Weberg – Mamo


Mamo (2009, 18.7MB, 2:27 min)

“Senses and memories of motherhood evoked by visiting Birkenau
(Auschwitz II) in Poland July 2008.”

I wonder whether memorialising the Holocaust isn’t too important a job to be
left to artists.
Anders Weberg’s piece is as well made as one would expect from him
and I have no doubt it is a sincere response.
Does it tell us anything new, though?
Does it contribute to any understanding which will make
repetition less likely?
As we get further away in time isn’t it the facts we have
to insist upon & isn’t there a danger that art -especially well made
art -aestheticises and dilutes?
Read the Primo Levi book. It sets the bar very high.

Bram Crevits and Pall Thayer on Obama


Pall Thayer – Inaugurationanimation (2009, 300MB, 49:56)

As far as I know, none of us at DVblog have become
infected with Obamania. Doesn’t mean we don’t
appreciate the fine art of the remix or dig hope.

First, from Bram Crevits of Cinamatics,
Obama’s Berlin speech, composed entirely of video shot
on cell phones. Remember when the gaze was
given to us by the TV news? Now we give it back.

Second, from Pall Thayer, a silent
animation piece of the entire inauguration.
Free to download and remix as you like. We like.

Both of these pieces surprise and amaze me by the
amount of work they must have taken to compile.
Painstaking, no? Unless these gentlemen know
something I do not, these are labor-intensive pieces
in their own respective ways. Lovely and timely.

Zach Kmiec – mmmff


Mmmff Activities Workshop 2006: Call for entries (2006, 10.1MB, 1:58)


Mmmff Activities Workshop 2006 (2006, 13.8MB, 3:44)

Here’s the setup:
Jennifer Proctor taught a videoblogging class at the
University of Iowa in 2006. Every student set up
his/her own videoblog and made vloggy goodness.
Then, many abandoned their work, though I’d
personally expect nothing less.

While I knew one of the students in the class
(UI is one of my alma maters), a guy I didn’t
know – mmmff – caught my attention more.
Using a cell phone I’m pretty sure he just found
somewhere, Zach then made collage videos of the
five seconds or less the phone would capture in every go.

In the first video, the premise of the phone and
its limitations are introduced, and in the second
follow-up piece, the plan – to make a compilation
of activities you can do in 5 seconds or less – is executed.

It’s pretty much the opposite of boring, predictable,
talk-to-your-camera vids that litter so many hosting
services these days.
This is video functioning within constraints.
It’s also wildly hilarious.
Some of the very best random and weird videoblog
work I’ve ever seen.

Evolution of Communication from Adobe Systems

evolution_of_communication
Evolution of Communication (2006, 15MB, 6:50 min.)

“Adobe Systems commissioned eMotion studios to create a film depicting the ‘Evolution of Communication’.
Various luminaries such as Doug Englebart (inventor of the mouse) and Martin Cooper
(inventor of the cell phone) helped tell the story of how communication has changed
and transformed over the past two decades. The film supported Adobe’s CEO Bruce Chizen
in a recent keynote address.
The production follows the arc of human communication from the moment when we are able
to discern shapes and sounds to the point of complex interactions as adults. The story
leads to a hint of where we are heading in the future, and to Adobe’s commitment to
facilitate personal and human communication and connection.”

From eMotion studios

Razr: Gondry


Michel Gondry for MotoRazr2 (2007, 7.4MB, 1:01)

I have to admit I’d find this more interesting if
Michel Gondry had actually used a Razr to record footage.
In this case, cell phone company Motorola commissioned
the music video director-cum-hipster filmmaker to make
a “film based on the experience of their new Razr2 phone.”
I wish using my phone was half as interesting.
I’ve also heard these are hideous devices, image appeal aside.
I’m fairly certain it didn’t deserve its own short film, but I digress.
Classic Gondry: pretty and predictably whimsical.

Brian Gibson – Parabolic

Parabolic
Parabolic (2007, 35.5MB, 4:50 min.)

This bit of intense gorgeousness was made from cell phone
video footage (funny how we still use that word, footage)
by Brian Gibson who sometimes posts here.
If it was simply lovely that would be enough, but it’s very
structured too – Brian has such a great feel for the intrinsic
qualities of the material but also a real editing eye…

Anarchy In The UK – Twittervlog

Anarchy in the UK
Anarchy In The UK (2007, 45.4MB, 4:44 min)

Anarchy In The UK has been a bit of a theme of late here on dvblog.
Now, from the indispensable Rupert Howe comes this breathtaking version.
Not only is it extremely funny, with an off the meter chutzpah quotient,
(witness the animal terror in the eyes of the guys on the tube towards the end)
but like a lot of Rupert’s work it’s a kind of contemporary London travelogue
(of the best sort: hard edged, eyes wide open truthful & hence beautiful) too.

More Brian Gibson

Atlantis To Interzone
Atlantis to Interzone (2007, 14.8MB, 2:59 min)

Lang Syne Andalusian
Lang Syne Andalusian (2007, 39.2MB, 6:55 min)

Well, Atlantis to Interzone is a neat bit of cell phone footage
derived work but Lang Syne Andalusian is a tour de force of mashology,
remixing Bunuel’s notorious masterpiece with bits of stock footage.
Again: the musical eye… the musical eye

Music Credits:
Atlantis to Interzone: Klaxons Atlantis to Interzone (Mr. Miyagis Bootleg Remix)
Lang Syne Andalusian: Soundhog “The Rinse” Mix

Rupert Howe – FatGirlInOhio -2 cell phone movies.

Falafel
Falafel (2006, 1MB, 43 sec)

ShotCutScoredAndPostedByEmailFromMyNokia93Phone
ShotCutScoredAndPostedByEmailFromMyNokia93Phone (2007, 2.4MB, 2:41 min)

I’ve been reflecting a lot recently on how, whatever is the ostensible
subject of movies, they are all in some sense ‘about’ everything we see
in every frame
. And with the passing of time how this often becomes
more true as if, like a dog from water, the meaning is shaking itself out.
The Bas Jan Ader ‘falling’ movies exemplify this ( & how poignantly!) for me –
their conceptual motor aside, I remain most haunted by their background landscapes..
Rupert Howe of FatGirlInOhio brings this sharply to mind –
the subject might be a morning jog or Falafel but the totality of each movie
contains some of the best evocation of the glory & the grime that is
2007 London I’ve yet seen. That doesn’t exhaust it, of course, which is why this
work is deft & it is fine.
He is gravely mistaken about the Falafel though – undoubtedly the
best Falafel in London is at Gaby’s on the Charing Cross Road…