captainsolo

FanFiltration said:

 

"Octopussy"

 

This is one of the worst of the Bonds. The theme song lyrics should have been "He's an old time guy", not "It's an all time high". Moore is way too old, and I was truly embarrassed for the younger females that had to faun over and suggest they slept with this geezer.  The back-screen effects are particurly horrendous and obvious in this film. I don't know why people rate "Moonraker" as worse then this one. I'll take a Space Station over a second rate Circus motif any day.     

 

The song is lounge music crap, the Indian portion was completely unnecessary and showed how much they tried to copy Raiders, Roger looks worse than in FYEO, the plot is horribly overcomplicated, and overall the whole thing is just very dull. But it is a throwback adventure mixed with a Bond film which has an energy unlike the beyond tpeid Never Say Never Again.

FanFiltration said:

"For Your Eyes Only"

One of the better of the Moore era Bond's. This film has much more of the Ian Fleming styles sprinkled over it, yet it still suffers in places.  Moore is again too old to be playing this role, and it's a bit distracting.  A wispy romantic John Barry score is sadly missing, and what we do get (brass heavy disco themes and synthesizer muzak for low budget orchestra) dates the film. The director John Glen, is well suited for action, but his character interaction scenes are dull and un-inspired. This film had great locations, a good cast (excepting the bratty sex-starved skater and the stuffy fop that is replacing "M"). Topol is one of the best Bond allies in years, and the actor has so much personality that a bad director can do little to harm his reputation. The ice rink fight scene, the chopper vs. Wheelchair villain with cat (Blofeld?), "Q"'s segment, the Indentigraph scene, and the Olympian Hit man hurling his broken motorcycle at Bond  sticks out as being the only cringe worthy and un-needed segments of this film. Bond and Girl being dragged over a coral field in shark infested waters, the climb up the rock face, the assault on the villains' dock-side warehouse, and the ski chase on the bobsled run, are some of the best moments in the entire Bond series.            

This suffered from being John Glen's fist Bond to direct and coming off the heels of Moonraker. They went too far in bringing it all back down to Earth and the resulting film is very Made-for-TV in aspects. The score is awfully cheesy but this film comes alive when you crank the sound and watch on a big screen. The definition of a serviceable Bond film.

Police Story II-Lacks a really great villain, but this one crams in so many stunts and setpieces that you can't help but like it. Pure fun.

3.5 kung-fu deaf mutes out of 4 balls.

zombie84 said:

captainsolo said:

This!

Although I sometimes like to add in a little sub kick for vinyl. (Little!) Out of curiosity, Zombie what Klipsch do you have? I've got my whole 5.1 setup by them and my mains/surrounds are the KG.5

I couldn't say at the moment what model they are. I got into Klipsch because my dad is a real audiophile and he came home one day with the biggest speakers I have ever seen in my life--to this day--in his van and they were $4000 Klipsch towers. Before that he had really good Mission speakers (another great brand that doesn't get much recognition) but these things were so monstrous that my jaw dropped just from seeing them and let me tell you, they are the best speakers I have ever heard, anywhere, ever--and they were in my own house! When you cranked those up and put on some Zeppelin it would make you cry from the clarity and bass and power. I hooked them up to my TV at one point and put on Terminator 2. It was just a VHS tape, nothing fancy at all, but I remember there is the scene where Arnold comes in on the Harley Davidson and the bass was so intense it was like having a bike in the room. We had a motorcycle in the garage and even the real thing didn't have that much kick! Since then I've never owned anything but Klipsch. The ones I have are much cheaper but they have so much kick that I often have to turn down the bass, lest my neighbours complain (which they have!). That's why I am always apprehensive about subs. Sometimes they provide a little help, and movies (and also sometimes electronic music) have subtle low-frequency things that are designed to roll through the room and provide a physical sensation, but more or less if you have good speakers I find they just muddy the sound or get lost in the mix.

