On a more personal note, as a project director I’ve learned after reading this chapter the importance of line producers. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I wasn’t ever aware that a producer did anything besides finance the project, but now I see the importance of having someone to organize everything for you to take some heat off of the director. A director can’t plausibly keep all of the craziness of a general shoot together and expect to be effective in their role, and now that I understand this, I’ll be working hard to make sure the producer on my project understands the creative vision and can help me achieve this through their organizational talents.

So, loyal readers, I present to you a funny video I shot with my friend in Cincinnati over Fall Break this year. Hope you like it.

Here’s the final video version of Mouth Sounds. Watch and enjoy.

Love, Jay

If you’d like more info on the I Live Here project, click here to access the project’s blog. It’s got bios, videos, pictures, and much more.

In the meantime, enjoy these two videos that I’ve made for my Digital Media class, and let me know what you guys think in the comments!

FIRST UP: The final version of my Nighthawks painting story. VOILA.

AND NEXT: A little stop-motion movie I made called “Playtime’s Over”. TADA.

3. Sporcle

I’ve known about this website for a good while now, because I am a Master of the Internets, but I’ve been relishing in it’s ability to totally destroy all of your free time for extra-long this past week. Go there, take some of their little quizzes, and then realize that you’ve wasted several hours sitting in front of your computer when you should have been doing homework, you lazy bum.

2. Monsters vs. Aliens

This movie was a definite breath of fresh air when it comes to Dreamworks movies. Maybe it was the incredibly snappy and quotable dialogue (My favorite line: “I am brave, I am a brave president.”), maybe it was the dazzling animation, or maybe it was just because someone finally made a 3D movie without it being gimmicky, but I thought this was a great little diversion and one of the better films to come out of 2009 thus far.

1. djay and Ron Winter’s Drum Set

Yeah, it’s a tie!

I’m not going to lie to you. I haven’t had the best of weeks. But when the weekend came around and I was given the opportunity to assist my good friend Raj Rawal with DJing at a party, I had what was probably one of the best nights in my time here at Elon. I got such a rush from having the control over what we listened to, getting lost in the music, and just having a kickass time that nothing else seemed to matter for that span of time. And I have these two little bits of software to thank for providing me with what I hope will be something to keep me occupied and energized for weekends to spare.

And those were the Things of (last) Week.

As always! Click the thumbnails to see the full-size action.

Sure to be an entertaining (and strange) treat for all who see!

Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, the next film after her critically acclaimed The Virgin Suicides, is remarkable in its simplicity and effectiveness. Using primarily two characters, Charlotte and Bob (played by Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray, respectively), to illustrate the loneliness felt by finding yourself slapped haphazardly into a new culture that you know nothing about and, quite frankly, don’t like too much once you find yourself there. Both Charlotte and Bob have to deal with weirdness on the behalf of Tokyo’s citizens, including a memorable scene involving a “massage therapist” who simply want’s Bill Murray’s character to lip her stocking. Wait, what?

The snappy dialogue is probably the best part of the movie, simultaneously being laugh-out-loud funny and surprisingly poignant and sad. Charlotte and Bob’s connection is really enhanced by the words Ms. Coppola wrote and eventually won Best Original Screenplay for. The cinematography also enhanced the viewer’s perception of these characters. If there’s anything that Coppola can do well, it’s set up a scene beautifully, and is notably very meticulous about it: she even took pictures around Tokyo, picked out her best ones, then had her crew recreate that for the film. Two notable scenes where the cinematography is on high importance are Charlotte’s walk through the arcade, and Bob’s appearance on a Japanese talk show with the apparent Johnny Carson of Japan…both wonderfully shot scenes that really helped us see the lost-ness that these characters feel by placing them in environments that are so out of their element and really giving us an idea of what that might feel like.

Overall, I thought this was a fantastic film that deserves every accolade that came its way. While Coppola faltered with her next film, Marie Antoinette, I still have high hopes for her future work based on this and The Virgin Suicides.

Hey there. How’s it going? How’re the kids?

I hear your cries. “Jay, what was so great about this week? It got cold and rainy, Facebook changed their format again, and Lost was a rerun.” But don’t worry, I’ve got some shining examples. Four of ‘em, to be specific.

4. Christopher Walken’s Twitter account

It’s about as weird as you’d expect a sneak peek into the brain of the one and only Christopher Walken would be. And also amazingly hilarious. My favorite update so far: I posed for dozens of photos in California last week. I closed my eyes or made a face in nearly every one. Sorry. I amuse myself this way.

3. Eastbound and Down: “Chapter Five”

In this week’s installment of what has quickly become one of my favorite new comedy series from Danny R. McBride (The Foot Fist Way, Tropic Thunder, Pineapple Express), we get to see Kenny Powers, McBride’s insufferable former star pitcher, finally come to terms with the fact that he isn’t hot shit anymore, only to find out that he is being called out on his abilities by his former archrival (played by Craig Robinson of The Office). Hilarity ensues as we see Kenny dodge his shortcomings and finally man up the way we knew he should. YAY.

2. Sorority Initiation Weekend

Because every guy knows how much they missed seeing drunk girls running around on the weekend, spouting off hilarious non-sequiturs and defying the laws of physics, the land, and their parents. Oh, college.

1. Jim Cramer on The Daily Show

If anyone knows how to be biting, acidic, and lovable, it’s Jon Stewart. And this week, he took on the big dogs from CNBC and called them out on their sometimes flawed reporting of the financial world, capping off the week with a notable three-part interview with Mad Money‘s Jim Cramer that simultaneously made me roar with laughter and also wonder if our reporting is always in the best hands about our money. Cramer is a good opponent, but Stewart ultimately wrecks shop in a stellar interview that was, and should be, the absolute talk of the Internet.

And those were the Things of the Week.