Life of Kyle Prohaska

My Wonderful Parents...LOVE YOU GUYS!

From Kyle: There’s a few moments in life that really stick with you.  Weddings, Birthdays, Graduations, etc.  The normal things people think about.  Today I had one I’m adding to my list.  I received this email from my Dad today and asked him to reword it a little for all of you to read.  One thing a son treasures is approval from the father (that’ll preach!), and today I got a formal Blessing from mine.  Also as a side note in case many of you weren’t aware or didn’t watch the Behind The Scenes of the DVD yet…most of the marriage issues in the film are based on much of what my mother went through being the only Christian in the marriage for most of the time.This made the film very personal not just for me, but my family and my parents.  Perhaps that adds some more depth to the following and how much a moment this really was for my Dad.

Also, thanks Dad if you’re reading this for having the courage to stomach having some of your past mistakes out for the world to see.  The film in more ways than one is an example of God using all things for good to them that love Him (Rom 8:28).  I love you Dad, and I’m so Blessed to be your son.

“My day was blessed and interesting. My name is Rick Prohaska, I’m Kyle’s ( the Director’s) dad, I live in Ransomville NY however I work in Augusta Georgia as a Civil Engineer on a long term Nuclear Construction project. I went to get my Harley serviced today and decided after to go to the “LifeWay” Christian Store a mile from my condo to see if the Standing Firm DVD was on sale at the store and to browse. I went up and down a few rows and low and behold there it was…… my son’s first ever Movie with my friends face on the cover “ Rob Reisman” right smack on the cover. I grabbed one to buy and it appeared there were a few more DVD’s left in the slot and went about my looking about the store and decided to go back and take one more proud look and I could not find it, but I noticed the sale sign below the row and someone had placed 4 other different movies in the slot. There was a couple standing right there and I had to mention with the movie in my hand that they were all gone? This kind lady looked at me and said while showing me what was in her hand she had purchased the last one.

I thanked her and told her a little about the movie and my Director Son Kyle and she said she knows she will like the movie because by reading the back cover those are just the types of movies she and her family love to watch. The others around over heard me say my son directed the movie and they were sort of in disbelief asking questions, let’s face it how many times can you say you actually met someone in a DVD store that says something like that.LOL. Obviously amused, I went to the check out and did the whole scenario over again and informed the staff that the Standing Firm DVD’s are presently all gone on the shelf and would appreciate someone restocking the shelves a soon as possible. Everyone broke out laughing, The things as a parent you will never forget all the days of your life…….folks this was one of them. God is good and to think he saved a wretch like me. I love you Kyle.”

- A Proud Dad

Today was a long day.  I got up around 10:30 to get started on my day early.  10:30 is early for me…zip it. I began working on the DVD right away and found some interesting problems.  I had done something to the film recently that required me to shift the subtitles of the film so they sync, also my chapter markers were off.  What does this wonderful discovery mean?  Well, since you asked so nicely let me explain.  I went through the entire film and all 2000 subtitles it has between the English and Spanish tracks…and moved each subtitle over to sync.  DVD Studio Pro, and Apple in all their great wisdom didn’t add an ability to select more than one subtitle element to move it…so this means moving them all one by one.  A crazy chore to be sure, and it took me a few hours…about 5…but I got it.  This gave me an opportunity to make sure the English subtitles were correct.   I found some minor errors in speech, and capitalized things like “Lord,” “God,” “Jesus,” etc.  Eventually I got it all straightened out.

