Dangerous to reference/look at other movies? Yes.
Worthwhile? yes.
Wednesday, February 4
lights & design
call for LIGHTS!
please bring at your next appearance A LIGHT, whether a lamp or clip light, or film light, or flashlight or candle or xmas lights, please everyone we must bring lights.
and also, if you see any furniture on the street, or have anything extra, little tables, packing crates, boxes, I would suggest bringing them to the apt.
while our content may not necessitate props/production design etc. having these items will only increase the options of what we are able to shoot, and how good it looks.
up til now we have defaulted, for good and understandable reasons, on a mostly bare apartment for a backdrop, but as I mentioned yesterday, I think every part of the film, even if this isn't a film with characters and a plot in the traditional sense, needs to be paid attention to and given care and thought.
we also need to take care when we enter the apartment to understand that the common space is part of the set. we haven't shot anything on the couch yet, and just because it's covered with our jackets and bags, doesn't mean we shouldn't shoot there. i think from now on, when we enter, all of our stuff needs to go into the guru's/owner's room and stay there until it is needed again.
what do you all think?
The thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts
Check out Aurora's pictures of our first shooting day here
Yesterday, we ate pasta (in a pot provided by Jacob, yay!) with red sauce and a loaf of bread Aurora baked and brought to set. Tonight, lentil soup.
I agree with Evan that we were jiving well, it does always feel better when we are making scenes then when we are arguing over content. I think the major problem we are facing right now is a tension over the product we want to make. I don't think it is possible for us to make a "normal" movie with "characters" and a "story" -- do people disagree? -- in my opinion, this means, the most we can hope for is to put something compelling on screen, and that's a lot, that's EVERYTHING! To do this, I think, we should focus on producing as much "usable" footage as possible, meaning making each thing we shoot compelling in and of itself without worrying about overall structure, story, tone, style, etc.
How to do this is up for debate. We could start with one or two of Casey's texts. It could be like playing telephone-pictionary, someone writes a sentence, someone else shoots their interpretation of that sentence, the next person writes a sentence-long interpretation of the footage, which is shot again in turn, etc. etc. till Feb. 28. Bring other ideas.
Yesterday, we ate pasta (in a pot provided by Jacob, yay!) with red sauce and a loaf of bread Aurora baked and brought to set. Tonight, lentil soup.
I agree with Evan that we were jiving well, it does always feel better when we are making scenes then when we are arguing over content. I think the major problem we are facing right now is a tension over the product we want to make. I don't think it is possible for us to make a "normal" movie with "characters" and a "story" -- do people disagree? -- in my opinion, this means, the most we can hope for is to put something compelling on screen, and that's a lot, that's EVERYTHING! To do this, I think, we should focus on producing as much "usable" footage as possible, meaning making each thing we shoot compelling in and of itself without worrying about overall structure, story, tone, style, etc.
How to do this is up for debate. We could start with one or two of Casey's texts. It could be like playing telephone-pictionary, someone writes a sentence, someone else shoots their interpretation of that sentence, the next person writes a sentence-long interpretation of the footage, which is shot again in turn, etc. etc. till Feb. 28. Bring other ideas.
Night 2 Forms: Scene 2
I hope other people more involved in this scene post up, because what I wanted to write about a little was the interaction between Michael and myself. Joe was a new arrival, with George showing him around the apartment. The whole time Michael and Aurora and I sat in a bedroom, Michael on the mattress with Aurora, me on the wall. Michael and I were supposed to just be having a conversation, but trying to keep our voices down so we weren't distracting. Aurora would then get up and interact with the other people when they came in.
The great thing is that Michael and I got REALLY into our conversation, which revolved around music. We completely ignored everything else going on; what was being shot, what was being directed, what the direction was. We just kept going, doing what we're doing, talking about lots of different music, beards, hair cuts, etc. So when people interrupted us, we paid attention to them only as long as we had to, then returned to our conversation. It worked really well, and had a lot of stuff that I want to explore again, both spontaneously and written. I really liked, and I think Michael did, too, the point where I was trying to sing/hum how a few songs went at a very low volume.
