I just released my newest
cinematography demo reel, featuring clips from the award-winning web series
Western X, the spec TV pilot "Extended Stay", my award-winning short film
"Solo", and the music videos for Ember's "Embrace" and Tommy Gibbons Project's
"Conform". Check
it out HERE
In other news, I was hired by
a production company out of Washington D.C. in mid-December to direct
photography on this commercial for Kyrsten Sinema's congressional campaign. Take a look-see...
December 3rd, 2011
A show called
"Meet the Filmmaker" on a new indie entertainment network, DirectorsLive.com,
just did a piece on me. It features an interview and some of my riding at
Reed Wheels Court in Mesa, and some clips from my short film "Solo". These
guys were stoked I was able to give them some eye candy instead of just a talking head
in a studio, and I'm psyched 'cause it's gotten a cubic shitload of views!
For the
first time these guys have shot any kind of action sports, they did a great job.
They used a couple Canon 7d's and a GoPro Hero camera, and created a cool look
in the color grade. God, I'm proud of the 7d. One of the best
purchases I've ever made.
Need a music vid? Hop on
that keyboard or phone, son!
September 5th, 2011
The official music video for
"Conform" by the Tommy Gibbons Project has been released! If you like it,
give it some love in the YouTube comments and spread the word!
August 2nd, 2011
Oh Lordy, pick a bale of
cotton! We just wrapped shooting a music video for "Conform" by the Tommy
Gibbons Project. (Check em out at
http://www.facebook.com/TommyGibbonsProject
)
We shot it at a Phoenix high school all in one day and knocked that shit out,
son! We had militaristic marching cheerleaders, stunt falls, a BMX riding
double for the main character, and two full performances. Here are some
stills from the shoot. All photos by Bruce Haseley-
http://www.Brucehaseleyphotography.com
TGP in the cafeteria. This
is an approximation of the color correction I'll be doing on this performance.
From left, Chris Snipes, Tommy Gibbons, Aaron Belk and Chris Torres.
Cheerleaders! From left to right:
Kaily Alissano, Bethany Brown, Taylor Van Gorder, Maria Brubaker, Angeline
Taylor, and Maryam
Hajibeigi.
Frank Ruiz gettin down with that
get-down...
Yay! I'm directing right
now!
Tommy Gibbons of the Tommy
Gibbons Project
Our key grip Ruben Nino rigging
my Canon 7d to a dolly to get a polished floor-scraping shot.
Why does this photo of the crew
getting the first shot of the day look like The Last Supper? From left,
Matt Gismondi (1st AD/Producer), Jason Ryan (Director/Producer/Cinematographer),
Ruben Nino (Key Grip), Mike Heberling (Gaffer), Tyson Smith (1st AC) and Ted
Goodman (Stunt Coordinator).
Nice candid of Tommy Gibbons
Jason Ryan shooting from a
ladder.
Valentin Navarro and Frank Ruiz
Stunting!
Nappy-time for cheerleaders.
June 22nd, 2011
'Solo' to be screened at the Bicycle Film Festival in
NYC on June 26
April 24th, 2011
Sweet
Jesus, has it really been almost two months since I updated the site?
Looks like. The thing about Phoenix is the film business here gets really
busy in April, because everyone wants to get their stuff shot before the heat
hits, including mwah. So here's me squeezing in a quick update about
"Solo" screening at the
Newport Beach Film Festival before I shut down production at 8pm to get some
sleepy weepy, only to get up at 1 am to go shoot Western X.
So about "Solo":
It will be screened at the
Newport Beach Film Festival in 'Action
Sports Shorts 1' starting at 3:30 PM on Thursday, May 5th, 2011 at Triangle Square Cinemas,
located at 1870 Harbor Boulevard, Costa Mesa, CA.
If you're anywhere in the area, stop by and sit a spell. Seeing this
sumbitch on the big screen is soooo much better than seeing it on your little
computer.
Below are some grabs of "Solo"
from the NBFF program, a full page and a closeup view.
