My name is William Todd Conklin. I am from the town Gadsden, AL; it is around an hour and fourty-five minutes to the northeast of Tuscaloosa. I am a senior majoring in TCF Media Production with a minor in American Studies. I'll try to provide some facts within, and outside of the context of film/television.
1.) Film has always been incredibly important to me throughout my life. However, that was not the route I had originally chosen. Early on, I had my sights set on working in game design; the field still holds my attention as a story telling medium. That was what drew to it to begin with: the stories. Growing up games were, and still are, great artistic ventures into interactive story telling: playable movies. My favorite game of all time is Bioshock; a game that to me, defines the idea of immersive story telling.
2.) I love to cook. I'm no master chef by any stretch of the imagination, but I do a good job. I'll try to make just about anything once, and I like to start from as close to "scratch" as I can. If I had a specialty it would be breads.
Yumm...
3.) My favorite television show, and I guess I could say production, of all time is Breaking Bad. Although film is a focus of mine, this show has played the largest role in why I want to make any kind of film or television production.
(This clip is graphic; exercise caution before clicking if you are some how unfamiliar with the nature of the show.)
4.) I'm obsessed with the American West. The photography of Edward Curtis is particularly fascinating. I love reading just about anything I can get my hands on about it. I've wrote about it at length as well.
5.) I am a hardcore New England Patriots fan. I have been since as far back as I can remember so don't think I am a band wagon fan. Go Pats!
6.) My favorite cinematographer is Roger Deakins. One of my favorite scenes of all time came from a film he DP'ed: The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
7.) It's hard for me to pin down a favorite film. If I had to pick one that has placed at the top of the list for a few years now, it would be Lawrence of Arabia. The film is pure cinematic brilliance, and this scene blows my mind.
8.) I have a love for the game Magic the Gathering. My favorite card of all time is Darksteel Colossus; it looks a lot like the Iron Giant, which is my favorite childhood film.
9.) My favorite thing to collect is anything Calvin and Hobbes. I have all of the collected works.
10. ) This may be cheating a bit, but oh well. My favorite directors are Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, and the Coen Brothers. These directors craft the stories with the type of palettes, writing, design, lighting, and acting that make me come back for more and more every time.
Bonus: I love a lot of painting as well even though I am not incredibly gifted in the actual practice. My three favorites: Jeremy Mann, Leonid Afremov, and Vincent Van Gogh
Links to Afremov and Mann's work:
http://afremov.com/
http://redrabbit7.com/
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Baking has always been more difficult to me then any other kind of cooking. It's weird that my "signature" dish is spinach puffs then, but that's how it goes. Also, The Life Aquatic is awesome, probably my favorite Anderson film. I would put Klaus on A team.
ReplyDeleteIt's an incredibly difficult process to work on from start to finish. It's so rewarding though to put in that kind of effort, and reap the benefits of the craft.
DeleteYou have great taste in video games and in movies! I personally prefer Doctor Zhivago to Lawrence of Arabia, but they are both fantastic movies. I've only recently been getting into Bioshock, but it is pretty awe-inspiring.
ReplyDeleteI seriously want the first painting that you posted of NYC in my room... all the pieces you posted were beautiful and I'm going to go check those artists out!
ReplyDeleteI think it's very interesting that you started off wanting to do something else, but found a passion in something else. That's a feeling I can definitely sympathize with!
ReplyDeleteCalvin and Hobbes was my childhood. What great idea
ReplyDeleteYES!! Iron Giant FTW! Brad Bird is one of my favorite directors!
ReplyDeleteAnd although, I don't play Magic, I must say that if I did, I would like that card too!
I also really enjoyed the scenes and art pieces you chose to showcase here. They're all really unique, yet striking in different ways. You seem like a really interesting guy with lots of different hobbies and passions!
all of these things are amazing and i want them, but you can keep the patriots!
ReplyDeleteI love Bioshock! I also consider it as an art piece alongside with MGS3, exactly for the opposite reasons!
ReplyDeleteAnd well... Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, Calvin, Breaking Bad, Iron Giant... You're good man, keep up!
I love photography of the American west! So gorgeous, really lets us see the beauty of where we live. I also dabble in painting!! I took a watercolor class last semester
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've agreed more with any other blog so far. Except one thing: J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!
ReplyDeleteBIOSHOCK is the perfect game!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I adore Wes Anderson