My favorite part was right when we ended, as well, as contentious as that may be. George sits down next to us, starts going through Joe's backpack, Joe asks "What are you doing?", George pulls out a book, and Michael breaks from mine and his conversation and says "That's my book!"
He starts flipping through it, asks "How did you know?", opens the book to confirm, says "Oh my god, wait...Yeah, this is totally my book, mine said [no idea what he said was inside the book here] here." George didn't know what to do and kept looking away, then we all of a sudden cut, I was laughing, people kind of panicked, and I said "That's his book, that's awesome." I think that spontaneity and the sudden realization that the scene had shifted into a place no one knew what to do was fantastic. Now, the challenge is writing a scene that incorporates that, because the next improv, Michael will expect that to be his book, which will provide a new opportunity. There will be expectation for all the actors, and that will give another ending for it.
That's all I got for today.
The great thing is that Michael and I got REALLY into our conversation, which revolved around music. We completely ignored everything else going on; what was being shot, what was being directed, what the direction was. We just kept going, doing what we're doing, talking about lots of different music, beards, hair cuts, etc. So when people interrupted us, we paid attention to them only as long as we had to, then returned to our conversation. It worked really well, and had a lot of stuff that I want to explore again, both spontaneously and written. I really liked, and I think Michael did, too, the point where I was trying to sing/hum how a few songs went at a very low volume.
My favorite part was right when we ended, as well, as contentious as that may be. George sits down next to us, starts going through Joe's backpack, Joe asks "What are you doing?", George pulls out a book, and Michael breaks from mine and his conversation and says "That's my book!"
He starts flipping through it, asks "How did you know?", opens the book to confirm, says "Oh my god, wait...Yeah, this is totally my book, mine said [no idea what he said was inside the book here] here." George didn't know what to do and kept looking away, then we all of a sudden cut, I was laughing, people kind of panicked, and I said "That's his book, that's awesome." I think that spontaneity and the sudden realization that the scene had shifted into a place no one knew what to do was fantastic. Now, the challenge is writing a scene that incorporates that, because the next improv, Michael will expect that to be his book, which will provide a new opportunity. There will be expectation for all the actors, and that will give another ending for it.
That's all I got for today.
Night 2 Forms: Scene 1
Right now there's a lot of discussion and formulating and loudness about what we're shooting and what direction we're going. It seems like a lot of dissension and chaos, but I think it's important to take a step out of the discussion and look down on it. We're actually making big strides towards working in unison in the same direction, and the negatives brought up just narrow our focus. In the end, it's starting to make the positive more positive.
Last night I thought we shot a couple really great scenes, not only content-wise, but also process-wise. As the scenes developed, we got a better direction of where we're going, and ended up with material that's not only usable as-is, but provides a great opportunity for exploring writing and developing and expanding.
The first scene was in the really hideous green room, and reaffirmed both Travis's call for production design and Isaac's call for lighting. I mean, this room is ugly, and while I think we navigated it pretty well, there's no harm in a little bit of movie magic (George's words). Joe and Michael were there and got right into it, Michael sitting on the ground tuning and playing an auto-harp, and Joe smoking by the window. I found a weird spear-like curtain rod which I just played with while watching Michael. I was antsy and zoning out. Then Jacob came in having scavenged chocolate from the hotels he was checking out (part of the end world/new world prompt) and tries to get Joe to eat some.
I liked this scene a lot, especially as we kept going. One of the big issues George has outlined is that we aren't actors, and so if we try to be actors, it's going to be rough. I'm embracing the no-act idea, and really encouraging going wherever the mind normally goes. Jacob starts the conversation with Joe with a constructed opener, but it can develop from there in any direction. It doesn't have to be about chocolate for very long, and once we started talking that out, I think Joe got more natural, which went great. We also made Michael try to "play" the auto-harp, even though the thing was totally busted, and he was disgusted at the idea, but did it anyways. This was great; Michael thought it was futile, but did it anyways, and didn't try to pretend he was going to be happy with the song that resulted, while we didn't really have much of a clue. That gap in understanding was a big part of the scene that was worth investigating.
