This is just a message to anyone out there that still checks this blog. I just wanted to let you know that I will no longer be writing on here anymore, and that you can now follow me on my own website at www.jbfabrications.com

John

If anyone still reads this, sorry that it's been so long since the last update... A lot has happened over the last year. There have been some ups and downs, but overall, my time here has been nothing short of amazing and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Well, this is it. My last quarter at UCLA. Not entirely sure what lies ahead for me, but I've been assured that the best part of life is the journey. I know it's been a long time, and I'm sure the few of you that still read this, may want to know all the details and everything that's going on in my life. Well, I'm not going to write about that. If you want to know, call me up, get dinner with me, or whatever, and I'll gladly go on about whatever you want to know about my time here.
So with that all said, I wanted to post the most recent, and last project that I will do here at UCLA, at least in the undergrad department that is (and yes, that's a hint that I want to go to grad school some day, and UCLA is definitely on the list). Surprise, it's another love story. I'm a little bummed that I didn't branch out and try different things while I was here, but I'm also very glad that I did three films about love, and more specifically, my own personal experiences and thoughts about it. I've learned a lot about myself and my thoughts on love and I can definitely notice a change.
So anyways, that's pretty much it. Sorry for the short, and long overdue update. I'm also pretty sure this will probably be the last, seeing how I didn't update for almost a year. Oh, click the ad at the end of the video and help me earn some money. Alright, well I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading and watching.

Here's a direct link in case the player doesn't load.
http://revver.com/video/791656/elemental/

So, I finally got my project from last quarter transferred and edited, and now it's up on the web for all of you to see. The thing about the site hosting my video is that they share ad revenues with the creators of the content. I know that you all hate ads, but that's how this site works, so if you enjoyed my project, or didn't, click the advertisement at the end of the clip and supposedly that will earn me $$$. Yay. Well, there you go. I'm almost done with my spring quarter and my first year of Film school and it's been pretty awesome. I'm going to be staying down here for the summer, taking classes and hopefully getting this internship stuff out of the way. I just put down a security deposit on my very own apartment, which is exciting in some respects and it should be an interesting and busy summer. I'm sure that I'll be back up in the bay area from time to time to see everyone, so don't worry, I'm not lost to the black hole that is Los Angeles. Anyways, there's a quick little update about me. Watch the film, enjoy, click the ad at the end and make me some money!

Here's a direct link to their site if the video doesn't load below
http://one.revver.com/watch/286001

This quarter, for my cinematography class, we had to shoot a final project on 16mm film. I shot my footage two weekends ago and took the film in to get processed last Wednesday. They normally have a 24-48 hour turn around when it comes to processing the footage and making a work print (a positive, projectable and editable copy of the footage). Instead, they decided that it would be cool to take longer. I just got the film back today (Monday) and the project is due in its completion on Thursday, so we can screen it on a big, movie theater size screen on Friday. Editing is known to take a looooooooooong time. I'm only working with 200ft of film and the final project needs to be cut down to 100ft, so that's much better than people who shot 500ft of film and need to cut out 400 of it. Regardless, I'm about to learn what it takes to be a real filmmaker/editor. Soo, just in case any of you get worried, or think I've dropped off the face of the earth for a couple days, that's not the case. I'm just locked inside of a black hole that is our editing rooms. In addition to editing, I have a final paper to write for another class, but that shouldn't be too hard, and it's not due until next week. Ahh, it feels so good to be almost done with this quarter. Then I get a nice little break, and then I start it all over. So anyways, here I go to edit my life away. Wish me luck.

Alright, I know it's been a while, you all officially can be mad at me for not keeping you updated with my life. Are you mad? Done? Ok, good, moving on. So I'd imagine that it goes without saying, I've been pretty busy this quarter. It hasn't been very demanding, but I feel like everything I'm doing or thinking about revolves around film, whether it's my classes in general, or making sure that things are all squared away for projects. Speaking of projects, over the weekend I shot my first official short film. It's a required assignment for my cinematography class (which has become my favorite class I've taken thus far), and for this requirement, we needed to make a short film. Film being the key word. Throughout the entire quarter, we've been using 16mm cameras during "lab" to get accustomed to the bells and whistles of the camera, as well as learn the technical and artistic aspects of "controlled image making." It's been a blast. For my project, I decided to shoot out in Malibu at a friend's house that has an amazing view of the ocean. I won't divulge any more about the project right now because I don't want to get hopes up yet because I still need to have the film developed and processed, and then I need to edit it (by hand, or rather, using a flatbed editor). Anyways, eventually I plan to have my footage scanned (telecined) and made into a digital format where I can use a more extensive editing program, add a soundtrack, and post it up on here for all to see.

