I sometimes work with street artists to curate their social media feed while they undertake a new, large scale project.  Footage gathered is also for a short documentary on each artist.  Featured here are artists ProBlak and Don Rimx.  

In 2017 I worked closely with Beyond Walls for their 2017 Mural Festival. I was tasked with telling the story of the festival via social media as it unfolded for over 10 days. Collected here are short documentaries, progress videos, and promo pieces introducing the artists and their art to the Lynn community and beyond. 

Portfolio reel for Chris Gaines  

A sampling of my work from the past few years. I love the entire creative process of filmmaking, from concept to completion. Conducting all the varied elements into a perfect sort of collision, creating something fresh; a magical new reality of sorts, is exciting stuff.  As such, it's not unusual for me to direct, shoot and edit many of the projects I take on. This reel is a collection of projects where I've served primarily as director and cinematographer. Take a peek around, let me know what you think!

Big Ol' Dirty Bucket - Mic Smoke

The challenge: to make a strong debut video, that could be shot quickly, while keeping all 10 members of the band satisfied.  The band didn't want a typical funk video, and they were also concerned about walking away with a video that focused solely on the lead singer, only showing the band for a shot or two.   This is the outcome.  One room, one set-up, one day, and a lot of fun energy in front of the camera.  

Direction, cinematography, editing

Additional help from:
Jean-Paul DiSciscio

Vicki Zagdan-Gross

Matt Ecclesiastre

Live at Brighton Music Hall

As a favor, I was asked to film one of their live shows, only to be told that we could only use one camera and no-tripod upon arrival.  Challenge accepted. 

Ignite: 25 Years of Raw Art Works

The Ignite Project was created as part of a 25th anniversary marketing kick-off for Raw Art Works 25th Anniversary.  RAW wanted to use the unique moment in time to raise awareness of RAW's mission to 'ignite the desire to create and the confidence to succeed in underserved youth,' as well as to kick off a two-million dollar capital campaign for program expansion; strengthening core programs and adding new space to more teens throughout the year. 

RAW wanted to focus on hearing the honest voices of Alumni who grew up at RAW, to hear what the organization has meant to them.  Visit Raw Art Works Here.

Ignite:  Creativity - Tanisha

Tanisha attended RAW's Reel to Real Film School for 3 years, and graduated in 2013. She was invited back to RAW as a teaching assistant in film school while in college. Tanisha hopes to persue a career in film.

Direction, camera: Chris Gaines                 

Editor:  Peter Pa 

Music: Jon Bellini (jonbellini.com) 

Ignite:  Desire - Matt

Matt began coming to RAW's Reel to Real Film School in 2003. He graduated high school in 2006 and is currently an Assistant Video Editor at Soup2Nuts Animation studio. He is one of two alumni to sit on RAW's board of directors. 

Direction, camera, editing: Chris Gaines                 

Music: Jon Bellini (jonbellini.com) 

Ignite: Success - Johnny

Johnny started coming to RAW at age 7, and stayed active at RAW until he graduated high school in 2009. He currently owns Foot Traffik, a high end sneaker store, and is the father of two boys. 

Direction, camera, editing: Chris Gaines                 

Music: Jon Bellini (jonbellini.com) 

© Copyright 2013 Raw Art Works

This is a trailer for Areno, a film that's currently in pre-production. 
Areno (Japanese for The Desert) explores the lonely souls, unattainable dreams, and comic tragedies that unfold for an out-of-place Asian-American military family trying to survive in the Arizona desert.

Direction, screenplay, cinematography, editing

Music by the Pernice Brothers 

Partially funded through a grant from the LEF Foundation

Music Videos created by teens in the 'Direction' program of The Real to Reel Filmschool at Raw Art Works. 

The 'Direction' program aims to raise the bar for what teens are capable of in film production. In the program, students are introduced to a deeper technical and creative level of filmmaking, by collaborating with New England based musicians in the creation of original music videos.  

These works represent a different level of knowledge than what my regular curriculum would provide. For these productions, I serve as an artistic guide and mentor, helping the students craft their original ideas into something that is approachable and achievable, while keeping the creative vision entirely in their control. I serve as the executive producer, and, well, the 'glue' that keeps everything together; green-lighting their ideas, giving support, and most importantly; providing hands-on instruction and mentorship during production. 

All videos ©Raw Art Works. Visit Rawartworks.org for more info.

Visit vimeo.com/realtoreel for more of their films. 

Koopa

Music by Tigerman WOAH (tigermanwoah.com/)
Directed by: Tony Peguero and Rajeev Phok, Teens from the Real to Reel Filmschool at Raw Art Works (rawartworks.org/)

Bad kids doing good things.
Or
Fueled by a fever dream, a young man sneaks out with his friends, finding himself thrown into a night of fun, friendship and adventure.
Or
A song about a cat.

