06.27.07
Posted in Film at 4:18 pm by Fletcher
Gearing up to head out to CT tomorrow for the ‘Sovereignty’ re-shoot. In addition to my special effects wizardry, I’ll be video blogging the shoot as well - when I return, I’ll be posting my usual on set photos as well as putting up videos from the shoot as well.
It looks like we’ll have decent weather, which will be different - last time we shot this we were graced with a hurricane. And the owner of the location had to go to the emergency room to have an appendectomy. Hopefully this time, it’ll be smoother sailing…
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06.25.07
Posted in Uncategorized, Film at 10:08 pm by Fletcher
The Director had forwarded me this link - its a cute little pop-ish music video with a hot girl singing about Barak Obama - I had thought little about it, nothing more than a locally shot piece hawking a candidate…
Until Ninjascott invited me out for drinks last Friday at the Old Town Tavern. He had just gotten off set, and the crew had settled in for a post-wrap drink. Most of the conversation centered around Whoopi Goldberg, who was the lead and whom everyone agreed was amazingly personable and very cool - tales of how she’d talk to passerby, shake hands with everyone and goof off telling bawdy jokes…
Sitting at our table were two gents, Kevin and Larry. I had met Kevin briefly at the ‘Like a Springsteen Song’ premiere, Larry I was meeting for the first time - we joked and chatted, Ninjascott telling them about my induction into the world of film and of my MacGuyvering skills, impressing both of them.
I’m not sure how the topic came up - but one of them had asked if I’d seen the Obama girl video, and then blew me away when introduced themselves as the directors of the video.
They had total been caught by suprise by the viral bug - getting mentions on CNN, The Daily News, ABC and had just wrapped up 5 radio interviews that day. I was impressed. I quickly deduced that the had shot it guerilla style - just running around the city with girl and camera in tow and filming spontaneously - no set ups, no permits and a ‘to hell with the rules’ attitude.
The were both extremely cool - and readily admitted that they were getting all the attention simply because they had found ‘the next hot girl,’ but were more than willing to take any offers that come down the road from it. And they weren’t ready for the PR end of all the attention, scrambling to put together press releases and info for the press.
Which is the lesson I’m taking from all of this: be ready for fame, at any minute - because it can happen when you least expect it…
Oh yeah, and the girl? Well now that she has a spread in Maxim, expect to see more of her. Very soon.
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06.23.07
Posted in Art at 11:05 am by Fletcher
In the vein of trying to support myself as a ’starving artist’ I found a website that will print artwork on just about anything (and cut me a percentage of the profit!).So, in the course of reading me, or seeing the Fletcher Studios website, if there was a painting that you particularly liked, you can put it on a poster, mousepad or coffee mug.
The site can be viewed here.
So, bust out the credit cards, support the arts - and put a few bucks in the kid’s pocket!
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06.22.07
Posted in Art at 9:09 am by Fletcher
Puma sat on the couch as I had morning coffee and headlines, listening to him talk about his latest work, using scraps of acrylic in a very Mondrian way - his contribution to the green movement, recycling his industrial waste as art.
He was doing my portrait in rectangles when he casually mentioned our old Interpretive figure teacher, Simon Carr.
Bam! I’m thrown back to Foundation year, and my first session with Simon Carr was a a life drawing session with a very ‘earth-mother’ shaped model, who easily topped 300 lbs. We were to see the figure in a completely different way and translate it onto paper. After a few minutes of furious drawing we stepped back as he walked around the room, stopping at my easel to ponder for a second.
He then grabbed my graphite stick and began furiously scribbling on top of what I had just drawn. I wasn’t sure what to do. Laugh? Take a picture? Start swinging?
“There,” he said, stepping back, “doesn’t that have more energy now?”
I stopped: sunuvabitch, he was right.
And that was the kind of effect the man had.
Whether he was showing us examples of ‘outsider art’ (ok, let’s be real here, it was drawings made by crazy people) or going to the Met and seeing figurative works by African, Polynesian and the Maori - he had this way of forcing you to see reality in a completely new way. He’d make you see shapes that were impossible, and look at the figure as a plastic, geometric blob that only a kid, crazy person or hallucinating person could see.
And, obviously - his lessons stick with me to this day.
Funny, I went digging around in some of my old portfolios, looking for some of the work I did under his tutelage, and couldn’t find any. Guess I’ll have to go and find an ‘earth-mother’ and get twisted enough to see those impossible shapes once more.
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06.20.07
Posted in Art at 12:37 pm by Fletcher
Had an interesting revelation from Shannon the Baker - she had been reading about the latest painting and her keen eye zoomed in on an error in perspective. Subtle to some, glaring in her critical gaze… I won’t point it out, those who want to look for it are welcome to do so.