March 1st, 2011
I just found out today that "Solo" is an official selection of
the Newport Beach Film Festival! Totally pooping pants right now!
Here's some history on the
festival, from their website:
Set in beautiful Newport Beach, a few blocks
away from spectacular coastline and less than an hour from Hollywood, the
Festival annually host several premieres and galas for a singular festival
experience. Films will be shown throughout the city that boasts one of the
largest movie consumer groups in the world, a rich filmmaking history as well as
fine dining, shopping, and exceptional recreational activities.
In addition, the Newport Beach Film Festival offers filmgoers a
rare opportunity to meet the filmmakers. Directors, screenwriters and
cinematographers eager to share their work will provide an exclusive inside look
at the industry during post-screening Q&A’s.
Reportedly 51,000 people attended the festival last year, so lotsa heads gonna
see mah shit!
February 10th, 2011
YEEE HAAWW! My film "Solo" won the best short film award at the
2011 X-Dance Film Festival! It was up against
4 other creative and well-made short films including a
skateboarding film, two surf films and a mountain bike film.
This is a huge honor, because there was SERIOUS competition and SERIOUS judges.
It's been 3 years since a BMX film has been accepted into the
X-Dance Film Festival, and even longer since a BMX film has won an award at
X-Dance. This is a great honor, especially considering that all the judges
were highly-respected action sports and mainstream filmmakers.
Warren Miller was a judge, as well as a couple Oscar-nominated cinematographers.
That's right...more than one Oscar-nominated cinematographer! Warren Miller is a
legendary ski and snowboard film director. His films have had huge
theatrical releases, and I catch his films being re-played on TV all the time.
SO STOKED RIGHT NOW YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW!
X-Dance winners write-up on Grind TV
Follow the below link to see
this write-up by GrindTV about all the winning films at this year's X-Dance.
Page down about 1/4 page to see where they write about "Solo".
I recently found out that my newest short film "Solo" was
accepted into the 2011 X-Dance Film Festival!
Super psyched!!
"Solo" is one of only four short films chosen to be in X-Dance
this year, and the ONLY BMX FILM in the whole
festival!
Whooo yeaaahh!
So to all you Utah BMX riders, come out and see "Solo" on the big
screen and support BMX's place in the action sports community! "Solo" will
be shown on Monday, January 24th at 9:15 pm at The Depot, located at 400 West
South Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah. Get advance tickets
HERE
A little history: X-Dance started in 2001 as an alternative satellite
festival to the Sundance Film Festival, taking place at the same time and the
same town (Park City, Utah) as Sundance. Instead of focusing on
independent film (or in recent years, mostly studio-financed "indy" film),
X-Dance focuses on the best in action sports filmmaking. I have entered a
couple of my films in X-Dance in prior years, so it's sweet to have finally
gotten in.
The X-Dance film festival has released its 2011 X-Dance Film
Festival trailer, and "Solo" has a clip in it. It's a great honor to have a clip
amongst such sick footage. Click on the X-Dance logo below and check that
trailer on the left side of the home page, son!
January 5th, 2011
I doggone gone and done it! I'm getting
"Solo" out on the film festival circuit. The
acquisitions guy from FUEL TV called it "phenomenal", but their smallest slot
was 22 minutes so they couldn't air it.
"Solo" is an original mixture of narrative, experimental, action
sports video and music video.
Here's the official description:
Toiling on a cracked and arid landscape, a man grooms earthen monuments
into a functional outlet for his soulful vigor and creativity. Steven
Mueller stars in this beautifully shot, environmental high speed BMX short
film about a man that seeks and finds immense satisfaction in solitude.
Directed, shot and edited by Jason Ryan
Score by Threefold Fate
December 28th, 2010
The music video which I wrote and
cinematographed (my new word) back in April, Ember's video "Embrace", has just
been released. Do tell what you think about it in the YouTube comments.
