ten things

1. 2D Animation



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw2_HZTuQBE

I watched a lot of Disney movies and PBS cartoons as a kid, and I've never lost interest in traditional animation. Today it's being used in smart, interesting, modern ways that can coexist with traditional animated children's media. There are plenty of intelligent animated TV comedies for adults out there, like Bob's Burgers, but I'm also interested in the way animation is being used as a complex and mature medium beyond that. The work of Miyazaki is a long-standing example, and more recently films like The Secret of Kells, A Cat In Paris and The Illusionist.

2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger



This is an angsty book about a sociopathic teenager who we, the readers, follow around in New York for a few days. I read it at a time in my life when coming of age stories seemed like the coolest thing to me - but this book became something much more important. It was the first time that I realized I could be fooled into believing in heroism, and that the stories of "bad guys" and monsters were just as meaningful, complex, and intriguing as the stories of the "good guys." Holden Caulfield is a sympathetic villain, a monster of sorts, and I found myself rooting for him. It's a sharply written novel, unlike anything I'd ever read before, and I found both the writing style and the subject matter fascinating. It's one of my favorite books.

3. Chincoteague Island



This island nature preserve off the coats of Maryland is somewhere I spent a lot of time with my family as a kid. I was quite the horse girl when I was young,and I think a lot of it came from spending time on this island. There are herds of wild horses all over the island, and there was never a moment I was unhappy when I was there. My family and I used to bike all over the island to catch a glimpse of horses in the fields and on the beaches. Some of my best childhood memories were formed here, and even though I haven't been for almost five years, I'm looking forward to going back.

4. Tous Les Memes Music Video



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAMWdvo71ls

Conceptually, this is one of the smartest music videos I've ever seen. Then you get into the cinematography, the lighting, the choreography, the makeup, the production design, the music and performance itself, and it becomes my absolute favorite music video. Gender fluidity is something I don't fully understand but want to know more about, particularly since it's an important facet of identity to a large number of individuals around the world. You don't have to know what the lyrics are saying to understand the idea being portrayed and discussed in this video, and I think it's an amazing example of tackling a complex subject without words. The fact that it's gorgeous is just a fortunate plus!

5. Xavier Dolan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dTvuOWazhE

I'm not even sure how I came to discover Xavier Dolan's work, but he's become my absolute favorite modern auteur. His films inspire me not necessarily because of the subject matter, but because he's not shy about filmmaking. If he wants to say something about society or sexuality or psychology, he'll say it. If he wants to make a film purely for him and his friends, he'll make it. He doesn't pull any stops or make any excuses. The fact that he won three awards at Cannes when he was barely 20 years old has made him pretty pretentious, but he's an extremely intelligent and progressive filmmaker who tackles difficult topics with tasteful rawness. He's the writer/director of my favorite movie, Mommy.

6. Tattoos



A couple years ago I worked with a special effects makeup artist who had recently competed on Face-Off and was covered in tattoos. She had designed all her own tattoos, and they ranged everywhere from a zombie jazz band performing on stage to Celtic designs snaking up her neck. I remember her describing her body as a canvas, and every single tattoo she had, she was proud of.  I loved the concept of the "body as a canvas," a place to express oneself that has a heavier permanence and presence than a painting or piece of writing. I think tattoos are beautiful and expressive and one of my favorite things is to hear the stories behind tattoos.

7. Local Markets



Having a childhood in America means I've grown up with a separation between where food and goods come from (and more importantly who's manufacturing or growing them) and where they end up to be sold, like in superstores. When I moved to Utah I started going to farmer's markets, and as I've gotten older, I've sought out ways to support local growers and artists. There's nothing quite like buying fresh fruit from the person who toiled to produce it. When I was in Croatia this summer with a friend, there were fruit stands all over the place, and we didn't buy fresh food from anywhere else as we traveled through the country. Same goes for London, where we spent a lot of time in street markets buying all sorts of things from local artists, bakers, jewelry makers - you name it.

8. "Lemonade" by Beyoncé



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49fcxNp2ZFk

The visual album is becoming a trend in the music industry, but I think Beyoncé trumps everyone with Lemonade. She created it in the wake of her separation with Jay-Z, which a lot of people speculate was her source material for the lyricism of the album, but it's really about so much more than that. She writes not from a breakup experience, but from her overarching experience as a woman who has gone through heartbreak and won't let the bad choices of others bring her down. It's an album about strength, about discovering oneself, about accepting oneself, and about standing up for oneself. It's the kind of album I listen to when I have a down day, and the kind of album I'll show one of my girlfriends if they need a boost of confidence. 

9. The Artist is Present by Marina Abramović



This is a performance art piece that Marina Abramovic organized in 2010 to appear in the MoMA. To put it simply, she sat in a chair all day, across from an empty chair. Visitors to the museum could come and sit in the empty chair opposite her on one condition - that they look into her eyes, and she looked into theirs. It was a piece about the rareness of true human connection, and the difficulty of it as well. Some people had a hard time looking at her for an extended period of time. Some broke down into tears. It's important to note that there were no words spoken between Marina and the visitor - all they could do was look at each other. I think the participants' reactions to this experience tell us a lot about human connection and how important it is. This project not only made me more interested in performance art, but made me look for ways to connect with the people around me more often.

10. The Ursa Mini



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scD5QvrLwNc

This camera is out of this world. I recently DP'd a short film on it and didn't have a single complaint about the handling, setup, picture quality and dynamicism of this camera. I could talk about it forever, but what's more interesting to me is that this camera is perfect evidence of how filmmaking has shifted. This is a $3500 camera capable of shooting 15 stops of dynamic range in 4.6K. In other words, it's cinema quality accessible to anyone with an interest in filmmaking and a bit of money saved up. That's pretty revolutionary when you think about it. I feel blessed to live in a time when filmmaking is so much easier than it has been in the past, and that I'm given so many opportunities to do so.