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Can you tell us a bit about how and why you became a model? A friend of mine got into photography and asked me to be one of her models. After that, I started an account on ModelMayhem and it all kind of took off from there. I became a model because it allows freedom of expression and its such a diverse and artistic market.
How has being a model affected your life so far? So far its been nothing but a positive experience for me. I’ve been doing this for about 3 (going on 4) years. I’m so appreciative of all the feedback and love I get from people all over the world.
Is there anyone that you would like to collabWhat are your favourite styles/themes/ orate with one day? I actually have a project coming up in the near concepts to shoot? I love to do high fashion dark androgyny as future that I want to keep a surprise! I’m so exwell as horror and gore shoots. I love concepts cited for it and its been really hard keeping it a centered around fantasy and surrealism. secret. As for a specific person, I’d love to work with Mathu Andersen one day. He has such an amazing aesthetic. Are there any styles that you would love to explore in the future? I’m currently experimenting with the more What does the future hold for you? masculine side of androgyny. Think Loki if he A successful career in makeup! dressed in Midgardian clothing. What have been some of your most memora- WEBSITE LINK: http://www.facebook.com/ianmachinemodel ble photoshoots? One of my absolute favorite photoshoots has been with Juliet Newton (JNN Photography). She captures fashion so well. Her lighting and editing is phenomenal. Working with her was such a fabulous opportunity. I highly suggest you check out her work.
Away from the modelling world, what else do you get up to? I recently quit my boring desk job to pursue a career in makeup. I’m hoping it will open more doors for me and allow me to travel more.
all the pictures you see were all done in house. I work with a lot of compositing and would like to aim my studies in visual effects. Miniature sets are something I enWhen did you first start having an interest in joy making and scaling the models down into size to portray a fantasy surreal look too comphotography? My girlfriend Miss Sammie lyn started doing plicated to build in real-life. This year I’m fopin-up modeling as I would attend every shoot cusing on magazine editorial publications. The with her shot by various photographers. I start- goal is to get Cover. ed visually observing each photographers techniques, lighting rations, the style of shooting, What’s a daily work schedule for you like? their editing etc. I came from a media arts back- How many clients or “customers” do you ground for filmmaking and thought editorial get? photography is not different than making mov- Typically it’s 2/3 models a month with 4 to 6 ies. So I started investing into studio equipment edits posted online as how it’s been in the past. and researched as much information regarding Right now focusing primarily on publications, I photography from there. I want to say everyhave been working with one model a month and thing has been self taught though. building the sets, themes preparing and editing all 10 images. So that’s what the work schedule looks like. Take in account I have 3 little girls at What type of education do you need to get home which is the family I come home to, a full you where you’re at today with photogtime job and life also to live. I am trying to raphy? I’m learning new things all the time and want to build my fan base so as far as costumers go, I keep it that way. Trial and error is the best tool I see it as – the better work you produce the more can ask for. There are a lot of flaws I try fix in popular paid models your going to get for your my edits but their only there because I chalpictures. lenge myself. Drive and inspiration come from those you look up to. I see photographers I ad- What is the regular salary that a photogramire and want to be just like them, or make pher makes? stuff like they do. Schooling helps, but if you Wedding photographers can make some pretty have the “drive” meaning self-education, there’s good cash, fashion photographers I’ve seen no stopping as to how far you can go. All some here in the valley charge up to $500 for schooling does is help you obtain a decent pay- only 4 to 6 picture edits. There can be a big ing job to afford the equipment needed to market in photography if you make it an art achieve your dreams. Or help get you there fast- form and become a vendor stretching canvas er. But it doesn’t come close to drive. and selling them at first Friday events, art walks and conventions. Gallery exhibit fine art photographers can get paid bank if you start aucWhat types of work do you do? I would like to call myself an editorial photog- tioning off some pretty amazing work with rapher. I’m still very new to the title and yet some nice frames. I really don’t know how have to explore the horizons a bit to discover much you can make as a photographer if done what I’m best at. I shoot in my living room so full time. Probably not much.
