Now Watchable!

It's finally been done! Now, the full-length version of At the Core is entirely viewable from both YouTube and IMDb!

This had been delayed earlier due the movie's entry into this year's Mill Valley Film Festival, and I did not want a simultaneous online showing to hurt its chances. Now that this situation is over, I've made an executive decision and here we are!

On a different note, I've updated my Oscar Predictions part of the website (go here and choose Oscar Predictions). The actual dates for Nominees Announcement and Winners Ceremony have been released, and the hosts (plural!) have been chosen. I reeeeally want to view Precious...

One-Two Punch

In each of the past two weeks, a movie was completed by Thomas Productions! Two weeks ago, it was Journey of the Mind, and now this past week, it was a private wedding video for a friend. Lots of work now off my shoulders - whew!

However, there's still more to come! There was also an associated video project with the wedding video that was a travel video. I've thus far produced a trailer for it that has been approved for YouTube by its parties, and it's what you see above. I hope to have that project completed by Christmas.

THEN, I still intend to create Everyone and Their Mother... We'll see if Hitchcock Road ever resurfaces in 2010. I also plan to retouch The Nightmare up a bit for festival entry, not to mention a second fest for Journey of the Mind!! Entering those in fests through Withoutabox will help put more movies on IMDb. This is all not forgetting about remastering Brave New World... So much to do!

4,000 Things To Do!

I'll be quick, because of what the title suggests, but that number is significant because Scenes from Being John Malkovich (2006) has surpassed 4,000 views on YouTube! It's current status is 4,011. Wahoo!

BTW, great footage this past weekend for Journey of the Mind (2009)! More on that soon.

Online Speculations

Unless there is reason to be misled tomorrow (Tuesday), when contained films of this year's MVFF are to be listed to the public, there is speculation that At the Core sadly did not get accepted.  However, this now makes it possible to show online!

Through both IMDb and YouTube, it becomes entirely possible not to hide this documentary from the public anymore.  It needs to be rendered again with the new credits, which will be altered for the music rights, and compressed for uploading, but that should make things possible!

Initially, I didn't think uploading video to IMDb was all that possible, but by submitting At the Core through Withoutabox, that allows me a connection to IMDb that includes uploading videos!  That's how the film's trailer was uploaded there already...  Updates on this soon!

Spec-tac-ular!

Today marks the Ten Year Anniversary of the Los Angeles premiere of my favorite film ever: American Beauty.

It was so excellent, I viewed it in theaters twice, and I instantly knew there was something magical about it. Viewing it with friends both times (I was in high school), it truly meant something when coming out of the theater because both girls and guys were so affected that tears were on their cheeks. There were characters that could relate to everyone, in situations that were familiar to everyone. Once in a blue moon are there films of that power, and this had it. It was satirical to boot! OF COURSE it would win Best Picture...

Also today, Part 2 of The Dog of Pompeii on YouTube has reached 1000 views! This is great in that the distance in view quantities among parts of a movie grows radically once Part 1 skyrockets; Parts 2 on up are often left alone. Here, if the LAST part has reached 1000, it only suggests the first part has been viewed QUITE A BIT MORE, which is spec-TAC-ular!

Win Some, Lose Some

"Filmmakers will be notified via email of entry status by approximately September 4th."

-http://www.cafilm.org/mvff/c4e.html

Though I am yet to receive any such email about Mill Valley, I am to assume At the Core (2009) did not make it into the festival based on the Submission Status shown at Withoutabox. That claims to have been notified on September 2nd, and the decision was "Not Accepted."  Sigh...

And still, this day remains pleasant because some of the footage from Brave New World (2002) has now been digitized (it's all already been transferred from Hi8 to MiniDV, thus saved), and it's begun to be edited. I'm not going to upload the movie to YouTube until it's entirely reedited, which may need to wait during a paid video editing job. However, above, I posted a few Brave New Outtakes from the opening scene. I'm sure more are to follow, so I called it "Part 1." Enjoy!

More Site Swappage

While not 100% of this article regards Thomas Productions, enough of it does to talk about it here. The Checkoff List, which is linked to from this very index, is being moved from the 2nd site (jimthzz.bingodisk.com/public) to the 3rd site (directorg.uuuq.com) because the 2nd is becoming more and more difficult to transfer files to without needing to force quit and/or restart the computer!!

