Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Richard Sherman

Ok so we full time sports fans, and part time playoff sports fans, have all made it abundantly clear that we're unhappy and disgusted with the "unsportsmanlike" conduct of Richard Sherman's post game interview. Outraged, appalled, angered, and down right pissed off that an athlete would show that much emotion and honesty in his post game interview. "How could he act so foolishly?" "He's an idiot, and now I'm definitely rooting for the Bronco's!" Well to Richard Sherman I say, Bravo! and a big bravo at that. We have spent most of our lives watching athletes regurgitate the same canned responses game after game, week after week and year after year. It's annoying and frankly, really, really boring. We have called for someone to actually speak their mind and tells us what they're really feeling. It was a pleasant surprise to see a fired up, adrenaline filled, super-athlete finally have the guts to say something other than, "He was a great competitor and made my job really tough, but we were fortunate enough to come out on top today." I say B.S. to that! I've had conversations with nearly everyone I know about the boring and politically correct responses by athletes game in and game out, and how we wish someone would actually speak their mind. Well, here he is ladies and gentlemen, I give you Richard Sherman, and I hope he doesn't stop until he gets his ass torched for a game winner. But until then, Mr. Best Cover Corner In The NFL, keep talking. Better yet, keep showing up and shutting receivers down, and express your feelings vividly so we can all have a little post game fun.

A little something for my Film Studies class.

My first film was made as a student project in my last year as a Digital Filmmaking student at Herkimer County Community College in New York. This semester was the first time I had picked up a video camera and was introduced to any type of video editing software. The camera used was a tape based, prosumer style camera, and the editing was done on Avid. It was truly a pleasurable experience for me as I finally felt the satisfaction of seeing an idea evolve into an on screen movie. A year after that I created a 24 minute short film titled Tooth & Bieber that was shot on a $200 budget with amateur actors and was shot in numerous locations in Upstate New York. I decided to spend time working in hopes of tightening up my "chops" but found that you either need to go where the work is and hope, or go back to school, work hard as hell, and hope some more.


With the little production experience I have, I hope to learn more in regards to the jargon and principals of filmmaking as well becoming highly skilled in the techniques it takes to create high quality films. I also hope to learn much more through collaborating with fellow filmmakers as ideas should be shared and discussed; this often times breeds greater results in the overall outcome of any creative outlet.


In 10 years I plan on being an intricate part of a team that will win the Academy award for Best picture, Best Screenplay, Best Director and Best Cinematography. This feat cannot be accomplished alone, so I want to learn as much as possible at UNCW and meet serious filmmakers that want to work hard and shoot for the stars. I also want to give back to eager film students and others like me who have worked hard in this business only to be shut out time and time again. The film business is a difficult one to get into and I have had very few people reach back to me when I reached out to them, I want to change that for others and give back as much as I can.

After graduating from high school I spent the better part of 20 years traveling the country and looking around as much as possible. I do not like the grass growing under my feet just yet - there is much to be seen. I want to laugh, a lot. We should all laugh at least 20 tomes a day. Sometimes I forget though, and I find that I'm too serious or overthinking how to print a document in the library or wondering if my professors will be big and mean, and intimidate me into complete and utter failure. Then I realize that I should just relax and find something to laugh about.