Next year will be better than the last!!!....?

[James Steven Beverly]

Well we've come to the end of 2007.....whoa!....and I'm setting my sites on the future! I thought careerwise, it's not a bad idea to make up my 2008 New Year's film making resolutions and do my best to stick to them so here we go:

 

1) MAKE MORE MONEY!!!!! I want to get into production so badly for Blood Moon Rising I can TASTE it, sooooo, to that end, I need to make a few bucks and finish off getting that last few items I need and the cash together to pay cast and crew for a 2 to 3 week shoot. I will endeavor of course to try and raise investors but will not count on them. I have at my disposal all that is necessary to make this happen and happen it shall!

 

2) Fix my studio roof and complete my film processing lab, screening and editing rooms!!!! I have allowed myself to be distracted by far too many things this year and need to complete this particular project prior to beginning production. It is a task that has begun to grow hair and it's time to give it a shave.

 

3) Read and study harder from the various books in my film making library and build up my film making library even stronger!!! I had been doing very well at this but have as of late been lax in my studies. I will resolve to correct this situation forthwith.

 

4) Get back to screen writing!!!! I have not been keeping up with my writing as I have been concentrating on the production end of building my film studio. I need to take time to write to keep my skills up. Though this may still not be as pressing a priority at this juncture, it needs to be addressed with more vigor than it has been in recent months.

 

5) To repair and get functional what equipment I currently have!!! I have several small repair jobs and maintenance tasks I have not attended to that need to be done. I'm very bad at procrastinating and need to be more diligent in keeping up with these chores.

 

6) Set dates and schedules for things to happen by and stick to them!!! I tend to do things as they can be done without worrying too much about the when BUT as schedules help to drive projects forward, the time may have come to start setting some deadlines.

 

7) Finish gathering what I need and get on with it already!!! I'm close but still not there, so I fully resolve to finish gathering the last few items I'll need to start shooting and get on with it already!!!

 

8) Continue to watch as many films as possible, study and learn from every source I can find and do my best to put these lessons into practical application!!!! THIS is perhaps the easiest resolution to keep, 'cause I love this stuff so for me, it's a blast!

 

These are MY 2008 New Year's film making resolutions, what are your's??? B)

[Guest]

2007 was so terrible there is only one direction 2008 can go. Here's to 08!!

 

R,

[Nicholas Jenkins]

Scary time to make resolutions for me. Graduating from Grad School and hoping I get picked up to teach somewhere. Would love to work in the industry but it's so competitive that I doubt much will come of it.

 

I just want the change to send my wife back to school. '07 didn't suck, but it wasn't great. Here's hoping for a better '08.

[James Steven Beverly]

2007 was so terrible there is only one direction 2008 can go. Here's to 08!!

 

R,

 

You...a....made and sold a feature film in 2007 :blink:

Edited December 31, 2007 by James Steven Beverly

[Guest]

You...a....made and sold a feature film in 2007 :blink:

 

Yes and.............making a feature is no big deal these days, thousands, yea tens of thousands do it :blink:

 

Over all, 2007 was still a terrible year for all divisions of Boddington industries. The collapse of the US dollar shaved six figures off my income just for starters.

 

But like I said it can't get much worse, 08 must be better, in theory at least. A positive turn in the US election could mean a rally for the US dollar, who knows. All I know is that some thing out there has to torpedo that damn strong Canadian dollar :angry:

 

R,

[David Mullen ASC]

My resolution is pretty boring: go to the gym more often, eat better, lose some weight...

 

As you get older, you realize that there are few things more personally valuable than good health!

[Nicholas Jenkins]

My resolution is pretty boring: go to the gym more often, eat better, lose some weight...

 

As you get older, you realize that there are few things more personally valuable than good health!

 

Agreed. I'm in the same boat.

[Jonathan Bowerbank]

The entire country should resolve to having a presidential candidate with a brain, instead of the herd of the current overly ambitious party puppets.

 

But all politics aside, I hope to shoot at least twice as much as I did in 2007, which has been my most productive year yet.

