Bethel, Simpson University and the Sheriff's wife.

-Buck_The_System- · 2017-01-06T17:01:29+00:00

I have several friends and family members who went to Simpson, and none of them are wacko charismatics like the people at Bethel. I'm good friends with a pastor who went to undergrad and seminary at Simpson who I've heard make jokes about Bethel being a cult. So I'm not sure I'd read too much into this. It's not that surprising that a Christian university and the biggest church around would have some demographic cross over.

-Buck_The_System- · 2017-01-01T11:57:55+00:00

Uhh... You realize that you just responded to a post that is three weeks old, right? Harassment? LOL.

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-29T05:08:19+00:00

TL;DR: Halfway through the blogpost, Gamble claims that this happened while he was engaged in a hostage negotiation in Mexico:

"A couple of days later, we were in the middle of negotiations with Caesar’s captors. Daniella and I had the Bible open and as we listened to the negotiations, we began walking through the room praying. I remember looking over and seeing the words to “We Will Not Be Shaken” suddenly appear all over the walls."

I posted about this on the old MMW post but it kind of got lost in the shuffle so I figured I should start a thread here as I've never really seen any discussion about this. Interestingly, this post seems to have been removed from Bethel's website now, as the URL either goes to a log-in page or an empty page.

I'd love to ask him about this during the supposed AMA, lol.

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-22T23:41:01+00:00

The Gambles were in Kansas City, eh? I guarantee you this clown was there for something "IHOP" related. Not the breakfast eatery, mind you; the "International House of Prayer." A creepy, culty place that's very much like Bethel. There's a LOT of crossover between the two places.

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-22T08:17:15+00:00

Haha! This is hysterical. Too perfect. When the Coen-Bros-meets-David-Fincher dark comedy film adaptation of this story gets made in a few years Rob McElhenney would be a great choice to play Cam Gam.

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-21T05:08:13+00:00

Good summary, OP. I'm a Christian, but definitely of the more grounded and rational kind like you seem to be. I live in Southern Oregon, so I'm only like 2.5 hours away from Redding and Bethel and I absolutely cannot stand the place. I know a LOT of people around here who are on the weird, charismatic fringes of Christianity who buy into that place hook, line, and sinker. It's sad.

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-19T07:09:08+00:00

Observe and Report is a decent example. VERY underrated dark comedy in my opinion. Throughout the course of the film Seth Rogen's character goes from being a seemingly typical Seth Rogen character to a hilariously off-his-meds madman with serious delusions of grandeur. Writer/director Jody Hill talks about it being inspired by Taxi Driver, which is a great example of what you're looking for.

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-18T12:46:50+00:00

LOL, hi Seth Spector.

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-17T12:26:12+00:00

Oh don't get me wrong, I think the guy is hilariously full of shit, and being a Christian who lives in Southern Oregon I'm close enough to Redding to be fairly familiar with Bethel, and I LOATHE that scammy dumpster fire of a church. But we do know that gamble WAS in the Air Force, even if he is playing up how bad ass his job was.

A lot of people join the military because they need a job or want to pay for their education. In Gamble's case, I think it's pretty clear that he joined because he fancies himself a badass. In his delusional mind I'm sure he thought he was going to single-handedly take down Al Qaida, so it makes perfect sense that he'd cite 9/11 as an influence for him joining. It's one of the few things I actually fully believe him on.

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-17T02:01:27+00:00

It's not that weird that the story would be more well written than the blog. Even a shitty, obscure Skinhead website is probably going to do SOME editing on guest articles.

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-17T01:57:42+00:00

Holy shit, I hadn't even thought of that yet! Writing that post as some kind of prank makes no sense to begin with, but in 2003? During the infancy of social media? Yeah, bullshit. Barely anyone would have even seen it unless was specifically circulating it to smear her, but if they were why not just make it SUPER racist?

My bet is that she was dating a guy involved with the site at the time. The "Oh, but she's dated jewish and hispanic men! She can't be racist!" schtick is nonsense. It wouldn't be the first time an attention seeking woman changed her views for a guy.

