This Savage Art

The Face of the Earth – Location Stills

Popularity: 4% [?]

So today marks the beginning of what will prove to be one of the most challenging year of my life. I [not alone of course] will be bringing a new life into this world. No name as of yet and if I had one I wouldn’t tell you all anyway. A friend [actually a couple of them] told me not to tell people what name you’ve chosen for your child because if they give a look that isn’t exactly complimentary you will be living with that look for a very long time. Good advice.

I spent the last couple of weeks seeing some friends and spending some quiet time with the family and Linda. Quiet is good, trust me.

Creatively, I will be pushing forward with everything as per usual. Writing, screening, shooting, editing, learning…always learning. My time will definitely be consumed in the months to come especially after April (the due date is April 14th, give or take a couple of weeks.) I have a theory that the busier you are the more productive you potentially can be provided you’re busy the good way not the mind-numbing, grinding, spinning your wheels bad way. I got a Canon HV20 HD MiniDV Camcorder so I intend on shooting more which will be good. It’s not a prosumer camera but it can be hacked to produce some beautiful images at 24p. I’m still working with FCP 5.1.4 so getting the HDV format into my system might keep me up a couple of nights. It’s not a full on DV/HD camera like the DVX-100 or the HVX-200 but it will serve me well for small projects and experimenting. Anyway…

I wish everyone who stops by [This Savage Art] a healthy 2008 and thanks for reading and remaining interested.

Popularity: 25% [?]

Every film just by the nature of economic and creative force, internally or externally, has the potential to fail ambitiously. No man or woman sets out to make a bad film. No one person is immune to this plight and no crystal ball can foresee its final destination regardless of what Variety has to say about it. The pure will to create a work that will endure endless scrutiny and hardship takes a dedicated craftsman, politician, psychologist, leader, editor, visionary, disciplinarian, economist and historian. Pushing the limits of budget, creativity and patience can all be a bust in the end but that is in the eye of the beholder. Can hindsight work in a film’s favor? Was the criticism deserved or misguided? What makes a film that aspires to reach beyond the boundaries of entertainment go down in flames? Who gets to determine its demise? What is an ambitious failure? That’s what we’re here to find out.

Join in and contribute. To read the guidelines check out the original announcement post here.

The Entries:

6.20

Ill Wind Blows Coppola No Good from Edward Copeland

Alien 3 from Ray DeRousse

The Quiet American from Paul Hackett

The Horror…The Horror from William Speruzzi

M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable – Ambitious Failure? from Simon Crowe

Death Driving Ms. Henstridge from Erich Kuersten

6.21

The Offer That Should Have Been Refused from Chris Daniel

Drowning in Ambition? from Pacheco

Sgt. Peppers Ambitious Failures Club Band from Pat Piper

Fading in the last leg from Wagstaff

6.22

The Folly of The Fountain from Robert Humanick

Dune: Its Name Is A Killing Word from J.D. Lafrance

6.23

Jose Rizal from Oggs Cruz

Charles Burnett: To Sleep With Anger from J.J. Murphy

6.24

Contact High from Bob Westal

Tears in Rain. Thomas Vinterberg’s It’s All About Love from Jeremy Richey

Still Coming In

Sisa and Ambitious Failure 2 from Noel Vera

Popularity: 43% [?]

“…for a short film this is pretty ambitious in terms of character development and drama.”

Probably too ambitious. My short film gets a little love. Thanks Ajit.

Anyway, go to Works where you can see for yourself.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Popularity: 4% [?]