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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2018 12:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Too much stuff going on…..


I contacted CIUT (89.5 FM) on Monday to get rolling on the radio ads that will air on Friday and Saturday before the premiere. Most of their production staff had gone off for the holidays so I would have to make this myself. No biggie as we always did this anyway, but this time it would be all me! So I crafted the script before I went to bed and tested it for time. You can tell if a person is tired in their voice so I decided to sleep on it and record the thing in the morning.



Audio setup for the advertisement!


I set it up with a studio condenser microphone and one of my indoor shotgun mics with a big “cat” on it as my makeshift popper. After several runs I ingested it into my AVID editor and worked on the audio files. This is the final product:


http://fortressoffreedom.com/CIUT_More_Vision_Ad.wav


The contract is set and here are the play times for the ads in a few days:



The advertisement play times!


Samantha will make the official announcement as she is account executive at More Vision. And it does not end there. I will print up Flyer – Version 2 and make another 100 copies. And we shall see how it all goes down the home stretch.


Between all you guys and gals, I think it is mostly a futile effort. We may get some bodies in but it won’t be as I first imagined. But the thing is you don’t stop trying. You don’t stop fighting. Winners never quit and quitters never win – and truer word as never spoken. You just keep at it and hope. So that is what I am doing. And I don’t even have time to flesh things out here either…..



Later…..





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_3l51HXpXM&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 10:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Today is take a break day!


I could hear it in Shane’s voice, he was burned out with promotion so I let it drop. You have to take a break or you start to hate it all. So a breather before the final push to get bums into seats at the Royal Cinema.



Sam wrote:
CIUT Ads for FOF/IAIJ Movie Premiere!



By Samantha Blackwell, Acct. Exec. - More Vision



More Vision Advertising has purchased a block of advertising airplay on Toronto’s CIUT FM radio station! The purchase was a last minute contract to get the word out about FOF and IAIJ’s premiere of their movie The Fortress Experiment and the short Real Life: Real Lives. The Premiere will take place at the iconic Royal Cinema at 608 College Street in Toronto on December 22 (2018) at 7:00pm concluding at 10:30pm. Admission is free!





The radio spots will run from Friday December 21 to Saturday December 22 and here is the actual schedule:





More Vision usually uses Fortress of Freedom artists to create their ads for extra exposure for the artists, but due to time Maurice Ali (President} had to do it himself as production staff was limited at the station because for the Christmas holidays. Here is the advertisement:


http://morevision.ca/CIUT_More_Vision_Ad.wav


More Vision Inc. is a small advertising company that nevertheless does business with the largest media entities in Canada in all media spectrums. The corporation offers advertising to small business and creative organizations that would otherwise have limited access to broadcast media and offers this service at very affordable prices.




http://morevision.ca




MORE VISION: FOR ALL YOUR ADVERTISING NEEDS!




So Sam made the announcement and the ads should appear. Nothing is ever certain and I haven’t even got an acknowledgment email from CIUT but – my experience with radio stations is that they will take any audio file and put it on and charge you the bill 100% of the time. Always! That is just the industry we are in.


What else? Actually there is nothing else as it was just the Movie stuff 100% 24/7. And that will end in a few days. I should craft a speech but I might just wing it as it will be a smaller homey affair for sure. I wanted the big old fashioned theater so this is all on me. But Shane agreed with me that the optics and such do mean something and the first showing in a shotgun shack Cineplex with only a stand up sign near the door with the name of the movie just would not do it for me. A big lighted marquee with the movies right out there on the street is where it’s at! And a 40’ screen with big booming audio! Your own popcorn kiosk at the entrance and all the fixings!


Even if it is just me I already love it! This may be the only real big budget feature length movie for us - and there is about 50 of us involved with the movie - so I want it done right. Then I will let the market forces bring down the crushing reality on the movie’s commercial value. But we still have an out there as this is a documentary with true advocacy as its goal. It deserves this theater!





There I said it! Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/48x3kcC36Ss
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Thu Dec 20, 2018 9:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am now in freefall…..





The Royal Cinema!



