Bedford Square

Big News! Agent!

2010-05-13T13:15:00.000-07:00

This week I signed with Victoria Marini of Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents! Victoria will be representing my second novel, Bulfinch, and future works of fiction to editors at publishing houses. I'm absolutely thrilled; Victoria already has a list of pretty classy editors to start submitting to, and I'm looking forward to hearing soon about how the first round goes! GSLA is a respected agency, and they're represented some big works, like Girl with a Pearl Earring.

So, for those who don't know, a literary agent represents an author's work to acquiring editors at publishing houses. This is a vital service to the author since most major publishers don't accept "unsolicited" manuscripts - in other words, manuscripts submitted directly by authors. Agents basically select out promising writers from the immense pool of hopeful authors, which is why editors prefer to look at submissions from them - the sheer volume of unsolicited manuscripts makes the agent's role in selection just as important to editors as it is to the authors they represent.

Getting an agent is a huge first step for any hopeful author after she's learned to actually finish a manuscript. Writers find agents by querying them: sending letters (or, more typically, emails) with a synopsis of the work, a brief bio of the writer, and some basics on the manuscript: length, stage of completion, genre. And boy do we query in droves: my mom and several of her writer friends asked one another about it once, and determined they'd each queried about 100 agents before signing with their first ones. I think I got off pretty easy with about 40 queries before Victoria came along.

The process doesn't end with the query, either; if an agent likes the query, she might ask for a partial, or excerpt, of the manuscript, of anywhere from five to fifty pages; if the first partial is short, the agent may even ask for a second, longer partial before finally requesting the full manuscript. And even then, some agents - like mine - may ask for revisions before considering representation: they want to know you're willing to work with them, and there might be issues in the manuscript that make it unmarketable in its current state, but they want to be certain that revision will address those problems satisfactorily before agreeing to represent.

After an agent agrees to represent your work, she'll begin submitting it to editors. A lot of agencies also handle subsidiary rights if the author retains a portion of them after an initial sale: electronic rights, film rights, foreign rights, reprint rights. Agents work on commission and typically subtract 15% from the sale of most rights as their fee.

And that's how publishing goes 'round. Please ascribe any glaring errors in grammar, spelling or punctuation to a dangerous concoction of cold medication, sinus congestion and David Foster Wallace.

2010-04-29T19:15:00.001-07:00

Check it out - as I've mentioned here before, my mom is a writer too, and the best writing teacher I've ever had. She was invited to write a post for the MamaWriters blog, and instead of writing about being a mom and a writer, she wrote about being the mom of a writer. It's really sweet, and you can read it here. Don't forget to visit her website too, www.libbysternberg.com. Love you, mom!

2010-04-25T08:03:00.001-07:00

This week I received revisions for Queens of All the Earth from Harrison Demchick, my editor at Bancroft Press. Getting accepted is only half the battle - there's still a lot of work to do, but I'm hoping that with some focus I can get through the edits in a month and a half, working on evenings and weekends. Whew! Even with all this work ahead of me, it's still exciting to think that this will end up as a book on a shelf.

wants to be lawyer, filmmaker, novelist

2010-04-21T19:06:00.001-07:00

It's done! The second major revision of my second novel, Bulfinch, is done, and I think this is its final state, barring minor adjustments. It was hard to put it down - after two years, the characters have begun to feel very real to me, and almost like a family, and it's a little strange and alienating to realize that from an outsider's perspective, it might seem sad to be so attached to creatures who only live in my imagination. I just hope that when other people read it, they can feel the same connection, and the magic of seeing these characters come alive. I don't look back at the two years I spent writing and revising Bulfinch as a process of creating something; by the end, it felt like a weird combination of playing God and experiencing something, as if I were there with my characters, just recording what they did and said, and though I dictated to them what would occur, they sometimes shot back with unexpected quirks. If it ever gets published, I'll have to return to it again to satisfy editors' suggestions, but I have a feeling that this is the end, for this project, of that supernaturally intense phase of absorption. I'll miss it.

But I already have plenty of other things to look forward to - such as the Washington, DC 48 Hour Film Project, in which I'll be joining a team to create a short film in 48 hours using a prompt that will only be revealed to us at the start of the contest. I'll be the primary writer and rough cut editor for my team, and I'm thrilled - it will be quite an adventure, creatively and logistically. Franny, my little DVX, will be sitting this one out, sadly - she's been one-upped by another team-member's P2 camera. Franny will come out soon, though, once I finally convince her that not all filmmakers are section men.

Chatterton Screening at JHU Film Fest

2010-04-17T06:23:00.001-07:00

Hello hello! Sorry I've been neglecting the blog...when I only have time to do one thing, either write here or work on the projects I'd write about, I have to work on the projects! And the day job has been especially demanding.

But for everyone in the Baltimore/DC area, this weekend you should visit the JHU Film Fest! It's organized by a great bunch of undergrads and professors, featuring international submissions mixed in with local works and classic film. Tonight they're screening La Dolce Vita, and on Sunday they're hosting the festival premiere of Chatterton! Go to their website (link above) for more information, and if you're in the area, make sure to stop by. I've done it a couple of times and helped organize it last year, and it's a really fun event.

If you're not in the Baltimore/DC area, remember you can still watch Chatterton online!

Death Is the Cool Night

2010-03-14T10:44:00.000-07:00

My mom's latest mystery novel has just been released on Amazon's Kindle! Death Is the Cool Night is a winding murder mystery set in the drama and intrigue of Peabody Conservatory's opera program during the tumultuous 1940s, as war looms over the country. It's an atmospheric tale that will haunt you like the lied that provided its title. Check it out here.

Also, you can visit my mom's website here! Check out her acclaimed comedic women's fiction and young adult mystery series, and stand by for info about her upcoming historical drama!

2010-03-07T16:22:00.000-08:00

I now own a lovely little Panasonic DVX100A, sold to me, with all sorts of excellent accessories and a case, by Richard Chisolm, friend of my old professor John Mann.

I'm naming it Franny.

2010-03-06T07:34:00.000-08:00

Poor little blog, so lonely without me. What's new? Traipsing up to Baltimore this weekend to buy a camera. It's a beautiful day. Chatterton is making its merry way to two festivals this week; two more going out next week. I have a fresh story to work on and fresh places to take the old ones. And outside, it smells like spring.

Article on Chatterton!

2010-02-27T08:00:00.000-08:00

Check it out: my old college newspaper interviewed me about Chatterton and Bedford Square! Read the article here.

not dead yet

2010-02-21T07:54:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since a post here, mostly because my Life as a Day Job has been pretty hectic, and partially because a lot of my projects are either done or in the boring preparing-to-start or wrapping-up phases. Not boring for me, but boring for anyone who has to sit and listen to it. So what's going on?

+researching festivals for Chatterton
+revising my second novel, Bulfinch, for a potentially interested agent
+waiting for edits to come in on The Queens of All the Earth
+figuring out once and for all the correct way to capitalize The Queens of All the Earth
+collecting my thoughts on my next film projects: writing illegible notes to myself in the middle of the night, daydreaming while the progress bars of innumerable video transcodes inch along on my work computer, enjoying sudden weird visions of a scene while listening to the perfect song, walking into walls with increasing frequency because my head really isn't here

Stay posted. Things will get interesting soon.

Chatterton premiere!

2010-02-08T08:30:00.000-08:00

My friend and former professor Meredith has offered to "premiere" Chatterton at the JHU student screenings this Friday, February 12. I'm excited to see it on a big screen, in Baltimore, with all the friends who worked on it and supported me while I traveled into the realm of Crazy-Exhausted Artist to get it done. Partytime! In a totally school-appropriate way.

Chatterton

2010-01-30T10:27:00.000-08:00

It's done. Enjoy!

Chatterton from Hannah Sternberg on Vimeo.

(Keep your eyes peeled for crew member cameos in the final scene: Aljosa, Carlos, Steph, Emma, Charles and me.)

2010-01-21T17:19:00.000-08:00

It's been over a week since I wrote here, so I present to you now, dear readers, a list of Causes That May Prevent One from Finishing One's Short Film During the Week in which One Intended To*:

a) getting a bad cold
B) getting a good job
6) saying good-bye to old job
xxi) saying hello to liquor
e) only with the best of friends
&) needing very seriously to spend one night simply lying in the dark, listening to the rain tink against the windows
...) needing very seriously to see the people who make me smile
5) seeing them, and smiling
!) taking a rest, drinking the air, tasting the rain, so I can
91) finish the film next week, and do it well.

*I will not be held responsible for any capitalization errors in the list title above, due to the items contained in the list, technically making it a list of Causes That May Prevent One from Finishing One's Short Film During the Week in which One Intended To, and May Also Incite Random Capitalization Errors which One Has Neither the Energy nor the Desire to Correct Despite One's Usually Freakish Fascination with Grammar.

New Year, New Book, New Film!

2010-01-10T16:16:00.000-08:00

I'm very happy to announce that I've sold my first book to Bancroft Press of Baltimore, Maryland.

