July 2010 - Issue #5 DRAGONCOW

DRAGONCOW

Official Newsletter

A semi-monthly update from your favorite Independent Film Production Company

DragonCow By the Numbers:

Website Views: 4288 Fans on Facebook:275 Views on Youtube:59,674 Views on Yahoo:76,976 Views on Myspace: 11,565

DRAGONCOW PRODUCTIONS IS TAKING

OVER THE ANTELOPE VALLEY

Last month you heard that we were commis- sioned to create a 30 second ad for AV Florist, great news right? Well it gets even better. We delivered our commercial and AV Florist owner Chris Spicher was ab- solutely thrilled, but he wasn’t the only one! We showed the video to Rosemary the owner of Camille’s Sidewalk Cafe in Palmdale and Lancaster and she realized that she needed one too! So we made our sec- ond commercial and it turned out abso- lutely fantastic. With two successful commercials under our belt and a third one on the way you can bet that Dragon- Cow is here to stay. In fact it’s our goal to have 20 commercials produced by the end of the year. Help us make that a reality and pass our info on to any businesses you know!

- Ben Andrews (661) 317-7803

ben@dragoncowproductions.com

http://www.dragoncowproductions.com/commercials

SATISFIED CUSTOMERS

 Ben Andrews and Camille’s owner Rosemary.

Ben Andrews and AV Florist owner Chris Spicher.

Rebel Filmmakers Update:

Jim Greenleaf will now be playing the role of Mayor T. Rex Harris and helping out as a Producer for the show! Jim Greenleaf is the CEO of ilivetoday.com and has some really great experience and connections with the entertainment business. To find out more about what Jim does, check out http://www.ilivetoday.com
To see the new commercials that DragonCow Productions has produced simply visit: http://www.dragoncowproductions.com/commercials

Thank you for reading!

 Happy 4th of July Everyone!

Download the full color PDF of the newsletter here: https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B6PXothDYFWGY2IzOTQ5OGQtNzk1NS00MDJhLTlmNGEtYzVjN2EwZmI4ZmNj&hl=en&authkey=CJ7CpYoD

Mr. Hungry@Work

Hooray! We have completed our second paid video commercial! The 45 second spot is titled "Mr. Hungry@Work and is promoting the local business Camille's Sidewalk Cafe. I met up with the owner Rosemary about 2 weeks ago and even though she had her doubts she took a leap of faith and decided to commission DragonCow to make an ad for her:

SO HERE IT IS:


Pretty good huh? Rosemary has absolutely thrilled and completely satisfied with the video. We even had a chance to premiere the video live on the internet through a fantastic new site called ilivetoday.com and if you haven't joined ilivetoday.com yet you must! It's a really great way to connect with people and businesses in the Antelope Valley.

So if you're a business in need of some fresh ideas in creative advertising give me a call (661) 317-7803 or email me ben@dragoncowproductions.com

Everyone else sit back and enjoy the ride! Wish me luck : )

Gotta Get Back

Well, I am here again, on the blog sending out my thoughts into the void! I've been quite busy so I think it is important for me to reflect on what I have been doing. During the last school semester I wrote blogs on a weekly basis as part of my Critical Thinking and Research English Class. This assignment fueled my creative writing greatly and jumpstarted my problem solving mindset. (Reflecting upon that sentence, I'm not quite sure how effective my car-oriented metaphors are.)

At one point or another we need to face down our failures. If we have the bravery to face down our failures we can turn them into opportunities. I recently received the third of three disappointing letters, first a letter denying me admission to USC, then a painful reminder in the form of a letter rejecting me from the Film-Production program and a third from the Animation and Digital Arts Program. I had my moment of pain, disappointment and bitterness and now I am moving on.

I am taking control of this moment and steering myself into a bold new future. Tired of working odd jobs and commuting to Pasadena (yes, I said Pasadena) I have started building up the business of DragonCow Productions.