Mood, action, method, and dialog all came out of this scene that I've started to construct. If we were to shoot it again (we will), I would set it up as follows, based on our findings:
The musician sits on the floor with the auto-harp, tuning up, concentrating. This is his main focus and task.
The smoker stands at the window with a cigarette. He is on a break from the rest of the house, and providing the musician with some "companionship."
The prop-holder is sitting against the wall, concentrating on the musician, preparing to return to the rest of the house.
The chocolate-bringer has returned from scavenging. He wants to share and engage.
C-B engages in conversation with smoker. C-B offers smoker some chocolate.
Smoker declines.
Smoker offers his cigarette to musician.
Musician declines.
Smoker returns to his window. Smoker and C-B watch musician finish tuning and start playing.
Smoker: Do you have something like this?
C-B: I'm not much of a musician, but I admire what he does.
Just that dialog at the end, with Michael's frustration of playing the auto-harp when it's "unplayable," made this scene.
Last night I thought we shot a couple really great scenes, not only content-wise, but also process-wise. As the scenes developed, we got a better direction of where we're going, and ended up with material that's not only usable as-is, but provides a great opportunity for exploring writing and developing and expanding.
The first scene was in the really hideous green room, and reaffirmed both Travis's call for production design and Isaac's call for lighting. I mean, this room is ugly, and while I think we navigated it pretty well, there's no harm in a little bit of movie magic (George's words). Joe and Michael were there and got right into it, Michael sitting on the ground tuning and playing an auto-harp, and Joe smoking by the window. I found a weird spear-like curtain rod which I just played with while watching Michael. I was antsy and zoning out. Then Jacob came in having scavenged chocolate from the hotels he was checking out (part of the end world/new world prompt) and tries to get Joe to eat some.
I liked this scene a lot, especially as we kept going. One of the big issues George has outlined is that we aren't actors, and so if we try to be actors, it's going to be rough. I'm embracing the no-act idea, and really encouraging going wherever the mind normally goes. Jacob starts the conversation with Joe with a constructed opener, but it can develop from there in any direction. It doesn't have to be about chocolate for very long, and once we started talking that out, I think Joe got more natural, which went great. We also made Michael try to "play" the auto-harp, even though the thing was totally busted, and he was disgusted at the idea, but did it anyways. This was great; Michael thought it was futile, but did it anyways, and didn't try to pretend he was going to be happy with the song that resulted, while we didn't really have much of a clue. That gap in understanding was a big part of the scene that was worth investigating.
Mood, action, method, and dialog all came out of this scene that I've started to construct. If we were to shoot it again (we will), I would set it up as follows, based on our findings:
The musician sits on the floor with the auto-harp, tuning up, concentrating. This is his main focus and task.
The smoker stands at the window with a cigarette. He is on a break from the rest of the house, and providing the musician with some "companionship."
The prop-holder is sitting against the wall, concentrating on the musician, preparing to return to the rest of the house.
The chocolate-bringer has returned from scavenging. He wants to share and engage.
C-B engages in conversation with smoker. C-B offers smoker some chocolate.
Smoker declines.
Smoker offers his cigarette to musician.
Musician declines.
Smoker returns to his window. Smoker and C-B watch musician finish tuning and start playing.
Smoker: Do you have something like this?
C-B: I'm not much of a musician, but I admire what he does.
Just that dialog at the end, with Michael's frustration of playing the auto-harp when it's "unplayable," made this scene.
