 Film Title: Making Waves Researched, Produced, & Directed By Christopher M. Spence Regardless of your surroundings, knowing how to swim is an imperative skill to have. In this documentary, Making Waves, Christopher Spence takes the viewers on a brief 15-minute journey around Howard Beach Park and the importance of knowing how to swim. The documentary creates the awareness of how valuable knowing how to swim is in today's society regardless of your environment. The first minute of the documentary sets the tone of a tragedy as well as a significant point to be noted during the film. The documentary opens up with a brief setting of the park and interviewees stating, basically, the main message of the documentary. At this point, I was captured into the documentary as I fall under the guilty section of those who are unable to swim. Although I am learning how to swim, I had no knowledge of how important the skills will be for me until I finished watching the documentary. Drowning is something that can be prevented; however, it is the 3rd leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide as mentioned in the documentary. I have faced the helpless feeling when drowning before and thankfully, I somehow escaped. After the experience, all I could think of was my options of never going near deep waters or simply facing the fear and learning how to overcome it. The documentary covered numerous points to be noted and also briefly included an unfortunate event that happened in the Howard Beach Park; which could have also been prevented. It also touched on the stereotypical topic of how many African-Americans are unable to swim. The documentary shows us WHAT the problem is, WHO it happened to, WHY this is a huge problem, WHEN & WHERE it started, and HOW the problem can be prevented. Not sure what I'm talking about, watch the documentary. The next segment of the documentary exposes us to the aid that is available for those who are unable to swim and/or unknowing of emergency procedure around the waters. We get to hear the testimonials of the students who have learned how to swim and perform the emergency procedures in order to teach the inexperienced, save a life, and/or have fun. On the other hand, I really loved how the technical aspects of the documentary came together both visually and auditory. Nothing threw me off when I was watching the documentary. The images were pleasant and the audio was great; which demonstrates the work of professionals. There were no special effects added which worked very well as the viewers can experience the natural environment of the documentary. The interviewees were also great and knew what they were talking about. Overall, I enjoyed watching the documentary and would definitely recommend it; even for those who can already swim. My favorite part of the documentary was the accuracy of the segment about the racial inequity. It felt like a mini story with a significant problem which has a solution. I have learned a great deal of critical information and would spread the word; I will also try harder in my process of gaining the skill of swimming. In God's care: Tianna Hollinside  Film Title: We Have Your Wife Written By: Jim Ford We Have Your Wife, a short comedy film directed by Jim Ford and produced by Fat Foot Films is about a man who gets a phone call from two criminals, claiming they kidnapped his wife and demanding a ransom. The film relates to the frustrating side of a man's married life while invoking your amusement with hilarious dialogue. The first 30 seconds of the film sets you up for a horror/thriller-type of mood as a result of the night and darkness in the room, alongside the eerie ambient music. We are then introduced to our main character, Mr. Smith, who receives a phone call in the middle of the night from two criminals claiming they kidnapped his wife and demanding a ransom. After some thinking, Mr. Smith's reply shocks not only the criminals but the audience as well. His reaction and response to the situation are what changes this film from a horror/thriller-type of mood to a comedic film. I will advise you to grab some popcorn and a drink at this point because you are about to laugh till your stomach hurts. The conversation between Mr. Smith and the criminals continues as the criminals try to add more pressure to the situation by threatening and giving Mr. Smith a time limit to meet their demands. However, he does not seem to waver from his decision regardless of the situation and is even more firm after hearing her nagging at him through the criminal's phone. What a great point of no return. In the last segment of the film, we reach the climax as Mr. Smith discharges his volcano of frustration about his wife to the criminals. The two criminals start empathizing with him and they lose all crumbs of hopes in getting their early demands met by the guy. Apparently, this situation has happened before to the criminals and they are becoming impatient and hopeless from kidnapping wives. SPOILER ALERT BELOW!!! This film is definitely one of my favorite comedy shorts hands down, considering a couple of factors. First of all, I love films that you can tell the story from both the antagonist and protagonist perspective. This short film does a great job with that. Seeing