The Wood-Carving Man

I particularly love this project for a number of reasons. First: the way it was shot. Jason got very up and close, the natural lighting was beautiful, and the colors are so rich and vibrant. Almost no color correction had to be done at all. Second: The content. This man, Sarofa, uses his hands and feet to carve wood into art. Not only does that seem extremely difficult to me, but I had never seen anybody do it before. Especially in such a self-sufficient kind of way. No power tools here. Not to mention his mother, who has been weaving purses and rugs by hand for many, many years. Third: My friends Ryan Parks and Daniels Hartz did the music for this in an afternoon. They saw the cut, talked about the kind feel they wanted to give it and went for it. They are a few of the most talented musical minds I know.

Sarofa The Wood Carver from EPMOV on Vimeo.

The "Digital Pack-Rat"

I've been doing a lot of harddrive re-organization lately and have come across many different things. Some files and unfinished projects have made me laugh, cringe, wonder what was wrong with me when I was younger, and some have re-inspired me. I was so into art and animation when I was in school and I've gotten off that path recently. Hopefully this little piece will get me back into it. While its not my best story ever, my partner and I met our deadline, did all the animation, modeled the props, created the environments, lit the scene and animated all the different cameras. We even came up with the "clever" solution a la Spielberg as to avoid showing the shark as little as possible so we wouldn't have to make one. Needless to say, I learned a lot from this project. And now I want to tackle a stop motion kind of thing. Good times ahead, all frame by frame.

Ocean Blue 3D Animation from Vanessa Gonzalez on Vimeo.

Stephanie and Alex

A brother of a very dear friend of mine got married semi-recently. Not only was the ceremony beautiful (think perfect weather, on a gorgeous hillside, over looking the ocean) but everyone enjoyed themselves and had a great time. Not to mention is was some of the best food I've ever had at a wedding. I was lucky enough to capture the day.

Alex and Stephanie from Vanessa Gonzalez on Vimeo.

Also, too cute to pass up, was the littlest groom's man hamming it up on the dance floor. He was quite the little heartbreaker that night. <3

Little Guy Dance from Vanessa Gonzalez on Vimeo.

The Sumatra Project

This video is where it all started for me with epmov. Several years back, some friends of my brother's left to Indonesia on a surfing trip. They never expected to find such amazing, warm-hearted, and grateful people. Now, after many annual trips back, they have a family there. This is the beginning to that story, and my beginning with them.

The Sumatra Project from EPMOV on Vimeo.