Tuesday, February 3
Ariel:
A succinct and worthwhile summary of a conversation I just had with Ariel, courtesy of her:
I spoke to Evan a little bit this morning via gchat about what you all discussed last night after I left. I like this prelimary scenario (several characters all with a different cause, trying to rally the others behind them). I think it's a good starting off point and will provide a preliminary framework that I think is necessary for progress/progression. Aleksei's questions/ideas are great and will be very helpful to think about.
I spoke to Evan a little bit this morning via gchat about what you all discussed last night after I left. I like this prelimary scenario (several characters all with a different cause, trying to rally the others behind them). I think it's a good starting off point and will provide a preliminary framework that I think is necessary for progress/progression. Aleksei's questions/ideas are great and will be very helpful to think about.
Just a quick write-up of a thought I had last night after leaving: In general, I really like it when characters interact with the physical space around them (even subtly). For example, I got into it when Evan started using the closet as opposed to only the other bedroom. Just having the closet door partially visible in the frame added a whole new layer to things, in my opinion. It also shows a level of interaction which, I think since you are doing this "bunker-esque" idea, makes a lot of sense. Basically, I wanted to see more physical involvement with the surroundings. I think this can often help the viewer understand a character more fully or at least understand one more layer of the character (which may or may not be something you're interested in).
Beginning
Today, I borrowed Nate's camera, brought some props for myself, and shopped for food for the apartment. I took a nap on the couch and worried about the noise from the fridge. Francesca arrived around 4:30 and we started shooting without much direction or idea of what we were after. Jacob came next and we tried being ourselves on camera (no chance of being good). Aurora arrived with Sriracha, chocolate and my toolbox, then Evan showed up and we ate fried rice on paper plates.
Evan brought sheets and we started shooting in earnest, starting with the idea of a cheesy ghost but veering off immediately. At first, I was under the sheet and it felt more like modern dance or a movement exercise. Travis, CJ, Ariel and Jen arrived and two scenes developed. First, with Travis and I in bed, he asleep and me thrashing around under the sheet like I couldn't sleep. Second, with Evan trying on different sheets while Francesca asked him about a comment he had made about her appearance (we also tried reversing roles with Evan speaking and Francesca under the sheet but they suddenly became teenagers and I freaked out). Both scenes veered quickly towards relationships where people are separated by the heavy symbolism of the sheet -- good or bad?
When people began to get tired, giggly, frustrated, etc. we decided to have a discussion about what we liked and disliked and how to proceed. There seems to be a majority of people who think we need to decide on a plot at least to begin moving in a direction and Travis brought up a good point that most to all of the people working on the project are statistically the same, that is, in age, background, education, class, interests, etc. and what kind of plot could lead to the situation that we are all stuck together. We brainstormed (not a good method) and came up with the idea of a flop house or safe house where people on there way from one place to another are temporarily staying. We thought it would be good, assuming everyone wants to act, for each of us to work out a costume and package of belongs that our characters bring with them into the space and tomorrow we will begin shooting interactions between these nascent characters, helping each other with ideas, pinning down relationships. We are also looking for mattresses and props to fill out the space which everyone should feel free to bring at anytime. One of the dangers of this idea is that it relies heavily on people concealing and revealing their back stories instead of, as Casey talk about on Sunday, a dramatic scenario (something actually happening), but it's a beginning and I think we should go with it and see what happens. We talked about there being a owner of the space who is separate from the the group, which reminded me of the Dardenne brothers' La Promesse in which a sleazy landlord and his son run a apartment building for immigrants but I imagine it more like replicants running from bladerunners, or time travelers waiting for rides, aliens waiting to be picked up by their mothership, clones escaped from organ farms OR weather underground-types hiding after a big bombing, a radical religious sect preparing for the rapture. I'm going to imagine a character for myself, bring some lamps and mattresses and food for the apartment, keep organizing cameras and think about other definitions for the space.
Jacob and I will be at the apartment by 2pm, Travis and Francesca at 3pm, Evan at 8pm, everyone is welcome. Dinner at 7pm tomorrow will be pasta with red sauce, boring I know (but exciting without a big pot).
