“the stars we are given. the constellations we make up.
that is to say, stars exist in the cosmos,
but constellations are the imaginary lines we draw between them,
the readings we give the sky, the stories we tell.
~ rebecca solnit
~~~~~
How does one get to here? from there? To think about the space between two salon dinners ~ two gatherings that have come to (partially) define my life over the past 4 years ~ is a way to measure time, and capture possibility. Below is a visual diary between filmmaker Salon #95 which took place October 22nd and our wrap party Salon #96 on December 10th ~ and snapshot moments of the few weeks in November which was my first time as part of a feature film shoot ~ working on Frazer Bradshaw’s beautiful, poignant and provocative The Deep Sky (as costume designer and co-producer), his second feature film after his 2009 Everything Strange and New…
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our guests for salon #95/a filmmaker soiree co-hosted with Alexandra Lexton for the Pacific Filmmakers’ Forum, at 32TenStudios with guests ~ alexandra lexton + jesse turner, cari borja, eve love, tim partridge, jamie + kyle redford, phil + jules tippett, chris hamiltion, pamela + john walker, mary-pat green, eric aragon, zoe elton, karen davis, matthew lamerle + alison davis, janis plotkin, julie wright robin + chris robino, david o. weissman, barry stone , sean + elisa house, vivian kleiman, anthony lucero, sheri shuster, james grisom, ole schell, denise zmekhol, september williams, ethan wiley, francesca prada, emmy scarlatta, frazer bradshaw + susie wise, william farley, christopher upham, vero bollow, jesse + amanda moss, catherine ryan + gary weimber
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salon dinner #96 / a wrap party for cast and crew of The Deep Sky, co-hosted with Corey Weinstein at Tony & Jodi Liano’s San Francisco Cooking School / our guests ~ cari borja, corey weinstein + steve lomprey, frazer bradshaw + susie wise
jason wolos + dawn rich, luise helm, sarah rose butler + john draper, kelechi nwadibia, amber rogers, cynthi stefenoni
corryn deegan, alex zajicek, hugo fat, jason joseffer + elizabeth howe, amani dorn + josh fehrmann
above / Chez Panisse chef (and my mentor) Cal Peternell’s olives, a selfie of us and a portrait of me (with Peggy Knickerbocker’s fabulous pomegranate/persimmon/radicchio/feta salad) by Luise Helm; co-host 9and production designer) Corey Weinstein, co-producers Dawn Rich and Jason Wolos, Sarah Rose Butler and Luise Helm; Sarah Rose, John Draper and Kelechi Nwadibia, a group shot, Kelechi as santa and toni liano; director Frazer Bradshaw and I, a radishes and Barbie perspective by Luise, Susie Wise and Corey; hair & make-up artist Amber Rogers, artist Hugo Fat, Amber, Sarah Rose, artist Steve Lomprey and Corey; Luise practicing the Wim Wenders quote from Wings of Desire, watching a rough cut of Deep Sky with Luise, group photo/end of night…
~~~~~ …and in between / the making of Frazer Bradshaw’s THE DEEP SKY ~~~~~
“a film is ~ or should be ~ more like music than like fiction.
it should be a progression of moods and feelings.
the theme, what’s behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.”
~ stanley kubrick
above / production designer (and dear friend) Corey Weinstein who asked me to come on as costume designer; my unconventional method of wardrobe tracking; in dialogue at Berkeley’s Books, Inc (during filming) with costume designer Tracy Tynan, on her book Wear and Tear: The Threads of My Life, with Heyday Books exec director Steve Wasserman. I called Tracy the 3 days before shooting to ask her advice/strategies on “how to be a costume designer on short notice”…
above / actress Sarah Rose Butler in my own zero/maria cornejo cashmere sweater, cari borja lace cowl; actor Kelechi Nwadibia in Kit & Ace cashmere blend t-shirt (check out the back details / thank you Noel Castellanos), and one of my own vintage satin nighties (as seen in 16 Candles, in the VERY opening at 00:44! but not the same one;)
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collaborators in clothing and accessories / Jake Wall and Nathan Johnson of JAKE (Season 14 of Project Runway)
above / an image of Jake and I from 2014 and an editorial for the SF Chronicle of JAKE and cari borja/clothesmaker gowns, both photos: kelly puleio; Amber Rogers with lead actor Kelechi in a JAKE cashmere with leather detail sweater, Kelechi on set in a JAKE green cashmere with leather detail sweater, Kelechi in a JAKE plaid button-up top, Kelechi wearing an evening shirt by JAKE
~~~~~
jewelry/lingerie/wine collaborators / Deb Durant, Stephanie Bodnar/Eugenia, Nancy Dobbs Owen, Raj Parr/Sandhi
above / some of the beautiful pieces (including Kelechi’s custom linked bracelet with suede) I pulled from Berkeley-based jeweler and salon dinner collaborator Deborah Durant; Deb and I at Salon #41; Luise on set at Berkeley’s Revival in Deb’s silver drop earrings. Luise in Stephanie Bodnar’s cream silk “Janus deco camisole”; a still life of some Eugenia pieces ~ including the “Janus bralette and thong,” “rebel ribbon corset” and silk floral print “night garden romper” (the green silk is from my own collection). Stephanie at a trunk show at Oakland’s intimate A La Folie boutique; my dear friend Raj Parr’s Sandhi chardonnay from the Santa Rita Hills in Santa Barbara Wine Country, one of my favorite wines he has made through the years, which was used in one of the last shots…
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~~~~~ moments from the shoot / November 2016 ~~~~~
above / cast and crew shots from our 15 days of shooting ~ from our very first day group shot (and shooting in SOMA at Red Door Coffee); Kelechi helping me with wardrobe; Corey with accessories and wardrobe at Stanford; the cast and crew on various floors of our Oakland location with boom operator Corryn Deegan, Amber doing hair and make-up in various places, Oakland’s Lake Merritt and me doing “marker” for one of the scenes with my hero sweater/cowl…
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locations / below ~ Plum Bar, Oakland (thank you alexandra foote and daniel patterson); A16 Rockridge, Oakland (thank you shelley lindgren); a break for lunch at L’ocol; Starline Social Club, Oakland (thank you adam hatch), Oakland; Revival Bar + Kitchen, Berkeley (thank you amy louise murray)
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above / cast and crew on location on the coast; boom operator Corryn Deegan with location sound mixer Brian Copenhagen and his family, downtown Oakland
~~~~~
“filmmaking is finding a piece of granite and you start to chip away
and then you have the shape of a head, the shape of the arm,
you can see the shape of the face and the face starts to gather character.
you have to find it.” ~ jason reitman
~~~~~
In 2017, keep an eye out for our Kickstarter campaign this Spring to put the final touches on The Deep Sky before submitting to the film festival circuit… We’ll have some fun rewards of key “hero” pieces / cari borja cowls and a few of my own vintage pieces/jewelry used for the shoot, as well as other gathering type things to be part of as we finish up post-production. Happy New Year! (images mostly by my iPhone, but with a handful from Luise Helm, Sarah Rose Butler, Corey Weinstein, Cynthi Stefenoni, and the rainbow below by Frazer Bradshaw)
“vast and gray, the sky is a
simulacrum
to all but him whose days
are vast and gray, and ~
in the tall, dried grasses
a goat stirs
with nozzle searching the ground.
~ my head is in the air
but who am i…?
and amazed my heart leaps
at the thought of love
vast and gray
yearning silently over me.”
~ william carlos williams / from The Deep Sky script
