Category Archives: art

David Lynch Dior "Lady Blue" Le Poem ad online

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David Lynch is one of my favourite filmmakers, and a true artist, I think.  This new short film/promo spot for Dior brings back memories of Dune (with the straight-on voice over to camera and the tone of it, too). It’s a dreamy piece, with some of Lynch’s leitmotifs:  atmospheric rock n’ roll and dancing, a beautiful woman, red curtains, suspense, beautiful rooms and otherworldly visual effects.

It’s interesting to see the amount of creative input Lynch put into this. He’s the writer, director, one of the camera operators, one of the composers and the editor! A filmmaker after my own heart! What fun! What a joy to experience work like this, that shines so strongly with Lynch’s signature style!

See what he does with this ad, turning it into a piece of art:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnqScGiGx-I]

Sun Ra and his Arkestra

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I was able to see a live performance of Sun Ra and his Arkestra a few years back. Though he was in a wheelchair for most of the time, Sun Ra still shone (hard not to in those groovy outfits!). It was great to be able to shake his hand.

Here’s a video of him on stage in Japan…looks like a good time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9w6DJpDBs8

Jack Pierce, make up artist on Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, and others

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The excellent radio show Cinephobia, broadcast out of CKLN in Toronto,  just ran a contest to give away some tickets to a screening of a 35mm print of  the 1931 FRANKENSTEIN! I didn’t win the contest, but in answering their contest question, I was reminded of the incredible work of Jack Pierce who did the make up for Boris Karloff in Frankenstein, and Lon Chaney, Jr. in The Wolf Man, among other films. There’s an interesting read about Pierce at Wikipedia.

I directed a short film/commercial a little while back which featured our own “Frankenstein” and you can watch it below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1Yn2LwmFp8
See the credits for the film here: http://www.vimeo.com/8430163

That make up is not easy! We could have used his help on the set! Jack Pierce, RIP.

Viddy well!

Please send your healing intentions and prayers to Alex and Allyson Grey

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Alex and Allyson Grey are going to make a full recovery, but they were involved in a serious accident, recently.

I’ve had the opportunity to meet them both a couple of times at CoSM events and even had the honour to do some video work for them (see the work I did for them here: http://cosm.typepad.com/cosm_blog/2009/06/index.html and here: http://www.cosm.org/donate.html).

You can read their blog for the full story of the accident: http://cosm.typepad.com/cosm_blog/2010/03/grateful-to-be-alive.html

Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers for a quick recovery.

Video I did for Alex Grey at his art opening in Toronto, June 2009

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This was the second time I’d had the pleasure to meet Alex Grey and his wife Allyson. They were in Toronto last summer to open a show called “Anatomy of Being.”

So, I headed down to the opening and brought my trusty DVX100 along for the ride to shoot a little video.

It was a very enjoyable summer evening, filled with visionary art, enlightening conversations, stimulating connections and good vibes, as always!

I think some magic of the evening was captured!  Well, see for yourself!

Click the link below to go to the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors blog and watch the video.

http://cosm.typepad.com/cosm_blog/2009/06/index.html

I’ll be at Canadian Music Week and Film Festival

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CMW banner

I’m going to be blogging/video blogging about some of my experiences at Canadian Music Week, happening from March 10 to 14, in Toronto. It should be a lot of fun, as I’m a music lover and have done a lot of music-related videos and film work. For more info on CMW, see their site: http://www.cmw.net

Also, of particular interest to the filmmaker and film lover in me is the Canadian Music Week Film Festival, which runs from March 12 to 13. There is a new Doors documentary called “WHEN YOU’RE STRANGE” and a film about John Lennon titled “NOWHERE BOY”. I’m looking forward to them both, and there are some other interesting films, including a screening of the 1974 Brian De Palma, classic “PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE” !

See the complete film listings here: http://www.cmw.net/cmw2010/film_festival.asp

Fashion Show at Brava Last Night – Goth Designers – for my film GOTH:insideOUT

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I attended a fashion show last night at Brava on Queen Street West, Toronto, which featured several designers, including the collections of a couple of Gothic inspired designers I am interviewing for my documentary on Goth called GOTH:insideOUT. I also met some great people and got some more short interviews for my film! A bunch of us hung out after the show, then I drove home in a raging snow storm (glad I had good snow tires)! What a fun night!

Here are some stills (frame grabs from the video). I am going to have a new blog for the film up soon at http://gothinsideout.com and it will have video of the fashion show.

Goth fashion show image 1
S.I.N.S. Gothic Punk Fashion

Goth fashion show image 1
S.I.N.S. Gothic Punk Fashion

Goth fashion show image 1
S.I.N.S. Gothic Punk Fashion

Goth fashion show image 1
S.I.N.S. Gothic Punk Fashion

Goth fashion show image 1
Fluffer Designs

Goth fashion show image 1
Fluffer Designs

Goth fashion show image 1
Fluffer Designs

Goth fashion show image 1
Fluffer Designs

Goth fashion show image 1
S.I.N.S. Gothic Punk Fashion

Goth fashion show image 1
Fluffer Designs

See the site for the film http://gothinsideout.com for some video clips from the show.

Liberty Village – Somewhere In Heaven – My Film

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Photo by Zaiden

“Liberty Village – Somewhere In Heaven”

I made a documentary film on the Liberty Village neighborhood in Toronto called “Liberty Village – Somewhere In Heaven,” because I saw an area changing that I had come to appreciate. It was home to artists for decades and many other cool things. I used to love wandering around the colourful streets…you never knew what you’d find next…

I’ve put a couple of clips from the film online:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KM-VMJtK0E]

Also see:  http://www.vimeo.com/8467306

Liberty Village resident Corky Laing was interviewed for the film, and provided music from his band Cork. Also interviewed was photographer Taffi Rosen, and you’ll see some of her work in the film, along with other artists, developers, workers and residents of the special place called Liberty Village.

To buy the DVD and for more information, an interview with me and pictures, see the page on Rockin’ Films: http://www.rockinfilms.com/lv.htm