EyeShotFirst

I don't feel that I act any differently on here than I do in my daily life. I'm quiet around people I don't know, but I try to fight it. I've worked retail enough times, that I've gotten over my shyness. After I become used to people, I suppose one could say that I'm very talkative.

I have a deep love for music, and I've been playing it for years, but only close friends and family know anything of my ability. I struggle with self criticism. Part of me knows I'm a good guitarist, but another part of me says that I'm not at the level I want to be at. None of the bands I've been in have gotten to a point that we actually created something of our own. Too many jam groups and cover bands, no creators.

Growing up had a lot to do with it. Nearly every 2-3 years, my family would uproot and I'd have to start over. I never got a true sense of comradery among friends. Anytime I'd get close, I'd end up moving to another state, and losing contact with them. I've been in love many times, but I never let myself get in a serious relationship, because I was always afraid to lose them. I'm an adult now, and can make any decision I want, but I still have that fear wired into me.

Anxiety and depression is something that has slowly built up over the course of my life. I guess making the best of everything and trying to stay strong took it's toll. I had some pretty dark chapters of my life. I went from being the skinniest and smallest kid in class, to fairly chubby. I got a lot of flack for it. Everything from getting bullied, to abused in a way that I won't go into detail here. I was singled out in my school, and while I could handle myself in a fight, I was overwhelmed with a great deal of prejudice. It was for racial reasons. I was literally toying with the idea of wanting to die at an early age. I'm a Christian, so suicide was something I would never consider. I used to sing, and even sang in front of my entire school. The bullying made me too self conscious to do that.

My faith wasn't a way out for me at that time. I was in such a dark place in my life, that I was pretty cold. I pushed everything away. I had so much pain in my heart, that I had no room for love of anybody but my close family. I didn't even love myself. I got to the point that I didn't want to hear anything religious. I wasn't opening myself up to God at that time.

I dropped out of school. It was a bad decision. I went from being an occasional smoker to a heavy smoker. I would eat anything and everything. I locked myself in a room with my cigarettes and just lived in video games. I escaped to the worlds in those video games. I also spent hours upon hours playing guitar. I would play till my fingers were a mess. I'd rest my fingertips by going right back to the video games.

My health declined substantially. Then one day, I felt my heart race, and my chest hurt. I yelled for my family to call an ambulance. My sister was in medical school at the time, and told me I was having a panic attack. That panic attack was the single scariest point in my life. I feared having another one so bad that I had more panic attacks.

I realize now it was a wake-up call that I wasn't on a good path in my life. It scared me into taking care of myself. I started running everyday to try to burn off all that energy. I learned that the more I ran, the less likely it would be that I would have an attack. I dropped the bad food, the smoking, the gaming. I went back to school, and finished it up. I got in great shape, and became addicted to the exercise. I also started trying to live closer to God. I still have issues with anxiety and depression, but I don't let it rule my life.

Right now, I'm trying to be positive during these frustrating times. Not because I've failed, or because I'm scared. I guess I'm just lacking in patience. I'm really putting music in the forefront again. Dipping my toes into my local music scene. Getting an idea of what I want to do. I'm done with thinking I'm not good enough. I will be successful if I can start making music with like-minded people. Don't care if 500 hundred or 5 people like it. I'm done playing with people who want to jam. I'm going after people who live for music.

I am back to eating less than healthy food, but I do try to opt for healthier options when I can. I don't jog much anymore, cause Texas. My weight is still quite a bit lower than it was as a teen. I actually can wear my favorite jacket from when I was 12. I can even wear my boy scouts uniform. I was pretty hefty.

Drew makes a lot of promotional art. Go on his site, and you'll see he's done a lot of stuff for Star Wars that wasn't the official posters.

If only the major studios with their sources and monetary means had a hair of the dedication that the fine folks on this site have.

I am constantly surprised by the great work I see, and the possibilities that can be had from working with sub-par sources.

Yeah, there are issues and hurdles to jump, but these images show that it's possible to make something out of the limited sources we have. The future doesn't just look good for Star Wars. I'm seeing lots of possibilities for other projects.

I will say, it is a relief that all of the photos of the toys coming out, you don't see an army of lightsaber wielding characters. Maybe they are saving them for last?

I still don't know what to say about Luke. I know he's supposed to be the new Obi Wan, but he needn't be his doppelganger. Mark Hamill loses a considerable amount of weight, and they cover up his progress in a hundred pounds of cloth? Come on JJ, 60's the new 40.

ATMachine said:

Who decided that the L in salmon shouldn't be pronounced?

 One of my biggest pet peeves is when people don't pronounce the "L" in a word that has a hard "L". For some reason it's always bothered me.

dan76 said:

I like those photos. Funny how having a set actually grey makes it look way more Star Wars than the blue tint they've added in the trailers. The whole teal and orange thing is a big fear of mine - modern colour grading sucks. It's a lost art, colourists need a hard slap.

 I agree for the most part. It was cool effect 15 years ago, when it was something to make a film stand apart, but it seems now if you want a film to stand out, coloring as naturally as possible is the way to go.

I like when it's used to create a certain unnatural look to things. Like in Japanese horror films to create a sense of dread and a "things aren't right" that plays as a theme often.

I would probably be okay with it if this wasn't a star wars film. Star Wars was always my go to science fiction film, because it created a plausible world where things were used and lived in. The Millennium Falcon reminds me more of an old work truck, than a futuristic space ship. Adding a filter to it, takes me out of that world.

He could paint an entire apartment in ONE afternoon!

TWO coats!

