Top Grit: Cure for the Crash
Winning Shorts: Dirty Silverware, Junk Palace, Unsubscribe #4: The Saddest Song in the World, Daphne 2.0, Pioneer, 1. Jump 2. Stop 3. Go, Cookie Crooks
Big Grit: The Redemption of General Butt Naked
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Shorts show off animation
by Jimmy Gilmore, Senior Staff Writer
The shorts showcase had its second display yesterday, and while I wanted to write about them as soon as I got home, I realized I didn't know what to say. I still really don't, except I think the selection displayed a vast variety of animation and experimental techniques.
Stop motion seemed to be the favorite, with Dias de los Muertos, Daphne 2.0, Cookie Crooks, and mono.nucle.osis all using some form of it. mono integrated multiple kinds of animation into an essay on, well, having mono, and the filmmaker was present afterward to talk about the different models and methods she employed. All films executed stop motion with great deftness, actually making me wish more mainstream filmmakers would go back and explore with it. When you take the time to make it look great, as these filmmakers did, the results are really fun to watch.
Junk Palace used marionettes and paper sets to tell the true story of two hermit brothers who collapse under the weight of their house of stuff. The dimensional techniques and handcrafted puppets made it an exhilarating piece to watch.
Others chose a bit more of an experimental path, with Fleeting, Place for Landing and Unsubscribe #1 looking more at visual patterns and modes of representation
Bubble, which was more of an animated music video, took more traditional 2-D animated methods.
These films were, simply, very hard to write about. They emphasized the experience of watching them and the creativity of putting them together. This has been a common theme of this year's festival, at least the films I've had the pleasure of sitting through. The Grits staff has made a concerted effort to bring atypical work, and assemble programs that highlight different kinds of experiences. These shorts were all great technical pieces, and many of them were more experimental than narrative, making them a real treat.
The shorts showcase had its second display yesterday, and while I wanted to write about them as soon as I got home, I realized I didn't know what to say. I still really don't, except I think the selection displayed a vast variety of animation and experimental techniques.
Stop motion seemed to be the favorite, with Dias de los Muertos, Daphne 2.0, Cookie Crooks, and mono.nucle.osis all using some form of it. mono integrated multiple kinds of animation into an essay on, well, having mono, and the filmmaker was present afterward to talk about the different models and methods she employed. All films executed stop motion with great deftness, actually making me wish more mainstream filmmakers would go back and explore with it. When you take the time to make it look great, as these filmmakers did, the results are really fun to watch.
Junk Palace used marionettes and paper sets to tell the true story of two hermit brothers who collapse under the weight of their house of stuff. The dimensional techniques and handcrafted puppets made it an exhilarating piece to watch.
Others chose a bit more of an experimental path, with Fleeting, Place for Landing and Unsubscribe #1 looking more at visual patterns and modes of representation
Bubble, which was more of an animated music video, took more traditional 2-D animated methods.
These films were, simply, very hard to write about. They emphasized the experience of watching them and the creativity of putting them together. This has been a common theme of this year's festival, at least the films I've had the pleasure of sitting through. The Grits staff has made a concerted effort to bring atypical work, and assemble programs that highlight different kinds of experiences. These shorts were all great technical pieces, and many of them were more experimental than narrative, making them a real treat.
Grits brings local music flavor, not without flaws
by Cam Powell
First and foremost, this installation of the Indie Grits Festival had its issues.
At a show that was supposed to showcase Toro y Moi, The Mermaids and Valley Maker to as many people as possible, fire codes limited capacity at West Columbia's ReSale Reue to 300 patrons. The venue could have held many more paying customers, as the majority of the fans were clustered at the front third of the room nearest the stage for most of the night, but the fire regulations caused many fans who didn't pre-purchase their tickets online to be turned away at the door.
Members of the press, including representatives from the Free Times, Scene SC and The Daily Gamecock, were all denied entrance to the concert because the Indie Grits Festival representatives would not honor their full-festival inclusive press passes at this particular event. The event managers claimed that they were never given a list of press members to be let in to the show, rendering any press pass absolutely useless. This did not bode well for full event coverage, as Mix Editor Chloe Gould and I were only allowed inside during Toro y Moi's set, missing performances by both Valley Maker and The Mermaids. That being said I'll do my best to give you an impression of what those two bands are like.
