WEAPONS AND THEIR NAMES (2023)
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‘Weapons’ was a true labor of love from start to finish, shot back in 2021 alongside some of my very best friends from film school, over some of the hottest days of a south Florida summer. Melina wrote a gorgeous, nuanced script and I poured everything I had into helping her bring it to life. We shot 15 rolls of film over 5 days with no dailies and a very shitty SD video tap — everything had to come from the gut. Thankfully we’d prepped a ton both in New York and then on location in Florida the week prior, creating the space and time for the story to lead. Our cast and crew were truly phenomenal, and despite my resting internal terror shooting the whole film without dailies and 300 miles from the rental house — every night still brought a feeling of warmth that’s hard to describe.
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shot on: Arriflex SR3 [Kodak Vision3 7219, 7207] + Zeiss Ultra16 Primes
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writer/director: @mmelinavv
cast: @cecilia__rene@greta.c.hicks@lilia.karst@bdawk511
producers: @raymondknudsen@5thfloorpictures@bigbluepictures
exec. producer: Alan McConnell
assoc. producer: @bandrybarry
production design: @cowboyblonde
editor: @jake_o_lanternnn
colorist: @katie_jordan_color
first ac: @trevorviner
second ac / loader: @tylereverettcook
gaffer: @no_cargo
key grip: @chris_violette
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@kodakshootfilm@sundanceorg@cinevideotech@tcsfilm #shotonfilm #sundance #sundancefilmfestival #sundance2023
DIDN’T THINK I’D SEE YOU HERE (2024)
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Dylan reached out with the script for DTISYH in 2022 and we met over fried chicken at the Commodore 💥. I was sold pretty quickly — not just because the script was beautifully written, but Dylan’s creative vision felt totally and uniquely distinct. It was also clear that he wanted a visual collaborator to invest emotionally into the project and help bring it to life, which is what I live for. This kind of thing never feels like doing a job, because even the most technical decisions tend to come from an emotional response to the story, or a certain location, or performance, etc — it’s all alchemy. We faced a fair amount of challenges on this one (smash cut to getting kicked out of our first location day 1), and a super tight schedule, small crew, all that, but a great script will make you forget those things and just bust your ass to make it all happen. Very proud of this one.
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shot on: Arri Alexa Mini + Kowa Cine Prominars / Angenieux Optimo 24-290mm Zoom
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writer/director: @dylanguerra
cast: @getyaron@marquisrodriguez
producers: @getyaron@lduppz
editor: @getyaron
colorist: @katie_jordan_color
first ac: @mmelinavv
second ac: @steff_elainee@chris_violette
gaffer: @oliviermetzler
key grip: @no_cargo
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@sundanceorg@tcsfilm@arri@newfest #sundance #sundancefilmfestival #sundance2024
FIELD MOUSE (2025)
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It’s hard to fully articulate how special this project was for me. Grayson is my longest creative partner, going back to F1s (first semester films) at @fsufilm , and ‘Field Mouse’ is the outgrowth of a particular visual and pacing style we’ve been developing since our time there. The story unfolds in a rather disjointed, non-linear fashion, paralleling the main character’s inner torment and increasing disconnection from reality. For me, it’s a melancholic tone poem of grief, cowardice, escape and ideation. ‘Field Mouse’ is currently on the festival circuit, stay tuned! 🙏🏼
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shot on: Arri Amira + Panavision Ultra Speeds MkII / Panavision Primo 17.5 - 75mm Zoom
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writer/director: @graysogo
cast: @gabefraiv Sophia Claire Smith, Jon Lonoff, Lola Lukas
producers: @storaroblue@raymondknudsen@rbevis@patsilver2000
co-producer: @mollymartha_
editor: @patsilver2000
colorist: @katie_jordan_color
first ac: @willapisarski
second ac: @lilymars__ Collin Hassler
gaffer: @oliviermetzler
key grip: @no_cargo
swing: @chris_violette
art dept: @i_hate_skins@aidanpkaye
vfx: @reidlauff@erikforall
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@panavisionofficial
Willa’s bday was the other day and also this movie we shot a few years ago is finally premiering so it’s time to release the photo series. DEEPFAKE (focus by @willapisarski ) premieres at Tribeca on 6/6 at village east angelika 🎞️
Found this in my spam folder today 😅🥵 so it’s a few days late, but so grateful to @the__asc for the opportunity to take part in their 2025 Vision Mentorship program!
primos v ultra speeds v master primes v s4s [all on S16 Kodak V3 500T 7219]. Big thanks to Chris Bieler at @panavisionofficial NYC for letting us come in for this test, and @kodak_shootfilm for the great service. The full comparison and exposure test is up on vimeo, dm me for link if anyone’s interested
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1st ac: @steff_elainee
loader: @johnjenne
gaffer: @oliviermetzler
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#shotonfilm #panavision #arri #kodak #16mm #16mmfilm @cookeoptics@arri@zeisscameralenses