The Oblique Sector is in a streaming partnership with Film Armada as part of the extended Nantucket Film Festival

Our short film, The Oblique Sector, premiered a year ago at The Nantucket Film Festival.

The Albion Park Productions team spent a glorious and eventful several days on that quaint little island taking part in the festival scene and the old-time whaling seaport atmosphere: Meeting, greeting, taking part in Q&A's, catching other interesting films and enjoying the parties, workshops and readings for which the NFFest is justly famous. Then it was over. Back to work (and on to the next festival).

Fast-forward nearly a year: We received an email from the Nantucket Film Festival inviting us to participate in a "streaming partnership" with Film Armada, as an extension of the Nantucket Film Festival 2012. Film Armada describes itself as an "Online Theatron." For the duration of the NFFestival, our short would be available streaming online and all revenue associated with ad sales and "tickets" sold to view our film would go entirely to us. After the festival, our short would be withdrawn or we could choose one of two options to leave it up as part of Film Armada or the NFFest archives.


What's to lose, right? Licensing agreements were signed, digital files were delivered, and The Oblique Sector is currently available (for the rest of today) online here: http://www.filmarmada.com/film/682441/oblique-sector

How this will play out financially remains to be seen. I haven't purchased that yacht for the visit to Cannes next year, but who knows. It's a new world out there when it comes to distribution and revenue streams and to an extent, it's about trying out new concepts and ideas and seeing what sticks.

Film Armada is in beta. And in some ways, it shows. It's not really clear to me how much it costs to view our film, but it's reportedly $3. However, signing up and logging in to the site, it appears there is a $10 minimum purchase of credits, so that raises the "random casual viewer" bar fairly high, right off the bat.

And our film is represented by a rather awkward frame grab (automated, I presume?), as you can see below.

As any of you who have seen the film know, The Oblique Sector is not really about Amanda Good Hennessey's chest. Sorry, Amanda! I think we can blame it on the bot.

Hello, Cape Cod! The Oblique Sector is an Official Selection of 2012 The Woods Hole Film Festival.

Albion Park Productions is thrilled to announce that our short film, The Oblique Sector, is an Official Selection of 2012 The Woods Hole Film Festival!

Thank you, Kickstarter supporters for helping us continue our festival run!

WOODS HOLE FILM FESTIVAL

Movie Maker Magazine called the Woods Hole Film Festival "one of the coolest 25 film festivals in the world."

We're looking forward to visiting the festival and interacting with other filmmakers and seeing some great films (as well as our own!) down on Cape Cod. Should be the perfect time of year for a visit. Hope to see you there!

SCREENING DATES:

Monday, July 30th at 7pm

Saturday, August 4th at 5pm

For details about the festival:  http://www.woodsholefilmfestival.org/2012/

To purchase tickets:  http://woodshole.festivalgenius.com/2012/films/theobliquesector0_jasonmreulet_woodshole2012

(They just announced the schedule, we'll be getting our trailer and graphics on festival genius soon!)

Thanks for all of your support!

iPhoneography in Print. An Article on My Cellphone Photography in the Somerville Journal

The February 16, 2012 issue of the Somerville Journal has a full page article about my cellphone photography.

Old School / New School: iPhoneography on the printed page.

I was contacted by Jillian Fennimore, a reporter from the Somerville Journal, who had seen my iPhone shots in various tweets and postings online and asked about doing a brief article on them for the "Somerville Life" section of the paper. I was happy to oblige! The world is infused with little moments of visual poetry if we pause to look. I try to share that online and I was pleased for the opportunity to share my images, with perhaps a different audience, in print.

In the article, I mention the wise saying that when you see something extraordinary, the best camera to use to capture the image is whatever one you have with you! For most people these days that is their cellphone.

Since getting an iPhone, even I admit that I'm less inclined to carry my Nikon around with me, in favor of knowing the iPhone, with its halfway decent camera, is as close as my pocket. This is convenient and makes me look less like a photo dweeb.

