Posting a day late: Nearly Dying, Walk of Fame, and Amoebas

So, I'm a day behind in posting, which makes me sad... so I'll have to try to remember yesterday AND today. OH NO.

YESTERDAY

It was a regular day of classes yesterday, and I have many pages of notes... on to the fun stuff.

We went to the Hollywood Boulevard (the Walk of Fame). We mulled around the shopping area, then went off to look at the impersonators and Grauman's Chinese Theater.

We got pictures with Jack Sparrow:


Mario:


The best part was seeing Chucky... it was a midget dressed as Chucky and chasing us with knives. Good times, good times.

We all took a picture in front of Grauman's:



We walked around looking for James Dean's star and then we went back to the apartment and stayed up late working on our films.

TODAY

Another day of classes... working on the final touches for our film #1.

We had casting, which was really cool. About 40 actors came through and performed for us, and we had to pick the four we wanted. I got Elizabeth, Samantha, and Danya. They're all really cool. =]

After dinner we went to downtown LA, and Jasmine and I looked for James Dean's star again, but we couldn't find it (again) =[. Then we joined the group at Amoeba Music, which is a HUGE store for music and movies. We had a blast looking around!

Then we went to In-n-Out Burger and enjoyed fries and burgers. Tasty!

Now we are here and going to sleep soon.

Waking Up Early, Sleeping Through Class, and Making Cakes

Today I woke up at 7:30. Early. Again.

I think I have some sleeping problem. I can only sleep 7 hours. I go to bed at 11:30, I get up at 6:30. I go to bed at midnight, I get up at 7 AM. I go to bed at 12:30, I get up at 7:30. No joke. Ugh.

We left a little late, but we dealt with it.

We started off today with camera testing. We went on the ELM STREET set! The set for the new Nightmare on Elm Street movie. Oh. My. God. It's also the street where Hancock lives in the movie Hancock. Haha. That was a bad joke.


House on Elm Street. =]


Hancock's house, I think. Or at least... something happened in front of it.

I took a picture of the Ghost Whisperer House... and then I got in trouble because they were filming in it, and you're not supposed to take pictures of the houses that are being filmed in.

So I can't put it on here... well, I can, but I'd get in trouble. So if you want a picture, you'll have to ask me to see it in Wichita.

Lame.

Not really. But it sucked getting in trouble.

We did camera tests, doing stuff with lenses, irises, focus, zoom, gain, and a lot of other cool stuff. It was really awesome. =] We even did some stuff with filming my eye. Happy.

Thennnn we went to writing. I pitched my film idea. Everyone seemed to like it alright, but people offered suggestions and stuff, which was helpful.

Then we had lunch. It was kind of gross... I'm getting sick of the chicken. But they had AWESOME Mac & Cheese. =]

After that, we went to editing again. UGH, that class is so so so so so so so boring. I nearly fell asleep. It was like "O_O" MUST STAY AWAKE.

Bleh.

After that, we had filmmaking. We watched a clip from the movie "Witness" which was really good. I want to see it now. We evaluated the reason for certain shots and stuff. I really really love this class.

Next was dinner, which was lasagna.

Then I went back to the apartment with Chloe and Siena, while Jasmine and Nhi went to a comedy club. Chloe and I elected to stay in the apartment. We had a party, making chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting and watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

True love. That movie is so amazing. If you haven't seen it, you should.

The cake turned out pretty good, but I put on the frosting too early and it melted a bit, but now it's in the fridge and "un-melting" haha.

Now I sit here with Chloe as we mull over our films and hang out on our computers.

So now I go and work on my films and chat on Facebook. =]

That's all for now, folks!

Schedules, CityWalk, and Pitches

It's midnight of the next day. I was supposed to technically update this yesterday, but I've been very busy today. Which is fun, but now I'm tired and want to go to bed, so this post will be somewhat short.

I woke up around 7:00, frustrated that I woke up so EARLY. I mulled around the apartment until everyone else got up. We left at 8:35 for class.

First was Hands-On Camera. We learned about lighting, such as rembrandt (which is lighting from the side), butterfly (lighting from above), and silhouettes. It was pretty cool and I actually get it a bit now. I learned that you never light full on, but always from the side. Lighting from the top makes a character seem more mysterious because it creates shadows around the eyes.

