Wednesday, December 22, 2010

why coming home to l.a. is always > anything else :

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the streets of buenos aires : a visual poem

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you get to see so many sides of a city
when you produce in it.
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some of my favorite moments:
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(yes, that is leela and nibbler.)
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Tuesday, December 21, 2010

THE BEST LAID PLANS vs. THE HAPPY ACCIDENTS :

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here's the thing about all this stuff i do.
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you can plan every detail, down to every single frame in your head:
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you can fly between countries,
trying to find the "perfect" cast for the story:
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your producers can be so buttoned up you want to see them TRY to relax:
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your locations,
they can be spectacles unto themselves:
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you can eat out at amazing places,
learning about each other:
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you can have your director of photography,
toshi,
create sunbeams and shadows,
anywhere:
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your clients,
they can be the kind of people
who will sit on stone stairs at the end of a 17 hour shoot day
without a whimper,
and laugh,
and sing,
and make you smile:
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and still,
there will be moments you find yourself isolated,
a little exhausted,
almost alone:
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and still,
it will rain for hours
and kill a favorite shot,
and you have to just suit up in neon and push through:
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and still,
you will find yourself on a rooftop 
on the other side of the world,
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and you will look down as dusk falls,
and see an older couple,
just beginning to tango:
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and through it all,
you will think,
yes,
i am not lucky,
i am blessed.
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Monday, December 20, 2010

wardrobe fittings, and the BOTTEGA VENETA dress that got away . . .

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no secret,
one of my favorite parts of shooting
is when we get to the fittings.
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it's like playing dress up with life size barbie dolls.
almost literally.
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and i've learned from experience,
that when traveling to buenos aires,
it's often best when you have a vision to have your amazing stylist in the states
(cue : bic owen)
pull ALL the looks,
rent, borrow, buy, or steal,
and bring it with you.
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why?
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cause they can't get THIS stuff
down there:
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the driving gloves along in dove gray?
the dolce lace?
the vintage white?
the models were lucky i gave them a chance to put it on.
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so.
you put it all in the film planet "warehouse",
bring in the girls,
and get going.
high to low,
basic to full on
until you have a story,
told in clothes.
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and it rocked.
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you'll see most of it when the commercial releases,
but there is one dress
that "got away".
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as sometimes happens,
in the middle of our location day a torrential monsoon 
came out of nowhere
(after the riot police.  and the protesters.  not making this up.)
and you lose three hours,
and one of your favorite shots / outfits.
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it's just a dress . . . there's always another spot . . . but oh, what a dress this was.
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bottega veneta fall 2010.
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ex. quisite.
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alas.
next time, b.v.,
next time.
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