One step at a time, piece by piece, effort, learning from each success and failure, persistence along the way, trial and error, course corrections, expanding skills, acquiring insight, making steady progress - it all leads to building dreams into reality.

Your life is a cinematic camera. Point it at your goals and dreams. Keep it focused.

A great thing about the internet is being able to watch helpful videos of insights and instructions on how to get around different places before you travel there to save time, money, and frustration.

Nice that power packs are available to extend the runtime of gear without having to frequently swap out batteries. #filmmaking

My ink illustration of a strong, honorable warlock readying for battle to keep a promise. #wizardwednesday #drawing #art

So much of life gets easier if during endeavors you consider the challenge to be part of the fun and not part of the grind.

I see why the saying goes you date your camera but marry your lenses. While camera bodies may evolve, quality lenses endure. #filmmaking

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank

As far as human interactions go in films as an inspirational medium, there should be more public handholding or walking arm-in-arm in films in general if only to counterbalance all the shooting, punching, and stabbing. #scriptsky #filmmaking

If you're going from a smooth VFX shot to a non-steadied handheld shot of action, add a bit of shake/unsteadiness to the VFX shot just before cutting to the handheld to blend the edit better. Such a jarring cut that lingers otherwise. #filmmaking

Good to have a music supervisor in pre-production rather than wait till post, since it can impact the literal pacing of camera and subject movement in shots and scenes during production to capture a particular emotional combo of visuals with the score unavailable in post. #scriptsky #filmmaking

Your friends usually won't tell you because they don't want to harsh your cloud-nine bliss, but I know you should hear it said before you get hitched since it can profoundly reveal whether you're both in it for the right reasons and not left feeling icky or trapped later - and that is: get a prenup.

Self-confidence. Self-efficacy. Self-esteem. Self-actualization.

Seek out what challenges your spirit, what makes you come alive. Many people in a rut can't see getting beyond it. Don't fall into the trap of thinking being coddled builds character or the personal skills to help achieve serenity or whatever else makes a person feel fundamentally better.

I would cringe to wish to be normal because on this planet it's normal, typical, for people to give up on their dreams, to not follow their heart, and to abandon their sense of adventure and wonder about the universe. I'd much rather remain in the circle of those who are abnormal, those who strive.

Stay focused. Distractions destroy progress. Be weird, be strange, be effective. Master your comfort zone so you determine how much it is or isn't your shackle keeping you from your goals. Decide whether it is better to try or to know that you didn't. Is life your awaiting canoe or already a coffin?

Tip: Some require pre-planned setup, so for storyboards, go beyond shot types to also consider shot transitions during and between scenes, like Cut, Dissolve, Match Cut, Fade to Black, Fade to White, Wipe, Passing, J-Cut, L-Cut, Iris In, Iris Out, Smash Cut, Whip Pan, etc. #scriptsky #filmmaking

Goof around a few minutes each day to avoid dying inside from a stick-in-the-mud existence.

Tip: Placing camera at eye level means treat it as eyes of the audience or (in a POV shot) eyes of a character. Audience eye level is god-like, gazing from above, up from floor, drifting down from rafters, etc. As a default, put camera at eye level of a character to be empathized with. #filmmaking

Tip for easier composition: In moving-image composition, address it as two parts: 1) object & camera initial placement, and 2) any object & camera movement which alters the framing. Consider X & Y for object & camera for both parts, then consider Z for both parts to add cinematic depth. #filmmaking

Solid reasoning for ND filter usage is to not only stop highlights from blowing out to pure white but also to ensure shutter speed can be kept equal to twice the frame rate which makes the expected motion blur captured in each frame consistent with footage that didn't need ND filtering. #filmmaking

2026 seems like it'll be a very pontoon boat or catamaran kind of year rather than the river barge kind of year that just passed.

When in doubt about what to focus time and resources upon, lighting and location are the core duo that do the heavy lifting for achieving a "cinematic" appearance. Then address the composition, followed by color grading. #scriptsky #filmmaking

Instead of thinking resolutions, try writing out your top five priorities. Post them on a wall to readily see them. Routinely check in with yourself to assess what sustainable adjustments, however small, to your present actions move you closer toward attaining those top priorities. #newyear

As the year comes to a close, remember to look after yourself. Be a bit more forgiving and kind to yourself. Life can hurl the unexpected at any moment so no reason to pile on any extra burden. Build up your fortitude by focusing on giving yourself latitude and always time to recharge and try again.