However, I'm also more likely to miss out on serendipitous moments that might demand high resolution and the capabilities of a professional camera (such as my fortuitous luck, in capturing the Harvard Square meteor in high resolution with my Nikon, last year).

As a visual artist, I'm drawn the slightly surreal and unexpected beauty in the everyday things around us. These images, I find, are almost always unexpected and unplanned. They rise up out of the environment like a sort of visual haiku. Even hitting with the force of a poem, a visual poem, if you will, if you can look for a moment in a mood of contemplation. Perhaps, the visual equivalent of a William Carlos Williams haiku, like his famous poem about the Red Wheelbarrow:

so much depends

upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.

This reads, to me, like the perfect description of a great iPhone photo of a poor American family's backyard in the 1920's. Provided, of course, that the iPhone had been invented then, and possessed by an iPhoneographer of William Carlos Williams' sympathetic imagination and a good 99¢ iTunes photo app.

Nothing enables a (post) modern visual haiku-ist better than a cell phone with a decent camera. I'll admit I'm partial to the iPhone, but I'm sure there are Droid phones and Blackberries, etc. with equally competent cameras in them.

It's a fact, however, that almost any cell phone photo needs a little post-processing work, to bring out its best. Most shots come out a little flat to begin with, by design. That's where the apps come in. The article mentions a 99 cent app that I use. For me, that's Camera+. ($.99 when I bought it - seems to have gone up to $1.99, for the moment) Truly, 90% of what I post online has gone through this app. It's not perfect, but it does a great job, overall. There are plenty of free photo apps, too, that do amazing things, including the ever popular Instagram (as well a some very cheesy apps).

So much of what we shoot these days never gets printed. In fact, the definition of what a photograph is has probably actually changed. For many, printing their photos today, is a rarity. And even more so with small, low-res mobile photos. Witness the demise of Kodak.

Consequently, I've rarely printed an iPhone photo, assuming them to be too lacking in pixels to look good. So I was pleasantly surprised with how good these ended up looking printed on newsprint in the Journal. Long live print! There is something to be said for a photograph that has an actual physical presence.

This issue of the Somerville Journal will be on newsstands until next Thursday. Get yours soon, as it's sure to be a collectors item! Some years hence, there may be no physical paper published anywhere, having all moved online and to iPad-style devices.

But, for now, here's visual poetry on the printed page. Little visual haikus of Somerville life!

Outtake: Rosebud Diner in the Rain

UPDATE: The Somerville Journal has now posted the article online.

Somerville Night Live

Doing my Lorne Michael impression. Red Sox cap maybe not the best choice.

I produced and directed my first show for SCATV Ch.3 in Somerville last night. It was a live hour with some very talented cast members (and crew!). It was a SNL-ish mixture of skits, short films and news updates with a strong local Somerville slant and a seasonal holiday flavor.

It was precarious, as live events often are: Key actors stuck in traffic, crucial video files exporting with only minutes to spare, balky studio equipment and twenty odd cast and crew rushing around mustering costumes, props and script changes. Invigorating to say the least!

I didn't sleep for two days prior as more than half the show content was created in the final 24hrs. In fact 90% of the skits & films were written, and in the case of the short films (excepting Father Pike) were shot and edited, in the space of three days. Rehearsal? HA! We laugh at you and your "rehearsals."

Art Hennessey and Amanda Good Hennessey did the lions share of fleshing out our concepts into workable scripts. Not to mention managing the actor chaos backstage with admirable aplomb.

I was also really happy create some "Lord Somerville" short films out of Art's essays. Lord Somerville is an enigmatic top-hatted anachronism who strolls around observing the Somerville scene. Look for them to pop up online separately, too. Hopefully, we can do more of these!

Jason Reulet, of Oblique Sector fame, came up with a great musical theme for our "Eye on SCATv" news breaks.

Erik Rodenhiser took a break from his North Shore theater endeavors to break out his "Andre" character to host a few segments. Although, I cringe at the thought of seeing Andre do any more yoga. One downward facing dog was enough.

