When we (Christine Chen and I) decided to make “Ya Albi,” a film about a Syrian refugee, we knew that we may be dealing with a topic that could be political or controversial. We didn’t care about that though, because we just didn’t see it that way. We just wanted to make a good film about the human condition through the eyes of an immigrant that was relevant to today’s world without any political agenda.
Last week we had a night shoot out at Dane’s Body Shop shooting some footage for Battle Bold. A group of friendly athletic folks of all shapes and sizes came out to share their techniques for the cameras and show off some of Battle Bold’s lineup. I almost felt bad for them as they had to basically do a workout in front of the camera repeatedly while Christine Chen and David Lackey both captured footage.
After we got through the first 3 days of production, the last 2 days became less stressful. This is the stage that I like to call “Meh.” Basically, after the initial shock factor of dealing with intense work schedules and a variety of temperamental problems, the entire team became so used to (and tired of) solving or accepting these problems that by the last two days any problem ceased to become a big deal. It is going to rain in 2 minutes? Cool. It is pouring outside? Cool. The data dump froze again right before an incredibly emotionally difficult scene to shoot? Okay.
Honestly, after Day 1 of filming for me, everything became a blur. Despite the days feeling like a whirlwind of chaotic events, looking back, we actually stuck with a fairly consistent schedule.
This past weekend we did a little shoot with Jacob Rachniowsk and Taylor Davis(featured in the photo below) from Cloud9 Drones.
If I had the opportunity to travel more I would. Travelling opens the door to many elements of inspiration.
From the sights and sounds to the experience of getting lost or meeting strangers that become your friends, travelling is invaluable to any artist.
The Rocket Brothers shoot was awesome, mostly because it started in the afternoon (which is always awesome) and ended on time (also awesome.) Just kidding… What made it awesome was the people, cast and crew. The band was the nicest bunch of folks I’d met in awhile, and the crew was in high spirits like usual.
Today’s very first image ever for A Desk A Day comes from Christine Chen. She took this image while on a flight to Mumbai, where even in the air she was working away editing a Moth to Flame project. Come back next week for another image from the field.
So it’s that time again for the big movie folks to gather around and be awarded. This year marks the 87th gathering of the Academy Awards. So I’m going to throw out some Oscar predictions on who will be taking home that golden bald man. Best Picture Nominated: American Sniper, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything, and Whiplash My Pick: The Grand Budapest Hotel Predicted Winner: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) Out of Left field: American Sniper or Selma Actor Nominated: Steve Carell(Foxcatcher), Bradley…
One of Moth to Flame’s favorite things to do is create content for startups. Why? When you are a startup, most companies want to stand out and be different. That is exactly what we strive to do at Moth to Flame, be raw, unique, and edgy. The most common request we get from our startup clients, in regards to their crowdfunding campaign or commercial is… we want to go viral. We have helped many Austin companies raise over $200K worth of funding. Some products are definitely challenging, but we are not afraid to make fun of ourselves. Some of our…