Next we had filmmaking. Our actual teacher, Eric Conner, was there today. We talked about different tastes in movies, and we also talked about directing actors. We learned how to have actors do certain things, and not just telling them to "do this".

We also talked about fexibility and other general filmmaking things.

Then I went to lunch. It was good. Sandwiches. Tasty.

Then, we went to look at costumes in the props and wardrobe department. There was a lot there. From giant scissors to underwear. Haha.

Next was editing class with Tim. He was cool, but the class was generally not that interesting because it was just going over the basics... and Tim had us editing some weird African wildlife.

After that, we went to Writing class. It was cool. I like our teacher. I'm so tired, so sorry about this crappy entry.

She talked about getting the audience hooked. We watched short films and evaluated them. It was fun. I enjoyed it. I wrote a story. Maybe I will post it later. Haha. I'll probably forget.

After dinner, I went to CityWalk with my roomies and new friends Siena and Julie. We went shopping. And ate food. Lots of food. I am pretty sure by the end of this I will have gained 20941094 pounds. Not really. That's a joke.

CityWalk:


We got back, and all of us had a "pitching party" where we talked about our ideas for films. My ideas are cool. I will post them later.

Now, it is 12:20. I am tired. All my roommates are going to bed, so I am too.

Good night!

Bagels, Jim Carrey, and Computer Central

Today I woke up at 7:00 AM. I took a shower, got ready, and then my roommates all walked up to the "car wash" and hiked back DOWN the hill to the camp.

The question was: Where was breakfast? It had been rumored that we were going to get it the night before... but we hadn't received any? We were all hungry, and one of us even ate cold pizza. (No, it wasn't me.)

So, we showed up at Universal Studios... the office building. Where they were doing post-production on famous upcoming movies... (which ones? I can't tell ya.)

So, yes... THAT Universal Studios.

Breakfast

We finally figured out that the first breakfast would be served at Universal Studios... so we enjoyed a lot of bagels. I love bagels. And cream cheese. I think that's the thing to to eat on the coast cities... in NYC all we had for breakfast was bagels... in LA all we have for breakfast is bagels. Haha! So we had bagels, and then we went to our first class:

Hands-On Camera

This class taught us how to use the Panasonic DX100, which is a high-tech digital camera. It is SUPER awesome. Just saying. Haha. We learned all there was to do with it, and then some rules: the rule of thirds, the 180 rule, and others.

The rule of thirds:

Essentially, the screen on which a film appears is a box. This box is divided into thirds vertically and horizontally. You want your eye lines to be on the top line horizontally, and either the far left or far right line vertically. Awesomeness.

The 180 rule has to do with eye lines as well, and camera placement. Essentially, don't cross that line. It's a little hard to explain... well, I guess I can try.

When a character looks at another character, they create an eye line between each other. The camera must stay on one side of the line, or else it looks like the characters are switching places and changing sides, and overall it gets really confusing. The only way to "break" this line without breaking the rule is to dolly behind the actor. Essentially. You can break the line to cause confusion within the audience, though.

Anywho, this guy, Kirill, taught us a bunch about shots as well, but then we just had "share your favorite _____" time. Which was cool.

Kirill has worked on movies with Jim Carrey - has met him personally - and a lot of other famous peoples. A LOT. His sister is really good friends with Paris Hilton. Apparently, she is not as dumb as she makes herself out to be... according to Kirill.

Backlot Tour

Next, we went on a tour of the Universal backlot. Which was awesome, but really short. It took about 15 minutes, but I got to see Wisteria Lane (Desperate Housewives, for all you fans), Jaws Lake (I can film there, too! EE!), Europe, Western, and others. It was super cool. Elm Street is being used for production, so we can't film there. Sad.

Lunch

Then, we had lunch. It was good - chicken, salad, rice, pita bread, hummus, and cookies. Yummy stuff.

After that, was...

Filmmaking

Filmmaking was super cool, because we had the most awesome teacher. His name is Dave Nelson, but he was only subbing for our actual teacher, Eric. Eric had to pitch a show to FOX TV, so he couldn't be there today. But Dave was awesome.

He knew a lot. Which was so cool. He showed us clips from JAWS, and helped us figure out why the shots that were in there were used. He also showed us how to choose sets and scenery and the like - a production designer's job.

We went through a bajillion shots. I knew a lot of them, so I felt awesome. Hahaha.

