Run with the wolves

Now i’m into the 3rd year of serious filmmaking. I have now set an extreme goal for this year. 5 projects in the year 2010. The first project has already been completed. A pilot music video for my favorite band The Prodigy. The prodigy and their PR firm, Cooking Vinyl in association with Dailymotion is running a competition to make a ‘badass’ music video for the track ‘Run with the wolves’. It is a fantastic opportunity for upcoming filmmakers like me to get something done. Winning this contest is maybe the 4th on the priority list for me, but to make a ‘badass music video’ which i can be proud of, has been the first priority.

The project was planned ‘zero budget’, but in the end of the day, zero budget projects are seldom zero budget. The Cast and crew worked for free, but the equipments were to be rented. I did save a lot by shooting on green screen though. Money was not the only factor that dictated the green screen. I had 3 young kids of age 14-16 acting in the music video. Two of them had to be barely clad, and it was -10 degrees outside. I had previously worked for 2 other projects this winter, and i know how easily your enthusiasm would drain out like a battery in the extreme cold, specially when there are breaks between shots. And so, i decided to shoot the scene with the kids in green screen and replace the background. I am very satisfied the final outcome, and i now know where and how i made mistakes and will try not to repeat it the next time.

There is a silence before a storm, and that silence is now. I’m talking about my PC. It is running so smoothly that even though i have been installing and uninstalling programs, it is taking it smootha and easy. Now, in a PC world, that’s scary. So, i guess its time to do some serious backup. But remember, if you delete the original after a backup, the backup becomes the original without a backup. So keep both files.

You must be wondering how i’m gonna make a backup on this blog. But wait, this is more than a backup. I am gonna share some my secrets with you as well. I am gonna backup all the utilities i use on this computer, so if it ever dies on me, i know where to find it. get it?

Utilities

F.Lux : Now, this is a wonder application for anyone who spends a lot of time in front of the computer screen. This application registers the local daylight calcuated in Kelvin and adjusts the screen brightness accordingly. Make sure you register your time zone as you start this appliation.

Feed Reader : This software to me is like my cup of morning coffee. This program loads up before anything else and is the first thing i see on screen. All i have to do is submit the RSS links to the pages i wanna keep track of (most of the professional websites have a RSS feed). This applies to Job’s database, news, friends photo uploads etc… and you don’t have to go to each site to check for update. This progam will let you know if there has been any update. Pretty smart eh?

PC Inspector Smart Recovery : The delete button is a necessary evil. And it fucks with you every now and then. The recycle bin is a good way to recover the data. But if you have deleted stuff off external devices like SD card from your camera, then this software is your Jesus.

CCleaner : This software is good for you if you are a person who keeps installing and uninstalling stuff. When you uninstall, most of the software leaves behind debris. CCleaner cleans your computer a bit more thoroughly.

MacDrive : If you own both PC  and Mac and share the same external  hard drive, this piece of application makes Mac formatted Ext drives visible on a mac. Costs about 50$.

7Zip : A fantastic software that extracts pretty much every compressed file format. for ex. RAR files ! WOW, eh !?

Image and Video

Easy Thumbnails : 10 mega-pixels on your camera ? wow, great man. Now you can stuff your drives with large chunks of crappy data. So, if you are not a serious photographer or do not often print those pictures out as huge A2 posters, that much large data is a waste. I would look through the pictures in the size they were shot, but save them in smaller sizes to save space and ease upload time. This software helps bulk resize pictures. I save most of my images to 800 x 600 size.

DVD Decrypter : Fantastic software if you want to store your DVD’s as data files into your hard drive. When you rip a DVD, a lot of unwanted stuff fills in your drives as well. Well, you dont want to save the directors commenatry or subtitles in polish, do you?. With this software, you get to choose what you need to rip, and thats just the movie you are after. So, go get them you pirate.

Image Brander : Want to bulk watermark your images. This is a simple and free software that does the magic. Make sure you set the output format to JPEG, as it is set as TIFF by default.

