Category: Inspiration

Culture :: Black Rock City

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Do you remember how in college you end up making up ridiculous games that you found absolutely exhilarating and were the perfect excuse not to write papers or study for tests?  You know, like sock wrestling, or hallway jousting or indoor slip ‘n slides that ran the whole length of the boys 3rd floor wing.  Wouldn’t it be fun to try those out now, to let some of that stress of every day life feel silly again?  I think I’ve found the place that lets you do those things again:

Anders Christian Rasmussen

This place looks wild and un-inhibiting.  I think the dust would probably bother me, but there’s something about this festival that makes you wonder how do we go from the silliness that we can so easily create at one point and then slip back into the practicality of work and every day life?

Travel :: The John Muir Trail

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The Muir Project

This is trailer is something closer to home, figuratively and physically, than the previous videos that I’ve posted this month.  This is only a thousand or more miles south of where I live and looks relatively familiar.  I like to spend weekend up in the mountains hiking and being away from city life, which is a whole other experience all on its own.  Sometimes you only have to go as far as your backyard to experience something new.

I think what I like most about this film is the combination of art and the outdoors.  These are two things that I’m passionate about (can you tell?) and I like the blend of the two.  It also brings back memories of taking a travel photography class in college while climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro.  The scenery was very different, but the idea of documenting your journey on camera and in journals makes the experience very different from a day hike.  You notice more about your surroundings and reflect more about what you are going through emotionally and physically.  It also takes your mind off things when you feel like curling up in a ball and giving up for the day.  Documenting the the journey through art is a very powerful thing.

Travel :: BiPoland

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A note from the filmmaker: Please wear headphones for the best sound experience.

Matty Brown

Traveling is just as much about learning about a new place as about learning about yourself.  Just watching the first few minutes of this film is enough to learn not only about a very dark period in our history, but how we react to the images of a place that tormented thousands of Jewish people in the early 1940s.

This film, BiPoland begins as a reminder of the Holocaust and surpasses the history lesson to go on to demonstrate the strength of the Polish people and their ability to move on even with such a dark history that remains solid and real within their borders.

Beyond the emotion that this video brings to me, I really, really love the editing.  I know I usually discuss the camera work and the light, which is something that I really do admire, but editing is actually more my forte.  Bringing images, music and graphics together to tell a story and to move the viewer through the video is what I really love to do.  I’m one of those dorky people that gets a rush when I finally get a sequence right and the music and the footage sync perfectly to get the desired effect.  That is what this film does for me.  It’s a perfect blend of beautiful cinematography, vintage recordings and powerful music.

Travel :: Vive la Mexico!

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Andrew Julian

Mexico is one of my favorite places in the world- I’ve been going there since I was six and I’ve lost count of how many weeks of my life have been spent there.  So although this isn’t an area that I usually go to, I couldn’t help but share this video because it highlights some of the things that I love about the place: color, history, food, SUN, the people and I can’t help but love the warm waters on the coast.

Travel :: Ice Hotel

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I was twelve when I heard about the ice hotel.  My dad saw it in a travel magazine and I’ve wanted to stay in one since.  Most people that know me well would find this very ironic as I’m always cold, but there is something spectacular about staying in something that seems so strong and permanent, yet very fragile and dependent on frigid temperatures.  I would only want to stay a few days if that, but the experience itself is a once in a lifetime thing.  For now I will have to settle with the experience of having a drink in the Ice Bar in London.

HENNING SANDSTRÖM

I realize that this video is more about the river than the ice hotel itself, but if we are to appreciate the hotel and all the work that goes into its design and construction each year, we need to appreciate where it all comes from in the first place.

Travel :: Corsica

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David Babendryer

Filmed on the island or Corsica, I love how this film makes me unwind.  The slow and relaxed feel makes this film almost sensual.  The close ups and the wide landscape shots really makes me feel like I’m there experiencing all of the little nuances that you notice when you’re in a new place and trying to take it all in.  Plus, I like how the story is told through the woman and the dog’s wonderings of the island, but there is no need for anyone to speak.  It is just the viewer taking it all in just as the person behind the camera did.

Travel :: Rio de Janeiro

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by MOOV

Rio remains a mystery to me.  At least the inner depths of its culture.  I was there a few years ago for two days.  Yes, I know two days in one of the world’s most fascinating cities is not enough time and I realize that now that I’ve been there and saw basically nothing- not for lack of trying though.  In my defense, it was cloudy and wet the 48 hours I was there and to top it all off, the Christ Statue was covered in scaffolding.  I was told it was pointless in going up to see the view as all I would see was a thick fog.  Try as I might, I couldn’t see anything that I wanted to check off my “to see” list. I’m still trying to get back there to see what I missed.

Rio de Janeiro

See, lots of clouds

Despite the clouds and the damp I did get to experience a few things there like the Favela, also known the shanty town, and a few impromptu soccer games on the beach.  And through these small experiences I got a sense of the drastic opposites that make Rio culture what it is.

  • The laid back attitude mixed with intense energy and athleticism. Everyone in Brazil seems to be incredibly fit and I couldn’t find one unattractive person my whole time in the country (which amounted to about two weeks).  Brazilian people are just plain gorgeous.
  • It is also a place that never seems to sleep yet it seems almost tranquil at times.  There is always something going on, yet at the same time it just feels like any other city with its ebbs and flows.
  • The extremely wealthy and the extremely poor.  I spent a few hours in the Favela and witnessed how many of Rio’s inhabitance survives from day to day.  From the highest point, I looked down at the the housing for the wealthy and down at their expensive shopping and personal boats.  The contrast was staggering.

What I like most about this video is the color and the movement.  It really encapsulates everything that I had experienced and what I had had assumed about the place- not that any of my assumptions were proven correct after visiting.  It’s a place that still kind of scares me for its energy and the unknown that I have yet to discover.  Someday, I will return to experience it all again.

Handmade :: Typography

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I have a thing for typography- you’ve probably picked that up from some of my other posts. So although we don’t usually associate type with being handmade, instead, we think of them being more of a computer generated art form, the history says otherwise.

Ben Barrett-Forrest

I have yet to try stop motion when making a film, but with the popularity of it now, I think I just might have to try it sometime.

Handmade :: Coffee is My Medium

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Sorry to disappoint if you thought I was going to reveal how to make the perfect cup of coffee, I’m not that caffein obsessed.  Actually I have to confess that I don’t even like coffee but you sure can’t do the following with a cup of green tea.

by Tumblr

This just proves that anything can be the perfect art medium.  It just takes the right person to take advantage of it.  I don’t know if there is anything that stands out to me more in this film as the subject matter.  Much of what I create lasts for as long as I want it to- or even longer depending on where its posted or screened.  This is a whole other kind of art that I marvel at because of the enjoyment time is so limited, so kudos to someone who has the patience to create something so detailed and beautiful, only to see it melt away a few minutes later.