If You Build It, They Will Come.

Sunday, December 28, 2003

Old MacDonald had a farm... e i e i o
and on that farm he... shot some guys...
bada bing bada bing bang boom....

Saturday, December 27, 2003

my last michigan winter

Wednesday, December 24, 2003

Cover art is done. Last big scene is done. One more scene with dialogue to do. Two more short scenes after that. Then a bunch of 2nd unit which will probably take about two days. Rotoscoping the gunshots and lightsabers, ADR, and it's done.

New release (finish) date: January 4, 2004. Much more poetic, as it is a year to the day that I started writing the screenplay. One whole year.

I saw RJ today. It was really good to see him again. It was very surprising as well. I wish he could be at the premiere. I'll mail him a copy when it's finished.

Merry christmas everyone. Can't talk much longer. Way too much to do. Happy holidays.

Peace.

Joe.

Saturday, December 20, 2003

Hey Joe.

Did you come looking for me?

You and I are all over the internet. Only you and I it would seem. There are no other Joe Parcell's out there. So one boring day in Missouri, you decided to get on the internet and look yourself up on Metacrawler. There you found me. Joseph G. Parcell.

Welcome to my site, Dr. Joseph L. Parcell.

Are you a farm doctor? You study the behaviors of cows and pigs, and the production of soybeans and everything... it's got to be terribly fascinating. I read some of the study you did about the Empirical Investigation of Live Hog Demand, with James and Ron. Is James still at Kansas State? I know someone who lives out there....

So now, I'm imagining a scenario where Laura Barb bumps into James Mintert, and he says something about all the work he did with Joe Parcell trying to figure out how in demand pigs are, and she gets all confused because she thinks you mean me, when you really mean the OTHER Joe Parcell, and the gang from Full House stops by, and Uncle Jesse learns an important lesson about 10-10-321, and Michelle says something cute, and hilarity ensues...

...now I'm imagining the Olsen twins....

Anyway, Joe... Dr. Joe... if you ever stop by, let me know. Leave a message. Maybe we can hang out someday, and go to a restaurant and have reservations, and then when the hostess calls Joe Parcell, we can both get up. God, that would be hilarious.

I'll bet my middle name is cooler than yours. L. What could that be? Leroy? Leonard? Lucas? If it was Leonardo, or Leopard or maybe like L.L. Cool J, then I guess I would have to give the coolest middle name award to you.

Man after devoting this entire post to you, I feel like I've really gotten to know you. I'm starting to get concerned about soybeans, too. Maybe we're like long lost doppelgangers... wouldn't that be creepy? We look exactly alike. Then one day, we have to meet and fight to the death, like in Highlander.

There can be only one.

I'm just playing. I'm not making fun of you or anything. I'm sure the day you find out that there is a much cooler version of yourself, your clone, living in Michigan, you'll have enough of a bad day without him slandering you from a website.

Again, kidding. Man I hope this other me has a sense of humor.

Holy crap, I just found your picture... we do look a little alike.... creepy.

Hey.... for my regular visitors.....

Erin Stotts is a high school track star.

Rob Macinnis played defense for the Rockin Roller hockey team before moving up to the Ottakringer team (and incedentally is the brother of the man who holds the record for hardest slapshot at 109mph, St. Louis Blues defenseman, Al Macinnis). He's also the President and CEO of OCR Web Design.

Kristine Williams is an accomplished author. She's also stayin' home and lovin' it. Oh, and a doctor. Big deal, Joe Parcell is a doctor. What is Krissy Williams a doctor of? Oh, nursing. My guy is a doctor of farms. Kristine got her degree at Kent State. Here's Erin Stotts (the real one) using her education wisely at Kent State.

Jon, all I could find about you was... well... really you.

Jamie Flynn... you're a kicker for EKU's football team. You're a forward for WCU's hockey team. And, you're an irish EMT.

Charlie DeBone, all I could find about you was a history of meat. (How to "debone the chuck")

Jackie LaDuke. There's nothing out there but you. Marcy Bross, nothing at all.

Hmm. That killed an hour.

Laters.

And goodnight Dr. Joe.... where ever you are....

About canning T7G3, I may have been wrong.

Anything worth doing is worth doing right. Anything that I've spent an entire year on, deserves to not be rushed through in order to make a deadline that I've imposed on myself. It would have been nice to give Twelve Page Paper away for Christmas, but it looks as if it will not come to pass. I've decided that the movie will be first distributed after the premiere. Only seems to make sense. It will be finished a while before that, and the DVD will be authored, along with the special features including, but not limited to, the gag reel, which as of now is around 15 minutes long. The trailer, or trailers as the case may then be. There is only one as of now that is around four minutes long. I'll make one or two shorter ones. Some behind the scenes short film, along with I'm sure one or two other short films. The audio commentary, and the MSTing of the film. It'll more than likely be two discs.

There will be some pre-release copies made. There's actually already one out there. I'm also going to work on the cover art, probably tonight.

Actually I'm probably going to lay down and pass out in a second. Why? Read my previous post from today.