So there's the story about most of my life right now. My other classes are just kind of "bleh." I have papers and projects in those as well, but nothing too demanding, or that I really care about. The quarter ends in about 2 weeks and I have a fair amount of work to do regarding said papers and projects, as well as finals to study for... which, lets face it, I rarely study... haha, so we'll see how that goes. As for next quarter, I plan on doing my internship and getting that out of the way. I have no idea where I want to apply to, but I know that I need to do it soon. I've seen some postings for available internships with companies like WB, Miramax, Bad Robot Productions (Lost, Alias, MI:3), and numerous internships with other companies. Basically, I'm going to be reading a lot of scripts, writing about them, and doing clerical work... fun times. But oh well, I have to do it sooner or later.

I know I've talked a lot about my classes and school and such, but other than that, things are fine with me. I'm still alive and well, healthy (for the most part), and happy. Wish me luck on all my upcoming projects and finals, and hopefully I'll write in here a lot more next quarter. I'd imagine so because I won't have any big projects that are as time consuming as this quarter. But anyways, that's it for now. Oh, I just remembered. Be sure to root for the UCLA men's basketball team during March Madness. We're pretty good this year and hopefully we can do even better than last year. Alrighty, that's all for now.

Well, I made it. I successfully completed my first quarter of film school at UCLA and it wasn't too bad. For the most part, I enjoyed my classes and I really feel like I learned a lot. I've also really started to bond with a lot of the others in the film school as well, which is really nice because there are some really unique/great people in the program. The reason why it took me so long to update this thing is because I wanted to wait til I received all of my grades... and I did pretty well. 3 A's and an A-, which translates to about a 3.92, not too shabby I suppose.
It's been a fun and interesting quarter. I know that the rest of my time here is only going to continue to challenge me creatively as well as intellectually and I'm looking forward to it all. Hopefully, I won't be as busy next quarter as I was during the last quarter. I'm going to be taking only 4 classes at 15 units, instead of 4 classes at 19 units like last quarter, but I might also try and complete my professional internship during the winter quarter... and if not, then it looks like i'll be doing that over the summer.
This quarter has essentially taught me a lot about gains and losses. I gained new and interesting insights and skills into how and why films are made the way they are. I lost 15 lbs over the quarter. I gained roughly 30 new friends within the film school who all share the same passion for films that I do, which makes for very interesting movie nights together. I lost something very very dear to me, and it's taking every ounce of me to deal with that loss.
Ultimately, I think I've done well with this quarter and learned a lot regarding films, but also about life and other people as well.
Well, that's it for now. I'll try to update more often this quarter and hopefully I'll do just as well as the last.

Happy Holidays

PS. I thought I'd post my Television project from the first quarter for anyone to see... Enjoy...

Well, it's official. I'm old. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, I'm quite young, but 22 is such an uneventful and meaning-less (although not necessarily meaningless) birthday. I feel like there's nothing exciting about being 22. I can't rent a car, I can't run for President for at least 13 more years, and can't think of another clever example as to why turning 22 is uneventful (I think it's the old age setting in). My doctor says I should start taking Ginko... And see, by turning 22, even my jokes get more and more lame. "My doctor says I should take Ginko?" Did I really just say that? Yikes, give me 3 more years and I'll be sitting on a porch whittling little horses out of wood and rambling on about the "better days" when I didn't have to walk all the way across campus, up hill, both ways. My grandchildren will run out and say, "Papa John, Papa John, tell us about the time when computers were as SLOW as broadband." I'll smile and give them a Werther's Original and tell them to "run along now, grandpa needs his prune juice."
I know this all may sound as though I have a bleak outlook on getting older, but I really don't. In a way I look forward to those days because I remember being endlessly captivated by the stories my grandparents would tell me, or by the magic tricks they would show me. Like the one where I had to close my eyes, and then my grandpa would "pull a golf ball out of my ear" and then tell me to open my eyes again and be amazed by his magical powers. I want those moments too when I get older. I sort of get them now with my niece and nephews, and I can truly say that I absolutely love those moments.
I think I might have digressed slightly, but oh well. It's MY journal and that's that. Back to the topic at hand. 22, twenty-two, veintedos, vingt-deux, zweiundzwanzig. I'm not too sure about that last one... and my word, German is not a pretty language. Anyways, it's my birthday, and other than this slight rant of mine, things are great with me. My classes are going well and I'm a little more than halfway done with the quarter. Things are still great with me and Laura (my girlfriend for those who don't know), and overall UCLA has been a pretty interesting experience. I remember I felt that I might be slightly in over my head, but those feelings have passed and I really feel as though I'm right up there with everyone else.
Alright, well, I think that's all for now. Time for this old fart to get to bed.

I just wanted to take a moment to let everyone know how my classes are and what exactly I'll be doing in them.

Film 100: Undergraduate Symposium

Basically, the 30 of us meet and listen to speakers talk about the industry. For our first class, a UCLA MFA graduate came in and spoke about her journey into and through the professional world starting with reading scripts for $50 and ending, well, most recently working as a writer and producer for America's Next Top Model. She really gave some great insight into the business, especially how what you have in mind isn't always where you'll end up.
Then we ended the class with the professor giving us a writing assignment that might have been slightly imprudent, but we all did it regardless. Our assignment was to choose one of the recent high school shootings, and write a first person account of the situation from the point of view of either a hostage, victim, gunman, etc. I wasn't sure how I could possibly write about such a sensitive topic without making it seem trivial and disrespectful, but I suppose I managed.
So I think that's basically going to be the format for the rest of the quarter, and I really think that I'll get some great insight into the industry from people who have started from where I am right now. I also look forward to more writing assignments because they seem like they're designed to challenge my creative writing skills.

