Quickie #2

So I lied in my last post, sue me! I said I was going to post “tomorrow” and yet I’m posting two weeks later! I’m sorry, I’ve been sort of busy. I thought after Reunion Rumble was finished I would have a bit more time but then I got a trial for something called GameFly and well … Modern Warfare 2 was calling my name and I had to cave into it’s utter awesome.

Anyway, for the next several days I’ll be shooting a new film for Monkey Fist of RA! We are doing a holiday short film called The Naughty List. The director is Christian Valle, my director of photography for The Devil’s Company. He’s actually right outside my house waiting for me but I’ll try to blog throughout this weekend. Videoblogs too!

No quote of the day, sorry.

RIP Brittany Murphy!

Peace & Much <3

Quickie

They’ll be a post tomorrow! I finally got everything done that needed to get done (even if it was a few days later). I’ll explain all that and more tomorrow night! But essentially I’ve been backed up by Monkey Fist of RA things. Enjoy this leaked Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows leaked trailer before it gets taken down! It looks so awesome! Can’t wait! So great that it’ll be two parts! Argh I digress. Good night.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.”

- Alfred Hitchcock

Peace & Much <3

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I hope you all are taking a break from school or work and spending time with the family! Really reflect on what you’re grateful for this holiday season! I’ll have an official update this weekend. Currently I am rotoscoping Devin White’s Reunion Rumble, which is draining a lot of life away. Come Sunday I’ll write up what I did this Thanksgiving and what’s going to be happening in the future!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“I really love this!!.. I have seen this video like 10 times.. haha.. I watch it when I’m feeling down!!.. lol”

- ShayRenee2009 in response to my “And He Gets The Girl” video.

Peace & Much <3

Uber Fantastic Weekend

Last weekend was uber fantastic! First, it was the official start on production for Devin White’s Reunion Rumble. Second, I went to a high school play where I spoke to some of the actors after the show. Third, I went to a place called Howie’s with Ricky and his brother and friend. It was seriously the most fun I’ve had anywhere in the longest time.

Saturday morning I woke up rather earlier. I had to get together my equipment for the weekend shoot for Reunion Rumble and I had to insert an establishing shot I hadn’t done before (a blog about that later).  I was in constant contact with Devin the whole time about what I was packing, what I was eating and when I took a shower. We were both excited, though we were both running behind schedule. I eventually got all my things packed (forgot my firewire capture cable) and drove away to pick up Ricky. We met up with Devin and his friend Jane and got right into filming. It was a lot of fun. We laughed a lot, which is always good. Then we did some other short scenes, all of them were dialogue based so they were fairly simple. Devin, Ricky and I work really well together and I think we all balance each other out pretty well with the knowledge we bring.

Later in the day when Jane had to get ready for a show, Devin and I practiced one of the fight scenes within the movie. It was really tough coming up with choreography that would show my lightsaber skills and his martial arts. There was a really funny incident that happened when we were planning out the fight in an elevator. When the elevator door opens Devin kicks me out but little did we know there was a crowd of people on the other side of the door and I was so into it that I flung myself back, embarrassing myself in front of a group of girls. We all immediately rushed back into the elevator where we heard giggles from the other side of the door (too bad Ricky wasn’t shooting that take!)

After we filmed our practice we headed to go to a play at Devin’s old high school. They put on a performance of Twelve Angry Men, which was renamed Twelve Angry Jurors since there were female actors involved. I always enjoyed Twelve Angry Men, it’s a really well written play and it was well performed by the high school kids, though there were some standout performances. After the show was over Ricky and I waited for the actors to come from backstage so we could speak to a few of them. It was fun handing out business cards and telling a few of the actors we wanted to “work” with them in the future. Ricky got a kick out of it too. So far, only one actor has contacted us but that’s all I was really expecting. It was a lot of fun and made us feel really official and legit.

