Outings and pseudo-dates

My goal is to finish two wedding videos before Thanksgiving. What?! I can do it if I’m not busy with work. My clients deserve to get their videos on time to show to their families.

I had a free week these past four days. Tomorrow I have a PA gig for a Nintendo commercial and I’m pretty excited about it! Anyway, I really enjoyed my week because the previous month was so busy!

This week I went on outings with people I’ve been trying to set up dates with. When I say “date” I don’t necessarily mean a romantic evening under the stars. I mean quality time with faces I don’t usually get to see that often. Because my work schedule was so full, I wasn’t able to hang out as much.

So now that my week was free, I tried working on the wedding videos that were sitting in my hard drive. But alas, I decided to go on outings instead.

Monday evening was wonderful because I finally got to explore the trails in Griffith Park. During the 30 SECONDS TO MARS gig, I met this cute jogger and we chatted for a bit. She was kind enough to schedule time with me in the future to explore the park. Two weeks later, we finally made it happen and we had a good evening together.

Tuesday evening was so fun because I finally got to hang with this girl I met on one of my early PA jobs. We were PA’s on some projects and it’s quite nice to spend time together outside of work. I finally visited the Guitar Center because the 30 SECONDS TO MARS gig inspired me to pick up the guitar again. I was Jared Leto’s stand-in and I got to hold his guitar! My acoustic guitar broke in college, probably because I hit it with my bike. So anyway, after the visit at the Guitar Center, I had two Korean Tofu Tacos at the Kogi Truck with Mary. Then we had coffee with her friends in Hollywood and my evening was super chill.

Wednesday evening was spent with my twin brother. We went to the Paley Center to view the DAWSON’S CREEK panel discussion. James Van der Beek, Kevin Williamson, and some of the cast & crew were there to discuss the show. I was quite pleased with the evening and I would love to attend future Paley Center events.

Thursday evening was supposed to be the night where the roommates and I would take a trip to Ikea in Burbank. That didn’t happen but I did work on the wedding video.

So Friday is my work day. I hope all goes well. This will be my second gig with Nintendo. The first gig I did was back in 2003 when I had to wear a Pikachu costume. That was fun and hot! This year, I’m just a PA for a commercial.

Then this Saturday I am either going to a photo gallery, a lion dance competition, or a fundraiser event. We shall see.

 

Work Cancelled

So here you have the most honest and intimate weekend blog I’ve posted in months:

My Halloween plans were tossed out the window when I put myself on hold for a job that was supposed to take place October 31st and November 1st. This was going to be for a Japanese commercial that would air in Japan during the Winter Olympics. Friday night rolled around and I still did not get any confirmation or a callsheet.

I called the production company and I was told that they finished staffing for the gig and that I was no longer needed. They apologized and told me they would think of me the next time around. Goody. That means I could attend Halloween events afterall?

No costume this year. I did muster up my annual Robin/Nightwing mask, my Raphael (red Ninja Turtle) mask, and a cloak just in case.

FRIDAY
Friday night I went to The Beacon’s Friday night large group. There I listened to a sermon about being sexually pure. The one statement that stood out to me was, “When you look at a woman lustfully, you have already committed adultery in your heart.” Dang, what an absolute. Later that night, I saw scantily clad women in their Halloween costumes. Wonder Woman stood out to me because I like Justice League. D’oh! I did not look away. I had by no fault of my own committed a sin against God. To be fair, anytime I see Supergirl, Robin, Batman, Superman, Wonderwoman, Aquaman, Green Arrow, and the Flash, I will be interested in checking out how they designed the costume and how they wore it.

SATURDAY
I came back to The Beacon to help volunteer for the “Harvest Festival” (which is another word for “Halloween”). The xmas lights I bought last year were actually being put to use. For volunteer work, I basically did what I usually do when I work for Radio Disney, except I don’t get paid. I manned the game booths, interacted with kids, and gave them prize candy when they played. I enjoyed fellowship time with people whose names I will try to remember: Phil, Ted, Stefan, Frank, Young Shin, Susan, Stella, Jean, Vivi, Lillian, Deebo, Crystal, Lily, Yoojin, uhh…..tall guy, glasses guy, chick with the nice clothes, chick with the umm….okay, that’s all I can remember for now.

