thisisBIG

This picture is symbolic.

See that palette, how it's shattered? It's symbolic.

Yesterday was HUGE and I didn't even realize it until it happened. I'll show you why. WATCH:

thisisstuttering :: official teaser trailer from Morgan Lott on Vimeo.

This is the teaser trailer for my documentary, thisisstuttering. This is a project that has been in the works for months (or if you want to get specific, 22 years). thisisstuttering deals directly with my own speech impediment, a stutter that has plagued me for years. The film documents that progress made during the summer of 2012 as I went through another round of speech therapy.

We've been working on it a while, the content is not new. I've seen it all, been editing it, talking about it, working through it. We produced this teaser and it turned out great. I was excited to release it. And then the moment came to make it public. I released the teaser and shared it on facebook, and then IT HAPPENED. At the moment, I became mentally disheveled. I could never have expected what happened and I will attempt to explain it through words. When a person "suffers" from a speech impediment, the automatic instinct is to hide it, to mask it, to deal with it any way possible to prevent people from noticing. We stutterers develop habits to get around certain words, to push through blocks, to avoid potentially dangerous situations. Since I was a kid, I decided I would not let my stutter control me, I would not let it stop me from doing what I wanted to do. Obviously, having a stutter made things difficult, but I tried to push through as best I could. Nevertheless, I never introduced myself as a stutterer, I never associated myself with the problem. People would notice when they noticed and I didn't point it out.

When I released this teaser, a made a MASSIVE realization: I am letting the entire world know I have a stutter, a quality of myself I have been trying to hide with all my might for 18+ years. Unreal. I flipped out, I had to play drums real real loud for a long long time. I laid on the ground. I sighed a whole bunch. My heart was beating nonstop for 3+ hours. And the weirdest part about it was it was COMPLETELY unexpected. Even in the moment of realization, I feel like it was my subconscious freaking out. There are so many complex incricacies to this speech impediemtn that have formed my character and who I am today, many of which I have never processed. The release of this teaser is the beginning of the process of process.

I don't know if my words do the feeling justice. No idea.

When the teaser was made public, I immediately headed to facebook to tell the world. The responses shocked me:

I can't explain the significance of these comments. The response to this project has been simply unblieveable, I'm overhwelmed. The fact so many people are intrigued/interested/curious/loving a topic that is socially so frustrating/confusing/embarrassing/mocked is INCREDIBLE.

I only have one thing to say: I can honestly say I do not have a clue what is going to happen with thisisstuttering. It feels like a volcano getting ready to erupt, it's impossible to know how wide an impact this is going to make. I'm immensely excited and dangerously frightened to see this film take shape.

If you want to keep up to date with thisisstuttering, please visit http://thisisstuttering.com and "like" on facebook.com/thisisstuttering

You'll be hearing a lot about this is the coming months, so GET READY. Unreal.


There are a few other reasons why this week is immensely important, but unfortunately, I can't quite share with public ears.

I'll give you a screenshot and keep it vague, the same why I kept vague on the twitter-sphere.

 

And here's just a vague phrase to help trigger my memory in the future days/months/years:

Wait 6 months, read, FINALLY, that was easy #mf

And there you have it.

THE BLOG POST OF DECEMBER 5, 2012. 

This week be cray, y'all.

Take a trip to somewhere you don't normally go. Hike to the top of a hill. Walk in a ditch. Roll in the mud. Jump on a trampoline. Use a pay phone. 

Ness, Busy

So it is summer. Sure is. Let me tell you, it's been nonstop. If you know anything about me, know me personally, or don't know me at all, you probably know I am just a tad busy... all the time. Once the semester ended (which ended spectacularly, by the way. It's always interesting saying goodbye to friends, classes, housing, and the campus. For the time being.), the work load did not slow down. I have realized that approximately 20% of the work I do is actually school work, 80% being other "stuff," personal projects, weddings, photography, web design, and everything else. So, that said, the removal of "school" from my schedule honestly did not change the makeup of my life all that much. BUT, I'm not complaining. I am immensely blessed and honored to be able to capture life in the Morgan Lott perspective. EVERYTHING is a learning experience, whether is fails miserably or succeeds with flying colors. Learn, adjust, improve, share. GO.

