Not having any money
Other people uploading from me and killing my d/l speed
Not having a MacPro 3GHz
Having stuffy ears
Juliette And The Licks
Limewire Pro
A Strawberry Cornetto
Air drumming
Little late in posting this I guess, well a couple of days at least.
First week @ Brook Lapping done and dusted and it's going ok, having to get back in the habit of cold calling people again, but I think all's going well at the mo at least. Should have some of the review samples coming in next week so I can get them checked out and sent out to the relevant teachers etc.
Two downsides to the job, 1)longer commute, 4hrs a day now :/ 2)A god awful HP PC, which allegedly is a 2.8GHZ P4, although you wouldn't guess it as it would probably run quicker if it was switched off! Possibly something to do with the 248Mb RAM it has (according to control panel at least), how the hell do you get 248?! It's a P4 surely the sticks are at least 256!?
I've also taken to trying to do the puzzles in whatever free paper I pick up on the train, namely sudoku or a crossword, needless to say I'm crap at both, but at least I feel like I'm stimulating my brain and helping to prevent the onset of Altzheimers...um...
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I keep seeing names of stations i don't recognise. Either i never usually pay attention or i'm going the wrong way :/
Cap'n Matt Chaffinch wishing you a happy Talk Like A Pirate Day!!
ARRR! (etc.)
Why is that as soon as I land another researching job (even though it should be quite good), do all the bloody Assistant Editor jobs start appearing :/
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Will this bloody work?
[edit] Well apart from all that MMS crap up there yeah. :/[/edit]...and Steve was like all...like, the iTunes Music Store, is just the iTunes Store now, cos like..we've got an ass load of movies in there..
IF YOU'RE IN FUCKING AMERICA YEAH!!!
LIKE ALL THE FUCKING TV SHOWS!!
WHY IS IT SO FUCKING DIFFICULT?!!?
America has had TV shows in iTunes for ages now, at least since half way throudh season one of Lost, and over here in Blighty we got zip!
I downloaded a couple of episodes of Lost today, to catch up on what I'd missed, now that's not right. Ive since deleted them (for space rather than morals), but had they been available in iTunes I would have bloody bought them!
Now I'm not gonna pay for episodes of Dr Who or whatever shite eventually ends up in the UK store (if the broadcasters ever sort their crappy prehistoric ways out and start to realise that there's other mediums out there now!), but stuff like Lost, Battlestar, and if it were available The Amazing Screw On Head, stuff I like, I'd happily buy, especially as they've gone to 640x480 res now, although that's a bit odd, as it's still 4:3 (cos it's all iPod orientated), most broadcast is 16:9 now, and computer monitors are going more and more 16:9.
Although oddly enough the new iMacs are apparently 16:10?!? What's all that about?!
So all these new goodies that the mothership's tempting me with and I can't have any of it. And even if I could, we're stuck in shite old England with it's broadcast industry that fears change and it's crappy broadband. "Surf at superfast speeds* *compared to outer mongolia"
In Japan they have 100Meg connections now, 100-fucking-meg!, why in god's name am I still on 2Meg?!? Oh yeah, cos I live more than 3ft away from the damn exchange.
Bastards.
(A-la gayspace)
Current Mood
HAVE YOU NOT FUCKING GUESSED?!?
Damn Apple!!
They drive me insane with their new stuff!! They announce their special "Showtime" event (today) a few weeks back, then last week, brought out a 24" iMac (w00t!!), after completing the intel transition with the Mac Pro (w00t!!!!!), now they've released an new 80Gb iPod, and are gonna be making a proper TV/Media centre thing.
why do the tease me so, they know I can't afford any of it BOO HOO, OH BOO HOO HOO
Hell Yeah!! Picked it up today, original trilogy lego goodness!! :D
The first one (set in the prequels) is amazing, this one is juat as good!! Bought it earlier, have just completed Episode IV ANH, so not amazingly difficult, but then a) it's lego and b)its aimed at younger kids anyway.
It wont take long to complete, but the magic is in the fact that you HAVE to go back and re-do the levels with different characters to get all of the special items.
I think they should do a full range of Lego platformers.. next up I reckon the Ewok movies..
Caravan Of Courage and Battle For Endor.
Then a bit of Indiana Jones Trilogy would go down well :)
It feels so weird to pay to download music, but I guess it the good and proper thing to do, rather than what some people do
I think it's this iTunes/Coke promo that got me started...I drink far too much Coke, and at the moment they've got this thing where 1 bottle of Coke = 1 iTunes song credit. Cheers, although it's limited to 5 songs per account, not so cheers. Still debating whether to set up any more accounts or not, just to get some more free music.
Plus side : more free music
Down side : having to manage more accounts that I'm only gonna use for 5 free songs each
Is it really worth it? Probably not.
But as a spin off from that, i've gone and paid for 2 whole albums from the store (previous and only purchase (apart from free downloads of the week) was the somewhat dissappointing Kubb album).. Revelations, the new Audioslave album, which rocks like a bitch although Tom Morello *still* needs to sort his damn solo's out :/
And thanks to the iTunes "Just For You" feature which suggests similar artists (sometimes with a fair randomness), I've purchased of Euphoria Morning, a Chris Cornell solo album, which is also quite good, if a little odd in places, but cheers. :)
and I know you're dying to know what I "bought" with my Coke Credits...