Did anyone inspire you to start this career, like famous photographers, friends, or even a family member? Yes, local photographers inspired me to start shooting. Then once I got my feet wet I started looking into national photographers from different states that had larger fans based on their work. Still influence by the many, I will always go back to my filmmaking roots and delve into my favorite movie directors, producers and visual effects artists. What are some things to consider when taking a beauty, fashion or editorial snapshot? I have no idea? maybe know what you’re doing so you don’t choke when shooting. Have a game plan mapped out. You should already have lighting rations set up and exposure locked. I’m still new to the game so I learn every time I get experience on a shoot.
What do you as a photographer mostly take pictures of? People, clothing, miniature models and sets, props, Do you have any tips or advice for future photographer wannabes? Save your money or get a good job so it doesn’t take that long to save money, then buy the gear, practice, learn how to use the gear and learn how to edit with good software, practice, find inspiration and follow people you want to be like, practice, challenge yourself and repeat. I think after that once you evaluate your timeline you’ll notice you have become very successful at what you do. In the words of John F. Kennedy:
“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things. Not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
HBO's award-winning phenomenon Game of Thrones almost didn't happen. A skeptical author, shift of power within the network and an abysmal first pilot were a few of the obstacles producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss encountered between conception of the project in 2006 and the series premiere on April 17, 2011. Benioff got hooked on George R. R. Martin's book series A Song of Ice and Fire after the first chapter. He told Weiss, a friend from grad school, it would make a great HBO show. Weiss devoured the series and agreed whole-heartedly. The next step was getting the author on board. George R. R. Martin, a prolific writer, has worked in television as writer, story consultant and producer for shows such as the new Twilight Zone, Max Headroom, and Beauty and the Beast. His first-hand knowledge of how stories do (and do not) translate to screen has made him leery of requests to adapt his epic fantasy. Benioff and Weiss warmed him up with frank talk of violence, nudity, HBO and Thrones. Both producers have written novels and worked on screenplays, set or both, which put Martin's mind at ease. Collaboration amongst the three could bypass common writer-versus-production pitfalls. The unanimous decision was made: Peter Dinklage must play the character Tyrion if they moved forward, and if possible Sean Bean should be gotten for Eddard Stark. The would-be directors cinched his approval by passing his final exam: "Who is Jon Snow's real mother?" (Sorry, neither Dave and Dan nor G.R.R.M. have given the answer. Yet.) The fantasy genre has always had a niche audience. Series like The Dresden Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Xena: Warri-
or Princess have fiercely loyal fandoms, but don't usually scream "success!" to network executives. Benioff and Weiss knew they faced an uphill battle, but they had a strategy. HBO, they pointed out, excelled at taking genre programs and reinventing them: gangsters (Sopranos), westerns (Deadwood) and family drama (Six Feet Under) had been huge successes for them. Not only was fantasy an untapped well, but A Song of Ice and Fire was particularly well-suited for HBO's notorious sex and gore filled line-up. Whatever they said was right, because they were approved to shoot a pilot. The pilot they
filmed (with Jennifer Ehle as Catelyn Stark and Tamzin Merchant as Daenerys Targaryen) never aired. The script had "very basic, fundamental mistakes", according to Benioff. During a personal screening, several people missed a major plot point - Cersei and Jaime Lannister are siblings. During this time, HBO was undergoing a major renovation. Benioff and Weiss had to re-pitch their idea to new CEO Richard Plepler and programming coordinator Michael Lombardo. They got the thumbs up for ten episodes (including a new pilot), and they were off! "One of the things I've come to really appreciate is a certain amount of unpredictability in my fiction," Martin says. He doesn't like it when everyone is calm, relaxed and sure the good guys are going to win because, well, that's how it happens, right? Not in Westeros. Anything goes in Westeros. Benioff and Weiss, whose goal was to get to a pivotal event in season three before the show was cancelled, have been true to his work and ideals. In the very first
So why do Thronies subject themselves to emotional upheaval, blood, sex, excitement, adrenaline, blood, sex, politics, power plays, blood and sex every week? Because the visual effects are amazing. (The Battle of Blackwater had flaming green water!) The attention to detail is superb. (Sansa Stark's wedding gown had a lion and direwolf picked out in seed pearls.) The acting is to die for. (Michelle Fairley strained her vocal cords shooting the Red Wedding.) Maybe because it is a gritty, no-gloss look at the ugly realities in mankind's history, told with snow-zombies(!), dragons(!) and a bit of magic. Oh, the things we do for love...
