I am fascinated my the short film festivals popping up online. I like the concept of online film festivals. Recently was the twitter film fest.

My favorite online film festival is The Media That Matters Film Festival, because I'm all about youth and folks making social justice films.

I am very impressed with Nikon's "A Day Through My Lens" 140 second film festival.

Here is a beautiful portrait of a place!



maybe next term's assignment will have a 140 second parameter on it.

How to write an Artist Statement

When faced with a blank page, the best thing to do is write down words that you would use to describe your work. Do the same for the process(es) you use to make your work- list out the processes you use. The next step is to start to link the words into sentences. After you write the sentences, see if you can put them together into paragraphs. If you have several bodies of work you might do this process for each body of work.

- from the Artist Foundation on how to write an artist statement

THINK ABOUT:

your vision

your visual style

your influences

the impact you desire to make with your work

When you want to apply for grant money for filmmakers, you will often be asked to submit an artists statement.

IFP Center for Media arts asks you to

Provide a written discussion of no more than one page describing your creative journey as an artist and your creative filmmaking process and vision.

IFP Center for Media arts asks you to See here.

Here is documentary filmmaker Chuck Olson's artist statement

Amazing filmmaker Yvonne Welbon's artist statement

Filmmaker Dominic Angerame's artist statement

Painter, poet and filmmaker Rajaa Gharbi's artist statement

Filmmaker Tara Krause artist statement

Filmmaker Ronit Bezalel artist statement

Filmmaker Valerie Soe calls her artist statement her manifesto

Keith W. Cunningham shows his influences in his artist statement

Feminist Filmmaker Alex Juhasz artist statement

Scott Snibbe's is here

Using a light meter with DV

Inspired by Adam's desire to use a light meter for our green screen exercise (which we did just fine w/o one) but thinking about our recent purchase of a SONY EX3 with upcoming purchase of either Letus or Redrock 35mm adapter, we will need a light meter.

Here's a good tutorial on calibrating a light meter for DV that I found on FreshDV.

I'm thinking we'll purchase the Sekonic L-758 for TCF.

Demo Reels: What Makes a Good Reel?

Blog Post Prompt:

What makes a good DP / Director of Photography / Cinematographer's reel? Search reels online (google, vimeo, youtube, etc) and visit the links below to see what work is out there. Embed or link your favorite and your least favorite reels and explain what is compelling (and not so compelling) in the reels that you viewed.

POST BEFORE CLASS ON TUESDAY!

Sample DP reel links:

http://reels.creativecow.net/demo_reel/t/1

http://www.poptent.net/assignment/29

http://www.acityofindustry.com/reels/dpreel.html

http://timotholt.com/reel/

http://shootingpeople.org/watch/film.php?film_id=53970

http://www.poptent.net/media/14538

http://www.reelsondemand.com/dp.html

http://www.planetpoint.com/jackmessitt/jack1.html

http://www.foursitestudios.com/reels/DPreel.htm

http://reels.creativecow.net/film/dan-parsons-dp-reel

http://www.vimeo.com/4226637

http://www.vimeo.com/3497766

http://www.vimeo.com/2430560

http://www.rclabaugh.com/reel/index.html

http://www.solarplexusprods.com/DirDPReel.html

http://www.300pix.com/christo/

http://www.productionhub.com/video/view.aspx?item=1800

http://www.imagesbyferrari.com/demo-reel.html

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=50595668

http://www.brentramsey.com/DemoReels/DirectorofPhotographyReel/tabid/374/Default.aspx

http://www.danielpearldp.com/page2.html

http://www.carlososterling.com/video.php

http://www.poptent.net/media/11806

http://reels.creativecow.net/film/2009-demo-peltier-productions-director-of-photography-reel

http://www.helicopterpictures.com/reel.php

http://www.vimeo.com/241039

http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/entertainment/watch/v6998898P4mwg9dE

http://blog.instituteartistmanagement.com/posts/2009/10/shana-hagan-reel.html

http://www.poptent.net/media/11806

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1087248/dp_reel_dan_hertzog/

http://vodpod.com/watch/2165834-dp-reel

http://bradreeb.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loiUGNB35ak

http://www.mefeedia.com/watch/24900409

http://www.igortoch.com/dp_reel

http://onewaytv.blogspot.com/2009/02/jorge-arturo-arzacs-dp-reel.html

Sample Director Reel Links:

http://www.poptent.net/media/14792

http://www.poptent.net/media/15014

http://www.poptent.net/media/15047

http://www.igortoch.com/director_reel

http://www.productionhub.com/video/view.aspx?item=2688

http://www.mefeedia.com/watch/22966653

http://www.dougclevenger.com/reels/dp

http://louweinert.com/

http://nicholasbentgen.com/reel.htm

http://www.ghostmap.com/projects/Reel/reel.html

http://www.alexanderjosephdp.com/dp-reel.html

http://video.aol.co.uk/video-detail/skip-clarks-dp-reel/3159963911

http://www.commonfilm.org/index.php?option=com_hwdvideoshare&task=viewvideo&Itemid=66&video_id=37

http://www.newimage.tv/newimage.tv/Films/39C966E2-4731-4FB9-8B8C-663FE4342643.html

http://652productions.com/toshi.dp.reel.html

http://www.timnaylor.com/dp_reel_montage.html

Editor's Reel Links:

http://www.poptent.net/media/15012

Films Shot on SONY HDV

Since so many of you expressed a desire to learn the camera in a more in-depth way, I thought for this blog entry, I would share with you films that have been shot on the SONY HDV cameras that we are using.