This impending disaster to fill seats at the Royal Theater on December 22 at 7:00pm has me in a fight of my life. I can see it now with just me, Shane and the projectionist there all alone In this magnificent refurbished theatre from the 1930s and nobody else there. So I am pulling out all the stops with More Vision to save the day and at least not make the event an embarrassment for all of us there! So we have Now Magazine and the ads on CIUT 89.5 FM. We have flyers at the Universities and even on the streets – But that is not enough!


So we now turn to social media.


IMDB pages for movie and short:

The Fortress Experiment: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8770798/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Real Life: Real Lives: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8942206/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1



Twitter: https://twitter.com/@thefortressexpe


Website: http://thefortressexperiment.com


Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Fortress-Experiment-366246120142632/


Now Magazine: https://nowtoronto.com/events/the-fortress-experiment-82b528a0/


Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maurice_ali



We will start peppering twitter with tweets until the start of the movie. But the big play and the most controversial play is using Facebook analytics to get the word out. Facebook is having a hard time with how much information it uses from people who use the services. But many of users don’t know what it is like on the other side of the curtain, from the advertising side. So I will take a peek behind that curtain as an advertiser for an event and see what Facebook can offer us. Remember, here I am this small nobody having the most difficult time trying to fill seats in a large movie house. I am literally running around with flyers handing them out individually and hoping. In this fall into the abyss is the glowing hand of Facebook offering me salvation (for only 5 dollars a day) if I click a button and start the advertising process. So what do I do? Keep free falling to my death? Or grab the glowing hand of the evil empire and save myself from a horrible end, but partner with a questionable social media giant? In the end I choose life! And before you get too critical of me, what would you do in my situation? The traditional methods of advertising are drying up and social media is now a part of advertising you can’t ignore. So I will look behind the door that says “do not enter” and see what big business sees and report back as any good journalist does.




Right now I am still in freefall…..




Choose life…..




Goodnight…..





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ5-sdHP0YQ&feature=share

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmOzvt2UFBk&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Fri Dec 21, 2018 12:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So like thirty hours left to go…..


Our radio ad campaign got off to a bad start with fail to plays at 9:00am, 9:30am and 10:00am. We did get a play at 11:00am with someone else’s voice – hummmm…. – but it is all good as I’m looking for plays. I emailed the man asking how to rectify this but he may be on a plane somewhere so maybe we have seven plays at bad times and I will just have to push for the usual 2 for 1 plays of our FOF Records generic ad after the holidays.


You may think this would turn me into the male version of bride zilla but the opposite happens. You do get a bit perturbed at first but then just let it wash off like water off a duck’s back. You just stay focused on the jobs at hand and do what you can be keep getting things done. Stock Market crash, lose all equity in your house – I’ll get back to that later….. Just get calmer and more serene as others lose their minds. That is how you lead!


I have to get out and print up some more posters. Then tweet and post more Facebook, and Instagram and Twitter stuff as the usual methods don’t seem to be working to their fullest capacity. I will be happy if I am the only one there. Just me and the most expensive bag of popcorn and the most expensive Coke drink in the world! I’ll just kick back and watch the majesty of some very important advocacy that if successful will enrich everyone’s lives on the earth. That is the big score and not an attendance roll at some theater in the waning days before Christmas…..



Goodnight…..
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sat Dec 22, 2018 12:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I thought about getting some sleep this morning but people keep calling me up about the movie and what it is about – so no sleep for me!



Our show at night!



Our show during the day!


Everything is set and our radio ads are playing and all I have to do is get dressed and down there to prepare for tonight. The strangest part is the interest people have in the idea behind the show. If anything comes from this premiere, it is that the idea behind it has legs! But I have to go as I have no time. Super updates to follow!


And, if you live in Toronto and are sitting at home tonight and watching TV - get your ass down here at The Royal and plant it in a comfy seat and watch some real entertainment. Support a great idea, great people - and - great entertainment!


Wish us luck!
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sun Dec 23, 2018 12:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is actually the third time I am writing this…..




Crib notes on my hand for my speech!



First of all, this was my first film and first premiere and you never forget that one. As such and after the fact I have no regrets going large on this at probably the best venue in Toronto to show your film.





Our show at night!