Another wonderful issue came along.  This film is going on a Dual Layer DVD, so I need to set a break-point in the project file.  For those of you who don’t know what a break point is, it’s the point at which the DVD player changes from reading the top layer of the DVD to the bottom layer.  Have you ever noticed when watching a film there seems to be a slight pause at some point?  It isn’t a skip but it sorta paused suddenly?  That’s the DVD player switching to the other layer to continue reading the disc.  Well thing is, I had chosen one just to see what happened, and because of a bug in DVD Studio Pro…it became permanent.  What did this mean?  Either A) There’s some magic fix for this and things are fine or B) It can’t be fixed and I have to re-author the DVD completely, move the subtitles again, and pray that the break-point I set in the new project file is the right one.  Eventually I found a fix, which involved me opening the project file in Xcode which is the Mac’s development SDK (basically the thing people make programs in), and edit the actual code to change the break-point value.  I’ve NEVER done anything like that before and found it funny that I had to, and luckily it worked after I did it…so YAY.

The DVD is really close to being completed.  I found some minor mistakes that I want to fix in my credits of the film, so I’m going to have to re-render the film again, but it doesn’t take long so no biggy.  Sorry this blog post is so technical, for those of you who are bored.  When it comes to rendering out anything to a DVD, I ALWAYS render out to an uncompressed SD file first.  Settings set at 720×480 NTSC 16:9.  Why do you ask?  Well, the downrez of the footage comes out better.  Most compression programs when going from a large source to a compressed source of a smaller size, cause some issues in the downrez process.  Most of the problems are hard to see but when it comes to things like text, or anything really fine in detail, you can get jaggies.  Exporting to a downrezzed Quicktime file from Final Cut Pro, THEN going into Apple Compressor solves this problem and it gives you extremely sharp and crisp encodes.  I’m sharing my dirty little secret with you, so feel privileged.  Check out the end credits of the Standing Firm trailer: http://www.standingfirmmovie.com/ and look at the text…it’s crystal clear.  I’ve seen the results with and without the uncompressed Quicktime source, and the results are night and day.  Ok I’m done with the tech talk, someones brain might explode!

I had an hour and a half phone conference today for PR/Marketing on Ace Wonder.  I feel really lucky being able to work on this film and being in a more legitimized position to do what I think I do pretty well…web design/graphics/PR.  I do it on a smaller scale but I think I have some good things to share and offer.  I’m looking forward to working on the film more as time goes on and helping release things, update the website with new content as the film comes together, etc.  It’s gonna be fun

My father also flew into town today.  He’ll be home for a little under two weeks.  I look forward to spending time with him and visiting.  We don’t get to spend that much time together, and it’s nice to have him in the house.  This home has been way too quiet lately.  I miss my dog too, so I look forward to seeing him when my mom gets home on the 7th.

Later into the night I started recording my commentary for the STANDING FIRM DVD.  They’re HARD to do.  I’m 22 minutes into the commentary but I probably recorded almost an hour of dialog just from re-recording things where I stuttered or said something dumb or whatever.  I want the commentary to be good and include a little bit of everything.  So far I think it’s coming out OK but man it’s frustrating when you want to share something but the film keeps moving on without you.  You need to talk fast but not too fast, and be informative but not annoying, and share things that matter not just stuff you think would be cool to share.  It’s a fine balance, but I think I’ll have a pretty good commentary by tomorrow night.  I gotta get this thing in the mail….NOW!

Till next time folks…adios.

Weird title?  You betcha!  I haven’t had a steady paycheck since July 4th.  It’s a weird feeling.  I’ve wanted to get into this position for a while but didn’t really expect it to be now.  I was hoping it would hold off until I was making more on my own.  Right now I’m sorta at the mercy of emails or phone calls.  My film isn’t done, I can’t pay to finish it myself, and I’m waiting on distribution phone calls with a prayer that they see how well it could sell (at least that’s what I think), and they’re willing to distribute it on DVD and pay the little amount I need to get it finished.

Besides social activity and my film, life is relatively uneventful.  Having no job has given me the opportunity to work on my film a lot more (which I think was God’s intention in bringing me home anyways), and also more time to hang out with new people that I wanted to bring into my life.  I’ve met more new friends in the last month and a half than ever before.  New friendships I can’t wait to grow!  What a Blessing that is…

Monday had me getting up really late after Sunday’s late night so I didn’t get much done.  I just sorta worked a thing or two out with Standing Firm, looked over my edit notes, etc.  Once 6 came around I got on my way to Eric’s for my typical monday hang out time.  Lots of people there as usual, and the new friends I was talking about.  Deep theological discussions, laughing, some soccer and a bonfire, what could be better?  O, and some apple crisp…MMM.  What an awesome day of friends and fun.

