Shen Heckel didn’t get the lead in “Rotterdam,” but the opportunity to work on a play about transgender identity made him determined to join the production. Read more...
Photo: Alumnus Shen Heckel helped direct the play “Rotterdam,” which is about two women in a relationship who must redefine their relationship when one of them comes out as transgender. (Aubrey Yeo/Daily Bruin senior staff)
Santiago’s Trip is a UCLA-based group of students who perform rock and alternative music around Los Angeles and in unconventional spaces such as campus parking lots. Read more...
Björk is back and weirder than ever with her latest release, “Utopia.” The Icelandic singer-songwriter’s first major release of new music since 2015’s “Vulnicura” combines a rustic aesthetic with a more modern, electronic element to create a complex yet overall harmonious album. Read more...
Photo: (Courtesy of One Little Indian Records)
The mystical garden exhibits and entrancing laser shows of “Enchanted: Forest of Light” carve out a new holiday-experience niche for itself. Without relying on kitschy plastic Santas or red-and-green lights, the event transforms a humble botanical garden into a spectacular holiday-oriented light show experience, open from Nov. Read more...
Photo: “Enchanted: Forest of Light,” a holiday-oriented light show experience is running at Descanso Gardens from Nov. 19 to Jan. 7. The gift store by the entrance sets a holiday mood for the hordes of guests trickling into the garden with shop workers dressed in light-up festive garb and a little nursery filled with hanging lights and light-up reindeer in the backdrop. (Farida Saleh/Daily Bruin)
Death comes to life and life comes to death in Pixar’s latest animated film “Coco.” After a subpar “Cars 3” release, Pixar returned to its former glory with “Coco,” a film featuring exceptional animation, complex characters and hard-hitting themes about love, loss and legacy. Read more...
Photo: (courtesy of Disney•Pixar)
Jesus Martinez knew instantly that he wanted to work on “Coco” – it was one of the first times he saw a character on the big screen who looked like him when he was a kid. Read more...
Photo: UCLA alumnus Jesus Martinez worked as the layout and animation manager on the film “Coco.” Drawing on his knowledge of Mexican culture, Martinez shared with his crew details and materials such as videos that would increase the cultural authenticity of the film. (Photo courtesy of Debby Coleman, illustration by Amy Fang/Daily Bruin illustrator)
The music video for Veronica Bianqui’s garage-pop single “Victim” takes place entirely in an apartment living room. The video features Bianqui and her band in front of several different-colored sets built specifically for the video inside of the directors’ apartment. Read more...
Photo: Alumna Veronica Bianqui wrote her single, “Victim,” as a means of expressing herself as she recovered from a state of emotional codependence. All of the proceeds for the single, which was released in September, will be donated to the Harm Reduction Coalition in memory of Bianqui’s sister, who died in July following a long period of drug addiction. (Chengcheng Zhang/Daily Bruin)