I know those feelings exactly. And everybody tells me things are always too loud, but it's actually just the fulness of sound they're not used to. I use my sub for movies and games and only some music when I'm really feeling it. It's quite large too. (model SWV 8")

I go yearly, but usually avoid the special releases because of their high price and the hordes fighting for them.

If you click the format this is most of my vinyl:

http://www.discogs.com/collection?user=captainsolo

This!

Although I sometimes like to add in a little sub kick for vinyl. (Little!) Out of curiosity, Zombie what Klipsch do you have? I've got my whole 5.1 setup by them and my mains/surrounds are the KG.5

Catching up:

Full Contact-lesser HK action film with Chow Yun-fat, but it's still Chow Yun-fat in a HK action movie. There is a heaven in action film. Also the first film (I think) that has a bullet's POV.

3 balls out of 4 Chows.

Drunken Master-Cheesy standard of classic martial arts cinema and I can't believe how much I enjoyed this. The key to Jackie Chan's success is the amount of heart in his films. The guy just goes for broke every single time and has that fearlesss performer quality of the great silent clowns.

3 balls out of 4 drunken ones.

Snake in the Eagle's Shadow-made just before DM, with the same cast and crew so it is virtually the same movie. Also, it laughably features the moment of the Star Wars score just before the DS explodes, and this 30 second bit is repeated in the dramatic moments.

3 snakes out of 4 eagles.

Hana-Bi. I have been looking for this film for years. First saw it 6 years ago in a film seminar, and finally got to revisit this strange un-revealing police/yakuza/character drama blend from Takeshi Kitano. Still don't know exactly what to make of it.

3.5 chopsticks in 4 eyes.

Drunken Master II-I viewed the uncut version of the film, and although not in the greatest shape and cropped-this is the martial arts film on steroids. You want a movie with fights? Look no further. But it really wasn't as enjoyable as others that I've seen and the plot is basically throwaway.

3 ax killers out of 4 fists.

Rush Hour-Why do I like this?? I still get flak for liking this premise, but it works. It works better than the latter Lethal Weapons and I love the combination of opposites. But the story gets too compressed in these films so that there is no breathing room and no room for actual development.

2.5 words out of 4 mouths.

Rush Hour 2-I think I like this one more, but it has the same if not more problems than the first. We go to Hong Kong this time, but nothing is developed at all. A waste, but some of the gags are amusing.

2.5 Cartah!s out of 4 J'mon!s

Police Story-Basically Jackie Chan as a young cop who goes up against gangsters and his own bureaucratic bosses. Taut and with really well done setpieces. Overall it just doesn't work as well as you think it should.

3 balls out of 4.

Deadline-This is a movie that my mom dragged me to. It was shot in and around Nashville and had it's premiere last night. Utter crap that is hardly worthy of being Redbox fodder.

No balls. At all.

I jumped on the bandwagon a few years ago and have never looked back.

Today it looks like the best bang for the buck on a new table is the Audio Technica LP120:

http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATLP120-Professional-Turntable/dp/B002S1CJ2Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329402376&sr=8-1

It's based off of the legendary Technics sl-1200mk2 (which is what I use) which means it's rock solid but not beaten to death by a dj. Plus it can play 78rpm and reverse which mine can't (jealous!). Plus it's only about $200 now and that's about the best you can do on a new table without going into heavy audiophile territory. (Just look at some of the threads on the Steve Hoffman Music Forums...goodness...)

I always knew about analog warmth of vinyl, but what really got me was mastering and the loudness war. To be perfectly honest, I had lost all interest in music during high school. I couldn't understand why, but I just didn't enjoy listening to music anymore. It wasn't always the music being something I disliked-there was just never a time where I wanted to listen to anything.

And then in college I discovered the world of vinyl needledropping to digital formats. Oh. My. Dear. God. Music came back to me. I'm not usually one to make these kinds of statements, but I felt like a little kid who just couldn't wait to hear new things. It really did change my life. (3 long useless but fantastic years in the college AM station too!)