From an email from Aleksei:
"...i think it would be interesting to be more intentional about it- basically i'm into your manifesto idea that i don't know if you actually are into. i don't think there is much time for it at this point, but i would have been interested in exploring the motivating idea behind the project, and the one dimension of the project that is agreed upon by everybody- collaboration and community- as a starting off point for a statement of intention, which would in turn inform the process and content of the project. i think we should do more to answer the question of why this is something we want to use as the beginning of a project. what do we mean by collaboration and community and why is this interesting or important to us? for instance exquisite corpse was mentioned as a model of the kind of collaboration we might use. the surrealists used this because of an interest in (and a privileging of) the (collective) unconscious, chance and play over reason. are we doing this because we share this value/interest? and if not what does it mean for us? when we figure that out we need to structure the process around it."
If you can't come tomorrow, think about Aleksei's questions/ideas and try to respond in writing in your own post here, in the comments or by email and I'll post it later. NB I don't have email during the day so give me a call if you need to get in touch.
Evan brought sheets and we started shooting in earnest, starting with the idea of a cheesy ghost but veering off immediately. At first, I was under the sheet and it felt more like modern dance or a movement exercise. Travis, CJ, Ariel and Jen arrived and two scenes developed. First, with Travis and I in bed, he asleep and me thrashing around under the sheet like I couldn't sleep. Second, with Evan trying on different sheets while Francesca asked him about a comment he had made about her appearance (we also tried reversing roles with Evan speaking and Francesca under the sheet but they suddenly became teenagers and I freaked out). Both scenes veered quickly towards relationships where people are separated by the heavy symbolism of the sheet -- good or bad?
When people began to get tired, giggly, frustrated, etc. we decided to have a discussion about what we liked and disliked and how to proceed. There seems to be a majority of people who think we need to decide on a plot at least to begin moving in a direction and Travis brought up a good point that most to all of the people working on the project are statistically the same, that is, in age, background, education, class, interests, etc. and what kind of plot could lead to the situation that we are all stuck together. We brainstormed (not a good method) and came up with the idea of a flop house or safe house where people on there way from one place to another are temporarily staying. We thought it would be good, assuming everyone wants to act, for each of us to work out a costume and package of belongs that our characters bring with them into the space and tomorrow we will begin shooting interactions between these nascent characters, helping each other with ideas, pinning down relationships. We are also looking for mattresses and props to fill out the space which everyone should feel free to bring at anytime. One of the dangers of this idea is that it relies heavily on people concealing and revealing their back stories instead of, as Casey talk about on Sunday, a dramatic scenario (something actually happening), but it's a beginning and I think we should go with it and see what happens. We talked about there being a owner of the space who is separate from the the group, which reminded me of the Dardenne brothers' La Promesse in which a sleazy landlord and his son run a apartment building for immigrants but I imagine it more like replicants running from bladerunners, or time travelers waiting for rides, aliens waiting to be picked up by their mothership, clones escaped from organ farms OR weather underground-types hiding after a big bombing, a radical religious sect preparing for the rapture. I'm going to imagine a character for myself, bring some lamps and mattresses and food for the apartment, keep organizing cameras and think about other definitions for the space.
Jacob and I will be at the apartment by 2pm, Travis and Francesca at 3pm, Evan at 8pm, everyone is welcome. Dinner at 7pm tomorrow will be pasta with red sauce, boring I know (but exciting without a big pot).
From an email from Aleksei:
"...i think it would be interesting to be more intentional about it- basically i'm into your manifesto idea that i don't know if you actually are into. i don't think there is much time for it at this point, but i would have been interested in exploring the motivating idea behind the project, and the one dimension of the project that is agreed upon by everybody- collaboration and community- as a starting off point for a statement of intention, which would in turn inform the process and content of the project. i think we should do more to answer the question of why this is something we want to use as the beginning of a project. what do we mean by collaboration and community and why is this interesting or important to us? for instance exquisite corpse was mentioned as a model of the kind of collaboration we might use. the surrealists used this because of an interest in (and a privileging of) the (collective) unconscious, chance and play over reason. are we doing this because we share this value/interest? and if not what does it mean for us? when we figure that out we need to structure the process around it."