SUNDAY
I guess I really like this group of people. For the third day in a row, I came to The Beacon for church service. Now, my buddy Justin thinks that I keep coming for the girls, but of course I will deny this. I worked a lot last week and that has drained me physically, mentally, and spiritually. Because work got cancelled on me this week, I decided to stay away from the house and computer. My new Blackberry Tour is dope! I can check email and facebook while I’m away from my desk! Anyhow, I enjoyed the sermon about being an example of Christ in the workplace. My actions do need improvement. What I really miss about college is the fellowship and connection to God. The last two years of my life were very difficult because I strayed. I guess what I’m looking for is atonement for my past life of sin. That, and I’d really love for my career to take off.

OTHER TIDBITS
I bought Taylor Swift’s Platinum CD this week and I’m loving it. This week’s episode of Smallville is the best one of the season. There was no new episode of GLEE this week. My brother and I watched John Woo’s “RED CLIFF” at the DGA. Loved it. I give it my highest recommendation. I acquired the Blackberry Tour and I’m loving it. My paychecks came in the mail and I’m content. My sores from last week’s Nike 10k race are gone. All in all a great week.

Thanks for reading and don’t forget to post a comment!

 

Good Busy

I got extended this week on the “30 Seconds To Mars” job. So I’ll be doing some wrap up with the production office. These last few weeks I’ve been very fortunate to get job calls. I’m so thankful and so busy!

Don’t get me wrong. It’s a good busy. Although I did have to cancel a couple of dates (and man dates) these past few weeks. Then there were lots of events I couldn’t make it out too.

One event that I may miss out on this weekend is SDAFF. I went last Friday and that was just a quick trip. I saw “WHITE ON RICE” and it was fun to see recognizable faces. Then I went back to LA that night because I had work the next day.

Last Saturday I got to hang out in the Radio Disney studio after work. I spent the day doing pumpkin labor, but I didn’t mind. Water, chicken wrap, and yogurt kept me happy.

I’ve been meaning to check out a room for rent in Beverly Hills. Jaron was kind enough to give me that tip. I kept rescheduling to see that place because I’ve been swamped with production work.

On the horizon I look forward to continuing my wedding video editing. Once I manage my time outside of work, I should be able to give my clients their videos by Thanksgiving.

After a two-week hiatus, I went back to the Korean church I was checking out with Bora. I can’t believe they noticed I was gone! Dude, that really made me feel special.

This Friday night is the Nike 10K run at USC. It starts at midnight into Saturday. I really want to go, but I either have work or SDAFF to attend. Maybe I can jump in without registering?

Breaking the Bow event is this weekend too. I really will try to make it.

It’s getting late. I should get some rest before I burn out.

 

Music Video Night Shoot

On Sunday and Monday nights, I worked on the music video for 30 Seconds To Mar’s new single, “Kings + Queens”. Jared Leto, the lead singer, is the director for this video. The locations were set up in Downtown LA, Santa Monica Pier, and Hollywood Blvd. What I loved about this shoot were the extras who dressed up in outrageous outfits and rode their bikes through the streets.

HIGHS:
- Part of my job was to drive the FORD F150 pick-up truck and I must say that once I did that, it was hard to go back to driving my Toyota Corolla.
- Getting applause for doing my job. The extras all cheered for me because they noticed I was trying so hard to get them their water. It was effing ridiculous towing three water coolers across the Santa Monica Pier, the Sixth Street Bridge, the streets of Downtown LA, and Hollywood Blvd.
- Working with the grips to build the camera rigs on the golf carts. It’s like professional Lego!
- Meeting Midnight Ridazz like Ritchie, Donny, Woody, Erica, Daniel, Kyle “Louisiana”, and Tarsis. They made my 17-hour work nights more pleasant.

THOUGHTS:
This was my first music video and night shoot. It was epic in scope and I can’t wait for the music video to come out. Once it does, I will definitely post it on my facebook page. In the mean time, “Kings + Queens” can be heard on the 30 Seconds To Mars website.

