David Mamet's inspiration

I've been reading David Mamet's great little book "On Directing Film" and around page 80 there's this paragraph I found puts into words something I've been feeling for a long time, even since before I  went to animation school:

"Cartoons are very good to watch - are much better to watch, for people who want to direct, than movies. In the old cartoons, the artists realized the essence of the theory of montage, which is that they could do whatever the heck they wanted. It wasn't any more expensive to draw it from a high angle or from a low angle. They didn't have to keep the actors late to draw a hundred people rather than one person, or send out for that very expensive Chinese vase. Everything was based on imagination. The shot we see in the film is the shot the artist saw in his imagination. So if you watch cartoons, you can learn a great deal about how to choose shots, how to tell the story in pictures, and how to cut."

David Mamet is a Pulitzer and Tony winning playwright and an Oscar nominated screenwriter and film director, known for writing numerous films including Wag the Dog and The Untouchables.

shooting specs

I'll be shooting some spec commercials with Erick Boychuk tomorrow, using his new 7D camera and H2N digital sound recorder - what an awesome alternative for the low budg indie filmmaker!

we have a few quick shoots lined up, hopefully by the end of the week we'll have a couple ads to add to our portfolio.

Im also planning to shoot a short film concept I concocted that's got me thinking - a simple, beautiful one'er. Cant wait.

Joining Jungle Media

My buddies, directors Erick Boychuck and Gabriel Medina and I are discussing the possibility of working together under Gabriel and Alison's company "Jungle Media" to produce and direct TV Commercials and Music videos for the Vancouver region.

Starting new music band

Found a bass player chick, a drummer and a keyboard/trumpet player on the web looking to start a ska/punk band! I'll be singing and my brother will be playing the guitar, like we've always done in the past with previous bands. We've chosen which songs to cover to get acquainted to each other, they're Superman by Goldfinger, Santeria by Sublime, Beer by Reel Big Fish and Jamming by Bob Marley, although I have to say Bob's song is so layered in vocals and nuances that it'll be a challenge to do it justice, we'll see. Cant wait to rock out again though! Miss that crazy energy.

Screening of my short "Scars" in Vancouver

Scars, my bloody 5 minute crime thriller I completed while at the Langara Director's program, screened a week ago at the "Made in Vancouver - Pre-Olympics Film Festival" (facebook group link) curated by Paul Armstrong and Ryan Catherwood. (from the popular "Vancouver Celluloid Social Club")!

The DP (SB Edwards), and the lead cast (Travis Turner and Cole Kwit) were in attendance and we shared the stage with the other filmmakers in a brief Q&A session. FUN!

The other shorts were amazing as well - the selection was tight, with 12 films selected out of almost 120 submissions! Erick Boychuk's funny crime comedy "Crossing the Line" also played, along with the wild art film "Low" by Mackenzie Gray and chilling horror sci-fi "Serum 1831", recipient of the DGC Kickstart last year, I think.

Scars also played at the club last year in November at the Celluloid Social Club!

Watch Armless

A brilliant little dark comedy by director Habib Azar about a guy who wants to have his arms cut off  - ARMLESS was official selection at this year's Sundance. I had the luck to get my hands on one of their sample screeners at my day job (I work at Horizon Motion Pictures, an international film distribution agency)  and wow what a great film.

Micro budget and all, no matter - the story is tight, the acting fantastic - proof that if you have that down, everything else falls into place. Movie magic on a shoestring, dammit. Its what its all about.

Things are brewing

Lots of exciting things are brewing. It seems the winter olympics have put a damp on the film industry, but not to the urge to get things started.

Just met up with my buddies Erick Boychuck and Gabriel Medina - two of the most energetic go-getters in the local film biz - and we're in early stages of discussion to join forces and make things happen.

The current state of affairs

I spend so much time online it just makes sense to start writing my findings, musings and rants of all things Javier related - filmmaking, jamming and other interesting bits and bites.