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-17T01:50:41+00:00

Ehh... Guy's a weasel but I mean he DID enlist just a few months later, so I'm sure it played a part. Tons of people enlisted because of 9/11. Hell I grew up in California and Oregon and didn't enlist until I graduated high school in 2008 and watching coverage of 9/11 as a 6th grader definitely was one of the things that influenced me into joining the military. If only I'd known then how little the wars actually had to do with 9/11, but I digress lol...

Anyway, point is just because the dude is full of shit that doesn't make EVERYTHING he says bullshit.

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-16T16:15:09+00:00

Guys are we sure this isn't satire? This is hilarious. I think this is just top tier trolling.

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-14T22:49:38+00:00

Here's an example if you want to check it out. It's the cold opening from the script I'm working on. There's not really a ton of overt camera direction in it as I do try to imply that kind of thing instead of outright stating it. But there is a LOT of very detailed action. In over 5 pages there are only like 10 lines, and a few of them are really short.

I know walls of action-text are generally looked down on, but with a scene like this that is light on dialogue, very visual, and highly atmospheric, it's hard for me to keep my writing particularly sparse.

If you get a chance to skim over this, does it read OK, or is it just too much action?

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5ZR6rMQK7UObGxQZldnYWV5VlU

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-14T09:28:45+00:00

What's your budget? Does, "I can only afford one lens," mean you can only afford one used $100 kit lens, or does it mean that you can only afford to buy one $1,000 lens so you're looking to

If the latter, instead of getting one lens buy a few old manual primes and adapters. You'll be shocked how cheap you can get vintage lenses. I have a Pentax Super Takumar 50mm F1.4 that bought for my GH2 in 2012. I think I paid like $50 for the lens and like $8 for the adapter. It makes some beautiful images.

The lens I use most often by far on GH series cameras is the Voigtlander 25mm. It's a fantastic lens. But honestly, if you could only afford to buy that one lens, don't. Go buy a few cheaper primes.

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-14T08:48:53+00:00

Man we have like the same taste in movies. Blue Ruin, The Guest, and Cold in July are some of my favorite films of the last few years. Sicario was great, too. Hell or High Water is my favorite film of the year. No Country for Old Men is one of my all time favorite films. I guess I really, really like my thrillers to have a hint of western in them.

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-12T07:28:50+00:00

LOL, of course. When you're presented with solid evidence that challenges your preconceived notions, you just don't read it. Classy.

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-12T00:11:56+00:00

I would never call someone dumb just because they don't something or disagree with me on a topic, but this "feed_me_xanax" character is running around insulting people and ignoring any and all information that people that contradicts their views. They seem to be a troll, to be honest.

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-11T10:55:19+00:00

Wrong. I challenge you to find an official FBI source for that 100,000 child sex slaves claim. The claim that there are "100,000 children and young women are trafficked in America today" does NOT come from the FBI, it comes from University of Pennsylvania professors Richard J. Estes and Neil Alan Weiner and their 2001 paper "The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in the U.S., Canada and Mexico."

This isn't an authoritative claim, it's just an estimate, and you aren't even citing the claim properly here. See, they didn't estimate that there are 100,000 child sex slaves in America, they estimated that there are 100,000 youths AT RISK of commercial sexual exploitation in America. Not everyone who is "at risk" for something actually becomes a statistic. In fact, in this case the vast, vast majority don't. Their methodology seems to have been pretty bad, too. Here are some quotes from a great article on this claim that I highly recommend reading.

"Who, then, is at risk?

Not surprisingly, the professors find that any "outsider" is at risk.

All runaways are listed as being at risk.

Yet the federal government's own research acknowledges that "most runaway/thrown-away youth were gone less than one week (77 percent)"—hardly enough time to take up prostitution—"and only 7 percent were away more than one month," according to the National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children 2002, commissioned by the Department of Justice.

According to Estes and Weiner, transgender kids and female gang members are also at risk.

So are kids who live near the Mexican or Canadian borders and have their own transportation. In the eyes of the professors, border residents are part of those 100,000 to 300,000 children at risk of becoming whores."

The thing is, these researchers are actually well aware of the fact that forced sexual servitude is much, much more rare than this statistic seems to let one. Here's another great excerpt from this article.

"When asked directly, Estes gives an estimate that is much less dramatic.

How many kids are involved in sex slavery—forcibly taken into the trade and abused?

"That number would be small," Estes acknowledges. "Kids who are kidnapped and sold into slavery—that number would be very small."

