Adios...

Well, it's time. As the semester draws to a close, so does my career at this wonderful institution that is Huntington University. Let just say that the last 4 years has been nothing shoot of a life-changing experience. The people I've met and they ways I've been challenged not only as an artist but as human will stay with me the rest of my life. It has been a blessing being in class with you all. Seeing all your guy's passion and what you do with that really gives me assurance that us Seniors are leaving the future of our department in competent hands. Just remember that no matter what path you decide to take with your art, always approach it and the people involved with humility and above all else, Love. And don't afraid to be challenged to the point where you feel that the your foundation is being rocked to the point of collapsing. I heard that's when God grows you the most ;)

I Love you all, and will miss you greatly. I know leave you with a series of films that show (hopefully) my progression as an artist at this school. Forgive me for the first one, I was young once...

Why I will never watch Twilight...

DISCLAIMER: STRONG LANGUAGE. Once again, for a purpose.

I know there are 3 parts to this review but try to watch all of them if you can, if not, at least just this one. If you don't know who Doug Walker is, he is a relatively well known film critic especially known for his other critique persona known as The Nostalgia Critic. Anyways, this review says it all. I've heard this so many times form people, when regarding the Twilight series: "You can't judge it if you never saw." Bull. With that same logic, I should go and drink some rat poison, just "because I've never tried it." And from what I've heard about this series from reliable critics like Doug Walker, I know for a fact that watching any one of these movies would make my blood pressure rise.

What a manipulative story. I couldn't agree with Mr. Walker on this. A story specifically targeting young females and their warped fantasy of the "perfect guy" while wrapping it in a weird story involving creatures of the occult, yet is somehow redeemable by the Christian community because of some pseudo-christian themes. That's another thing. I find absolutely hilarious that Christian community is more than willing to accept the Twilight series, while seeming to be very hesitant to accept the significantly more merits that the Harry Potter series presents. Don't both stories revolve occult? Yet, I believe the HP series to have significantly deeper and complex Judeo-Christian themes worthy of praise rather than just that the main character "waited for marriage" (If I here this point more time I'm going to literally punch a baby!). But that's another argument for another time. And how highly does Stephanie What's-her-face think of her education on such a subject as ABORTION, that she can put such a shallow, ignorant blanket approach of dealing with it in her story? I ASK YOU THIS. Mr. Walker was in such a state of shock about how this subject was handled in the film, that he spent over HALF the review just on that. "This film is sick." Once again, I couldn't agree more Doug.

So, in closing, that is why I will never watch Twilight. I can't consume crap like this anymore. It's bad for my soul. And I think the Christian community should be a lot better at being conscious consumers of what garbage we're eating on the screen, just because the word out is that the creators have Christian "values". I think we should really take a look at what really are the "values" being portrayed, and not just hinge our decisions on whether the main characters have per-marital sex or not :P

'Nough said,
~Miles

OMGODFATHER!

I've always wanted to see this film. Mostly because, in the past, when someone would ask me about "The Godfather", and I would tell them that I'd never seen it, I would most often get a reaction that looked something like this:


Well, I can finally say I've done it. I've seen "The Godfather". And I can also say that I've gained much more than the relief of never having to see that silly face again. The only word I could use to describe this film is a "masterpiece". The script, the performances, the cinematography, the score, all worked seamlessly together to tell this dark tale of family, loyalty, money, murder, and love. Francis Ford Coppola deserves the highest respect for telling this story in the way he did.

The film is about 3 hours long. And that's the thing, it doesn't feel like it. And it ends so abruptly that it just leaves you wanting more (hence Part II). Marlon Brando and Al Pacino's performances are captivate and hold you throughout the entire movie. If you haven't seen this film, you should! But make sure you're ready. This film is dark. Lovers dying, assassination attempts on family, domestic abuse, all of these themes given in a strong dose that some might not be ready to swallow. But when you think you're ready (if that day comes) and you have 3 hours to watch this cultural masterpiece, then I suggest you get on that ASAP. There is so much to this film that even if I were to try to condense it, I would be writing for another hour and I wouldn't even be able to give it justice. To say that I was moved after seeing it is the understatement of the century.

This is a film that must be experienced on your own. You will NOT be disappointed. Affected deeply probably, but not disappointed.

'Nough said
~Miles :)

Star Wars Episode I Review (1 of 7 you should see)

Alright, so here is the review I was talking about from Red Letter Media. WARNING: This does contain a plethora of colorful language. But all for a purpose. And that is for correctly critiquing the many story flaws with the film that thought it could rely on the success of its predecessors and technology to get their audiences approval.

