5
 
 
 
(click the picture above for the high definition video - but also click YouTube for me!)
 
12:48 PM, Friday, April 25th, 2008:
 
So diggin' The Journey...
 
To those following this in real-time, I'm really happy for you. You've somehow stumbled upon this guy that is compelled to do copius amounts of work... for absolutely no reason. Reading it you realize I just love the challenge of it all, but it's really the truest from of artistic communication out there. I'm not selling anything, I expect nothing of you - I just try and communicate. That's the revolutionary thing about the internet. Sure, I probably should be trying to sell you something - but it just isn't my first instinct. I want to just create fun stuff and show it to people. With The Journey I've found not only a way to showcase it... but a discipline to continue it at a pretty ridiculous real-time production level. It's the challenge of a lifetime and it multiplies the fun of normal life tenfold.
 
 
 
So while I was knocking around an idea for a short film Nick took this picture of Keith and after we all stopped laughing it was clear that we had to somehow incorporate The Lord into our film. What I love about his look is that no matter how hard he tries, you can always see him smiling on the inside. Even in this picture where he only had to be serious for a split second, if you look close enough he is laughing his balls off. It's absolutely perfect for someone spoofing Jesus because all he has to do is say the lines - and you just laugh along with him.
 
So we were on the road, Jesus driving - it pretty much wrote itself from that point on...
 
 
Hitchhiker gets picked up by a naked Jesus. And that was literally all we had. Oh and I knew I would end up being left behind naked as well. Very homo-erotic this movie. Never really thought of that to tell you the truth. I just thought it was really funny. Hmmmmm...
 

What's great is we shot it in under 30 minutes completely ad-libbed. Just problem solving. We'd come up with a line, and then figure out what the honest reaction would be next. I actually asked out loud: "What would Jesus do?" which I found quite funny. Keith and I held the camera for all the in-car shots and Nicky got the outdoor ones. Nicky also came up with the "Camry" line which was the magic moment that allowed me to... believe.

 
 
What's great about that line is that it works on two levels. Once you see the end and realize it's a big scam - you then realize - "Of course 'Jesus' knew it was a Camry...the guy broke down and Jesus passed his broken down Camry".
 
Even cooler than shooting it that quick? Editing it in the car in high-definition. :-) Did the rough edit in the car in and finished it up when we got to Columbus last night. Sure the audio sucks and we could redo every line, but Keith is already onto Wheelersburg (and then North Carolina) and it kind of defeats the purpose of immediate art. This is literally a brain fart of an idea that because of a high powered laptop can look pretty complete. If you start stressing about car noise, you've missed the joy of spontaneity.
 
But there's always the joy of running naked on 70 East in Illinois...
 
 
Hahahaha. This was rather nerve-racking. Oh and it was just "horizontal" from running in this frame, it runs all the way down my thigh. Heh. And I know what you're all saying "I thought you were FREE! Why did you have to hold yourself during the reveal?" Well I bet Marty isn't saying that, but it is a very good point - and we actually thought of it the moment we got back in the car. However we were already tempting fate by drawing attention to a certain plant Keith had in his vehicle and it was not time to risk anything else. A trucker honked when I started running which was pretty funny.
 

Oh and in case you were wondering, Nicky just put his head down as we shot the dialogue shots. A couple of you were wondering where the hell he was during the shoot - crammed in the backseat. :-) Strangely, that was the most comfortable spot the whole trip as you had two sides to lay your head on - great for snoozin'.

 
So there you have it - road trip 2008. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
 
Adam