If you can't come tomorrow, think about Aleksei's questions/ideas and try to respond in writing in your own post here, in the comments or by email and I'll post it later. NB I don't have email during the day so give me a call if you need to get in touch.
Monday, February 2
Ariel:
"would there be a way for you to capture the following on film: the person/ghost/persona/creature in the sheet is looking out the balcony that erin mentions and there's a window or reflective surface next to her. she's covered by the sheet, but her reflection is her without the sheet. or vice versa... i don't know if that's anything like what you're looking for."
Sunday, February 1
Ideas
Isaac
Travis
CJ
Jen
Evan
Steph
Francesca
Aleksei
Casey
and I met at the apartment today.
Aurora and I went back later to move furniture, but the table and couch don't fit through the doorway into the back bedroom. We need to decide what to do with them and how to dress the space if at all. I would advocate for a minimal production design except for special scenes and in the back bedroom (the shut-in and/or archivist rooms) for ease of continuity. I had the idea that there might be no water and power in the apartment to emphasize the provisional nature of the gathering there (almost like squaters). In the vein of alien travelers, I thought the characters could describe places they'd been and things they'd seen (as well as tell stories, play games, music, and perform invented "rituals") so we start to get a sense of the various experiences and personalities of the characters/actors as well as create the sense of lost people, outcasts, travelers, cult members, aliens, ghosts, maybe a terrorist cell or another room in Sartre's limbo-like hell.
Here's an idea Erin Eck sent me:
"she would spend the entire film in 99cent pink plastic house slippers and an oversized gray sweatshirt that doesn't reach her knees. she would make a serious effort throughout the music lessons and spend the rest of the time loafing around, sort of hanging by her elbows from an iron gate like the one outside michael and maya's apartment eating mexican corn snacks and staring at passersby but interacting nearly normally with the smokers that come out of the apartment ... she would also arrive with a really gigantic duffel bag, the contents of which would never be seen"
What other ideas do people have?
Tomorrow:
I plan to arrive between 9-11am
Travis 3pm
Jacob 5pm
Evan 7pm
I'm going to cook dinner in the apartment around 6pm (Evan there will be food for you), everyone is invited but let me know if you're coming so I know how much food we need (also we need a big pot to make pasta, beans, etc. as well as an on-camera mic).
Travis
CJ
Jen
Evan
Steph
Francesca
Aleksei
Casey
and I met at the apartment today.
Aurora and I went back later to move furniture, but the table and couch don't fit through the doorway into the back bedroom. We need to decide what to do with them and how to dress the space if at all. I would advocate for a minimal production design except for special scenes and in the back bedroom (the shut-in and/or archivist rooms) for ease of continuity. I had the idea that there might be no water and power in the apartment to emphasize the provisional nature of the gathering there (almost like squaters). In the vein of alien travelers, I thought the characters could describe places they'd been and things they'd seen (as well as tell stories, play games, music, and perform invented "rituals") so we start to get a sense of the various experiences and personalities of the characters/actors as well as create the sense of lost people, outcasts, travelers, cult members, aliens, ghosts, maybe a terrorist cell or another room in Sartre's limbo-like hell.
Here's an idea Erin Eck sent me:
"she would spend the entire film in 99cent pink plastic house slippers and an oversized gray sweatshirt that doesn't reach her knees. she would make a serious effort throughout the music lessons and spend the rest of the time loafing around, sort of hanging by her elbows from an iron gate like the one outside michael and maya's apartment eating mexican corn snacks and staring at passersby but interacting nearly normally with the smokers that come out of the apartment ... she would also arrive with a really gigantic duffel bag, the contents of which would never be seen"
What other ideas do people have?
