Also Known as "Cooksie"

goofy new video here

This is my trout. I let it go.

Folk Tales

Today was a mighty fine shoot day.  Went up to Campbell Airstrip Road (Far North Bicentennial Park) with a harlequin to shoot an old made up stylized version of a Russian folk tale.  The fall colors are starting to turn beautiful, and it only rained a little bit.  Originally my idea was to shoot a video adaptation of the part of Heart of Darkness where Marlow meets the harlequin far upriver, loosely interpreted of course, but it totally turned into something else.  Much better I think.

It will probably take me awhile to edit this.  We shot over an hour of footage to make I think a 6 to 10 minute movie.   I also need to collect and create a soundtrack.  

I think I'm over the rush job approach to making  movies, I probably need to be a little more methodical.  In one sense I think it's important to go out and shoot and edit a movie in a couple of hours and have it up on the web that night, but I think I want to push it further.  Guerrilla movies are fun, in fact, I think there is a film festival that challenges people to do just that, 24 hour movies.  A quick turnaround is educational as far as learning the process and allowing yourself to make mistakes and take risks.   But sooner or later, I think you have to go beyond that.

 Learning Final Cut has been key.  I still feel like a neophyte, but at least I have a working knowledge at this point. 

I have several other short movie projects I would like to do, but maybe I'll start thinking about a longer one for next spring.  Start looking for some kind of script idea.  

The picture above isn't really part of the movie, although it might find its way in somehow.  This old dilapidated footbridge was just barely hanging on over Campbell Creek.  

Carry on,

Mike

Sometimes I just don't understand anything . . .

Upton Sinclair said, " It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on him not understanding it."

A beautiful pile of meat

Here's a poem,

called "Meat"

I have no sense of design

and my nose bleeds 

for no reason.

When I look into the sink

and see yesterday's stubble,

I know I'm a pile of meat

sausage

in all natural casing.

-1999

I have a new short video up, check it out here  

or in the usual place.  

I have 5 videos going into the UAA Faculty show, it'll be my first public performance where I actually have to stand there and watch people watch my movies.  Always a nerve-wracking endeavor.  

Also have a show at a cafe a friend is opening up, the Q cafe on 36th.  And a show at the Arc Gallery on the UAA Campus.  For a guy who said he wasn't going to go out and get shows while he's in Grad school, a lot is happening.

Carry On,

mike

Too tired and no thoughts to write

For the Cathedral of Fish

Finally, I got my Salmon movie done.  It's been hanging around the back of my mind for 2 months now, and I had a spare weekend, so I wrapped it up.  Actually, I thought I finished it 2 times before, but iMovie lost it the first time, then I edited it in Final Cut, but didn't know what I was doing, and most of the files were disconnected from the movie, if you know what I mean.  Anyway, I thought it best to just start from scratch again, and I think I got a better movie out of it.  

Still have complaints about youtube's quality.  But until I find something better, it'll do.  I would like to upload streaming video to this blog that is not compressed . . . anyone know how to do that?  I guess I should just try, but it's late right now, and I'm not in the mood to tackle technology.  

I shot a trout fishing video this week, maybe I'll get to that down the road when the weather turns cold.  

Trout fishing is a little different than salmon fishing.

So, I think I'll sign off now, nothing more to say.  

Carry on,

Mike

Climb to the Martian Surface

is the name of my new video.  It was shot and edited in about 6 hours.  Maybe it shows.  maybe I shouldn't brag about that.  I think it still needs work, probably ought to cut some of the fat off it.  and play with the sound a little more, but there are a few things in it I like.

you can get there from here

carry on.

mike

लास्ट निघत

New Work from a Young Turk

I photographed a performance piece last night called "Little White Lies".  Visually it was stunning.  I shot a few stills and mostly video of the high points.  It was written by a young artist named Ruby, performed by two other people.

More importantly, I have two new videos on youtube.  Portrait of Julia and Critical Mass.  Finally hitting my stride on Final Cut Express.  Forcing myself to edit that demolition video was such a necessary experience.  I'll post that when I finish it, I'm waiting on some stills and statistics to wrap it up.

