Last week we were talking with Clovis about his new series of work where he’s doing studies on Mushroom Clouds.

“untitled” | 11×14 | chinamarker on paper | 2010

LG: I’m curious as to why you picked the Mushroom Cloud and not say the “Robot Apocalypse” or the “Zombie Apocalypse” or the “Monkey Plague Apocalypse”?

CB: And there’s the Religious Apocalypse. [helicopter interruption]

CB: It’s because I grew up in the late Cold War when the threat of nuclear war was still very real, yet there was a cynicism about it. Since I was very young it was filtered through toys and movies which made it kind of glamorous. It wasn’t very frightening to me. You know the story that I like to tell people, I grew up with this G.I. Joe toy called “Rolling Thunder” and it was a mobile ICBM launcher. It actually had these toy missiles that raised up. For that to be a toy is pretty remarkable.

I don’t ever remember being afraid of bombs falling, yet I knew that was part of the background of my life. In fact that’s why it’s alluring to me, there was never any fear of the actual apocalypse it was always a gateway to these Hero stories that were part of my fantasy while growing up.

LG: How do you balance art, business, creativity, chores, how do you manage all those things, being artistic AND being a functioning adult?

CB: You know I’m still figuring that out. For the last 3 years I was in a grad program and when you’re in school you have an extrinsic driver. You’ve got someone who’s watching over you and keeps you going. The trouble is when you get out and you don’t have that anymore, how do you keep it going? And of course I had a baby boy right after graduating. So I was a little worried that life would interfere. But I’m really excited that in this period I’ve started a new body of work. I’m really compelled, really excited about doing it.

But I have to try hard to find studio time because I’ve got a baby boy, a job, and I’m going to start teaching pretty soon. Trying to manage all that is really tough and I’m still trying to figure out what will work best. Is it getting work done at night after people go to sleep? Or trying to carve out certain times? I think what is really helpful is finding people to keep you accountable. I’ve joined a critique group with people I went to school with and am doing that once a month. It’s still a process though, there are so many life things. This boy is amazing [laughs] but is really tiring too. So I’m still figuring that out. That’s the phase of life I’m in right now. It’s really exciting but it’s also a challenge. It’s a trial.

LG: It is a trial.

CB: There could be some transformation there.

LG: Hopefully no nuclear apocalypse…

CB: No apocalypses

LG: At least not until the boy can pick up a Carbine.

CB: Yeah, he has to be available to help out. Carry a backpack at least.

LG: So if you weren’t doing art, what do you think you’d be doing?

CB: I would have been an astronaut.

LG: That’s probably the best possible answer.

CB: I mean it, I had these two life paths getting out of high school. To be fair, I chose the art path in High School. I took art classes instead of physics, but if I wasn’t doing art I definitely would have been an astronaut. You know in high school I was voted “Most Likely to live on the moon.” And “Most Artistic” so…there it is.

LG: There you go. Are you reading or watching anything right now?

CB: If I read during the day, Xavier will try and eat the book. So that’s kind of challenging. Mostly I’m reading a lot of comics. I’m reading “Walking Dead,” “Chew,” “Unwritten,” “Day Tripper,” and some Marvel Universe stuff, “Uncanny X-men” and “Avengers.” I just watched “The Road” which does not portray the post-apocalyptic life as very appealing, although there is still this kind of glimmer of hope. It’s really dim but, the Father talks to the Son about “carrying the fire.” And how do you carry that fire? But the son still does even when there is no hope. There’s nothing, no plant life at all, you’re just surviving on what’s left. Contrast that film with “The Book of Eli” which is more in-line with the view of the post-apocalypse that I was thinking of growing up. There’s a badass hero with a quest. This hero is on a journey and he struggles to survive and bring light and truth. It’s really appealing.

Also, recently played the “Fallout” video game. This post-apocalyptic thing continues even today.

And I watch a lot of crappy sci-fi, horror, and action movies. Yeah, a lot of really bad stuff.

LG: One last question, what’s your favorite episode of The Real Luke?

CB: I like the Japan one a lot, but I’d have to go with the Bigfoot. I think the survival-horror episode with the Bigfoot was probably my favorite.

LG: Cool. Where can people see more of your work?

CB: They can check out my website, www.clovisblackwell.com and, pending the Dean’s approval, take my screenprinting class at Azusa Pacific University starting in the Fall.