With a good quality rig and transfer chain, you can easily best most any CD simply because of the mastering. But I'd stick with FLAC and lossless formats because bouncing down to mp3 just seems like a waste. (I swore off all lossy formats years ago.) Now most people go to higher resolution flac (24/96 and up) and it can really bring out a difference.

It really all depends on the mastering of the music and how the record was cut. It can easily trump the CD...or not if it was not done with fidelity in mind.

If you're on a budget the best option is still to scan locally and through craigslist for a decent TT like an old Technics. These can be found in various models all usually for around $25-$50. Then grab an old stereo reciever with a phono input for around $25.

And now we get to one of the more finicky parts:

I must stress this: You need a good cartridge and needle. This is key to vinyl and most will ignore this step entirely. Be sure and find one you like and set it up properly in order to have proper playback and not damage your records.

Best cartridges to start with are the Shure m97xe (Straightforward sound, what I'm currently using and can be had for around $50), and the Audio Technica AT95e (good straightforward sound with a natural warmth $40-50 in most places).

You will also need a preamp if there isn't one built into your reciever. Don't use a USB one on a new TT because they really aren't that great.

Get a anti-static record brush. Especially if you can't afford to clean records now.

Last thing I can think of right now is pressing quality. When I started collecting, I wound up grabbing all kinds of things I wanted and not really thinking about pressings. This way I wound up with quite a few inferior record club pressings. Generally you want to avoid these and later re-pressings and always try to go for the original issue. Also, certain mastering engineers are revered for their particular cuttings of certain albums, and these will sound miles ahead of the other versions.(Most notably UK pressings of British albums, and Robert Ludwig mastered albums, like his cut of Led Zeppelin II.)

Check out the above mentioned SH forums for all kinds of more audio info. I joined over there two years ago and quickly became an addict.

And remember, vinyl is a constant building process. There's always something you can change or upgrade, but it's all about your personal preference.

Thanks for the advice, right now I've downloaded the Vegas Platinum suite demo and am going to go around for a test drive.

I need to grab Avisynth and start learning it due to the sheer amount of stuff people have been able to do with it. I'm not very good with scripting though.

It's really tough to bounce back to PC editing after 3 years+ of FCP on a Mac. I've always used PCs, but my school went Apple so I had the interface of Final Cut ingrained into my brain.

What would you guys recommend for editing on a new lower to medium end Win7 PC? Between Vegas, Premiere etc. I wasn't sure what to check out.

Right now I'm used to Final Cut Pro after having used it in school, but I just hated the amount of limitations Macs have.

Is there also a cheap edition that has a good interface, doesn't lose too many features and doesn't require a monster custom built machine?

Right now I have a Compaq C5826 (3.2 ghz processor, 4GB RAM, 500GB HD, 64bit Windows 7) which of course isn't the greatest but should be enough to do some little projects here and there.

Once a Thief. John Woo tries his hand at a comedy/caper film but still has his trademark style infused. Charming, but goes nuts in the last five minutes.

3 Chows out of 4.

Full Contact. Flashy, stylized but lacking in substance. It is merely an okay HK action film with Chow Yun-fat. Enough said. Although someone should have rethought the whole biker image and the awful haircut.

3 fingers out of 4.

Bullet in the Head (1990)

John Woo took his idea for setting the prequel A Better Tomorrow 3 in the Vietnam war and further refined it into this film incorporating elements of his own youth.

Many have said that this is a Woo film crossed with The Deer Hunter. You wouldn't be that far off. However, this movie just keeps giving even in its current state where the edit is not what was originally desired. (3 hour original cut, chopped down to 2.)

A film with deep meanings and distinct long character arcs that is just damn good. Not that it isn't without flaws, but it is a great example of the forgotten art of storytelling.

For my money, Woo's third best film behind The Killer and Hard Boiled. And like those, you won't forget it easily.

3.5 balls out of 4.

Is it bad that I didn't care for The Goonies or Ferris Bueller?

