1b

What was it like to work with Russ?

This is a tough one because I didn't like the kid much before we started.  I think I was much more difficult to work with on this project.  I would show up about 10 to 15 minutes late every time we made an agreement on meeting times.  Russ and I hadn't much experience with Final Cut Pro, or at least he hadn't (I'm just bad at it.)  Things took a lot longer than I thought they would.  When we would set two hours out of the day to work on something, it would take at least four.  Russ is ambitious and always willing to go the extra mile.  I was very impressed with his taste and work ethic.  There are a couple of changes I would make if I could go back but overall I am very satisfied with the work we did.  I found this project more enjoyable then the first one.  Every night there was a crazy hippie named Dustin in the lab, he is actually a genius and got us out of problems the entire time.  By the end of the project, I started to remember how to use Final Cut.  I was pretty amazed with the sounds you can create with the effects on Final Cut.  I did not really think we could make anything out of what we were given, I was wrong.  Experimental has really allowed me to explore all aspects of filmmaking.  I enjoyed working with Russ very much but will not miss him.

TS

Light Journal Numbero Dos

Same Day at around 12:00 a.m.

The light is beating down on me as I sit outside of Dobo.  Judging by the people walking in and out of this science building, it doesn't look like light is what these people need.  They need sleep and plastic surgery.  The sun hangs in the sky like an orange burning through the corner of a piece of paper.  It is too bright for me to look at without my Ray Bans on, which I start wondering, do they make me a sell out?  Tom Cruise would be proud if he weren't such a fucking douche.  The light reflects off of all the students sunglasses and bike wheels.  Limbs of the trees are shining green and brown.  The only shadows around come the small bushes and the structure I am sitting on here, none of which are big enough for me to find relief.  The lights that line Chancellors are off but the glass or plastic that houses the lights shine like they have just be cleaned.  The black on the light poles looks bleached and it's age is shown.  Mother Nature is the greatest power.  The sun hangs to my left, so that side of my face burns like I'm at the beach.  I feel the sun start melting my skin.  The sun overpowers the pastel colors of chalk, where the stupid sorority girls and frat boys of Surfer University decided to scribble dumb sayings on the concrete I walk on.  There is a sharp glare that is coming off the building Cameron.  The clock-tower is clearly visible, my eyes just aren't good enough to read the time.  The dirt in the cracks off the sidewalk show up like mascara.  The needles that line the edge of the sidewalk shines like a brown haired girl who uses an expensive conditioner.  Straight-up, it is bright as fuck out.

Light Journal Numbero One

A little before 8:00 p.m. on the volleyball courts near Seahawk Village

The sun is starting to set and the great mellon ball of orange and yellow is beaming in my eyes.  We are standing at the same height so it is like a faceoff, I'm betting he is going to win.  The sun shines down in eight distinct rays of white and cream.  The shadows are harsh and look German expressionist off the large (but cheaply built buildings).  The sun casts a large shadow panning across the pond and on into the forest (very small forest.)  My sunglasses are useless now as the sun is dropping faster then I can pick the grass.  It is magic hour now, the beautiful period where the sun is set and the moon casts it's light across the entire atmosphere around us.  The trees around me are dark and have a black tint, instead of the beautiful pine green North Carolina is known for.  The sky is a dark blue with shades of white and purple.  The lights in the parking lot are starting to flicker, doing there best to produce the artificial light that people like myself seem to prefer.  Shades of sliver glare off the black water like the Chesapeake Bay does at night.  The dirt piles around me are dark and the sand I sit in starts getting cold.  The lights slowly come on and every third car blends in with the falling darkness.  The sky lines are slowly fading away and the glimmer of shine starts to dull.  The white of the sidewalks turn into a light shade of gray.  I sit and watch as magic hour fades away for another day and darkness descends over the desolate campus.

Sound Recording

My sound recording process began by being too lazy to take responsibility and get a camera and equipment from Tony.  We decided to set up a meeting for Friday morning, but I had to miss it.  Oliver Twist was singing my name that night and when the house beat takes you, you just got to go with the flow.  By the way Trojan condoms are terrible.  I take that back, the her pleasures aren't that bad.  By the time we all realized we were going to miss this meeting at the Fisher Center, we discovered we had no equipment and would not be able to get any until tuesday.  This was a very sobering moment.  For a class that is so important bombing the first project wasn't really an option.  Will told us that he had class all Tuesday night and that he wouldn't be able to make it but I called him an obscene amount anyways.  Sometimes I like to just be a pain in the ass.  I think he has forgiven me so I can laugh about it now.  Jamie and I decided to get together that night (really late) and do some sounds.  We did mostly sounds that could be created with metal.  We wanted a really demonic sound scheme.  I think we got what we were looking for.  Jamie has an ability to make sounds with his throat that no machine could ever duplicate.  We met up with Will and started working on new sounds and ended up with a strong soundtrack to the night and early morning.  Will is much better at Final Cut then either of us, he saved us a lot of grief the next day when time started to run out.  Overall, I really enjoyed working at weird hours with two pretty werid but awesome guys.  I know I know it sounds kind of gay and it was.

Sound Journal

7:06 a.m. Tuesday September 2, 2008

The crickets outside are loudest animal on the planet.  I lean my head against the cool wet window and listen to the sound of the machine running in the mechanical room next door.  The sink drips but I refuse to walk over and tighten the knob because the back of my hand will rub against the grimy plates I've refused to move.  Cracks fill the bathroom as the pipes that run up and down the walls are cooling off from the hot shower I took an hour ago.  Jake is in the next room, not snoring but breathing loud enough for me to hear and possibly worry about asbestos.  Some new pop band singing the new teen angst anthem is leaking from my snoring roommates bedroom.  Little buzzing rumbles across the floor as the people downstairs are waking up to get their showers.  The static fades in and out on the old muted television.

Sound Journals

Saturday August 27th, 2008

My apartment at 9:38 p.m., the shit is popping off and i've been drunk since Thursday night.

The floor is squeaking with every movement.  I don't even have to move my feet just shift all that weight I have.  The short and stiff rug sounds like a busy hornets nest as the countless women stumble their way over to me.  I'm sitting on the cheap IKEA chair, directly across from the window that is already fogged up.  As I open the window I can hear the sound of the rain drying on the pavement.  Tyler is in the back talking non-sense to some latin girl that is out of his league.  Jake is having sex with a girl he just met from ECU.  Not kidding and she wears too much make-up.  If I listen close enough I can hear her skin scolding her for allowing a pound of baloney to be laid across her face.  The sheets make a soft shifting noise because Jake is gentle.  I taught him that.  The t.v. is on but I'm doing my best to drown it out.  The Bucket List is on and I don't feel like crying right now.  Maybe I should add the soft whimpering on my allergies that have bothered for the past week.  Savannah bursts out laughing after spilling her beer all over the table.  This I can't drown out and can't understand why she feels this funny.  Neil Young's voice softly pours out from the crack beneath my door.  The sound of footsteps transferring from the hardwood to the rough carpet makes the sound of idiot's thinking.  My neighbor keeps bending her old sunglasses that she got from Wal-Mart but is ready to pawn off that they are designer.  She must be nervous because the squeaking of the breaking plastic gets louder the more my roommate Ryan hits on her.  The only sound I can focus on repeatedly is the sound of my breath exhaling out of my lungs as I swallow the cheap vodka from the beer pong cup I decided to rinse out.  Fuck it, the number one way to get herpes is sharing beer pong cups but this is college, I only have a few more years left might as well take something with me.

TS