Quick Media Converter : Nowadays everything comes witha camera or video recording, even your toiletbrush ! But not all the times do the come in formats that are compatiable with what or where you just wanna upload and share. This software pretty much can handle and do the job for you.The interface is pretty simple and the advance mode is pretty hardcore. Now that i have shared this info, i hope to see more of your videos uploaded to facebook or Youtube.

The Music Jungle

Duplicate music files finder : Yes, we know that you steal music off the web. Sometimes, you steal the same song twice. Now, you don’t want two files of the same kind eating up your disc space while you can store more stolen music there, do you. Use this software to clean yur shit up. But remember, there might be two songs of the same kind if the greedy artist made a ‘greatiest hits’ album. but then again, how great is that shit ?… out with it !

MP3 Tag Editor : oh yes, we know that you like to organize your stolen shit. Not all the Mp3’s are ripped in the format ‘artist – song – album – song number’. This software helps you to tag your mp3’s the way you like. But i should warn you not to bulk edit the first time. Play with this shit before you get a grip of what it does and how you want your shit to be organized.

Audacity : Have there been times when you wanted to cut off an intro or outro of a song, shorten an song, record your voice over it, so that you can load it to your phone/web? This is a lightweight software that does wonders. FREE as well!

VLC player : Is a must have ! It is feather weight (means, it takes up minimal disc space and resources -computer speed) software that plays pretty much all kinds of files (well, except the snobbish ones like Real audio – who uses them anyway!) Not the sexiest interface. Download this and set it as default player for all your media. NOW !

 TuneUp Companion : Perfect companion to Itunes. This software loads up everytime you load iTunes, it give you more info on the song you are playing.  If you own an iTouch or iPhone, its not cool if a song you are playing has no album cover. As uncool as a facebook profile without a mugshot. It downloads the missing covers of your songs. The ‘clean’ option also fills in the song details like genre, year, album etc etc.. NO, its NOT free. For once in your life, pay for something… GODDAMIT!   

CD Burner XP : Ok, this is so 1990, but if you want to make a cd from the list of songs you wanna give to your girl, this shit is simple and FREE !

 Enjoy !

Today, I decide to write an extensive blog. Lately, i have been nano – blogging on the Facebook and Twitter. I do update my status at least one time a day. And when I mean update, it doesn’t mean with statements like “am at work”, “is sleeping” or “is satisfied today”. My updates are one sentence abbreviation of a much larger story that I had experienced that day or moment. Yes, I’m observant, and every unusual thing intrigues me in a deeper sense, on how and why it had to wake my attention. I don’t get much time on my hands as to write a longer story about it. Or its just that, not that my list of priorities always are smartly arranged. But hell no, I’m not lazy.
I’m a very active Facebook’er where I shares my experience/express my views through images and status updates and links. I do this for several reasons. One of them is being I as an active social being. I also like to show off my stuff. I would like people to correct me or give me ideas so I can improvise. I like to share. I owe a lot to people who shared their ideas with me. I have used their criticism well. I can differentiate between constructive criticism and destructive criticism. I consider the criticism as creative, if I find that it makes sense at some level. I consider the criticism destructive when it make no sense or are against my rules of conduct.
I believe that one has to have boundaries and borders. Your borders are strengthened with your opinions, decisions and beliefs. Your boundary is your firewall, without which you are at the risk of being easy victim. Didn’t you learn at school that prevention is better than cure?
I also think it is clever to leave your Facebook status not updated, than updating it with stuff, your 200 odd friends are going to read and think “err… and so what?!!!”
Yes, I know that this particular blog has no structure, but it has a few things you can get clever of.
All I wanted is to blog today, and I have just done it.

I have been asked a couple of times on how i feel about the whole Mumbai-terror situation.
yes, my feelings about this situation are in reference and comparison with the place i now reside, a first world.  All the things i say might be non-patriotic to a resident Indian who knows no better. but anyway, here is my answer : i feel ashamed.

