Experimental piece

It's been a lot of fun crafting this piece, but it's also been the most stressful thing I've done in this (and many other classes) in a while. There are a lot of elements within this piece that, although they can be crafted independently, they all have to come together seamlessly. This is what's been a major pain in the final stretch. Also, having actors bail on you is no fun. It's less than a week before the project is due and I'm finally meeting with my actors for the first time. I have a lot of confidence in them, but its been taking a serious toll on my mental state. I will finally be able to block and time them which will allow me to accurately craft the projection to coincide with their performance. It's cutting it close, but I know everything will be done by the time it needs to be. I'm just not sure if I'll be functional after that.

Cucalorus responce

This years Cucalorus was an amazing one. Beyond the usual plethora of good movies, there were plenty of just plan fun events and shows going on that we both good and interesting. Obviously, Enter The Void was a hot topic, and a movie I loved and could go on for hours about, but I was a little disappointed with many peoples response to the movie. Even the people that enjoyed it couldn't exactly say why. But virtually everyone there was willing to talk about their movie going experiences in a fun and academic way if you asked them about it. Other favorites of mine included Dolphin Glide, The Red Chapel, Girl Model, and the animation block by John Dilworth. All the parties were very fun and I loved seeing all my old friends and meeting a ton of new people (especially the filmmakers). Everyone there is so nice and friendly and willing to get drunk and have a lot of fun. It was really one of the funnest weekends of my life and, now that its over, the depression sinks in. It feels like a lost love or a breakup. Like I've truly lost something, and I cannot wait till next year. To my, at heart, all anyone wants to do is return to childhood, to play and Cucalorus is one of the best outlets and areas for this. I've rekindled so many friendships and met so many great people that I hope to stay in touch with. More than that, it's really put an energy in me to start making films. To make a simple independent project, it can cost maybe $100. If you submit it to a few film festivals, where a full pass can cost up to $300, and get in, you've already made your money back. And if you get into more then one, you basically get a free vacation to travel, see and talk about amazing films, and get drunk with some of the best, most beautiful people on the planet. I also really want to use the visions class as a jumping off point. I want to see if there's a realistic option for being involved in film festivals, especially Cucalorus in the future. I fucking love this.

Cuc Blog

Confirmed:

Thursday-
A Film Unfinished
The Erectionman
Dance-a-lorus (might forgo this for Sliver-Spotted Skipper Shorts since Em Johnson and Laura Mattingly have films in this)
Kickoff party with Nutweevil shorts and Royce getting hammered!

Friday-
Visual Soundwalls Party
Enter the Void

Saturday-
A New Kind of Listening (with Laura Murphy's short!)
Mars

Sunday-
Girl Model (WIP)
Irrational Reactions

Want tickets to-
Firewall of Sound
The Audible Picture
A Puppet Intervention
Dolphin Glide
The Temptation of St. Tony
The Red Chapel
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (or Grahamland (WIP))

Instalation project

Obviously, by now you know I have an unhealthy love with Miranda July. There are several other installation artists I love that often use film (samples at bottom), but Miranda July always has a very playful, beautiful, and smart quality to her projects. Our group has agreed to do a project with her in mind as spirit (I'm thinking of The Swan Tool here). The project with involve projected images onto a giant sphere, covered in different materials to give the texture of a planet. The story will call for two actors. Each one is unsatisfied with life, unable to find love and meaning on any planet they traveled to. They both hired a construction company to build a planet so they could live the rest of their lives alone and in piece and then were each placed on the same planet without each other's knowledge. Eventually they meet and are annoyed by each other, realizing the construction company has deceived both of them. Despite being virtually identical, both resent each other, denying that they are perfect for one another. A romantic relationship is suggested, but never realized. At the end, both decide to jump into a volcano, realizing they have no place in the universe. The play will be both dark and funny, with a style similar to Miranda July and Samuel Beckett. I will be one actor and I believe I've convinced one of the theater students to be the other actress. If not, Kristina will play one of the rolls. I will also be writing the script, handing it to the group and ask for some opinions and possible revisions. Laura will be in charge of researching materials for the construction of the sphere and I believe we will all be involved in the engineering and construction of it. I will probably assign either Megan or Kristina with the task of putting together the projected images after the screen play is complete. The projected images will be found footage of construction sites, workers, machines, etc . providing the landscape "backdrop" for the world. This is what we got so far. Below are things I love:

Miranda July- Love Diamond (Excerpt) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuU99STtP2s

Bruce Nauman- Good Boy, Bad Boy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VugLUa47sLI&feature=related
AND Feed Me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxmm16gqRis&feature=related

Paul Pfeiffer- Morning After The Deluge (with commentary) http://www.pbs.org/cgi-registry/mediaplayer/videoplayer.cgi?playeraddress=videoplayer.cgi;media=%2Fart21%2FPP4_video_lo.rm%2C%2Fart21%2FPP4_video_hi.rm%2C%2Fart21%2FPP4_video_lo.mov%2C%2Fart21%2FPP4_video_hi.mov%2C%2Fart21%2FPP4_video_lo.wmv%2C%2Fart21%2FPP4_video_hi.wmv;title=%22Morning%20After%20the%20Deluge%22%20video%20installation%20by%20Paul%20Pfeiffer;widescreen=true;playertemplate=%2Fart21%2FTemplates%2Fart21_mp.html

Krzysztof Wodiczko- Tijuana, Mexico http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juq-Z48lY7g
AND Bunker Hill, Boston http://www.pbs.org/cgi-registry/mediaplayer/videoplayer.cgi?playeraddress=videoplayer.cgi;media=%2Fart21%2F3_KW2_video_lo.rm%2C%2Fart21%2F3_KW2_video_hi.rm%2C%2Fart21%2F3_KW2_video_lo.mov%2C%2Fart21%2F3_KW2_video_hi.mov%2C%2Fart21%2F3_KW2_video_lo.wmv%2C%2Fart21%2F3_KW2_video_hi.wmv;title=Video%20projection%20on%20the%20Bunker%20Hill%20Monument%20by%20Krzysztof%20Wodiczko%20in%20Boston%2C%20MA;widescreen=true;playertemplate=%2Fart21%2FTemplates%2Fart21_mp.html

Anti VJ- Songdo http://www.antivj.com/songdo/index.htm

Ryan Trecartin- I-BE AREA (first article, then video) http://arttorrents.blogspot.com/2008/02/ryan-trecartin-i-be-area-2007.html
http://www.ubu.com/film/trecartin_area.html

Anthony McCall- Light Describing a Cone http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-HWsxPnNNY