Moby- Wait for Me

April 7, 2010 – 12:04 am

Yes, I have been rather quiet lately on my blog.  Damn.  And I thought I was on a roll…

Well, I was on a roll, but not for blogginess.  First of all, I was trying to finish up my last week at the Gnomon School.  This involved making a final project for my dynamic FX class.  What I wanted to do for my final was fairly complex.  Once I had sketched it out and acquired the equipment I needed, I felt like I wanted to get more out of this than a simple “A” on my report card.  A friend of mine told me that genero.tv was hosting a music video contest.  Once I listened to the song, I felt compelled to do something for it!  Why not shoot a full music video, rather than one single shot?  After all, it’s just a matter of filling up three and a half minutes of screen time, right…

Behold, my Moby music video contest submission!  I have been working on this non-stop for a little over two weeks now.  I think I scored pretty well in my dynamics class, and I’m pretty pleased with how this turned out.  This was an extremely ambitious undertaking (at least one of my regular readers knows the animosity I have for that word, but this was, in fact, ambitious).  I wrote a script, drew storyboards, and then basically did what usually requires a TEAM of people to accomplish: I filled the roles of director, producer, cinematographer (hell, I was the entire grip team and camera crew), production designer, editor, animator, VFX artist, compositor, media encoding person… anything that wasn’t acting was something I did.

Wait for Me – Entry in the Moby music video contest from Courtney Hoskins on Vimeo.

On the subject of acting, though, I do have to give thanks to my amazing group of actors: Erin Stegeman, Ace Marrero, Marie Kleinschmidt, Brain Sounalath, and Jameelah Nuriddin.  These people had a lot of faith in me and came together on very short notice to live in my little word for a day or two.  I’m hoping that the luck I had with the Slusho! contest is still here with me!  The winner of this contest not only gets $5,000, but will basically be the “official music video” for the song!  I love Moby, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed…  If you liked it, vote for us at genero.tv

By Courtney | Posted in animation, film, film competitions, movies, music | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Oscars

March 16, 2010 – 11:50 pm

Okay, the Oscars were over a week ago.  Yes, I knew Avatar wasn’t going to win.  Sci-Fi only really wins in VFX, makeup, sound mixing and the like*  Yes, I’m ECSTATIC that a female won for best director for a very worthy film.  It was weird to think they were taking place 20 minutes from my house (approximately 3.8 days with traffic) and that I had actually seen many of the winners in real life (most of them by grace of the awesome Jeff Goldsmith who hosts podcasts for Creative Screenwriting magazine, but also the crew of “The Cove” who actually debuted that film in Boulder, Colorado before I moved away).

I wanted to post this before the awards, but here it is.  A funny little anecdote:

So an experimental film friend of mine works at the Academy Archives.  I’d heard him mention this before, but I always just thought of the job: archivist.  I’d never once considered the place: The Academy.  Probably some… like… military school or university or something?  Didn’t matter to me.  He works at an archive.  I worked in preservation at a film lab.  We spoke the same language and that was enough.

He invited me and my friend to explore some of cultural Los Angeles and catch a movie (which was followed by pie at Apple Pan- YUM, YUM and DOUBLE YUM).

We followed the directions.  As we approached the building my companion said, “wait.  Your friend works at the ACADEMY archives?”

Uh, yeah.  Should I know what this means?  I’m new to L.A., so probably not.

It wasn’t until after I entered the lobby, having gotten through a couple of security checkpoints and passing several displays housing Oscars, that I realized that the “Academy” was not referring to West Point.  The Academy was referring to The Academy.  The AMPAS.  The one you would like to thank (along with your agent, significant other and hardworking crew).   Oscars.

Double Face Palm

I tried to hide my embarrassment at my naïveté.  What?  The Academy Awards.  So?  I knew that.  Like I care.  Like… what?  Like I host a party every year, glue myself to the E! channel and write my acceptance speech out in my head every time I finish a project?  Pshaw!  As if!