episode, which had 2.2 million viewers, snow-zombies make body part art, a man is beheaded, a child-bride is sold, twins make wild monkey love, and a little boy is flung from a tower. Even though we've barely met these people, we care! The characters are so well-written, well-cast and wellplayed it doesn't take long to get swept up in their lives. From little Bran's "accident" (did they really do that to Sean Bean's kid?) to the (aw yeah, dragons!) closing shot, they keep you twisting, turning, gasping and aware that nobody (and they mean nobody) is safe. Just how GRRM wants it. Every season makes viewers love, or hate, the noble families of Westeros and the exiles in Essos a little more. There is always at least one huge reveal, battle, game -changer or tragedy. Benioff and Weiss got to film the Red Wedding in season three, an event which had 5.22 million viewers and spawned "reaction videos" as readers preyed upon unsuspecting friends and family. The Purple Wedding (season four, episode three) was attended by 6.6 million viewers, most shedding joyful tears or dancing on living room furniture. Certain characters, scenes and even minor plot lines have strayed a little from the written works, but those are the "pitfalls" Benioff, Weiss and Martin expected from the beginning. Books in a five-volume series (two more are expected before the end), totaling almost two million words and written in POV chapters cannot be done justice without a little tweaking. Viewers don't have the luxury of flipping back a few pages to clear up a few details - they have to know without doubt that Cersei and Jaime are siblings, or the rest of the show is lost.
*Possible Spoilers in this article.* Not in the least disappointed by that finale. I was on the edge of my seat through that whole episode. I just knew someone was going to die and I had prepared myself as best as I could. With all of the attention on Rick and Carl I was so concerned they were going to kill off Carl and that was not something I could have remotely prepared myself for. So I was glad that Carl made it through that episode. They really broke some boundaries with keeping their whole cast intact through that finale. Everyone has just grown so accustomed to loosing someone in the finales that it was great that they went against that. The whole season was yet another head scratcher and making you wonder what the world would be like if the zombie apocalypse actually happened and the scenarios they come up with are so plausible. I can see the world turning into this place where no one living can be trusted. I find this true almost in the present. When I would ghost hunt I and my fellow paranormal investigators had a saying that we feared the living more than the ghost's. So this world that The Walking Dead has created does not veer too much from reality in my opinion. But it is interesting to see this through the characters eyes. To be able to see what one decision no matter how small can have such an effect on yourself and even the others around you. It really tests your morals and even blurs the lines you think you have set in your moral standards. ******Now there could be even more in depth spoilers after this point. So you have been given a warning. You should probably turn back now if you have not seen this season and it's finale.****** Carol was faced to make a few hard decisions in this season. She was a great character to watch and put yourself in her place. Is it good to teach children how to wield a weapon? Is it okay to kill someone for the betterment of the people around you, even if that someone happens to be a troubled little girl? I do think she was right to teach the kids how to protect themselves, and that was proven when the prison came under attack. Those kids ended up saving a few of the characters and probably would not have been able to do that had they not been taught to. As for killing someone for the bet-
terment, I think Carol in both cases she had to make that decision, that she made the right choice. If that illness outbreak could have been potentially stopped by killing Karen and David, that could have been a smart decision, besides at that point in the story line there really was no way to save those characters. They would have died most likely anyways. But I know if it had been up to me. I would not have chosen that route. I would have let them live and waited to see how it played out. As for having to kill Lizzie, that was such a heartbreaking decision. But clearly that kid was messed up, and it's not like there are facilities that could take her in and give her the mental help she needed. She was clearly a threat to keep around. I just wish there would have been an easier more humane way to take