Color

Here is a film I shot for Filmmaker Matt Cibelli way back when. It’s good to see that’s online. I don’t know how I missed it.

We shot on Super16 with Fuji 64D and 500T. We transferred to HDCam and even had 35mm Film-Out made.

One little ‘war story’ in making of film this scene on Cannon Beach. During our scouting were really afraid that character of Min wouldn’t able to push the old man in his wheelchair on the sand. We tried numerous times to push each other and every time the chair would sink in sand. Well, at worked out no one saw it coming and at happened and fell in place.

Hope you enjoy the film.

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Remember when all the kids that were to cool for Brooklyn moved to Portland? Well, all the kids that were really cool moved to Omaha. And, some of those super-cool kids got together and formed Tilly And The Wall a fun indie-pop-rock band that has been around for 10 years yet seems to get little attention. I mean fuck…”John In The Morning” doesn’t even play them.

They first came across my RADAR not by US airplay but through Dew Process the label they are on in Australia. It wasn’t until I had the chance to shoot Flowers Forever when they were opening for Elf Power did I realize that Tilly And The Wall had a far broader reach than I could have ever imagined. Guitarist Derek Pressnall plays in both Tilly and Flowers Forever.

Then there is the fact that well. Omaha is Omaha, and if you are in one band from there then you are pretty much in all bands from there. It seems to be one little incestuous band orgy. That’s a good thing.

What make Tilly stand out for most people is the lack of a drummer. Instead they use tap dancers or at least one main tap dancer Jamie Pressnall (nee Williams). As you can see they even made an skit for Sesame Street which is fitting because according to WIkipedia Jamie Pressnall was a kindergarten teacher.

So, to bring it all home. Tilly And The Wall are a great band that is well worth listening to and if you want to dig deeper read their album notes and cross check them with other bands from Omaha and you will see the soap opera for yourself.

Enjoy the pictures. There may be a few more itching to come out in the future.

“O” Album iTunes Link

“Pot Kettle Black” single iTunes Link

Twitter: @OfficialTATW

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Wye Oak the Baltimore based band opened for The National at the Neptune in Seattle.  This is the third time I had the chance to see Wye Oak. I was able to get some shots of them at Sasquatch this last spring as well as Seattle at the Crocodile.  There has been a movement it seems in Indie bands over the last 10 years of the “2-Piece”.

Wye Oak does something that is different. Lead guitarist Jenn Wasner play guitar as loud screaming instrument meant to bleed over everything including her touching and vulnerable lyrics. Here is a link to some photos of them at The Crocodile last August.

Twitter: @wyeoak

Civilian iTunes Album Link

Civilian iTunes Single Link 

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Here is a gallery of images from Wye Oak’s Sasquatch performance as well.

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I had the chance to work with Seattle based artist Susie Lee on her latest project called Swimming The List. It was a really fun project for a few reasons. 1) I have always wanted to shoot dance and never had the chance to. 2) The concept of the dance was right up my alley. 3) The light was really cool in a few ways.

For a long time I have wanted to shoot dancers. It started when I was in college and attempting to capture ballet. There is something really powerful about the body moving so quickly and fluidly that has been stuck in my mind. I don’t think of ballet in terms of a bunch of small steps on tip-toes across a stage as a fairy. I think of long strides with legs that act as catapults to jump like a Jaguar. It has been this type of dance that has most intrigued me.

Susie Lee’s Swimming The List while isn’t filled with big movements it is very dynamic the dancer moves according to tasks that fill her daily life. What is most interesting about the piece though is the dancer’s vocal parts. As she speaks she talks about the trials and tribulations of being an artist. Struggling with who she is in relation to who she would like to be. This strikes a cord as it is something I too struggle with almost daily.

As a cinematographer the piece had some elements that were very interesting. The light used in Swimming The List isn’t light cast from a Leko or Fresnel. Rather, the key light came from two projectors that allow an artist to paint onto the X and Y axes in real time. This gives the dancer the ability to interact with the light in a way that isn’t possible with standard stage lighting.

When watching this interaction your mind makes connections to and with the light that gives it the appearance of having tangible mass. The light is ‘picked’ up, moves and plays with the dancer so that it becomes another player in story. It was really challenging to capture this light in a way that will make it translate to the screen. While easy to do when the light stays on a plane it is very difficult to truly convey the way it looks when it is moving across and through planes.

It all made for a really fun project. Stay tuned for links and clips from the final project.

I had the chance to get a few shots of Okkervil River as they opened for The National in Seattle. Not only was I really impressed with their music but they have a great stage presence too. I will keep them on my RADAR from now on.  Will Sheff kept the energy amps turned up to 11.

Here are a few pics and be sure to stay tuned for more stuff in the coming days as I finish scanning my film.

Update 9/30/2010

Here is a complete selection of photos from the wonderful Okkervil River

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