[/END]

Thanks for checking out my first artist interview! And a big thanks to Clovis for being my space monkey. Any questions you’d like me to ask in the next one?

-Luke

Here’s my first “artist profile” with my good friend Clovis Blackwell [CB].

LG: How do we know each other?

CB: We go way back Luke, we go back to San Francisco, to the Upper Room that Church group thing that we were doing. But what kinda cemented the friendship was us being able to talk about art ideas and stuff. You were working on your short film for school it was…

LG: “Coming To”

CB: That’s it. The conversation that really strikes me was about the main character’s transformation in “Coming To.” It came when someone dropped a piece of fruit in his bag and he tried it. We were talking about what that fruit might be conveying. That was a really great rapport that we developed. Being able to discus things has been a really fun part of our friendship, being able to bounce ideas off of each other.

LG: Yeah Totally. When we met, what sort of art were you making?

CB: When we met, I had just graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute and I was making “box art,” kind of Joseph Cornell-style. After graduating I started working on an installation that I came to think of as a large “Cornell Box.” I think I titled that show Cedars. I was collecting a bunch of different materials and putting them in jars and bottles.

CB: I made one small box out of those objects and the rest of the show was those objects filling the gallery space like the space was a box. That was a nice progression for me to move out of small objects into a larger space. I think that led to some of my more recent work.

LG: So what is your more recent work? What have you been working on?

CB: I’ll go back to my last show, my show for my Master of Fine Arts. I made an installation where I hand-cast 200 action figures and set them up in battles on miniature terrain that I made. I had 4 tables that filled the gallery space; they looked like model train or war gaming landscapes. The figures were fighting on that. It was a sort of transition from my previous work.

LG: Because that work was installation based?

CB: Yeah, it hasn’t all been installation based, I do tend to play around with a lot of different media. The media that I choose needs to incorporate whatever theme that I’m thinking of in my work. It was important that they were action figures because it was thinking of the role of the Hero and taking it down to a toy, a commodity, a throw-away thing. Sort of parodying the idea of what a Hero is, but also moving past that idea and it was a lot about just having fun and playing, being playful.

LG: What was that show called?

The name of the show was Time of Trial and that came from a couple of things, from Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero With a Thousand Faces,” which identifies The Road of Trials as the part of the heroic cycle where the Hero is in struggle, where it looks like he might not make it. Where he suffers. It’s in that moment where he learns something important. That’s where the transformation takes place.

LG: Like where Luke learns to trust The Force?

CB: Exactly where Luke learns to trust The Force. Down in that cave on Dagobah.

LG: Actually he’s in the Trench…

CB: I’m thinking of “Empire.” [The Empire Strikes Back] Let’s all just go to “Empire,” cause “Empire” is The Road of Trials. The whole movie is The Road of Trials. That’s where all the struggles happen; that’s where Han gets frozen, where you don’t know if they are going to make it. That’s where Luke learns the truth about his father, where he learns to actually become a Jedi, where Han and Leia began to fall in love. Everything happens in “Empire.” And the resolution comes in “Return [of the Jedi].”

LG: Let’s bring that back to Time of Trials.

CB: First, I should say what the action figures were, there were 100 Super Clovis action figures and 100 Anti Clovis action figures. The Hero and the Villain. It’s in their struggle and their fight, in MY struggle and my fight within myself that I found transformation. Part of that has to do with my experience with Rheumatoid Arthritis and learning to understand my own weakness. It also gets pretty Jungian dealing with the psyche and how one comes to terms with who one is. Which is exactly what that Heroic Journey is all about.

LG: So did Time of Trials somehow inform or set you on the course for your current work?

CB: I’d gotten really fascinated with the apocalypse and trying to understand why I have felt an allure towards the “end of the world” and towards a post-apocalyptic future. I was starting to think about those things while I was working on Time of Trial. I was thinking about how I was influenced by movies, how these Hero stories filtered into my life and my way of thinking when I was a child. A lot of those were these post-apocalyptic sci-fi movies and I was thinking about the glamorous Hero, the survivor Hero. So the Hero is the connection.

I’ve been working on these Mushroom Cloud drawings and screen prints and thinking of making a series of miniature sculptures. I’m trying to take away the power and the fear from the Mushroom Clouds. I’m trying to make them pretty and seductive and kind of harmless. I want to make them really attractive because of what comes after the destruction, what comes after the death and suffering is this moment of new life, this moment of rebirth. You have death then you have life and resurrection. You have this transformation. You have the apocalypse, then you have the post-apocalypse. You have the survivors and society and the world rebuilding.

