I took a brief film class in high school and we spent a lot of time watching Alfred Hitchcock movies. I say brief because it ended early due to our teacher getting ill. That aside, I still remember watching Vertigo in class.
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/67871488 w=640&h=350]
Hitchcock has been one of my favorite directors for years- long before I ever took a film class and as the nerd that I am, I couldn’t help but post this video.
How many of these movies have you seen?
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/75226453 w=640&h=360]
I’ve taken several ecology classes throughout my academic career. It started out because I was avoiding math based science and as it turns out that I really enjoyed them. I love that this film is close to home and incorporates so many things that I studied in the classroom. I love being able to see what I’ve learned on paper happening in the real world. It also happens to coincide with The Breach, a film that I have been helping with for a few years and have mentioned in previous posts (side note, the film is practically done!).
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/72216778 w=640&h=360]
For the most part I always enjoyed English class. There’s always that one book that you can’t stand and then there are the books that stick with you for life. For me it was One Hundred Years of Solitude, Around the Bloc: My Life in Moscow, Beijing and Havana, and The Great Gatsby that remain with me. I’ve read hundreds of books since finishing school but these are the ones that stand out to me since being made to read and discuss books in the classroom.
One of the many reasons I love these books, all books for that matter, is because they transport me to another place and time. This video is that perfect blend of transporting the viewer to a new place and poetry.
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/77330591 w=640&h=190]
Math was never my strong suit in school. Recently I have had to use it beyond balancing my bank account for the first time in a long time and I actually found myself enjoying it- not that I really got what I was doing. Math was always too theoretical for me. Too bad I didn’t have this video to make it more relevant.
Geography class always took place in a hot and stuffy room in the upper region of the science building at my school. The only thing that kept us from falling asleep was our eccentric teacher who insisted on using herself as a human protractor by laying on the desk and using her arms and legs to show the various angles. We never forgot that particular topic.
As mentioned in my posted On the Map, I have a thing for maps. I was never much for globes growing up, probably because we never had one at home, but I’ve found a new appreciation for them as I get older. After seeing this video it’s kind of hard to not appreciate them when you realize how much work goes into making one- that is if you make one by hand.
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/63511505 w=640&h=360]
Only a year ago I was turning in my final project for Grad school. Now I’m still working on getting a full time job and working on several smaller projects to keep the creative juices flowing. No one said it was going to be easy and it has been far from that since leaving the safety of school.
As an ode to that place that I have spent the majority of my life, I’m going
for this month’s blog theme.
One of the things that I love about documentary is the sharing of information while creating an art form . So this month we’re heading back to the memories of crowded hallways, passing periods and class timetables. Happy November!
“The Boundaries which divide life from death
Are at best shadowy and vague.
Who Shall say where the one ends,
And where the other begins?”
Edgar Allan Poe
The topics of death seems to be a theme this time of year. The garden annuals are dying away, the days are getting darker and we celebrate holidays surrounding death- All-Hallows-Eve, Dia de los Muertos… you get the idea.
So did Edgar Allen Poe. Perhaps this is not the most morbid interpretation of some of Poe’s work (because as anyone that knows anything about Poe, knows he wasn’t the most uplifting poet) yet I think this conveys this time of year perfectly.
Despite the depressing quality of his work, Poe seems to have described the gray line that separates us from life and death. Though many have tried, there is no way of really knowing what separates us from the other side and what happens after we take our last breaths. At the very least this short animation makes the grayness seem a little less daunting and actually makes it seem beautiful.
For the past 6 months I have been working for a film festival. After months of planning and organizing, the festival is finally over and I’m feeling quite exhausted.
Now that its over, I finally have time to share some of the videos that I created for the festival’s ad reel:
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/75997460 width=640&height=360] [vimeo https://vimeo.com/75635494 width=640&height=360]I’m not sure what is next for me, but I’m very excited to have time to work on something of my own again. Stay tuned…
Haven’t we all found ourselves playing with fruit stickers at some point in our lives? You know how when you pull that sticker off your piece of fruit, you have no where to put it and find yourself rolling and unrolling it unconsciously? Ok, so perhaps you haven’t but I sure have. Having played with stickers, it has never occurred to me to make art using this same method. If only we all had something so simple yet calming to help us unwind.
Not only do I find this concept intriguing and therefore making the film engaging, I love the cinematography and love the flow. Some of these profile videos seem a little stagnant because it stays within the studio. This video seems to get away from that and flows beautifully.
To see more of the artist’s work, click here.
I know that I have posted a video by this guy before, but I love his editing. I can’t imagine how much footage he collects during his vacations to make his films. Personally, when I’m on vacation, I try not to think about cameras or anything to do with work. Obviously this guy has a gift in both capturing amazing footage and being very productive while vacationing.
So here you are, parts I and II of Italy. Enjoy!
emfirno 