Okay, now that my rant is over, I'm merely announcing that the Thomas Productions Checkoff List, which lists oft-updated plans about the goings on regarding our movies and web pages (and also includes additional YouTube postings that may or may not be for Thomas Productions), is now hosted at directorG.uuuq.com/temp/checkoff.html.

Generally speaking, the only true remaining part of the site at the 2nd site address is GPicturama. Due to site space needs, it must stay there for the time being.

400 Views, Pt. 2

At around this time a year ago (on August 19th, in fact), 400 was the highest quantity of views at YouTube any of the movie postings from Thomas Productions had received, and that honor belonged to Part 1 of The Dog of Pompeii. Now, a year later, the bar has been raised!

Scenes from Being John Malkovich currently stands with 3,566 views, holding the new top spot by a long shot. From there downward to 400 views, for a total of 7 full movies above the initial bar, is Part 1 of The Dog of Pompeii (2,592 views), Part 2 of The Dog of Pompeii (958 views), The Last Kiss (669 views), My Teachers Are Aliens (657 views), Lipstick on a Pig? Actually... (515 views), Tons of Sugar Cereal Commercial (425 views), and Photagrizzly Man (420 views).

There are still more that are close to achieving that quantity, with and The King Who Rained and Abrupt being the next closest, with 369 and 358 views, respectively. This is now a comparison year to year; where will we be in 2010?

Brave New Film

{There are basically 3 topics in this post, so I'll try not to be too verbose.}

It all starts with Brave New World (2002), which I still am unclear as to why it has never been mentioned before in this News Blog. I have always been rather fond of Aldus Huxley's book, and when I first was told to read it back in high school, my class group got to turn it into a movie. We had to be appropriate and all, of course, and we had some portions be live theater, but for the most part, it worked.

But then, as I've mentioned at least once before in these posts, the rolling blackouts of 2003 destroyed my digital masters of anything prior. For Brave New World, though, my only VHS had already been handed off to the teacher, who apparently destroys student work after 6 months. Sad day, for sure.

HOWEVER, in the past two weeks, I have magically come upon a set of old Hi8 mm tapes, at least one of which is labeled as footage for Brave New World! I might review it soon, and give it the go ahead to reedit what I can of the film so that SOMETHING of the project can be posted on YouTube.

I bother to mention this at all because of a news story I read yesterday that just happened to be about an upcoming film of this book! It would star Leonardo DiCaprio, and be directed by Ridley Scott. There may have been prior TV Movie kinda versions before, but never a film. Exciting!

We filmed most of it in San Carlos, which is a stretch for the remaining topic: Kathryn Bigelow. Her latest brave new film, The Hurt Locker, continues to earn critical raves, and I simply had to put her interview from The Colbert Report for all to see.

CinematogReel

Now, the 2nd Demo Reel of mine has been posted at YouTube (and thus, at this website), this time for Cinematography. It's worth celebrating with a shout: Hooray!

The thing that always takes awhile with these projects isn't necessarily the choice of what clips to put in 'em, but composing the musical soundtrack for them. I never want the reason the demo reel can't be shown merely to be due to an unoriginal musical piece, and I like to write music! It can just take awhile. This soundtrack was particularly experimental in that there are 7 beats per measure...

Ah hell, here's the 1st Demo Reel, for Directing, to boot!

3,000 and Beyond!

This blog entry revolves around the number 3 in such a way that it's like saying three cubed, because one element of the story contains three parts to itself! Three of three, all dealing with YouTube... On with the story!

First and foremost, Scenes from Being John Malkovich (2006) has officially surpassed its 3,000th view on YouTube! This past set of 1,000 viewings went by rather quickly -- it was only in April when it passed 2,000! At this very minute, it has earned 3,003 viewings. Wow!