The Queens of All the Earth is a young adult novel about two neurotic sisters who escape their iceberg mother one Thanksgiving by traveling to Barcelona to find a little peace. But they stumble into the opposite, as the eccentric travelers they meet in their hostel show them what they're really running from. The Queens of All the Earth is a gentle coming-of-age inspired by E. M. Forster's A Room with a View, a story of young love and awakening.

Bancroft Press has also purchased the cover I'd designed for the novel. You can see it below; I hope to post more tidbits about the book, and give away some free copies, as its release approaches. Right now, it's scheduled to come out this fall.

In other exciting news, I'll finish post-production on the Bedford Square short film Chatterton within two weeks. Once that's wrapped up, I'll be focusing on festival submissions and internet promotion - meaning I'll finally have time to compress and post bits of it here, and soon I'll even make the whole film available online.

So what else is coming up in this new year? Well, after a little break, I'm doing another revision of Bulfinch; I'm hoping to start working on an album-length lost-and-found film borrowing some music from the band Menomena; writing a few film columns for Historical Novels Review; and working on some new fiction. Oh, also, holding a job and trying to be a normal person.

Chatterton is almost complete!

2010-01-02T11:08:00.000-08:00

In the last week Jay has sent me first cuts of the sound mix and animation sequence for Chatterton, officially earning him Batman status for working on my film, surviving finals and the holidays, and applying to grad school all at the same time. I'm hoping to visit Baltimore next weekend to wrap everything up. Some of the film festivals I'm sending it to have ambiguous warnings against submissions with "internet distribution," but I say, screw it, they can't stop me. I'm posting the film online because so many people have helped and supported me throughout the entire process that I want every one of them to be able to enjoy it and share it with their friends.

Last May, a few weeks after graduation, I felt a little lost, wondering what to do with all the passion I felt for art, when I had to get a job, pay my bills, and be a responsible person. So I started writing a story about four kids caught in that decision - four artists who aren't quite put together. As soon as I finished, I knew I absolutely had to create this film, so for the next two months I did everything I could to gather all the pieces I needed - I wheedled friends into acting and crewing for me; I borrowed equipment from my old school, from a professor and from former classmates; I bought a month of weekends in my friends' apartment with a few six-packs and a smile. I thought of everyone I knew who could do something special, and asked them to help - help make costumes, take pictures, decorate sets, manage production, light scenes, run lines, animate, record sound, become the world's only Human Steadicam, drink beer and stand around charmingly in a party scene, keep my head from exploding.

Then, in September, to my overwhelming wonder, I succeeded in shooting an entirely independent short film - on time, on budget, and directly within my vision for it. Up until the last hour before I left for Baltimore on the evening before the first shoot, I was still unconvinced that it would actually happen. But each day we worked, I grew more confident. Each day convinced me that this - filmmaking - was the thing that I am strangely built for.

It was hard - we started shooting only a few weeks after I began my new full-time job. For three weekends, I ran myself down until I was sick with exhaustion, then came to the office on Monday. And then for three months after that, I juggled my new life in DC with visits to Baltimore to edit the film - weekends that were always too short to do all the work and see all the friends I wanted to see. I invariably caught a train several hours later than I had planned on returning home on Sunday, and nourished a tidy little caffeine addiction.

But my friends worked just as hard, giving up days and weekends during a busy semester, generating their own creative work to contribute, and giving me a more objective eye on my own work. Every effort they contributed was a vote of confidence in me and my vision, and it inspired me to work even harder. It's been half a year now - ending in a new year - and I can barely believe it's almost over, something like the feeling of unreality when we finally started shooting. I'm incredibly proud of us. And I can't wait to start the next one.

2009-12-28T17:49:00.000-08:00

The complete list of Holiday Leftovers Reading - books given to me for Christmas or bought with Christmas money.

Once in high school a friend's dad asked me what I got for Christmas, and I said, "Oh, a lot of books, and a pair of socks." He felt so sorry for me he actually offered to buy me something "fun." I never really saw what the big tragedy was.

And the reading list is...

Ayn Rand, Anthem

The Portable Dorothy Parker

Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged: given to me by brother Joe, who is not a huge fan of Rand, prompting him to give me in the same package:
George Orwell, All Art is Propaganda: Critical Essays

Herman Melville, Billy Budd and Other Stories
(I've read Billy Budd, but that's my only Melville so far. I liked it a lot though, and it's also the inspiration for one of my favorite movies, so I thought I'd try his others.)

David McCullough, 1776
From the parents, encouraging my realization that just because high school failed to teach me early American history, I shouldn't sit around and mope about it - I could actually bother to learn it myself.

...and two books on learning the guitar from brother David, who sweetly listened to me talk about how I wanted to pick it up. Unfortunately, I didn't think as far as how I would get Dad's old guitar back to DC with me, so until my parents visit, that gift will have to take a temporary vacation on the Shelf of Useless Reference, between my German-English dictionary and a book of London streetmaps.

Post-Christmas Reading

2009-12-27T17:11:00.000-08:00

Beginning with The Portable Dorothy Parker.* Incidentally, the copy I picked up includes the original Portable plus several hundred pages of extra material, all in a sturdy trade paperback edition, making it slightly less than...erhm...portable.

This means I can choose to haul this tome in my purse for commute reading - jettisoning, along the way, high heels and possibly lunch - or I can read a smaller book on my commute and save Dorothy for nighttime reading. The problem with this compromise is I always get more involved in one or the other of the books, so I'll gulp down the traveling book while I'm all comfortable in bed, and then I'll drag the huge book on the Metro with me because I miss it too much when I leave it at home. This is what happened when I tried to alternate America's Constitution with a pocket copy of The Fountainhead. Eventually I ended up carrying Amar's huge book around until I felt like a highschooler between classes. At least I never felt afraid walking home at night. You could kill a man with that hardcover edition. I am not kidding.

*Well, technically it began with Ayn Rand's Anthem, but I finished that on the train. I started it on the train, too.

The Dispossessed

2009-12-26T19:11:00.000-08:00

I have a fantastic Christmas haul of books to read, so it's good that I was already so close to the end of The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin. It's the third I've read by her (after The Lathe of Heaven and The Left Hand of Darkness) and like the others, it took a couple of tries before I dove in. Le Guin is most easily classified as a scifi novelist, but her books are more about cultural anthropology than technology or prediction; she uses the plot vehicle of space travel to explore microcosms of human behavior, often posing at least one prominent difference from Earth's reality. In The Left Hand of Darkness, she explored a world with absolutely no concept of gender, split between two nations: one feudalistic, the other, a totalitarian state.

The Dispossessed is a bit more complex, simply for not defining a single difference from ordinary society as striking as the absence of gender in The Left Hand of Darkness. Instead, she begins with two worlds: one resembles an idyllic Earth, with elements of eighteenth-century opulence and nineteenth-century industrial expansion. The second is its moon, which has been colonized by socialist anarchists, self-exiled. Though I'm skeptical as usual of Le Guin's politics, I'm also grateful for her own skepticism, written most plainly in the book's subtitle: An Ambiguous Utopia. Despite the protagonist's multi-world tour of clashing economic models, the book is often surprisingly tender and personal. Le Guin caught me, just as she did in the other two books, with her disarming moments of pure observation. Her own improbable skepticism and ambiguity stems from an understanding of people, the simple understanding that an individual human will always be more important, more complex, and more fascinating than any economic idea.

My now-battered paperback is riddled with dog ears to mark the quotes I liked. This is one of the passages that moved me the most. It reminded me of the feeling of making films, or of losing myself in a story I'm writing. The feeling of doing the work that fills you with passion and purpose.

The wall was down. The vision was both clear and whole. What he saw was simple, simpler than anything else. It was simplicity: and contained in it all complexity, all promise. It was revelation. It was the way clear, the way home, the light.

The spirit in him was like a child running out into the sunlight. There was no end, no end...

And yet in his utter ease and happiness he shook with fear; his hands trembled, and his eyes filled up with tears, as if he had been looking into the sun. After all, the flesh is not transparent. And it is strange, exceedingly strange, to know that one's life has been fulfilled.

Yet he kept looking, and going farther, with that same childish joy, until all at once he could not go any farther; he came back, and looking around through his tears saw that the room was dark and the high windows were full of stars.

Holiday Rand

2009-12-24T19:13:00.000-08:00

Being surrounded by the happy insanity of my family for the holidays has reminded me of a quote from The Fountainhead: "All love is exception-making." This struck me as one of the most true, and most uncharacteristic (from my very limited experience with Rand) quotes in the book.

I started to wonder what exactly this Randian "exception-making" means. The closest I could come at first was "forgiveness," a term I imagine she recoiled from because of its frequent use in religion (again, based on my so-far very limited reading of her work). But to me, it seems that her concept of making an exception of and for the people one loves is a kind of forgiveness of their faults - and also a forgiveness of one's self for the bend in principle the first half requires. I think that this second half of forgiveness is what makes it Randian - rather than breaking or abandoning personal principle, the forgiveness, the "exception-making," is a conscious, individual judgement on that principle and its worth, compared to the worth of the person in one's heart.

Imagine I, on principle, reject all nail-biters as slaves to a compulsion. But I love you, though you are a nail-biter. My love is exception-making because I have made an exception of you, as an individual, from my cosmic rejection of nail-biters; this is the external half of my exception. I have also made an exception in my principled rejection of nail-biters; this is the internal half.

