Lumen Prints

Recently a student asked me what type of camera I use in my work. I responded “The best camera you have is the one you have with you.” She said my response was lame. She was right.

I went on to share that the photographic work I’m creating right now is camera-less photography. The pieces are digitized prints. So in a way, it’s a photo of a photo but it’s not really a photograph, it’s more of a photogram.

Lumen prints are magical. I can’t even say I completely understand how they work but I am captivated.

Capturing Motion NYC

Halls of Ivy, a dance film created by the Academy for Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) Dance Class of 2018, was selected as the winning Capturing Motion NYC film at the 45th Annual Dance on Camera Festival at Lincoln Center. As the winning film, Halls of Ivy was screened at the Walter Reade Theater with the Experimental Shorts Program on February 7, 2017.

Led by Dance Film Guest Artist Brianna McGraw (Creative Director of B. RUTH CREATIVE), students choreographed site-specific dance phrases, filmed the scenes using iPhones and edited footage, to original compositions by pianist Gisel Costa, to create Halls of Ivy, all on location at Morris County School of Technology.

 

Yorke and Row representing VPA at Capturing Motion NYC

 

Dance students Caroline Yorke and Sarah Row represented VPA at the adjudication round of the competition held on February 6, 2017. Yorke and Row spoke about the creative process behind this work and received feedback from the panel, Gabri Christa (Assistant Professor, Barnard College, Columbia University) and Mickela Mallozzi (Emmy Award-winning host and producer of Bare Feet in NYC).

Sponsored by the Dance Films Association (DFA), “Capturing Motion NYC is an annual workshop series and dance film competition for high school students in the five boroughs. DFA facilitates school workshops in interactive dance film education for students and teachers. The workshops culminate in the Capturing Motion NYC competition, in which students submit their work to be a part of Dance on Camera Festival.” DFA opened up the competition to students outside of the five boroughs so the Academy for Visual and Performing Arts could participate. 

 

Brianna McGraw and Ruth Clark prior to the award ceremony

 

McGraw accepted the award on behalf of the VPA students at the Walter Reade Theater, home of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, a co-presenter of the Dance on Camera Festival. This award is especially significant since McGraw is an alumna of the VPA-Dance program under former distinguished dance educator Ruth Clark. VPA-Dance began its Dance Technology Curriculum approximately 17 years ago and it continues to evolve as technology in dance becomes ever present in college programs and professional dance career work. 

VPA-Dance is a training ground for college preparatory dance study and dance vocations. Students attend County College of Morris for further study their senior year. The program is in its 17th year of providing quality dance education and is under the direction of Lisa Peluso. For more information about Morris County School of Technology and the Academy for Visual and Performing Arts, please visit www.mcvts.org.

Hoboken Chiropractic + Wellness

B. RUTH CREATIVE joined forces with Dr. Laura Brayton, founder of Hoboken Chiropractic + Wellness and the Brayton Birth Method, to create a video series of informative vlogs and patient testimonials - shown in the playlist below. 

B. RUTH CREATIVE did what we do best, capturing natural interviews, editing footage into easy-to-digest content driven videos, and showcasing Dr. Brayton fulfilling her mission. Dr. Brayton's passion to help patients combined with her knowledge of chiropractic care and holistic wellbeing is highlighted even further when her patients share their experiences.

It's That Time of the Year Again!

I do believe that creating an ETSY shop is in my near future...

But in the meantime I'm sharing these hand stitched seasonal pieces I've completed for sale here. I'm also still taking custom commissions so if you're interested, now is the time! 

💁$20-$25 (depending on the piece) + shipping // pay via PayPal or check 💌

Click contact button above to place an order! 

Country Fusion Reel

I have been taking Country Fusion dance classes this summer with my mom and we both LOVE them! It's such a fun time and a killer workout.

While speaking with Liz, Creator of Country Fusion, I learned she was hoping to have a video made in the near future to highlight Country Fusion. I jumped at the opportunity and the future is now. We released the video this week and today, Country Fusion was featured on the front page of the Daily Record!! I am thrilled for Liz and hope to see more and more people come to dance with us! 

Silhouette Puppet Prototype 1

I've been focusing on getting myself back into my own artistic practice, particularly animation. It's so easy to lose sight of what your true passion is when life calls. It's been a pleasure to get back into my zone and fantasy world. I have so many ideas that I'm trying to channel and focus into. Part of this process has been creating silhouette puppets. This is the first of many prototypes to come. I look forward to elaborating on this idea, storyboarding it to the max and making the story I have in my head come to life. 

Lotte Reiniger

Lotte Reiniger has been a MAJOR influence on my work. Studying her inspiring silhouette animations lead me to create my own. Today's #GoogleDoodle honors Lotte Reiniger's 117th birthday and it's absolutely AMAZING! My heart is seriously overwhelmed by how magical this is. The behind-the-scenes piece was equally was delightful. 

Brianna McGraw animating for "The Woman who Flummoxed the Faeries" 

Stop-motion animation and creating paper silhouette puppets is seriously time consuming. I learned this while working on my Lotte Reiniger inspired senior thesis at Bennington College. During this time, I often referred to her book, "Shadow Theatres and Shadow Films" as my bible and it was. I designed and oversaw the building on a multi-plane animation station to create the project on. 

The entire experience creating this piece was remarkable. I loved collaborating with fellow creatives and then spending day and night in my studio bringing these puppets to life.

