DC Archives - Page 16 of 31

Photo Strategy: Serendipity with a Little Bit of Planning

Do I have a photographic vision? Goals? A business plan? No, that would take all the fun out of it. Instead, I am guided by serendipity. I wander about the city taking photos.

But I don’t leave everything to chance. I try to be at the right place at the right time. I’m drawn to visual events, like Santarchy, where hundreds of faux Santas caused mischief on the National Mall. That’s where I got this photo, which was featured on InstantDC.

This was on a Saturday in December. I had heard about Santarchy through Twitter and had seen the previous year’s pictures. I knew the route the Santas would take so I got on my bike and waited for them on the Mall. I wanted a picture with the Capitol in the background. I got a picture of a Gagnam-style Santa (how dated that seems now) and then I saw Gene Simmons. I rushed ahead of him so I could get this shot with the Capitol over his shoulder.

And he really did say, “Merry Kissmas.”

So I guess my photographic method doesn’t entirely rely on chance. I plan ahead, think about my shots, and try to get in the right position to take them. It’s serendipity with a little bit of planning.

But I try not to think about that too much. I don’t want to be a Photographer with a Vision. I don’t want to be an Artist. I just want to enjoy taking photos.

Let's Make a Movie: DC Shorts Mentors

DC Shorts Mentors is a great new opportunity for aspiring filmmakers to learn how to make movies. Over four weekends in March and April, you learn how to write, cast, shoot and market your cinematic vision.

I had the chance to speak at the March 3rd session, which covered screenwriting. Joined by some great panelists, including Hollywood vet Monica Lee Bellais and local screenwriter Khris Baxter, we shared tips and techniques on how to translate a story into a fully-realized screenplay.

It was very informal. After brief introductions, we took questions from a class of around 4o people in the super-hip Gibson Guitar Room. We covered topics such as screenplay formatting, breaking into Hollywood, pitching to producers, television writing, treatments, agents versus managers, local resources (such as WIFV) and working on documentaries.

Monica had a wealth of information on getting your script read by producers. To get past jaded Hollywood gatekeepers, your script must be more than a just great story – it has to be in the right format and pitched to the right people. Khris stressed that you can be a screenwriter outside of LA, and offered the example of Sunshine Cleaning writer Megan Holley, who lives in Richmond.

I’ve written six screenplays and won the Film DC Screenwriting Competition. The experience of going to LA taught me that it’s better to do it yourself than wait to be discovered. I suggested writing a short script and entering it into DC Shorts. Or getting a team together and making a film for the 48 Hour Film Project. You can make a film with an iPhone these days – why not do it?

After the panel, things got interesting. The writers had an hour to write a short scene which would then be read aloud by local actors. It was really fascinating to watch the reading – the actors were pros, who did a great job with material they had just been handed. The writers learned a lot too. It can feel embarrassing the first time to hear your words read aloud. But it’s an inevitable part of the process. If you’re a screenwriter, your work will (hopefully) make it to the big screen where people will see it.

I’ve been part of DC Shorts for years as a judge, photographer, volunteer wrangler, etc… I’ve stayed with it because Jon Gann does things in a professional yet casual way – it’s all about the artist. But what I really liked about DC Shorts Mentors was the focus on the practical. This wasn’t some screenwriting seminar selling an impossible dream for an outrageous price. This wasn’t theory. Instead, these inexpensive seminars offered hands-on instruction from people with real experience.

Bonus: see photos from the March 3rd class.

Friday Photo: White House Bikeshare Edition

I love walking in DC. On Monday after work, I stopped off at Macy’s and then walked home, taking a little detour to go by the White House. It was darker than this photo appears and the absence of light caused the iPhone to do a bit of a long exposure, allowing me to capture this cyclist in motion. She’s on a Capital Bikeshare bike – these bright red bikes are a common sight in DC, and are used by everyone, from tourists to businessmen.

Friday Photo: Jaded Washingtonian Edition

I’m a jaded Washingtonian. I’ve lived in DC for so long that I no longer notice things like the Washington Monument and the White House. They are just there, part of the scenery.

I had some time to kill before a happy hour downtown. I wandered into the Portrait Gallery, which is open until 7. While walking through the museum, I noticed that the lights had been turned down low in the courtyard. I had to investigate.

Museum staff were setting up for a dinner and adjusting the light levels. Spotlights were turned off and on, blue gels were placed over lights and the overhead lights were turned down and then back up.

That’s when I got this picture. In it you can see the silhouettes of museum-goers in a lone spotlight, the red tables set up for the dinner and the glimmer of the lights in the glass canopy, which look a little like stars in the firmament. It’s an iPhone pic, one of the first with my new iPhone 5 – I was impressed that it could capture such a dark scene.

I literally saw the Portrait Gallery in a different light. The courtyard looked fresh and new in the darkness. One magical moment watching the lights wax and wane and I became de-jaded.