Ashamed, from the cause of the incident to the way it was tackled. The nation is now busy pointing fingers in all different directions but themselves. it was a shame that in spite of the threat and several successful terror attempts, the government ignored any security measure to prevent such an act. And when it happened, it was a shame to see that the people who were in charge of national security had no charge of the situation for nearly 3 days. It was a shame to call the elimination of the terrorists a ´success´ after the death toll of 175 lives.
Ashamed to see how the police of India operates with locals running around all over the scene of crime. Misinformed police constables guarding the scene with no practice, info or clue on how to react.
The so-called elite forces were the biggest joke of it all. The Indian men in black, a bullet proof vest and a primitive gun, no glove, no helmet!… i am pretty sure they still use – jai, bhajrang bali – as their war cry. so primitive!
A helicopter drop-off made the Bollywood nation skip a heart beat. “Wow, just like in Hollywood movies“. It was embarrassing to see the first soldier trip and fall on landing. All that stunt just to discover 5 dead bodies…shame.

the drop off

The terror target were not random places in Bombay. these were places frequented by western tourists, specially Leopold café and Taj Mahal hotel. the other spots were aimed to hurt the locals. Not any random Pakistani who just sailed in, can figure these places out. They have been there for a very long time. they took their sweet time to work out this plan while the Indians were blowing their own trumpet with a space program .. shame.

With all due respects to all those lost their lives and relatives and the injured, i hope that this is wake up call for India. But I’m pretty much sure that the state of affairs will continue unaltered in my life time.. shame.

urban jungle-5, originally uploaded by barnumz.

And so, i have decided to take up yet another photo challenge. This time it is for Metro Express Global photo competition with the theme ‘Urban Jungle’. I have had a few ideas in mind, but had to narrow down to the most practical ones as the time and resourses were limited. One of my ideas incorporated a few people/models in prime parts of the city. Most of the volunteers bailed out on hangover alibis. Therefor, we (Paula and Me) had to find other ways to get this shoot done. After walking around half the city, we decided to do a chai-latte at Baresso, where i told her my plan B, which was well recieved. All we needed was a fish and a spherical bowl. None of us being pet owners and no access to the internet, we raked our brains for petshop. Paula claimed that she has seen one at Amager-Center.
“ok, finish your chai, then we go buy the fish and shoot it” said Paula to me. A statement that could be so much outta Tarrentino movie.
We managed to get the fish and the bowl, and my idea was to shoot the bowl in the middle of the city by dusk as to get the vibrant colors of the sunset. But i later realised the the cold temperature outside might kill the fish before i get my shot. So. i decided to shoot it on my balconey instead. so, here is the outcome.

This is an experimental project for an upcoming short movie shot in time lapse photography. This movie consists of 306 photographs stitched together. This kind of photography is called time lapse photography.

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One cannot but notice or be annoyed(as in my case) by the teen fashion of Copenhagen, specially the group that is a crossover between EMO-lite and student-metrosexual. They seems to have given up their rock star dreams on the their MySpace.com. Whatever their dreams were, be it the dream of coveting a record contract or being a virtual groupie getting the backstage feeling, seems to have lost hope. Neither did the long loading time, the chaotic layout, force fed music, psychedelic colors and a meaningless link surfing, help those desperate teen souls.  

The teens of myspace might have moved on, but they surely have taken the layout with them to the streets. The psychedelic and fluorescent colors, Palestine scarf and the so-80’s attire. No, ‘Retro’ is not the key word, its is more like ‘Rare-Retro’. They seem to be creative.  Well again,  I’m not sure that ‘creative’ is the word, unless one can ’create’ an organized mess.

This fashion is a fad, but is for sure chasing the ‘bling-sters’ a run for their money – well, at least in the Greater Copenhagen. Its about spring now and wont be that long before its summer. And I’d be damned to spot another of these ex-myspace’rs on the sunny side of Copenhagen wearing a pair of fluorescent Nike’s and a thick patterned scarf.

Yesterday, as the default page of my web browser pops up, I was confronted by a message that never had been so full of power, especially from the front page of Google.dk. The google front page was all black as it was representing the Earth Hour campaign. I didn’t have to google ‘earth hour’ to find out what was going on, as I have had enough invitations on the Facebook to find out what it was all about.