He taught us how to make our stories relate-able to the audience. I really liked this section. I took a lot of notes. He went over the 180 rule with us in more detail, and the like. He also related our favorite movies to what he was teaching. It was super awesome.

Dave is a teacher at NYFA (New York Film Academy), so I really felt like I was in a college class... and it really was taught like one. I loved loved loved this class. If this is what film school is like, I am definitely going to be there.

Writing

Writing started with the usual: Name, where you're from, and your favorite movies.

I was happy with my list, I wrote: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Edward Scissorhands, Moulin Rouge!, and the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy.

Next, our teacher had us write down a powerful event that we had witnessed. I wrote about rescuing my dad from his plane accident (see his blog for the full story). I got to tell the story to the class, and they seemed to like it well enough, and the teacher got really into it. Then, they evaluated the story for what would be good for a screenplay. The teacher, Crickett, said I should make it in to a real movie one day.

Maybe I will. =]

There was another example that was really cool. One guy in our class has some chemical imbalance thing that makes his dreams become real... like legitly real. So he told us about a time when he thought someone was about to kill him, but it was just a hallucination. This doesn't happen in a dream, it happens when he's awake. Wow, that would be scary.

Dinner

We had spaghetti. The noodles were a tad cold, but otherwise it was good. Very tasty.

After dinner, my roommates and I picked up our food from our counselor: Waffles, bagels with cream cheese (!!), bread, peanut butter, jelly, syrup, granola bars, cereal, milk, orange juice. Tasty stuff.

We settled down at computer central (haha) and checked facebook, then headed to the convenience store... which is WAY on the other side of the apartment complex. It's like a mile away... or so it feels. We bought a bunch of stuff... cake mix, chips, frosting, candy, cookies, pop, and other stuff.

We're gonna make the cake later this week.

So now I am updating this... one of my roommates is in the bedroom, one is watching House, and one is sitting next to me on her computer.

It's been a great day! =]

Colleges, Orientation, and Celebrity Sightings

Day 1 of Camp.

Woke up today at 8:00 AM to the sound of the phone ringing: our wake up call. My mom answered it, but she fell right back asleep, so I took a shower and got dressed. I then woke up my mom, and we labored around the hotel for a bit.

After packing and checking out and all that jazz, we left to go check out and headed to Valencia, California. We drove past my dream school (!!) California Institute of the Arts, and then hit the rode towards Ventura, California, where my other school interest is... Brooks Institute.

We drove around each school and the area, then moved on.

We stopped at Downtown Ventura and walked along the beach for a bit and ate lunch along the ocean-side.



By then, I was getting really anxious to go check in to the camp, so we headed back towards Los Angeles. We found the check in and got all settled and headed towards my apartment. It's AWESOME.

We have a large living room, a dining area, a full kitchen, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a fireplace. =] It's awesome. Pictures:



That's essentially the apartment. We also have a patio. Love it here.

Anywho, eventually my roommates showed up, and they are really awesome! They are: Nhi, Jasmine, and Chloe. We all get along really well (or so it seems, at least =]), and we all LOVE computers. Jasmine is obsessive over Harry Potter (just like me). So we essentially all get along really well.

We set up a "computer central", where all of us have our computers together. It's so funny!

Orientation started at 6:00 PM, and we had dinner there and then watched films made at previous camps. It was a blast. They were great. One was a story about broken hearts, and male/female relationships, called "Heartbreaker." The other was a parody of "Bohemian Rhapsody" and was about someone's lunch giving them life advice, called "Magic Fruitsody." Great stuff.

We then went over rules and regulations with a counselor. Then, we went on a tour with our personal counselor, Afton. She's from Chicago, and SUPER nice.

Coming back from the tour, my group saw Nate Hartley. Check out the link. =] It was exciting!

Now, I am sitting here typing this, and there isn't much more to say.

Airports, Chihuahuas, and Edward Scissorhands

Today started at a spectacular 6:00 AM.

I got up at that time, took a shower, threw last minute packing materials into my suitcase, and began to shuffle out the door with all my many suitcases. Our neighbor shuttled us to the airport and dropped us off, and so began the long, grueling process of airports. We departed at 8:30 AM Wichita time and arrived 8:30 AM Phoenix time.

We left again at 10:05 AM for Los Angeles and arrived about 11:15 AM.

We got to our hotel around 1:30 PM or so.