(*practices acceptance wave*)

It didn’t take long for me to completely geek out after that.  We got a tour of the storage facilities and some of the screening rooms.  It was pretty damn cool.  Glamour aside, it was just cool from a technical standpoint.  And it was cool from a temperature standpoint, it being a film storage facility and all that.  (Ba-dum tish!)  And *I* probably seemed pretty damn cool for appearing not to give a f&*% about it.  Then again, I just blew that cool by divulging the truth here on this blog.

Me= clueless geek.

*interesting that Avatar won for best cinematography… I’ve already explained why that’s cool to people who say “but it wasn’t ‘filmed.’”  It was, actually- remember that there were also real actors and real sets on that film and that the lighting and camera on those sets needed to match exactly what was happening digitally.  Not to mention that you still have to fuss over depth of field and all of that on the computer side AND make it match what you shot in reality… Discuss!

By Courtney | Posted in film, los angeles, movies | Comments (0)

Targeted Ad Fail

March 10, 2010 – 4:18 pm

Who needs The Onion?

By Courtney | Posted in ufos | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

James Cameron and Me

March 5, 2010 – 11:59 am

Why does this man make so much money?  I can’t answer this question for everyone, but I can answer it for me.  I’m a girl who got her first SCUBA mask at 15 and got certified in a rock quarry in Pennsylvania in winter (which means I am both nitrox and dry suit certified, thank you very much).  I cleaned animal poo at at veterinary clinic to fund my voyage to Sea Camp in San Diego at around that age.  I can relate to his love of exploring the “alien” underwater world.

Further, as someone who lugged a 70 lb Cousteau-style underwater housing system for a 16mm Bolex through Brooklyn and Manhattan (via subways) and got scolded CONSTANTLY for making flip books out of science texts, drawing instead of taking notes, and recreating television sets in her desk (I’m not even exaggerating- ask my mom.  It was the set of Moonlighting and I was about eight years old) I can relate to the love of art and movies.  EVEN MORE, as someone who went back to school at the age of 25 for astrophysics because I fell in love with the images coming back from Mars and Titan, I can relate to the love of science fiction and space exploration.  I offer here his presentation at TED.  If I can have even 1/3 of the filmmaking adventures he has had, I will die a happy girl.  I would love to bring my love of science together with my love of films.  (I’m working on it. And I’ve all the confidence in the world that I can.)

I will gladly fork over the cash to see anything James Cameron does.  I think that his scientific background is WHY he makes good SciFi movies. (Did you know that the glowing bioluminescent plants in Avatar are based on very simple creatures found right here off the coast of SoCal?  It’s not SciFi, it’s just science re-appropriated.)

“Curiosity.  It’s the most powerful thing you own”
“The respect of your team is more important than all the laurels in the world.”
“Failure is an option.  But fear is not.”  Seriously… I love this guy.

OH… and by the way. I twittered this and posted it on my facebook page, but I was lucky enough to have seen Avatar WITH James Cameron and to hear him talk about it with his production designers at the end. It is not a requirement for a director to know everything about the technology (s)he is using, but he DOES. It is pretty clear that his production designers DO respect him. Since I also geek out about film technology, I should add that I FINALLY got to see the 3D system they were talking about when I was in Cannes, which made me a happy girl.

(I love how they are all squatting off the edge of my soda cup.  I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to take photos so I James Bonded it…)

EDIT: Cameron’s 3D talk at Cannes can be found at the American Pavilion website, if you are interested.

By Courtney | Posted in art work, astronomy, film, movies, science, ufos | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

I’m Team Jacob – of Lost, that is

March 3, 2010 – 10:01 am

Some Phun with Photoshop before I get my day going (I was actually surprised I couldn’t already find this in a google search). Team Jacob:

I'm team Jacob - of Lost

(Edit: A friend of mine wasn’t familiar with the Team Jacob/Team Edward meme, so I summed it up in a few short sentences (contains mild Twilight spoilers):

Edward is a vampire.  Bella fell in love with him.  He didn’t think things would work out.  He dumped her.  Bella was sad.