Now – the reason this is the third write up is that I was warned that there may have been some amateur film critics in the audience and that I should parse every factual statement before publishing it on the web and coming to odds with the critics that don’t – or supposedly don’t – have a stake in it. I got calls about the film early in the afternoon and that is usually a tip off a review is on its way. Apart from four of the cast, all the rest were unknowns straight off the street. An actual crowd of them when I showed up! That was the best part of that night. Seeing them mulling around here and there. I pretended to be one of them just to feel the vibe. Then I admitted who I was and had the staff open the doors to them. And then another surprise as a group across the street ran over and said they were there for the film and came in! That was a great feeling! I was out there with Damion from FOFSTOCK and every time a couple or individual went in I was always surprised and amazed they would want to see my film! So that was the best part for me. They tell me that is a good thing and the best scenario about the film. Facebook and Instagram and Twitter were a complete waste. Petitioning people personally did not get me one bum in a seat there. The only thing that worked was the tried and true, the flyers at the Cinema and especially the radio ads – More Vision to the rescue! It was just bizarre to see the old fashioned methods of advertising work so well in the end! Still, the turn out for people who knew me or worked on the film is not even disheartening but more a curiosity. I would be more pissed off if one person showed but not another, but to basically not have any of them – as in almost not a single one at all, is just bizarre or some psychosocial phenomena going on that needs to be fleshed out.



2K Flat wide screen format!


But anyway, we had a decent walk in crowd. Since I won’t talk numbers (the previous versions talked numbers) I can say honestly we had a better turn out then “Eyes Wide Shut” or even “Mission Impossible: Fallout” when I went to those screenings, though those screenings were not premieres, but we did have more. The other shocker was that most if not all seemed to stay through the entire feature film! I actually could not believe it! You would see someone or a couple get up and walk past you and say “well here we go” but then they would come back and sit down again. Now the film is two and a half hours long so people have to pee or get something to curb that growling stomach so it was not always someone running out of the theater holding their nose or looking for a barf bag. So that part was terrific, but there also could be another reason. Those amateur film critics that go to these amateur film premieres will always stay for the whole film because something could happen in the second half that makes the movie and so on. They will stay if they review the film. So staying the duration does not mean good as it could also mean a scathing review! So we shall just have to see how it all pans out on the Google searches in the days and weeks to come. As we left I looked up at the marquee expecting to see our movies but they had already changed the titles - the premiere was over.



Our "World-Wide Premiere” is over!


Technically the feature film was almost flawless. I only noticed one fade that was either too quick or not rendered and became a cut – but that was it. Audio volumes were fine tending to the louder side which is the current trend. For the short I will change the fonts and keep them all-in one style. Also the curtains seemed to move about in three segments but that is an easy fix. Just a good tune up and then we submit to the shorts contests and see what happens.





Good old fashioned flyers brought in the crowd!



I told Shane to grow some thick skin as the critics may really come down hard on some of our stuff but he seems fine on that score, so we are ready. Going forward I should tell you that we will be including film reviews at IAIJ and FOF in the future. Having made my own film has given me the confidence to start to review other films with my experience in all facets of indie film production. And I will try to garner more film buffs to review for our publication The Fortress in the future.


That is about it for now. I put many Christmas things on hold and now have to make up for it in a hurry.



Later…..
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2018 5:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I’m finally catching up on some sleep…..



I still had to shop and buy stuff and then off on a family get together, but I can catch a few hours here and there and get some sleep. Yes, I have to fight to have time to sleep – it has come to that! I could see the lack of sleep showing on my face, the skin tone looked older and such. I lacked sleep trying to promote the premiere and push back the usual that happens to me whenever I try to do anything on my home turf. I have told all you folk before it is futile to fight the ground war. Well for this one time I made an exception and I failed miserably. All that talk and shoving flyers at people was a one hundred percent waste of time. I figured 160 people I petitioned and not one of them showed! That defies the numbers when I was a salesman, and therein you can see how one could be cursed by anthropological principles. Anthropology always works and trying to defy it is like trying to squeeze water from a stone. I literally had to invoke Thor’s Hammer and buy advertising time on radio to get some bodies into the theater so it didn’t end up a total humiliation…..


