Saila's Miscellany

“The Gaze” by Barry Jenkins - In my years of doing...

Wed, 19 May 2021 12:26:45 -0400

“The Gaze” by Barry Jenkins - In my years of doing interviews and roundtables and Q&A’s for the various films we’ve made, there is one question that recurs. No matter the length of the piece or the tone of the room, eventually, inevitably, I am asked about the white gaze. It wasn’t until a very particular interview regards The Underground Railroad that the blindspot inherent in that questioning became clear to me: never, in all my years of working or questioning, had I been set upon about the Black gaze; or the gaze distilled. I don’t remember when we began making the piece you see here. Which is not and should not be considered an episode of The Underground Railroad. It exists apart from that, outside it. Early in production, there was a moment where I looked across the set and what I saw settled me: our background actors, in working with folks like Ms. Wendy and Mr. and Mrs. King – styled and dressed and made up by Caroline, by Lawrence and Donnie – I looked across the set and realized I was looking at my ancestors, a group of people whose images have been largely lost to the historical record. Without thinking, we paused production on the The Underground Railroad and instead harnessed our tools to capture portraits of… them. What flows here is non-narrative. There is no story told. Throughout production, we halted our filming many times for moments like these. Moments where… standing in the spaces our ancestors stood, we had the feeling of seeing them, truly seeing them and thus, we sought to capture and share that seeing with you. The artist Kerry James Marshall has a series of paintings of ancestors for whom there is no visual record but for whom he has supplied a visual representation of their person. For me, most inspirationally, “Scipio Moorehead, Portrait of Himself, 1776.” Of the painting, from the Met Breuer exhibit KERRY JAMES MARSHALL: MASTRY – “In this painting Marshall created an imagined self-portrait of a real African American artist, Scipio Moorhead, who was active in the 1770s. Few if any images of Moorhead exist in the historical record. Everything we know of his legacy is based on Phillis Wheatley’s first book of poetry, published in 1773 while she was a slave [sic] in Boston. The book’s title page illustration is an engraving of the writer, reportedly modeled on a painting by Moorhead. The engraving remains the only visual proof, however tenuous, of Moorhead’s existence.“ In the way that Mr. Marshall sought to honor Mr. Moorhead through this imagined physical representation of the artist, we have sought to give embodiment to the souls of our ancestors frozen in the tactful but inadequate descriptor “enslaved,” a phrase that speaks only to what was done to them, not to who they were nor what they did. My ancestors – midwives and blacksmiths, agrarians and healers; builders and spiritualists, yearn’ers and doers – seen here as embodied by this wonderful cast of principal and background actors, did so very much. Housekeeping: From end to end what you are hearing here is Nick’s original score. And yet even at fifty minutes, this is barely twenty percent of the score for the show. The same with the images; maybe five of these shots are in the actual show? There are no spoilers here. Other images in this format appear there but not here. All told, we archived four hours of these portraits. They flow in story order, from Georgia to Indiana. NOTE: one of these things, you’ll notice, is not like the others. In the context of the show, its presence will make sense. A FEW SHOUTOUTS – None of these shots are planned. Occasionally, when the spirit moved us, we stopped making the planned thing and focused on making THIS thing. So shoutout to my brother James for sure; we had a show to film and yet he never questioned, he brought his best to this. Always. Caroline Eseline. Our costume designer. The majority of the souls you see here are inhabited by background actors. Which meant at any moment, the camera could go from a close-up of number one on the call sheet to… a portrait of number 500. It did not matter. Every soul needed full embodiment. And every damn time I saw someone and was moved to portraiture, there was no doubt of their readiness. The same goes for Lawrence Davis and his wonderful group of hair stylists. And Doniella Davy and her makeup team. Mark Friedberg. Liz Tan, Spoon, Jesse and the directing team. Jarrett Morgan, aka Da’ Possum. Alex Bickel. Daniel Morfesis, who cut this and all the teasers that came before. OUR BACKGROUND ACTORS. My most humble thanks. This is an act of seeing. Of seeing them. And maybe, in a soft-headed way, of opening a portal where THEY may see US, the benefactors of their efforts, of the lives they LIVED. Much love to you. And so much love to THEM. -B

“Run Forever” by Universal Everything - Run Forever...

