Tides- Now online!

The film has been up in YouTube for a over a month now. Ultimately I'm pretty happy with it. I forgot to dedicate it to my father in the end credits but I might change that later on.

But for now, it is what it is. Here's the link to my short film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-twYvkEDd_Q


Synopsis:

A young man seeks peace and solitude in the wake of a loved one's death and a clash of beliefs and honor make him question his own.

Directed, Editing, and Starring: Wade Laxton

Director of Photography: Gregory Suarez

Music: Fredric Chopin- Prelude Op. 28 No. 15 (Raindrop), Tool- Ænima- "Third Eye"

Shot on Location in Daytona Beach, FL

For my Dad.
Love you and miss you everyday.

Post-Production on "Tides"

I'm currently in the final stages of post-production of my short film "Tides". Currently I'm cutting out significant portions of my film trying to get it within that 3 minute limit. I'm confident that I will make it within that limited time limit. But when the film is finished and submitted to my directing I class I will release it on YouTube uncut and edited to the version I want. I figure it'll run only about 30 seconds to 1 minute longer than the DIR I version.

My director's cut will have a longer montage scene, more scenic shots, longer credits with a dedication to my dad, and one or two more additional songs added to the film.

The inspirations for this film are very diverse. I've narrowed it down to these major film makers, their films, as well as other sources of media and art:

1.) Stanley Kubrick - Peace and War in "Full Metal Jacket"
2.) Francois Truffaut- The beach and stills "The 400 Blows"
3.) Terrance Malick- His shots of nature in "The New World"
4.) Chris Marker- Still photos and abstract sound/music score "La Jetée"
5.) Frederick Chopin's Preludes for Piano, Op. 28 No. 15 in D flat major "Raindrop"- as used in "Halo 3- Believe" trailer
6.) Tool- "Third Eye" drum solo- Ænima

"A rolling stone gathers no moss" and "ahead of my time"

"We men are retched things." - Achilles

I'm like the old saying "A rolling stone gathers no moss". I don't tend to make connections that often even when I know that a certain person likes me, and when I do, I cut them off pretty quickly unless I can't seem to shed my mind of them. I realized that I'm really not friends with most of the people on facebook, I mean not really. So the fuck do I even have one? I got rid of my myspace and twitter relatively easy. I don't stay around long enough to make friends or I don't make the time for friends it seems.


I guess people today would consider me "ahead of my time", but I think that's a lapse in thinking because my way oif thinking is not original, not really, and I'm not the only one who feels the way I do about the world. There are and have been millions of people, past and present, who have and do think like I do in some way, shape, or form. So my way of thinking doesn't make me "ahead of my time". In fact my way of thinking is more so the current way we OUGHT to be thinking.But our dumbed down species and society has blocked our progress and our thinking.


"Go back to sleep America. You are free to do what we tell you. Watch "American gladiators"! - Bill Hicks


My, or should I say "our", way of thinking may even be outdated by now. What's the new way of thinking now? What is the prevalent way of critical thinking that will transcend our species now? We are ever evolving, ever changing beings.

"Think for yourself. Question authority." - Timothy Leary

"The Social Network"- How Facebook has become the application of our lives"

"Politics is like pro-wrestling. On the stage they all hate each other, but behind the curtains, backstage, they're all friends." - Jesse Ventura

The last scene of the 2010 film "The Social Network" left me with some of my very own questions that needed answers to. Basically, can our current society, let alone, our generation function without "the social network"? Facebook is a worldwide phenomenon, so much that there is a movie about it and the fact that I am writing this on "Notes", an application on Facebook, should give you a clear enough idea of how strong this mechanism has become. Can anyone who reads this honestly say that they have not been to Facebook this week at least once? Twice? Three times? How about three times in one day? I counted today; I went on this sight a total of eight times before and after work and on my break on my iPhone.


Is this something to worry about? Yes and no. It's natural for us to want to keep in touch with our friends and how and what they are doing and even for us to post about how we are doing and what we are doing; Facebook offers us the most convenient, popular, and fun way to stay connected, but along with this convenience comes a flaw; it's unnatural for us to be so impersonal with each other and to have our a good part of our lives devoted to this medium. So much so that every word, every action, every poke is taken into account as if it were really happening to us in a physical manner.


Love Facebook or hate Facebook, join it or don't, the fact remains is that virtually everybody knows about it and if you haven't made one yet, you either will or you will be asked consistently by your friends and family to make one.


In my opinion, with all of the applications that Facebook has and it's unlimited potential coupled with it's ever growing popularity, it seems as though our generation and future generations to come is and will absorb this network as a facet of everyday life, so much so that among the limitless applications for the average human life (Work, School, Money, Relationships, etc.), Facebook has successfully merged almost all these aspects under one roof. Facebook has become the quintessential application of our lives.

"Think for yourself. Question authority." - Timothy Leary

"Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives..."- Tyler Durden

My name is Wade and this is my blog.

I haven't posted in a really long time. Over a year actually. Since that last post on 12/14/09 was a school assignment. I used this blog strictly for school as I had no intention of using it for any other purpose at that time.

But times have changed and so have I and I can now see myself getting back into the spirit of blogging and reaching out to more people about myself, my work, and of course about film, social issues, evolution, spirituality, religion, philosophy, psychology, and the best things in life like Family Guy lol

I think I'll begin and end each blog with a saying or a quote form someone whose had a profound influence on not just my life but many people around the world. People who are true role models and who can teach us real life values and lessons about reality and ourselves.

Peace.

And...

