Salvation Mountain

I think you really should make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. If you want to get more out of life you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy. But once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty. And so, Ron, in short, get out of Salton City and hit the Road. I guarantee you will be very glad you did. -Into the Wild

The Third - An Ender's Game Adaptation

Lately my life has been entirely consumed with production of [this film], which I can't really blog about right now, except to say that I'm working with really great people. A few days ago I was on set and got an email on my phone that made me pretty excited for lunch... because that's when I would have a break to finally watch one of the first student films that I ever worked on at BYU, called "The Third".

This was shot during the winter of 2009-2010 and I think was maybe the first time I AC'd for the DP Devin Graham? It was also the first time I worked with the director Jacob Schwarz (it was this project that led us to doing The Letter from Pearl Harbor together). Love them. :) Haha it was a long time ago, I can't remember the details but I DO remember having a blast on this project. I was the 2nd AC and also did a lot (a LOT) of paper mache to help the production designer Whitney Donald create the simulation set.

This short film is a selection taken from the book "Ender's Game". It's not a cohesive story in itself, so it might not make much sense if you haven't read the book or seen the feature film that just came out, but if you are familiar with the story, you might like it. :) I think just for copyright reasons the character of "Ender" was name-changed to "Bridger", but other than that it's pretty true to the story. It took so long to release because it is VERY visual effects heavy (set extensions along with all of the simulation CGI, etc.) It proved to be a little much for students to handle right out the gate, but kudos to Jake and Katie Schwarz for sticking with it all the way to the end and getting it finished and out there. Besides, with the movie that just came out, I'd say it's perfect timing after all! Here's the short, and some pictures from set.