeks; the best stories work together and manifest a synthesizing influence on the audience.

Q: Why should someone study film/media studies in 2011 considering the economic state of the film/journalism business versus, say, accounting?

A: They shouldn’t. If they can possibly avoid studying film, they should do so. No one who is not absolutely compelled to enter the arena should take on this elusive and daunting field.

Q: Writers and directors like Steven Spielberg have worked in a variety of genres (action, drama, comedy). How does a writer avoid being type cast into one line of work (comedy or drama)?

A: You can’t control what others think of you. Forget about everything but what matters to you, plumb your passion and don’t try to gear yourself for how others may categorize you.

Q: How has the role of the entertainment evolved to the present day?

A: It hasn’t evolved. It’s the same as it was thousands of years ago in ancient Greece. It’s all about story.

Q: What did your professors teach you that influenced you as a writer/teacher?

A: To salute the courage that it takes to declare yourself an artist to live the creative life, to swap your day dreams for dollars and to traffic in your own imagination.

my thoughts exactly. [from the huffington post] “Terrence Malick’s new film “Tree...

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:00:00 -0400

my thoughts exactly.

[from the huffington post]

“Terrence Malick’s new film “Tree of Life” opens with a quotation from Job. That quotation holds the key to the film and in some sense, the key to our attitude toward life.

In Job 38: 4,7 God asks Job “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth … when the morning stars sang together?” These verses are part of a difficult puzzle that has preoccupied believers and scholars about the book of Job. In his film, Malick is offering us a powerful answer.

Job, despite his righteousness, loses everything — his wealth and his children. In despair he wishes to know why such things have befallen him. God does not exactly answer Job — rather at the end of the book, God appears from the whirlwind and plies Job with a string of rhetorical questions. The questions seem designed to prove to Job that he lacks both power and insight. Curiously, however, God never directly addresses Job’s agonized question.

Why does God not simply say to Job “This is why you suffer?” What is the larger point God is making? There are endless, powerful and provocative speculations about this question. The one that Malick is proposing is presaged in the opening quotation.

God’s recounting of the wonders of nature can be seen in one of two ways. One possibility is that the immensity of the natural world, in its merciless indifference, has nothing to do with the concerns of human beings. The desert does not care if you pray, and the rushing cataract will not pause for pity. Nature shows its blank, grand face to us, and we are nothing. Indeed Job recants of his protest, proclaiming “for I am but dust and ashes.”

In the wake of the terrible loss depicted in the film, the loss of a child, Malick offers coruscating images to remind us of this indifference. In their sweep and range they awaken us anew to our insignificance. But gradually we see that each image, from the cell to the cosmos, is not only grand, it is beautiful. The second half of the quote from Job, how the morning stars sing, remind us that the appreciation of wonder and beauty is also possible. We may lose our ego in nature’s indifference, but we may also lose it in nature’s magnificence. Do we see the world as heartless or as sublime? The drama of our life and death is fleeting, but it is played out on a stage of unparalleled wonder. Pain which can be so consuming, is not all; part of the secret of life is enlarging our hearts.

The agony of the parents, the periodic cruelty of the father — all are the powerful but passing dramas that for the moment entirely preoccupy us as we watch the movie. But then we are drawn back to a world so much bigger than our hour upon the stage that we know again how essentially small is each human story.

The great Dutch writer Harry Mulisch died this past year. Once asked the secret of life, he responded “make the puzzle bigger.” Malick makes the puzzle bigger, and so expands our sense of the intricacy and beauty of the world. In reworking Job for the 21st century, he teaches us anew of the grandeur of the world, and the grandeur of God.”

“there are two ways through life. the way of nature and the way of grace. you have to choose...

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 15:39:59 -0400

“there are two ways through life. the way of nature and the way of grace. you have to choose which one you will follow.”

make your mark.

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 22:19:03 -0400

make your mark.

check out the rest of the “among us” production stills here.

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 17:51:33 -0400

check out the rest of the “among us” production stills here.

quick “among us” frames from the bus scene:

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 15:27:46 -0400

quick “among us” frames from the bus scene:

stuff i’ve been listening to: someday / vashti bunyan spectre / miracle fortress sogg /...

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 15:21:00 -0400

stuff i’ve been listening to:

someday / vashti bunyan

spectre / miracle fortress

sogg / amiina

little garçon / born ruffians

tonight you belong to me / eddie vedder

all the king’s men / wild beasts

seeds of night / the cave singers

grass rides / goldmund

like the wheel / the tallest man on earth

end credits / balmorhea

winnie has a new friend.

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 07:21:58 -0400

winnie has a new friend.