Valley Maker is a product of USC alum Austin Crane's senior thesis, where the Columbia singer-songwriter wrote a full length album centered around the narratives of the book of Genesis. The group's folk-laden sound hinges on Crane's emotive and pensive vocals, which poke and prod at the minds of listeners during songs such as "The First" and "Names." Tracks off of Valley Maker's self-titled LP are available for play and for purchase at valleymaker.com.
The Mermaids, the night's second act, play rowdy, noodle-dance worthy rock with a beach music vibe. The Atlanta based group has reecived positive press from the New York Times praising their music as "jangly surf and garage-influenced rock with a sharp sense of melody." Band member Noah Adams, a Columbia native, describes the group's sound as "loud, pyschedlic, doo-wop, punk." What's not to like there?
The evening was headlined by Toro y Moi, the brainchild of USC alum Chazwick Bundick that has caught fire over the past year as a leading force in the chillwave genre. The group's set started off a bit rocky, as they were forced to restart their first song twice and ultimately had to pause their set due to technical difficulties with background instrumentation. After the problem was fixed, Toro laid the smack-down on those in attendance, providing song after song of chillwave bliss to a crowd that was all too eager to dance the night away.
Despite the vast number of high-quality live shows I've seen in my life, I'm not sure if I've ever seen a group that grooves as hard as Toro y Moi. Their keyboard lines, bass runs, drum beats and guitar parts meshed to create a wall of sound that was far too hip to be ignored. My friends can vouch for me as being the most rhythmically challenged person on the planet and I still felt like I was able to get down to the music that Toro was serving up. The group's hour long set felt like a non-stop dance party, with Chaz's vocals remaining pristine in the upper register during every song.
Being able to be a part of Toro's musical experience salvaged my night, which had previously been marred by the frustration of not being let in to cover the entire event. I enjoyed the other parts of the Indie Grits Festival that I was able to attend, but the fact that the staff overlooked press passes when planning the festival's marquis concert is inexcusable. I hope that having Toro y Moi and friends play the festival helps put Indie Grits on the map a bit more as an arts festival, but in the future I would like to see more attention to detail from festival management in organizing their events.
First and foremost, this installation of the Indie Grits Festival had its issues.
At a show that was supposed to showcase Toro y Moi, The Mermaids and Valley Maker to as many people as possible, fire codes limited capacity at West Columbia's ReSale Reue to 300 patrons. The venue could have held many more paying customers, as the majority of the fans were clustered at the front third of the room nearest the stage for most of the night, but the fire regulations caused many fans who didn't pre-purchase their tickets online to be turned away at the door.
Members of the press, including representatives from the Free Times, Scene SC and The Daily Gamecock, were all denied entrance to the concert because the Indie Grits Festival representatives would not honor their full-festival inclusive press passes at this particular event. The event managers claimed that they were never given a list of press members to be let in to the show, rendering any press pass absolutely useless. This did not bode well for full event coverage, as Mix Editor Chloe Gould and I were only allowed inside during Toro y Moi's set, missing performances by both Valley Maker and The Mermaids. That being said I'll do my best to give you an impression of what those two bands are like.
Valley Maker is a product of USC alum Austin Crane's senior thesis, where the Columbia singer-songwriter wrote a full length album centered around the narratives of the book of Genesis. The group's folk-laden sound hinges on Crane's emotive and pensive vocals, which poke and prod at the minds of listeners during songs such as "The First" and "Names." Tracks off of Valley Maker's self-titled LP are available for play and for purchase at valleymaker.com.
The Mermaids, the night's second act, play rowdy, noodle-dance worthy rock with a beach music vibe. The Atlanta based group has reecived positive press from the New York Times praising their music as "jangly surf and garage-influenced rock with a sharp sense of melody." Band member Noah Adams, a Columbia native, describes the group's sound as "loud, pyschedlic, doo-wop, punk." What's not to like there?
