Possible

Oh boy... the research paper. Do we really have to talk about that? I fear that this blog may interfere greatly with my procrastination. At this point, I don’t have a lot of solid work done. I am actually still reading the Great Gatsby and that worries me a little bit. On the plus side I took a “writing research paper” workshop in the Learning center today. So I have completed the first step (somewhat) of getting organized.

I have read all the details and understand the assignment very well, as well as all the requirements. BUT, I don’t really have a good time schedule or goals laid out. AND this week is super busy.  I am working Weds - Saturday, and have school wed and thursday. So both those days I can’t work on the paper. I need to finish reading the Great Gatsby, and go from having 0 pages to having 5 by Sunday, with the only available time to do that being today (which I also have to take the two hour timed essay, since I can’t on Weds or Thursday), when I get off work Friday night or before work Saturday morning. And whatever is left I’ll have to work on Sunday after noon (so much for a day of rest right?). 

Did I mention, I haven’t started doing any research? In fact I really don’t know what to search for with the prompt I chose. I’m supposed to talk about how the girl’s in Reading Literature in Tehran reinvent themselves and discuss the illusions their society creates as well as the illusions they create and relate that to Gatsby “honesty of imagination.” Hmmm... where should I begin to search? Do I look up Iranian society? Scholarly literary analysis of Reading Lolita In Tehran and The Great Gatsby? Scientific or psychological articles about imagination or honesty? I just don’t know what direction to take there.

Not to mention, that all of this is going to require more reading... ah! Cue the violin music, as the S.S. Ben’s Research Paper sinks into the harbor. Hopeless! Hopeless! Hopeless! Hopeless! Okay, I may be getting a little over dramatic, but hey Jennifer said vent! And my form of venting is highly dramatic.

So here I find myself in this sticky situation, things look bleak, and I am wishing my research paper was done, well wishing this semester is over... but anyways, there must be a glimmer of hope or some silver lining in these thunderclouds. So let’s take a look at the glass half full! I gave my final speech in Public Speaking, so there are no more assignments in that class, doesn’t look like I have any home work in Art History either. AND, there are no Exploring Language questions or Reading Discussion questions to wrestle with this week... and I already finished my extra credit blog for English, AND I am finish this blog right now on a Tuesday! 

So even if it does come down to finishing this draft at the eleventh hour, at least this paper will be the only thing I have to worry about at the eleventh hour. Besides now that I’ve vented through this blog, I can start to fell the fog roll out of my mind and the little gears of inspiration slowly start to turn. This paper is again, possible.

Stretched Thin

Oh man...
too much to do and too little time. (cliche I know, but true)

Being pulled in about 8,000 directions at the moment. School is definitely piling up right now. We're right at the end and it's just that last stretch that seems nearly impossible to complete. And then to add to it, gotta work. taking on 4 shifts this week. Man I'm going to be tired... but hey that's $.

Still looking for a local job... starting to get more and more worried about the wear and tear on my car due to the constant commuting.

Oh well, this blog began in a poetic-ish style, but dissolved into complaint. Ah...
things don't go the way you plan them it seems. They go what the opposite. My head's much to full. too full to let my sleep... to quote the good old Bob Dylan "I've got a head full of Ideas that are driving me insane!"

I've got at least 20 half-baked ideas fighting to get to the surface.
Rewrites for my tv show.
Songs for the concert scene in said tv show.
Becoming a real video-production business, acting "professional."
A "Hagar the Horrible" short film.
a combination of Fahrenheit 451 and 1984 short film.
My magnum opus: an epic sci-fiction movie about Time and the universe.
and more!


