3 Doors stood in front of him

3 Doors stood in front of him.

3 different words on the doors.

Mind. Body. Soul.

A faceless figure rises from the ground next to the doors.

"Which one do I choose", says the man.

The figure replies, "Depends on what you want and how bad you want it young man."

The man stares at all the doors. He approaches the one titled "Body."

"Are you sure?" The faceless figure asks as the young man grabs the nob. 

"I just want to be happy. I want to feel love.", replies the young man.

"Instant happiness is followed by instant sadness", says the faceless figure. 

The young man hesitates, holding the door knob. He lets go and steps away, again, staring at the doors. 

"Clear your mind", whispers the Figure.

How bad do I want to be happy? If body is instant, than what does the brain and spirit offer? 

He meditates further, his back relaxing, and his body numbing as if time had stopped.

The body grants momentary happiness.

The Mind grants happiness for a lifetime.

And The Soul grants happiness for a eternity. 

These doors all open to happiness, but the rooms within them are different sizes, representing the happiness they can hold. 

The room behind the body is only closet sized. The room behind the mind is the size of the earth. But the room behind the soul, reaches as far as the universe, not even fully knowing how long it reaches.

The other two doors can be measured but the soul is limitless. To find love within your own soul is to find love in others as well. Finding love in another persons soul is to have two universes Collide. 

The young man opens the door of the Soul. The faceless figure disappears, whispering in the wind to "create your own limits of your Soul, the soul is stronger than anything imaginable, to gain happiness within it can be your hardest struggle but brings the deepest benefits. The Soul is deep and large, but remember. It is you."

#1 Issue

(From a random Facebook post I did) 

#1 issue I have with most the generation I've grown up with is that there's too much Ego and not enough work ethic and product to justify it. We want to be called Kings but lack the knowledge and work ethic to even be a functioning peasant. Ego doesn't do shit for you people.

Let the Arist...

Let the Artist spread his paintbrush across civilization, influencing the enlightened.

Let the Artist travel like a trader in the olden times, gathering new experiences and growing .

Let the Artist travel experiment, testing their limits within and out.

Let the Artist free, like a bird soaring through the sky.

Let the Artist Love, passion you've only dreamed of, becoming reality in your very eyes.

2015 Lessons learned, and what to look forward to for 2016

I've learned a lot like anyone else in 2015. I stuck with my one new years resolution: Trust my gut instinct and gained a lot of dividends. Now it's time to to look back as well as look ahead.

My main goals is to become better with scheduling and regaining my patience and learning when to be patient and when to make things happen.

As 2015 went on my schedule became more intense and I had to learn how to pace myself as well as scheduling things out to be more productive, something I'm still trying to learn now. I have lots of things I want to complete for this coming year and I know the best way to accomplish everything is proper planning. It's not just me, its my entire team working and we need to be on the same page. I cannot succeed without my team succeeding with me. All great teams that won a ring had great players playing together. Not just one person playing lights out. 

I'm a visual person and bought a whiteboard to make a visual calendar for me to see everyday. I can make notes in my phone but whenever I write something physically I'm going to remember it better than just typing and putting it away, call me old fashioned.

My main focus is learning the switch from being patient and having to make things happen. I've gotten a tad antsy, and part of that is living in this microwave society. I want to do so much I have to catch myself and understand my process. 

"If you rush too much you might not get where you're going" - Big Sean

"There's Beauty in the struggle" - J. Cole

 

There are times I need to slow down and be patient. Let things come to me, focus and that time to think and be patient actually helps me get what I wanted/needed. A good example is if I'm filming and trying to figure out the best lighting. If I'm rushing I'm not thinking clearly and whatever I shoot can end up wack. If I sit back and think whatever I film will be a masterpiece.

You can take this logic and apply it to anything really. If you're getting to know a girl and you aren't patient you might come off as annoying or too abrasive. Being patient allows you to be more inviting and clears your mind for whatever task is at hand. 