Friday Photo: Cycletrack Edition

This is the new L St bike lane – also called a cycletrack, according to WABA. I took the photo with an iPhone 4, right around sunset, before editing it in the great new Flickr mobile app. I’ve come to love the Narwhal filter – it creates such an interesting, distressed kind of look, as if this print was just discovered in some antique chest of drawers.

My Instagram Book Cover

Joe Konrath had a really important post on how to sell ebooks. This successful indie author made the point (among many other great ones) that it was important to experiment. In his words:

There isn’t a single thing I’m saying here that you should automatically believe. Don’t trust me, or any other so-called expert. Instead, try things out for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

Or to quote screenwriter William Goldman: “Nobody knows anything.”

That’s the case with art and marketing – you can’t predict what’s going to work. At best, you can try and try again.

I love my book Don’t Mess Up My Block. It’s a funny, cynical look at the way we work now. The people who have read it have liked it, especially if they have experience in the bureaucracies of Washington.

Yet, this novel is hidden far down the long tail of Amazon, unlikely to emerge from obscurity.

For my first novel, Murder in Ocean Hall, I had this great cover by Dave Newman. It’s a classic.

But this time, I’m experimenting. I was inspired by Seth Godin and the Domino Project, which has set out to revolutionize publishing. He’s rethinking everything the book world does, including covers. Why do you need a title and a name on a cover for an ebook? For example, here’s his book Poke the Box:

My second novel Don’t Mess Up My Block is a journey through the dysfunctional American workplace, from companies obsessed with the latest management fads to federal agencies unable to get anything done. What would make a good cover?

Fortunately, I had exactly the right picture, taken while I was at work one day. I was amused by the cheap stapler they had given me in my new job and just how beige and early 90s everything in the office was. I snapped this Instagram picture, thinking it perfectly captured the banality of the white-collar workplace.

So, that’s it. That’s the new cover of Don’t Mess Up My Block. It’s a funny and absurd cover for a funny and absurd book.

Don't Mess Up My Block – First Amazon Review

My novel Don’t Mess Up My Block has its first Amazon review! And it’s a good one:

As someone who spent many years dealing with consultants, federal contractors, and federal employees …. this book rings all too true. The people, places, and situations are much too familiar … for me, it was a non-fiction “day in the life” – or “you won’t believe the day I had”. Well done Joe! The author has captured life on the Beltway merry-go-round.

I know the reviewer and if anyone is an expert on the Beltway merry-go-round, it is he. Glad that my book rang so true with someone so attuned to the absurdities of life in Washington.

So, what are you waiting for? Don’t Mess Up My Block is just 99 cents on Kindle.

Friday Photo: Under Construction Edition

14th St is rapidly becoming lined with condos and apartments. Where once stood a KFC and other low-rent retail establishments, another new building rises.

Shot with an iPhone 4 and edited in the Flickr mobile app. The photo also appeared in PoP in a post on, appropriately enough, hating DC.

Learn How to Make and Market a Film with DC Shorts

The DC Shorts Film Festival has a great new tagline:

DC Shorts champions short filmmaking.

Marketing taglines are a lot of times so much fluff, filled with words like “leveraging” and “cross-platform” and other tired buzzwords.

But “DC Shorts champions short filmmaking” really communicates what the festival is all about – it’s a celebration of short film and filmmakers.

And now the festival is trying something new: DC Mentors. Taught by film professionals and peers, these interactive sessions are designed to build upon one another, creating skills needed to better compete in the festival circuit. Over four weekends in DC you can learn how to write a script, find actors, shoot your film and then market it to film festivals – you can sign up for the whole program or just take individual classes. And at $160 for seven classes, it’s literally .01% the cost of film school.

And I’ll be one of the writer-mentors for the March 3 class on storytelling. I’m a writer who won the Film DC Screenplay Competition and has been a judge for DC Shorts and other local festivals. I like helping writers. There’s so much “fear to start” among new writers that can be overcome with a little bit of encouragement and practical advice. I can provide that.

Sign-up for DC Mentors and learn filmmaking over four weekends in spring.

Murder in Ocean Hall – The Perfect Inauguration Gift!

Beyond the pomp and ceremony of the Presidential Inauguration, there’s a whole other city, a real city, where people work and live in a world far removed from the ideals and monuments of the Washington you see on TV. It’s a place where ordinary folks struggle to find good schools and survive in a rapidly-changing urban environment.

It’s the world of Murder in Ocean Hall. This mystery novel takes place in city neighborhoods like Dupont Circle and U Street. In this book, the world’s most famous oceanographer is murdered. It’s up to a cynical DC detective to solve the case. Along the way, we learn about the history of city and why it works – or doesn’t work.

A reviewer wrote:

Read this book if you think you’ve been to Washington, DC. The author, Joe Flood, will take you behind the scenes of places you’ve been and tell you how they function then give you insights into people in power and how they fail to function.

Think you know Washington? Uncover what the city is really like in Murder in Ocean Hall.