FROM MY HEAD

I really really love this music video. It has pieces that I was proposing to Zeb in regards to the music video we are attempting to create at the beginning of the year. It feels like it came from my head, and thus I really like it.

DRUNKEN SPLENDOR

The other night I went to a wrap party following a Film Two shoot I was on. It was ridiculously fun. Here are the main events.

* Kings cup, played very badly
* Polaroids
* Suck and blow
* Dancing with strobe lights
* Sing alongs
* Wine drinking
* Shots
* Falling in love with a girl from New York
* Dancing in the street to guitar players I know from school
* Hugs
* Cigarettes
* Stumbling through the garden
* Sloppy kisses
* Walking through the drained lake
* Climbing up onto the island
* Watching tree climbing
* Texting clearly despite the fogginess
* Drinking water from glass mugs
* Finding a bed on a couch
* Waking up to rain and a gentle breeze
* Exchanging post card information

It was just a classically fun night with a really good group of people. I wish I had had my camera with me. I now have quite a large bruise on the back of my arm though. I had something else to share... but I'm having trouble remembering right now. I think it had to do with treehouses.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

I really love this trailer and from the looks of it, this film will be very nicely executed, I already love a lot of the visuals. I think "Wake Up" is also rather fitting, and I like the text... its just a good trailer. In my excitement after seeing this for the first time I made my roommate watch it, only to discover she had never read Where the Wild Things Are, in fact she had never heard of it. This lead to me looking up a list of classic children's books which lead me to thinking about how great children's books are. I always love to take kids I babysit to the library. It may just be my inner book worm, but my kids are going to have a nice big bookshelf. Anyway, here is the video.

HAIR DYE

So, I think I'm going to dye my hair brown today (!!!) this has been something that I have been contemplating doing for a while, so I guess it makes a lot of sense. I'm still incredibly apprehensive. I don't know if my eyebrows will match, as of right now they match perfectly and while I know I can go back, it still makes me a tid nervous. I'm just doing the boxed dye, my roommate is going to do it with me, except she is going red. Its interesting to change and experiment and I figure that I should dye my hair at least once in this lifetime. So... tonight I will be brown. There are a lot of things that I should be doing right now, like reading my tree book. We are reading Between Earth and Sky in my Plants and People class. I find it really interesting, a tree scientist who specializes in canopy wrote it. She talks about the biology of trees, how they provide resources we need, as well as how they influence us in so many ways we overlook such as art and architecture. It is sturctured in an interesting way, but is easy to read and has poems about trees scattered thoughout. I rather like it just from being a "tree hugger" and nature lover. I'm tempted to pass it onto Janine after I read it, but I think that is due to her reading authors like Edward Abbey and this sense I get of her that she likes these things too. I really want to go camping and spend time outside, reading, wandering around, hiking. I have class soon, but I will end this with a poem that I love from Between Earth and Sky.

Tree, gather up my thoughts
Like the clouds in your branches.
Draw up my soul
Like the waters in your roots.
In the arteries of your trunk
Bring me together.
Through your leaves,
Breathe out the sky.

J. Daniel Beaudry, "Breathe"

A JUMBLE

Now that I've given some crap... I would like to share a few other interesting random videos I've been watching lately.

Nina Simone "I Put a Spell On You"
A classic old, bluesy video, I like the look of it as well as the song.


Stan Brakhage "Dante's Inferno"
Most film students watch Stan Brakhage when looking at experimental films, I like this one, which he created with paint on 16mm film. We watched it in my last film class. I don't totally get how he got the paint to look like how it does... I've tried manipulating film, it takes more diligence than you would expect to make it look interesting. I like how images start to come through at the end. It is a interesting piece of film, very much art.


Stop motion
I really like stop motion and I happend to stumble across this one that is made with a dry erase board and marker. Really well done, pretty incredible that people can make these things, it takes a while, its basically animation, and though it is usually done with objects this is a good piece.


Bob Marley "So Jah Seh"
This is just a song, a classic overlooked really good Marley song. My dad and I recently just re-discovered it on the Natty Dread album.


Staircases
This is a interesting look at staircases in two clips from Mikhail Kalatozov's, a Sovjet filmmaker's, films. I think it might be a film kid thing... but it is an interesting look at the use of a location and cinematography.

POP SONGS WITH GOOD VIDEOS

Alright, so most of these songs are not great feats of musical mastery, they are the mainstream, mindless tracks that we are expected to like as youth. But I still indulge in my fair share of crap... and like these videos for various reasons.

First, Paula Abdul, "Cold Hearted Snake." Its a little strange to watch this now that Paula has been an American Idol judge, but I think is has great choreography. Its like watching sex with wonderful lines.


Next, Rhianna's "Umbrella." I really like the focus shifts at the start of the video, interesting and creative cinematography. There is also some appealing choreography as well as a lovely art-like section featuring a naked Rhianna painted silver. While I know that the intention was showcasing the female form for other reasons, I find it rather lovely and an artistic way to look at the body, with the way they have her positioned and the various parts they foucus on. Like her back.


Finally, the "queen of pop" herself, Britney Spears in "Circus." I think I like this one because of the use of silhouetting (which I love) as well as the subject matter. A circus is a wonderful thing to play around with, especially a glorified Britney version. There is also some interesting choreography (of course, usually the main focus of a pop video), like the part with the male dancer lusting after Britney, near her face... its a little strange but interesting to watch.


So there you are.

SUPER EIGHT

Right before I left for Spring Break my Film One teacher surprised me with a Super Eight camera. We had been talking about how I wanted to use one previously and she told me that she would bring one in for me to borrow. It is really adorable, and I would like to get one. However, I do not have film for it, and have to put in new batteries. I really wanted to get some from the Museum of Fine Arts School, but I didn't have a chance to before my flight. I wasn't expecting to get the camera and didn't make time to get the film. I'm really excited to shoot with it, we may search for some in Salt Lake.

YOUNG @ HEART

While I was in Connecticut for Thanksgiving, my cousin and I watched the documentary Yong @ Heart. It is about a choir of elderly people who sing songs like The Ramones, "I Wanna Be Sedated." There are some really touching good moments in it, I found one that happens near the end. Its much more emotionally charged when you watch the whole film... but I thought I would share. Unfortunately I am not able to embed the film, but here is the link. It is a cover of Coldplay's "Fix You." Hope you like it.