Hello Everyone! Here is the info for the SFBFF screening of Docket 32357. The film will be screened SUNDAY, June 17th at The Jazz Heritage Center (1330 Filmore Street) at 6pm. If you are in the area please come out and support the film and please spread the word! Thank you!
Homage to Bela...The Visuals
Lately, I have been going through some visual references to help me construct the look for Homage to Bela. In some ways I want to be respectful of the visual integrity of Bela's film but I clearly have to make it my own. I've been wrestling with the idea of merging strong contrast of black and white with a vibrant color that makes it pop. I've actually been drawn to the H&M ads that I've seen throughout New York City over the last couple months (here's a word of advice: if you want to look for strong visuals both in classic and non classic ways, take a look at fashion ads and magazines. They're great). I wanted to post two examples of what I am going for here on the blog. Both photos are by the insanely talented LYANI POWERS and you can visit her at http://www.lyanipowers.biz/ She is very dope.
I love this picture. This was taken down in Haiti after the earthquake while Lyani was on location for a UNICEF PSA. I could go on and on about it, but for the purpose of this I want to focus on the color. The blue and red stand out really well against the kid's skin. It adds visual depth while also portraying the theme of life and hope given the context of the situation. It is a simple device (I use that term in a positive way), but very effective. I want to incorporate something like this into the film.
This picture captures the foundation of Homage to Bela. Strong black and white contrast that highlights the details of the subject's face. The weariness on his face is heightened by this visual approach. As I stated in an earlier post, the piece is highlighting a pretty serious topic. The primary aesthetic needs to communicate the complexity of the subject in a subtle and effective manner. This picture captures that thought well.
I hope this gives everyone a pretty good glimpse into what I'm thinking. I'm doing this so people who are not in film understand the process in creating one and also for those in film maybe I'm passing along a nugget that they didn't think about.
Homage to Bela (A Prelude...)
So I'm in the process of shooting another short film but this is going to be a little different from what I have done in the past. While I've been writing the feature for Osvaldo's, I have been itching to shoot something. You can't go too long without directing something if you want to improve on your craft; especially when it comes to directing. You have to keep your eye sharp, your ability to communicate through the camera must be refined and you have to remind yourself how to deal with people and various situations under pressure. The short I'm shooting is entitled "Homage to Bela...A Prelude." I'll break down the title for you. I saw a film by the great European director Bela Tarr and was inspired to do my own version of it. I thought his film captured a very specific reality of his country but in such a simple and powerful way. I was looking to do the same thing in terms of simple direction and camera work but containing an observation that is very specific to the issue of New York City. Bela's film is a great blueprint for me to accomplish that.
Gun violence amongst young men of color by men of color is very disturbing to me. What I find equally disturbing is the casual manner in which these incidents are received, processed and portrayed by everyday people and the media. People are desensitized to it. It is an accepted practice in our society now and that troubles me. This brings me to the second part of the title. Once Osvaldo's is done I am going to focus on my next project. I won't talk much about it now but it will be my take on gun violence in urban areas. It won't be some stereotypical bang bang hood classic thing, but rather an examination and indictment of all people involved: criminals, victims, community members, etc. I really want to put a mirror up to our collective faces regarding this topic. This short film is a prelude to the larger film. A trailer of sorts if you will. I'm really excited to get this film done.
Did I mention that it is a one shot, steadicam, 4-5 minute piece with a hundred (I hope) extras?! I'm always looking for ways to challenge myself and this is a new way to do that. It's gonna be fresh. I need extras. So hit me up if you wanna be a part of it. Did I mention that I was excited to do this?
Embracing the Process
I have been focusing on the feature version of Osvaldo's off and on for almost a year now. This is my first major undertaking of a feature script and I feel a little weird because I am not carrying the whole "tormented artist" weight on my back. I have definitely had moments where frustration has popped up, but that is more a by-product of my general tendency to frustrate myself for no reason. I think it's a curse of being such a critical thinker. Some times those thoughts spiral wildly out of control. But anyway, I'm not sure because I have a short film to reference or because the story is a simple and organic one, but this has pretty much been a satisfying eye-opening experience. I have thoroughly enjoyed discovering new things about the Vazquez family as well as new things about myself as an "artist" (I put that in quotes because I still can't come to grips with the idea that I'm artistic. It's funny to me). I mention all of this because you normally read or hear people speak about the creative process like it's some near death experience. I have yet to have a seminal moment where I could relate to that sentiment. I love the process and the discovery of it all. I'm insanely curious about how one grows from one project to the next. Sometimes I'm more interested in that than the end product. Maybe I've put up a roadblock or I'm tricking myself but I love it. I should probably be writing more consistently, but I could be doing a whole lot of things more consistently. This just further solidifies my feeling that I made the right choice in pursuing film. It is a very tricky thing to be a part of, but the fundamental joy that it provides at its high moments make it well worth it. Ok, back to writing.
