360 Bridge Panoramic This is just a series of photos that I took so that I could generate a nice panoramic of the lovely Austin 360 Bridge. The photos were taken on a crisp late winter day. I did my best to wait for all traffic on HWY 360 to pass before taking the individual shots.

Ron Paul Advertising In an effort to help promote Ron Paul around Austin, I bought some plywood and spray-paint and proceeded to cut out 2-foot tall letters of Ron Paul. After I cut all of the letters out with a jigsaw I attached stakes on the backs of them and staked them into my yard. A little bit of red, white, and blue paint at a diagonal, and voila, a Ron Paul sign was born. Klaus and I went out onto Hwy. 360 where they put all of the Christmas trees magically get put up each year. We staked the letters into the ground in that area only to find them taken down the next day. Needless to say, we got them back, and hiked atop one of the bluffs on 360 instead where as far as I know, they have been proudly standing since.

St. Edwards Park The Crockett's invited me out for an afternoon stroll / hike at St. Edwards Park off of Old Spicewood Springs Road (west of 360). I got a bunch of good shots of their dog, Hope.

Jet Boating In Queenstown Though Tisa and I had read about the jet boating trips available, Sean really wanted to take one of the trips and so we all went. The jet boat is basically just a boat that runs like a jet ski. That being said, it is capable of maneuvering in only a few inches of water and can also turn on a dime. The jet boat operators typically perform 360's and the like.

Bug's Birthday After the LaViolette Rehearsal dinner, Dave and I stopped by Jonathan (Bug) and Laura Kennemer's place off of 360 just to say hello to the young lad on his birthday.

A panoramic view of Austin from above the 360 bridge with a scene of Lake Austin.

The Engine Failure The plan was for a solo XC from AUS gt AQO gt LZZ gt BMQ gt AUS Total time planned was 3 5 hrs including FSTB gassing up and eating lunch I think the flight was about 160nm round robin Preflight was completely normal oil was just a tick below 5qt gas looked fine instruments were okay and the mags checked out The left one dropped just slightly below normal so I leaned out the plane for about a minute per our procedure and rechecked it It tested within the norm the second time I departed Austin at 17 51Z a bit behind schedule but I was okay with this Very smooth departure and climb I even got routed over my property and then Mueller so I was really enjoying my views I probably reached my planned altitude of 6 500 just after the towers on Hwy 360 I leaned the mixture out as always waited for the brief drop in RPM and then a few ticks back to the right Around this time I was switched over to Houston Center for flight following on 134 20 photo 21130 521 520 left Climbing past 5 000 feet on my way to a planned 6 500 photo Around 18 35Z just getting over the intersection of HWY 281 in Marble Falls and still at 6 500 feet I noticed the engine was starting to lose power I couldn t hear it or feel it but I saw it on the tach It was dropping about 100 RPM for 1 2 second every 15 20 seconds or so I just began monitoring it and after a minute or so alerted Houston Center to my finding They asked if I wanted to declare any emergency and I said no I just wanted to say it in case the problem got worse and I needed more attention They asked me to keep them updated and business was as usual The problem persisted About 2 5 minutes later the problem got worse and I started noticing the engine dropping about 300 RPM for 1 2 seconds every 15 20 seconds with the 100 RPM drops interspersed between those I immediately alerted Houston Center to the problem with something to the effect of Houston Center Cessna 67796 My engine is definitely having problems now probably going to have to land They quickly started giving me very close attention and asking if I had power and such I replied yes but that the engine was suffering power losses At this time we established that I was a student pilot on a solo XC I had already located a bunch of fields by this time and as HC noted Horseshoe Bay was just a few miles off to my west about my 10 o clock according to Houston Though I tried to remain calm I m sure they could sense some panic in my voice by this time Still I kept doing things as needed and now treated the situation as an emergency assuming that the engine would die at any moment I went through the emergency checklist though it didn t seem to fix the 300 RPM drops I was still communicating with Houston treating the situation as an emergency and the problem was still persisting I definitely had Horseshoe Bay in my sights just a few miles off to the west and was just a little below my previous altitude I informed them that the problem was still continuing and that I would be heading for Horseshoe Bay Though I had them handy I requested the runway configuration airport elevation and the CTAF All three were given to me Just as I started my left turn and about 1 second before my heart would momentarily stop the engine lost almost compete power I can t be sure but it dropped down to about 1000 1200 RPM basically just above idle and held there for a moment before jumping back up At this point I told Houston that I had a more severe problem and that the engine was probably about to die They passed me over to Horseshoe Bay and those guys started bringing me in They cleared out all other traffic and told me either runway was mine for the taking I was still around 5 800 feet at this time PA is 2 100 about 3 miles west of the field and more or less on a perfect left line for a left downwind to runway 35 the preferred runway was for 17 but surface wind was only about 3 kts so I stuck with 35 I told Horseshoe Bay that I would be making a long extension of my downwind in order to lose my excess altitude I probably went about twice as far as normal before turning base doing the best I could to calculate all of the differences quickly in my head The engine seemed to be working with me at this point but I was also making a lot of adjustments to it so hard to know for sure I turned base still a bit too high but plenty far out On final I quickly got down to a good altitude slowed enough for flaps and added a notch The other two notches came in at my discretion as I basically was landing by feeling it out I put it down on 35 and it was actually a really nice smooth and otherwise uneventful landing Taxiing didn t seem to be much of an issue either The guy waved me to a spot and was happy to see me We called Houston Center immediately to let them know and also Flight Service to alter and close my flight plan photo 21110 521 520 left N47796 on the ground at Horseshoe Bay after my failed engine photo

