This was my Cinematography final, where I had one goal and one goal only: to have the most bisexual lighting to ever bisexual, made by a bisexual! I won't be arrogant, but I think I delivered. In all honesty, this was a great shoot. Everything came together pretty smoothly, and I'm proud of how the edit turned out as well. If I could go back, I would spend more time on the sound design. Since this was for a cine class, we didn't record on-site sound, which meant all the sound had to be recorded as foley or grabbed from sound effects sites. I've done that before, but I kind of half-assed it this time around for the sake of focusing on the image.

Hooray, another Bolex film! This was my final for my Production I class at BU. Similarly to the previous final for Screen Language, synchronized sound was prohibited. However, that was basically the only requirement, so I really got to have fun with this one. Generally speaking, I think the footage itself turned out pretty well. Working with my ancient Bolex came with the same set of problems. About half of the color footage that was shot was unusable, so I had to do a lot of re-tooling in editing. I also wanted to focus more on theme with this one as well, specifically on the gendered roles that we take in relationships, and how those roles affect the way we see ourselves and our partners. Unfortunately, I think aspects of the theme were lost since some of the footage didn't turn out. I think the most important thing about this project is that it actually felt like a real film to me, rather than something just for a class. Really, I wanted to make this film, and the due date from the class gave me the motivation to do so. I think that's why it's one of the films I can still go back and watch (my other films kind of make me cringe).

This was my final for my Screen Language class, and was the first film I made with other actors during the pandemic. The limitations were definitely a huge obstacle. In addition to the requirement that all actors be masked, I couldn't work with a crew either. However, I do think that it turned out pretty well. I decided to play with the mask requirement and do a German Expressionism emulation. The exaggerated masks lend themselves to that era nicely, and picking that era meant I could really have some fun with lighting and art direction. My biggest regret was not shooting it in a 4:3 aspect ratio, which would have been period-accurate. I planned on cropping the footage in post, but unfortunately it cropped out vital character actions and movements. If I had shot and blocked the film in 4:3 to begin with, these problems could have been avoided. Now we know, and we can do better next time!

This is a film I made back when I was at Syracuse University for my Studio Concepts course. We were assigned to combine original footage with appropriate footage to give the appropriated footage new meaning. I decided to montage clips of famous women from cinema with men imitating them, all set to an altered version of "I Enjoy Being a Girl". This film was an absolute blast to make, mostly because all the actors were extremely committed to their roles. I mean they EMBODIED these women. I also think making the art direction the focus was a good decision. The right makeup and costuming can really elevate a film, especially if you're working on a budget of zero (which I was). However, I do think the film is a little too long. I believe the concept is strong, but not strong enough to carry the film for four minutes. I also think the version of the song I use is a little over-the-top. I'm torn, because that big, brassy, overproduced Broadway vibe was what I was going for, but it's still a little much. It's also possible that I've watched the film so many times that I've annoyed myself with it. That happens.

This is another Syracuse film, which was my final for my Studio Concepts course. The assignment was to create a narrative short with only two characters and less than three locations. This is probably the most "traditional" narrative film I made, and I had the concept in the back of my head for a while. While I feel the script is strong, I also feel I could have made stronger choices with the actual screen language. Certain bits (the bit at the beginning in the bed especially) feel a bit dull. If I had gotten more coverage while filming, I could have had more choices for shots in editing and created more of a visible dynamic between the two. And of course there are the normal student film blips that you only notice in editing, but not while shooting (of course). The sound isn't great. The white balance is kind of wack during some shots, but sometimes I think it works to the story's advantage -- especially how the fight scene has this harsh red overtone. Don't tell anyone it wasn't on purpose, they might think I don't know what I'm doing.

This was the last film I made at Syracuse before I transferred. I hesitate to even call it a film, it's more a visualized poem. It was very hastily put-together, as we were all sent home before the semester ended due to the pandemic. So, I took the footage I had shot on the Bolex and cobbled it together with the poem playing over it. I think this film will always hold a special place in my heart, both because of its timing and technique. It was the first time I had shot anything on 16mm, and I kind of fell in love with that medium. I don't really have much to say about this one, other than that it marked the beginning of new era in all of our lives. I can't not associate this film with the pandemic, and I think I always will.

A film that I willingly act in that's not a class assignment? It must be Unprecedented Times! This was a film I made while in quarantine entirely on my Bolex. I hit quite a few snags. I'm still new to 16mm filmmaking, so a lot of the footage ended up being unusable. You can see in the final product that the lighting is very inconsistent, and the placement of the camera is off sometimes. Specifically, the black and white scenes were shot on Tri-X film, which requires a lot of lighting for proper exposure. I didn't account for this, and most of the shots are too dark. This is mostly due to the fact that my Bolex is non-reflex, meaning I can't actually look through the shooting lens, I can only estimate the positioning. However, I think this is a skill that only gets better with practice, which is exactly why I made this film. Despite all the issues I had, I'm still proud of the final product, considering my only resources were me and my house. I think the footage I was able to salvage does look really good, and it gave me something to focus on during quarantine.