Movie-Enjoy!

Untitled from Katie Kita on Vimeo.

Untitled Movie

Here is our movie! Thanks to Amy Dannenmueller, Patrick Alberty, and my partner Christina Calisi. Enjoy!

http://www.vimeo.com/23835408

Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtin!

At the end of my first class in film, I felt like I just peeked behind the curtain, like I had snuck up on a magician rehearsing a trick. It was an ambivalent moment for me. If I continued on my way to becoming a maker of media, would the magic be lost on me? If I acquired those magicians' tricks of sound and music and light and angles, would all I see be the tricks and techniques every time I stepped into a theater? At the Museum of The Moving Image, I got my answer. Behind the mysterious curtain lies an even more magical place, and then the possibilities of joyful creation are limitless.

Being from Colorado, I feel compelled to tell everyone who has a vague cultural awareness that South Park is a real place, and I do a killer impression of Butters. This is a talent I exercised in the dubbing booth. My best friend and I selected two of our favorite films and recorded our own voices over some of the most famous scenes in cinema. She did "My Fair Lady", and could we could barely contain our glee as she slowly matched her voice to Eliza's tentative "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain." I chose The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy lands in the candy-colored dream of Munchkinland. I rehearsed once, then recorded, a rather nerve-wracking process underneath our stifled laughter. What was played back reduced us to howls, as there was Dorothy, familiar in her Technicolor, saying her familiar, "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore. We must be somewhere over the rainbow!" But it wasn't the voice of Judy, it was Butters. It never occurred to me how long it might take for a filmmaker not only to get the right shot, but the right sound and feel for any one moment on the reel. To be able to dub over it again and again allows both the actor and director greater freedom to explore new options for emotion through a particular scene. I wonder how many times Judy had to dub over that scene to create the right combination of innocence and awe we experienced along with her as an audience. Today of course, better sound technology might allow an actor and director to capture that one perfect combination at once, but then one may further refine it with multiple other options; sound effects and music can create multiple different worlds within one single moment on film.

I have a suggestion for the gift shop at the Museum; allow guests to purchase those recordings.

I was equally fascinated by the makeup exhibits. The life-sized replica of the demonic Regan from "The Exorcist" haunted my dreams Sunday night, and I loved seeing the kindly dough face of Mrs. Doubtfire finished in front of me. Artist is a tame word for the work these people do. I marveled at each gouge on the Winona Ryder's prosthetic legs for Black Swan, every tiny thread of hair for the wigs and glittery sequin attached to Sarah Jessica Parker's showgirl costume for "Honeymoon in Vegas". Why she didn't want to keep that stashed away for special occasions I will never understand.

When I stepped out of the museum at the end of our excursion, it felt like I was stepping into an alien planet. The bright sunlight blinded me and I felt much like Dorothy, stepping into this strange road in Astoria, but also knowing that my home lay behind me, through the glass doors and back in the magic. 

Say Cheese!

My mother is a paparazzi. It used to annoy me, her always having a camera and demanding multiple shots of me on the first day of school (even now she asks me to take a picture on the first day of each semester). Now, I am grateful for those memories. I have many photos of her documenting events, capturing moments of life, and in this way she inspired this stamp. These are friends and family (real and imaginary) that make me smile. I like to  remember the moment when these pictures were taken because they give me a very specific feeling, knowing that I was there and part of their experience of happiness. My mother clearly figures very heavily into this, as she is the person who taught me to capture and enjoy every moment. I hope you enjoy every moment, too.

My First Photoshop experiment...nearly ended in tears, my friends.

This is Squash Man. The creation of him was incredibly frustrating and humbling. Enjoy.

Photo Essay

Each year, the Vagina Monologues is performed at Hunter and across the globe to stop the epidemic of violence against women. These are some of the student and faculty activists that are part of the movement. The annual V-Day Fair is an opportunity to educate the Hunter community about the impact of the VDAY organization and groups in the area that they can support and get involved with.

Students walk through the tabling area of Hunter West, often home to a variety of causes.

Lois Abugho and Dahana Louis, co-director and an organizer of the Vagina Monologues, attend a meeting for the V-Day Fair.

Organizers and representatives of various women's rights groups from around the city set up for the V-DAY fair, promoting various issues affecting New York women.

Monica Carr, student and activist, talks with another student and shows off her tattoo of Margaret Fuller, considered one of the founders of modern feminism.

Carmelina Cartei has been a major advocate of the enfranchisement of the Women's Studies Program at Hunter, and has been involved in the Vagina Monologues for many years.

Artist Statement

I believe that truth and real life are ultimately more inspiring than even the most honest fiction. Documentary filmmaking allows a fleeting glance across a range of difference. I am curious about the lived experiences of those who differ from myself, how they feel, what they think, what is important to them, what they are passionate about. I want to learn about the space that they occupy, geographically, mentally, and physically, in the world. I am interested in bringing those stories to life, to resonate with people who share their emotional, if not life experience. I am deeply moved by happiness borne out of hardship, of struggle, of love and of survival. These are the elements fundamental to making us human, and I want people to be reminded of these elements. Humanity lies within small moments that we share and struggle with every day, from a child’s triumph in learning to tie a shoe to the triumph of the first democratic vote in Iraq. I enjoy watching people who are passionate about what they do, and it is when that passion is shared that we find the common ground between us. It is my passion to find the common ground between people.