Did I shut out the lights for an hour at 8 pm? ,  No!  Neither did I send moms and dads day cards, nor did I celebrate Halloweens and Valentines Day. I think I spread enough love to my parents once in month, give my girlfriend enough love daily and scare every one else every other day. Likewise, i don’t need ‘earth hour’ to switch off the electricity when not necessary – the PC being an exception. Don’t you people know how long a PC takes to start up, and just by the time its up and running, I have probably forgotten what I was about to surf.

Europe is gripped with this UH-HAH (yes, an Al Pacino expression) about environmental conservation, which I  think is so damn overrated. The whole CO2 issue, but wait a minute – What happened to the Ozone layer issue? Has it all patched up yet? I’m sorry I lost track of it all, will someone explain it to me?

I couldn’t help it as got lost in other campaigns like, save the rain forest, save whales, save the panda (are they still around?), save dolphins, save tigers, save elephants, save polar bears, save christiania, save ungdomshuset and the list goes on.

It is so damn easy to be an activist now a day, as all you need now is to join a Facebook group. Yes, you tell the world what you believe in or pretend to, but do fuck-all about it. No thanks; I have passed that chain letter a thousand times followed by remorse.

I’ll fly that jet plane to Amsterdam because I love holidays. I’ll buy that SUV when I can afford, because boys like big cars. I will drink canned beer at Roskilde festival as it reduces the risk of broken glass pieces on the ground. I’ll buy more electronic gadgets because I love them. And I still know how to conserve nature, environment and energy otherwise…. Want tips?

If I take a peek into my own telescope of retrospect, I see visions of American soldiers fighting the German soldiers with their strangely shaped helmets and screams Achtung Achtung! These were from a collection of black and white comic books which my uncle, a botanical professor, used to treasure back in India in 1975.
Now that I’m within hour’s flight to that nation where those comic book drawings were actual life, I decide to see it for myself using my Easter vacations.
As well suspected, the travel agency had booked us a hotel at the cleaner side of Berlin. So we decide to go bit further looking for traces of the history. Well, all we saw were new buildings, very unlike Europe. They say that 70 % of Berlin was destroyed during the war. True, but shouldn’t there be traces of it? Like dead tanks, airplanes watchtowers or buildings… none! Ok, then how about museums… hmm. So we head for the History of Berlin museum. 10 euros and we get to climb three stories of a building with history of Berlin from medieval times to present. 1932 to 1943, where the most of the gruesome but yet powerful part of the German history was compressed to a wall of one of the rooms of the museum. A room measuring less than 70sq meters in size.
The Holocaust museum. aah.. There should be something that I’m looking for, like the dungeons, cells, or tools used to torture. Hrmmm…. Well, you are still in Germany though, so one shouldn’t mention the war.
At the Holocaust museum, we spend half a day learning the history of the Jewish community in Germany…. WTF!!???…
The place did surely make me smarter by learning that Albert Einstein was a Jew and half the world still hates Jews. The latter conclusion was based upon an interesting opinion-survey-gadget located in the Holocaust museum. The question was “do you have a friend that hates Jews”. Now that is a politically corrected version of “do YOU hate Jews”. Now, all you had to do is press a discrete red or a green button. Astonishingly, in a Jewish museum surrounded by Jewish guests, the percentage of people who said YES was 46% and 54% said no. Assuming the fact that at least 30% of the people who voted “NO” had lied, I had to ask someone… “WHY?”
Now a few blocks away were the “guarded” remains of “The Wall”, because the rest of the wall has ended up in souvenir shops, at CHECKPOINT CHARLIE.
CHECKPOINT CHARLIE, another Mecca for tourists, is so extremely overrated. So overrated that I believe that ranting about it is a pure waste of time.
Now, I had spent almost a week in this concrete jungle searching for World War 2 traces, fuelled with DUINKIN DOUGHNUTS and STARBUCKS COFFEE, which apparently is at every street corner. But back at the hotel, TOM CRUISE and RENÉ ZELLWEGGER ware made to talk German in Jerry McGuire for German television. And not many television channels to opt from though.
The war might have been over, the surveillance equipments might have been put to rest, the control post might no longer exist, the city might have been cleaned of the blood and damage, but I could still hear the eerie whistle of German mind control. Mr Faulty make perfect sense to me when he mocks the German tourist by saying “but don’t mention the war”