The Storm

Music by Kali Stoddard-Imari (projectkali.com)

Directed by: Yunior "Crispy" Javier Crispin Valdez, Daymian "Ayd" Mejia

Add'l support from: Tyla Levesque

A man mysteriously awakens in a desert and heads home to his family to warn them of what's he believes is coming.

Make It Out

Music by GRYGIEL (jennifergrygiel.com/)
Directed by the teens of the Real to Reel Filmschool of Raw Art Works in Lynn, MA. (rawartworks.org)

RAW’s teens worked to convey the stories of three gay teens as they traverse the difficult reality of being gay in highschool. Social isolation, bullying, family stress, and heartbreak are all explored within the hopeful stories of youth emerging positively from situations where there seems to be almost no end in sight; a striking visual accompaniment to the powerful words of Grygiel’s own “It Gets Better” story.

Articles:
bilerico.com/2012/06/grygiel_students_of_raw_art_works_craft_a_powerful.php
wbur.org/2012/07/18/gay-bullying-video

If You Met Her

Music by Palehound

Directed by: Caitlin LeBlanc, Jeovana Almeida, Kiely Quinn, Michael Escobar, Rachel Newman, Sara Tesh, Tatiana Marquez 

Is an empty house a home?

http://www.wbur.org/artery/2017/12/07/teen-filmmakers-boston-music-award

Searching For Sunlight

Band: Golden Bloom

Directed by: Marylys Merida, Cinematographer - Rebecca Kirby 1st Assistant Camera - Alyssa Peguero

All the fun in the world is no fun at all if you have no one to share it with.

https://www.relix.com/blogs/detail/video_premiere_golden_bloom_searching_for_sunlight

Well of Dreams

Keen

Dreams drive us and haunt us. Keen explores the depths of his own dreams through this uncanny hip-hop music video.

Filmmakers: Rajaiah Jones, Alexis Villar, Nadia Healey

Cushioned Caging

Music by Palehound

Directed by: Badger Antoniou, Kerriann Molea, Connor Murphy, Cyntheara Tham

Please be advised that wait times could be extensive.

http://www.stereogum.com/1881933/palehound-cushioned-caging-video/video/

Promotional videos for Raw Art Works. For three decades, Raw Art Works (RAW) has passionately pursued its mission to ignite the desire to create and the confidence to succeed in underserved youth.

The Truth Is...

A revealing look into RAW's creative process as seen through the eyes of participating artists. 

Direction, cinematography, editing

Home

I had the opportunity to talk to high school seniors about their experiences at Raw Art Works  (where I serve as Artistic Director and founder of The Real to Reel Filmschool) as they prepared for graduation. 

Direction, cinematography, editing

Music: Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros

Thank-You. A Buy-A-Brush campaign video.

Meet Justin, he just got a full ride to college, and he'd like to take a moment to say 'Thanks' to all the people that helped him get there!

Made as a kick-off video for Raw Art Works 25th anniversary Buy-A-Brush capital campaign. 

Direction, cinematography, editing

Music by Jon Bellini

find out more about RAW by visiting RawArtWorks.org

Sittings

There is something pure and simple about people sitting in front of a camera. They are so open and vulnerable, which provides a great opportunity to capture pure, unscripted emotion...and to gently torture them at the same time.

I'm the founder and director of The Real to Reel Filmschool at Raw Art Works. We believe that all children, regardless of race, class, sexual orientation, education or gender should be seen and heard.  In the Real to Reel program, While learning the craft of filmmaking, we empower our young filmmakers to recognize that their own stories and visions are valid and worth sharing. We provide the tools and education for them to share in a way that is entertaining, deep and engaging.  See more work from the program here. 

All work copyright © Raw Art Works

Music videos for This Blue Heaven

Slow Dance Slow & Bliss

This Blue Heaven are so easy to work with, so of course I did two videos for them! Bliss was a quick, fun shoot; a chance to get to get together and play. Slow Dance Slow; a more ambitious shoot with a few locations and a simple narrative.  Each film is an opposite of sorts from the other. One is hyper motion, vivid colors, and pure energy, while the other is a like a slow motion memory.

Direction, cinematography, editing

A Mighty Room

Director, cinematographer, editor, sound, music

"Sweet hours have perished here
This is a mighty room
Within its precincts hopes have played,-
Now shadows in the tomb."
-Emily Dickinson

How many lives, experiences and scars can a space hold? If not for the scars, what evidence of a life lived remains? A Mighty Room contemplates the secret stories that domestic spaces bear witness to, exploring the unfamiliar landscapes of a deeply personal domestic experience. It is a visual and sonic meditation on domesticity, memory, and family. Or, more simply put; my home is my nest, a place of security and comfort, it's where the most important parts of my life have unfolded; it's where I grow old. This is a little meditation and document of my domestic space and domestic life.

