Now here’s a frame from the film Citizen Kane directed by Orson Welles. (screen capture is fromCreativeCOW.net)
As I mentioned before, the screen capture above is directly from a CreativeCow.net article titled “The Camera Is An Eye – Not A Vacuum Or A Gun”. The article refreshed my memory of a scene I worked on from the short film ‘My Imaginary Friend’. This image stuck out to me the moment I saw it because I can remember lifting this same technique from Citizen Kane. In 2006 when I was in college and made ‘My Imaginary Friend’, is around the time when I watched Citizen Kane for the first time. I may have watched it a couple years before, but just around this time of my life I was obsessed with Orson Welles. Now I don’t believe I was technically ‘stealing’ like I have titled this post, but I was for sure influenced by the cinematography in Citizen Kane.
Nowadays these choices of where to place the camera is ingrained in the way we make movies today. In fact every movie is technically stealing from the past in one way or another.
As a filmmaker I believe it’s important to try and understand the history of filmmaking as much as possible in order to stay creative, and fully understand how stories can be told.
Thank god for days like these! Working out can take a toll not only on your body but on on your mind as well. It's hard to stay motivated sometimes when you're feeling weak, and like you're not improving as fast as you'd like. Although I've been making great improvements lately, especially with my cardio; I've just been feeling worn out mentally.
The hardest part about working out is actually getting up and working out. When you're not mentally focused going into a workout routine, you most likely won't give it your best. Today was one of those days where I read todays WOD and was excited to workout!
Checkout the WOD my younger brother came up with for me to do today.
All exercises must be performed with a 20lb. weighted vest. 5 rounds for time: -6 burpees -4 dips -2 pull-ups
AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) for 10 minutes: -5 push press at 115lbs. -10 dedlifts at 115lbs. -15 box jumps at 24"
Rest for 1 minute and then go straight into the next routine.
AMRAP for 10 minutes: -5 power cleans at 95lbs. -10 back squats at 95lbs. -15 push-ups
I felt great after completing this WOD! This evening I took my parents out to dinner for Christmas Eve; unfortunately I ended up eating a little too much tonight! It can be difficult staying discipline during the holiday season. I guess this is my 'cheat day' for the week, but always remember a cheat day really means you're cheating yourself!
Working out is something I've always done ever since I was a teenager. These past couple of years CrossFit has been rapidly growing; some might say CrossFit is the fastest growing sport at this moment in time.
My younger brother has been in love with the sport the past couple years and has picked up the proper technique rather quickly. He's been teaching me his knowledge, and has been a motivation for me to stay active.
Here's the workout regime he put together for me yesterday.
WOD #1 3 rounds for time (10 minute time cap): -25 meter down-and-back sprints (50 meters total -10 burpees -7 clean and jerk at 135lbs.
WOD #2 For time interspersed (17 minute time cap): -12, 9, 6, 3 deadlifts at 155lbs. -40, 30, 20, 10 air squares
WOD #3 For time: -run 2 miles
I woke up Sunday morning to a text message that said "welcome to hell". This WOD might not be hell for the elite athlete, but my brother is aware of my weaknesses, and trying to help me push myself to improve. After completing the first WOD I felt like giving up. It was hell, but I continued on and ended up having a great day!
Although I exceeded the time cap in the first WOD, I decided to complete the workout even though the purpose of a time cap is to increase your intensity to complete the WOD within the given time.
I'm 100% positive if my brother was training with me on this day he would have made me stop and move on, but I was already feeling 'broken' so I forced myself to finish the workout.
The second WOD involving deadlifts and air squats wasn't so bad for me as the clean and jerks were in the first workout. I definitely felt the pain though when I ran 2 miles for the final WOD. Surprisingly, I got one of the best times I've had running in years!
“Whatever you want from exercise comes faster with intensity. It’s not volume or duration or heartrate or even discomfort. Do more work in less time (without overdoing it), and you’ll get fitter faster.”
— CrossFit Journal
The intensity of training CrossFit has allowed me to see results I've been missing over the years by simply just weightlifting. I will continue to post more clips of my training, and hopefully will continue to grow as I share my experience.
David Kano of The Hollywood MMA Show talked to Lyoto Machida about his previous fight with Black House MMA friend and training partner Mark Munzo. Machida also talks about his upcoming fight against Gegard Mousasi at UFC Fight Night 36 in 2014.
David Kano of The Hollywood MMA Show speaks with "King" Kevin Casey, and Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida at BlackHouse MMA about Casey's upcoming fight against Eddie Mendez at RFA 12.
This is a highlight video of some of the work I shot and edited this year.
I'd like to continue editing something like this together every year as I have done in the past. Checkout the first 'Looking Back' video from 2009 below.
This week Eminem's music video 'Rap God' was released. I took notice of a scene within the video that reminded me of a visual idea I wanted to make a reality 3 years ago. As soon as I heard the song 'Whiskey Kings' by Monkeys In Space, I started to visualize what the music video would look like. I had the song playing on repeat while I was running on a treadmill, and as time went by I came up with a concept. I got off the treadmill and sketched out storyboards for a music video. In the image below you will see a screenshot of one of my storyboards next to a scene from the Eminem music video. I was a bit shocked when I saw this because it's exactly what I had envisioned for the 'Whiskey Kings' music video. Read more about the project in this blog post I wrote a little over 2 years ago.
It's frustrating to see an idea you envisioned in your head, being done by somebody else and in this case that somebody else is Eminem! There are many reasons why my idea didn't come to life, mostly because of a lack of communication and expressing my idea to the band. Funding was also an issue, I don't believe I was employed at the time and I had this grand idea to create a music video on absolutely no budget. As an independent filmmaker it's difficult to risk sacrificing your vision with no budget just for the sake of making a video. I would have funded the video myself if I could have and in the future I plan on doing so with projects I have a passion for like I did for this one.
Scott Epstein took some time to talk with The Hollywood MMA Show about coaching on The Ultimate Fighter Season 11 with Chuck Liddell, the rematch of Anderson Silva vs Chris Weidman, teaching at 10th Planet West LA, and much more!