“untitled” | 11×14 | chinamarker on paper | 2010

That’s the fascination for me, that’s the connection to Time of Trial. Now I’m using the Mushroom Cloud as the moment of struggle in the Hero’s journey. I guess it’s kind of the same thing as what I was doing. I’m looking at the same thing, that moment of struggle but through a different lens. [laughs] It’s not a self portrait. [LG laughs] Most of my work has been self portrait for the last 8 or 10 years. I kind of wanted to get away from that and I am, but I guess it’s the same thing. It’s learning the importance of struggle in my life and how that’s transformative and the beautiful things that come after that.

LG: I like that. I hadn’t made that connection either.

CB: That was new for me [laughs] I hadn’t made that connection to Time of Trial, that solidified things for me. So thank you.

LG: You’re welcome.

CB: That’s why I like these conversations. We do this.

LG: Things come out.

CB: Yeah.

—{END Part 1]—

Stay tuned next week when I ask Clovis questions like:

LG: I’m curious as to why you picked the Mushroom Cloud and not say the “Robot Apocalypse” or the “Zombie Apocalypse” or the “Monkey Plague Apocalypse”?

-Luke

Luke & Clovis at the AEM art show, circa 2006

a couple of months ago I set out to make the most epic episode of The Real Luke yet. I’d been growing my beard for the last 5 months and had been meditating daily on the filmography of Michael Bay. I was ready.

the film would take place in 3 different locations. first we would be shooting by the Pacific Ocean, then in the desert, and finally in the mountains. at each location I would have a different length beard and slightly different costume to indicate the passage of time.

at our first two locations everything went great. at the ocean and in the desert we got the shots we needed without being hassled. which was a good thing, because once again I was shooting without permits. we were in the mountains, filming a scene where The Real Luke crosses a creak when disaster struck. A scan disk full of footage fell into the stream…

and quickly disappeared beneath the rushing water.

exclamations of dismay (that shall not be quoted) were uttered (at volumes best not to mention).

but all was not lost! using the knowledge he’d acquired as a white water rafting guide, Angel was able to find the disk. he followed the flow of the water to where it had been wedged in between two rocks and fished it out. naturally it was soaked.

Angel charges.

but would the vital footage it contained be ok? would the water have fried the circuit board?

if the footage was lost, the project could NOT be completed. many of the clips on the disk featured me in the desert, with a two-month long beard. that beard have been shaved for the scene we were currently filming. so I’d either have to drastically change my plans for the piece OR wait until my beard grew out and go back to the desert to reshoot. neither option was that appealing.

we tried not to worry about this…it was what it was. either we were hosed or we weren’t. fretting about it wouldn’t make the footage come back. so we finished shooting the mountain scenes and headed home to LA.

as soon as we were back into cell zone, I google searched “dropped scan disk in water.” there were stories of people who had retrieved pictures off of disks that had gone through the wash…so I was hopeful. we decided to wait a week and let the card dry out before we attempted to load it.

so, here’s video from when I attempt to load the card for the first time…

the teaser for “The Real Luke: Pursuance of Justice” is nearing completion. picture is locked, voice over is done, sound mixing is complete…all that is left is color correction. hopefully it will be online in the next couple of weeks!

stay tuned!

-Luke

So the interview with Clovis Blackwell is taking a little longer than I expected. This might have something to do with being off the computer for 3 whole days (*gasp* I know, right?)

In lieu of the interview, I’m going to do a little behind the scenes on an older project, the “Yaaaris!” spec commercial.

The concept was pretty simple, “What would happen if a pirate tried to buy a Yaris?”

But why tell you about it when I can just show you?

Now the pirate was totally typecast. As in, he’s an actual real life pirate. I built a time machine and pulled him off tall ship cause a skinny guy w/ an AK-47 was just not the look I was going for. (Too soon?)

Heh, I kid, I kid. The pirate is actually my neighbor. And he’s not really a pirate, he’s a country rock musician.

Since this was a spec project that I was funding, I tried to keep spending to a minimum. The camera was borrowed. The lights were rented. Props were constructed. And everyone worked for free.

Troy on the boom.

Our pirate wasn’t free…but his cost was pretty cheap. He asked that we just get him some Budweiser so he could have a few beers while we were shooting. Up until that point I’d been really against performers being on any sort of drugs/alcohol while on set. But for some reason, I decided to let this slide.

