Lenovo Seize The Night - Bronze

First, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who supports the site and the work I've done as a filmmaker. The amount of people who helped me during the Lenovo contest was absolutely overwhelming. Frankly, I've been in numerous view based competitions and it's hard to sustain your film's presence without annoying your virtual community base. There is only so many times you can tweet, post, or message a person with your film before they just don't respond.

Still, the backing I received from Alabama alumni, friends, acquaintances, and film fanatics was astounding. It's amazing feeling when you know people who've seen your work enthusiastically support simply because they believe in you. That's true gratification.

We ended up receiving some great features on other sites as well!

The F-Stoppers feature was huge! Without their support we wouldn't have even placed.

Filmmaking.net also took out the time to feature us on a more educational note. 

Of course I had to mention the competition as a part of my guest post series on The Nu Black

The biggest push definitely came from twitter though. Well known tech master Thomas Clifford was a huge help along with many current undergraduate University of Alabama students. It was a huge effort and I'm happy people willingly supported. 

Unfortunately, we came in 3rd place at the end of the competition. Third place stills nets us a substantial prize, but nothing compares to the $15,000 the first place winners Critical Mass received. I still count this a blessing nonetheless. I was given the privilege to direct a great commercial/film for a well-known company, and work with some of the best film production students in the South. If you haven't seen the Lenovo video check it out now. 

Being a graduate student at USC's film program has not been easy. At this point I'm positive our schedule is set up chaotically to test our endurance as filmmakers and individuals in general. It hasn't been easy, but I've learned you have to sacrifice (especially sleep) to achieve. This will not change! 

Be on the lookout for more updates on films I've worked on soon. Till then be sure to follow us on twitter @QueTheLights! 

Lenovo Seize The Night: DO

It's been quite a hiatus for since my last post. The transition from Alabama to California was pretty grueling. Thirty-six hours and two thousand miles later I made it into Lancaster, CA. I'm staying with family until I can find a suitable apartment in the Los Angeles area. I'll also be driving into LA for my Funny or Die internship interview in a few days. This does not even factor in USC. I may have an opportunity to begin this fall instead of spring semester, but it is still uncertain.

This has been an amazingly, nerve-wracking transition in my life. I'm ready for a new beginning, but the uncertainty of my future always leaves me anxious to create achieve my goals. Good news is on the horizon nonetheless!

The Que The Light's Lenovo Seize The Night Alternative Ending Video is now up!

Screnshot from our Lenovo Seize The Night Alternate Ending Video

Campus Moviefest chose 15 filmmakers from their Distinguished Filmmaker's Network to produce Alternate Endings to Lenovo's Seize The Night Short Film. Lenovo is the 2nd largest PC vendor, and a powerful company rising in the ranks of technological relevance. 

They gave me under two weeks to gather my crew, actors, shoot, and edit the entire film. Thanks to the help of a great cast, crew, and The Telecommunications and Film Department at UA we were able to finish everything with time to spare. Check it out. 

Lenovo Seize The Night Alternative Ending - DO

The concept was inspired by the ongoing debate of Occupy Wall Street and the concept of The 99% and 1%. I wanted to convey the idea of dissemination of information enlightening those who are able to solve our current economic disparity. The original concept was too ambitious to fit into two minutes, so I decided to represent it through the virtual outspread of the word "DO." Do would embody the necessity of change in our society through whatever means possible. The main protagonists would virally spread this message of hope across the world while presenting to the kind of people who could fix it.

The entire video encapsulates the symbolism by highlighting the battery life beginning at 99% at the start of the video and ending at 1%. This would serve two purposes, highlighting the Lenovo Ultrabook laptop and further representing my original inspiration.

Let me know what you think. You can also watch behind the scenes production of the video too!



Be sure to share the video as much as possible! If I get the most views I can win $15,000. Wish us luck!