persistence

i think persistence is good.

you try over and over to get something right, to compromise, to change yourself to fit a circumstance or try to fix the circumstance itself to just feel better.

you try again and again and again and again. different ways, different situations, different strategies. it’s like an infinitely-shifting puzzle – once you find a piece that fits amid the thousands of pieces, the puzzle re-scrambles itself.

it’s admirable and it makes you stronger. it can also hurt.

sometimes things don’t shift as you expect them or need them to. as hard as you try to alter circumstances, maybe sometimes they’re not meant to change at all. but stay fixed and unfaltering, because that’s just the way they intrinsically are. they just are.

and i can’t keep trying.

i will not lose any more energy on a persistent and false/blinded sense of hope.

i’m ready to move on. no “i think’s” or “maybe’s”. there is no more time for that.

⌇

love, izzy

film people make film reels

i didn’t really know what a reel was until i got to film school.

i made one yesterday on the plane back to LA because, you know, i’m a grown sophomore now and got to show my stuff to people somehow.

:’) really dig this cut. hope you like it too.

here’s my film reel.

⌇⌇⌇⌇⌇

"maximize all the pleasure"

hi. it’s been awhile. a really long while. like almost a month a while.

it’s okay. i’ve been doing great. school is great. i’m glad to be back in los angeles despite it being 55˚F every day with only bits of sun here and there. i’m already thinking about how the summer will go, and that will be very exciting (for all of us). more to come.

i’ve been addicted to toro y moi lately. after seeing him in october (? i think) with my friend at the novo with his debut of outer peace with a hyperbolic light show, my addiction began. the full album didn’t come out until last month, so it’s been on repeat in my room while i sit in a dazed state near my window every couple of days.

toro just released the first music video for the new album: “ordinary pleasure”. it just exemplifies a) a visually satisfying single take, b) my dream studio, and c) my expert level of dancing (thanks for showing the dancer in you, chaz).

happy happy happy stuff.

bye for now.

⌇⌇⌇

⌇⌇⌇⌇⌇⌇⌇⌇⌇

⌇

my first film school video is about pencils

our first project for our first freshman production class was to make a 60-second movie about a “moment”. this was mine.

enjoy.

⌇⌇

⌇⌇

i've been watching

hey. it’s been a bit. it’s been a 43-day bit hiatus. things have been made. movies have been watched. papers have been written. and everything else in between.

i’m back home for four weeks. i’m excited to just have some down time to cook and maybe make some mini movies, but i’m also anxious about getting stir crazy. it’ll be a balance.

speaking of watching, these are some of the things i’ve loved recently:

1. movement

i think i’m a pretty picky music video critic. hozier’s song “movement” in tandem with a very raw dance and dark, shadow-y footage makes for a stunningly beautiful video. i love the side-by-side twins (and eventually triplets) cut together to make a seamless choreography.

-

2. where the artists live

me and my friend ana (whose work is awesome !) share art things and design porn frequently. she sent me this new york times video a few days ago about the (kind of) communal space of a few artists. look at those windows. look at the interiors!

“that half door. holy sh*t” - me

“so amazing. the windows>>” - ana

-

3. sushi scene from isle of dogs (2018)

it’s well known that i’m a sucker for wes anderson films. isle of dogs was no exception to my obsession. i love this scene so much (and have consequently watched a few more analysis videos than needed on it). can you believe that this is stop motion with mini-figures. the detail is crazy. and this is a time lapse of how it was made.

-

4. tom misch medley

misch has never failed to amaze me. his talent live is even more apparent (especially with the slick comps and improvs). wow o wow. i just want to dance in my room. please watch all ~15 minutes of this for your ears’ pleasure.

-

5. date and walnut loaf

i love nina montagne’s videos. they’re warm, cozy, inspiring, peaceful. although i don’t eat vegan, i appreciate the simplicity and transparency of her recipes. they’re real. in between videos about food and things, she talks about self love, stress, the joys of being alone, and wellness. it’s really lovely

---

hope you like my little update

in case you’ve been wondering what things I have been up to in the past 43 days:

• come home for the first time and realizing i don’t live in NYC anymore

• 2-on-1 lime scooter-ing from koreatown with john

• vote ! !