Second, I've finally posted Macbeth: Act 1 (2001) on YouTube, in three parts! The initial movie was about 24 minutes long, which obviously can't fit within the 10-minute limit allowed per uploaded flick, so I did some minor editing so it would be easy enough to splice into small enough chunks. The movie itself was DEFINITELY a high school pic, literally filmed entirely in a day, so you must look past characters reading lines straight from the book! I included it for comparison's sake, but it's also there in documentation, and for a good chuckle if you happened to be involved.

Third, as a surprise, I also posted some Sample Footage from the Cannery Row Documentary (2006). I don't happen to have an edited copy of the project, but I did happen to have the actual tapes I filmed of it. Since I am planning on using some footage of that anyway in my upcoming Cinematography Demo Reel, I decided to make this so there'd be a video to include on its site page. BTW, I have no memory who "Caesar" is; do you?

Enjoy!

Grasshopper Approval

As an unexpected charm that happen to reach Thomas Productions yesterday, I was able to receive music rights for the song I was hoping to use in At the Core: more specifically, Michael Neverisky's instrumental performance of "Grasshopper Sitting on a Sweet Potato Vine."

I was considering contacting him through an email address, but gosh darnit, that site would not load on my machine at that moment (but it would again later!). So, I found him on YouTube, and was able send him a message that way. That he responded so quickly and so kindly just about made my day! That particular song is not performed on YouTube by him, but here's another one that's at least as good.

Anyhow, this news is GREAT because it means the intentional, excellent piece can play in Mill Valley instead of my subpar temp track. Yay!

Ahead of Schedule

Looking back on these first 5 months of 2009, remembering the resolutions made at the beginning, here's the entire list, with completed items in gold and in-progress items in indigo:

1. Complete TV Commercial for Gizdich Ranch
2. Begin Production for Hitchcock Road
3. Upload More Projects to YouTube
4. Finish Web Hosting Transfer Project
5. Submit At the Core to Film Festival
6. Submit The Nightmare to Film Festival
7. Begin Production for Everyone and Their Mother
8. Create and/or Complete Web Pages for Remaining Films
9. Finish Remaining Demo Reels for Cinematography and VFX
   

The year's not even half over (that occurs on the last day in June), but at least half of the list has been accomplished! YouTube uploads include movies and trailers/behind-the-scenes pieces. Even all of the Thomas Productions logo images were made links, so I'd say we're ahead of schedule.

I can't quite say the remaining Demo Reels are in true production, but I have started attempting to compose the next one's original score, like I did for the first. Also, depending on currently nonexistent extra money, I'm hoping that either Hitchcock Road or Everyone and Their Mother can achieve some footage in the upcoming summer months.

With Withoutabox

At current, I'm in the midst of filling out all of the bits and pieces of required info & suggested info at Withoutabox.com for entering At the Core into the Mill Valley Film Festival (and possibly any other). It's great in that it saves a ton of paper, making the only things necessary to send are the actual videos (DVDs, tapes, etc.). But, it's a nuisance as well because there's a ton to fill out!

One such thing it suggested to complete was a trailer! So, there you go: a new trailer for At the Core!

Other things to include are not one but THREE separate synopses, each of different length, and a bleepload of technical details... So much more to write!

Return of the Critiques

While sifting through old web files on Geocities (it is closing soon), I stumbled upon the critiques that were prepared for The Last Kiss (2000). These original reviews of the film were an application of analytic and evaluative skills that were currently in use at the time in high school, and were yet another way for friends to become involved in the project.

Those critiques and more, including the trailer above, are all found in the Media Layer at the film's official page. More older projects are now in the digitization process for YouTube; up next is Macbeth: Act 1 (2001)!

The First Fest

It's official: At the Core (2006) is soon to be entered into the 2009 Mill Valley Film Festival! Early entry deadline is May 15, and the festival itself is in mid October.

No clips of it are online yet, as I want to make sure doing this wouldn't prevent any sort of festival "world premiere" attributes. Nonetheless, there are several stills and production photos that hold up just fine for now.

BTW, I simply couldn't believe that The Last Kiss (2000) had never been embedded in a News Blog entry before this one! Tada!

BTW#2, The Dog of Pompeii (1999) has now reached 2,000 views on YouTube!

Decade of Pompeii

Exactly 10 years ago to the day, The Dog of Pompeii (1999) was completed and submitted to the National Children's Film Festival, to eventually become a National Finalist.

