Into The Void

There's a shirt I saw once that made me laugh, then gave me an introspective moment. It was a black T-Shirt with green lettering which read "More People Have Read This Shirt Than Your Blog". Funny and true how many of us write these little public diaries, reviews, statements, diatribes, and yet how few people actually read them.

So, why do it? I can't answer for other people but I can write about myself... which is kind of the whole point of blogging, isn't it? For me, blogging is a self-psycho-analysis. I try to be as self reflective in life as I can. This has, at times, been rather destructive and caused me more second guessing than was healthy. But I've moved on and blogs allow me to write things down, be honest (or as honest as anyone could/should be in a public forum) and say something about myself. I don't do movie reviews anymore because I found them to be unhelpful in crafting my own work. They were also... what's the best way to put this... in bad taste. What right do I have to criticize another artist's work? If I don't like something, then I just won't use that method in my own work. To take my time to lambaste someone for trying to do what I'm trying to do is just mean spirited, and inappropriate at this state in my career.

But I do find it helpful to sort of review my own life and blogging is an interesting way to go about it. I have to sit and think, "Ok, do I really want to put that into a public forum?". Usually the answer is "Yes", but it still allows me to study myself. If I don't want to make something public, why not? What does that say about me? My action, inaction, decision, etc...

So, I blog here and there. Judging from the lack of responses I doubt that anyone is listening... but that's ok because, in the end, that's not really the point. For me blogs, like journals and diaries, are meant for the writer... not an audience. I'm sure there are times I'd like a discussion to start, but if it doesn't I've still taken the time for a little self analysis. Hopefully I'm the better for it.

Updates coming soon on "Gone", my first feature length film.

Your Lonely Director,

Nick J.

Still Breathing

Well it's been a while... long while... no longer than that... it's been a while. Life ebbs and flows and I got caught in a serious string of ebbs that kept me busy for a while. Not the least of which was some jackass hacking into my paypal account and trying to steal what little money I have. *silent rage*

Anyway, I've been hard at work doing multiple things. Following the death of one of the great professors and mentors at UM, I've taken on a couple extra classes. It's been fun and I have great students this semester. That makes my job so much easier.

I've also been working on a series of web travelogues that are in post production now. It's been a great experience that has been so exhaustive it's nearly put me into a state of catatonia. Seriously, it wasn't pretty.

But I'm plodding along and trying to stay as creative as possible. I've been "hired" as the cinematographer on a short film for a good friend of mine. It's nice. I won't have to worry about my own work for that month of production, just making sure I'm doing my job as cinematographer as best I can. Should be fun :)

I'm also working on my first feature length script. It's slow going as I just don't have the time to concentrate on it now. But I'm done outlining and have finally started on a draft. It's a big project but I think would work well as my first feature length film.

I'm also writing and directing a play this spring for a local theater troop. Again, the writing is slow and frustrating, but it's fun to work in different mediums. I doubt I'll stay in stage work as I so love what the camera does. But there is a quite simplicity and peace to working on stage. It feels more like I'm just working with actors. Good stuff.

So I'm overworked and not looking forward to those student loans, but I'm good and still being creative. I just finished mastering a DVD collection of my three short films that I'd be happy to send out if anyone is interested. Just contact me at: nicholasgjenkins@hotmail.com

I'll try to keep the updates a comin'.

Peace Out,

Nick J

Sci-Fi Film Festival: RECAP

It was a particularly un-Seattle like day. A few clouds but no rain. It seems every time I go there, the rain stops. That seems to be the trend in my life. Must be something in my body that repels weather of all types. But, aside from the lack of promised rain, Seattle was Seattle. Busy, bustling with people, and faster than the Montana rhythm I've grown used to.

The festival started at 2pm with a tour of the Sci-Fi Museum (which if you've never seen, you should... it's magnificent). We were lead through the post modern building and treated to the wonderful sights and sounds of our imaginations. There is a great display at one point which takes space ships from all different types of mediums and compares them visually. They fly around each other and through the HUGE HD monitor. The Millennium Falcon maneuvers around Moya as the Dark City rises from nowhere and into the heavens. Truly great stuff.

At the top left of the screen a long, black, tube of a ship sits almost motionless. The tour guide asked if any of us in attendance read sci-fi. Most of us raised our hands. She then asked if any of us could identify the black tube ship. Everyone turned back and said nothing. I looked again. "Is that Rama?" I asked. Her eyebrows raised and she responded happily, "It IS Rama!". I think I might be the first person to get that one right. Interestingly enough, I've never read the book "Rendezvous With Rama" by Arthur C. Clarke, rather I recognized it from a piece of production material from the filmed adaption by David Fincher which has yet to materialize. I kept that secret to myself.

