This is what happens when you buy me a camera for Christmas!

So, my girlfriend bought me a really neat camera for Christmas this year. It's my first digital camera, which may seem odd, since I make my living as a Director of Photography. I've just never really been one to take pictures (as will be evident by the following photo montage). Anyway, in an effort to change all that, here are my first batch of photos from the set of ST. NICK, the new feature film directed by David Lowery (and D.P.'ed by me).

You are BANISHED!!!! Director David Lowery utilizing techniques picked up at the Eric von Stroheim institute of child actor abuse.

James Johnston before the chair broke.

Adam Donaghey with a Mark growing out of his shoulder. This is a particularly well composed shot. Scholars take note!

Mark Sharon and a juvenile delinquent.

"Lite Rock" Martin (audio), oddly, loves Death Metal.

LUNCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gimme that lunch! I needs it!!!!!!

Oh Gods! I have been feasted upon!

The brutal carnivore, finally sated. But for how long????

Fun with insurance policies!!!!
Rudak teaches a continuing ed class on mortuary decorative fan making.

The picture for today?

Working on sets is hard! Sooo tired. Gonna take a nap so I can send more photos later, gator!

That's SO RAVEN!

Sorry. Title means nothing. I've just been watching youtube clips from a popular Disney Channel kids' show in order to stay in touch with my core audience, i.e.--people with a third-grade education.

Anyway, I'm here to talk about two things.

THING THE FIRST: 

I cannot get Sean Young out of my head. I used to have a crush on her back when I was thirteen and she was Chani in DUNE and that other chick in BABY: SECRET OF THE LOST LEGEND. I kind of let my crush fade into obscurity during my junior high school years and, until recently, was content to never feel those stirrings again. That was, of course, until this year's DGA awards.

So, and I know this is totally old news, Ms. Young got booted from the event for allegedly heckling director Julien Schnabel, who incidentally has a name so gross sounding-- like something Jerry Lewis would blurt out in the middle of some particularly inept pratfall-- that it practically DEMANDS retribution!

Anyway, it turns out Chani has a history of getting soused and crashing Hollywood awards parties, or at least attempting to. The detail that brought back that lovin' feelin' for yours truly was a minor one to the casual observer. Apparently, sources indicate, the ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE star had been drinking a fools bounty of HARVEY WALLBANGERS!!!!



This deadly combination of vodka, orange juice, and some stupid Italian dessert liquor was the force majeure behind both her actions and my new obsession. I understand her now. Her yearnings. Her unquenchable thirst. Just thinking the words Harvey Wall-Banger makes me REQUIRE ONE...No, make that TWO! I don't care about anything else anymore, dammit! I just want Sean and I to live out a LEAVING LAS VEGAS style romance together, only with citrus-y party drinks, instead of whiskey and bathtub gin (or whatever the hell he was drinking in that movie).

So, you might say this is about the meeting of old and new. My old flame and my new drink obsession. Much like Kirk and Picard meeting in STAR TREK: GENERATIONS. Does this mean Sean Young is destined to be murdered by Malcolm McDowell? We'll have to wait until next year's DGA awards to find out.

Okay...onward and upward!

THING THE SECOND:

I lied in my previous post. I do not possess the internet savvy to set up a secure site for THE STRANGER, so f' it. Here it is, in all it's HD glory, courtesy of my vimeo site. Follow the yellow brick road of pics below to find the not-so-hidden treasure.











And then comes...


THE STRANGER from Clay Liford on Vimeo.

That, my friends, is SO RAVEN!

Whoa! Looks like somebody figured out how to use Photoshop (sort of)!

Welly, welly. I done made me a poster thingee. This is my first, inept attempt at creating some "key art," as the film kids call it, for my recent short film, The Stranger (duh!). That is my hand. Sexy, huh? Yeah, I shot that f'er myself. Just put the ol' hand on my pillow and flashed away on my 'photo device' with my free hand. Pretty cool.

Actually, this is just a concept shot for the real thing...for which I'm enlisting the assistance of a much more trained eye. My buddy Erika Ryan in Austin is a well known art director and, I'm pretty sure, poops out better posters than this every morning after a hearty helping of bran flakes.

The film is still currently on the festival circuit, so I can't put it online. Officially, that is. But, here's my plan. I'm going to load it up on my private vimeo page. You won't be able to get to it from the street, so to speak. Once it's online, I'll blog about it here, and if you want to see it, you can send me your email on my blog comments, and I'll send you the access code.

It's very super secret and stealthy. You'll feel like an international super spy. 007. Or Golgo 13 (my fave game on the original NES). What fun!

So, check back here in the coming week or so and you may be one of the (un)lucky few to witness THE STRANGER in HD on your very own 'computerized device' of your choice!

Kisses aplenty!

Clay