Hello, and welcome to a later edition of Media Monday on Tuesday! Not all stories are narratives, and not all narratives are stories (think of dreams, for example). In this engrossing work by Francisco, can you tell which kind it is? Travel down the rabbit hole and offer an interpretation for this rich procession of images. It’s all there.
Happy Media Monday on Tuesday! I think it’s fair to say that throughout the ages, as the notion of what is art has become more and more expansive, the idea of sculpture has remained rather steady, in our minds if not in strict definition. It’s an object you see in a museum, in a park, in a house. A static prop used in a theatrical production, not part of the production itself. And yet, as far back as 1924, sculpture began to embrace movement, light, and sound, and it brought new life to many kinds of performance, including the rock concert, carving out a new future for itself. In this short film, Francisco takes us on a journey through the evolution of sculpture as it relates to performance. Enjoy!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mQ-Vp1jHg0&w=700&rel=0]
Comments Off on When Sculpture En”light”ened Rock ConcertsHappy Media Monday on Tuesday! Do you remember much of your earliest years as a child? Did anything stick out in particular? I confess, I don’t remember much of my own childhood; in sharp contrast, Francisco has very singular memories of his first years. Here is a brief, intense glimpse into his early childhood in Cuba. It’s a unique story, to say the least – one, I daresay, that few could match. Enjoy!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu0n0Vhwo_s&w=700&rel=0]
Comments Off on As a Babe in Arms in CubaHello and Happy Media Monday on Tuesday. It’s rather late in the evening to post this, but it’s been a busy day! Francisco, as you may know, hails from Cuba and had a very interesting childhood (that video to come), going from Cuba to Spain to NYC by the time he was nine. In this short film, Francisco discovers a book from his childhood education and ruminates (in the contemplative definition of the word!) on the past and the present and wonders whether or not the past has a role in today’s society.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYMm8nypXEs&w=700&rel=0]
Comments Off on Forgetting the PastHi everyone! It’s Media Monday on Tuesday (a very early Tuesday), and Spring is here, calendar-wise, even if it doesn’t feel like it. It’s hard to nail us down at CF – there’s always something to shoot, to edit, to compose, no matter which coast we’re on. I’m finding it hard to believe that we’re nearing the end of March already, but it’s true, and our projects continue, most recently on our film on Arturo Sandoval. The city of Los Angeles is declaring today to be “Arturo Sandoval Day”, and it is the perfect time to post our latest episode (6) of The Conceptualist. Arturo is compelling not only for his musical virtuosity, but also for his humanity and belief in a world made better through music. He founded the Arturo Sandoval Institute (ASI) to provide music education, scholarships, and instruments to children who want to study music but are unable to because of financial circumstances, either at home or in their cash-strapped school systems. Francisco and CF produced a beautiful short film about ASI which was shown at a recent event. Enjoy!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euAmriKNSvA&w=700&rel=0]
Comments Off on Arturo Sandoval! The Conceptualist and ASIHello! We return to our web show with some art by Andrew Neumann. Neumann’s art often consists of a melding of different types of media; for example, combining photography, machines, and film into a single work that can’t be easily categorized, but is mesmerizing to experience. Rarely are any pieces static, something is almost always in motion in some fashion. In Episode 5 of The Conceptualist, Francisco shows us some of his artwork. It’s a quiet reflection on the space, order, and distance in a room of his installations. Fans, machines offering soothing words, and That Moment in Casablanca come together in this latest web show in the series. Enjoy!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdyjDZwkKlM&w=700&rel=0]
Comments Off on The Conceptualist and Casablanca
It’s Media Monday on Tuesday – now a regular item for us.
Welcome back to The Conceptualist! Episode 4, but we decided to do a little shuffling around – you’ll find out why soon ( 😉 ) – and make it #3 instead.
In this episode, two of James’ former teachers – Jay Anania of NYU, and Francisco, formerly of Rhode Island School of Design, discuss the artistic inspiration behind some the early films that Franco made (Kenneth Anger, for example), and what Franco was exploring in his projects at NYU.
This colorful piece serves as an excellent introduction to our film, and does what several of our posts (and videos on our Youtube channel – subscribe to get all of the latest videos on all of our documentary subjects!) do – it uses B-roll footage to add to one’s understanding of a film we’re working on before you see it, rather than being tacked on to the end of a film as deleted scenes, or never seen at all. Enjoy!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQvsk-DsLms&w=700&rel=0]
Comments Off on Cut To Jay, Francisco, (and James Franco) Conceptualist pt.3It’s Media Monday on Tuesday again! I hope Labor Day was good for everyone, and that September continues to be nice weather-wise. It was a busy August here at Conceptualist Films, including the beginning of our web show, a finished music album by Francisco, and a trip to LA where we had a shoot with Arturo Sandoval. It was a very busy but fun month!
Now it is high time to introduce the second in our web series. This one is almost sparse in comparison to the first, but the noir look and style will have you shaking your head, wondering how that magic was accomplished by Francisco.
The topic is about film and setting – how so much of a film focuses squarely on the people involved, leaving the setting as just a little background noise, necessary to give characters a place in which to interact with one another. In this show, Francisco offers his idea of what the architecture itself of a building (e.g. the Eiffel Tower) can do for a film. Click and enjoy!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tgQyViVCEE&w=700&rel=0]
Comments Off on Cue the Eiffel Tower and the Conceptualist (pt. 2)
From the art and film world of author, director, and musician Francisco Ricardo, Ph.D.
Preview The Book
Losing one Path to Find Another July 12, 2016
It’s Media Monday on Tuesday again, and today’s short, powerful film discusses the journey we all must take to find our path in life. Often, it takes us far from what we know and are familiar with – what may be safe, but not true to ourselves. And too often for many people, they are dispossessed of their homes, their countries, for a variety of reasons, and find they have no choice but to seek a new path for themselves. Please enjoy this video, and subscribe to our YouTube channel, Conceptualist Films