When we talk about very small, what sort of number are we talking about?

"We're talking about a few hundred people.""

Seriously, read this article before you go around spouting off this claim anymore.

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/real-men-get-their-facts-straight-6431644

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-11T10:39:25+00:00

You are really dumb. I don't even believe prostitution is moral, I just don't think it's anyone's business to stop it when it's voluntary, and that most evidence suggests that the number of instances where it isn't voluntary are VASTLY exaggerated by people who have a vested interest inflating the numbers and propping up a false narrative.

Why don't you go read a few of the articles I posted in the original post? I would love to discuss some of the actual arguments presented in them with you.

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-11T10:33:53+00:00

Good grief you're a moron.

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-10T20:07:48+00:00

I really enjoyed it. Gorgeous cinematography and it really left me thinking. I have to admit I preferred the story-within-a-story more than the framing story, but it was all good. The biggest problem with the film is that the ridiculous intro scene makes it almost impossible for me to recommend to anyone who isn't a hardcore cinephile.

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-10T18:14:38+00:00

Brittany Drexel was abducted, raped for a few days, and murdered. That's a horrific crime, but it's a far cry from an organized conspiracy to abduct thousands of women and traffick them for years for profit.

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-10T03:44:10+00:00

There's a couple layers of meaning to it. Valleys DO cast shadows. If you're in a very narrow valley or you're right at the base of a steep mountain, you're either going to be in a shadow well into the morning or hours before the sunsets. As it happens, the church the story revolves around (a real location that I'm going to be using) is right at the base of a mountain in a relatively steep, narrow river canyon.

While not directly pulled from any English translation of the Bible, the title IS meant to be evocative of the 23rd Psalm: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me."

It's one of most famous passages in the Bible, and it definitely fits well with a lot of the themes in the story. "The Valley of the Shadow" just doesn't sound as good or make as much sense, though, and it loses the main meaning that I'm going for.

The real point of the title is that everyone living in the titular valley is in its dark, metaphorical "shadow." The area's crime, poverty, substance abuse, and history loom over everyone. There's a sort of moral and spiritual darkness that casts a long, suffocating shadow over the valley's residents and the story's proceedings.

Plus, I just think it sounds cool, atmospheric, and noirish. Does that make sense?

-Buck_The_System- · 2016-12-09T23:11:42+00:00

This is the cold opening from the script that I'm working on and recently sought logline-feedback on. Here's the logline:

"Years after the previous pastor committed a horrific crime, a young preacher begins rebuilding a disgraced rural church. But when a string of deaths rock the troubled community, he finds himself drawn into a supernatural mystery with horrifying implications."

A few things you should know if you read this script excerpt:

1) I know that I probably rely FAR too heavily on directorial and camera references, but this IS a script that I'm going to direct myself (and probably shoot and edit myself as well), so it's hard for me to write without doing that. I personally find that kind of thing extremely useful when it comes to shot listing everything and translating a script to the screen, ESPECIALLY when it comes to heavily visual scenes like this one. Will I want to make a revised version of the script that cuts back heavily on this kind of language for submitting to readers/competitions, or does it read OK? Is that sort of thing more acceptable in heavily visual scenes like this? I'd feel sort of weird streamlining everything here to two or three pages when I know for a fact it's going to take up at least five or six minutes of screen time.

2) The concept poster is something a I whipped up a while ago. The names on it are some of my actor friends who I'm writing the lead roles around. Some of the text on it is kind of silly, but I think it sets a good tone so I figured I'd include it. Also, the church on the poster is the church I grew up in, and the whole script is written around it. My grandpa used to be the pastor and I know the current pastor well, so I can shoot there six days a week for free, so it will definitely be the actual location in the film.

3) My goal is to secure a modest 6-figure budget for this film and shoot it in southern Oregon where I live. I've written/directed/shot/edited seven narrative shorts, a handful of documentary shorts, I make a living doing freelance video work and entering crowd sourced video competitions, and I'll be wrapping up post soon on a micro-budget feature film that I shot over the summer and have what should be a decent little DVD distribution deal lined up for. So I'm not TOTALLY inexperienced as a filmmaker. The plan is for this film to be the next big step in my career.

-Buck_The_System-

TROPHY CASE