To celebrate Pompeii's 10 year anniversary, we've been uploading some extra videos to YouTube, such as the bloopers to that film and a few others.

Speaking of uploading and decades, The Trouble (1999) (which will be 10 years old this fall) has now been added to YouTube as well. Bloopers, too. Enjoy!

Gulf Coast PSA

Yesterday evening, I found a video on YouTube that I actually assisted in the production of during my final semester at CSUMB. Made for a video community service class, my group produced a series of Public Service Announcements to represent the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project, which in 2007 hoped to create 100,000 jobs in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

For this specific PSA, I filmed two significant interviews, particularly that of Dr. Scott Myers-Lipton. The project (Gulf Coast Civic Works Project PSA (2007)) is now listed on this site as well.

Enjoy!

Janitorial / 2000+!

This blog has 2 topics. First, I've done some janitorial work with the Media Layer that I'm still in the process of adding to all of the movie pages.

More specifically, I've added some additional pro PNG images to the same concept of the loading spinner & what's in store: signs representing both Under Construction and Caution (the latter is only used thus far for Abrupt's adult oriented content). We'll see how well this experiment works.

On a completely different note (this is the 2nd topic), in the past day on YouTube, Scenes from Being John Malkovich has surpassed 2000 views! It currently has 2016 and counting: it's the first movie from Thomas Productions to achieve this!

Movin' On Up

In a neck-and-neck YouTube views race of 1,819 to 1,806, Scenes from Being John Malkovich (2006) has officially taken the top spot from Part 1 of The Dog of Pompeii (1999). Yesterday, they shared the top spot, each with 1,804 views.

Ownership of the top spot probably switched last night, but I didn't catch the exact scores the moment it happened.

Media Layer

In a new design for this site's movie pages, I've created a Media Layer to encompass all pictures and videos. It pops up at the click and grays out the remainder of the page, like the Names Database and More Movies layers do already.

By having this layer implemented, most of the media no longer occupies the initial page, where the movie's description and cast/crew list are located. Now, they link from a menu on the left. I also configured a loading spinner... You'll see...

I'm only about 1/4 of the way finished thus far, but along the way, I've [finally] added the preexisting YouTube clips to such movies as Lipstick on a Pig? Actually... and Scenes From Being John Malkovich.

Demo Reel Up!

Now on YouTube (and in moments, this site) is my Directing Demo Reel! It is the first of three that I plan to make -- in sequence, one each for D C V, or Directing, Cinematography and Visual Effects.

Its official site link is directorG.com/demoreels. Enjoy!

Blogiversary

Today, it has officially been one year of successfully utilizing the concept of a blog to convey news articles on this site. It seems like time to celebrate! What could be worthy of displaying? Hrm... How 'bout a YouTube clip from one of the best shows ever on television?

Oh yeah, and of course:

BTW, Blogiversary and Blagojevich are not the same thing, in case you baffled folks were wondering! NOT related topics! :-)

No Doubt

Just like last year's Oscar Nominations, in which Michael Clayton received significantly more acting nods than any other piece (let alone more than one), Doubt received 4 in acting, followed by both Milk and The Wrestler with 2 each. Thus, the piece with most nods (as with Tilda Swinton of Michael Clayton) must get honored with at least one Oscar. Kate Winslet is practically a given for The Reader, but since she's now bumped up to Lead Actress in nomination (unlike everywhere else), that opens the door for Amy Adams or Viola Davis... I choose Viola.

That sort of brings up another topic: As Viola played a young boy's mother in Doubt, I've managed to post another early Thomas Productions movie on YouTube, aptly titled, Mother. Based on the chapter of the same name in Sherwood Anderson's book, Winesburg, Ohio, it follows a hotel-owning family whose older members are grotesque, leaving the youngest one desiring to escape.

It's a dramedy in two parts, embedded above. Enjoy!

Hidden Treasure

Unbeknownst to me for the past several years -- after the blackouts of 2003 that destroyed my hard drive and what I thought were any remaining copies of many videos -- a VHS tape was recently found with a newer copy of Macbeth and the Crusades on it!

