David S. Dawson

A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.

A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.

Roald Dahl (1916 – 1990) (Willy Wonka) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

My day started out kind of bland. The usual humdrums of existence weighing down upon me. I made my way out into the world before noon. I was hoping to get out sooner than that, but hey, I just couldn’t get going, you know?

I went to AAA and finally got my truck insured and registered. It’s nice to be able to drive the thing around and not worry about whether or not a cop is tailing me.

I came home and grabbed Donald, we drove to Solana Beach and loaded up a weight machine into my truck that was donated to the Surf Soccer Club. We then went over to the Soares’ house and took some photos of a sweet 1930 Ford Model A that we are going to auction on eBay. (The weight set will be auctioned there too. Actually we are going to auction lots of stuff there in the future for the club.) The car was cool, and it was neat to see Donald enjoying that particular piece of history.

Actually, it’s always nice to see someone looking upon something they really love. And Donald loves old cars. No doubt about that.

After doing the car thing I headed over to Alissa’s. I wasn’t sure about stopping by since she sent me a text message that said she was feeling “anti-social to most of the world” or something like that. But I took a gamble and stopped by anyway.

I’m glad I did. I was finally able to deliver the 5X7 of her I printed from our Vegas trip. It’s a beautiful photo of a beautiful woman (it’s of Alissa). Anyway I had it in a frame and all. She seemed to really like it. I think it may have brightened up her day a bit. We sat around and talked. It was nice. We haven’t seen each other in a month since Vegas. But we seemed to just pick up right where we left off. I really enjoy that. I like having a friend that I can just sit with and connect to.

And speaking of connecting. It seems Bryan (with a Y) and I were on the same wavelength today and both had decided today was a good day to talk to one another. We talked for about an hour on the phone late tonight. He’s doing really well. He’s hit the 200 days sober mark and I am so VERY VERY PROUD of him. He’s come a long way since he left San Diego. He even told me that he’s agreed to start training for a manager’s position at Humperdink’s there in Arlington. That’s a pretty big step for him. He’s actually reached a point in his life where he feels ready to accept some responsibility. That’s courageous and a great move forward in his attitude toward life. Way to go Bryan!

That’s all for now I think. It’s like 3:30am and I should really get to bed. I am going to see Spider Man at midnight tomorrow, er, tonight. And I should really get my beauty rest. I hope Spidey 2 is as good as the hype is making it out to be. I really like Sam Raimi, so it’s definitely a hope I have for him to knock this one out of the park. He came damn close with the first one.

Until next time… be good! And if you can’t be good, then be good at being bad!

-Dave

John Evelyn – “Friendship is the golden thread that ties the heart of all the world.”

Had dinner tonight with some old friends. Terry Park and Linda Sabo. Two of the coolest women you’re ever likely to meet. We don’t get together often enough, but when we do it is always a time filled with laughter and happiness.

I don’t have lots of friends, and indeed I don’t spend enough time with the ones I do have. But the quality of the time I spend with them is very high, and always worth my time spent.

-Dave

Say Anything…

So I’m sitting here, trying to get to sleep. Failing miserably at it, as usual.

So I turn on my T.V. to find that “Say Anything” is playing on FX. I’ve not seen this movie in quite some time. But I must admit to it being one of “those” films for me.

What do I mean by one of “those” films? It’s inspiring. It’s simple, eloquent and beautiful. The movie is about the characters, and is a wonderful testament to the ability of film to tell a story. A story that we can immediately recognize as a story about us. It’s not about us, of course. But it’s amazing how some stories can grab us in such a strong way, the characters can be so easily recognizable to us that we feel like it’s our story, our friends that we are experiencing the events with.

I wonder if I’ll be able to make a film like that someday.

-Dave

“A film is – or should be – more like music than like fiction.”

“A film is – or should be – more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what’s behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.”

–Stanley Kubrick

That quote was uttered by one of my favorite directors. And in it, you can hear and personally begin to visualize every film he ever made. It’s amazing how gifted a director he was, and it’s amazing to see him sum up his own directing style in so tiny a description. He was often criticized for becoming too technical in his work, that his later films lacked a soul. I disagree. His latter films didn’t lack soul, it was there in every frame of the films. The soul of a Kubrick film wasn’t in the characters or events of the piece, but it was rather the piece itself.

