Nighthawks Story – “It’s a Living” (Final Version)

This is the final version of what I think turned out to be a great project. Hope you enjoy it!

Expressions

This is a short film I created to experiment with storytelling through the simplicity of facial expression.

City of Alexandria Pipes and Drums (Christmas 2007)

This is the last recorded performance of the City of Alexandria (Virginia) Pipes and Drums that I was part of. I joined the band as a snare drummer in the summer of 2005 and stayed with them until I graduated high school in the spring of 2008. This is one of my favorite performances. We’re right outside of Alexandria’s Market Square (a frequent location for our gigs). I am the snare drummer in the very last row on the far left (only visible at 0:31).

10 Best Portraits

Here’s the ten best portraits I made on my last photo project for my class.

Teacher

Watcher

Homies

Best Friend

Cadet

Classmate

Customer

Student

Thugs

Undergrad

Nighthawks Story – “It’s a Living” (Version II)

Here’s the updated version. Enjoy!

“Double Take”

‘Double Take’ is a narrative piece that involves a student named Andy meeting with his friend Mike for lunch. As he progresses from McEwen communications building to the Moseley building, he repeatedly sees the same guy pass him in different locations (i.e. he makes eye contact with him outside of McEwen, bumps into him near the crosswalk in front of Sloan, etc.).

When he finally meets with Mike at Moseley, he is very shaken, and doesn’t get any better when he sees the guy walk up to the both of them. The guy is apparently a friend of Mike’s (named Brian) that he wanted Andy to meet. Andy explains that he’s been seeing him all the time he’s been walking to Moseley, and frightened, runs away. Mike, coming to a realization, calls for “Tim” to come out. Tim, coming out from behind a pillar, turns out to be Brian’s twin brother. Both of them have been following Andy trying to make him think that they are one person (Mike told them he would introduce them to Andy, and they decided to pull a prank on him).

Thoughts on ‘Lost in Translation’

Having already seen Sofia Coppola’s ‘Lost in Translation,’ I didn’t expect to get much more from a second viewing. I was proved entirely wrong.

Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson as Bob and Charlotte

I found that I noticed much more than I did the first time I saw this movie. For instance, the musical score does not serve as an undertone for the entire film, coming in only when needed. Otherwise, the ambient music of the moment provides this undertone. As a musician and a filmmaker, I find this method very powerful, as it adds more realism to the movie (nobody’s life is scored, and for this particular film, such a tactic works well).

Set against this score is an initially lacking backstory, which provides a great opportunity to grasp the audiences attention. Rather than tell all about Bob and Charlotte’s respective lives before bringing them to Japan, Coppola chose to develop the backstory as the film progressed. This particular aspect of the film increased my curiosity about Bob and Charlotte, I found myself asking “Who are they?,” “Why are they in Japan?” and “When are they going to meet?” Had the backgrounds for both characters already been given before their arrival in Japan, the curiosity factor would be greatly diminished.

In addition to developing the film’s history as it progressed, Coppola also utilized several scenes where there is little to no dialogue at all, allowing the audience to step into the mind of the character onscreen. The multiple scenes in which Bob is seen going about his daily routines (i.e. the shower, waking up to hear his fax machine running, etc.) hold unexpected humor because of this lack of dialogue. Bill Murray’s comedic ability in molding his face to emphasize his emotions and thoughts lets the audience understand his feelings and connect with them on a personal level.

What primarily makes this film so unique is its blatant honesty in touching on the subjects of relationships and dealing with growing older. I was, quite honestly, surprised by the way Bob so willingly told Charlotte (in the beginning her married life) that marriage can be a very rough experience. Equally surprising was the high level of maturity with which Charlotte handled these discussions she had with Bob. It was, however, the honesty and maturity displayed by both characters that showed what kindred spirits they really were.

I’m glad that I had the opportunity to watch this film again. In observing more clearly the cinematic techniques and lessons that Sofia Coppola utilized in this film, I feel inspired to keep a serious but enjoying outlook on life. I’ll definitely take the devices of this film into consideration in my future projects both at school and professionally.

10 Best Staged Pix

 

Always Colorful

 

 

 

 

 

Blossoms

Some staged photographs for my Digital Media Convergence class, including a few attempts at advertising photography.

Curiosity

 

Der Glockenspiel

Feeling Heroic

Guaranteed Cold

Neglect

Neverending Knowledge Base

Peanut-Buttery Goodness

Popcorn

Thoughts on ‘Gimme Shelter’

‘Gimme Shelter’ was a unique film to say the least. The fact that it showed, rather than told about, the Rolling Stones’ Altamont Free Concert was fascinating, and I was surprised to see how Albert and David Maysles’ non-formal, home video-like shooting method actually worked. I’ve never before seen a documentary that really let me feel like I was right in the middle of the action; I  found it a refreshing change from the many narrated, formal documentaries that I’ve seen before.

Not only did the film show the events of the Altamont Concert firsthand, it didn’t hold anything back. From the druggies, to the nudity, to the many, many brawls that erupted during the concert, the action stood in all its glory before me. There were even moments where I felt the Stones’ frustration as their audience repeatedly climbed onstage and interrupted the performance. It was very much like the way the Stones seemed to want the concert to be, laid back and enjoyable.

The Rolling Stones in an ad for "Gimme Shelter"

The Maysles brothers’ honesty with details was particularly useful in the scenes that showed the discussion between the Stones’ manager and the arrangers for the Concert. I came to have a  deeper understanding of what it really takes to put together such a massive concert. Seeing almost the entire process that the crew had to go through to set up the stage and sound equipment was fascinating as well. I thought I had it bad setting up for my high school concerts until I got a firsthand look at the scale of the preparation needed for the Altamont Concert.

To think of the comfort and ease of access the Maysles would have needed in order to capture so many personal moments with the Stones (especially with the scenes where they were just chilling in the editing room or out in the living room).The Stones all seemed particularly intrigued by the editing process for the film, and Mick Jagger’s “all right then” reaction made their intense attention all the more powerful.

The grit and emotion that the Maysles were able to convey through their non-conformist style of film making made watching ‘Gimme Shelter’ a uniquely rewarding personal experience. I feel I may be willing to be more open about seeing documentary films now that I’ve come to understand that a documentary doesn’t have to be very formal and informational. A documentary can be informative while entertaining through viewing the films’ subject firsthand, a reasonable informality.

Waffle House Prank

The latest (and possibly greatest) in a long line of videos from Group X! (see more of their work on http://www.albinoblacksheep.com)