Does anyone believe in omens?

I just finished reading Rebel Without A Crew today. It's about how director Robert Rodriguez, made his first feature length movie, El Mariachi, for $USD7000, then sat Hollywood on it's ass. It's a really inspirational book and a must for anyone who owns a video camera.

I was thinking about trying to find a copy of El Mariachi, but being in Japan, I thought it would be an internet job. Anyway, I sat down to write a review of the book for my website and no sooner had I finished uploading the files, El Mariachi starts on TV!

I think someone is trying to tell me to go make a movie! Well better get started then.

How confusing that must be... a film originally shot in Spanish with Japanese dibbed audio (subtitles)?

Another question... do Japanese subtitles run down the side of the screen or what?:)

One key element to remember about RR is that he did this film at a time (1992) when there were no prosumer DV cameras, no FCP or Premeir to edit from and no "video for the masses".

The availability of these systems seems to have reduced the true independent film maker to amature status if only because "everyone is a film maker" like "everyone is writting a book"... and I am as guilty as the next guy but I gathered a great deal of inspiration from the book.

I'm a screenwriter by ambition (and there isn't any shortage of us these days) that hopes to gain a better understanding of story visualization by looking through the back end of a camera.

Wayne,

Japanese subtitles are usually at the bottom of the screen. Even though Japanese script is traditionally written from top to bottom, right to left, most of the time these days it's the same as we use. However the magazines still start at the back and go to the front, it can get confusing sometimes, I always start a magazine from the wrong end.