Join 2000+ readers to get smarter about traditional Japanese culture through my books and art.
THE Denzel??
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I'm currently writing this from the Orlando airport because... In a few hours, I'll be headed to NYC to see THE Denzel Washington on stage doing "Othello". I haven't gotten into Shakespeare. But when the legendary actor who can play everything from historic figures to thriller lead men announces he'll retire after a few more movies, you do whatever it takes to see his *potentially* last theatre performance. Especially since he started out in theatre. I didn't know that until I saw an interview where he corrected the interviewer on how he was a theatre guy before a movie actor. "I'm a stage actor who does film; it's not the other way around. I did stage first. I learned how to act on stage, not on film. Movies are a filmmaker's medium. You shoot it, and then you're gone, and they cut together and add music and do all of that. Theater is an actor's medium. The curtain goes up, nobody can help you." And that is who I'm going to see - a master craftsmen who has dominated his medium. Plus, I found a $200 ticket when all the other seats were $1000! Only two tickets left and I scooped one with haste burning against the edge of my upper lip. Probably lucked out because they needed to fill the seats, but who's not going to take that deal?? Gotta take your chances when the opportunity slides across your desk... Which brings me to you. When is the last time you let an opportunity pass by, not because you COULDN'T take it, but because you WOULDN'T take it? Fear is always lurking. It bubbles up in excuses and logical laziness where you explain away how it can't happen for you. The way out is to ask yourself, "How can I make this happen?" Weird how the universe bends itself when you're the one happening to life and not the other way around. Talk soon, Brandon "happening to life" Chin P.S. Speaking of craftsmen like Denzel, I asked myself the other day what would a world look like where the houses built by craftsmen became the prisons for people's worst fears? Then, I drafted out a trilogy about it called, "The Akiya". Get these psychological thriller books when they drop before everyone else by clicking "Notify me at launch" at the link below: |
Brandon Chin - Books & Art from Japan
Join 2000+ readers to get smarter about traditional Japanese culture through my books and art.
"You got me f*cked up! Replicas?! These are 100% original! WTF are you talking about??" This is basically what the 80-year old owner of a popular ukiyoe shop in Kyoto told me just yesterday. Been awhile since a Japanese person genuinely got mad at me like that (besides my gf, of course). What happened to the soft and kind Japanese people you see everywhere in media? Well, now that I'm writing this from a Starbucks in Kobe a day later, I can reflect on what really happened. You see, this guy...
When I started generating image stills for my short film based on my book, Yokai Shadows, I thought it was going to be easy. "Oh, it's just 5 minutes. How hard could it be?" HARD. Literally took days. Hundreds of generations between Midjourney, Runway, Luma Labs, Kling, Hedra, and Hailuo. And STILL, I feel the character consistency isn't quite there yet. That's partly because the tools are still in their infancy... But all I got to say is my respect for short film directors who don't use AI...
Boom. First contribution to the Dome House project has been made. Who’s next? This is how community projects get built. Little by little. Brick by brick. Dome on Dome. Some of you reading this might still be confused about what this Japan Dome House project is all about… If you want to travel to Japan soon (2023 - 2024) or just like supporting new ideas, then skip on over to the link below for more details. The Dome awaits… >>>Click here to support Talk soon, Brandon “are you next?“ Chin P.S....