My Week #34

My Week #34 (December 7-13) from nocoastfilms on Vimeo.

Snow.

This is exciting

Ben Russell is on Vimeo.

Daumë from Ben Russell on Vimeo.

(7:00, 16mm, color/B/W, sound, 2000)

“One of the strangest films I have ever seen; its characters come and go as if they’re ‘primitives’ posing for the camera, either obeying or fighting an ethnographer’s controlling eye.” - Fred Camper, Chicago Reader

That's the first film of his I ever saw, back in 2003 in my first 16mm film class with Leslie Thornton.

The Red and the Blue Gods from Ben Russell on Vimeo.

(8:00, 16mm, live sound, 2005)

An ethnographic field report in which the Anthropologist describes the mythic creation of an unnamed ‘sun-scraping structure’ through the ritualized actions of the Red and the Blue Gods.

Performed with live narration and sound effects over a pre-recorded soundscape.

This one, he had in the Movies with Live Soundtracks that played in the very very crowded upstairs of some building at RISD that I forget the name of. That was a great show.

I could embed all of his work here, but that would be annoying. Just go over to his Vimeo page and enjoy.

My Week #24 (September 28 - October 4)

My Week #24 (September 28 - October 4) from nocoastfilms on Vimeo.

In which the beloved SD750 meets its death

My Week #23 (September 21-27)

My Week #23 (September 21-27) from nocoastfilms on Vimeo.

This has been a prolific internet day...

My Week #22 (September 14-20)

My Week #22 (September 14-20) from nocoastfilms on Vimeo.

Lots of food & a great weekend in Chicago.

My Week #21 (September 7-13)

My Week #21 (September 7-13) from nocoastfilms on Vimeo.

Auto-tuning, Obama-speeching, Nacho-riding, vacuum-selling, workshop-teaching, alleycat-racing, farm-touring, Rumbletime-hanging, bike-swapping, party-hosting, and as usual, Sunday-riding.

My Week #20 (August 31 - September 6)

My Week #20 (August 31 - September 6) from nocoastfilms on Vimeo.

Heading to Crete to start the documentary project with Brent, a day with some bloviators cut by yummy bruschetta, a bat in my office, omaha & then a nice camping & bike trip with Melissa, all rounded out by a week of great moon viewing.

My Week #19 (August 24-30)

My Week #19 (August 24-30) from nocoastfilms on Vimeo.

Denver & Roosevelt National Forest, back home to Nebraska, hanging out with UUVVWWZ, seeing Food, Inc., alleycat round two, delicious bread & cup followed by dancing at Brent's, Hall & Oates at the Nebraska State Fair, and a ride to the farm to loosen up the muscles after a runner cut me off and made me crash.

PRAIRIE HILL Elementary Documentary

I've spent the last year and a half gathering footage and assembling this documentary/promo for Prairie Hill. Another project in the can!

PRAIRIE HILL Elementary from nocoastfilms on Vimeo.

PRAIRIE HILL Learning Center is a Montessori school located in a unique farm setting 7 miles south of Lincoln just off Highway 77, with a tradition of bringing children and nature together since 1981. Each weekday, PRAIRIE HILL serves nearly 80 children age 18 months through eighth grade, and during the summer offers three sessions of NATUREWORKS, a popular summer camp. PRAIRIE HILL is Nebraska’s first wind and solar powered energy education center. For more information, call 402-438-6668 or visit www.prairiehill.com.

My Week #18 (August 17-23)

My Week #18 (August 17-23) from nocoastfilms on Vimeo.

I spend lots of time finishing the Prairie Hill documentary; Anders & Sally book their tickets; Alex and I have a sibling sushi dinner; Walgreen's builds a Billy Mays Memorial Endcap; Becca celebrates leaving with friends, then we drive to Ft. Collins and settle in; I meet D'Count and see Jules & Mathias in Denver.

My Week #17 (August 10-16)

My Week #17 (August 10-16) from nocoastfilms on Vimeo.

Lots of music being listened to, drawings from Jake, Ribfest happens outside my office, I race my first alleycat, Felice and I spend a whole Saturday together, and I ride with a 5-strong Rumbletime crew.

One of the better ones

The trope of photographing oneself every day for a year (or two, or more) and turning it into a stop-motion video is pretty well worn at this point, but the effect is doubtless still cool. This video, however, is by far the most visually interesting of them that I've seen.

The Longest Way 1.0 - one year walk/beard grow time lapse from Christoph Rehage on Vimeo.

Most of these self-documentarians choose the same plain background, focussing the viewer's attention solely on changes in the facial characteristics of the subject. In this video, however, it is the background that is dynamic -- in addition to the subject's facial hair transformation. Titles in the lower third heighten the piece's storytelling power as well, meriting multiple views to piece things together. Well done.

My Week #16 (August 3-9)

My Week #16 (August 3-9) from nocoastfilms on Vimeo.

Finishing out my week with Baxter, Brent returns from Cuba, I keep up with Conrad on a ride, Becca makes me an amazing breakfast, Dottie explores the new trellis on my back deck, GBN gets superheroine'd, Ande and I go to the zoo, and I'm in love with the Snowblink album.

TMI

TMI Commercial from nocoastfilms on Vimeo.

Brent and I decided it needed to be done.

Manufacturing Dreams

Manufacturing Dreams from nocoastfilms on Vimeo.

“No other art-medium–neither painting nor poetry–can communicate the specific quality of the dream as well as the film can. When the lights go down in the cinema and this white shining point opens up for us, our gaze stops flitting hither and thither, settles and becomes quite steady. We just sit there, letting the images flow out over us. Our will ceases to function. We lose our ability to sort things out and fix them in their proper places. We’re drawn into a course of events–we’re participants in a dream. And manufacturing dreams, that’s a juicy business.” -Ingmar Bergman (Bergman on Bergman, 1973)

My Week #15 (July 27-August 2)

My Week #15 (July 27-August 2) from nocoastfilms on Vimeo.

On the road for work, hanging out with Baxter, and celebrating Ande's birthday with a sushi party.

My Week #14 (July 20-26)

My Week #14 (July 20-26) from nocoastfilms on Vimeo.

A couple rain storms, Nacho Ride & Hold Still awesomeness, Ande lets me cut his hair for the first time ever, Girl Bike Night Pretty Dress Ride, UUVVWWZ with Darren Keen, and the Rumbletime Girls win our division of the Team Triathlon.

My Week #13 (July 13-19)

My Week #13 (July 13-19) from nocoastfilms on Vimeo.

Is there something special about my thirteenth week beginning on the thirteenth of July? Perhaps. My work week is minced with a long ride and a visit from Nate; my weekend includes the best camping ever and my first century ride. Thanks to Felice for the shot of Baxter out the window.

My Week #12 (July 6-12)

My Week #12 (July 6-12) from nocoastfilms on Vimeo.

My Week #11 (June 29 - July 5)

My Week #11 (June 29 - July 5) from nocoastfilms on Vimeo.

Train travel, plane travel, car travel, Colorado, rocks, clouds, carp sexuality, and fireworks.