Sunday came and we were supposed to be set for more shooting but everyone couldn’t make it so Ricky, his brother and me sat around bored until his friend Brandon came along and pumped us up to go to this placed called Howie’s. Howie’s is essentially a geek haven, lined with XBOX 360s and PCs packed with the latest and greatest gaming hardware. First thing we played when we got there was Left 4 Dead (no surprise for those who no me and my gaming habits). It was difficult playing, I’ll admit. Ricky and Brandon were very new to the game and we spent a lot of the time babysitting. After about an hour we hopped onto some Call of Duty 4, which was a lot of fun until a pair of other gamers hopped in our game and whooped our asses. We could only take two games of ass whooping before we gave up and played some Gears of War 2, Borderlands and Left 4 Dead again. I actually just noticed a pattern of first person shooters (aside from Gears). The gaming industry is so saturated with them.

We didn’t leave out of Howie’s until pass midnight. When we got back to Ricky’s we watched The Matrix but I feel asleep just before the huge bullet-time rooftop scene.

Good weekend. I hope for another great one coming up

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Peace & Much <3

Game Review: Left 4 Dead 2 Demo

Yesterday Gold Members of XBOX Live finally got to download the Left 4 Dead 2 (2009) demo. I was among this group, though last week I called GameStop to get the special access code since I pre-order from them but they said I had to walk in to do that, which is a load of crap! Why can’t they just look me up in their computer and give me the damned access code over the phone? Money is tight, and gas can’t be spent to get a darned access code for a demo! I digress. Case and point, I hate GameStop and miss EB Games. The point is, I should have been playing this demo much sooner and I have no idea how I haven’t. Because let me tell you, it’s an extremely entertaining demo indeed.

I’ll admit I was one of those haters when I first heard about Left 4 Dead 2 being released this month. Why? Because the first Left 4 Dead (2008) came out only a year before, practically on the same date.  Why would this anger me? Well, I had put so much trust into Valve. They had made such a spectacular game. I always admire how basic and simple the game was but how strategic and deep it could get. I’ve never played a game where teamwork was at such a forefront. Other co-operatives games hardly compare. Whenever I played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2007) I never felt I was apart of a team, making tactical decisions. I just felt like I was an individual within the group. The teamwork is only voluntary. If someone wanted to help me defend an area, perhaps then there would be some teamwork involved but really, the other players could have been CPU and that’s it. Plus, no one ever talks on the headsets much, aside from speaking insults to each other (or perhaps I’m just playing with the wrong people). However, Left 4 Dead is nothing like this. Teamwork is mandatory.

Left 4 Dead is completely team based. It is nearly impossible, unless you have impeccable skill, to transverse the levels in the game without being slaughtered by a zombie horde. You must stay with your team, or at least in close proximity, the whole time. You could get pounced by a Hunter and he’ll pin you to the ground without any form of counter. A Smoker could hang you and he’ll keep you locked in his tongue. The Witch could throw you down and rip you apart in a matter of seconds. A Tank can use his brute strength to knock you over a building, or put you straight on your ass. Boomers, I’ll admit, probably won’t get you down, but if they vomit on you and a horde comes to eat your brains it could be quite annoying.  But all these can be countered with the help of your teammates. A teammate can smack the Hunter off of you, or shoot him off. A teammate can shoot a Smoker in the head or pull his tongue off of you. A teammate can empty an entire clip on the Witch, just so you won’t die while she’s gouging your eyeballs. And all your teammates will have to shoot at the Tank to bring him down fast. But, if you find yourself wondering alone you won’t survive very long.

Thus, you’ll find that people online are a lot nicer to each other, especially when they have a Hunter on top of them. You’ll see people trading off pain pills and med kits to each other, instead of hording the items for themselves. That’s the thing that I love the most of about the first game, the comradely that is set between your teammates. You have to get through this apocalypse together.

Wait. What was my original point for all this?

