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Fandomonium
in Tampa Bay Event and Film Festival 001
01. Introduction
02. The
Journey into fandom begins
03. The
story of the swag bag
04. Role
call
05. Independent
film screening
06. Interviews
07. Photography
shoot, closing and event score card
Fandomonium
in Tampa Bay 001
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Role call
I made the rounds at Fandomonium in Tampa Bay. I talked to a lot of people,
and was pleasantly surprised that they 
were
all friendly and cool. Among them, I talked to Rick Danford,
Andy Lalino, Marcus Kempton,
Joel D. Wynkoop, and some others. B movie actress
Joyce Meadows, from the movie “The
Brain from Planet Eros”, was there, as was author
R.J. Smith and the two women from the Florida
Film Network. One of the first things that I did upon my arrival, however,
was to buy things and fill up my swag bag, which was clipped to my belt
with a clip and which I did not have to carry. It was all hands-free.
I may have been on to something here, even if I weighed a ton, or soon
would.
I bought the “Uh-Oh Show” DVD from
Joel Wynkoop (which was overpriced at $20.00, especially looking back
after having seen it, but I knew that going in, because that is how much
it was at the
Halloween Horror Picture Show 2013 film festival.
I was prepared, this time). I bought “Alarum”
and “The Pledge” DVD’s from
Danford (which were less than what they were in the online stores;
a pleasant surprise). I also won an Uh-Oh Show poster,
a Web of Darkness “Hunters
Moon” collectable comic, a Sirens of the
Cinema magazine, and a collection of short films
DVD in the event prize raffle, which was a surprise, and although
the poster would not fit in my bag, the DVD and the books certainly did.
I bought a novel, too, “Cataclysm”,
from author R.J. Smith, something that was not planned, which
also went into my swag bag, which was getting full (I am glad
that I bought a large bag); the novel was an impulse buy because it was
a cool book on a subject which is very difficult to find information on,
being about a volcanic eruption in the Canary islands which
causes a Tsunami over a 1,000 feet tall which devastates
the eastern seaboard of the United States and wipes out Florida (it could
actually happen).
I think that author R.J. Smith was surprised that I knew about the subject
of his novel, which was something that I had
studied and had been trying to find more information on. I love studying
disaster and survival situations, and I love thriving in environments
where most cannot (although I am not a prepper or some paranoid survivalist,
nor am I someone who is inclined to hurt anything or anyone. I would rather
learn how to acquire resources and invest in the tools to obtain resources
and to support survival than hoard supplies, which you can’t take
with you. It would be like collecting and storing thousands of gallons
of water when you could, instead, invest in the tools to sterilize, prepare,
and collect water; supplies are finite, and knowledge frees. Give a man
a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed
him for a lifetime. To be dependent upon supplies which can be taken from
you is not a good strategy, as the supplies, or the possessions, own you;
tools which are needed being the exception. As far as guns and ammo, too,
that can be overkill. It is better to elude detection and avoid a conflict
than it is to defend a stockpile against armed looters; it requires less
ammunition and weaponry, too. In war games, one of my greatest advantages
is that I am extremely difficult to detect and track, and I get the drop
on people. It’s how I was able to defeat 10 to 20 opponents at a
time back in the 80's without getting so much as a scratch, when my opponents
referred to me as “Rambo”. Yes, I am also into military gear
and wargame theory, tactics, and strategy, and I apply all of that to
business, as I believe that business is war.
I also need to apply my cybersuit technology to bug-out bags, and I need
two types. I need a bug-out bag with survival tools, and I need one with
technology support tools, renewable power supplies such as a solar charger
and batteries, cameras, optics, electronics and a laptop, weatherproofing
and environmental support, and with backup basic survival tools for additional
redundancy. I never intend to be in a situation where I would need those
bags, but it’s nice to be prepared for anything. The cybersuit,
which I designed for my DJ career as well as my technonomadic lifestyle,
is basically wearable technology designed for challenging or contested
environments, and would serve as a third “bag”, especially
in tactical configuration; the cybersuit essentially turns me into a real-life
cyborg, as it uses artificial life technology, and would give me a tremendous
advantage in the real world. I also need to build a Faraday vault (A Faraday
Cage) in which to store my electronics and computers, which basically
shields and protects my technology from EMP and from solar flares, as
well as special storage bags which also shield them in the field; in 2012,
we were almost hit by a massive solar flare which would have wiped out
our technology and sent us back to the 19th century technology-wise, and
even in a world
without a power grid, without wireless communications, without computers
and technology, and without the Internet, I would still have my technology
and the ability to power and use that technology (I store important files
offline, so I could access them if the Internet went away). Most of my
tech is optimized to work offline, anyway, as I do not believe in the
“cloud”, or in being dependent upon any services or companies).
