---
I realize it may not seem like the below video is in celebration of Thanksgiving 2011... But it is. I'll leave the rest open for interpretation.
Also, this is the second time I have used Joanna Newsom's On a Good Day. It has never been the original version curiously enough. In case you haven't caught on, the song means a lot to me.
The first time I used it was in a MINICONCEPTDOC called Zenith. For that short the great Theo Langason used parts of the song in a remix/sampled/mashup. I made a request to him to use the song if he could. It is gorgeous and was beyond my expectations when I received it. You can watch that here:
Here is Ms. Newsom performing the song on Letterman. It's quite lovely. I must have watched this at least four dozen times:
And finally, a version covered by Robin Pecknold is used in today's holiday short doc, SOUTH MT PHX, AZ:
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
Animal Songs
[Left: Goat illustration by Carla Sonheim]
So... Last year I made something for One Day On Earth 10.10.10. Something I'm quite proud of. It was well received by the filmmakers and they expressed an interest in using my footage in their final documentary. I hope it makes the final cut! It would be a really nice honor. They are running the campaign again this year, and I suppose they have another opportunity for 12.12.12. Then it's going to be a long, long time before they can do it again. You can watch my 10.10.10 entry here:
I didn't think I was going to make something this year, but a strange convergence happened:
1. I was thinking I needed a haircut and a song popped into my head. It's called Turkey Vulture. It features Will Oldham singing before Palace, before Bonnie Prince Billy, before a lot of things. It was also a collaboration from Bill Callahan from Smog. The 7" is under the name The Sundowners and is called "Goat Songs". It possesses all the rawness, urgency, carelessness, irreverence, attitude, sincerity, and naivety that drew me to Will Oldham's music. I loved it so much then, I still do now. That was probably a dozen years ago. Things aren't the same. He doesn't shock me, strike me.... fill me like he used to. [Right: 7" sleeve for The Sundowners "Goat Songs" EP]2. By incredible coincidence two turkey vultures were eating a dead opossum outside my door this morning. Wild, man. Those things are massive. I took footage. Forgive the wonkiness. I was running and used a telephoto lens so it's all warbly and messy. But it still gives you an opportunity to look that guy in the eyes. Do it. Look him in the eyes. What do you see?
3. I wanted to do a silly dance today. {I needed to get my nervous energies out before the start of the night's performance of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot}
4. I thought.... "Maybe I should quickly film something in the spirit of One Day On Earth 11.11.11.
5. I wanted to share these strange songs and images with YOU!
So here is probably the oddest thing I have ever put online:
Animal Songs
WATCH HD VERSION HERE.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Diagram for Delinquents Update #20: The Countenance is the Portrait of the Soul
1.) Yes, yes, yes. It has been a while since the last update. So here's an explanation:
For the last month I have been working on a play and I will be for the next two months as well.
Each year I collaborate on a production with my friend and playwright/director/actor Paul Bernstein. He is consistently pushing the boundaries of theater and as part of that he is always looking for ways to integrate video and projection into his live shows. That's were I come in. I design, create, and install the video installation in his shows... and it takes time. So for the next two months, updates will come every three weeks so I can concentrate on the show he is producing at Rutgers University-Camden: The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, written by Stephen Adly Guirgis.
2.) Who is Dr. Fredric Wertham?
Certainly he is no simple man. Loved, hated. Hailed, slighted. Every time I look at his work something new takes form. And the take away never seems to be foggy. I either disagree or agree. Perhaps this polarizing effect is what makes him most complicated. Our "rational humanity" cannot resolve such fuzzy logic. Our instinct is to protect our children, but it is also to protect what we have named our "inalienable rights." Is this a distinctly American attribute?
Who is Dr. Fredric Wertham?
One gainful and unique way to "see" someone is to examine them through another's eyes.
When the film crew and I explored Wertham's archives we found a number of portraits of Wertham that range from minimalist to quite rich. They are fascinating.
Who is Dr. Fredric Wertham?
Discovering the little parts of Wertham's personal life was some of the best fun we had at the Library of Congress.
The portraits of himself were among many other images of original artwork that Wertham collected.
He was a lover and avid collector of art. Some of it was quite abstract. I find this intriguing as Wertham had a particular dislike for the notion of comics as art. He thought they were worthless, that they had no artistic merit at all. For a man that could find the beauty in the abstract is it such a stretch to find that same beauty in the cartooning of comic books?
Who is Dr. Fredric Wertham?
Hopefully these images can provide you with some, perhaps even new, portrait of the man's soul:
And as a special treat for you, dear reader, I offer a still pulled from one of the animated sequences that will be in our documentary, Diagram for Delinquents: Fredric Wertham and the Evolution of Comic Books.