the film from the two criminals perspective makes you feel bad for them (A little bit). After all their efforts of kidnapping a man's wife, they end up with nothing, TWICE in the month already! At least they received a thoughtful thank-you-note. Next, the main character of the film goes out the expected response and reaction to a situation like that which makes the film more appealing as the dialogue piggy-backs to make it more entertaining. The editing of the film definitely is an aspect to clap for Ryan Convery. It was well done both visually and audio-wise and does not take you away from the situation or film even the slightest. Overall, I definitely would bookmark this film and recommend people to watch the full 6 minute of the film. I would also recommend you to keep your eyes on your pets if you love them (pun intended). Not available for viewing at the moment, check back soon or subscribe to receive a notification as soon as it is available  Film title: Scratched Cast & Crew: Ash - Skylar Okie Carrie - Chaiah Durst Written, Directed, Shot & Edited - Kai Lucchini Scratched, a short horror film directed by Kai Lucchini is about a young man trying to contact his girlfriend while a strange presence subtly roams the place. The film adjures the feelings of creepiness by exhibiting rough scratches on the faces of pictures. During the first segment of the film, we are introduced to our two characters, Ash and Carrie. They are engaged in a normal conversation over their cell phones and appear to be in a relationship. I got the feeling of dishonesty coming from Carrie between their convo for the reason that she appears to be in a bedroom but says "They are keeping me late." Sounds fishy to me, unless she's babysitting. After their convo, we are taken to the kitchen by Ash where we see a picture of a small girl on the fridge with a pizza restaurant name printed on the bottom of the picture. This is where the creepiness starts to kick in when Ash starts to hum the tune of the restaurant and the TV coincidentally plays the advertisement of the tune. Then we see the slogan of the restaurant on the advertisement saying "Don't Think Twice, Just Have Another Slice," which I feel was a great foreshadowing in the film. After this little coincidence, Ash disregards it but after closing the fridge, he notices extreme scratches on the face of the little girl's picture. However, he does not think much of it and continues with his business but is stopped after noticing another picture of him and Carrie on the table with the same intense scratches on Carrie's face. Now if I was Ash, this is usually the part I would become skeptical about the coincidences and signs happening. Aside from that, Ash did the complete opposite and just stayed calm; disregarding what just happened again. We are then taken to the next segment of the film when Ash goes to his bedroom and tries calling Carrie's cell phone. During this attempt, we are shown a point of view from the entity or being slowly approaching the bedroom from the kitchen. As it approaches, the pictures hung on the wall including the one on the table start to fall down without contact. The last picture that falls down in the hallway has the intense scratches on the faces of Ash and Carrie this time; and at that moment, Ash's call goes to her voicemail. This typically is a sign of a bad omen but our care-free main character wouldn't know, so he leaves a message, puts on his earpiece and listens to a song. In the last couple of seconds of the film, we are shown a very bizarre and creepy picture hanging on the wall just behind Ash on his bed. I cannot really explain this picture, but I can tell you there is blood and the same scratches; just even bigger and with color. Overall, I enjoyed the 3-minute film and I look forward to more from Kai Lucchini. He mentioned it was the first short film he has made and I am very impressed by the amount of time and thought put in for the film. If you would like to see the behind the scenes of the film, click here; Kai talks briefly about his inspirations for the film, the budget, the gear, the music & SFX, and the visual effects. My only concern about the film was the aspect ratio because that particular aspect ratio makes our main characters feel claustrophobic and depicts a period piece when combined with the black and white grade. Nonetheless, I would recommend watching this 3-minute short film and looking forward to the next one as I feel it would just get better. If it's too good to be true, then it REALLY IS not true!| The BIG SPEAKER scam | Comedy Short Film3/4/2018  The BIG SPEAKER scam comedy short film directed by Evan Giovanni, is about an unemployed scam artist and his best friend who tries to rip off a wealthy man on the road-side. The film invoked laughs with the idea of how scam artists deceive people shamelessly for their own benefit.  