 

Celebrity Poker Night Gig, The Amazing Race, DOVE Commercial

On Saturday, I was so fortunate to get a videography gig at a celebrity poker night. I showed up at Edgemar Center and immediately got acquainted with the staff. Then I set up the camera for the arrivals.

Stephen Baldwin, Annie Duke, John Singleton, Estella Warren, and Kevin Weisman were some of the familiar faces that I saw. This gig was so much fun because I got to learn a few things about the game of poker that I didn’t know before. Also, there was a super cute girl from Louisiana that was working the event, which everyone knows is a plus for me.

Then I was super fortunate to get invited to The Amazing Race premiere party by a familiar face. I recognized one of the players at the event…Maria Ho from UCSD DOTS. She’s a pro poker player now and is on the current season of The Amazing Race. I was so excited and the first person I thought to invite was my buddy Karina, who I’ve always known to be a nut for The Amazing Race. Sunday night was super fun because I got to meet some of the cast members from The Amazing Race. Afterwards, I played more Beatles Rock Band with Karina.

I’m currently working as a PA on a DOVE (soap brand, not chocolate) commercial. It’s been very cool because the director is super nice and talented. I got to meet his family and the main actors. The extras were sexy women and that’s always a plus. Fredrik Bond is the director and he’s done amazing stuff. I’m so happy that he keeps production on time.

The commercial itself is very elaborate and creative. I felt like I was jumping through time because the extras were dressed in 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s clothing. The child actors and pre-teen extras were fun to work with as well. The 13-14 year old girls were super tall whereas the boys were very short. It’s a very odd thing to see, especially when the girls are taller than me.

I can’t wait to see this commercial spot. I’m learning a lot.

That’s my weekend update for ya. I’m really tired from long working days, but I’m always glad to be making good money.

 

The Fifth and Sixth Dimension

My roommate and I had a deep conversation out on the front porch last night. I think I should blog about this so I don’t forget. Somewhere in conversation, we talked about our futures. I talked about my affinity for videotaping weddings. Then we eventually got to the topic of what my wedding would be like.

I said that there are lots of things that bother me about not knowing. But then there are mysteries out there that amaze me to a point where I don’t mind not knowing. So regarding the mystery of my future wife, I said to my roommate…

(Paraphrased)

“It amazes me that fourth-dimensionally, my wife exists. I already got married. It happened. It is written. You know what the most fucked up thought I have is? The most shallow thing I can think of….that big mystery that amazes me? I want to know….what’s her ethnicity?”

Rather than just laughing, my roommate busted out with the thought of a fifth dimension. You know, when I say “fourth-dimensionally”, I’m assuming that time itself is linear and that there is a straight path. My roommate brought up the idea of multiple timelines coexisting…which is the “fifth dimension.” By thinking fifth-dimensionally, I should think of all possible outcomes.

Whoa.

Then he went on to describe what a sixth dimension would look like. 1-D is a point. 2-D is made up of lines and planes. 3-D adds depth to the planes.

Now…3-D is really a point on the space-time spectrum. Then 4-D is a line/plane on the space-time spectrum. 5-D is where multiple lines exist in a space-time plane to create depth in that system. 6-D is way beyond anything we can imagine, with all points existing on the same field, but different planes in time. Which means that in the 6th dimension, I was born in Japan and not San Francisco. Confusing huh?

Anyway, I probably am relaying the information wrong. But this was trippy to me as I drank my beer.

 

Inadvertent Pickup Line?

I attended the APEX Summer 2009 Professional Mixer. The panel discussion was about exploring the future of Asian American media. One of the panelists was Phil Yu, the guy who runs angryasianman.com, one of my favorite blogs. I sat in the front row.

After the panel, I got up and mingled with a lot of people. I didn’t get a chance to talk to angryasianman because the girls already jumped at him as soon as the panel ended. I sat in the front row, mind you!

Then I mingled, since this was at a bar/lounge setting, where people dressed in business casual and cocktail dresses. There were a few attractive-looking girls there and I got to dance with the pretty ones. Yay! Then I reminded myself that I’m there to network, not dance. So I went around chatting up the area.