We lazied around our hotel for a bit, then headed to the nearest mall. On our way, we saw JAY LENO in an open top Gelappi (I don't know how to spell it). We immediately called my dad and let him know. It was awesome!

We shopped around the mall after we got there, and then headed to the IKEA store, where we were overwhelmed with furniture and cool gadgets.

Insane.

It was also here that I saw a real "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." Yeah.

We then walked to Black Angus Steakhouse to meet Loki and Carol Efaw for dinner. It was TASTY. I have cake in the fridge waiting for me. =]

We went back to the hotel, got our car, and went to the Walk of Fame. We walked through the Kodak Theater and to the Grauman's Chinese Theater. We walked around there, took pictures...



(That's the Harry Potter cast.)

...and then moved on to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. I got more pictures...


They look so real!! =]

Next we headed out, and on our way back, we saw... an EDWARD SCISSORHANDS IMPERSONATOR!!


This was the highlight of the day, for sure. =]

We then got lost going back to the hotel and then our toilet wasn't working, so we had to get a repairman.

But all is well and we are going to sleep. Tomorrow camp starts!!

We are also going to drive around to Ventura and Valencia. =] We are visiting a few colleges around there that I'm interested in. Bring it on!

Sick Animals and Sad Departings

Today, I woke up around 10:00 to my dog, Oreo, barking. Why does she bark when she is locked in my room, which is in the basement? Who knows. Maybe she wants to be let out to go potty.

Anyways, some gracious parent (my mom) came and got her and I slept for a bit longer.

I woke up, had a bagel, sat and watched a bit of TV, then began to cross things off my To Do List.

I picked up my room, which was the thing I wanted to do first. I then moved on to cleaning my hamster's cage. It is then when the problems began.

My hamster, Sammy, was sick.

He had a red rash all over his back, which was a bit swollen, he was sleeping instead of running around like usual, and his fur was matted. I called my dad, asked for advice, and then quickly called Banfield at Petsmart near my house. They said that they didn't have a vet in today that could treat hamsters, but the west side did, and they were very good with them. I quickly called the west side and explained the situation and they said come in at 2:00.

I then realized I didn't have a carrying cage for Sammy to be in while he was in the car... I rushed out to PetCo and bought one. I layered it with bedding and put a food bowl in it, and got Sammy ready. I ate some lunch around noon, and then went to start packing.

Preparing last night had been a great idea. All my clothes were folded in stacks by what they were: nice shirts, t-shirts, workout clothes, jeans, nice pants, skirts, and the like. I threw what I wanted into the suitcase and began to figure out what I would need for the trip.

By now, it was approaching 1:20 and I needed to get going in order to get to the vet on time. I went to my mom's computer and started to print a map, but the computer died and I couldn't get it in time. I ran up to my dad's computer, which took its time and was really slow. In the end, it didn't even print the right part. I memorized the directions and left with Sammy.

In the car, Sammy was breathing heavily and very nervous. He had never been on a car ride before. He threw bedding all over my passenger seat.

We arrived at Banfield, the pet hospital, and checked in. The vet came in and quickly diagnosed Sammy: he had a bacterial skin infection. He would need to take some medicine every day. I knew this would be bad: I'm going to L.A. for THREE WEEKS... how would this work? I called my parents and we quickly enlisted our neighbor, who is a nurse.

I came home and showed our neighbor how to do everything, and then ran to take the dogs to the Doggy Day Care.

My mom and I chauffeured Abby and Oreo to the day care and we left them, sadly. Oreo and Abby were not happy, and I reluctantly passed Oreo from my arms to the sitter's. I won't see my babies for another three, three and a half weeks.

We ran by Kohl's, because I needed a swimsuit for the camp. We got that, and ran to Wal-Mart, where I picked up a bunch of things from the travel aisle (LOVE that aisle).

We went home, and then I went to continue packing, occasionally weighing my suitcase, making sure it stayed under 50 pounds. It weighs 47.6 pounds total.

Then, my parents and I left for dinner at Cheddar's. We enjoyed rolls, entrees, and dessert.

My dad and I went to drive Jamie's car back to the workshop, where we stayed and played with the stray cats that hang around there. We then went to get my car gas and then we went home.

I finished packing, and now have two checked bags and one carry-on bag. The carry-on bag has my purse, a blanket, some DVDs, my summer reading book "Three Cups of Tea", and the laptop. I'm hoping that I can take "Three Cups of Tea" and read about half of it while on the plane. The other half will be read while I'm at the camp... oh dear, I hope I have time.

