The New World, 2005

A single still image can tell an entire narrative for the thousands that follow.

It’s officially been a month at AFI, and so much has been covered already. This week we will finally call action on our Bootcamp shoots and I think it’s safe to say that all fellows are ready to crush it. So what have we done in the meantime? Lots of administrative orientations, course introductions, and bonding within our disciplines. It’s amazing how close I feel with my fellow cinematographers already. So many different walks of life, yet with a very similar point of interest. One big happy family!

And now back to the post:

One particular exercise that I really enjoy is titled, “Story Within a Frame”. It is what it is: We have a cutline, drawn from a fishbowl, telling an event or emotion in first person. From there we must design and shoot a still that tells as much of that story as possible. We have 3 sessions in the exercise. The first is pairing with our directors, the second with the production designers, and finally one with the screenwriters. So far we have completed the first two. It’s a teamwork exercise. Getting to know one another in the creative zone is the best way to form successful communication and collaborative vision in our cycle films down the road. And it has been great. For me the first round proved to be the most challenging. I won’t go into detail, but my director and I didn’t dig deep enough into our story, and the audience was left questioning it’s point. For the second session I went too literal, and the floodgates opened with great constructive criticism from the group. I’m quite confident that I’ve learned the over/under of the assignment (I’m somewhat rusty with school assignments like this…it’s been a few!) and I know that the third session coming up will be better. I’ll find a nice middle-ground to engage meaning behind my frame.

So…This assignment has inspired me to dig up a few still frames from some great films that do justice to fulfilling a story within a frame. It’s really amazing how much meaning can be packed in to de-mystify (or mystify) these images in context to the films they are taken from. Yet at the same time, they can tell so much on their own, apart from the film. Think about the things you see in the frame. What are they doing? Where are they going? What emotions do we get from it? Is it familiar? What ideologies can we automatically identify? Time to define these moments.

Children of Men, 2006

The Thin Red Line, 1998

Never Let Me Go, 2010

Schindler's List, 1993

La Haine, 1995

The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, 2007

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, 2008

The Road to Perdition, 2002

2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968

Black Narcissus, 1947

Badlands, 1973

There Will Be Blood, 2007

Solaris, 2002

The Godfather, 1972

The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford, 2007

A new tab has been added up top on the blog. Last month I quickly established a website for my work as a cinematographer. In choosing the domain, I was sad to find that my name, or any logical rendition of my name was taken already…So I chose to go with a pun. Please check out my work at Justography. I will be updating content as new projects emerge.

Another update in context to this post is that I am in the final stage of admissions at the American Film Institute for the MFA in Cinematography Fellowship. Just had my interview this past week and now I get to wait for weeks upon days upon hours upon minutes upon seconds upon…Ok I’m obviously excited and nervous.

Wish me luck and enjoy the site!

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James Branaman

My stay on Cape Cod came well-equipped with cameras. While I unfortunately didn’t get too many stills (I shot tons of video), I was lucky to be alongside the other boyfriends of the McAuliffe family: Pascal Shirley and James Branaman. Their collections are both so beautifully unique … and it certainly doesn’t hurt to have such a gorgeous family as their subject. Good job guys. I loved every second of revisiting the trip!

Starring Carla Gugino and directed by Greg Williams, Tell-Tale is a erotic film noir thriller short.

First several shots in this film were made on the Epic Camera (prototype) back in January 2010.

I haven’t gotten much exposure with the new Red Camera builds, but this is prime example of how the Epic will be a winner with that heavenly low-light sharpness. Aside from the technical end, Carla Gugino and Adam Arkin are really great in this little piece, and I must say that Greg Williams can shift seamlessly in between the super-cinematic and minimalism…just the way I aspire to capture such goodness.

Enjoy “Tell-Tale”.

I’ve been craving to get out of this place for a long time, and I think I’ve just found where I want to go.

Not quite the most realistic choice, though. Why not back to the bay? Why not Portland? Or, NYC?

Well, because that’s all just too easy. I want to go where people have pride for where they are. Iceland has a population of around 320,000 proud people and lately, they’ve been stepping up the invite list for people to come check it out. The economy in Iceland has seen better times (haven’t we all), so tourism is a great import for them.

Let’s think about why Iceland is one of the most gorgeous countries on earth

-Pretty, happy people with rad sweaters year round

-The colors of green against black volcanic rock, snow, and über-blue water is unreal

-The outdoor light for photography is unreal

-The language is tricky, yet nifty

-The music is somber, yet gorgeous

-John Lennon’s got a memorial in Reykjavik

-80% of Iceland’s energy is renewable from geothermal and hydro power sources on the island

-Freedom of religion by constitution

-A fisherman’s dreamboat

-Not as cold as you’d think for being so close to the Arctic Circle

-Oh, and a giant, active, spewing volcano that caused some travel drama, but honestly look how beautiful it looks (see below)

I love Iceland. I haven’t even been there yet, but I know I love it.