A Better Tomorrow III: Love and Death in Saigon

Has nothing really to do with the first two films. John Woo had nothing to do with this one, so producer Tsui Hark directed. Woo ha dwanted to do something in Vietnam as a prequel for the second film but left and wound up doing that idea for Bullet in the Head (Next up). This does the same thing although there really is no decent action, and it suddenly becomes a quasi romance (done badly.)

Pointless, and should have been called "people stand around in a cheap movie". Just full of NOTHING!!

1 ball out of 4 for Chow Yun-fat. That's it.

A Better Tomorrow II (1987)

What the heck happened here? This train wreck is somehow still enjoyable. The original cut supposedly ran about 160 minutes and the director and producer fought over getting it down. Eventually a third party just cut all kinds of things and threw it together.

The action is first rate, even for John Woo. Spellbinding, really, and the final sequence is unmissable.

But everything else just seems thrown together because they didn't have much of a story. Of course, you can't really get around the fact that a major character who died in the first film SUDDENLY HAS A TWIN BROTHER WHO WAS NEVER MENTIONED BEFORE!!

But it is enjoyable, it isn't something to be disowned. The first film did not need a sequel, but it could be worse.

"IF YOU HAVE ANY DIGNITY APOLOGIZE TO THE RICE RIGHT NOW!!!"

3 balls out of 4. The action gets a balltastic 4 however.

A Better Tomorrow (1986)

The first John Woo-Chow Yun-fat collaboration that singlehandedly ushered in the era of "heroic bloodshed" Hong Kong action cinema. Considered by many to be one of the greatest Chinese films ever made.

It's nice to see where all of this stuff started, but being the film to usher in a new trend isn't always the best thing. ABT comes off as a bit dated and takes a while to establish its story rhythms. It is certainly not up to the standard of Woo's later efforts, but seeing as this was the first time around all is forgiven. It's quite enjoyable if you can find good enough subtitles. And Chow Yun-fat steals the movie. As usual.

A respectable 3 balls out of 4. Wish there was a better subtitle track.

And this happens in the first 5 minutes:

It's as if the gods said: let us create a badass actor who combines the right qualities of Clint Eastwood and Cary Grant. And thus there was Chow.

The Killer-Criterion DVD. What a complete movie. The other half of Hard Boiled, with the meaty drama and boy does it just unfold effortlessly. Peckinpah-esque in it's conclusion that you think about for days. Gun ballets, codes of honor, guilt, loss, tragic. One of the greatest films I've ever seen. Period. For me, I can't immediately like a film or be easily surprised. But with this and Hard Boiled it was like being a 5 year old again. I need to watch this about 5 million more times.

INFINITE BALLS!!

City on Fire

Finally got a version with Cantonese, English subs and uncut. (The US DVD is crap.) Lacks the touch of a John Woo HK movie, but it still works really well. Chow Yun-fat really shines as a more comedic and simple character who just happens to be an undercover cop. And the relationship between the two main characters in The Killer is reversed, oddly. (Same actors, other is dominant here.)

And Reservoir Dogs is an inferior copy. This is the movie they accused Tarantino of ripping off, and I thought it wouldn't actually be that obvious. IT IS! Sure, Tarantino does his "I'm gonna mess around with time and not show you anything"  bit and makes all of the characters talk big and act flashy-but this film actually has characters instead of characterizations and a whole film worth of plot leading up to the heist.

3.5 balls out of 4 dancing Chow Yun-fats.

Yes, he dances!

PMed.

I didn't know there was another Blu-ray edition of The Killer. It doesn't seem to be the greatest but at least it has no DNR and isn't badly converted from PAL.

The DD Blu-ray uses the same source as the German EMS DVD but crops it a bit and scrubs out detail. This is what they did with their Hard Boiled transfer, but I can't remember which transfer that was based on. At least they didn't screw it up like they did for The Killer.

Their HB DVD was the first way I saw the film, and it is the best all around version as of now. The Blu-ray is a nice bump up to HD that reveals more of the re-done transfer's limitations. But I still think some of the color timing is off.