Film 115: Stylistic Studies of the Moving Image

AKA, first year critical studies class. All we're going to do is watch artsy movies and analyze them, talk about them, write about them, etc etc. I'm not too excited for this class. Personally, I don't think my analytical skills are all that great, but that's what classes are for. So anyways, more updates to come about all of the weird movies I'll be watching.

Film 185: TV and Video Production

I think I'm most excited about this class, for this quarter anyways. This class is 179% hands on. There are no books, only an old professor who is as wise as he looks. In this class, we'll learn how to basically write, direct and produce television shows/segments. Our first in class project will be to produce a news show. So that means that we'll all take turns being the newscaster, working the camera, boom mic, working the control board, and directing the show. Our final project will be to write, direct and produce a segment of our own, and it's entirely up to us to cast the segment as well as pay attention to the rest of the students in class and see what their strong suits are because we can only use our classmates to fill the crew positions. So hopefully I'll come up with an amazing scene that will win me some kind of award, or at least earn me an A for the class. Oh, yeah, that's one thing I forgot to mention. Last year, UCLA's Film School gave out roughly $1 million in awards to students for achievements in writing, TV production, Film Production, etc, and they sometimes give these awards based on work done in class. So let's hope that I'm as good as everyone thinks I am.

French 41: French Cinema and Culture

Thankfully, I am not required to know any French for this class. All we're going to do is watch French films and focus on a historical and cultural progression of French cinema. This class is not part of my core major requirements, although it does count as a literature class (of which I need to take 3 outside of the film major, to graduate). This class shouldn't be too difficult. It's a lower division class, there are 180+ people enrolled, and it's all about film... lucky me.

So there you go, that's it for my classes. I'm taking a total of 19 quarter units, which is a pretty decent workload. In terms of my daily class schedule, I'm spending about 22 hours a week in class (excluding times when we're dismissed early). On top of the hours in class, "they" suggest that you spend at least 3 hours studying each night for every hour of class you have. I'll let you do the math on that one, but suffice it to say, I refuse to study that much, although I'm sure I'll be spending a good amount of time writing or working on my TV segment.

Other than all of my classes and such, I'm having a good time here. I managed to go to the UCLA vs. Stanford game last Saturday which was a total blowout. GO BRUINS! I've also just spent time meeting new people, familiarizing myself with the campus, and overall, enjoying every second here.
Well, I think that's all for this update. I'll leave you with a few pictures of my apartment and a couple pictures from the game on Saturday.


At the Rose Bowl


Faryn and Vanessa at the game


My wonderful kitchen


My bathroom, haha the Jack Daniel's poster is my roommate's


Looking into the room at the couch


My side of the room, in case you couldn't tell by the flag


More pictures of my side including computers and desk space, the dresser we share, and my wonderful TV


The last picture is looking back down the hall to the front door.

I didn't take any pictures of Neema's side of the room, but you get the idea. So there you go. That's it for me. Leave some comments and tell me how awesome I am.

So here I am. All moved in to my UCLA apartment, and less than a week away from starting classes. I can't express how excited it am. I don't think I've ever felt this way before. I feel slightly intimidated by my peers in the Film program, but then I stop and think to myself that I apparently got in for a reason, and the faculty and staff that admitted me obviously think I will do well in the program, otherwise I wouldn't be here right now. So that fear has subsided for now. I also feel slightly overwhelmed down here in Los Angeles. Everything feels so much faster down here compared to my slow paced life back in the Bay Area. I didn't really get the same feeling when I was in London though. I think there's something about LA that sets it apart from any other city in the world. Regardless, I'm here, and I need to get used to this city and the people in it.
I really like my apartment. It's small, but not too small. It's very "comfortable." I'll try to post some pictures of the apartment soon when I get my camera unpacked and get my other computers set up. My roommate seems really nice. I got to meet him and his family yesterday while moving in and they're very kind and warm people who seemed just as excited as I was to be here. He's supposed to be coming back here later tonight and then I think he'll be here for the duration, although his family lives in Irvine so it's a lot easier for him to go "home" if and when he wants to.
"Home." What an interesting word. They say "home is where the heart is," and I suppose that's true. But I feel like I've moved around so much in my life that the idea of "home" has been redefined for me. Everything seems temporary in my life, so as soon as I finally get settled in one place, I uproot myself and live in London for 3 months, come back and then move to UCLA. I'm sure with time it'll begin to feel like home again.
Well, that's all for now. I'll try to keep this updated as often as I can. Later.

Oh, here's my new address. Put it to use and send me stuff.

John Bedard
565 Gayley Ave. Apt#302
Los Angeles, Ca. 90024