The date is coming soon! My flight leaves from L.A. early January. I am excited and anxious to get my east coast trip going. I was looking at the weather online and its going to be COLD! I think its going to average in the lower and upper 20's. That's cold for me. I am a California kid. The weather never gets lower than 60 degrees on my side of the coast. But it is all good. I went to go buy some thermos to keep me ass warm. Its looks like I will be dressing in layers.
Besides that, I have been buying a few things for my trip. The most important thing I bought was a zoom lens. For the interviews that I have been doing so far, I have been using a 50mm lens. I like the look, it gives a natural wide eye-look, as if one would normally see something close to 1-3 feet away. And the depth-of-field on it is great. But since I am going to be out and about, I am going to need some sort of zoom lens to be able to control the focus while I am walking or moving around indoors and outdoors. I decided to get a 35-105mm lens on ebay. I like this length because you are able to get wide enough and its good enough to get a medium close-up on your subject. The lens allows me to have a good fair enough distance from my subject, so I can control and rack focus quickly. In my opinion, for someone who is on the move a lot, a lens over 200mm will take some time and be a little tricky to keep everything in focus. Another reason why I chose the 35-105mm zoom is because its decent in low light situation. The glass is not as thick and it doesn't cut down on too much light compared to a 200 or 300mm lens. Even though its a slower lens, it is manageable to work with. I purchased the lens on ebay, so I hope it is in good shape as the posting indicated. So Ill keep you inform.
Another thing I purchased was a mic adaptor that goes on top of the camera. The adaptor allows me to hook up a shockmount w/ microphone on it. I thought this would be helpful, since I am not going to have a boom operator. I purchased this already on ebay and received it. This purchase is all good!
The last thing I bought on ebay was some lens caps for the 50mm lens. The lens had some generic caps that did not fit properly. I had to purchase lens caps that had the correct sizes because I want to avoid any scrtaches or any possible accidents that can effect the glass! That would suck to find a scratch on the glass while I am filming!
I bought a few sheets of diffusion gels to help me light as well. I bought the gels at a local Theatre shop by my home. This will help me control the hard and intensive brightness from the light kit I have.
Things are coming along! So far so good. I am always crossing my fingers!
This is it for now.
Junior Gonzalez
The filmmaker
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
Another Rideshare to L.A
Got in this morning at 1am into L.A. - I got dropped off at the NOBAR where I was meeting my cousin, since I am staying at his place for the weekend. If you live in North Hollywood (NOHO), that's the neighborhood bar that everyone goes to. I've met some good friends and creative people there. I feel the NOHO area is where there are the most real-down-earth-people working there way into Hollywood. I spent most of my time in this area. My boy works at the door and a bunch of us always hang out there. Its a energy filled with creative folks who are actors, directors, and post production guys.
When I got dropped off at the bar, the whole gang was there. They were laughing at me, saying I was crazy for taking rides from strangers. The guy who gave me a ride was pretty cool, I learned that he went to LMU like I did. I told my friends, "I gotta do, what I gotta do." That's just how it works. I had to return to L.A. for another shoot for my documentary. The Salvadoran author had a book presentation at a college. I thought it would be a good idea to get some more b-roll and show that he is trying to get his name out there. Plus, I feel more footage the better! I had to explain to a friend while having a couple of beers at the bar that I would be coming down to L.A. more than often. I moved back to the bay area a year or so and for the most part I've been going back and forth to L.A. for certain productions or to have meetings. Therefore, I had to keep my friend in the loop since I have not talked to him for awhile.
He was telling me, I needed to move back... I am in no rush, I mentioned that I have a good freelance videography job in the bay. That means I don't work everyday, I have free time, and most importantly I get paid good money. Because of the economy right now, I couldn't find a gig like that in Los Angeles. I was very fortunate to find something. I had to take care of myself better because at the rate I was going, I probably would of been homeless and broke! Not fun at all, but that's an artists' life. A mentor and a professor of mine from my LMU days always would tell me to never forget about the FOUR P's -- PATIENCE, PERSISTENCE, PERSEVERANCE, and a PAYCHECK. He would say, eating and have a roof over your head is important to stay in the game. You gotta survive. Its true! So I am making it work for me.
So the four P's has always been a survival tool for me. It has kept my dream alive!
That's it for now.
Junior Gonzalez
The Filmmaker
When I got dropped off at the bar, the whole gang was there. They were laughing at me, saying I was crazy for taking rides from strangers. The guy who gave me a ride was pretty cool, I learned that he went to LMU like I did. I told my friends, "I gotta do, what I gotta do." That's just how it works. I had to return to L.A. for another shoot for my documentary. The Salvadoran author had a book presentation at a college. I thought it would be a good idea to get some more b-roll and show that he is trying to get his name out there. Plus, I feel more footage the better! I had to explain to a friend while having a couple of beers at the bar that I would be coming down to L.A. more than often. I moved back to the bay area a year or so and for the most part I've been going back and forth to L.A. for certain productions or to have meetings. Therefore, I had to keep my friend in the loop since I have not talked to him for awhile.
He was telling me, I needed to move back... I am in no rush, I mentioned that I have a good freelance videography job in the bay. That means I don't work everyday, I have free time, and most importantly I get paid good money. Because of the economy right now, I couldn't find a gig like that in Los Angeles. I was very fortunate to find something. I had to take care of myself better because at the rate I was going, I probably would of been homeless and broke! Not fun at all, but that's an artists' life. A mentor and a professor of mine from my LMU days always would tell me to never forget about the FOUR P's -- PATIENCE, PERSISTENCE, PERSEVERANCE, and a PAYCHECK. He would say, eating and have a roof over your head is important to stay in the game. You gotta survive. Its true! So I am making it work for me.
So the four P's has always been a survival tool for me. It has kept my dream alive!
That's it for now.
Junior Gonzalez
The Filmmaker
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