Right! The first game was very near and dear to my heart and for Valve to announce they were coming out with a sequel so soon after the first was a punch to my gut. Valve is not the kind of company to go for the quick buck, what were they doing? When I first heard of their sequel I was thinking along the lines of the Madden series (1989-). Madden fans go out to buy a new version every year even though the game is only updated with a few minor tweaks and updated rosters, which could just be DLC (downloadable content). I didn’t want to become one of those Madden fans. Valve had already announced DLCs for Left 4 Dead, so why were they coming out with a whole new game? Why not just give us those new maps they were creating for the sequel in some good old downloadable content? Is Valve exploiting their fans?

No they are not. And I am a terrible fan for even thinking it.

Why would this company, who has given us such great games, adhering to gameplay over graphics, exploit their fans now? They would not, because Left 4 Dead 2 is no cash cow, it is a true sequel! Valve thinks that and so do I!

This time around we have a new set of survivors (two darkies & two whities): Rochelle, Coach, Ellis and Nick. It made me sad to see that Ellis and Nick were being picked over Rochelle and Coach online (who said racism didn’t still exist). The survivors are now battling the zombie horde in the southern USA: Louisiana and Atlanta type places (bayous and coastal cities). Also there has been an addition to the zombie family as well. Along with the Hunter, Smoker, Witch, Tank and Boomer, there is the Spitter, Jockey and Charger!

The new zombies were all equally scary but the first time I saw the Charger grab a fellow teammate and smack him into the ground was daunting. I hadn’t realized how numb I had felt to the older zombies of the first game. The Tank and Witch, which were probably the most ferocious of them all, no longer scared me any longer. But seeing the Charger and what it could do gave me that excitement I felt when I played Left 4 Dead for the first time. I wouldn’t call the Jockey scary, but he’s more annoying. He basically takes you for a piggyback ride and will steer you away from your team. The Spitter though is quite dangerous; I would even say she is the most dangerous of the bunch. The acid she spits at you will greatly reduce your health. I went form fifty health to thirty health (and I was playing on Normal). The Spitter is especially deadly when your teammates are incapacitated. The acid will hurt them while on the ground and you can’t get to them to revive them or you too will have acid skin. It also doesn’t help much that after you kill the damn thing it leaves a puddle of acid, Alien-style. But you aren’t left without a few tricks up your sleeve for this new bunch of zombies. Left 4 Dead 2 brings on a new slew of weapons and I’m not just talking assault rifles and pistols.

At first, I thought the new addition of melee weapons was a gimmick. In the first trailer there was a huge build up to it and I was really pissed off. Remember, this was when I was a hater. I was really pissed off because all of a sudden I’m hearing they are making a sequel and it seemingly was because they were merely adding MELEE WEAPONS! So what! Just give us melee weapons in the first game! Granted, this was all before I heard about the new scenarios in the game, the new zombies and other new weapons. But man, it is so fun to use melee weapons. My personal favorite is the machete (and probably the katana when I get my hands on it in the full game). There is something so satisfying in dismembering zombies with a sword. The guitar, police baton and frying pan are all well and good, but I never feel safe with any of them. Along with the melee weapons there are some new guns. There is a new Micro-SMG, which I think is silenced, or at least it looks silenced but when you shoot it doesn’t sound silenced. There is also a combat shotgun (very satisfying), sniper rifle vs. the hunting rifle in the first game, AK-47 and grenade launchers. There are more, I’m sure but this was only the demo.

I guess that just leaves me to speak about the gameplay itself and the scenarios. Left 4 Dead did really well with breaking up the monotony of the gameplay with things called the “finales” and “mini-finales” which are when hordes upon hordes of zombies come in to rip off your limbs! In the demo, the mini-finale was to stop an alarm that goes off once you kick open a door. It’s a race to the security tower as zombies alerted to the noise are chasing you, and trust, you will be circled very quickly by the horde.

OMG I’m rambling. This word document is three pages and that’s going to seem like a novel on the blog.  Let me wrap up.

