10.28.2008

scouting locations part 2

more from the scouting adventure. these three are my favorites:


i fell in love with power lines...


i've always been drawn to industrial farm equipment but this one really stood out to me. i find there to be something very art deco about the design of this structure.


palm trees on palm street. welcome to california.

10.27.2008

scouting locations part 1

in january of 2009 i'll be shooting my first film on 16mm: the first year film at san francisco state university is the culminating work for your first year as an mfa candidate. on sunday i went out to various towns in the central valley of northern california to find locations for my short film, a narrative that captures a moment of isolation and then unification in rural, middle of nowhere california.

here are some polaroids from that adventure:


nicki, my fellow classmate and dear friend, poses against the neverending fields and blue sky.


what appears to be an old abandoned aqueduct. it stretched almost the entirety of hahn rd in arbuckle, ca.


an abandoned farm storage tank stands rusted amongst miles of dry land and power lines.

10.19.2008

on the set



scott and renny run a scene before rolling.

today i shot my first project on film for the mfa program at sf state. i shot in a group of four with paul, renny and scott. it was a lot of work and a lot of fun. we each had to shoot 100ft of 16mm film which adds up to, roughly, 2 minutes and 47 seconds. you'd think with that limited amount of film it couldn't possibly take all day. think again. it's such a grueling process, especially when you're trying to orchestrate some semblance of a narrative with actors and blocking.

we first shot renny's film: a complicated narrative of love, lust, deceit and murder told in an elaborate non-linear fashion. in one long take. we then moved to the street where we shot scott's staging of a shady deal gone wrong. scott also got some on the fly shots of a neighborhood second grader boasting his skills on the pogo stick. this was followed by subway sandwiches and my film, a modge podge of high fives and sunglasses, complete with an orange and typewriter for props. then we trekked three blocks to defremery park where paul documented a graffiti festival and scott ate a delicious hotdog.

it was a long and exhausting day but it was the first day where i really felt how i imagined i would feel in film school. sweat, stress and chaos all made worth it by the lovely hum of a rolling camera...
finally kids, we have landed.

10.09.2008

housemates

more of my mates:


annie.


ilyssa.


clio.

10.06.2008

ramona and our lemon tree



i've been really into portraits lately. maybe it's because i live with so many attractive people. anyway, more to come . . .

10.05.2008

cereal factory

just a couple blocks from my west oakland home a cereal factory churns out coco puffs on the daily, 24 hours a day seven days a week. the whole neighborhood smells like sugar and dough, a most comforting regularity.
yesterday i got a couple shots of the joint and in the process learned that the factory was built in 1910 and has been a cereal factory from the beginning. this information came from a nice man in a white pick up truck who stopped to chat when he saw me in the middle of the road getting this shot:


union street.


union and 14th. the front of the factory.


14th street sidewalk

10.04.2008

chinatown

so i caved and bought a bulk supply of polaroid film. i'm going to make a serious effort to make it last. but since it arrived today i had to go out and shoot wherever inspiration arose. here are a few shots from my morning bike ride through oakland's chinatown.


franklin and 9th is one of few intersections that has an all corners crosswalk, allowing pedestrians to walk the diag across the street.



wahing trading co.


hotel travelers.