OH AND.

I started a tumblr randomly today, it is entitled BREATH OUT THE SKY.

FARM

So. Its been a while again. But I assure you I have been busy. I just got back from a Czech farm in fact. It was absolutely wonderful. Kristy and I worked on Julie and Caitlin's set so they would work on ours and started to chat with their actor, a guy named David. He started to tell us about this farm that he helps out on every so often. His friend owns it and hired an American kid to restore it and he would go up there and help out and ride his bike around the country side and just get a vacation in general. Eventually he found out that I was from Colorado and that Kristy was from Maine and called up Evan, the American kid who was hired to fix up the place, because he was from Colorado and had just worked for the Main Trail Conservation Crew (which was Kristy's summer job last summer.) So after those coincidences David announced that he was thinking of heading to the farm from Thursday until Saturday which also happened to be when Kristy and I had time off from our school obligations (not to mention we had been discussing going somewhere during that time) and invited us along. We met up with Evan, David and Evan's visiting friend Jeff Thursday afternoon and all piled into a little car to drive up to the farm which was near the German border in a town called Lobendava. The farm was funky and old in parts but they had done a wonderful job fixing up a chunk of it which we were living in. The fixed up part included a wonderfully country kitchen that we used to make many delicious things, including two pies: mango and apple strawberry. The first day we got there we went on a bike ride into Germany (about five minutes away on a lovely little tree lined country dirt road) and sat in a gorgeous field while it turned to dusk. We laughed and marveled until a small bug flew into my eye and caused it to turn red and a little puffy. We rode our bikes back and found a big bowl of pasta that David had made with a fresh basil pesto sauce. After eating we all piled back into the car and drove over to another farm where there was a screening of some films in Czech. The farmer had couches arranged on the grass along with a coffee tabled that housed snacks and candles. We bundled up in blankets and got comfortable for the double feature which was projected onto a sheet hanging in the entry way of the barn (he opens the doors and puts the screen there.) The first film was by a South Korean director and shot almost entirely in one location, the second was by Czech director Jan Nemec. We all fell asleep during the second film and got up after it was over dew covered and ready for bed. The next morning Kristy and I gardened (pulling up weeds and putting down mulch) while the guys moved wood and cut down grass and such. After lunch we drove to the quarry and swam in cool, refreshing water. The pool was tree lined and beautiful and after getting our fill we drove back to the farm. We then went on a grocery run and got veggies to grill and flour for the pies. On our way back the car started to overheat and we ended up coasting down a hill and pushing the car back into a safe spot. Evan had tried to put water in which resulted in a mini geyser of sorts. We walked the remaining 1KM back to the farm and the guys got the car and fixed it while we baked pies. We grilled outside with coals from our campfire and had many delicious things. Great eggplant, onion, tofu, peppers and potatoes. It was all ridiculously delicious. We finished it up with pie and went to bed. The next day we weeded for a bit and observed snails before showering and having lunch. Then we put out a blanket and sat outside drawing and reading until it was time for a watermelon snack. Then we got back into the car and drove back to Prague. It was amazing and wonderful. Good company, a great host, fun activities and it was beautiful and just funky enough to be cool. Just before we left I found the coolest sewing kit from the 40s or 50s. It was wonderful. I'm hoping for some great diana mini photos. I think it will be my favorite part of this trip. In other news, we shot our film and will be editing it tomorrow, here are some scenes from the "set."
We tied cream paper cranes to tree branches with grass and shot through rose tinted sunglass lenses (inspired by my rose tinted sunglasses.)

Our Czech film producer Tomas is in the back, Me and Kristy on the left and our "crew" Jule and Caitlin on the right with the baby slate. Keighley and I have decided to start a blog inspired by Kristin's recent endeavor, the wear-a-thon on Bright Young Things. We are each going to post what we are wearing that day, all we have to do is name it. As of right now we have the titles: drawn that way

carousel stitches

to interpret your looks

do i run rare

don't turn my picture

AND

Some other things I've been collecting from the net.
Milos Foreman is wonderful.

