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Quick updates

by on Feb 19, 2012 in Broken Flowers, Journals, Living The Falcon, Sigma Tau Delta Convention 2012, The Arsonist's Affair

Here are several brief updates on current projects.

Living The Falcon documentary

We screened the current version of the documentary to owner Tony Falco and most of the staff. We received great feedback and helpful critiques from everybody. In the next week, we’ll be fine-tuning and polishing for the final product, and move on to planning a premiere.

Last Tuesday, I shot additional footage per Tony’s request. I interviewed Falcon favorite Alexis P. Sueter, who is a kind, warm, free-spirited person who had great things to say and contribute to the project. I’m grateful we had the opportunity to include such a talented artist who honestly calls The Falcon home, and has been an important piece of the venue’s history.

Other Falcon related videos

Since we accumulated so much material during the documentary’s principal production, I’ve been looking for ways to use footage that won’t make the final cut. I plan on putting together short videos for their website to promote the venue and different shows. The first of which will promote guitarist Jim Campilongo’s last Thursday of the month residency through 2012.

Psycho essay

This week, I’ll publish my essay that I will be present at the Sigma Tau Delta Convention in New Orleans at the end of February/early March.

Broken Flowers’ album

Last month, I announced that the next Broken Flowers album was currently in the works. One month later, I bring you the unfortunate news that the album will be put on hold. Both Joe and I are tied up with too many projects right now to focus on collaborating for the next album.

The next film: The Arsonist’s Affair

Last, but not least, the next film I’m working on is a narrative short that will be produced under the wings of my Digital Filmmaking class. I wrote the screenplay, based on a short story written by Marist alum Nick Sweeney (Class of ’11), currently titled The Arsonist’s Affair.

The film is about a former mob-hired arsonist who comes out of retirement for one last job, where he seeks vicarious revenge on his abusive father. I wrote the script, and our team, consisting of Jon O’Sullivan (Director of Photography), Christina O’Sullivan (Assistant Director) and Zach Dexter (Sound Recordist) have been workshopping the script for the past month and half. As a group, we’re very pleased at the progress. The project is ambitious challenge that mirrors a gritty tones seen in a David Fincher film.

On Saturday, February 25, we will be hosting casting auditions at the college. More details will be released on the site soon.

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‘Psycho,’ New Orleans and the International English Honor’s Society Convention

by on Jan 12, 2012 in Essays, Sigma Tau Delta Convention 2012

I meant to share this news earlier, but the year is already moving quickly. With great excitement, I’d like to announce that I will be presenting a film essay on Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho at the 2012 Sigma Tau Delta – International English Honor’s Society Convention in New Orleans next February.

According to the acceptance email, Sigma Tau Delta received 1,200 submissions this year, and one of those essays is “Psychotic Window: An extreme close-up on Marion Crane and Marie Samuels.” Written for my Art of Film Class sophomore year at Marist, the work analyzes the the film’s use of close-ups to show Marion Crane’s transformation to her own evil alter-ego: Marie Samuels.

I not only enjoyed writing this essay, but also the class I wrote it for. Art of Film was my first film theory class and it taught me how much depth films. I grew to appreciate more classic films after having discussions about their themes, techniques, and deeper meanings. This essay was the final assignment for the class, and I watched Psycho more times than I ever want to remember. Even as a film major, I used to be one of those watch a movie once and done type of people, but the class showed me the value in multiple viewings. Even though we were only watching and talking about movies, I grew significantly as a filmmaker and a fan of cinema.

I’m excited for the opportunity to share my essay with a larger audience next month. And of all places to go, New Orleans has been on my list of places to visit for awhile. I’m just as excited to explore the city as I am to talk about Psycho, close-ups and Hitchcock.

For those who will not be attending the conference and would like to read the essay, I’m currently designing a magazine-styled document for digital publication – since no one wants to read a six page PDF of plain text – that I will be releasing soon.

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