Circle In The Sand - A documentary film about love, hope and forgiveness.

For the month of June I travelled with Nadia Ackerman, singer / songwriter, and a simplified version of her band ( Harvey Jones and David M Patterson ) on a music tour across Australia. Starting in Sydney Nadia had to overcome many obstacles along the way. Not only was she the tour manager, the marketing coordinator, social media promoter, webmaster, the performer, the songwriter, the financial backer... Nadia was also confronting a 20 year old wound, the loss of her father.

The documentary film Nadia and I are creating is going to cover what it is like for independent music artists to make it in the music industry. As well as bring a personal side of the story about family, relationships, and dealing with the death of a parent.

What we've noticed through the process of making the film that timing is everything. We had some absolutely magical occurrences happen during the course of the trip across Australia. Things we can't explain unless we put a visual to the story.

This documentary film can use your support. I have set up a KickStarter project: Under Going to help fund the film. Yes... this post is quite late in the game. With only 57 hours, just over two days left to reach the funding goal your pledge is imperative to creating this film. July 5th is the deadline to reach the goal. But we are committed to making this film happen. So if you are out at the beach celebrating 4th of July I completely understand, don't forget to apply your sunblock.

Here is the link to support the KickStarter project - Under Going:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spencergordon/under-going-a-healing-process-to-release-the-past

Under Going - Hope, Strength and Love - Documentary Film

The Sydney portion of the tour was amazing! From radio interviews to raising money for a little girl named Natasha that has leukemia, live gigs to a presentation at the TDP with kids about being a singer.

On top of the whole tour there has been another side of the story. 20 years ago Nadia's father passed away. But his presence is still evident through various signs. We've had some magical occurrences let me tell you about one in particular. On June 18th Nadia and her family picked up her father's ashes from the cemetery. On this gorgeous crystal clear sunny day they scattered his ashes out to sea. I was filming from a respectful distance on the beach to give the family privacy. I had wired Nadia for sound to help capture the emotion and story. The power of the moment unfolding swept us all away to tears. I had to remove my earphones when I heard Ben, the brother, mention "I wish he was here so he could have met my kids."

Alright..... back to the magical occurence. So after the scattering of the ashes we all went for fish & chips at the Newport Arms. A beautiful serene setting for such an emotionally charged day. As we are getting out of the car at the Newport Arms parking lot Nadia asks her father for one more sign. (By the way we've had other signs along the way during this trip.) Nadia and her family are enjoying their lunch reminiscing about various stories of her father.... laughing and smiling. All of the sudden Nadia's friend Kate looks up into the sky and notices the word HOPE written in the clear blue sky. None of us heard a plane perform this acrobatic script maneuver.

The meaning of Nadia's name is HOPE.


Here is a small clip of the song "In The Middle Of My Chest." from the show at Blue Beat.


Contribute to the documentary film via my KickStarter project by clicking here.

For more information:
TDP = Talent Development Project
Nadia Ackerman

Under Going - A Documentary Film

Do you know someone that has had a traumatic life altering event happen so overwhelming it almost crushes the essence of who they are?

20 years

It was 20 years ago that Nadia's father unexpectedly passed away. A teenager at the time, this tragedy devastated Nadia. A debilitating darkness that consumed Nadia to her core crushing her natural artistic creativity. Fortunately Nadia had the sense and the strength to seek help. Through the therapy process it unchained a record's worth of heartfelt lyrics creating an album called "The Ocean Master". Nadia's artistic soul was reborn.

Journey

June 8th, I will be traveling to Nadia's homeland with a simplified version of her band. Nadia, Dave, Harvey and myself are driving across Australia. We will embark on a 3 week road trip filled with live music gigs, teaching children to sing, a family unification culminating with Nadia's releasing of her father's ashes at sea. Two decades later, a final resting place for her father and a healing milestone for Nadia.

Purpose

This project is to create a documentary film about hope, strength and love.

Nadia's story will be an inspirational film about changing one's life.

The goal is to raise $2,500 dollars via the KickStarter project. This will merely reimburse the project for the expenses mentioned below. Anything over the goal will be used to pay a professional film editor. An important task to creating a powerful and inspirational film.