The DragonCow team has:

Made its first commercial for a local business!
Check out the video for AV Florist in Lancaster:




I met with Av Florist owner Chris Spicher for lunch at Jackie's cafe in Lancaster and convinced him to take a chance and he commissioned us to make a 30 second stop-animated ad for his flower shop. In less than two weeks, thanks to some late nights and hard work from seasoned DragonCow animators Thomas Thomas and Dean Terrell, the video was completed.

This lead to the development of our next project another video ad! This time the ad is for Camille's Sidewalk Cafe. The future looks bright for DragonCow Productions as we have 2 more paid videos in the immediate future and several creative opportunities too...

Stay tuned to the tales of Ben Andrews and DragonCow, and our continuing saga.
As always, Wish me luck!

http://www.dragoncowproductions.com

Wise Owls

A lone warrior approaches the dark mouth of a mountain. The mountain breathes it foul odor and the warrior’s bones tremble in fear. His metal boots clink against the hard rocky floor of the cave. The smell of rotting corpses pillage his nostrils. Death is all about him, and terror begins to grip his mind. What horrible beast lies ahead? What fanged, clawed, scaled monstrosity waits to ambush him in the dark?

This is the feeling of fear and uncertainty when beginning new things. We build up monsters in our mind, great enemies too big to be defeated. But we continue on through this cave because we are brave and crave adventure. We crave knowledge and understanding. Like Plato we must not remain prisoner in the cave, but find our way out to the sun.

FInding my way out of the cave.

This class was a great experience for me. I learned a lot. More than I thought I could learn really. Not only did I learn, but I had fun doing so. Even if I complained about the grueling research paper, or cramming at 11:58 to finish the assignments for the week, I really did enjoy myself. I enjoyed the struggle. The constant uphill battle. Never feeling safe, fat, happy or lazy. This course was dynamic and built up upon itself and the other courses I took this semester.

Parting is such sweet sorrow.

While I feel great relief in having completed the work aspect of this class, I will miss the learning and friendship of this class. Through all of these blogs I have really been able to connect with all of you. It’s been basically like reading each other’s diaries or journals. I’ve gotten to know you all on a deep level, and I will miss that community and interaction.

Some final thoughts.

You are never to old to learn. One of the most inspiring things about taking classes at a community college is coming coming across people 2 or even 3 times your age, going back to school to get a better education. Keep up the great work, you can do it! Owls may be old, but they are always the wisest!

Even a blog can be beautiful. Every opportunity to write or to be creative is an opportunity that we must seize. I think we all unlocked the inner philosopher and poet in these blogs. I greatly enjoyed reading all of your blogs because of all the fascinating metaphor and ideas that I came across.

About Me

I mentioned at the begging of the semester that I was trying to get into the USC School of Cinematic arts. I received a letter from USC yesterday, I did not get in. After taking the moment to wallow in wretched self-pity, I changed my thinking to a positive mindset and realized that it as simply not meant to be, at least not at this moment. That means for now I will remain in the Antelope Valley, so perhaps I may bump into one of you next semester? Also my video-production business is gaining some ground locally! I  am producing a video ad for AV Florist and connect with a lot of businesses locally through http://www.ilivetodayav.com (great site, highly recommend you check it out). So everyone please stay in touch! I will probably be premiering my first feature film, for more info email me at ben@dragoncowproductions.com 

So long and thanks for all the fish!

Full --> Fuller

Writing a research paper is a learning experience. Going into the research paper I really didn’t know what I would write about. I found that the research part of the research paper is really where I figured out an angle to go from. I set out in a quest to find some good academic sources on imagination and what I found actually interested me. I came across a great philosophical article by Timothy M. Costelloe, titled "Hume’s Phenomenology of the Imagination." It went into immense discussion on the process of imagination. 

I learned about the imagistic powers, conceptual powers and productive powers of the imagination. I was most surprised by the concept of the productive power of imagination. To quote Costelloe “These ideas transcend experience and include those of space with nothing tangible or visible (a vacuum), time without change and succession, continued existence, substance and self-identity, and the immortal soul.”  This concept is deep. I was surprised to come across concepts so mind-bending in my research.