Boy am I disappointed with the quality of the video on youtube.  It practically destroyed the video on Critical Mass, which is visual dependent, and the audio on Portrait of Julia is muddy and the nuances are drowned out.  So, whatever is most important to your movie is lost on youtube.  That's the price of convenience.  

On the upside, people can actually view the movies.  

got my underwater housing yesterday.  I'm afraid to use it.  Quick story, I got excited about underwater photography two years ago, bought a nikonos V on ebay, loaded some black and white film in it, triX 400 pushed to 1600, took it to the pool, and it immediately flooded.  Sent it off to the shop in CA, who told me I had a nice looking paperweight.  They would sell me a nikonos V that was checked over for less than they would charge to fix mine.  So I'm a little gunshy still.  Don't want to wipe out my new favorite camera.

Carry on,

Mike

Hurl Words

"I would hurl words into this darkness and wait for an echo, and if an echo sounded, no matter how faintly, I would send other words to tell, to march, to fight, to create a sense of hunger for life that gnaws in us all."

Richard Wright.

Time Piece - tick . . . tick . . . tick . . .

I finally got some time to work on my personal film projects, no paper due for another month, and all this work jumps up!  WTF?  Well, I do need the money, and it'll keep me from being bored.  I'm still planning on editing like a maniac these next 3 weeks, I'll just have to juggle it with everything else, like usual.

Thanks for your countdown, Jeffrey.  Just so you know, it makes me nervous.  This pic is my own timepiece, less scary though.

It's hard to get around the news coverage of our Gov. being plucked for VP.  It's all Sarah Palin all the time around here.  I can tell you, AK is loving the attention.  We are pretty proud of ourselves, for better or for worse.  I look at the whole thing as high theater.  I can't wait to see how this thing plays out, it just keeps getting more interesting.  

But, I'm going to keep this blog off politics and on Art.  There are enough loud mouths on the internet, we don't need another.  

Ordered two books the other day, Sean Landers [sic] and Bruce Nauman Please Pay Attention Please.  It might be awhile before I get them, but I think they should be good. ( I hope, they weren't cheap).

I also ordered an underwater housing for my G9.  Look for some underneath the ice video this winter!  How will I catch up to all these projects???  I may have to hire an au paire (sp?) to help out.  

Trying to watch a film a day on ubuweb   

(thanks Eliza G)  Should put a list of films on the right, and maybe will someday, but for now, I'll just mention that I'm watching George Kuchar.  My fave so far of his was Hold me While I'm Naked, and he had some interesting shots and ideas in other films.  Also checked out 

Vito Acconci (not a fan, I feel like I get what he's saying, but I'm not interested. It's not of my experience. - to force someone's eyes open) 

Samuel Beckett - Not I  (madness inducing, a mouth moving in the dark, frantic)

John Baldassari (dry, cerebral, he paints a room)

Laurie Anderson - (new wave weirdness, but fun)

Yoko Ono w/ Lennon  (time lapse building going up, Yoko's singing actually works, I like the sound if she doesn't have a band)

Bill Viola -(Great! great shots, great sound, great as in giant, mammoth, collossal)

Robert Nelson - The Awful Backlash  (Slow, but with merit) 

Richard Kern - (very sick)

Mathew Barney, (Jury is still out)

and probably some others.  Can draw something from each, but as I was having a discussion with my two film maker, film buff, also named Mike, friends, it is a whole different experience watching a movie in a theater with other people, the size of the picture and the volume of the sound lording over you.  Some films can be participatory.  Watching them alone on a small computer screen, where I have the option to navigate away from the film at any time (which I do if it's boring) and there are many distractions is a pale comparison.  

But how else I gonna see these movies?  Pretty tough around these parts.  Internet is all about convenience.

 

Anyhow, 

Mike out

Sarah Palin? Really?

For those who might be curious who this mysterious "Sarah Palin" might be, don't ask me, I've been out of the loop since my first child was born.  Check out this blog, http://www.ownthesidewalk.com

She breaks it down pretty good, I think.

also, can do searches at adn.com

Mike out