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NEWS, TANGENTS & WRITINGS
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Spring 2009
The Penguin Menace has been a consistent presence in my neighborhood. On most days of the week I find it lurking outside my door and need to take evasive maneuvers to avoid being accosted. In April I took a trip to London hoping that the oppressive fowl would lose the scent. However on my return the antarctic adversary still skulked outside my chamber door.
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With the warm weather Chicago film producers emerge from hibernation. In May I had my first Steadicam gig working with the Red Cam. for a short film directed by Chuck Baker. The shooting location was a “Gentleman’s Club” on the south side. Director of Photography Max Heiligman maintained the smokey atmosphere. Andrew Benz, the camera owner, acted as DIT (Digital Imaging Tech) and raconteur.
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I worked a day with Luminair Productions as a Steadicam Operator for some remote portions of Mexico: One Plate at Time (Ramon Engle is the regular studio op’ for that show). We shot a few walk-and-talks and some interview segments on an idyllic Chicago day. Scott Dummler directed. Bob Long acted as DP. Ryan Miller served as my assistant and provider of bon mots between set ups.
2009 begins my 6th season documenting modern dance in Chicago. I’m looking forward to doing more performance shooting with the Steadicam this year. With the acquisition of the smaller Pilot rig I’ve been able to cover longer performances (video here) without a pause (something very difficult to do with the full size rig). In May and June I’ll be doing Steadicam coverage of works by Synapse Arts Collective and Julia Rae Antonick.
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Executing a walk-and-talk on Blue Island Ave with the crew from Luminar Productions.
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This summer will see the premiere of Phenomenal Terrain the Dance Film I shot for director/choreographer Colleen Halloran last fall. This was filmed at a barn and farmhouse location in Wisconsin and mixed narrative and performance elements. With the combination of gritty location, intense performers and morbid sensibility provided by Colleen I’m very exited to to see the final results. The sound design is currently underway.
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On location for Phenomenal Terrain a film by Colleen Halloran.
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Looking forward: My partner in grime and Dance Filmmaking, Atalee Judy, has received the Chicago Dancemakers Forum Grant for her project “Architecture of Fear: an excavation”. With this sponsorship we intend to formally secure urban locations for our remote shoots and bring on a modest crew and perhaps some of that newfangled electrified lighting apparatus. WIth my background in hardcore experimental filmmaking I tend to fetishize the stark realism for which guerrilla style shooting is conducive, however this approach limits the scale and duration of these shooting sessions.
I’m gearing up for my third Chicago marathon run in October 2009. Between 2007 and 2008 I knocked 35 minutes off my time. I intend to hack another 20 minutes off in 2009 and to finish under four hours in 2010 (thus qualifying for a start corral 2011).
Updated May, 13, 2009
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June update
In May and June I worked on several Greek, Indian and Jordanian weddings for Absa Productions, REM Video, and Sami Michael Films. The lightweight Steadicam Pilot makes it possible to shoot with a Steadicam for the long durations necessary for event documentation. This increasingly popular mode of coverage has enabled me to integrate my skills from fifteen years as a Steadicam Operator and ten years working on wedding films in Chicago.
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Steadicam operation for an Indian wedding in Chicago.
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