As I'm sure many pretentious filmmakers have vented to you at least once in your life, the Star Wars prequels were an utter sham and disappointment to both critics and fans alike. What was supposed to the greatest sci-fi series of our generation, turned out to be an exploration of special effects porn that was marketed to entertain a demographic of ages 5-12. Now don't get me wrong. We DO owe ol' George a lot for his numerous contributions to the film community. But I think that this movie serves as a good lesson that, when given almost unlimited freedom in tools and budget, creativity is easily stifled.

'Nough said,
~Miles =)

Publish Post

Sunset Boulevard

Just watched this film tonight with my good friend Joel Cooper. Little side note: it's actually the first movie I have ever checked out from the media library! I know, I'm a senior right? But what a great tool regardless! Anyways so this film, made by Billy Wilder, is a timeless masterpiece. Having been made in 1950, it tackles a whole variety of controversial topics that not many films of that time would go. Suicide, infidelity, a young man taking advantage of a middle-aged woman, all of these are included in this classic.

What really sells it it, is the performances by Gloria Swanson and William Holden. Their chemistry on the screen was awe-inspiring. Holden's character, a down on his luck Hollywood writer, comes across a rich, aging film star from the silent era, who ends up taking Holden in to edit a script for her. Her character is lost in her past fame and stardom and is trying to get back on the screen. William agrees to help her, and in exchange she takes him in under romantic pretenses and showers him with gifts and adoration. Eventually Holden's character is uneasy about taking advantage of her love for him, and tries to find a way to get out of this unhealthy relationship.

This film really explores the fallacies of being lost in what use to have been so much so that you miss the world changing around you. Swanson's character would be described as someone who is entirely lost in her on press. She is unaware of the fact that her fame has come in gone, and she still expects to be treated as she was 30 years prior. This is what ultimately leads to the demise of her and Holden's character. This film also really explains the world of Hollywood and there is even a guest appearance by Cecil B. DeMille! Overall, an amazing piece that you all should see!

'Nough Said,
~Miles

Fort Wayne "MY CITY" Music Video

Hey guys, I just thought I'd let you know what I was apart of this weekend. Above is the News coverage of the event. Basically a corporation called A BETTER FORT, whose mission is to promote pride in the Fort Wayne area and retain talent in the area, got connected with our Directing and Cinematography professor, Kelly Lynch for him to shoot a music video for them. The music video would be for the song entitled "My City" which was a collaborative effort of several area hip-hop artists including Moe Cheez, R2Q, and Pryce all coming together to sing about the city they know and love.

So, Kelly agreed and assembled his crew, which consisted of Dave Pannkuk, Jim Marbach, Tim Bajema, and yours truly! We all met for a production meeting last Wednesday at Coney Island (one of our shooting location) and had our pre-production meeting on how the weekend shoot would go. Needless to say, we were all excited as heck! So, it was with high spirits that we woke up at 6am on Saturday to shoot this thing. We shot all over the Fort Wayne, including a city-view rooftop and club. We had to have shoot around 10 to 15 different artists and groups as well, including...MIKE JONES (who I actually had never heard of until we shot him on Sunday).

Jim, Tim, Dave & I were made to work together. We all had great attitudes and had a blast shooting this thing. We all would be camera operators at some point and when we weren't doing that we would be either ACing or gaffing/gripping. And under Kelly's superb direction we were able to create some beautiful images with such a splinter size crew. Oh yeah, big shout out to Dave Pannkuk for his beast Steadicam operation! If ya'll ever need any Steadicam shots, look no further than Dave, he will get them done! We only have one more shoot to go which will take place this coming Saturday! Being on this shoot has not only been rewarding with experience but just affirmation that this is the industry that I am supposed to be and I couldn't be happier with the whole thing!

Unfortunately due to legalities I can't show you any of the footage with the artist but I will show you a mock-up steadicam shot of us when we wrapped shooting on Saturday outside of Coney Island. It also includes a snippet of the song performed by Moe Cheez:

COME SEE "SAIL AWAY"!

Well, it's official! If you guys are not yet aware "Sail Away" will be premiering on December 9th @ 7,8,&9pm, so if you haven't got your tickets GO AND GET THEM SOON! They're available at the box office in the MCA and...THEY'RE FREE!

