a doff of the beanie to seacrestcheadle, png01, chat soup
NJ to NO (and Back) - annotations
A friend asked some questions about the NJ to NO (and Back) video. Even non-videos might benefit from some explanation so here's a slightly edited reply:
I wanted it to be a documentary of my [recent Amtrak] trip, and as much like in-camera editing as possible. In other words, the shots are in the actual order they were taken, and the same approximate length as my attention span from clicking on to clicking off the camera. Some editing took place but I never changed the order of the shots. Other "rules" were to keep train windows or other indicators of where I was sitting out of the view. (Reflections and streaks on the glass I couldn't control.)
So then it was a matter of my "taste" in deciding when to turn the camera on and whether to keep shooting. I tried to keep a representative balance of nature, urban blight, industrial, suburb, etc.
Everything else was just happy accidents: the [Free Chelsea] Manning sign suddenly appearing in the frame; the shot where I momentarily touched the zoom knob by accident and got that arty sweep into the building; the cut from the bayou to the metal pipes; and the occasional interesting synergy between image and music. The tune was written seven years ago and not edited to "fit" the video -- however, the video was occasionally cut to fit the music, especially at the beginning.
In editing I did some cutting and nudging to make the happy accidents more happy, without deviating from the basic premises.
The "view from the train" is kind of like the country's dirty laundry, mostly because tracks weren't laid in the nicest parts of town. I wanted to "get it all down." Even the nature seems a little unhealthy to me, though.
from the recursive vault
Was thinking about recycling some older posts and fixated on this one from 2006, about computer artists' "make a Pollock" utilities.
Before posting I did an online search for some dead links and realized I recycled the same post six years ago (albeit sans photos, which have now been added back in).
File under: "You know you've been on the internet a long time when..."
LED GIF GRID CRT
Video documentation of studio installation: [22 MB .mp4]
Screenshot:
[moving this over from another hosting account, which I am closing soon]
In retrospect, I should have put the handicam on a tripod -- too late now, one of those CRTs blew up during my last show and I, uh, elected not to repair it.
NJ to NO (and Back) (video)
Vimeo, 2 min 24 sec
Screenshot:
You call these music videos "non-videos"?
Yes.
How is this different from a home movie?
You tell me!
Is there a reason why the editing stops being in sync with the music after the first 25 seconds?
I realized I didn't have enough clips to do that kind of cutting throughout.
Did you really submit a video like this to a video festival one year?
I did. I thought it would be better than someone's ideologically correct vision. There's politics in here if you look, though.
Update: More annotations