Sat, 17 Apr 2021 15:18:49 -0400

“Run Forever” by Universal Everything - Run Forever is a digital media artwork visualising the vision of Hyundai Motor’s sustainable design and green energy for a clean mobility society. In Run Forever, the runner is at one with nature, transforming from water, to hydrogen and oxygen, to pure energy, before returning to nature in the form of plants. Inspired by the water cycle, Hyundai Motor’s clean hydrogen fuel process is renewable, generating infinite energy for our runner to ‘run forever’. Run Forever launches the new brand space Hyundai Motorstudio Busan. The Motorstudio is a hub for design, exploring the power of design across all disciplines. Experiences in the Motorstudio are guided by the theme ‘Design to Live by’, reflecting how great design enriches and reinvents our everyday lives. Run Forever features on the Creative Wall at Hyundai Motorstudio Busan. The digital artwork is among a variety of arts and cultural exhibits in the space that allow visitors to experience the vision of the Hyundai Motor brand. The five-story Hyundai Motorstudio Busan is based in F1963, a cultural complex in the former Kiswire Suyeong wire rope factory designed by renowned architect Choi Wook. Universal Everything and Hyundai Motor have previously collaborated on a kinetic display experience and large-scale video artwork for the Hyundai Motorstudio in Goyang. Run Forever also features in Hyundai Motor’s commercial TV campaign about clean energy. https://bit.ly/3ajP7UJ

“Flux” by Collectif Scale - Installation lumineuse...

Sat, 17 Apr 2021 13:52:49 -0400

“Flux” by Collectif Scale - Installation lumineuse et cinétique du collectif Scale. Production : Region Grand Est, Festival Constellations Metz, Tetro

“ANYWHERE CAN HAPPEN” by Black Sheep Films -...

Sat, 17 Apr 2021 12:26:24 -0400

“ANYWHERE CAN HAPPEN” by Black Sheep Films - Director’s cut visuals. Version edited with the music from the amazing Reuben and the Dark x AG. Directed by Fernando Livschitz https://bit.ly/3807Bcf https://bit.ly/2JvYp5P Thanks to all these talented people Nelson Clerici Iara Mijalovsky Majo Tabares Virginia Palacios Guido Ferraro Nicolás Holodovsky Nahuel Alvarez David Bohorquez Mario Pablo Julián Coutada Ludmila Rodriguez Moreno Silvina Lesa Brown Alfredo Amoedo

“HIGHER GROUND” by WING London - When the gorgeous...

Sat, 27 Mar 2021 13:53:17 -0400

“HIGHER GROUND” by WING London - When the gorgeous Ben invites Hannah on holiday after just four dates, she thinks she’s hit the jackpot… until she gets her period on the flight over. Higher Ground focuses on the clash between reality and old-fashioned attitudes, where openly asking for a tampon can cause as much stress and panic as a decompressed airplane cabin. Director - ANIA SMOLENSKAIA Co-Director - WILL INGHAM Based on a Screenplay by - ELLA BERMAN & LOLA RUTH Executive Producers - WILL & TESSA INGHAM Producer - JENNY COLLINS Director of Photography - COLIN THOMSON Art Director - BEN JONES Design - MATT STEVENS Editors - ANIA SMOLENSKAIA, HOLLY DENNY, WILL INGHAM Associate Producer - MOLLY CLIFTON Assistant Director - OWEN COX Focus Pullers - JOSH TUE & PETER SWINFORD 1st Assistant Camera - ALEX LOBSANG 2nd Assistant Camera - DANIEL TUERNER Gaffer - PAUL CHOY Spark - THEO RIBEIRO Sound Engineer - LOUIS BONIFACE Script Supervisor - EMMA NICHOLS Hair and Make Up Artists - NICOLE FAIRFIELD & BEX PALMER Behind the Scenes - JONNY RUFF Runners - CLAIR HIGGS & MARTHA EVANS Visual Effects - ELECTRIC THEATRE COLLECTIVE Colourist - JASON WALLIS @ ELECTRIC THEATRE COLLECTIVE Visual Effects Producer - OLIVER WHITWORTH @ ELECTRIC THEATRE COLLECTIVE Sound Design and Composition - BEN JACQUIER

“The Typewriter (supercut)” by Ariel Avissar -

Wed, 24 Feb 2021 16:42:59 -0500

“The Typewriter (supercut)” by Ariel Avissar -

“A Live Interview with Dan Cederholm” by An Event...

Wed, 17 Feb 2021 12:26:27 -0500

“A Live Interview with Dan Cederholm” by An Event Apart -

“3:45 PM” by Alisha Liu - A girl sinks into...

Thu, 04 Feb 2021 13:52:51 -0500

“3:45 PM” by Alisha Liu - A girl sinks into contemplation during a picnic at the park. This is my 2nd year film at CalArts, thank you to everyone who supported me during the process! Music & sound by Ryan Yoshikami Voiced by Sofia Rahaniotis and Socks Whitmore Watch other films made by my classmates: https://bit.ly/2O6K5CR

“Beautiful Chaos” by Black Sheep Films -...

Wed, 30 Dec 2020 13:52:32 -0500

“Beautiful Chaos” by Black Sheep Films - “Chaos it said to be the opposite of order, and order, the basis for beauty. But that doesn’t mean that chaos can’t be beautiful too"Joel Meyerowitz Directed by Fernando Livschitz https://bit.ly/3807Bcf https://bit.ly/2JvYp5P https://bit.ly/3rAeoRH

“Prisencolinensinainciusol RAI” by Bronx Zoo -

Thu, 26 Nov 2020 15:18:37 -0500

“Prisencolinensinainciusol RAI” by Bronx Zoo -

“Maayan Ziv English subtitles” by Fondation Rideau...

