Saturday, January 16, 2010

32 Ghost IV Video

Back in November I was visiting my friend Jeremy who is a director, editor and actor here in Kelowna and he was showing me his compilation of the Nine Inch Nails Ghost Film Festival. He chose his favorites and best and was compiling a fan made DVD of fan made videos. My 16 Ghost II video is featured on the DVD, but sadly he was having troubles finding a the right videos for a couple of songs.
So we looked at the candidates and thought of ways we could improve them. We then decided to just go out and shoot something. He had these really cool looking goggles, and the camera case and headed out as the sun was sinking lower in the sky. As we begun to shoot in the park, I suggested we walk by the military complex that's just a few blocks away since it had some tanks and chain link fences, things that frequently showed up in other Ghost videos and Year Zero. As we shot things just fell together.
After sitting on the footage and doing some post production, the video is complete:



Jeremy is also apart of an up and coming comedy group called A Quick and Dirty Experience, which I highly suggest checking out. Link.


In other Nine Inch Nails related news, the fan made video of concert footage taken by fans, edited by fans and distributed by fans called "Another Version of the Truth: The Gift" contains a remix of mine on the Las Vegas disc. You can find out more information about the project, and download it for free HERE.

Monday, January 04, 2010

7 Tips for Meeting People Offline

I'm a major player on the Anime and Cosplay Kelowna forum and the community there has been booming. But since there's a lot of young people and people who are a bit socially shy, I made them a quick and easy guide to meeting people. It's helped quite a few people so far, so I might as well post it here as well.
Remember, meeting new people is great, the anime forum has had a ton of great meet ups, new friendships being made and more. But there's always a danger of something going wrong. So here's some tips for meeting people in person.

1) Meet in a Public Place
This one is pretty basic. If you're going to meet someone for the first time, maybe it's best not to show up at their place. A coffee shop, the mall, a store, movie theatre all work well.

2) Tell People Where You Are and What You're Doing
This is important for the younger people. Your folks worry about you. Tell them where you're going. Who you're going with and what time you're expected back. Also tell them who are you meeting, their real name and forum name.

3) Bring A Cell Phone
Once again your parents worry about you kiddies. Bring a cell phone, that you if you're stood up you can call for a ride home. Or if you're feeling uncomfortable you can get away easily.

4) Bring A Friend!
Strength in numbers! If you're nervous about meeting someone in real person, bring a friend or a parent or older sibling. At the anime forum meet ups we always welcome friends of members to our meet ups! The more the merrier (but do give a little bit of notice, especially for events with limited amount of room).

5) Trust Your Feelings
Sometimes you know things are not right. If you're not having good feelings from someone, then don't meet them. Cancel your plans with them and tell them you'll meet them at the next meet up with multiple people instead of alone. Do have the common courtesy to tell them you can't make it to a meet up several hours before you're planned to meet them.

6) Protect Your Information
If you haven't figured it out yet. All anyone really needs is your e-mail address and I could potentially have your full name, location, school, work address and even phone number. That's it. Really easy to become an Internet stalker.

7) Dress Appropriate
I got a bit of heat from writing this on the forum, but do dress right for occasions. While some Cosplay costumes do features some revealing clothing choices, it's always best to not to run around in super short skirts and low cut shirts, especially for the younger ladies. Also make note of the weather as well.