Just a Dream

Just had this strange dream that started farther back than I can remember but I do remember being in this slummy neighborhood where everything is dirty and grimy and surrounded by tall brick buildings in every which direction. I guess the place was similar to the Brazilian slums in the movie City of God only the building were much taller. Everyone wore tattered rags for clothes: shirt, shorts, no shoes. Anywho, I’m walking around and I’m sure there are a bunch of other things I did but I remember having this friend and we would sneak out to this corn field. Cutting through the corn we would end up in this room of someone’s house that they no longer used, so it would be our little getaway from the craziness of the slums. After some time, I almost forget about this secret getaway and the people in the slums are pulling down a tree to burn for warmth – I offer them a saw (I don’t know where I go t the saw). Once the tree has been successfully torn down, I feel charitable and go around letting people borrow my saw to cut their tree pieces into manageable logs. Then comes along this slum gangster like kid (I think I’m a small boy in this dream) and this gangster kid and his crew wants to kill my friend that I mentioned earlier and who I haven’t seen in awhile. Things get tight for me as the gangster kid slowly finds out that I’m his friend and so the only place I can think of escaping (and finding my friend) is back at the cornfield. Fearing for my life, thinking the gangster kid is around every corner, I hustle to the outskirts of town and into the cornfield.

 

When I reach the room I notice it is the room of a little girl and when I peek through the adjacent door I can see the lonely figure of an older girl in a rocking chair. Not really knowing the circumstances I didn’t want to stay very long and I also had the creeping sense that the gangster kid would break through the cornfield and find me. So I decide to exit through the window of the room where it was actually snowing on a back country road. I fall out the window but then hear noises so I quickly hide behind a large rock. Peeking from behind the rock I see a whole procession of policemen on foot, motorbikes, and cars, sirens blaring, lights flashing – they lined up as if they were in a parade. The officers were raiding a gas station but once in awhile one of them would turn around and throw a rock at the boulder I was hiding behind to say as if they knew I was there. Suddenly all the policemen froze in formation, not making a sound – I just sat there for the longest time not knowing what to do. Finally I decided to just run off, so I race up the abandoned snow covered road (remember I’m still dressed in rags with no shoes). Eventually I end up at this trailer park decorated in Christmas colors and textures. To my amazement, many of the trailers were partially set ablaze by a fire that was spreading through a line of trees. I wandered around the lot to find a home that seemed abandoned and then entered through a door. Up stairs (yes a 2 story mobile home) I dig into a kids room and steal a jacket and a pair of shoes. Coming back down, I locate the kitchen and grab for cereal and juice to take with me. That’s when I notice someone staring into the house from a window (the mobile home is a bit elevated so the guy standing next to the window just look liked a head floating at the bottom of the window). In a panic, not really knowing if I’ve been spotted, I stuff all my booty into a bag and sprint out the door.

 

I don’t even take the time to go through my catch and run as fast as I can to gate that took me to a grassy area. I realize that I’m now in a very affluent community of mansion size houses. In the distance I notice an open beach so I try to cut through the backyards of the enormous houses but soon find myself lost. That’s when I woke up.

Casting Call

I’m casting for my next film, “The Richter Effect.” It’s based on a short story I wrote. Check it out:

http://www.skysyndicate.com/casting/

 

Sam

GunPlay on the big screen (or at least a bigger one)

Congrats to those that made it possible. Mark your calendars because the short film “GunPlay” will be projected for the 2005 Fall Student filmmaker’s showcase, December 10th (I think). Unfortunately they’ve scaled down the showing this semester so the show will be held in the university theater and not the immaculate Carpenter’s theater (next semester films will be shown there – no rest for weary).

The excellent news is that the film score will be revamped with original tracks composed by the CSULB music department and performed by the university orchestra – pretty exciting!I’ll keep you all updated on the progress.

Sam

Dreamcatcher

Couple of dreams to mention. Yesterday I had a dream that I was sleeping in my bunk bed back in our Bayport apartment when we used to live in Garden Grove. Suddenly out my window I hear a whirl of wind and the echo of a voice on a megaphone – a police helicopter making an announcement. I barely comprehended what it was saying until I heard my own name, stating that I was in danger of the IRA (Irish Republican Army) and that I should take that 710 freeway to get to where ever I was going… strange. And then I see a shadow pass by my window. Seconds later the window shatters with a thump ricocheting on a far wall. My instincts tell me to get out of my room and as I sprint down the hallway, a deafening explosion sends debris crashing into my back. Scrambling to the living room I notice that same shadow pass by pale yellow glass of the front door. I grab Mom, who was watching TV in the living room, pulling her through the bedroom to the bathroom and lock the door. Of course the bathroom door is practically cardboard so I know it’ll be only a matter of moments before we’re doomed. I dial 911 on a cell phone and just when it connects something whizzes by shattering the mirror behind me. I duck and yank my Mom down realizing that bullets are perforating the door in a straight line down to where we were huddled. All I could think about was how if we were to have moved over the shower, the tiles would have protected us better from the bullets. Just as the bullets cut downwards through the door toward my head, I woke up.

