I get to go see Cloverfield tomorrow, and I am already excited. A truly American monster flick? Hells yes. If this movie is a disappointment (which I really doubt it will be) I might cry. Above is the monster, I’m sorry if I ruined it for you. The look and capabilities of the monster have been secret for months and the only images of it are drawings by people who have seen advanced screenings of the film. The film’s producer J.J. Abrams was in Tokyo with his young son and after seeing him play with a Godzilla doll he realized that American cinema doesn’t really have it’s own legendary monster. King Kong was good at heart and Godzilla is obviously stolen from Japan. So he set out to make a good old fashioned monster flick, with a new character. Cloverfield has been a closely guarded secret ever since. So if you see 3 movies a year or 30 go see Cloverfield. (holy and delicious carp did I see 30 movies last year? :checks his bank account records: O.O)

My break was good. I spent a little over two weeks in Boise, seeing friends and hanging out with family. It was nice to be home and honestly kinda nice to let someone else buy my lunches for a bit. Boise was cold and there was some snow on the ground. The weather is absolutely gorgeous in Tempe this time of year, but I really liked the change. The air is just different when it’s cold, it’s crisp.

I got an internship last week and while that doesn’t help my bank account I am very excited about the work I’ll be doing. When I went in to talk to the company about it they had changed the permitters of the position since we first talked. It went from gripping on a simple shoot to being responsible for the whole project. I really do think that they expected me to respectfully back out, but I made it known that I am up for the challenge and that I’m ready to take it head on. In the end it’s not really that complicated of a project, although I am basically doing free freelance work now. I gave them a six month commitment, and by then I’ll have some great stuff for my demo reel and maybe paid work in the future. I’m not doing much else these days so I had no reason to not take it.
The job search is on going, I’m looking at just working a normal 9-5 for a while. I am doing some freelance photo work so I’ve got some money coming in. I miss the stability of a 40 hour a week job, but I love the free time I now have to devote to school and projects. Even if I do feel lazy some days I have been able to spend a lot more time working on some productive things. If I were twice the man I am I’d just give up the job search and go on an all out search for more freelance work. I don’t need much to support myself, and I definitely have the time, skill and access to equipment.

I got my 16mm film back and the project is looking good. I really do hate that I had to act in it, but I think it’l turn out fine. I’ve got some effects work I want to do on it to clean some stuff up, I’ll post it when its done.

I’m not sure what you are currently doing with the next 52 minutes of your life. but if I may, I’m going to suggest you watch this video. Scotch Mist, A film with Radiohead in it made for New Year’s Eve, 2007.

It’s their new album performed in front of a few webcams and where it lacks production value it more then makes up in music and intensity. For just being a few boring shots over and over it’s really easy to get sucked in by the performances. You can’t help but feel their passion for their own music, it’s engrossing. So watch it, and not just the first 30 seconds, watch the whole thing… or atleast to the second song, which is my favorite :D

Today’s soundtrack is by a band named Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, which is a great name for a band. I recently bought their album and like a growing number of bands they offer their music for download (duh) on CD (its sometimes nice to have a hard copy) and on Vinyl (yes plz) and I like that. Especially for a small band on a tiny label, I can really respect going the extra mile and getting it pressed into beautiful polyvinyl chloride. Not to mention that pretty much all records these days come with some free mp3s. The song Oregon Girls (to be honest I think Oregon has ugly women, there I said it) is from their old album, but they are said to be coming out with a new one this year. So look for that… if you’re into looking for things like that.

I’ll promise it won’t be another five weeks before my next post
Dave “the thrill ride” Hildreth