Exploring fascination

eugene

Youth Media Crew went to Hollywood this morning to take in a screening of the documentary Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo. The film was screened as part of the AFI FEST 2009. The documentary explores Japan's cultural fascination with insects. I was impressed by the film's inventive blend of slice-of-life narrative, cultural myth, and experimental image sequences. The music is engaging and the images are at times arresting, and having the presence of both in a documentary is quite an accomplishment. After the screening, the film's writer shared some interesting comments with the audience. She said she spent a year researching the story, and then went to Japan for six weeks to shoot the film. She said no one had ever made a film about the nation's cultural interest in insects, because in Japan, the subject is seen as utterly mundane. Culturally, the subject is invisible. This tells me that the writer is an observant storyteller. She can see what has become invisible to all other eyes. She can follow and capture her subject to create an interesting story that makes the invisible visible. Like the bug hunters in the movie, she knows how to spot and catch the tiny details hiding in the forest.

For lunch, we walked across Hollywood Boulevard and, from Greco's, ordered the biggest pizza I have ever seen or eaten. Sam and Itzel ate the most slices. Feeding the crew was very necessary because our day had only just begun. Cathy manhandled the van all the way to our next stop in Culver City, where we checked out another phenomenon born in Japan: The global obsession of Hello Kitty. Hello Kitty's birthday is tomorrow. She turns 35 -- not bad for a cat with no mouth. The art gallery we visited is hosting an exhibition featuring lots of Hello Kitty memorabilia. It's amazing how just about anything can be given a Hello Kitty spin: bicycles, jackets, surfboards, beds, pillows, tableware, clothing. The Youth Media Crew busted out its camera equipment to document the range of artifacts and collect some interesting stories.

Tons of people were there, creating lines running out the door and down the sidewalk, dressing up in catwear, and ready to talk about their Hello Kitty obsessions. There was a woman who came to the show directly from the airport, still tugging her carry-on luggage behind her. She was flying from Mexico back to Hong Kong, and she had arranged for a taxi ride over during her Los Angeles layover. She explained that she grew up with Hello Kitty, and that it represents something important to her even now. She carries a little Hello Kitty doll when she travels, for good luck. Whenever she carries it, she explains, her seat assignment gets bumped up to the next higher class. Another woman has been a member of the Hello Kitty Fan Club since the 1980s. Her enthusiasm for Hello Kitty was amazing. She shares almost the same birthday as Hello Kitty. She said if no one else was around the art exhibit, she would take off all her clothes and run through all the memorabilia naked. It excites her that much. Hello Kitty captures the imagination of both children and former children. The Youth Media Crew reported that everyone interviewed seemed to agree that Hello Kitty in one way or another is a keeper of the idea of childhood.

All in all, it was a day filled with adventure, culture, and stories for the Youth Media Crew.

Posted Saturday, October 31, 2009 at 6:14PM | Leave a comment

Whatever Makes One happy

Captain Joss Sparrow

Salut! Today is thursday, once again, which means P.E day. Fun, as usual. I think I sprained my wrist this time after I challenged this gut to an arm wrestling match. I beat him in the end, Twice. Ha! And he wasn't scrawny either. So I was surfing without a surfboard on the Internet the other day, when I saw a very interesting video that wasn't aired in the news, but seemed to have been popularly watched. I clicked on it, and it turned out that in Japan there was a very interesting wedding. Between a man and a video game character. For the first time ever. Wow, I thought at first. It turns out that in Japan there is this game called Love Plus, a dating game for the Nintendo DS console, and people can have a virtual girlfriend/boyfriend. Well, it turns out there was This young guy who had had 3 girlfriends in the game, but got really attached to one, that he decided to marry her. The guy (Who I don't remember his name) organized a wedding, and many people were invited. His siblings were very supportive and gave speeches on how happy they were for their brother

Posted Thursday, December 03, 2009 at 5:41PM | Leave a comment

Marita!

Deanna

Our fearless intern makes photographs with the trash can pinhole.

Posted Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 1:46PM | Leave a comment

Untitled entry

Deanna

Genevieve tries out the finished pinhole. It looks like its wearing a football helmet.

Posted Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 1:48PM | Leave a comment

Meet Sunny War

eugene

L.A. Weekly recently profiled Sunny War, one of the boardwalk performers featured in the Venice Arts youth documentary "Voices of Venice: The Boardwalk."

