News Digest for the first 4 month of 2012 so far.

So far 2012 has been quite interesting, and in the past 4 months I

• won 2 more contests, and got second place in the third (will update the post below with links to the winning images); 
• did production design for another Columbia University MFA thesis project "Rub", written and directed by Raymond Yeung and produced by Jie Chen, Joelle Joseph and Ale Vivas;
• art directed 2 extremely fun photo shoots with amazing models -- Rachel Lu and Li Muravieva,  and great photographers -- Max Noy and Elina Akselrud & Sergey Levitan. 

Directing photo shoots was a new experience for me, but I loved every aspect of it -- from creating character concepts to each shot direction. Working in a creative collaboration with Li Muravieva as the make-up artist was another very rewarding aspect of this experience.  

On a related note, the first weekend of May marked the premiere of my last year's project "Breakway" during the Columbia University Film Festival. Some details are available in this article: "Lincoln Center will welcome student filmmakers"

Best [Learning] Experience of 2011.

November of 2011 was an interesting month for me, and the main reason for it was "Breakaway" a short film production by a group of Columbia University MFA students. I was hired to do the Production Design and the experience I gained from it was invaluable.

The short was written and directed by Ivan Bukta and produced by Demond Robertson.

Many things were new for me in that production. First of all, it was the first project where I was hired from an ad on the web (as opposed to personal connections) – a total stranger to everyone involved. Second – I was brought into the project a week before shooting, and the sets had to be significantly altered for production. Third – it was the first project for me where the sets were interiors and their initial state had nothing to do with the project's story or characters, so I had both the freedom and the challenge to make those sets look as I saw fit based on my understanding of the director's vision and the story. And as challenging as all that was, it was fun!

Looking back at it I am also amazed at how much we accomplished at such a short period of time. During the pre-production, only the producer and the director were available to help me with preparations, and their availability was very limited, as they had both classes and work to attend to as well. Yet, we had a chance to

• shoot family photos with the actors, edit them for aging effects, print and frame,
• go costume shopping with the actress, and, more amazingly, get them all in one evening,
• visit the set locations several times,
• build special effects props,
• shop for all the props and set dressings, and, again, to my great amazement, get all the things I wanted to have there.

I also had considerable freedom and support from the director and producer and I am very grateful to both of them for that.

The production itself lasted for 3 days. It was swift and hectic, and got tangled into a blur in my memory. But it also had a wonderful atmosphere of sincere enthusiastic collaboration, dedication and commitment from all people involved, many of whom met on the set for the first time.

I learned more in those 10 days than in all of my previous projects, and I have carefully filed those lessons into my mind for future use.

You can visit the "Breakaway" production blog for more information about the project and some production and behind the scenes stills.

2012 Calendars

Just a quick update to let interested people know that I have prepared two 2012 calendars which feature my images. The calendars list all major US, Canadian and Jewish Holidays. They are available on Lulu and there is a current 50% OFF coupon for the calendars: CALENDAR50

You can find the calendars here: Antara Art Calendars
The only difference is in size and binding, the images are the same for both calendars.

If there is anyone out there, who'd like to see a calendar with a different selection of images, tailor-made for you, with special dates included, please let me know and I'll create a calendar for you. (Or just adding special dates to the existing calendars, if you like the images, but want your personal dates included.)

Shameless bragging: Contests.

I just got another contest win for my 3D illustrations works, and I figured it's a perfect excuse to post a list of my contest achievements here.

2012

• 2012 RDNA April Monthly Challenge – 2nd Place: "It's Not Easy Being Green"
• 2012 New Kit Bashing Contest – 1st Place: "Is This Yours?"
  
• 2011 PA Render Challenge: November/December – 1st Place: "Holiday Dreams"

2011 

• DA #DAZCreativeContests Jack Tomalin "House that Jack Built" contest – 2nd Place: "Golden Cage"
  
• 2011 RuntimeDNA " Lords and Ladies Carnival Has Begun" – 2nd Place: "Escape!"

My "Artistic Tribute 3: Time to Play" image has won 2nd place in the 8th Marvelous Designer contest.
I was rather surprised (as I almost always am, but this time I had an extra reason), since the pattern for the cloth was rather simple and I am a total beginner at using this software. However, I must say that it is a great recommendation for the software, that even a total beginner can easily and quickly create a contest-winning work after just a few hours of messing around.
The list of other, older accomplishments is available after the jump.

Project "Marfa": Sets.

When I first read the script for our little short, I was both excited and a little scared, because I had no idea where to even start preparing for it. Initially I consciously avoided getting tied down to any distinct vision, since many of the final decisions would end up being dictated by what was available, and not by the flight of my fancy.

I decided to start with locations for the practical reason of the location being potentially the most limiting aspect and also the least controllable and alterable, given our lacking resources.

The location had to satisfy some pretty restrictive parameters:

– being remote enough not to betray proximity to the modern civilization even in the background.

– close by the water to have a beach or sanded area for the ritual to take place, since there had to be water spirits in the ritual itself.

– allow  for a good range of accessible angles for shooting.

– preferably have wooded areas nearby to shoot pursuit scenes (prophecy sequence) without having to extend shooting days or travel time between locations.

– be a deserted enough place to allow for a full day of shooting without being disturbed or causing disturbance to others.

The first and the last of these parameters were related, and satisfying one would likely satisfy the other, but finding such places within easy distance of NYC is not a very easy task, especially on summer weekends, when the good half of New York population leaves the city streets in a very similar search of nature, water and relative solitude.

After spending some late spring-early summer weekends outdoors, I settled on these 3 choices for the main scene:

Location Option #1 Location Option #2 Location Option #3 Location Option #3

More about the choices after the jump...

Project "Marfa": Introduction.

Onе early morning in last August, three cars started out from three different states, carrying 7 people, 4 swords, and 2 trunks full of costumes and props. This strange company arrived at the designated meeting place in Sleepy Hollow, NY, all 7 still fairly sleepy themselves, and proceeded to spend the day (the first of several), shooting a short opera music video.

This is the story of how and why it all happened and why I ended up being one of the seven sleepy travelers in Sleepy Hollow that day.

Why Am I Here?

My name is Anna and I am coming to suspect that I might just be nuts. I am turning 31 and I’ve decided to switch careers from a perfectly good profession of a computer programmer to a much less secure and predictable one of a visual storyteller. My ultimate goal is to become an art director (or designer) for any medium that requires visual storytelling.

This is how I got this way: