Pastimes

Whenever there is a free USA Today lying around at a hotel or in an airport I always take a glance at the 'State By State' section of the paper, hoping that maybe I'll happen across the next great American documentary idea. This clipping from the USA Today made me laugh out loud. I'm pretty sure that this news story combines all three of North Dakota's winter pastimes; snowmobiles, hockey, and drinking.

From Cajun Country

I've been directing the photography on a PBS show called The Music Voyager. This webisode is from a recent trip to Louisiana.

Films I Wish I Could See At Sundance

Restrepo

In 2008 Sebastian Junger (The Perfect Storm) and Tim Hetherington dug in with the men of Second Platoon for a year. Afghanistan's Korengal Valley, a stronghold of al Qaeda and the Taliban, has proven to be one of the U.S. Army's deadliest challenges. It is here that the platoon lost their comrade, PFC Juan Restrepo, and erected an outpost in his honor. Up close and personal, Junger and Hetherington gain extraordinary insight into the surreal combination of backbreaking labor and deadly firefights that are a way of life at Outpost Restrepo. Ever wonder what it's really like to be in the trenches of war? Look no further. Restrepo may be one of the most experiential and visceral war films you'll ever see. With unprecedented access, the filmmakers reveal the humor and camaraderie of men who come under daily fire, never knowing which of them won't make it home.

http://www.restrepothemovie.com/#/videos

Lucky

Dreaming of winning the lottery is as American as apple pie. Millions of Americans spend billions of dollars each year hoping to come up a winner. But what happens to the lucky few who actually pull a winning ticket? Lucky crisscrosses the country, examining a handful of past lottery winners as they navigate their newly found riches and a couple of extremely determined hopefuls.

Obselidia

Believing he’s the last door-to-door encyclopedia salesman in the world, George decides to write The Obselidia, a compendium of obsolete things. George believes that love, among other things, is obsolete. In his quest to document nearly extinct occupations, he befriends Sophie, a beautiful cinema projectionist who works at a silent movie theatre



http://www.obselidiathemovie.com/

Bass Ackwards

After ending a disastrous affair with a married woman, a man embarks on a lyrical, strange and comedic cross-country journey in a modified VW bus.

http://www.bassackwardsfilm.com/

Skateland

It’s 1983, and Skateland, the roller rink and local hangout of a small town, is becoming a fading memory of an earlier time, when disco and roller-skating were king. The party scene is getting stale, and 19-year-old Ritchie's romantic life is as cloudy as his future. He struggles to make sense of it all, and decisions do not come easily to the carefree young man. When tragedy strikes his friends and family, Ritchie must face the music—and make the biggest decision of his life. Without the benefit of a studio budget or name casting, Anthony Burns and Brandon and Heath Freeman capture the '80s in startling detail. The result: a cinematic scrapbook of a time and place, a visceral visual, and an aural experience that reclaims the decade for those of us lucky enough to have lived through it once. While the atmosphere is time specific, the themes of the joys and pains of growing up are universal.

http://www.freemanfilm.com/skateland/

Meese, circa April 2009

Circa sounds old.

Hello Kavita - 'The Last Time'

Just finished directing a new music video.

Hello Kavita - 'The Last Time' from Rod Blackhurst on Vimeo.

Unless You're Peyton Manning

...you shouldn't be making commercials sports stars. Every time one of these comes on the air here in Denver I laugh out loud.

John, the Grammy Man

Took a trip to western Colorado yesterday to visit the Grammy Man, John Billings. John has been making the Grammy awards for the past 34 years.

The Fray: There & Back + Fair Fight

Roughly eleven months ago my first book was published and the first feature length film I shot and directed was released.



The Fray: There & Back

The Fray: Fair Fight - Director Rod Blackhurst from Rod Blackhurst on Vimeo.

Fair Fight

Hope you all can pick yourselves up a copy of each. I'm rather proud of both projects and would like to share them with the world.

The Music Voyager - Denver & Lafayette

Some photographs from recent shoots for The Music Voyager, the show I'm the Director of Photography on.

Me


Cedric Watson


Show Host Jacob Edgar

December - Scenes From A Short - Scene 1

Just starting production on a short film I wrote, and am directing, called 'December'. The story is about a guy named Matt in his early 30's who is a little down and out on life. Caught in the ebb and flow of his existence he spends his days hanging out with his best friend Ryan. As a snow storm rolls into town they drive around in Ryan's beat up car and trade stories and one liners that might just be masked metaphors for life.