The L.A. Weekly article declares, "She's going to blow your mind." You can read it here: http://www.laweekly.com/2009-07-16/music/meet-sunny-war/

Posted Wednesday, August 05, 2009 at 11:08AM | Leave a comment

Desert Sun: Program helps kids bring community into focus

Venice Arts

Palm Springs' newspaper, the Desert Sun, published this web video story about the Coachella photography project being led by Venice Arts.

Excerpts from the article, which was published today:

“If you want to make a community better, then first you have to understand the things that need to be improved in a community, and they're learning this first-hand via taking pictures,” said Quinton Egson, chief professional officer for the Boys & Girls Club of Coachella Valley.

The eastern Coachella Valley is just one of eight communities chosen to participate in the statewide project, which is part of the California Endowment Build a Healthy Community Initiative, Egson said.

For 16-year-old Thania Espinoza of Coachella, the project is her opportunity to share her heritage with other people.

On Thursday, she was one of three students led by professional photographer/project instructor Doug McCulloh who photographed date farming.

“It's really important for people to know that this is still a big part of how Coachella works,” Thania said, referring to the leading crop in the valley's agricultural industry.

Photographing her grandfather, 61-year-old Joaquin Espinoza, harvesting dates at Sunwest Farms in Thermal, Thania hopes others will understand the labor involved in bringing fresh produce to the table.

“We should let people know that this isn't just something easy you could do. It takes hard work and dedication,” she said. “This is how we were brought up and it's important that everyone knows that this is what Coachella is about.”

Click here to see the full article.

Posted Friday, April 09, 2010 at 9:45PM | Leave a comment

Polaroid/Poladroid

Genevieve

For the past few months, i've seen the new internet application Poladroid appear on facebook and in the mouths (computers) of a number of my friends. Last week, Deanna brought it up to me and asked for commentary on this new phenomenon(?), i don't even know if it can be called that. Poladroid is free computer application and can be downloaded so that everyone can "create easily high resolution Polaroid - like pictures from your digital photos". I have this distinct non-film polaroid look-a-likes pop upon in facebook albums, blogs, flickr, and in my mom's iphone.

I've been using the Venice Arts day lab and converting my slide images into polaroids along with traditional instance photography for some time now. I really like the aspect of flaw and surprise that comes from these images. The color is usually a bit off, there is no possibility for burning, the image is often somewhat out of focus and thus a perfect image is impossible.

When I first saw the new artificial version i found it troubling to hear that with the extinction of polaroid, we needed a new way to replicate the style. Not for its flaw, but for its aesthetic. The poladroid application backs the image with the polaroid holder, slightly alters the color, and fades the edges. The image however remains flawless, and i don't know if there is anything wrong with that. Recently however, I've become more open to this silly image manipulator. I do wonder however. Is this the new way of making vintage popular culture last forever in our electronic lifestyle? Are real polaroids now vintage even though they still exist in limited quantity?

When I was in middle school, this instant medium became very popular among my middle school piers to take "artsy" photos to show on myspace. Is poladroid just a continuation of that attitude towards instant photos? or will it become to "mainstream" and kill the hip aspect?

Will more photographic be imitated with website downloads? probably, but will these click and drag apps wipe out the original art form? I can only hope not. It is scary however to think how with polaroid cameras, each generation became simplified and it has now evolved into this.

Posted Monday, December 21, 2009 at 4:16PM | Leave a comment

Giselle's class

eugene

Giselle's summer class can be found by clicking here.

Posted Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 12:39PM | Leave a comment

HANGING FRAMES

Christopher Rojas

On Tuesday Deanna taught me how to hang frames. At first in was a little confusing, but then I started to get the "hang" of it. Hahaha. Get it I learned to "hang" frames, and know I get the "hang" of it. That reminds me of a literary device I learned in English. "Hang" has different connotations, and I think it can fit into with ambiguity which means the multiple meaning of something. Going back to topic as you can see I scan one of the papers I did my calculations on. On Tuesday it was easier since most of the frames were the same size, and I hanged four on Tuesday. Today I hang six frames and they all had different sizes. Even though it makes you think, I enjoyed since I like to think was in a while. It was also a good exercise because I have a algebra two test tomorrow. My test is about factoring, adding and well basically simplifying polynomials. Some of the problems I will be solving look like this "(3xy + 2x)(x^2 + 2xy^2)", and if you are scared of this, you have no idea what is ahead because this is barely the beginning of algebra two. But I like math so I'm good. I also learned how to use a level. Is pretty interesting the way they worked, since even though is small it has a big use. The way i hang the frames was that first I measured the wall to know how much space I was working with. Then I had to make sure I leave ten inches of space between every frame. Also the sides close to the edge of the walls have to be the same. It is a process which you have to make a lot of steps, but is fun when you know what you are doing.

