I now have my own IMDB page! (Well, I figured that it was about time....) At some point someone is going to look for me there, and I want them to be able to find me. Is that a vain statement? Perhaps. Check it out: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4143195/

Photo taken by: Anastasiia Sapon. 2009

IMDB page!

There is now an IMDB page for Belle Nouveau! It's a small step, but it feels good to be able to search for my film on IMDB, since it is a site that I often use. Belle Nouveau 2010

Belle Nouveau trailer

medium: super 8 film transferred to digital video

Directed by: Cassandra Sechler

Starring: Katie Benn, Cassandra Sechler, and Hilary Sullivan

music by: blackbody

release date: 2010

Finally entering my film into a few local festivals. Ready for rejection or ready for recognition. Either way, I am kicking my ass into gear for a productive run for the rest of 2010.

This article from New Scientist about gender typing and how to reshape the ways in which parents mold their children into level-headed human beings is refreshing and uplifting as well as rich with research. Check it out:"Out with Pink and Blue: Don't Foster the Gender Divide."

Using a different music track and new footage, here is a special cut of Belle Nouveau.

Cassandra Sechler 2010.

Belle Nouveau

The number of women in the computing field is at an all time low even though they are encouraged more than ever to join. Something is keeping women away. Perhaps it is because despite “advances” in women’s rights, the media continues to display women as incapable, passive users of computers and related technology. Advertisements and videogames glorify and hyper-sexualize the female, making it harder for women to escape the embedded gendertypes constructed by the media.

Despite the fact that the idea of a utopian post gender world is in the future with the fantasy of the cyborg, will our society be able to surpass the mediated identity already embedded in us? Or will the gendered nature of technology continue to perpetuate stereotypes and define women as the female characters that man has dreamt up?

Belle Nouveau is about control and the myth of identity in a post gender world. It investigates the appeals and effects of advertisements and technology and asks: Who will have control over their identity in the future: The media? Technology? Or ourselves?

Here is the first cut of Belle Nouveau:

Crystal Allen, senior open house 2010

I was so happy to run into my friend Crystal Allen at San Francisco State University's 2010 Senior Open House a couple weeks ago. Her latest sculptural film project is fabulous! If she is interested, I am hoping to include her film in my opening for Qualia.

Belle Nouveau

I got to watch my super 8 footage for my "Belle Nouveau" project on Tuesday: it turned out great! A few scenes were a bit overexposed or out of focus, but I expected that and am okay with it. Happy mistakes. Now I am just waiting for the film post to transfer it to mini dv so that I can edit it. Tonight I am actually going to shoot some additional scenes that can either work with this project or act as stock footage to use at a later time.

The Untitled Film Project

I feel as though the shoot this week went pretty well. I had a great time filming and acting in my project.

I am excited to drop the film off at the film post tomorrow. I will then hastily wait for them to get it processed, transferred, and returned to me.

I really can't wait to start editing this! I feel incredibly motivated to get this show on the road as well as tie up loose ends with my puppet project, Qualia.

Sometimes it takes a while to put particular pieces together in order to create a narrative, but when ideas hit you...they really hit you.

works in progress

It annoys me to say that my puppet project is on the back burner for now. But this is not such a bad thing because I am using my time wisely and working on a short horror film, where I get to work with actors, make-up, and super 8 again! This summer I will be back on track with Qualia with a clear mind, ready for intensive editing.

Craig and I are finally finished recording the sounds for Qualia. It was fun playing the violin again, even if the session was improvised. It came almost naturally after I finally let go and just played!

You can check out our progress and download sound fx on our myspace

the window, an experiment in time-lapse photography via webcam

Have you ever let something in your life go unnoticed?
In my apartment I have three windows: one in the bathroom, one in the bedroom, and one in the dining room. Both the curtains for the windows in the bedroom and bathroom remain closed for privacy. Needless to say, they do not let in much light. Although the window in the corner of the dining room lets in some light, its awkward placement only lets in the best light when the sun is rising but is later blocked by the awning and surrounding wall and fence. Natural light is at its most beautiful on clear days between 6 am to 10 am. I am hardly ever home to enjoy it.