CZECH THINGS

I got my septum pierced yesterday after talking about it for a long time. Its weird that it is actually in my nose now. It hurt to get it done as most body modification does, but it wasn't too bad. I'm not thrilled about the ring but it was the best option out of what they had. I am planning on trying to switch it out in two weeks and may just go back to the shop and see if my piercer will do it for me. I want a small "pincher," a crescent shaped ring with an opening that allows you to flip it up. I have one picked out that is made of bone and white and small. Once I switch the rings I think I will really like it, but in the meantime it is still weird and foreign and I am getting used to another piece of metal in my face. I need to figure out a way to post a photo. In other Czech events, last night we went to a Karaoke bar and sang a lot. It was very fun and silly, we even tried to sing along to the Czech songs (largely sung by one of two middle age women with actually very decent voices.) We ended up staying until they closed and walked up to the dorm as the sky was getting light. A few days ago we took a day trip into a little town nearby called Sedlec that is home to the bone church. It is a small church that is decorated with human bones. It was weird but interesting and a good voyage. The train ride back we stood in the isle of the train with our faces out of the open windows watching the rolling green scenery and forests pass us by. It was lovely. This weekend we are going to the Karlovy Vary filmfestival in Karlovy Vary which is also home to spas, mineral baths and hot springs. Its going to be good. And finally, there is a (not very good) documentary on one of my film professors here that some NYU kids made on Youtube. There is a part two if you are interested as well. He is extremely amusing, especially since he will run around and yell about things that are "crap" or "fucked up." He also calls the auto settings on a camera "Japanese" and says "do you understand" a lot. A lot. Overall he is just a good character.

A DAY OF EVENTS

Today we went to the Czech production studio: Barrandov Studios as well as the Kratky Film Studio for animation. We started by going into the color correctionists studio were the super 16 film that we had shot in the workshop was being collaborated to middle gray and transferred to digital. It actually came out looking pretty good. I think we get a copy at the end along with a copy of the film that we make. After we went up to the film developing lab which was really cool and interesting. It smells like a dark room and there are all these huge metal boxes that the chemicals get pumped through and the film travels on by being moved along by huge spools. I found a trash bin filled with test strips and was going to take one for my journal, but when our professor, Michael, saw that I had it he took and and said: "good idea I will bring this to class." Then we went to the Panavision building and walked around looking at equipment. We met up with this fantastic old man named Rudolf who used to run the animation department at FAMU (where I am attending classes now) so he could bring us to KRÁTKÝ FILM studio (it is part of the Barrandov studio as well) to watch some Czech short animation and meet a lady who makes puppets. There were some really great shorts including Words, Words, Words by Michaela Pavlatova that was nominated for an Oscar in 1992, a puppet animation adaptation of Stagecoach, I cannot seem to find it, and Jan Svankmajer's Darkness/Light/Darkness: After meeting with the puppet maker and walking through a animation set, I had a strong desire to learn more about doing animation, as well as a desire to make puppets. I found myself wondering how hard it would be to become an apprentice and learn the ways of puppet animation. I really like animation in general, they often make for great short films, and its a way to make things that is very hands on. It is something I will be looking into. After we went to my favorite place in Prague so far: Vyšehrad. It is a giant park overlooking the city with a castle, church and graveyard. All the graves have plants growing from them or are covered in ivy and vines, which I like, and the park is quiet and big with trees and smells like flowers. Plus it has an amazing view. It is a wonderful retreat and I spied a couple in a grove of trees on a blanket near the ruins that overlook the city and immediately wanted to be on their blanket. I also got to love on a very nice dog despite it not understanding me, only Czech. After we had to go back to Studio FAMU to go over screenplay ideas again. Kristy and I are doing a short about a little boy who has just moved to Prague. He is not thrilled about the move and is a quiet kid who isn't adjusting easily. On his way to school he passes under a tree that a little girl his age sits in. She calls for him to come up and he ignores her. Finally a few days later, after passing her in the tree everyday and ignoring her, she is really trying to get his attention and falls out of the tree. He is forced to deal with her so he helps her back into the tree and goes up to sit with her. Then they both say relatively the same thing, but he says it in English and she says it in Czech and they don't understand each other but they are content and sitting in a tree over looking the city. I imagine shots through leaves among other lovely things. So we'll see how that works out. We still need to name the little boy and find actors... which may require going through an agency... but we have a Czech producing student that will be helping us produce it that we meet on Tuesday. Tomorrow is location scouting though I think we have decided to use Vyšehrad for our location. Tonight we are going to Cross Club again I think... the place I went to the first night I was here. And I think I am getting my septum pierced sometime this weekend. It is a lot less expensive here then when K and I looked into it. So there is that. I miss you all.

