Tag Archives: Film

Can Rambo save Burma?

RamboThe new Rambo film is out, and includes a basic plot: John Rambo joins a group of mercenaries to venture into war-torn Burma, and rescue a group of Christian aid workers who were kidnapped by the ruthless local infantry unit.

But now it seems that Sylvester Stallone is taking the film back to reality and has a message for the Burmese military government, via Reuters. :

“Why don’t you invite me over? Let me take a tour of your country without someone pointing a gun at my head and we’ll show you where all the bodies are buried.”

But not only that, according to news reports

the Burmese have “gone crazy” over bootleg copies of the film, and the line “Live for nothing. Die for something” is being used as a rallying cry by dissidents. “This movie could fuel the sentiment of Myanmar people to invite American troops to help save them from the junta,” one Yangon resident told Reuters.

[Link]

On to other news:

Son of Osama Bin Laden, Omar, said to his dad:

“Try to find another way to help or find your goal… This bomb, these weapons, it’s no good to use it for anybody.”

[Link]

How did I change?

I took this test few years ago, when I joined StumbleUpon. I haven’t logged in to the site in a few years, until today, when I saw my result  and I decided to take the test again.

Its interesting to see the differences in me, from being creative to becoming managerial. Funnily, it happened in my job too…

Zohar in 2008:

ESTP (Extroverted, Sensing, Thinking, Perceiving)

content, emotionally stable, outgoing, social, group oriented, finisher, does not like to be alone, open, decisive, likes external praise, likes to be center of attention, frequently joking, adjusts easily, likes crowds, self confident, neutral moods, good at getting people to have fun, disorganized, messy, talented at presentation, not easily annoyed, does not like to be alone, enjoys crude jokes, likes to lead, likes sports, more likely to come off as masculine, risk taker, tends to dominate conversations, fearless, can handle criticism, hard to discourage

Favoured careers:

ceo, sports management, fighter pilot, marketing specialist, business manager, race car driver, supervisor, economist, airline pilot, bar owner, consultant, cia agent, security specialist, technician, businessman, mechanical engineer, public relations specialist, coach, manager, marketing director, sales associate, mechanic, politician, publicist

Disfavoured careers:
poet, artist, art teacher, novelist, bookstore owner, graphics designer, museum curator, librarian, freelance writer, author, florist, painter, school psychologist, songwriter, musician, professional college student, editor, philosopher, english professor

Zohar in 2005:

INFP (Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceiving)

creative, smart, idealist, loner, attracted to sad things, disorganized, avoidant, can be overwhelmed by unpleasant feelings, prone to quitting, prone to feelings of loneliness, ambivalent of the rules, solitary, daydreams about people to maintain a sense of closeness, focus on fantasies, acts without planning, low self confidence, emotionally moody, can feel defective, prone to lateness, likes esoteric things, wounded at the core, feels shame, frequently losing things, prone to sadness, prone to dreaming about a rescuer, disorderly, observer, easily distracted, does not like crowds, can act without thinking, private, can feel uncomfortable around others, familiar with the darkside, hermit, more likely to support marijuana legalization, can sabotage self, likes the rain, sometimes can’t control fearful thoughts, prone to crying, prone to regret, attracted to the counter culture, can be submissive, prone to feeling discouraged, frequently second guesses self, not punctual, not always prepared, can feel victimized, prone to confusion, prone to irresponsibility, can be pessimistic

Favoured careers:
poet, painter, freelance artist, musician, writer, art therapist, teacher (art, music, drama), songwriter, art historian, library assistant, composer, work in the perfoming arts, art curator, playwrite, bookseller, cartoonist, video editor, photographer, philosopher, record store owner, digital artist, cinematographer, costume designer, film producer, philosophy professor, librarian, music therapist, enviromentalist, movie director, activist, bookstore owner, filmmaker

Disfavoured careers:
business professional, manager, executive, administrator, business owner, supervisor, office manager, business analyst, financial analyst, public relations manager, ceo, executive assistant, judge, event coordinator, lawyer, office worker

About

I am a creative producer: a project manager, a web thinker, an information architect, a graphic designer, a filmmaker, an idealist, and a wannabe entrepreneur. I also play with type.

In 2006 I graduated from the BA Graphic Design degree at Central Saint Martins College in London. During my studies, my main areas of creation and visualization were design, photography and filmmaking.

As a person who doesn’t confine himself to specific creative guidelines – I open myself to the effect of wide range of genres and styles in every field. I love to combine together various arts and to create the fusion of the one whole, which is unique to me and to my perception of the world.

On Design: I like the basic and the simple. “Less is More” is a strong part of my work, and from time to time enhanced with Droog design‘s concept of “Less+More”, where I start with simplicity and gradually add to it. I love typography, soft colors and a lot of space. I prefer the clean to the dirty… the classic humanist approach.

Exploration is my constant guideline and one of the most important aspects of my work. I am always trying to learn about the abilities of the technical devices that I am using as well as to discover the new visual aspects of the things that I am looking at.

On Photography: The motto of my photography is to realize the magical beauty embedded in everyday objects and common situations. I prefer to present the subjects of my photography as they appear in the real life. I am trying to perceive the specific and the unique moments that embody both the simplicity and the complexity of people and the interactions between them. While looking at still objects, I prefer to capture them in distinctive mode and unique angle that would transform them from their original appearance.

Societal issues are very important to me. I take a great interest in ideas and subjects concerning the contemporary culture, mass behavior and social habits. My interest in these matters and their significance to me were expressed in several projects that I worked on.

On Filmmaking: Unlike my photography, my filmmaking allows me to give life to the universe of my imagination, to go beyond the limits of reality and to question the boundaries between the real and the surreal. Filmmaking embodies every possible sphere of art and creative thought. Photography, fashion, graphics, sound, architecture, interior decoration and of course drama – these are only a few representatives of the spheres that are involved in the creation of a film.