The opposite side of that i knowing when to take charge. Being patient sometimes gets confused with being complacent. If you see your team dragging their ass it's time to flick the switch and make something happen. Back to the example of getting to know someone. If you are too patient you may become complacent and won't have a plan to take it a step forward.

For any dream or goals you have their will be a time where you must lead and take charge. I've learned a lot this past year and refuse to make the same mistakes. I've wasted a lot energy on people who won't reciprocate the same back. But it's a learning process. That good energy will come back somehow regardless. One of the best things I've learned this year is reading people. Their energies and responses. People's reactions will tell you more about them than anything in life. An optimistic person will find it hard to truly bash something they didn't like and a narcissist will find it hard to give compliments to things. People show you there hand fairly easy and it's a life long process to learn who's being genuine and who isn't.

The lightswitch from being patient and knowing to assert yourself is one of the single things that can make you great at what you do. It's like hopscotch, you have to know when to jump in and out. 

Patience will come and go, it's something that you constantly have to work on to keep. Your hardest times come before you achieve your goal. A video games toughest enemies are at the end right before you win. 

Drop a comment on what's something you're looking to focus on this coming year. Most new years resolutions can be wack but whether you complete them is entirely on you. Whatever you tell yourself constantly you'll end up making it a reality. We make our own reality on the daily.

 

This is a video I found myself coming back to throughout the year and I probably will continue to come back to it when needed. Major props to Eric Oleka for sending me this earlier in the year, helped more than you know. 

2.24.15 D A R K S K Y P A R A D I S E PreOrder: http://smarturl.it/DarkSkyParadiseD http://uknowbigsean.com


One year of Working for myself...What I've learned and where I'm moving forward.

It's been a lil over a year now that I left my factory job (Where there were no windows and I made books) and I became a freelance filmmaker and photographer. To shine a light on how I even started that journey let me start from the top.

Last year I was planning on going back to school for a training program as a EMT. I figured it was a line of work that I'd still enjoy and would give me more income to take care of myself and film more as well. Only thing was I needed to be cleared for a physical. Shouldn't be too hard right? Right?...RIGHT?!

Well it was. For those that aren't aware, I have previous issue with concussions (two from football), and some nerve problems and heart issues have run in my family and I was required to bring in more than just a physical to be cleared for the program. 

So, I wasn't able to get it done in time, and I had left my factory job to attend that program. What now? Do I go find another job that will kill me on the inside...or see what I can do with the skills I believe I have and make my own money. I had saved up enough money to tide me over for a couple months.

The beginning was rough, "networking" and finding work was beyond difficult and honestly very stressful. But it definitely humbled me in the sense of when you have next to no money you begin to appreciate the little things and it actually helps you become more creative. What can I do that requires little money. $6 tuesday's at the movies will soon become your best friend haha.

I started first going for editing gigs and it was very hard trying to get my feet. Along the way I picked up photography and really started doing that. At first it was a way to keep my hands on a camera when not shooting a project. It then became a way to express creatively and really fine tune framing and colors. The better I got it started to turn into freelance work. 

In April I was in a car accident and my car was totaled. That REALLY slowed things down and made things very difficult. By this time most the money I had saved was gone and I had to truly count my pennies. But from pain and trying times came creative release.

End of the summer things changed, good and bad but a lot of life lessons. My schedule really started to become very busy and I became very burned out and constantly exhausted. I had to learn how to create my own schedule and learn how to manage my own energy distribution. I took that lesson and applied to the rest of my life. Is whatever you're doing worth your energy? Someone complains to you about something you know damn well isn't worth getting upset over are you gonna waste your time on it? You are a car with precious fuel for the day and you have to figure what's worth this fuel. You avoid and defuse a lot of situations that bring nothing but negativity.

With freelance comes moments of intensity and nothing what so ever. I'll have a day where I'm working non stop and others where there is nothing to worry about.  I started to find more consistent work in freelance and outside of it. I started doing security as a bouncer at a bar and club. The schedule still allowed me to film and enough money in my account that I wasn't constantly stressing. Finding the right job and finding the right clients really helped me challenge my own ideas on working while staying in a happy place. 