A year and a half ago, I returned to Bennington and the first thing I needed to visit was my animation trick-table. School wasn't in session so I wasn't nearly as devastated that no one was utilizing my creation as I would have been had students been there. I still have my original design plans for this beauty and I know that when I have more spare time, I'll recreate it and devote myself to more projects like this one. One day...

Halls of Ivy

The opportunity to teach the AVPA Class of 2018 this year during my Dance Film Guest Artist Residency was a dream. After learning dance film history, my students took an active role in pre-production, production and post-production. They scouted for locations throughout the school and choreographed unique phrases fit for the location they had in mind. The dancers filmed each others phrases using iPhone's, learning how to travel in space for camera and which angles show off their movement best. After filming, I taught them how to edit using Adobe Premiere and this is the result. I am beyond proud to present their site-specific dance for camera piece, Halls of Ivy. 

Designing Your Dream with Gina La Morte

Brianna McGraw of B. RUTH CREATIVE has been working behind the scenes with Celebrity Stylist, Author, Dreamer and Handbag Designer, Gina La Morte. Gina's biggest dream is to help other people design their dreams, and today her dream is coming true! Gina is on a mission to bring together socially conscious businesses and nonprofits in a new creative community called #TheWomensLab at the Centre for Social Innovation in New York City. Brianna is thrilled to be living her dream while documenting Gina fulfill hers.

 

"I've known Gina since my senior year of high school. I had the honor of being her first intern at New Jersey Bride Magazine. It was an absolute dream to learn from Gina and be surrounded by such stunning fashion! When Gina launched her own magazine, Boho, I participated on the College Board. It's now 5+ years later and it's an absolute pleasure to be back working with Gina again on her latest project. It's still rather *hush hush* but here's the first segment documenting Gina's new chapter..."
- Brianna

 

Stay tuned for more videos and the launch of Gina La Morte's collection! 

Film's Not Dead

I just had to share this image Danny Boy captured while we were location scouting recently. Something about a black and white photograph captured on film just feels right. 

Photographed and Developed by Danny O'Halloran
Bronica SQA | 120 Film

 
 

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I went the handcrafted Christmas gift route for my family and friends this year - designing and making original tiny cross-stitch and embroidery ornaments + one bar towel to accompany a restored vintage bar cart. The blisters on my fingers were worth it once I saw how much everyone appreciated their gift! 

Behind the Scenes | FORTUNATE BONES

Danny and I recently photographed an editorial for FORTUNATE BONES. I absolutely adore the designs and admire the talent of Bernadette Higgens (FORTUNATE BONES). I'll never tire of seeing the latest gem she's designed. I feel like every photoshoot we do, I add another piece to my collection! #StayTuned

Halloween 2015

B. RUTH CREATIVE's latest collaboration with FemmeGod will be premiering in the new year! I have enjoyed scanning the stunning footage Danny captured now that I have finished sewing my Halloween costume! We'll be holding a contest for musicians to submit their original compositions. The chosen song will be featured in the film. Danny and I love surrounding ourselves with such talented artists. 

Since I mentioned sewing my Halloween costume in my last post, I figured it was only fair to let you see the final result! I very much enjoyed patterning and sewing my Princess Leia costume. Danny Boy was my sidekick, Han Solo. 

B. RUTH CREATIVE's Brianna McGraw and Danny O'Halloran as Princess Leia and Han Solo on Endor. 

Behind the Scenes with FemmeGod

I am thrilled to be working as Creative Director on another project with FemmeGod - in collaboration with Rosanna of Tainted Inc. - creating a campaign video // dance film for FemmeGod's latest collection. Does anything top spending an autumn morning in front of a waterfall filming the stellar designs of FemmeGod, worn by Rosanna who captured the essence of each design through dance? I think not. 

I'm very much looking forward to editing the stunning footage, shot by B. RUTH CREATIVE'S cinematographer (among other things) Danny Boy O'Halloran, as soon as I finish sewing my Halloween costume!

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From Salt to Screen

Recently I had the privilege of spending a weekend at a film workshop, offered by The Filmmaker's Cooperative (NY) with one of my B. RUTH colleagues, Danny Boy O'Halloran. The From Salt to Screen: Handmade Emulsion on 16mm workshop hosted by Josh Lewis at Negativland was absolutely fabulous. Over the course of two days, we made our own 16mm film stock and shot it. We really went back to the roots of film as a medium and a science. It's wild to think that only 100 years ago, filmmakers were using a similar process and that now, it's almost extinct. 

Day 1: Lewis had us weighing out chemicals, breaking up crystals and. combining the rights amount of potassium bromide with silver nitrate. The whole thing was like a Walter White chemistry lesson. We mixed a silver gelatin emulsion and coated it onto 16mm acetate. I loved the contraption Lewis designed and built for painting the emulsion on the film. I want something like it in my studio for when I'm painting onto 16mm. Everyone in the class did their best to coat the acetate with nice & even coats of emulsion. I brought the funk & painted polka dots and zig-zags. 

Day 2: Our stock dried overnight so we loaded up the Bolex and went outside to film. With our handmade emulsion, we were able to shoot 24fps with a 1.4 f-stop. But seriously...1.4 f-stop! After exposing our film stock, we developed the negative, made a contact print and developed that.

Each step the film was being developed, we were really just hoping that an image would show up, that the hours we spent cramped with strangers in a small dark room was worth it because we had an image. And success! We had an image.