Author: raafi

  • Gone

    Great cover of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Designed by Emmet Smith and Michael Tribble.

    (and the appropriate song):

  • Snakes

    s8.jpg

    s19.jpg

    s23.jpg

    s24.jpg

    box it     

    Beautiful photography by Guido Mocafico. More images (and subjects) here.

  • They Make Movies, Don't They

    a heady mix

    In a word: yes. Here are some stills from my recent 5 day shoot in Princeton, NJ. Good times. But you already knew that.

    raaf on the sticks

    still photos by Mykwain Gainey.

  • A digital Aloha to LOST

    I did not cry during last night’s series finale of LOST. I did watch with a couple friends, text a few others, and spend the morning reading reviews on my smartphone. Two of these things were wholly enabled by the digital age. In a way, LOST, more than any other show, has brought the utility of the digital age to a wide swath of viewers for whom terms like “transmedia storytelling” sound completely foreign. If the show has a legacy, other than launching the careers of several talented and deserving actors, it is of Big Media playing in the sandbox of the internet… just a tiny bit… with one of its major properties.

    The head writers of the program Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, hosted a weekly podcast, and were interviewed by bloggers just as often as print journalists. Between seasons, the show regularly released web videos which spread virally among hardcore viewers. There was the obligatory video game and the fake websites for corporations depicted in the show. But also the slew of internet handles and urls co-opted by fans. The show itself played on abc.com as well as hulu.com later on. And for less scrupulous viewers (read: me) the show was seen just as often via digital downloads. And then there was the Big One, the Lostpedia — a wiki completely created and maintained by fans of the show, the central repository for all relevant information: theories, mythology, character bios, etc.

    yup, you’ve pretty much got us hooked.
    DIY Dharma beer FTW!

    Viewing pattern for LOST in 6 acts:
    Seasons 1 & 2: DVD
    Season 3: iTunes subscription
    Season 4: (Writer’s strike) Broadcast + abc.com
    Season 5: BitTorrent + DVR
    Season 6: Hulu + BitTorrent + Broadcast

    An Episode Ruined:
    When #Desmond was a trending topic on Twitter, but did not appear in the episode until the very last minute.
    the Times chips in on this phenomenon.

    http://vimeo.com/11851275

    a LOST party, Brooklyn style

    The End:
    With the Super Bowl-like atmosphere surrounding the series finale last night, an old-fashioned live-with-commercials broadcast was the only way to put it to bed. Nor did it feel anachronistic when so many of us were tweeting and texting friends. We are a platform-hopping audience. Yet, as with the time-shifting characters on the show, that need not take away from the value of a shared experience. It might even help bring us together.

  • So Indie, It hurts

    indie-pix

    Jordan needed a quick solution for lighting a small shoot this afternoon and built a small soft-box. I passed him the pirate tape. We were immensely proud of ourselves afterwards.

  • Conventional Thought Tea

    that new new green
    that new new green

    Desedo resident polymath Paul Kamuf has managed, in the midst of our current goings-on, to complete a short starring one of his favorite beverages. Tea. Here’s hoping that the next time we mooch off of him, there will be some more great flavors in the cupboard. Until then, you can find the goodness here.

  • On Set

    gaff that for me homie?
    gaff that for me homie?

    For the record, the Desedo homies have been making it happen with the crews and the lighting and the actors. We even get to use the words “in production.” We’ll have something to show for all this silence at some point, but for now trust that we miss having something to say.