A streak of terror overtook him. Why was this happening to him. All he needed to do was wake up and all that weighed him down would be lifted. His wife would be quietly asleep at his side, the morning traffic would hum just outside his window. It was all just a sick joke and he could leave it all if he could just wake up - the memory of his dream dissolving with every waking moment, crumble with every physical task that would replace the volatile memory cells of his mind. Or was it his waking life that he despised even more? Was it all the unpaid debts, the unscrupulous people, the unpleasantness of not being able to do what he wanted? Was it the disparity of living as a cog in the cold machinery of society that made slumber an attractive escape? But what was once nights of creaking on an old fishing boat on a warm summer night, was now became jaw-locking screeches of deep dark guilt, regret, and at times malice.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Monday, November 27, 2006
Writing Exorcise pt2
The echo of car doors slamming and engines starting reassured the man that life in this mall parking structure continued even when no being was in sight. A slight flicker glossed over the rows of cars as he looked over and to the side of the autos to catch a glimpse of his own. He pressed the button on his car alarm fob to echo-locate the elusive vehicle and after the third try a chirp sounded down an unfamiliar end of the structure. With trepidation he turned and shuffled towards the direction of the sound that answered his every button press. He caught an orange flash in a corner that was seemingly shadowed in black grease masking any recognizable forms. Within a stones through of the the lights the man knew something was wrong - he knew that his car was not as it was when he left it. The car had been relocated and, even more perplexing, the car did not resemble the size and shape that distinguished it as an automobile. He looked around for someone to validate what he was witnessing or perhaps he scanned the area to see if someone was laughing at him. This was some kind of sick joke - it was the only thing it could be. At arms length and in the light of the flashing brake lights, the man could see that his car had been reduced down to parts that filled a box of some kind - perhaps it was a plastic container. The bok was no bigger than a filing cabinet or a crate, depending on one's occupational familiarity. But the real mystery weighed heavier with every press of the alarm fob - why and how was it that the lights still worked? Was this some kind of trap? No, this could only be some kind of sick joke.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Writing Exorcize
As he stepped out of the shower the towel wrapped man felt refreshed and invigorated by luxuries his downtown condo failed to deliver despite it's high cost. Here in the suburban home of his mother-in-law, the water jet from the shower head in superheated streams that messaged a warmth deep into his core - a far cry from the luke-warm water that dribbled from the shared pipes his high rise living. His morning wash oft left him uninspired to face an existence in an unforgiving city. But this weekend was different; this weekend was good.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
FW: Shaking up Hollywood
I thought I’d bug you all just one more time with two additional links.
Some of you might recognize the title “The Richter Effect” as a short story I wrote way back when. Here is link to the original writing:
http://skysyndicate.com/gnet-x.com/secure/disc2_stories.htm
Flash forward so many years later and the story has become a short film that I produced and directed.
Here is a link to the official invitation for the Director’s Guild Showcase:
http://skysyndicate.com/samdemo/dga01.htm
Ad Infinitum!
Sam K. Yano
sky@skysyndicate.com
949-246-5051
From: Sam K. Yano [mailto:sky@skysyndicate.com]
Sent: Saturday, October 14, 2006 2:39 PM
Subject: Shaking up
“The Richter Effect” short film of mine is moving out and about to the Director’s Guild showcase in
You can check out the trailer for the film at:
http://skysyndicate.com/samdemo/media.htm
What:
DGA Film Showcase
When:
Thursday, Nov. 9th, 2006
At 7:30pm
Where:
The Directors Guild of America Theatre
7920 Sunset Blvd
Why:
When’s the last time anything this good was free in
See you at the movies,
Sam K. Yano
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Shaking up Hollywood
“The Richter Effect” short film of mine is moving out and about to the Director’s Guild showcase in
You can check out the trailer for the film at:
http://skysyndicate.com/samdemo/media.htm
What:
DGA Film Showcase
When:
Thursday, Nov. 9th, 2006
At 7:30pm
Where:
The Directors Guild of America Theatre
7920 Sunset Blvd
Why:
When’s the last time anything this good was free in
See you at the movies,
Sam K. Yano
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Hard to Boil
Trying to get back into the habit of posting regularly. It’s a shame to set a forum up and not use it. Anywho, I’ve been getting into Podcasts lately – it started with Jim Cramer’s Real Money on the radio but his podcast became a more convenient way to catch his show at my leisure. Now I have a list of programs lined up for listening while I work on my 3D animations. Very cool, very informative, very convenient. I came across this interview with “Brick” Director Rian Johnson. “Brick” is very much the film I’ve always wanted to write and direct; a film that pays homage to the greatest of hard boiled fiction writers, Dashiell Hammett. I wouldn’t say this film is for everyone but if you’ve ever read and appreciated Hammett, then “Brick” and the Cohen Bros. “Millers Crossing,” “Blood Simple,” or even “The Big Lebowski” are films to catch (although “The Big Lebowski” is more of a Raymond Chandler inspired film.
