Exploring Art 2

Exploring Art

I can't seem to keep away from filming. After my last showreel adventure, I'm back looking for new ways to create a quick movie clip.

Somehow I found myself a camera and learnt the basics of editing on the net. All I had to do was obtain the content.
Exploring art around Hamilton is the subject of my latest escapade, but I don't really need a reason!
I'm never content to produce the predictable, what's life without a challenge? My notebook began with a few themes but was narrowed down to: patterns, statues and neons.

Many box drawings later, I had my famous set of lists to get things moving. First I shot stills of statues,posters, signs and billboards.
Then this last weekend I roped in my trusty support crew- my brother to film it. I must say I was nervous before shooting but this being on camera thing is starting to get easier. Once you get over making a fool of yourself, its a piece of cake!

We drove around a lot as he had kindly loaned his car for the experiment. It's even in the background on the opening shot! Maybe it should have a co-starring credit.

It was really fun as we travelled from place to place for the shortest sequence. We started off with a trolley ride and ended with some neon billboard filming. Luckily the rain held off and we finished with a great breakfast.

Next was the editing, cut and pasting clips everywhere. I was concerned it would look homemade but maybe that's what all first projects look like in the beginning.

That previously mentioned computer-made soundtrack appears twice in the very short film and fits well livening up the still shots.
All I have to do now is the file conversion....that could be a mission and a half! Hope to post it here when complete or at least a link if Blogger will oblige.

My brother is keen to film a 'Life on Mars' quick driveway reverse in his car, that might be our next project.

Just say No

After nearly losing my mind to a terrible head cold this week, I decided I need another scarf. So went wool shopping in Spotlight, I have no idea how to knit just cross-stitch so this was a Gran-type project.

After finding the wool and a free pattern, waiting at the counter and then being redirected to another counter, I was ready to go home.
Its easy to become dazed and confused in Spotlight, the lights are bright and there is so much craft on offer, you could easily overdose.

Of course the salesman was having a great chat with the customer in front. As previously mentioned, I'm not that fussed with small talk in a retail environment, its completely pointless. I'm not here to have a warm and fuzzy experience, its a means of completing a transaction.
So he finally serves me and begins with the questions...have you got a VIP card?

I feel like giving him his beans that I don't want a trashy reward card, but just say no.
He follows up quickly with do you want one? No. No to every one of his pointless questions and his explaination of all the benefits.
Who cares, I just want to buy this wool and I don't care if its on sale through the VIP card.
He then asked if I wanted $1,000 dollars. I'm definitely not in a joking mood by now so say no to that too. He said he had been waiting all day for someone to say no, he certainly wasn't respecting me for it!

He finally asks if I want a bag, so I say yes- there are 8 balls of wool! He is clearly shocked and then pulls out the smallest bag in history to stuff them into.
He says I sound like a mother, should I be offended or flattered?

We all have the power to say no, why not exercise that right now and then?

Afternoon in Pictures

Clutch, the no.1 enemy

My brother and I seem to have spells of car transportation work. We service our cars out of town, so every couple of weeks or months we play musical cars. I enjoy driving my brother's car, it has a good stereo and different handling to my own.
All I have to remember is that the wipers and indicators are on the other side, usually I'm all set by the time we get home.

I also kangaroo hop a bit though when starting off, the clutch has never been my friend.

I used to tease my brother that all I would drive would be automatics. This drove him crazy as he is a true manual convert and all the family's cars have been manual.

After learning on a manual, I finally faced an automatic about a year ago. Believe it or not I'd never driven one. I felt like a total dimwit when trying to figure out how to turn it on and how to put it in drive while revving it in neutral and wondering why it didn't work. It was all rather foreign without the clutch.

I must say I loathe the clutch. I'm glad my hometown is rather flat because I feel incredibly nervous when doing a hill start. The thought of stalling is a fate worse than death. Oh the embarrassment, the loss of control, re-starting the engine!

I wish I'd got over this rather irrational fear while learning to drive. As it was it took me three tries to pass my final. Maybe the solution is to drive an automatic but that would giving in too easily for such a small bug bear.
Dare I say it, my mind would turn off in an automatic and my left hand would be empty. I'm well and truly a manual convert and that clutch, love it or hate it is a necessary evil.

At the Showgrounds

Sales are everywhere but can still be appear in rather unexpected places.

My friend and I were driving past the Showgrounds the other day and happened upon a book/cd sale. Of course, we were out of the car in a flash trooping towards the entrance.

Claudelands Showgrounds isn't the most glamorous of locations but it serves its purpose for the many travelling roadshows that appear in town for a day, weekend or a few weeks.
The main exhibition hall was filled with fold-down tables, some with price placards. It was roughly split into DVDs, CDs and books and a variety of people were milling about.
Music played over the speakers and several 'cashiers' in neon vests waited behind the front counter. An odd additional credit card charge was advertised maybe to dissuade the plastic fantastic.

