More on L.A. - The Getty Center

"There is no There there." Okay, I've heard some of my more "cultured" friends use this Gertrude Stein line on me to try to dissuade me from my desire to live in Los Angeles. First of all, she was referring to Oakland (about which I know nothing), not L.A. Secondly, there is plenty of "there" in Los Angeles, if you know where "there" is. I will admit, the greater Los Angeles area has its fair share of strip malls, chain restaurants, and uninspired suburban cookie-cutter neighborhoods, but there are a lot of unique, funky and -gasp- cultural places, as well.

I didn't make it to LACMA, through which Steve Martin roller skated as "performance art" in one of my all-time favorite films, "L.A. Story" (though I do have the shoes for it now- see right). I did, however, manage to visit the Getty Center- a huge art museum with a stunning view:

The Getty’s window’s adjust automatically to allow natural light that will not damage the art.

We’re all falling off! Or… just a humorous camera angle. Looking out at the 405 from the Getty.

The tracks of the Getty tram and a view of the hills.

Travertine squares- gaps between the stone allow for earthquake movement.

The Getty’s travertine and aluminium squares against a blue sky.

A framed landscape of Los Angeles from the Getty

Admission to the museum is free once you pay for parking. You take a tram to the top of a hill to get to the museum. I took the guided architecture tour while I was there. It's really fascinating (as you can see from the photos and read about on The Getty Center's architecture page). The entire structure is covered with 30-inch squares of travertine (a sedimentary stone) and aluminum. The grid is based on a line that is approximately eye-height and spans the entire complex. It even lines up with the horizon of the ocean (which, due to the hazy fog, you could not see that day).

Despite the museum's modern look, its specialty is Western art from the Middle Ages to the present (a more dignified roller-shoes pose may be in order). They do "mix it up" a little, though. There was a really great video exhibit there (California Video was the name of it and it runs through June 8). I couldn't take pictures there, but my favorite artists were Jim Campbell (Home Movies 920-1 my favorite by far), Jennifer Steinkamp (Oculus Sinister my second favorite), Martin Kersels (Pink Constellation), Bill Viola (The Sleepers), and Paul Kos (Chartres Bleu).

There was also a lovely sculpture garden, where I did cut loose with the camera (again- click the thumbnails for larger views/slide show):

Looking down on the sculpture garden at the Getty

Closeup of a “tree” made of rebar that had viney plants growing through it

Flowers in the sculpture garden- Getty Center

A stream in the sculpture garden- Getty Center

Succulents in the sculpture garden at the Getty

I think this is what they call a desert rose…

Reflections on Los Angeles

Yes, it's been a while since I've written. I've been traveling and am about to do some more, but one thing at a time. I'm going to "lie" about the post date of this blog because it was written and photographed quite some time ago.

So, I recently returned from Los Angeles. While having fun was part of the plan, I was also doing some reconnaissance for my career. As an aspiring filmmaker, it's definitely a place I want to be at some point- though that point might be a little later in time than I initially thought. Quite a few people are cynical about "La-la Land" (a term that I really dislike), but I think that a lot of that is founded on its Hollywood mystique and its mostly false promises that anyone can make it big on a dream (though those are good reasons to be cynical, I suppose). In the end it's just place, and even the Hollywood power players are just people.

That's not to say us film geeks don't find it magical on a certain level. The "fun" highlight of my trip was a tour of Warner Brothers (thanks to Opie for recommending this). While I maintained my outward composure, the inner me was pretty much geeking out.

Warner Brothers Studio water tower. Animaniacs!

One of the "cool stuff" we didn't get to take pictures of was legendary "stage 16-" the largest sound stage in the world (over 32,000 square feet and 65 feet tall). They even rent it out to other studios. Jurassic Park was filmed there! Many other films were also filmed there, but I'm just saying, this place is big enough to house a T-Rex! It also has a two million gallon water tank under the floor. The very thought of that made me shudder. Poseidon (the new) was filmed there. The thought of walking into a building and seeing ships floating around was just too much for my brain.

Other off-limits "cool stuff" was their museum (which is pretty much dedicated to Harry Potter at the moment), and the set of "Chuck." I don't particularly like that show, but it was pretty cool to walk around the set. They also have one of the few remaining Scenic Art departments that allows hand-painting of enormous backdrops for sets. Quite a bit of that is done digitally these days, but they still keep pretty busy, it seems. There's a slit in the floor that allows the canvas to be raised up and down 30 vertical feet so the artists can keep their feet on the ground rather than climb scaffolding. I thought that was a pretty well thought-out touch.

