June, 2009
Experimental Cinematography #2
Been working on a camera body mount on and off for a few weeks. I want to use it in a short film I plan on shooting and I’m getting closer to perfecting the design. Still is a bit shaky while walking but I’ve definitely mastered the counter weight situation.
“Make It Plain”
I’ve been watching & re-watching the documentary Malcolm X: Make It Plain over & over for last few days. And the most salient line from the film (not surprisingly also the source of the film’s title) was:
(From 4:41 to 5:08)
No pomp, no bombast. Just make it plain. One of most talented and influential people in the history of humanity and he made sure that his introduction would be of the people and not above the people.
∞
In an interview with ERICH LEON HARRIS for Movie Maker Magazine Spike Lee speaks about the demystification of film. He’s spoken about this topic on many occasions and its one of the main reasons I find myself being such a staunch Spike supporter.
ELH: Starting with the book Spike Lee’s Gotta Have It, and throughout your career, you have invited your viewers to read up on the making of your films.
SL: The reason we do that is because we have always been about the demystification of film. There has always been this hocus-pocus or magical-mystical thing associated with the making of film that sort of psyches people out and makes them think that this cannot be done, that this is a craft that cannot be learned.
From where I’m sitting, Spike’s desire to demystify filmmaking goes hand in hand with Brother Malcolm’s desire to have his introduction made plain.
Let’s keep it simple, create with sincerity, follow our hearts and make our work as well as ourselves approachable.
Anything else only serves as excess fuel for the ego and ego is definitely one thing that we all can use less of.
The Peaceful Warriors
Really enjoyed bringing all the elements of this piece together. Experimented with editing human speech in order to have it say different things. Sliced and diced a Martin Luther King Jr speech and layered it over warped audio from the movie The Warriors.
Paper Planes
If there’s one thing I’ve learned after spending almost two decades of my life sitting in classrooms, it’s how to make a good paper plane.
Coincidentally, the process of creating a successful digital marketing strategy has a lot in common with the process of creating a successful paper plane.
With a paper plane, the first step is to find the right paper. Its gotta be strong and sturdy but not so thick that you can’t fold it without making it clunky and cumbersome.
With a campaign you also have to find the right building materials. Is the campaign going to be based off of Facebook? Youtube? Twitter? How are you going to build awareness? Are you going to force it down the throats of users? What kind of bait are you using? Is that the right bait for your intended fish?
After you find the right type of paper, the next step is investing time crafting the plane, making deliberate and thoughtful creases.
When courting a fan community are you trying to throw a campaign together at the last moment? Or are you investing the time necessary to make meaningful and widespread connections to the community that you’re trying to reach?
Then after you put the time into your plane you take a deep breath, exhale, cock your arm back and launch that plane into the ether.
With a digital marketing strategy after you’ve invested the time and effort in crafting it you have to pull your metaphorical arm back and launch that campaign into the ether.
A well-crafted campaign, much like a well-crafted paper plane, once launched, will take off and soar to new heights. A poorly crafted campaign, however, will hit the ground hard and you’ll end up getting teased by your peers.
And no one wants to get teased right?
Drive
This was an experiment in sound design. I recreated the sounds of a drive around my neighborhood. There are several versions of this floating around my hard drive/the Internets with different voice-overs layered on top but this version is my favorite.