Category Archives: Broadcast Cinema

Tarsem Singh helped R.E.M. Lose its Religion (video)

Still from R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" video

After 31 years together, rock band R.E.M.–composed of founding members singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck and bassist Mike Mills–recently surprised their fans by calling it quits.

Though the group crafted a number of songs that entered the zeitgeist, including “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” “Everybody Hurts” and “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” they are perhaps best known for “Losing My Religion” from their 1991 album Out of Time.

The song became a cultural juggernaut despite the fact that it was built around a mandolin riff and featured lyrics that some misinterpreted as being a critique of organized religion (in fact, the phrase “I’m losing my religion” is a Southern expression whose meaning is akin to “I’m at the end of my rope” or “I’m at my wit’s end”). Regardless of the reasons behind the song becoming a hit, it would be impossible to separate the importance that the song’s video, directed by Art Center alumnus Tarsem Singh FILM ’90, had in propelling it into the stratosphere.

See the video after the break.

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POSTPONED: Distinguished Filmmakers Series: Bill Duke

NOTE: THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED.

Film Department instructors Dan Perri and David Kellogg will host featuring actor, director, producer and writer Bill Duke at the first Distinguished Filmmakers Series event of the term on Tuesday, Oct. 4.

Duke became a familiar face to moviegoers in the hit comedy Car Wash, following up with intense, unforgettable performances in films such as American Gigolo, Commando, Predator, X-Men: Last Stand and many more. Duke made the transition to successful feature director with a string of well-received films, including A Rage in Harlem, Deep Cover, Hoodlum, The Cemetery Club and Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit.

Concurrently, Perri helmed dozens of TV series episodes for hit shows including Knots Landing, Miami Vice, Crime Story, Matlock, and PBS’s American Playhouse. Duke continues to act and direct for film and TV while generously serving as mentor for young African Americans aspiring to work in the performing arts.

This event is open to all Art Center students, alumni, faculty and staff.

Distinguished Filmmakers Series: Bill Duke
Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2 p.m.
L.A. Times Media Center

Remembering Kevyn

Wallace

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of beloved Art Center Illustration alumnus and Broadcast Cinema student Kevyn Wallace. Wallace passed away last week due to injuries suffered from a car accident several weeks ago.

Wallace graduated from Art Center’s Illustration Department in 1990. Professionally, he worked as a layout artist on such films as The Simpsons Movie, Home on the Range, Tarzan and The Land Before Time franchise. In recent years, Wallace returned to Art Center to study entertainment design concepts in the College’s Transportation Design Department. Soon afterward, he decided to focus on the narrative aspects of storytelling, and joined the graduate Broadcast Cinema program. As a graduate Broadcast Cinema student, and with the approval of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Wallace had been working on a documentary about the history of Disney’s African American animators.

Please join the Wallace family, and members of the Art Center community, at a memorial service for him this Friday evening in the Ahmanson Auditorium at Hillside Campus. A light reception will take place in the Faculty Dining Room immediately following. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the L.A. County Burn Center. Send a check (payable to “CARES” with “L.A. County Burn Center” noted in the memo field) to: CARES, 1200 N. State Street, Room 1900, Los Angeles, CA 90033.

If you have any questions about the memorial service, please contact India Dunnington at 626.396.2408 or india.dunnington@artcenter.edu.

Kicking Things Off With Kickstarter


Transportation Design alum Gabriel Wartofsky has started a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to build his lightweight, compact, folding electric bike for commuters. (Plans are to launch his Conscious Commuter at Art Center later this year.) So far, backers have pledged $17,045 of his $25,000 goal needed to bring his bike to market. (The deadline to pledge is Sept. 29.) KCET just ran a story on Wartofsky—be sure to check it out.

Another project is currently on Kickstarter, this one created by a group of Art Center students for a class project. They are looking for funding to help them film and produce a short film inspired by an epic DC Comics vignette. The six-day shoot will take place throughout Pasadena with sets built from scratch at Art Center. Students leading the project are Domenic Moen (writer/director), Stephen Reedy (editor), Chris Saul (cinematographer) and Jake Viramontez (producer).

Check them out:

In Case You Missed It

As you know, there’s always something going on when it comes to Art Center alumni, students and faculty.