Sat, 21 Nov 2020 12:26:35 -0500

“Maayan Ziv English subtitles” by Fondation Rideau Hall Foundation -

“Black Sun: Amorphous Flocks of Starlings Swell Above the...

Wed, 18 Nov 2020 12:26:42 -0500

“Black Sun: Amorphous Flocks of Starlings Swell Above the Danish Marshlands” by Colossal - Filmed in southern Denmark by Søren Solkær.

“Awkward” by Nata Metlukh - A day full of socially...

Fri, 06 Nov 2020 12:26:35 -0500

“Awkward” by Nata Metlukh - A day full of socially awkward moments. ✨ Award ✨ Best Short Film of the Year at Promofest (Spain, 2020)

“fiat unveils the new 500 3+1 — the iconic car is now all...

Wed, 28 Oct 2020 12:26:46 -0400

“fiat unveils the new 500 3+1 — the iconic car is now all electric and has one extra door” by designboom - more on designboom here:

“The Map” by Film First - “The Map”...

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 15:18:41 -0400

“The Map” by Film First - “The Map” (Work & Co x Gary Hustwit, 2020) is a short documentary about a revolutionary redesign of New York City’s iconic subway map. Filmmaker Gary Hustwit documents the process as digital agency Work & Co creates a new “live map” — one that updates in real-time — to help New Yorkers and tourists better plan their journeys. The film examines the evolution of wayfinding and user interfaces, and shows how good design and the latest digital technology can simplify one of the world’s most complex transit systems. Featuring Felipe Memoria, Rachel Haot, Sarah Meyer, Joshua Gee, Marcela Abbade, Karina Sirqueira, Robert Penner, and Mohan Ramaswamy. A Film First production in conjunction with Work & Co Director: Gary Hustwit Producers: Gary Hustwit & TJ Kearney Executive Producer for Film First: Jessica Edwards Director of Photography: Ben Wolf Editor: Isabel Ponte Original Score: Danz CM https://bit.ly/31tLS8U https://bit.ly/31vHJkO https://bit.ly/31ubliC

“Field Notes - United States of Letterpress” by...

Tue, 22 Sep 2020 15:21:10 -0400

“Field Notes - United States of Letterpress” by Coudal Partners - Our 48th Quarterly Limited Edition for the Fall of 2020 is the “United States of Letterpress,” which features the work of nine independent letterpress shops from across America. This series demonstrates a wide array of craftsmanship, ingenuity, and love for the age-old and tactile process of letterpress printing. https://bit.ly/2HfNtrs

“Speed Merchant - Vintage Electric Roadster” by...

Mon, 14 Sep 2020 12:26:42 -0400

“Speed Merchant - Vintage Electric Roadster” by Vintage Electric - Introducing the all new Roadster from Vintage Electric. The next evolution in our electric transportation arsenal. The Roadster takes the premium craftsmanship and performance of the Tracker and raises the bar to further amplify your ride experience. View the Roadster: https://bit.ly/2H1sN6J

“KOSKI” by deFORM & MONUMENT - WWW.KOSKIGAME.COM...

Tue, 08 Sep 2020 15:18:42 -0400

“KOSKI” by deFORM & MONUMENT - WWW.KOSKIGAME.COM - Soon on Kickstarter - sign up to be the first to play KOSKI. Cinematography: Kryštof Melka KOSKI is a board game that connects the physical and digital gaming worlds together in a new, unusual and playful way. It is a combination of real toy blocks and a virtual app that evokes digital interactive game play. The Player uses an iPad as a “magical mirror” which looks onto wooden blocks. By using an augmented reality and object recognition, as the player interacts and builds with the blocks, the game soon begins to reveal it’s hidden worlds, characters and stories. It unlocks new and imaginative ways to play.

“HYPER-REALITY” by Keiichi Matsuda -...

Tue, 08 Sep 2020 13:52:34 -0400

“HYPER-REALITY” by Keiichi Matsuda - Hyper-Reality presents a provocative and kaleidoscopic new vision of the future, where physical and virtual realities have merged, and the city is saturated in media. If you are interested in supporting the project, sponsoring the next work or would like to find out more, please send a hello to info@km.cx by Keiichi Matsuda | https://bit.ly/33bBQJs more at https://bit.ly/35ly3fl

“Wherever You Go / Launch Film” by TARFORM -...

Wed, 12 Aug 2020 12:26:40 -0400

“Wherever You Go / Launch Film” by TARFORM - Everything is in constant motion. Every wave, every cell and every breath. A film by Taras Kravtchouk