Osvaldo's finally wins!
Osvaldo's is the winner of the Best Short Film Award at the 2010 Colorado Film Festival! This is our first win on the festival circuit and it is real nice to add this to the list of wonderful accomplishment the film has enjoyed. A big thank you to the cast and crew and all the supporters of the film.
God was Willing and Da Creek Didn't Rise
For those of you that don't know I was recently an assistant editor on Spike Lee's latest film, "If God is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise" that aired on HBO last week. Its amazing the gamut of emotions you go through when you're in post for a film. The initial reaction is excitement. Excitement that you have a job. Excitement that you're about to embark on communicating an important story to the world. Excitement that you are going to grow as a filmmaker and hopefully as a person. The trepidation is going through the process of that growth. When I worked on "When the Levees Broke" I was completely overwhelmed. I had just learned the avid editing software maybe six months prior, I had never been an assistant editor before and I was working on Spike's passion project. All of these elements were essentially working against me at the beginning. I had to learn on the job and I had to perform. I was green behind the ears and had to grow up quickly. It was a grueling learning process as a FILMMAKER that I underwent, but I made out well in the end.
For If God is Willing, the growth was more of a PERSONAL nature than an artistic one. In the time between the two films I camera operated on two features, I was an assistant editor on a few more projects and more importantly, for me, I was enjoying the success of my own work with Osvaldo's. My improvement as a filmmaker was increasing by leaps and bounds and my confidence joined for the ride. So when IGIW came around I knew that artistically I was up for the challenge. What I didn't expect was the increasing sentiment within myself that I'm ready to put my name out there in the world. It's great to work for one of the greatest to ever do it, but I want to be a part of that conversation. I'm looking forward to building my own community and collaborating to tell stories that impact people and have the streets buzzing. I'm not in this for self-indulgence but to give a voice to all kinds of everyday folk. I was reminded of this while working on IGIW. It was a tough road during the making of this film to reach this understanding, but I'm appreciative of it. I'm ready.
Osvaldo's at the Tribes Art Symposium
So, my wonderful friend, Lauren Drever, is an insanely gifted visual artist and sculptor. In addition, Lauren has traveled to the far corners of the world and has been able to merge those experiences with both her work and her personal charitable efforts. She has finally put together an event that will combine feature these two elements. On March 14th, Lauren will open the Tribes Art Show in her home city of San Francisco. I'm excited to announce that Osvaldo's will be a part of the lineup at the opening. The event will be supporting the Turtle Will and Koolinary non-profit organizations. For all event details, locations and information related to the non-profits please visit http://tribesartshow.com/. If you will be in the San Francisco area that weekend please stop by!
Osvaldo's at the 2009 Queens International Film Festival
What's up everyone? Osvaldo's will be screening at the 2009 Queens International Film Festival THIS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14TH AT 2PM at the Holiday Inn Manhattan View located on 39-05 29th Street in Long Island City in Queens. I apologize for such a late notice but I didn't get the screening information until recently. I hope some of you can make it out. Here is the link to buy tickets if you are interested: http://www.queensfilmfestival.com/films/detail.asp?fid=561 Thank you for all of the support so far for the film.
Osvaldo's in Boston Latino Film Festival
Osvaldo's is an official selection of the 2009 Boston Latino Film Festival! I am excited to be a part of the program and this makes the 6th out of 7th month that the film will be screening. This is our 8th festival so far. I am really humbled by the success and I hope there is more to come. If you are in the Boston area or know people in the boston area please come out. It will be screening on SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12TH AT 4:30 PM AT CAMBRIDGE COLLEGE LOCATED AT 1000 MASS AVE; STORE FRONT. I hope people can make it out. If there is more information I will pass it along. And just for the hell of it here is the trailer for the film: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWqB7KYQH2M&w=600&h=338]
The Anniversary
One of my best friends was Timothy Ruiz. Tim was an intelligent, religious, compassionate and vibrant young man. He came from an outstanding family and was simply one of the best people that I have ever or will ever know. Sadly, Tim was taken away from us. My first year at NYU in 2005, I did a short documentary on Tim's family a year to the day of his passing. It is entitled "The Anniversary." I never did anything with this film. I showed it at school and to his family and that was it. It was too personal and hurtful for me to just push it out there. This is the first time that I am putting it out here publicly. I am very proud of this not necessarily for the filmmaking but because I knew it was something I had to do and I did it. It would not have been possible without his fantastic and amazing family who I need to do a much better job of keeping in touch with. They are the best. I also want to thank Daniel Patterson for shooting it and Darius Clark Monroe for doing sound. But I want to thank them even more for supporting me through that process. It meant a lot to me. Please watch it in its entirety. I am leaving out the details of his death because it is at the end of the film. Let me know what you think. Here goes...
