SV Presents: Portals by Tony Ung
https://vimeo.com/195693891
On View:
December 5 – January 2 at the top of every hour
#SVLA1 screen at the Courtyard Marriott
901 W. Olympic Blvd – Los Angeles CA
On December 5,2016, StandardVision launched it’s latest site-specific live-action public art video by director and photographer Tony Ung, entitled PORTALS. PORTALS represents another new, innovative and original film in the SV Presents series; an art initiative showcasing the work of creative visual artists working within the community. The SV Presents series is a part of our goal to develop culturally relevant media channels showcasing the work of up-and-coming and established directors whose visions represent a fresh perspective within the art and filmmaking worlds.
PORTALS is a journey through earthly and galactic environments that challenges the notion of defined space, time, and reality. Enticing our inner voyeur by taking us down a visual rabbit hole that defies logic and spatial relationships. Maximizing the enormous, uniquely shaped corner screen display of SVLA1, Ung’s PORTALS seamlessly interweaves with the real world facade of the building and ingeniously utilizes the windows of the hotel as a subtle beginning and striking end point for the film’s narrative.
Tony Ung is a film director and photographer from Los Angeles who works in both the experimental and narrative film genres. Often inspired by the intersection of colorful characters and unique locations or unexpected situations, Ung’s narratives combine both practical and digitally generated special FX to create alchemist’s journeys through time and space.
Ung says of the piece: “PORTALS employs the two techniques you rarely hear in the same sentence, practical zooms and VFX compositing. In cinema, practical zooms are generally associated with having a dated feel as they were commonly used in the 70’s. PORTALS employs this so called “dated" technique and pairs it with modern day VFX compositing to achieve the effect of a seamless perpetual zoom.
In order to successfully pull off this technique, we had to use a lens with an immense zoom range so we could have each scene start with a wide establishing shot and and end with an extreme close-up. We kept the zoom rate consistent in each scene with the use of a motorized system. Each scene was then meticulously composited together to give the effect of a singular zoom.”
Portals will play at the top of every hour throughout the month of December on the Marriott Courtyard screen (aka SVLA1), located at 901 W. Olympic Blvd in downtown Los Angeles.
CREW:
Director - Tony Ung
Director of Photography - Jon Mahoney
Producer - Sinziana Velicescu
Asst. Producer - Mark Escribano
VFX - Charlie Coutrakon
1st AC / Grip / Gaffer - Ethan Coco
Wardrobe/Stylist - Trisha Weiss
CAST:
Business Man - Will Galperin
Woman in cave - Aubrey Swander
Man in cave - Charlie Coutrakon
Model - Nicole Castillo
Photographer - Mark Escribano
Drummer - Michael Delaney
Driver - Evan Stalker
Passenger - Trisha Weiss