“He’s doing me a favor” I said to myself. And myself responded, “Yeah, how much beer can he drink in a couple hours?”

The answer: A lot.

In his defense, it was the weekend…and he had been drinking when we picked him at 11am, so…the 8 or 12 beers he drank on set had more of an effect since they were on top of what he’d already had.

Costume & makeup test.

He kept getting the lines wrong and started to get a bit frustrated. At one point he got up and left set. Luckily, I was able to get him back… I told him it “wasn’t a big deal,” “everything was going to be fine,” and I could give him the lines “one at a time.”

I’d say the line, then he’d repeat it. It actually worked out pretty well. We got the takes we need without adding too much time. Since it’s such a short piece, the line prompting probably only added another 45 minutes to the shoot. And more importantly, I learned a valuable lesson:

Never feed your pirate beer.

Now as a special treat, for the first time on the interwebz, is the OUTTAKES Reel. Enjoy!

More pictures of the production and myself in various pirate garb tests can be seen in the Flickr set.

-Luke

imagine nerds.  now imagine their mecca.  now imagine that large media corporations figured out that if they make things the nerds like, the nerds will spend their money on said items.  now image the large media corporations decided to sponsor extravagant parties in nerd-mecca.

perhaps a tad over simplified, but the small convention for comic book artist, fans, and publishers has grown into an epic “Festival of the Popular Arts,” that features comics, movies, tv shows, games, toys, original art, t-shirts, and cos-play.

this was my 4th year going.  each year I feel like I understand the convention a little more and am able to negotiate the pitfalls a little better.  this time I wasn’t in it for the costumes, games, toys, and comics… My goal was to attend the panels and listen to filmmakers and artists talk about making their work.  Hopefully, I can apply their lessons to my own projects.

next I’m going to write about the different panels and the specific things I found interesting in each…there’s no real “through line” or consistent theme other than these are filmmakers making the sorts of films that I like to watch…and would love to be making.

TRON: Legacy

the first panel I went to was for TRON, in Hall H.  last year, the first day in Hall H was a mad house.  ”Twilight” AND “Avatar” were scheduled that day…and there were many screaming girls (and their mothers) in attendance.  this year, no Twilight meant less girls – although there were a couple NON-comic fans in line near me.  it was their first year at the Con and they were there for “Salt” and “Megamind.”  both of these struck me as odd…especially since “Salt” was opening that week. why wait in line for hours to see a preview of something coming out soon?  but it definitely illustrates that part of the convention’s continued growth is due to it’s more “inclusive” nature.

a couple things stood out about the TRON panel.  the first was the use of audience participation.  part way through the event they had the entire 5000 person crowd do a series of karaoke style shout-alongs that were being recorded FOR the movie.  we said things like “Res-ner,” “Disk wars,” and “De-Res.”  we stomped our feet and cheered…and in between NO ONE misbehaved.  nobody shouted, or whistled, or yelled “freebird.”  everyone played along.  it was really remarkable. by including the crowd in the filmmaking process, they had just made them 5000 fans. people want to feel special. and when they feel special, they tell other people about WHAT made them feel that way. in this case, it was the makers of TRON.

the other thing was something that Jeff Bridges said:

“We need modern myths.”

this really made me think.  after “Star Wars” – what do we have?  ”The Matrix?” anything else?  there is something deep seated and important about myths.  so, how do I tell stories that fulfill the same needs as the “myths of old?”

Green Lantern

Peter Sarsgaard, who plays the villain Hector Hammond in the film, told a story of when the director, Martin Campbell pitched him the roll.  the director told him the story through HIS character’s eyes.

why is this important?  it makes the story REAL for the actor.  it shows them the journey that THEIR character will go on.  making the character more interesting will help get talent.  it’s that simple.  why would a talented, in-demand actor want to be in ______ movie?  there needs to be a hook, and showing them the story as their character would experience it is a good way to do it.

Cowboys & Aliens + Captain America

both films showed rough, unfinished footage.  why do this?  why show something that isn’t 100% perfect?

because it makes the audience feel special (just like with TRON).  letting them see something exclusive sets up fan loyalty.  a core group of committed fans can MAKE a movie even before it is done with production. many would argue that the buzz that the Jon Favreau’s first “Iron Man” earned at Comic Con set it on the early road to success.  personally I can’t wait to see “Cowboys & Aliens” his next flick…and I’ve told numerous people how awesome it looks.