This has been a film that I, along with the other 3 Senior that worked on it, gave our sweat and blood for a good 2 months (some more) of this semester. Like I said before I was the DP (Director of Photography) on the film. It was honestly the most stressful project I've ever worked on. There were times that I felt like just giving up. But I'm glad that I didn't. I truly believe that to be an artist is to suffer. And I definitely have gone through suffering for this project. But I'm glad I never gave up. I'm glad no one had a quitters attitude because this film has turned out to be a beautiful piece. A little bit shorter than the heads had originally plan, but the fat has been cut a way to give you a beautiful, story plain and simple, but beautiful.

But the most important thing about this project has not been the story, the cinematography, or even the hype and scope of this project. If the project was just to delete itself off of the main and backup hard drives tomorrow, I wouldn't think it a huge loss. Sure I'd loose some sweet shots for my demo reel, but over all the most inspiring and intrinsically benefiting part of this project was working with the underclassman. To give them the tools and experience that you can use to create wonderful, beautifully shot stories that they can be proud of. THAT is the true reward. Not the premiere. That will still be cool. But the opportunity to mentor the next generation of our department is the greatest blessing any of us upperclassman could be given on this film. I'm so proud of their attitudes and all that they have learned through this shoot. And I can't wait to see what how they'll use their new tools and experience in the next few years and continue the cycle of mentoring the next generation. What a humbling calling that I am unworthy of being apart of. For that I feel blessed.

'Nough Said,
~Miles

The Searchers

Aaah John Wayne. The Duke. It's been awhile since I've seen any of his stuff. Such a good actor. And "The Searchers" is no exception. The reason for viewing this film was because we have been given a list/assignment of all the films we need to see before we start our semester at the LAFSC. And this film was one of them.

What stuck me most about this film was how pretty the cinematography was of this film. Naturally in westerns there are beautiful anamorphic shots throughout the film, and this as well, was no exception. It was a gritty piece, starting off slow in the beginning, then quickly tragedy strikes, and it's up to John Wayne and his partner to seek retribution for the murdering of their family and capture of one of the girls from the family by a neighboring Indian tribe. In all of the mix is a love story, comedy, and reconciliation.

Supposedly this was one of the first films that really dealt with the issue of racism. Although I see how this can be so, I can think of another film made right around the same time that much more directly tackled racism which was "Giant". So, I'm not exactly sure why this film was set apart from all the other numerous John Wayne westerns on the list of films for the LAFSC. It simply seemed like an above-par western, but maybe I'm missing something. Oh, and another thing about it, it seemed sooo long! Old westerns seemed to have a theme of just dragging along in the middle of the story, and "The Searchers" is not exempt from that. But, then again, audiences used to feel cheated if a movie wasn't at least 2 1/2 hours long back then, so whatcha gonna do? Overall a pretty cool film that I don't think anyone would do harm by watching. But certainly did not make it on my "favorites" list.

HUGO - A Children's Story for Everyone

Needless to say, I am beyond impressed with this film. I am astounded! When I first heard about this film, and watched the trailer, the story seemed enigmatically intriguing, but it seemed to have several things going against it to begin with: First, it was a film made and packaged for a "3D experience". This is never a good place for a film to start off when persuading me to buy a ticket. From what I've seen of movies made for 3D, they are generally "gimicky" in nature and lack the depth of storytelling needed for a good movie due to them relying on the technology to draw the masses. The other issue it had was that it was directed by Martin Scorsese. Scorsese directing a children's story? Keep in mind that this is the man our professor stopped having a dialogue with due the grotesque nature of his recent films. So yeah, needless to say, I was very skeptical walking into the movie theatre.

But what unfolded before me on the big screen, was a magical experience filled with depth, beauty, and imagination beyond what is usually expected out of big-budget films these days. The story is wonderful tale about a boy trying to fix something and find purpose in his life, and in the process, he in many ways "fixes" and gives purpose to the characters that are closest to him. This wrapped together with tying in not only the theme of time and place, but you also get to taken into a dream world of film history grounded in magical realism. What is "magical realism" you may ask? I'm sure I'm not the most qualified to answer that, but if I had to define it, it's a film grounded in reality, with elements of magic or the supernatural that the world accepts as reality. And this film definitely has those moments and they are beautiful to say the least!

Overall, Scorsese will take you on a mystical journey filled with dreams and purpose. In short, this is one of the few films that have an excess of rescources available to make it, yet still maintains the integrity of a beautiful story. It truly proves the point that Lewis makes about a children's movie needing to relate to all ages. I suggest you all go out and see it, you will not regret it.