Roark's love of Gail Wynand is exception-making. Wynand is exceptional as an individual Roark respects, despite Wynand's failures. And Roark - even Roark - has made an exception to his rigid principles to preserve Wynand from his scorn.

This seemed necessary to write out and explain to myself; I'm not sure that it makes a lot of sense. But it seems that especially on the holiday, we're thrown together with a lot of people we love and make exceptions for; and sometimes, many of the proud and stubborn people I know ask themselves why they should tolerate the faults in others. My answer is simply that if love is exception-making, then you must make the exception not just as a charitable act, easily discarded when you get tired of it; true exceptions, the exceptions made by love, are also made to the part of yourself that objects to those flaws. At that point you begin to see the pettiness of the objection in the first place.

2009-12-23T11:24:00.000-08:00

Happy holidays - I hope they're filled with art, joy and life.

2009-12-20T20:09:00.000-08:00

Vincent Moon:

"The camera was just an excuse to create this, but after the first second they began playing, they forgot the camera and this moment existed. I didn't even need to record it. That's cinema to me. Then, the traces of such moments, in the films, are just dust, sometimes beautiful dust..."

2009-12-20T09:14:00.000-08:00

I watched Hannah and Her Sisters again last night. It's my favorite Woody Allen movie. It also contains one of my favorite E. E. Cummings poems. It's one of the surprising moments of sweetness in the film: Elliot is trying to initiate an affair with his wife's younger sister, Lee. Throughout the movie, I find his character the hardest to forgive; he sees his actions as movements in an operatic drama, when in fact he's only a childish cheater. But in his desperate longing for Lee, he manages to make a genuine gesture that pries open her heart, like the little hands in the poem: he tells her to read E. E. Cummings's "somewhere i have never travelled." Below is the poem, and the clip from the movie in which Lee reads the poem (sorry for the subtitles and bad compression - it's the only version I could find online).

somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond
any experience,your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully,mysteriously)her first rose

or if your wish be to close me,i and
my life will shut very beautifully,suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility:whose texture
compels me with the colour of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens;only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands

2009-12-12T06:34:00.000-08:00

At college, we learned how to shoot 16mm film. I've been asked by a lot of people why our teachers even bothered with it.

In our program, the technical skills that we learned, especially in digital production, were those we chose for ourselves. Our instructors answered our questions and gave us suggestions when we asked for them, but our production classes were based more on aesthetics than technique, and more on problem-solving for the one-man-band kind of filmmaking than training in discrete roles like camera or sound.

16mm fit neatly into that kind of teaching, because shooting film is a discipline, and in our classes, we were expected to discipline ourselves. On the first day of Intro to 16mm Production, John Mann showed us the cameras, and the cold boxes that held tight sharp-smelling daylight spools, and before we could begin, he told us to respect the film. Never to waste it. Never to take it for granted. Because for all the decades of science that went into making that film, it only has one chance to be beautiful, and you are that chance. Each frame is counting on you to make it into something beautiful. You can't rewatch it right away, erase it and reshoot it. You have to care about every single shot.

In digital cameras, a lot of the quality is in the technology contained in the body. And it's too easy to assume a better camera will automatically give you better footage (despite your lack of skill or effort). It's also too easy to shrug off errors by assuming the problem is in the quality of the camera.

For 16mm cameras, as long as the body is clean inside and light-tight and the motor is in working order, the quality lies entirely in the optics and the film stock. The filmmaker can't escape responsibility because she consciously chooses which stock and which lenses to shoot with. There aren't any mysterious computer components to blame errors on. And every single shot counts, because every time the camera rolls, hundreds of thousands of cold fragrant frames dash by taking their 1/24-second chance to be beautiful.

Of course we all took the time, around classes, to learn digital production. We took workshops at the digital media center, and weekends just getting to know the cameras. We spent hours compressing the same video different ways until that stickiness or the popping went away. We learned how to shoot on miniDV tapes and on cards and on hard drives. But we had the discipline to learn all of these things because we love film.

Diana finished this film despite terrible weather, unpredictable light, impossible equipment scheduling, and multiple camera failures. She kept working (this is why we are always covered in bruises at the end of a shoot, because we fight the elements) and captured some truly lovely 16mm footage of Wyman Park. Stay to the end of the credits and the film will say goodbye.

Moleque from Diana Peralta on Vimeo.

2009-12-10T19:15:00.000-08:00

Work and life have conspired to keep me from the blog this week. For your entertainment, here's a quick video - my second assignment in Lost and Found class, my last year at college: Jimmy Stewart is looking out the Rear Window. Choose what he's looking at.

Jimmy and the Mole from Hannah Sternberg on Vimeo.

And a response to the prompt, "dating."

Girls Beware from Hannah Sternberg on Vimeo.

Lost and Found Film

2009-12-05T06:23:00.000-08:00

Lost and found films are created with existing footage - old educational reels, home movies, even other films. Filmmakers take this material and cut it into something entirely new.

I've heard from several people that if you love film and filmmaking, you will love editing. I didn't understand that for a long time, and even found it discouraging, because whenever I sat down to edit, I was so frustrated with my own footage that the process was very painful. But then, in my senior year, I took a lost and found film class. Editing existing footage freed me from the obsession with the flaws in my own shooting technique and allowed me to focus entirely on the heartbeat of the cuts, the ability of shots to speak to each other, and the ways to use flaws to produce beauty. Lost and found is a mental exercise, especially in a class where you have to respond to a prompt using footage that may have no relation at all to your theme - it's stretching out your creative muscles.

After riffling through the Prelinger Archives I started to feel potential even in extremely mundane footage. I started seeing the hidden moments - a genuine smile in a 1950s reel about moral choices, or an off-beat moment of joy in a car commercial. Once I began cutting these together, the footage started speaking. And usually I drifted away from the strict words of the prompt into an idea that was inspired both by the prompt and by the footage, and finally, my own voice speaking through both.

That's how my response to "otherness," a prompt inspired by the philosophy of Satre and Lacan, turned into a reflection on childhood - the home movies I stumbled across are soft with time and feeling, familiar but alienating. And my response to "hyperreality" (see Baudrillard, Eco and Virilio) turned into...elephants. Both videos are below.

But first, I'd like to link to my friend David Golan's videos, which unfortunately I can't find a way to embed directly here. Dave was one of the first people I remember telling me about the connection between the love of editing and the love of film. He has a few lost and found projects on his site, as well as some 16mm work, one of which Carlos and I stayed up all night to help him shoot. I'd suggest starting with "Blossom" and "A Study of Hitchcock."

Here is my "otherness" lost and found film:

There Was a Child from Hannah Sternberg on Vimeo.

And below is my project on "hyperreality."

Wheels Across Africa from Hannah Sternberg on Vimeo.

Dance for the Camera

2009-12-01T16:21:00.000-08:00

Last year, Carlos, Annie Holstein and I took a class that paired film students with students of choreography to make short dance films. It was an extraordinary experience, and I think we all learned a lot from working together. I still like to come back and watch the films we made then; below are two - one directed by Carlos, one by Annie. The prompt for Carlos's project was to create a film using only shots of feet - no photography above the knee. The project by Annie posted below was her final, from the prompt to use the long, narrow space of a hallway.

Carlos's film brings character, cuteness and humor to a seemingly restrictive prompt; Annie's film is chilling and atmospheric, a striking fusion of tension, music and location with wonderfully eerie light design and choreography straight from Caligari. Enjoy!

Dance for the Camera - Feet from Carlos Valdes-Lora on Vimeo.

Chimera from Annie Holstein on Vimeo.

More films from Bedford Square collaborators

2009-11-28T10:40:00.000-08:00

Chatterton is nearly complete, and I hope that soon I'll have another piece of it to share here. Currently I'm gathering material for a few motion graphics and lost-and-found sequences, and all the little nitpicky polishing jobs.

In the meantime, I wanted to share a few things that my collaborators on Chatterton have been working on. First up is Aljosa Zovko. Aljosa was one of my cinematographers on Chatterton, as well as the photographer for all the stills used in the film. He and Carlos are in a class together this semester on the application of film theory to production. I've seen work from both of them for this class and it's very exciting stuff.

Here's one of Aljosa's projects, "Searchlight." What I like most about it (after about a half dozen views) is that - like many of Aljosa's films and photographs - it's a poem on optics. As an abstract film, its main character is the lens - the lens that expresses itself through the wide variety of optical "flaws" that actually create beauty: lens flare, soft focus, the vignetting hinted at in the searchlight shots. This was actually an editing assignment, and the soft lyrical pulse of the cutting allows the impression of each optical anamoly drift into the next shot and the next. Enjoy!

Searchlight from Aljosa Zovko on Vimeo.

Traffic in Delaware

2009-11-23T17:36:00.001-08:00

For some great music, visit Jay and Greg's radio station, The Spirit Farm. Scroll a few posts down and listen to their band, Traffic in Delaware, playing a very cute song.

There's your slice of Bedford Square for today - now I'm writing, can't stay long.