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/19183251 w=600&h=450]
The Anniversary from Randy Wilkins on Vimeo.
A Film A Day Keeps the .... Away
So I have been told from two different prominent sources that filmmakers are supposed to watch films, like all the time. In order to improve your craft, you have to see the work from others and learn from them. As an up and coming director, I realized that this was a truism that I had to heed. I know this seems rather obvious but putting it into practice can be troublesome at times. I must admit I have not been doing a great job of this lately. A lot of it has to do with the Yankees winning the world series (which will be its own post soon) and actually working on a film. But I realized that I just used those things as an excuse. So I'm taking up what Spike has told me a couple times and that is to watch a film a day. With a little bit more free time coming my way I decided to spend part of it just watching movies. I started my challenge yesterday and I plan on writing about each film that I see here on the blog. Keep in mind that there is no preconceived criteria for what I am going to watch. It can be a blockbuster, a horror film, a short, a documentary, a neo-realist, a revenge flick, whatever. I just have to see one a day. I am not sure if I can keep it up but I am going to do my best to accomplish this. So like I said I started this up yesterday with "By The People." on HBO. If you don't know, this is the President Obama documentary. The one cool thing about this film is that I work with one of the editors, the amazing Geeta Ghandbhir. Actually, I had the pleasure of working with all the editors of By The People, Sam Pollard and Arielle Ansalem, on When The Levees Broke. So this was a nice way to start off the film a day thing. I knew going into the film that it wasn't about Obama per se. The larger focus of the film was on the actual campaign and the people behind it. This piqued my interest because I heard so much about the people who comprised the campaign that it was nice to actually see some faces. Long story short, I was disappointed. The film feels rushed to me. In an attempt to satisfy the timeline of events, I think the film falls short of getting into any depth about major moments that occurred. One topic that I wanted way more coverage of was the Sarah Palin choice. Ever since she was announced as the vice presidential candidate I was severely intrigued by how everyone in the Obama camp felt about it. The film skims over the reaction leaving us with sound bites from the campaign trail and not from inside the walls. Now I understand part of this may have been at the behest of the Obama people, but this is just one example in which we fly by landmark moments in the campaign without really gaining insight that the filmmakers access could have provided the audience. What was nice to see was the intense dedication that the workers and volunteers gave the campaign. It was inspiring to see such young, smart and innovative people not only commit to a historic process, but also be more than capable of accomplishing success. Despite its shortcomings, the opportunity to shed some light on these trailblazers makes the film worth your time to see. I'm sorry for such a quick write up of the film, but I'm pretty sleepy. It's been a long day.
I saw COLLAPSE tonight which has had a big initial impact on me so I will talk about this film in depth tomorrow.
Randy v. Randy The Black Filmmaker
I must concede that as I write this I am both sleepy and tired. I want to go back to bed but I can't and I am tired from all this legal, festival and assistant editor stuff that I have been dealing with over the last couple weeks. So that may be the reason why I feel the way I do at this particular moment about being a filmmaker and more specifically a black filmmaker. Now, this subject has been discussed ad nauseum for decades. I'm not gonna get into the whole "am I a filmmaker or a black filmmaker" debate. I'm a black guy who makes films. That pretty much ends that discussion. But I do think about the burden of representation that is often times brought upon by a third-party. Is it unfair for a black artist (or any other artist of color) to simultaneously create high quality, engaging art while also making a social statement EVERY time they make something? I used to think the answer was yes but now I'm changing my mind. Of course there are times when you have to be conscious of the images you are creating and how they will be received. I am and will never be an advocate of making or supporting caricatures. But are there moments where we can just be artists? Where we can be free of social implication and simply make something because we like the story we want to tell or paint a picture because it looks nice or choreograph a dance out of sheer personal expression? I just feel that at times the social responsibility is overwhelming and quite honestly not the primary reason I wanted to be a filmmaker. I want to tell stories that everyone can connect with and not just my people. I would like some criticism or discussion to center around the actual integrity of the work and not what it means in the grand scheme of life. Again, I'm tired and may just be blabbing nonsense but there are days when I would like to be judged as Randy and not as a black guy who makes films.