I say "newer copy" because things were done for festival purposes after it was initially turned in as a class project, including more visual effects work and composing original music. This movie is the first Thomas Productions YouTube upload of 2009. Enjoy!

Nine for '09

Starting this exciting month, when the worst president in U.S. history is finally dethrowned, is the new year of 2009! Accordingly, it would be good if there were some New Year's Resolutions made. These advantageous commitments, which there could be nine of for the year, could be for anything: movies, site, and other related goodies. Here are some possibilities for the year (in random sequence, only numerical for counting purpose):

1. Complete TV Commercial for Gizdich Ranch
2. Begin Production for Hitchcock Road
3. Upload More Projects to YouTube
4. Finish Web Hosting Transfer Project
5. Submit At the Core to Film Festival
6. Submit The Nightmare to Film Festival
7. Begin Production for Everyone and Their Mother
8. Create and/or Complete Web Pages for Remaining Films
9. Finish Remaining Demo Reels for Cinematography and VFX
   

There are probably a few other things, including the logical idea of making each Thomas Productions logo on each page actually link back to the home page... But, that's minor. Happy New Year!

Year of the YouTube

What an exciting year it has been for Thomas Productions. Though the tail end of it had a few downers that included a dead hard drive, there were still many great things, particularly an overwhelming quantity of YouTube uploads!

Currently, both The Dog of Pompeii and Scenes from Being John Malkovich have more than 1000 viewings, with The Last Kiss, Lipstick on a Pig? Actually..., Photagrizzly Man and My Teachers Are Aliens each surpassing 300.

Oh yeah, this site got a new look this year, too, this News Blog included. Can't forget that!

Blue Moon

In all the great YouTube viewage I get, it's only once in a blue moon that I truly see something more than that. The following short film, Lunghini's Le Foto Dello Scandalo, is one I found to be downright enthralling in its technique that expanded on those used in Russian Ark and Children of Men, where extended takes are used to possibly be the entire picture's length, here specifically by including various moments "still life" throughout a 3D space-time continuum that progresses as the digital camera moves throughout a noir environment.

Simply put: Brilliant!
(It's also yet another influence upon my ideas for Hitchcock Road...)

Reached 1000 Views!

It's an exciting time for Thomas Productions because this week on YouTube, The Dog of Pompeii surpassed the 1000 views mark! The next to possibly do that is Scenes from Being John Malkovich, but this was our first to do so. It may not seem huge, but considering how slowly some clips get shown, it is quite the milestone.

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Also, there's quite a bit of construction our site still needs, as URLs for files of our 2nd site are being changed from directorG2.com to the current cheaper jimthzz.bingodisk.com/public, which will have to do for now. However, as that gets done, you can view the most awesome short ever above: Prop 8: The Musical! It's debut was a few months late, but its all-star cast, topped with Jack Black as Jesus, is beyond hilarious.

Bittersweet Symphony

What a historic night has passed! It is about time a worthy president can replace a dreaded one, and that he can be multiracial, African American among them, is an added bonus. That he can be accepting of EVERYONE is simply awesome.

Prop 8, however, is a disgusting reality we Californians are now faced with. For some reason, the majority of us still like to segregate ourselves, and bring us back to the past when equality was not on our minds. I am not in that majority, thankfully. I guess people really need to see Milk.

ANYWAYS, it's about time that another Thomas Productions flick has been posted at YouTube! Titled Shakespeare's Sonnet 12 / Parisian Hill, the first part is obvious, while the second part parodically includes the face of a rather famous teacher... Enjoy!

Feeling the Economic Crisis

Things are soon to be felt here at Thomas Productions, as the cost for the server at directorG2.com is now simply too expensive...  A new route to take is currently being searched for, and you'll be further updated once it's known.

In the mean time, on a different note, I've recently completed a political commercial for YouTube that (of course) pokes fun at Sarah Palin (who else?)!  It'll most likely be added to the site when times allow for it.

Crash Boom Rumble Rumble

Ay carumba... My hard drive finally died after its last chance this past week... Thus, things have [obviously] become [more] difficult lately! Nonetheless, things are on the mend with a NEW hard drive!