care of that situation. One thing that was pointed out by the character Joe is that we are getting down to the nitty gritty of people, a few good people have survived, but for the most part the bad guys are the ones that are really holding on pretty strong. That group of guys were just so much trouble. I hated that Darrel ended up with them, but he did well keeping himself good, and not slipping back to his old ways, even when faced with loosing everyone that matters to him (Where's BETH!!!). And can I just say that even though it was totally gross and gory I don't think Joe could have had a better, more deserved death than Rick taking a chunk out of his throat just like a zombie! In this season we also got to meet some new characters and some of them even survived till the end to go on to the next season. I look forward to seeing more of Tara. I think that she will be a great asset. She has already proven her loyalty and really shows remorse for what she took part in, in the attack on the prison. Then there are our favorite newcomers straight from the comic, Eugene, Abraham, and Rosita. I know a lot of people were very excited to meet these characters outside the comic and on the show. I actually have not read all of the comics just some of them and have not made it to these characters, but I hear that they are almost spot on to their comic counterparts. I am so curious to know what Dr. Eugene knows about the zombie virus and if he really knows how to stop it. I think I may have to delve more into the comics to find out more on that, but then again I like watching the show and seeing it all first hand without any prior knowledge from the comics.
And then of course there is Terminus. Where we meet Gareth and his cannibal crew, also from the comic books. What the freak was that! Cannibals! I kind of knew something like that would be the outcome. I just didn't trust that scene with the older women at the grill. Made me think of the Walking Dead game when you meet the mother of the cannibal family on there. But I was really hoping I was wrong on that one. But alas I wasn't and now our characters are stuck in a storage container being prepped for dinner. I do however love the glint in Rick's eye when he says that the people in Terminus are screwing around with the wrong people. Because really they don't know who they are dealing with. This cast of characters have been through so much and have even been separated, but yet at the end of the season here they are, they found their way back to each other (most of them at least) and if anyone can make it out of this, it would be them. Even if these are cannibalistic creeps. Our characters will find a way. Hopefully without loosing anyone in the process. I find that very unlikely, but one can hope, can't they?
For those of us who cherish horror films, catching wind of a remake on the horizon caus-
Admittedly, at this moment in film history even talking about the remake phenomenon is
es us both to wince in anticipation of the retinal- passé, and a basic internet search will pull up a trauma to follow and to inwardly retch over the
dozen lists of the best and worst remakes, all
surely unnecessary exploitation of what we con- filled with many of the same films we’ll look at sider to be largely classic films. We horror aficio- here. However, discussing and re-discussing nados hold our coveted favorites close to our
these films, like any text, is how we the public
hearts, signifying as they do particular moments control, reshape, and direct the courses of these in our lives – usually those of childhood and ad- works, and I encourage anyone reading this to olescence, those formative years in which we
email in and add to this discussion. Where am I
determine what kind of adults we’ll be. This be-
right? Where am I wrong? What’s missing?
ing the case, we view the remaking of these
Hopefully we’ll get enough friendly responses to
films as more than artless effronteries; we view
do a follow-up piece in the future.
these films as acts of war against our individual
I’ve organized the following films into
subjectivities. Yet, despite the gnashing of teeth three categories, the good, the bad, and the brilassociated with horror remakes, sometimes a
liant, with each organized chronologically, and
work comes along that not only does justice to
then I provide what I hope to be succinct rea-
the original, but contributes to its ongoing my-
sons for their inclusions in those categories. As
thos as well, joining a select handful of remakes with any such compilation, there could potentialwhose creators were not satisfied to be mere
ly have been dozens of films in each of the be-
imitators.
low categories, but I have limited myself to a small handful.