The evening was headlined by Toro y Moi, the brainchild of USC alum Chazwick Bundick that has caught fire over the past year as a leading force in the chillwave genre. The group's set started off a bit rocky, as they were forced to restart their first song twice and ultimately had to pause their set due to technical difficulties with background instrumentation. After the problem was fixed, Toro laid the smack-down on those in attendance, providing song after song of chillwave bliss to a crowd that was all too eager to dance the night away.
Despite the vast number of high-quality live shows I've seen in my life, I'm not sure if I've ever seen a group that grooves as hard as Toro y Moi. Their keyboard lines, bass runs, drum beats and guitar parts meshed to create a wall of sound that was far too hip to be ignored. My friends can vouch for me as being the most rhythmically challenged person on the planet and I still felt like I was able to get down to the music that Toro was serving up. The group's hour long set felt like a non-stop dance party, with Chaz's vocals remaining pristine in the upper register during every song.
Being able to be a part of Toro's musical experience salvaged my night, which had previously been marred by the frustration of not being let in to cover the entire event. I enjoyed the other parts of the Indie Grits Festival that I was able to attend, but the fact that the staff overlooked press passes when planning the festival's marquis concert is inexcusable. I hope that having Toro y Moi and friends play the festival helps put Indie Grits on the map a bit more as an arts festival, but in the future I would like to see more attention to detail from festival management in organizing their events.
The Florenstine Collection
by: Mikelle Street
Hosting the largest crowd at an Indie Grits Festival in the festival's 5 year existence, The Florenstine Collection was a film about love. While Romeo and Juliet it was not, the story still does end with a bit of tragedy.
The Florenstine Collection was shown with two other films all by Helen Hill at the Indie Grits Festival. The films were preceded by short speeches that revealed, among other things, that the City of Columbia had donated $1.2 million towards the Move the Nick capital campaign and that part of the new Nickelodeon Theatre would hold the Helen Hill Media Education Center. The Center will be created in order to boost media literacy, empower students to express their creativity, and to provide a platform for that expression with state of the art technology. The audience was allowed to see the premiere of the promotional video for the Center.
The three films that followed the speeches were all shown on 16 millimeter film because as Paul Gailiunas, Hill's husband, explained, "that's how Helen would have wanted them to be shown." Gailiunas finished Hill's films after her death.
All three films were mixed media using puppets, still images, as well as old archived film, mostly narrated by Hill herself. The first film soije if a 91 year old grandfather going delirious and subsequently dying from kidney failure in what can be interpreted in a juvenile way with diction, syntax, Hill's high voice, and even the medium all supporting this.
The second film featured one of the puppets going through a love tunnel and being educated about the various dangers of "falling" into love with random people.
The third film was the actual Florenstine Collection film. The film described how Hill found over a hundred dresses on Mardis Gras Day made from scraps of material all hand sewn, some with peter pan type collars but all with a loose silhouette. Hill took these dresses back to her home in New Orleans, and washed them all by hand and began to reconstruct them.
As she did this tedious work she also began to look into who the dress maker was and found that she was a southern African-American woman who was a deaconess at her church and was known for her high energy level. Floresntine wore the dresses she made to church as well as shoes that fashioned from cardboard.
When Katrina hit, Hill's home was destroyed as well as her film and the dresses of the Florenstine collection. Against the better judgement of her husband, Hill wanted to leave Columbia, which is where they had fled to the day before Katrina, and return to New Orleans to assist in rebuilding the city.
It was her love that drove her to push for the move and once back, Hill began to systematically restore the dresses and film she'd been working on for The Florenstine Collection. One night an intruder broke into Hill's home and killed her before shooting her husband and leaving.
Gailiunus says in the film, which seems part short documentary on Hill herself as well as the story behind the collection, that this is where the story ends. He finished the film for Hill using her storyboard and cutouts as well as journals to stay true to her vision. It was that vision that received a resounding standing ovation in the Town Theatre at the end of the showing.