'Nough Said,
~Miles


p.s. Professor Leeper, if there is a film to start having a dialogue with Scorsese again, this is the one!

Beauty Kill

So there we were, sitting in Kevin and Matt's room on Friday night around 10:30, thinking how incredibly bored we were. We started brainstorming about something exciting and adventurous we could do to remedy this. I had made a little video earlier that day, and everyone seemed to like it, so we thought about doing another video. Matt came up with the idea of something to do with paint and a simultaneous creative/destructive process. So Matt Nelson, Kevin Hast, Christina Espiritu, and I decided to head over to Becker and shoot it with my decent, but not-so-great Canon Vixia. On our way out though, we met Miles, who asked us what we were up to. After informing him of our plans, he asked if we would like his help, and his superior camera. Needless to say, we were thrilled to have the help of a professional, so Miles got his stuff and we headed over to Becker. Being a Friday night, we thought "what the heck, no big deal if we're up till 2 or 3 in the morning shooting this", and we began to shoot.

Fast forward to 7am, as we stumbled out of Becker, having accomplished our task. I climbed into bed at 7:15, woke up at noon, went to the DC for lunch, and headed back to Becker to start editing. I finished up editing around 6:00, grabbed dinner from the HUB, and eventually crashed around 10 last night with a pounding headache.

And after 11 hours of sleep last night I feel much better, and the finished video we came up with was SO worth it!

So here you go.......our short film: Beauty Kill.

A night with Nicole Dreiski**

Let be first to say that it was an honor to have a children's media expert like Miss Dreiski come and visit our school. Thank you so much Leeper for bringing here in.

So I was lucky enough to be invited to have dinner with Miss Dreiski with a select group of students and faculty. She seemed very eager to hear about "Sail Away" and what we were doing with it. She listened avidly to both Gracie (our writer) and I about what we had to say about it. She also gave us some good advice about story, and also told us about a project she was currently involved in. Soon after she got into a discussion with us about content in children's media. Essentially, her argument was not that we should focusing on censoring children's media (sound familiar) but that we should teach children to be conscious consumers of what they're watching and what it means to them as individuals. I think this interaction will have a profound impact on how I approach media consumption if the Lord wills I have children.

After a delightful dinner, I then had the opportunity to listen to her speak again at the Forrester Lecture. At this, she talked about an entirely different yet relevant subject of marketing yourself and knowing when and how to spin your work and experience to get people to believe in you and eventually fund you. This can be a very awkward position to take for Christian artist's who think that, for the sake of striving for "humbleness", they must refrain from making them seem special. But this does not translate well for looking for job or trying to get funding, and I think Miss Dreiski handled this topic delicately and in truth. I am so glad she came, and I am sure my art will benefit greatly in the future from her dialogue with our student body.

And the winner is...wait, this can't be right...LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BY A LANDSLIDE VICTORY, IT'S THE RED SCALET X!!!!!

I JUST GOT DONE WITH ONE ROLLERCOASTER OF NIGHT...

Wow, I've been completely blown away with what I've seen tonight. Well folks here they are (you can click on the names too to give you links to their spec pages):

Canon EOS 300C





SCARLET X



I have to admit, I was on cheering for the wrong team. With Canon having the opportunity to offer yet another affordable filmmaking tool, one which Low-budget indies could be shot on, I thought for sure that they would enter this new camera into the filmmaking world at a competitive price point too... but they did NOT. $20,000!!!!!! THAT'S FRIGGIN' RIDICULOUS! I think all heads sank upon hearing this. This was not a wise move for Canon. So many of the DSLR users wanted a "step" above what the current DSLR cameras were giving them and have a video ready camera that they could use all their canon lenses they bought. But instead, Canon got greedy, and made a very bold move at a very bold price, one which I think will end up backfiring in their face. It can't even shoot 60fps @ 1080p. It doesn't even shoot @ higher resolution than 1080p. And its codec kinda sucks to (only 50Mbps). Sure it shoots decent in low light, but people are looking for more in a camera than that ESPECIALLY IF YOUR GOING TO CHARGE THEM $20k for it! I mean there are many options out there that offer better features at a lower price, like for instance...