Director: Akil Williams
Story and Cinematography: Jason Ryan
Special thanks: Eric Sundt for making my dry ice bubbles a reality
Executive Producer Chris Jensen
Ember
VSR Music Group/EMI
December 8th, 2010
Western X Premieres tonight!
After much hype, hoopla and sabre rattling, the
first 3 webisodes of Western X will finally premiere tonight on Koldcast.tv back
to back at midnight! Included with the webisodes will be an introduction
to the series by Michael Flores, creator of Western X, and Dustin Hale, who
plays X in the series. A coming soon trailer will also be included for
webisodes 4-16. I shot the introduction to the series, and here are a
couple still frames from that shoot:
I'm the series cinematographer for Western X, so I got a dog in the hunt.
See this shit! If you can't stay up past your beddy-bye time to watch it,
then watch it tomorree, dood! Click the logo below to get to Koldcast.
Big Updates coming soon
Besides Western X, I've gotta catch you all up
on what I've been doing. The music video which I wrote and cinematographed
(my new word) a few months ago, Ember's video "Embrace", will be out soon.
Above is a still of the soldier's daughter from the piece. Also, I've got
big news about my short BMX film, "Solo". I'll be getting a cut of the
experimental film piece I made based on Caravaggio's incredible painting,
Supper at Emmaus on hereas well.
Checkitty-check back soon!
June 10th, 2010
Ah, so much catching up to do! Hella
busy!
I just got this from the news page on Sarah
Darling's WEBSITE
Of course, I couldn't be more stoked, because I directed "Whenever it Rains"...
Sarah is BACK on CMT Pure! VOTE!
June 01, 2010
Sarah Darling's music video for "Whenever It Rains" is in medium rotation
on CMT Pure! Congrats, Sarah!
The video has also been added back to the voting page for CMT Pure's 12-Pack
Countdown! Last time the video was on the countdown it was NUMBER TWO! Let's all
vote to get Sarah to #1!
You may vote every day and as much as you want, so plesae spend 5 minutes per
day casting votes for Sarah! Thanks everyone!
This video got the number two spot on CMT's Pure 12-Pack Music Video Countdown
in April, and now it's back in contention.
So what are you still stickin' around fer?! Go vote! You heard
me....GIT!
Ember "Embrace" Music Video
Frame from a close jib
performance take atop a parking structure in downtown Phoenix
So at the end of April, I directed photography
for one of Ember's new music videos, "Embrace", for which I also wrote the
treatment (basically the script). Ember hails from Austin, Texas, and
their label is VSR Music Group, which is distributed worldwide by EMI. I
also operated jib for their music video for "The Deep End". Both videos
will be premiering on about 100 cable stations worldwide- "The Deep End" will
come out within the next couple months, and "Embrace" will come out in the
fall.
Photo by Akil Williams
I have an enormous ego,
which must be constantly fed by pictures like this one
Photo by Ellie Hernandez Once our jib was
weighted with the RED camera and weights, we found it was far too heavy for the
dolly we had based the jib on. I had my Canon 7d with me, so instead of
having to scrap the jib, I threw the Canon up there and shot all the jib shots
with it. Both frame grabs you see above and below were shot on the 7d.
It worked out really well, too, because even though we had Zeiss Super Speed
T1.3 lenses on the RED, it just couldn't see the cityscape in the background as
well as the 7d with my T2.8 20mm lens. I swear that thing sees in the
dark!
Photo by Akil Williams Jib operation on "The
Deep End"
Frame from a wide jib
performance take atop a parking structure in downtown Phoenix
Western X March shoot
Frame from a closeup of the clerk in a
postal office scene. Actor-Greg Bronson
Frame from a closeup of Colonel Leein a
bordello scene. Actor-Richard Anderson
Frame from a scene from the prairie home
with the Dead Three. Actors-Cisco
Saavedra, George Velasquez
Back at the beginning of March, I directed photography for another round of
filming for the first season of Western X, a new sci-fi western webisode series.
This time we shot mostly interiors at Rawhide Western Town, giving me some fun
opportunities to light through windows.