Nearing the end of The Fountainhead

2009-11-09T19:39:00.000-08:00

"Peter, before you can do things for people, you must be the kind of man who can get things done. But to get things done, you must love the doing, not the secondary consequences. The work, not the people. Your own action, not any possible object of your charity. I'll be glad if people who need it find a better manner of living in a house I designed. But that's not the motive of my work. Nor my reason. Nor my reward."

Returning to A Room with a View

2009-11-05T15:48:00.000-08:00

The last time I picked up A Room with a View, I didn't get a chance to finish it. Now I'm coming back because, once again, it seems to fit.

There is much that is immortal in this medieval lady. The dragons have gone, and so have the knights, but still she lingers in our midst. She reigned in many an early Victorian castle, and was queen of much early Victorian song. It is sweet to protect her in the intervals of business, sweet to pay her honour when she has cooked our dinner well. But alas! the creature grows degenerate. In her heart also there are springing up strange desires. She too is enamoured of heavy winds, and vast panoramas, and green expanses of the sea. She has marked the kingdom of this world, how full it is of wealth, and beauty, and war - a radiant crust, built around the central fires, spinning towards the receding heavens. Men, declaring that she inspires them to it, move joyfully over the surface, having the most delightful meetings with other men, happy, not because they are masculine, but because they are alive. Before the show breaks up she would like to drop the august title of the Eternal Woman, and go there as her transitory self.

Chatterton update

2009-10-27T18:51:00.000-07:00

It's been a little over a week since a post here - well. Since then, I've crossed nearly everything off my list, except the elements that I've asked friends to do (titles and animation) and the single shot I have to reshoot (a green-screen "college photo"). In the meantime, I've finished the cut, added sound effects, color corrected, and a few other odds and ends.

I also crewed for Carlos's film - he's shooting part 2 of a three-part film about a girl's experiments with a sensory deprivation helmet and the twisted, film noir dream she has. This semester, he's shooting the dream. Scroll down a few posts to watch the first part.

Here are some pictures Diana Peralta took of Carlos's shoot this weekend - enjoy! I loved his set and I'm very eager to see the rest of the film unfold. Click to see larger photos.

Carlos with Ramon, his Sam Spade-esque leading man.

Cesar (left), Carlos's lighting DP, and Greg, trusty crew member, set lights

Lines.

Carlos with Eric Leavitz, an actor (and great comedic writer) who appeared in the first part as well.

Eric's character in the dream had his eyes gouged out by disgruntled capos -

- I had to make him up so his eyes looked bruised under the sunglasses.

Jay sets up for stereo sound

Meet Cesar, from the front this time.

This is the same apartment where we shot most of Chatterton - Josh & Charles's place.

Editing Update

2009-10-18T17:36:00.000-07:00

This weekend I started the Chatterton fine cut! This means I finished editing together the remaining scenes in the rough cut, and then assembled all of the scenes together, with music and image transitions between them. After three weekends of shooting and two weekends of editing, almost three hours of footage and about 100 distinct angles, Chatterton is beginning to take its final shape as a 15-minute film.

The bad news is that while I managed to cut together a trailer and some other goodies for the blog, I didn't have time to export and upload them before my train tonight. They will be appearing next weekend. And I'll post a few more pictures from the shoot, as well as some films by other Bedford Square collaborators, this week.

So, what's left: edit foley (sound effects), reshoot one shot, write and record a voice-over for a scene I'd like to alter, create two graphics, then color correction and fine touches. Jay will be working on the animation sequence in the meantime, and then he'll do a final sound mix. I'm also looking for someone to help me create the titles.

A trailer is coming....

2009-10-15T17:49:00.000-07:00

...hopefully by the end of this weekend, if I meet my goals for the fine cut first.

In the meantime, Carlos is preparing to shoot his next project. It's the second part of a film he started last semester about a girl who experiments with a sensory-deprivation helmet, and the disturbingly revealing dream she has. Carlos is shooting the dream this semester - from the looks of the script, it's going to be a very stylish, wry modern noir.

Watch the first part of his film here:

Prologue - Student Film from Carlos Valdes-Lora on Vimeo.

Changes 'round the House

2009-10-07T20:05:00.001-07:00

Returning readers might have noticed some changes at Bedford Square. The new header font and image were designed by Charles Zhang, who also did the set photography for Chatterton. The house you see in the logo is modeled on the home of the original Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in London; the font is inspired by the signature of one of the PRB painters. And Charles designed it all while hiding in his apartment with the flu! Go Charles.

SNEAK PEEK: Chatterton - The Library

2009-10-04T16:06:00.000-07:00

This weekend I finished a (very) rough cut of Chatterton. Check out this sneak peek: the scene in which Daniel researches his next forgery.

Chatterton Sneak Peak: The Library from Hannah Sternberg on Vimeo.

2009-09-26T08:32:00.000-07:00

Where am I this weekend? Not in Baltimore. I need some time to rest, catch up with life, cleaning and errands, and do some writing. It was hard, though, to fight the urge to head straight up to Bmore to start editing Chatterton. The last three weekends were exhausting (to the point they actually made me ill) but they also filled me with excitement to keep the project moving. I can't wait to have a scene completed that I can share here, for the people who have been following but haven't be able to see the actual footage yet.

Chatterton: 9/19

2009-09-20T07:24:00.000-07:00

Today we have one last insert shot and a quick voiceover to record; but other than that, Chatterton is wrapped like a burrito! Yesterday we shot the last scene of the film, which, because of scheduling oddities, ended up being the last scene of our shoot, too. Step into the morning after the party.

Mostly overhead, handheld work using only natural light to give it a harsher, more real feeling than any other scene in the film - things are coming down in every sense for the characters. Emma Needell was my camera assistant that day - here, she's spotting me and the camera while I stand on a chair.

Emma was around a lot last weekend too, helping Carlos and Al. On 9/19, she was my only and all of my crew. She rolled a few shots herself as well. When she was in Argentina working for a television station last summer, she used the PAL version of this camera (Panasonic HVX)!

Emma also ran sound during the one line of dialogue we rolled yesterday.

George is bemused to find that after closing the bar where he works at 4am that morning, he still doesn't look haggard enough.

"Let's do that again, with more misery this time!"

Tom is not as comfortable as he looks.

Emma's first priority, should I fall out the window, is saving the camera.

Charles asked me to do a little flourish when we were all done.

Well, now I'm heading to the editing lab. I hope to have rough cuts of a couple of scenes by the end of the day. I might be posting test footage or throw-away takes to Vimeo soon, for the general amusement!

Chatterton Third Weekend

2009-09-19T18:29:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we wrap up the last insert shots for Chatterton. Here are some shots of what we did to the actors today...

Chatterton 9/12: THEY BUILT ME A BOOM CRANE.

2009-09-15T17:41:00.000-07:00

A week and a half before this shoot, I told Carlos and Aljosa I wanted an overhead dolly shot.

They took it as a personal challenge.

They came back to me with a solution made of two c-stands, a pile of sandbags, and a mayfair clip, then taped it all together with a whole roll of AWESOME.

It was the Night of the Boom Crane. And it was more fun than you should probably be allowed to have on a film set.

"We begin here, and then WE TAKE POLAND!"

End of the dolly. George walks ahead with the light, Carlos pans the boom, Aljosa pushes, and I ride the dolly to watch the shot and hit record/pause.

Carlos and I have identical looks of concentration.

Easy does it.

Crossing the Delaware.

See that camera? It's pointing STRAIGHT DOWN.

The cast, crew and party extras gather around to watch the playback.

The rest of this post is dedicated to the crazy things we did.

Crazy thing #1: Devoting a weekend to 28 hours of backbreaking labor, to make something so good that the average viewer won't be able to tell just how much backbreaking labor went into it.

Making two people run into each other spontaneously on cue every time.

Making night at three in the afternoon.

Al and George took turns stapling newspapers to the ceiling...

...since they were the tallest people around...

So we could get this direct-upward shot.

And do it again in the other room, with a pan down this time.

The Film Department has six cans of smoke. We took three for the party scene.

I approve of the smoke.

Of course, there were some casualties.

Carlos executes a shot from Daniel's POV on the floor: staring at the ceiling, pan down to Brian and Donna, then back up again. I guide him using the display screen. Mike waits for his cue to enter frame and Emma, my spectacular all-purpose crew member, watches.

Aljosa uses a silk to soften the sunlight.

All Pictures: Charles Zhang

Chatterton 9/12: Meet the Cast & Crew

2009-09-15T16:46:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick walk through the characters and story in case you missed it...

This is Daniel Chaffee (played by Tom Murphy). He narrates the film.

He's an artist out of work and out of inspiration. Most of the work he produces now just goes into the forgeries he creates with his roommates, Thomas Chatterton and Brian Meegeren.

This is Thomas Chatterton (played by Mike Tanenbaum). He takes the fake historic photographs that Daniel researches and designs and Brian promotes. He rarely speaks, but seems to see directly into Daniel's mind - at least, that's how Daniel feels.

Brian Meegeren with his girlfriend, Donna (played by George Telonis and Cindy Chen). Brian is a washed-up intellectual. Daniel is in love with Donna, which only exacerbates his resentment of Brian's pomposity.

