Here’s a quick update on where I’m headed with my latest film, Sand Castles.

In August, I traveled back to Russian Beach in my hometown in Connecticut to begin shooting for the film.  We spent a week in Lordship, and it was a well-needed retreat.  I recently got my footage back from the shoot… and I must say, I’m pretty excited about the results, so it was definitely worth the wait of having it processed and transferred.  There’s nothing quite like shooting on the Bolex.

In early September, my colleague/friend Nathaniel Hansen and I traveled to Cahoon Hollow Beach in Wellfleet, Cape Cod to spend a day shooting in HD for the film.  Nathaniel filmed an incredible time lapse on the Canon 7D, and shot about two hours of footage of me constructing (or trying to construct) a sand castle on the Sony EX-1.  Seriously, who knew it was so tricky to build a sand castle?  Luckily, we had help from my dear childhood friend, Becky, who spent her summer living and working in Wellfleet.  The weather was absolutely perfect, and since it was post-Labor Day, we basically had the beach all to ourselves, except for a few aquatic new friends that we made (seals!).

In mid-September, I participated in a shoot at the historic Loring-Greenough mansion in Jamaica Plain.  We had open access to all the floors, and we could move the furniture around.  I was mostly fascinated by the antique doll collection… very creepy.  There were about half a dozen local filmmakers shooting on 16 and 8mm, and our footage was cut together and screened at the house later in the month… definitely a fun night of experimental films.  The group who organized the event established a monthly screening series at the house.  Their group, Radon Lake, is an online community for local Boston filmmakers, and one of its founders is an Emerson alumna.

Here’s an assembly of some of my favorite shots from the 16mm footage.  I’ll have to cut together the HD footage soon, and post some photos of those adorable seals!