MobLogic Does Animation!
Sean Smith's animation talents really shine in our first animated episode of MobLogic. Our newest editor, Nick Paley, assisted.
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April 19, 2008
April 14, 2008
Sarasota Film Fest is Over and Luci's Back in Brooklyn
I returned to New York to my job, but Luci was able to stay for the rest of the festival. While there, she did several more interviews with local press. I'll post the links and videos when we get them. She did web, radio and TV! Here's some highlights. James Israel, of indieWIRE, gave us a shout out in his summation of Sarasota and Michael Tully blogged some kind words and awesome photos of our panel and screening.
Being interviewed for local TV
Enjoying the nightlife.
and Florida's west coast sunset
April 09, 2008
Nominated for a Webby!
We found out today that this episode of Wallstrip that I produced and directed is nominated for a Webby! I blogged about this twice when we first posted it, because I was so very proud.
This was truly a collaborative effort. I'm sure I'll forget someone, but I'll try to remember how it all went down. The idea for a "We Didn't Start the Fire" parody came from the Executive Producer, Adam Elend, then his sister, Amanda, wrote the lyrics using only stock ticker symbols (deserving of an award in itself) and her husband, Jason, scored the music. Then I came up with the news anchor idea inspired by the brilliant R.E.M. "Bad Day" video, Lindsay and I decided what props would be best, Katie Ainslie bought them and wrote the cue cards (you can see her playing the make-up artist in the time lapse segments as well as the then newly hired, Clark Caldwell as the stagehand). Clark also served as our gaffer, confetti consultant and all-around, do everything guy. Terrence Elenteny, our badass, uber editor shot the scenic New York footage for time lapse, resident senior shooter/editor extraordinaire, Appolos Laurient ran camera and last but not least, the talented and freakishly proud K.U. graduate, Sean Smith, did all the editing, motion graphics and special effects. Go Team!
It's among five other videos in the "Best Editing" category for online video. Not to sound cocky, but after sizing up the competition, I think we have a very strong chance of taking it home. Just to make sure we go home with something, we would love for you to vote for the audience award. Once there, go to "Online Film and Video" and then to "Best Editing." Thanks in advance! Unfortunately, you'll have to register, but I'm sure it's to control the number of votes by any one individual.
I was trying to get as many things going on in the frame as possible. Let your eyes roam around and watch it again and again. I guarantee you'll see something different every time. Enjoy!
Two of our other entries received "honoree status." They are "Cal-Maine" for "Best Use of Animation/Motion Graphics" and "U.S. Dollar" for "News and Politics: Individual Episode". They are posted below respectively. U.S. Dollar rings even more true today.
April 07, 2008
All God's Children - Our First Review!!
FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW: 'ALL GOD'S CHILDREN'
Joel Rozen
Published Sunday, April 6, 2008 at 11:58 a.m.
It was hardly the study abroad experience their parents thought they were having.
"All God's Children"
Directors: Scott Solary and Luci Westphal. 63 min. 3:30 p.m. April 6. Hollywood 20. A-
"There was no place to run, there was no place to hide," says American Rich Darr, of his childhood in West Africa.
Growing up missionary kids in the 1960s, Darr and his siblings were exposed to a world of routine beatings, playground humiliation and sexual manipulation. They weren't alone.
These, they allege in a sensitive new documentary by Scott Solary and Luci Westphal that premiered Saturday at the Sarasota Film Festival,, were among the horrors endured by countless students at Mamou Alliance Academy.
The parochial boarding school for missionary kids in Guinea had served as a sort of practical childcare system for members of the evangelical group Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) during their time overseas.
Some kids were raped. Others whipped with belts until they bled. One woman recalls nights of fearing for her life.
For years, the abuse inflicted by Mamou educators and dorm staff was unknown even to parents. But decades later, as alumni began to uncover repressed trauma, many realized they were victims of a perverse educational system.
"All God's Children" gives them the voice they claim they never had. Drawing from personal photographs, home movies, old Super-8 footage and a bevy of interviews with Mamou alumni, Solary and Westphal's film is sad yet unflinching, and demonstrates what can happen when unsuspecting parents put too much faith in an institution. The tone of the film may be more than just cautionary, however: It could be humanitarian.
Mamou was shut down in 1971, but of the roughly 110 missionary boarding schools still in operation throughout the world, the film's subjects cite 21 accused of similar acts of abuse. More troubling, while missionary school abuse may be endemic, legal action is seldom taken against those inflicting the pain. It certainly never was at Mamou — the C&MA still barely acknowledges the "psychological, physical and spiritual" abuse they once backed. (In one memorable scene, International Ministries Vice President Bob Fetherlin seems to grasp at straws for an explanation. "We were slower to act than we could've been," he says. To this day, not a single Mamou staff member has faced any serious consequences.)
The strength of "All God's Children" lies in the way it captures the emotional ripples cast by the abuse. At a post-screening Q&A attended by the filmmakers and six of their subjects, one viewer was particularly intrigued by the parents' reactions when they learned about what had happened at Mamou.
"It was an ongoing grief for them," said Diane Darr, Rich’s older sister and a also a victim. "And it still is."
April 03, 2008
All God's Children - Interview With Scott and Luci
This is an excerpt from the The Studio Upstairs podcast.
It's long, but enjoy!
The player I embedded is always on auto-play and was quite annoying, so click here for the permalink!