Jacob is a werewolf.  He fell in love with Bella and hated Edward for hurting her.  She just wanted to be friends.  Jacob was sad

Edward came back and things got all mixed up.  Some people thought Edward was a jerk, some thought he was just trying to protect Bella.

Jacob overstepped his bounds, and some people thought he was a jerk, some thought he was just a dumb boy.

Bella fell in love with both of them (I haven’t read the last book yet).

Hence you are either Team Edward or Team Jacob (I was Team Bella, but that’s not an option).)

By Courtney | Posted in art work, ufos | Tagged , , , , | Comments (4)

Well hello my name is Simon, and I like to do drawrings!

March 2, 2010 – 10:43 am

Remember Mike Meyers in a bathtub?  Of course you do, you cheeky monkey!

I’ve been trying to document some of my sketches over the last few days.   I’m slowly posting them  in my “drawings” section.  I thought I would post a few of them here on my blog, as well.

This is Neyteri.  I am a nerd.  I doodled this while on the set of The Office, earning me the nickname “Avatar.”  Being called “Avatar” by Craig Robinson was a delightful geek moment for me.  More on that after the episode airs…Neyteri

This is a quick sketch of Doctor Orpheus from The Venture Brothers.  My reference material was my iPhone and I scanned him before I could finish his hands, but I plan to do more of him.  He’s really fun to draw:

More to come.  I had been waiting to get a scanner, but I have found that my iPhone takes decent pictures of drawings as long as I have them in the sun.  I think Neyteri might be a tiny bit warped, but the idea is there.

By Courtney | Posted in art work | Comments (4)

Burbank

February 28, 2010 – 12:46 am

Morbank

“One does not simply walk into Mordor.  It’s black gates are guarded by more than just orcs.  There is evil there that does not sleep.  The great eye is ever watchful.  It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire, ash, and dust.  The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume.  Not with ten thousand men could you do this.  It is folly.”

Well, clearly, Boromir would NOT win an Independent Spirit Award.

(What’s that?  TWO Lord of the Rings references in a row?  Yep.)

Let’s just say Burbank is not a place I would like to live.  Ever.  I knew this before I moved to California (in fact, when people trashtalk Los Angeles, they have usually only been to either the Burbank/Studio City area or Downtown Hollywood), but it was confirmed for me on the first day of 110 degree weather and asthma attacks from pollution that it is not a place I should call home.

Burbank is located in the armpit of the San Fernando Valley.  While it is home to many television, film and animation studios, it also hosts some of the worst air in the country. The mountains surrounding the Valley make it impossible for the pollution to go anywhere.  These same mountains keep hot, stagnant air hot and stagnant.  It is also the home and workplace of many a wannabe producer or aspiring… something or other.  The result is a nice warm blanket of asphyxiating poison in which many people are behaving badly because they are obsessed with obtaining or keeping power.

Mordor.

To give you an idea: every day there was a new, thin layer of an unidentifiable “dust” on my car (or as we called it in New York: “schmutz”).  I had a constant sore throat.  It got so hot the day after I arrived that the glue from my shoes in the trunk of my car melted.  The soles curled back and peeled themselves off à la the The Wizard of Oz.  And it was only 10AM.  It also didn’t help that there was a hill on fire a few miles away from where I was staying.  According to my twitter feed, I wasn’t the only one making Lord of the Rings connections…

Still, I was staying with the right people (who I thank ad vitam aeternam for their hospitality).  And since then, I have worked several jobs in that area.  Forty hours a week is doable.  I’ve gotten to know the area fairly well and have seen that it has its good sides, too.  For example, there are many highways that exit out of it.

Okay, it IS really cool that every street you turn down is film-related.  And it IS really cool that you can see famous people all over the place.  I never recognize them, but I hear they are there.  And that’s cool.  I geek out taking the studio tours and working on sets and visiting friends who work there.  It’s also really cool that there is… like… an Ikea there… or something.