She’s a hot mess of a little rock full of happy people, great art, film, music, lore, horsies, and rivers.

Someone send me there with tons of lenses and a jacket…stat.

Filed under: cinema, Good Stuff, Nature, travel Tagged: beautiful, earth, energy, film, iceland, nature, outdoor, people, photography, reykjavik, travel, world ]]> http://peaceinvisible.com/2010/06/03/inspired-by-iceland/feed/ 0 peaceinvisible http://peaceinvisible.com/2010/01/20/cracker-bag/ http://peaceinvisible.com/2010/01/20/cracker-bag/#comments Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:46:07 +0000 peaceinvisible http://peaceinvisible.com/?p=895 ]]>

Eddie spends her pocket money obsessively hoarding fireworks and carefully planning for cracker night. When it finally it arrives, Eddie and her family head to the local football oval. In the frosty air Eddie lights the fuse of her first cracker and experiences a pivotal moment, one of the seemingly small experiences of childhood, that affects us for the rest of our lives.

Set in the 1980s, Cracker Bag is a gentle suburban observation which subtly reflects a disenchanting prelude to the coming of age.

Winner of the Palme D’Or – Short Film Cannes Film Festival 2003

Glendyn Ivin

Ahhhh,

My friends. How it’s been so long. If you have followed my photostream at all, you probably noticed that I was posting like a mad-man, but then suddenly stopped a few months back. So what happened?

My primary digital camera was stolen. Home robbery. It was tragic, and many things were lost.

So after a while of sulking and insurance claim failures, I decided to whip out the Nikon n8008 35mm SLR camera that my father gave me. Film has always been my favorite looking medium for photography, but I never had proper training for using it and it seemed so far away from me.

Well, I taught myself how to pull it into gear and here is my first test roll! I will be posting finished images as the days progress, but here’s the neg sheet…

Give it a week or two, and I shall have my new digital and I will be back in full daily action, but after this round of 35mm shooting, I think it’s safe to say I’ll be shooting both formats frequently from now on. Easy peasy.

I’ve added a lot of very talented contacts over the months of photo-purgatory and I hope that they will add me after posting some new shots!

peace.

Paris je’taime is my favorite film

So you can imagine how excited I am to see this.

OUTSTANDING

Distant and Climates director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s new film Three Monkeys held the award for best film and best director at Cannes last year.
This Sunday only, The Auteurs are showing it for free before it’s nationwide release in theatres.
Just sign up and watch!

http://www.theauteurs.com/films/1293

http://www.theauteurs.com/sections/24

Posted in cinema, Good Stuff Tagged: cannes, cinema, climates, distant, film, nuri bilge ceylan, the auteurs, three monkeys, turkish cinema ]]> http://peaceinvisible.com/2009/04/24/three-monkeys-on-the-auteurs/feed/ 1 peaceinvisible threemonkeys the-auteurs-logo_240w http://peaceinvisible.com/2009/04/14/moon/ http://peaceinvisible.com/2009/04/14/moon/#comments Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:18:38 +0000 peaceinvisible http://peaceinvisible.com/?p=616 ]]> I’ve heard many ups and downs about this film, but I have a very soft spot in my viewing cannon for sci-fi drama/thriller’s. Sam Rockwell is also a great actor, so I’m in…

Here’s the trailer for Moon

…Apologies for the 3 weeks of silence…

Here’s the update

-Worked on a television pilot-
-Had a birthday-
-Joined a band-
-Ate a lot-
-Didn’t exercise-
-Worked on a commercial-
-Didn’t sleep-
-Broke a wound-
-Got a rash-
-Drank too much-
-Bought a plane ticket-
-Feeling great-
-Feeling fine-

There you have it…

Now let’s get back to business

I’ll be playing keys in the band, Lantern (FKA, Lantern Black Lodge). Haven’t quite figure out how/when this is all going down, but it’s coming together.

myspace.com/lanternblacklodge

Teeth of Noka is still plugging away in each pole. We should have some stuff coming together in the coming decades.

-(no taste tests just yet//hold tight)-

Manifest is in the studio for an EP and I’ve been tentatively drafted to come in and shoot the video for their first single off the demo (we’ll find out later which one it will be).

myspace.com/manifestband

I will also be working with Junebug on her first music video. Director will of course be the lovely Maria Biber-Ferro and I will be the shooter.

myspace.com/junebugsongs

All’s well that ends swell. Things are pretty lovely in 2009 so far.

Working more, sleeping less, loving more, hating less.

I’m just glad you’re okay…

-//peaceinvisible\\-