There were popular CDs, wrapped compilation CDs all muddled together, after you had checked out a few aisles it felt like you were seeing the same stock over and over.
Same with the books, mainly fiction paperbacks but some 'how-to' coffee table books on offer.
DVDs were a bit of let down with very obscure and old titles in newer packaging. Several items caught my eye- a paperback I'd read a review for but never found and some CDs.
When purchasing, I asked how long they were here for and he said another 12 days. On the docket, it stated an Australian address.
The life of the travelling roadshow seller, a few weeks in different towns throughout the year. I guess one town looks like another when you're on the road.

Soon they'll be packed up and on their way. Something new will be here next week.

Bell Tower Wednesday

When I woke up this morning, I didn't expect to be climbing 66ft above Hamilton City and enjoying 360 degree views.
But by lunchtime, I'd already been up many narrow ladders hauling equipment in a rather unfortunate long skirt.

For the past couple of weeks I've been part of a TV crew filming a property show. My previously mentioned showreel had the desired effect of work experience.
Learning the art of wireless mics and boom operation one week at a time, we have travelled across the region and into nearby Tauranga for location shoots.

Being behind the scenes really simplifies the entire process. How shots, promos and voiceovers are created does seem so complicated after all. I'm loving every moment of it.

Today we arrived at St Peters Anglican Cathedral and set about filming 'cut-away' shots outside and interviewing the Very Reverend and a veteran bellringer/church goer. We talked to them about the history of the church and their latest porch extension.

We were then taken on a climbing tour of the bell tower, which was a rather unique experience. Wish we could have made a behind the scenes documentary.
When researching this church, it turns out it was an influence on Richard O'Brien's castle in 'The Rocky Horror Show'. It certainly has a Gothic feel.

Behind an external blue door, concrete spiral stairs led to the first bellringers chamber. Coloured robes hung from the ceiling, bellringing and church memorabilia hung from the concrete walls and sat on a central wooden table. At the side, two stages of steep narrow wooden ladders ascended the height of the room leading to a ceiling trapdoor.
Little did we know this was beginning of the real climbing.

First we explored, leaving our equipment in the chamber and ascending each level on a set of ladders that twisted and turned through a multitude of openings in each ceiling.
Ropes from the floor to the ceiling decorated the next floor with red carpet mats for floor covering.
Next housed the bells, which was rather narrow in access and the most worrying floor in terms of where you put your feet. The bells were large with several in an upside down position. After a few more small landings and treads later, we were in the clock level.

Seeing four clocks from the inside controlled by mechanisms in a central glass box was particularly stunning. We stationed ourselves here for the first piece to camera and set about passing the equipment through each hatch.
The trapdoor above the clocks led to the roof on a perfect blue day. Hamilton really looks like a city from this view.
After filming our pieces, we made the slow climb backwards down the ladders with equipment in hand. It really was amazing, the sheer levels and workings of the entire tower make me wish I was a bellringer.

If you can tune into TVCentral with a UHF aerial, the show 'Property Works' is shown throughout the week, but its prime slot is Tuesday 7.30pm.
St Peters should be on in a few weeks.

Internal Soundtracks

When mp3 players hit the market, columnists and commentators flooded media outlets with interest pieces.
One article that stuck in my mind referred to how users with personal soundtracks were distancing themselves from normal environments, therefore not experiencing life.
Surely this is the point of mp3 players, its escapism with a mix tape. Walking to work while being at a concert so to speak makes the activity half bearable.

Unfortunately not all situations lend themselves to escapism. Grandma visiting, at lectures and performances isn't the greatest time to put your earphones on. You're there to experience something rather than escape it.
In manufactured environments like supermarkets and retail, they provide a selected soundtrack to encourage customers to linger, so an mp3 player isn't essential.

But it has become a addiction for some, a daily coping mechanism and is the ultimate 'don't talk to me' sign.

Recently I saw a mature retail customer only take out her headphones to deliver an instruction to staff before replacing her headphones.
Maybe she was tired of interacting in general but still it almost devalues a sales assistant, making them a means to the end rather than an actual person.

Life seems to be a continual flow of interaction with others, it reminds me of a row of ants who seem to communicate with every ant coming in their opposite direction. It pains me to say hello to every person on a walking track but it has to be done to remain half polite.

I wonder if headphones are really limiting our experience of the world or are they a necessity to cope with the daily grind of people, situations and activities?

Earth Hour

Last Saturday, Earth Hour was the main topic of conversation in the media. Radio, TV, print and the web had been urging us for weeks to become 'greenies' for an hour and 'vote earth'.

We celebrated with a candlelit birthday cake and coffee but many homes around us kept their lights blazing. Part of me felt like shouting 'turn your lights off' but we live in the city and community unity is on the wane.

