The post To Be Real appeared first on Wonderland.

The post Eternal Beauty appeared first on Wonderland.

The post Colin in Black & White appeared first on Wonderland.

frank ocean [pyramids] from nabil elderkin on Vimeo.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m working on a couple of personal photo projects, going through my photo archive and I’m going to update my website in the next month. I’m working on some ideas for videos for Kanye and some others, a photo shoot for Jeremy Scott, reading movie scripts and stressing as per usual – but I’m still very happy.

Movie scripts?

Yeah, I’m just really starting to put my brain in that direction and connect the dots. It’s always been my goal. I like things to come together naturally and they are. It’s very early stages. I want to make something of quality. Basically I want to make a film that is emotional with a good story and great acting.

You work with a lot of big stars – do you get star struck?

Not really. I’ve had moments, but that was with people like Mandela and Michael Jackson. I was definitely in awe of those two. It was surreal spending time with them. I snapped a few photos but it was more of a moment to enjoy rather than capture.

How do you feel about online media?

It’s all good. The world changes; quality is quality and it will always filter. I can appreciate a good Instagram photo for what it is, but also for what is isn’t. Online media is amazing! There’s so much inspiration out there and access to information is just endless. I prefer to travel and see things myself, but I still look at well curated Tumblrs and random sites.

How did you originally get into photography?

I used to shoot surfing in Australia when I was young and then moved into all different types. I started buying all types of cameras and films and tried every kind of lighting and shutter speed so I could technically shoot and light whatever. From there I found different inspirations, and I love music so much that it’s a direction I really pursued.

And what’s your favourite camera to use?

It’s a tough question, especially in the digital age. Sometimes you just want an old camera and a 50mm lens to restrict you and make move you closer and further from your subject. I don’t like zoom. There is something about the dance of shooting and limiting yourself.

How would you describe your music videos?

It depends on the subject, but I’m definitely moving into more conceptual stuff. I like to respect videos enough to let people appreciate and understand how they want an image rather than bombarding them with fast edits and slick imagery. Conceptual is just a million ideas bouncing around in the brain. Those fast-edited videos serve their purpose I guess, but in general they get very repetitive and formulaic. It doesn’t make you go, “Oh damn, I just got to see something unique.”

What music are you listening to at the moment?

I’ve been listening to Antony and the Johnsons, some Bob Marley, some of Kanye's upcoming stuff, classical when I drive.. i'm pretty random.

Any other ambitions for the future?

My ambition is for global domination, or to keep working with great artists that inspire me and making good movies and interesting photos, and travel, and then take over the world again. And also to figure out a way to make cheese healthy.

www.nabil.com

Words: Mark Izatt

The post EMERGING: NABIL appeared first on Wonderland.

How did Raindance come about? And how does it feel your debut feature up there in front of an audience?



I actually submitted a really rough cut of the film, along with a handwritten letter scribbled on a crumpled bit of paper explaining that I had been toiling on the film since I was 18 – I asked that they look at my completed short films and promised that the film would be finished to that standard. They must have trusted me, and loved the film, because they premiered the film on the largest screen of the festival on the first day and nominated the film for Best Debut Feature. Fortunately we managed to repay that trust and our first screening sold out to a wonderful audience who gasped and laughed in all the right places. I had a double whiskey before the screening to calm the terror, but by the end I was almost enjoying watching the film! But so far the strangest and most wonderful moment was seeing a “sold out” sign next to the name of my first film. Very surreal.



Strings (2012) – Teaser Trailer from Rob Savage on Vimeo.

Where did you get the idea for the story? Is it auto-biographical or based on people you know? 



Originally I started making the film as a short, just a semi-improvised piece starring my friends – it was made up of a series of revealing conversations between couples after they had sex, just buttoning up their shirts and making forced conversation. Then as I was uploading the rushes from the first days shoot there was a colossal power surge that fried my laptop and harddrive, losing all my footage. So I spent the next few months complaining and muttering that I really wanted to direct features and tell long-form stories – then after a while I became sick of hearing myself complaining about not being able to tell the stories that I wanted to and decided that the only thing stopping me was that I had decided it was impossible. So I started to expand the short film and develop the characters, using aspects of my own relationships and those I saw around me.



Who were your main visual inspirations for the plot of the film? 


When I was 13 my dad put me in front of Apocalypse Now, which really blew my mind and made me realise that cinema was able to do more than just kill a couple of hours. From there it was Hitchcock and Dario Argento – I used to recreate sequences from their films as a teenager, before starting to make my own sub-par slasher films. The main influence for the visuals of Strings was Kieślowski, particularly the Three Colours trilogy: from the start I knew that Strings had to have a striking colour palette, rather than looking like a run-of-the-mill desaturated piece of boring social realism. I also make sure that I watch Soderbergh's Traffic the day before I shoot any film.



What are your feelings about getting into the film industry now? What advice would you give to someone who wants to make a film but doesn’t know how to start?



I know that I have began my career in a pretty atypical way, but the only advice I am confident in giving is that rather than talking about making something, waiting for funding or convincing yourself that the time isn't right – make what you can with the resources you have. Be hugely ambitious. Put your blood and sweat into a project and after it's finished you will step back and think: “How did I ever manage that?”

rob-savage.co.uk

Words: Sophia Satchell Baeza

The post RISING STAR: Director Rob Savage on Strings appeared first on Wonderland.

Tell us a bit about the inspiration behind the Trailer Trash Tracys’ “Los Angered” promo.

I really love chemistry, and particularly how you can make very exciting things happen with very few simple house hold items. Milo and I had been watching these 80s kids’ science programs on YouTube and when the opportunity to pitch for the Trailer Trash Tracys video arose, I decided that, if filmed and used in the right way, it could really capture the ethereal nature of the song. We also looked at a lot of early and brightly-coloured music videos that had used green screen.

What was it like working with the band?

The band were great! It was great to work with people who were more interested in creating something visually interesting to look at than just a typical moody performance-based video.

The use of bright colours is a recurring theme in your work – why is this?

I am obsessed with colour. Perhaps it’s because I grew up in Mauritius, where I was exposed to a huge mix of ethnicities and brightly-coloured cultures and environments. But who knows?

Tell us about how you got involved with set design…

I did a degree in costume design, but found the discipline very restricting. Once I finished the degree, I started to assist a set designer called Gary Card. I really enjoyed that every job was different, and had its own set of challenges that meant that I was, and am constantly, discovering new materials and ways of working. Gary was really great and put me in touch with a lot of other people, and things just took off from there.

Your designs are always fun and playful – what are your influences and who inspires you?

I am particularly taken by the very tangible, and sadly maligned, special effects [in films] pre-dating CGI. I am hugely inspired by old horror and monster films, and will often reference films such as the Wizard of Gore or the Monster With a Thousand Eyes in my work. I would say that John Carpenter and David Cronenburg are two of my favourite directors. Films like The Thing and eXistenZ are what get me really excited about set design.

So, what’s next for Penny Mills?

I would like to continue making music videos and develop my skills as a set designer. I am currently writing a plot for a science fiction animation that I hope to make in the near future!

Words: Eleanor Mackay

The post Trailer Trash Tracys – LOS ANGERED appeared first on Wonderland.