Posted Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 6:16PM | Leave a comment

Untitled entry

Deanna

Genevieve putting the finishing touches on the camera. Liz looking on, unphased. Notice the "SPAM CAM" to Liz's left. We also made cameras out of luncheon meat tins.

Posted Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 1:51PM | Leave a comment

Penultimate

eugene

Second to last class meeting of this project was spent today refining the three vignettes that will anchor the film. The vignettes are Sam and Zola's piece on Bobby Brown, the World's Greatest Wine-O, Itzel and Jocelyn's piece on teenage guitarist Sunny War, and Bryan's enduring fascination with Metal Ball Guy.

The group has decided to present these three pieces episodically within the film's larger framework. It's been great to witness the editing process that has served as the backdrop to this decision. Generally, the pieces have been developed by pairs of students. Not always the same pairs, by the way. This has provided an experience where each student gets to learn about what they know and what they are interested in, because every week they are asked to contribute and teach what they know. Some are quite proficient with Final Cut Pro. To varying degrees, each student brings varying levels of attentiveness to story, to visuals, to sound, to character. In a collaborative setting, each young filmmaker becomes both a student and a teacher, as working together means everyone invariably learns from each other. I've been quite impressed with the depth of discussion that can ensue when two engaged students are hashing out how to best tell a story.

When we meet next week, one of the last remaining group tasks will be to finalize an intro segment that establishes place and mood. That intro segment will serve as the film's leadoff.

This whole month, our class meetings have been conducted outside the official context of the program session. The students made a choice to extend class by a few weeks and continue working on their pieces. This has turned out to be a great decision. All of the stories have gone through major transformations this month. Likely, this would not have happened if we had pushed for edits to be completed by the official end of session. Being off-program, we're no longer enjoying lunches covered by the project budget. No more healthy or even semi-healthy fare for these filmmakers. Today I brought in a dozen doughnuts, and for an afternoon snack Cathy made a Starbucks run, which blew out my Starbucks card.

Posted Saturday, May 16, 2009 at 6:34PM | Leave a comment

Now showing: Your photos

eugene

Another update: We have some good news and a tiny eentsy weensy bit of bad news. The good news, which is good for everyone, is that all the photos from BMS v1.0 are now appearing here on BMS v2.0. The bad news, which is only slightly bad news for one person, specifically Francesca (!), is that while I was moving hundreds and hundreds of photos and their associated records such as photo credits, photo titles, and captions, literally gobs and gobs on information, I accidentally by mistake oopsie-like deleted the seven or eight photos Francesca uploaded yesterday. Francesca, if you are reading this, I am sorry! We all know stuff like this always happens to you, so everything is normal, right? (That was a joke, ha ha ha?) How about you email those seven or eight photos to Joanne or myself so that we can tie up the loose ends? The photo records are still in the database, so all I need to do is link those images to the records. I will do that personally. It will be like your photos are getting extra special treatment!

Posted Friday, October 19, 2007 at 11:53AM | Leave a comment

The last supper

eugene

There are too many ways in which In-N-Out Burger defines divine. It provides us with the lift we need for the final leg of the project. Here's what we all ate to carry us through our last marathon day of editing:

Jocelyn: Number 3. Veggie burger, grilled cheese, animal style, grilled onions. Fries. Lemonade.

Bryan: Number 1. Grilled onions. Fries. Lemonade.

Carolina: Number 1. Grilled onions, animal style. Fries. Sprite

Joanne: Number 3. Cheeseburger. Fries.

Eugene: Double-Double, extra grilled onions, animal style. Fries. No drink.

Posted Saturday, May 30, 2009 at 4:33PM | Leave a comment

UNICEF video contest

eugene

Is anyone working on anything that is eligible for submission to this? It is the
UNICEF Convention on the Rights of the Child 20th Anniversary Video Contest.

Does anyone want to work on a submission? It only needs to be one minute in length.

This is your chance to let the world hear your take on human rights.

Posted Friday, July 31, 2009 at 1:37PM | Leave a comment

Untitled entry

Deanna

Fundamental components of photography...watermelon and oatmeal?

