Blogfinger

The young filmmakers discuss their work following the showing. Left to right, George Itzhak, Ben Nelson, Gabe Miller, Seth Andrew Bridge, Marlee Roberts and Scott Schuler. (Photos by Mary Walton)

By Mary Walton. Blogfinger.net staff reporter, photographer  and editor.*

When a student from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts contacted Florence Meier about renting her two-story Victorian cottage for a film shoot, she did two things.  She asked to read the script as a precaution — you know, just in case it was a porn movie. And she called Blogfinger with the news.

On January 16, a truck and two cars full of people and equipment pulled up to 124 Main Avenue to make a non-porn movie called “Still.” And Paul Goldfinger turned up to do a story about it.

When Paul arrived the house was crammed with a dozen people, the windows were covered and lights were blazing. Paul asked if he could see the movie when it was completed. Then he started thinking, “Why not have a little event? One thing led to another.”

So it was that Ocean Grove’s first film festival debuted Sunday at The Majestic Hotel with not just one but six films. The

Paul Goldfinger opens the festival with some words of welcome: “Hello, ladies and germs.”

filmmakers, all NYU sophomores, were excited. “This is the first showing of any of these films,” said Marlee Roberts, who not only produced “Still” but entered a film titled “Free” that she wrote, then played the lead role in. “It’s opening night for us.”

“You go through so much heartbreak to make these things that days like this make it worth it,”  said George Itzhak, the director of “Moscow Summer,” about a rocking dance party that evoked the decade of the 1980’s when Italian pop music was the rage among young Russians.

A half dozen of the 30-some people involved in the films were on hand to show their work and then discuss them in a question-and-answer session. They raised their own money and collaborated in multiple roles as editors, directors and producers on each other’s films. Marlee, who has been acting and modeling since she was four, and plays roles in two feature length films opening soon, more or less produced the film festival as well. “It’s like organizing a party,” she said.

“Moscow Summer,” the first film on a program notable for its variety, filled the makeshift theater with spirited rock music. Scott Schuler’s beautifully shot “My Journal” took him to several New York locations as he voiced thoughts from his tattered journal. Gabe Miller’s “Thy Fearful Symmetry” was the moving account of an old man living alone in his apartment, filled with fears and regrets about his life.

As Ben Nelson fiddles with the equipment, Gabe Miller, George Itzhak and Marlee Roberts provide the supervision

“Unidos Si Se Puede,” directed by Jesse Rosenberg, the only classic documentary in the program, was filmed in a community garden for low income Latinos, who told how it had enriched their lives.

Marlee’s film “Free” might have been a simple tale of a girl who is devastated by the sight of her boyfriend kissing another girl, but for a clever sequence in which she reenacted different responses that put her in control and freed her from the pain.

“Still,” the movie shot partly in Ocean Grove and the longest at 18 minutes, was shown last. In her introduction Marlee quoted writer Craig Clayton as saying it’s about “a couple that lives forever.” Or at least from 1784 to 1952 to 2012,  the film’s chronological signposts. Suffice to say, the movie does not end well for them. The main part of the story required a 1950s setting, so the students imported an old record player, a boxy TV and some other furnishings that converted an Ocean Grove Victorian into a mid-twentieth century bungalow. House owner Flo Meier had nothing but praise for her renters.  “They worked so hard and they left the house immaculate.”

In his quest for a venue to hold the festival, Paul called Valerie Hegarty, owner of the Majestic Hotel. She offered space free of charge and provided coffee and several varieties of cake afterward.

Is this projector gonna work? Marlee and George.

The audience reaction was overwhelmingly favorable. “I loved it,” said Will Brandsdorfer. “I was so impressed with them. The fact that they were just sophomores blew me away. I think they’re going to be great.”

He added, “I appreciate good work and realize how technical it is: the sound, the editing, the credits. So many details you never even think about.” As an example, one of Scott Shuler’s scenes involved maneuvering a dolly onto Manhattan’s High Line, the lower west side park built atop a railroad track. Said Will, “It was a lot of work getting all that stuff up there for a shot that may only last five seconds. It conveys an image that makes it look easy, and that’s the mark of an artist in any realm.”

In a note to Blogfinger afterward, Janet Whritner summed up her reaction: “The films were interesting…the young students even more so.”

And Paul, who orchestrated the festival, pronounced it “wonderful. I enjoyed it even though I didn’t always understand what was going on.” The films, he said, “were really original things done by some creative young people and that’s always a thrill.”