Who is Dr. Fredric Wertham?
Let me leave you with a selection from his 1962 book A Sign for Cain: An Exploration of Human Violence.
"The great question before mankind is: Can we abolish violence without violence? The problem is not philosophically abstract man against abstract violence; it is man against man. Violence is a matter of the relations between people. It will be a long and hard struggle to banish it. Eventually, I believe, this can and will be accomplished. The story writer Vladimir Korolenko, a courageous opponent of violence, described the ultimate goal like this: 'Violence and oppression will disappear, the nations will come together in festivals of brotherhood, and never again will human blood be shed by human hands.'"
For the last month I have been working on a play and I will be for the next two months as well.
Each year I collaborate on a production with my friend and playwright/director/actor Paul Bernstein. He is consistently pushing the boundaries of theater and as part of that he is always looking for ways to integrate video and projection into his live shows. That's were I come in. I design, create, and install the video installation in his shows... and it takes time. So for the next two months, updates will come every three weeks so I can concentrate on the show he is producing at Rutgers University-Camden: The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, written by Stephen Adly Guirgis.
2.) Who is Dr. Fredric Wertham?
Certainly he is no simple man. Loved, hated. Hailed, slighted. Every time I look at his work something new takes form. And the take away never seems to be foggy. I either disagree or agree. Perhaps this polarizing effect is what makes him most complicated. Our "rational humanity" cannot resolve such fuzzy logic. Our instinct is to protect our children, but it is also to protect what we have named our "inalienable rights." Is this a distinctly American attribute?
Who is Dr. Fredric Wertham?
One gainful and unique way to "see" someone is to examine them through another's eyes.
When the film crew and I explored Wertham's archives we found a number of portraits of Wertham that range from minimalist to quite rich. They are fascinating.
Who is Dr. Fredric Wertham?
Discovering the little parts of Wertham's personal life was some of the best fun we had at the Library of Congress.
The portraits of himself were among many other images of original artwork that Wertham collected.
He was a lover and avid collector of art. Some of it was quite abstract. I find this intriguing as Wertham had a particular dislike for the notion of comics as art. He thought they were worthless, that they had no artistic merit at all. For a man that could find the beauty in the abstract is it such a stretch to find that same beauty in the cartooning of comic books?
Who is Dr. Fredric Wertham?
Hopefully these images can provide you with some, perhaps even new, portrait of the man's soul:
And as a special treat for you, dear reader, I offer a still pulled from one of the animated sequences that will be in our documentary, Diagram for Delinquents: Fredric Wertham and the Evolution of Comic Books.
Who is Dr. Fredric Wertham?
Who is Dr. Fredric Wertham?
Let me leave you with a selection from his 1962 book A Sign for Cain: An Exploration of Human Violence.
"The great question before mankind is: Can we abolish violence without violence? The problem is not philosophically abstract man against abstract violence; it is man against man. Violence is a matter of the relations between people. It will be a long and hard struggle to banish it. Eventually, I believe, this can and will be accomplished. The story writer Vladimir Korolenko, a courageous opponent of violence, described the ultimate goal like this: 'Violence and oppression will disappear, the nations will come together in festivals of brotherhood, and never again will human blood be shed by human hands.'"
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Diagram for Delinquents Update #19: For Good
A simple question indeed, but one that has many more questions packed up in it:
Were his efforts in earnest?
Were they realized in the best way?
Did he understand comics?
Did he perform ethical, honest research?
Were his scientific methods valid?
What was really going on in America that played a role in the increase in juvenile delinquency?
What was happening in the business of comics behind closed doors?
Was the decline in comic book sales the industry's or Wertham's fault? Or neither?
These are only the tip of the comics heap. Our documentary must answer these and many more questions if we are to gain a richer understanding of this time in comics history.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Diagram for Delinquents Update #18: Grimmness
---
In April of 1963 two men sat down to discuss the controversial topic of "violence in the media."
One man had dedicated his life to the study and eradication of it. The other manipulated it to get at the core of the human experience of fear.
These two men, both intriguing minds of the first half of the twentieth century, civilly sparred on the appropriateness of violence in the media and where responsibility for its filtering lies.
Both expatriates, they made lasting impressions on their new home: the United States.
Alfred Hitchcock and Dr. Fredric Wertham.
The back and forth between the experts is gentlemanly, but forceful. Passionate and intellectual. Neither yielding to the other's strong opinion, but reasonable enough to hear and respect it.