Now, I'd also like to avoid implying that Los Angles doesn't take some... getting used to. Burbank (which is more "Hollywood" than the actual place called "Hollywood") is particularly odd and really does have that "movie magic" mix of awe and bullshit. I can deal with that, though. There were other things that are keeping me from making any sort of immediate move:

Housing is extremely expensive. Being from Boulder, which has its own high-range price tags, I wasn't too shocked to hear the prices of rentals, but it's definitely not cheap. Neither place would be ideal for someone without a job.

The second point of frustration was the driving. I was there for ten days and it cost me $150 in gas! Granted, I was doing quite a bit of driving, but if one were to end up in a commuter situation, it would probably be comparable to that without an alternative fuel vehicle. I was able to avoid the highways during rush hour (though it's pretty easy to get in a traffic jam at 2am), but I wasn't able to avoid getting severely lost. I had my trusty iPhone with Google Maps, but when you are both driver and navigator, that does little to help. I would definitely want some sort of GPS if I lived there...

By the way- if anyone at Google Maps is reading this: a 90 degree turn is a "left," not a "slight" left. A "slight" left implies that the road curves... "slightly" or that there is a fork in the road. When you have to turn 90 degrees to the left at an intersection, that is called "making a left." Thank you for utterly confusing me and adding to the feeling of hopelessness. Needless to say, I never made it up to Griffith Park Observatory and I never saw the damn Hollywood sign.

The third- and greatest- annoyance was the smog. I tried to stay west of the hills whenever possible, but when I traveled into the smog sink that is Burbank, I got a sore throat and a mild attack of asthma within about an hour. I would have a hard time living or working right there. Burbank is, incidentally, where I got lost the most. On several occasions, I wound up on the back lot of a movie studio, apologizing profusely to a security guard (only later wishing I hadn't apologized as much as lied and gotten myself past the gates).

All in all, though, I had a great time. Santa Monica is the place for me! If I could get a job there AND live there (both realistic dreams), I'd be pretty happy. You can actually walk around there, ride your bike, and of course, hang out at the beach (even on a cold, gray day like this one)!

Slusho laptop and demo reel...

Now that I have some of this WordPress stuff figured out... I should follow up on my "Slusho Zoom" post from earlier. My video was chosen as one of the top five entries in the competition! That means:

Freakin' sweet laptop! It also means I need to find a home for my "old" one, which really isn't that old. They have comparable features, but the Alienware wins. When rendering side-by-side, the Slusho! laptop rendered every super complex 3D frame a full minute faster. That doesn't sound like a lot, but consider that one second is 24 of said frames and that a minute would be 1440... were talking a full day!

I should also post my new demo reel:

Which I made with my new laptop. It's my first official demo reel, so I'm excited. Makes me feel "professional" for once...I have more catching up to do, but this will do for now.

The Cutting Room Floor?

Yes, it’s a film thing. Read on…

If you regularly read my blog, you might be wondering what the bloody h is going on. If you’ve never read my blog and are puzzled by how many posts there are for a blog that has only existed for a day, let me explain:

I am in the process of transferring my old blog to a new one. I have decided to go with Word Press over Blogger because I feel it gives me a bit more organizational and layout control and I am a CSS nerd and like to have things just so. It might not seem that way right now because I’m using one of their standard templates, but I’m getting to it.

So, what’s with the title? Well, I was friends with filmmaker Stan Brakhage before he passed away. One day, I wrote a description of one of his films. He was very excited by what I wrote and wanted to use it. Apparently, the Library of Congress said they needed better descriptions of his films because they couldn’t tell the difference between his works and scraps from the cutting room floor…

This was meant to be insulting. A brief explanation: Once Upon a Time, filmmakers used to edit actual physical film prints on big turntable machines, rather than digital media on laptops. They would physically cut the film and piece it back together. The stuff that ended up on the cutting room floor was the stuff that would not make it into the final film (also known as trash, scraps, crap, refuse, etc.) Despite the proliferation of non-linear editing systems and the popularity of DVD outtake clips and directors’ cuts, the term is still used in “the biz” to describe ideas, people, or shots that just don’t make it into the final “cut.”

Some film facts for you: Even today, at the end of the editing process, negatives do still get cut and most of what you see in movie theatres is still shown on film (yes, this surprises many of my non-film-savvy friends, as does the fact that as of this moment, film prints are usually still better quality than digital projections). Also, did you know that when you are watching a film projected in a movie theater, half the time you are staring at a black screen and the rest of the time you are staring at still images? The illusion of movement and constant illumination created from this flicker is due to a phenomenon called “persistence of vision,” whereby your brain “fills in” the missing pieces. Neat, huh?

