HESPERIA — A local photographer’s winning video punched her a ticket to the Big Apple, where she attended a special filmmaker’s workshop and helped produce a music video.
Joan Rudder-Ward, a professional photographer and filmmaker based in Hesperia, was one of 65 contest winners who were invited to attend an exclusive Master Class in filmmaking in New York City.
Rudder-Ward said she was definitely “surprised and excited” when she received notification that she had won the four-day intensive, hands-on workshop hosted at the New York Film Academy.
“The trip was like a dream come true,” said Rudder-Ward, who attended the workshop sponsored by BH Photo/Video/Pro Audio, Canon USA and the Film Academy earlier this month. “To be selected from over 700 contest applicants was an honor.”
Rudder-Ward said admission to the academy included an application along with a 90-second video they had filmed and/or edited. The academy selected applicants based on creativity, storytelling and technical ability.
“My winning video was part of a documentary that I was asked to produce for a former gangster who was part of the Mexican drug cartel,” Rudder-Ward said. “The story documents his life from childhood to how he got out of the lifestyle."
According to Rudder-Ward, her entry video centers on the life of former gangster Eddie Gonzales, and is part of a promotional video for his book "From the Heart of a G."
Rudder-Ward said during the New York workshop, the students were put in five teams, with each team being assigned a specific story to create from start to finish in three days.
“I was excited to be assigned to work with veteran industry filmmaker Bruce Dorn,” Rudder-Ward said. “This trip was all business, with no shopping or sightseeing, but I was in my element and I loved it.”
Rudder-Ward said her team’s music video, "Thousand Little Girls," was produced for Orphan Jane, a New York-based band which describes itself as “a dear friend of whom you're just a little afraid” with "circus tents and gypsies, traditional blues and vaudeville."
The Orphan Jane video, which was shown at a mini-film festival held at the AMC Loews 34th Street, includes several young women who dance as they seem to play the part of marionettes suspended by helium balloons.
As the women dance to the band’s music, an accordion player sings about enticing these women to follow him. “If you come with me, I’ll bring you everything” the singer promises as one dancer sings in an operatic style.
“They were a unique band, that’s for sure, but it was a great time shooting the video,” Rudder-Ward said. “Shooting in a studio near Battery Park and outside using the New York skyline was wonderful.”
Rudder-Ward’s Orphan Jane music video can be viewed on YouTube.com by searching BH Master Class - Team Dorn- OrphanJane MusicVid - "Thousand Little Girls."