For two of the four weeks we have been out of school, I have spent my time at Hume Lake Christian Camps. That place, phew. Gets me every time. I worked there as a "video guy" during the summer of 2010. Here was my farewell blog post after the summer came to a close:

http://emliv.blogspot.com/2010/08/summer-it-up.html

That place has a big ol' part of my heart and I wouldn't be half the man I am today with our Hume's influence. I went up orientation week to help my sis Ms. Melanie Lott move in, she's working at Hume 'n' Beans, the coffee shop, this summer. Mr. Isaac Svensson then came up so I chilled for the week with him, working on Mawwiage Films stuff. I spent the majority of the time in the media office, my old stomping grounds, working working working (thank you to the media staff for allowing me to sit in there, you certainly didn't have to) on personal projects. I worked my tail tail tail off on the brand new Mawwiage Films website which is right here for your enjoyment!

http://mawwiagefilms.com

And also this video featuring Mr. Greg Ramey.

Greg's Testimony from Morgan Lott on Vimeo.

Orientation week was funny. It was WILD being at Hume, around staff, during orientation week, during the week the staff are learning what to do and how to work their jobs. I worked in the office, I ate in staff dining, I met lots of staff members, I felt like I was legitimately on staff. But I wasn't. And then I left. Bizarre experience. Fun experience. Worthwhile experience.

And then two weeks later, I went back. Every summer, my family spends a week up at Hume Lake in a cabin that runs in the family. Every summer for my entire life, I have spent at least a week at Hume, basking in the place that many people classify as "the best place in the world." Like I said, blessed and honored. This week was different though, I spent very little time engulfed in the staff life. I spent a lot of time at the cabin, a lot of time working on the Hume 'n' Beans deck, a lot of time working on the Snack Shack deck.  I intentionally kept my distance from the "I feel like I'm on staff because I'm so involved!" moniker and kept to the "I worked here 2 years ago and it was great, let's reminisce" moniker. Very different week, equally as great week. It was FANTASTIC being able to use the wonderful outdoors, the forest, the lake, as my office. It was FANTASTIC working at a table by myself, and then a new friend approaches and asks to sit, establishing a relationship. It was FANTASTIC watching rec, seeing campers, seeing staff, all enjoying Hume Lake to it's fullest. It was FANTASTIC being with my fam bam at our cabin, playing games, sittin around, straight up relaxin. It was FANTASTIC seeing old friends, meeting new friends, and laughing a little bit. It was FANTASTIC getting a day full of the extravagant talents of the voice over pro Mr. John Olson. It was FANTASTIC getting blasted with some of the best weather I've every experienced at that lake. It was FANTASTIC seeing some absurdities at Open Mic Night, laughing about the most ridonkulocity Open Mic talents such as running on a treadmill or reciting the list of 1997 top 25 action movies with my little bros Mr. Connor Lott and Mr. Spencer Lott, celebrating Ms. Kaitlyn Bodin's birthday with a spontaneous midnight jump in the lake, and being taught how to handshake by Ms. Jessica Whitney and Ms. Kacie Johnson. It was FANTASTIC leaving Hume with a straight up ridiculous electro/lounge/hip-hop cd that blasts all other music out of the water.

FANTASTIC.

We'll see if I make it back again this summer.


And then we made it down to Reedley to celebrate my Great-Grandpa Walter Warkentin's 97th birthday, as well as send off my cousins the Hiett's as they are moving to Oklahoma in a matter of weeks. When the whole extended family is together, it's nothing short of a great time!


SOOOO this summer's been busy! I'm just going to embed some videos for your enjoyment:


CROOK: my final project for my Typography II class at Biola:


CROOK from Morgan Lott on Vimeo.


and five Mawwiage Films Teasers!


Karley & Lauri Mase :: Teaser from Mawwiage Films on Vimeo.



Bradley & Taylor Zeller :: The Teaser from Mawwiage Films on Vimeo.



Mr. & Mrs. Wilson Teaser from Mawwiage Films on Vimeo.



Carter & Chelsea Sapp :: teaser from Mawwiage Films on Vimeo.



David & Stella :: The Teaser from Mawwiage Films on Vimeo.




You know what that means right? 5 Mawwiage Films Moments that coming up real quick. YIKES! Gametime.







So that's how this summer is looking this far. Pretty wild, man. Like I said, this summerz NUTZ!


Whether your summer is or is not NUTZ, enjoy it with all you got. Serious!

Goes

What. A. WEEK.  Not sure where to start, what to say, what to do.