Chit-chatting at the party afterward. Flo Meier (right) lent her house to some of the NYU film students in January. The rest is history.

Shooting a scene for “Still,” directed by Ben Nelson, at the Ocean Grove home of Flo Meier. Photo courtesy of Marlee Roberts

* Mary Walton is a professional writer, reporter and editor from the Philadelphia Enquirer who wrote and photographed for Blogfinger while she and husband Charles Layton lived in the Grove, and he also was a co-editor with me.

MUSIC: Buck Owens sings about movies:

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Before we rebuild, we must dismantle. Photo by Mary Walton

On Wednesday, the ever-helpful volunteers of Calvary Relief swarmed over the Ocean Grove boardwalk.

As they dismantle the badly bent, buckled, battered boardwalk (can you say that quickly?) they try to salvage as much of the wood as possible for future use.

Here is a little video by Charles Layton:

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To my dear sister with all my love—Adelaide

By Eileen and Paul Goldfinger  (Re-post from 2012, but timeless.)

We found this photograph at the Ocean Grove flea market, some years ago. At first, we were drawn to it because it was in a beautiful blue glass frame.

But then we noticed  the lovely portrait of an elegant woman who seemed mysterious.  The hairdo  is probably from the twenties or thirties and is likely an example of a “finger wave.”  She’s wearing lipstick and she probably has makeup on.  Her expression is blank except for the slightest suggestion of a smile.  It looks like she is wearing a coat or jacket with a fur collar. The material is shimmery.  What is it?

There was no date, but there was a little dedication at the bottom. It says, “To my dear sister with all my love—Adelaide.”

The inscription is written in a delicate ornate and crystal-clear style. She separates a few letters with tiny spaces between–sort of a combination of cursive and printing.  People don’t write on photographs anymore, and, in fact, they often take their own digital photos and then leave them in their cameras or on their computers, never to be printed or shared, except in the form of digital images on phones, iPads, or Facebook pages. No one can actually touch such a picture.

But Adelaide had her portrait done by a professional photographic artist. She probably was very particular in her selection.  Every town back-when had a photo studio.  Remember the work of Disfarmer which we presented on this blog?

Disfarmer. Portrait artist Blogfinger post.

An actual photograph, made on film and printed on paper by an expert, as in this case, is an object of beauty that transcends the actual subject matter. Some photographers today are learning old black and white methods such as platinum or albumin printing or silver printing in a darkroom with special papers  in order to capture those wonderful textures, tints and gradations of grey seen in photographs like this one.

The name Adelaide is from the Germanic and means “noble kind.”  It was popular early in the 20th century, but by 1950, girl babies were no longer given that name.  But then, as if rising from the dead, the name has regained popularity starting in 2005.  Now it is said to be quite popular.

On the Broadway stage (1950,) there is a character named Miss Adelaide in “Guys and Dolls.” She is a nightclub performer who is Nathan Detroit’s girlfriend.

If we try to dig down into the inscription at the bottom of the photograph, we sense a deep expression  of loss or distance between the writer and her sister. There is a sadness there, compounded by the fact that this image wound up for sale to a stranger at a flea market.   “To my dear sister with all my love–Adelaide”  seems so heartfelt, as if it is more than a sister would say to another.  We’ll never know what was behind that emotional inscription.    But the song captures the sense of it all.

Renee Fleming, the opera star, often steps over the line to perform music in other genres.  This was recorded by her for the soundtrack of The Shape of Water which won the Oscar in 2018 for Alexandre Desplat.

“You’ll Never Know” was written for a 1943 movie called Hello, Frisco, Hello.  The song is based on a poem written by a young Oklahoma war bride named Dorothy Fern Norris.  In 1943 it won the Oscar for Best Original song, one of nine nominated that year.  Harry Warren and Mack Gordon were the composers.

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Independence Day parade, 2022. Paul Goldfinger photo. Click to enlarge the good times.  Ocean Grove “underground”

By  Video and text  below by Charles Layton  Ocean Grove. Editor at Blogfinger.net.  2012.

Before all this chilly weather, and before the hurricane and its aftermath, there was a magical time in Ocean Grove. Days were sunny, skies were blue, hearts were light. Surely if we wait a while that time will come again.

Here is a video.

Music. Eydie Gormé

Fine job Charles.–Paul

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