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#PhoningItIn: Trans Prostitute Movie “Tangerine” Filmed Entirely on an iPhone5

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Everyone’s buzzing about the Sundance smash Tangerine which stars trans actresses Mya Taylor and Kitana Kiki Rodriguez as two working girls in search of a wayward pimp on a fateful Christmas Eve in Hollywood.  The film – which was shot entirely on an iPhone – was bought by Magnolia Pictures at Sundance and is looking at a Summer 2015 release.

TANGERINE follows two working girls on Christmas, Sin-Dee and Alexandra (Rodriguez and Taylor) as they look for the pimp boyfriend (James Ransone, STARLET, “Generation Kill“). who may or may not have cheated on Sin-Dee while she was in the slammer. Their story runs parallel with that of a married Armenian cab driver (Karren Karagulian, THE PRINCE OF BROADWAY), who lusts for Sin-Dee despite his strict, traditional culture.

TANGERINE is a high-energy, effervescent comedy that transcends any expectation you might have going in — sharp in its humor, yet filled with deep, relatable emotion.

The Verge has a fascinating account of how it was done on an iPhone5:

Plenty of amateur films have been shot using iPhones, but by all reports, this is the first movie at the Sundance Film Festival to be shot almost entirely on an Apple device. It was a decision that indie writer and director Sean Baker made to accommodate the film’s small budget. But you’d never guess the camera, to look at it: Tangerine was shot in a widescreen, 2:35:1 aspect ratio, and its camera zooms through the streets of LA with a fluidity you’d never expect from a handheld device. And yet despite his camera of choice, Baker says the iPhone made for a good partner. “It was surprisingly easy,” Baker says. “We never lost any footage.”

So how do you make a Sundance movie for iPhone? You need four things. First, of course, the iPhone (Baker and his team used three). Second, an $8 app called Filmic Pro that allowed the filmmakers fine-grained control over the focus, aperture, and color temperature. Third, a Steadicam. “These phones, because they’re so light, and they’re so small, a human hand — no matter how stable you are — it will shake. And it won’t look good,” says Baker. “So you needed the Steadicam rig to stabilize it.”

The final ingredient was a set of anamorphic adapter lenses that attach to the iPhone. The lenses were prototypes from Moondog Labs, and Baker said they were essential to making Tangerine look like it belonged on a big screen. “To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t have even made the movie without it,” Baker says. “It truly elevated it to a cinematic level.”

Like any conventional film, Tangerine underwent post-production. “With a lot of these social realist films, the first thing you do is drain the color,” Baker says. “We went the other way. We pumped the colors and put the saturation through the roof. Just because the world there is so colorful, and the women are so colorful. We wanted it to match them.” (Orange emerged as the dominant color in the film, inspiring its title.) The final step was to apply a digital grain to the movie, giving it a quality more reminiscent of actual film.

At first, the cast wasn’t convinced shooting with the iPhone would work. “I had some hesitancy about it, more out of pride,” says James Ransone, who plays Chester, the pimp at the center of Tangerine’s love triangle. “I’m like, Jesus Christ, man, I was on The Wire. I’ve ended up in iPhone movies!” But Ransone came to appreciate the flexibility of the device. “There’s a lot that can be done with an iPhone.” (One example: Baker shot several scenes while riding his 10-speed bicycle in circles around his actors.)

Ransone said that the key to shooting Tangerine was having a team well-versed in traditional filmmaking. “You still need to know how editing works. You still need to know how sound works. You still need to know how a camera works,” he says. “You can’t just go out and shoot.” iPhone footage hasn’t yet caught up with true 35 millimeter film — a high bar — but Ransone expects it will some day. “Yes, you can make a beautiful-looking film on a shoestring budget,” he says. “But you have to know 100 years worth of filmmaking.”

The post #PhoningItIn: Trans Prostitute Movie “Tangerine” Filmed Entirely on an iPhone5 appeared first on World of Wonder.


UrineLuck: We Have the Reason Your Pee Smells SO BAD After You Eat Asparagus

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Mental Floss always tackles the big issues. This week: Why does asparagus make your pee smell like a rotting possum carcass? The answer has to do with the chemicals found in asparagus, as expected, but the takeaway is the fact that some people lack the ability to smell urine. Which just explains SO MUCH (I’m looking at you Joey Butler in 3rd grade). The things we learn. Watch the video below.

