Films That Make You Go Hmmm

I believe I had heard of this filmmaker prior to this; but only his name, Zbigniew Rybczynski, was familiar, the work I knew othing about. His film Tango is a masterpiece, that I probably would not have been aware of without the internet. Speaking about the film Rybczynski states: “Thirty-six characters from different stages of life – representations of different times – interact in one room, moving in loops, observed by a static camera. I had to draw and paint about 16.000 cell-mattes, and make several hundred thousand exposures on an optical printer. It took a full seven months, sixteen hours per day, to make the piece. The miracle is that the negative got through the process with only minor damage, and I made less than one hundred mathematical mistakes out of several hundred thousand possibilities. In the final result, there are plenty of flaws, black lines are visible around humans, jitters caused by the instability of film material resulting from film perforation and elasticity of celluloid, changes of colour caused by the fluctuation in colour temperature of the projector bulb and, inevitably, dirt, grain and scratches.” The result of all his efforts is amazing to watch.

**Dislclaimer** This film contains brief nudity and a simulated sex scene.

On the total other end of the spectrum is a documentary called Mindplasma! that I saw last year at a screening of local work. The film follows the life and work of Milwaukee performance artist TJ Richter. You can watch the entire video or just sections of it on the official website. It is so strange and trippy I felt the need to share it with others. It is very cool to watch this documentary by Andrew Rosas because of the local connection also.

**Disclaimer** This video contians graphic language and adult themes.

We’ve Come A Long Way Baby!

So I’m glad I didn’t live through a period of time when women were patronized so blatantly in ways such as this film shows. It is however to remember what we may take for granted now. Also, it helps us to remember that our struggle is not yet complete either.

Also just as an added bonus, this commercial is awesome!

Steel Cage Match-Up: Realism VS. Falsism

Alright folks, I know we will be discussing the “lonelygirl15″ (see my previous post for more info) phenomenon a little more in class later, but this is another thought I had when searching for two other Vlogs to post for this assignment. Do Blogs need, or should they require disclaimers, when they are fictitious in nature? Or should the “buyer beware” when investing time into watching anyone’s Vlog?

One Vlog I found that, although it didn’t have a disclaimer, was obviously a fiction. I didn’t have to be told that ManicalMasquerade was a created character. Here is one of his Vlogs to see for yourself.

On the other end of the spectrum is someone who (appears at least) to be sincere and very “real”. I found this Vlog randomly and liked the fact that I got to see a slice of life from elsewhere in the world. I also liked the fact that he had recorded other events in his life and then edited them into his Vlog. That was really cool, like being transported to England and hanging out and seeing the average day/week of some other culture (albeit the English culture isn’t extremely foreign, so it wasn’t like a culture shock, but it was still very interesting to watch).

Here’s also another Vlog by yonnermark that I found highly amusing. This one focuses more on a single event, rather than many events like the other one, but I still think you’d like to watch this episode also. I mean, how often do you get to see a three wheeled car on fire?!

Death Metal High Jinks!

I came upon this video in the usual web surfing way, huddled around a computer monitor with another friend, as we wasted some of our precious lives away. As she is a fan of all sorts of music, she knew of a video I would probably never have found on my own. A mash-up spoof of the Norwegian black-metal band Immortal.

You can click below to see the original video to compare, in-case you have no idea what a death metal music video usually looks like.

Here also is a quick anecdote she told me about the making of this video. The band shot this on a mountain somewhere in Europe, and if you notice they aren’t wearing very warm clothes. Well, as you could imagine that was not a good idea. The making of the video almost cost them all their lives, since when the shoot finally finished they were suffering from hypothermia. I think they need new agents.

Also I found out some interesting trivia about the band and an unexpected popular computer activity that has developed. Because of the way they pose in their photos, they have become something of photo-shop fodder for many. You know you’ve made it when South Park spoofs you also. So, it just goes to show you the layers of intertextuality of pop culture, and Immortal is not immune to it at all — neither is Benny Hill for that matter!

