Freedom Update

Several developments on the 'freedom' project front. First up - Simon Ward is now on board as co-director on the project. It will ease up the workload on me as I can't direct the scenes I am in anyway. Secondly, I bit the bullet and bought one radio wireless mic to solve my worries about extra crewing and audio problems. Simon bought one as well, so between the two of us we've got the audio side covered. Third up is that we are gearing up to shoot the next scene - hopefully this week. We were supposed to shoot it tomorrow but the location was unavailable. And lastly I had to take the hard decision to re-cast one of the parts because of various reasons but it is all part of the process.

That's me for now.

Amit

Hiding

Time for introspection and quiet, so I can think things through in terms of where I am headed. To help me in the process I bought 3 Volumes of 'Rediscovering Intrepid Journeys' TV Series and Michael Palin's New Europe from Dymocks on Queen Street which had a closing down sale of 40% off.

A

Sprocket Projection School

It has been a very long week with crazy long hours and I also had the Cinema Projection course over the weekend which made sure I was caught up in the daily grind. The highlight of the weekend for me has been the 2 day beginner's course in Cinema Projection run by Sprocket Projection School - launched by Gina Dellabarca {who also runs Academy Cinemas}. The person who took the course was Phil Greig, who has worked with Peter Jackson and also worked across cinemas all across the country. He was a great teacher/knowledge sharer and was really passionate about projection and technology and workflows/processes and he was able to share all that in a language that everybody was able to understand and comprehend.

After the workshop I know the history of film projection and what a filmprojector is made of and how it works and as a bonus I can 'make up' and 'break up' film and I can thread a projector. Most of all I now have a better appreciation of the film making process and also understand the magic and complexities of working with film and can also see why film will eventually be used only for major blockbusters while everything shifts towards the digital realm. It will take time - maybe another 10-15 years {if not earlier} before the technology is wide-spread and delivers the cost benefits that will force all cinema theaters to eventually switch over to digital.

It is a definitely a good course and worth going through even if you don't intend on becoming a projectionist. I think they are thinking of running it again in August or something - if interested then drop in a mail to Gina at gina[at]academycinemas.co.nz

That's me for now.
Amit

Who are you?

'Who are you?' - that's a question one needs to ask oneself from time to time and I am asking that question right now. Not that I am getting any answers. A couple of words came to mind but they are not so pleasing or easy to digest. I don't know why I go through this process every now and again.

Amit

Terminator -the end

I think they should bury 'The Terminator' franchise, especially after Terminator Salvation. It was a complete misfire with Christian Bale being the weakest link in the movie. Here is an article which kind of tries to figure out what went wrong with the movie?

A

The Hangover

Just back from a media screening of 'The Hangover' and it is a brilliant, funny, fun movie. Never laughed so much in a movie in recent times {i mean in the movies that are supposed to be comedies}.

While walking to the car I saw a asian couple learning how to dance in a closed asian food court with an older lady supervising their steps. They were dancing to Celine Dione's track 'My Heart Will Go On'. It was surreal to say the least. I wanted to take a photo but that would have been very intrusive.

Amit

VO2 Max

New round of fitness test is through and it is mixed results. My weight's gone down by 1 KG to 67.2 but my body fat %age has gone up by .5% - which is not too bad I guess. Resting heart rate is still at 65bpm. Blood pressure has improved to almost theoretical/text book levels - 124/72 . While my VO2 Max has increased to 48.8 - which is a definite plus. What it all means is that my cardio fitness as well as overall fitness is definitely increasing but I need to keep increasing the intensity of training in order to keep on track with my goal.

I saw this fascinating documentary called 'Unknown White Male' and it is a riveting watch. Check it out if you get a chance.

Amit