Sign-Posting

Just chilling out and resting for the first time this week. So much stuff has happened this January that my mind is reeling. I've barely been home these past few weeks, and when I am, I spend most of it sleeping or catching up on some personal work.

Looking back on the past four weeks, I have to say that it's been pretty tough. Not so much mentally, but that it's been physically demanding. After spending most of 2005 cooped up in my house, the amount of travelling that i've done just for this month has been somewhat exhausting.

The status of my bank account is also a bit annoying. I have to bring some maintenance money in otherwise I'm going to be in deep shit in a few months. Although with me being more disciplined now, I am confident that I can find a way to get the cash. Probably not as much as I made last year, but good enough to keep me afloat as I try and establish myself.

So...first month assesment of 2006?

It's been good. I haven't had much time to sit down and take it all in yet, but so far things have been okay. I am learning a lot about the craft of TV and filmmaking--at the same time! It is literally learning by doing, and it has it's pros and cons.

For one, everything is a baptism of fire. You literally learn from your mistakes and then hope that you get the opportunity to do it again. It hasn't been easy, but i've seen so many aspects of the industry in these few short weeks. Had I been in film school, i'd probably still be reading about this insead of doing it.

But! When I'm standing there in those moments where I have no idea whether i'm doing the right thing, I do kind of wish that I had some sort of previous academic background. At least something to reassure me that I am not going to end up being the missing nail that will ruin this production.

The challenge of learning two seperate fields at the same time, in many different arenas is also quite wearing. Most people focus on one aspect of it, whether it be production, direction, or writing, for film or television. I don't have that luxury. I just grab whatever oppurtunity for me to be on the set.

For the most part, I am anxious to just sit down and start writing. Although production is fun, it isn't something that I would want to do for a very long time. The schedule is extremely demanding, and it would have to be a very special project for a homebody like me to do it.

Every day is an adventure though, and so far, it has been wonderful.

Meme Me

I am, sadly, addicted to memes. I think answering theme reveals a lot about yourself and others, thus saving a lot of time and energy if ever any one of you want to kill each other down the road. Also, when I was teaching, meme's were a great way to break the ice and get students to do their exercises.

Mostly because Korean or no, people like talking about themselves, or at the very least love to know that others are interested in them in some way (even if it's just teach-cha avoiding making a formal lesson plan by using a "radical approach" that involves students just writing essays and answering meme's)

This one comes from Dignan's 75 Year Plan. It should prove amusing to some of my friends who'll read this, but even I still get a laugh from the answers that I give. Sometimes it just takes the right question from other people to make you learn something new about yourself.


1. What did you want to be when you grew up (WYGU) while you were a kid?

I wanted to be a robot, the Blue Lion from Voltron in particular. Not that I wanted to be like Princess Alora, I just thought that the Blue Lion was cool. So I spent a lot of time pretending I had all these weird powers when I was around six or so. Then when I went to school, I learned that I couldn't be a cyborg and like most girls in Catholic schools, I wanted to be a nun. When I learned that they couldn't carry guns (???) I thought i'd be a scientist or a lawyer.

2. What did you want to be WYGU when you graduated from High School?

Sadly, science was not one of my strong points during high school. I still enjoyed learning about science, but I never was--and never will be--an academic. So I thought i'd be like my dad and be a lawyer. Though looking back, I was more interested in the title than I was with the job. I thought being a lawyer was too passive, so to be more pro-active--and to force myself to be more disciplined--I thought I would enlist in the Philippine Navy and become a JAG.

3. What (if anything) is your college degree in? (overachievers: feel free to add Graduate degrees)

I was a psych major. During the latter part of my college years, I thought being a lawyer was too boring for me and fell in love with the study of human behavior. Since I wanted to help people, I chose a career in criminologyy, particularly behavioral profiling. But a nervous breakdown prompted me to seek a career in something that wouldn't take too much toll on your psyche.

4. What do you do for a living now?

I was an HR Admin Assistant for a while, then went on to become a technical assistant. Then reeling from the constraints of a nine-to-fiver, left to persue screenwriting. I moonlighted as an ESL teacher to Koreans to pay the bills before working as a virtual assistant/market associate. Then I finally quit that so that I can be what I am now: a slave.

Hehe.

Seriously. I am a struggling screenwriter moonlighting as a PA/Production Designer/talk show host producer for sh!t pay. Right now, I am trying to learn everything I can about making movies without ever going to film school. It's hard work, especially for someone who wants to spend her life working in front of the computer creating stories that will hopefully inspire or help people.

Monday, Monday

Getting ready to leave for the second post-production meeting of Big A's first project, a short film adaptation of an award winning play.

I'm on production design on this one, what a way to start. Halfway through reading the script--which is just twenty or so pages long--and I was close to tearing up. My first time out, and I was going to Vegas. Literally.

Loud, bright colors, that just grab you from the screen without making your eyes hurt. Years ago, Dario Argento achieved this effect by dressing up the set in Pucci colors, adding some '85s, and then double treating the film.

As a result, we have a breath-taking Susperia, which is a horror movie in it's own league. It looks so damn good that even someone who hates horror might be tempted to watch it.

And that's our goal. Moulin Rouge meets Bad Education. Susperia sans the horror. PDs on E. Considering how tight our schedule is--and how low our budget is--this one is going to take a hecka lot of work.

So i'm a bit of a nervous wreck right now. Five days to create a whole new world.

But it's exciting and scary at the same time. Certainly a new challenge. And damn, I cannot wait to start.