Variations On A Theme

Well, I know Emily already posted a link to a Don Hertzfeldt video, but luckily for me it wasn’t the one I wanted to post. After someone last year did a report on Mr. Hertzfeldt in an Underground Film Class I took, I searched YouTube for more of his stuff. My favorite (so far) is The Animation Show (Mike Judge was also involved in this creation). I liked it so much I wrote a bit about it on my MySpace Blog this summer, so others out there would enjoy something they might not otherwise get to see (much like we are doing with this assignment).

It’s fairly easy to imitate this simplistic style, but many people lose the essence of his work when they try. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery but when the work seems sloppy or regurgitated for the masses in comparison, it’s not very flattering at all. People seem either to focus on the oddness of his characters by making their own very goofy (like with Pop Tarts blatant rip off ads) or they focus on the violence without thought of anything else (like plot or character development, etc…). The latter can be seen through countless numbers of “stickman” animations posted on-line.

Don Hertzfeldt:

Pop Tarts:

Now Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One

Ok, with watching The Cube in class on Friday and finally getting to see MirrorMask tonight (uber awesome btw!) my mind was burning to search a few Sesame Street gems that I love. Now this first one no one else I mention it to seems to remember it. It’s a little cartoon from the early 80’s with the catchiest of songs ever… hey, I mean I remembered it for about 20 years now so it sticks with you. It’s funny though, if you think about what cartoon people do remember the most from this time in Sesame Street history was the Pinball one (“1,2,3,4,5-6,7,8,9,10…11,12!”). That one was all flashy and slick. This one’s a bit more mellow in comparison.

This next one I think some of you may remember, but it rocks anyway so I’m putting it on here.

I went searching high and low but no one seems to have the cartoon of the little girl on the way to the store. Does anyone recall that one? It’s the one where she has to remember what her mama told her to get: “a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, and a stick of butter”. Apparantly it was on YouTube but it was removed, no one else seems to have it. Hopefully, it’ll pop up again one of these days. Now I don’t know what category these may fit into (ephemeral maybe?) but I just wanted to post them to show you all.

Like, OMIGOD! Someone On The Internet Lied!

Now you better all sit down for this one… I mean it’s earth shattering news, but someone purposely lied on the internet! I mean what is this world coming to?? Now whodda thunk it? Yes, everybody, “lonelygirl15″ is a FRAUD! **gasp!** What is even more interesting to me though is the fact that this was the main headline on yahoo news today– I mean isn’t there a war going on somewhere? Ya know in that one big desert where the oil is… isn’t that more important?

This may be interesting only in the way its inane frivolty hijacked the media’s attention… but then again that happens all the time. So…. I guess there’s nothing noteworthy about this Vlog afterall. Nothing at all, just business as usual. Ha!

Anyway, check out the yahoo story, and then check out the VLog in question. And when you’ve sufficiently got your fill, PLEASE, for god’s sake, return to your regularily scheduled life. Unlike the people who “felt betrayed”. And you can just go search YouTube for “lonleygirl15″ and “fake” and see for yourself the immense amounts of VLogs people have created in response! If anything it’s an interesting study of reality on the internet and how people create connections to people they’ve never even met (and probably never even communicated with, only watched her Vlogs).

Blind No More

In the article, “The Judgment of Thamus”, Neil Postman asks the reader to ask questions. Was Thamus merely a technology hating old king? Or did he have a valid point we should listen too? The answer seems to be yes, on both accounts. To find no fault with technology is an error of judgment, but to be blind to the possibilities of its benefits would be shortsighted indeed. Postman basically outlines the pros and cons surrounding new technologies. But besides the idea of “every technology is both a burden and blessing” he also weaves in a more crucial idea overall. What happens when people don’t see that the changes technology brings are much more deep seeded that they alter the world views dramatically? And what then occurs if no one is really aware of this affect? He begs us to have our “eyes wide open” when approaching new technologies. He is a cautious technophile, not phobe, who wants us too to be aware that technology offers changes more than just the qualities proclaimed by its inventors. He may be right when he says that the possibility of people simply not caring about the competition between old and new technologies and their influences, especially in this apathetic culture that is America, but can it really be helped if technology is destined never to be contained?