This project explores how light affects an environment in both its mood and beauty, whether someone is there to appreciate it or not. The corner of the house that usually appears meaningless in my life becomes an attraction.

I documented the changes in light that occur and go unseen using time lapse technology. I set up a web camera to record the window in my dining room from sunrise to sunset. I also desaturated the image being recorded so that it would be black and white for the viewer to further illustrate the beauty of light and shadows. The effects are quite extraordinary (in my opinion):

Watch as a mere decoration in the corner of my dining room takes on another life through changes in ligh
t.

Hot or Not

Today I was reflecting on an art intervention that I did on the website HotorNot.com to comment on the definition of (stereotypical) beauty. I kept record of my feelings and photographed the beautification process that I put myself through to become the ideal me. I called this project "Becoming the Monster." The final photographs were exhibited at the Spring Show at San Francisco State University's CIA Gallery in 2009.


What is Hot or Not?
HOT or NOT is a web site that dedicates itself to being "a vibrant Social Entertainment Network™" that has millions of members via their photo sharing, rating and meet/dating features. The web site enables members to rate and review both people and products. With a short introduction of 250 characters and 3 images as well as image tags with descriptions, each to give some sort of window to your personality so that other members will want to meet you. Members can even send virtual gifts with messages to encourage meetings and ratings-- and, yes, they cost money. Members of the site must then rate other members to continue to get ratings and meet people. The average user seems to check their rating every few hours.



What I did to intervene this social network
It was this world of self branding and competitiveness that I thought would be interesting to intrude. I came up with two profiles that were both for the same fictitious person, Bianca-- one "hot" and one "not." One profile was made to act as a superficial, stereotypically "hot," depressed female user, and the other profile was to act as the personified emotions of that person-- self conscious and distressed. The outfit and posture were similar in the photographs that I had taken to post, but the make-up and facial expressions, as well as the introductions and tags, created for their profiles, differed in order


Results
What I wasn't ready for was for my pictures to be denied! Several times I had to edit and re-post photos of myself for the "not" Bianca, while the photos of the "hot" Bianca were approved right away, even though they technically weren't that different from each other (except for the make-up). After re-posting several times, one of my pictures was finally approved, but my new introduction was denied. I suppose the moderators could argue that I was wearing lingerie, posing pornographically, or that I might not be "real." After all, my picture didn't necessarily embody the "clean, real, and fun" atmosphere that they wanted-- it exposed the underlying grotesque qualities of the site. to connote mimicry of the site and offer sarcasm.

Feelings About the Intervention
When I decided to infiltrate HOT or NOT, I knew that it would be degrading. But it was worse than I thought. It brought attention to my low self esteem and made me obsessed with my seemingly low score. Even with being comfortable with knowing that I am not the "norm," the very act of checking my rating everyday came to bother me, which only further proved the negative effects of such a superficial community.

It's funny. I still occasionally check up on my hotornot.com account. And it still depresses me.

female artists

Finding myself today wishing that it was easier for artists to get paid and respected for their work without turning their art into a commodity. People pour their hearts into work that never gets seen or recognized. Why/ how does this happen? Is it the nature of the beast.... is this society's doing... or the fault of the artist?

I could ramble on all day, but check out this video, "Hippodrome Mime" by Ginnetta Correli-- in my opinion, she is really doing some great stuff:

Today I posted a few of my film props on Craigslist. I don't know why anyone else would want them, but what the hell, right? It's better than a trip to the dump...although, I'll admit that it feels a bit strange-- like I'm whoring out my baby or something.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/art/1568543331.html

My partner, Craig Jacobson, and I can't wait to share our soundtrack work for my upcoming film Qualia. For the time being, people can download free sound fx and songs on our myspace page: myspace.com/dreamsfordeadcats.

What I love about sound fx is just how different they can sound depending on what they are used for, who is using them, and how they are used.

Wish me luck on recording this week!

Qualia trailer