I guess I'll just run through a few things:

Thursday: On Thursday, I had the wonderful opportunity to work with the folks at Hume Lake Christian Camps down in Long Beach to produce a video highlighting the mission field right in your backyard.  We spoke with Pat and his wife who go out on the streets of Long Beach every Thursday and simply provide a place for the homeless to "hang out."  Pat provides coffee and various other treats and simply loves the homeless of his community, being a friend to the hopeless, displaying the love of Christ through his encounters.  It was a really interesting time and the video will be a fun one to work on.  Thanks Hume for having me!

Friday: On Friday, I went to Burbank with my pop to put money away for my retirement.  From what I've heard, it's a good thing (and practice) to get into.  I'm 20 now, growing up.  60 isn't all that far away.  Following? I don't know if you remember me talking about a particular website competition.  "The Crexendo Website Competition is an event in which individual students or teams of students compete to design, manage, and launch a fully functional website using the eCommerce Content Management System (CMS) software provided by Crexendo." - http://up.crexendo.com/biola

Biola University, the university I attend, allowed Crexendo to come in a sponsor a massive website contest.  Naturally, with a budding business building in Mawwiage Films, MF entered the contest, spent many many hours perfecting and allocating the webspace, and waited.  Friday was the awards ceremony held at the Immagination Summit at Biola.  I honestly didn't know what to expect going into this thing, I was hopeful, but couldn't pin it down.  I'll just cut to the chase: MAWWIAGEFILMS.COM won FIRST PLACE!  Not only bragging rights, but also a pretty hefty cash prize of $7500.  $7500?  $7500!  Here's the cool thing: because of this website and the adjoining competition, MF has put itself on the map, meaning investment is now required to improve our company, meaning the majority of the cash prize is going towards equipment, advertising , and other business like things.  The hope?  The investment will pay off in the long run.  CRAZYYYNESS.


Saturday: On Saturday, Mawwiage Films had the opportunity to capture the beautiful wedding of Mr. Adam Rivadeneyra and Ms. Karielle Saario.  It was a pleasure to be given the chance to record the events of this special day.  Are you ready for a tease?  SHOOT: 


Adam & Karielle: A Teaser from Mawwiage Films on Vimeo.

http://mawwiagefilms.com/​rivadeneyra

Get pumped for the finished product, we've got three coming your way!



GREAT story right here.


Mr. Isaac Svensson's laptop computer has a half-busted screen that he has dealt with for weeks/months (I don't know, I'd have to ask him).  Finally, it was time.  Mr. Svensson headed to the Apple Store to finally fix his frustration.  The way the Apple Store works, especially  with inquiries, is through appointment.  I believe it's called the Genius Bar (I don't know, I'd have to ask them)?  For whatever reason, Mr. Isaac Svensson, Mr. Kenny Becker, and Mr. Drew Eccleston (who had appointments as well) arrived late at the scene, too late to salvage their appointment times (I don't know why, I'd have to ask them).  I am relaying this story, so this is where it gets a little gray: something happened to where Mr. Becker received a new time, but Mr. Svensson did not.  Mr. Svensson then proceeds to speak with the Apple representative, explaining the situation, asking if there is anything he can do to pick up an appointment.  The rep proceeds to tell him there is little he can do, naturally.  So Mr. Svensson asks if the rep could at least call him if a appointment is cancelled or something opens up or anything else of that nature.  The rep agrees, so Mr. Svensson pulls out one of our Mawwiage Films business cards and hands it to the rep.  At this point, the rep reaches into his pocket and fumbles around in his wallet.  He laughs and pulls out of his wallet OUR BUSINESS CARD.  Turns out, this particular Apple representative was Mr. Louie Huesmann, the new rec guy for Hume Summer 2011, the same Mr. Heusmann who I had worked with in Long Beach the night before, the same Mr. Heusmann who I handed my business card to.  There are two people in the world who carry that business card around with them, and Mr. Louie Huesmann ran into both of them, separetly, in completely unique situations, having no idea Mr. Isaac Svensson and myself were affilated.  Perfect.

To end the story, Mr. Svensson's laptop computer is in the shop getting fixed.  Rockin.




And that's the post.  Some words!  That's a somewhat rarity!  Wow!


In other news, the year is ALMOST OVER.  Spring Break is next week, then it's just a few short weeks after that.   WHAT?






Have a brilliantly brilliant day.