Posted Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 2:01PM | Leave a comment

blurg

Genevieve

So last week, other than Thanksgiving, I worked on a spotlight music center awards scholarship contest. Deanna and Cathy helped with the application, which included a photo and 3 very very short responses. I think the length was the hardest part along with choosing which image to use. I was really indecisive about, so Deanna and Wynn had a say in that. All (almost) of Deanna's students have submitted an application, so hopefully someone from Venice Arts will get the grand prize!

Currently the Gallery is working on putting up an archive show of students work which sounds pretty nice.

Last class in my class with YMC we saw the R. Crumb Genesis exhibit which was really tight, i love comics. Oh an Eugene if your reading this: I have all the film from Scotty's house processed and contact sheets will be made.

I will be driving in a week (HOPEFULLY) so that is exciting! Along with that the school year is really speeding by. Its almost winter break.

So recently the news concerning war and healthcare and whatnot has been somewhat depressing so I figured I post a few silly reports from AOL's Weird News

- Colorado's Governor's Mansion got TPed.
- An Arizona Teacher got fired for using the district's computer system to search for Space alien students
- There is a rock-paper-scissors tournament held in Toronto.
- Someone found Jesus on their iron (see photo attached

Can you believe it is already December?

Posted Wednesday, December 02, 2009 at 4:35PM | Leave a comment

The Creation

Genevieve

In the exhibit, I really enjoyed the drawings and how he combined both the biblical episodes and his style. I have very little knowledge of the bible and it's characters. My favorite part was not necessarily as specific story, but the part after Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden. All of Adam and Eve's immediate descendants were described and I find family trees very interesting so I guess that kind of related. There wasn't exactly a protagonist, but "the better" son in each family acted as that and the antagonist was the bad seed brother. Seeing the good and bad in each character despite their role, was my favorite part. I also really liked that this genealogy linked all the characters together for the rest of the stories (at least as far as I read).

Posted Saturday, December 05, 2009 at 11:58AM | Leave a comment

What's your story?

eugene

Anyone ever ask you this question?

Ever ask yourself this question?

We all have a story. It might something that has been given to us, that we are chasing after, that we are secretly hiding from the rest of the world. We might be holding onto our story, trying to let it go, reaching for it to get a good handle on it for the very first time. Whatever its nature, we all have a story. At least one. Some of us have two.

I stopped by the Venice Arts Gallery earlier this afternoon to attend a meeting for a project that we'll be doing this coming year. It's a special class devoted to stories, to storytelling, and to the really big question that everyone poses, to others and to themselves: What's your story?

Lynn was at the meeting. She's the brains behind Venice Arts. If you've spent any time at this organization and you don't know who she is, you've been asleep. Cathy was at the meeting. She's the program's lead filmmaker, and she's in charge of the class. Liz was at the meeting. Most people don't know this, but she does a lot of work, behind the scenes, telling Venice Arts' story to the community.

I'll be one of the people working on the project. As an artist mentor, I'll be guiding the students through a unique approach to working with media. We're not focusing on photography, or film, or color, or black-and-white, or digital, or traditional, or microphones, or Photoshop, or interviewing, or editing, or any of the techniques or forms that generally define a mediamaking experience. Instead, we're going to be paying attention to storytelling, that "thing" that some people call the "magic" in any message. It's that thing that exists underneath, behind, and inside all of these tools and techniques. That means, as storytellers, we're going to master and use every tool imaginable in pursuit of story. Every tool. Everything that I just mentioned, and then some. Isn't that amazing!?!? These students are going to not only know how to use the tools, but when to use them and why to use them. That's the important stuff. That's the space where creativity thrives.

I'm also working on a special website where the students will be compiling their stories to share with the world. It's a bit like this website, but different. This website is set up as an online studio space, where artists gather to develop their work. The project's website is set up more like an online magazine, where stories get published and anyone out there in the world can stop by to check them out. It's very exciting.

The class is going to be small. At this point we're talking six students. So it's a bit like the Dirty Half-Dozen. That's meant to be a witty joke for you movie buffs. I've been told these students are being hand-picked from a teeming sea of candidates, all bloodthirsty for the opportunity to sink their fangs into this storytelling challenge. I've worked with a few of them before, so I know we're going to have some fun and we're going to produce some great stories.

More to come. Until then, what's your story?

Posted Friday, September 11, 2009 at 11:23PM | Leave a comment