Thanks Windows 7

Sometimes these video thumbnails just work out wonderfully.

Busy as always over here. Trying to get Joseph to stop by tonight and re-record some audio that somehow got corrupt for the mystery item we've been working on. Editing new stuff while I wait.

Speaking of mystery items and new stuff, we've begun early early work on our next project. Writing ideas down, mainly. Google docs is wonderful for that. I'm pretty excited for it, should it all work out, which I suspect it will. I'm trying to decide on whether or not we should let Marble Hornets finish up before starting work on the new project proper, though. I'm thinking MH needs to be finished before moving on, but who knows what will happen. I do know that we were desperate during season 1, at points, for something less "serious" in nature. The new project fits that pretty well.

However, there's no set timeframe right now for Marble Hornets ending nor the new project starting. It's all speculative for the time being.

Either way, you guys will be the first to know. Whatever happens.

Now here's some pictures that may or may not be from shooting the previous entry:

We're prepared should this ever become a musical, by the way.

My favorite by far.

Show me your intensity face

I wish I could explain the importance of this, but I can't right now.

Demolition Time

For reasons that I can't elaborate on (even though I'm sure some of you will figure it out), I've been going back through the first season of Marble Hornets; trudging through alternate takes, outtakes, and general weirdness in an attempt to organize it into one maybe-semi-intriguing package. It's quite the undertaking, to be sure.

Doing so has made me realize something, though. This whole thing has come a long way. I don't know if I can accurately describe with words how disorganized, confused, and directionless everything was way back then. Mainly me. There are several times the camera catches me instructing things to be done "because that will look cool". This still happened on occasion even after I realized that these videos were inspected, by some, with the kind of scrutiny usually reserved for crime scene investigation. Talk about amateur. But in a way, I'm glad that's how it all used to work. It's forced me and my accomplices to take a sledgehammer to the many corners we've written ourselves into. It's not easy, and saying it's painfully confusing to get straight is an understatement. But dammit, if it's not fun.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you get better at things the more you do them. I feel like I've heard that somewhere before. Of course, that's not to say I think I'm some amazing visionary now or anything. I've just improved, but I never noticed it until now. It's a nice surprise.

In other news: there's so many fantastic things going on right now. Hopefully I'll be able to share some of it with you soon.

Quick Update

Whew. It's been a pretty hectic couple of weeks. School is starting to pick up again. I'm taking more hours this semester than I've ever taken. Weak, I know. But I think things are starting to come back together. Hopefully.

Joseph and I are headed out tomorrow to finally do some shooting and a little more location scouting. There's probably going to be at least one more shoot after tomorrow at the current location, then I'll start editing everything together. These next few entries have required a lot of planning, but I've got my fingers crossed that it'll all have been worth it when it's finished.

It's all taking a little bit longer than I'd hoped, as usual. Thanks, everyone, for being patient. I guess you're all used to it by now, right?

No Time to Breathe

I couldn't be happier with how everything has been working out with Marble Hornets thus far. I've been reading everywhere that people are excited for the story to be picking up again. This is definitely what we hoped would happen from the very beginning of season two. We knew that a lot of people were going to start getting antsy with the claustrophobic nature of the hotel entries, but we kept the slow burn going in order to make it that much more satisfying once it starts moving forward again. From what I've been reading (and I've been looking through a lot), we've accomplished that pretty nicely. High five, team!

That being said, it's time to get back to work. With the posting of Entry #33, we have pretty much exhausted our current stash of raw footage. That means we have to get back out there and do some more actual shooting. But before doing that, we've got to do a little preproduction. Things like finalizing the "roadmap" for the next batch of entries and getting rehearsals done. It shouldn't take too long, but there's probably going to be a little extra time between now and the next entry. Don't worry though, it won't be anything compared to some of the gaps we had during season one. That's a promise!

BONUS:

Here's another behind the scenes-esque picture. I think explaining the context will ruin it, though:

Maybe we'll tell you about it one day. Maybe in the special features section of some magical disc read by lasers. Who can say.

MH Update

There's a good chance that a new Marble Hornets won't be posted until 2011. That's kind of frustrating. The "powers that be" are holding up a stop sign at the moment until one or two details are ironed out. I guess I'll just consider it a longer than expected break. I'm getting antsy. I really hate making people wait.