When I looked back at the original - it was obvious that my first version had the same problem, and in copying it, I had inadvertently copied the error too. In thinking about it, and after Shannon had offered some gentle teasing, I had started making changes - trying to shift the perspective ever so slightly, to make it look like I hadn’t thrown out years of art school training and blatantly ignored the teachings of Euclid, Alhazen and Giotto.
Well, she busted me on that too…
And in doing so, raised a few questions: Is it truly a copy if I fix those mistakes from the first iteration? Is it right to do so, to make improvements, when it was the original that Sara wanted? Will she like this one less, because it isn’t a line for line duplicate of the original?
I’m quite certain that when this gift is delivered, it will be met with gushing praise and I know it will grace her walls for many years to come, but I’m thinking a bit about how I set out to create ‘an exact duplicate’ - and veered right off that path… Perhaps its my nature to improve on things, even when it isn’t needed or warranted.
Is it right to do so? Hell, its my painting, so in theory I could paint circus clowns and Elvis bullfighting on velvet if I want to - so I’m comfortable with the decision - each and every painting has its flaws (my own have many glaring ones) and trying to improve them is just my way of taking lessons that I’ve learned and applying them - to deny them is to deny my own growth.
So perhaps there is no solid answer to these questions - as I wash my brushes, I’m thinking I’m gonna have words with Miss Shannon, and her ability to spark a raging debate in my head, when I should be thinking about finishing this one and moving onto the next.
But, that is part of her charm, I guess.
On a side note: I borrowed The Director’s high quality kick butt camera to shoot my artwork with and ye gods - this thing is slick. Anyone wanting to get me an extravagant present: The Canon Eos Digital Rebel just made the top of my list.
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06.15.07
Posted in Art at 11:19 am by Fletcher
Now that I’ve had a solid two days back in the city, I’m revving up and getting back into the groove. And I contemplate just how different the city seems to me.
It feels like when, after a few years, when you go back to a former school, job or place that you haven’t been for a while - it looks the same, but feels different, like looking at it through a filter. The city (to me) feels a lot more claustrophobic, intense and confrontational. I’ve resisted the urge to tell a few amped individuals that they need to relax and go take a walk in the park, see some green and slow down before something pops and they end up in the hospital.
Bah, eff ‘em - I got more important fish to microwave.
Jumped back into the painting - must finish ASAP, as it looks like I have a new model and a new project. I found in my archives, a site that I had joined a long time ago, an online artists community that allows people to post their work, get and give feedback and offer tips. The more important aspect is that they print your stuff on posters, t-shirts, coffee mugs and anything else, and the artist gets a portion of the profits.
So, as soon as I get some hi-rez, color corrected versions uploaded - bust out your credit cards and buy a Fletcher Original… and give the kid some spending money.
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06.14.07
Posted in Art, Film at 11:54 am by Fletcher
Headed over to Live Bait last night for the wrap party - I love a job that you get paid for, and then get plied with beer and food for your efforts. More jobs should be like this, I think job satisfaction would shoot up dramatically.
The event was highlighted by two trailers the Francisco had edited - displayed prominently on one of TVs usually showing Sportscenter. The only problem was that the volume was competing with drunken yuppies and a jukebox blasting James Brown and Dr. John. Still, the plot was easy to pick up, and the actors took great delight in seeing themselves on screen.
I was lucky enough to convince Francisco to burn me a copy onto DVD, I have so few examples of the film work that I’ve done, so any opportunity to get a copy is worth begging, bribing or threatening for.
Another bright spot was that I talked with one of the actresses about posing for another in the ‘Black and White Study of NYC women’ series - the concept for this one I’ve had for a while, courtesy of my old friend Marina, who suggested that I do one with messy hair, running makeup and a general look of a night out gone horribly wrong…
I’ve said it before, and it bears repeating - being unemployed has made me far busier than I’ve ever been…
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06.13.07
Posted in Uncategorized, Art, Film at 11:41 am by Fletcher
Well, the Kid is back - he’s tan, rested and ready.
Gearing up for the shoot: met with The Director and it looks like we are a go for 20 gallons of fake blood - I cannot wait.
Have to finish the painting that I haven’t touched in a month, and may have a new model on the horizon…
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06.06.07
Posted in Art, Life, Film at 9:30 pm by Fletcher
Just back (briefly) from my 3 state tour of the Midwest, before I take off again tomorrow…
As they say you can take the boy outta the country, but you cant take the country outta the boy.
Anyway, to satisfy everyone, I’ve posted an album from the film shoots, which can be seen here.
I’m off again for another week - then gearing up for the ‘Sovereignty’ reshoot - more blood, more photos and more fun than ever…
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