what you make it
It could be the dehydration, the peddling of premiere tickets or the word I got saying a few women were actually renting a limo for premiere night. Whatever it was it birthed a psychedelic image in my overheated brain as I drifted off during Oingo Boingo on it's way to PIL. Somwhere between "dissappointed" and "public image" the words filhty lucre started bouncing off the walls and soaking back into the grey matter. I pictured John Lydon whispering sweet nothings in my ear that involved stacks of tickets and an ever growing gap between plastic money and numbers to back it up in the bank. I finally landed on 1 Timothy 3 and found a safe place in laughing at what a cartoon character I could become and aspiring to influence the hearts of mankind.
The whole thing digested, my brain belched out the spent byproduct of the subconcious fuel and rational digestion. Out came this image.
build to suit
Went shopping for a suit for premiere night yesterday. Dan my friendly salesman was extremely courteous as I was extremely hot, sweaty and ill tempered. I looked like an unshaven bumb with different lengths of stubble from changing my mind mid way about sideburns. He still marched me over the rack of suits in the $300 - $400 range. Definately a man of optimism. I've taken great joy in finding thrift store suits that are still wool or other fine materials but have an older or retro cut and then just getting them altered. Whammo: instant fashion ( or depeche mode in French for you 80's or French speaking freaks... ) custom tailored for fun at less than $75.
I actually own several suits but between the day we shot at the Delta Phi Scrappa event and now I've lost about 30 pounds and nothing fits anymore. Sure, I look like a ragged individual but I still have a delight in stylish clothes of all sorts. Apparently in the few years since I've bought a suit styles have changed and Dan and I had spirited discussion aboout the length of my jacket sleeves ( I like them shorter, displaying more shirt cuff which is out of fashion ) the length of my trousrs ( which I like lower and is still in fahion but wearing cuffs is reserved for pants with pleated fronts and I like them regardless... ) I had no will power to battle against Dan and eventually my wife so I relented. No cuffs on the slacks. Such high drama in the fashion world... I have become that which repells me: a slave to fashion ( or enforcers of fashion - fashionistas! )
Since I have done nothing but spend money for the last six months with no income and my lovely wife has been supporting my sorry butt, I left a happy man with a spiffy new suit for the premiere and she payed Dan.
wes
pretty jazzed
Went and scoped out The Woman's club last week, ground zero for the party bomb that is the world premiere of Scrapped. It might not sound like abig deal but there's actually almot 500 people coming and the numbers are still climbing.
Lorna, Kermit, Tom and Krita of Delta Phi fame are runing the show as I will be up to my eyeballs in Creative Memories consultants the day before and after. Yikes!
Tom took some pictures of Lorna and I measuring, mapping, planning, etc. It's going to be much more exciting and interesting than the single thin on ifo web page shows. I need to desperately update!
Among some of the fun is a hip little trio called Reception Jazz which plays a wide array of styles and instruments. I'm restricting them to standard jazz next Saturday and maybe some Bossa Nova sweetness. Just replace the keyboard in the picture with one of the Steinway baby grands at the Woman's Club and you're set.
You can check out some of their sounds
here,
here or
here. Of course they sound even better in person and with the warm summer breezes flowing in the windows from the park and skyline with a glass of something cold and delicious in your glass. Who couldn't grab a loved one a take a spin around the dance floor to that huh? Just get cozy close and lean back and forth.
Better bring a camera for that... it's like going to a wedding reception without having to buy presents or sit through a ceremony. In fact YOU get the presents. Score!
here we are furiously taking notes in the library planning the layout for everyone who wants movie posters autographed and a picture opp with me or someone from the movie.
I guess I really need to get on the premiere website to get people in the know. I just need to also get a few dozen other things in line as well.
wes
grounded and centered
While everybody and their grandmother was at the Craft and Hobby Asociation convention in Chicago ( where I should have been... I even had an offer to appear on a morning show and I'm a complete idiot for not following up with it but I'm too wrapped in production and needed some time away from work ) I was driving around northern Wisconsin and the Apostle Islands.
Rain, sun, triple digit temps and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I recommend all you scrapbooking ladies get yourself a bike if you don't already have one. Dangerous? Sure. So is life. An acquaintance's son swerved to miss a deer in the road today and hit a telephone pole with his car instead. The poor 17 year old was air lifted to intensive care with a crushed skull and multiple bones broken in his legs. The surgery on his head has been successful and they are now working on his legs. Tradgedy finds you whether you're looking for it or not, on a bike or not, healthy or not. Just my two cents worth. My other two cents worth is get on a bike and air your head out a little bit. Maybe a convertable...
of the many things I was reminded of this weekend, one was a fully loaded Electraglide with passenger and gear cannot break free from it's 100 mile per hour shackles. Dissappointing but really just an excuse to add a 105" engine kit sometime.