SCARLET X. THIS LITTLE GUY BLEW ME AWAY. RED was the company that I thought didn't care about anything under the $15K market, and a lot of what they were saying made it seem like that too. AND THEN OUTA NOWHERE: 4k Resolution for under a $10k resolution! AND it shoots it all at all on a RAW 4-2-2 RED codec. Super 35mm too! Can shoot up to 120fps in 1K as well. It will even take both Canon lenses and PL lenses too! THIS is a professional camera offered at a bargain price. I have little to no doubt this will be our Film Deptartment's next camera purchase...


LUCKY YOU GUYZ :P

@REDPWNDCANON

REMEMBER REMEMBER THE 3RD OF NOVEMBER

TOMORROW...

CANON

VS

RED

No matter the outcome...WE WIN! I know this is yet another camera-fueled blog, but seriously guys I am sooo excited for this announcement between these 2 camera giants! RED, the company that brought us the RED ONE, will be announcing the RED SCARLET, a work in progress that consumers have been waiting over >5 years. And Canon, the guys that have given us dirt-cheap DSLR filmmaking, will be making what they call a "Historic Global Announcement" tomorrow in Hollywood. Now since Canon usually plays things close to the chest, and aren't known for over-exaggerating anything, we can only assume that whatever they're going to announce WILL BE BIG. And since the unveiling will be taking place in none other than the city of cinema itself we can also assume that it is gong to be or have something related to a camera or possibly camera(s) that are designed for making films. The rumors out right now, is that it will be a Super 35mm camera with 4K capabilities at a price point for <$15,000 dollars...in case any of you don't know, that's kind of a big deal!

So who am I pulling for? I have a feeling Canon's announcement is going to be the one making headlines tomorrow. They are prosumer-friendly and know how to give their clientele base great features for a low price (i.e. DSLRs). I think RED will announce something neat for their "professional" audience, but it will be far out of the price range of the general filmmaking community, especially for students. But can really do right now is speculate so let's wait until tomorrow and see for ourselves...

What kind of camera should I get?!?!

So I've been asked this question a couple of times, and for the fact that I am consider myself kind of a camera buff, I figured I'd give y'all a little bit of stuff to think about from my repertoire of knowledge on this subject matter. Also, feel free to ask me about cameras anytime, I Love to talk about them!

So, you are all artist, and as any artist you need tools to make your art and a medium to record your art onto. Now, for the longest time that medium for both filmmakers and animators was on long strips of perforated film through motion picture cameras. Now, ENTER THE DIGITAL AGE. SD Cards with capacities that will let you shoot like >9,000 pictures. Nonlinear editing systems that let you correct and add anything you'd like to you're final image. And not only that, you all have the delight being apart of an of intersection of not only the the digital revolution, but also a very recent revolution in cinema called the HD DSLR (High Definition Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera revolution!

Now, I'm sure a lot if not all of you Film Production majors have at least heard of HD DSLRs by this point. For those that may not be familiar with them, they are basically digital still photography cameras with large sensors, and the ability to interchange lenses. And of course, here's the clincher: THEY ALSO ALLOW YOU TO SHOOT BRILLIANT HIGH-DEF VIDEO imagery that of which used to be only designated for high-end digital cinema cameras (i.e. RED ONE, Sony F35) all for less than the price of an HU meal plan! That should be enough to make any aspiring filmmaker leap for joy! Indeed, these are exciting times you are living in! Some of you who are on "Sail Away" know that we are shooting this film on a Canon EOS 7D, which is an HD DSLR. Now there are definitely some difficult drawbacks to these cameras, mainly stemming from the fact that they are cameras for stills first and foremost, but even that is becoming less of a problem as the line between a still and movie camera becomes more and more blurred. Now these aren't meant to replace high-end cinematography cameras that are specifically designed and packaged with features meant for important movie projects, but they are nevertheless a very viable option for student filmmakers!

With some of these cameras being <$800, there is no reason why those of you who are serious about your craft shouldn't own one! It used to cost OVER $20K to get the kind of images produced from these cameras. This is the perfect tool for any aspiring filmmaker to experiment their making their own short films on, and also great for stop motion and compositing HD footage for animators!