Now, it's time to meet the crew!

Carlos Valdes-Lora, my cinematographer. I tell him where I want the shot, how I want it framed and lit, and where it's going if there's movement, then I leave to work with the actors; when I come back, things are usually more beautiful then I'd ever expected.

Carlos likes C-stands.

This is Aljosa. He's my other cinematographer, and Carlos's key grip. He and Carlos work out all the tricky lighting problems together, and this weekend Al also shot b-roll during downtimes.

Contrary to the impression some of these pictures might give, Carlos and Al actually rolled video on the majority of shots while I watched on the display screen. Here we were shooting what will be the first shot of the film, and I wanted to be behind the camera. Aljosa sets off a can of smoke to fill the frame with party haze.

Jay, my sound man and animator, takes a well-deserved break between scenes.

Steph, my runner, appearing in her second role: Superstar Party Extra.

Left to right, Steph, Kevin and Erin are Passed-Out Drunks 1, 2 and 3 :)

Hi!

Next up: THEY BUILT ME A BOOM CRANE.

All Photos: Charles Zhang

Chatterton 9/12: Welcome to the Set

2009-09-14T19:04:00.001-07:00

On Friday night, Josh, Charles, Erin and Steph helped me completely redecorate two rooms of Josh & Charles's apartment. In a few hours, it had become the home of Thomas Chatterton and Daniel Chaffee, and a HELL OF A LOT of film and video equipment.

Ready to shoot on Saturday.

A forest of C-stands.

Curtain to the boys' room.

The flowers Steph was commissioned to wither. They appear in a jar on a windowsill and then on the kitchen table during a dialogue scene. She put them in the oven to make fresh new carnations look miserable and neglected.

The lillies are for contrast in a brief insert shot of Daniel's fantasy.

Every portion of the set contains a still life of objects and art that surround and pin down the characters. Like a vanitas painting, every item has a meaning. Here, Daniel's art materials are spread on the coffee table with postcards of antique art.

This is all working film equipment, but on our set we actually used it for props, in Thomas Chatterton's bedroom.

See that photo on the wall behind Carlos? ...

...Al took it last weekend, so we could decorate the set with pictures of Donna (played by Cindy).

All Photos: Charles Zhang

Chatterton 9/12

2009-09-14T17:11:00.000-07:00

Setting up the first shot. Left to right: Aljosa watches while Carlos and I look at the shot; George, playing Brian, waits in position, Josh (whose apartment we were using) stops in to check out the sound rig that Jay (behind him) has set up.

Jay goes boom. George is well-lit.

Carlos and I watch the screen on a high angle shot (second shot of the day). Jay listens to the audio levels.

The first shot we rolled on Saturday.

Steph, my indefatigable runner, figures out how to wither flowers that she just bought that morning.

Carlos (center) directs Jay and Aljosa to light the living room.

Al tests for light leaks from the back of the Lowell.

Carlos + whimsy.

George and Cindy wait for one of the last shots of the evening.

All Photos: Charles Zhang

Chatterton Second Weekend

2009-09-13T20:22:00.001-07:00

We shot most of the film yesterday and today.

It was remarkable. I'm overwhelmed with gratitude and pride for my cast and crew. They weren't just good and they weren't just great; they were creators of this film as much as I was. Charles has pictures coming soon. I can't wait to get into the editing lab.

Chatterton First Weekend, Part 3

2009-09-09T16:20:00.000-07:00

Chatterton First Weekend, Part 2

2009-09-08T15:55:00.000-07:00

More pictures by Charles of last weekend's shoot.

Aljosa levels the tripod with Jay, my sound man, animator and crew member extraordinaire.

On the photoshoot with Cindy and Al.

Watching the footage & setting the next shot.

We ended the day with a few more stills in the dance studio.

Chatterton: First Weekend

2009-09-07T20:17:00.000-07:00

We rolled video on the first shot of Chatterton this Monday. The shoot was extremely successful; we did the exterior scene and a photoshoot with the actress playing Donna. Meanwhile, Charles floated around us, taking stills of the production. Here are a few; I'll post more this week.

Click on pictures for enlargements.

All photos: Charles Zhang

The cast waits for us to start shooting: Donna (Cindy Chen), Tom Chatterton (Mike Tanenbaum) and Daniel (Thomas Murphy).

Aljosa Zovko takes a picture of Cindy for the photoshoot.

Cindy poses for the forgery.

Tom and Mike pretend to take a photo...

...while Aljosa takes the real ones.

Sometimes you need to stretch out to get a shot...

...like this.

Cindy poses against the tree for a cute shot.

Cast & crew

Graflex

2009-09-06T10:47:00.000-07:00

Some pictures by my friend Charles Zhang, of the vintage camera we will use as a prop in the shoot tomorrow and next weekend. This is the camera that Daniel and Tom use to take their fake historical photographs.

Meet the cinematographers, Part 2

2009-09-05T20:03:00.000-07:00

Today production on Chatterton started with Daniel's voice-overs. It was a very successful session and it definitely filled me with confidence for the shoots to come. I also picked up the vintage camera from Audio-Visual Services of Hampden, saw some test footage from Aljosa and Carlos, and discussed sound and animation with Jay. In other good news, Aljosa just posted two of his short films on Vimeo!

Aljosa Zovko is one of my cinematographers on Chatterton. Below is his final project from last semester, shot on 16mm film, and featuring our film professor as the main actor. Aljosa's diopter close-ups give objects dignity and faces painful intimacy. With smooth, naturalistic lighting he invites the viewer into a series of quiet, contemplative moments. He also created some of the music for the film below. I'm very lucky to have his talent on my set, and he and Carlos are already working together to blend their skills to make my shooting script a reality. I hope you enjoy his film!

Short Film - Measures of Meaning from Aljosa Zovko on Vimeo.

What does a cinematographer do?

2009-09-03T18:04:00.001-07:00

It's a question that seems to be asked a lot, and the answer always varies because it's different on every set. In my case, I've found that in order to give every single detail the attention it deserves, I can't do every single task myself; that my priority is working with the actors because there's a crew member for everything else; and that I might have the organizational skill to coordinate an entire film, but I don't have the technical skill, on the professional level that some of my friends and collaborators do, to achieve the most complex shots that I imagine. I'm a decent cameraman; but I know people who are prodigies, so why not use them?

For Chatterton, Carlos Valdes-Lora and Aljosa Zovko will be my cinematographers. They digest my descriptions of every shot and translate them into physical camera rigs and lighting schemes, then they operate the camera to make sure every shot is executed perfectly. They both just finished shooting with Matt Porterfield on a new short film, where Carlos was key grip. In addition to being my friends, they are ridiculously talented.

Here's a taste of Carlos's work, from a class we both took last year in which choreographers teamed with filmmakers to make dances for the camera. I'm not sure if Aljosa has any of his work posted online, but if I find it I'll post it as well. Aljosa's work with close-ups and his attention to detail are aspects that make him a promising cameraman.

In Carlos's Hallway, you can see the graceful camera movement and expressive lighting that Carlos excells at. I'm very excited to have him working on my set.

Shooting begins this weekend and continues next weekend. By Tuesday, I should have pictures of the first shoot to share here!

Hallway from Carlos Valdes-Lora on Vimeo.

Chatterton Playlist

2009-08-30T11:18:00.000-07:00

For my crew, as we discuss the film's style. These are the songs I plan to use in the film. Polyvinyl has given me permission to use any music by "of Montreal."

The Cindys Display Their Total Domination of Awesome

2009-08-27T18:59:00.001-07:00

Cindy Chen, my actress playing Donna in Chatterton, just sent me pictures from her first fitting in the costume Cindy Ye designed and built for the film.

In Chatterton, Daniel and his roommates use Donna as a model in their fake historical photographs. She climbs into an old theater costume and poses for them in Wyman Park while they snap her with an antique Graflex - that's the old-fashioned kind of portrait camera with bellows around the lens and a hood for the photographer. You can read more about the camera I'm renting for that prop here.

Below are pictures of Cindy Chen trying on the costume Cindy Ye made. It needs a few small alterations, but I'm extremely impressed with Y's craftsmanship, especially on the ludicrously small timeframe and budget I gave her! I can't wait to see the dress myself at the shoot next weekend.

2009-08-23T18:49:00.000-07:00

The Chatterton shoot is coming up in two weeks! What's left? I have to cast one very minor role; finish the artwork for Daniel's room and notebook; draw keyframes to send to Jay, my animator; continue recruiting crew members; send wardrobe specifications to actors; check in with Cindy on Donna's costume; make a final, master list of all props and equipment to bring up with me to Baltimore; and take several very deep breaths.

2009-08-14T08:14:00.001-07:00

Great news! I'll be able to rent an antique Graflex from Audio-Visual Services in Hampden, Baltimore for the Chatterton shoot! It's actually a piece personally owned by the store's founder, but he was interested in the project and happy to clean the camera up for me and rent it to me for an extremely reasonable rate.