I even had time to fall in love... with a troll. Maybe it's all the repressed guilt but dang it, this little scandinavian fellow and myself were meant for each other...
And of course here's the gratuitous picture of some idiot making bunny ears behind someone else because they don't really want to be in the picture. I really do apologize for this lack of substance and creativity in the blog today. Childish and rambling. I should mention that in the picture of the cutie with the jacket and the hat where I say " my hip girl " I mean my wife and it's my friend Karen whose picture I am defiling with childish behavior without substance behind her.
Sorry! I'll quit while I'm behind. Just wanted to post something... anything ;0)
wes
PS. Here's Walter and his wife. He doesn't look too tough after a full meal, a few hundred miles and a beer does he? Having three kids has mellowed him out as well.
poster boy
Got my shipment of super special Premiere Week posters in for Scrapped. Bigger than I thought they would be in size and volume. They're on nice think coated paper which, when multiplied by a large number translates into wherever that pallet lands in the garage is where it's going to live until it's hauled down to the Minneapolis convention center.
Addendum
Just an addendum to the previous post... I would swap the word music for movie, but only in a tounge and cheek way of course. ;0)
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." - Hunter S Thompson
Ahhhh
Dropped off the DVD master, artwork and poster proof at the places where they'll be multiplied by thousands. I was still up working until 3:30 AM or so last night but was able to take a nice break in the garage getting the bike ready for a road trip to the Apostle Islands this weekend with my biking buddy of the last twenty one years and our wives. Here's a snapshot of my relationship with Walter. Many, many years ago he was working on a motorcycle for a friend of ours and wanted to take a test drive. I stopped by and we went hooning around ending up at a pizza place managed by a friend of ours that we also had both worked at during summers. One thing lead to another and somehow I ended up driving my bike into the restaurant. Completely sober, just under the influence of broiling testosterone and idiocy. Someone naturally called the police and we left our bikes outside, tore through the restaurant and out the back door, somehow jumped an eight foot security fence into a yard with a dog, ran for blocks avoiding the spotlights, cruisers, patrols, radios,etc. etc. you get the idea. Walter was a bystander but followed me in the evasion of what ended up being several ( at least three but have heard as many as five ) squad cars while on foot. Our bikes got impounded and I was out of the country within the week to backpack around Australia so it wasn't a great concern in my book. He had to deal with the aftermath of questions, etc. We've had some crazy times together. Of course now we're smarter, much more law abiding ( don't do this at home kids... being a public nuisance isn't cool and I apologize to Bloomington's finest for the stress I caused ) and he's settled down with three lovely children and 40 achres. His back yard is where I shot my first scrapbook!
So, last night was a beautiful moment with the simple things. Some air tools, an Arturo Fuente Sun Grown, Houses of the Holy dripping through the speakers ( the song not the album ) and a big task crossed of the list.
Here's the proof for the premiere edition DVD. ( click on image to blow it up ) It's got a different menu, packaging and poster, etc. just for premiere week. I'll do a new menu and grahics for the first run of public release disks to go on sale Sept. 5th. There might be additional information on the public release disks but I'll wait for some feedback as to whether people think the main program is too long in which case I'll trim it down and add migrate some things to the back of the extras section. I did actually make a one of edition for a scrapbook rock star who's blog I read off and on and inadventantly struck up a conversation with. I don't have packaging yet so I made a goofy cover and insert for her to review the project. I'll let her reveal herself if she so chooses.
It's a goofy balance between doing a documentary that's also your opinion and story like a dramatic narrative. I'm not really breaking the rules as much as just intentionally throwing caution to the wind and letting it all hang out - good or bad. I'm not under the influence of anything, just fueled by broiling testosterone and idiocy I guess. Well, just the idiocy. I've got this syndrome going where the average Jane Doe ( or John Doe for my last project ) likes what they see and typically have an oatmeal for their brain experience where the production tastes bland but it sticks to their ribs and fills up their entertainment hunger all day. The flip side is the typical reaction I got from an industry friend who's been calling to see how it's going every few weeks. I called him back, he asked and I told then he kept teasing me about scrapbooking ( like it's a bad thing? insert smirk here ) and was making jokes with his other producer friend in the car. Just two movie dudes driving down the freeway in LA on their way to some power lunch talking with their freakshow friend in fly over land about some video accident waiting to happen. :0)
The first question the passenger friend asked was "How long is it?" 101 minutes I said. I could hear them both laughing on the phone... Scrapbooking AND feature length. "Tell him to cut it to 54 and we'll talk." My reply was it isn't too long if you have Kiefer Sutherland in it... One of the passengers last projects was 117 minutes long but had several A list actors in it. The reality is that although I take some ribbing on many levels for doing a project about scrapbooking, do it mostly by myself and break the standards that get things done ( attach a name to a script that has a tried and true story, that gets you funding and a green light gets you distribution { hopefully } set up in advance ) this model for making movies and media is extremely difficult to execute and passenger number two was on the phone every week during production scraping to get the next million dollars to continue shooting the next week, only to get reemed in a distribution deal with a studio with the hopes of eventually breaking a profit after everyone gets their slice of the pie. And this guy knows what he's doing. They're both shrewd people, the system has just been inbred for so long that it's producing mutant baby movies... products of a dwindling gene pool. I'll be the first to admit I'm a hack but hey, in my small fry scale of things I'll likely turn a profit, retain ownership of my work and have a complete blast in the process!