People who are skilled at creative expression through gardening are impressive. Hats off to you.

While searching around the world for what's available for houses, there is a strange inconsistency on pricing even within the same state or province. Also many architects should be jailed for crimes against good taste regardless of the decade the home was built or materials incorporated.

A mage preparing to defend against an onslaught. #wizardwednesday #drawing #art

I strive to be the 22,385,547th most successful person because aiming any closer to #1 is too much pressure and not as readily attainable. Lower, yet not too low, expectations are more inspiring and motivating.

Avoid frustration. Read specs. Example: a monitor-recorder can capture a RAW format from a camera that can't record it internally. The monitor-recorder may be fine, but the camera may not send all required metadata (e.g. exposure, iso) to make full use of the RAW footage in your editor. #filmmaking

Interesting the quality and immersion difference in movies where characters just machine-gun out dialogue vs. where characters are given a moment or two to contemplate what's occurring to them and others as well as what they hear before they say something or react. #scriptsky #filmmaking

Important to scrutinize specs because expensive doesn't equal effective depending on what you're after. For instance, some pricey cinema cameras lack a fast-enough readout of the sensor to avoid awful image jello-wobble during fast pans, while more affordable ones are speedy enough. #filmmaking

Feeding my inner nerd reading thru lots of tech specs for cinema gear to figure out what to acquire to aim for best results - for example, minimizing rolling shutter artifacts during quick pans - and to ease going from production to post-production. Small things can make a difference. #filmmaking

It's a very, very, very foggy Christmas.

Tip: For titles and credits, including subtitles, always turn them into a text file and run them through a spellchecker as part of your production process to ensure your hard work isn't undermined by easily corrected errors. Also, have fresh pairs of eyes review them. #filmmaking #gamedev #indiedev

Reminder: Friends don't let friends misuse apostrophes. "its" and "it's" mean different things. "its" without an apostrophe shows ownership (e.g. its last stand), while "it's" with an apostrophe shows the contraction of the pronoun "it" with the verb "is" (e.g. it's heading toward its last stand).

A ravenous and formidable wyrm that slithers through cracks and crevices to hunt whatever intrudes into its subterranean lair. #DragonTuesday #drawing #art

Spent a wonderful evening with family visiting from out-of-town. Always great to see them.

Crafting the sound is 50%+ of what makes a great movie. Music supervision and composition that begin as part of pre-production considerations, instead of only impacting during post, can more effectively reach their maximum potential entwining with visual storytelling elements to enhance each other.

You position the camera on the shadow side of the subject to avoid the shadows from the gear and operator falling into frame. So, placement is both practical and cinematic (i.e. due to its frequency of use, audiences associate such an image capture approach with being more cinematic).

I'm sensing a lot of people are forgetting to schedule in time for having fun, which is one of the fundamental building blocks of having an enjoyable existence for the long haul.

Fascinating to remember when you go out on a starry night and scan the sky, the act of looking at the stars requires that the light of those stars physically touches the inside of your eyes after traveling so far across the universe. You're touching rays from each star to be able to gaze upon them.

Sarcasm is humankind's greatest achievement. That pinnacle needs to be etched on a gold record and sent off to deep space just so it exists somewhere out in the Great Yonder when this planet and solar system ceases to exist.

A summoner senses danger approaching and begins casting a spell to defend herself. #wizardwednesday #drawing #art

Tip: For Windows in File Explorer under View, checkmark Hidden Items, go to Users folder, select your User name folder, visit now-visible AppData folder and review what it contains. Long-since uninstalled programs may leave now-obsolete files taking up valuable storage space. #gamedev #indiegamedev

I want to plan a trip to multiple countries to circumnavigate the world. I remember first reading about explorers heading off to circle the globe and how adventurous it always sounded. And not having to worry about getting scurvy these days is a plus. I need more things to replenish my bucket list.

The internet is a great resource for inspiration on organizing spaces for different purposes. Fun to see what others decided to do for creative spaces.

Already organized my creative space into an art studio area (drawing monitor, light box, drafting table, supplies like markers, paint, brushes, etc) and an audio/composition area (instruments, synthesizers, mics, DAW, etc). Now splitting it again to add a film production area (edit bay, etc).

I've learned it's very important to prioritize some positive things you love to do and focus on them whenever you need a boost to revitalize. And it definitely helps maintain a healthy perspective on many situations to properly see all the constructive possibilities available.

Fascinating to consider that the Southern hemisphere has one-third of the planet's land and contains only 12% of humans.