Click here to hear the Podcast interview with director Rian Johnson:
http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3?http://media.libsyn.com/media/cinecast/rjinterview.mp3
Sam
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Tune into my Feed
The "Site Feed" link is now working proper. Just click it and copy the resulting URL into your Feed Reader and you should see my latest headlines!
Sam
Ste Feed Link
Now I’ve placed a link to the right of the page that says “Site Feed.” I’ve been testing it with spotty results but I’ll get it right eventually.
Sam
Site Feed
A cool thing that has been around that I’ve never caught on to until recently is the whole Site Feed phenom. For my site, all you have to do is copy the url of the blog and paste into your Feed Reader (you may have to add “atom.xml” to the url) and you should get the headlines of my latest blogs. It sounds complicated but it’s really simple – I use Google’s homepage Feed Reader. I can read a bunch of headline from all my favorite sites without having to actually go to those pages and web surf. Very convenient, very 21st century. Of coarse I’m one turn behind the trends but I like to take on tech that has proven itself before I integrate it into my lifestyle. Although I’m still not a MySpace guy, yet. Blogging feels more like a Journal than MaySpace and the pages on MySpace are cluttered and clunky. But it’s so dang popular for whatever reason.
Sam
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Technical Difficulties
My array of sites are experiencing some extreme technical difficulties as a result of some server problems. Some parts of the sites are back up but others are still lingering in obscurity. Stay tuned for updates as I tackle this challenge. I may just end up revamping the whole site. We’ll see.
Sam
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Crash and Burn
Looks like my website went down for the count. It's going to take awhile for me to get things up and running again but I imagine this is a good opportunity to revamp the content. Check back again - you might be surprised by some new changes!
Cheers!
Sam
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Sam Bam's Back
I’m officially back on the grid after getting hitched at the Wayfarer’s Chapel in Palos Verdes and spending a relaxing honeymoon on the tranquil beaches of Santa Barbara. We decided to travel locally instead of flying to Cancun or
Sam K. Yano
Cell: 949-246-5051
E-mail: sky@skysyndicate.com
Keep in touch. And if you’re partying downtown, give me a ring and I’ll walk on over to join you (that’s if I can dodge the wifey’s radar : )
Sam
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Freakin Cockaroachas!
Ok this morning I freaked like a little school girl when a freakin inch and a half cockroach creeped along my counter and into my dish washer. After a moment collecting what dignity I had left, I grabbed the vacuum and hunted down the bugger. I sucked him up with a "thawump" and took every precaution to make sure I bagged the intruder. But when I removed the vacuum bag, that slick backed little shit was too big to fit through the bag opening and escaped! After another freak session I tracked him down again and sucked him up once more. Now I'm sitting here and typing this memo while the vacuum remains on to make sure that vile vermin doesn't get a way a 3rd time. I FREAKIN HATE COCKROACHES is that hasn't been established yet.
Sam
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
FW: In Effect
Sorry by “this coming Saturday,” I meant Saturday May 20th (not this coming Saturday but the following Saturday).
Sam
From: Sam K. Yano [mailto:sky@skysyndicate.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 09, 2006 11:44 AM
Subject: In Effect
My short film “The Richter Effect” will be the opening act of the Spring Student Showcase at 7:30PM this coming Saturday (May 20th) in the University Theater (near the
Note: The showcase will premiere films with language and themes that might not be appropriate for younger audience members.
You can check out the trailer for the film at:
http://skysyndicate.com/samdemo/media.htm
A big-big “Thank You” to all that contributed to the film and I hope to C-U-@ the movies!
Sam K. Yano
Leader Line
So how'yall doin these days? I just finished color correcting Archie Arena's
film (which I DP'd) and put the finishing touches on Hiram Chan's film
(which I also DP'd and edited - I really like how it turned out). "The
Richter Effect" benefited from some additional effects and sound design, but
surprisingly I kept the edit similar to what I showed in class (the 1st cut
seemed to work for me without getting too fancy). I did add a small segment
after the earthquake where we hear the father calling for help. My film will
open the Saturday night showcase.
Other than that, I'll probably be heading to Cancun for my honeymoon - check
out the Chichen-Mayan ruins (I read that from January of this year you can't
climb the steps of the pyramid - big bummer). When I get back from fun in
the sun, I'm gonna try and put a horror short film together - helming a
horror film has been an obsession of mine for quite sometime.
Anywho, hope yall are doing well - drop a line on how things are going.