Here is a glimpse of what happened on that day:
Many "thank you's" to Stephen O'Day, the great completest and archivist, for the audio recording.
In April of 1963 two men sat down to discuss the controversial topic of "violence in the media."
One man had dedicated his life to the study and eradication of it. The other manipulated it to get at the core of the human experience of fear.
These two men, both intriguing minds of the first half of the twentieth century, civilly sparred on the appropriateness of violence in the media and where responsibility for its filtering lies.
Both expatriates, they made lasting impressions on their new home: the United States.
Alfred Hitchcock and Dr. Fredric Wertham.
The back and forth between the experts is gentlemanly, but forceful. Passionate and intellectual. Neither yielding to the other's strong opinion, but reasonable enough to hear and respect it.
Here is a glimpse of what happened on that day:
Many "thank you's" to Stephen O'Day, the great completest and archivist, for the audio recording.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Diagram for Delinquents Update #17: Testimony
---
1.) This week's Diagram for Delinquents promo card is greatly inspired. I like its eeriness, and I plan to use the handwritten font in at least one more promo.
2.) I'm no different than anyone that is trying to make something of value. I struggle along in the process, striving for authenticity, sincerity, originality, trying to create something that will make some kind of contribution... to history, society, humanity.
As I make Diagram for Delinquents I am constantly trying to set it apart. Apart from the books written about comics of the era and Dr. Fredric Wertham; apart from the documentaries that have mentioned Wertham, the Comics Code Authority, and their impact on the medium.
What I hope to do is present a varied set of perspectives on Wertham and the era. Perspectives that haven't been presented in the past in one place. In Diagram for Delinquents you will hear/see arguments that both criticize and praise Fredric Wertham. You will be presented with stories that come from inside the history as well as frame the history from the outside with that advantageous tool known as hindsight.
I want to present what happened in those early days of comics and I want to show how those events shaped the comics we read today.
Finally, I want to use comics as an example to present the complicated relationship between media and its audience.
And then, the history is yours, and you will make sense of it in your own way. You will have to make decisions. You will be responsible to interpret the material, as we all are in this way with history and art.
One of my oldest friends, James Clark, who writes an excellent Dungeons and Dragons blog called A Dungeon Master's Tale, sums up what I hope to achieve in the film. He writes:
"The sneak peaks via the blog have me very interested in the film and what looks to be shaping up to be a rather complex and nuanced take on Wertham's work specifically and more broadly the idea that our media shapes us in ways we don't anticipate and may not want to admit."
3.) Al Feldstein, Bill Gaines, and all those at EC Comics, they also labored to create new and innovative art. And they did... for a time.
But as Mr. Feldstein recounts, the moment arrived when the wind stopped moving their creative sails, and it came time to find a new direction, a new source.
I'll let Mr. Feldstein tell us about that:
VIEW HD VERSION ON RAEMMONSJR'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL
2.) I'm no different than anyone that is trying to make something of value. I struggle along in the process, striving for authenticity, sincerity, originality, trying to create something that will make some kind of contribution... to history, society, humanity.
As I make Diagram for Delinquents I am constantly trying to set it apart. Apart from the books written about comics of the era and Dr. Fredric Wertham; apart from the documentaries that have mentioned Wertham, the Comics Code Authority, and their impact on the medium.
What I hope to do is present a varied set of perspectives on Wertham and the era. Perspectives that haven't been presented in the past in one place. In Diagram for Delinquents you will hear/see arguments that both criticize and praise Fredric Wertham. You will be presented with stories that come from inside the history as well as frame the history from the outside with that advantageous tool known as hindsight.
I want to present what happened in those early days of comics and I want to show how those events shaped the comics we read today.
Finally, I want to use comics as an example to present the complicated relationship between media and its audience.
And then, the history is yours, and you will make sense of it in your own way. You will have to make decisions. You will be responsible to interpret the material, as we all are in this way with history and art.
One of my oldest friends, James Clark, who writes an excellent Dungeons and Dragons blog called A Dungeon Master's Tale, sums up what I hope to achieve in the film. He writes:
"The sneak peaks via the blog have me very interested in the film and what looks to be shaping up to be a rather complex and nuanced take on Wertham's work specifically and more broadly the idea that our media shapes us in ways we don't anticipate and may not want to admit."
3.) Al Feldstein, Bill Gaines, and all those at EC Comics, they also labored to create new and innovative art. And they did... for a time.
But as Mr. Feldstein recounts, the moment arrived when the wind stopped moving their creative sails, and it came time to find a new direction, a new source.