Alive April Chase Alive April Chase is the first movie I ve ever shot on actual film The film is being shot for my RTF314 class on a Super 8 reel strong Script strong Open with computerized credits three o three productions presents hold and fade a film by Kevin Ludlow hold and fade Alive fade April fade Chase hold and fade SCENE 1 the printing press Opening shot takes place in the Daily Texan newspaper room A person is sitting at their desk hard a work on a sketch After a few seconds of shooting they get up and walk out of the room cut Begin in the hallway outside of the door and follow them from the front down the hallway with the paper in their hand cut As they walk into the pressroom we are behind them again following along to a table They reach their hand down to the table cut Do a close shot of their hand setting down the paper on the desk and zoom out as they walk off and someone else picks it up The person who picked it up walks it over to the press machine and appears to be laying it for the copying process cut We follow the press machine along and it should appear that we are following the paper that was just put in cut Do a close up of two of three of the machine processes Finally get a frontal shot of the paper coming out of the machine as it slides down the beltway cut Somebody walks in from the other angle and picks up the stack of papers and sets them down on a desk The person leaves the room and the camera walks over to the papers and up above them In this same shot the camera slowly gets closer and closer to the papers from the top until the shot is completely black and out of focus cut SCENE 2 April Chase We zoom out of the blackened paper and as we do it opens to the comic section We pan over on top of a comic strip titled April Chase The April Chase scene is animated in single frame 12fps mode There will be 360 frames shot or 30 seconds of 12fps animation When played back at 18fps this will appear to be a faster 20 second shot of April Chase moving about cut The paper quickly closes itself up and we see yet another person tying up the papers with rope or twine As they do this a light blinds the camera slowly pan a flashlight at the lens cut This shot is the hardest to film because it is so time consuming The camera sits atop the roof for one hour before sunset Every 20 seconds one frame should be shot After one hour of this 180 frames will have been shot or 10 seconds of a time lapsed sunset the flashlight in the previous shot is necessary to make a smooth cut from the dark shot to the sun shot SCENE 3 delivering We see the paper trucks driving out on their way delivering papers to the boxes cut There is a shot of the driver getting into his truck and backing out cut We are in the street as he pulls into the street as well cut We see him at a Daily Texan box dropping off a stack of papers cut and then at another one cut and then at one more scene fades to black to do this completely underexpose the frame one F Stop at a time SCENE 4 reading the comic scene 4 is subject to change We follow one more person as they make their way in the morning Shoot them walking down the street and picking up a Daily Texan from the stack cut As they open the box door of it the camera appears to be inside of the box but is really behind it We see them reach towards us to pick up the paper cut The camera moves out of the way as the person walks over to a bench and opens the paper The camera is steady in front of them as they chuckle just a bit They throw the newspaper down on the bench get up and leave The newspaper is sitting stuck to the side of the bench due to the wind use a fan and a piece of tape on the back of the newspaper for this shot We zoom into the newspaper once more and again see April Chase cut We go back to single frame animation but this seen will only appear to be 5 10 seconds long at 18fps April Chase turns and looks at the camera and shrugs her shoulders at us fade to black cut No Mas fades into the screen THE END