 

And I seriously need to start some type of daily morning workout. At least some situps and pushups.

[James Steven Beverly]

Yes and.............making a feature is no big deal these days, thousands, yea tens of thousands do it :blink:

 

Over all, 2007 was still a terrible year for all divisions of Boddington industries. The collapse of the US dollar shaved six figures off my income just for starters.

 

But like I said it can't get much worse, 08 must be better, in theory at least. A positive turn in the US election could mean a rally for the US dollar, who knows. All I know is that some thing out there has to torpedo that damn strong Canadian dollar :angry:

 

R,

 

That's true but MOST don't sell it, and if you consider losing 6 figures as being shaved off your income, it sounds to me like at least you started with more than 6 figures so things couldn't be that bad if you still have income. Let me put it this way, you're probably a lot richer than I am. B) As for getting into the gym, if I didn't already have this incredibly sculpted Greek god like physique, I'd consider it as well. :rolleyes:

[Hal Smith]

Dittoes to David: The better your physical condition, the more energy you have. The more energy you have, the more you can get done. The more you can get done, the more you learn. The more you learn, the more you earn. Da Capo.

 

A good place to start is Yoga, ten minutes in the morning makes a huge difference in my day.

[Annie Wengenroth]

Chiming in late here....I came up with an extensive list of resolutions, some of which are silly, some creative, and some fitness-related. Then I have some really deep, emo, personal ones which I'm gonna skip for now. Anyway. The silly ones are:

 

1. Successfully walk through a revolving door without panicking. (I think it's a form of claustrophobia but I really hate them and am always irrationally worried that I'll get squished. I had to walk through one with a camera once and thought I would have a heart attack!)

2. Get really good at parallel-parking.

3. Trim my bangs without screwing up and looking like Bettie Page on crack.

4. Get my hard tape measure to extend out to 14 feet without flopping down. (Go Fat Max Go!)

5. Learn to do a handstand.

 

The creative ones are:

 

1. Write a screenplay.

2. Start working on a novel.

3. Learn how to blow glass.

4. Paint more. Especially oils.

5. Start animating (paper and clay) again.

6. Get going on a reel!

7. Record a new album.

8. Learn the guitar parts for every single Red Hot Chili Peppers song.

9. Learn all the Bach inventions for the piano.

10. Begin to vaguely master the concept of the saxophone.

11. Be able to take apart and reassemble a 35mm motion picture camera. Or at least be able to fix cameras and learn more about how they work.

12. Carve a longboard deck.

 

The fitness ones are:

 

1. Land a kickflip.

2. Start skating ramps and halfpipes.

3. Get better at snowboarding/skating switch. (For snowboarding, it's when you keep your bindings in the same regular-footed position with the left foot forward, but you ride facing your right side down the hill instead)

4. Successfully ollie over a traffic cone without falling on my ass.

5. Get better at yoga (vinyasa). I need to be more flexible and less frustrated!

6. Run a half-marathon.

7. Start pitching again (I used to pitch for the softball team in middle school- I miss it!).

8. Learn how to ice skate.

9. Get better at swimming and surfing.

 

That is all. :) It's cool to see other people on here mentioning writing...maybe we should all collaborate and write a big script!

[James Steven Beverly]

COOL, I'll start......It's a modern western set in Colorado, 2 brothers, one's a state trooper, one's a bank robber, they're both in love with the same woman, a girl they've know sense grade school. Their father is in an institution for the criminally insane after killing their mother in a psychotic rage in front of them both and the brother who's a state trooper is worried because he sometimes has blackouts and uncontrollable violent urges that have lead to suspensions for police mis-conducted. The bank robber is a manic depressive with an inferiority complex who burns the money he steals in order to esswage his guilt. The woman is a beautiful but flawed divorced high school French teacher who is being crushed under the boredom of small town life. The story takes place in a small mountain town after the bank robbing brother has come home to hide out during the reagonal 4th of July celebration after a botched robbery attempt where a female teller was shot and killed by a psychopathic associate of the brother's gang that had been a last minute replacement for one of the other gang members. The gang fled in all directions but the various members of the gang keep turning up dead and the bother suspects the psycho is killing them to eliminate any ties to him meanwhile the state trooper brother is stating to suspect his younger brother of something nofarious but doesn't know what. The girl begins a torrid affair with the bank robber brother to forget about her shallow life and learns his secret but thinks it is the brother who murdered the teller while keeping a relationship with the older brother. Meanwhile the psycho comes into the small town at the hight of the celebration going un noticed in the swollen crowd. The piece takes place over a 3 day weekend with a neo-nior look and feel. Your turn B)