I like to try new things just for the sake of my love for experimentation and learning. In my eyes, the process of learning and gaining new experiences is the most important achievement and an endless source of spiritual growth.

Is the world my oyster?

I’m thinking on many things lately. Mainly, on what I’ll grow up to be. Am I going to be a graphic designer? a web designer? a filmmaker? Or is it going to be some kind of interface designer… or a game designer.

Sometimes I’d like it to be a mix of all the things I do. Could it be?

I’m confused.

I’m growing up, I can feel it. And in some ways I feel that I might miss the train. I have some great ideas, and I find it hard to bring them to life. I think I’m waiting for something and I don’t know what. I’d just like to move on.

I’ve been sending some applications for internships. For all three subjects that are intersting to me: design for print, design for web and film production. I tried also for the game industry, but it seems there aren’t a lot of them, at least not in the design section.

I feel that I’d like an answer. Should I go this way? Should I go that way? or should I turn to a total different direction?

Some say the world is my oyster. I sure hope it is.

Abstract & Magical Realism

‘Abstractions‘, ‘Photoelectric’, and ‘Fast Life and Dematerialized‘, were born from a feeling of sudden realization of the beauty embedded in everyday life.Going around with a camera, be it a film, digital or mobile phone camera, whilst having the ability to photograph everything and everywhere, made me more attentive to the world around me, especially to small and everyday objects.

When I was paying a close attention, everyday objects suddenly appeared to me new, unusual and even in an abstract form. The beauty I felt to revealed absorbed my attention, carried me away and evoked the desire to share this special experience.

Implementation of the long exposure technique on objects and people in movement produced a result which coordinated with my perception of reality – the city in a constant movement, the people who are in a constant hurry to achieve ‘the next thing’. In the theatre of fast city life, the settings and the surroundings stay in the same place, preserved throughout the historic periods, while the people always move, never stop in the same place and vanish into oblivion. I wanted to stop in the midst of this never-ending process and freeze that special moment, to capture the everlasting movement in a single moment in time.

Most of these pictures were taken without arrangement or plan, but were born out of a sudden urge to capture a different view of the everyday life and objects.

(From my portfolio)

Stop DRM – another right is lost!

From Wikipedia:

Digital Rights Management (generally abbreviated to DRM) is any of several technologies used by publishers (or copyright owners) to control access to and usage of digital data (such as software, music, movies) and hardware, handling usage restrictions associated with a specific instance of a digital work.

The producers of films and music are trying to keep the rights to their own. Slowly government rules are taking place, forbidding the right to copy digital work, even if its for personal purposes.
Lately, a bill has passed in France, known as DADVSI (in English: “law on authors’ rights and related rights in the information society”).

Most of the bill focuses on the repression of the exchange of copyrighted works over peer-to-peer networks and the criminalizing of the circumvention of DRM protection measures. The law… could significantly hamper free software, and also may significantly restrict the right to make copies of copyrighted works for private use.

StopDRM, (translated, original page here), a group of French activists are calling against the law.

After the adoption of law DADVSI by the government, greatest confusion reigns: the users of peer-to-peer received the insurance of the Minister for the culture which justice will be lenient, but the members of the StopDRM Collective worry for the consumers, who “do not pirate” but buy the music and films: what will arrive to them, now that the law was promulgated, if they circumvent the DRM for the legitimate use of works? And if they say it and inform the population? Are they assured them also any leniency?

3 members of the group have stepped forward. They went to the police to get arrested under the slogan “A lawsuit is wanted“.

The three have bought the original work of either music from iTunes or DVDs and transferred them to their portable media players by circumventing the code, thus breaking the law. One of them even have created a page Internet explaining how to remove the DRM of a protected bought work so that everyone can transfer its pieces on its portable player. While waiting for the response of the legal authorities, this page is accessible to all and is on http://drm.mediaarea.net.
The third, for its part, used a free software to read a DVD under GNU/Linux.

All of the three are about to face charges. The police officer was thinking that they are kidding with him, but at some point he discovered that they are right – this is illegal.

They most probably are facing sanctions of 3.750 euros fine for deliberated use with technical measurements realized by a Net surfer by his own means, six months of imprisonment and 30.000 euros fine for the provider of means of skirting, which acts in a deliberated way.

The problem is not the fact that you can do it at home, and nobody will know, but the fact that it is illegal to do so. A similar law is already applied in the US, and sooner or later, will take place in most of the countries in the world.
Ripping a DVD that I bought in order to save a copy of it at home or to be able to transfer it to a portable device and breaking the DRM of a song I bought from iTunes in order to play it on a non Apple device are my rights.

Lately, microsoft have released their own portable player, Zune, which is applying DRM to every song and video which is transferred to it, even if the title is under a GNU or a Creative Commons licence (of which, its against the licence to apply DRM).

The fight has only just begun.

Manuel Mera – Obstacles EP – Now on Ruby radio

Manuel Mera - Obstacles EP

My friend, and star of my upcoming short film, Manuel Mera, is now featured on Rubysoho‘s Ruby Radio, and presented by Jaguar Shoes.

In your mind, recall the classic, 1986 RUN DMC/Aerosmith, “Walk this way” music video. Now rewind and re-enact, putting “The Police” in one room and “David Lynch” in the other.

Manuel’s music is thought provoking, rich and powerful. A cycle of emotions is being triggered as the songs are being played. One song is not enough, and the sequence of songs, as a matter of fact, builds up to create the whole.

The soundtrack to a schizophrenic’s tragic, yet hopeful psychotherapy session.

Quotes from Rubysoho’s Lifecam