The reason the radio ads worked is because I just mentioned the name of the movie and place, location and time and that it was free. There was nothing about me or anything that could “color” the sales pitch, so that worked! Handing out flyers in person has the whole societal structure set up to work against you so that didn’t work – as usual. Social media didn’t work for the same reason – they know who is pushing it and like the flyers failed miserably. So the radio ads worked, but even there at the station they initially refused to play the ads at the start of the campaign, I had to bitch and bark my way to get airplay! The flyers we put up had someone ripping the flyers off the poles and boards! That is what I saw when I put up the last ones the morning before the show. This time I literally mummified those flyers on with tape so that you could not rip them off. It was not the elements as we had some off the main streets and they were solid. This was deliberate and anthropology at work again. I thought it was mostly the date to blame, but even if I had one in the middle of the month of July, it would be the same turnout. So welcome to my world….


So that was the reason I panicked and got a real advertising company to save the day at the last minute. I kept thinking afterward, it could have been as bad as I envisioned. If I had not gone to the airwaves it literally could have been me and 4 cast mates. That actually could have happened! So for those who thought I was being paranoid – no I was not – I have been here before, been there and done that! On my usual conference call on Sunday, Sue was telling me to keep it positive, but, well I did hold back a lot but I have to be honest with you guys here, and this is how my life operates. No women, no opportunities, with the whole of society working against you. It was only when I left Canada that things started to happen to me in a positive way. And so this was one such example…..


Shane and the gang took some photos and here they are:




The FOF gang!




Dave Getchell, Shane and Damion!



I asked two girls at the premiere that were 12 – 14 years old about the movie and was again surprised that they watched the thing from beginning to end! This always totally shocked me! How on earth can I carry the interest of these people for two and a half hours! That is something that literally puts you in an exclusive group of directors! So the movie on its own is an accomplishment, but the environment it has to play in is absolute acid. I have to take this thing to the international stage.


Apart from seeing people off the street coming to the movie because I used broadcast media to save the day, the other best time for me was when I arrived early in the morning for the final flyer taping on College Street and saw the marquee for the first time. Just that stupidly simple moment seeing your creation lit up on the street was a great feeling. Then plastering over the torn up flyers with new ones, your fingers stinging from the cold, trying to defy the inevitable – well – it was still a good feeling. This whole debacle did try me, but it didn’t break me, but I kept to my motto and trying to the bitter end. It does have a carryover effect onto other things and it shows something to the younger members. So it was all good in the end…..


In the end this is no indictment on any one person. This is society at work, it’s systemic like it always was, and is the reason I don’t’ try to change things on the ground. Others have tried and they are all dead now, dead and forgotten with no legacy. So we do it my way with advocacy on the international level disseminating ideas from there. That part seems to work and hold promise. But I hope those of you who think I was over the top about this stuff got to see the whole process in real time. I was not kidding about any of it. I truly worked myself to the bone and got nothing at all out of it, a complete waste. This is what kills the spirit of those visible minorities in societies like the one I currently live in. Trying to fight human nature at its worst is a totally futile endeavor on the ground. You have to bring out its best by fighting this at the other end of the spectrum by good policy – and that was the plan when I started the experiment and still the plan going forward.


Goodnight…..





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BSdoHadj2w&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2018 6:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, I’m catching up on the sleep…..


I’m feeling a bit better about the movie premiere. After every major effort and event there is the immediate let-down you feel and while you rationalize it, it still comes out in how you feel and in what you say. For example, while I was bitching about having to go to radio broadcast to get bodies into the theater, that totally glossed over the fact everyone stayed and clapped at the end of the film and some stood up and clapped and they were off the street and not connected to the production. I can’t see any reason for them to do that unless they were really impressed by the film – so now that things have settled down you think about that part and get a warm fuzzy feeling. It sort of validates all that time and effort you put into the thing. So there was that mellowing out about the whole thing.





Real Life: Real Lives!



I will start to work on the final tune-up for the Real Life: Real Lives short after seeing it on the big screen. I want consistent fonts throughout the film and maybe even go with a new font. And fix the curtains and that should be it. I will just leave the main feature film alone as it is at the point where you fix one thing and something else pops up, it is at that stage now.


So I re-read the last two days posts and I am comfortable with them. That was me restraining myself. People that know me like Sue told me to keep it positive but if someone is constantly stomping on your face or constantly stymieing your ambitions or freedom of expression, I’m not going to thank them and tell them to keep up the good work! I’m going to tell it as it is! But I feel I did so in a rather restrained manner.