1. Dani California - RHCP
2. The Great Pretender - Freddy Mercury
3. Sweet Little Sister - Skid Row
4. We Built This City - Starship
5. Feuer Frei - Rammstein
Good mix huh? Maybe I should post that as an iMix??? ;)
The world has lost a legend. Steve Irwin "The Crocodile Hunter" has been killed today whilst filming for a documentary. :(
I couldn't quite believe the text that my girlfriend sent me this morning, telling me he was dead and that he'd been stabbed in the heart by a Sting-ray's barb, but it's true.
Now while I prefer watching some of the other reptile/animal people who cropped up on TV after Steve kicked everything off, I can't help but feel saddened by this news.
Both myself and my girlfriend thought that Austin Stevens would be the first to go, but it's not the case.
Steve Irwin, to us over here at least, I guess is kinda like a 21st Century Terry Nutkins, little bit edgier, but has done the same thing. Inspired a generation of children to learn more about animals and the world around them. His ridiculously high energy and enthusiasm for all things animal (esp. reptile), not only got him a top rating TV show, but also helped him pour much needed funds into the Australia Zoo in Queensland, raising awareness and support for all things conservation.
He will be missed.
Or it would be if the damn T-Mobile wireless connection was any good!!! Thank Christ it was free and I wasn't paying the ridiculously extortionate charges that they have!!
So an interesting week, cut a couple of sequences for Viral Vision, which was fun, got me better aquainted with Avid Media Composer, but was frustratingly slow. Not the system, just me not knowing my way around properly, but that all comes with experience. I should spend more time with Avid Xpress at home, but the projects I've been working on recently have been in Final Cut, or I've started them in FCP cos I know it better.
Speaking of which, ITGA, is coming along, I'm still pretty confident with the October deadline, I'm kinda finishing as I go...rough cut the scene, then sync the clips and re-cut, tweak the cuts, colour correct and sound mix, tweak the cuts, scowl and swear, etc.
Sound is overall a right pig. After I solved the syncing issues, i'm now onto mixing, which is also a bastard (think I may have mentioned in a previous post), but it's getting there.
Work wise, it's been going well, I finish at SqD on the 8th :(, looks like next week is paperwork week, which isn't really exciting, but will be good to know more about that side of things, especially as it seems the next job I'm going to at Brook Lapping Education is gonna involve a shitload of paperwork!
But, at the end of the day, although I have no interest in becoming a Production Co-Ordinator/Manager, knowing how that side of things works, can only help to improve everything else you do. Having a greater understanding of all aspects of production is better then being solely focussed on one side of things...I could really go for a McDonald's Big breakfast about now :/
a)
Your results:
You are Spider-Man
| You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.  |
Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz
Well, I'm happy with that! (Although the female ones are a bit iffy)
and b)
Naive by The Kooks, really sounds like another song, possibly American pop-punk, it's ok, I've just clikced, it sounds like something by Alien And Farm...maybe Movies, i'll check that now
Only a couple more hours and I reach the grand old age of 30, this is really the only birthday, where I've actually felt any different (although we'll find out tomorrow, on my actual b'day if it is any different or not).
16 didn't feel any different from 15, 18 didn't feel any different from 17, no real advances to the "adult" world there, I'd been drinking for years, just now I could go and buy it legally..woo-bloody-hoo.
21 came around, the whole coming of age thing..uhuh, nothing really special going on there, in fact through the whole of my twenties, I haven't felt particularly grown up, despite becoming a father, forging a career, then changing career, getting in debt, I still fucked about at work (well, when I was in retail, when all you can do to remain sane is to fuck about), made stupid videos with my friends (now make more serious ones), joined a band, got pissed a fair bit, nothing that struck me as particularly adult.
Even now when I look in the mirror, I don't see "an adult", I see me, ok I've got a goatee (and a fair bit of stubble at the mo), my hair's throwing in a three-pronged assault of both receeding, thinning and going grey (cheers hair :/), yet I haven't felt like an adult since I supposedly became one.
Now approaching the big 3-0, I have this sudden sense of...well..."shit! 30!, that's like proper adult", things spring to mind such as TV programmes like "Thirtysomethings" "Friends", groups of adults, dealing with adult issues...ok maybe not so much in Friends, but you get the idea, it's pretty much a whole new demographic! And that's a tad unsettling.
So, in celebration of my impending b'day, I went out last night, got a load of friends together, went to the pub, had some drinks then went down to The Gloucester for (whatever it's called) an indy night. It's been a good few years since I've been to any club, let alone The Gloucester which I used to frequent, and, yeah, it was a good night, got a little drunk, not majorly, danced about a bit, and felt really really old.
I think it's a defining moment, when you're standing in the middle of a nightclub, not knowing hardly any of the songs and complaining to you friends (who were in agreement) that they needed to play more mid 80's to early 90's stuff, rather than all this new rubbish for all the people in the club who looked like they wanted to be Vince in the mighty boosh.
