The Bear

A couple weeks ago I went to see a screening of The Bear (1988), with a live score performed by one of my favorite LA bands - No Age. The film was great and the score was awesome, but the crowd was extremely obnoxious. I do, however, love that cinefamily is branching out and combining more than just silent films with live scores. Very cool!
I am now working as an assistant editor for Firestone Productions. It's a very small production company and I'm dealing with corporate video, but I love the job and am learning a lot.
I've seen some good shows (HEALTH!) at some neat new bars and venues, and haven't spent nearly enough time at the beach. Summer is almost over, and pumpkin spice lattes are back at Starbucks so I will be bringing out my sweaters and trying to enjoy fall in California even if there are no colored leaves or apple orchards.

MOON

Saturday night I went to a screening of Duncan Jones' first feature 'Moon' at the Arclight and it was one of the best films I have seen out here. Go see it! Sam Rockwell's performance is amazing (it redeemed my lost hopes for him after 'Choke') and the story is fantastic. Duncan Jones was in LA so he stayed to do a q&a after the film. It was shot on a budget of 5 million dollars and less than one year from conceptualizing the story they were in production. The set was built to accomodate the aspect ratio with the lens they were using, and it allows for great use of deep space (npi). And they used miniatures! Apparently there are these great miniature artists who are out of work due to the digital age and Duncan Jones gathered them all together to work on this project. Being David Bowie's son probably didn't hurt either. Anyway, go see Moon!

http://www.sonypictures.com/classics/moon/trailer.html

cinema

LA is filled with great places to see films, and I have experienced only a few but I think they are worth noting. There is a theater that plays silent films on Wednesday nights with a live piano player to accompany the show, and The New Beverly has weekend double features of classics from the 80s complete with original old trailers. My favorite place, however, is the Hollywood Forever Cemetery where films are projected in the middle of the cemetery at nightfall. They skyline is filled with palm trees and elaborate graves, and there is always music, wine and cheese before the film starts. There is no seating, so everyone is crowded onto the lawn on blankets, but it adds to the comradeship created during the show. The film selection here is also wonderful. My first experience was for The Graduate, and last weekend I saw the original Wicker Man. This weekend they are screening some of Kenneth Anger's films, and he will be in attendance, but I, unfortunately, will not.

Elle

I am currently working on a feature called Elle: A Modern Cinderella Tale, and it's exactly what you think. I have finally made my way into the camera department and I absolutely love it, mostly because I get to own multiple colors and sizes of tape, but also because i get to clean lenses and play with green screens.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1436372/

6.27.09

It's been over a month since I moved to LA, and I figured it was time to join the blogger community. Enjoy!