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July 29, 2017

TAKE #1

... a group of students is using my dining room table as a base while they're shooting scenes for a movie ... it seems they are very impressed with the "mood" of both my apartment and the chaos across the hall i jokingly refer to as "my big closet" ... my sunset spot has been transformed into some sort of bohemian study space ... here the producer, julia, was taking a little break between her "do this ... do that ... do this" duties ...

... the director, milton, and cinematographer, nico, review some last minute shooting instructions ... nico is from nicaragua, and i've found it nice that my "habitat for humanity" experience last february allows me to better enjoy conversing with him about his home ...

... in keeping with the whole "location" idea, i stylized this shot of the milton ...

... the rig for keeping the camera movements fluid and smooth is quite impressive—and, it seems, much, much heavier than the camera itself ...

... i poked my head in to check on their progress and found that they were constructing another set ... i probably should've made them use the ladder, but julia (two of 'em, this is the julia with the hat) was already atop the old display rack, and, to be honest, i myself found the thing quite useful for the same purpose when i painted my bedrooms so i remained a silent bystander ...

... at first i wondered about the "leading lady" ... on my first encounter with kyah she was tucked up in one of my dining room table chairs writing in what appeared to be a tiny journal ... she seemed—well, unassuming, that was my first sense of her ... then, as they were blocking out a scene, i started watching her eyes ... that was it, no more wondering ...

... sean was all over the set, moving, cleaning, arranging, and, once the camera was ready to roll, positioning and holding lights to milton's constantly changing direction ...

... for a moment i considered that milton might be thinking, "how do i send a text on this thing," but the i realized he was tired enough to need a short break ...

... nico had to wear a sort of "ghost buster's rig" from which his rather fancy-looking video camera was suspended ... his goal, of course, that you and i and all the other viewers of the movie forget we are watching the result of their long, tedious, laborious efforts and instead are brought to a state of mind that we believe we are with our own eyes witness to a reality ... way cool—way freakin' cool ...

... my favorite shot ... i.s.o. 16,000, maybe 1/4 second, captured with a manual focus/aperture thirty-year old olympus lens which wide-open at f/1.4 isn't by any standard a collection of glass i would consider "sharp" ... fake smoke, that too ... but—ah, yes, if it weren't for the distraction of the background this'd make a wonderful movie poster ... yea, i know, a bit of photoshop magic and it'd be "perfect," but that wasn't why i picked up the camera so it'll remain as it is, a most compelling snapshot ...

... what great fun, i can't wait for the premier ... !!! ... (i wonder if i'll get mentioned in the they've-all-left-and-the-ushers're-cleaning-up fine-print) ...

[p.s. note to movie crew:  you left what looks to be something important behind,
ring me up or email me to figure it]