The Matrix was such a great film, that anything inspired by it ruined it. The sequels sucked. The movies trying to cash in on it's style sucked. I don't hate the movie, but it soured for me.

DuracellEnergizer said:

EyeShotFirst said:

Art seems to be dominated by the miserable.

I can attest to this from personal experience.

Of course, part of my misery stems from the fact that I don't have the skills or tools needed to realize my artistic visions, so ...  

 I also have the same issues. My artistic struggles come from being such a perfectionist, that nothing I do is ever up to my own standards.

I think most artists are fucked up in some way. Look how many comedians and musicians kill themselves with drugs. So many are compelled to do bad or unhealthy things, and occasionally you get one that is compelled to something as sickening as rape. It's too damn common to be coincidence. Art seems to be dominated by the miserable. Then you get a guy like Bill Cosby that looked like a beacon of everything clean and right, and come to find out he does something more sickening than the comedians who swear and do drugs.

I agreed with so much that he had to say about life, and I wanted to hold him up so high. I thought so much of Bill Cosby, I still don't want to believe it. It's like when you have a falling out with a family member you really love.

If I liked the artist before I found out who they really are, I can still like their art. If I found out the artist was a piece of shit before I discovered there art, I can never look at their art in a good light.

If I had seen this painting not didn't know who the artist was, I would say it's very nice and well done... But knowing it's Hitler, I can't appreciate it.

Using anything Holocaust related as an example is a little far reaching, but rape is torture.

I'm one of those people that would probably feel out of touch with the times regardless of the decade I was born.

SilverWook said:

Was in Barnes and Noble today, and they have a lot of classic 007 soundtracks on vinyl, with the original cover art to boot.

 Beyond cool. Never see anything but bad indie bands that hipsters like. I've been wanting to get Goldfinger on vinyl, just never have gotten around to it.

Thanks, I certainly don't feel that weight anymore. I had a constant feeling of guilt and dread, and now it's gone. I'm happy again.

After months of depression filled unemployment, I've finally gotten a job. I was at the lowest point I've reached in my life. I'm not the type that would off their self, but I was pretty sick with depression and frustration. It's similar to when I was a child having to fight everyday to keep from getting beat up. I started thinking maybe dying would be easier than facing another day. The fact of the matter is, I have had many high points, and I will take those terrible valleys in my happiness to experience those high points.

I was applying, interviewing, and calling like crazy and I would get so close to latching onto a good job, then nothing would ever happen.

This isn't a career, and many would turn their nose up at the job, but I got it right when I was losing hope. Hell, I didn't dress myself up and look spiffy for this interview. I walked into the place knowing they'd say no, and I was wrong.

I find it incredibly odd that I love music, opera, and film, but I cannot and have not ever been able to sit through a musical. I've seen all the great ones, and they just make my stomach turn.

I just cannot take a musical. It's like they are all bad to me. Maybe it had something to do with being forced to watch Cats or Sound of Music in my school days.

It's funny, because I like a lot jazz standards that came from Broadway plays, but I think it has a lot to do with who sings the song and who arranges it.

Then again, I think Leonard Bernstein was one of the greatest conductors of his time for classical music, yet I cannot stomach West Side Story.

Damn good guitar player...

Facebook and twitter are the most bland and outright ugly websites in the popular realm of the internet, yet people stare at those ugly interfaces for hours.

^ thanks, now I've gotta wash my eyes. Funniest woman in the galaxy my ass.

I'm on a diet, and I'm having such a ridiculous craving for a chimichanga.

Great stuff. I've read up on voice acting, and apparently most want to hear a demo reel of new voices. I'm not saying you wont make it on impressions, but a lot of voice actors will get several short segments of scripts with very different characters and make a demo like that. There's like a community for just gathering stuff to make demos on the internet.

Jurassic World

I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. Yeah, it might seem a little implausible for that park to open, but Six Flags has stayed open after they've endured some pretty horrific accidents over the years.

There's some cliche moments, and a lot of the film plays on nostalgia, but I still very much enjoyed it.

I didn't care for the performances of the children, but they were good enough stock characters.

I did enjoy Chris Pratt's character, and was glad to see that he kept his comedic chops for the film. It's one of the things that made Harrison Ford and Jackie Chan such fun actors to watch. His badassness was a little over the top, but compared to most action films, I'd say it was pretty middle of the road.

In defense of this thread, there is a lot of stuff that is in this section of the forum that doesn't belong (like 98% of the posts in Ady's threads that ask when the edit will be finished). Changing the color timing of the film, does not count as a preservation, and it doesn't count as other. I say it counts as as a fan edit.

I think the color tint to the film looks fine. It's not a ridiculous level like Man of Steel or the Attack of the Clones. I also support the idea to make the film look more classic as a fun project.

That's the reason The Phantom Menace is my favorite prequel. It just looks more like a movie. AOTC and ROTS look like old video game cutscenes, and they both look worse each time you rewatch them.

jaksic said:

Does anyone remember The Ladykillers 2004 remake of the 1955 classic? The remake stared Tom Hanks. It was kind of an off beat dark comedy. I love the remake one of my favorite films.

I remember back in the day I had a bootleg copy of it picture quality was a 6/10 not bad but the sound was more like 3/10 audiences laughing was so annoying! I got rid of it because I got a better copy of it. But now I'm just thinking about it and i really do miss it! If anyone has this copy let me know or upload screenshots of the quality and the dvd/vcd menu! 

Please get back to me and let me know!

Thanks!

 Go look for the 5 dollar bin at Walmart.