Anyway, back to the title of this blog… My old blog was called “An Astronomer in Hollywood.” At the time, I was in school for astrophysics, having temporarily turned my back on my dreams of becoming a filmmaker (get it? It’s a play on the concept of “star.”) I felt torn between my two passions, knowing that one would end up a hobby and the other a career. Well, since film has clearly won that battle for now, I feel that my musings on astronomy, as well as dreams and meandering thoughts, are essentially “scraps from the cutting room floor.”

Now any Stan Brakhage fan would know: that’s usually where you find the good stuff!

Slusho Zoom!!!

This is my official entry to the Slusho!! commercial contest. It is a fictional commercial for a fictional drink that may or may not somehow play into the new film "Cloverfield," produced by J.J. Abrams. Or doesn't it?

For those of you who think that sounds vague, let me explain:

It is.

Last summer, the movie "Transformers" opened in theatres across the U.S. (yeah, I loved it, so sue me). Immediately after the first East Coast screenings let out, Google began getting hit with thousands of searches for things like "mystery jj abrams trailer transformers" and "transformers trailer monster movie" and "1-18-08" and "free porn." With the exception of the last search, all of this was seriously pleasing the folks over at Bad Robot productions. Why? Before "Transformers," audiences were treated to a movie trailer (or "preview," if you will) consisting of a sort of first person video clip of what appeared to be a monster attack on New York City. It began with the taping of a surprise going away party and ended with the severed head of the Statue of Liberty skidding down a SoHo street. Vague bits of dialog like "I saw it! It's alive! It's huge!" could be heard through the chaos of the crowded streets below, as the party-goers evacuate their apartment and attempt to glean more information. The audience was given nothing more than the name of the producers ("Lost" creator J.J. Abrams and his parent companies, Bad Robot and Paramount Pictures), and what seemed to be a release date of 1-18-08. A wave of "what the f*@$?!" spread across the crowd. A massive viral marketing campaign was born...

Youtube was soon inundated with pirated copies of the trailer, the web world was abuzz with "what's it all about" speculation, Paramount pictures was "denying" involvement in this titleless production, and geeks and "Lost" fans like myself were salivating over having a new way to waste precious time.

Fine. What the hell does this have to do with some slushy drink thing? Honestly, no one knows! The drink was first mentioned in an episode of "Alias" (also created by Abrams, also a show that I love). Additionally, in the original trailer, one of the characters from the film was wearing a slusho! shirt. It didn't take web geeks like myself long to find the slusho! web site, where even more oddness was revealed (like a donkey swimming underwater while thinking of a blue oven mitt and a bizarre story about some "secret" deep sea ingredient that is evidentially used in the manufacture of slusho).

Now it appears that some company called "Tagruato Corp." has been harvesting this slusho ingredient (?) using off shore oil rigs, one of which (according to foreign "news sources" whose videos are available on YouTube) was just destroyed this last weekend, as the monster makes its way to New York City. Also, the main character from the movie trailer, Rob, has announced on "his" MySpace page that he is going to go work for this company...

This kind of realtime buildup to movies and alternate reality gaming is fascinating to me. The Internet is becoming an increasingly collaborative and accessible space for the human race.

I'm really looking forward to the film. At this point, I have an almost scientific fascination with it. I'll only be disappointed if, like so many other movies this year, this turns out to be yet another zombie movie...

Snowbird on Cable

The title of this post sounds like a casual observation. Birds are frequently found perched on cables when it's snowing. While that is very true, that's not what this post is about. Ahem.

My film is going to be on the IFC three times (that's thrice) this month:

Tue 01/08/08 02:50PM Tue 01/15/08 12:50AM Mon 01/28/08 10:50AM

All times are Eastern Standard. Check it out if you haven't already. Chances are, if you read this blog, you have already seen this film. You've never seen it on cable, though! Think about it...

If you haven't seen it and don't have cable but would like to see it and don't have cable so you can't see it on cable, you can watch it online here: Snowbird on IFC

I'm in a bit of an idiotic mood...

Snowbird

REPOSTED WITH MY SITE RELAUNCH... This is a short film that I originally shot on 16mm. It is my first "narrative" film (well, apart from "Exploding Science Lab III" from my early days as a filmmaker). The film was shot in New York State at the end of 2003 and didn't get finished until just recently (though a rough copy of it played in the Short Film Corner at the Cannes Festival Market in 2004). The film stars Perry Daniel and was shot by Carl Fuermann (and hey, this one has sound!)

