Madman's Mutterings

Hello again! I’ve been so busy these past few weeks that I’ve completely neglected to get back here to spread the good word! Normally, I’d try to split these subjects into their own posts, but who has the time? Not me, that’s for sure!

First of all, we got the results from the Miami 48-Hour Film Festival. We took home three awards: Best Costumes, Best Use of Prop, and Best Cinematography. Were we disappointed we didn’t take home the trophy for Best Film? Of course. But I’m incredibly proud of the film we made in just two sleepless days.

I could talk about this film for a week, but that would run contrary to the theme. As I mentioned in a previous post, we drew the Silent Film category as our genre. We were required to include a brush (prop), a character named Doug Whyte (who was a fundraiser), and a line of dialogue (”What do you mean?”). I’ll leave it to you to decide how well we succeeded.

I’ll be happy to answer any questions about the production in the comments below. I’ll definitely be working with some of these people again. The cinematographer and I are already collaborating.

Next, I’m just bursting at the seems to tell you about the radical shift in my life since I last discussed the sad demise of iHero Entertainment and our magazine, Cyber Age Adventures. It occurred to me just a few days later that what was true when I started that magazine back in 1999 wasn’t true today. When I started the magazine, there was no iPad, no Kindle, no iTunes iBookstore, no precedent for a digital magazine that could be delivered to screens that fit in the palm of your hand. Once I realized that, I immediately contacted the original iHero creators and asked if they’d like to collaborate on a new magazine. Every single one of them said yes.

We decided to come back for a six-issue limited series, to return to the universe we created and tell the stories we wished we’d told before we put up the chairs. This is our chance.

We’re funding the limited series through Kickstarter, which allows folks to pledge their support and help us raise the capital we’ll need to pay for writers, artists, ISBN’s and the barrel of monkeys that goes into this kind of endeavor. Pledges start at just $5 and it includes the first issue. Think of it like reserving your copy ahead of time. There are bigger rewards the higher you go. Check it out!

I know that the $3,000 price tag seems high for this kind of thing, but it funds all six issues, allowing us to promise the audience that we won’t shut down half-way through our run because we ran out of cash. We’re paying our writers and artist pro rates, marking us once again as a magazine to be taken seriously.

One of the great things about Kickstarter is that you don’t get charged a dime unless we meet our goal. I like that. We’ve been gone a long time, but we still have some fans out there. And the original creators, myself included, haven’t exactly been idle. If you think about what these folks can do 10 after we published our first issue, it’s pretty awe-inspiring. If I have my way with this, you’ll be seeing iHero-based short films within the year. We’re already working on the costumes.

Our goal is to make this an ongoing series again. Having the six month cushion would allow us to find our place in the market and make the magazine self-sustaining for the first time in our history. That’s just plain made of awesome.

So please consider helping out if you are so inclined. Thanks, and be excellent to each other out there!

Current Mood:  excited

It’s not like anything else, I can tell you that. I’ve been on deadline for magazines before, for writing assignments, for art submissions, but to write, produce, direct, edit and score a film in 48 hours is a bit beyond the pale.

It started in Miami at 7PM on Friday, August 6th. The Miami 48-Hour Film Festival. The Amazing Dani Burke™ and I milled around with the other team captains, waiting for our turn to pick the genre. We had our hopes for Mockumentary, for Comedy, for almost anything but Musical or Western. What we got was Silent Film.

Silent Film.

I have to admit that I considered giving it back and going for the Wild Card. That could have meant picking up Historical Drama/Period Piece or Foreign Film, and considering that only one of my team members was bilingual and there simply wouldn’t be time to procure costumes, I held onto the little slip of paper and decided to take our chances.

It had been done before. I’d seen Joss Whedon put aside his well-established gift for dialogue and write the Emmy-nominated episode of Buffy, “Hush.” I had the germ of an idea before the competition started, back when we first knew what the categories were going to be. But I also knew that no one had ever won this festival in the Silent Film category. That was a lot to consider.

But we took our genre and we got our required elements (a character, a prop, and a line of dialogue that must be included in your film) and we drove north to meet with the rest of our team to bandy about some ideas and get their input. We sat around a table at a local diner, ordered drinks, shared a plate of fries. We were already on the clock and I had a long night ahead of me. And, to be honest, this was the hard part for me. I’ve been a published author for 20 years. Writing is not a team sport. But I thought it was important to get everyone’s input. These were all highly creative people and I knew that there would be elements from their contributions that I’d want to include.

In the end, we parted company and I drove home to start production. As much as I wanted to start writing right away, there were certain set pieces I needed to construct first. I’d sent one of the actors home to shower, shave, and come to my place with a change of clothes.

Photos courtesy of Johann Lyewsang

I was creating a world, not just a story. Without the extra thought and effort that we put into these props, our little six and a half minute film wouldn’t have been what it was. But it was time consuming. I’m lucky that I’ve been a graphic designer almost as long as I’ve been a writer, but it did mean that when I arrived on set the next morning, I’d have just 40 minutes of sleep to my credit.

Our script was just four pages long. It doesn’t sound like much, but it had a lot of heavy lifting to do, that little script. And four pages of narration in screenplay format is a lot more work than four pages of dialogue. It took us 10 hours to shoot those four little pages, but what we got in the can was pure gold. I was blessed in that I’d hand-picked a team of professionals who all knew their craft and were dedicated to delivering a film we could all be proud of.

At the end of the shoot day, Dani and I went home to catch a quick nap. I got just three hours of sleep before I got up again and started to edit.

