bright lights, big city

At the end of the Rooftop Films screening there was an awkward moment where, after the clapping & the credits, almost the entire audience sat still in their seats. I wasn't sure why until I realized that the performance had the same effect as a classical music piece where there is that moment after the song when the sound lingers in the air and people are transfixed thinking about the entire thing they just took in. It felt amazing! 

 There were hundreds of people there and the response has been great! At the end of the impromptu q&a a tired Brent was a little thrown off by the question "How much did Leonard love his wife?" To which Brent replied "Are you a stastician?" I don't think that went over too well... but, it did make me think about how there are so many different things going on, especially during the live performance, that I can't imagine how unique each person's understanding or experience of the film is. Now we are finally back home and can sit down and watch all of the amazing films we have collected throughout our travels! Yay! 

(Photo by Pete Sillen)

Rooftop Films June 26th.8pm.350 Grand St. New York, NY.

Let me introduce you to Rooftop Films! The first incarnation of Rooftop started in 1997 when Mark Elijah Rosenberg wanted an affordable (the roof of his NYC apartment) place to screen the short films he & his friends made. This idea has grown into a massive success with a huge roster of roofs (and some lawns!),  near constant sold out screenings, and an impressive series of films! The audience & venue is equally as unique as is the amazing curation of each show making Rooftop embody everything I love about independent film- an accessible art for everybody, anywhere! I love Rooftop so much I even volunteered there a few summers back, pushing hundreds of aluminum folding chairs around, just to show my support (and for the free movies of course!). 



Mark and his fiancee Stephanie (both good friends of ours!) came out to the barn when we had just started filming Gravity so it is extra special to share the final product with them in such a great way...but, not as special as their recent engagement which took place at a fateful screening on a Manhattan roof a few weeks back! Congrats you guys! 

Rooftop Photos by Irwin Seow

rooftop

This weekend, June 26th, there will be another screening of Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then in New York! But, this one will be markedly different from the other screenings that took place in that fine city: this one will be on a roof in Manhattan with a live soundtrack provided by our good friends & musicians! And will also feature free beer following the show if that's your kind of thing! Here is a poster Drew made for the event! Everyone should try and make it out to this! Now, back to enjoying our final day in L.A.! More exclamation points!!!!!!

reviewed

Well the shows at PFA & The Hammer were awesome! We got some great reviews too! One review came in the form of the amazing underground film force of Mike Everleth over at Bad Lit . Mike has been a great supporter of not only this project but Brent's other work as well. He also seems to have a softspot for this here blog! Yay! So great to finally meet him! If you're not familiar with his site check it out, it gives indie film not only a community but a hopeful voice with an outlet for new, creative, experimental work that would probably remain hidden if not for Mike's unearthing! 


On the way back from Berkeley we drove through Yosemite (I'll post photos on my photo site later) after spending a silent evening in the wine country hills in the mountains of Northern California on our friend Aram & Mary's (and their new bear of a baby's) land. Here we are being dwarfed by a redwood! Aram  said once they hooked up a projector to a car battery out there creating the ultimate outside/underground (literally) film screening! Hm...maybe we can talk him into a film festival out there eventually....?? 

left coast

After a long drive up much of the California coast yesterday we made it to the Pacific Film Archives  in Berkeley California! The drive was pretty amazing- cliffs, ocean, pelican flocks, palm trees, a spectacular yet 
terrifying forest fire racing up the side of a hill- I have a feeling the drive back down to L.A. will be just as gorgeous (hopefully minus the fire of course)! 

