The Eccentricities of this kid from Jer-Z.

I'm a strange person. Yup I am and not afraid to admit to that.

Although I've been told this before just this past Sunday I was told again "your a hard person to read sometimes". I thought to myself, yeah, I am, even I have trouble keeping up with myself. I can't help it though, I'm a mixed bag, I am a difficult person to figure out. My mood can shift from left to right in a moments notice. Ask my closest, dearest friends and they will attest to it. If I'm mad you'll know it and if I'm happy as all hell you will know it even more so. Funny though, I like to believe that's the thing that draws people to me. The oddness, the eccentric quality of my personality. I don't follow the crowd, I do what I feel is right and I can give a fuck what others think of me, meaning I am who I am and if you don't like it so be it. I'm different than most, something people really dig. But I digress.....on to why I even wrote this particular blog.

Sunday fellow artist Brian "Cuojoe" Tolbert and I shot our 1st collaborative effort "D3". It's a comedy, it's vulgar, it's in your face, but most importantly it's funny as f*ck. We had a great cast to work with and once the momentum got going it was lots of fun to shoot. It was very new to me shooting with another director, at moments I felt like he was directing, then I was directing and then finally it sunk in......WE were directing. Once I got that stuck into my big ass head the process was much easier. As always though with any project it's a learning experience, you grow as an artist and each piece you do can only get better. At least that's what I like to think. Before I go on many many many thanks to the cast: Ronnie Alvarez, Gerardo Beltran, Ben Solenberger and the newest addition to the SOCONFILMS and DAGDAFILMS "family" Erin Alexis.

The only pic taken on set. Co-Director Brian in the back. And those "balloons", are exactly what you think they are. LOL

So now onto the editing stage, I should have a rough cut by tonight and then progress from there. Stay tuned for more on this project. I know I haven't said shit really, but it's just the way we are going about this specific short. Once Brian and I feel it's Okay we will reveal the title and synopsis. So be patient!

In other news I chopped my mane off.....yes sir it was time folks. I haven't had my hair that long since high school. Besides  it was just time for the new me soooooo here it is.Pretty damn sexy huh? LOL

I like it, but damn my head is cold as hell!

That's all for now.....stay tuned for a few more things on Ghost Story this week and other stuff in the works. Until then take care. Peace

Chris Jensen-Soto
Writer/Director/Artist
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3786598/

Oh and btw congrats to Alfredo Ramos and to the cast and crew of "Food Stamps" for winning the audience award this weekend at The Reel Rasquache Art & Film Festival.

Updates (sorta) and other random shit.

It's funny how life is, you go through so many transitions, so many emotions and moods. When you think you've learned everything there is to know about a particular subject something new comes into play. A bit naive to think you could learn EVERYTHING about that ONE thing. The information we are feed is ongoing, each day something new is introduced. We are constantly learning, always growing and always discovering something new.

Daydreamer, ah yes, the little project that could, but unfortunately it's been going nowhere. I believe I've pointed this out before, but I'll reiterate. For any artist you have to be in a certain mood, a certain mindset to be able to accomplish your goal. If something is missing, out of whack or just not feeling right on your end you simply can't move on. From the beginning this was a very ambitious project, I had these crazy scenarios that I eventually took out of the script, even some that stayed that really didn't work the way I wanted them to. I've come to a point with Daydreamer that I just can't seem to finish.

I find myself opening up my editing software, waiting for the project to load and then simply staring at my monitor. I fiddle with this and that, make changes here and there, but nothing of significance gets done. It's frustrating as hell too. I want to finish, I want to move on, but at the same time I DO NOT want to half ass it. That is not and will not ever be the way I do things. On top of all the day to day bullshit in my life I just can't seem to find my inspiration, my motivation to actually finish. Who knows, maybe next month, maybe the month after a light bulb will go ding! above my head and I'll be able to finish, but for now it's official. Post-production on Daydreamer has been put on hold. There I said it.   Man I feel so much better now.

Pre-production on Ghost Story is coming along great. Only thing is I don't feel I should be in it anymore. To begin with I never had any thought in playing a part. The only reason I decided to is because the actor (who also happens to be a good friend) that I gave the role to was being increasingly flaky. It took forever to get him to do make up tests and even fitting into wardrobe, but we finally did it. Somewhere along the lines I dropped him (again for being flaky) and said I would do it. I swear I've lost count as to how many times this has happened. Thing is with the limited resources I have I just can't do it. I rather focus on directing and camera work. I have a clear vision with this project and to throw myself into so many positions will not end well. It didn't the last time and it won't now.

