Archive for December, 2008

GOOD MORNING IS A RIDICULOUS STATEMENT

author: SCRATCH VIDEO – duration: 01:11

And good morning to you! This video was made by Scratch Video. Scratch writes:

“I work as a documentary film editor in NYC by day and make these small pieces by night. It’s a nice balance. Scratch is the name of my character that makes these films.”

She then cites the following fantastic quote from François Truffaut from 1957, worth publishing here as well:

“The film of tomorrow appears to me as even more personal than an individual and autobiographical novel, like a confession, or a diary. The young filmmakers will express themselves in the first person and will relate what has happened to them: it may be the story of their first love or their most recent; of their political awakening; the story of a trip, a sickness, their military service, their marriage, their last vacation… and it will be enjoyable because it will be true and new… The film of tomorrow will not be directed by civil servants of the camera, but by artists for whom shooting a film constitutes a wonderful and thrilling adventure. The film of tomorrow will resemble the person who made it, and the number of spectators will be proportional to the number of friends the director has. The film of tomorrow will be an act of love.”

Permalink to the original posting: CLICK HERE
Subscribe to Scratch Video:
CLICK HERE



MARK


There’s a new vlog around, called INVISIBLE PEOPLE. It is made by Mark:

“Who am I? My name is Mark and I live in Los Angeles which I affectionately call LaLa Land… I literally am 7 weeks from being homeless myself, but I had to do something – so I started a vlog that will hopefully keep the homeless conversation going by telling their story. Technically it could be better. I don’t have anything but this little laptop that is not made to cut video and a small camera. It’s a miracle that the laptop is even allowing me to compress the data. I just took action with what I have.”

Mark became some sort of (reborn) Christian, after a living a life as homeless person for many years. He dicided to record and publish raw and unedited interviews with people living on the streets. Listen to the story of another Mark, who was working until recently for an oil and gas company in Beverly Hills and who got fired because he criticized his company for lying about their profits and returns:

“At first Mark didn’t want to talk on camera. We chatted for a bit and as I started to walk away he asked for a business card. He wanted to know what the video would be used for, how it would be used, and what organizations I was connected to. I assured him this project was completely independent and my only agenda was to tell the homeless story with real people telling real stories unedited and uncensored. Mark is extremely intelligent and articulate. His story really wrecked me because I could identify with so much of it. This is a great story. I hope Mark’s story and the other stories on this vlog inspires you to continue the homeless conversation.”

Invisible People: CLICK HERE
Hardly Normal (Mark’s blog):
CLICK HERE
Subscribe to Invisible People:
CLICK HERE
Link to the original posting:
CLICK HERE



IRAN: A NATION OF BLOGGERS

authors: AARON CHIESA, TORU KAGEYAMA, HENDY SUKARYA, LISA TEMES,
&
KATE TREMILLS – duration: 01:50

This nice short infographic kinda message was made by students of the VANCOUVER FILM SCHOOL. It was subsequently posted by MOTIONOGRAPHER, BOINGBOING and ROCKETBOOM.

Link to the original posting: CLICK HERE
Book about Iranian bloggers:
CLICK HERE



BLOC PARTY: THIS MODERN LOVE


authors:
BLOC PARTY for THE TAKE AWAY SHOWS from LA BLOGOTHEQUE
duration: 05:35

We are delighted to present you this wonderful video from THE TAKE AWAY SHOWS (Les Concerts à Emporter), our third revlog from their hands (check out TOM BROSSEAU & BEIRUT). They have redefined the landscape of videoblogging by a simple though very original concept:

“You meet a band. You take them outside, in the streets, and ask them to play there, shoot the movie in one unique shot, whatever happens… Every week, we give away a session, shot with a band, in an unusual, urban environment. Sessions are always filmed as a unique shot, without any cut, recorded live. We usually haven’t much time to record them, so the groups have to be spontaneous, to improvise, play with what they have with them, and with their environment, whether there’s a public or not.”

And all this is done with exceptional love & devotion, shot in High Definition (very well shot actually) and presented with flair and style. Thank you Vincent Moon, Chryde & all others from the French weblog LA BLOGOTHEQUE.

One day in October they were recording another band when they bumped into Bloc Party:

“While the Germans were playing, Kele Okereke popped out of the bar. He was standing next to me, asked who were the guys singing, and what they were doing here. I told him it was a Take Away Show, and he said, shyly “Oh great, that’s good”. I patted him on the back, joked “Hey, good timing, after that, it’s your turn!” We’d been told it would not be easy. A year before, we already tried to set a Take Away Show with them in London, with the support of JD Beauvallet, but nothing could convince them: they never play acoustic, they’re very shy, it’s impossible. So, back to the present, on October 14th, we tried harder.

We had some help. Matthieu, of Coop, was drunk and happy. Both the band’s managers were drunk and happy. We were drunk and happy, and that’s how Kele found himself pressed against a wall, facing a dozen of enthusiastic people, urging him to play a song. We cut, during the editing, because it took us 25 minutes to talk them into doing it. Just enough time to stop him from running away… Everyone was speechless. There’s nothing more to add. Five minutes of rare sincerity, two artists doing something with no safety net and without really understanding why. They took that risk, and that’s what we thank them for.”

Link to the original posting: CLICK HERE
Bloc Party’s own site: CLICK HERE
More on Bloc Party:
CLICK HERE
The Take Away Shows (English): CLICK HERE
Les Concerts A Emporter (French):
CLICK HERE
Subscribe to The Take Away Show (English):
CLICK HERE
Subscribe to The Take Away Show (French):
CLICK HERE
For a fantastic concert by Bloc Party:
CLICK HERE
(Shot in Paradiso, Amsterdam, Holland by FABCHANNEL – (check it out: fantastic quality recordings, for free)