The Yellow Balloon Project

A lot can change in a couple of months...

2009-02-27T20:48:00.000-08:00

...and for the better.

That "C" rated burger joint now has an "A" rating!

I went by the other day and the big fat letter was right by my head. I'm so proud of them.

I think that "A" gave them the push to start taking things more seriously.

They used to only take cash, but now they have credit card machines.

The other day they had some boys passing out their menus on Sunset and Vine.

Something came over them once they gotten that "A"...

2008-08-27T11:38:00.000-07:00

I just ate at a “C” rating food stand on Sunset and Vine. The food was amazing.

We got a new project to work on all next month. I'm freaking out.

i'm tired.

2008-08-24T21:43:00.000-07:00

i shot 7 short films over the weekend.

now i will wash some dishes, do some homework, sleep and wake up bright and early tomorrow to screen the films with my classmates.

Christmas day.

2008-08-12T18:32:00.001-07:00

We got our Mac book pro's today equipped with all the necessary programs a filmmaker should have.

:-)

I can't wait to take some classes for After Effects, Final Cut AND even AVID.

2008-08-11T18:11:00.001-07:00

At my film school we screen our movies on the big screen.

Today's critique went beyond good. My groups films did an amazing job and everyone seemed to enjoy them.

Afterwards we went to Mole Richardson. It's a lighting company that has been around since the 20's. When we arrived they showed us different aspects of lighting equipment a cinematographer gets to play with, what a grip has to go through, and what the electrical department has to do to generate power for the lighting . It was overwhelming to hear all the foreign names for a simple light bulb, wire, filters, plugs, and the horror stories of people getting electrocuted on set. Maybe cinematography isn't for me...Haha. But it was great to learn all of it. I have so much appreciation for the people who do those jobs on movie sets. What an amazing thought of how many people it really takes to make a movie happen. Everyone is so significant in the process.

The people who were teaching us were volunteers at Mole Richardson who work in the industry, trying to work their way up to become cinematographers/directors. So they go there to learn from one another. They also welcomed any one of us to come by anytime to ask questions and to get hands on experience, which is wonderful.

So far, everyone I have encountered have been eager to teach me, eager to answer my questions, and I am really really, really am grateful for that.

hollyweird

2008-08-09T21:14:00.000-07:00

as i get out of my apartment i look to my left and see a woman squatting in the bushes taking a poop or pee, i couldn't really tell...we make eye contact which makes her pull up her pants and walk away nonchallant.

i also acted in a short that featured a man aroused by a foot fetish.

this is my life.

2008-08-07T00:09:00.000-07:00

I met Paul Massey a couple of hours ago. Check him out on IMDB.com

It's ridiculous how many great and amazing movies he has worked on and mind blowing on the many people he has collaborated with.

He's not only a good sound re-recording mixer, but he is also a humble man. I don't know what I admire the most...

Reality Check

2008-07-30T17:29:00.000-07:00

I've been down at my apartment in LA for a week now and I have probably gone out about 4 times to run errands or take some friends around town.

Today was bizarre. I went shopping at the outside mall on hollywood and highland and ran into a taping of the show, "10 years younger" that's on TLC, and Jimmy Kimmel Live! was taping a skit about the earthquake that happened yesterday. Both of the shows I tried to get in the background or foreground of the shot. But, I didn't stay too long because I felt bad for the woman being abused in the box for the TLC show and for Jimmy Kimmel Live, it just got hot and awkward standing there watching the little skit.

I say this is all bizarre because this is my life now, emerged into television and film. I am surrounded by it, I will begin to breath it and have it running through my veins. At least, intensely for a year with school and all.

LA is so vibrant and I am entertained.

safety first.

2008-07-07T09:03:00.001-07:00

well, i didn't make it to the top 10 videos to be voted on for "car safety".

the safety videos this year were done well and the story-lines were to the point. my short didn't deserve to see the light of day- what a joke.

another one bites the dust.

special day.

2008-06-28T23:07:00.000-07:00

wedding's are fun to shoot. the food is always good and there is at least one awkward drunk that will ask you to put your camera down and dance!

.

2008-06-21T23:11:00.000-07:00

i finished the safety video yesterday. in retrospect, i should have waited to upload the video until i was sure it was perfect.

i don't think i'll be getting this scholarship.

paper mache

2008-06-15T18:27:00.000-07:00

i finished the cell phone with the help of my mom and little sister.

right now my sister is using it to call zach efron.

here is a show i used to watch on comedy central called, "trigger happy."

i shoot on tuesday.

a mouth full

2008-06-14T00:30:00.000-07:00

There is a project I am working on that involves...

1. a donut

2. a cup of coffee

3. a cell phone

4. and a car freshener

all of them seem ordinary and mundane but they're not!

what's the catch?

it's a huge donut! a huge cup of coffee! a huge cell phone that will give you a brain tumor just by looking at it! and a car freshener that will leave your car smelling like apple for centuries!

with the help of my immensely talented friends (in alphabetical order: edwin, liz, and marielle) these objects became reality; attainable!

here are some pictures of the donut:

look at edwin licking his lips.

i'm doing this video for a 5,000 dollar scholarship. the subject matter has to be about car safety, i choose to do it on NOT HAVING distractions while you're on the road. i hope it's effective and clear to the audience. i guess it's all up to the director to execute. damn it.

i'm very rusty.

I hate good-byes.

2008-06-08T15:35:00.000-07:00

Someday we will meet again and finish this project.

SOMEDAY!

write to the future you!

2008-02-08T15:43:00.001-08:00

this has nothing to do with our project but i thought i would share this cool new website i found.

it's called: futureme.org

you pretty much type an email to yourself and they send it for you in the near future....you can pick the month, date, and year you want it to be sent to you.

it's interesting. you can check out what other people wrote to themselves. some letters are venting about their horrible day and some are filled with hope for what is coming up next in their life. here is one:

"Dear FutureMe,
Well, you had 3 and a half years to change things around. Did you? Did you become the woman the girl deserved to be? If yes, congratulations.
If not, you are still valuable Lori. It's in you. Never, ever, ever give up."

i think i should email myself one to be sent to me next year. it will say:

"i hope we have finished this stop motion movie."

and if we haven't yet, that will motivate me to do so...i think.

-katherine

-------------

2008-01-31T00:45:00.000-08:00

Liz made those hands with her

own hands:

Marielle made that child with her

own children:

Katherine made nothing with a whole bunch of nothing.

Upgrade

2008-01-21T17:31:00.000-08:00

the program we are using is istopmotion. it's a nice program that makes things

a lot easier to animate.

i upgraded to istopmotion 2.

i am excited.

katherine

A start of something new:

2008-01-18T21:22:00.001-08:00

Hi,

Liz, Marielle, and I will start AND finish a stop-motion animation about an isolated, alone, lonesome, friendless, with no one to turn to, forsaken, abandoned, rejected, unloved, unwanted, gloomy,

sad, depressed, desolate, forlorn, cheerless, down-- yellow balloon.

We are also planning to do everything like: editing, animating, shooting, writing, directing, and even making the music for this movie by ourselves. We are ambitious

young lady's...and single.

Anyway, a couple of days ago we started building some sets and did a few test shots to see what it would look like and the results were impressive. We said to ourselves, "Hey! Maybe we CAN pull this off after all!"

We already finished with our first shot...jealous?

I'll leave you with a tree I made for the movie:

- Katherine