Some other talented performers brought their lightly scripted/improv A-game, including Sheryl Faye, Floyd Richardson, James Saguinetti, plus relative newcomer Sunil Dikshit.

The show will be re-broadcast in Somerville a few more times before moving on to Cambridge (CCTV) and then the Boston Neighborhood Network (BNN). Eventually, it will hit the web and I'll post the link.

I look forward to doing this again, only with a little less hectic creative process next time.

Lord Somerville scans the scene for the subject of another essay.

Kickstarter Success! The Oblique Sector movie festival tour gets fully funded. And Red Rocks Film Market news.

A huge "Thank You" to everyone who contributed to our Oblique Sector Kickstarter campaign and put us over the top!

I shot and edited a short appeal video this summer and we had no idea if we would find enough backers to raise the funds necessary to keep submitting the film to festivals, a surprisingly costly part of the independent filmmaking process. You can see our video below:

We were overwhelmed by the generosity of the kind folks who pitched in and gave us over $3000 (so far)! We're thrilled to keep The Oblique Sector out there on its festival run.

And if you'd like to help you can still get on board train and grab a DVD or other cool awards by donating before midnight tomorrow. We are very grateful!

In other news, we are pleased to report that The Oblique Sector is available at the Red Rocks Film Market in Utah, this weekend.

The Oblique Sector Playing in Two Film Festivals This Weekend

We are proud to announce that we have been accepted to two new festivals.

Both are happening this weekend and if you have some Frequent Flyer miles to burn you could see our film twice!

The Oblique Sector is now an Official Selection of:

Atlanta Underground Film Festival

and the

Pawtucket Film Festival

Here are the details:

Atlanta Underground Film Festival

Saturday, Sept 24th - 11:30pm - COMEDY SHORTS II program

The Goat Farm Arts Center - Goodson Yard 1200 Foster Street NW, Atlanta

For details on tickets and directions: www.auff.org

If you've got any friends in Atlanta, please feel free to spread the word!

Pawtucket Film Festival, RI

Sunday, Sept 25th - at 3:30pm

Blackstone Valley Visitor Center

175 Main Street, Pawtucket, RI

For details: www.thepff.com

We will attend the Pawtucket screening. Please let us know if you will be there, too!

FOLLOW US:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/obliquesector

Facebook: http://facebook/obliquesectormovie

www.obliquesector.com - for updates and trailer of our film

As always, thanks for your support!

Albion Park Productions heading to Nantucket with "The Oblique Sector" for the 2011 Nantucket Film Festival

I'm looking forward to getting on the ferry in Hyannis tomorrow for the ride across the sound to Nantucket where our little film, The Oblique Sector, is having it's world premier at the 2011 Nantucket Film Festival!

Sadly, (or not!) both screenings are sold out, but rush tickets are usually reserved for the day of, so if you're on the island, you've still got a shot to get in. We are screening on Thursday and Saturday.

Follow the Albion Park Productions team on twitter for the latest:

Official film twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/obliquesector

Producer/Cinematographer, Brad Kelly (me): https://twitter.com/#!/bradkellyfilms

Director/Lead Actor, Jason Reulet: https://twitter.com/#!/jasonreulet

Writer/Producer, Art Hennessey: https://twitter.com/#!/ArtHennessey

Writer/Lead Actor, Amanda Good Hennessey: https://twitter.com/#!/Amandagh

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/obliquesectormovie

We're looking forward to meeting others in the filmmaking community as well as enjoying the festival and seeing as many other films as we can. Not to mention, enjoying the impossibly quaint surroundings of the former 18th century whaling capitol that is Nantucket.

We'll also be rubbing shoulders with other festival participants such as Ben Stiller, Jerry Seinfeld, Vera Farmiga, Seth Meyers, and special 2011 NFF honoree, Academy award winning screenwriter Paul Haggis (Crash, Million Dollar Baby). Good company!

See you on the island!