Let Me In

when should a movie be re-imagined? rebooted? that is, when should a film be remade? this question was the “elephant inside the room” at this panel.  after all, the Swedish film “Let The Right One In” has been rated as one of the best movies.  EVER. I’m not sure that the questioned was every really answered, but it was interesting to see the director, Matt Reeves, dance around the question.  without a doubt, he definitely loves the source material (a *gasp* book) AND the Swedish version of the film. with his version of the tale, he is not trying to “one up” or “replace” the first film, rather he seeks to add another interpretation to the source material.

he had several intriguing things to say; for me the most interesting were the notes he received from Spielberg regarding working w/ children.  since one of my leads for “Certified” is a kid, I paid close attention to these.

first off, let them come up with stuff.  no need to feed them everything, let them start with how THEY imagine things.  kids have great imaginations and if you can build off those, it will be a more organic process for them.

second, have them journal AS their characters.  every day they can write about whatever they want, as their characters, only rule is they must share and discus w/ director.  I don’t think this will be necessary for “Certified,” since it’s such a short project, but I’ll keep it in mind for future projects.

while walking around the floor I also had some thoughts regarding my own work, and specifically how I “pitch” it to people.

when people ask me “what sort of films do you make?”  I’ve invariably said “short films and music videos.”

this is a horrible answer.  it’s a conversation ender.  I can talk about my work… and I should.  this happened once at a booth where I was buying a plush toy and later that night I was thinking about it.  I realized that I need to change how I answer that question, so I’ve been working on it.

what sort of films do I make?  I make films that deal with reality and question our perception of it.  my work is a surreal, fantastic, quirky, and often funny take on the human condition.  what does it mean to be a member of society, to be a co-signer of the social contract and how does our perception of reality affect how we do participate in society?  most often I’m working the sci-fi, fantasy, or noir genres.

it still needs a little work, and that might be a little too didactic for some, but it’s a good start.

on my last day at Comic Con, I spent about 9 hours in Hall H. I had the best seats I’ve EVER had…I could actually see the faces of the people on the panels.

here’s a pic of the screen from near my seat.

and then…this GIANT guy sat in front of me. take a look at how much of screen his head blocked out.

ahhh well. C’est la vie.

Or in Klingon, “vetlh ‘oH yIn.”

-Luke

one of my ongoing projects has been update my flickr (www.flickr.com/lukeasa). I have 7 years of back photos…so it’s taking me a while. once they are online and organized I’ll be posting groups of my favorites on here. until then, here are just a few misc. production pictures.

-Luke

these are questions that I’ve been exploring, investigating, pondering, and testing the past couple years.  there are millions of people watching videos online everyday. and out of those millions there must be thousands that would be interested in my latest music video or short film, right?

so how do I find those thousands?  or how do I find the hundreds that will attract the thousands that will attract the tens of thousands and so on?

the methods I’ve been working on recently include: posting and interacting with people via my twitter account, my blog, updating and maintaining my mailing lists which includes several Yahoo filmmaking groups, posting on facebook/myspace, and directly contacting blogs.

in marketing an internet video, blogs seem like one of the best bets.  they represent a “reputable” 3rd party which adds legitimacy to your project.  it’s one thing to say “hey, check out my video, it’s AWESOME.”  it’s another to have someone you don’t know say “hey, check out this video, it’s AWESOME.”  additionally, a blog will have its own unique set of readers… a group that you probably don’t know and wouldn’t have access to it.  if one of them likes it and passes on to ten of their friends and one of those ten likes it passes it on, well, you’ve effectively promoted your project in true grassroots fashion.

for my snowboard travelogue, “Chingón Aguilas: Turn it to 11″ I set out to do this for the first time.  the first question to answer was, “who is my audience?”  I figured that fans of Chilean snow sports, snowboarders, and lovers of Super 8 filmmaking would be interested in the project.  with the help of my intern Mustan, we searched the web for blogs that  fit those categories AND had history of posting videos.  He would compile a list of potential sites, then I reviewed and contacted the ones that I thought were a good fit.

the responses were overwhelmingly positive, people liked the film. But I didn’t just want them to just say “cool film”…I wanted them to post the film on their sites.

of course, anytime you put yourself out there, you risk getting a response like this from www.angrysnowboarder.com.