Tangentially related (from the YouTube comments section):

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The post UrineLuck: We Have the Reason Your Pee Smells SO BAD After You Eat Asparagus appeared first on World of Wonder.

Lady Gaga Got Engaged to Taylor Kinney!

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Lady Gaga Married

“He gave me his heart on Valentine’s Day, and I said YES!” (via Instagram)

Lady Gaga took to Instagram to confirm that she is engaged to boyfriend and actor Taylor Kinney! She posted a beautiful black and white photo of an enormous heart shaped diamond ring! She is one lucky pop star for sure! ConDRAGulations to you both! Oh my god… can you image WHAT her wedding gown will look like? See what I think below! The possibilities for her are endless, tbh.

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She could of course reprise her Egg motif from the Grammys and reinterpret NY party promoter Susanne Bartsch‘s wedding gown! (below)9a05a2c93770b9f

The post Lady Gaga Got Engaged to Taylor Kinney! appeared first on World of Wonder.

It’s Birthday, Bitch

Save the Date: THIS MONDAY “Big Freedia: Twerk of Art” at the World of Wonder Storefront Gallery!

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This MONDAY! THIS MONDAY! OMG! The World of Wonder Storefront Gallery will host “Big Freedia: Twerk of Art” featuring works by & inspired by the New Orleans Bounce SENSATION Big Freedia in honor of the 3rd season premiere of Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce on Fuse. There will be original photographs by the Queen Diva herself, cheekily celebrating the New Orleans twerk culture. The exhibit will also feature new works by artists Jason Mecier, Sham Ibrahim, and Kenneth Leslie. It’s going to be AMAZING!

Please come! RSVP to events@worldofwonder

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The post Save the Date: THIS MONDAY “Big Freedia: Twerk of Art” at the World of Wonder Storefront Gallery! appeared first on World of Wonder.

Oh No! Buffy Star Nicholas Brendon Arrested AGAIN!

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Former Buffy the Vampire Slayer hunk Nicholas Brendan has been arrested AGAIN, poor little guy, this time at a comic book convention in Ft Lauderdale, Florida. Authorities say he got drunk, trashed his hotel room, and ended up asleep in a hotel employee’s office. According to the police report, Brendon did $450 worth of damage to the room, as well as nearly $380 in food and beverage charges.

Brendon’s rep tells TMZ, “Nicholas is, unfortunately, battling a disease that many of us don’t understand. We are working with him to improve upon the situation at hand and look toward the future. He’s sorry for his actions and takes what happened last night very seriously. We will take great care to ensure his safety in the future.”

Which is a CRAZY thing for a publicist to say. We all know that if your publicist says it’s alcohol, it’s really pills. And if they say it’s pills, it’s really coke. And if they say it’s coke, it’s really heroin. And by the time they admit to “a little problem” it’s usually that their client was found near death with a dozen needles in both arms. So for Nicholas’ rep to START OFF with “he’s an alcoholic” – that means the problem is WAAAAAAAAAAY worse than we’re being told.

Gotta say: He still looks good, though. And keeps taking hot mug shots. So… there’s THAT.

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This one from his last October, of course, when Brendon was arrested and charged with malicious injury to property and resisting and obstructing officers in Boise, Idaho. Following the incident, he entered a rehab facility. Yeah, I’d hit that. SO HARD.

The post Oh No! Buffy Star Nicholas Brendon Arrested AGAIN! appeared first on World of Wonder.

#Transformations: Meet Lyndon Glitterfck, Gender Warrior

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You forget sometimes just how good you have it. Living in the city, surrounded by creative types, being able to be whoever you want to be. I often tell myself it’s a pretty great time to be alive, isn’t it? Then you meet somebody like Lyndon Glitterfck and your whole world view is shaken. Lyndon lives in Hattiesberg, Mississippi, y’all. Population: Not that fuckin’ big. Working at a restaurant IN DAY DRAG. Lips. Eyes. Hair. A flowy little ensemble. And every single day he puts up with CRAP for it. He’s called “faggot” and worse. Yet he perseveres. He carries on. He does it because he feels it’s HIS DUTY to be that person who can maybe change some hearts and minds. Watch this episode of Transformations and salute all the gender warriors still on the front lines of the fight for equality.