United Nations in New York!



I also have to concentrate on the United Nations stuff big time now. No break for me! But I just love how well I engineered Fortress. A conglomerate of corporations that allows me to do whatever I have to do to get the job done. And that job is helping to make the world a better place in a big way. I don’t know anyone who went to the UN like me that has access to the skill set that I have with this organization and these companies at my beck and call. Like with the movie premiere, I could literally get an ad on the airwaves within 24 hours to help me out. The others don’t have access to that kind of reach. And the journalist org gives me the ability to really “stick it” to anyone or any entity that treats us badly or behaves badly. I just love a well designed foundation to mount the type of advocacy play we are in right now! The kid has all his shit together and everything is still in play! It could come to an end overnight, as in literally if they don’t want me at the United Nations anymore. But that is on them. I have the ideas and the organizations and the resources to do whatever I have to do. That part I scored truly BIG TIME! You have to appreciate what I have done so far. I actually have a chance at this. That lands you alone and not physically backed by the multitudes, but this is the way it has to be I guess. So the best thing is just to stay within yourself and make the plays by yourself. The others really can’t add to your ideas and they would probably just be a drag on things at this point. So talk to nobody, and just make the play. The Fates want to see this convergence of ideas and philosophies take place.





The Fates!



Make the play, make the play, and make the play!



Goodnight…..





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg9dhr7h6yI&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2018 3:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A late one today…..


I held off this post because I was too pumped this morning. It would just be this huge narcissistic thing that would make everyone vomit. But I was on a high this morning. I know the movie is good as everyone I talked to has points on how to make the movie better, as in the movie is good enough they actually see how to make it even better as opposed to feeling it was a piece of crap that needs to be started over or abandoned. After Christmas dinner one teenager who was there spent 50 minutes with me on the movie and how to improve it. She actually had notes! And the criticisms or problems need to be addressed were spot on. She found an audio problem in one spot. I went there on my editor later on and found the spot and she was spot on with the hiss. The only thing I could do was drop the volume as I raised it for some side comments to be brought up to normal dialogue levels but if hiss was noticeable I dropped them to the levels they were recorded at, and so on. Everyone thinks the audio levels are fine so that stays at -3db!


I went to Dave’s place to drop of his royalty check and he made me come in and sit down and actually gave me some real constructive criticism on improving the movie. Mostly one part where I could actually cut things down without cutting anything out. That should be my motto: Cut down but don’t cut out! Anyway the vibe was that they actually enjoyed the movie and watched it through to the end and think it has potential so they went the extra mile to discus where they think it should be improved. So – I will make the minor changes I wanted and make another DCP. Later after the UN stuff, I will maybe take another look at re-editing the movie with the idea of cutting down but not cutting out anything in the present film. This just cuts down the run time without cutting out anything important as I cut it to the bone already.





JVC camcorder from 1987!



I was so stoked after Dave’s visit I bought a greasy spoon breakfast in honor of my late departed best friend, and celebrated with that looking at parts of Interstellar which is also long – but they needed millions of dollars of special effects and big name actors to keep people in their seats; while we used nobodies with no budget at all but still kept those bums in those seats for 147 minutes! While waiting on the meal I popped over to Value Village and bought a used up camcorder from 1987 for 13 bucks that included the power cord and adapter. So I played with that this morning also and will go on the shelf in the studio to enhance the ambience of the place.


I did talk to people about the guys that keep coming up to me for help in their music and cinematography. So we may start to look toward helping out in our community that way and also drawing money for those areas that fund these projects. We will not change anything in how we do things and if the funding sources don’t like it we will just have to find other ways to get money. IAIJ will get nothing and we won’t even try as that is too risky and against that culture and its philosophy. But the corporate production houses and labels can go there, so we shall see. Bottom line is I was on a very upbeat mood but wanted to keep things restrained again. And that is why you got a late post today…..



Later…..
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2018 7:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well it looks like the movie is better than we thought…..


Now that the theatre premiere has past, a bunch of people now want to do some critical analysis of the thing. That is why I have held back on making a final statement or review of the film. It may be to our advantage to keep the premier as more of a shakedown look at the film than the final finished cut. I personally want it to stay the world premiere as that was how it happened even though originally it was just supposed to be a full screen test.