 

Last night I had a dream about working as a security assistant to a wealthy businessman. When I get fired I’m sent into the streets where there is no order and crime is rampant. In another dream, my mom had received a bear to prepare for dinner and I felt sorry for the beast. The only I could do was give it a swift death before cooking him. Strange but I tell them as I remember them.

Added a link in the “Other Writings” page to papers I’ve done in the past. They focus primarily on literature and films with an academic tone. So while some of them exhibit moments of inspiration, a lot of them tend to embellish on the particular topic they cover. Nevertheless they spark nostalgic memories of times when I was forced to have a thought or an opinion.    Sam.

Watery Eyes

So I got through a round of Asian horror films with mixed feelings. Initial reaction to Dark Water was similar to my reaction to the Japanese Ring (I can’t stand how they spell it Ringu in English) where the beginning and middle was slow with nothing spectacular in the production value but the end has a certain charm in how it can make you flinch with very little gore or violence. Hell I was so enthused by the simplicity of Dark Water that I showed it to my sister and Mom who don’t like scary movies – I get a kick out of seeing their reactions but at the same time I would never subject them to anything inappropriate or offensive. The Eye 2 was a bit slow for me as well with an ending that aspired to be a Sixth Sense but didn’t quite make it. I guess they tried to parallel death and birth and the symptoms of pregnancy but it all didn’t quite gel. The cinematography was nice and slick with some interesting framing and simple effects (although the effects were certainly more elaborate than Dark Water). The main character wasn’t very believable and the plot just way too convenient; Dark Water had similar plot conveniences toward the end but some of the themes were much more subtle, which I appreciated (like the paralleling the neglect of the building with the neglect of a child). In comparing all these related movies I would still say I enjoyed Gore Verbinski’s remake The Ring because of it’s super slick visual style and endless cross references in terms of imagery, plot, and characters. Sam.

So Many Dreams in One Night

A couple of strange dreams last night. The first had me in an old style steam engine train that was traveling through grape growing countryside. The group of people on the train were more like tourists and we were planning on making a stop somewhere for lunch and one of the older ladies in the back mentioned a place that made really good spring rolls. We were trying to determine which stop was the right stop for some tasty spring rolls but all the grape fields were nothing but barren patches of dirt so I asked the conductor why there weren’t and places that were making spring rolls and he said that this was summer and not spring. Later in the dream the train got stuck in a sand storm and we had to work together to push the train back – the wheels would slip as the sand made the tracks dusty and impossible for traction.

 

I had a couple of other dreams in between but I don’t quite remember them. The last dream I had involved some Mafia boss that I worked for who was in trouble as a rival mob was planning a hit on his family. The boss’s father wanted to bring back some old-school gangsters from the movies to fight the rival but the son decided to hire a Hollywood weapons specialist that supplied him with bazookas and other ridiculously over-powered ordinance. In a flash we all realized that a lone gunman was targeting the boss’s father who was asleep at his sister’s house and by the time we rushed to the house it was too late. I had to send foot soldiers left and right to search for the shooter who had used a modified pellet gun, one of 4 that I had sold to friends – one of those friends was Jeff Kanjanapanga! Strange!    Sam.

Dark Water

Just saw the original Japanese version of the movie Dark Water. Slow in the beginning with some chills in the end – not quite the same effect as Ring (same writer and director). The story didn’t have any real surprises and the use of water as a mode of binding all the plot elements was weak at best. Some end scenes made me hold my breath but in the end the experience seemed to lacking. It did inspire some thoughts on a horror short with the old woman and the painting and I hope to further develop something for October. I just remembered the parallels I associated with the horror short idea and Fritz Lang’s Scarlet Street. A little scare goes a long way to get the gears churning.    Sam.

Director Sam K Yah-Know!

I added a couple of images of the short films I’ve been working in the “Projects” section. The films may be submitted to festivals in the near future so I won’t be posting the actual films on the Internet. But if you do have an interest in seeing the films you can always e-mail and I may be able to send you a DVD copy of my demo reel which includes these films and my work in 3D animation.    Sam.

Good 2 Go

Now all my website homepages are structured around Blogger so that I can regularly post updates in accordance to what I’m actively working on. Skysyndicate.com will emphasize my work in 3D animation and FX with updates on any current projects I’m working on as well as client relations and insight. Gnet-x.com will continue to be my hub for writing and intellectual property development from concept to completion. Yanoproperties.com (Yano Family) will chronicle my personal endeavors as a family man responsible, not only for my own personal growth, but also for the wellbeing of those around me and even abroad. So I hope this opens the door to unwritten chapters of a life fulfilled! Peace!

 

Sam.

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