The film with rescreen at the Nick on Sunday at 2pm.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Toro Y Moi sends chillwave over Indie Grits
by Chloe Gould, The Mix Editor
Electronic, chill act Toro Y Moi, fronted by Columbia-native and USC alum, 24-year-old Chazwick Bundick headlined Indie Grits' hyped show at ReSale ReVue in West Columbia late Saturday night. Joined by opening acts Valley Maker and Mermaids, the show proved to be nothing short of brilliant after a long night and tough start to the featured act's set.
The night, which was slated to start at 9 p.m., saw its fair share of complications, including a crackdown by the fire marshall, strictly limiting the venue, which houses two former movie theater screening rooms, to 300 people. The event, which cost $15 for a regular ticket, was sold out at opening, turning fans hoping to snag a door ticket away all night.
A close-knit crowd, who took venue-front breaks together, swayed their heads in sync and fashioned the same electronic-beat dance moves, couldn't get enough of Toro Y Moi, patiently waiting it out through an early-set technical mishap. After the on-stage quartet's first song, the guys couldn't get the computer and soundboard together, and had to break after a few stalled starts. And props to Bundick who didn't shy off stage and send for technical support, but called for the house music and started work himself on the quickly-fixed problems.
The guys wasted no time jumping back into the line-up, allowing the signature beats and electronic love to speak for itself. There was no fuss, no elaborate stage work, no crowd-engaging claps — the music consumed the room, and as you looked around the audience, there was not one person immune to the Toro chill — dancing, singing and being in their own musical utopia. And, the band seconded the musical feeling. Sweat dripped from the drummer's nose, and the guitarist tapped his navy blue Converses against the stage, emotionally straining his whole self into the backing vocals.
It was chill. It was trippy. It was down-to-earth. It was the next big thing. Admittedly, before tonight, I had listened to Toro on occasion, catching it on a good shuffle, or hour of WUSC. But, tonight, I got it. The up-and-coming chillwave phenomenon all rushed into my realm, with the music, talent and sheer uniqueness of the sound standing alone in the act's hometown show.
Crafty Feast brings local vendors out of the woodwork
by Chloe Gould, The Mix Editor
Crafty Feast, Indie Grits Festival's "indie craft fair," lined Main and College streets Saturday afternoon, showcasing over 70 vendors and each of their unique and varied creations. "Craft fair" can carry a heavy connotation, harking to your grandmother's greatest crotched masterpieces, and that popsicle stick house from kindergarten craft time, but this year's fair was certainly far from the expected scene.
Handmade jewelry, animal-shaped mirrors and abstract art-inspired felt dolls — every imaginable, and out-of-the-box, craft was represented at the Feast, all housed under white tents that fought the wind and rain throughout the afternoon. The fair, which was scheduled from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., was delayed until noon because of the weather, and although the conditions proved to be a hassle for vendors — with a few gusts sending crafts, tents and business cards flying — Feast-goers still came out to support the local artists.
One of the first vendors on College Street's craft row, set up right across from the Byrnes Building, was E. Brenton Sadreameli, the founder of Mr. B's Glassworks and Bottleneck Guitar Slides. Sadreameli's works may have been the personal favorites from the fair — recycled glass beer, wine and liquor bottles turned glassware, and bottleneck guitar slides. Some of the glasses, like the ones pictured above, were fit for the china cabinet, playing up the more simple bottles for a classic look, with others more obviously recycled, sporting Rolling Rock, Corona and Grey Goose logos.
Sadreameli, whose glassware is also available at the State Museum and Columbia Museum of Art, first started making the glasses as gifts for friends, and dishware for his studio, located on State Street. He also does woodwork and metal work, but the glassware and guitar slides are his main gig.
"Mr. B" partnered up with local artist Lauren Maurer, creating glassware painted with Maurer's signature dressed-silhouettes, and offers custom glasses as well, with everything from logos to initials to "X-rated pictures." The glasses are anywhere from $15 to $25 a piece, and the guitar slides, which Sadreameli has been making for six years, sell for anywhere between $25 and $45.
Crafty Feast, Indie Grits Festival's "indie craft fair," lined Main and College streets Saturday afternoon, showcasing over 70 vendors and each of their unique and varied creations. "Craft fair" can carry a heavy connotation, harking to your grandmother's greatest crotched masterpieces, and that popsicle stick house from kindergarten craft time, but this year's fair was certainly far from the expected scene.