[James Steven Beverly]

Hey Annie, come on now, I've given you some great characters to play with here or do you prefer something more lite, A Hugh Grant vehicle perhaps? How's about a teen comedy? Let me know, I'll come up with somethin' for youse! B)

[Simon Wyss]

I think 2008 is really the bottom. When I check the ephemeris there is the great consolation for everyone. On November, 27, 2008 plutonides will be back in their lowest point relative to earth orbit, zero degrees Capricorn. From then on humanity will have the drive again to go upwards, to be constructive for another 152 years or so. End of the decadence !

[Hal Smith]

2007 was so terrible there is only one direction 2008 can go. Here's to 08!!

 

R,

 

I can only assume it was a Boddington ancestor who wrote the promotional copy describing the Titanic as the "Safest Ship Ever Built"?

[Guest]

I can only assume it was a Boddington ancestor who wrote the promotional copy describing the Titanic as the "Safest Ship Ever Built"?

 

Well 08 WAS better, for me at least :blink:

 

R,

[James Steven Beverly]

I'm battin' about 80%, got the roof fixed BUT it still leaks so I'va about had it. I'm gonna buy a warehouse and get the Hell outta there for good, got some more equipment, still have to get out and pick up some stuff I bought from Paul and at this point haven't actually put it all together BUT I have been reading and learned one HELL of a lot more about motion pictures in general and motion picture processing in particular than I knew at the beginning of the year, which is actually a pretty BIG deal to me.

 

I have made more money this year which is good. I have been trying to use that money in the best ways I can to get going with Blood Moon. We have made significant progress towards beginning production but are still not there yet, HOWEVER the year ain't over yet either. :D

 

I actually have been writing but mainly working on the script for Blood Moon, which has been interesting. I've approached this script differently than any other scripts I've ever written. I've simply been letting myself become inspired THEN writing the scene, never pushing or trying to sit and knock it out all at once and I gotta tell ya, because I sit and just think about the film everyday, it begins to build and flow in a way I've never had a script do before. I am extremely happy with the work I've done on this one. I've also jotted down notes and a few brief treatments for future scripts as the moment hits me, some I go back to read and think "what the Hell was I thinking?!" Some may actually be turned into scrips down the road. We'll see what happens.

 

I've been watching a poop load of movies this year 3 to 5 per day and looking at them in a whole new way. Lighting, sound, composition. It now drives me crazy when a film is shown in pan and scan and I can't look at it in it's proper aspect ratio. I intentionally seek out movie channels which show the stuff properly. I had NEVER seen Close Encounters in it's correct aspect ration BUT TCM ran it today, and it's like a vale was lifted from my face, it's DAMN near a whole other movie when presented correctly. I've been looking at a LOT of films I'd seen before with these new eyes and been inspired by many for the work on Blood Moon.

 

As for fixing poop, ummm OK, I've been a wee bit lax on that score, to be honest, haven't done poop BUT again, the year ain't over yet and I am still gathering things we'll need, props, equipment, filmstock, vehicles......money.

 

Schedules and dead lines. IIIII have discovered that I do not set schedules and deadlines, my checkbook sets schedules and deadlines so I can write as many notes on a calender as I like but if Mr Checkbook disagrees with me on that, Checkbook wins, sssssooooo I've decided to feed Mr, Checkbook and once he's nice and full THEN make notes on the calender, see because when Mr Checkbook is fat and full, he rarely disagrees with ANYTHING! :D How's everybody else doing? Annie, get that Ollie down yet?

Edited September 28, 2008 by James Steven Beverly