Oh, and happy Mardi Gras.

The post #Transformations: Meet Lyndon Glitterfck, Gender Warrior appeared first on World of Wonder.

It’s Birthday, Bitch


#Frrrozen: Check Out The INSANE Amounts of Snow In New England

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Yes, in case you hadn’t heard, there is $%&#@! lot of snow in New England right now. Historic-level stuff. Here are some pics that show just HOW MUCH snow. These folks all want to it to disappear but, please not too fast, or they’ll have some historic-level flooding too. Boston is being pretty good about it if you ask me –the folks in these pictures seem to be making the best of things. We’ve gotten a fair amount in New York state too –more upstate than in the city– but if this happened in New York City, you can just bet that we’d be torturing the whole country about it. Thanks, Polar Vortex!

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(Photos, Twitter; via BuzzFeed)

The post #Frrrozen: Check Out The INSANE Amounts of Snow In New England appeared first on World of Wonder.

#NYFW: Thom Browne’s “Widows” Work The Runway

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Thom Browne is always one of my favorite collections to show at New York Fashion Week, in any given season. I wasn’t there for this latest extravaganza, but boy does this gorgeous collection evoke a mood. Fashion Week Daily‘s Peter Davis sets the scene:

“At Thom Browne‘s latest show, guests were perched on wooden bleachers facing each other, peering down at a model in all white, seemingly dead and lying flat on a stretcher as two male nurses with angel wings embroidered on their jackets circled her curiously. Then Björk’s melodic wailing came on the speakers and it began to fake snow. The model suddenly awoke, sat up and was wheeled off backstage on a gurney. What followed was a procession of mostly black clothes that felt funeral-esque (were we mourning the fallen waif in white?), as if an Edward Gorey drawing came to life. Browne is a master showman and the set, resembling an austere British medical clinic at a fancy university, was quite impressive. But it was the clothes that were showstoppers.

Models stared out at the audience as if we were the medical experiment on display. Their hair was waxed down to show off sculptural hats that resembled Gatsby-era hairstyles or exaggerated seagull wings. Philip Treacy would approve. A genius at tailoring and detailing, Browne’s looks were pulled together with mink trim, his signature woven grosgrain, silk satin, raffia tweed, beaver, rubber, mohair and a jacket with bugle beads that was like the inside of a Victorian jewelry box that might be used to store the ashes of a departed loved one. A white lace shirt with a black lace tie was covered with a raglan jacket. Plus, the necklaces and long earrings made of black horse hair. Sure, the mood was serious and somber, but the clothes had life. Breaking up the widow’s-walk mood were large, happy whales that appeared embroidered in satin on skirts or dresses, and as a handbag in pebbled leather, the whale’s tail bobbing behind the mod as she walked.”

Beautifully written description –just one objection; Philip Treacy might not approve, as all the millinery was by Stephen Jones… for more pictures of the entire collection, go here.

Thom Browne New York RTW Fall Winter 2015 February 2015

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(Photos, Thom Browne: via Fashion Week Daily)

The post #NYFW: Thom Browne’s “Widows” Work The Runway appeared first on World of Wonder.

#NYFW: Beyoncé Wears Scooter LaForge’s Hand-Painted Artwear

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Scooter with the legendary Pat Field

Scooter with the legendary Pat Field

Yes, New York Fashion Week was happening over the weekend – but it was All Star Weekend too! Beyoncé hit up the b-ball game in a hand-painted trench by artist Scooter LaForge. It’s one-of-a-kind coat from Pat Field‘s shop. You can check other hand-painted numbers here on Scooter’s Instagram. I know Scooter a little bit, and we have many friends in common. His work is punk meets pop, but he’s known as one of the nicest guys in NYC. Happy to see that Beyoncé found his work. And COME on, at $320, that’s a bargain for Bey!

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(Photos, Instagram)

The post #NYFW: Beyoncé Wears Scooter LaForge’s Hand-Painted Artwear appeared first on World of Wonder.

