SHORT FILMS

FAGRADALSJFJALL VOLCANO ERUPTION:

For nine days, it lay in wait. For nine days, magma gathered under the newly formed volcanic crust, building in strength and pressure. And for nine days, I held my breath, anticipating the one thing I wanted to see more than anything else on this Icelandic trip. And on September 11, the damn broke. Fagradalsfjall erupted with a flood of lava, creating an enormous lake of fire and molten rock. New vents formed, spewing fountains of lava hundreds of meters into the air. It was a spectacle of nature so immense, so rare, that it is still hard for me to comprehend the power of what I witnessed. I arrived in Iceland several days in advance of leading a photo workshop here just so I could photograph Fagradalsfjall. But when I arrived, she was dormant. And it was on my last night in Reykjavik that it happened. I secured a last-minute rental car and raced to the volcano in the middle of the night. After two hours hiking up the backside of the valley, it came into view. The sight of all that lava, the sounds of bubbling lava fountains and grinding rock, the smell of sulfur and brimstone, all combined to make this one of the most memorable nights of my life. This video was all captured with my DJI Mavic 2, which unfortunately sustained a bit of heat damage from the inferno below, despite my staying at an altitude of 300 ft for most of the flight, and my Canon R5.

DAVID LYNCH & CHRYSTA BELL'S LOVE IS A BIRD OF FLAME (music video)
 

Credit: Lead Editor, Animation Consultant, ADR, Compositor
Artist: David Lynch & Chrysta Bell
Director: Chel White

When renowned film director and musician, David Lynch, and vocalist Chrysta Bell approached director Chel White to direct this highly stylized music video, Mr. White tasked me with helping him design the technique to achieve his vision.  The mechanical, pixilation-like motion of the principles was a cornerstone of this vision, but furthermore, he wished to shoot much of it in reverse while also maintaining perfect lip-sync with the vocals.  Trusting in me to design a shooting & post technique that would achieve his ideas, I was given charge of determining shooting frame rates, calculating music playback for sync, and creating a phonetic script for Chrysta Bell to perform from cue cards, and to coach her on how to sing her song backwards.  The results were even astounding to me, for when the footage was played back at 24 fps, and in reverse, we were able to achieve over 90% perfect lip sync on all takes. 

THE DANDY WARHOLS - 13 SONGS IN 13 PLACES (teaser)

Credit: Cinematographer, Lead Editor, Motion Graphics Artist, Color Artist
Director: Rodrigo Melgarejo

In commemoration of the 13th anniversary of The Dandy Warhols’ breakout release, 13 Songs from Urban Bohemia, a promotional tour of 13 locations around the Pacific Northwest, all significant to the band’s history or to the city of Portland, served as venues for the band to perform and record each of the 13 songs from the record.  This is the promotional teaser for those 13 videos.

WILL WEST AND THE FRIENDLY STRANGERS - EVERYTIME (Live)

Credit: Director, Director of Photography, Editor

Will West has long been a pillar of the Portland, Oregon music scene. And so, I was honored when he selected me to direct this live, multi-camera production for his band.  Shot and recorded on location at Mississippi Studios in front of a live audience.  

MTV's F*@K MY LIFE WITH MIKE THE SITUATION

Credit: Editor, Compositor
Directors: Rob Shaw and Solomon Burbridge

Jersey Shore’s Mike the Situation’s story of how close he came to joining the mile high club, set to some ridiculous and hilarious animation.

HUSH HUSH (excerpt)

Credit: Director, Writer, Actor, Editor

I wrote and directed this short film during my junior year at The Evergreen State College. The premise is the difficulty of separation from one’s home and family in the pursuit of one’s own path.  Shot on location in Death Valley, CA, this film was shot entirely on 16mm color negative film, using an old Canon Scoopic.

HIGH NOON TEA

Credit: Co-Director, Co-Writer, Animator, Editor

I produced this short promo for the Olympia Film Festival while I was in school at The Evergreen State College in collaboration with co-director/co-writer Randy Thompson. All characters and set pieces were fabricated by hand, and the rotoscoped sequence was created using water color on paper, using the first shootout scene in Once Upon a Time in the West as the source footage.  It was selected by festival organizers to be shown in the weeks leading up to the film festival to promote attendance.