I also people watched. I loved seeing how girls flip their hair or utilized other indicators of interest to the men that were chatting them up. Unfortunately, I noticed that many of the men failed to keep the women’s interest. I kept mingling, passing out my business cards and thinking to myself that this type of networking never works. Alas, I guess it never hurts.

I approached two girls:

Me: Are you looking to get married?
Girls: (surprised wtf looks on their faces)
Me: …because I’m a videographer. I do weddings.
Girls: WOW! That was a great pickup line!
Me: ….Thanks, but nah, I don’t do pickup lines. They’re lame. Anyway….
(Chat ensues for a few minutes)

Voila! There you have it. An inadvertent pick up line. Please people, don’t ever use this. It’s lame.

 

Weekend Update

I haven’t worked a paid gig in a week, but that’s okay. I worked some more on Brittany’s wedding video. I decided to start over with a new timeline because the aspect ratios weren’t consistent. I used a lot of great footage that Hansol took. She’s got great sensibilities.

Saturday was an interesting night because I decided to attend the Miss Taiwan Pageant in El Monte to support a few acquaintances participating. Turns out that people from the SF pageant a few weeks ago were in attendance as well and befriended me because they knew my brother.

Sunday I was at USC promoting VC. Dang, I miss college. Then I went to the Anime Expo Staff Dinner at Ocean Star Restaurant in Monterey Park. I had a good time.

 

Micha Wedding Notes

I just got back from Micha’s wedding and I had a blast doing the videography for that event.  What’s amazing is that I learn new skills and meet new people every time I do a gig.  So incredible.  I am truly thankful for the opportunity.  I walked away with contacts from a DJ, a web designer, and two very well-spoken MC’s (Peter and the maid of honor).

On my mind:

- I need to make a better website to promote myself.  I’m still working on learning how to do this.

- The wedding I did for Brittany is still a work in progress.  The logging and capturing is actually getting difficult because of the different video formats.  One is HD and the other SD.

Micha’s Wedding:

I am happy with the footage that I took.  I didn’t have an assistant this time, so I planted a camera in the front of the church.  To my surprise, I had an awesome angle that captured some good shots.  Since it was a standalone camera, it had only one shot.  So to my chagrin, it was perfectly framed because the preacher stood in the right spot, not blocking the couple.

The sound was difficult to manage because I didn’t use external microphones.  It would be weird to walk around with headphones on and holding a fishpole anyway.  Throughout the event, I had to keep adjusting the levels on the Panasonic HVX200 camera that I used.  When I review the footage, I hope the sound is not too hot or too low.

I played around with the ring that controls the manual zoom and manual focus.  Rather than using autofocus and the zoom toggle stitches, I decided to go with a more trendy shooting style.  Fast zooms, some tilts, and MTV-like dancing shots.

I can’t wait to finish the two wedding videos.  I just have to get off facebook and Twitter and use my time more productively.

 

Russell’s Comic Con 2009 experience

Since Comic Con 2007, it’s been a tradition for me to attend the LOST and Smallville panels.  This year was super insane!  LOST had its FINAL panel and Smallville had TOM WELLING appear!  Comic Con only gets more intense each year, and it is very overwhelming.  Crowds, heat, insanity!  People rushing for free swag, glimpses of celebrities, and even the most bizarre (or trivial) things. I come expecting it, but am always amazed each year.

LOST PANEL

This year, LOST was scheduled first thing Saturday morning, taking up the spot in Hall H that HEROES occupied the last two years.  I made an enormous mistake by showing up at 10am for an 11am panel.  In fact, I was confident that there was enough room for me.  They cut me off.  I was about 70 people behind.  AHHHH!  I should’ve camped overnight like everyone else.  Or I should’ve came in at 9:30am at the latest.  Because I underestimated a Comic Con crowd with a LOST fanbase (BIGGEST CRIME EVER), I missed out on a spectacular panel.  Jorge Garcia, Michael Emerson, Nestor Carbonell, and Josh Holloway made appearances.  *Sigh

SMALLVILLE panel

So….because I learned my lesson from missing the LOST panel, I decided to sleep in the parking structure so I could get in line for the SMALLVILLE panel Sunday morning at 10:30am.  I talked to the guard at the structure and he was super chill!  He let me park overnight without towing my car!  I stayed up until 3am hanging out and partying with some people.  Then I slept in my car for a couple hours and got in line at 7am.