#NYFW: “Mad Men” Moves Into The Groovy 70s

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Mad Men will air its final episodes starting April 5. The show isn’t sharing any details yet, but check out Vanity Fair‘s exclusive pic by Frank Ockenfels and try to spot all the clues embedded in this shot. Little Sally is growing up and her hemlines are rising, Betty‘s taking it to the max(i), Megan‘s ruffled mid-drift is back and Don can always rock a jacket and slacks, whatever the decade.

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(Photo, Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC; via Vanity Fair)

The post #NYFW: “Mad Men” Moves Into The Groovy 70s appeared first on World of Wonder.

Hot Look of the Day: This Adorable Little Cyclops Photographed in a Tokyo Park

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Absolutely enchanting little one-eyed mutant girl at the Wonder Festival in Tokyo photographed by Danny Choo of Culture Japan. It’s our Hot Look of the Day. Check out the pics after the jump. 

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The Wonder Festival is a semiannual (Feb, Aug) event, whose main focus is to display and sell “garage kits“, which are sculptures that usually replicate anime and game characters, but also popular mecha/sci-fi characters and creatures.

The post Hot Look of the Day: This Adorable Little Cyclops Photographed in a Tokyo Park appeared first on World of Wonder.

Watch New Videos From The WOWPresents Network!

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Check out the latest videos from our WOWPresents Network! Mike Diamond, April Carrion, Novympia,Oscar Aydin, and SO MANY MORE all have new videos! Watch all these and more right now on the WOW Report!

Here are the latest videos from our fabulous partners! Make sure you subscribe to their channels for new videos!

The post Watch New Videos From The WOWPresents Network! appeared first on World of Wonder.

Watch Now: WOWPresents Network Spotlight: Queen Annecy

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Meet one of the newest members of our WOWPresents Multi-Channel Network, Queen Annecy! Make sure you subscribe to Queen Annecy on YouTube so you never miss a new video!

Meet more of our WOWPresents Network!

Meet The Real King Bob!

Meet Dean Modah!

Meet Lacey Noel!

Meet Stella Rose Saint Clair!

Meet Novympia!

Meet Sir Jet!

Meet Giselle Dijon!

Meet Matt Zarley!

Meet Daniel Nakamura!

Meet Good Clean P0rn!

Meet Wermiesunite!

Meet Xelle Music!

Meet Merlin Dietrich!

Meet Misty Eyez!

Meet Coco and Isis for Throwin Shade!

Meet T Kyle!

Meet Adam Barta!

Meet Button & Bly!

Meet Big Dipper!

Meet Boys with Brushes!

Meet Skarlet Starlet!

Meet Ms. Candy Blog!

Meet Billy Francesca!

Meet Josh Rimer!

Meet Honey Golightly!

Meet  Bobby Z from WigginOutBZ!

Meet Martin Washington Jr from thisISmartinJR!

Meet Nicole and Tregg from Loves It Or Hates It!

Meet Mike Enders aka Accidental Bear!

Meet Jason Carter!

Meet Greg Scarnici!

Meet MuuMuse!

Meet Mike Diamond!

The post Watch Now: WOWPresents Network Spotlight: Queen Annecy appeared first on World of Wonder.


It’s Birthday, Bitch

Quote Unquote: Patricia Velasquez On Coming Out &“Facing My Truth”

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Venezuelan supermodel Patricia Velasquez, who has modeled for Ralph Lauren, Isaac Mizrahi, Chanel, Victoria’s Secret and Sports Illustrated, came out as gay in her new memoir, Straight Walk. Velasquez, dubbed the “first Latina supermodel, writes that while working as a model in the 1990s, she was living a lie that was “tortuous” and “eroding my soul bit by bit.” The 43-year-old was inspired by her 8-year-old daughter, Maya:

“It’s very difficult to face your past, so I put off doing anything like this for a long time. But as my daughter started growing up and I was teaching her to be honest and proud, I knew it was time for me to set an example — and that meant facing my truth. For me, living life with truth and honesty is the one thing I want to make sure she understands.”

In the 90s, she met dated Sandra Bernhard through Madonna, an dated her exclusively:

“I was deeply in love with Sandra in a way I’d never experienced before.”