Handmade jewelry, animal-shaped mirrors and abstract art-inspired felt dolls — every imaginable, and out-of-the-box, craft was represented at the Feast, all housed under white tents that fought the wind and rain throughout the afternoon. The fair, which was scheduled from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., was delayed until noon because of the weather, and although the conditions proved to be a hassle for vendors — with a few gusts sending crafts, tents and business cards flying — Feast-goers still came out to support the local artists.
One of the first vendors on College Street's craft row, set up right across from the Byrnes Building, was E. Brenton Sadreameli, the founder of Mr. B's Glassworks and Bottleneck Guitar Slides. Sadreameli's works may have been the personal favorites from the fair — recycled glass beer, wine and liquor bottles turned glassware, and bottleneck guitar slides. Some of the glasses, like the ones pictured above, were fit for the china cabinet, playing up the more simple bottles for a classic look, with others more obviously recycled, sporting Rolling Rock, Corona and Grey Goose logos.
Sadreameli, whose glassware is also available at the State Museum and Columbia Museum of Art, first started making the glasses as gifts for friends, and dishware for his studio, located on State Street. He also does woodwork and metal work, but the glassware and guitar slides are his main gig.
"Mr. B" partnered up with local artist Lauren Maurer, creating glassware painted with Maurer's signature dressed-silhouettes, and offers custom glasses as well, with everything from logos to initials to "X-rated pictures." The glasses are anywhere from $15 to $25 a piece, and the guitar slides, which Sadreameli has been making for six years, sell for anywhere between $25 and $45.
Elizabeth Squires, who drove from Bloomington, Indiana, for Crafty Feast, showcased a table full of "Cornfed Crafts," and performed tarot card readings at the fair. Working at a daycare in Indiana, Squires heard about the Feast on a craft website, applied and drove down Friday night to set up shop. She sold a nice collection of handmade, pop-culture jewelry, buttons, tacks, paintings and candles, bringing a lot of beer-related paraphernalia into her designs, admitting, "I don't drink beer though, so it's kind of weird."
Squires' collection favorites are candle-filled glasses that she's dubbed "Your Own Personal Jesus." Painted with outlines of "St. Prince" and "St. Elvis," they are known as the "hipster cannon of saints." The Indiana-native also drew fair-goers to her table with her tarot card readings, which cost $1 for every card, using reading skills she learned from her elementary school Girl Scout leader. The "Cornfed Crafts" can be found at bsqu.tumblr.com.
Jenny Mae Hill, the artist behind Jenny Mae Creations, displayed her "voodoo dollies" and "sock oddities" that have been featured in the film "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium." All of her offbeat dolls can be seen and purchased at www.jennymae.com.
Jen Moreau from Greenville wowed all the ladies with her craftily-designed jewelry, including cork rings, clay "Garden Wall" necklaces and beaded earrings.
"I started making all of these, because I have a serious problem with collecting fabric — I love it," Moreau said.
Her "Fox to the Opera" vintage-inspired accessories can be found at www.foxtotheopera.etsy.com.
Lucas Sams, a fourth-year painting student, set up studio on Main Street, selling his paintings and adding to his creations right in the middle of the street. Friends and bassist from Sams' band Pray for Triangle Zero played the keyboard, violin and guitar in front of his display, luring the crowd in with their chilled-out beats. The paintings were each unique, yet all tied in with the same look, Sams offering his 3-D glasses to visitors saying, "It's like you're on LSD."
Sams has done a lot of work with Toro Y Moi's bassist, including one large painting (below) that would sell for around $350.
Crafty Feast represented all of the best from Columbia's undercover arts scene, bringing some of the most talented artists out of the woodwork, and highlighting some of the most original and high-scale crafts in town. Aside from the rows of vendors, live music, beer and food from College Grounds Cafe, Hunter Gatherer and other local eateries made for the complete cultural experience.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Square Grouper
by Mikelle Street
Presenting three separate case studies, in 99 minutes Billy Corben gives viewers an in depth view into marijuana smuggling in Florida. Introducing us to the Ethiopian Coptic Church, the townspeople of Everglades City, and the members of the Black Tuna Gang the film speaks to the various causes for the smuggling as well as the variety of those involved.