I am adamant on staying happy and I'm self aware on the type of worker I am and if I'm working for someone else ways to stay engaged. If I do not enjoy the work environment or the people I work with soon I'll be a shitty employee. And some job opportunities I refused because I knew I'd end up being a shitty employee. I won't be happy and become suicidal and as a manager you have a shitty employee. It's a lose lose situation. Luckily the bouncing gig allows me to work with some pretty dope people and I've had no issue with anyone I work alongside with and its enough hours to keep money in my pocket if freelance work slows down but not so much that I am away from filming or photography. 

So, what's next? I'm still filming for the web series (an update on that coming soon) and have a few more projects for everyone to enjoy. 2015 built the skeleton for my work and business. 2016 hopefully will add the muscle and flesh. So many things to bring to your attention! I'll expand a couple of ideas from this article into separate articles.

 

Any questions or comments please ask them in the comment section! Send Emails to theundefeatedlosers@gmail.com for questions, comments, and any topics you'd like to hear the Good Vobbs podcast tackle. 

 

Stay Blessed. Stay Happy. Keep grinding.

 

-Hussain Al-Khalil

First images of our Web Series 'Shadows'

Throughout the next week we will be releasing snippets of our upcoming Web series 'Shadows'

Our first images is our main cast:

Agnis played by Kristin Dodson

 Somm played by Anthony Yunes.

Tony played by Rayvon Southerland

 

 

Stay updated with our page for more releases 

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3 weeks of production: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

*Welcome! This is the fourth entry to a weekly series of upcoming posts written about our upcoming web series "Shadows" and different aspects involved in pre-production, production and post production, written by Hussain Al-Khalil*

3 weeks in, one episode in post production, while finishing the next. Where do I start?

The Good:

Team synergy has grown, making everything easier the more we shoot. A couple weeks ago I had a epiphany on how to make the web series more visually dynamic and executing those ideas have made it even better. It's a visual medium at the end of the day, there has to be something that draws the eye visually along with music and dialogue. Everyone has been disciplined in executing in what they've been asked to do.

The Bad: 

Timing and scheduling has been difficult none the less. For many of us finding time for schedules has been most difficult, changing them and rearranging things to film. A few mishaps of lateness but we must be prepared for things like this. Certain things that come up are purely because of lack of a budget. But these issues simply make us better, if we can pull this off without a budget then when we gather even a small budget we'd be able to execute even better. 

The Ugly:

Murphy's Law. A pickup, wrong turn, weather. I take it as tests to see how bad I want it and how bad people want to make this happen. I wish we had more time to film on a more consistent basis to film but patience is a virtue, work with what you can and push forward. 

 

Overall the experience has been great, learning the best way to make your vision a real life thing. If there is something else you'd rather be doing than go do it, that's the best way to bringing in the right people for your project and the best thing to tell yourself to find out how bad you really want to do this. If you have a answer other then whatever it is you're working on you'll need to meditate for a while and figure out something important. 

We are editing the first few episodes along with some behind the scenes footage as well. 



1st day of shooting

*Welcome! This is the third entry to a weekly series of upcoming posts written about our upcoming web series "Shadows" and different aspects involved in pre-production, production and post production, written by Hussain Al-Khalil*

This past Sunday was our first day or production. It had it high moments and some lows. Overall it was a decent start for us as a team. For some it was the first time we did something this big, including myself. I've only ever filmed short films but not a web series. I've kept my other projects to myself not feeling ready to show them to the world till now. You can call this my thesis film.

The main issue we ran into was time. On a no budget shoot like this time is most valuable. Issues with picking up actors made things hard. If we had a budget or even extra hands on set we'd have someone who's sole purpose was to pick them up and it'd saved a lot of time.

Overall there is much to look forward to. My team behind and in front of the camera has really made me happy and have stood by me through the stressful moments and smiled through the good. Our first day got some kinks out and the actors are really building synergy amongst each other as well as the crew. 

