Procrasticare Pink Paint Scene

Posted on by Thor

I drove from my Air B&B to the Stella Arbelaéz studio where James Parris would be spending the day gathering shots for his Procrasticare short. After having her phone stolen by a Procraticare worker. Stella returned to her artist’s studio and paced the room annoyed. When her nerves were settled, she began to make marks on her canvas for the first time in a long time. Her annoyed expression turned to pleasure as the marks began to come together.

Before shooting began the set needed to be completed. Jennifer Gwynne Oliver brought along a friend who was an expert on movie history. He and James got along great. Jennifer worked for Disney Feature Animation Florida and without being asked, she realized that the set needed to look more lived in. She gathered some art books and a Tiffany lamp along with a bowl from another room, and arranged them on top of the flat files behind Stella. I was pleased that one of the books she picked out was my book, Urban Sketching the Complete Guide to Techniques. Probably no one seeing the short film will see my book, since it is likely out of focus but at least I know it was there.

Between shots, I walked behind Stella adding smoke to the set for a romantic glow of atmospheric perspective. The painting on the canvas was largely completed beforehand. I oversaw making sure the canvas had plenty of gesso, and Stella painted the abstract Pink and Blue pattern that James had made for the shot. I think the pink and blue art was an homage to another animated short film James had done called Pink and Blue .

At one point Stella threw an entire bucket of pink paint at the canvas. Though there were clear plastic drop clothes, she was so enthusiastic that paint went all over the room and beyond the drop cloth. Some paint even got on my sketch. After the paint spatter scene was over, I got on my hands and knees and wipes up stray puddles of paint off of Stella’s grey concrete floor. I do think there are hints of pink of the floor to this day.

Movie lights were scattered all around the set and James moved them as needed for each shot. James kept his hand-held and stabilized camera moving and the studio was a super active space. Stella has assembled a giant 14-foot-tall puppet in this studio space and she created Eco printed table runners for the Orlando Museum of Art in this space. She wasn’t acting when she was working in the studio as an artist.

The Procrasticare short is still in the editing bay. Special effects are still being done for the content that is seen on Stella’s phone screen. I’ll be excited to see the final edit and to see if the audience laughs where expected. Audiences are all unique. Some might laugh out loud while another audience is stone faced and neutral.

Procrasticare Master Living

Posted on by Thor

I drove from my Air B&B to the Stella Arbelaéz studio where James Parris would be spending the day gathering shots for his Procrasticare short. The first location of the day was in Stella’s Master Living room. I helped move the couch to the opposite wall in front of a window and then a set decorator came in and hung curtains and string lights. James had shipped purple and pink outfits for Stella to wear in each shot. The wardrobe was neatly arranged on a movable garment rack in the artist studio. Large lights were everywhere.

James shot the film using a stabilizer for the camera. I don’t think a singe shot required a tripod. My job, other than moving the couch, was to mist the room with smoke before each shot. This would add atmospheric perspective and soften the look. Now that I know this is done, I have started noticing it in films I watch.

This shot required Stella to relax on her couch and scroll on her phone. The couch is actually a recliner so she wouldn’t usually lay prove like an odalisque as she was being asked to do. She would  usually kick her legs up I front of her. She looked relaxed and Boo-Boo quickly got in character and lay attached to her hip. The room is blue and James picked a similar blue color as a throw over the leather recliner couch. I bet the warm glow of the Tiffany lamp looked good on screen.

Stella’s cow scull and a wooden hand holding a grass paper lantern stayed where she usually had them, but I don’t think they were in the shots. The wooden secretary in the corner of the room holds so many memories. Stella’s entire back story is housed in that gorgeous antique cabinetry.

Incense was burning on a small side table. That table was moved multiple times as a foreground element in shots. The audience might not notice that the table was moved. All that mattered was what appeared in the camera viewfinder. James was figuring out the final look as he worked. He knew exactly what each shot should look like since he had story-boarded every scene. But in camera he made sure the lighting matched his vision.

This scene only required a few shots of Stella sitting up, scrolling on her phone along with over the shoulder shots to see that she was looking at. I knew from having sketched on other film shoots that the amount of work that went into each shot meant that I would have more than an hour to sketch. Hugo Giraud who also worked at Disney Feature Animation, was also on set helping out. With so many worker bees, I could relax and sketch until the next shot needed to be set up.

Though shot over 9 moths ago,  Procrasticare is still in the editing bay. James had farmed out many effects shots that will appear on the phone Stella was holding. Once all that special effect work is complete, they will be added to the final edit of the film. All the acting in the film is silent. No one speaks. Coming from an animation background James knew that a story is best told through action rather than words. Stella would have done well as a silent era actress. Every emotion could be read on her face and gestures.