Strange that this all happens WHILE in the midst of a YouTube project to poke fun at Sarah Palin... Almost like I'm being prevented from completing the project... Interesting, isn't it?

3 Shorts Finally Posted

Finally, Three Shorts: Commentary on Society (2003) has been posted at YouTube! It's in three parts due to time constraints, and there are now new credits that implement more unused clips captured for the film in a "secret" fourth short. Watch 'em below!

Also, in the hectic site melodrama currently going on, I've put the News Blog back at directorG.com, and have decided to start moving images instead. It shouldn't redirect any actual page URLs, but I'll keep you posted, as is the purpose of a News Blog!

Almost There

Alright!  We've got a trailer for Three Shorts posted!

It's comin', me swears!

Thirteen

Suddenly, it hit me: I should start keeping track of how many movies from Thomas Productions are being uploaded for viewing on YouTube!  Out of our 40something total, we now have reached teenage status with Rage Against the Scenes (2004).

One of our biggest projects ever is coming to YouTube next: Three Shorts: Commentary on Society (2003).  Stay tuned!

Arrival In Twos

Yup, that's right, you read that right: now two more of our films are now viewable on YouTube, and they're rather recent ones!  Both Scenes from "Being John Malkovich" (2006) and Man Facing Nervous Breakdowns (2007) have now been posted.

...Malkovich was spiffied up a bit; thanks to some new visual effects, a boom mic pole that tried its hardest to make more cameos than it was allowed to is now kept out for good.

We're a tad behind on embedding...  Gettin' to that next.

400 Views

Awesome! Part 1 of The Dog of Pompeii has received 400 views as of today on YouTube! Of all Thomas Productions videos posted there so far, that one has thus far received the highest quantity.

Keep on living, Xena!

Adults 'R' Us

MmmK, so Abrupt has been uploaded to YouTube.  Though it's one of the shortest projects from Thomas Productions, it's also the most adult-related; it's basically our first 'R' picture, so to speak.

It's still great, but be warned!

First College Flick

The first movie I made in college (though more than 20 had already been created) was still "lacking" any sort of university training, it being my first semester there, and me not having taken any classes for that yet. This isn't the best of the bunch, certainly, but it's entertaining for sure. A parodical infomercial for an invention (all classmates had to invent something),The 'Nuther-Time Wheel could be quite useful. The only thing missing from this infomercial is Billy Mays!

Anyhow, this YouTube addition will be embedded before you can say Orange Clean! (But wait, there's more...)

Fireworks!

The latest date added to GPicturama is just a few days ago, but it visually documents where I saw fireworks.  Check it out!

  

Also, there have been some issues with YouTube embedding on the Tons of Sugar Cereal page this week...  Those should be cleared up by the end of the day.

Lastly, we're now using social bookmarking features from addthis.com, which seem much simpler than what was done before!

Yesterday was Judgment Day

To keep up with uploading at least one movie per month to YouTube, the next one just had to be Judgment Day.  It's been live since yesterday!  However, this is the first blog entry to include the actual movie. (It'll be included in the movie's page ASAP.)

Tell your friends!  And how!

S H A R E :

- - - - -

Not The Last Upload

Now, another film is live on YouTube: The Last Kiss.  It is viewable, like all the others so far, straight from it's official page (here) through its embedded coding, as well as from YouTube direct.

Additionally, the social bookmarking test with movie pages has been deemed a success, and will be applied to more pages over the coming days.

S H A R E :

- - - - -

Pompeii is Live!

For just under an hour, The Dog of Pompeii has been posted on YouTube in two parts (due to length issues), and is ready for you to view in its entirety both on our site and directly there (view part one and part two)!

- - - - -

Current and Upcoming

Now, Thief is the third movie from Thomas Productions to be posted online at YouTube (all of which can still be viewed directly from our site).  In the coming days, uploading all 17 minutes of The Dog of Pompeii to YouTube will be our next project.

- - - - -

YouTube Era

With the new movie posting online of My Teachers Are Aliens being a success, repeating that from Photagrizzly Man's posting, it is likely more video clips and short movies will similarly be posted soon.  It is a great method to post movies without hosting the video files!