Saturday, January 31, 2009

Living Legends Video Contest Update

A few months ago I entered into a contest that the Living Legends put out. If you are not sure who the Living Legends are check out their website. They are a group of individuals who create independent music. Recently I have been working with one of the members, Sunspot Jonz, on his new side project The Temper Twins.

The contest was for fans to shoot part of a music video for the song "After Hours." I shot the outro which ended up being about half the song. My video was selected to be part of the official music video. However, I had not heard anything more about the project until now.

The Living Legends have offically posted the music video for "After Hours." You can see the footage I submitted throughout however most is found at the end. Check it out.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Featured on a Blog! + New video!

I was surfing the web and came a across a blog which is featuring two of my videos.

http://www.daillspot.com/

It's cool to see some recognition from random people online.

----------------------

Also if you have been keeping up on my blog, I have been adding new films daily this past week. All of these films were written and directed by other individuals however I worked as the cinematographer on them. Most are senior thesis films from Occidental College.

My newest film to be uploaded is First Date. This is a comedy piece about reality dating shows. The director wanted me to achieve two looks, one for the show and one for the behind the scenes. To do this I decided to play with progressive and interlaced images along with varying frame rates and saturation differences. He wanted me to shoot one in 4X3 and the other in 16X9. Personally I would not have gone down this road. It would have looked better if we were able to shoot the entire thing in one aspect and create the difference using methods that are not as jarring as aspect. However, he was set on shooting in these two aspects because it is such a visual difference. Take a judge and you be the judge.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Alex Drecun's Wayfairing

I uploaded another film to youtube. Alex Drecun's Wayfairing is the first film that I was able to film on 16mm. Shooting on film is so much different than shooting digital. Many people say that its easier to shoot digitally, therefore better. However, I believe that there is a good deal knowledge to be learned from going through the process of film. With digital you are able to look through the viewfinder or at the screen and know exactly what your getting. With film you look through the viewfinder and all your seeing is a reflection of what is being seen through the lens. You don't actually see what is going come out with the final processing. Basically there is a small mirror in the camera which reflects the light from the lens. When you open the shutter it blocks the mirror. When filming you dont actually see the image that is going on the film, you are looking at the time when the shutter is closed.

Many factors go into the exposure. You have to be conscious the entire time during filming. Every little detail needs to be thought out. The whole time on set I was running around with a light meter and measuring tape pulling focus and figuring out where we needed to cut or bring in light. With digital you don't have to meter a thing. Most people have no idea what it even means when the actors face is two stops more than the background. Being able to distinguish how much light is hitting your actors/scene is a huge part in being able to create a style and sculpt a film set especially when you are trying to achieve a "Filmic Look." I hear that term thrown around everywhere but most people who want to achieve that look have never worked on film to begin with.

I think any filmmaker needs to go through the process of working on film at least once. There is so much to be learned that will help someone create an interesting image on digital. In our day and age with the creation of Youtube people are now able to film anything they want. However, most of what we find on the internet is crap and not thought out at all. It's amazing how much a film can improve with just a little thought.



More films to come!!!

New Film Upload - Nadia

My freshman year of college I worked on a short film called Nadia. The class was advanced projects and we partnered up with one other person in the classroom to produce a film. Nicole Weinstock was my partner and I worked as the cinematographer on her piece. The short film that I did was Hammered. Nicole produced that film for me.

Take a look if your interested. The piece revolves around one lady having a misconception. I had no part in the writing casting editing or directing. My role was behind the camera, achieving the best image I could. This was the second project I shot for Occidental.



Many of the films that I have shot the past few years never made it my way. Part of being a student filmmaker is handing out a copy of your dvd to those who helped you out. I managed to scout down a few of the films that I shot and will be uploading those soon.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Temper Twins Interview

Check out an interview The Temper Twins did with The Mixtape Monster. "Depeche Bowie" is featured at the bottom along with some great comments with regards to the video.

http://themixtapemonster.wordpress.com/2009/01/26/the-mixtape-monster-presents-the-temper-twins-interview/#comments

"Your videos for “Change It Up” and “Depeche Bowie” are ON POINT. While I think that those songs are dope, the videos take it to a whole new level." -The Mixtape Monster

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Poster for "The Moral Life"

Here is a look at two of the posters created for "The Moral Life."




"Annie" production begun today

I began working on a new film this afternoon. It's an interesting piece which is split half into a graphic novel and half into a short film. The scenes we shot today were all in a small boutique when "Annie" gets an assignment to assassinate a local mob boss.

The day started out rough. I had no power at my place so I couldn't charge any of my batteries before I headed out. During the entire shoot I had to keep changing out batteries and putting the dead ones on a charger until the semi charged ones ran out. It was an interesting task.

My director wasn't completely ready for today. He did not have a shot list or a script breakdown for me as well as no plan for the specific look. We talked about doing a noir style with a brighter look all around and I think we achieved something similar. The lighting is a bit harsh, which was intended, however I am hoping that it does not come off looking cheesy.

Day 1 of 4 done. I think it's amazing that we were able to knock out 5 pages in 4 hours. I didn't see it happening but we got through it. Tomorrow we tackle a few visual scenes. We will end up doing the voice over later.

More updates to come. I might post some selects from today and tomorrow for the actors to see how it turned out. Once I post them check it out and let me know what you think. This is a work in progress so any feedback will defiantly be taken into consideration.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

The Temper Twins "Depeche Bowie" Release!

