I made my first movie last weekend.  Ten of us piled into a van and drove to a secluded beach on the east end of Long Island in the middle of the night.  Four of us ran around in handmade cardboard-and-string pony outfits at dawn, the rest of us helped capture this experience for your future viewing pleasure.

The whole experience was ridiculously gorgeous, romantically misty, and unfortunately plagued by mosquitos.  Also a deer died on the way home, but the rest of us lived and for that I am grateful.

Here are a few of my images from the shoot.  I’d post more except I don’t want to spoil the movie!

Here is the official announcement for the screening:

THE DREAM OF WILD PONIES DANCING (2011)

a new film by Quito Ziegler, debuting at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural & Educational Center (107 Suffolk Street on the Lower East Side) on June 30-July 1 at 8pm

The Dream of Wild Ponies Dancing documents the wild ponies of the night in their natural habitat. In the quiet deep green of a sandy midnight forest, four wild ponies recognize each other as kin and develop a sense of connection and family. Half human, all beast, the ponies run free on a mystical adventure through the dunes, arriving to a deserted beach as gray dawn breaks. The movement is captured silently in super-grainy black and white super-8 film, presented with original score by Princess Tiny & the Meats.

starring:

Little Wings (Zachary Wager Scholl)

Tobi Haberstroh

Ian Kowaleski

Melanie Levy Rainbow

Director & Producer: Quito Ziegler

Original Score: Princess Tiny & the Meats

Director of Photography & Editing: Megan Hessenthaler

Lighting & Logistics: Nogga Schwartz

Sound & Logistics: Turtle Garaufis

Costume Production: Nicole Ayla Myles

Costume Advisors: Blaise & Daniel Lang/Levitsky

Movement & Choreography Advisor: Ariel “Speedwagon” Federow

Poster Design: Cristy Road