How to be a documentary film-maker in T.O. part II:

Teach yourself how to make a movie.

So, like I said before, I want to get into documentary media. Last summer I borrowed a couple of camcorders and started to make a movie about the Annex. It was really fun, and most of it was on the fly (no real storyboard, thesis question, plan of any sort). Thus the movie made itself with the footage that I took- and came together in the editing process....
I spent about 50 hours editing it with IMOVIE at a media lab. I only just finished it and in haste (It could have used a bit more editing!) and screened it for some special folk on our patio on Friday. In the process, I learned a lot about what not to do in movie-making. First off, heads up about the audio (it's definitely not always clear). But, with my new knowledge and new skills I'm now looking to learn how to use a professional camera and final cut pro software for a reasonable fee. If you have any leads let me know.

This summer, e & I are going to make a movie; purely fiction. We've started writing a screen-play, so stay tuned. Email us at but.good.different@gmail.com if you want to get involved in anyway (fundraising, extras, plot feedback, promotion). We're also on the lookout for a couple of male actors.

Anyways, I hope that you enjoy it. Thanks again to everyone who agreed to be interviewed! To view the private video below through vimeo, click on the link below and enter the password: Annex

Thanks for the support kids.

S.

Bathurst- from Bloor to Dupont from butgooddifferent on Vimeo.

On the Hunt

Hi everyone, we asked our friend L to make a cameo on the blog, so here she is and she is AWESOME.

Hi! Currently, I am living a similar lifestyle to some of you out there who have been hit by the economic crisis...unemployment. For the last 4 months or so, since I got back from being overseas, I have been searching far and wide for a job and an apartment in the city. Some tips I have to offer to keep yourself occupied while on the hunt:

• Space out your errands: do one or two errands per day, and fill your time in with coffee breaks and stops at the local second hand book stores. Also, walk rather than taking public transportation
• Enjoy your time off: take up a new hobby, start a new book, write a letter to someone
• Upload CD’s onto your computer from your friend’s music collections
• Play scrabble on Facebook - it’s fun and it stimulates your mind.
• Read the newspaper from a different city/country
• Visit your friends at work (if appropriate). Bring them something sweet.
• Start a vegetable garden: it’s fun to watch things grow and it’ll save you money on groceries.
• Walk around a neighbourhood you’ve never been to.
• Volunteer at a yoga studio - some studios have energy exchange programs where you do things such as clean or reception and you get unlimited yoga classes in exchange

Something else I am confronted with is the search for a great apartment. Here is some advice based on situations I have encountered along this journey:

• Trust your instincts: if something seems off, it probably is
• If the first thing the current tenants say to you is “We have 3 basic rules, the first one is that we need 2-3 advance notice if you are having people over...” run fast! It doesn’t matter what the 2 other rules are, if they are that strict and uptight it’s not worth it.
• Don’t settle until you find something you really like: if you are time constrained, and you don’t find a place by the time you have to move out of your old place, then sublet somewhere for a month and continue your search for a more long term place that feels right.
• If the apartment smells, don’t expect that smell to go away (even with a variety of incense, candles, or air fresheners)

Different websites you may want to try if you too are looking for a place to call home:

• http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/
• I have found this to be the most useful website thus far and have visited quite a few places based on its postings. Downfall is there is no way to track which places you’ve e-mail and which you haven’t.
• http://www.nowtoronto.com/
• Very limited postings, averages 3-10 per day
• http://toronto.kijiji.ca/
• I am not a big fan of the layout of the website, it’s a bit unclear. On the plus side, it has a nice feature of starring a place you like, which goes to your “watchlist” for easy retrieval later.
• http://www.viewit.ca/
• Good for people who are wanting to rent out an entire apartment, rather than finding a place to move into that currently has tenants.
• http://www.housing.utoronto.ca/offcampus/offCampus.html
• This site is only good for students. There is a “non student” option, which costs $22 for 8 weeks but the landlords who advertise on the site are only interested in students so unless you are a student at U of T or another university, it is useless.

Happy hunting and good luck!

Until we meet again...

L

Thanks for the space e & S!

Look I made a cake!

For my friends' old Hollywood themed wedding. It survived the drive over to the banquet hall because we drove 40 km/h the whole way there!

e

The Don Valley Brickworks Factory

Toronto's Brickworks Factory



Early this month, J and I decided to bike down to the Brickworks Factory- a 125 year old industrial site in the Don Valley where they once actually made bricks.. It was featured during Doors Open Toronto (did anyone get a chance to check that out?) and I can see why.

Recently redeveloped by Evergreen, a non-profit environmental organization, the space is amazing, and the reconstituted land around it is full of boardwalks, marshlands, water lilies and walking paths. You would never guess that you're just east of the DVP or a hop, skip and a jump away from downtown Toronto.

I'm not really sure how to get there via TTC or car, but if you bike to Rosedale's Chorley Park -another historic site at that!- and walk under a bridge that looks like the picture above, you'll make your way there through the woods of the Don Valley. Plus it's fun to walk/bike through one of Toronto's most affluent neighbourhoods and look at the big fancy houses.

The space now offers community gardens, a Farmer's market on Saturdays, and they're in the process of making a documentary on the history of the site and the people who have had a connection to it over the last 100 years.

The 80s are making a comeback...at Harbourfront

Toronto's Harbourfront-
It could be so much more I know. Right now it's lined with condos, and cut off from the rest of the city by the Gardiner Expressway. Its inaccessibility, lack of aesthetically pleasing and meandering boardwalks/bike paths have contributed to my not really bothering step down to the water- which is hard because who doesn't love waterfronts?


But, when I heard from my cousin that you can revisit old friends like Molly Ringwald, James Spader and Jon Cryer on the big screen, watch Blane confess his love for Andy, outside, by the water and for free, I thought: Harbourfront is on to something. Yup, every Wednesday this summer you can see 80's classics at the Sirius Stage (see first pic!). It's fun, it's loud, there's plenty of seating space, people are a-hootin' and a-hollerin', you can feel the summer breeze and smell the water as you eat your popcorn (which they sell, but we brought our own). Even the CN Tower looked pretty and summery from our seats. I tried to take pics, but clearly have not mastered the art of night-time photography with a point-and-shoot, so the blurriness it is.

Next week: Breaking (80's break-dancing! Now how can you say no to that?)
July 22nd: Desperately Seeking Susan
July 29th: Stop Making Sense
August 5th: Say Anything
August 12th: Labyrinth

We're gonna try and see all of them. Come join!

Toronto + Summer + Garbage Strike = Yuck

Toronto Garbage Strike 2009



We got out of the city this weekend to pristine cottage country; the air was fresh, the water was turquoise....only to return to a smoggy, humid, smelly, and dirty Toronto. The garbage strike continues into its third week; our local park, Christie Pitts has become a garbage dump. And while the City of Toronto has moved swiftly in terms of multi-lingual contingency planning, and establishing temporary dumping sites, no actual progress has been made.

Our friend L, a quasi visitor to the city, walked over to Christie Pitts last week to take pics.
Pretty Crazy eh?

And just so you know, maggots are multiplying and rats are reproducing as I type this. What will happen when and if the garbage is removed? Are we inviting a new bout of the plague? AND, last time this happened in 2002, the City gave in on day 16, and according to City News "we're one day short of breaking that record"...

Yikes! and Yuck!

S.