But there is interest and that has unfortunately restarted interest in going back “hat in hand” to some folk I know and see if there could be the possibility of some TV distribution. The stuff we usually do which is middle of the night broadcast - that sort of thing. Something’s never die…..


But we shall see where that takes us. For Thursday we submit the revised Real Life: Real Lives short to the Toronto Shorts Film Festival and see if anything happens there. My involvement is not so obvious, so the short may actual have a shot at it.






Me prattling about stuff before - me prattling about stuff after - some find this compelling!






But I will go through the laborious task of rendering and making another DCP and then 720p DVD for the people to check out and see where that takes us. Life would have been so much simpler if the film was a dud, a turd, as I could just move on; but there is interest and I just keep getting strung along to an uncertain end. We did the story arc with me first at the UN and a freeze frame and then how I got there but a chronological order where the UN stuff comes up as the big surprise is far more effective to the impact of the story. This is because a guy prattling about stuff on a park bench at the beginning and at the end prattling about the same stuff in General Assembly in the United Nations is far more compelling as a story line. The start and end are literally in two different universes! So if the people really can stay put at the start then we may go back to chronological and also save some time there as well. We shall just have to see what unfolds…..



Goodnight…..
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Maurice Ali



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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Fri Dec 28, 2018 8:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Punching stuff out soaking in the tub......


For Friday I’m just taking it easy. I caught up on the sleep and now just recharge over the weekend. I lost almost a day in rendering the movie with the changes as I was rushing out the door and basically the computer and hard drives just sat there idle. They are now doing their thing and two days from now I should have the 24p JEPG2000 file and then make the DCP.

Speaking of DCPs I should call The Royal and get those DCPs back and may as well be today. That is if they are there in the morning. I also have to switch back the index corporate pages back from the movie advertising currently on them. So we go back to the FOF registered trademark logo again. May as well update the copyright statement to 2019 also.


What else?


I should cut some of our advertising radio ads for you to listen to. No, my cheesy little minimalist spot didn’t cut it and they made a proper ad like they were supposed to. So I have to cut those clips for you to hear. Whatever, the ads worked or I would really have been piss off that night.


Squirrels in the attic and I have to do something about that. Mostly just start on the UN stuff. That is all happening in the next few weeks. The expansion of FOF productions will keep happening. We keep meeting disenfranchised folk from the performing arts and can deal them back into what they love - a least in a part-time way - that will all sort itself out in the spring.


I also rated videos I watched when I was stressed out and number one was the Fallcie Rock’N’Rolla video I bitched about cause it had too many White guys with dreadlocks and tattoos. Now this band is Russian from St. Petersburg. I love this music video and was the reason I cut it up originally. Real professional work. He shot it on an Arri which even the cheapest is like 36 thousand. But it shows as much of it is shot right into the morning light for effect (yes, it was intentional) and works peaking around the artists and showing up those dreadlocks. He over cranks, under-cranks, freeze frames, and jump cuts the skateboarding and breakdancing and makes it seem effortless. Even the female lead is dolled up by a professional makeup artist that took a plain girl and made her this exciting babe. I kept wondering why her eyes popped so much in the video so I freeze framed it and she has this massive line of turquoise near the center of the eyes and black mascara everywhere else - it really works! The director just keeps shoving his talent in your face which is a bit off putting and yet undeniable (the way I like to do things). He even took the song and remixed and mastered it for the music video. Just first class work! I would delete the production house splash screen at the start as the band is center stage. I was impressed and the slate in the end gave me the information to check the dude out. But that could just be a cultural thing since this is Russian and not North American. Yup, but that was my go to vid when I needed a break!


Goodnight.....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYPoHBzmk18&feature=share
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sat Dec 29, 2018 11:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow, this is the first weekend I am feeling normal and back to the usual lifestyle!


So the end of the year approaches and I completely forget for months about the big score this year and that was the completion of my fantasy of being a “man of the world”. There was no doubt about this when I sent a package to the Kingdom of Bhutan with a solution to a social issue they had and wanted to improve. Unlike the package I sent to His Holiness, Pope Francis; this one had a specific idea that would solve something for their country. It was me as an individual addressing a nation with an idea that could possibly help them in a big way – and that my friends is a “man of the world”, no if ands or buts!