I watch a lot of shows such as “The Colony”, “Man, Woman,
Wild”, “Lost Survivors”, “Survivorman”,
“Dual Survival”, “Man VS Wild”, “Life After
People”, “Out of the Wild: Venezuela”, “Out of
the Wild: Alaska”, “Doomsday Preppers”, “Special
Ops Mission”, Wild Recon, and a bunch of other related shows, as
they appeal to me (Most of these are available on Netflix. UPDATE: Not
anymore. It looks like some can be found on Hulu, though). I often chuckle
at those survival shows, because they have it easy in Level 1 survival
situations. It’s a lot tougher to survive when you are being hunted,
which is Level 3, and even at Level 2, which is low observable, long-term,
sustainable survival with no hope of rescue or self rescue. I am Class
9, Level 3 qualified in urban and wilderness survival (full stealth, off
the grid, self sustaining survival with no hope of rescue or self rescue,
able to evade detection and pursuers and completely independent from the
support of society infrastructure or technology, as well as supplies and
stockpiles. I am also trained in Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical (NBC)
warfare survival, which is so difficult that it could be classified as
Level 4, and I think that it is (When I release my independent film, “Shelters”,
it will raise a lot of eyebrows and open a lot of eyes. “Shelters”
is about a couple who try to survive a nuclear war). I am an expert in
that area, and, to be honest, I would not want to be in that kind of situation,
ever, as I probably would not make it long-term, and it would be a miserable
way to die. I am an expert with technology, and prefer it, but I am equally
skilled in the wild without it, as well as skilled in creating technology
when needed, as I have done work in electronics, robotics, and other fields.
I was invited to go camping and air softing in North Florida along a river
recently, and one of my brother’s friends asked if I could handle
something like that, as they thought that I was all urban and completely
into technology. I had him fooled. My brother laughed, and told them that
they had no idea. You don’t want to go up against me in that kind
of situation, as I would win every time. At any rate, I recently did headshots
(talent photography, and not the gun type) for an actor who was a security
police officer in the Air Force, and he was telling me about roughing
it in the desert. He was shocked when I told him that that kind of thing
appealed to me, and that he should have had some Scorpions on a stick
over a recessed pit fire, as those can be tasty arachnids. I am also counter
terrorism certified, and have been since 1988, when I worked as a security
contractor for Pan Am airlines and trained screeners in what the TSA does
now, and I told him things that he should look for in his job that he
may not have been aware of), among other things, and have been into it
since I was a child; I even take Red Cross training every year to keep
my certifications up to date, am trained to deal with emergencies, and
have used that training recently, more than once. I am also an expert
in wildlife and botany. I even genetically engineered my own plants as
a child, as I was a bit of a scientist and a researcher back then. Often,
on modeling shoots in wilderness areas, I will take the time to point
out edible plants to the models, such as Purslane, Thistle, Blackberry,
and Cattail (there is a strain of Purslane in Riverview growing wild now
which I created back in the early 80's as a child. Somehow, it got out,
and I smile whenever I see it, as it will be around long after I am gone.
You can eat it, too!). I am also an expert in dangerous plants and animals.
You could say that I am a lot smarter than most other photographers, even
in the photography area. Everyone needs to know things like this.
I laugh when people talk about the “Zombie Apocalypse”, which
is scientifically impossible, and even if it were possible, it’s
nothing compared to what can really happen. The reality of a collapsed
society is even more terrible. If you wish to see what a person is really
like, put them into a situation where they have no hope and are desperate.
All of that charity and humanity crap which most people fake will go out
the window, and you will see what they are really like. Most people are
not good; if they do not know who they are, or what they are doing, and
they are insecure, they cannot be trusted. I am sorry, but it is true.
