Day 340

Today was the 20th Annual Reel Loud Film Festival and we screened California! It was also the day that I did the scariest thing I have ever done. And someone got the whole thing on tape!


Reel Loud is a tradition at UCSB, it's the biggest event of the year for the film department and, at least for me, it's the most fun thing on campus. Students work hard for months making 16mm silent films, and if accepted to the festival, they have a live band perform a musical score at the festival. It's a total blast.

My film has been over three months in the making. First, I got film and rented a camera for my road trip. Then we went on some adventures. I took the film to LA to get it developed, and then started editing it in my kitchen. Once it was accepted, I gathered some of my friends together and made a band. Tonight, it all came together and we screened it to the masses.

After last quarter, I was starting to feel like I couldn't get nervous anymore, so this quarter I decided to seek out the things that would freak me out. So I decided to sing during my film. It was the scariest thing I have ever done. I don't sing in front of other people, I think my biggest crowd has been 15 people around a campfire. Before my film screened, there was a dance act performing, and I had to sit onstage, ready to play, while they were up. As they were dancing, I sat on an amp, guitar in hand, and looked out to the crowd. Campbell Hall sold out (it was the first time in 6 years that Reel Loud sold out!) and there were 800 people looking back at me. 1600 eyes. Have you ever had 1600 eyes look at you? I was freaking out. I was sitting because I was afraid that if I stood I would pass out.

The dance troupe finished and the stage went black and our cue came. Thankfully, I had a lot of friend in the audience, so hearing "Aaron I want your babies" made me loosen up a bit (thanks for that Captain!). I was definitely nervous, but at about halfway through, I stopped looking at the screen, looked out at the audience, realized how cool of a moment this was, and decided to own it. And I think you can tell in my voice, or at least I can.

When it was all over, I had the craziest high. It was such an awesome experience and I'm stoked on how it turned out. After the show, I got two compliments from some different people and they made me incredibly happy. First, someone told me that they had been to a lot of the places in my film and seeing it onscreen brought a flood of good memories. Second, someone else told me that my film made them want to go on a road trip. And that was all I could have asked for.

I want to say thank you to Jaimie, for actually going on the trip with me and shooting half of the movie. You have now mastered a Bolex! Thank you to everyone who put us up for the night, we didn't have to sleep in my car once! Thank you to my awesome band, who went up there and winged it with me! Thank you to my parents, who constantly put up with my craziness and came out to support me. Thank you to all of my friends who came, while I was pooping myself onstage it was nice to look out and see all of your beautiful faces. Thanks to CoCo, who taught me what non-narrative film was all about. And finally, thanks to Joe Palladino, because lord knows without you Reel Loud wouldn't have happened!

Big ups to Vince who shot this video. It's a little dark, and it took Campbell a bit to get the sound mix right, but at least it isn't lost forever. Without further ado.....