The above link takes you to the IFC Media Lab. If you like it, give me a vote. If not... well, maybe just make a graceful exit (don't "single-star" me- I'm beggin' ya! Think of the ducks!)

If you'd rather not deal with the stress (or you are a chronic "single-starrer"), but would still like to see the film, go on over to Snowbird on blip.tv where it plays just the same!

Special Features Section: Perry is sitting in front of the reservoir that supplies New York City with its drinking water. Needless to say, when the sun went down we were harassed by both the local Police and the Feds for our "suspicious" activities! On top of all of this, it turned out that the car we had borrowed from a friend was recorded as having been impounded but never released. Translation: as far as they were concerned, we were driving a stolen car and up to no good. Oh, and they also suspected that our bottle of water was actually a bottle of vodka (Absolut and Smart Water have similar bottle designs). We managed to clear everything up, though. The Police were actually very friendly and let us finish filming- with a stern warning that if we crossed over the guardrail, they would "turn us over" to the Feds!

The Galilean Satellites: Europa

This is the first in a four-part series of films dedicated to legendary filmmaker and friend, Stan Brakhage. It is also dedicated to a group of filmmakers with whom I shared orbit around the massive scope of Brakhage's work.

This has been the "audience favorite" of my works so far- at least, it has traveled around the world to all sorts of festivals and gotten great feedback (though the New York Times called it both one of the "most ambitious" films in its program as well as "relentlessly abstract." I'm not quite sure how to take the latter, but every artist knows that "ambitious" feels like a blow-off. I digress...)

As such, I am a bit reluctant to post it online, where it will be seen at 1/100th of its intended size, with resampled sound and dropped frames. Still, I'm reaching out into the volgosphere! It will be traveling around the country soon, so perhaps it might inspire a few souls to go see it when it comes to town (more details as they become available).

It is a 16mm sound film that imagines the icy hatched-marked world of Jupiter's moon, Europa. The soundtrack consists of recordings from several probes that visited the moon (specifically, the "sounds" are coming from the atmosphere of Jupiter), as well as whale songs- an imagining of the possible life beneath the icy surface. The imagery combines hand-painted liquid crystals and Super-8mm footage from a local aquarium (hooray for (now extinct) Kodachrome).

Innocence - Bjork Music Video Competition

This was my entry to the Bjork Innocence music video competition. Shot by Carl Fuermann with the assistance of Geneva Bailey in front of a homemade green screen. I worked a little bit of my liquid crystal magic into the mix.

Snow Flukes

Next up: "Snow Flukes" I'm going a little bit out of sequence, but this was the next video that I felt like publishing. This is "Snow Flukes." I happened upon this 16mm silhouette footage several years ago. I was told that the artist who drew the cartoons was Otto Messmer (Felix the Cat) and that the skater is Dorothy Hamill, but I'm not sure. All of my searching has turned up very little on this little film.

I'm glad I have breathed some new life into it (and I always credit Otto and have never made a cent off of it- I'm really not sure if this footage ever fell into the public domain). The "psychedelic" background is shrink wrap and the skater is made of the same liquid crystal paint that went into "The Light Touch Dust Nebula" (ah, that's probably why I felt like following it with this video). I really love the fact that a paint activated by heat can be made to look like snow (note: this film is also silent):

Cheering for Phil!

Yesterday, I got a call from a police officer. He didn't identify himself as such immediately. He mentioned that he had gotten my phone number from my friend Phil Rowe, who is a fellow filmmaker. He staggered through his first few sentences while I waited for him to ask me for a favor. Perhaps he needed an editor, a 3D animator, or someone to do some web video thing. This is what I have grown to expect from conversations that start with "I got your number from..." This would have been great. I could use the extra cash these days. I'm saving up for something big. Actually, anything other than what followed his awkward introduction would have been great: "Are you related to Phil?"

I wasn't prepared to answer that question. Something inside of me said that the answer he wanted to hear was "yes," but my hesitation caused him to inform me that he was a police officer and that my friend had been involved in a car accident. The gravity of this situation gave me the sudden urge to tell the truth. I was not related. But I gave him information on how to find a relative (his daughter). After that, I couldn't get any information out of him, other than the fact that he was in Boulder. I offered to help in any way that I could and let him know that I was close, if they needed anything. He simply told me that he had my information and would have the hospital get back to me if there was any news.