So to keep you occupied for... however long it takes you to read it, I'll talk about some kind of neat production stuff.

So far, all of the entries of season two have been co-directed, a pretty big change from season one, which I attempted to direct all on my own. I was stubborn on how I wanted everything to go, and didn't want to give up the reigns easily. But I think I've grown out of that now, and am more willing to let someone else have a turn. Most everyone involved with Marble Hornets is a seasoned veteran by now and knows precisely the look we need. Unsurprisingly, it's Joseph that has stepped up on multiple occasions, usually when I'm already involved in a scene with Jessica, to sit with us during rehearsal and give us feedback. When the camera starts rolling, he becomes a really sharp listener and isn't shy to let us know when something isn't working. I should point out that he's had absolutely no experience with this kind of stuff before Marble Hornets started, so it's really cool that he's caught on so easily. I know he sounds all self deprecating in the radio interview , but he basically knows what he's doing as far as actual shooting is involved. He just wants attention. Don't give it to him.

Oh yeah, something else I've been meaning to comment on for a while now. Our acting. I read all the major forums dedicated to Marble Hornets every other day or so, and I'm happy to see that people seem to think I've gotten better at playing Jay. I must admit, in season one I wasn't too concerned with him as a character, I opted instead to have him as an extension of the camera. A medium for the story to be told, if it doesn't sound too pretentious (it probably does). The Gordon Freeman. That's the best way I can put it. But for season two, without spoiling anything that's already obvious, Jay is going to be much more involved besides being the human tripod. Luckily, I've been in one of the best acting classes I've ever had since this season started, and I feel pretty capable of the things that Jay has in store for him. We'll see.

That being said, I know that I nor any of the other people in front of the camera are not professional actors. There's been a few performance hiccups this season already (the latest entry is a good example in spots). I'm not going to try and defend it against the negatives that have been said with stupid, clichéd excuses like "YOUR STANDARDS ARE TOO HIGH" or "LET'S SEE YOU DO IT BETTER". Most of the time what I read are valid criticisms. But I will say that we're trying our hardest this season to address this kind of thing. Poor acting can take people out of atmospheric stuff like this super easily. That's the exact opposite of what we want, obviously. So believe me when I say we're taking it all more seriously now. No more completely improvised stuff like in last season. Promise.

So yeah. That's all I got for now. I guess it's time to go get a shower and figure out what the hell I want to do today. Maybe drop kick Joseph off a cliff.

Mervin Christums!

This might be the greatest picture I've ever had the pleasure of being a part of.

For a while now, Ellis (if you're keeping score, he's on the right) has been hounding Joseph and I about getting  some kind of "tacky-ass" Santa picture with all three of us in it. Just because. I don't think his plan extended past that. I was a little reluctant at first. All I saw was us being those annoying WACKY KIDS in line that just makes everyone uncomfortable (in my head, they're also making loud references to lame internet memes the entire time too).

I kind of thought he had forgotten about it after about a week, but this Monday he came into my room and asked what I was doing the next day. I was off work and so was he. Guess what he wanted to do. Joseph had already agreed, so what the hell. At least we'd all three look stupid together. Bonding time.

We ventured over to the thrift store the next day. I never thought people did much actual Christmas shopping there, but man was it crowded. The pickings were slim, no doubt because of it being so late in the season. Joseph asked one of the workers where the Christmas clothes were, to which we were directed to the "cart full over there somewhere". There was really only one good sweater there, and Joseph called dibs.

Fast forward to the mall. Equally as crowded as the thrift store. Plenty of eyes to awkwardly try to not look like they're staring at us. I know the feeling well, ever since that time in high school when I wore hot pink ski pants for tacky day when it apparently wasn't. Whatever. Once we were in line with all the excited parents with kids in their own tacky sweaters, we started planning out the picture. There were some great ideas tossed around, from all three of us trying to fit on Santa's lap to us giving our best creeper smiles directly at the camera. We settled on the least offensive theme of bad family portrait. Unoriginal? Maybe. But look at that result. Santa told Joseph to "take one for the team" and sit on his lap, so Ellis and I just went from there. I wish I wasn't covered up so much, but that's something that will be fixed with next year's edition, I'm sure.

Joseph's already ordered a sweet mug with the picture on it. I wish we still had a mantle.

So what's next for us? I'm thinking Olan Mills.