Your donations will go directly towards essential film documenting equipment: external hard drives to store the many hours of film footage, video memory cards and rental fees for lighting, sound and video equipment.

Contribute TODAY! Click Here


Thank You. Your support is very much appreciated.


Be part of the experience follow the progress of the project.

Like the Under Going - Facebook Fan Page.


To find out more information about:

Nadia and her band.

Nadia Ackerman - click here

Harvey Jones - click here

David M Patterson - click here

Underground Music Video - Nadia Ackerman

Nadia came to me to create a video for a recent song called "Underground" from her new album Ocean Master released via Spectra Records. We worked on some concepts for the shoot and had a solid storyboard. During the shoot I came up with a technique that Nadia absolutely loved. The film technique took the music video in a whole new direction and inspired the final cut video.

It amazes me that even a clear vision of direction can always be altered.


Credits:
Underground
Filmed By Spencer Gordon
Produced and directed by Spencer Gordon and Nadia Ackerman
Makeup By Esma May
Music and Lyrics Written by Nadia Ackerman
From "The Ocean Master" - Spectra Records 2012
Nadia Ackerman - Vocals and Piano
Harvey Jones - Synthesizer
Jon Ossman - Bass
Produced By Harvey Jones
http://www.nadiaackerman.com

Photographer's Rights by Jon Arnold

[caption id="attachment_356" align="aligncenter" width="590" caption="What is your wish?"][/caption]
Original Article by Jon Arnold on Camera Sim.

"No Photography Allowed" | A look at photographers rights | CameraSim.

Battle at the Alamo

Last week I visited the Alamo in San Antonio Texas. When I took a picture inside one of the old buildings, I was immediately reprimanded by a docent who told me that photography was not allowed. I asked what would happen if I chose to ignore that rule, and he said he’d call security and have me forcibly removed from the premises. Sheesh. Take a pill, dude.

A paranoid store owner

A couple months ago, I was walking downtown in Palm Springs California, where I saw a fellow pedestrian admiring some dishes displayed inside a storefront window. He took out his camera, snapped a photo, and the shop door flew open. “Hey! My dishes are copyrighted, and you can’t take pictures of them!” said the man who I assumed to be the storeowner. The flustered pedestrian apologized and quickly put away his camera.

Overzealous security guards

A couple years ago, while strolling downtown Indianapolis Indiana, and taking shots of building exteriors, I was stopped by a security guard who demanded to know who I was, what I was doing, and then informed me that he needed to inspect my photos. Though he didn’t use these words, I very much felt “detained” and “released.”

One more: A few years ago, I was taking photos of some friends as we walked through a shopping mall. Not only was I stopped and questioned by security, they told me I had to delete the photos I had been taking. Not knowing I had a choice, I naively complied.

Utter madness

Now, let those stories sink in for a second: Forcible removals from public places. Harassment from store owners. Detention by security guards. Intimidation to delete one’s data.

And for what? Causing a disturbance? Endangering the public? Damaging property?

Nope. Just taking a photo.

Taking…a photo. (No matter how many times I repeat it to myself, I can’t make it make sense.)

So what does the law say?

I’m no legal expert, but the internet research I’ve done so far on this topic reveals the following:

The shop owner who scolded the guy for taking photos of his precious plates was completely out of line. No one – not storeowners or even the police – can prevent you from taking photos of whatever you want from a public place. Regarding the storeowner’s copyright cry, yes, there are laws against publishing photos of copyrighted works, not taking photos for private use.
The security guard who stopped me while I was taking photos of downtown Indianapolis was just doing his job by being paranoid. But he wasn’t a police officer, so I had no legal obligation to give him any information, to let him detained me, or show my photos to him.
The security guard at the mall also had no right to detain me, and certainly no right to make me delete my photos (apparently, even the police need a court order to do that.) Even though a shopping mall is private property, it’s open to the public so most private property rules go out the window. The photos I took that day were nothing special, but I am still filled with regret for letting a mall cop bend me over like that.
I’m not sure about the Alamo situation, and museums in general seem to be a big “grey area.” Are they private or public property? Do they have a legal right to ban photography? I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.
Photographers’ rights can unfortunately be a murky and contentious issue, and I recognize that common sense and decency play as big of a role as any law. Anyone can take photos of kids at a public playground without getting their parents’ permission, for example. Illegal? No. Creepy? Yes…don’t do it.