When people hear someone say “I’m a professional video gamer” or “I play video games for a living,” they either find it comical or they find the idea preposterous. Believe it or not, people have quit their regular day jobs because they wish to start and build their gaming career or they already have sustainable income from it. With the introduction of live streaming, the gaming industry has changed drastically. The streaming platform that brought about most of this industry's success is Twitch.tv. Few years later, YouTube began their own live streaming services called YouTube Gaming, which altogether generated more audiences than HBO's streaming services. Utilizing these live streaming services, video game companies has grown and created their own game communities for competitive gameplay levels versus casual gameplays. Games are now able to introduce their content in electronic sports (eSports) for the competition of a prize money to the competitors. Professional gamers usually create their own live stream profiles to begin their income generation from advertisements, subscriptions, and donations by providing high level gameplays and entertaining commentaries. Some streamers partner with brands and companies to promote their content and/or products in exchange for revenue. The only essential expenditure for a solid growth on a live streaming platform is a webcam and a microphone. Even so, because the industry is very ambitious, only a few individuals with outstanding personalities and/or gameplays can be successful (sometimes, even that is not enough). On the other hand, eSport competitors have the potential of winning competition prizes and funds which are not usually on a small-scale. Most eSport teams get sponsored by a company and they receive a steady salary from the sponsorships. However, some eSport competitors are even stepping down from eSport competitions to pursue live streaming full time. Ultimately, it IS possible to make a living from playing video games at the cost of dedication, networking, and smart working. So if this is something you wish to pursue, make sure to brand yourself properly and do not take what internet may say to you seriously. Grab your streaming equipment and get started! When You Drop Off Your Date That Secretly Wants To Kill You - Pyscho Date Thriller Short Film1/6/2018  The recent thriller short film I uploaded on YouTube called "Pyscho Date," is basically a 3 minute short film about a guy dropping of his date not knowing his date already planned to murder him. This thriller short film is actually my first short film I have directed, acted, shot, and edited. The idea and concept was spontaneous and was actually supposed to be a quick scene experimenting on how I could shoot inside a car and car camera angles. This experiment and idea expanded after Drishti and I started setting up for the shoot. We faced some challenges while shooting such as lighting and editing as I was new to Adobe Premiere. We also made some mistakes like the obvious misspelled word of "Psycho" and the ticking sound of the hazard lights during the ending segments. Overall, I enjoyed working on this project with Drishti and this would not be our last short film. It will only get better from here as we keep experimenting and experiencing more. WATCH THE SHORT FILM HERE!! The equipment we used:  Comic Title: Toxic Romance Creator Credits: Writer/Creator: Benjamin Parkour Inker: War Letterer: Jazz Published by: www.toxicscreenplays.com The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic Manhattan. Our main characters, Marcus and Faith, fight to keep their love alive amidst drug addiction, psychotic gangs and horrific mutations that lurk from Hitler’s secret last book. The main characters of this comic possess internal and external conflicts which drive the story admirably. The plot has a fast pace but it is well structured and understandable. The elements of art exercised in the comic book reveal the creativity and time devoted creating this piece of art. Although the ink intensity on some parts hindered with the dialogue boxes, it did not take you away from the scene. I admired the colors and graphic representation of the comic. It felt realistic and elicited feelings of sadness/depression from Marcus in his situation. This piece of art is packed with action, suspense and drama to keep you expecting what is to come in the future for Marcus and Faith. While reading the first book, Marcus comes off as a character that people can resonate with regarding his personality, goals and his love for his high school friend, Faith. He may not be the perfect knight in shining armor; however, he sure knows how to throw a punch. The fact that the antagonists in the story are not only powerful but resourceful keeps you wondering how our protagonists are going to overcome the upcoming obstacles, especially the main antagonist who appears to be a strict badass. My favorite part of this comic is the encounter between Marcus and the main antagonist. This part showed the bravery of Marcus and dominance of the antagonist. I simply cannot wait for the upcoming battles and action this comic would provide. I wonder if Marcus will be the true urban messiah to this city and win the love of Faith or if he will be consumed in his naive dream and fall victim of this apocalyptic world. The animation of the comic is in production so sit back, relax and enjoy this piece of art in action visually with audio.
 When you want to know where the next big thing in hip hop is, head to Richmond, Texas and ask for Prince Canon. We kick off our trip with Canon’s music with “Inception.” Read the full review here |