We started editing and planning for the next episode. It's work and we run into some tough situations to work around. But a quote from one of my favorite directors Nicolas Winding Refn, "Money is not a creative obstacle, your mind is a creative obstacle." We are really testing that out. Keeping communication is key. We are basically a family now and to keep it together and working the best we must work together and alongside each other. We continue to shoot this weekend and look I will post another article next week.

Throughout the stress you have to take these things as tests for how bad you want it. Feel stressed and you want to quit? You didn't love it hard enough. Life will show you how much you really care for something you think you love to death. I played football and found out how far I'm willing to go to play it. Any dream you have you're gonna chase you're gonna be given tests. Just ask yourself one question: Would you rather put in hard work for something you truly love or work hard doing something else? Anything you want in life is gonna be hard, you gotta dig in and find out how bad you really want it.

 

If you are interested in helping out in any way or any questions feel free to contact us through email on our contact page and comment section.

Also, big thanks to Michael Hooks and Yasmine! Really helped us out getting our project going!

And now, thanks to Priese we have pictures from set.

And Ramadan Kareem!

 

 

 

 

 

Final week before Production

*Welcome! This is the second entry to a weekly series of upcoming posts written about our upcoming web series "Shadows" and different aspects involved in pre-production, production and post production, written by Hussain Al-Khalil*

Last week before we start filming this coming Sunday. I haven't been this excited in a long time. This past Sunday was a great meeting. Touched base with everyone on their focus of the project. The 14th, Sunday is our first day of production. Everything is falling into place. We haev all the locations secured, the prop list is taken care of and scheduling is smooth. 

One thing I've been preparing myself for this past month is Ramadan. As you could assume because of my name I am Muslim. For those that aren't aware Ramadan is the holy month where Muslims around the world fast as well as much more. I wouldn't allow myself to exclude myself from Ramadan but also believe I can go through the filming pacing myself. I've never had to film an extended project while fasting so this will be new for me but I look forward to the challenge. Filming would be a few days a week only for the web series so it'll be good first step to adjust. I won't slow myself too much though, hopefully that'll inspire others to keep pushing later in the days when everyone is tired. Can't let the guy who hasn't eaten anything all day out work you.  It's a blessing though if I do need to lean on my team I have a team around me strong enough to hold me. 

Four locations are involved in the first episode. We'll be shooting at three of them on Sunday and the last the Monday after. Wasn't able to get pictures from last meeting unfortunately but I'll try and take some throughout the week to post here on the blog page for you to see.  

(Shoutout to Michael Hooks for letting us use your place bro, it's much appreciated)

This last week has been all about preparation and also having my producers moving forward with securing everything for the next episode. It takes a lot of focus and passion to execute this. Last week I emphasized a lot on chasing your passion and trusting yourself. This week I'd like to focus on what else...but focus. 

Without focus you cannot succeed. Passion is natural emotions and focus is figuring out how to unleash it. Uncontrollable passion is great but there are times you have to focus and make sure you are executing 100%. Once you have focus everything else becomes clearer, you become more of a complete individual. 

I've had the title of Undefeated Losers in my head since my sophomore year of high school. At first it was just a catchy name but I've gotten older and continue to gain more experiences which put meaning behind it.

Being undefeated, that's how I see myself. That I can do anything I want as long as I put my everything into it. The biggest competition was myself to prove I can do what i believe I can do.

Being a Loser. Well, that's how the world sees you. Tell someone your dreams or goals, they will either shoot you down, or nod but secretly not believe in you. Question why knowing any reason you give them won't be enough to sway them. They won't understand your vision and doubt what you're doing. Doubt you'll be anything but a Loser.

Undefeated Losers: How I see myself and how the world tries to see you.

I could've just wrote that but last time I checked words were still free.

One last thing. Any ideas or dreams you have and feel the need to tell people. Use reverse psychology on yourself. Don't mention them. Not to everyone at least. Cause someone will try and shoot your dreams down. They can't shoot them down if they don't know them. Evaluate who you're talking to before you speak to them to save yourself the stress. 