We left the museum and headed across town to the Cinerama Theater. Butterflies in my stomach - I absolutely hate to watch my films with an audience - I sat down in our reserved "VIP" seats. I leaned back, then further, then further... the seat was broken. As was the one next to it, and the next one... you get the idea. As I type this I am reminded by the pain in my back and neck, that my VIP seat was not a kind way to view a 5 hour short film festival.

But I digress. The festival itself was a treat. One of the best audiences I've ever seen a film with, and we all got treated to 20 wonderful films. My personal favorites were Monster Job Hunter (a comedy with a punch line no one will see coming) and The Recordist, which is a terrific film about self discovery and potential. But I loved a little bit of most of them.

But where did my film fit into this festival? I'm not sure. To me it felt as though there were two categories. Those films with budgets... and those films without budgets. The films with budgets were the one's actually in competition, while the rest of us felt more like time fillers. But there's nothing wrong with that I suppose. To complain would be nothing but sour grapes. The three winners were all very very good films and I wish their cast and crews much luck in the future.

That being said, it is a bit of a catch 22. To have success at that level, you have to be playing at that level. To be playing at that level requires to have either already had success at that level or wager an economic risk. At this point, I just don't know if that is in my future.

But I DO know this: I love film. I love to make films. I love to work with people creatively on this level and hope to do it all again soon. This festival was an eye opener of sorts, but it was also a wonderful experience which I wouldn't trade.

I got back on the plane, a last minute change of gates threw off my equilibrium but I managed not to panic, and I thought about my place, my future, in film. Who knows. Nobody knows. We are always our own worst critics, but I feel as though I have potential and have not yet found out what my true voice is... though I'm getting close. I've still got stories to tell and think that people want to hear them. It's all a question of how I'm going to do that. How am I going to tell these stories to bigger and bigger audiences. We'll see what happens next. For now, I'm home, and taking a few moments to myself to digest the experience and plan my next move/movie.

Hope to see you all on the road there ;)

Your Lonely Director,

N.J.

Official Website is Up.

www.nicholasgjenkins.net

It's rough, but it's functional for those of you who would like to check out teaser trailers of my work (you have to have the newest version of Quicktime) and eventually I think I'm going to merge my site and this blog... we'll see.

Your Lonely Director,

Nicholas G. Jenkins

Let the Teaching Commence...

I try to sneak a Dark City reference in as many places as I can :)

So yesterday began the semester for us and I'm pretty loaded down. It's a good thing. The editing process is slow for me, so I'm filling my time with class prep. It's a strange semester for me. I'm teaching two editing classes (one introductory, the other more advanced), a directing class, and two independent studies on Directing and Cinematography. Lots to do and good groups of students.

Next week I leave for Seattle and the Sci-Fi Film Festival. I'm excited, but I hate flying. No, I mean REALLY hate flying. So much so that I'm almost wishing I hadn't been accepted into the fest... almost. It's going to be a wonderful experience to see what other filmmakers are doing on my level (and WAY above by the looks of it... check out YouTube for the trailer to a short film called "E:D:E:N"). There is also a film from AFI named "The Recordist". It looks great and I can't wait to see it.

All in all things are moving forward quite well. I haven't heard any results for the jobs I applied for, but I'm told that's normal and I won't hear anything until March. As the Spaniard says, "I hate waiting."

Also been rethinking the whole "Blog" thing these days. Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to the vast emptiness of the internet with this thing. I'm not really sure it's worth my time. I keep one on MySpace and seem to have a better turn out. I'm not much for diaries so this may be superfluous. I don't know. We'll see.

Current Music: A strange mix of Bullet for my Valentine, Gwar, Bush, and Chevelle.
Current Movies: Sunshine

Sunshine: A Review

Danny Boyle's "Sunshine" is one of those rare films that engaged me both philosophically, and aesthetically. This is a truly impressive film and one that inspires me to make film. So rarely do those two states come together that I have to marvel at it. To write too much about "Sunshine" would give away too much of the journey. The plot involves a team of astronauts on a mission to re-ignite our dying sun. As it turns out, this is actually the second mission as the first one failed for mysterious reasons.

I recommend "Sunshine" to everyone who loves science fiction, movies, and stories. This, to me, is what filmmaking is all about and I heartily include it with other sci-fi greats like "2001: A Space Odyssey", "Solaris", "Dark City", and "Alien".

Grade: A+

Recent Movies

Not as much recommendations as "hey here's what I've seen lately."

The Bourne Ultimatum, The Last Samurai, and Deadwood.