The internet was one example I thought of immediately, when he brought up these ideas. There is a struggle of privatization of the internet, to hinder it and make it safe for the masses. But is that even possible now? Hasn’t it already embarked down a path that we cannot really stop its progress. And if we do put limitations on it, will that help or hurt us even more? Are the limitations proposed from it’s inventors to further control the masses? Is this a last ditch effort to keep the power they gained from its creation? These are all questions that have occurred to me from this reading. You could say my eyes are now opening.

Melting Wax

All week I tried to let my mind absorb David Blair’s Wax: Or the Discovery of Television Among the Bees. A week is just not enough time for this. Granted I’m not an experimental film virgin. But there’s just something just so overwhelming about this video (especially upon viewing it in its entirety only once) that leaves me grappling for a foothold. This 85 minutes film makes use of patterns that possibly because of their intermingling, disguises them too well upon first look. I must admit part of my folly here is my human nature, to look for patterns where there aren’t any. In this case, watching Wax I did fall victim to habit and sought out a narrative that was clearly connected. However, in the back of my mind I knew this was not true (for one reason there was a disclaimer of sorts not to fall prey to this assumption of narrative); there would be no classical narrative. “Heck, are you kidding? That’s maybe one of the cardinal rules of experimental and avant garde world- never assume anything.” I pretty much laughed at myself for getting worried. Had I forgotten everything I learned over the past year? No, but watching Wax on the first day of class may have been a dirty trick to mess up our minds purposefully. Sinister plan to torture, maybe not; but choosing this video as part of the introductory day was clever indeed. What else could hold so many facets for discussion of technology pros and cons? One thing I did gleam from the first viewing before the post discussion or visiting Wax Web, was an underlying struggle with the character’s connection with the technology of his livelihood. The struggle of morality issues about his role in creating a technology that can be used negatively upon others. And also related to this idea, I noticed a struggle against the established powers was prominent too. Reconciling these two or balancing the power placement was maybe the desired goal of this struggle. But I do get the feeling that merely bringing up these issues was important for the Blair to convey as well. Wax Web, the movie’s website, although ingeniously set up; still lead me to confusion of sorts. You must really explore the site to understand the icon links because none are definitively labeled. They do, however, give clues to the nature of the movie in this formatting of this structure. They allow you to explore the video more closely, and break down its elements. For me though, it took a while to start to see where and how the site would lead a user to the different patterns and their connections throughout the dreamlike story. So for now I will further explore Wax Web in hope of more insight, but it still remains an enigma to me overall.

To Understand A Little Better…

Well, I didn’t get around to updating this post as soon as I wanted, however, I’m doing so now! ANYWHO….

My basic style for writing can flucuate from laidback and informal to somewhere near professional sounding. It just depends and what I’m writing about and who I’m writing for. But being that this is a Blog, the opportunity to include other things to help elaborate myself is highly available.

The technology of the internet affords me to include “easter eggs”, or the little links I embed into my posts to give out further info to you folks that may read this little diatribe. I like to elaborate in this way because it seems avoid bogging down the rest of the writing with over doing it. Easter eggs are nice because you can look at them on your own schedule. Even though they may be relevant to what my topic is on any particular post, they don’t necessarily need to be written about.

I guess that’s all I wanted to let you know about, so when you read my blog, just know that when a word or phrase is set-up as a link, it means I took the time to do so for your benefit.  Sometimes I even like to include a picture or two to give the page a little color, something to brighten up the place, ya know?  And if you have the time you should follow the rabbit down the bunny hole, you might just find something interesting.

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More to come for this post, but I wanted it first up. Here I will describe my style (which may or may not deviate from this initial idea) so any readers of this blog will understand the workings of my brain as I dissect and analyze the various subjects laid before us in Digital Distribution.

I am still constructing the verbage to relay this message, but it will come to me very soon. I already have an idea I want to work from dealing with the pagan symbols of fertility. To find out what I mean by this in relation to my blog writing style, check back again for the update! Hopefully, this statement will be intruiging for some.