My blog

Label... Category... Standard Entry Video Information Press Release Event News

• New Year in Taipei

  Thursday, Sep 6, 2007 4:48AM / Standard Entry

  I was in Taiwan in February for New Year, my first time. My mom's family lives in Neihu and on New Year, because there is a temple down the street, the entire street was sealed off and people were setting of firecrackers left and right.  I'm not talking a wide boulevard either, I mean a street where buildings are right on top of each other. The firecrackers would bounce off of the buildings. It was like a colorful war zone. It went on for seven hours. Amazing. Little kids were carrying out bucket-sized fire crackers to set off on their own. I was looking around for the parents. Makes me think that our fun in the US is too restrained.
  
  
  
  
  
  I think this guy is asleep.
  
  
  
  
  
  

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• shot at the world

  Thursday, Sep 6, 2007 4:38AM / Standard Entry

  Earlier this year, I bought a Nikon DSLR and have fallen in love with taking pictures again. It goes everywhere with me. 
  
  It's always a fine line when I'm with other people: taking pictures versus just sitting back and experiencing it. For me, trying to capture something visually is how I experience the world. It's the way I notice and pay attention. It's like my doorway into understanding what is happening in front of me. Maybe it's because I have an awful memory. 
  
  
  New York is a dirty city.
  Soho, New York:
  
  
  
  
  
  Grown up toys versus kid's toys.
  Brooklyn, NY
  
  
  
  
  Waiting to be full.
  Chinatown, NY:
  
  
  
  
  Where's the fun?
  Brooklyn, NY.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

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• Bergman

  Tuesday, Aug 28, 2007 3:11AM / Standard Entry

  As many of you have heard by now Ingmar Bergman passed away recently. This is particularly poignant for me as one of the first film classes I took in college was all about Ingmar Bergman's films. In a way, he was my introduction into the possibilities of film.
  
  Some of his images still stick in my brain. Rooted in theater, he always played with the theatrical barrier of cinema. In SUMMER WITH MONICA, I remember one particular shot of Monica sitting in a cafe, estranged from her boyfriend Harry, flirting with a stranger. She turns and looks directly into the camera, daring us to judge her. The camera tracks in slowly and all the lights in the cafe dim around her except for the key light on her. It is a haunting moment that opened up the possibilities of filmmaking for me.
  
  Again, in WILD STRAWBERRIES, having looked over his life, Bergman ends with a CU of Victor Sjostrom looking out over the shore of a lake at sunset, finally finding peace: an incredible visual answer to one man's question about his life.
  
  But, his films were not always "enjoyable" and often, they made you feel distinctly uncomfortable (THE SILENCE, PERSONA). But, I realized that what I was watching was someone tapping into the other possibilities of cinema. He was inventing new things, playing with narrative and experiential rules. American cinema is so focused on plot and cause and effect, that watching his films challenged what I'd been watching since I grew up. It was as liberating as it was difficult to understand the cause of my discomfort with his films.
  
  Even now, my work is still very much American and rooted in narrative and coherent experience (at least while I'm learning how to break the rules) but Bergman showed me what is possible. He is an inspiration and his work is a testament to his unrelenting artistic courage.
  
  
  

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• Panama

  Tuesday, Aug 28, 2007 1:16AM / Standard Entry

  I'm a very sedimentary person. Not sure why but I like being in one place and collecting moss. Plus, with freelance work it can be tough to take time off. But, when I do get to travel, I realize how much I love it. Especially  getting away from New York, you realize how narrow your focus in life is: work, work, work. It's nice to reset your brain every once in a while.
  
  Here are some photos from my trip to Panama earlier this year. These are from the San Blas Islands. You all should go there.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

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• new obsession

  Monday, Aug 20, 2007 9:41PM / Standard Entry

  I don't know why I can't stop watching this music video. I'm not a big fan of big dance routines but it's gloriously  celebratory and technically astounding. And whenever I hear the song, these images pop into my mind.
  
  
  Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8Z-DIAthbM
  

  
  Here's the making of video:
  
  
  Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Hfn7EPM9CE
  

  
  
  
  
  

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