1. I don't have the best balance standing up on the bus while it's moving. I lost my balance last night on the bus. It made a tight turn that I wasn't expecting and hadn't adjusted my weight accordingly, so I accidentally kicked the guy in front of me in the leg trying to catch my balance. Thankfully Rikki and Brad were nearby to prevent me from wiping out. Thanks guys.
2. Sometimes I lack the ability to put up a filter in public. On the bus, a couple sitting right next to us were talking about the venue we were on our way to called the Temple. They said, "Oh cool. It's actually a temple." To which I responded, directed toward Brad, but a little too loud, "Yeah, that's why they call it a temple." I blame it on not enough sleep, too much to think about, and it was getting late.
3. There are certain people who talk a lot. Some people may take ten minutes to respond to a relatively simple question. Interesting.
This morning in class, four cast and crew from The Dry Land came and talked to us about the movie. It was a basic discussion about the cast and crew and what it took to get the movie finished. The director did 2 years of moderate research just for his own curiosity and then worked 1.5 years on the script then the process of making the movie. Total it took 4.5 years from start to finish. Altogether they talked to over 90 soldiers in order to try to accurately reflect a soldier's challenge. The director made a point that the movie is very apolitical. It's a human story after a traumatic experience. It's not discussing the topic of war. A person on imdb.com said, "Warning: This film may break your heart." That's very true. Jason Ritter, supporting actor, said, "It's important to continue to break your heart. You can only have your heart broken if you're open to it. It's good to break your heart." Our group talked to him a couple minutes after it ended. We all commented on his Indianapolis Colts jacket and how much we appreciated it.
A group of us hung out at the church for a while talking, then we grabbed lunch, and headed over to the venue where Life 2.0 was being screened. While waiting to line up we saw an actress from one of the films we saw, a few different directors, and someone important looking being interviewed. It was pretty eventful. When we got in line Jonathan and Alex noticed Entertainment Weekly magazines with LOST on the cover. Needless to say, we got so excited and instantly buried our noses into it. Life 2.0 is about the director, (pictured on right) entering into the virtual world called Second Life and seeing the common stories of users. Numbers of Second Life: 19 million users in 2009, $500 million US exchanged in 2009, many users spend 12-14 hours per day on Second Life. The movie was incredibly entertaining as it was so ridiculous that it was funny. Jonathan and I about lost it once or twice. Some quotes:"Real life partners don't know what we're up to. they just think it's some kind of game."
"You can have the house of your dreams in Second Life without the real life price."
"My avatar took a life of her own...It affected everything about me."
"I'm... I don't want to say it. It'll ruin my day." (She's married and didn't want to say it. She started an affair with a guy she met on Second Life).
"He says he's getting something out of being a childhood girl. I'm not sure what that is, but he say's he's getting something."
"I'm putting everything at risk right now. My job, life, health, family."
"Ayya (an avatar) has said it herself, if I can't spend my time on here (Second Life), then it needs to end."
"I'm not the only person who have found themselves in Second Life."
"I had given up so much of myself that I started looking for myself in other places."
"The trip to come to Law Vegas has been the longest time I've been away from Second Life."
The director spent 3 years in Second Life to make this documentary-it's an addicting game. Also, they have Second Life conferences. Hmm...
The second and last movie I saw, is called A Small Act which is about a Swedish woman who sponsored a young Kenyan boy through secondary school, how that changed his life, and how he impacts other students now. It was a good movie, but at this point complicated and deep films can only garner a portion of my emotion. The director and producer are pictured on left. Director in front and producer in back. Quotes from this movie:"If you did not have money, you were kicked out of school."
"What encourages me, is that no matter what your life is like, you can succeed."
"I believe education is a life and death situation."
"Now that I have been given scholarships, the burden is on me to work hard."
"If I get the chance, I will push myself to help others."
"Our point of this movie is to inspire people to look at their own communities for small ways to contribute."
Numbers of A Small Act:
200 hours of footage
2.5 years total
3 months in Kenya
10 days in Sweden and Switzerland
$80,000 raised solely at Sundance to sponsor kids
Production crew sponsored the other two main kids who did not receive scholarships.
Alex, Brad, me, and Brent in front of the Egyptian Theater. It's the picture of Sundance and the most recognizable connection to it.
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