And with that, he left me hanging. I contacted Carl, who is also very close to Phil, and told him what had happened. He called the emergency room. They told him Phil was discharged. What a relief! Seemed like our friend was involved in a minor accident and walked right out the door! I spent the next four hours in this blissful and ignorant state of mind.

We got home that night and were somewhat concerned that we still could not get in touch with Phil. I called the emergency room back, telling them that I was just confirming that he had been discharged and that I was trying to get more information about what had happened.

"Rowe? No. He was not discharged. I'm sorry someone told you that. He is in surgery right now- in Intensive Care. His condition is listed as critical." My stomach dropped as my world got slightly smaller and blurred. How could this be? How could they mistakenly list someone in critical condition as "discharged," which is the opposite of said state?

I couldn't think to ask any more questions. I poked and prodded as much as I could, but the person with whom I was speaking admitted that she did not know any details. I hung up and told Carl the news.

We quickly made phone calls to see if any of our other friends had any information, but it was the first anyone else had heard about the situation. Not knowing the details was killing us, so we called back and asked to be transferred to someone who knew what was going on.

The story pieces came together: Phil had experienced a massive heart attack while driving and ran his car into a tree. He was undergoing heart surgery that was expected to last six hours.

Carl and I drove to the hospital. We knew that we could not see Phil while he was in surgery, but we wanted to try to get as much information as we possibly could and to have a "presence" there. Luckily, Carl is a much better liar than I am and when asked what his relation to Phil was, he quickly and simply answered: "adopted son."

"I'm with him," I grinned, stupidly. It worked. We are now officially family, which made things easier until his daughter arrived today. We were given the whole story. Turned out our dear friend needed a one inch tear in his heart fixed as well as a triple bypass surgery.

"It's a miracle he's alive," the surgeon informed us. "That's interesting," I replied. "Yesterday I got a fortune cookie that said 'You will soon bear witness to a miracle.'"

She showed me the goosebumps on her arm.

After hearing the details and bonding a bit, we all agreed that Phil was quite fortunate, and had a good, strong heart.

The next day, we visited our groggy friend. We quickly informed him of his adoption of Carl, lest we be kicked out of the recovery room. He smiled and nodded at the news, clearly glad to have a son. Incidentally, his daughter is happy to have a brother.

I had been working on a costume for Halloween. I was going to go as the indestructible cheerleader from "Heroes." I had studied her costume and made it from scratch. I was prepared to singe it and put some fake blood on it to make it look like her famous train wreck adventure. I never got the chance to do this. I also never made it to the party I was supposed to attend.

Not wanting the costume to go to waste, I decided to give it a purpose. I post a picture here. Cheers for Phil! I wish him a speedy R-E-C-O-V-E-R-Y!!!

update:this post was delayed in publishing. I've had very little free time. For a couple of weeks, recovery was difficult for our friend. I am happy to report, however, that, as of 11/30, he should REALLY be discharged in just a few short days! This past month has been... interesting. I've exchanged glances and short words with so many different people at the hospital. We all share a bond. It's a bond that we should, perhaps, remember to carry with us beyond the doors of the hospital. No matter what happens in between, we are all bound to birth and death. Hospitals remind us of this humanness and the emotions I have encountered have run the gamut of human capacity- from the frazzled woman I witnessed yelling about the "incompetence" of the hospital to Carl, who along with the nurses and doctors make up the most amazingly patient and helpful people on the Earth. With this, I am filled with a renewed desire to experience life to its fullest. And also to never smoke a cigarette again in my life...

Views From Views

The world of experimental film has become a very interesting place for me lately. More words on that later. First, I wanted to post some pictures that I took at my screening, which took place on October 7th. The setting: The Walter Reade Theater. This is where the Views from the Avant-Garde portion of the New York film festival plays. Before the programs start, we all gather in the gallery. I was very pleased to see that the program in which my film was playing was sold out:

I recognized a few faces, but as I said, I feel that I have become estranged from this world. A group in which I once felt so at home and seemed so welcoming to me seems at once elitist and alienating to me now. So I did what any normal person would do. I went to the bathroom with my iPhone to do some quick e-mails and take photos of my fish purse:

What? Wouldn't you do that?

After bonding with my fish, I decided the two of us needed to get to the theatre before the films started:

So yeah. Then the films started and I stopped taking photos and playing with my toys. Great program. Great films, all around, actually. I've exhausted all of my past strength to write detailed critiques about avant-garde films, though. I might write about a couple yet... It just always took a great deal of effort to write about these works and I kind of felt that the energy was lost. Again, more on that later.

