We felt unable to let the Iranian Twitter / Youtube phenomena go unmentioned here at UV Towers. In a mass uprising against rigged election results, the people of Iran have superseded censorship, recording masses of footage of police violence against peaceful protesters, and tweeting it to the world via their mobile phones. Marking a veritable grass-roots shift in media ownership, it awaits to be seen whether the wealth of damning content will actually affect the outcome of this controversial election. Thousands have risked jail and torture to let the world know what is happening on the streets of Tehran, prompting us to question the moral parameters around citizen journalism in oppressive societies. As the debate continues, the clever people over at Boingboing have compiled a handy list of Dos and Dont’s for Twitterers who want to promote the Iranian cause. Meanwhile, Ben Parr at Mashable have compiled a Top 10 most significant videos to surface from Iran in recent days. Sensational stuff.
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The chappie who made this Post-It Note-fuelled stop motion frenzy needs to be crowned the Undisputed King of Procrastination, like now! Instead of focusing on his studies at Savannah College of Art and Design, he decided to spend every waking moment for what we estimate to be a VERY long time, sticking and unsticking Post-it Notes to his wall, with an enviable dedication to his ultimate vision: a 2-minute stop motion animation called DEADLINE. Then he did something very clever. He decided to present his procrastination project as his senior project, thus assuaging both his workload and his boredom. Genius!
While a heated Youtube-comment-battle rages on as to the presence of digital manipulation (or lack thereof), creator Bang-yao Liu is racking up the Youtube hits at a rate of knots. He might even get a job in the withering creative industry once he graduates. Go Bang-yao!
P.s. kids you can stop arguing now, check the making of.
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Aah the blissful optimism of youth! Way back in 2006, the four buddies that are The Buried Life set off, equipped with little more than a video camera, an R.V, and an insatiable appetite for that crazy game they call “life” to travel across the States, with a mission to knock items off their “100 things to do before I die” list. From the Steve-O inspired (go down a mountain on a longboard), to the socially conscious (help someone build a house), they vowed to help a stranger achieve a life goal for each item they accomplished. Lucky for them, not so long ago, the execs at MTV had been scratching their addled heads in search of new ideas to win back their audiences who, bored of escapist trash, turned off in search of Obama-style civic-minded optimism. They wooed the Buried Life boys with an offer they couldn’t refuse (presumably), and Bingo! The boys will be back this summer with 53 more missions to complete, and lots of strangers to pleasantly surprise.
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The Buried Life in the New York Times: CLICK HERE
Tags: 100 things to do before you die, bingo, mtv, obama, steve-o, the buried life.
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.”
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Subscribe to Scratch Video: CLICK HERE
Tags: françois truffaut, good morning, scratch video, submarine channel, united vloggers.
