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Cybel Martin Blog
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I have been MIA from this blog and all of my others. I have two reasons why. 1. When I am in production truly nothing makes me happier. So one of my reasons is I have been very busy. 2. The other is the most fascinating and juicy details of my life rarely if ever belong in a blog. Give me a call and I'll gladly share. But never have it "out there" in print. Still, I did give Matt at Wild Sound a commitment to writing a blog and I HATE not keeping my word. It makes my skin crawl.
So. Did I mention I love pre-production? Since writing, I've spent a lot of time researching various film stocks and deciding what type of tests I want to do for this film. My goal is that every film I shoot has its own visual language. I like to chat endlessly with the director on what that "voice" of our film will look like. I am especially inspired by a painter I recently saw in a NYC exhibit. His use of colors in figurative oil paintings is phenomenal. I also took a trip to Barnes n Noble (aka my library) to buy a few photography books. One book showcases portraits from a number of National Geographic photographers. I like books with a variety of looks/photographic styles. That way my director can flip through the images and say "yes that, but with less of that". Sort of like when we get our eyes examined. Is A better? Or B?
Another extremely valuable resource are the forums at cinematography.com. If you are a DP, I assume (and pray) you already look at this site on a regular basis. Total side note: the film "The Astronaut Farmer" was playing on my flight a few weeks ago and its shot by David Mullen. When I saw his name come up, my first instinct was to tell the person next to me that that was a friend of mine. Before I fulfilled my need to boast, I had to remind myself that although I have read more posts written by David in cinematography.com and have gained more knowledge about being a DP from him, I actually don't know him. Never met him. But again, if you frequent those forums, you know how generous David is with his knowledge and he indeed feels like a friend.
My "grand plan" after having a fulfilling DP career is to go back to school and get a PhD in Urban Planning. I think the layout and social services available in a city strongly affects the psychology of its citizens. Whenever I have an opportunity to shoot in a different city or town, I love to learn about its architecture, even its local politics and see how that would affect the characters in our film. And how I can enhance that or use it in my choices as the DP.
And of course, I watch tons of films. I saw "Gridiron Gang" and was shocked that I really really enjoyed it. Another film I saw was "Schultze Gets The Blues". It was brilliant. Another reminder of why I am a filmmaker. Briefly, it's about this wonderful round German accordion player who has a sudden penchant for Cajun music and travels to America. There are so many movies out there were its an easy plot device to have the bad guys be either Arabs or Germans. And this lovely little movie reminded me (and I'm kinda "free to be you and me" already) to see everyone as an individual with a desire to express their best self. It's like that quote from Babette's Feast, "Throughout the world sounds one long cry from the heart of the artist: Give me the chance to do my very best "
After watching "Schultze", I jotted down in one of my notebooks, "everyone has a story. Honor them".
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