Educate yourself

My point here, dear reader, is that you educate yourself on what you can and can’t do with your camera. Not every battle is worth fighting, but how you exercise or forgo your civil liberties should be an informed choice that you make, not a rent-a-cop.

What about you? Have you ever been unfairly harassed for taking photos? What about all you folks from outside the US?…what are the photography laws in your country?

Further reading:

www.krages.com/phoright.htm
content.photojojo.com/tips/legal-rights-of-photographers/
www.bobatkins.com/photography/tutorials/photography_law_rights.html

The Dead Exs - All Over You - Couch by Couchwest

The concept about this video for The Dead Exs was getting it all in one take. The singer, David Patillo, originally wanted to do a dry run without video for the first take however I stated that I'm gonna roll video because you never know that take may be the ONE. We did 7 takes and guess what? The first take, the rehearsal run was the one that made the cut.

We submitted the video to Couch by Couchwest. CXCW is the slackers alternative to SXSW. During the week of March 11-18, 2012 musicians from around the world submit videos recorded on a couch, porch, bathroom…anywhere but the stage…for our enjoyment from the comfort of our living rooms. All in hopes to bring together as many people as possible who are stuck home while all their friends are stuck in the crowds of Austin, TX. So crack open a beer, crank up the volume, and enjoy the couch!

By the end of the CXCW week The Dead Exs video was the 4th most viewed! YAY!

The Dead Exs perform "All Over You" from the album Resurrection.
David Pattillo - guitar, vox
Wylie Wirth - drums
Spencer Gordon - film & edit

Do you need a video created for your band or company?
Contact Spencer Today!

Oyster + Swimwear = March Madness Basketball

[caption align="alignnone" width="600" caption=" (FREE download of brochure click on image.)"][/caption]
Oyster's swimsuit samples were straight out of the box for this photography shoot. Francess, the co-owner of the Brooklyn based company, was very excited to be photographing her "JUMP!" Spring / Summer 2012 line of swimwear. Even though the samples had their imperfections that did not stop our photography production from moving forward. That's only one of the obstacles we had to deal with that day. There were a few other challenges for example Oyster likes to work with "Real" models. Fortunately one model (Bryson) had worked with Oyster before but the other model (Margaret) was quite green. A new model can take up additional time and can cause a shoot to go off schedule.
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I've worked with many NEW models. Patience is the key. Working with new models in a friendly helpful way makes them feel comfortable. By the end of the shoot Margaret was slam dunking the poses!!! The second challenge was we were on a basketball court and when school let out, well let's just say March Madness look out! So we had to work with the kids and their pick up basketball games to negotiate them out of our shots. We eventually got one kid with his skateboard to be in a shot, which was perfect![photoshelter-img width='600' height='695' i_id='I0000eYuCofwSx2M' buy='0']
How did we come up with the basketball theme? Francess states “We wanted to challenge the idea that swimwear needs to be shot in exotic locations with busty, bombshell models. The Oyster customer is not interested in being overtly sexy, but sex appeal comes through in her confidence.” Oyster prides themselves working with natural-looking models that represent a more realistic young, female demographic.

Finally our biggest challenge was time. Being on location you never know when the weather is going to turn. The make up artist ran a bit over pushing the photography off schedule to a full court press pace. The forecast was for rain that late afternoon. For once the weather man was right that day. As our model walked onto the basketball court for our last shot the sky started dribbling rain drops. Francess was very concerned we were not going to finish. I told her not to worry. By this time the kids were gone and we had the basketball court to ourselves. We moved over under a large tree that provided us enough cover to do one last lay down shot that was the "layup" to wrapping up the photography shoot. Even though we started behind schedule due to hair & make up, model constraints, location elements I was able to shoot our entire shot list and still finish on time.

Oyster's Spring / Summer 2012 swimsuit line launches this Friday March 9th. If you are in the NY area come attend the FadMashion Show click here.

Featured Article on PDNonline / PhotoServe

Spencer Gordon Jumps Into Spring with Oyster.