Unlike the LOST panel incident, I actually got in!  The entire cast of Smallville showed up.  I was WOW’ed by the preview of Season 9.  Needless to say, I was very happy.  It also made me very happy helping out an old acquaintance.  I helped her get a seat closer to the stage.  She asked a super cool question to TOM WELLING, adding, “…could you answer slowly so you could look at me longer?”  This got the crowd and panel roaring with amusement.  I think that was the highlight of the Q&A.  I asked a question too, and got a favorable response from the audience and the panel.  Booyah!

HIGHLIGHTS

Lots of frickin ridiculous crap happened at the con.  So many highs and lows.

- GLEE panel was awesome.  I ran into James and we chatted for a bit.  The second episode screened and I loved it.  The cast was there and I was able to ask the writers how challenging it was to decide whether to stall or progress the romantic storylines.

- HEROES panel was pretty solid in its turnout. I got to see the cast and a preview of Volume 5.  I don’t even like HEROES that much, but I decided to leave my seat next to my bro so I could sit closer to the front and next to a cute girl.  We talked but I could tell it wasn’t going anywhere.  So whatever, I enjoyed the panel. Meeting a cute girl is the only way I could ever enjoy a HEROES panel anyway, mwahaha.

- KEVIN SMITH panel was frickin hilarious.  He poked fun at TWILIGHT, but ended up defending it, saying, “Who are we to pass judgement on twelve-year-old girls who like vampires? ….In six years they’re gonna be eighteen! (and thus make the Comic Con male-female attendance 50/50)”

- Dinner with James and Josh was cool.  I also met up with Jenny, whom I met at Anime Expo.  She was super cool because she was able to hook me up with comic con badges for Sunday.

- A very nice STRIPPER/MODEL befriended me on Saturday night because she needed my help to get her and her boyfriend into the rave.  They were willing to pay money to use the newly acquired badges that my brother bought on Craigslist.  So I saw this as a way to recoup the money we lost by purchasing those badges.  All was well for me because I had some nice chats with her boyfriend, a super cool dude.  His girlfriend bought me a drink and she ended up losing that one badge, but I made up for it by acquiring another one from my roommate.

- Sunday was a cool day to wander the exhibit hall after finishing with the panels.  I saw a great number of people I knew: Karina, Sarah, Kent, Rachael, Josh, Amber, James, Tammy, Julie, Rainier, Jason B., and more.  I love it when I see people I haven’t spoken to in a long time.  It’s great, I tell ya.

- I went to the Buffy screening at 4pm.  I fell asleep because I was so tired.  It was cool nonetheless.

- After the con was over, I immediately bought a 4-day pass for 2010 so that I could never go through that hassle of going to craigslist for badges ever again.  Then I went to Yardhouse to chill with Jenny and her friends.

- I ended up watching THE HURT LOCKER with Devisser & Co.  I knew I’d fall asleep, but I didn’t mind paying money to see a critically acclaimed film with some friends.  It was a super chill time. I didn’t really care about wasting money to fall asleep in a theatre.  Then I felt I had to stay awake for most of it so I could hold a decent conversation about it.

- Stayed the night at Devisser’s place because after the movie ended, I was in no condition to drive back to LA.  So Oliver, Tim, Patrick, and Joe Han were cool enough to let me crash on the couch.

CONCLUSION

Comic Con 2009 was a dramatic experience.  Lots of stress.  When I solved problems, new problems came in.   There are lots of LOWS and terrible SH*T that happened as well, but I dealt with it.  Overall, a positive experience because now I know how to handle Comic Con 2010.  I’ve been going since 2005 and I am still amazed at how more intense it gets each year.  Sold out passes may happen as early as January 2010.  So get yours now before they’re gone!