In short, for such a cheap price tag you can't go wrong with getting some of these, so I've compiled a list of the top 3 cameras that I would suggest a lot of you get so you can start experimenting with your image making! I have also included a link to a blog and video by Phillip Bloom, who is basically the forerunner for DSLR movie shooting, which talks about different types of cameras and their uses right here:

http://philipbloom.net/2011/10/24/macvideot/


1. Sony NEX 5N - $600 (Body) (technically not a DSLR, but in many ways better!)


2. Panasonic DMC-GH2 - $900 (lens included)


3. Canon EOS Rebel T3i - $672 (Body)

Hope this list helped! Again, these are just tools! A crappy concept and story won't become or look any better on a great camera. Story will always be king, and you should compliment good stories with the tools you use to record them. Like I said, feel free to stop me anytime and ask me about any more of these cameras and my opinions about them! Happy shooting!




~Miles =)

I Am Sorry (or How I Would Eplain Myself To Bridget's Mother)

It seems that I have taken part in something that I was unaware and had no intention to take part in. Indeed, thinking back on what was in the showcase last year, I have no doubt that Prof. Leeper was referring to my film "As Darkness Drowns" when commenting about the trend of victimizing women among a lot of male filmmakers. So I have nothing more to offer then my sincerest apologies for reinforcing and, in a away, encouraging that ongoing perspective in cinema.

If I can redeem myself in anyway, I will at least try to explain the thought process that went into making this piece...

It was our first assignment in Advanced Cinematography. It was simple enough; create a scene or multiple scenes where the lighting changes or moves at least twice in the scene. Me, like most filmmakers, wanted to do something unconventional. I not only did I want to have light change, but I wanted to dance with it as well. I wanted to try things I've never tried before. But here was the problem: I had no idea what story to revolve around. It is very tricky to have something you want to do with lighting and THEN try to write a story about it. Usually it is done the other way around. All I knew is that I wanted the story to take place near a pool so that I could experiment with "pool light" dancing on someone's face. I also wanted to try out the new underwater cameras our department had just got in...

So, I sat on this image of someone with pool light dancing around on their face with no story attached to it for about a good week and half. By that time I had about 3 days left to shoot the project if I wanted to get it done on time, and needed help AND FAST. So I ended up having lunch with 2 film profs whose opinion I highly respect. I told them about the image with someone by a pool and that I also wanted a shot underwater, which I think would be best attacked by showing someone being drowned. And my friend Bethany Edlund, a senior Theatre major, had seen and been impressed with some of the work I did the previous semester and had personally asked me if she could be in my next project. So naturally, the image of the person with pool light on her face and being drowned became the image of Bethany, since she had requested to be in my project. And then both of the respected profs helped me develop that into this sort of abstract kidnap story. I walked away from the meeting satisfied and ready to make a film!

I cranked out the script in a night. Got the locations needed to shoot. Shot the film in one crazy, hectic, and cold October evening with a splinter crew over the span of 6 hours at 3 various locations(With the exception of the underwater shoot, which was done a couple days later), and was able to get enough footage to make sense of it all. I brought the footage in. It looked beautiful. I edited it all together, compiling the music together to compliment the tone of the film. After all of that and some color correction i had a piece that was just over 2 minutes long. I then had it screened in-class where it was met with praise from both my peers and professor. I even went on to fest it in which it won an award for best of fest. Not once did I question the integrity of my story or the message I was sending. To me, it was just a "cool" lighting experiment I did...then comes Leeper.

I mean it when I say, that I have been wrestling with this film and myself ever since Leeper made his critique of it about 48hours ago. I had no idea that my film could unintentionally been promoting the male dominated, violent, pornographic, and victimizing views of women we see so prevalent in our media today. IT NEVER ONCE CROSSED MY MIND. Again, to me it was just a neat experiment in lighting, to which I needed not to be held accountable for. I mean there was no sex, no swearing, relatively minimal violence, and no real "message" I was trying to give, other than and open-ended, abstract film. But upon gaining this new perspective of my film, and even showing and asking Bridget what feelings it drew up in her, I have to admit, IT HAS LEFT ME FEELING ASHAMED AND GUILTY.

I was like a ignorant child with a shiny lightsaber (a real one, not that plastic crap) who thought flashing it around would be a mere spectacle that people and myself could enjoy, all the while not realizing that I had just pierced the hearts of some of the audience members. I thought all images that I deemed "acceptable" in my moral compass were mine to wield at will, and that there could be no repercussions for my slapping them up there on the screen. But what about the rape victim, or the molested child for that matter? What about the father who fears every night for his daughter walking home from work? What about those who have been abused and objectified by complete strangers, or even their friends? I am ashamed to admit that I never once gave a thought to these. And if it wasn't for Leeper's remark on Monday, I might have continued attack art, ignorant of that of their perspectives.