I made a realization that I can come across something like that anywhere. I reconnected with the idea of being surprised by deepness. I also realized that sometimes, communication can be a bit difficult. How can I get this idea across in a blog? Frustration.

This paper had some frustration other than communication. Bits of good and bad. My first review for revising this paper complimented me a lot, but didn’t offer much to help me improve. Another review was extremely helpful. Lots of comments, lots of criticism. So whoever gave me that one, THANK YOU! Others can do a great job of catches mistakes that you missed.

I feel that I should have learned more from this research paper, but I honestly feel that I have taken in so much information this semester that learning more in this research paper is a bit like putting gas into an already full tank. Overflow. My mind is full and I can put the pump on, but most of the gasoline is just spilling onto the floor and getting all over my shoes. 

But perhaps I am being a bit unfair.To say I learned little,would be a suggestion that my fellow classmate taught me little. That is not true. In fact reading other peoples papers did help me learn. I was amazed by what may fellow students wrote and am actually looking at their essays as a model of how I can improve my own.

So yes, I am fluctuating back an forth between attitudes within this post, but hey that’s how my mind goes. Mixed emotions. Glad I learned things but wish I learned more. I hope I’ve learned to not just think entirely about myself though. I hope that I have learned to appreciate others work and learn something from them. I hope that I have learned that there are other ideas and opinions out there than mine and that I can learn something from them. I hope that no matter how “full” I get, that I can always get fuller.

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.

Dr. Roberts

Dr. Robert, your a new and better man,
He helps you to understand,
He does everything he can, Dr. Robert.

- The Beatles

    Tuesday, May 11th. The cafeteria at Antelope Valley College is packed. No, it is overflowing. I sit in anticipation with my laptop ready for not taking, and am very glad I came a half hour early to get good seating. I am sitting here because I will get extra credit for doing so, but as the moments leading up to Dr. Terrence Roberts speech progress, an energy in the room, something in the air sweeps me up away from my trivial purpose of extra credit to real purpose; I can learn something today.

    Dr. Robert takes the mic. He is calm cool collected and speaks with flawless grammar and diction. He is tall and his head is crowned with grey hairs of wisdom. I listen. I learn. My learning goes beyond a visceral knowledge of what happened when 9 black students tried to attend a white high school in Little Rock. Dr. Roberts didn't just inform me of these events, or fill in a few extra details, he increased my understanding of the situation and of the context in which it took place. He gave me a new perspective to look at the issues from.

    First he told me what it meant to be a young black boy in the segregated south. He told me of the trials he faced, the horrible inequality. He explained that we all come into this universe the same way, but that he somehow missed the memo that you should have white skin instead of black. As a young boy he had to figure out what the reasoning, what the rational justification for the walls of segregation could possible be. He questioned why the color of his skin determined his opportunities, where he could live, go to school, work or even eat. the only logical conclusion he could deduce is this "white people are stone crazy!"

   

    Then he went on to explain how he had to live by the rules of segregation in order to survive. He talked about how it really was a dangerous world of life or death for him. When he heard people say that he and the other students should be hanged, he believed that they were serious, because this is how things were. You could be killed. But even in the face of all this, of being forced to conform to these rules, of being beaten down and of the horrible harassment faced, he knew he couldn't follow the rules any longer. He had to go back to that school and fight on. He was there , not to represent any group of people, but simply to educate himself. He had to do this, because it was the right thing to do.

   He went on to discuss that United States had been legally and constitutionally segregated for 335 years and only legally non-segregated for 56. He explained that racism and segregation still exist today. He says they persist, because Americans after 335 years got good at segregation and overall the 335 outweigh the 56. Racism and segregation is still a part of the United States because through those 335 years it has been sown into the social fabric.

I could go on and on about what I learned. But I will suffice to say I was enlightened, by Dr, Roberts.