Hello from... Tucson (jw)

I am way overdue for a blog post. In my defense, however, the past few weeks have been less interesting than the ones before.

I write this one not from LA, but from my house, in Tucson.

Since I came home three weeks ago, I've come to a new portion of my project. I've done the hands-on internship, I've done the majority of the reading, and now I get to put it all together. Usually I like to write the paper first, then make the presentation an abridged and more exciting version of the paper, but I might steer away from that method here. The presentation, which is tentatively scheduled to be Friday, May 13th at the Loft Theater, will be to a cheering crowd of hundreds, so I will try to perfect it as much as I can, and concisely describe my invaluable experiences and what I've learned.

The actual construction of the paper and the presentation has been, as my classmates can hopefully relate to, a bit slower than I had hoped, but it will surely come together in no time at all. I suppose I will keep the blog updated with any new developments on that end.

Lastly, on my penultimate day in Los Angeles, I got to sit down with a frequent collaborator with Muse. Even though he's acted in a handful of Muse films, he's more famous for another line of work (one about which I won't go into detail here). I had lunch with adult film actor Ron Jeremy. I thought he might provide an original point of view to my project's topic. He did have some interesting ideas, and I was fascinated to find that his ideas about art and film generally echoed everyone else that I talked to, even though they had been in the more straightforward film industry.

One thing he said really stuck out, and although it ties in specifically with his industry, pornography, it rings true in general: "What's the difference between erotica and porn? The lighting." Ha... Ha... Ha... This quotation does speak to the potentially varied intentions in producing a film, and how nuanced these interpretations of intent can be. For example, is the producer of multi-million dollar 3D blockbuster x producing for the same reason as the little guy who pours every paycheck into his indie film's budget? (Rhetorical question, but the answer is no.)

Although my final presentation will not address the subject of pornography, Mr. Jeremy's insights were greatly appreciated, and I'll be able to apply his thoughts to the film industry as a whole.

Finally, an image from my lunch with Ron to brighten an otherwise relatively dull blog post. Enjoy!


I miss the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles, but it's great to be home, and I've enjoyed seeing those of you, my classmates and peers, that I've seen. Final draft due in two weeks? No big deal! Let's get workin, class of 2011!