I was kind of surprised by how many of these works were digital this year. Much of the experimental film world has been fairly "anti-video" for a while. With the exception of the occasional hiss at the video projector (yes, someone actually hissed), it seems like this "rule" might be beginning to bend (this is the avant-garde, after all- we're supposed to be all about bending the rules). Though I have been doing a lot of video work lately, my film was shown on 16mm. Unfortunately, the 16mm projector bulb was having "issues" which resulted in my already dark film being projected MUCH too dim. I've grown out of my "artist throwing a fit" stage and have accepted the uncertainties of working in the medium I have chosen. Besides finding it somewhat unfortunate, I simply let it go.

Besides, there was a director's party to get to and wine to be had:

I really didn't drink all that much wine. I just liked the way my phone's camera handles reflected light in low-light situations. Now, for stars (the movie kind that don't emit their own light making them actually uninteresting subjects for my camera phone):

Jason Schwartzman!

Not really. I thought it was him, but I'm really bad at the whole "identifying people" thing. But I swear this is Wes Anderson:

New York Film Festival Director’s Party 14

Huh? Huh?! Forget it. I have no real pictures in this category. They actually kicked us out rather early, but this being New York, we just moved to a new bar.

Most of these folks are filmmakers whose films were in the Avant-Garde program, but I will spare them from being identified by my text here (that makes it Googleable and, let's face it, some people don't want a fuzzy strangely-lit picture of themselves popping up on the Internet when stalkers Google their name).

Finally, I snapped a couple of photos of graffiti outside of the restaraunt. A friend of mine asked me to snap a couple of shots because she thought it was beautiful. I agreed:

These Little Town Blues... and Nicole Kidman!

I love New York. I wish I could live there again, but I know better. Living in that city really took its toll on me. I might live there if I didn't have to make a living there, but as it stands right now, that's not happening. A friend of mine had put the movie "Ghostbusters" in my head, so I was taking pictures of the various places in the film:

Ray: "Symmetrical book stacking. Just like the Philadelphia mass turbulence of 1947." Venkman: "You're right, no... human being... would stack books like this."

Gozer? Who's Gozer? And what's he doing in MY ice box?!"

"Ray, when someone asks you if you're a god, you say 'YES'!!!"

I arrived at the festival office to collect my credentials, hoping to see a film or two (because, you know, film festival). It turned out that I wouldn't be able to see most of the feature films. The films that were playing over the weekend we were there were the so-called "popular" films, with stars like Nicole Kidman: Oh, wait. What? Was that actually Nicole Kidman? Gee, I don't know, let's get a closer look:

Why, I think that was, in fact, her. Better look again, just to make sure. Okay, these pictures kind of suck. I mean, I think the bluriness is kind of cool, but not when you're trying to prove someone's identity. That was Nicole, just take my word for it (yeah, we're on a first-name basis now because she walked in front of me). Yes, she is beautiful in real life. Also, she smells like roses. No, not like rose perfume, but like a bouquet of roses. It was a little surreal.

Earlier, I had to squeeze by John Turturro on my way out the door (who does not smell like roses). We had not reached the level of fame required to stay in the press room for the photo ops. I said, "screw that" and made our own little photo op:

Courtney Hoskins, director of "Snowbird" and "Gossamer Conglomerate" at the 2007 New York Film Festival for the premiere of her latest film "The Counter Girl Trilogy."

Carl Fuerman, director of "The Box" and "Oft Not" in attendance at the 2007 New York Film Festival.

And then we were really kicked out.

The press conference was for Noah Baumbach's new film "Margot at the Wedding," starring, obviously, Nicole Kidman and John Turturro, but also Jack Black (who wasn't there, but I've already "met" him, so whatever), Flora Cross (of "Bee Season," which was an excellent movie based on an even excellenter* book), and Jennifer Jason Leigh. There are others, I'm sure, but I didn't see the film, so I don't know much about it other than what was posted there. I'm sorry I missed it at the festival, but I'm looking forward to it.

Incidentally, Jennifer Jason Leigh and I must have similar-looking hair. Perhaps we even look a bit alike. When I exited the building, there was a brief moment of excitement resulting in a couple of pictures, but that passed as soon as it was determined that I was no one. And I KNOW they didn't think that I was Nicole Kidman- the only other famous female at the conference.

In all, quite a first day in the City!