Ad Infintum,
Sam Bam
Friday, March 17, 2006
Unanswered Dreams
Dreams. The 1st being my fiancéEhaving a new artist friend that I didn't like (there's a deeper truth to this). Anyway, she introduces me and from the get-go I don't like the guy. There were also some strange occurrences that included a sleep over at a classmates place while playing X-Box 360 games but I don't remember details. The dream ended with me in a restaurant. My fiancé ends up leaving early and the artist friend is sitting at a table behind me. I order poached eggs and in the middle of sucking down the yolks the artist friend guy says something that annoys me so I get up and threaten to kick his ass. He asks if I know karate or something and I agree (I didn't want to take the time to explain that I actually know Judo instead). So I send a quick jab to his face and it turns out he can't fight worth a lick so we both sit back down, breathing heavily from all the adrenaline pumping. At any moments notice I was ready to get up and chase down that guy but he just sat there breathing and staring a hole into my back.
The 2nd dream was more of a post-apocalyptic themed dream. I vaguely remember it starting in a garage somewhere with a rumbling and strange noises - a general sense that something bad is going to happen. At another point the bad had already happened and I was searching, with another classmate from CSULB, for weapons or a phone or a car but we end up in this underground tunnel where a battalion of military forces are being deployed. Thinking that in all the chaos that I could sneak in and take some weapons, the alarm goes off and the two of us have to run to a terminal and enter our pin numbers to confirm that we were citizens. After that one of us is riding a bike and we follow some pipes and resurface to the street level at a abandoned restaurant. We grab a bite to eat and I don't remember what happened to the other guy after that. The next thing I remember is talking to my mom on the phone. She tells me everything is ok and that the rest of my family are hiking their way to Artesia (I assume it is the street in LA) and I tell her I'd meet all of them there - in the back of my mind I realize that such a meeting would not be so easy. So I pack a backpack up with bread and other dry foods - I think I grab a few empty bottles and fill them up with water. Somehow at night I end up in a classroom where everyone is filing paperwork for who knows what and I end up filing a form myself. I fill in the blanks and for some parts there were stickers I would peel from a sheet and adhere to the form. It takes me too long to fill the form out and so the invaders are just outside the window blasting people (I guess they were robot aliens of some sort, a bit bigger in size than the average person). They see us in the builder and charge for us. We run for the back exit and I contemplate going back to get my backpack of food but the front window explodes and these massively clunky aliens pour in. I think I was pushing a wheel chair and abandoned it to make a dash for safety. While running for my life I kept thinking make as many left and right turns as you can so that those invaders wouldn't get a clean shot at my back. After a few turns I jump up a ladder and decide to roof hop - That's when I woke up and couldn't help but imagine if my mom had to go through the same hell to get to Artesia.
Sam
Thursday, February 23, 2006
A Better Link
http://www.skysyndicate.com/samdemo/media.htm
A better link to my webpage – it opens to a new window.
Sam
A few updates
Made some changes to my director’s website, including the addition of some stills from my latest film “The Richter Effect.” I showed a rough cut about a week ago and got a very enthusiastic response – a good sign that things are on the right track. Up next for the film will be sound design and visual effects! I also posted a trailer for a film that I did the cinematography for, “The Life of Stanley Davis.” I’ll be editing this film as well. Much to do!
http://www.skysyndicate.com/samdemo/media.htm
Sam
Thursday, January 12, 2006
For the Effect
“The Richter Effect” short film teaser is now showing on my web as a Quicktime movie! Along with clips from other short films and various production stills. Have fun.
http://skysyndicate.com/samdemo/media.htm
Ad Infinitum,
Sam Bam Yano
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Films in the works that I’ve put my heart and soul into:
“The Richter Effect”
Director
A huge undertaking to produce, direct and then camera op for a film, but thanks to a dedicated crew and cast we packed a 4 day shooting schedule into 2.5 days.
“A & B”
Director of Photography
I’m particularly proud of the imagery shot for this film. Using the Mini35 adaptor for the DVX100A to fit 35mm lenses, it’s hard to even imagine shooting with anything less.
“The Life of
Director of Photography
Thanks in part to an easy-going director and trusting producer; I had a chance to try many experimental techniques with lighting and camera that will hopefully come through in the final cut.
“Old Friend”
Art Director
An invisible art but there are certain nuances that most people might not consciously notice but I am most definitely excited about (look for red!).
“Mixed Signals”
Assistant Camera
This was actually a fun experience more than anything – I took pride in efficiently and effectively
“The Tutor”
Key Grip
An ambitious production of action and drama that benefited from an amalgamation of guerilla innovation and technical know-how.
“The Hitchhiker”
Gaffer
From the hard hitting heat of the desert to the smoky shadows of an urban bar, this production pushed the limits on time and space.
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