Luke,

What do you want me to tell you? That it looks like a bunch of guys went and shredded Chile and didn’t even venture off into the real terrain most people should go there for? Or that it’s all filler and like zero thriller?

I’ll be honest it doesn’t do shit for me as a snowboarder, writer, or someone that has had some whacky ass trips that have been documented. To me it just seems like 2 guys went to chile had fun and shot it in super 8 (sick medium that I love personally) but over all isn’t something I’d ever care to watch again. I love raw and gritty shit classic example is I love what June and Esthera are doing with Peepshow when that movie came out I was like, “holy fuck an all girl shred flick I can actually stand to watch”. My .02 cents is you got skills with a camera either next time show the turmoil of getting there and shredding or show me the goods none of this artsy fartsy shit. Also more metal in the edit, the world needs more metal. Running free by Maiden would have been a good one.

interestingly enough, some of the things he didn’t like about the film were the very things I was trying to accomplish.  but that’s besides the point… if you share your work with strangers, you have to be prepared for some of them not to like it.

of course, some of them will really like it.  another site, www.shayboarder.com, liked the film enough that they interviewed me about the trip and filmmaking process for their blog.

here’s a little excerpt:

Often snowboard journeys are undocumented travels, lost in our memories and shared secrets between friends. Snowboarders from California Luke and Will shared their journey in a super 8mm film for the world to see and while many Chilean travels are left to the pros, I enjoyed the passion and creativity that came out from their film.

I caught up with Luke to find out more about their travel experience to Chile and how they documented the experience in a short film.

read the rest of the interview here.

and from Shayboadrer’s interview the site www.shredunion.com tweeted about the post & film, sharing it with their 2,300+ followers.  those are 2,300 potential viewers that I didn’t have access to before!  I’m not sure it went too much further than that, but all and all I’d call it a successful first foray into the world of blog promotions.

promoting and distributing short form projects on the internet is something that I’m still learning and experimenting with.  I’d love to hear any experiences, thoughts, or stories you may have!

-Luke

I’ve just finished a new music video for Grand Vanity’s song “Got A Nerve.” the band is composed of Greg and Dani Jong, a husband and wife duo that I first met on the Procession’s “Major & Minor” video (watch it here.)

the video was a lot of fun to make, the Jong’s have a great attitude and since it was pretty low budget, I got to work with friends. that is, I had to convince people who like me to come work for free or cheap.

since we were going to be pushing the limits of our budget, I wanted to make sure the video was well planned. a month or so before the production, I went to Van Nuys with my Canon Powershot and shot some tests which I then cut into an animatic.

here are some clips from that test.

intro test

stop motion test

soon the week or the production was upon us…unfortunately the Jong’s came down with the flu. being a performance video it was kinda important that they were in good shape for filming, so we pushed the video. this is never a fun thing to do. once you change dates, the availability of crew and gear can change drastically. and the later we were going to shoot, the worse the weather would be.

yes, this is Southern California, but it does rain here. and the closer you get to the end of the year, the more likely it will rain. but this time, fortune smiled on us. between our initial shoot day and the day we shot it got cold. cold enough that the leaves changed.

leaves before

leaves on day of shoot

this isn’t something we could have planned, but it totally worked in our favor. the potential negative of delaying the shoot turned into a positive that enhanced the mise-en-scène of the video.

the shoot itself went smoothly. no one hassled us at all, which was great since we were shooting IN THE STREET without permits. this means that if anyone had a problem with us shooting they could report us to the police and the police would shut us down. thankfully, Saturday morning in Van Nuys is a pretty mellow place.

you can see a woman walking her dogs stopped to say “hi.”

this was my 2nd video with the director of photography Brett Pawlak he shot the “Come Around” video. it was good getting to work with him again. since we were shooting on a long lens, we were pretty far from the band and would often chat during the takes. listening to the audio tracks cracked me up. maybe someday I’ll cut together some choice lines. until then, you’ll have to be satisfied with a pic of our sweet kicks.

