Film Fest Saturday - The Old Mill

My apologies, everyone. If you read yesterday's post, you know that I planned to post "The Old Mill" today. However, I was intending to present that short as part of Film Fest Friday, and for some bizarre reason did not realize that yesterday was indeed Friday, thinking it to be Thursday instead. And so this week Film Fest Friday is delayed a day and titled "Film Fest Saturday". But better late than never, right?

Without further adieu, "The Old Mill".



That's it for me! Next week I'll be sure to get Friday's film up sooner.
So long, everyone
T.H. Excellence

The MultiPlane Innovation

Right now I'm incredibly busy. With two papers due in less than a week, I have little time for much else. However, I did have enough time to watch this fascinating video, which was of great assistance in lending information to one of my papers, a research topic on Walt Disney. I enjoyed it so much that I thought it fitting to post it here for you to enjoy.

This video features Walt Disney talking about one of his greatest innovations, the multiplane camera. This incredible device was produced from Walt's undying efforts to achieve excellence in his work, and it brought a sense of realism to his animated productions. How so? Watch this clip to find out:



Quite fascinating, isn't it? Tune in again tomorrow for "The Old Mill", the first animated short to utilize this amazing device.
T.H. Excellence

Winter Sports

Yesterday I returned from a two-day snowboard trip. For most people, snowboarding means a fantastic time of thrills and chills down an icy mountain slope. For me, snowboarding means standing sideways on a flat piece of wood and fiberglass falling down over and over again.

Okay, not really. I did get a chance to improve my snowboarding skills a little bit yesterday, and I have improved quite a bit, although I'm still not incredibly good. Even so, future trips will allow me to develop my abilities even more until I grow into a point of snowboard competency.

On a side note, I also took a few pictures while I was up in the mountains. Most of them were more experimental since I was photographing under difficult conditions. Even so, they turned out decent, and so I am posting them here to share with you.

I took this and the next few pictures the same night I arrived in the mountains. I was hoping to get some good star shots, but with my limited equipment that was quite difficult. My photos also suffered from quite a bit of camera grain. I'll have to do something about that next time.


Yes, that is the moon.


Finally, just a shot of plain ol' stars.


Here's a shot of the same mountain range the following evening. Turned out a little better.


I like the composition of this shot.


I worked on this shot for a while, and still didn't get it quite right.



I'm not sure if I like this shot better in color...


...or in black and white.


This one turned out okay.


This one is made more interesting by the presence of the guard rail.


But ultimately, this was the best shot I got out of the entire trip.

Okay, that's it for me. Take care, folks!
T.H. Excellence

Film Fest Friday - 78 Tours (78 RPM)

I was recently searching for a short film to post here for your enjoyment when I stumbled across this beautiful piece. It's a simple musical work with hand-painted animation that is quite magnificent to behold! See for yourself!



Quite different, isn't it? Yet beautiful at the same time!
T.H. Excellence

The PhotoBlog Resurfaces

This semester has kept me busy. Incredibly busy. So busy that I have had very little time for photography. Finally, I grew tired of that. A couple times over the past couple of weeks I've taken a little time off and gone out, pursuing a specific shot or scene. And now I've decided to post the results.

I shot this on a film shoot a few days ago. It was entirely spur-the-moment, but I think it turned out quite nice.


Another spur-the-moment shot. It was really difficult shooting that close to the grass, believe it or not.


I shot these palm trees one night but was dissatisfied with the results, so I tried again the next day and produced this...


...and this.


I tried to get this shot so many times and I'm still not satisfied. I'll just have to keep trying.


This is a retake of an excellent photo I shot for a project last semester. This time I tried to exercise even more lighting control and I think the picture turned out even better.


This shot turned out all right.


I saw this fountain one night and decided to experiment with shutter speeds and such. I was unexpectedly surprised by this picture.

Okay, that's all I've got. I'll be on Easter break soon, so I may post more pictures soon. Keep an eye out for those.
So long for now
T.H. Excellence.

WALL-E Theatrical Trailer

Guess what, folks? Pixar just released a new trailer for their upcoming feature WALL-E. Check it out!



I must say I'm really looking forward to this one. Pixar is is a master of its craft. Who else could make a little robot so endearing?

Until next time
T.H. Excellence

Twas Brillig

Last Sunday night was not much different than usual. Around seven o'clock I packed up the car, put on Anberlin's "Cities" album, and began driving back to school. Than I saw something that was quite unusual. Yes, quite unusual indeed.

Yes, that really is the moon. And yes, aside from a bit of color adjustment, it has not been PhotoShopped or even rotated. I actually saw the moon smiling. How strange...

And I don't know what you're thinking of right now, but when I saw this, I immediately pictured the Chesire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. Because I'm odd like that.

Twas brilling...
T.H. Excellence

Film Fest Friday - Red's Dream

Today's feature was first released just over twenty years ago. Red's Dream was one of Pixar's very first short films and was created to allow the company to develop new techniques of computer animating in a pioneering age that would lead to their future success with Disney.



I hope you enjoyed that look into Pixar's past. It's amazing how far they've come since then, but what I consider to be even more amazing is their uncanny ability to bring character and life into practically anything, even an old, unwanted unicycle.

Until later
T.H. Excellence

Iron Man Theatrical Trailer

Somehow my radar missed this until today. On February 28th, a new trailer was released for Marvel's upcoming Iron Man film. I'm really, really excited about this one.



I really hope this film is as good as the trailers are making it look. Marvel hasn't always produced the greatest superhero movies.

Here's hopin'
T.H. Excellence

A New Chapter

I'm a filmmaker, which means I make films. Or, I'm supposed to be making films. Turns out that I don't have to much to show after my first semester of film school. While enrolled I worked on a grand total of two films, and both were done very cheaply with a HandiCam.

Fortunately, that's starting to change. Several weeks ago I directed a mock interview, which was simple, but nevertheless gave me experience. Even better, I just wrapped up my first weekend of assistant directing on a short film being directed by a friend of mine at school. And the next two weekends are booked with film gigs as well. Plus I'm hoping to apply for the position of lead film/photography person for an orientation event at school next summer as well as some crew positions on a TV show put on here at school.

Wow, that's a lot.

Hopefully that will get me experience.

That's a wrap.
T.H. Excellence