Random Thoughts

[Ezee E]

I feel like it's difficult to turn it off. I'll just not log in and delete it from my phone if I don't want to log in.

I like to do voice memos with some friends over the messenger too, and the quality is pretty good, if not better than what apple messaging offers at the moment.

[Ivan Drago]

Also, here's a harsh realization.

Artists aren't special.

There are millions of us, all creating and releasing amazing things, and there aren't enough people with enough time in the world to enjoy it all.

We're a dime a dozen, and the Internet has shown that. For every amazing ambient album I release, there are hundreds if not thousands of other artists creating and releasing amazing ambient albums.

There was a time before the Internet when it felt like artists were more special, or unique. But now? LOL!

When I finally realized that it was a huge relief. It was like a huge, heavy load was lifted from my shoulders.

I'm going through a tough time right now and was looking for an old post to calm me down (don't be surprised if I end up venting here later), but stumbled upon this one instead. . .and it was very sobering advice. I hope this relief lasts going forward, if only because to this day, my short film has only gotten into one film festival out of fourteen that have gotten back to me, and even with that one I was invited to send my film to that one by my friends who were running it.

I do wish it played later in the day so my family and more friends would've been able to come down, but at least a handful of people saw it.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I'm going through a tough time right now and was looking for an old post to calm me down (don't be surprised if I end up venting here later), but stumbled upon this one instead. . .and it was very sobering advice. I hope this relief lasts going forward, if only because to this day, my short film has only gotten into one film festival out of fourteen that have gotten back to me, and even with that one I was invited to send my film to that one by my friends who were running it.

I do wish it played later in the day so my family and more friends would've been able to come down, but at least a handful of people saw it.

Film festivals are always a crapshoot. I've submitted to five so far this year and expect to hear back from none of them. Many of them license outside help with judging. In that they'll just straight up put ads on job boards. That's how I got drafted into helping Bluecat Screenplay Competition a few years back. Yeah, I was a decent judge, but were all the others? Who knows? Who knows why yours didn't advance.

Even when you do get feedback that explains shortcomings, remember that these people are gatekeepers of film festivals, not of filmmaking itself. And because 99% of film competitions are inconsequential (outside of the occasional Austin Film Festival or Nicholls Fellowship), these people often have chips on their shoulders the size of... uh, very large chips.

I'm not here to say your emotions aren't legitimate. It sucks to go through that rejection, no question. But I think it's awesome that you produced your short film and submitted it. I've always been terrified of producing shorts (lot of insecurity in this rowdy brain), so congratulations! You were able to wrangle things together, organize, execute, complete, and now you're in the eternally thankless position of trying to promote your work. That's really impressive!

That in itself can be a bigger source of pride than most of what those film festivals have to offer to you.

[Dukefrukem]

If there is any good place to vent it's MC. Vent away.

[TGM]

I know all too well the harsh realities of being rejected for your work. Whether its movies or books, I've been rejected constantly. Yet at the same time, I didn't put all that work in just for me to shelve it, and it never see the light of day. So that's why I've decided to release a lot of it myself, and hope that it'll find its audience that way. I'd probably have better success at it if I were a better promoter, but it is what it is, and it's still pretty rewarding even having as tiny a fanbase as I do have, who genuinely love the work I put out there.

Doesn't mean I've completely abandoned the more traditional routes of getting my work out there, though. For instance, I've got another book series in mind after I'm done with the Ninja Kat stuff, which I'll attempt the traditional publishing route again with. And who knows, maybe this time I'll have better luck. I'll have at least 5 full books worth of experience under my belt by that point, so the end product should at least look better when I'm trying to pitch it out, rather than the novelist-in-training that my initial books certainly looked like, or at least that's what I tell myself, lol. And as for the film stuff, I think I'm gonna keep posting my shorts online for the time being (of which I presently have 2 more lined up), maybe attempting to submit just to local things (which even then, I honestly don't expect to get picked up, as our local festivals tend to favor showcasing international projects over anything actually local), but really saving my next big attempt at a festival run for my first feature length. I have a similar logic, in that with a number of shorts under my belt, ideally the feature should come out all the more polished for it, and thus the end product may appear more appealing to showcase.

But we'll see. It's certainly been a long game, one that I'm still playing, and one that comes with its plentiful frustrations. But all you can really do is keep chugging away. Even if this short doesn't get picked up, just make another and try again. It'll probably come out better than your current one, due to all you've no doubt learned in the process. So maybe this next one will get picked up. And if not, then, well, just repeat the process until it's done. And I know that doesn't necessarily make the frustrations easier to deal with. Each rejection honestly stings a little worse to me than the last. But just so long as you don't give up. Because that's the only way you guarantee your work will never be seen or appreciated.

[Irish]

But all you can really do is keep chugging away. Even if this short doesn't get picked up, just make another and try again. It'll probably come out better than your current one, due to all you've no doubt learned in the process.

^ This x 1000.

Hang in there, Ivan.

[MadMan]

Never give up your dreams. I mean, I don't have any, but the rest of you probably do.

[MadMan]

I use Facebook to keep in touch with people. I use Twitter for everything else.

[megladon8]

Ivan, you’ve already made it further than most with the filmmaking dream.

My entire adolescent life and into my mid 20s, I KNEW with absolute conviction that I was going to make movies. Y first bump in the road and I said “screw it”, and am now career retail.

You’ve done something amazing in creating what you have. Don’t give up.

[monolith94]

I use facebook to remind myself of what people look like.

[Irish]

So I'm watching USA's "Shooter" tv show on Netflix. It's about a former Marine sniper who is framed by a government conspiracy.

