Ennis house look-a-like

I was reminded of this set we decorated by an entry on my friend Vanessa's blog. It was for the tv series "American Family" and the wall relief/textile block we used is similar to the Ennis house which is being restored and is featured in a new print from the artist SHAG.

Check out Vanessa's cool blog and the full story on the Ennis house here...

http://populuxebooks.com/blog/index.php/2007/08/

Bats & Robin

Here is another from my mego series from the S.M.A.P. project. I'm still tweaking this one but I really like the overall look of it.

Big thank to Andy Gersh for his help.

Concept/Art Direction - Bret K, Photography - Julie Monello,
Compositing - Greg Rebis

Mego

Here is one of the mego images from my S.M.A.P. project. (Saturday Morning Art Project) I have a number images along this same theme, ie.Batman villains in action words. Even though i normally like minimalism in my designs I still feel something is missing with all that white. Any thoughts?

•Concept/Art Direction - bret kane, Photography - Julie Monello,
Compositing - Greg Rebis

Deco Backdrop

Here is a deco backdrop I designed and built for the band at my wedding. We had a 1940's USO Dance theme for our wedding. A full band in military outfits and an Andrews Sisters Act singing. It was so much fun and all 200 hundred guests wore vintage outfits at our request. Hows that for good friends.

It's made of 4 luan panels of 4ft x 8ft, framed out on the back.

American Pie

I snapped this photo on the set of "American Pie: Bandcamp".

Even though it was #4 in the series of low brow films, I had a great time working on it. I took a job as 'On Set Dresser' as favor for my friend Treven who is also a 'leadman'. It had been awhile since I worked as 'on set dresser' because it's a fairly thankless job trying to redecorate the set every five minutes while the crew tears it apart to get equipment in or out. This film however had Victor Klemper as the DP and he was amazing, he is an old school DP with none of the usual pompous attitude. Not only could he light the set faster than anybody I've ever seen, but he also had a great respect for all the crew members even the lowly art department. (The red headed step-child of any production)

Alleyway filming

Here is an image from the filming of "American Family" a tv mini series on PBS. The interesting thing about filming in alleyways in downtown Los Angeles is that the production is supposed to have the alleyway sprayed with bleach water to kill all the nasty things that can make you sick. I've been on low budget shows where they tried to save money and skip that important step.

The funny thing about this day was that the alley was sprayed clean and then we came in to make it look dirty again, but one of my crew (Pete) picked up a box from a nearby street to use as set dressing and didn't realize it had human feces all over it. He ended up throwing away his favorite jacket because he was so disgusted. Ahhh the joys of filming in Downtown Los Angeles.

Vader triptych

Here is another image from my S.M.A.P. project (Saturday Morning Art Project). This one and the one titled "Father and Son" (below) are done, it's the Mego images that I'm still not happy with. I'll post those soon for feedback. I would love to find a fulfillment house like "Thumbtack Press" to make these available to anyone who wants them. Any ideas?

•Concept/Art Direction - bret kane, Photography - Julie Monello,
Compositing - Greg Rebis

Tony's Burgers

Since I shared the lovely crack pipe image with you, I thought I'd stay with the Downtown L.A. theme. I haven't actually tried the food at Tony's but this is the kind of place you'll find all over Los Angeles and more often than not, the grub is pretty good. The thing I love about Los Angeles is that every restaurant has to post a rating in the window A, B, C, etc etc. I don't know if it goes to F because "B" is where I draw the line. It's a great system though because the restaurants are rated for a variety of reasons and they have to earn there way back to a better grade.

They really need that system back in Florida, as I've seen the kitchens of some diners and restaurants and the conditions are beyond disgusting.

I like the chain link in this shot, sort of gives it a creepy first person perspective.

Crack pipe downtown LA

I was working on a tv show in downtown Los Angeles and noticed this crack pipe(?) on the sidewalk. Regardless of the sad fact of what it is, I think the design is really compelling.

UPDATE: Thank you to all the stoners out there that have pointed out my ignorance of drug paraphernalia. It is in fact a "pot" pipe. I humbly apologize and will immediately turn in my "Spencers" discount card.

20th Reunion

I flew from Los Angeles to Tampa last year for my 20th high school reunion and took this shot. I realize it's not a particularly unique image but to me it captures the essence of that trip home.

The day to day distractions of life make it easy to to blink and realize another decade or more has come and gone. The quiet flight allowed me to finally find a calm moment and come to terms with the fact that it's been 20 years since high school. Yikes.

Father & Son

I've always loved the aesthetic of toy photos as artwork and I've seen some amazing examples in both New York and Los Angeles galleries. But of course most of these were too expensive for my lowly art budget. So with that in mind, I set out to create some of my own toy art a few years ago and I'm just now getting around to finishing it up. I have two images using vintage Kenner's Star Wars figures and a whole bunch of images utilizing Mego action figures. Here is the first of the Star Wars images, I'll post a couple of the Mego shots soon, but I'm still not happy with them so I'll be looking for feedback.

•Concept/Art Direction - bret kane, Photography - Julie Monello,
Compositing - Greg Rebis

Cape Cod Summer!

Yes I am biased about pics of my son, but I love this image. It has great lines and the light reflection from behind his hair is perfect. Not to mention the joyous summertime smile I caught. The best part is that this was a "shot from the hip" style image. I took this with a little point and shoot optio and had the camera down by my feet pointing up and just "winging" it. I've gotten pretty good at aiming the camera with out ever holding it to my face. With a toddler this is the best way to capture those real moments, you just don't have time to look through the viewfinder and compose a shot.