THANK GOODNESS IT BECOMES ENGLISH

I would like to start by stating... thank goodness blogger becomes English after you click the crazy Czech word with symbols like mad that stands for signing in. I am eating apricot (marhula) yogurt and would like to mention that you have to tack Czech Republic to the end of my address. I seemed to have forgotten that bit. So put that on there... I had class from 9 until 8 today which was a long haul. Most of it was a "lighting workshop" where we weren't allowed to touch the lights, some Czech students did it for us. I guess the voltage is a lot higher so they are anxious about us getting electrocuted? It was basically a mini film shoot but dysfunctional because there were too many people with not enough to do, no direction at first, and a lot of creative input. I ended up being the "AD" and had to yell for quiet on the set and push everyone to get shots up, however, due to the Czech students (who didn't tell me what they were doing and took a long time on lighting set ups... it was only like two guys doing it) and the learning aspect it was difficult to speed things up and do it properly. In the end one scene took us from one to five... which is actually a bit typical for a film shoot but long. It actually made me anticipate Emerson shoots, I found myself glad that I would be going back to ACing film twos and such, I like just having my set position and being trusted with the camera. We did shoot Vision 3 on the Aton today though, so that was a good bit. We have to shoot our final projects digitally which is a bit annoying considering that NYU has a program here that shoots on 35. Last night after our welcome dinner Matt, Brett, Zach, and I ran down to the old town main square to watch the world cup match between Spain and Honduras. We met up with Matt's NYU friends there and watched the game until Spain won and then danced around with some people including a homeless man with the most adorable, sweet lab that he held like a baby while singing Hallelujah over and over. Matt always finds good interesting things to do for whatever reason. The night before that we went out to a bar with weird artwork and had beer until they closed up for the night. Then we went down the hill to a jazz club that was having a private party. Matt convinced them to let us in and to stay and then we discovered that it was a pre-production meeting for some English, American and Czech people who are shooting a commercial in Prague. We talked film with the American who were from New York and LA. Due to his ability to find good things, and that he is a nice guy, I have been trying to become friend with Matt. I am now eating a cucumber which Kristie, my roommate, thinks are the vegetable version of watermelon, which I find interesting. I have started my one line a day five year memory book and am doing my best to maintain it. Also, no one seems to know where you can buy stamps here and I can't find them anywhere, though I did stumble across a postal museum across from Studio FAMU (where most of my classes are) and can only assume that they have stamp exhibits. I still don't know if I am going out tonight, but the sun just set and it is 10PM. Also, we watch some fantastic Czech cinema in class today including parts Milos Foreman's (who directed One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) Loves of a Blonde.
There is a bit more at the end of this scene that is also good and a scene with older army men trying to buy the lead lady and her friends drinks that we watched and I enjoyed but I can't find it with English subtitles... partially because I am in the Czech Republic and they don't use English subtitles. I would like to watch that film in its entirety.

PRAHA

I made it to Prague after an unexpectedly long journey that involved an unplanned stop in Atlanta, Georgia. We had been flying for a few hours when the captain came on to announce that there was something wrong with the navigation computer so we had to fly at a lower altitude and would therefore not have enough fuel to make it all the way to Europe so we had to turn around and go to Atlanta to get a new plane. So I spent an hour or so wondering around the Atlanta airport and after accosting three people I thought might be from the program "umm hi, are you from Emerson College?" Two were and one wasn't but he ended up being from CU Boulder so that was weird. SO after getting up at 3:45 in the morning (Colorado time) and flying from Denver to Minneapolis to JFK (New York) to Atlanta I made it to Prague around 3 in the afternoon Europe time and split a cab with one of my accosted fellow students, Brooke. It turned out she is one of my roommates along with Trisha and Kristie. Kristie and I are in room A (she is from Maine) and Trisha (from Minnesota) and Brooke (Vermont) are in room B. Our bedrooms are tacked onto a little tiny apartment type deal with a WC (just the toilet) a room with the shower and a sink, closets, and a little counter with a hot plate and a mini fridge. I wish I could take photos to share but I don't have a digital camera and can't figure out transferring the little webcam pictures I can take on here to anything other than the photobooth type program that they go into... but we'll see if I can be savy enough. We have been hanging around with some of the boys as well, so far I have met Matt, Dan, Brett, Zach, Andrew, Mark and Tyler along with Caitlin and Julie. I think that means I haven't met four to seven people. I'm not sure if there are 20 or 16 people in the entire program. We have a meeting in about an hour that is supposed to fill us in. Last night the twelve of us ventured to this bar that had multiple floors and each one had a different theme. We started on the bottom floor which had parts of engines and gear moving about. There were a few live musical performances and we stopped by a few of them for a quick listening. After a few rounds of beer and sitting at a table that was on a floor that reminded me of Being John Malkovich (3 and a half) we all got split up and I ended up with Matt, Dan, Zach, Brett and Andrew while everyone else went home. We sat outside on a metalwork balcony with a tree popping through. When it was time to go home we chatted with three Finnish girls who are studying here while debating over taking a cab or the tram home. In the end we split up into groups of three and each caught cabs back. I made it into bed five minutes after four and woke up at noon to venture out for lunch (at a Chinese place) and to find a grocery store. I got some bread, cheese and yogurt but I was unable to find tape, stamps or peanut butter (I don't think they have it at all in this country.) I also have some bananas. We discovered a little stationary/craft shop nearby that I plan on visiting soon. So I guess that is all. I am here. For those of you who wish to mail me... I believe that my address is as follows:

Hanna Kelly
Kojel Komenskeho RM 317A
Praha 6, Parlerova 6

But please remember that it takes a good while to get here so do not send it towards the end... just right now. I'm only here for a month! I do owe some lovely people some mailings however. Okay.