This is the second time working as Adam Getz's Director of Photography. He had contacted me during the summer of 2014 to work on a Dance-a-lorus video.
Dance-a-lorus is the opening segment to the Cucalorus Film Festival where filmmakers and dancers come together to create art. Adam reached out to Studio 1 Conservatory after they posted to a UNCW page to collaborate on the project. The main choreographers, Phillip McGee and Daniel Smith, had wanted to do a Great Gatsby theme. Phillip McGee would play Gatsby, Daniel is Tom, and Kim McGee played Daisy. Another thing they wanted to do was have it be interactive with their dance on stage. When a main character exits the screen, they would appear on stage, and vice versa. I initially thought it was very ambitious and that we wouldn't be able to pull it off convincingly. One of the choreographers had a friend with a large mansion in Wilmington and we were able to use it for the shoot. As soon as I saw it I was blown away and thought "Yep. This is going to turn out great." We had a very small crew of just eight people including Adam Getz and myself. The music in the video is the exact music they used for their routine and the film was edited around it.The scariest part of the film was not with the filming, but whether or not we would get in because it could still be rejected. Luck was on our side and not only did we get into the festival, our film was the first to play during the segment, which means it was the film to kickoff the 20th annual Cucalorus Film Festival.