"Think for yourself. Question authority." - Timothy Leary

"Ruined"

"Ruined" is a Pulitzer prize winning story written by Lynn Nottage. It tells the story of young Congolese women forced to live a life of servitude to their owner and caretaker Mama Nadi. The story takes place during a time of turmoil in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Congolese militias are uprising against the Government whose only retaliation is to fight back. The story core is with the women who are caught in the middle of the vicious feud for control and power of the nation. The women are merely trying to survive in a cruel world that they have unfortunately been raised in and are accustomed to. wile they desire freedom, they know it may never happen and their number one priority is to survive each and every day.

My group and I made the consensus that our universal vision of "Ruined" is centered around a war-torn part of the Democratic republic of Congo. The building, the women, the very culture would be built around this environment, but we also knew that it was important that these elements are not completely shaped by the outside world and still hold their own sense of hope and resiliency.

My part of our vision consisted of the costume designs of the characters. The basic idea of the designs was to give the impression that they were made from very elegant colors and textures. The condition of the dresses themselves would be a vital element to the character of the women; their daily clothes would be run down and worn out as supposed to their evening and working gowns that would be more elegant and beautiful. These gowns/dresses would separate them from the environment that they are so accustomed to and give them their bar a little 'pop' and make them more appealing to the customers and militants who frequent the place. It's very important to note that the color of each character's piece of clothing is very significant to the inner qualities of the character themselves.

Let's start with Mama Nadi's dress. Elegant, vibrant, and beautiful. In other words, it's a dress that spoke out to me and said that this would fit her best. The color purple (ironically much like the movie of the same name) tells the story of a noble and authoritative mother figure for the other women of the bar. It's a long violet and purple tile texture dress with long loose sleeves making it easy for the actress to move her arms up and down as she pleases.

Sophie would be wearing very dirty, run-down, and worn out clothes during the early parts of the show and whenever they're cleaning; they are brown garments cheaply woven together. Around the house when she's not working, she'll be wearing green and yellow shirts of higher quality, but very simple. These different color shirts would come along later in the story as the development of the character of Sophie progresses. During the busy hours of the night, when the bar is packed with customers, you can see her wearing a red and white dress (white shows the deep seeded and very apparent innocence and purity of the Sophie character and red is her passion and drive and desire to be free).

Salima's wardrobe, at the start of the play, would be very similar to Sophie's, she would be wearing a poor brown garment to work around the house with and we will see her wardrobe evolve and she will be wearing simple green and yellow shirts just like Sophie. It's not until the night approaches the customers are coming where we see her beautiful green dress elegantly take the floor along with a headband also the color of green with textures of trees on it to symbolize the the jungles of the Congo. Green is the ideal color for Salima as she later reveals in the story that she is pregnant and green is the color of fertility and also youth as Salima is still very young.

Josephine from the very start sees herself as better than the other two women of the bar and thus looks down at them as if they're inferior and not worthy of her attention or respect. She would start off by wearing better quality clothes no matter what the occasion is because shes been with Mama Nadi longer and is Mama Nadi's top girl. She wears an orange and white dress around the house and at night she garners a ravishing black and white dress (White to symbolize her lighter characteristics that shine later on in the story and black for her obvious darker qualities).

The men of the story would be wearing much simpler clothing. Christian would dawn a simple brown suit such as a business man would wear and brown is fitting as it's the color of reliability and stability; Mama Nadi relies on him to get her supplies for her store and he sees himself as stable enough to marry Mama. Mr. Harari would be wearing an Islamic kafia scarf over his head and a Grey suit with a yellow tie (the yellow tie will tie into the story later as he steals a diamond for his own personal gain rather than helping out Sophie; it's the color labeled for cowards, liars, and deceivers).

The militia and the government army soldiers will done traditional military uniforms, except the militia will be wearing more solid green colors as supposed to the government's army that consists of camouflage.

This concludes my part of the unified vision of "Ruined". Thank you for reading. Happy Holidays :-)


Works Cited

Felner, Mira and Orenstein, Claudia. The World of Theatre: Tradition and Innovation. New York: Pearson Education, 2006.

"Ruined" poster.

Purple dress picture.

Militia picture.

Green African headband.

"Amy's Wish"

When I pulled up to the theatre, which was only a 40-second drive from my home, I saw a host of elderly couples pouring into the theatre with big smiles on their faces. I walked into the box office and the man selling the tickets was nice enough to give one ticket for a youth as a sort of student discount; it was his 'holiday gift' from him to me. I thanked him for it and entered the theatre. The first thing I noticed was the massive red curtain on the stage. It reminded me of those old movie palaces; very classic, refined, and elegant for such an ordinary theatre. The performances were considerably well played and well suited for the people who played them. I especially thought that the performance of Melinda Tedeschi who played the snotty neighbor Irma Pry was the best. The basic plot of 'Amy's Wish' is about a simple elderly couple who are married and decide to spend the rest of their lives together. They start to converse and the subject of youth and wishes comes to mind along with the foreshadowing element of the fountain of youth and how the conquistadors tried for years to find it and in a matter of a single night's rest, Amy Galway is transformed to her younger 19 year old self.

What I found to be probably the best part about 'Amy's Wish' was how it took an ancient folklore (the fountain of youth) and took a classic new-couples love story and turned it into something fresh and new. I also found it to be very refreshing to know that the story maintained a sharp wit of comedy throughout, but I could see the underlying issues at heart with the characters and how Sam and Amy Galway were troubled by the whole issue of how they might have to live with it the rest of their lives. In the end, all the suspions and issues were put to rest by an even more comical ending as the husband, Sam Galway, would be turned young as Amy had just turned back to her real age. 'Amy's Wish' has a central theme of love and how love has no face or age number. Big thumbs up for this one :-)