Listening to: Lifehouse-Somewhere In Between
Mood: A grin is on my face

Wish I could knock these things out every day – this was a fun one! Here’s a behind the scenes look of “A Meaningful Mother” – directed by Shannon Volkenant, produced by Reese Avanessian, and shot by Spencer Scranton.

Watching: Amores Perros (it’s like the Spanish version of Crash)
Mood: I has a fever

This really should have been finished a lot sooner but I got sick. Anyways, here’s a behind the scenes look of 4HRSMN, a short film directed by Holly Asarias.

Behind the Scenes of 4HRSMN – Day 1 from Ben Avilez on Vimeo.

Listening to: Trapt-Contagious (Definitely not like Headstrong but it’s ridiculously melodic)
Mood: Hot

Behind the Scenes of Nox – Day 2 from Ben Avilez on Vimeo.

Listening to: Hoobastank feat. Vanessa Amorosi-The Letter (Despite the emo-ness, I dig the collab)
Mood: Productive

Diecast still owns my life right now but I managed to find a little time to edit those miscellaneous projects I promised I would get done. Here’s Day 1 (really it’s day 2 – I wasn’t on set the first day…*shhhh* don’t tell anybody…) of the behind the scenes of Nox, a short film directed by James Woll. Check out the movie site while you’re at it: http://www.noxthemovie.com.

Behind the Scenes of Nox – Day 1 from Ben Avilez on Vimeo.

Listening to: State of Man-Be Still My Heart (eagerly waiting for these guys to get big)
Mood: Content

This is just one of several videos coming up for the trifecta of film shoots I participated in last semester. I’m knocking out all the videos for Nox hopefully by Tuesday so expect a few more over the course of tomorrow and the next day – then onto 4HRSMN and Hard Cost (I square).

This was the first one-on-one director [extremely informal] interview I participated in with the one and only, Mr. Untouchable, Jimmy Woll. Had a blast putting it together and trust me when I say that there were tons of other great stuff I could have included but yeah, if you’re like me and have ADD, you want to see the best of the best. And in case you were wondering, we shot it on the drive down from Vista to San Diego. Had nearly an hour of footage to work with on the interview alone and kept trimming until I was down to the cut you see now. I used a Smart Pod to get that shot from inside my truck.

Without further adieu – I present to you – the interview:

Interview with Nox Director Jimmy Woll from Ben Avilez on Vimeo.

Post Script: If any other directors/producers/directors of photography/grandparent’s uncle’s ferrets/etc. would like to participate in an interview, I’m game for it. Hit me up -  I assume you know where to find my contact info on here. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, all interviews with grandparent’s uncle’s ferrets will be cancelled immediately.

Post-Post Script: Obviously never lived up to that hope of getting those videos done by Tuesday. Nonetheless, they will be done with time. Diecast calls in the meantime!

Listening to: Alston-Carried Away
Mood: Whenemigonasleep?! (Sleepless and have work in 4 hours)

This has been a project in the making for the last 3 weeks or so. I was originally inspired by the song “Carried Away” by Alston. I assume no one has ever heard of Alston outside of Rafer in the NBA. They’re one of my favorite alternative rock bands. But yeah, I’ll let my iTunes playlist do the talking:

With that in mind, I was a behind-the-scenes videographer on three different sets this semester: 4HRSMN, Nox, and Hard Cost. I compiled over 10 hours of footage on all the sets combined. All of these shoots were directed and filmed by seniors as well. Ipso facto, I felt like expressing my gratitude to them in the best way I knew with my favorite song. It took me over 50 hours to completely finish (most of it being spent on going through footage, haha).

This video/film (fideo? or vilm?) is dedicated to all the senior film majors whose sets I helped out on! I love you guys and will definitely miss you all next year =’(.

Project Montourage from Ben Avilez on Vimeo.

Post Script: I failed to mention that you can see the HD version of “Project Montourage” by clicking the respective link below the embedded video.

Listening to: Downthesun-Medicated
Mood: Blah

I recently participated(!) in a shoot for one of my film production classes. I was the Director of Photography -- good times. Here’s the behind the scenes look of that shoot, a scene replication from the movie Barton Fink:

Listening to: Sevendust-Licking Cream
Mood: Content

I recently was a behind-the-scenes videographer for a student film at SDSU, Settled At Sunrise. The movie marked the first time a film at State was shot on the $17,000 RED ONE camera. These are just some of the soundbytes I managed to snag as I was recording. The documentary version is coming soon!