Audio-Visual Services is a fascinating place. A narrow little shop in Hampden near the popular bar Rocket to Venus, it overflows with vintage still and movie cameras, projectors and parts. It was founded by Cas, who tells me he's "an old movieman," who was shooting film in Baltimore before anyone else was. He filled his shop with antique pieces and replacement parts, partly to serve the photographers and filmmakers still interested in using traditional equipment, and partly as a tribute to the old technology. His shelves are like a kooky, crammed museum, and he told me students often come up to the shop just to look at everything. But much of it is still useful, if patrons are interested in using it - I've actually visited the shop myself for parts to repair one of the 16mm projectors owned by the JHU Film Department, and I can't imagine any other business in Baltimore that would be as helpful or instructive to fans of shooting and projecting real film.

Cas has passed the business on to his son, Eric, who has made it notable for his audio repair work. Cas tells me he can barely walk through the store now for all the amps that have been sent in by people around the country! But Cas still comes in on Fridays to fix up his cameras. If you're in Baltimore, stop by for a look around and a chat. It's hidden little gem of a store.

Chatterton Update

2009-08-13T10:09:00.001-07:00

For those who were wondering what's happened to the pre-production of my short film during all this madness:

After a short break to settle into my new place, I'm getting back into stride with the final organizational tidbits of Chatterton. Cindy Ye has told me she's working on Donna's historical dress, and I'm bubbling with excitement to see her skills in action. In the meantime, I continue to search for the all-important props.

The most important is an antique large-format portrait camera that will be the "star" of Daniel and Tom's photoshoot scenes, and will appear subtly in the background of other scenes. Currently I'm asking friends and businesses to borrow their stuff, and I'm hoping I'm onto a few good leads.

Also, since I have this week off before I start my new job, I'm going to work on creating Daniel's artwork. I will draw all the sketches that appear in his sketchbooks in the film, as well as one painting that appears near the end.

Things are looking good, and I hope to have more to share soon!

Little Girl, Big City Pt. 3

2009-08-11T18:10:00.000-07:00

Last week I moved to Bethesda to start my new job. Read: Part 1 and Part 2. Continuation below.

~*0*~

It was the middle of a sultry mid-Atlantic heat wave, and the girls had no internet.

Their new apartment sported a capacious kitchen, yes. A now-functional shower head and bathroom hooks for their towels, sure. An odd collection of chairs and tables - check. But for email access, they were forced to network piracy, commandeering the signals of neighboring businesses, including the Rolls Royce dealership down the road. This also caused them to wonder exactly how many people must have died in this apartment to make its rent so low.

Finally, they faced the prospect of inviting Well-Known TV and Wireless Service into their home.

It was an especially scorching day when the cable man showed up. The kind of day when it's perfectly sunny, but you walk back inside soaking wet. Cable Guy appeared sporting a handlebar mustache, a thick mid-Atlantic accent, a spotless uniform and a smile.

"Well, you see, only one of these coaxial outlets works," he explained as he dragged the two-foot drill out of his truck. "The others are old ones that we can't wire into our system. So we'll have to re-wire the apartment along the walls."

Hannah nodded. This seemed to make sense. Getting cable installed usually involved a certain amount of tacking wires along baseboards and under carpets.

"You just go read your book, I'll take care of everything," he declared, his tool box jingling happily.

Five minutes later, there was a hole through the wall.

"Oh, that? It's no big deal. Your landlord won't mind one bit."

Hannah sighed. Well, it was only a small hole, and close to the floor - they could Spackle over it before moving out.

Hannah looked up from her book again when there was a second hole just above the first.

"We need a feedback router split," the handyman explained in such a simple tone that Hannah was afraid to admit she had no idea what that was. She was now watching anxiously.

Three more holes appeared in the wall. Maybe we could cover them up with a nice Audubon print, Hannah thought, and then she decided against it.

"That's the problem with these old apartments," the cable guy told her. "The wiring inside the walls is almost useless. So we have to create all the connections ourselves."

"I think that cable is wrapped around your ankle," Hannah pointed out.

"Oh, no it's not a cable," the technician replied. "It's just the piping on my uniform."

He walked away to demonstrate, taking down a manhole-sized portion of the wall with him.

"Well, isn't that funny," he remarked. "It looks like it was the cable after all."

"I can see into my roommate's bedroom," Hannah replied. "That's uncomfortable."

"Don't worry, I'll fix it up just fine," the handyman assured her, pulling a sledgehammer out of his bag.

"Was that there this whole time?" Hannah wondered.

Without answering, the cable guy starting swinging for the wall. The hole was now the size of a bed.

"We've got to find the structural supports," he told her. "Then I'll just use some patching materials to rebuild from the studs."

Now all four walls were shaking and flakes were falling from the ceiling.

"Pardon my intrusion," Hannah peeped, "But it seems to me like you're only making the hole bigger."

"No, this is all part of the job," the cable guy replied, now tearing into the air conditioning duct. "See, as the patching plaster shrinks, it'll tighten on your ducts, so we've got to give them a little extra breathing room."

The ceiling, no longer flurrying, had let loose a full-on blizzard. The handyman was now climbing over the hole he had made in the wall from Nessa's bedroom into the kitchen, and stood in the sink, feeding pieces of cable into the garbage disposer. There was a rumble and a crash in Hannah's room.

"Um, I think the upstairs neighbor's kid just fell through the ceiling into my room," she called.

"Do you have Sesame Street?" the plaster-dust-coated toddler asked.

"No, we're just getting the cable installed," Hannah replied.

"I WANT MOMMY," the child retorted.

The doorbell rang. Hannah rushed to answer it.

"Hello, I'm here from Well-Known TV and Wireless Service. I'm here to install your cable and internet," a cheerful service technician beamed at her.

2009-08-10T12:36:00.000-07:00

More of our adventures tomorrow. For now, something beautiful.

I know it's an odd pairing, but J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye and E. M. Forster's A Room with a View are the two most resonant coming-of-age stories I've ever encountered, and I return to both just as naturally as their words and scenes drift into my mind. I've reread A Room with a View about once a year since first picking it up by chance when I was 14; I never enforce this ritually, it just happens that there's always a season when I need the book, and as soon as I drift into it again life fits back into place.

Every time this happens, I also come out with a new appreciation for Forster. First published in 1908, A Room with a View's prose sounds typically British and a little old-fashioned, even for its time. But that's not enough to distract the reader from the exquisite lightness with which he drops truths into the story, like feathers. They speak directly to the heart about the longing to be alive just as youth lifts its veil to the world. In two delicate phrases, Forster captures the spirit of adolescence with George and Lucy's first exchange:

...his voice was perplexed and sorrowful. Lucy, too, was perplexed...

Short of posting the entire book, below are some of my favorite passages from the first two chapters:

"Charlotte, don't you feel, too, that we might be in London? I can hardly believe that all kinds of other things are just outside. I suppose it is one's being so tired."

Generally at a pension people looked them over for a day or two before speaking, and often did not find out that they would "do" till they had gone.

"I am so glad to see you," said the girl, who was in a state of spiritual starvation, and would have been glad to see the waiter if her cousin had permitted it.

The father did not see [her bow]; the son acknowledged it, not by another bow, but by raising his eyebrows and smiling; he seemed to be smiling across something.

Was this really Italy?

Lucy was pleased, and said: "I was hoping that he was nice; I do so always hope that people will be nice."

There was a haze of disapproval in the air, but whether the disapproval was of herself, or of Mr Beebe, or of the fashionable world at Windy Corner, or of the narrow world at Tunbridge Wells, she could not determine. She tried to locate it, but as usual she blundered. ...And the girl again thought: "I must have been selfish or unkind; I must be more careful..."

Charlotte's energy! And her unselfishness! ...So Lucy felt, or strove to feel. And yet - there was a rebellious spirit in her which wondered whether the acceptance might not have been less delicate and more beautiful. At all events, she entered her own room without any feeling of joy.

"I only know what it is that's wrong with him; not why it is."
"And what is it?" asked Lucy fearfully, expecting some harrowing tale.
"The old trouble: things won't fit."
"What things?"
"The things of the universe. It is quite true. They don't."

"Make him realize that by the side of the everlasting Why there is a Yes - a transitory Yes if you like, but a Yes."

Little Girl, Big City Pt. 2

2009-08-10T09:13:00.000-07:00

This week I moved to Bethesda to start my new job. Read Part 1 here. The story continues below.

~*0*~

Nessa returned to Baltimore from her Washington lab. After another exhausting day spent searching for signs of life in five grains of radioactive Martian sand, her shoulders drooped and her feet screamed. Dropping her lab coat by the door, she threw herself onto her boyfriend's divan, wondering if she would find the energy today to cross to the kitchen and heat a TV dinner, or if she would just lose herself to sleep right there in the living room.

"What's wrong, sweet lips?" Nessa's beau asked as he emerged from his bedroom, loosening his tie.

"My commute," she groaned in reply. "It's killing me. With a journey like this at the start and end of every day, it's a wonder I have any energy left to contribute to the lab's groundbreaking research. Today, for example, I spent twenty minutes peering through the microscope at what I thought was a singular example of Martian exfolioform ecphrasis, but it turned out it was just a crumb of the sandwich I'd brought in for lunch."

