christian peterson

I know it’s May already, but this year, I want to tell stories and help others tell theirs. So if you have things to say, ideas to share, emotions to convey, then please connect with me and let’s create meaning together! #creativity #tellingstories

On a similar note, thanks to my friend and CMK Media business partner Michael MK Siu for the amazing opportunity of going to China and helping with his documentary. I look forward to the next trip and to really digging deeper into this fascinating topic! #makingdocs #fortheloveoffilm #ChongqingGirls

Last Sunday I flew from Montreal to Toronto after a week shooting the student movement against the rise in tuition fees. It was very early morning, it was raining, and I decided to snap a few shots out the window. Here’s one I kind of liked.

Finally, here it is! Give your opinion, share with your friends!

SYNOPSIS

‘Chromophobia’ is an abstract fiction short about a young woman waking up in the belly of the city. Disoriented, painfully aware of the coldness of the (near) empty city, she meanders through its abandoned streets, searching for a destination. Her struggle turns into motion poetry as she discovers, in very tactile fashion, the derelict urban environment. In the end, she reaches a wall of light. Fascinated, she reaches in, only to be engulfed by it.

CREDITS

A film by CHRISTIAN PETERSON
With JENNIFER TU-ANH PHAN
Post-Production Consulting MICHAEL MK SIU
Music courtesy of MOBY through mobygratis.com

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

‘Chromophobia’ is a film about the beauty of cities at night, it is a love story between a woman that is lost and her environment, at once hostile and wildly poetic. The abandonment of the streets, coupled with the still lit neon signs all around town, creates a sort of floating world in which we can perceive the potential for human interaction, yet witness the desertion of the urban spaces the character briefly inhabits. Most North American cities are diurnal organisms that shut themselves down after the last partygoers have gone home. Somehow, though, the city never truly sleeps: it still, at any point in time and space, create movement, noise and light.

SYNOPSIS

‘Chromophobia’ is an abstract fiction short about a young woman waking up in the belly of the city. Disoriented, painfully aware of the coldness of the (near) empty city, she meanders through its abandoned streets, searching for a destination. Her struggle turns into motion poetry as she discovers, in very tactile fashion, the derelict urban environment. In the end, she reaches a wall of light. Fascinated, she reaches in, only to be engulfed by it.

CREDITS

A film by CHRISTIAN PETERSON
With JENNIFER TU-ANH PHAN
Post-Production Consulting MICHAEL MK SIU
Music courtesy of MOBY through mobygratis.com

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

‘Chromophobia’ is a film about the beauty of cities at night, it is a love story between a woman that is lost and her environment, at once hostile and wildly poetic. The abandonment of the streets, coupled with the still lit neon signs all around town, creates a sort of floating world in which we can perceive the potential for human interaction, yet witness the desertion of the urban spaces the character briefly inhabits. Most North American cities are diurnal organisms that shut themselves down after the last partygoers have gone home. Somehow, though, the city never truly sleeps: it still, at any point in time and space, create movement, noise and light.

You may remember a post I wrote in September of 2010 about a ‘first fashion video.’Well, a year later, it’s finally (I think) ready. So yes, ‘Chromophobia’, an experimental/abstract/fashion/narrative film featuring my beautiful girlfriend, J., will be coming your way soon. Please, while I finalize the strategy on how to release/publicize this, check out the thumbnails below and, perhaps, let me know which you prefer?

A small re-cap of my day at the wonderful Osheaga music festival in Montreal. Our gig was to follow Damian from Fucked Up and Kevin Drew from Broken Social Scene and they went about their day, hanging out, interviewing people, being interviewed, and preparing to perform. I tried to cut this into a fun, effortless piece to watch focusing on the ambiance and the people at the festival. Enjoy!

A Day at Osheaga from Christian Peterson on Vimeo.

Featuring: John Butler Trio, Sam Roberts Band, Death from Above 1979, Lupe Fiasco

Thanks to:
Kristine, Manny & Jonathan at Much
Justin Agustin
Damian (Pink Eye) from Fucked Up
Kevin Drew from Broken Social Scene

Music:
Take me to the Riot by The Stars

From my apartment’s balcony… I don’t look outside as much as I should!

A few photos I took of the mounting of Philip Beesley’s art installation Sargasso, exhibited at Brookfield Place until Saturday. Go check it out, support local art. Seriously!

The installation is a large scale ‘mass’ of intricate pieces: ‘weightless’ feather elements, inflating bellows, long, sharp blades, beautiful clear plastic spider connectors, as well as reacting computerized parts. Suspended inside Santiago Calatrava’s stunning building, the work of Beesley (an internationally-acclaimed fine artist and professor at the University of Waterloo’s School of Architeture) creates an unexpected disjunction of the public space, thus raising forcing us to question how we act/react/interact with(in) our city environment(s).

From Luminato’s website:

A worldwide pioneer in the fast-growing field of responsive architecture, Beesley and his team of collaborators pose the question “could architecture come alive?” In reply he creates spaces that dissolve into forest-like hovering fields, kin to primitive life-forms within dense jungles and ocean reefs. These responsive environments offer bodily immersion and wide-flung perception. In this new installation, Beesley combines visionary design with high-tech digital engineering to turn an everyday public space into a world of wonder.

Sargasso refers to the vast, tangled floating masses of living matter and cast-off material that drifts at the centre of the Atlantic. The environment within the sweeping atrium of the Allen Lambert Galleria makes a vast canopy, a sanctuary that slowly shifts and floats above the city. The building is no longer an entity of steel, glass, and stone but a participant in a symbiotic artistic event that shapes the nature of the environment itself.

Hope you enjoy the images!

Yesterday I woke up at 9 am to do some work on my buddy Mister Park’s debut music video. It had been a while since we’d shot and it felt like the video had to be done so we could launch it into the world and move on to new challenges. JP (the natural spitster known as Mister Park) met up with me around noon and, after a brief stop at McDonalds and a quick meeting with a friend who’s editing a demo reel using some of my footage, we got down to business and worked non-stop for about five hours. At 6:30, I had to take a break… which consisted of doing an engagement shoot at Harbourfront with Paul from One2 Photography, with whom I’m doing  a lot of wedding work these days (he’s really awesome, by the way, and we do some killer, high-end photo/video packages). After my shoot with Paul, I reconvened with Mister Park over at our friends Adam, JD and Tee (from Triple City Entertainment)‘s pad to get a sense of the response we might get to the video. And, well, while their response was great, I still felt like the video needed work, especially in terms of color grading and titling, so we got back to work and, hours and hours and hours later, we had something that was 99% ready. Today, I’ve taken it really cool (quick nap, chicken-curry-poutine-run, returning movies at Blockbuster, long nap…) and now I’m putting the finishing touches in preparation of releasing the video next week. Strategy isn’t 100% clear yet, so if you want to know when we actually put it out, subscribe to my blog here (button on the right-hand -bar) or my twitter and you will hear about it first thing!

In the meanwhile, here are some teaser images…