So basically, Left 4 Dead 2 is oodles of fun and is not something Valve is making for a quick buck. In fact, they have made a true sequel with actual updates to gameplay and it’s still tons of fun.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“A wretched soul, bruised with adversity,

We bid be quiet when we hear it cry;

But were we burdened with like weight of pain,

As much or more we should ourselves complain.”

- William Shakespeare

Peace & Much <3

FilmRiot Editing Competition

So this is my first official blog on Antoine’s Stockpile, the brother blog to Antoine’s Junkpile. I still haven’t figured out how I’ll differentiate between the two blogs. I think this blog will be more focused on what I’m doing as weekly update, maybe some articles about world events and movie stuffs. My older blog will be used as a … well …  junkpile. I’ll dump mostly videos and artwork there. The real place to get your update on Antoine’s going-ons will be here. If you’ll look to the left I’ll always have a picture of where ever I am currently since most of the time I’ll be posting from my laptop. I thought that would be a fun thing to do.

But I digress (already).

Just a few hours ago I saw that one of my favorite podcasts, FilmRiot, had a small editing competition going on. Me, myself and I want to be a feature film editor some day in the movie industry so I got right on top of it. I’ll admit, at first I thought it was going to be super easy and I’d be done in an hour but it’s been almost four hours.

This was my second or third time editing a project that I was not directly involved with. It’s a lot different editing when you were not on set. You really can come into it with new eyes, which is good. Though, I still would prefer editing the things I shoot: a la Robert Rodriguez (I’ll definitely be explaining that in a later blog).

So, the competition was to edit an unedited skit from the podcast. Essentially it was very simple: shot-reverse and one other setup. Sounds easy enough if you generally know what editing is but the actors in the skits made it more difficult with inconsistent gestures and vocal inflections (gotta love them actors). Whenever I got into an editing groove I would always hit a road bump with them. I think they shot the skit very quickly and probably rehearsed it before hand only once or twice so the actors would only get through about a line or two before looking off screen for a line. On top of that, the file Ricky downloaded and sent to me goes out of sync near the end so I had to re-sync some of the audio as well, which was also a drag. But that’s all okay. It’s the editor’s challenge. We are supposed to love that puzzle (or so I’ve been told).  In the end though, after I get pass all those road bumps and I get something that’s actually viewable it is very rewarding.

So now I’ve exported the first rough cut and sent it to Ricky for color correction. The runtime on it right now 00:01:14;07 (one minute, fourteen seconds, seven frames). I saw some of the other submissions and I feel pretty confident with what I’ve got so far, though it still needs to be tweaked and perfected. This certainly is the first time I’ve edited anything remotely comedic though. Comedy based a lot on timing and rhythmn, which I feel I have none of. But I’ve watched the skits on the podcast before and I sort of know the style they go with and it fits perfectly with the way they shoot. In fact, it was sort of difficult to not emulate some of the beats they edit with on the show but I tried to re-edit some of the dialogue with a few different beats to give off my own flare. I’ll definitely post the edited version I am doing now once it is all said and done. I’ll also write another blog about how I went about editing the piece, and maybe (if I’m not lazy) what editing means to me.

I’ll keep you posted. Remember this is the new blog! Enjoy the picture below.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“The meaning of life is to find meaning.” – Unknown

Peace & Much <3

Robeks vs. Jamba Juice

Jamba Juice (est. 1990) and Robeks (est. 1996) are both chains of smoothie-making restaurants. Recently, (since I’ve been attending Cal State Northridge) I’ve visited Robeks three times a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday). Previously, I only visited Jamba Juice and Juice It Up! (never again). I’ve had Robeks probably twice before in the past threes years. Two years ago, after I went to a screening at Sony Studios and three years ago when my grandmother had a free coupon. Therefore, I don’t remember much of what it was like. Jamba Juice, on the other hand I’ve been going to since I was ten years old. Actually, my first visit to Jamba Juice didn’t even consist of my drinking a smoothie, but instead, orange juice. The concept of a smoothie freaked out my ten-year-old brain but now I’m hooked. I digress. Like I said, I finally have been able to really taste and feel the atmosphere of Robeks, as I’ve been going there every other day after class for three weeks. But as I would sip on my Strawana Berry I would ponder: which was better? Jamba Juice or Robeks? Today, I skipped going to Robeks and headed for a Jamba Juice (further from Northridge, but closer to my house) on my bus ride home. Now I feel I have a grasp of who has my pick.