Today (Tuesday) had me getting up at like 11:15 so I could go to Jason’s house by 11:45.  I cleaned up a bit, hopped into some clothes, and headed out.  We were going to lunch, er…breakfast…er…whatever.  We went for some chinese.  Normally that stuff makes my organs do kung fu on each other, today was no different.  I only had one glorious plate of chicken and rice, after that the war below started so I quit.  Jason came over for a bit afterwards and he watched Standing Firm for the first time all the way through.  He had seen pieces of it and knew a lot of the plot twists and such so the response was much different than last friday.  Watching the film through with others has been very healthy in helping me understand what needs fixing or not.  What people get and when, what they laugh at, etc.

Not much else to report for the day really.  Vintage was a good time, learned some stuff I won’t repeat.  God is good, not much else to it than that.

I love the beginning of my week, it always starts with some awesome fellowship and fun.  Thank you Lord for great friends.  I’m looking forward to seeing my dad when he comes home from Georgia this weekend too.  He won’t be home for long, which really sucks, but I’m glad he’ll be home for at least a few days.  I miss having him around

I found out about a new site for the next sherwood movie, and did a little blog post.  I’ve dug up every piece of public info on Sherwood I can over the past few years, so of course I knew exactly where to go for the little “clue” they talk about on the site, LOL.  Read Here. I’ll be watching this entire process like a hawk, just like I did with Fireproof.

Today was a nice day.  To read about the movie side of things with Standing Firm go here.  Aside from the business stuff related to today it was nice to hang out with Eric during the “work” part of the day.  We’ve known each other for a year now and been through quite a bit shooting the film.  He’s a great guy and a hilarious one at that.  It was nice to be in a less stressful more laid back environment to get something done.  I think I’ll enjoy finishing this film on and off set since the days are getting less and less stressful as time goes on.  Of course stress comes from other places, but I’m glad it’s not from the film as much as it used to.

My dad came home today which was nice.  He’ll be home for the weekend then go back to GA for work.  I’m not sure if I’ll see him again for a long time if I end up moving.  Speaking of which I’ve been wondering more and more if that is what will happen.  I’m not so sure I’ll be moving.  An opportunity arose today with the place I was looking at but was quickly squashed within an hour.  I need to find a place to live in 2 weeks max or I might have to decline my LA job offer.  I hope I don’t have to do that but fate (or God rather) might step in and take that opportunity away.

Problem is no matter where I find a place I can’t afford my own.  I’m not being paid enough to have my own place.  I’m not going to room with some boozing sinful retard either.  I need to find someone trustworthy that will at least keep the beer/cigs away LOL.  Also no matter where I find a place I’ll have to pay a rent payment before I even get in my car to move.  Nobody will give me a place I can’t move into right away or within a week or so.  Real estate is crazy out there.  I’ll have to pay a month of rent during my last month here because I have to put in a respectable amount of weeks before I leave my job in ministry.  It’s a sticky situation.

I emailed the head honcho at PureFlix Entertainment to give him the situation and make sure he knows what the deal is.  I don’t want to hear “well we didn’t know…blah blah.”  The situation isn’t a good one, they need to know that.  Hopefully God brings something soon.

It was 50 degrees today, something I enjoy even some find that to be chilly.  I had my sunroof and side window down while I drove today.  Even if it isn’t warm I’m starting to pretend it is just to feel better about the crappy weather we get.  I’m looking forward to the sun, and opening windows and getting some fresh air in my house, my office, etc.  Summer…bring it on.

