Still Picture
Bill Cunningham: Facades – now at Rosecliff
Just before visiting a friend in Newport last Sunday (who is also one of the actors in First Signal), I went to Easton Beach to do some drone photography. Since I purchased the DJI Spark last year for First Signal I’ve had a great time taking all kinds of images. The number of doors it has opened for me and my projects has been very encouraging. Photography and film, in my view, is all about inspiration.
I have two favorite mansions I love to visit in Newport; The Elms and Rosecliff. I don’t recall if The Elms was closed last weekend, but I know that Rosecliff has converted the second floor (which was primarily bedrooms) into an exhibition space.
Discovering Bill Cunningham: Facades was an absolute delight. Having been to New York City in the 70s and lived there in the 80s, I could relate to the atmosphere of the city at the time when he captured these images. The juxtaposition of his muse Editta Sherman wearing all kinds of period costumes against the architecture of New York was truly inspiring. If you’re in the Newport area or plan to visit, this is one exhibit I highly recommend.
For me Rosecliff has held a particular fondness. It was the first mansion I visited with my mother in the 1980s. When I was publishing a figure skating magazine in the 90s and early 2000s, we photographed Nancy Kerrigan at the estate. I think “Tessie” Oelrichs would be pleased how Rosecliff is still entertaining guests well into in the 21st century.
Rosecliff, Newport, Rhode Island
With pre-production well under way for First Signal, it’s exhibitions like Bill Cunningham: Facades that inspire ideas for my own projects. The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” reminds me of the still photographs you often see accompany the production of a film. While making a film is about moving pictures, it’s “the still” that often promotes the project.
In my view inspiration doesn’t happen overnight. In the creative world, it comes from a cumulative effect of new experiences. It also comes from surrounding yourself with equally good people that inspire and motivate you to create. In today’s world of always being “plugged in” it’s easy to get drawn in to those that endlessly complain or live in a world of negativity. Those that live in that world are, as I said when I was in a Star Trek fan film, “dismissed.” Simply put, life is short but I’m making a feature.
Next picture.
A Present Past
1930 Duesenberg Model J
Yesterday was another exciting Cars & Coffee event at Rosecliff in Newport, RI. While there are many car shows in the region, they don’t have the backdrop and atmosphere of Gilded Age mansions. What’s unique about this show is the range of cars from the classic Volkswagen Beetle to Lamborghini and beyond, this event brings people together from every walk of life.
1910 American Underslung Traveler
After the show I visited the Audrain Automobile Museum to see their latest exhibit – Fun, Fast and Fabulous. While I once owned a pretty fast car (Acura NSX), for me it’s about the fun and the fabulous. This exhibit most certainly did not disappoint! With a 1910 American Underslung Traveler and 1930 Duesenberg Model J, it’s well worth the trip to Newport to see these works of art. Yes, as I saw on their website, the Audrain is more of an art museum that presents classic and contemporary automobiles.
Over the last several weeks I have been on a variety of weekend trips. The one thing that makes the recording of all this possible is the present world we live in – digital photography and filmmaking. Sure, the digital process has been around for many years, but its democratization has made it possible for so many of us to not only preserve history for future generations, but to create some history ourselves.
Case in point I finally located the box of VHS tapes of the numerous TV interviews I made between the early 1990s to early 2000s. This week I start the process of their conversion to digital. This particular time in figure skating no longer exists. It was a time when the sport operated like the bygone days of the movie studios. There were two major companies that literally controlled certain skaters and venues with a few independents that rounded out the industry.
What will I do with all this footage? First, it depends on how well it converts. A variety of articles I’ve read claims the shelf life to be 10-15 years based on numerous factors. But one tape I had from my 1994 appearance on the Montel Williams Show played great. Time will tell how this project concludes.
While there are some filmmakers that harken back to the days of producing on film, the digital process has made it possible from an economic point of view for filmmakers like me and countless others to produce. Gone are the days when this was an industry in the hands of a few with distribution outlets controlled by a literal handful of companies. Now, with the right project, the tools are in all our hands to get the word out.
But getting that word out in today’s digital world is perhaps even more involved than it was ten plus years ago. Why? Because everyone is doing it. The key, in my view, is to have something that people want to share. By nature human beings are social creatures and sharing is what we do. By example these Cars & Coffee events. I discovered this event through a promoted post on Facebook. From there it was an RSVP and sign-up on their email newsletter. The result was bridging the past with the present.
Documentary.
A collection of my TV interviews from the early 1990s to early 2000s. The conversion process begins this week.
The Ashton Times 