Nessa's beau sat thoughtfully on the arm of the divan by his girl, stroking his chin while he thought.

"Remember our classmate Hannah?" he said, a new light in his eyes. Nessa did remember - they had been a part of the same band of scholars since their freshman year at Prestigious Baltimore University, and had even lived together for one of those years. "I heard she's looking for a roommate in Capital City," Nessa's man continued. "If you roomed with her, you could move closer to your work, and you can look after each other."

Nessa sat up, the idea infusing her with a burst of energy.

"Yes, that would be more optimal than a rishst-heimer configuration laser!" she cried. "I'll ring her immediately."

`*`

Hannah lounged on the patio at her parents' home. She had put off the start of her job until she could find suitable living arrangements in the Smithsonian City, but she was beginning to despair of ever getting her start in life.

Then her mother poked her head out the back door.

"Dear, there's a telephoner for you," she called. "A nice young lady says she'd like to room with you!"

Read Part 3 here.

Little Girl, Big City Pt.1

2009-08-09T17:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I moved to Bethesda to start my new job. Details below.

~*0*~

She arrived at the station, Peter Pan blouse tucked neatly into her A-line skirt, a tweed fedora perched lightly atop her French-twist chignon. She was a fresh-faced college girl looking for work in the nation's capital, the typewritten manuscripts of her two novels in a crisp manila envelope clutched under her arm. Smoke drifted from the locomotives and the cigars of the jaded newsies hawking their wares on the platform. Ahead of her lay intrigue, danger and suspense. Behind her was the settled safety of dormitory life.

Her kitten heels clacking on the shattered concrete sidewalks, through the steam of manholes and the haze of the brutal DC summer, she wound her way to the offices of a national non-profit law firm.

On the ninth floor of the slick city skyscraper, slanted shadows from the Venetian blinds rippled across the carpet from her feet to the receptionist's desk.

"How can I help you?" the receptionist asked without breaking the tempo of her clacking Royal No. 10.

"I'm here looking for work," the college girl replied, her eyes shyly bent on the floor.

"What are your skills?"

"Well, I have this degree..."

The receptionist raised an eyebrow.

"We'll take her," a voice came from the shadows of the back office. A man emerged, a respected lawyer at the firm. "Get her started writing press releases. Be here at nine o'clock sharp tomorrow."

The abashed college girl mumbled her thanks and emerged from the office with a new spring in her step.

Read Part 2 here.

2009-08-06T09:48:00.000-07:00

It's too beautiful outside. Who let it get so beautiful? It's a disaster. I bring my laptop to the patio because on a day like today interiors make it difficult to think. But outside it's worse. I continually wrestle with the urge to skip, jump, pick buttercups and generally frolic. It's very dismaying. The only way to sedate my energy and focus on work is with a tall cool glass of iced tea.

Skimming Bulfinch for the fourth time, with very helpful suggestions from mom. But the fixing should only take a few hours. Querying agents as I go along. Music is distracting but inevitable. Lots of fat bumblebees on the butterfly bush.

ADDENDUM: Oh GOD, rural Pennsylvania, why do you have to smell like so much POO? Even my Norma Desmond sunglasses cannot shield me from that.

2009-08-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

Finished the 3rd pass on Bulfinch - this one moved much more quickly because it didn't involve rewriting or major revision, just sweeping up afterward. Mom's looking at it now to give me her thoughts. In the meantime, I'm browsing Publishers Marketplace to make a preliminary list of agents to submit to, and then I'll rap out a query letter.

This is one of those waiting-weeks that drive me up the wall. I'm moving on Saturday and with the preparations for that, plus working on Bulfinch, you'd think I'd feel busier. Instead, I'm wilting with boredom. I'm anxious to start my new job, settle into my new place, and shoot Chatterton. But there's nothing I can do now except play the waiting game.

On the other hand, I did buy a smashing new businesslike purse and a pair of sunglasses about as big as my face yesterday. And I'm embarrassingly excited for the SYTYCD finale tonight. So it's not like I'm bending all of my energies to Higher Things! Nor do I really want to.

2009-08-04T15:13:00.000-07:00

More 3rd-draft revising on Bulfinch. Preparing to move to DC on Saturday. Talking to mom about the next novel she's writing and the manuscripts she's editing. Watching Chatterton in my head over and over in the shower. Finished reading Franny and Zooey, started The Fountainhead.

Lull.

Bulfinch page 110

2009-08-02T21:09:00.000-07:00

Once I found Immanuel Kant wedged in the toaster.

2009-07-31T08:27:00.000-07:00

I like working on two projects at once, so I can juggle them when I need a break from one. I'm going to let Bulfinch rest for a day so I can tackle the third round of revision with a fresh mind. In the meantime, here's some more news on the short film, Chatterton!

Cindy Ye has sent me some preliminary sketches for the skirt of the dress she's making for Donna, the forgers' model in their "historic" photos. She's reminded me of how wonderful collaboration is. I think I have an idea of what I want in an element (costume, prop, performance), and then the people I ask to help me with it come back with something even more detailed and alive than I could have imagined on my own.

For an example, here's the sketch I'd sent to her, with a general idea of what I was looking for in a costume:
(I don't have a scanner at home, hence the sort of sadly dark photo.)

Now here are Cindy's drawings for the skirt alone - she'll be doing more once I send her a shirt to modify and incorporate into the costume, and she'll be sending me some photos as she goes along - I'm very excited to see her work! (The image of the front is b/w inverted, but the entire dress will be antiqued-white.)

2009-07-30T11:27:00.001-07:00

Since pre-production work on Chatterton has relaxed a lot in the last week, I've had more time to work on my novel, Bulfinch. Finally, after over a year of chasing the whimsical wistful little story, I've finished a draft that I think is acceptable. At 225 pages (64,000 words) it's still a little short, but a third pass through it should flesh out a few more scenes and then, with some editorial input from my mom, I'll be ready to go huntin' fer agents.

Bulfinch is the story of a university student so obsessed with medieval history that a knight pops out of her imagination and into the real world. Our narrator embarks on a quest to find the device that will return him home, all while keeping him (and his medieval chronicler) out of trouble with the police, angry neighbors, and her crazy Uncle Alvin. In the meantime, the reopened investigation of her parents' disappearance challenges her memories of her idyllic childhood, making her long to hold on to the companionship she's found with her new time-misplaced guests.

Below you can read a sneak peek of Bulfinch. Wish me luck as I begin the search for publication! Also, happy birthday today to Alter-Hannah/HSII/Clone. Have a great one.

PART I
CHIVALRY

Lord Henry shrugged his shoulders. “My dear fellow, medieval art is charming, but medieval emotions are out of date. One can use them in fiction, of course. But then the only things that one can use in fiction are the things that one has ceased to use in fact…”

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

The summer I was twelve, my parents disappeared and I moved in with my crazy Uncle Alvin in Baltimore.

How did my mom and dad vanish? That's an interesting story. I wish I knew what it was. They were on a Mediterranean cruise celebrating their twentieth anniversary. Dad had surprised Mom with the trip a week before they left, one of his extravagant gestures that made Mom blush on birthdays and holidays. He presented the tickets to her with a pair of diamond earrings to wear to the captain's table. I ogled the two of them, beaming their megawatt smiles at each other across the table, the two happiest parents a girl could ever dream of. The night before their ship left the Port of Baltimore, they deposited me at Mom's brother's house with a mighty rain of kisses. That was the last time I ever saw them. My story is full of lasts.

I wish there was an event that I could describe that would make their disappearance a reality to you. I've imagined enough possibilities: an identity mix-up that forced them on the lam for crimes they didn't commit; a freak lightning storm that separated the cliff they stood upon, in a terrified embrace, from the chalky bluff; a ride with a psychotic local fisherman zealous to add more tourists to his “collection.”

According to the official record, they were last seen boarding a small boat alone on the evening of August 15, near the Zakynthos sea caves in Greece. And I never moved out of the spare bedroom in Uncle Alvin’s tiny old rowhouse in Hampden, where the pink flamingos nod in front of peeling porches.

Roommates in Forgery: Han van Meegeren

2009-07-29T08:58:00.000-07:00

In Chatterton, Daniel and Tom's roommate Brian is the brain of the operation, the washed-up intellectual who initiates their streak of forgery as a way to lash back at the "historical establishment." Brian Meegeren (as his name appears on his fellowship rejection letter) is named for another famous forger, Han van Meegeren. Brian's role in Chatterton is comical, absurd but mostly benign - the real van Meegeren's streak of crime was not.

In the Netherlands in the 1920s, Han van Meegeren began forging Dutch masters to augment his income, despite relative fame and success as an artist in his own name. Later van Meegeren would claim he was driven to forgery by the unrelenting criticism of the art world, but research reveals an even darker side to his faked Vermeers. A Nazi sympathizer, van Meegeren incorporated what Jonathan Lopez describes as Reich symbology in The Supper at Emmaus, his most infamous Vermeer forgery, which was actually believed to be Vermeer's ultimate masterpiece until it was debunked in 1945 - nearly ten years after van Meegeren had painted it.