So how would I explain myself to Bridget's mother? All I can say is that I'm sorry for not realizing the power of the images I shoot, and that I promise never to forget for the rest of my life as an artist.

In closing, here is "As Darkness Drowns" for you to watch if you are curious to the sham I have made. I apologies ahead of time for any victimization any of you feel when viewing it. Again, I was an ignorant child.

Another great shoot...

I had another fun weekend of shoots with the "Sail Away" crew, filled with day for night scenes, lighting night exteriors, and Sam Doughty stripping down to a swimsuit in order that a prop that took >9,000 hours to make didn't become one of the many victims of Lake Swamptip's treacherous waters :)

The first shoot was on Saturday where we were once again at the Alexander's house shooting day interiors with the William and Gloria. All the indoor scenes we have left to shoot are with Gloria because we were having many conflicts finding and actress to play the boy's mother in the script, and we were just recently able to secure one 4 weeks into shooting. But both William and Gloria are uber-talented, and we got some more great footage with them. We even got to do some "garbage bagging" of the windows to simulate evening for beauty shots of the boys room!

The second shoot took place on Sunday afternoon. We were shooting the final scene to the film, so it was kinda more uber-important than usual that the shots were pristine, which can be difficult when it's a sunny, day exterior and the sun is moving fast over the horizon. But overall, I think the shots look pretty good and we handled working around the conditions with reflectors and flags just perfectly!

The last shoot was Sunday evening after sundown, and this was going to be the most challenging for me at least, because I was going to be trying to make it look like evening, while keeping everything properly exposed, and to keep any of the motivated light from giving any "attention" to itself. Not to mention the first consisted of me being on top of a ladder looking down at the porch of a house with the camera on a jank gorillapod to simulate looking the 2nd story of a house. The wide shot was the hardest one to set up, but once we got that down (and got me down of the ladder lolz) and moved in for the medium and the close-ups of the boy on the porch, it went a lot quicker and the shots looked AMAZING.

Needless to say, myself, and I'm sure everyone else was exhuasted after this was done, and promptly went back to the dorm to pass out. Once again great job EVERYONE who's helping with this!

Take comfort in knowing the vision is coming together ;)


That DP guy,
~Miles

A Family Business

I always say that filmmaking is family business. When people come and congratulate me for “my work” on films I directed I make sure they know they’re only congratulating about 5% of the process. It takes all members of a filmmaking body to create a truly wonderful work of art. I think the Word of God puts it beautifully when He says 1 Corinthians 12:21 - “The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!” If we have a great picture but mediocre sound, we have a bad product. And if we have great actors, but a poor script, we have a bad film. No one should downplay any part of the filmmaking process, and every position deserves proper respect and patience. That's what filmmaking should be.

For our Senior film project that I'm DP on, "Sail Away", I have had the amazing privilege of getting to see this lived out. We have a crew of roughly 12-15 artists, quite a few of which are in this, who are committed to giving their best effort for the sake of helping create our story. This humbling to me, because it says to me that people give a rip enough to wake up @ 8am (or earlier) and shoot for 6-8 hours every Saturday morning, and not complain about it once! I have to say, I am inspired. ESPECIALLY BY THE 1ST YEAR STUDENTS HERE. You guys amazing. I can't say that I think I would have had the great attitude and work ethic that you guys have if I was on a shoot like this my 1st year here! You all should be very proud of your efforts and the art that you are giving it to. I, for one, can't thank you enough for all the help you've been both physically, technically, and spiritually. Sometimes, I'm not in the best of moods. Sometimes I show up exhausted to set. But it is seeing the body of filmmakers work like the body of Christ should, that puts a smile on my face and helps me to last through the day. So thank you to all who have been apart of this film. Way to live out the Gospel in your art! 'Nough said.

More photos from set (can you spot the one that doesn't belong?):

THE BOXER

Whoa man! What a great film! Historical significance. Depth of characters. And nothing excessive. That's what was going through my mind throughout the film. Why is it that so many instances of violence, sexuality, and language are used in excess in the pre-packaged, commercialized Hollywood film? And here you had a film that had every opportunity to have excessive violence and epic fight scenes, and they didn't. They focused on the integrity of the story, the world they were bringing us into, and the characters that the story revolved around. Everything was done in conservative portions.