Besides this hair I've been growing has got to go. I feel a new me is in order, it's been far too long. Can you believe the last time I cut my hair was last July? It's not that I look awful, on good days I like the way it looks. Most days though it's a bitch and half. How in the f*ck do women do it?! Seriously. Maybe when I'm my own boss and don't have to look all clean cut and what not on a day to day basis I'll grow it out again. For now though I need something simple and easy to work with, not this big ass mane that I got going on.

The obligatory bathroom shot.

Oh and a quick heads up I may be looking for someone to play the role I was to play. I'm still seeing what I can do, if all else fails I'm just going to have to play the part. Here's hoping that I don't.

Besides everything else, it's difficult to say how I'm feeling. I'm going through a transition of sorts at the moment. ALOT has been going on these past few months in my life and I've been dealing with them the best way I know how. But I keep moving forward, always approaching my problems with the utmost care, an open mind and never forgetting that sometimes life isn't fair, that's a given. What is though? Life should be an adventure, lived to it's fullest each day. Yes it's very difficult, I can't say that enough, but if there is nothing you can do about it so be it. You can't control other people's actions, only yours. You start to consume yourself in one particular thing and that's all you know. Sometimes talking a step back and taking the time to survey the situation is mandatory. Just take it one day at a time.    

So here's to living each day like it's your last. God bless and have a great day.

Chris Jensen-Soto
Writer/Director/Artist
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3786598/

MAY (Hmmm, 5 is my lucky numero)

Vincent Price, a major influence growing up.

Good afternoon folks.

I'll just get straight to the point. This weekend I had time to do some pre-production on "Ghost Story". I know exactly how I want to shoot it, the mood and tone I will set and finally that I will present it in black and white. It's a thought I had from the start, even before I began writing. My goal was always to create a throwback horror flick, my inspirations being such films as Psycho, Poltergeist, Halloween (1978), and House on Haunted Hill (1959). Those films created fear simply with the music and lighting used.  They didn't rely on gore and blood to scare the audience. They created real fear with scenarios that could happen to any of us. We related to the characters, we felt for them. It wasn't just some big breasted bimbo or pretty face running for their life only to be met by a horrific, bloody demise.

Oh look perti people who are about to die.

I'm glad I decided to shoot in the summer, that choice has given me plenty of time to mold my story exactly the way I want it to be. The end product is going to be that much more satisfying. I still have lots of stuff to do, such as lighting tests, storyboards and the most important aspect, a complete walk through of my set. I've yet to even see the location, something I've been putting off far to long. 

Oh and did I mention I play a major part in this flick? Yup. I've been growing my hair out because of it. Mind you one thing that crossed my mind this weekend was if the long hair was even relevant to the character. I never saw him with long hair, besides the character wears a hat so does the hair even matter? Does it? I shall post photos tonight and you be the judge, plus that Cali sunshine is kicking in and I don't know how long I can last. Anyways ---  It's funny though and I always say this, I'm not an actor, never ever considered myself one, but so many people have told me I'm a natural. I can see it yes, as a kid I always reenacted my favorite flicks, my imagination was all over the place. I always created different scenarios in my head and played them out. So yeah I see why it's so easy for me, I'm an artist, but still I'm not an actor. I could never see myself doing it for a living, more power to the folks who do and many many props to you, it's a tough gig for sure. If anything I'm an actor's director, yup that's what I am.

I'm also going to attempt to raise some funds for this project. I was able to do it with Eventuality so I'm sure I can with this. Sometime this week I will be setting up a fundraiser over at kapipal with a video entry. Look out for that soon.

In between that I will be filming my first collaborative effort with fellow artist Brian "Cuojoe" Tolbert of DAGDAFILM. We have our cast set, now all we need is to set the date. More info to come.

This weekend I also had time to sort of figure out my plan for the rest of the year. I'll be busy up until mid July or so. After that I actually want to begin production on one other short project. I'm hoping to actually shoot it before the end of the summer. It's already written, it's a great story, great characters and very simple to shoot. I have plenty of other scripts written out, but like Ghost Story they will take some planning. Who knows though, maybe by some freak occurrence I will be able to leave my job and do this full time. Maybe some generous millionaire out there will fund my projects or maybe a great aunt I don't know about will pass and I'll inherit her loads of cash. A guy can dream right?

Lastly while I plan out my website I figure I'll use this as my unofficial site. I'm going to start posting some of my work on here and other cool stuff. Stay tuned for that. Until next time, Peace.

Chris Jensen-Soto

Writer/Director/Artist

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3786598/