Tony Federico came on board to produce. this was also our 2nd project together, the 1st being the Rotten Apples video. many of these pics are ones he snapped on set. it’s pretty great working with someone who has an even more ridiculous mustache than me.

early morning Tony

the day consisted of much walking around Van Nuys, some stop motion shooting, a bit of green screen, and ended with a short narrative scene. this “house” was actually a small, detached guest room in the backyard that the Jong’s used as their recording studio. add a knocker and a coat rack and viola! another location. part of this scene we had to film after the sun went down. luckily the small lighting package we had did the trick.

to celebrate the shoot I treated a few of the guys to a pretty awesome meal at Umami Burger.

a big thanks to Ben Ceccerelli, Steve Romero, Andrew Drapkin and AJ Ullman for their help with the post production. these guys have all helped me with numerous projects and I couldn’t keep doing what I do without them.

enjoy the video! (quicktime here)

-Luke

p.s. the next day, Tony, Brett and I would be going on an adventure… we had the camera package for the entire weekend, so we decided to shoot a little short film. a couple posts on craigslist, many headshots, and a few phone calls later we had our talent…

more on that once it drops. until then, here’s a teaser pic from that shoot.

here’s a little animation of me animating a stop motion segment for the Greg Jong AKA Grand Vanity “Got A Nerve” music video…

the video should be finished soon, so stay tuned!

-Luke

Happy 2010 y’all. for the last several years I’ve been doing a “Top 10″ list for the year…I don’t limit it to movies or events or projects. It’s an across the board collection of what was most memorable for me.

Here’s the list for 2009. enjoy.

10.) Chris’ “Grapevine Fires” video

My friend Chris, 1/2 of the directing team “Walter Robot” made an amazing video this year. I’m not sure if a music video has ever touched me so emotionally. And it was something that came out of our writer’s group. Pretty awesome to see the process work with such wonderful results.

Watch it here.

9.) Star Trek, District 9, Moon, The Road, and Avatar

What an amazing year for Sci-Fi. From low budget indy to INSANELY high budget blockbusters, each film brought its own unique take and technique to science fiction. And each one of these films I could watch multiple times.

8.) Movie Ink

One Star Wars reference…one Spinal Tap reference. Tattoos are fun.

7.) XBOX 360

It’s been a good 10 years since I played video games…and I gotta say they are pretty awesome. Many fun nights playing with my director friends Lex, Mark, Josh, and Rylan.

Hollar if you want to pwn n00bs on xbox live sometime.

6.) Parents’ Architecture Visit

My Mom and Dad visited in the Spring and we took a multiday tour of Los Angeles architecture, including a impromptu and private tour of the Ennis House and the Eames House, pictured below.

5.) Sing It Loud Music Video

Getting to make a video with a budget was pretty awesome. There were production trucks there, MY production trucks…and I didn’t have to unload them. Having a full crew allowed me to focus on JUST directing…I’ve tasted blood. And I want more.

Read about the production here and watch the video here.

4.) Grindin’

Like many people, this year had its slow periods…but I filled those by writing and working on my own projects. I wrote 2 shorts, 1 feature, and numerous blogs about the filmmaking and creative process. I finished the 3rd season of ‘The Real Luke’ which included a fashion shoot. I directed a Coca-Cola commercial featuring The Real Luke, finished a short I started in college, and made a Super 8 travelogue for my trip to Chile. In December I directed an experimental short…expect that in early 2009.

Additionally I ran the LA chapter of SFSU Alumni and supervised development for a production company, going through over 170 scripts.

This was all done outside of the music videos I directed AND while working 40+ hours a week as an editor. Grindin’.

3.) Working With Teal

Earlier in the year I took stock of what I found most helpful in having an assistant. A big part of it was simply having someone who knew everything I was working on and would check in, encourage, and if need be harass me about the projects.

The person who understands me the best…and knows how to push my buttons the best is definitely my sister. Luckily she was willing to take the job.

2.) Thanksgiving & Christmas Dinners

This year I was fortunate enough to travel back to the Northwest for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. For each holiday, Teal and I did the cooking. It’s a real joy to work in the kitchen with Teal. Her creativity and skill in the culinary arts is something to behold. And feeding my family with delicious food? It doesn’t get much better than that.

1.) Chile Trip aka Chingón Aguilas: 2009

I turned 30 in 2009 and when thinking about my approaching birthday I knew I wanted to do something special. And for me, the best thing I could think of was to go snowboarding..and with a birthday in the middle of summer my options were slightly limited. In the Northern Hemisphere at least. So my friend Will and I traveled to the Andes for a snowboarding and travel adventure. The trip and snowboarding were both amazing. But one thing that really stands out was becoming closer friends with Will. A good trip can do wonders for a friendship and this was no exception.

And now, a special treat – the Super 8 travelogue from the trip. Premiering for the first time right here. Enjoy!

-Luke