That's it for this week. Sunday or Monday I'll upload pictures from on set and maybe even a clip just for you :)

Next week I'll update you on filming and video editing. 

 

If you have anything you'd like me to touch upon throughout these weekly articles leave it in the comments below or send it through a email on our 'Contact Us' page

'Shadows' Web Series Production Diary #1

*Welcome! This is the first entry to a weekly series of upcoming posts written about our upcoming web series "Shadows" and different aspects involved in pre-production, production and post production, written by Hussain Al-Khalil*

First team meet up was this past Sunday (May 31st, 2015). I got to say, it felt great. Everyone enjoys the story and are really engaged. I've been writing a lot of projects the past few years and this one seems to be the one to get going first out of them. 

Shadows is a mystery horror story that follows a young woman who meets a Private Investigator to assist her finding her sister which leads them through some dark and strange turns. 

I think horror as a genre can give a filmmaker so much freedom to tell a story and I've really enjoyed and grown to love the genre even more now as I write my own stories. 

I was blessed enough to have already had a team behind the camera and in front set up. I was working on another project that ended up stalling and I really wanted to shoot a longer length story this summer. I picked up the web series and reread what I wrote and immediately pitched the idea to my team. Luckily, they loved what they read and we set fourth on this web series. So far all but one location is taken care of. I really tried writing the script around things I knew I could get access to (friends apartments and different parks and woods I can shoot in for free) and also stretch and get locations I'd need for the story teaching me and my team more on securing locations.

As happy and excited as I am we gotta stay focused. I've come to notice just through life that everyone you know has an awesome, spectacular million dollar idea. Then you end up finding out why it didn't come to fruition or why it didn't come out the way they saw it. Everyone has a million dollar idea, but not everyone has a million dollar work ethic. 

In order to get this project done the best way everyone has to be on the same page, putting their all in it. That's the typical thing to say but doing those two things make everything else so much easier. I feel blessed to have a team around me willing to do that. I've worked and tried doing things on my own and that's ok to learn and teach yourself but I'd rather do things as a group. My group is small but it's the perfect number in my opinion. Everyone has there specialty, and can communicate well but small enough so that when we have to move and make things happen all that happens quickly.

This week we're continuing finding extras for the later episodes and finalizing some other locations to film in. I really want to see what the actors have to tell me about their characters and what they feel they want to bring to the character. I may write a character but that actor is going to be bringing life into that person, making them their own. It's a great way of seeing who is more engaged and who you may need to focus on when filming. 

I chose to do a web series because I noticed my best scripts are feature length, but this day and age a short film on the internet will get you more immediate attention but, you have to appease that small attention span people have on the internet. So what would work best? A web series. I can make a long form story but cut it into separate episodes so that it is more digestible for viewers and if you want to watch the entire thing you can. I met two of my leads, Kristin and Rayvon, on another short film I was working on as the crew and the third, Anthony, was referred to me by my producer. I worked a little with Kristin and Ray last year and I loved them both as friends and colleagues. 

This project is the best example of creating your own opportunity in life. Whether you're a creative or  not, nowadays you can truly make anything happen, you just need patience work ethic and a plan.

Anything in your life is gonna be hard to do, you might as well have a few hard times doing what you love then having some hard times doing something you wouldn't give a fuck about. I used to play football and I find myself either motivating myself or someone else a lot, and I thank a lot of that toward me working hard as a leader in football. That was the inception. When you were consummated and "made" for lack of a better term, a minimum of 40 billion to a billion sperm were released. Out of all those you were the one to make it. So you had a 1 in 40 million to a billion chance of you being you (the way you look, behave etc). How many things in your life are gonna have a 1 in 40 million chance of happening? You've already completed one of the hardest things possible. I'm rambling but it's my diary, dammit. That was to motivate you to do what you love. Do what you have to do to make that happen for yourself.

Next meet is this Sunday (June 7th 2015) to continue working and the 13th we start production. 

I'll try and take a few pictures for the next post next week.