I now own the Fortune Star and Criterion editions of both in addition to the DD Hard Boiled and I'm still not at all satisfied with any of them. These are the two films Criterion really needs to get back in the collection.

TV's Frink said:

Ziggy Stardust said:

TV's Frink said:

 

negative1 said:

CP3S said:

negative1 said:

i've made $15k a year (way under poverty)

That's about what I raked in during my years of trying to live the Bohemian lifestyle. Fun, but kind of rough. I'd have traded it for a solid forty hour workweek, and steady paychecks.

What kind of a degree do you have, -1?

 

got a B.S. (bachelor of science) in mathematics from state

college in houston, TX. emphasis on Numerical Analysis.

minored in: physics, computer science, and electrical engineering

==============================

i've had two jobs that i've actually used the degree at,

modelling space station physics at Hughes-Lockheed for NASA,

and mathematical radar modelling for the US government

at the Naval Airbase in maryland.

 

every other job, i just learned on the spot or had no

experience. the sales job was the best, because i

was a videogame addict, and knew about videogames

inside and out. i didn't even want to be paid, because

i got to play for free, and got the job because my friend

was a manager there...

 

my degree is still in the cardboard tube that the

college sent me, practically unopened. i've checked it once

and never looked at it again. i was an average

student with a 2.5 / 4.0 GPA, and 3.0 in my major.

the DEGREE IS USELESS, except as a checkmark

to get a reference. i've gone back to try getting

a masters degree twice, but lost interest, and

decided to self teach myself what i needed to know.

 

college was a waste of time for me, but i know

others that were much smarter, learned more, or had more fun.

i spent most of the time in the gameroom, and

playing videogames.. i never talked to people, professors,

or girls. it was just something to kill time doing.

 

i hated my original major of electrical engineering,

and flunked out with a 0.5 GPA after 2 years.

got kicked out by my parents, and was homeless

for a very short time.

 

i went back, because i had nothing better to do and

wanted to straighten out to accomplish something

with myself.

 

i liked math (ever since i was in grade school).

i lucked into computer programming, and that's

about the only useful skill i felt good about doing

although i'm mediocre at it.

 

i have NO respect for money, or real use for it,

i've got everything i thought i could want (a few

times over), and am now in the process of getting

rid of everything again.. i live in an apartment,

drive a 19 year toyota corolla (given to me

by a colleague for $1), have no furniture

except a futon, and basically live in a darkened

bedroom with 1 lamp (that i don't turn on).

everything else i own is packed away in

storage tubs or is electronic/computer related.

 

i should have become a

monk.. (or at least an electronic one)..

 

later

-1

You owe me one click wheel. :-/

 

It could be a poem.

 

greenpenguino said:

TV's Frink said:

greenpenguino said:

TV's Frink said:

RedFive said:

Davnes007 said:

TV's Frink said:

RedFive said:

Davnes007 said:

TV's Frink said:

greenpenguino said:

win

^This

+1

I concur.

Needs the colars fixed.

fixed.

Fixed.

TV's Frink said:

Leonardo said:

The colonel said:

Alright, stop that, stop that. It's silly. It's really silly. It started with a nice picture about a very very very very tall building and a white rabbit, but it's gotten far too silly. I think the readers are tired of scrolling on their mouse wheels to skip this picture. Now, I for one love little rabbits, especially white ones, cause they're cute little furry creatures, although I've heard some of them can be quite vicious indeed... But skyscrapers get really annoying really fast, and this particular picture has long lost its novelty.

So, I would advise everyone to get back to posting Random Pictures, this is the Random Pictures thread, not the "Skyscraper and bunny" thread, otherwise I'll have to ask the thread to be closed.

...... Get on with it!

doubleKO said:

GODZILLA WANTS MORE BUILDINGS!!

greenpenguino said:

Would you like a Jelly Baby?