But I completely forgot about this with all the other stuff! But yes, that quiet little thing was so huge and identity forging – but there it was this year!



A simple quantum computer at IBM!


You disseminate the idea and never get word back. It happened at IBM. Just a few days ago I opened up my account that allowed me to use their quantum computers and found that the program IBM refused to run was now deleted from the account leaving just the test program I did first. The program they refused to run was this specific bit of “gobbly gook” that meant nothing but would be fodder to the computer to see if the usual error messages would come up or whether the computer would keep trying to make sense of it. I am sure even if they did not run it for me, that someone somewhere would have run it privately, and the fact it has mysteriously disappeared proves this to me now! I don’t care about who gets credit for that if it is significant. The point was to disseminate the idea and have someone, anyone at IBM run with it and do something with it. I don’t have the time or the educational acumen to fully flesh out this stuff and write a paper and have it tested by the computing community and all that. I employ guerrilla idea dissemination tactics. Get in and get out! So if someone at IBM did something with it - all the better.




This was all that was left in my account - very funny!





One of the available quantum computers back then - they are much larger now!



I hope you see how the idea of dissemination of ideas works. I love it. This is what I seem to do best. For the positive mandate though, I really would like some form of official recognition that I disseminated the thing at the UN. Call it narcissistic or self-obsessed, it would be nice to see all that work to prop up an important idea finally given a proper moment at an important venue to be recognized and presented. What happens after that is up to them. But I would very much like that moment to happen to me. We will find out in a few weeks if I get the chance…..




Goodnight…..
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 8:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I’m finally getting ready to put the movie stuff to bed as the final DCP is being made and it says another 52 hours to go….. After that revisions only take about 90 minutes but the scaling and audio mixing added together take that long.


For Sunday I should finally put out the official thanks to the production and world premiere of the films and get that done before the end of the year. Right now it is all about the UN stuff. I will harvest the video clips from the movie and format them for best viewing on a power point presentation and see how viable that is. I will also hone that speech just in case I get the opportunity to speak to the Commission for Social Development. As you can see the side event and speech are not sure things but you have to start and get working on them ahead of time. That is just the way it goes – as in no guarantees folks. But if you get the opportunity you score big! But for now I’ll do that. I’ll also finish replacing those movie premiere images on the remaining websites with their usual icons and be done with it.


I’m just catching up on things and getting back into the groove. I’m eating better and starting to stretch and trim down. Because the next few weeks are important now matter how involved I get, I will be there. There is snow on the ground now, and this was the day I was to put the sump pump away for the year - things like that. I should just be saving my pennies for retirement but I do this instead. I’m not destitute so it is all good, but how different is my life than my contemporaries…..




Goodnight…..
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Mon Dec 31, 2018 8:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I want to end 2018 on an upbeat note so here goes…..


The only thing I think about now is going to the United Nations in February and expressing myself on the issue of social inequality and by extension the idea that not being able to freely express yourself makes you unhappy, the reverse of which is giving one the fullest ability to express themselves makes them happy. In every facet of society this principle would appear to hold true especially with regard to social inequality. My inability to date and such because of my race was a lack of my freedom of expression to empress myself in society by developing socially and showing that expression socially. This extends to the girls who were interested in me but could not move on those desires due to systemic racism and societal pressures. My ability to not proceed academically is an infringement on my freedom of expression to develop mentally due to systemic racism. This isn’t even a question as a high school teacher took me aside to tell me I was being deliberately streamed out of university for no reason but racism and that a group of the younger teachers fought against this and were successful. I shouldn’t have to prove all this again to you who frequent here. But you get the idea. My problems of getting into a career due to systemic racism – again – impacts my freedom of expression in my work world and thus made me unhappy. And on and on…..


So while I may not slouch my way to Bethlehem, I am slouching my way to the Commission for Social Development at the United Nations in New York City. And if they give me freedom of expression to speak there, maybe, just maybe, the idea I disseminate there may move societal development for humanity a small notch forward.


