September 21, 2004
The Visitor(s)
Blessed by two fun-loving friends, a video camera and a 65 Bonneville convertible, Caroline and I just spent one of our favorite weekends of the year near La Crosse, Wisconsin.
The weekend began with the four of us (Anthony, Caroline, Jock, and Stacia) hopping into Jock’s babe-magnet of a car and starting down old Highway 61 towards Winona, Minnesota. The weekend conversation ranged from online-dating to ludicrous “What-if” scenarios such as, “If your husband’s body rejected his skull and had to be replaced by a wooden head, would you still love him? If so, what type of wood would you prefer?” If any lull in conversation raised it’s head, it was a welcome and much needed pause to process the flood of opinions and humor we had drowned ourselves in.
The video camera didn’t fail to be used for inspirational footage such as the “Wooclar” horror film that was sporadically being pieced together, separated by Seinfeld-like shots of foursome gab over grease-embedded donuts from Mr. D’s.
All the while, we were lodged in a 2,500 square foot log home with a fantastic wood-burning fireplace for late-night fireside chats and a wrap-around porch for enjoying our morning coffee while staring off into the 80 acres of forest that surrounded us.
I believe we’d all agree it was a well-enjoyed refuge from city life, with root-beer floats and Bush-hating bar owners only a stone throw away.
Posted by anthonyb at 08:00 AM | Comments (0)
September 15, 2004
To act or not to act?
Yesterday, my wife Caroline and I spent a number of hours acting in a short video production that will be used for a “tape offer” by our home church Speak the Word (STW). Recently the television staff has been making great strides in raising the bar for themselves in their day-to-day TV production. What once was driven by character generation and voice-overs is now growing into scripted and performed shorts. It’s an encouraging step for us to see them take and even more so for us to be a part of.
Caroline and I both have admitted aspirations to produce films, but this time found ourselves on the other end of the camera. It forced us into a place that wasn’t as comfortable right off, but after a few takes became increasingly more agreeable. Caroline has looked into acting classes and considered joining the Fine Arts Ministry at STW, which focuses mostly on theater and skits at this time, but has also supplied the talent for another STW production The Millers (more on that later). My interests in acting have not been quite so vocalized, even to my wife, however I have to say I quite enjoyed it. I’ve even considered playing a part in one of my own films someday, but have never been able to identify whether that desire stems from a real interest in acting or an egotistical temptation to control as much of the production as possible. I’ll spare myself the deeper introspection of that thought for another time.
One director I’ve heard speak actually recommended that someone interested in pursuing directing should consider acting classes in order to better understand the perspective of the very types they’d be directing. The advice seems to make sense. Today we hear about actors who are now directing or even acting, directing and WRITING their own films! Really people, is any one person that talented? And if so, do they really need to be operating all their gifts in one production? What happened to the benefits of interdependence?
I think I’ll dig out the video of my 5th grade Christmas play and remind myself how much I’d like to direct films and not to act in musicals.
Posted by anthonyb at 05:03 PM | Comments (0)
Good day
Yes, it's true, I'm a little behind in starting my own Weblog. Local news stations and papers have even beat me to the punch! Nonetheless, here I am to make my mark with on-screen babblings of my own - more so for myself to start journaling again. Less to intentionally invite others to keep tabs on my thought life.
Thus it begins. Making my vision plain so that myself and others may see to run with it (or dispose of it, whichever is more appropriate).
Posted by anthonyb at 09:11 AM | Comments (0)