Photo by Aaron Flores
Quick production meetin' before the day's shootin'
Photo by Aaron Flores
Shooting the bordello scene with the god....damn.... black coats
Photo by Aaron Flores Don't knock the taste of
a RED viewfinder until you've tried it...
Photo by Aaron Flores A little contemplation
during a short respite on set
Kevin Daly's Chicken and Waffles music video for
"William Cook"
I recently finished editing the first full
music video I've shot on my Canon 7d. I shot it with the single camera,
then edited the piece to make it look like it had been shot with multiple cams.
It can be found in the music video section under the films tab, or by clicking
HERE
January 7th, 2010
Western X Shoot at Goldfield Ghost Town
Photos by Aaron Flores
During the last half of December I directed
photography for Western X, a new sci-fi western webisode series. We shot
at Goldfield, and got incredible footage. Goldfield was a real mining town
back in the day, and many of the buildings at the tourist attraction were built
using wood and tin that is over 100 years old! Above left is a production
still from one of the scenes, and above right is me on a steadicam rig with the
RED One camera. For more info on the series, visit
www.westernxtheshow.com
December 31st, 2009
My New Cinematography Reel Now Online
Frame grab by Jason Ryan
I just finished editing together my newest demo
reel for cinematography and got it on the site. Check it out
here.
Caravaggio's 'Supper at Emmaus" Sneak
Preview
I shot and directed this piece on 16mm color
film on December 12th. It will be a couple months before I get the film
developed and telecine'd, but here's a 35mm film production still I shot that
day.
Photo by Jason Ryan
November 26th, 2009
Cinematic re-creation of Caravaggio's
Supper at Emmaus
I am currently casting for my cinematic re-creation of Caravaggio's Supper at
Emmaus (above). Caravaggio, one of the most famous painters of the
Baroque period, is noted by many cinematographers as one of their key artisitic
influences for his dramatic use of light and shadow. I'll be directing and
shooting the piece, and I will be holding auditions on Saturday, December 5th,
and shooting on December 12th.
Location:
Scottsdale Community College Campus
9000 E. Chaparral Road
Scottsdale, AZ 85256
Northwest AP building
Room AP 208 (The screenwriting room next to the studios)
Map:
November 12th, 2009
Western X official trailer just released
In other news, Cazador Productions just released the official trailer for
their new webisode series Western X, and it looks amazing! I'm proud to
say I helped light and shoot the first three webisodes, and I'll be directing
photography on many of the upcoming webisodes for the first season, and
directing a webisode as well. Peep the trailer at
www.westernxtheshow.com
November 5th, 2009
Sarah Darling and Black River Artists
coming in concert
Over the summer, CMT.com held a
contest in which 4 Sarah Darling music videos were pitted against each other--2
made by Scottsdale Community College's Film School students and 2 made by Full
Sail's Film School students. The music video I directed, "Can't Call Love"
garnered the most votes, and as a prize, Black River Music Group is bringing
Sarah and the rest of their artists out for a concert at Graham Central Station
in Tempe! Thanks to everyone who voted for "Can't Call Love"!
The concert is open to the
public (there is a cover charge) and it starts at 9pm.
Graham Central Station
7850 South Priest Drive
Tempe, AZ 85284
480-496-0799
August 21st, 2009
LOLtv
Last week I directed and
directed photography for the opening credits intro to a new comedy show, LOLtv.
I also directed and directed photography for "The Real Wives of Polygamy County"
which is one of the skits to go in the first show. LOLtv will be airing on
a local Arizona TV station, and I'll let you know the exact station and air date
soon. Here are a few production stills:
Screen grab from LOLtv cast member Helene Diamond's opening credit sequence on Mill Ave.
Screen grab from LOLtv cast member Will Hightower's opening credit sequence on Mill Ave.
The "Real Wives" of Polygamy County, and Director/DP
Jason Ryan with a creeps smile
The cast of "The Real Wives of
Polygamy County" skit
Partial crew of "The Real Wives of Polygamy
County" skit
