Website Semiotics

This site has been setup to showcase my profile as a film director, I’ll continuously be updating it to reflect my most recent work as a filmmaker. Anyone interested in my services can visit this place anytime they like to find samples of my work and my most recent film reel.

About Me: I discovered my passion for filmmaking by accident while completing my undergraduate studies and I never looked back. I’ve been in the discipline since 2003.

Over the course of the past several years I have directed a wide variety of work. That would include everything from documentaries, reality TV, music videos to branded viral videos. I believe working in film production is a rare privilege and love the collaborative nature of the work. Every job is extremely important to me.

For an example of my feature work you can check out STANDING UP @ www.standingupthemovie.com / It is a feature length documentary about the War on Terror in Afghanistan.

STANDING UP had its international premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2008 and was screened at several other film festivals around the world, including the Washington DC National Gallery of Art as part of a special film program on Afghan history and culture.

About the Site: If this is the first time you’re visiting the website you may have noticed the unusual look. I would be very unhappy if you come away from here mistakenly thinking that I’m secretly part of some obscure illuminati-like secret society. No, I just wanted this site to be visually memorable and to symbolize my approach to film as both an artist and as a professional.

The large picture on the main navigation of the staff entwined by two serpents is taken out of Greek mythology. It’s the caduceus, the “herald’s staff” carried by Hermes.

The caduceus is a recognized symbol of commerce and negotiation, two realms in which balanced exchange and reciprocity are recognized as ideals. As a film director I strongly believe that the process of filmmaking is largely an ongoing negotiation among peers – and reminder to myself to value the input, needs and creativity of those I work with and my clients.

The navigation of the site uses the astrological symbols for the 5 classical planets of Hellenic astrology, they are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. No really deep symbolism here – it just is in keeping with the theme first set by the use of the caduceus symbol and looks cool.

The pentagram on the main page and the image of the man with his arms and legs extended on the links page are both part of the same image: The Vitruvian Man, a world-renowned drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci circa 1487. The drawing is based on the correlations of ideal human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise De Architectura.

I choose to feature these symbols of the ideal human because of the singularly unique understanding the human species has of imagery and film. It can move us to tears, laughter and terror. It is very powerful and the exercise of this power I believe is something unique to the human species. No computer or robot will ever be able to produce a 2001: A Space Odyssey or Saving Private Ryan.

And that is about the run of it on the major symbolism stuff. There is other little semiotic nuggets scattered throughout the site; you can find Hermes’s wings as a banner for the new section, quotes from great writers and filmmakers that I will leave it up to you, the visitor, to interpret for yourself. Thank you for taking the time to visit my site, I hope you enjoy checking it out.

PS: I cannot thank my web designer Arlene Cheryl Calleja enough for taking the time to artfully put together this website. I cannot recommend her strongly enough if you’re looking for an affordable wed designer that produces amazing work. <3 Arlene!