When the relationship ended, Velasquez said she “cried for two years.” Velasquez slowly came out to her family, and everyone has been supportive. She stats she had an ambulance waiting when she told told her mother, so sure that she would have a heart attack. She also felt it necessary to come out in a book, mainly because there’s still so much prejudice in the Latin community about gay people.

“I want to at least start a dialogue. The tide is changing.”

It’s an honest look at someone in the public eye struggling to be themselves. Straight Walk is on bookshelves now. (via Huffington Post)

The post Quote Unquote: Patricia Velasquez On Coming Out & “Facing My Truth” appeared first on World of Wonder.

#NYFW: Tim and Eric Awesome (Drag) Show, Great Job!

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Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, creators (and stars) of the Adult Swim series Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! and Tim and Eric’s Bedtime Stories, are getting ready to look fab. Fans will know it’s hardly the first time Tim and Eric have done drag. Eric fondly remembers his first time dressing up when he was a kid:

“I would dress up in my mom’s stuff. I’d wear her hemorrhoid pillow as a hat.”

So, it’s not a surprise that the guys confess that artist Cindy Sherman is one of their heroes:

“She does these self-portraits as these grotesque characters –from Jersey housewives to old plastic-surgery millionaires. Tim and I, all of our characters are pretty big and grotesque –horrible little moments of people that you see in real life. So to see a woman [like Sherman] take herself that far is hugely inspiring.”

For the rest of the Paper interview by Jessica Jean Jardine and more High fashion pics, go here. Congradragulations, guys, you look sickening.

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(Photos, JUCO; via Paper)

The post #NYFW: Tim and Eric Awesome (Drag) Show, Great Job! appeared first on World of Wonder.

#NSFW: Photographer Chuck Samuels Inverts Gender For “Before The Camera”

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After Outerbridge, 2014

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Woman With Claws, Paul Outerbridge, 1937

NSFW: Chuck Samuels frequently photographs or films himself. While his work has been exhibited internationally quite extensively since 1980, this is the artist’s first solo show in New York City. His work often touches upon art history, feminism, and psychoanalysis. For this exhibit, Before The Camera, Samuels recreated twelve astonishingly faithful portraits of nude women from the history of photography by modern masters like Paul Outerbridge, Man Ray, and Richard Avedon, among others. From the press release:

“…in place of the female subjects, Samuels has staged himself “before the camera.” Samuels caps his deconstructive statement by asking women to click the shutter release on the camera, finalizing his gender inversion. While everyone is aware of the ubiquity and violence of female objectification in Western culture, by parodying these iconic art historical images with his own body, Samuels establishes himself as an erotic object, confusing a typically implicit male gaze. As Deborah Bright writes in her groundbreaking book “The Passionate Camera”:

“Samuels’ photographs expose the consistent heterosexist underpinnings of elite culture and taste as he vamps and camps through official photo history. Even better, he overtly homosexualizes those master photographers whose signature styles remain carefully preserved.”

Chuck Samuels: Before The Camera opens at Clamp Art tonight in Chelsea and runs through March 28, 2015. For more info and “explicit works, go here.

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After Man Ray

After Man Ray

The post #NSFW: Photographer Chuck Samuels Inverts Gender For “Before The Camera” appeared first on World of Wonder.

#FTM: Trans Model Aydian Dowling Poses As Adam Levine

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You’ve seen this photo of Adam Levine shot for UK Cosmo? This now iconic picture was originally shot to raise awareness for prostate and testicular cancer. (His girlfriend at the time, Anne Vyalitsyna got to be the “hand model” –nice work if you can get it.) FTM is a magazine “dedicated to the lives and culture of the Female To Male and Trans-masculine community”. FTM publisher, Jason Robert Ballard saw similarities in trans model Aydian Dowling’s physique and Levine’s, and decided to pay homage with this image. Aydian says:

“Some areas of my body used to remind me of everything I’m not. Now they represent everything I am.”

You can see more Aydian in FTM‘s April issue, which is digital and in print, when it comes out with a nice big pull-out poster, I hear!

The post #FTM: Trans Model Aydian Dowling Poses As Adam Levine appeared first on World of Wonder.

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