At any rate, once the rotoscoping is done, this will be a lot easier. Yes, I'm STILL rotoscoping. To be honest, I haven't touched it in a little while, which sucks because it's still there, but I've been doing the ADR and the rest of the shooting. Oh well. If this snow melts a little we should be alright.

Maybe I'll play a little XIII. I know, I just said all shooting games are the same. It's true. This one has a story though that is really interesting.

Oh, and they canned The 7th Guest III.

Figures.



By 2:30pm today, I will have slept for eight of the last ninety six hours. An average of two hours of sleep per night over four days. As I type this, I think I'm still asleep. Insomnia. It sucks when you have to be at work at 8am.

Thursday, December 18, 2003

Gueek Bkead Fay.

What a day. We had christmas at the house, and we saw Return of the King. I've got to say something. It's rare that a movie has a sequel that is better than the first. It's even rarer that a trilogy improves at every installment. It's even rarer still that a trilogy that improves at every installment was totally awesome from the beginning. The Fellowship of the Ring was an incredible movie. Somehow, The Two Towers was even better. And, again somehow, The Return of the King was better than both of them. Simply amazing. Now I really must read these books. Once I have time.

The movie has been pushed back. Hopefully only five days, for a finish date of Christmas Eve. I don't know how realistic that is still, because West Michigan was covered by a blanket of snow last night. We were out shooting in it before it started really coming down. Seeing as the movie is supposed to take place over three days in April, it doesn't really fit. But, there is only a little more to do outside. The rest is indoors. And the rest is made up of like one or two more scenes. Not too much left. I'm just running out of energy. I need to get this done, so I can start something else. I've got some ideas brewing, but I can't let myself think of them yet, I can't take time away from this.

I wonder if I could turn Twelve Page Paper into a short film. You know, cut out a bunch of stuff, leave only what it needs to be coherrent. And then in the tradition of the Lord of the Rings, come out with the "extended version" which is feature length.

Probably not.

Monday, December 15, 2003

You ever get that feeling where you can't tell if you're awake or still dreaming? It's not mesciline. You know that feeling that you get when you wake up from a dream? That temporary, "Where am I? Oh yeah...." feeling, where you realize that nothing that seemed to happen, did? Almost like being at the movies, and it's a really tense part of the film, and you're really into it, to the point where you don't even notice you're in the theater, and not only that, you don't even notice that you don't even notice you're in the theater. It's how dreams feel, you don't even make the conscious decision to accept them as real, you just kind of do. Then real reality sweeps in and instantly you realize that your dream was fake.

Well I'm getting that feeling about things that really happened. It could have to do with the hours I keep, but this post I finished last night at 4:47am, I was convinced until I signed on here that I hadn't actually ever written it, that it was a dream. There are dreams that I've had that I'm not sure were dreams. I was talking about the moon to someone. About being on the moon. I don't know if that really happened or not. Maybe it was a dream. Maybe it happened in both. I'm having so many dreams lately, and my dreams are seeming more like reality and my reality is seeming more like a dream. We did catch Saddam Hussein, and he did have a big Santa Claus beard, right? No one took apart my green screen, that's still here. I guess that was a dream.

The other day I was at work and I was very sick. I must've zoned out, and had a very intense daydream. In it I was in a really nice house and I had a son, who was very young, and sad that I was sick, so he made me some medicine. While it was very cute and thoughtful of the boy, I was very curious as to what he put in the mix of medicine he was handing me. If he put Drano in it, it could kill me. Although, I thought, if he could get his hands on the Drano, I was a very bad parent. Suddenly Tom asked me to move, as I was in his way and I snapped out of it, but it took me a second to figure out where I was, and I still don't know how long I was staring at that back wall.

So who knows, maybe I'm losing my mind. I don't think I need anymore sleep, I get enough. I don't know. I'm insane.

...ok we got him... can my friends come home now?

Was this war a success, now that we've captured Saddam Hussein? That's how it'll be spun. Not that he really matters, he hasn't been in power since a week or two after we got there. And considering that we went in to "find weapons of mass destruction," and have yet to find a shred of evidence that they've ever had any... I'd say no.

Am I a naysayer? No. I'm glad we got him. It seems the least we could do for putting him there in the first place. But now GWB is put in a tough place. See, he told us all that Hussein and bin Laden were buddies (actually the opposite is true, the two were bitter enemies. Hussein was labeled as an infedel by bin Laden for allowing a secular government in Iraq instead of a Muslim state), and now that we have Hussein, the Americans have no reason to be in Iraq anymore. The conflict is over.

But we won't leave. Why? Because removing Hussein from power wasn't why we were there. Freeing the Iraqis is not why we were there. Even finding weapons of mass destruction was not why we were there. Any good lawyer will tell you that you never ask a question you don't already know the answer to. The same logic applies here. You don't start a war over weapons unless you're sure they have weapons. They don't. That's not why we're there. So finding Saddam accomplished nothing, although it is a perfect way for GWB to weasel out of having to answer for a war we did not need to fight. If his reasons for going there were true, we would leave now.

But we won't.

We haven't gotten what we came for yet.