I'll let Mr. Feldstein tell us about that:
VIEW HD VERSION ON RAEMMONSJR'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL
Saturday, August 27, 2011
MINICONCEPTDOC #54: SPECIAL EDITION: TRAVELOGUE
---
This is the second MCD SPECIAL EDITION. The last one came back in February and was a holiday edition. If you haven't seen it, please check it out: MINICONCEPTDOC #53: SPECIAL HOLIDAY EDITION: (HEART EMOTICON)
I have just a few notes on today's MINICONCEPTDOC.
I get so sentimental with these MCD's... They're like little chicks hopping around at my feet. Or goslings, staying close in tow.
This new MCD is special in a few ways:
1. It marks my first time to the true west. I look forward to returning. It had a profound impact on me.
2. It showcases some very special music.
3. It commemorates the storm that is currently baring down on my home state of New Jersey.
1.) My travels to the West included stops in Billings, Gardiner, and Livingston, Montana. The latter half of this MCD places us in Yellowstone from Gardiner to Old Faithful in the Wyoming portion of the country's first National Park.
In Livingston I quickly became enamored with the "Americaness" of the town. I mean, portions of the classic cinematic homage to Montana, A River Runs Through It, were filmed there.
But even more so, I was captured by the beauty of its "places". "Places" that are marked in the tradition of hand-painted, bulbed and neon signs. These signs, for me, mark another time. To see layers of former paintings fighting through years of updated advertisements and businesses is like witnessing history overcome itself.
2.) The music in this MCD is special in a couple of ways. The first selection was created by British musician William Yates under the name memotone. I discovered his work on http://freemusicarchive.org/. It's an excellent site that musicians use to allow their work to be downloaded at no expense. The site allows the artist to set the usage rights for each song and many songs allow Creative Commons usage, which is a great thing for filmmakers, DJ's and other artists interested in remixing and mashing.
The second track, Irene, comes from the American icon in folk/blues music Huddie William Ledbetter, also known as Leadbelly or Lead Belly. I've always had a special connection to Lead Belly as we share a birthday: January 20th. Though, there is some confusion as to his actual birthday (it could be the 23rd), I like to think we share the day.
I think the choice for the song is obvious. I suppose I am caught up in hurricane fever just like everyone else!
There are several recordings of the song, with various listings as well: Irene; Goodnight Irene; Irene, Goodnight, Irene. This particular version, Irene, has a quicker tempo than most and comes with accompaniment. It was recorded in 1944.
Before we move on to the show, let me leave you with the words that Norman Maclean sends us off with at the end of his novella which lends its name to the film mentioned above. They are at once inspiring, thoughtful, philosophic, and spiritual; and the images and songs I put together in this piece try to aspire to those words, full well knowing I could never match them:
"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.
I am haunted by waters."
LARGER VERSION AVAILABLE AT MINICONCEPTDOCS CHANNEL, HERE.
This is the second MCD SPECIAL EDITION. The last one came back in February and was a holiday edition. If you haven't seen it, please check it out: MINICONCEPTDOC #53: SPECIAL HOLIDAY EDITION: (HEART EMOTICON)
I have just a few notes on today's MINICONCEPTDOC.
I get so sentimental with these MCD's... They're like little chicks hopping around at my feet. Or goslings, staying close in tow.
This new MCD is special in a few ways:
1. It marks my first time to the true west. I look forward to returning. It had a profound impact on me.
2. It showcases some very special music.
3. It commemorates the storm that is currently baring down on my home state of New Jersey.
In Livingston I quickly became enamored with the "Americaness" of the town. I mean, portions of the classic cinematic homage to Montana, A River Runs Through It, were filmed there.
But even more so, I was captured by the beauty of its "places". "Places" that are marked in the tradition of hand-painted, bulbed and neon signs. These signs, for me, mark another time. To see layers of former paintings fighting through years of updated advertisements and businesses is like witnessing history overcome itself.
I think the choice for the song is obvious. I suppose I am caught up in hurricane fever just like everyone else!
There are several recordings of the song, with various listings as well: Irene; Goodnight Irene; Irene, Goodnight, Irene. This particular version, Irene, has a quicker tempo than most and comes with accompaniment. It was recorded in 1944.
Before we move on to the show, let me leave you with the words that Norman Maclean sends us off with at the end of his novella which lends its name to the film mentioned above. They are at once inspiring, thoughtful, philosophic, and spiritual; and the images and songs I put together in this piece try to aspire to those words, full well knowing I could never match them:
"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.
I am haunted by waters."
LARGER VERSION AVAILABLE AT MINICONCEPTDOCS CHANNEL, HERE.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
