"Cruising the Urban Inferno" screening at the Ellensburg Film Festival - Oct 3rd

as part of the Live Action Shorts Program
Oct 3rd, Sunday, 4:30pm @ the SURC Theater
http://www.ellensburgfilmfestival.com/films.html

CRUISING THE URBAN INFERNO FROM THE 4^th FLOOR
2009 / 3:57 minutes / featuring music by SEDAN






Cruising the Urban Inferno from the 4^th Floor is a city portrait and stop-motion/time-lapse animation composed from over 2,000 digital photographs, shot over 4 days, from a 4^th floor room at the Patricia Inn, in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Each photo was taken by hand (rather than remote), which also involved physically maneuvering the camera during various shots to achieve particular visual effects such as "swirling" and superimposition. Editing was performed in-camera.

“Cruising the urban inferno” is taken from Susan Sontag's essay, Melancholy Objects, and is in reference to Baudelaire’s concept of the flâneur, or one who voyeuristically strolls through city streets. The area in which I was staying is an intersection between Chinatown and Gastown, on the edge of the downtown core, and home to many non-profit organizations that provide assistance to the drug users, sex workers, impoverished, and homeless who congregate or reside there. The street and alleyway I have documented in particular feature some of these individuals, including needle exchange volunteers. With this in mind, and careful observation, the viewer can glimpse various interactions and activities that are characteristic of and commonplace in this particular section of Vancouver.

SEDAN is Danny Sasaki on drums and Scott Seckington on piano
www.myspace.com/sedansedan

October is quickly approaching!

and with it my favorite holiday... Halloween!

I know it's a little early, but Halloween heralds
the sweet segue from autumn to winter for me.

I also love Halloween as a celebrated occasion rich in tradition and activities
- superstitions, storytelling, costuming and disguise,
pranking, delightful and frightful glowing jack-o-lanterns,
delicious pumpkin pie, cavorting and snickering in the dark
- it's the only holiday, besides Easter, that's both scary and hilarious!

Donated new paintings to local non-profit art auctions

It's been a few years, but I'm trying my hand at painting again.

The pieces shown here were inspired by and made for particular non-profit organizations' upcoming fund-raising events - a tree for GRuB, and a triptych of "abstract film frames" paintings for the Olympia Film Society.

I just started volunteering with GRuB, Garden Raised Bounty, last month - what a fantastic organization! (I've heard the "u" stands for "urban" or "you".) Their silent art auction is happening today at Olympia's beautiful Schmidt Mansion, across from the Olympia Brewery:
http://www.goodgrub.org/soiree

This small 5x5 acrylic latex painting on canvas was inspired by an apple tree in a back corner of the farm which produces pretty delicious green fruit. As one GRuB staffer described, "they taste like fall" - and they do!




The Olympia Film Society's silent art auction is happening this upcoming Fall Arts Walk, October 1st (Friday), starting at 5pm in the mezzanine, and don't miss this chance to also see the animated films of Marge Brown and a live performance by Flamenco Luz!

http://www.olympiafilmsociety.org/calendar/index.php?event_action=view&eid=1656&instance=2010-10-1

"abstract film frames" triptych
acrylic latex on 3 each 4x5 canvas