Dropped

Parking lots and abandoned spaces are the new rolling hills and grasslands of modern america. An adaptation of an Emily Dickinson poem, 'Dropped' is a meditation on the anxieties surrounding life, death, and the search for 'home' in a modern world.   

Direction, cinematography, editing, sound

Poem read by Lenore Barber

music by Osmodius Bell

may december

I wanted to explore ways to optically and electronically alter a video image for a painterly effect, using simple environmental compositions as a canvas. Made with found sounds (courtesy of Sal Darji), and music by Ben Henry, it's a meditative exploration of my environment after moving to a new city.

Direction, cinematography, editing

A little trilogy of some personal filmmaking. 

A Moment in Time

A love letter for my wife and baby. Made in the months before my wife and I were preparing for our first child, Mena (short for Philomena, named for her Great-Grandmother). I've always wondered what my parents were like before they had kids, so I decided to make a short document of who we were before she came into our lives. It was made in a 24 hour period, and is a quick snapshot of the last days as we transitioned from being just a "couple," to being a "family." Life couldn't be better.

Home

A personal documentary of sorts. I made this film to go with a wedding proposal for my wife (it worked!), who I've known since we were kids. Made with snippets of footage collected over the years. 

Wish

Oh man. It cracks me up that I made this. I still like it, as it is 90's teen angst at it's finest! Made in while I was in high school... I later married this girl! She's still just as angry (in a cute, totally fun way). I still am just as obsessed with her.  

Music: Nine Inch Nails

Fun (maybe not-so-fun?) fact: I can't believe that I totally brought this gun to school, so I could use it for a shoot after school. I won a h.s. video competition with this, which I made in TV productions, and it played to a whole auditorium of high-schoolers...on a military base, even! no one was concerned. Totally different time. I feel old.

Music video for The Dejas.  Shot both as a favor and an opportunity to play, this was shot in an afternoon in an old house.

Direction, cinematography, editing

Hood Luv/Outta Jail

Two music videos for RIPSHOP. Hood Luv/Outta Jail was meant to be a re-mix track, a way to slip in another look and sound (basically a short version of a completely different track) into one song.  Of the two elements, I love the the simplicity of the Outta Jail edit. He's got a great energy and his flow is awesome.  Hood Luv is more summertime; a love song to Dorchester, MA. 

Direction, Cinematography, Editing

Betta Days

Just a tight video shot by my friend, Iga, that I edited.

Direction:  Iga Mikler

Editor:  Chris Gaines

Direct Objects

What happens when a relationship dies, even if you still love the person? My first attempt at shooting 35mm.   

Direction, screenplay, cinematography, editing

A sampling of films made by students of mine in The Real to Reel Filmschool, a program I founded and serve as Artistic Director for. Each year, over 50 students from 7th through 12th grade create over three hours of high quality film and video content. I serve as instructor, mentor, role-model, creative advisor and executive producer for the students and their films. It is an amazing experience; leading these young artists, there's never a dull day, and it is often humbling both emotionally and creatively. I am always in a state of awe.

more of their work can be seen at vimeo.com/realtoreel

Check out their instagram here: instagram.com/realtoreel

All works presented here were made as part of the Real to Reel Filmschool at Raw Art Works.  © Raw Art Works  

Manos Abierta en Esta Tierra

The land between community and family.

Filmmakers: Marylys Merida, Rajaiah Jones
 

Jordan

An exploration of an autistic teenager and his visit home from a residential setting.

Filmmaker: Katie Russell

The Field

Passion, strength, dedication in every field.

Filmmakers: Daymian Mejia, Tony Peguero

My Bully

Who is your bully? Maybe they are closer to you than you think.

A spoken word piece written and performed by Gladys Hidalgo.

Filmmaker: Ava Ludwig

Entry

When senior year doesn't live up to expectations and you spend more time over thinking then doing homework; life can seem really cluttered. In this short film a girl tries to put her life, thoughts, and feeling in order.

Filmmaker: Jenna Ring

Music: Kayln Rock

Just Play

Talent and skill are what's most important in sports, right? Why would anything else matter?

Filmmaker: Andrys Galan

Lesson One

Everyone has their demons.

Filmmaker: Bryan Deleon

Thank You

A confession to the most important person in the world; a special thank you that has never been spoken until now.

Filmmaker: 
Jelenny Clark

Ghostbosters
Students from the Middle School group produce a shot-for-shot remake of the Ghostbusters trailer.

Watch the side-by-side comparison here: vimeo.com/100247425

Filmmakers: Emily Silva, Isaac Dreeben, Lizzy Embick, Mia Ventola, Sidney St. Ives, Taryn Osborne

See more works from the Real to Reel Filmschool here.