Some of the latest:

  • Advertising alum Lacey Waterman art directs a great TV spot for Discounthotels.com, shot at her former high school in Woodland Hills. YouTube
  • Architect Alla Kazovsky on teaching in Art Center’s Saturday High program. Huffington Post
  • Alum Everett Katigbak, a communication designer at Facebook, to speak at September’s Brand New Conference. Brand New
  • Hot Wheels creator, Mattel toy company co-founder and Art Center alum Elliot Handler died last week at 95. What’s your favorite Hot Wheels memory? MotorTrend
  • Art Center faculty member and author Krystina Castella on making ice pops at home. Columbia Tribune
  • Broadcast Cinema alum Steve Hwang’s documentary FOCUS—filmed and edited during his last term at Art Center, and screened here earlier this year—has been picked up by the G4 for distribution online. It’s the first installment of the network’s newly launched G4 Films series. View the entire feature online.

Film Students Receive Honors

Our undergrad and graduate film students have been busy—several have garnered awards and recognition for their work recently.

Two Film students won Young Director Awards at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival: Y-C Tom Lee for his AIDS public service announcement and John X. Carey for his Voices From the Field documentary.

The Association of Independent Commercial Producers held their annual AICP Awards Show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York on June 7. Numerous film schools across the country competed in the Best Student Commercial category, and seven of the 10 national finalists were current Art Center film students. Undergraduate film major Ian Kammer won the highest honor— Best Student Commercial—with his North Face: Hibernation spot.

Other Art Center student winners included:

Undergraduate Film:
Gevorg Karensky: Adidas – Impossible Is Nothing
Y-C Tom Lee: Gatorade
Ted Marcus: Laphroaig Scotch Whiskey – Winter Revel

Graduate Broadcast Cinema:
Erik Anderson: Red Bull — Small Can of Big Whoop-Ass
Paul Linkogle: Band-Aid – Beginnings
Michael Lutter: Roaring Lion Energy Drink (shown above)

Congrats on these well-deserved honors!

4 Hours Solid: April 20


Art Center’s newest tradition is back for its second year. Join us for 4 Hours Solid, an annual showcase of work and ideas from Art Center’s graduate programs in Art, Broadcast Cinema, Industrial Design and Media Design. Enjoy four jam-packed hours of exhibitions, screenings, installations, presentations, food trucks and more. The event will be held at South Campus. You won’t want to miss it!

4 Hours Solid
Wednesday, April 20, 6-10 p.m.
South Campus

Joe Dante to Speak Thursday

Undergraduate Film Department instructor Allen Daviau will host famed director, producer and editor Joe Dante to campus Thursday for a lecture and Q&A.

Like many directors of his generation, Dante began his career with Roger Corman’s New World Pictures in the ’70s, starting as a trailer editor and soon directing hit films for New World and then the majors.

Known for his vivid, highly inventive visual style, Dante directed such films as Piranha, The Howling, Twilight Zone: The Movie (segment three), Gremlins, Explorers, Innerspace, The ‘Burbs; Gremlins 2:

The New Batch, Small Soldiers, Looney Tunes: Back in Action and the upcoming Monster Love.

This event is open to all Art Center students, alumni, faculty and staff.

Distinguished Filmmakers Series: Joe Dante
Thursday, April 14, 1 p.m.
Ahmanson Auditorium

Tonight: The Visual Language of Herbert Matter

Don’t miss tonight’s screening of The Visual Language of Herbert Matter at Hillside Campus.

Herbert Matter was a mid-century modern designer, photographer and filmmaker.

Originally from Switzerland, he moved to New York in 1935 and worked with such legends as Alexey Brodovitch, Alexander Calder, Jackson Pollock and Charles and Ray Eames. This documentary looks at Matter’s life and work.

The screening is free. Check out the trailer below.

The Visual Language of Herbert Matter
Thursday, March 31, 7 p.m.
Art Center Hillside Campus
L.A. Times Auditorium

Matter Teaser from Herbert Matter on Vimeo.

Special Documentary Screening: Allen Daviau

Don’t miss a special screening and Q&A session this afternoon with
 British documentarian John Henderson about his work-in-progress documentary based on Art Center faculty member
 Allen Daviau.

E.T., Daviau

Henderson has been creating a series of in-depth documentaries about the world’s great cinematographers, and the first film in the series is about famed cinematographer and Art Center instructor Daviau.

Allen’s first feature film was E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, earning the first of five Oscar nominations and launching his career as one of the industry’s leading cinematographers. Since then, he has worked on such notable films as The Color Purple, Falcon and the Showman, Empire of the Sun, Avalon, Bugsy, Congon and Van Helsing. He has been nominated for three American Society of Cinematographers Awards, winning twice, and has received the ASC Lifetime Achievement Award. Stop by and meet the legendary cinematographers who will be attending the screening, including Vilmos Zsigmond, Haskell Wexler and Owen Roizman. The event is open to all Art Center students, alumni, faculty and staff.

Special Documentary Screening: Allen Daviau
Thursday, March 24, 1 p.m.
Ahmanson Auditorium