Being partial to cinematography, I found the camera movement and lighting composition very befitting of the film. I think they must have chosen to shoot on tungsten balanced film stock, because I this was shot before digital grading was around. This is gave the film such a "blue" tint, especially in all of the exterior scenes or ones shot by windows. I also found the use of aerial shots to be very effective to give the audience member a sense that they're in a time of civil unrest. And by the way they keep cutting back to it in the exteriors, it would seem as if that helicopter was ever-present among the action taking place in the film.

I also gained some historical knowledge too. I really had no idea about what was going on in Europe when I was 3 years old. So, i got the treat of getting to see that world I was unaware of through a cinematic lens. I am truly amazed how much hatred there was among people that look the same, and in for all intense and purposes sound the same to an American. I got to see a culture in where religion, politics, and ethnic identity were seamlessly woven together, so much so that if you were protestant that meant you were against the IRA's cause. I don't think I could ever imagine living under a state of unrest in this nation, until something like that actually happens here.

Overall, great film. Everything was done with the intention of moving the story along. I'd recommend it to my friends, and if you didn't get a chance to see it tonight, try to see it!

Also, on a side note, this was my first Day-Lewis film I've seen in which he wasn't sporting a mustache!

MUTEMATH (HEY, Muzik DMA too!)

Hey guys I've been wanting to post about this for awhile, but I thought it might not fit with the nature of the class. But then I realized, the Music industry is just apart of Digital Media Arts as any other medium. So what the heck, here it goes:

Have any of you heard of a band called MUTEMATH? If not, I recommend you click on there name, and see what's cookin'! MUTEMATH is legitimately the most innovative band I've ever seen come through the music industry pipeline. They are constantly pushing their art in ways that stretch the imagination and definition of "genre". They stay committed to their artistic freedom, and it has garnered them an beyond loyal fan base and respect from the industry. But little does anyone know that this band is actually formed from the remnant of a band called EARTHSUIT which was a CCM band from 2000-2003. The band had a quick wind, breaking up after only having released one album under Sparrow Records. Then the groups rap artist, Paul Meany, and the drummer, Darren King started to talk about creating a new project to venue their talent through. The started to communicating back and forth sending each other various samples and collaborating on different pieces. Eventually the band MUTEMATH was formed. They were originally set to be released under Warner Bros., but were instead released to the Christian sub-label division of WB, Word Records.

MUTEMATH, not wanting a repeat of EARTHSUIT sued WB for violation of contract, and they went off on their own self-made label, Teleprompt, to see how they could do on there own. BEST DECISION THEY EVER MADE. The quickly gained a large fan base selling 10,000 copies of their self-titled debut album in the first month of their tour. Mutemath landed on the covers of Billboard, and Pollstar, being featured in Alternative Press, Paste, and Spin as well as on the MTV News program 'You Hear It First'. They made such an impressive mark on the music scene that Warner Bros. renegotiated their contract and professionally re-mixed & re-released their Debut album under them! Since then, MUTEMATH has released an EP, and two full-length albums: Amistice (2009) and just recently Odd Soul (Oct. 4). PLEASE TREAT YOURSELF and click on THIS LINK for a unique and interactive music video treat for their single "Odd Soul" from their new album. Maybe it's just my preferences, but I think this band is doing great things in the world of music and art for that matter. I am excited to see what more they'll have to bring to the table in the future.


And now I will leave you with their first music video which was of their hit single "Typical". Which is ironic, because the song and video is anything but.

The man who planted more than trees...

Wow what an awe-inspiring masterpiece by Frédéric Back. You can tell he poured his Heart and Soul in to this story. I think that this film really couldn't give a more clear and concise Christian message. The work of one committed individual throughout his lifetime was able to exemplify the power of God in a seemingly remedial task. He was able to turn a desolate landscape, filled with pain, suffering, suicide and unspeakable acts, into a beautiful, lively, and flourishing landscape by simply planting trees. Now it is true that this is a fictitious tale. And it is sorta told in a fairytale, but I think we can all think of individuals, who by being committed to doing small (and some would say pointless) tasks have changed the world around them. Ghandi anyone? Oh yeah, there was that Jesus guy too. I have to say this is empowering. Let's just forget the environmentalist aspect to the dialogue, and just focus on the power of an individual.

What if we all just committed ourselves to smiling and saying "hi" to someone new everyday? What would our world look like?

Maybe I'm an idealist, but I think our world would look radically different! It doesn't take the "great" people to do something great in this world. It's the ordinary individuals that have a mission in there life, and hold it true to their integrity, that really end up making this barren and desolate world a more beautiful place. Amen.