Opening with the Ethiopian Coptic Church, the documentary walks us through the beginnings of what became a multimillion dollar business. A church based in Jamaica, the Coptic church is most noted for their use of ganja, or marijuana. After building the church up in Jamaica until it was the largest employer in Jamaica, the church sought for an "American embassy" and set it's eyes on Star Island where they purchased a large home which became only part of the $1.6 million dollars in homes in Florida that the church owned. Eventually though, the government came in and imprisoned the major players of the church, sentencing most of them anywhere from 1 to 12 years.
Part two was about the Black Tuna gang, started by two childhood friends, one of whom happened to be a good salesman. An operation which sort of evolved organically from middle man to big time supplier, the Black Tuna gang was just another sales job for some as most believed that it was only a matter of time before the drug became legalized. The gang, like the other two groups was subsequently disbanded, it's members facing decades in prison.
The last group the film displayed happened to be the fishermen of Everglade City. What was at one time a small fisherman's village, quickly turned into a major drug smuggling city because of the establishment of a government run park, and the regulation of fishing licenses. The activity was known throughout the town but everyone accepted it as just "another job" that someone had to do. When the "bust" came down, many of the men turned themselves in and about 80% of the adult mail population was thrown in jail.
Grits wows with Vishniac
by Jimmy Gilmore, Senior Staff Writer
Festival director Andy Smith called it, "an experiment." A fusion of recorded images and live music, of disembodied sounds and microscopic organisms, the Indie Grits's Bickel Avec Vishniac event represented everything that makes this festival stand out. It's also the reason why it demands to be taken seriously as a growing art festival.
Roman Vishniac was a pioneering micro-cinematographer who discovered new ways to film microscopic organisms. His work might be most familiar to you from PBS documentaries about the life of such creatures. Fifty minutes of "outtakes" from the University of South Carolina's Moving Image Research Collection's Vishniac Collection, edited down from hundreds of hours of footage, puts the focus on movement. Tiny creatures blown up on a big screen. Pulsing, gyrating, mutating. Behind them, Chris Bickel performed improvised sound mixing and effects based on his conceptions and interpretations of the footage. Some effects came pre-prepared; others culled from his existing library; others still made up on the spot; all of it fused together as a live performance. Bickel admitted afterward it was the first time he had seen the footage all together.
Perhaps Bickel felt a tinge of David Lynchian atmosphere to the proceedings. Dressed in a simple black suit with black tie (a la Lynch's Dale Cooper from television series Twin Peaks) and pushing his straight up akin to Jack Nance's famous Eraserhead character, Bickel stood on stage beneath a projector. The audience could watch him watching the screen, performing his every move. The eerie music, the images of unrecognizable images -- it all felt like it was taking place somewhere other than "here." Sure, it's not quite a Lynch dreamscape -- where objects take on new meanings, music decentralizes a sense of space, and performance reigns over all -- but it's the closest metaphor to describe the event.
Dr. Mark Cooper, director of USC's Moving Image Research Collections, spoke before and after the film. Contextualizing Vishniac's career, he was also sure to echo Smith's description of this as an "experiment." Cooper called this a merging of interests and communities that explored the relationship between image and sound.
Of the images themselves, it was hard not to be constantly at awe with the detail, the texture, and the movement of the critters as they loomed across the screen. Sitting towards the front of the theater, feeling almost enveloped by their presence, the Vishniac screenings provided an equal amount of exploration in addition to experimentation. Rachel Allen, a fourth year media arts and film and media studies student, edited the footage and joined Cooper and Bickel after the screening to discuss the process. She alluded several times to ideas about motion and evolution, where sifting through the footage became a process more about finding sections and trying to highlight Vishniac's fascination with these creatures' movements.