*new, real, legitimate word

Air travel joys

I had a nice hotel room with a big, fluffy bed in Chicago, so I was a bit sad to leave it, knowing I would be crashing at a friend's apartment soon, imposing myself on their lives like any good former New Yorker would. Sigh. I quickly got over it, though. I was, after all, heading to New York- a city dear to my heart and always full of excitement. I was also heading there to attend the New York Film Festival, where my latest film was going to be screened. I could get over the loss of a fluffy bed and pool.

Nothing, however, could ever make me happy about Chicago O'Hare (well, except for the UFO sighting (a video here), but that's neither here nor there- oh yes, puns intended).

Traffic to the airport was awful. For some reason, the cab driver seemed to believe that if you alternately slam your foot on the brake and gas pedals, the car would either fly over the offending vehicles, vaporize them, or somehow alter the spacetime continuum, making it possible to get to where you were going on time. Needless to say, none of those things happened. I got to the airport only an hour before my flight, though they "recommend" two.

I quickly learned that in the world of overbooking, "recommend" translates to "require." I was too late to check in and was bumped to a later flight, flying standby. Still, I flew out, eventually, and the trip out of the city was at least visually interesting.

Arriving at Newark airport turned out to be a mistake, however. $85 to get to Brooklyn? Ouch...

The Rest of Chicago

After three days of the Adobe MAX conference, I started craving art for art's sake, rather than art that is design which is supposed to maximize profits and provide a better, faster, and slicker "user experience." I didn't have time to go to the Art Institute of Chicago, which is unfortunate. I've been there once and wanted to return to the Joseph Cornell collection. I did get a picture of it from the outside, however:

I also got to walk around the city a little bit. Alone with my iPhone full of great music and its little camera, I was inspired by many city scenes:

I fell in love with that mirrored sculpture. I love photographing reflections:

This is a really cool water sculpture. The face towers are actually video images (that's my one complaint with my iPhone- no video) lit by little LEDs within glass or plastic bricks of some sort (see the bottom photo):

I really like Chicago. I think it's a beautiful city. I wish I'd been able to see more of it on my trip (as well as visit some of the folks I know who live out there)!

The User Experience

The title of this blog is one of many phrases I got sick of hearing while attending the Adobe MAX conference in Chicago earlier this month. Others included "integration" (mixed with a variety of other words), "client-side," "runtime," and "Adobe is the king of the world." Okay, I didn't actually hear that last one, but that was the general point of the conference, so I "sensed" it enough. In fact, many of the workshops and lectures I attended seemed to offer more of that sentiment than actual "information," but some of them offered some new tricks and tips that I have been able to use in my job and my creative life.

One of several Adobe pep rallies- this one was the unveiling of new products to the crowd of eager geeks (of which I was one- when I learned that Flash may start "integrating" inverse kinematics tools in their product, the animation nerd in me got all choked up).

I got so bored in one of my morning workshops that I encrypted my notes to keep from dozing off:

Indeed, I am a geek among geeks.

I also got a little sick of filling out surveys every half hour (that is NOT an exaggeration) and eating potatoes. The potato thing got so bad that one of the parties featured potatoes in a martini glass. Them's fancy taters!

To be fair, I won a great book on Flash video and learned how to shave time off of some of my projects. Mostly, though, I just received confirmation that I do things right. Oh, and I also got to attend an over-the-top party, the theme of which, from what I could gather, was "80's pop/geek culture and stuff that makes you go, 'oh yeah, I remember that!'"

BMX bikers and skateboarders show the crowd what can be done when you are not sitting in front of a computer all day:

A giant game of "Operation" (oh yeah, I remember that!):

Oh yeah! I had one of these:

And these (things are cooler when they are big): Remember this movie (I was deemed too intoxicated to go back to the future)? And the Fusion engine from the sequel (beer make car go fast): This conference really was just kind of over-the-top for the most part. The conference center employees revealed to me that it cost half a million dollars just to unveil the new products to the crowd- I can't imagine how much the party cost. Shareholders take note. Ahem.

I had fun, though:

Arriving at the party.

Preparing for the Segway obstacle course

The band. I actually like these guys. They did a swing version of the Spongebob Squarepants theme song and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana.

Jell-O shots. Without alcohol. Still pretty, though.

This was a huge virtual graffiti wall connected to Wii remotes. You worked with another player to create your wall and then a picture of the wall was sent to flickr. But I took my own picture:

iPhone, iSlack

I've been so neglectful of my blog lately. I jumped the gun on the technology bandwagon and got myself an iPhone before I really had the time to learn how to use it to write blog entries. I figured out how to do it technologically, but the actual writing threw me off.