Then Outer Space by The Prodigy came on and everything was ok for 4 minutes :)
How long will it be before I'm thinking to myself "I can't keep up with these kids!" :/
So today was spent, with a little bit of a headache, sat in front of my mac, cutting ITGA. A lot of fine cutting and sound mixing today. I'm still not keen on anything sound related, although I've solved all the syncing issues now, and used Adobe Audition to clean up a lot of the fridge hum in the bar scene, there's now the issue of having one actor sounding really good, and the other sounding shite (mainly because of shooting on a wider angle and not having as good sound rushes), so more work there.
It's all a learning process tho, and I'll never be too old for that.
I've had a couple of messed up mornings this week. Trying to get back in the habit of getting up for work is not easy.
You stop work, and every day you want a lie in, you wake up at stupid o'clock in the morning, then when it comes to going back to work, all you want to do is sleep!! :/
For instance, this morning, I was at home in Henfield, over slept, woke up at 07:38, my bus was due around 07:40ish, rushed around, brushed my teeth, had a quick wash, chucked some clothes on and ran to the bus stop...missed it there's a surprise. Swore for a bit, then strolled up to the main bus stop to look at the time tables, ok, there's a bus to Burgess Hill at 08:02, which should get me there around 08:30, thus I should be able to get my normal train, cashback. Sure enough that's what happened (the pic is from platform 1 there) and I'm first in the office. Cheers.
Tuesday morning, even worse. In Brighton this time. My alarm on my phone goes off, I switch it off and immediatly drop off again. Wake up, look at the clock 08:30, shit! (my train's 08:36 from Brighton), jump out of bed, run around brush teeth, have a quick wash, look at my phone, the little bell symbol still there saying the alarm's still set, go into the clock switch that off, run around, finish getting dressed. Dash to the train station, thinking all the way about alternative routes to minimise my lateness, get to the station, next train to London Bridge 08:02, dash into the station...slow...stop...think...look up at the boards, next train leaving is 07:53.
Confusion sets in big time. Look at my watch, focus, 07:50, check it again. shit. When I woke up it was 07:30 not 08:30, my alarm never went off, hence why it was still set, and I could've had another 15 mins in bet and a bath in the morning. Damn. Spent most of the train journey up (on the 8:02) still trying to figure it all out.
Sometimes i can be really shit :/
Yep, back for a couple of weeks at Square Donkey, helping with the revisions to Viral Vision, so getting engrossed in the world of internet video once more, coming across stuff like this...
and remember...
Everybody loves Raymond. Except Chuck Norris.
Yes he bloodywell did!! Thank Christ for that!!
It wasn't that bad, 33/35 cheers, hated every minute of the Hazard Perception test, which is a load of bollocks, but hey, I passed, shouldn't grumble ;)
Okay, so some days have past since I last posted and since the shoot, which (if you saw the lookout blog) will know that as far as shoots go and being my first as a director, it went okay.
I've sat through, not all, but most of the rushes, started to drop scenes together to see what I've actually got and not got (soon realising that it's gonna be a hard cut), thinking about where the hell I can find a decent bathroom, and now..when the hell I'm gonna get that shot, as this weekend was the best one for it and after that, god knows on people's availability!?!? :/
I digi'd all the tapes into FCP with my iBook, on the weekend, I've now rigged the hdd back up to my powermac G4 for cutting.
One extra thing I've done is picked up a pair of cheap (and surprisingly good), £14.99 Sony 
So I'm currently flipping between, editing, sound syncing, sorting paperwork, generally procrastinating, thinking about installing ubuntu on my PC and thinking about doing some revision for my driving theory which I have 2moro.
I have to say, I've learnt a hell of a lot from this project (and still learning), knowing my limitations, knowing my abilities, realising how to think differently when you're a director from all the other shoots I've been on.
Learning about compromise on a shoot of this scale, realising how much more time I would've liked to shoot, I don't think I'm gonna love the finished product, but I think I'll like it, yesterday I hated it, but then that was just me getting tired and frustrated.
Sound syncing.
AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!! yes that's right... AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!
I HATE IT!, first off I tried doing it in FCP (Final Cut Pro btw, thought about using Avid for this one, but went the FCP route anyway), my sound was 1/3 of a frame out, and I couldn't move it in anything but 1 whole frame incrememtents (first head in hands moment), so I bunged the shot into Soundtrack, which proved the business (despite crashing a fair few times on my PM), it allowed me to zoom further in and properly sync.
So a few hours and 2 shots synced. Onto the next one..bung it to Soundtrack, sync the clap, done. NOPE, the clap is synced but the pre-take voices are out!?!? Sync the voices, the claps out (and the voices still aren't fully synced!) at that point I went to bed.
I haven't tried syncing any more yet, instead choosing to drop an assembly together to see if the shots I've got actually work, why? because a) I need to, and b) I'm dreading getting to the dialogue and finding that it's all out of sync :/ fingers crossed tho!!
Anyway...back to the grind...