• win 8 jars of almond butter

• dress up as azumi fujita for halloween (me, for reference)

• fit 6 people in a 4-person car in the rain with the top down

• survive the usc-ucla rose bowl game (loss)

• see toro y moi in concert

• ride home on the bike handlebars with aaron in the pouring rain

• witness a ferris wheel in the middle of campus

• make a short film about an intense dodgeball championship set to '“sicko mode” by travis scott

• rent a casita to live in next year

• ice skate at midnight with like 30 of my friends

• visit casey neistat at 368 (broadway)

• get a christmas tree (not the shrub like last year)

welcome back.

⌇

fargo (1996)

View fullsize

yeah, i’m a film student now. i watch films. i write essays on them or prompts or whatever. i must consider composition like i plan for it, and map out shots before i see them. it’s a weird and new process.

for class i wrote,

“what are the major elements of composition that the coen brothers employ in fargo (1996) that give the film it’s uniquely thrilling and unsettling feel and atmosphere? more specifically, what aspect of composition—framing, staging, or photography—do they seem to rely on most to achieve this?

personally, what struck me most about fargo’s composition was it style of photography. oftentimes, the coen brothers abruptly switch between perspectives—contrasting extreme long shots with close-ups or medium shots. especially in a place so barren and lifeless as minnesota and north dakota, the prolonged extreme long shots provided the film with an even more eerie and mysterious atmosphere. not only that, but they are strangely and starkingly* beautiful—being my favorite detail of this film.”

i’m a film student now.

⌇

r/AccidentalWesAnderson

isle of capri motel, new jersey. 

sketch restaurant, london

petra, jordan

ostel hotel, east berlin

wildwood crest, new jersey

rhone glacier, switzerland

---

i have an obsession with wes anderson and reddit. i love fantastic mr. fox and moonrise kingdom and the grand budapest hotel, but especially fantastic mr. fox. i feel like each setting of each film is intentional in the grander color scheme of the entire work (as i'm sure every director tries to achieve -- but most obvious in wes anderson films). 

i love the pastels and the tones and the "is this real or am i just dreaming?" feel of all of his works that can't really be replicated anywhere else. it's surreal. wes makes fantasy in real places, a dreamy reality. 

naturally, when i found the subreddit r/AccidentalWesAnderson i was reminded of how magical the real world can actually be, according to what magical means in the world of wes anderson.

these places exist. these colors exist, and i want to have the chance to explore all of them.

"that's the kind of movie that i like to make, where there is an invented reality and the audience is going to go someplace where hopefully they've never been before. the details, that's what the world is made of." - wes anderson

⌇

absurdity

1/ PREPOSTEROUS

in !!! itself a- short about........ absurdity,! weirdness,%% unexpectedness,**`!! mystery, irony, ??? ? /!! // ....?!

-

2/ SLOW FOOD

sMAsH!!!!!!!!!!!1111!!!!1!!1!!!1!!!

-

3/ SWEATPANTS

¡¡¡déjä v¨üuuu ovër án∂ ovér ánß øvër ágäín maStERpieCE!¡

- 

4/ RESUME SUPPLEMENT

a resume in ÄRT%&vïDÉO form. uh we(i)rD!!!

–

welcome to absurdity. i've been into cool weird stuff lately. like cool cool weird weird videos. they've gotten me through this week and will probably get me through the next and the next and the next and the next and next next next next and next next infinite next. 

thanks, bye conGRaTs!!!!

⌇ 

where art and cake collide

images by dunja opalko x wallpaper magazine

i haven't been baking much, even though it's summer time. very much unlike me, but i've been so busy with projects and fun stuff that i think it's okay.

the other day i stumbled upon danish designer kia utzon-frank and her london-based company kufstudios. naturally, there was kufcakes. each cake is in fact edible. kia prints marble texture onto fondant or marzipan before most meticulously folding it over cake. in turn, a beautiful stone effect is created, which freakin' insane. 

the cake itself is equally as stunning, with folds and layers of sponge cake thin enough to create a fine gradient.  "taste is as important as the look, and the cakes should be conversation starters and trigger our curiosity and interaction with each other," their website says. kia uses natural food coloring and fruit juices to dye the cakes. 

i think the thing that utzon-frank said that really spoke to me the most was this: "cake is just another material. if something catches my interest it doesn't matter what it's made of. i think there's a huge freedom in not knowing much about the material i'm throwing myself at, as i then don't know the 'rules' and therefore am more open to experiment."

food = experimentation = art

i wish i could do that.

enjoy your weekend,

⌇