After the Allied victory, van Meegeren began to varnish his own story as deceptively as he had crafted his old-as-new Vermeers. Claiming that he had sold The Supper at Emmaus to Reichsmarshall Hermann Goring as an act of mockery and defiance against the now-defeated occupiers, van Meegeren became a folk hero. But as Jonathan Lopez reveals in his fascinating book, van Meegeren was actually a collaborator who enthusiastically capitalized on the purchasing power of his country's occupiers and may even have sent an autographed book of his contemporary works to Hitler himself.

In Chatterton, Brian Meegeren is just a frustrated intellectual whose own verbosity is the biggest deflator of others' esteem. But his egotism and inadvertent humor is a whimsical dream compared to the dark chimera created in the art world by the real Han van Meegeren.

Who is Thomas Chatterton?

2009-07-28T18:27:00.000-07:00

Thomas Chatterton, the namesake of my next film and one of its characters, was an eighteenth-century poet who forged medieval manuscripts. By the age of twelve, he had produced fakes that were received by experts as newly discovered masterpieces by a long-dead (and, as it turns out, fictional) troubadour. He moved to London to pursue his literary dreams, but met with failure and hard times. At the age of 17, he committed suicide by swallowing arsenic rather than starve to death.

Chatterton's story was an object of fascination a century later for the Romantics, who admired his passionate and tragic dedication to art. I first encountered his story in the Tate Britain art collection, where I came upon Pre-Raphaelite Henry Wallis's 1856 painting portraying his death.

The painting stopped me in my tracks and held me like a trance. At about half-life size, Chatterton's limp body is draped languorously, unmistakably dead, but as if death were a sublime dream. The faint blue tint of his skin, contrasted by the auburn glow of his hair, is another combination of the macabre and sensual - he is drained of life and color, but still magnetically beautiful and youthful. I've never found a reproduction that captures the colors and the power of the painting itself, the awe of standing in the whirlpool of gallery echos, holding your breath in sympathy with the long-gone protagonist.

In my short film Chatterton, Tom Chatterton is the narrator's silent roommate. His presence is the gravitational force that binds Daniel's plans together; he has the artistry to execute Daniel's outlandish photographic forgeries, and never questions the ethics. Creating art is his only ethic. He is the ultimate symbol of the bohemian life Daniel seeks - until it all falls apart.

2009-07-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

What, you ask, has become of Chatterton?

Since writing last, I've finished the casting process. Then, over the course of four days and dozens of phone calls and emails, I established a shooting schedule during which all four of my actors, my major locations, and equipment are all available. Production on Chatterton will take place over the first two weeks of September, and editing will be completed by the end of October.

In the meantime, I continue to track down props, including a working typewriter, an easel, and an antique large-format camera with tripod. One prop I have bought especially for the shoot is a beautiful new paintbrush that will appear, plastic sleeve intact, in one of the first scenes. It may be cheap and inefficient as a painter's tool (I don't have high expectations of a $3 brush) but I love the way it looks, its elegant curves and the striking contrast of the bright blue grip with the transparent handle. Every tiny detail counts when constructing a character's world, and this little brush will play an important if subtle role in a long dolly shot near the beginning of the film, in which we explore Daniel's studio and bedroom.

I've also brought on board my friend Cindy Ye to create the only custom-made costume for the film: the dress that Donna wears in the forged historic photo that Daniel hopes will make his fortune. One of several pictures I've sent Cindy for inspiration is the above photo of Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and a frequent photographic subject of its author, Lewis Carroll (the above photo was actually taken by Julia Margaret Cameron).

While Cindy works on the dress, I'll be story-boarding the animations and creating the drawings and paintings that appear in Daniel's notebook and apartment. I usually don't story-board an entire script, only the most complex sequences. In this case, the scene will involve some complicated shots in which live-action portions of the frame interact with animated parts and every aspect must be coordinated beforehand.

In this animation, Daniel's drawing of Donna comes to life on his notepad, while poppies blush and a handkerchief flies away like a bird in his whimsical fantasy. Below you can listen to the song that will play during the sequence.

2009-07-17T09:27:00.000-07:00

What, you ask, is involved in getting an independent film project off the ground?

Most people have the impression that creating a film is an insurmountable task of logistics that can only be scaled by professionals. At least, that's how I felt when I first arrived at college, which is why it took me most of the four years just to shake the feeling that I was being embarrassingly silly simply for trying.

Organizing a film on any scale is a dizzying amount of work, but it can be done if you have the dedication. Like any independent creative project, half the struggle is with yourself, and your determination not to back down in the face of people who think you're crazy, folks who don't show up on time, and Spontaneous Epic Failures (including scheduling, camera equipment, furniture, important costume elements, and the weather).

So, what's been involved with the preproduction of Chatterton so far?

Script: I've written and revised a 14-page script (in screenplay format). This script, which is what the actors will study to learn their lines, consists mostly of dialogue and stage directions.

While the actors study that script, I'll be working from an entirely different one. First I printed the basic script. Then I highlighted each distinct location, and numbered each distinct shot in the margin, even for the most trivial of b-roll inserts. I marched straight through the script, numbering the shots in the order in which they will appear in the edit, with a few exceptions. I like to number shots from an editing perspective because frequently, in my mind, I see the pacing of the cuts in a film before I envision each distinct camera angle. Then, when I go back to edit the footage, the slate at the beginning of each shot identifying its number will help me figure out where in the film it goes.

That's just the beginning of the script break-down. Next, I made a list of each location used in the film, and the characters who appear in each scene. As I schedule my actors, I'll learn who's available when, and that will guide the order in which I choose to shoot scenes. Shooting order will be governed by location, cast and camera position, to require the fewest moves as possible and also to avoid wasting cast members' time.

Once I have a feel for schedules, I'll make a new, third script in which I reorder the numbered shots according to shooting order. I'll keep a copy of the second script for reference; by looking up the shot in the narrative script, instead of the shooting script, I can remember what's happening dramatically in the shot.

Lights, Camera, Action: Equipment is always a headache to acquire. In some cities, there are creative-alliance-type organizations that offer relatively cheap rentals; other venues include small studios that sometimes make extra money by renting out their equipment, or schools, if you have access to one that will allow you to borrow their equipment or rent it for a low cost. I'm borrowing equipment for my shoot. This includes lights, light stands, c-stands (all-purpose stands useful for many things, including hanging lights, microphones, or flags), tripod, high-hat (a tiny tripod for scenes shot on the floor, on tables, or other tricky spots), dolly (a rolling platform or set of tripod wheels for moving shots), flags (large boards covered in cloth used for blocking light and wind), microphone, mic cables and a boom, the camera, and recording media.

Finally, location scouting can be nerve-wracking at first, especially if you're shy about telling people about your film as I was during most of school. But most people I've found are excited to hear about a film and tickled to be able to help, so after overcoming my own timidity, I discovered that sharing my story ideas actually helped. I learned two endlessly valuable things to keep in mind during any location scout: how many electrical outlets are there, where are they and how much wattage can they support before they blow a circuit; and where are the closest bathrooms? The last seems silly until you're on a set. And then it becomes very serious.

Welcome to Bedford Square

2009-07-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

Hello! As I enter my adult career and launch myself as an author and an independent filmmaker, I will keep this blog tracking my projects. The name Bedford Square comes from the home of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group of 19th century painters, poets and critics who rejected the mannerism of academic art. Unlike later waves of avant-gardists who struck against the establishment with minimalism, abstraction and chaos, the PRB freed themselves from convention in order to better portray lush detail and lavish storytelling.

Now, introducing the stars of my own Bedford Square. This month, you're going to hear a lot about two projects in particular: the revision of my second novel, Bulfinch (and the knight who was misplaced), and the production of my short film, Chatterton. I'm currently in preproduction on Chatterton, in the midst of casting and location scouting.

Chatterton's narrator, Daniel, is out of work, out of inspiration, and lorn for his best friend's girl.

He's also a member of a photographic forgery ring with his two roommates.

Desperate and frustrated, he proposes their greatest project yet: an "early art photograph by a forgotten master" to be sold to the Baltimore Museum of Art. But as Daniel and his abettors work more feverishly to produce the perfect photograph, Daniel's illusions about his bohemian life erode under his feet...

Chatterton is a 30 - 40 minute short featuring live action, hand-drawn animation, and lost and found footage sequences. Thanks to Polyvinyl Records, the entire film will be scored with music by of Montreal. Shooting should happen in early August, and I hope to have a finished film out by the end of that month. Visit back to stay posted on the progress of this project, as I'll be posting updates about all the moving parts involved in organizing an independent film shoot!

Bulfinch (and the knight who was misplaced) is my second completed novel. It's about a history major who lives with her crazy Uncle Alvin in Baltimore, and the characters that one day march out of her imagination and into reality.

I'm currently revising the second draft of Bulfinch, after which I will continue searching for an agent and/or a publisher for this and my first novel, The Queens of All the Earth, a modernized retelling of E M Forster's A Room with a View. Stay posted for stories about the book biz as I navigate the query and marketing process with the guidance of my mom, Libby Malin Sternberg, herself a published novelist. It's a world just as crazy and fascinating as Hollywood. But sometimes with a better vocabulary.