This documentary, Brothers at War.

View the photo slideshow to see some amazing images from the film (which tells both the story of place - Iraq and war torn land, and is the portrait of people - brothers who are both soldiers).

Documentary about Woodstock. Here's article in DV magazine about filming with SONY HDV cameras.

Here is an HDFEST that has features a diversity of work all shot on HDV cameras (not all sony model though).

The documentary The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela

The documentary Mila's Story

A documentary on the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

These cameras are being used for news in the UK.

Australian feature Gene-X and here's info about shooting on HDV

Very Clever Fundraising Video & Trailer

Week Three Inspirational Link

I am still moving thru this photographers site.

I am fascinated by the site itself:

stevensebring.com

I really want to see his doc about Patti Smith, but I am disturbed my some of his photo art.

Check it out for yourself.

Week Two's inspiration: music videos (albeit a little late)

I've been thinking a lot about music videos and the ones that have inspired me.

Here are my favorites (at least today's list):

This video is directed by Spike Jonze. At first viewing, it seems not that visually compelling (as compared with other images I've posted here), but in terms of form it is really clever and thought provoking to me. Spike was really pushing back on 90's video form. He had the artists memorize their lyrics backward, shot the video then reversed the film in post... so it looks like the world is tripping... the balls fly up the stairs, etc... Here's Fatlip talking about it on QD3's show "Rewind," which goes behind the scenes of classic hip-hop videos.

Here is another blog entry about how that video was shot.

And, I also found this treatment for the video:

Fiona Apple - Criminal

This video is directed by Mark Romanek. What is most striking to me, is the lighting and camera work. The camera movement sets the mood and the tone of the piece, perfectly communicating the song's themes. The lighting, primarily a source mounted on top

of the camera, gives us an eery spotlight, focusing us on the subject. Just attach a small light on top of the camera and go! (well, it's almost that easy!)

Lauryn Hill - Everything Is Everything

This directed by Sanji. Obviously this is an effect heavy video. Normally, I am not such huge fan of over the top visual fx but the world is a turntable... love it. Make NYC a record... we are all spinning, moving, groovin... I really miss Lauryn Hill.

first entry for inspired :: what i like (and what i don't like so much)

What I :

D-Nice

D-Nice has the most amazing eye. Certainly I am taken by the use of a shallow depth of field, common in many of his photos and videos --- it really makes you look deeply at the subject. The focus on the subject (big like Questo or small like a wild flower) really draws me in.  

pouringdown.tv

This video blog, by photographer Daniel Liss is exceptional. His pieces are short, simple (usually shot with a small DV camera, edited, text added, voice over and music) but magical. There is something about the mood, tone, and style --- I love the way he handles framing, composition, light, color, and pacing (mostly in editing). It's been my goal to produce a video per week... this blog inspires me to (finally) meet that goal. Fingers crossed!

Lauren Greenfield

Lauren's Girl Culture is a book that I use in many of the Women's Studies classes that I've taught. Her documentary photos really capture the essence of girlhood. I usually show the photographs with the audio + photo slideshows like this.  Recently visiting her homepage to discover that she now includes audio interviews with the photographs she displays on her site made me happy. She is very much a documentarian. She did make a documentary that was way to heavy (and the structure and pacing was off for me), but I love her work nonetheless.

Erin Patrice O'Brien

Erin is an amazing photographer with a brilliant eye for framing and composition. I was blessed to work with Erin when I worked for a print magazine. We traveled through Chile and Argentina together. My favorite work by Erin is her personal work (though her commerical stuff is really fun), specifically the series she's done on teen moms in Brooklyn.

What I don't :

David LaChapelle   <---- just look for yourself... see what you think!

Intro Post : Who? What? Why? Where? When?

Who :: I hold a Ph.d. (Feminist Studies), an M.A. (Women's Studies), an M.F.A. (Film Directing), and a B.A. (Film Production). I am a freshly appointed Assistant Professor teaching media production at a University in the south.

What :: This is a blog companion to my creative journal (a very small, pocket sized green moleskin like one pictured at right, just green, which is my latest favorite color).

Why :: I've asked my Video Production students to keep visual journals for creative inventory and inspiration. They have the option to keep a book, binder, blog or any combination of the above. At the end of the term (December 2009), they have to write a 2-3 page reflection that is their artist statement as a visual storyteller (primarily concerned with camera and lighting).

 

As their Professor, I feel that I should be doing what it is I ask of them, particularly since I feel this assignment is a good way to develop your vision as a media maker, archive things that inspire you, and a way for the rest of the crew (our class) to get know more about you (and your aesthetic inclinations).

Where :: Southern U.S.A. (This is the first time I'm living down south. It is really beautiful here.)

When :: This blog will have weekly entries running late August through December 2009.

Here's me filming with my Sony Vx1000

 (yes this was a few years ago!) 

in Vina del Mar, Chile with a local B-boy

Hope you enjoy and feel inspired too!

Best,

Dr. R