It's Not That Easy Being Green

So I'm laying in my bed not reading or writing or cleaning or "being productive" (whatever that is), and I started to think about superheroes --try to save your shock and awe til the end of the piece please we have a long way to go-- and I started thinking about characters that have really piqued my interest as of late:

The Mask

The Incredible Hulk (and his son Skaar)

Green Lantern

Ragman

Green Hornet

These Guys

and of course... Green Arrow


The common theme here being that they're all definitely men. So I present Exhibit B:

Abigail Brand

Jade

Polaris

She-Hulk


Do you see what I'm getting at?

GREEN! Lots of green. I'm not anti-green or anything but I really just brainstormed those characters sitting on my bed. That doesn't even include people like Doctor Doom, Scorpion, Count Vertigo. The list goes on and on.

Now I know there are other colors used like blue (Captain America) and red (Daredevil) but for whatever reason green just seems to pop up everywhere.


Like that guy.

For whatever reason there's an abundance of green and I can dig that, I really can. What really astounds me though is what draws me to these characters. Similar themes of fathers (Incredible Hulk, Green Arrow, Green Hornet, Spidey and Green Goblin, THe Ninja Turtles), the stigma attached to something greater than themselves (a generic superhero theme to be sure but look at how the "green" heroes approach it, it's really cool) and a sense of unpredictability. All of these characters have noble intentions but can go completely crazy at the drop of a hat.

I don't know what it is, but I am totally digging this whole "going green" thing as far as super heros go.

Lesson over.

Work Work Work (please)

So, in anticipation for graduation, (I got the mad beats)



I've been thinking about places I'd like to work. At school they told us to expect 99 "no's" out of 100 so I though I'd make a list of 50 and see if I might be able to ride the odds have it work out it my favor.

So in no particular order, here's my list:


1. Marvel studios
2. DC Comics
3. Malpasso
4. Bad Robot
5. Mutant Enemy
6. Jim Henson Studios
7. Scott Free
8. Troublemaker Studios
9. Wingnut Films
10. Europacorp
11. Bay Films
12. Brooksfilm LTD
13. Anchor Bay
14. Lucasfilm LTD
15. Criterion Collection
16. Weinstein Company
17. View Askew
18. Legendary Pictures
19. Tim Burton Productions
20. Imagine Entertainment
21. Dreamworks
22. Plan B
23. Earthship Productions
24. Magnolia films
25. Smokehouse Pictures
26. Lionsgate
27. Amblin
28. Apatow production
29. Stoopid Monkey
30. Ghoulardi
31. Ten Thirteen Prodctions
32. Jerry Bruckheimer films
33. Village Roadshow
34. Working Title
35. Focus Features
36. Cha Cha Cha
37. American Zoetrope
38. Spectacle Entertainment Group
39. Dark Horse Entertainment
40. Strike Entertainment
41. Screen Gems
42. Lakeshore
43. Overture films
44. Interscope
45. Red Hour
46. Impact pictures
47. Rough House Pictures
48. O Entertianment
49. Section Eight
50. A Band Apart



This isn't be all end all, but it's a good start.

Let me know what you think!

Lesson Over.

Hey Eckhardt!

Think about the future!



That's what I've been up to... sort of. I graduate in April (barring failed classes) and with that brings the excitement of new beginnings! and the terror of the end of the current status quo.

I'm a pretty sedimentary kind of guy. I like to root down and sit for a while (you know get comfortable and get to know people) then once I have a basic set of friends I'm down to go where ever. I've got the friends and the down-for-where-ever thing all set but the two ideas don't seem to want to work together, and that's frustrating.


(THE FOLLOWING BLOG CAN BE FILED UNDER "POOR ME")


So dig this right?

I'm finally at the school of my dreams (Full Sail University) and I love it. Love love love it, it's everything I hoped it would be but with the minor complaints attached as expected. It's a film school and I'm learning to do something that I think I can love and actually do for the rest of my life. -comics notwithstanding-

What I really don't like is a lot of my classmates and I'm sure that will disappear with time. Right now most of them are pure potential stuck inside a teenager's body, so take my old man view of the world ("turn down your music!", "What do you mean naps don't sound like fun?") and my military established work ethic ("get it done quickly so we can go home to quiet and naps!") and combine those with relative children who have never held down a job before and my patience just flies out the window.

What bothers me most about The Children is that their collective over-eagerness is too unfocused. They're trying so hard to set new bars and blow down doors that they've forgotten to look at how the bars were placed there and check out the materials that make up the doors. Plus each one wants to have the highest role they can have in production (which is great as an overall goal but put it in perspective and learn the rolls of the little guy. It's important to know the work you'll be doing right out of school. -see it's alllll coming around I swear-)





So we're gearing up for entry into the "real world" filled with mythical "jobs" and "bills" and new things that they keep describing to us all for the first time in frightening detail. (get this... apparently you have to be polite and dress nice for job interviews!) For those of you who aren't keeping track, I'm going to be 28 in November -my wishlist is on my profile-.

Now I have three options ahead of me and I'm going to write them out in as much detail as I can in hopes that my stress will transfer itself to the interwebs and allow me to sleep.

(I figured out to post pics on here! I'm all happy)




So I have:

1. My WISHFUL plan
2. My EASY(er) plan
3. My SUPER HARD BUT ULTIMATELY REWARDING plan

1. WISHFUL: My buddies Eric and Yorgo are moving to Chicago in hopes of landing entry level film jobs while pursuing a passion project by Yorgo in the form of a documentary and I would love to head out there with them. It's also the most likely scenario in which I could convince my best friend Joe to come with me :P

This plan is the pipe dream of the bunch. Perfect world in which I get to stick with my buddies from school and bring in my best friend, but overall it seems to be a bit touchy and the job opportunities that I want just don't exist there.


2. EASY(er): New Orleans in a post-Katrina world is looking to boost revenue with a burgeoning film program, and it's working. Low cost of living mixed with a high rate of employment add to the allure. I don't really know anyone heading out this way but with a lower cost of living and a revolving door of projects coming through all the time, the opportunity to get my foot in the door is definitely there.

Of the three, this seems to be the most accessible in terms of starting out, but again running into the reality of knowing nobody hangs like a dark cloud over everything (I'm sure I'll get over it, I always do). While the revolving door option sounds good I kind of like the idea of staying with one production company and learning my craft with a group who does it a specific way instead of adjusting to many different ways. Joe won't move to New Orleans.


3. SUPER HARD BUT ULTIMATELY REWARDING: L.A. Yikes. This one is by far the most difficult of the three. It scares me the most but also fills me with a huge amount of hope. Perfect world scenario I get to intern at Marvel Studios or Mutant Enemy or something like that and I get work side by side with my heroes right outside the box (again PERFECT world, not naive expectation).

Realistically this could bite me in the butt quickly. It has literally caused me a lack of sleep in the last month. I know NOBODY in L.A. and I've only spent about 4 days out there and that was just on Hollywood Blvd. so.... yikes.






A good X-Factor included in this is my GI Bill. I plan on working on my Master's Degree in Creative Writing through Full Sail online over the course of the next year and that should allow me some extra cash (and also supremely help out with 1. and 3.).

I think I'm going to lean towards L.A. and try for an unpaid internship while working on my masters.

But I don't know.

What do you think?

Thanks for reading.

Lesson over.