ElectroReggaeJam is essential for extraterrestrials

In the future, aliens will descend upon this planet in their metallic rotating station wagons. They will have one goal. To find the funk.

Our aliens were two different colors, and they were best buds, which means that in space there might not be racism.

Anyways, the shoot was plenty of fun. I was reticent wave around my directorial muscle ;-) around too much, so the crew positions weren't set in stone, especially mine. I agree with Dylan, Jordan is an organized lady, and responsible for having the juggling gypsy as our base of operations. Even though we were at times half naked, or dressed like ladies and whatnot, it wasn't much of a big deal. Pretty standard gypsy fair. I'd imagine that if you were trying to book a show at the gypsy and they asked what you sounded like, and you said pretty weird, they'd probably say OK. Side not: $2.50 for a tall boy is always worth it.

I was really worried about the costumes for a bit. There was another costume that a friend said that I could used, but then our shoot date moved and he was using it for something else if you'd believe it. It was just a purple sand bucket with a square eyehole that he wore a black "invisible man/grim reaper" hood under with a green robe. Very good alien. But ours came out well. Bags over our heads is looooow budget, but I think it effectively created the impression of an alien, at least a campy b-grade one. As a director I was firm in that we needed to obscure the faces of the aliens. I hope we successfully revealed the fact that the aliens had human skin color backs.

I really can't believe that we got the concert footage. It was so hectic for a while. I was trying to direct through a throng of people with a bag over my head. I know a bartender there which helped because I'd met the manager through her. Everyone seemed pretty amused by us. I got my butt pinched. I pinched back. All was well.

I lost my phone though.....

Le MicrocEnema

I wholeheartedly support this sort of decentralized, community based, DIY idea of film. If mainstream film is the lowest common denominator, then art film is often on stilts. Academia, cinerati, the intellectual elite have the means to stamp their favorites with a merit badge. This is the ticket to get on the stilt. Look at them up there. Their almost as tall as the giant blobs of money that explode through Mayfaire and whatnot. Microcinema are shrubs (youtube is grass). Fertile bushes that aren't so proud. Many of them are free, free, free. Thats great great great. We fest is $1 and that actually might be even better.

I've wanted to start little film events for me and my friends sometime. Hopefully when I get a house next year there will be high enough ceilings and I can get a projector and have one or two screenings a week. Probably just movies that I will want to watch. They tend to be hits among my specific demographic niche. Magnolia, Holy Mountain, Gummo, and Cronenberg's Crash are recent living room hits. I foresee a Rush Hour marathon. Russ and Dylan have people over every thurday for Its always sunny in philadelphia which is MicroTV i guess.

My career in film worries my. My concern is that I am not at present a strident individual charging straight at a goal. I'm more of a meanderer. I realize I am more of a community guy. I like having control of my own things, but i also like working on others things, acting and whatnot, not having the stressful job of organization. Austin or New York sound great for the kind of organic creative community work I would like to do. Getting more involved in the film community will help more than working on hollywood productions. I'm not going to work up from boom micist to director, I'm just going to make my own films but in the meantime there needs to some money making. Microcinema, or at least alternative theaters or film festivals seem like perfect venues for this, the perfect environment with the perfect fertilizer.

Proj 1 Response

I wasn't the biggest fan of this project. I mean, it was pretty fun in some ways. Taking pictures and collecting sounds. The technical hangups were a pain in the ass, but so it goes and I can't really complain. I thought that the soundscape and the video were pretty tedious. But this is biased and irrelevant, because my lack of expertise made me work slow, which contributes to tediousness blah blah blah. It was hard to be so abstract. I guess it made it easier and harder. I was lost in someways, since it was so experimental and it pretty much didn't matter what I did, but that freed me up to basically make scratches on the page, just doodle along. I made some pretty good subjective connections I think, Like the beams and the semicircles and railroads conflicting and colliding with the plane noise, and the chain link fence and building rubbing against each other with the metal rattle of the bike chain. I just wish it hadn't taken so long, or at least if we had gotten to control our own segment from start to finish instead of working with random peoples random work.

Self-Portrait Idea

I think distraction will be the theme of my self portrait. Distraction and procrastination, and then also my better side. My work habits are pretty manic and I have no way of planning my time, because even setting aside time is no assurance. I have myriad mental blocks against doing work ahead of time and in a timely matter. Often it seems the only solution is staying up all night the night before. Pressure is the only thing that can keep me focused but even then I take numerous side routes and wikipedia binges. But when I know how to do something or if it isn't required I need no prompting at all. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself in the long run.

ANYWAYS, I want to try do something with this. I'm thinking a segment of time lapse pacing in my apartment. Maniacal laughter.
This negative side of my personality shouldn't be the only thing in focus, so I guess this will only be one layer.