Anyway, in the middle of the first episode, at about the 27 minute mark, Our Hero practices firing a new rifle:



What is that curved, blade like gadget on the end of the barrel? I've never seen that before in any television show or movie.

Here's a closer look:



Does anyone (*cough*Scar*cough) know what this thing is, what it's supposed to do, and why it has some sort of digital/ power cord running into it?

[MadMan]

That show is cool. I am on the 4th episode of Season 1.

[Skitch]

I'm not sure about the curved thingy but the only time I usually see a cord is for a laser sight with a hand activation. Could be totally wrong though.

[Dukefrukem]

It's powered, so I wonder if it's some kind of range detector.

Scar get in here.

Also, huge guilty pleasure of mine is the movie.

[Scar]

It’s a chronograph used to measure bullet velocity. Costs a few hundred bucks, give or take on the model.

[Scar]

And I enjoyed the first season, maybe I should get around to the second / third.

I may​ have watched the movie a few times, too....

[Irish]

It’s a chronograph used to measure bullet velocity. Costs a few hundred bucks, give or take on the model.

Ahhhhh, thanks for the heads up!

Follow up question, if I may: Why would you want to measure bullet velocity shot-by-shot? Does that give you some sort of competitive advantage, either in hunting or sport shooting?

(I woulda assumed you'd roughly know how fast the bullet was leaving the gun based on make/model, the size and length of the barrel, and the type of cartridge/ bullet...?)

[Scar]

Ahhhhh, thanks for the heads up!

Follow up question, if I may: Why would you want to measure bullet velocity shot-by-shot? Does that give you some sort of competitive advantage, either in hunting or sport shooting?

(I woulda assumed you'd roughly know how fast the bullet was leaving the gun based on make/model, the size and length of the barrel, and the type of cartridge/ bullet...?)

You wouldn't permanently mount the chronograph. Its for figuring out the ballistics based on which cartridge load you're using. The farther out you shoot, the more data you need. Knowing how fast your bullet goes combined with the weight of the bullet helps you determine how far the bullet will drop, how long it takes to get to target, etc. Then you have to factor in wind, temperature, humidity, all that kind of shit. Granted, this is only for extreme long range shooting. Longest shot I've made was at a prairie dog at 450 yards, and since I knew my bullet load was crazy fast, and the wind was calm, I knew how far above my target I had to shoot. Inhale, exhale....squeeze, and poof, bye bye prairie dog.

Back to the original question, a lot of people hand load their own cartridges, so they need to verify the ballistics. Sure, you have a rough idea, but the farther you plan on shooting, the more information you need.

Back to the mounting of the chronograph- If I had something like that, I would only mount it to the barrel to figure out the bullet speed. Then I would remove it. Having stuff mounted to the barrel can mess up the harmonics and accuracy. At 100 yards, it's not going to make a difference. 300 yards and beyond, oh yeah, it'll make a difference.

[Scar]

My last prairie dog trip, I left the 22-250 at home, and brought the small 17 HMR instead. The cross wind was about 30mph. I hit one at 300 yards with that small rimfire bullet. To put it bluntly, when I squeezed the trigger, the prairie dog was in the lower right corner of my scope (~40 inch drop).



Notice the 'slight' difference between 22-250 and 17HMR?
Reference: the 223 / 5.5.6 is what most AR-15 style weapons are chambered in.

[Irish]

You wouldn't permanently mount the chronograph. Its for figuring out the ballistics based on which cartridge load you're using. The farther out you shoot, the more data you need. Knowing how fast your bullet goes combined with the weight of the bullet helps you determine how far the bullet will drop, how long it takes to get to target, etc. Then you have to factor in wind, temperature, humidity, all that kind of shit. Granted, this is only for extreme long range shooting. Longest shot I've made was at a prairie dog at 450 yards, and since I knew my bullet load was crazy fast, and the wind was calm, I knew how far above my target I had to shoot. Inhale, exhale....squeeze, and poof, bye bye prairie dog.

Back to the original question, a lot of people hand load their own cartridges, so they need to verify the ballistics. Sure, you have a rough idea, but the farther you plan on shooting, the more information you need.

Back to the mounting of the chronograph- If I had something like that, I would only mount it to the barrel to figure out the bullet speed. Then I would remove it. Having stuff mounted to the barrel can mess up the harmonics and accuracy. At 100 yards, it's not going to make a difference. 300 yards and beyond, oh yeah, it'll make a difference.

Oh man that's a terrifically detailed response. I owe you more rep. Thanks!

IIRC, in that first episode the shot he's trying to figure out will be at something like 1500+ yards. So your explanation makes even more sense.

[Scar]

Oh man that's a terrifically detailed response. I owe you more rep. Thanks!

IIRC, in that first episode the shot he's trying to figure out will be at something like 1500+ yards. So your explanation makes even more sense.

Yeah, I'm not trying those kind of shots until I get a 300 Win Mag or a 338 Lapua. Probably the 300 Win Mag, since the ammo is around 2 bucks a shot vs 6 bucks, and I can try mile shots with it, while the 338 can go out to 1.5 miles.

[Scar]

....and I just watched someone on youtube splash a coyote at 1860 yards with a 338 Lapua.... I'm going to go broke.

[Skitch]

I once hit 3 bullseye out of 5 shots on a thousand yard range in the rain. No joke. It was a set up tho lol. Went to a long range open house and got use their rifles and spotters. They were looking for members to join. They were hardcore shooters, repacked (or whatever the proper term is) their own ammo, all custom modified weapons, it was sick. I have a fair knowledge of guns and I felt like a total moron talking to these guys.

[transmogrifier]

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So much.