Here’s the thing about sleep deprivation: it makes everything take longer. Your brain isn’t firing on all cylinders anymore and the routine tasks that used to come second-nature to you now take twice as long. I spent that last night queasy, dizzy, nauseous and utterly determined not to let any of that bother me. It kind of helped that I was celebrating the one year anniversary of my heart attack as I made this film. It lent me a motivation that I’m not sure others could match. I felt compelled to do something with this second lease on life. I wanted it to matter. I wanted it to make a difference.

In the end, when I delivered the DVD back to Miami on Sunday afternoon, we had a remarkable little film in our hands. It wasn’t just a film without sound. Silence was a character in our story. If you took away the silence, the whole story falls apart. I think that alone sets us apart from the previous filmmakers in that category.

We got to see our film screen that following Wednesday and we were the only film to receive a standing ovation from members of the audience. Judging is underway now, but we won’t know the results until the 21st or so. As this is technically my directorial debut on the big screen, it’s a bit much to hope that we’ll win take home the festival’s top honors, but I’m hoping our efforts will be rewarded somehow.

It was just 48 hours. Just six and a half minutes. But I love this film unreasonably.

Wish us luck.

Current Mood:  hopeful

Hello, hello and welcome to our Deja Vu Disco, chock full of your past LINGO favorites. Or at least… our LINGO favorites. Sit back, fire up the time machine… and enjoy!

Here’s what’s rebounding on the airwaves:

How Deep Is Your Love – 지누션 (Korean)
Just Stand Up – Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, Fergie, Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, Natasha Beddingfield, Miley Cyrus, Leona Lewis, Carrie Underwood, Keyshia Cole, Leann Rimes, Ashanti & Ciara
Serre moi – Jenifer Bartoli (French)
どうして君を好きになってしまったんだろう – Dong Bang Shin Ki (Japanese)
Lay Down the Law – 3
Tea Cup – Gackt (Japanese)
Wo Hai Xiang Ta (I’m Still Thinking Of Her) – JJ Lin (Chinese)
Allah 3alayk – Tamer Hosny (Arabic)
I Kissed A Girl – Katy Perry
Recuerdame – La Quinta Estacion con Marc Anthony (Spanish)
Green Light (Feat. John Legend) – Andre 3000
Baby You – Crown J (Korean)
Sun Will Never Set – Jolin Choy (Chinese)
Krieger des Lichts – Silbermond (German)
Nada valgo sin tu amor – Juanes (Spanish)
Si Tu N’étais Plus Là – Shéryfa Luna (French)
Wo de Bao Bei – 张悬 (Chinese)
音色 – KREVA (Japanese)
Cant Get Enough Of You Baby – Smash Mouth

Thanks for tuning in this week. Remember to check out our Facebook fan page! Last but not least, you MUST get your hands on the official LINGO app! See you next time!

Hello, hello and welcome to an all-new episode of LINGO! From soothing beats to gut-wrenching guitar riffs, this one has it all!

Here’s what’s made of awesome this week:

When it all falls apart – The Veronicas
弥勒佛咒 (王菲獨唱) – 王菲 (Chinese)
Je ne t’aime Plus – Manu Chao (Latin/French)
Never Gonna Be Alone  – Nickelback
Guapa – Diego Torres (Spanish)
Sognare – Division Minuscula (Spanish)
アイスクリーム シンドローム – スキマスイッチ (Japanese)
Scene Of A Perfect Crime – Concrete Blonde
Culling Of The Fold – The Decemberists
L’aigle Noir – Barbara (French)
Dis Moi – BB Brunes (French)
D.I.S.C.O [Ft. T.O.P] – Uhm Jung Hwa (Korean)
Küssen verboten – Die Prinzen (German)
WOO WEEKEND – BoA (Japanese)
Tui Hou – Jay Chou (Chinese)
Salvami – Gianna Nannini e Giorgia (Italian)
I Love Rock and Roll – Joan Jett

Very special thanks this week go to Jessi in Tokyo who sent in three awesome songs for this show! Remember to check out our Facebook fan page! Last but not least, you MUST get your hands on the official LINGO app! Check it out!

Hello, hello and welcome to another earth-shaking episode of everybody’s favorite podcast for global pop music! This week we’re proud to announce the release of our outstanding iPhone app! Download it now and enjoy!

Here’s what’s making your toes tap this week:

Baby – Justin Bieber ft. Ludacris
Unlock – SS501 (Korean)
Me gustas tu – Manu chao (Spanish/French)
Amor Gitano – Beyonce Ft. Alejandro Fernandez (Spanish)
Vue de là-bas – Soha (French)
Chinese Translation – M. Ward (Our Facebook pick of the week! Become a fan to watch the video!)
飞行中的思念 – René (Chinese)
11월1일 (Feat. 김재석 Of WANTED) – Epik High (Korean)
Manos Al Aire ( ft. Franco El Gorila) – Nelly Furtado (Spanish)
Just Be Yourself – S.H.E. (Chinese)
Rose – 휘성 (Korean)
Taiyou to BIKINI – RIP SLYME (Japanese)
Banana Pancakes – Jack Johnson
Good-bye Days – YUI (Japanese)
Gegen den Rest – Karpatenhund (German)
Il volo – Zucchero (Italian)
Landslide – Fleetwood Mac

Very special thanks to my good friend, Hyunwoo Sun for all he does for the language community! Extra special thanks to Graziana, Jessi, Kerry and everyone who contributed songs  and “Hello Hello” greetings to this week’s show! Also, remember to check out our Facebook fan page! Last but not least, you MUST get your hands on the official LINGO app! Check it out!