In a situation where society collapses and there are few resources such
as fuel and food, your neighbors and friends will put those “Zombies”
to shame; it is a much more terrifying prospect.
For those who wish to really get scared about real possibilities, look
up and read a novel by Alan Scott, “The
Anthrax Mutation” (AKA “Project Dracula”),
which is about biological and chemical weapons unleashed after an accident.
It will scare the holy hell out of you. I found it on Amazon for cheap,
and you can buy it, HERE (Note that I do not make a dime from your purchase,
also. It’s just a good, scary book about what could really happen.
There is a lot of nasty, nasty stuff out there when it comes to chemical
and biological weapons. Just ask the Syrian people!).
Anyway, I was really interested in R.J. Smith’s book. It appealed
to me.
Going back to that raffle, which occurred in the middle of the film festival,
I’m glad that I was the one who won it, simply because I
seemed to be the only one at the event prepared to carry anything.
After making the rounds, this film festival was about to start, and I
began to wonder how I was going to buy my $8.00 ticket for the event and
film festival, and to whom to pay it to, because I had simply walked into
the event without paying anything. Well, I am happy to report that I was
challenged as I scoped out the screening area by Hannah Prince,
who was on her game working the door and doing her job.
She asked for my ticket, and directed me back to the lobby bar counter
where I was able to purchase my ticket (I guess that you have to pay to
get into the film festival screening area, the theater, instead of the
lobby, which makes sense since no one was manning the ticket booth on
the outside and anyone could walk into the lobby).
I put the ticket in the mesh webbing on the outside of my video camera
bag so that she could see it and talked to her a little before going in
to find a seat and a table. Hannah was a waitress and server at the venue,
and she was also an improv actress. She also had that model look. I obtained
her information and then got a table in the back. Once the film festival
screening began, I was happy to discover that she was my server, too.
Marcus Kempton sat at my table with me as I
prepped my Canon FS200 digital video camera on my tripod,
which I set up next to the table. Marcus and I discussed the independent
film scene in Tampa Bay throughout the event (this became annoying
when I reviewed the video and noticed that it was tough to hear what was
being said on stage because of my big mouth running non-stop. I
wanted to reach into the screen, slap the silly out of me, and tell myself
to STFU. More on this, later), and he shot some video on
what looked to be a flip camera, too.
Marcus mused that I had brought a production studio with me and laughed.
Marcus looked at my video camera and asked me what it was. I told him
that it was an FS200, and shot in standard definition, and that I
planned on using that same camera to shoot some of my first short independent
films, merely to demonstrate that it can be done, with good results,
and that anyone could get started in independent filmmaking inexpensively
(that is the key to growing the independent film scene locally, by
the way, and it shall be proven). I told him that I would obviously
need better, HD cameras for my more ambitious upcoming
independent films, such as “Reverence”,
“Shelters”, “Principle”,
“Net Worth”, and others (I may
use 4K DV cameras for those films, as I consider 4K to be the new HD.
I can also downscale and convert the 4K masters to 1080P screeners until
a suitable 4K delivery medium comes along, which is rumored to be a 4K
Blu Ray with 4 times the storage capacity of a standard Blu Ray; around
200 Gigs. That said, as of 10/28/15, I still plan on shooting a few shorts
on my standard definition FS200, just to show that it can be done, and
then do the rest of the shorts on 1080P while I prepare to invest in a
proper 4K camera).
To be honest, I still might have to get another camera to shoot independent
films with, although I can preserve the cost-effectiveness(by investing
in a camera around the same price point that the FS200 was at originally),
simply because the FS200 is getting harder to replace, I need more batteries,
and it had a stuck pixel in the CCD once when I was filming for long periods
of time in low light. I could probably pick up a good 1080P DV camera
for cheap which can shoot in 24p as well as 30p, and perhaps 60p. We will
see. That said, it would be nice to do a few short films with
the FS200, as originally planned.
The opinions expressed in this review are those of the author, alone, and may not be shared by Tampa Bay Film or anyone else named on the Tampa Bay Film web site, which includes, but is not limited to, affiliates, contributors, filmmakers, sponsors, and advertisers. Information in this review consists of opinions unless otherwise specified.
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