Muraho ku Rwanda!

Greetings from Rwanda! After a grueling 35 hour journey, I have finally arrived back in Rwinkwavu.

Lucien and Jeff were right, people really are stunned to see me back here. Am going down to see the girls for their soccer match this weekend and we'll go from there. I ended up getting two second hand HD flip camcorders which I'll bring along and teach them how to use them. As soon as we record some clips, I'll upload a few. Has anyone else left yet? Can't wait to hear from y'all. x

Diving in to...

Photo by Gypsy P. Ray

After I shared my SE final project with a mentor, he directed me to Adrienne Rich's "Diving Into the Wreck," which seems apropos, if we read her diver metaphor as wry commentary on the search for stories, for meaning, for conquest of the unknown/other (be this concept or person or...). It applies because we move into a space altogether new, armed with our personal / professional "book of myths," and still "it is easy to forget / what [we] came for / among so many who have always / lived here."


The poem has been subject to myriad interpretations, some seemingly inconsonant with one another. That's precisely the point; her consistence and precision of metaphor paradoxically afford breathing room so that we can make of it what we will. And so, consider it a send-off greeting, our very own productive coming-of-age initiation.

Coupled with Jeff's recommendation for Shallow Water Dictionary, I'm suh-wimmin' in inspiration! [Insert boos and hisses for bad pun.]

ATN

cintas, テープ, kasetas, bandes, टेप, nastri, băng, الأشرطة

Hi Sensory peeps,

First doodling and now blogging I just can't handle all the new vocab and technological innovations that are taking over my life!  I'm really excited about this journal (blog) as judging from the first few entries it already promises to be really insightful and fun.

Some of you haven't picked up tapes from us yet for the summer and their is a strong possibility that you might need them for your project.  So since it might be difficult to coordinate with Lucien or I in the coming weeks I've left them at your edit stations (4 boxes each) all personalized with your names on the box.

Now just be sure to fill them up with provocative, tender, thoughtful and stunning moving images and sounds!

If you need to buy more tapes we recommend ordering them online from Tape Resources for $5.85/tape.  Here is a direct link to the AY-DVM63AMQ  http://www.taperesources.com/DV63XX-P.html

Remember to only use PANASONIC tapes with your camera.  No Sony, Maxell, Fuji, etc.  Panasonic's tapes are "dry" and it is common practice that once you choose a tape brand you stick with it.  It is not advisable to use other types of tapes that might have different types of lubricant and clog your record and play heads of the camera.   The cheaper Panasonic tapes are also acceptable if that is all you can find but they might be more prone to dropout. ~ JDS

"The Miraculous One was Raging and Flaming. Those are the Standards for Art."

"...Oddly enough Brakhage had spoken about the relationship between sound, silence and the cinema. Silence, he said, is never silent. If I don’t put a soundtrack on my films, he said, this allows the film to exist in the sound-space of the room. He mentioned John Cage. He talked about the rhythmic sound of a running projector and its connection to the visual rhythm of his images. Then he told us to move when we were uncomfortable, to cough when we needed to, that sound was not a disruption during a screening..."

...In reading about the "scandal" that was EXPRMNTL3 in the Casino of Knokke-le-Zoute, a seaside town in Belguim...

...because Broodthaers screened a film there in 1958, when it was held in conjunction with the World Exposition in Brussels....

...I came across this recollection by a Brian Crane...

...next to the article...

....about dark-cellar-films in a ghost town...

I liked the articles.

If only I might be so lucky to find such venues...again..in Belgium......this summer......

Some Thoughts on Talking to Film Subjects

I was listening to the BBC World Service this morning on NPR and they were interviewing people of various castes in a village somewhere in India. First they interviewed the proprietor of a tea shop of one caste. On the street outside the shop, they then spoke to a man of another caste. When asked if he would ever buy tea in the tea shop, he responded that he would not. The interviewer asked in inquisitive tones, "Why not? Can you explain this to me? I don't understand."

I thought the interviewer's manner in asking this question was productive. Stopping short of the incredulity he may very well have felt, he responded with the very universal human experience of curiosity. Even if he felt it absurd that his subject wouldn't buy tea from the tea shop, by withholding judgment, he gained insight. I was particularly impressed by this because I imagine that, in the heat of the moment, it can be difficult to conceal one's prejudices in the face of cultural differences. For me, this interviewer's curiosity proved a productive strategy.

On the other hand, what makes for a successful film can vary greatly from person to person. Many documentary filmmakers rely on the provocation of their subjects (Michael Moore, who personally I can't stand, comes to mind). Certainly, a defensive subject is no less authentic than a didactic or bemused one. Each portrays a different sort of reality. For myself, though, I have no desire to burn bridges before they are even built (or after, for that matter).

The NPR interview got me to thinking a bit about the way in which we ask questions. For three years, I have been working with a peer counseling hotline. One of the first things we teach staffers is never to ask "why" questions. They tend generally to put people on the defensive regardless of the spirit in which they are asked, since asking "why" often leads people to believe that you are invalidating their point of view.

In general I am really interested in the question of how to approach potential film subjects. No doubt, it varies from subject to subject, but it is something I think we will all be thinking a lot about this summer and I look forward to hearing about people's experiences and insights.

Steady Wings

Today, we made steady wings! After deciding our dimensions (long live the Half Inch Revolution!), we cut, drilled, screwed, and glued until we had our final products (see beautiful steady wings and beautiful people above and below). Thanks to Jeff for showing us how it's done!


--Lucas

Bye Boston

I awoke with a formidable task.
The sun began to light the gray/blue horizon.

Before me extended rolling plains. Spring had arrived and transformed them into waves of pale amber.

In the distant they loomed.....
It seemed I had two choices: Shepard's peak, or the more dangerous crags of Santigo (also known as the Sixpence-Slayer). At her base remained a full seasons snow --- slid straight to the base like sweat from her brow. The wrinkles of her face unable to support but more than a dusting snow.

Given this view, what would it be like to look up to her summit from the snowy pedestal from which she emerged? Would the task at hand become more daunting the closer I became? Or, that much more palpable the longer I stared at her ever crevasse?

"Worry not," said the bird!
"Lest you tarry," cried the worm.
"Day by day!" shouted the squirrel.
"First you have to get there" buzzed the bee....so close to my ear that her own little wing tickled my earlobe.

And not yet knowing where or how......i set off in this general direction.