raw footage- Kings of AZ 10-20-07

This is raw (almost unedited) footage from the film. Volume is a bit low so go buy some speakers or some headphones, you'll be able to hear it nice and clear in the final version. The footage is from the second round of Kings of AZ in Phoenix, Arizona. This was our 4th battle in the series and we are currently undefeated. The battle was my crew(Les Avenge) vs Mellow Drama.

ORielly says something amazing

Trash in the River

My post today is in collaboration with hundreds of others for blog action day.
My last visit to Iran was one in which I discovered the multiple types of landscapes the country had to offer. From snowy mountain tops to dusty flat lands, all landscapes were adulterated by the presence of trash accumulated from littering. One familiar image was plastic bags, drink containers, and cigarette butts floating down a small stream at a popular hiking destination in Tehran. I cannot count the times I saw people throwing garbage out of car windows onto the street.
There is a serious problem here and it needs to be fixed for the long term. Growing up in the US, I was constantly reminded in school and television of the problems of littering. Saturday morning PSA's of rockstar dinosaurs taught us to recycle, reduce, and reuse along with the eco friendly super hero, Captain Planet. Iran must invest in the future of its country's environment and ecosystems now in order to save it from ultimate collapse. A shift in awareness of environmentalism will not only stop at littering but also inspire new regulations on industrial and consumer emissions and wastes.
Until then, I will have to constantly remind my uncle to dispose of his cigarette butts in a bottle to be thrown away.

Arts & Islam: a short doc

Michael Clayton

I saw Michael Clayton in NYC at a press screening in July. It was definitely the best film I saw over the summer. Tom Wilkinson will be getting best supporting actor for this film.. that's right, I'm predicting this now. Clooney is amazing as well. The film itself is a captivating story about people who work as "fixers" for huge law firms. In the film Tom Wilkinson's character loses his mind while working as council to a major agro-chemical company and his firm sends Clayton to remedy the problem. Clayton quickly realizes that the situation is much more complicated than that and it may get him killed. Michael Clayton is one of the smartest and intense films of the year.

Tony Gilroy (writer of the Bourne franchise) makes a strong directorial debut with this film letting us know that he will be a major player as a director. I will be the first in line for his next film.

This is the first film you should see before seeing anything else.

another studio sequence shot

(c) All photos courtesy of Lexi

Sunday was a great day of filming. We shot another studio portion of the film at the University's fairly new studio. JorDan did a fabulous job of Art Direction acquiring us desks, a full size chalkboard, computers, and other classroom items for the scene. A special thanks goes to the Flowing Wells school district for lending us most of the set dressing. The desks were provided by the University from the Chavez building.
Randall did a great job shooting the scene in the same style as the first one. Hank and Michaela worked sound and were great to have on set. Everything went very well, الحمدلله
Lexi provided amazing stills as usual. All of the actors did a fabulous job and required very little adjustments.

Alive in Baghdad out of funds

I think AIB is a great group and a valiant effort to broadcast coverage of conflict past the surface of numbers, stats, and events. As of now it looks like they are in some serious financial trouble. Visit their site to find out how you can help.

An excerpt from a recent AIB blog...

"Now its September 25th, and when our bills come due on October 1st, we’ll be out of money. We’ve been paying ourselves a meager salary to get by because we do this full-time, while also paying a fluctuating staff of 5-8 overseas in Iraq and Mexico, between our translator, Baghdad bureau chief, and correspondents. It seems our big failure is that we are ahead of our time. Less flatteringly, neither did we have enough business sense to have a model for making money before we tried to change the quality of video journalism available online. There may be media democracy for the wealthy and privileged of the first world, but they appear unwilling to pay a few dollars to support that democracy in the developing world."