I KNEW YOU WERE GOING TO DO THAT! ;)

Fantastic looking machine. I know how difficult it can be for building a system from scratch so congrats on your first. I nearly built my own a few months ago, but wound up having to buy one instead.

I think that should be nicknamed the GOUT-killer.

No. 1: Live and Let Die  very closely followed by Dr. No through The Living Daylights.

Licence to Kill and the Brosnan films a bit less.

The OT and 97 SE

Everything else is pretty equal, but here's some other contenders:

Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Man with No Name trilogy

Citizen Kane

Raiders

Blade Runner

Dr. Strangelove

Bridge on the River Kwai-Lawrence of Arabia-Doctor Zhivago

Vertigo, Notorious

The Godfather

The Third Man

Chinatown

and I could go on forever...

Hard Boiled. Again. The greatest action film of all time. Life changing. INFINITE BALLS!

But it seriously needs better subtitles than simply using the English dub. And I cross referenced all three copies I own.

Michael Gibbs- "Sad Kong" from Hard Boiled

Bring it on! I prefer a physical experience instead of all this DVNR-ing around!

Cannot wait for this and PSB to complete the Puggo trilogy.

It's a good suggestion to try and find a 16mm '81 print because those would likely be in better shape and not be so battered.

And did 16mm prints always have a mono foldown? I thought later on they would at least be stereo for things done in Dolby stereo.

I loathe that film. Was forced to go see it in a theater and spent the next 2.5 hours in a constant state of wincing, facepalming, groaning, and looking on dumbfounded.

Just godawful crap. Skip everything but Jackie Brown. How in the heck he managed to make that well done coherent movie is beyond me.

I revisited the Lethal Weapon series:

LW: Taut, inspired, simple, gritty and utterly brilliant. Everything is on sure form, and it benefits from being the only one of the four to be fully written by creator Shane Black. Still the villains are one dimensional and so is the plot in a way. I also enjoy the scenes added for the Director's Cut. 3.5 suicidal balls out of 4.

LW2: Some of the better remembered moments from the series, bump to scope,  more defined villains that are also more cardboard than the first ones, the addition of Joe Pesci is genius, it's darker, and Shane Black isn't entirely thrown out. 3 Krugerrands out of 4.

LW3: one word- LAME! Nothing works, the villain is awful, everything is uninspired, it looks like crap, it looks like a made for TV movie at times, badly dated, not funny, Pesci is annoying-forgettable crud. 2 cop killers out of 4.

LW4: thankfully a bit more energetic than 3, but also badly dated now, tired and uninspired, subtitled: Martin Riggs gets the crap beaten out of him, but Jet Li is the baddie so it's instantly better than 3. 2 laser sights out of 4.

To Live and Die in L.A.-I've seen this 10 times now and it never gets old. Masterpiece. Underrated highly layered slice of 80's pop culture that if you look carefully influenced nearly every other 80's action film. Dark, grimy, realistic and utterly brilliant. Billy Friedkin's other masterpiece, and possibly better than The French Connection in a few ways. And Willem Dafoe is the villain. And he's wacko! 4 Wang Chung balls out of 4.

Ziggy Stardust said:

captainsolo, I've begun considering going to film school, but I'm not sure now since you posted that. Would you still recommend it?

If it's really what you want to do, then yes. Just keep in mind some of these things:

-When applying you will have to decide between film studies (scholarly/criticism) and production. Some schools are better in one than the other, but most only have a spattering of real film studies courses. Be sure and find one that has what you're looking for with an actual dedicated film program.

-The undergrad degree is going to be the same everywhere. It's still a Bachelor's in Fine Arts no matter what. So don't worry if you wind up at a smaller lesser known school instead of the big three (UCLA, USC, NYU) etc. because the basics are the same everywhere. It saves an unbelievable amount of money. (I got accepted to NYU's Tisch school but couldn't afford it.) And there's always grad school for later on.