Anyway, my point is…

…I don’t know.  I didn’t have a point, I guess.  This is a blog.

I quickly tuned my apartment hunting radar system (which is www.westsiderentals.com for those with an interest in finding housing out this way) to “West Side” and tried to get out of there as quickly as I could.  I may have to work there from time to time, but I like to be able to step outside and breathe some fresh air, too.

Nah, Burbank, you’re okay, doll.  You know what?  Have your people call my people and we’ll… have our people talk to each other.  I’m not committing to lunch at Barad-dûr…

By Courtney | Posted in los angeles, movies | Comments (2)

Journey to the West Coast

February 18, 2010 – 11:40 am

“‘And now at last it comes.  You will give me the Ring freely!  In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen.  And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night!  Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain!  Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning!  Stronger than the foundations of the earth.  All shall love me and despair!’

She lifted up her hand and from the ring that she wore there issued a great light that illumined her alone and left all else dark.  She stood before Frodo seeming now tall beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and worshipful.  Then she let her hand fall, and the light faded, and suddenly she laughed again, and lo!  she was shrunken: a slender elf-woman, clad in simple white, whose gentle voice was soft and sad.

‘I pass the test,’ she said.  ‘I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.’”

I left Colorado with a heavy heart. Like many people, I felt that the world I knew was kind of flipping itself on its head. “Familiar” didn’t make sense anymore. So many people I loved had died, moved, distanced themselves… My state job wasn’t enough to distract me from these small town blues.  I needed to either flip my own life or be subjected to the whims of this gravity. The latter was not an option. So I put my head on the ground and my feet in the air…

I have reached a very key point in my filmmaking career and I believe that makes my trip to Lala Land a little less scary. I have dispensed with any notions that I am going to “make it big” or that such a thing is even possible.  The conclusion I have come to is this: I have tried many things in my life, from astrophysics to teaching.  It ALWAYS comes back to film.  It has been my passion since I was a child.  As long as I am doing what I love, I’m happy.  On top of that, I’ve always liked California. I was a bad Coloradoan/New Yorker that way.  Is the traffic bad?  Sure.  Are the people fake?  Well, yes, but no more than they are anywhere else.  Is Hollywood a hellhole of trash, noise, and tourism? Yes, actually. For the most part, it really is. But no one says I HAVE to spend all of my time there.

I like Los Angeles, actually, and I LOVE Santa Monica (my new home, which is actually its own city). It’s a bit tough to find the cultural gems through all of the strip malls, but they are here! There’s no better place for a film lover- even for one who loves alternative, independent, foreign and avant-garde films.  There’s even a silent movie theater! It’s a great place for independent music, as well. The big industry giants make the most noise, so I can see how people might think that there is nothing else out here, but there are thriving pockets of independence in this town. I love it. I always knew I would end up here. Everything I love to do, everything I’m good at- it’s all out here. With beaches! What’s not to love?

Me and a pegasusStill, Colorado is home. I am a fourth generation native of the state. The goodbyes were extremely hard, but the date to leave was set: my birthday. I drove out to Las Vegas with a good friend and met up with a couple of new friends from L.A. It was a great drive and a great birthday weekend, Vegas-style. That is an experience I’d never really had. I’d never stayed there more than just “overnight” on my way to California, finding it unappealing on many many many levels. But hey, I freakin’ hi-fived a Pegasus! Well… low fived. And for me it was five, but he only had one… but it was still AWESOME!

I didn’t have much of a plan once I got out here. I had some cash and a great friend in Burbank, but there was a lot that was still “unknown” and quite a bit of mental upheaval, as well as an insane amount of emotional pressure. I needed it, though. I loved the chaos. In fact, to quote the musician whose video I embedded two posts ago:

“I found the secret to life: I’m okay when everything is not okay.”

And I am.

By Courtney | Posted in Santa Monica, los angeles, movies, travel | Comments (1)