I would like to cordially invite you to a screening of some work I’ve completed as a member of the inaugural UnionDocs Collaborative Project. Along with Robbie Wilkins, I created a piece on the nature of Online Persona. It will be screened as part of the Collaborative’s larger work, Inductive Thread.
WHEN: Feb. 20, 2010 @ 8 p.m.
WHERE: The Museum of Modern Art, Theater 1, 11 W 53rd Street, New York, NY (The entrance to the film theater is separate from the entrance to the museum)
TICKETS: $10, available at the MoMA box office, but not online as far as I can tell.
Yesterday we got the chance to rehearse the piece at MoMA. I blatantly stole Robbie’s excellent and always cleverly edited “My Week” video series idea to create this short documentation of my day:
I finally screened New Shoes for the first time this past Sunday at Bike Shorts, hosted at Public Assembly in Wburg. I hadn’t been to the space since Galapagos vacated the premises, and was pretty disappointed to see that they had removed the pool, which always looked like the inky depths of hell to me. I thought it was so cool that someone thought to dedicate that much space at an art venue to their aesthetic vision; you could easily have crammed at least another 80 bodies into the area it used to occupy. In a place like New York City, where real estate is at such a premium, there seemed no greater expression of disdain for a rational economic model than that.
Anyway, a handful of friends came out for the show, but all left before the audience applause vote was taken. Of course Rick came out to lend support and stuck around for the whole thing. Even though he attempted to disguise himself in a vain effort to insulate himself from the wrath of the crowd.
I tried to capture the voting for New Shoes, but I didn’t really get to turn the camera on in time. This brief clip should give you an idea of the response it generated though.
I think the one guy generously sharing a pity clap with the crowd was the A/V dude. It was pretty funny (to me and Rick at least). Anyway, here is the film. Things learned:
1. Prep work is key. If you want to shoot a location, you should probably check to make sure that that particular location is actually open during your scheduled production period.
2. Degenerate gamblers DO NOT enjoy having their picture taken outside of the OTB on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.
3. Rick is gully. No one I’d rather have at my back if I had to throw down with a group of overbearing Park Slope helicopter rents.
Hey how’s it going? Sorry I haven’t talked to you in so long. You look good. Did you get a haircut? No? Oh. Well your hair looks nice. Or maybe it’s because you look thinner, I don’t know.
Anyway, just wanted to let you know that a short film I made, “New Shoes,” is getting screened this Sunday at Bike Short Films in Williamsburg. No big deal. The entry fee is $5, but I have to warn you that I would characterize the quality of most films I have seen there as “poor.” Which is only, like, one better than “very poor.” I know, I know. That makes me an asshole or whatever. But I wouldn’t say my film is the cat’s pajamas or anything either. So whatever.
See, the thing is, they’ll take a film from anyone. So, you know, it’s kind of like doing a YouTube search on the word “bike” and then watching that shit in a bar. Really, the only reason that I’m even telling you about this is because they give out a $100 prize to the “winner.” Okay so the reason I put that in quotes is because the “winner” is chosen by crowd applause at the end of the screening. I know you’re really into quantifiable metrics, so I put the quotes in out of respect for that, dude. But hey–if by some miracle I do win, I will refund you your five dollars from the prize money. No bro, I’m being dead serious. Because it means that much to me that you came out to, you know, help grow the scene or whatever. Okay dude, catch you later.
-rah
What: Screening of film “New Shoes” at Bike Shorts
Where: Public Assembly, 70 N. 6th Street, Williamsburg –map here
When: Sunday, September 27 at 8 pm
Cost: $5
Info: www.bikeshortfilms.com
I present The Buzz-A-Rama 500. Criticism is welcomed. I think the thing I’m most proud of is figuring out how to chop and loop the excellent Souls of Mischief track “Cab Fare” in Final Cut Pro in order to create an instrumental track for the score. Small victories. The sample is from “Angela” by Bob James, but is most widely recognized as the theme song from the show Taxi. Just my way of giving Andy Kaufman a hug. Things learned:
Considering story structure, shot composition, focus and exposure all at the same time is damned tough.
New York City remains the most interesting place in the known universe. (And yes, I’ve been to Elkins, West Virginia.)
Too much of a good thing is a bad thing.
Trust your instincts, abandon them, and then try to remember what they were in the first place.
I still have a lot to learn.
A profile of the only remaining slot car racetrack in New York City, the Buzz-A-Rama 500. Opened in 1965, it is still owned and operated by the original owner, Buzz Perri, in the Kensington neighborhood of Brooklyn.