The music video for The Temper Twins "Depeche Bowie" has been officially released. It's been a long process from filming to editing, however, the video is done. I can't believe its been 5 months since we had the shoot in the warehouse where the temperatures soared above 100 degrees. Keep checking back because there are more TT videos coming soon!

Monday, January 12, 2009

13 Tzameti = Amazing



I am blow away by this film. It is something I never expected to find while searching through Netflix randomly. That's the beauty of it I guess.

Synopsis: An award winner at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, Géla Babluani's taut neo-noir thriller sends its young protagonist, Sébastien (George Babluani), on a harrowing journey through a dark underworld of chaos and crime. Not one to seek adventure, Sébastien uncharacteristically throws caution to the wind when he decides to follow a set of instructions intended for someone else, leading him to a nightmarish destination from which he may never return.


From the first few minutes it seems like the film is going no where. The black and white cinematography threw me off because I wasn't expecting it. After the first few sequences nothing was making sense. I got lost in trying to figure out the film before it unravels. However, once the protagonist finds an envelope everything changes. The intensity slowly builds as the audience is allowed clues to what is going on. About half way through the film everything is explained and my jaw dropped, my heart started pounding, my breathing quickened. This film pulls you into the story and makes you want to scream at the screen.

The director, Gela Babluani, uses time and simplicity very well. There are only a few key elements to the film and they are so strong your mind is darting from one to the next. The shot choices only emphasize the tension and pulls you into the characters state of mind. Where it falls short is in setting up characters. We don't get a whole lot of back story and we never really attach to the main character. You will feel for him but then ending does not have a big enough punch because there was no work on the front end of the film.


I looked online and Gela Babluani is recreating this film for the US. Some of the big actors that are making an apperance are, Mickey Rourke, Jason Statham, ray Liotta, 50 Cent, and Ray Winstone. I'm sure that the film is going to greatly improve however I can't stop thinking that it will be ruined by turning comercialized and use a huge budget. I'm looking forward to see how it changes and where the original shines through.

Bellow is the trailer for the original film. The trailers I have found all give away too much. Here is one that is more simple and gives you a hit at whats coming.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

The Usual Suspects - Review



The Usual Suspects (1995)
Directed by - Bryan Singer
Cinematography by - Newton Thomas Sigel

"Dave Kujan: Do you believe in him, Verbal?
Verbal: Keaton always said, "I don't believe in God, but I'm afraid of him." Well I believe in God, and the only thing that scares me is Keyser Soze."

This film is very good. I have seen it a few times and every time I watch, it gets better. The story by far is one of the strongest elements of this film and it won an Oscar for the writing. It starts out with a great scene which gives you some foreshadowing but is ambiguous enough that you want to continue to see whats coming.



They even kill off a main character in the first few minutes. However this creates a great deal of tension leaving the rest of the story in question. The story continually gets more and more intense leading up to the final scene. I'm sure there where gasps in the theater when this film was released. The five friends I watched with tonight had no idea what was coming at the end and after sat in silence until someone said "wow...that was a good film." It's so great to see a reaction like that. Everyone just staring at the credits in amazement at what just happened.

If you have not seen this film, go rent it.

News about "Depeche Bowie" music video!!!

Here is a little something from the Temper Twins,

"We kickin' off the year with a feature on ReverbNation (www. reverbnation. com/thetempertwins). Our feature begins tomorrow, 1/6 and continues through 1/13. Please be sure to check it out and let us know that you were there. We are premiering our new music video, "Depeche Bowie" on ReverbNation. The video is great, if you liked "Change It Up", you are going to absolutely love, "Depeche Bowie". Its a great, fun song and the video is straight comedy. The only place you will be able to see it is on ReverbNation 1/6-1/13. Be sure to check it out and please tell your friends, cousins, uncles, everybody. We are the champion of smiles and everyone can use one, so do the righteous thing and share."

Monday, January 5, 2009

New Reel!

These past few months have been really crazy for me. I have shot so many new films. I decided I needed to re-edit my reel because the first one I created only highlighted four of my works. This new reel has some of my old pieces but it also includes many films that have not been released.

Here is my new reel. Take a look and let me know what you think!

Friday, January 2, 2009

Film Updates - Jeven Productions

It is now 2009! So much has happened over the past year and there is so much more to come. It is now the second semester of my Junior year which means I only have three more semesters until I am in the real world. My senior year is completely focused on one film which for me will be "Cain Rose Up." However, that leaves one more semester to play around and hone in the skills I need to make Stephen Kings story a reality.

Here's whats on my plate so far.

On the 6th the Temper Twins will be realeasing their new video "Depeche Bowie" which I directed and shot.

I am working as Director of Photography on a film called Annie. This is a mobster film and follows the life of a girl named Annie as she gets her revenge. This is only a two week shoot though, so in a few weeks I will have lots of free time. I have a few scripts that I would like to film yet I can't decide which one I want to do.

Right now I am leaning towards "1 800 Suicide." This short story was originally written by Michael Lamio and last year I was awarded the rights to shoot it. This would give me a chance to tackle the adaptation style of filmmaking before I try to do a peice by Stephen King. The script needs work though. After wandering LA a bit I have figured out that I would like to incorporate some locations that the script does not originally call for. Also my draft right now is set in the 60's but I might want to change that as well.

On top of this I am working on a Documentary. I have just now started my research and will be traveling to Turkey to shoot this piece.

It seems like it is going to be a fun year for filmmaking! Keep checking back for updates on my new films; also I will continue to write reviews and bring you news from the film world.