Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Slides!

Slide Film Box 3_0003Slide Film Box 3 (pink flower blue sky)Slide Film_0003

Months ago I took 3 rolls with 36 exposures each of slide film that my husband gave me for my birthday (which is in November). It seemed to take me forever to shoot them, then to send them off for development, and finally to scan them into the film. They wonderful and perhaps looking at pictures of cold weather will help me with the sweltering heat of late. Here are a few random images. I will have posts specific to the slides soon, but I thought I'd share a few for now.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Thunderstorms

Today the clouds have rolled in and a thunderstorm seems to be in my future. I can hear the rumbles currently and the light outside is magically shadowless. My daughter is asleep and I hope she will stay there for awhile so that I can use this time to organize the footage that I have recently captured from my documentary.

I still have slides to scan from so long ago. They are just sitting on my work shelf, waiting, collecting dust. Perhaps, I will get to them this Holiday weekend. The problem I am having is that my daughter loves to look at them as well and she is only starting to understand the concept of "being gentle."

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Where I Have Been

LightStudio InterviewTashia setting upTashia and Courtney with the CamerasStudio Interview 2

For the past couple months I have been consumed with shooting my new documentary. I have been working with three ballerinas, all at completely different stages in their careers, to create a documentary that will hopefully help to humanize the ballerina and break down some of these stereotypes that have arisen. No, I was not inspired by Black Swan, though most of the ballerina formula is used to build the character of Nina in said film. I began working on this film before Black Swan came out. Back in some other part of my life I wished I could be a ballerina and while it clearly did not work out I have always felt ballet to define something about who I am. Thus, many of my films involve dance and ballerinas in some fashion. So working with professional ballerinas is a dream of mine. I hope that I can do them justice.

During part of March and most of April I had two interns helping me with the shoots. While it was nice to have a crew, mostly due to the ease of set-up and break down, it has been exhilarating working without one. Having to rely solely on myself is allowing me to trust my instincts as a filmmaker and reminds me that I can do all those little things that I so long ago cast off to assistants. Plus, I am very picky about shot composition and now I don't have to put my trust in anyone and my shots are exactly as I want them (and/or I am fully aware of the limitations that a space creates and, thus, know the shot is the best it can be). When you are working with interns you always have to remember that they are learning as well and give them a little freedom to do just that, which inevitably accepting the mistakes they will make along the way. I was lucky to have them when I did, though, because I was able to build relationships with each of my subjects during the interview process without headphones on and one eye on a monitor. Just me sitting in front of them talking with them about their lives.

In the photos above something happened to the film during processing or, perhaps, while it languished in my refrigerator. Whatever the reason I adore the little sparkles of light that appear to dance across the frames. For this documentary I will be using my Super 8 camera and Holga to document these women who are trying to reach perfection by using imperfect tools. While most of the documentary will be shot on HDV, there will be these small moments on Super 8 that will hopefully bring an aesthetic warmth to the film. I plan on using the Holga pictures in the poster and advertising.

As the shooting schedule for the summer winds down I hope to keep this blog more up to date.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Lemon Pie

I made this pie awhile back (as my grandmother will attest to), but just happened upon the photos. To make this pie you use the entire lemon, yes, rind and all. It intrigued me when I found it nearly a year ago, but heeded the warning not make it unless using Meyer lemons. I had no idea about these lemons, but I filed them away in my mind, assuming they were very expensive lemons. Fast forward to this Spring when I found Meyer lemons 10 for $2. That's cheap. So I followed this recipe and made my first Shaker Lemon Pie. It's pretty good and the next time I happen upon some Meyer lemons I will make it again.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Squirreled Away

Squirrel
I know that I have been away for awhile now, but am trying to get back to the habit. I have a pile of slides that I need to scan and share. My excuse is that I have been extremely busy. Not only am I wrangling an almost-two-year old daily, but I also worked a film festival and am commuting to Charlotte to shoot the documentary.

Here's to steady postings...

P.S. The photo above is shot on film, Yea!