The Reds

Oh boy howdy, do times roll.  Day's are crazy, weeks are crazy, months are crazy, years are crazy.  You may ask "What are you talking about?" and I may answer "I don't really have a clue, I'm just kind of blabbering."  Let's just put it this way, life is flying at 1,000,001 miles an hour, it's wild.  Just recently, the Fall 2011 class list was released so naturally we all began sorting out our schedule for next semester.  Didn't this semester just start? Yes. So fast, so fast.  Next semester is bound to be an interesting one, I'm looking forward to it.  I'm also going to learn how to cook, like, well.  We're going to have a kitchen in our apartment, so we, the 4 of us, are going to become culinary chefs and make some foods.  Now we just have to see if we'll actually do it.  Top Ramen may replace us top chefs.  Perserverance.


So today I am spending most of the day sitting behind the computer.  It's okay.  That is what happens when you major in film and minor in graphic design.  I'm wearing sweats today for the comfortability factor.

As a segway, Mawwiage Films has been busy!  You know we went to Scotland two weeks ago and then last week we had the privilege of capturing the now Mr. and Mrs. Matt Mongeon wedding in beautiful La Jolla.  Great experience?  I'd say so.  Plus we had the pleasure of working with Nate Goins, a good friend from the Hume days.  Want a few teasers?  Well here you go, here's a few teasers:

http://mawwiagefilms.com/ichikawa

Jonathan & Carrie: A Teaser from Mawwiage Films on Vimeo.

http://mawwiagefilms.com/mongeon

Matt & Emily: A Teaser from Mawwiage Films on Vimeo.




There you have it.  Expect another one next week!  It's really been a blasting working with these couples, they are all so unique!



I've got a few videos for you know, hope you like music, music drives.  This first video is just simply incredible.  Don't know how long it took, don't know how they did it, the end result?  Beautiful.






That was beautiful.  Know what else is beautiful?  This video.  This is Eric Whitacre's "Sleep" performed by 2052 separate people throughout the world, performing via their webcams on youtube.  This video/song is INCREDIBLE.  I've listened to it 10 times at least in the last few days.  YESSS:






And here's Eric Whitacre himself talking about the project.  Incredible. Simply incredible.







And that's it.  Sorry if the content was kind of lacking today, video video video!  Nothing wrong with that, yeah? 



I hope you have a marvelous day.  Enjoy the sun, enjoy the wind, enjoy life, drink some water, hydrate.

Midweek

It's Wednesday again, the middle of every week.  I must admit, I do not have much enthusiasm for this post.  Call it laziness, I just don't really feel like writing it, messing with it.  Consider this a life lesson; sometimes, you need to do things you just don't want to do.  I know this is a crummy example of that, but it applies nonetheless.  Life lessons, good stuff.

This week has been good.  It has consisted of traveling and seeing family members that I do not see on a regular basis.  My extended family is incredibly fun to be around, every member is a unique in their own way, and when you combine every unit of the production, you just get a party.  It's a good time.

That was my week, now I have a few days until I head back to Biola to take 3 weeks of español, basic immersion. 




HEY! I've got a surprise for you.  I just recently launched my website, it's still in development, the kinks are being worked out and more elements are being added, but hey, check it out now!  Might as well, huh? 

http://morganlott.virb.com


and now,

I've got two fun videos for you.


1st.

One of the couple days I was at home, I went with my family to the local Brunswick bowling alley.  It's weird situations like this that spark my creative fire, don't know why, so here's what I did.  I told my family "I have this video camera, I'm going to put it down on the table, at any time, you can pick up the camera and film anything you want under one condition, you must show your face first so I know who is taking the footage." I proceeded to show how to work the camera and all that jazz, and off we went.  Little did they know, the "show your face first" part was the only part I cared about.  Check this out and you'll see why:






2nd.

If you read the post THE STORY (http://emliv.blogspot.com/2010/12/story.html), you know that a wedding took place.  If you read the post THE STORY, you also know that Mr. Isaac Svensson and I captured the wedding videographically.  Want a tease?


R + M Wedding Teaser from Morgan Lott on Vimeo.

12+11+10

Randy & Megan Marshman

Encinitas, CA








That's the post ladies and gentlemen.  Sorry if it's not all you hoped it might be.  Sorry if it's lacking on the content.  Here's another life lesson: life's a rollercoaster.  There's ups and downs and it doesn't stop, it keeps going, there's a big ol' surprise right around the corner.

I must have just hit the bottom of the bunny hop.



Have a delightful day.  Tell someone what your favorite color is.  Mine's charcoal.