RTF 314 Taxi Driver Kevin Ludlow RTF 314 Charles Ramirez Berg Allan Campbell October 2 1998 The movie Taxi Driver depicts many forms of violence language and strong sexual emotions especially those of a mere child However according Andrew Sarris the main problem with the movie is not the general controversial topics but rather the way in which the plot has no general structure to it when compared to the character Travis Bickle Robert DeNiro Sarris contests the fact that there is not much information given about the character at all Early in the movie we are told by DeNiro that he is a veteran looking for a job which happens to be for a taxi company in New York We are told nothing else about his past until later in the movie when we find out that he in fact has parents who are alive Again after learning this we still know nothing about his family except that he writes them at least one letter filled with farfetched lies Being a frequent cab rider Sarris also argues the ways in which taxi passengers are represented He makes only a few references but in the movie there are frequent occurrences and discussions about sex and shootings in the cab I think that after riding in cabs for long enough even in New York it is pretty unusual for one cab driver to repetitively have people having sex in his car much less getting shot or stabbed After seeing this movie a few times recently and a few more over the years it is very easy for me to agree with Sarris s opinion of a strange plot structure especially when compared to classical Hollywood cinema style I have heard the idea before that the entire middle of the movie is to be interpreted as a dream but I personally find that hard to believe I find it much easier to handle the idea that Martin Scorsese wanted to depict a taxi driver pulling a complete 360 on his life and essentially fulfill a fantasy of being a recognized city hero only to put his life back together once again It seems to me that the general turning point for DeNiro in the movie is when he sees the way that Iris actress Jodie Foster is treated as a teenage prostitute He eventually confronts her and says that he simply wants to help her get her life back together The way that DeNiro s character changes at this point seems to leave a great deal of confusion in the viewer s mind After buying a small collection of guns to play with completely changing his look and even going as far as inventing an automatic gun dispenser Travis seems to have lost it completely At this particular point in the movie the classical Hollywood cinema style seems to be completely lost from the movie There is no way of knowing exactly what is going on in the movie even after viewing it many times However this lack of understanding does not come from an overwhelming amount of suspense but instead pure confusion At one point Travis seems intent upon assassinating the office candidate but shortly afterwards he leaves the entire idea behind him Perhaps it is because he almost gets caught but it simply destroys any idea the viewer might have for Travis s intentions It almost seems as if he is trying to fight for causes that he will not stick with From the point that DeNiro changes in character it is impossible to figure out what he is trying to accomplish in the rest of the movie or if he is trying to accomplish anything at all He does not have any specific goals that need to be achieved The most obvious defiance of the classical Hollywood cinema style is the use of characters especially at this point in the movie Everyone in the movie seems to be playing the role of an antagonist towards DeNiro except for Jodie Foster who comes across in her brief few scenes as a mere victim of society Even early in the movie Cybill Shepherd s character seems to turn completely against DeNiro simply as a result of a tasteless date When Andrew Sarris set out to write his review back in February of 1976 I do not think that he had the classical Hollywood cinema ideas in his mind However everything that he discusses in his article is in opposition to the classical Hollywood cinema model In his first paragraph about Taxi Driver Sarris proposes several ideas to the reader about who Travis Bickle is supposed to represent This clearly goes against the idea of the character having a general set of traits throughout the movie Throughout his article Sarris explains how the movie has somewhat of an irregular flow to it which I agree with completely This irregularity adds to the lack of conformity to the classical Hollywood cinema model I do not feel that comparing the film to classical Hollywood helps or hurts the authors viewpoints within his article simply because he expresses very general statements about the movie I think that it is safe to say that if a classical Hollywood cinema style never existed in critics eyes that the same would still be said of the movie just because of its incredible lack of conformity to reality I suppose that somewhere in America perhaps even Manhattan there is a man who is similar to Travis Bickle On the same note it would be very hard to understand that person s ideas in everyday life much less cinematically Taxi Driver was released by Columbia Pictures so I am not sure if it is specifically considered a Hollywood release or not Taking an in depth look at the pictures content I would have to say that it was in fact targeted for a specific movie audience but it is hard to say which one It is obviously not a romantic story in any way nor do I think it could be considered an action movie I try not to categorize a movie when I watch it because I think that every film writer or artist for that matter has some meaning that he wants to get across to his viewers It just seems that in this movie it is very hard to tell exactly what meaning the author wants us to get I would personally have to categorize Taxi Driver as a dramatic psychopathic film about a very dynamic character that wants to change the way in which people live Anyone with an open mind would probably love this movie as do I but more close minded people or even people that could not imagine such a lifestyle may not like Taxi Driver Again I do not feel that this film follows many if any at all of the ideas of the classical Hollywood cinema It surprises me that this movie can be so obscure and yet relatively so popular I for one am very pleased to know that this movie did so well for itself despite its obvious lack of general cinematic form