Val's Rants - Writer, Director, Filmmaker (Austin, Texas)

Archive for January, 2010

Filmmaking

01/22/2010

CC Courtney and Meisner Technique

Well, it was a heck of a workshop. I think everyone enjoyed it and learned a lot. I certainly did. I can’t wait to put it to use! CC, who studied with Sanford Meisner himself, started off with an intro to acting technique and Meisner. Then he went on to demonstrate how to use it, [...]

Celtx,Free Stuff,Writing

01/13/2010

Update of my Celtx.jar file to 2.7

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With the recent all too groovy update of Celtx to 2.7, I’ve merged my changes with the new .jar file, so you don’t loose neither my functionality, nor the new 2.7 stuff, which I like a lot. Especially on the sketches. I would be nice if we could group geometrical shapes into a new object [...]

Personal

01/10/2010

Happy Birthday to my Beautiful Wife

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I wake up every morning, and look at you sleep So peaceful, and sweet Your smile always brings To my life, nothing but sweet things I’m happy you’re by my side today Each day, every day You are my support, my legs and soul My breath, my joy, my whole Your touch, your love, your [...]

Activism,Personal

01/09/2010

What does one do?

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What do we do, when the people we named to protect us, start protecting their interests, and their friends’ interests? Do we lay down, and wait, for the inevitable? Do we pretend it’s not there? Do we drown out the horror and disgust by changing the channel? Do we believe every word on the TV [...]

Activism,Personal

My views on Abortion and Marriage

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You know, I would say for the most part I’m of a conservative frame of mind. I don’t believe in government spending (although I do believe in people spending), but I don’t believe in printing trillions of dollars for the benefits of huge corporations. I believe a man has a right to work and not [...]

Activism,Personal

Global Warming and what I believe

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If someone has you believing that Cold is Hot (i.e. the temperature is going down because of Global Warming), here’s Geologic History’s perspective on the matter… we are being swindled! And if you trace WHO IS MAKING THE MONEY… you’ll find out just who’s doing the swindling! Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe in [...]

Activism,Personal

01/08/2010

A message from my mom…

We are immigrants… my family. We’ve been happy in the US for many years. The US has been good to us. But we’re seeing the same rhetoric of  the Socialist, the dawning of the iron fist of the Fascist… all under the guise of “hope” and “help!” Here’s what she had to say to her [...]

Filmmaking

01/07/2010

Upcoming Showcase for Actors

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If you’re not on their mailing list, I highly recommend it. Also, I’m going to be helping to film this – if you know anyone who needs to put a reel together, this will be a great forum. Also, it should get you seen by some local directors, etc. The Austin Film Meet presents an Actor Showcase on Monday, January 11, 2010 [...]

Filmmaking

01/06/2010

Interfacing Final Cut and Premiere Pro

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OK, I realize this isn’t useful to everybody, but for those of us who can’t afford a Mac, or simply want to rebel since EVERYBODY ELSE uses a Mac (in the film industry), this may be of help. My situation was as follows. I own an HVX200 with which I shoot the scripts I write [...]

Filmmaking,Personal,Writing

01/03/2010

Thoughts for the New Year (Part 3)

The magic formula that will make a successful movie. But they look at numbers only… sales… and not so much with an audience. Big marketing hype builds our hopes, only to have the movie tear them right down. How many movies did we go see like that? One thing is for certain: people will always [...]