What I'm making is anything but a slick, airtight movie product. It's more like a loaf of homemade bread that's lumpy, doesn't have a nice wrapper, isn't perfectly symmetrical and can't be bought at a chain store. It's not convenient but you know it's made with passion. it's made by someone that's hungry for substance and loves kneading by hand, sweating a little and smelling it when it comes out of the oven.
Concepts become tangible
WhooHooo!
I'm sending movie posters off to get printed tomorrow! We're going to have limited edition posters and DVD's made just for premiere week. I say premiere week because Creative Memories wants to show a three minute trailer from main stage at their Showcase event August 3rd, my premiere is August 5th and then I'll be at the second Showcase on August 7th. I'm pressing about 10,000 DVD's in the premiere edition and there's a good chance they might all sell out that week. ( Of course there's a good chance I'm delusional as well. ) Creative Memories has given us booth space in the Mpls. Convention Center and we'll have myself, Tracy Palmer, Rebecca, Bryan, Nate and possibly my wife Connie there who were all in the movie to sign autographs, meet and greet, do pictures, etc. I'm also trying to get my bike, bag and some other items in the booth so people can take their pictures with all the props.
After premiere week I'll have some different layouts made ( probably based on the same themes because they're kind of fun ) for posters and packaging for public release of the movie September 5th. I can't wait to get the production end of things wrapped up and actually go out with this thing and SHOW IT to people! That's the part that's most enjoyable for me.
Here's what the premiere versions of the posters will look like. I can't wait to have five thousand of these things dropped on my doorstep in big, fat, nasty 24" x 36" full color goodness. If you're attending the premiere, you'll get one stuffed in your goody bag along with plenty of other free products and a DVD! I'll have some available at the CM Showcase as well, but just for premiere week. :0)
Just like with any of the graphics in the blog, you can click on them to see a larger version.
Thanks for reading!
You never forget your first.
I'm putting out a call for 12 x 12 layouts from scrappers asking for pages with the theme "My First Page." The movie premiere on August 5th has the same theme hoping that complete strangers to scrapbooking will watch the movie and try it so I've gotten lots of great sponsors to load up some gift bags with everything someone needs to do their first page, cutting tools, paper, pens, tape runner, etc. all archival / photo safe and all from major manufacturers.
To get people's creative juices flowing I'm asking for anyone who has interest to send in either a copy of the first page they've done or a layout talking about what it was like to do it. We're going to display these at the premiere and then I am going to put all the submission in albums and bring them around with me to conferences, film festivals, wherever I'm showing the movie.
We've got some heavy hitters from several big manufacturers attending and I've given Memory Makers magazine exclusive coverage of the event so if you can't be there in the flesh, be there in spirit and encourage others to take the plunge! We've already received dozens of amazing pages but are dying for more! Wouldn't it be great to have a table at a theater lined with a dozen albums, each page being someone's first experience trying it. How could someone NOT give it a whirl with that kind of encouragement?!
Here's the rub, I need them in the mail by Saturday July 15th so we can prep them for the event! If you'd still like to give it a whack and send in your layout you can send it to:
Lorna Klefsaas
35585 Aztec Road
Motley, MN 56466
Here's the only requirements: 12 x 12 page, themed and titled "My first page" and remember it won't be returned because your layout is going to hit the road!
Thanks!
Don't blog me there.
My online connection dumped out today which means I also lose phone service, etc. ( Voice over IP ) so I'm here at Panera with free online access taking a breather. I was up until 5:00 AM mixing sound on some segments of Scrapped, rephrasing some things and trimming like crazy. This is the hard part because I want to probably do too much in a simple, low budget indy project.
Tell a good and true story about the last person you'd expect would scrapbook who is extremely, sarcastically and violently against it and what it stands for: celebration of our lives, remembrance and devotion.