So why do I say this is a defining event for Indie Grits? On the one hand, it lets the MIRC showcase its collection in a daring new way. If Indie Grits is about giving a space for local and regional filmmakers, then it should provide equal space for such important collections as those at South Carolina. Thankfully, it does. It networks different institutions and gives academics like Cooper and performers like Bickel a place to converge in dynamic ways. Such a unique program idea -- live performance mixed with archival outtake footage -- is daring at least and brilliant at best.
If you want a film festival (or an arts festival, as programs like these are about destabilizing notions of "film screenings" to provide a much more actively performative take) to truly stand out, you organize things like this.
Festival director Andy Smith called it, "an experiment." A fusion of recorded images and live music, of disembodied sounds and microscopic organisms, the Indie Grits's Bickel Avec Vishniac event represented everything that makes this festival stand out. It's also the reason why it demands to be taken seriously as a growing art festival.
Roman Vishniac was a pioneering micro-cinematographer who discovered new ways to film microscopic organisms. His work might be most familiar to you from PBS documentaries about the life of such creatures. Fifty minutes of "outtakes" from the University of South Carolina's Moving Image Research Collection's Vishniac Collection, edited down from hundreds of hours of footage, puts the focus on movement. Tiny creatures blown up on a big screen. Pulsing, gyrating, mutating. Behind them, Chris Bickel performed improvised sound mixing and effects based on his conceptions and interpretations of the footage. Some effects came pre-prepared; others culled from his existing library; others still made up on the spot; all of it fused together as a live performance. Bickel admitted afterward it was the first time he had seen the footage all together.
Perhaps Bickel felt a tinge of David Lynchian atmosphere to the proceedings. Dressed in a simple black suit with black tie (a la Lynch's Dale Cooper from television series Twin Peaks) and pushing his straight up akin to Jack Nance's famous Eraserhead character, Bickel stood on stage beneath a projector. The audience could watch him watching the screen, performing his every move. The eerie music, the images of unrecognizable images -- it all felt like it was taking place somewhere other than "here." Sure, it's not quite a Lynch dreamscape -- where objects take on new meanings, music decentralizes a sense of space, and performance reigns over all -- but it's the closest metaphor to describe the event.
Dr. Mark Cooper, director of USC's Moving Image Research Collections, spoke before and after the film. Contextualizing Vishniac's career, he was also sure to echo Smith's description of this as an "experiment." Cooper called this a merging of interests and communities that explored the relationship between image and sound.
Of the images themselves, it was hard not to be constantly at awe with the detail, the texture, and the movement of the critters as they loomed across the screen. Sitting towards the front of the theater, feeling almost enveloped by their presence, the Vishniac screenings provided an equal amount of exploration in addition to experimentation. Rachel Allen, a fourth year media arts and film and media studies student, edited the footage and joined Cooper and Bickel after the screening to discuss the process. She alluded several times to ideas about motion and evolution, where sifting through the footage became a process more about finding sections and trying to highlight Vishniac's fascination with these creatures' movements.
So why do I say this is a defining event for Indie Grits? On the one hand, it lets the MIRC showcase its collection in a daring new way. If Indie Grits is about giving a space for local and regional filmmakers, then it should provide equal space for such important collections as those at South Carolina. Thankfully, it does. It networks different institutions and gives academics like Cooper and performers like Bickel a place to converge in dynamic ways. Such a unique program idea -- live performance mixed with archival outtake footage -- is daring at least and brilliant at best.
If you want a film festival (or an arts festival, as programs like these are about destabilizing notions of "film screenings" to provide a much more actively performative take) to truly stand out, you organize things like this.
Cure for the Crash
by Mikelle Street
A film that matches filmmaker Brian Paul Higgins' drama with the reality of modern day nomads, Cure for the Crash weaves a story of one girl's pursuit of her lost boyfriend. Displaced by Hurricane Katrina, Ruin, Mes, and Sepher hop trains and hitchhike from New Orleans, to New York, and Seattle, making pit stops in a variety of other places searching for Ruin's boyfriend, Kotton.
While the plot line was fiction, the interviews dispersed throughout the 93 minutes were not. Exposing the "tramp" subculture and the cultures within it, the film paints the lifestyle of a train hopper as exhilarating, free, and unrestrictive as well as precarious. With stories of being rapped, shot at, beaten, and even cut, a free ride turns out to be a bit more dangerous than some would believe.