Now, I sit on my bed, typing this blog entry, thinking about my camp.

I'm not worried about making friends. I'm not worried about having fun. I'm not worried about being in a big city.

I'm worried that I'll fail. That everything I've aspired to be over the past few years will turn out to be nothing.

I KNOW I'm not a great filmmaker, but I aspire to be one. That's why I'm doing this camp... to learn if I'm cut out for this, to learn if I really, truly want to live in Los Angeles, if I really want to risk my well-being trying to break into one of the most difficult businesses there is.

I'm worried I will fail. But I hope I just have the will to complete the task, to finish it.

Who knows? This could be the beginning... or the end.

Crazy Preparations

Today, I set out on an adventure. This adventure was to read a book. This book was called "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jumpha Lahiri.

It is the winner of a Pulitzer Prize... so of course, I have great expectations for it.

It was probably the worst book in the history of the world. It is a compilation of nine short stories. None of these stories had a plot... so therefore they did not have a climax or resolution, either. They were meaningless words on the page, and I wonder if the book is something I just cannot grasp yet. Is it too "mature" for me to understand?

It was a sluggish, slow read, and I hated every second I spent reading it. If someone out there has a different view of this book, PLEASE let me know.

Now, the reason I say all of this is because this is in preparation for my trip to Los Angeles to the New York Film Academy at Universal Studios. Before I go, I have a list of things to do that needs to be completed. This list is:

1. Finish summer reading for school. This means I have to read three books within about five days. These books are "The Kite Runner", "Interpreter of Maladies", and "Three Cups of Tea". I have to read them in that order, as well. I spent Monday and Tuesday reading "The Kite Runner", which was an excellent read, and probably will end up being my favorite. I didn't have time to read anything Wednesday (for the reason for this, see my Dad's blog). So today, Thursday, I was determined to start and finish "Interpreter of Maladies." It was a slow trudge. I read from 11:00 AM until about 5:00 PM. But I finished. And that was all that mattered. Tomorrow I begin "Three Cups of Tea." I hope to finish it while on the airplane on Saturday.

As I sit here, I realize the blog address I gave to those people who helped my dad out was correct on the piece of paper, but when I said it to them I recited it wrong. Ooops. Hopefully they will follow what was on the paper, and not what I said. Anywho, back to the list.

2. Clean my room: This task would be the hardest task, as my room is very messy. Tonight I spent most of it cleaning out the closet... which had clothes EVERYWHERE. I picked them all up and hung some up, washed a bunch (what's turning out to be nearly 5 loads of laundry, most likely), and folded and put away the rest. It seemed surreal. I sorted through the clothes as well, and got rid of quite a few items. However, all this goodness did not spread to my room. I succeeded in getting all the clothes off the floor, but did not finish putting away miscellaneous items that are spread out all over my room. I hope to do this tomorrow.

3. Clean my hamster's cage and get him ready for my trip: This task is easy. Some may think cleaning a hamster cage is nasty, but it's really simple.

• Put hamster in a smaller carrying box.
• Take top off cage and remove all items from cage.
• Dump all litter into a trash bag.
• Run all items from the cage under hot water. Any droppings will come off during this stage.
• Dry off all items.
• Put new litter in the cage and replace items.
• Refill food and water.
• Put top of cage back on.
• Replace hamster.

That's it! This will take place tomorrow afternoon sometime.

4. Get my school supplies ready: This step is halfway done already. I've got all my supplies here, but they need to be loaded up into my backpack, which - if you can believe it - still has supplies from last year in it.

5. Generally pick up my stuff from around the house and put last touches on my clean room: This will happen tomorrow night.

6. Pack for the trip: This will happen nearly all day tomorrow. This means that I will pack all my clothes and other things, then go run to the store when I figure out I'm missing toothpaste, or a snack for the trip, or hair ties. Anything can happen.

7. Prepare for the camp: There are many things I am supposed to do to prepare for the camp which I have not done yet. These are things like reading scripts and thinking up ideas and taking notes and many other things which I have not done. That means that the plane ride, when not reading, will be spent brainstorming. A LOT of it.

Those are my main things to accomplish... Countdown to Los Angeles right now: Approximately 30 hours from now is when I leave for the airport.

Wish me luck!

-Jennifer