The screening was good! A nice sized crowd of film enthusiasts & people who had seen the sculpture  over at the Berkeley Art Museum. Every screening I am present at is terrifying! Right before the lights dim there is a panicked feeling that everyone is going to leave or start throwing tomatoes or hiss at the screen. I think I just need to remind myself that some people will like the film and some won't and every screening will have both! And that we will probably always have a friend or two at each screening that will make us feel good regardless! Next up, some down time (YAY!) in California followed by the June 26th Live Screening at Roof Top Films in NYC! 

it's a live

Oh my goodness the show was great! First off the Hammer museum is wonderful- a beautiful, airy space with crisp, intelligent, poppy curation. Second, the town  the museum is in has a constant golden glow pouring down on it's tar pits & throwback architecture & perfectly temperatured climate making it feel like every image of California and the idyllic promises that draw people to it. Third, Brendan Canty and John Swartz, who helped make the music for this live performance, are not only extraordinary musicians but extraordinary people as well! The whole thing flew by so fast I can't even really think straight but I really enjoyed it & it seemed like the audience did too! Now off to Berkeley, CA for tomorrow's screening/Q&A! What a great day!

L.A.

Apparently you're not supposed to take pictures in the airport. Who knew?! Not me! A security guard who was excited to spot my crime informed me of this but her attitude didn't stop me from still being excited about the airport! Brent is fascinated by how much I like traveling. I haven't been to too many places so things like removing your shoes to go through security and the idea of flying (!) in the sky (!?!?!) are just as thrilling to me as they are to the little kid screaming because his ears are popping! Now we are in L.A. for the first live soundtrack screening of Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then at the Hammer Museum ! If you're in the area be sure to come out tonight! Brent was here a little while back doing a screening of his shorts (which you can watch online if you have some free time) and, like most East Cost dwellers, I think he is happy to be back! Ok, off to retrieve the cellist from the airport who, after an epic adventure across the country by all forms of transportation (except horse) has arrived! More on that later!

practice makes

After dragging a heavy guitar, a computer, some miscellaneous bags and the world's heaviest foley kit up and down the subway and eventually down into a deep, dark basement in the heart of Brooklyn the first practice of the live version of Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then commenced! Yay! My set up was between the water heater and a pump organ, crouched on the ground facing the screen while Brent, Drew & Missy (who we saw the night before play an amazing set with their fellow bandmates as part of the Hillstock music fest) stood behind me playing, um, a lot of stuff!  Now that we have emerged from the basement I think we are ready to scale the rooftops & head to Hollywood, right? Tomorrow we are California bound and I am more than ready for some sun (rubs eyes as emerging from dank basement into the seemingly endless New York overcast). Also, a special thanks to the lovely & amazing Rahul  who has been the best host one could ask for while staying in a rainy NY for almost a week- wish him luck on his lawyering exam and his pursuits in the name of love!

start up disk be my friend

Sorry for the slowness of the blog but in attempts to pack light for our film related travels I didn't bring my computer and am relying on Brent's computer which currently has two GIGANTIC quicktimes of Gravity on it  causing said computer to constantly warn me of memory issues and preventing me from my duties as an internet junkie! Hopefully there's enough memory to upload some pics later but for now...a picture of Leonard's set house in our yard before we took it to New York! Now it is back home in the very same spot (in many, many more pieces of course) only to become a house once again this Fall! 

reality (does not) bite

So Ethan Hawke is walking through Chelsea and he reads, slowly, exaggeratedly, from a gallery window  "Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then." It sounds like a bad joke set up but...it was what happened yesterday as we, sweat drenched in the early stages of NY summer, loaded the more fragile items of the show onto a small trailer. What a weird way to end our films stay in New York! Now, more unloading, more loading, and then....off to California for the Westcoast premiers! Here is another gorgeous picture of the installation brought to you by the filmic imagination of Ms. Olya Vysotskaya!

audio visual aid

Yes, yes, I know you are sick of me talking about foley so I'll keep it short...this is my current practice set-up for rehearsing the live show of Gravity. Please note the following additions: a homemade (gulp) rainstick made using nails, rice, a carboard tube etc., various glass jars and (gasp) the world's most awesome $2 mini casio keyboard whose out-of-tuneness will (hopefully) be helpful for the sound of buzzing lightbulbs! 

filmmaker

Did I post about this already? The Spring issue of Filmmaker Magazine has an article about the production of Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then! The article was written by us and talks about the building of the film- it also has one of the few pictures of Leonard's actual house before it was torn down which, unexpectedly, does have a lot of similarities to Brent's own adaptation!

you'll dance to anything

I can't help but read Paddy Johnson's blog Art Fag City and not think of that Dead Milkmen song! You know which one I mean? The "you'll dance to anything by The Smiths" one? Thank goodness it's a hilarious song...that, unfortuantely, tends to get stuck in your head! 