-No matter what, film is the degree that is almost entirely self-taught no matter what people try to tell you. It all depends on how much work you're willing to put in, because you're going to be spending untold amounts of hours and late nights on projects and the like. It is still something that has to be self-taught essentially.

-And you're going to need resources. People to help, people to work with, and $ because otherwise you'll end up like me and have a whole project to do and no one to help and no capital to put into it. This is one thing the schools don't tell you, because you can't just go in and make a whole student film with no resources.

The nitty gritty:

-The vast majority of people are there for the wrong reasons. It will be rare to find someone who actually cares about the field or medium and you will wind up putting your head through the wall at the ignorance of the other students.

-Get a job somehow in the department. This is how I learned things and stayed connected inside the department. I worked in the equipment rental cage and facilities management as a work-studyon Fridays and weekends. this gave me access to the buildings, equipment, soundstage and productions that I normally wouldn't have had access to. Plus I had to man the desk for everyone which gave me all kinds of experience.

-Don't expect to work with film. I got to dabble in 16mm but everything is digitized now.

-You will learn to love computers even more so. They will own you completely for four years.

-Learn the necessary programs. Especially the editing and processing software. Your school will have a certain program and stick to it. Learn that because it will save your life. I had to spend years with Apple and Final Cut Pro.

-Network! Network! Network! This does have it's limits.

-Get in, get out. I took several AP courses in high school, so with that and my GPA I managed to shave off a whole year of school and get my BFA in three.

-I still maintain that you can learn everything you really need to know about films and filmmaking from studying great and awful films and genuinely reflecting on every single aspect of them. Read every book you can get your hands on. think about the people involved, the culture, the times, read criticism, study the film market, understand the way things are delivered today, understand home video and always keep self educating. I've pieced together all of my knowledge since I was a little kid and so I've gotten to the point where I can't stop. What you find in film school is that no one cares about film itself.

The adage coined by Roger Ebert is still true: "There was a switch from everyone trying to make The Great American Movie to making The great American Hit". Even with so-called "independents" you need to seek distribution and then get your product out there to sell to the masses in the hopes of achieving greater success.

I could turn this into a giant tome of a book, but the gist of what I'm trying to say is this: Film school is necessary these days. It is the thing everybody looks for at the beginning to see if you've proved your worth. For most it is a good learning experience and will usually get you to a better place. For those like me who already have a deep insatiable knowledge and love of the cinema it is a trying and living necessary hell where you will feel absolutely neglected. But if you keep working, you can teach yourself a bit and get that all important degree.

Then the problem is finding a job. That's the big one.

If you've got any other questions Ziggy feel free to ask.

Most importantly, keep watching films. Watch everything you can. As much as possible. New viewings will bring in new insight. And if at all possible watch things on a projector with a large screen and sound system. This will give you a greater connection to the film and allow for better composition. It really opens things up. Really. I used the empty screening rooms every weekend I had free at school, and would just watch all kinds of things.

How many have a bad job, want to switch careers or are unemployed?

I graduated back in May after managing to get my Film BFA in three years. 8 months later...still nothing. Job searching every single day online and in person becomes unbelievably tiresome. Back home here in Tennessee the film market is obviously meager, and when there actually is stuff going on it's so close knit that you have absolutely no chance of getting in.

And pounding the pavement nowadays will only get you either A: thrown out by security or B: your resume immediately going into the trash. Both of these are not fun. At all.

If you take a lower job that looks bad to potential employers, but if you're unemployed that also looks bad! This isn't even mentioning all of the endless amounts of qualifications nowadays. Ugh.

So I've been applying for anything within reason (and some not) all over the place and still have no responses. I think I've pulled all my hair out. Not to mention that all my student loans going into repayment.

The fun never ends. ;)

Okay, end rant. I just had to get this out somewhere before I exploded. Does anybody else have similar situations either being unemployed or stuck in a job they hate?

adywan said:

Wait until you see this....

http://youtu.be/6obEMR_aRkA?hd=1

What was that?!?!?!?!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhh!!!!