From the desk of Joseph Arnhold:

Live at the Hollywood Bowl: John Williams

It’s hard to believe I have been living in Los Angeles for a month already. Just four weeks ago I was packing my car and preparing for the journey south. Fast forward to today and it feels like I have lived here for years. As fast as time has gone since I moved down, the days are long an feel like weeks. I have gone through extremes of homesickness to the opposite spectrum of completely falling in love with L.A. I am split in such a struggle of the heart as to what the future has in store for my life. I know I am not supposed to dwell on the future and be anxious, but lets face it, its on mind every day. Come December I have to make a choice. I am graduated and I need to find a job. The question is where and in what city. I miss home, I miss my family, I miss the country. But down here, its different. There is film everywhere, and it’s exciting. The energy and the passion of everyone living in this city truly makes you believe that anything is possible. If you have a dream, it can be filmed. That’s exciting and empowering. 

Whatever the future has is in store, the will of God is to be concerned with the present and focused on his will for each and every day. While I do want to dwell on the future and worry about what is going to happen next, I wont let it affect my experience here in this program. I am learning so much and meeting so many cool people. I am having a blast. It took a week or two get settled in, but now I am comfortable and enjoying every minute of every day soaking up the true L.A. experience. Since I have been here I have seen several celebrities, acquired multiple autographs, and even seen John Williams conduct an orchestra himself live. Life here is pretty sweet. I go to the beach regularly, swim in the pool just about every day, and enjoy the warm weather that appears to never end. 

So here is a low down on where I am in the program and what is in store for the next few months: 

Classes are all settled in and in full swing. Monday nights we watch a film that we are to write a report on. Simple stuff. Tuesdays we watch our student films we made during the week and analyze them. Wednesdays we are split up in our groups and learn our specific tasks in relation our group film we are working on. My task is sound design, so I will be learning all about sound for the next three months. Thursday is our big “school” day. Ten to noon is Theology in Hollywood (the title says it all) and in the evening is another simple film class. 

I know what you are thinking, this sounds simple and not a lot of class time. Well there is more. 

The rest of the week is spent working for free in a slave program known to America as “internships.” I have hopefully acquired one and will be working at a place for most of the down time during the week. Weekends are spent helping other students on their short films. Most people film Saturday or Sunday and need as much help as possible. 

Basically, there is no down time ever, except during random times. Most “hanging out” happens late at night and never ends. Stuff we do is random and at the last minute, but its fun and exciting. 

The future? 

Pretty simple. In just over a month we will be done with our student film class, so roughly the end of October. Once this class ends we will have a bit more free time. However we are still working on our “group film.” This is a bigger film with a bigger production. That project will pick up and consist almost entirely during the month of November. Once December hits we should be basically done with school. On the 8th we have a mini film premier and watch our films on a big screen somewhere in L.A. It’s pretty exciting and I can’t wait to attend that. December 10th we move out and I drive home… 

That is my entire semester in a nut shell. Next Sunday I will be filming my first short film in this program and I am excited as I have an excellent script. I will be posting more details and photos on that this coming weekend. 

I am enjoying myself down here a lot. This town is truly one of a kind. And in reality, its not all that bad. Despite the dirt and grime that covers every sidewalk, my car is clean and the A/C coming from the dash is wonderful. Well, its two in the morning and I probably should be getting to bed soon. Sleep is always a good thing. Check in this week as I shall hopefully be posting a ton of pictures that are long over due and some new videos! 

Thanks so much for all your prayers and support,

Joseph Arnhold

Just a good Photo...

Under the the Santa Monica pier

 museum

Art display at the L.A. art

All the people at the John Williams concert

Erik working hard in the computer lab

The Beach!

Cool boat under the Pier.

on the way to the center

Somehow we snuck, or meandered, onto the set of Flash Forward. It was sweet they were filming explosions and gun shots. We saw some smashed up cars from a "car crash scene." Some how we were chillin next to the break table, so much food! i think we walked by the director it was crazy. It was sweet to see everything all set up and people all working to make everything look believable. Its kind of exciting.