The Good:
the-time exploration of female sexuality, Paul
House of Wax (1953): Calm down. Check the
Schrader’s more grisly remake, which admittedly
date. I’m not talking about the 2005 Paris Hilton
leaves little to the imagination, shouldn’t be dis-
vehicle. I get a sense
missed. Though it subverts the original’s clever
that sometimes it’s for-
shadow-play by displaying both the sexuality and
gotten that Andre de
the beastly transformations in no uncertain terms,
Toth’s early experi-
it does manage to create and maintain an atmos-
ment in 3D filmmaking
phere of uncomfortable dread, thanks in part to
is a remake of the ex-
beautiful cinematography, the David Bowie
cellent Michael Curtiz
soundtrack, and Nastassja Kinski’s strangely af-
directed Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) star- fected performance. ring Lionel Atwill and the original scream queen, Fay Wray. In the remake, Vincent Price steals the The Blob (1988):
show as the horrifically deformed Professor Jar-
Let’s face it; the 1958
rod in a role that predicts that of Dr. Phibes, one
original starring a pre-
of Price’s most famous roles, some twenty years
awesome Steve
later. Look for a young, pre-fame Charles Bron-
McQueen is the per-
son as Price’s mute strongman.
sonification of goofiness, and is frankly
Cat People (1982):
not scary in the least. The remake, on the other
Though the 1942
hand, while not necessarily scary, is certainly
Jacques Tourneur/Val
more inventive and gruesome, though the original
Lewton original most
can lord the most infectious theme song ever at-
likely remains the better
tached to any movie over the remake. Look it up
film with its daring-for-
if you’re unfamiliar.
and terrifies. The remake maintains enough elNight of the Living Dead (1990): Tom Savini’s
ements from Sam Raimi’s original to recognize
remake doesn’t per-
the latter’s framework beneath the new struc-
form on the same
ture, but it stretches a brand new bloody pelt
level as Romero’s
across that structure that is shockingly raw.
1968 original, but its
Controversial due to the beloved cult status of
heart is in the right
the original and its absence of Bruce Camp-
place. An African-
bell’s Ash (closing credit cameo notwithstand-
American protago-
ing), the remake has nonetheless earned its
nist doesn’t mean as
own place of respect in the collections of horror
much in 1990 as it did in 1968, so Savini wisely hounds for truly expanding the mythos of the scrambles the character traits of the figures
Evil Dead franchise.
from Romero’s film to keep things fresh. Strangely, though Savini is mostly known as a
The Bad:
special-effects guru, I find that the effects in the The Haunting (1999): Simply put, when shad1990 film have aged poorly in comparison with
owy atmosphere is pit-
the original. Still. Tony Todd though. Right?
ted against thoroughly unconvincing digital ef-
Evil Dead (2013): A true re-imagining of the
fects, the former is go-
1981 original. With
ing to win every time.
tongue violently ripped
The 1963 Robert Wise
from cheek, this first
original is still unsettling
feature-length project
after all these years, and that’s not based simp-
from director Fede Al-
ly on the merits of its former glory and perma-
varez both grosses out
nent position on the list of greatest horror films
of all time; watch it alone in the dark on a stormy
plaining about the abundance of origin stories in
night and that statement will be proven true. How- the three Star Wars prequels, once said that peo-
ever, after watching the 1999 remake I wager
ple don’t care where the cool stuff they love
you’ll never give the newer film a second thought. comes from, that they just love the stuff they love. The same can be said of Zombie’s ill-conceived The Wicker Man (2006): Apparently Nicolas Cage film. The original Michael Myers is an inexplicais a big fan of the 1973 original, but if he wanted
ble, undefinable force of evil; revealed further,
to share his love of this
he’s just a crazy guy.
