from Lucky Number Music.com

“"Burn The Fruit" video is a continued exploration in real-time audiovisual cinema. A kind of ‘visual music’ where the process involves manipulating video in real time. With help from the Syphon Recorder, VDMX and other customized tools, the performance and capture of these live video mixes became analogous to the process of mixing and mastering music.” - Director, Brian Ziffer

from SPIN.com

"Though SPIN called the latest Akron/Family slab "loud and proud" and "under the sway of avant-noise pioneers like Acid Mothers Temple and Boredoms," the wild, bacchinalian band has been less shy about showing their sensitive sides as of late. Enter this premiere of the meditative "Cast a Net," directed by Percept Visual's Brian Ziffer. The keyword for the video is "pastoral": wind-caught ribbons, starry-eyed looks from bedroom windows, joyous kite-flying, glinting sunlight, graceful sharks swimming gently. It's a mix between Inception and Reading Rainbow where the power of imagination transports a young girl into lands far, far beyond her tree house."

"Hombre Sencillo"

(BW & Color / HD / 07:00 min.)
Directed By: Britt Govea & Brian Ziffer
Cinematography: Brian Ziffer
Screeplay By: Govea, Ziffer & Juliya Lezhen
Song/Arrangment... Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
Score: Brian Ziffer

About the production...

The short film "Hombre Sencillo" invokes the same understated beauty as the original Graham Nash tune it’s inspired by. Co-Directors Britt Govea (((folkYEAH!))) and Brian Ziffer ( Percept Visual ) combine dream sequences with the storyline of a traveling troubadour to weave the tale of a simple man encountering the extraordinary when he wanders into a desolate and mysterious mission town.

Britt Govea, is celebrated for creating unforgettable music festival experiences in rural locations, brings the same magic to this production. With a cast and crew comprised entirely of musicians and artists, the end result is a film that could have only been made by this particular group of people at this current moment. With each contributor riffing off a shared passion for music, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s version of Nash’s "Simple Man"comes to life on screen in the Govea/Ziffer vision of “El Camino Real.”

Shot on location in the Historic California mission town of San Juan Bautista, this film captures a timeless essence. The muddy opening shots nod to Kurosawa’s dark landscapes and scenes of the sun-drenched mission may echo Hitchcock’s 1958 picture Vertigo, which was filmed on the same sacred ground. But the short film Hombre Sencillo blurs the lines between history and legend with meticulous costume design by Robyn Miller and art direction by Govea, Ziffer and Juliya Lezhen, giving the film an aesthetic all its own. Shot entirely on a customized Canon 7D high-definition rig, the film is uncompromising as it follows the title character’s transformation from dark desperation to triumphant redemption.

The marriage between Govea’s musical and cinematic sensibilities and Ziffer’s artful eye for composition and graphic detail come together to form an undeniable directing partnership that is sure to flourish in future days. Perhaps it’s merely a common love for the all things music, but matching the level of excitement generated by the forthcoming Nash tribute record Be Yourself is no small feat.

If this collaboration is any precursor of what’s to come from this music/film collective, the future looks to be very bright indeed.

Written By: Jay Dorne

Watch "Hombre Sencillo"!