This afternoon I decided to just go ahead and finish up a short film that we shot on a whim this February. 1.5 hours turned into 7 (editing is the one thing in life I can do with no sense of time, laziness, or anything but joy, really) and here it is!

Jinx. It’s a short film that Shyam Valera and I wrote for an assignment in high school: make a film with no dialogue. So we did, but were exempt from handing it in because we were organizing our 3rd-annual city-wide film festival, so about a year later, when I was finally a video camera owner, we decided it was time to make something and this was just sitting there as a fun little idea.

So we shot during Olympic break (the Olympics took our school’s busses, so class was out) with help from Kevin Lam, Mannan Ahmed, and Dan Johnson. Total writing time ~2/3 hours, total shooting time ~8/9 hours, total editing/colour/visual effects (my 1st ever VFX shot is in there! See if you can catch it :D)/post time ~30 hours, I’d guess. 

I hope everyone enjoys it— it’s not much, and there are definitely glaring flaws, but if you cracked a smile then I think it was a success. Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for watching!

-Kashif

PS I JUST WATCHED (half of) WILLOW SMITHS WHIP-MY-HAIR SONG AND I TOTALLY GET WHY IT’S A BIG DEAL NOW

Exactly the kind of genuinely cute + powerful story I’ve been seeking out recently - I would love to see/make a feature length film of this story - check it out on TV if you live in the states, get the DVD, or pressure the filmmakers for a digital download!

“This gently funny film follows Monem Salam as he enrolls in an open-minded flying school. Monem is the son of a Pakistani commercial pilot. His wife Iman’s family is Palestinian and although initially dubious about the marriage, now accepts the cultural differences. With three young children, Iman is happy to find time to cultivate her inner domestic diva. Monem’s “green” decision to commute by scooter only heightens his likeability. These modern-day Americans cast off stereotypes and refuse to succumb to victimhood. ”

check it out at WingAndAPrayer.tv

So the time has come to make me a nice big announcement. Starting at the end of this month, and working right through Summer ‘09, mkpmedia and I will be heavy into production on our first webseries, a 5-part comedic show called “School Daze”. Visit the site, makingschooldaze.blogspot.com, to stay up to date and follow along our unpredictable journeys through this.

This is going to be a real test of, well, everything - workflow, technology, creative and technical skill, business, marketing - I’m hoping all goes well and we can really learn a lot of lessons through this, and be in stronger and more confident place when we start our future slate of content.

Enjoy,

-Kashif