movie with a wider audience he should have
Clash of the Titans (2010): Okay, I know this is
just re-released it in the-
technically not a horror film, but the 1981 fantasy
aters rather than under-
epic starring Harry Hamlin and the amazing stop-
take this rather stiff, un-
go creatures of Ray Harryhausen deserved a bet-
inspired re-imagining. In
ter remake than it got in 2010. Sam “milquetoast”
recent interviews, both
Worthington and a slew of CGI creatures with un-
Christopher Lee and Robin Hardy rightly express inspired designs their displeasure with this poor re-treading of their clogged up the 1973 classic.
screen for far too long, and though
Halloween (2007): What the John Carpenter origi- Laurence Olivier nal (1978) leaves open-ended,
phoned in his lines
Rob Zombie’s remake spoils
as obviously as did
like a little kid sneaking an ear-
Liam Neeson, it
ly peek at Christmas presents.
works towards the whole camp-appeal of the old-
Comedian Patton Oswalt, com-
er film and falls flat in the latter. The moment in
the remake I find unforgivable is when the me-
on anyone’s Halloween playlist twenty years from
chanical owl from the original is found in a trunk
now.
and discarded as junk, which is basically the same as spitting in the face of the original film; if
The Brilliant:
you’re going to remake a film, even badly, at least The Thing (1982): This film and the next one represpect the foundation you’re building upon.
resent remakes that surpassed the originals
Fright Night (2011): It’s not the film as a whole
both formally and the-
that’s not as good
matically to such ex-
as the original, it’s
tents that the films’ titles
mostly just the cast:
mainly bring the re-
for all their efforts,
makes to mind, with the
Colin Farrell and
originals relegated to
David Tennant are
interesting nostalgia pieces only. John Carpen-
just neither as
ter’s The Thing, a re-imagining of the Howard
charming nor as
Hawks/Christian Nyby directed The Thing from
convincing in their respective roles as are Chris
Another World (1951), is sci-fi/horror at its best.
Sarandon and Roddy McDowall. Granted, at
Besides the chilling, isolated environment, the
some point in the original film each actor delivers
paranoid fear, and the still-gruesome special ef-
lines that are epically histrionic, but the 1985 film
fects, The Thing, like all good sci-fi, represents
also doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is part analogies to contemporary social issues. In the of why it’s left such an indelible impression on lov- case of The Thing, that issue is Reagan-era Cold ers of 80’s American horror films, whereas I have
War paranoia, and its sentiments are summarized
a strong feeling the newer version will not still be
no better than in the film’s final moments between Kurt Russell’s MacReady and Keith David’s
Childs, one or both of whom may actually not be Goldblum’s Seth Brundle from man with a fully what they appear to be, eyeing each other suspi- constituted subjective identity into the primordial ciously while they “wait around for a little while,”
fly/human hybrid, besides being horrific at the
to “see what happens.” Now, the 1951 film is al-
basic level of genre expectations, is also a heart-
so quite gripping, especially for the time, and its
breaking picture of a man who is gradually sub-
portrayal of fear over nuclear destruction rings
sumed and erased. As Brundle collects discard-
just as true now as then, but the 1982 film,
ed pieces of his physical body in the bathroom
simply put, is an all-around tighter production,
cabinet, he is aware as fully as is the audience
replete with all the proper elements required to
that this is a man whose subjectivity is both psy-
create what might actually be John Carpenter’s
chically and physically diminishing to an end that
greatest film.
seems both tragically obvious and unavoidable. I love the 1958 film, but its themes, in Cronen-
The Fly (1986): David Cronenberg’s masterpiece berg’s hands, are taken to a finish whose begin-
of body-horror takes the thematic foundation of the Vincent Price original (1958) and transforms it from your basic scienceexperiment-run-amok film into a commentary on the shifting nature of personal identity that is still unmatched, even by Cronenberg, whose body of work deals with this issue again and again. The progression (regression?) of Jeff
nings are only teased in the original.