 Photo By Olya Vysotskaya

 Anyway...Paddy, who I never met but whose site I love, had a little post about the last day of the gallery show. If you're not already a fan of her site you should be! She is able to condense down the highlights (and lowlights) of art & the art world in the most witty, smart and informed way possible- somehow making even me, the woodsdweller, get a sense of what's going on out there! Here is another shot of the gallery installation, taken by the fantastic photographer Olya Vysotskaya!

t-shirts mean summer

Often we forget we sell t-shirts...until an order comes through the computer and eventually makes its way to me (seriously apologize to anyone who ever got a late order)! Each t-shirt is hand silk screened (in the barn usually by me) & each dvd is made to order- I'm getting better at silkscreening too, maybe Brent & I will make some Gravity specific t-shirts in the not so distant future...hmmmm?

the art of animation

A conversation with Brent talking about his art & animation in relation to the recent William Kentridge exhibit at MoMA can be found over here! It is brought to you by the beautiful, lovely genius of Ms. Blair Asbury Brooks, Trent Fine Art Advisory and the number 5! And, for the record, I did say I would rather own a painting Brent made than have it be made about me...I dunno, it's weird being in somebody's art- really, really weird...! (My mom agrees, as she averts her eyes to not watch me in Gravity!)

Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!

Countless people have helped out on the production of this film. Actually...it's not countless! I could probably count the amount of people who actually helped build the set on my hands! Ha! Anyway...throughout the filmaking process one friendly neighbor has consistently helped out to make this project move! Mr. Gerald Smith- local music pioneer, dog lover, father, expert landscaper - has really been a lifesaver time & time again. Whether he is helping to dig the set out of the frozen ground, driving a truck frame by frame or raising walls Gerry (and his trusty sidekick Angus the dog) has seriously been the best neighbor and friend anyone could have! Yesterday we helped usher in the summer with him & his lovely family on his newly built deck- which I seriously have no idea how he had time to build?! He's like a rural Superman! Fueled by sun! And beer! And jokes! Thank goodness for Jerry! (applause, applause)

wooden oven

Only one more week left of the gallery show over at Andrew Edlin! The show closes June 5th so if you haven't seen our transplanted backyard/film set head on over and check it out! Just a reminder though the wooden oven in the house in the gallery isn't a real oven so don't look for baked goods in there (which apparently someone did today not realizing that the cookies are in my real house, pictured above, not there in the gallery house!). Below is a picture of part of the hole left in the yard from where Leonard's house used to be. And where there never were or have been any cookies. 

an African swallow

Live foley is a weird thing! It makes me feel like the hobo of the band with my box of noise making trinkets & sometimes it feels like my efforts can't even be heard (and if they are, do coconuts really sound like horses?). Compiling my Gravity foley kit sent me searching for a way to make a non-digital telephone ringing noise which led me to find an encouraging site for foley artists: The Well Tempered Audio Dramatist! Apparently, back in the day, live foley artists were treated as actors mainly due to their necessity and their sometimes flamboyant displays of sound effect making. They joined acting unions, built elaborate kits and had many, many tricks of the trade! I think my favorite being the on-stage door-in-frame complete with an array of locks, knobs, creaky hinges and the ultimate: the door slam! All of the travelling involved in our live shows makes these over-the-top props unlikely but a girl can dream! Unfortunately I'm still at a phone ringing loss...and taking apart this phone did not help...at all...