LIGHTING SEMINARSLighting Seminars
I returned to New York City this week and it is so terrific to be back. I forget just how many people are here and how unbelievably diverse it is. This summer I have spent primarily in the Mid-West and in the Southwest and I mostly saw only either black or white people. Being back in NYC is like having the Crayola 64. No wonder I love being an artist here. I had two amazing experiences this past week. The first was I taught a lighting seminar at the Ghetto Film School. Its an incredible organization in the Bronx. I had about 20 students in my class, maybe more and taught for 1 1/2 hours. I didn't think I had more than 30 minutes in me but obviously I was wrong. Since the students were working with zero budget, I started off by telling them I could come up with 20 different light sources they could use for free. That caught their attention. My favorite example was mentioning that some scenes in Marie Antoinette were lit by Christmas lights. Sure, there were strands and strands of Christmas lights, but I think it inspired them. We also discussed the sun of course, street lamps, car headlights, refrigerator lights, tv monitors etc. and why you would chose one source over the other. Not just because its free but because it creates a certain mood. This is the 4th year that I've taught a class there. Whenever I am asked to teach a class or sit on a film panel, I do so. I remember attending a Woman Make Movies event in 1993 when I first started film school. Ellen Kuras cam to speak to us. And my dominant thought was "if she can do it, I can do it". The other amazing experience this week was I attended an Office Warming Party (my words) for this other DP, Cliff Charles (aka, "The People's DP"). He debuted his office this week - complete with editing bays and several HD cameras. He screened recent projects and proudly displayed a poster for "When the Levees Broke". This was the first time we'd met but I had heard his name for many many years. I've always appreciated his entrepreneurial spirit and initiative. What brought me such joy was how certain I am that competition does not exist. If you are creative, accessible and proactive, there is so so much work out there. And everyone's career goals are all so different. Later that evening, he played my online reel and new people got to see it. That was unexpected and very wonderful. I met some new industry folks and reconnected with some old. Anthony Artis, whom I know through NYU, had just finished a book on Guerrilla Filmmaking. I think its called Down and Dirty DV. The wonderful coincidence (and I so love them) was he had just met someone from the Ghetto Film School the day before and gave them a free copy of his book. Lastly, I've kept up with my one new movie a day routine. The most impressive was "Curse of the Golden Flower". Hot damn. I have a gold addiction (you can see it in both my cinematography and painting) and this was orgasmic. It reminded me of 300 in a way. Both had Digital Intermediates to really create unique color combinations and used delicious symmetry in their compositions.
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