Tomorrow:
I plan to arrive between 9-11am
Travis 3pm
Jacob 5pm
Evan 7pm
I'm going to cook dinner in the apartment around 6pm (Evan there will be food for you), everyone is invited but let me know if you're coming so I know how much food we need (also we need a big pot to make pasta, beans, etc. as well as an on-camera mic).
Night One, with Sheets
Looking forward already to knocking off work as soon as possible and heading over to 79 FGP. I packed the largest bag I have with a bunch of top sheets and some food. Should be hopefully moving in for days at a time by the middle of the week.
George and Francesca are going to be getting there early tomorrow, with Jacob, Travis, and then finally me arriving later on. Right now, the main idea that we're going to shoot when I arrive centers around a Sheet Ghost changing his (or her) sheet over and over. Lots of colors, lots of fashion, lots of vamping, and then a frustrated mirror break and the collection of mirror fragments. I'm excited to start in on this idea because it both addresses a lot of questions about identity and sculpting a self, while also providing for a nice jumping off point I think for others, and myself. I can imagine the "ghost" being linked with other ghost forms that have been brought up (ones more creative and conceptual), or with just shy and weird people obscuring themselves. The way the sheet can alternately obliterate and delineate form will be a lot of fun to experiment with.
I had previously wanted to do a film project on a band called Blank Dogs, a one-man bedroom weird-pop project of Mike Sniper that was supposed to be "anonymous." When he started playing out, and on the cover art of an album, he wore a sheet to conceal himself. The idea of a lot of activity on this big flowing mask, as well as creating barriers, is great, plus watching it is really something. Here's some cover art to show you what I mean, and what I'm really thinking about for night one:
George and Francesca are going to be getting there early tomorrow, with Jacob, Travis, and then finally me arriving later on. Right now, the main idea that we're going to shoot when I arrive centers around a Sheet Ghost changing his (or her) sheet over and over. Lots of colors, lots of fashion, lots of vamping, and then a frustrated mirror break and the collection of mirror fragments. I'm excited to start in on this idea because it both addresses a lot of questions about identity and sculpting a self, while also providing for a nice jumping off point I think for others, and myself. I can imagine the "ghost" being linked with other ghost forms that have been brought up (ones more creative and conceptual), or with just shy and weird people obscuring themselves. The way the sheet can alternately obliterate and delineate form will be a lot of fun to experiment with.
I had previously wanted to do a film project on a band called Blank Dogs, a one-man bedroom weird-pop project of Mike Sniper that was supposed to be "anonymous." When he started playing out, and on the cover art of an album, he wore a sheet to conceal himself. The idea of a lot of activity on this big flowing mask, as well as creating barriers, is great, plus watching it is really something. Here's some cover art to show you what I mean, and what I'm really thinking about for night one:
Supplies
I woke up this morning thinking about how since we have no dishware we're going to have to buy paper plates (on which to eat whatever we manage to cook) but we also have no trash can to throw them out in. So I'm gathering essentials from my regular apartment: 3 mugs, 2 forks, 1 plastic trash bag, 2 onions, 2 oranges, stainless steel bowl (for mixing cookies), frying pan, saucepan -- can't make a movie without a saucepan.
Saturday, January 31
Invitation
Tomorrow is February 1. In case you don't know, I'm renting a cheap apartment in Fort Green for the month in order to make a movie. And I hope it can be a movie that we all make together, to include as many ideas as possible -- exquisite corpse-ish. TOMORROW anyone who is free and who wants to participate should come over to see the apartment and discuss the project @ ONE O'CLOCK. I've spoken to many of you already, I know some can't make it tomorrow or until tomorrow night, but please be in touch, I will bring your ideas as faithfully as I can to the meeting, and I will be in touch with you. The address is 79 FORT GREEN PLACE, TOP FLOOR.
Let me know if you CANNOT make it, and I will talk to you all soon,
George
PS Bring other interested folks.
Let me know if you CANNOT make it, and I will talk to you all soon,
George
PS Bring other interested folks.
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