It was there in every minute detail he spent hours getting perfect. It was there in the radical attention devoted to color and depth in every single image in the scenes. Kubrick’s latter films didn’t lack soul, if anything they screamed of it. His very essence was imprinted into everything he did in “Eyes Wide Shut“.

That movie, is more like a concert piece, conducted by the composer himself. If you watch the movie and pay attention to the rythm of it, the poetic fluidity of it, you will find Stanley Kubrick.

No one in recent history has managed to so thoroughly imprint themselves into their films the way he did. And whether you like the films or not, you can’t deny the power of an artist to express himself through his art. Which is what Stanley Kubrick ultimately did. He expressed himself, in his art.

-Dave

I Love It When We’re Cruising Together…

The sun is shining. The birds outside my patio are chirping. There are beautiful girls laying out by the pool.

I think I’ll go see a movie today.

-Dave

Songs from the road…

Well, let’s see… two weeks ago I was in Vegas. Last weekend I was in Indianapolis.

Know what all this traveling has made me realize? I need to get back into traveling frequently. I’m far happier when I am traveling than I am when I am cooped up at home.

-Dave

It was the best of times… It was the worst of times…

How does one write about a weekend that was filled with both the extremeties of joy and sorrow as this one has been?

We buried my Uncle Bob on Saturday. It was without a doubt, “the worst of times.” However, because of his death I was able, along with my sisters, to reconnect and enjoy the love we share with cousins we haven’t seen in nearly 20 years. The simple act of reconnecting with them being amongst the “best of times.”

And while we mourn the passing of my Uncle, a man who was devoted to his children and who was known by all who knew him as a good man with a big heart and a great sense of humor, he has done what he seemed to never be able to do in his life… he has brought this family closer together than it has been in over 20 years. I for one intend to work very hard to keep in touch with Eric, Jennifer, Brian and Jessica in the years to come.

I hate that through the years they have become like strangers to me. People I’ve heard of but never talked to. Family that I know of and yet know not. This to me is unacceptable. This will not go on. It can’t.

And I’m sure Bob would want us to stop wasting anymore time and start getting to know one another better. There’s a lot of love in this family, it’s time we start sharing it with one another.

Oh… and tomorrow, on the way home we have a 2 hour layover in Dallas. Bryan (With a “Y” for those in the know) is going to meet us there and my family and I will get our first glimpse of him as a sober person. He’s approaching 6 months sober now and seems to be doing fairly well based on the phone conversations I have had with him over the past week. It’ll be nice, and weird seeing him again. I’ll be sure to let you, dear reader, know more after tomorrow.

Until next time! Go with love in your hearts and joy in your spirit for somewhere in this Universe there is LOVE for everyone.

-Dave

Momma said there’d be days like this…

So, I had a brilliant time in Vegas this weekend. I especially enjoyed the time I got to spend with Alissa. She’s just about the coolest woman I’ve met in a very, very long time. I’m really looking forward to our new friendship as it blossoms over the foreseeable future.

Maybe I’ll write more on Vegas later… but then again… It’s Vegas baby! What’s happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas! Ya dig?

So Memorial Day. I had all these great plans for finishing a bunch of work I had on the table. And finally getting caught up. But as is usual, the likelihood of one of my well planned days actually going to plan was nil.

I woke up in the midday to Mom moaning and crying. She was in the throes of a very large panic attack. You see, Mom began seeing a psychiatrist last week and this psychiatrist made her talk about her childhood. This is the vast expanse of pain and suffering that has haunted Mom her whole adult life. She needs to confront it, but it’s going to be a long and arduous journey.

So with Mom in a state, there was nothing I could do but focus my attentions on her and try to help her out of it. As such we spent the whole day out of the house in an effort to get her out of the darkness and into the light. So we (Donald and I) took her to lunch, and then we took her to see a movie she’d been wanting to see (Day after Tomorrow, -eh, whatever! Underwhelmed), and then we took her to the Oceanside Pier. It was while at the pier that she really seemed to find her calm.