I also want to tell guys ( my own analytical self included ) that regardless of whether you scrapbook or not, one of the best ways to remember things as permanent memories is to drag them out of your noggin, reassemble the memory and store it again. Don't take my word for it, I interview a professor of neurology who has written some fantastic work on the subject.
I also interview a gentleman who took pictures as a young man in the service in the late 40's early 50's Japan who's fun hobby pictures are being assembled and turned into an exhibit in an upcoming Cold War museum in Washington DC. - Pictures are important.
There's an interview about the significance of journaling with an archeologist who lived and worked in North Dakota for years and found the journal of the guy who managed the fort when it was opened.
That segment try's to prove to a man who doesn't scrapbook that memories, journals and pictures are valuable.
Then I'm trying to fit in some basics for a newbie like me about simple tools, materials and why they're made out of all things acid free, lignon free, etc.
I also have a tour of the Creative Memories factory and lab ( just an hour away from my house with free tours so hey, that worked out well... )
I also attend a day crop and do my first pages, I attend a distressed page layout class.
There's also interviews with six people who scrapbook for arts sake, for tragedy, for joy, for hobbies, for their family, for online community, etc.
There's an interview with Rhonda Anderson about faithbooking.
There's also my journey to connect with my mom and dad and dig out pictures we haven't seen for decades and didn't know existed.
I'm trying to fit all that in, have a believable character that goes through the process of finding a way to personally make scrapbooking his own, have a fun montage and all kinds of other media gimmicks. ;0)
Pretty much all segments with the exception of one are about 4-6 minutes so hopefully it moves along but it's still a lot to cram in but I really am trying to make something wives can bring their husbands and maybe even their kids to watch so it's got to be diverse.
I guess the bottom line is stay up late, wake up early and try to do the best you can with what you've got. If anything I hope people can watch this thing and it gets them thinking and talking. I'm noticing already that people who are passionate about cropping are hoping their spin of scrapbooking gets a big chunk of time. Hopefully it will ask the right questions to have people ask the right questions and they personally can fill in the details.
It's almost done! In the home stretch. Because of the time crunch I'm having to encode and build the DVD myself so by the end of this week I will hopefully have shipped everything off and be focused on getting butts in the seats for the premiere. Heck, I'll take a day off this weekend and go for a motorbike ride up north of something.
Dichotomy
My friend Rebecca came over this weekend to shoot the final segment of the Scrapped project. She was all excited because it was an excuse to buy a bike T shirt. The idea was that she would come over and I would tape a segment where I'm showing her some stuff about how a bike works as a kind of cultural exchange. She's the person in the movie ( and in real life ) that got me thinking about scrapbooking so I figured she could use a taste of being a fish out of water herself. Apparently it worked.It was VERY funny to see her get all giddy that she went to the bike shop, that she felt intimidated and excited because she got a Harley shirt. Hilarious. I think I've only actually purchased one in the last few years but they keep filling up in my closet from here and there and as for the intimidation at the Harley shop, I typically try to avoid them if I can get parts at a local chop shop because I get agressive having to deal with people buying Harley collectors knives, Harley underwear and Harley doo-rags standing around drinking Harley coffe and doughnuts talking about how much they know and how cool their bug free bike is. ( yea, yea... I have an attitude problem. )
I asked her to write a little about her thoughs for the blog.
"Since Wes had gone to a Consultant to gear up to come to the Delta Phi Crop with me, I figured I should do the same before I go work on the motorcycle with him.
So I pull up to my local Harley dealership with my novelty I love Lucy purse under my shoulder wondering if I should have left it in the car... and as I walked across the parking lot I see some burley looking men near the shop area and it was then that I knew I was a little out of my element.
I was a little nervous as I entered not knowing what to expect... I open the door to a sea of shiny chrome with multiple rows of bikes in front of me before I could get to the apparel section. My first thought was - Holy Crap, this is how Wes must have felt as he walked in the door at the Crop! It felt like everything was in slow motion and all eyes were on me! I have to admit I was a bit intimidated and felt like a traveler in a foriegn county where I didn't speak the language or have a map. The tables were totally turned!!! I had a new appreciation for what he must have felt and experienced that day!
I was successful in finding some gear that would fit my personality and be acceptable in the biker world. I purchased a brown biker shirt with a HOT PINK acid washed pattern look and some shades! Also, SCORE, I picked up some decals for my scrapbook as well!!! I even got a biker lady customer to take my pictue on a motorcycle!
Yes, I did approach a complete stranger to take my photo! We also chatted about the weekend rally she would be attending and the bike she would like to purchase... although she was leary to tell me what all goes on at a biker weekend, and I was not sure I really wanted to know either! I really wanted to get my picture taken with the burley biker dudes outside, but I chickened out!!!
Now I was ready to hit the garage to get my hands dirty!"
