My UCLA FTV150 cinematography final project “8mm Ballad” which was also my first experience shooting on 16mm was finally screened at UCLA bridges theater and I’m proud to say that it had a great reception by my peers and the other audience. “8mm Ballad” is a very personal film for so many reasons in specific because for the first time the muse of my life aka my wife is acting in one of my films and I’m confident to say that she did a great job portraying a lovely woman that my main character falls in love with. The lead actor however is as usually my talented collaborator RB Markar who again did a great job performing in extreme conditions. I also had the pleasure of having my wife’s grandma on the set to act in the final scene and IMHO her resemblance to my wife makes the final twist a more believable one.
Being entirely a celluloid experience my favorite moment is definitely the one where the boy falls in love with the woman on the screen and I had a zollie shot of him staring at screen while a red light, implying a beating heart is illuminated beneath his short at the same time the reflection of the screen being visible on his face. I think just the fact that we were able to expose everything in a lighting condition such as this is a wonderful thing and seeing that moments brightens me up every single time.