But sleep should be attempted, dreams should be had.
good night void

Subjective Nature

In 1909, The National Board of Censorship controls the film industry. They censor topics such as prostitution, childbirth and masturbation. In the 1930’s, the film studios hold to a production code to ensure proper content. This self enforced censorship included several tenets such as “evil can’t go unpunished,” ‘no profanity,” “limited scenes of passion,” and “no inter-racial romance.” Filmmakers such as Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock pushed the envelope and challenged the boundaries of what was allowed. Orson Welles’ film “A Touch of evil” broke nearly all the rules, it was violent, the Sheriff (played by Welles) was actually the bad guy, and the lead character was a Mexican detective (played by Charles Heston) married to a white American woman. The production company actually chose to re-edit the film to take out all the bad stuff while Welles was in Europe working on another project. He wrote a long letter explaining how the film should have been properly cut and from that letter the film was reconstructed in 1998. Alfred Hitchcock was infamous for pushing his movies to include dirty things just as he is famous for having cameos in his films. He got in the most trouble with his famous movie “Psycho.” The shower murder scene was extremely provocative because of the violence and nudity (albeit cleverly barely hidden). The film was rejected by the production code, and the studio told Hitchcock to make changes. So he waited a couple months and sent the film back, unchanged. They believed he had made the changes and thanked him for doing so and the movie made it to the theaters intact.

The government once again got involved with the film industry in 1939 when the US Department of Justice tried to break-down vertical integration. This meant that studios could not book a whole block of films together because they would mix a few good films with a bunch of worthless ones and that the studios could not own theaters. The Government struck down unjustly in 1947 when the Un-American Activities committee black listed 100’s of people in Hollywood because they were considered t be communist sympathizers. In 1968 the production code is terminated and is replaced by the current MPAA rating system. The MPAA rating system is a voluntary system that filmmakers comply to. The system is determined by group of families who oversee reviewing and rating the films. This systems works because it does not censor any content or topics, but rather acts a a warning label for viewers. A viewer can know what to expect in a G, PG, PG-13 or R rated feature. It also works because anyone that wants to make money of their films understands that people want to know what something is rated, and if the filmmaker understands his target audience the films content and rating will fit the needs of that audience.

The current system of MPAA rating looks to be the best solution. It is done without government intervention, or any cost to tax-payers. The rating system warns customers of explicit content. The only problems have to with the actual standards used to rate a film. Often filmmakers will include just enough bad language or just one brief shot of nudity to get the R rating for their feature. A movie like this doesn’t really seem to be the same R rating as a movie that has constant cursing and nudity. The problem there isn’t necessarily the rating system though, but rather the subjective nature of people’s tastes and attitudes towards sexual content, graphic violence and foul language.

THe Quest for various things in my life... Ch. 4

It's been awhile since I blogged. I've been quite busy. Finished up my Environmental Impact Journal, which included my valiant bicycling efforts. Also I've made another trip down to Universal Studios (making the most of my annual pass). Also Thomas and I have been hard at work for a Top Secret video for our Mass Communications class as well as continuing work on Ghetto Movie, and Elmo Vs. Death 2. In addition to working on video related efforts, I have been exploring possibilities on the college front. Recently, I took a trip down to CSUN with AVC's transfer center and was able to get some good information about transferring, as well as being able to take a tour of the Cinema and Television Production facilities, which was a great little film-maker geek out moment for me. Then yesterday, I went down to USC and had some even greater film-maker geek out moments as I attended 2 informative sessions for USC's School of Cinematic Arts as well as taking a tour of the new facilities (the $175 million dollar facilities donated by George Lucas). CSUN looks a great school, at an affordable price, while USC looks like a fantastic dream-school, at a not so affordable price. So I am applying to both and USC #1 choice and CSUN #2 choice , if I get into USC then where there's a will there's a way will be my motto for finding the means to pay for it. As always... wish me luck!

The Quest For Employment- Day 4

Today I took a tour of UCLA. It was a great tour! The campus is beautiful, I could see myself at that school. Only 15 people outside of UCLA are accepted into the Film program, so I've got my work cut out for me. I embrace the challenge! On the job search side of things, I was able to find time to print out and fill out applications to Chili's and Red Robins, I will turn those in tomorrow afternoon. Wish me luck!

p.s. I took some pictures of flowers awhile ago.. thought i'd share them!