Friday, December 12, 2003

One week.... crap, this might be tough.

Thursday, December 11, 2003

Aaron's Bible?

Marcy has pointed out that if you accidentally misspell my web address, http://jofish19.blogpsot.com it takes you to this giant Bible page.

Wicked pissah.

So I've decided to slightly misspell other popular web addresses and see where they take me. Check em out.

http://www.oal.com (http://www.aol.com)
http://www.redvblue.com (http://www.redvsblue.com)
http://www.cnnn.com (http://www.cnn.com) this one rocks, crank up your speakers.
http://www.imbd.com (http://www.imdb.com)
http://www.yaahoo.com (http://www.yahoo.com)


know what.... I don't recommend doing this. Most spelled wrong sites take you to megago.com and launch about twenty pop ups, all about sites to find 'BOOBS.'

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

Ok. My eye won't stop twitching, I can't stop coughing, Adobe changed the way it works, I keep sneezing, there's nothing to eat, and I have to work at 10:30am tomorrow. See, it's nothing that bad, but it's a lot of little annoyances that add up to me being totally pissed off right now.

Actually I'm not that pissed.

Tomorrow is Wednesday. I'm shooting the beginning of the last big scene of the film tomorrow. Actually the ending. After that, I have to do the beginning of it on tuesday, a lengthy monologue scene, a short scene of me punching a guy, a quick shot of a guy waiting for a jump, a quick shot of a guy waiting in a line, a quick shot of a guy walking into the library, a little second unit, a shot of a guy ducking under a log, and a shot of a guy spinning a globe. And I have ten days left.

Oh, and a lot of rotoscoping. Whose idea was it to put a lightsaber fight in the movie? Oh yeah....

The good news is, I think I can make it if I bust my ass. It depends on a lot of other peoples schedules too. But I think it'll be ready by the 19th. At least the preliminary VHS copy. The actual Special Edition Two Disc DVD won't be out until the Premiere which will be sometime in January or February.

Cross your fingers.

The movie is at a running time of one hour and twelve minutes as it is now. I think altogther I have about another ten minutes to add to it and it's done.

I can't wait. I can't wait to actually accomplish something. I can't wait to hold it in my hands, the product of an entire year worth of work. It'll be nice.

Anyway, I should get to bed so I'm not dead tired tomorrow. It's a big day.

By the way, Happy Birthday John and Jon.

Later.
jgp

Tuesday, December 09, 2003

If my eye doesn't stop twitching, I'm going to rip it out.

Sunday, December 07, 2003

Why is it that everytime you feel really terrible and sick, the moment you call into work or get mom to let you stay home from school, you instantly feel like twenty times better? No pain, no misery, no suffering, nothing is left but the guilt from stranding your co-workers. That's how today went. I called in sick to work, because I honestly felt like dying. As soon as I hung up the phone, boom, instantly felt fine. Nausea was gone, the headache had receded, and I wasn't so groggy. Like that. So then I sat there and thought, "Well maybe I should go in, now that I feel better." And suddenly as the thought crossed my mind, the nausea crept back in... my head started hurting again. I lay back down and fall asleep until 3:30 pm. It was 9:30am when I called in. So obviously something was wrong. I went to sleep last night at only like 1:30am. It's not like I was up all night. But I fell asleep for an additional six hours. Who knows.

Anyway, I'm putting all the finishing touches on the film, all the finishing touches I can anyway. I'm going to ADR all my lines today, as well as provide the voice for Frank the Unisaur. Add in the last bits of music, the last bits of sound effects that I can. Then we'll see about ADRing Jamie or Jason today. Maybe shoot the end of the Hardware Store Scene tonight. Spend what other time I have rotoscoping, building the props, and arranging to rent a truck.

Busy day. Gotta get going.

L8rs.
jgp

Friday, December 05, 2003

Nothing compares to walking into a mom and pop hardware store in the middle of Mayberry dressed as a thug with a chain and master lock around your neck and telling the frightened and confused patrons and employees that you're there to shoot a film.

God this movie is a power trip.

Thursday, December 04, 2003

In regards to my post about filesharing. I take it all back. I never really realized how serious the RIAA was.

Look at this. (or Right Click and Save Taget As..)

Tuesday, December 02, 2003

Sometimes I read back on these posts and wonder just what the hell I was thinking while I was typing. The one from sunday, I think I was just working through some of the aggression that comes with working in a video games store over the holidays.

I built a green screen in my room. (This is why "chroma-keys f%$#ing rule") To what purpose you ask? Well there's a short scene in the movie which requires the green screen. But it's really for the special edition DVD. Why do I need a green screen for the special edition? You'll just have to get the special edition. I don't want to ruin the surprise.

Monday, December 01, 2003

Joseph is the #9 most common male name. 1.404% of men in the US are named Joseph. Around 1,719,900 US men are named Joseph!

Genesis is a very rare male name. Very few men in the US are named Genesis. Be proud of your unique name.

Parcell is the #23517 most common last name. 0.0005% of last names in the US are Parcell. Around 1250 US last names are Parcell!

Source NameStatistics.com