As Alissa said to me this morning… There’s something about the Ocean that is just soothing. She’s right. The Ocean has an ability to calm the senses that is so incredibly powerful, it’s amazing to witness. I’m going to have to remember to take Mom there more frequently.

So anyway, that was yesterday… Now I wonder what’s in store for today?

-Dave

MacMovieMaker.com

I have now become a contributor and moderator at the website MacMovieMaker.com. I’ve written a nice description of who I am there. The text of that intro follows:

_______________________________

Ok, I’ve already posted two items to the boards for review and forced my opinions onto a few other posts. So how about letting you know just who I am?

My name is David Sean Dawson (remember it… you’ll see it on a marquee near you someday!) I am 29 and I currently reside in the North County region of San Diego.

When I first left high school I went to Baylor University as a Technical Theatre Major with an Acting Minor. I spent two years studying at Baylor before leaving for Dallas where I’d landed a job at Vari*Lite. Vari*Lite is one of the leading companies in automated lighting systems for concerts, theatre and film production in the world. Dallas is their worldwide headquarters.

After a year in Dallas I decided it was time to return to the Sunny Shores™ of Southern California. So I packed my bags and returned home. I spent the next seven years working as a freelance lighting/sound/sets technician in the theatrical and corporate events markets.

About five years ago my father had open heart surgery and required me to return to the “full-time” grind to help him cover his life expenses while he recovered. So I took up a full-time position as a road-technician for an Audio Visual Production company and I spent a year to a year and a half working on the road as a tech. This job was great since it covered so many aspects of production from sound to video to graphics to project managing.

While on the road I bought a Sony Digital-8 Camcorder and an iMac (I’d been using Macs since Baylor). I chronicled everything we did on the road and started editing neat “vacation” videos with iMovie. I loved how simple video editing had now become and I learned through the biz that Hi-Def was on it’s way and that motion pictures were soon going to open up as a possibility for the low budget filmmaker who doesn’t want to shoot film! So once Dad no longer needed me to work I went back to school!

I attended the local community college Palomar College where they have a well respected Radio and Television certification program. I began making movies my first year there. Shortly before attending classes I landed my first contract as a video producer with the Surf Cup Soccer Tournaments. They hired me to shoot and edit together a 7 minute promotional video for them. I used the money made (most paid in advance) to purchase a Canon XL-1 and some support equipment and Final Cut Pro 1.0. Yeah, I’ve been an FCP user since six months after it’s release!

So with XL-1 in hand and a wealth of production knowledge already gained through my years in production environments I set out to get straight A’s at school. And I did. The greatest achievement I have there, however, was that my goal was to get nominated for a student EMMY prior to leaving the program there and I achieved that goal with my very first short film.

One project, one year, one regional EMMY nomination! I was stoked. I followed that nomination the second year there with another nomination for a 1-hour live-to-tape in-studio talk show I produced about Terrorism. (This was the semester of 9-11). And again, in my third year I was nominated again for a short film I produced/wrote/directed/edited called “Spoof Wars: Episode MICK: Generation Jedi”. A fan film that was created for the first Atom Films Star Wars Fan Film Contest. Atom Films didn’t pick it up, but to the best of my knowledge, it’s the only Fan Film to earn a nomination in the EMMY’s.

So that was three years in a row that I was awarded nominations from the Pacific Southwest Regional Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Not bad for a beginner!

I’ve since created a production company with my family (Everyone is into production now!) and we have been hard at work on short films and paid corporate gigs.

We are currently seeking financing for our first feature-film, a movie written by my Father. Currently the script is in the hands of Ivan Schwarz, one of the co-producers of the wildly successful and brilliant “Band of Brothers” from HBO. He has read the script and thinks it’s a good project, he’s currently showing it to some of his friends. So keep those fingers crossed for us!

We are also in pre-planning stages with two other companies regarding “reality-TV” based programming documenting youth players in International Soccer Tournaments. With any luck these two documentary projects will be getting off the ground next year with possible broadcast on Fox Sports or FOX in late 2005 early 2006.

So anyway, lots going on. I hope to contribute more to this forum in the months ahead. I enjoy helping people learn when I can.

Our company website can be visited by clicking here www.d2pinc.com. And don’t forget to view and review my latest short film by clicking here!

Until next time!

David