The first scene we shot was a scene in a diner with Matt and his girlfriend Rebecca. This breakfast date is a reassuring scene in the film, occurring about 2/3rds of the way through the piece, where she reminds him that she loves him, even when he's feeling like he's really got nothing to offer their relationship right now.

Yours truly on the left with DP Brook Aitken.


Actress Libby Arnold


Actor Jeremy Make + Audio Steve Schwedt


Production Stills



All photographs by Kelly Magelky, AD + Producer Extraordinaire

Technical Specs:
HPX170 - no adapters
2.39:1 Aspect Ratio - cropping in post
24fps

Decided to shoot with the HPX170 for several reasons, namely that I own a full package with all accessories, secondly because we plan on shooting some 60fps snow/winter landscapes, and finally because we needed to be able to cram the camera + DP, sound, and me into the backseat of a car for several scenes. Decided against any sort of adapter in an effort to keep it simple.

The light for this scene was a 1K with a Chimera and a 650 with a Chimera, bounce card when we got in close. There was a large window with daylight coming in from the left hand side of the wide photographs and while we were shooting from 2-4:30PM, the light worked perfectly as the scene was a breakfast scene.

I'll be posting some screen grabs soon....

From David Ebletoft

First of all, if you read this blog you should be reading David's blog too.

He wrote an e-mail last night with this story:

'I had a union construction worker tell me a joke while waiting for the freight elevator in Midtown today. He tried to pass off a Family Guy joke as his own. For a few seconds, I thought of confronting him, but that glitter in his eye said, "This shit was so funny while I watched Family Guy reruns on TBS that maybe, just maybe, if I tell it as my own, people will think I'm funny as shit.....please think I'm funny as shit....please."

So I laughed...Merry Christmas you unoriginal bastard.'

It was too good to let it sit in my in-box all alone.

Starz Denver Film Festival - Best of Nov 20-22

1. Hotel Sahara - The temporary residents of Nouadhibou, Mauritania, have come from all over Africa to wait for transport to Europe, and the chance at a better life. Bettina Haasens intimate camera ushers us through the provisional world of these migrant workers as they pick up odd jobs and sleep in sparse rooms, all under the constant threat of deportation. Sandwiched between the Sahara Desert and the Atlantic Ocean, they try to stoke their individual dreams in a place where the only thing not fleeting is their desire to reach their destination.



2. Passenger Side - Michael Brown's (ADAM SCOTT) birthday begins with a telephone call from his estranged, drug addicted brother Tobey (JOEL BISSONNETTE). Tobey is totally unaware that it is his older brother's birthday, but he is very aware that his car is broken, and he begs Michael to drive him on various apparently legitimate, vital errands. As Bruce Springsteen has astutely noted, "a man who turns his back on his family just ain't no good", and so Michael puts off his seemingly romantic birthday plans, and with his brother embarks on a sketchy, meandering day long odyssey though the mysteries of Los Angeles County. As the day wears on, it becomes clear that this drive will lead them to some very unexpected destinations.



3. St. Nick - St. Nick is the story of a brother and sister on the run. Hes eleven, shes nine. They've left their home for some unknown reason, and are living in the woods, hiding in barns and sheds, doing what they can to survive. As the bitter Texas winter sets in, they strike up residence in an abandoned house and, for a brief, bittersweet period, manage to escape the harsh realities of their circumstances.

Starz Denver Film Festival - Best Of Nov 12-15

Opening weekend of the film festival. Best three films seen. And I've only seen 4. That makes me 3 for 4. The 'opening night' film 'Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire' was awful. Don't waste your money. Lee Daniels has no discernible directing style.

But these on other hand are awesome.

1. October Country - Every family has its ghosts. Set in the Mohawk Valley of Central New York, this film chronicles a year of life seen through the eyes of the Mosher family. Relationships gone sour, poor economy, a troubled foster kid, young mothers, and a belief in the paranormal make this film a beautiful portrait of a family.



2. Con Artist - Mark Kostabi is a fraud and a scam artist. He knows it. And he's spent years perpetuating his 'art' and will do just about anything to keep himself in the spotlight.



3. Leaves of Grass - Tim Blake Nelson directed narrative about twin brothers and weed in Oklahoma. That's all I need to say.

Wonderland & Salton Sea & a Lomo

Salton Sea

Snapshots from a trip recently made with my friend James.