You may ask how arrogant I am to think I can go there without any PhDs and endorsements from governments or big business, but this is precisely the point. In the arena of ideas and philosophies it is the ideas that matter and are argued one on one based on merit. It does not matter if one talking head represents some large country with huge armies and nuclear ability and all the rest. The other talking head with nothing to back that person up is still on an equal footing with them all! That person has a chance. That is if they are let into the arena in the first place. I found a way around that, but this is still a subjective thing to get and I always sucked at the subjective judgment. But we shall see. I don’t need a piece of paper to tell people I am smart. I don’t need people with money or power as an endorsement, I don’t need the blessings of nation states, in fact our organization was started with welfare moms and homeless people (the disenfranchised); all I need is the ability to express myself – something continuously denied to me all my life. And that is what it comes down to, and that is why I am going there.


2019 should be an interesting year!




Goodnight…..
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 14 Nov 2003
Posts: 7655
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Jan 01, 2019 1:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The start of the New Year means starting anew and for me it means closing the book on the movie stuff for the time being and concentrating on the UN stuff…..



Maurice Ali wrote:
World Premiere Screening of The Fortress Experiment!




By Maurice Ali - The Fortress Experiment / Real Life: Real Lives






Our show listing on the marquee during the day as we were getting prepared for the screening!



On December 22, 2018 Fortress of Freedom and IAIJ opened the doors of The Royal Cinema to cast crew and general public for the World Premiere of the documentary “The Fortress Experiment” and the short that followed called “Real Life: Real Lives”! The Fortress Experiment is a feature length documentary about a typical community of people given the chance to be all they could be and the result was some insight into what is important in our lives and how we should all live our lives. The short Real Life: Real Lives is a 17 minute documentary on street youth in the Toronto area.







Our show at night on the marquee of The Royal Cinema!



As the producer and director for both films it would be inappropriate for me to make and subjective statements about the actual reviews of the films, but I can take this time to thank the cast and crew who made these productions possible. There are many as in about 50 all told on both productions. You can check out the full castings and credits on the links below. Certainly the core group that helped me launch the experiment need to be named and these include: Dan Strudwick, Michael Atkinson, Dave Getchell, Shane Murphy. I would also like to thank all the support staff such as Samantha Blackwell, Laura Tommasone and Jessica King at FOF and IAIJ for their tireless help. Like I said, there are too many to list individually, but all are to be congratulated on a job well done.





Our film on a 40' wide screen (that red light is an exit sign))!




The Fortress Experiment is not only entertainment, but advocacy to promote a great idea! In the coming months and even years I hope this film gets a broad screening to educate and entertain discerning viewers around the world! Once again, many thanks to everyone who came out for this World Premiere, you people are the best!




The Fortress Experiment (IMDB): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8770798


Real Life: Real Lives (IMDB): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8942206


http://thefortressexperiment.com


http://iaij.org




FORTRESS OF FREEDOM: BRINGING THE MASS MEDIA TO THE MASSES!




The fortress Experiment is over! The closing curtains after the premiere was as symbolic as it got! And - BTW - I love that we got this old fashioned theater that could do that! But I took a long hard look at it in the theater and made some minor changes with input from the movie goers and came up with revised film that together took almost 100 hours of render time. The final DCP for the main move was done this morning and then I made the one with all the technical add-ons and that took like another 90 minutes. Now all I have to do is review the thing for any new problems and that will be the new DCP. I will start by watching it until I get fatigued looking for dropped frames and such, then get some greasy chicken dinner with a salad, and then watch another chunk, and if necessary watch the rest later. But hopefully the thing should be good to go later today! Then all I have to do is get the DCPs from The Royal Cinema and load the new DCPs onto the hard drives and we are good to go….. I will also ask The Royal Cinema for a proper receipt with the films on it and the play date so it anyone questions the screening I have the proof right there.


One thing I never got around to was letting you hear the actual radio ad on CIUT FM (89.5 in Toronto) it was not my miserable concoction. Here it is:



http://fortressoffreedom.com/Movie_Premiere_Radio_Ad.wav



But it is all the UN now and I will have to apply to possibly speak to the Commission in the coming days. Nothing is for certain but we always try our best. We shall just have to go through the motions and see what if anything we get and take it from there. The uncertainty is nerve wracking but it reminds you that you are still alive, you still have an open future and anything can happen. At my age that is a rarity. It won’t last forever, so just enjoy the ride, the adventure, because nothing lasts forever…..




Later…..
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