Don't get me wrong, the iPhone has an excellent keyboard. It's actually very easy to write. What it's not easy to do is edit! I've basically become addicted to cut and paste. It allows me to write fluidly and then go back and make edits after I've thought about how I want to communicate an idea. So far, I have not figured out how to do this with an iPhone, or any other mobile device.

Until then, I'll have to just play catch up when I have the chance to sit at a computer and type. Or, I'll have to learn how to hack the iPhone to get a text editing program on it. Or, I can figure out the best way to post photos directly from my iPhone because the thing takes gorgeous pictures!

(it's always important to test a cell phone camera with a self-portrait first)

(flowers)

(fungus)

(the soap on my windshield at the car wash)

I recently took my little phone with me on a trip to Chicago and then New York. I plan to post pictures and stories from those trips this week.

I do love my iPhone. I had my music on me at all times and could take a photo whenever I was inspired to do so. I was able to watch movies on the airplane and share my own films with interested parties. I could check my e-mail from the road. I could wander through the cities with my phone, search for a place, get directions or go to the website or call them directly... I'm not going into the details here. You can go to the apple web site to see all of the tricks it does. It really is a magical little device! I've never owned an iPod or anything "Mac." I'm very impressed!

Okay, I'm slacking

So I've been working on this incredible independent film by Pericles Lewnes. I haven't been able to say much about it because it's all been top secret, but I'm really excited that I might not have to be quiet too much longer. Pericles is the quintessential independent filmmaker. Whenever I start a job for someone, I always get a little nervous when it comes time to actually watch the movie. I hope for the best, but I'm often... a bit let down when it comes to "quality." People often overrate their abilities as filmmakers (or underrate the difficulty of the jobs people on productions have) and try to act, write, direct, edit, sing, fly... on their own, usually ending up exploiting me or whoever else they have suckered into working on their production. However, this was not the case with "LOOP." I was blown away by the quality of the production, the acting, the...

I still can't go into details here, but I wanted to give a little shout out. Pericles has been a great person to work with. I met him participating in the "On the Lot" competition. "LOOP" is premiering at FAIF on October 31st at 7:30 PM at the AMC Downtown Disney 12 Theaters in Los Angeles. I highly recommend anyone who is going to be there to go see this film. At least check it out online at:

http://faif2007.bside.com/?_view=_filmdetails&filmId=32395578

Additionally, if you want to hear a little true independent spirit, he was on blogtalkradio, interviewed by Jon Moody for "The Independent Corner." I had wanted to get this blog up before his live interview last night, but the wireless in my house was acting up and I haven't mastered my new iPhone quite yet (more on that later). Click on "The Pericles Lewnes Show:"

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/JonathanMoody

The poster below will take you to the the site for the film.

The Counter Girl Trilogy at The New York Film Festival

I'm proud to announce that my short film series "The Counter Girl Trilogy" is being included in this year's official selection at the New York Film Festival. This is its U.S. debut (it's world debut was in London a little over a year ago). It will be included in the "Views from the Avant-Garde" series in a program called "Bits and Pieces (Make up to Break Up)." The screening is at 6:15 pm on Sunday, October 7th at the Lincoln Center (Walter Reade Theatre) and I couldn't be happier with the company in which it will be shown! Some links are below:

The Bits and Pieces Program

The Entire Views from the Avant-Garde Series

The New York Film Festival Home Page

I've had the honor of seeing my films on this enormous screen before, so I'm really looking forward to being there. Also, due to the fact that Kodachrome has been discontinued, this might be one of my last Kodachrome prints!

Living with a Star

This could be a shocking expose about life with a celebrity. It's not.

It's actually the name of a group that studies the interactions between the sun and life on Earth, or space weather. Furthermore, it's a cool way for me to show you something... cool. Well, cool relative to the rest of its surroundings, anyway. It's actually pretty hot! The below movie clip is footage of a sunspot captured by the Japanese-launched Hinode (Sunrise) international spacecraft.

Sunspots are areas of relatively cool temperature on the surface of the sun. This is caused by intense magnetic activity, which inhibits convection (that up and down swirliness that you see in soup and coffee- among other things, I'm just kind of hungry right now). The exact details of how and why they happen is still an area of intense research in Physics.

Some have said that the footage looks like trilobites. Others have said it looks like cells. According to the article (if you click on the title to this blog, it will take you there- all of the titles of my blog entries are links, incidentally): "This movie is a magnetogram— a dynamic map tracing the sunspot's intense magnetism," Physicist Lika Guhathakurta explains. "Black represents negative (S) polarity, and white represents positive (N)."

I just think it's pretty cool! Enjoy!