O.C.'s Hometown "Cecil B. Demille"?
Ocean City's John Thornton has been compared by some to legendary Hollywood director Cecil B. Demille. In fact, just a few weeks ago, John made a film about getting his 3 year old step grandson to vote for Obama. Several of the blue-haired gals and toothless gents in queue to vote, presumably for Sarah Palin, were heard to mutter, "Oh look, he thinks he's a god---- Cecil B. Demille!"
In any event, John has made a series of films of great interest, many of which can be see on YouTube. See John's Videos.
{ NEWS FLASH! } One of John's videos is being featured on the blog site of Peabody winning Art21 . Check out this somewhat controversial film about artist Kara Walker!
Is there a "skill level" issue here?
When a bright artist turns his attention from painting to filmmaking, there is always the thorny question of, "What does he know about making movies?" And in John's case, this is particularly relevant, due to his impulsive nature and lack of a work ethic.
Here is a detail of one of John's paintings from a while back. His paintings went from somewhat abstract to narrative after he and his wife were held up at gunpoint a number of years ago in the city of Philadelphia.
John DID take a class in Final Cut, the wonderful digital editing program from Apple. (His teachers were Pat McGath and Justin Maynard, two mensches who never slapped John down, no matter how much they wanted to!) And he DID buy and read a good bit of "The 5 C's of Cinematography by Joseph Mascelli. And he DOES have a passion for his new hobby. So maybe he ISN'T very good... YET, but give him a break, because he is TRYING!
Sky's the limit!
For all his foibles, John is sort of SMART, and capable of a kind of lame brained CREATIVITY.
So what will the future bring for him? Well, he dreams of receiving a Special Academy Award one day. Something along the lines of an Irving Thalberg Award.
But first he realizes he must produce some work of merit. He is enough of a realist to realize that it will take some time to get where he needs to go, but until then, a FELLA CAN DREAM!