The energy conservation message of the event does appeal but the promotion of it, which snowballed into a trendy bandwagon did not.

When I started high school, I joined 'The Environment Club'. We talked about recycling projects and so forth. In Woodwork, I made a tree shaped money box for its symbolism.
It soon became clear though that individuals can be environmentally friendly but the world isn't going to change to save the planet.

We don't recycle, reuse and reduce for the glory or recognition. In a way, the media jumping on the bandwagon by branding 'green as the new black' almost cheapens an independent movement that prides itself on its anti-establishment stance. Where can it go from here?

Soon this green trend will be discarded to make room for the next fad. Those hoping that Earth Hour has made a lasting impression on the population may have to be content with only an annual swell of support generated by the media.

Gamebox 1.0

After collecting ex-DVDs for a couple of months straight, I'm finally getting round to watching some of them.
It is becoming painfully clear that I was slightly misguided in my choices ranging from bad to worse.
Last night, I sat down to watch my first sci-fi action choice and was pleasantly surprised.

'Gamebox 1.0' - action/thriller set in the virtual game world of video games was pretty exciting. Our hero is a 20 something guy, depressed after his girlfriend was shot by a crooked cop. His past makes him a perfect pawn for a game that won't let you quit till you've either won or dead.

High pitched game music and low-budget computer generated sets were quite funny to watch combined with the rather clunky dialogue.

I quite liked it though and it happily chewed away a few hours from my Monday night. Maybe there are some actual bargains in the sale bin!

Parking Spaces

Caterpillars are crawling on the swan plant outside, soon it'll be too cold for them to turn into butterflies. Their life process must be pure instinct as mother isn't hovering about.

Differences with human society are we are taught the 'rules' depending on the teacher from day dot. Out with the cavemen went living on instinct. If we want to be part of society, we are bound by social expectations like manners and process, regulations and signs.

At the cinema, you are given seat numbers, reminded to sit only in that seat and stay there for the movie. It is funny the amount of people who check their tickets and seat numbers and sit in the allocated spot, as if a patrol could check them at any time.

At your own peril we can ignore rules, signs and limits. It must be the fear of the consequence like a parking ticket which motivates the majority to participate.

Parking spaces themselves are an example of rules. We can't park for more than an hour or beyond our paid time, we must park within the lines, no-one can park during clearway times and our registration should be current. All these rules for two lines of white/yellow paint?

But everyone lines up and accepts these conditions, invisibly signing a contract with known consequences. I find it a little disconcerting the amount of times we have to accept conditions in everyday life.

We need rules to be fair for everyone,but these regulations become a burden after a while. I moot the need for a 'no-rules day'. Of course it would be carnage on the streets with no-one obeying road rules, personal space boundaries or authoritive figures, but that is mere detail.

Living in the city sure has its challenges, think I'll take refuge for now in the freedom of non-metered spaces. I like to live dangerously!

Showreel

A challenge was laid down on Monday and I'm determined to go for it.
Design a showreel in 7 days! I was rather perplexed as where to start.

I started thinking back to my design tech days and thought of set design modelling and motion graphics. Retrieving my notebook of random drawings and ideas and confronting google with the question "How to make a Showreel?", I wondered how this would all work out.

Monday night, I began making a soundtrack, on the computer of course as I can't even play chopsticks on the piano successfully.
I must say it sounded upbeat enough. Must figure out a way to add it here.

After emailing a colleague and reading a few books, I realised this showreel is a piece to camera (PTC): filming 'on location' with a suitable script.

I'm not sure why but this gives me a burst of nervous energy- must be all the coffee I've been drinking!

Unfortunately mood music sounds like a definite no-no in the background.

I've finished the script but might need to write two as it is rather short. Roll on the weekend and next week when filming + editing hits full swing!
Then the all important interview over coffee. Maybe I should order fruit juice.

Zine Collage

Identity

After a week of answering someone else's phone and email, I realised that your identity as an individual is slightly meaningless as a reporter.

People are more impressed with the title of your publication than who you are personally. In a smaller community, they hold on to a name but the name is a means to the end when publicity is the game.

I don't mind being a faceless photographer/writer. You are there to talk about the community not you personally.
I'm particularly taken how the title can bring a smile to a person's face or a frown depending on what they want.
They'll clutch on to you and introduce you to everyone in the room.

In the last week as a 'full-time' reporter, community groups spot you from a mile away especially if you are the only one under 65.
They are keen to tell you their life story or are encouraged by others to do so, all in the name of an unsolicited piece of editorial.

At the end of the day, you produce a range of articles and your subject knowledge is greatly increased.

Sparkette slides

Here's a slideshow I made as a Sparkette PR Intern at Spark08 Arts Festival.