I guess that’s about it for now.  Lots of crap going on…  Anyone out there who gives a care please pray that I find a place to live out there!  I really need a yay or nay ASAP.

We’ll see how this goes…

Two Songs for your Listening Pleasure:

Blind Melon - No Rain

Blues Travelers - All For You

Today was a Saturday, and oh how I love Saturdays.  I slept in late, getting up at about 11:00am.  I love that feeling when your comfortable in bed and you know that if you wanted to you could dose off a million times over.  I don’t like sleep, I don’t think anyone really likes sleep.  What they love is the moment just before they fall asleep when they are comfortable and relaxed, that’s the part people mean when they say “I love sleep.”  I’m glad I switched out my double bed for this little cot looking thing.  Simple logic would think it’s a stupid idea, but I have lots more more floor space now and the bed is actually just as comfortable.  It’s an old junky mattress but I took a thick blanket and folded it a time or two and placed it on top.  Now it’s nice and comfy.  

Today had me doing the typical Saturday things, sitting on my butt in front of the computer surfing Facebook and chatting with folks.  I didn’t really do any work today besides taking a look at my film edit.  I fixed a thing or two, made a phone call to some folks, helped my dad in the barn and a few other things.

The Barn - My father is working on fixing the front of our barn where it rotted and had a leak.  The barn is one of the first ones in Ransomville, NY and it’s picture is at our local bank along with the other few historic buildings in the town.  It’s over a century old, so the wood is…we’ll a century old.  While my father was fixing the wood above the large door (where he normally pulls his 74 Chevy into to sit), the tension spring rigged door design caused a little problem.  Because the wood was rotted, at one point the bracket that holds the springs tension broke off and spun around like 6 times hitting my dad in the forearm a bunch of times before he pulled his hand away.  It happened so fast he didn’t know what hit him.  Granted this is old sharp rusty metal this bracket, and he could’ve easily lost all his fingers, his hand, or a giant chunk of his forearm.  Luckily he had many layers of clothing on (it was cold today) and it only tore the sleeve of his outside coat to shreds.  That could’ve been ugly.  So when I was helping him with a few things trying to fix it later in the day I was weary.  Such a simple design, it’s surprising just how dangerous something like a pulley system can be if its got a huge spring attached to it.  Yikes.

I watched the new Julian Smith video today.  That dude got to get a tour of the Facebook HQ and have a little fun with the workers (haha).  It must have been a blast.  This guy is a very talented young man.  Naturally comedic and creative with goofy videos and relatable topics.  He feels like a Jerry Seinfeld for the new generation, plus some quirkiness I can’t quite put my finger on.  He also had a few other meetings in California besides Facebook, one of them being YouTube and I’m sure a few others.  It doesn’t surprise me at all given his talent.  Someone will find him and it will snowball.  Oddly enough, I realized I knew a few people who know him, small world.  It was neat to find that out.  I firmly believe this guy is going to be BIG in the next few years.  Keep an eye on him for sure, some TV show appearances and many other opportunities are definitely on the horizon, I know it.

I got lots of things going on in the next two weeks.  We are shooting a few more things for Standing Firm, and I’ll be pretty busy doing that and working all week.  It’s going to be a nutty two weeks I think.  

There is also some life changing decisions I have to make.  I don’t want to sit too long on a decision but I don’t want to rush either.  I’ve been offered a job opportunity in Los Angeles, CA and I’m inclined to take it.  We’ll see what happens, there is a lot to do before a move is possible but I’m prepared to take the initiative if it’s a go.  Time will tell, keep me in your prayers.

That’s it for now, I have to burn a DVD for a friend who is guest speaking at our church tomorrow.  His name is Derek so pray that all goes well and he does a great job!

What Movie Did I Watch Today?: Twilight

What Song Am I Listening To?: Come On Eileen by Dexy’s Midnight Runners

What Did I Hate Today?: Realizing I ate too much junkfood

What Did I Love Today?: I created this blog, woo!