Whenever you first walk into a restaurant you always get the first impression from the smell. If you go into a Coffee joint you are taken in by the coffee beans; a Chinese place, the orange chicken; an American diner, the pancakes. When I walk into Robeks I don’t smell much of anything. I didn’t really recognize this until I stepped into Jamba Juice today and smelt all the fruits of the smoothies and the wheat grass they had behind the counter. In this element, Jamba Juice wins. Just with opening the door you are taken into its swirls of flavors before you take a single sip. I just feel at home at Jamba Juice, with Robeks, I feel like a vistor. But both stores do greet their guest with a “hello” when they entered the stores. I believe Robeks started this and Jamba caught on because before today I never was greeted into Jamba with a “hello.”

Then there is the price. For a regular sized “Berry Smoothie” at Robeks it cost me $4.50 while an original sized “Classic” at Jamba Juice cost me $4.10. Note that I am comparing just one smoothie that I get from almost all smoothie joints: Strawberry and Banana, at Robeks its called “Strawana Berry” and at Jamba Juice it’s called “Strawberries Wild.” Now this price difference may not seem much but if you are going as often as I do it does, plus, it seems like you get more for your buck at Jamba Juice for more than just one reason. First, I believe Jamba Juice’s cups are bigger and you get more smoothies. I’m not sure how Jamba’s and Robeks’ cup regular and original cup sizes match up but I do know that their junior (Robeks) and sixteen (Jamba Juice) sizes are greatly different. Robeks’s Jr. size is 12 oz. and Jamba’s sixteen size is, well, 16 oz. I would only have to assume Jamba has more oz. in their original cup size than Robeks’ regular cup. So you pay less and you get more at Jamba. Second, for just a dollar more (this deal is no longer in effect) you get bread or pretzel at Jamba. Robeks has no deal like this. Plus, Jamba’s “treats” are all freshly made like their pretzels and bread. Robeks’“treats” are all pre-packaged. Third, the smoothies at Jamba juice just seem to contain more, they are thicker and feel me up more. After sipping down my “Strawberries Wild” I felt satisfied and a bit full while Robeks feels watered down and more like juice and less like smoothie. So, again, Jamba wins.

There are some other miscellaneous things that play into which is better for me. On Mondays, Robeks has a special offer for children. With any purchase of a regular drink they give away junior sized drink to a youngster. That’s very kind. Jamba has no deal like this. Also, Jamba has no sale of their smoothie powder boost. Robeks sales the “free boost” they give with their smoothies.

This next point is really small but Jamba’s energy boost are easier to remember and say than Robeks. Jamba has things like “Energy Boost, Soy Protein Boost, Vitamen Boost” while Robeks has  ”Vitabek, Powerbek or Intelli bek.” Come on, keep it simple Robeks.

Most importantly, what about the taste. Again, I’m only judging by Robek’s “Strawana Berry” and Jamba Juice’s “Strawberries Wild”. Jamba Juice definitely makes the true smoothie. Thick, cold, sweet, you can taste the fruit. Robeks, though, is watered down. Thin, cold, sweet and you can slightly taste the fruit. Jamba Juice = Smoothie and Robeks = Smoothie Juice. I would definitely leave this part in the air though. It would depend on my mood whether I wanted a juicy smoothie or a thick, classic smoothie. In most cases I’d take the thick and the Jamba Juice, though.

So all in all, of course, I choose Jamba Juice for the win in the smoothie chain competition. You get more for your buck, more taste, more treats and more fill. Jamba Juice is the essence of a true smoothie and Robeks is just a watered down option.

Peace