Higgins said he's been working on the film for 5 years and it started with 30 pages of written script. A first time actor, Higgins admitted that most of the staged scenes were lost on the cutting room floor and that breaking his camera at the start of the film was a bit of a ploy. "If I broke my camera within the first minute of the film, it would only get better from there!" he told the audience.
Satan Since 2003
by Mikelle Street
A 20 minute documentary made by Carlos Puga about the moped subculture in Richmond, Virginia, Satan Since 2003 revolves around the "moped gang" the Hell Satans. Composed of about 60 members, the Hell Satans are a rag tag community known for their whining two wheelers, and bad attitudes. "It's not good for business I tell you that," the owner of The Black Swan says at the opening of the film. Another resident of Richmond tells the cameramen "It's kind of like a wannabe motorcycle."
The Hell Satans, like any other gang has problem with turf wars. With other gangs in the city like Petty Cash, Scorpions, and rival gang The Terribles, turf becomes a problem quickly. A series of pranks between the two rivals quickly escalates into more serious matters when Hippy, a little brother like figure to the main character Pat Lowery, is hit by a car driven by The Terribles. "Fighting fire with fire" the film ends with Lowery tossing a homemade bomb in the direction of a group of The Terribles.
It is only afterwards that Festival Director Andy Smith reveals that when the film debuted at Sundance, Puga informed them all that it was only part documentary, with all of the violence and "beef" between gangs being staged.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Shaft or Sidney Poitier?
by Jimmy Gilmore, Senior Staff Writer
Shaft or Sidney Poitier is a great, alternative documentary that plays much more like a visual essay. Jonathan Gayles takes as his topic representations of black superheroes in the late 60s to mid 70s and asks a variety of scholars to comment and analyze them. The results, which move through Green Lantern, Black Panther and more, are often illuminating and really elevate the discussion about how the superhero projects different cultural values. While the film is structured as a series of interviews, they feel more like a virtual round table discussion. Gayles removes his voice largely from the piece - he introduces and concludes. Rather, his editing acts as a way to structure roughly a dozen different voices who all provide different insights into the industry, the social context, and the visual analysis of the heroes.
As a media scholar, I really enjoyed Shaft or Sidney Poitier precisely because it took this approach. While it's easy to point to its "talking head" structure as too redundant, the voices are all so fresh, so eloquent, and provide such different insights that the short (56 minutes) piece fly by. For the emerging field of superhero scholarship, as well as the emerging field of digital media presentation, it's a smooth entry that really does feel like sitting in on a very well-informed round-table at a conference.
Shaft or Sidney Poitier is a great, alternative documentary that plays much more like a visual essay. Jonathan Gayles takes as his topic representations of black superheroes in the late 60s to mid 70s and asks a variety of scholars to comment and analyze them. The results, which move through Green Lantern, Black Panther and more, are often illuminating and really elevate the discussion about how the superhero projects different cultural values. While the film is structured as a series of interviews, they feel more like a virtual round table discussion. Gayles removes his voice largely from the piece - he introduces and concludes. Rather, his editing acts as a way to structure roughly a dozen different voices who all provide different insights into the industry, the social context, and the visual analysis of the heroes.
As a media scholar, I really enjoyed Shaft or Sidney Poitier precisely because it took this approach. While it's easy to point to its "talking head" structure as too redundant, the voices are all so fresh, so eloquent, and provide such different insights that the short (56 minutes) piece fly by. For the emerging field of superhero scholarship, as well as the emerging field of digital media presentation, it's a smooth entry that really does feel like sitting in on a very well-informed round-table at a conference.
Today at Indie Grits
by Jimmy Gilmore, Senior Staff Writer
Tonight we'll be checking out Shaft or Sidney Poiter at 6 p.m. at the Nickelodeon, as well as The Redemption of General Butt Naked at 8:30 p.m. at the Town Theatre. The former is 56 minutes, the latter 83 minutes.
If you want to know what else is going on, the S.C. Film Commission will be hosting a screening of their shorts with the directors present. This will be happening at 6 p.m. at the Town Theatre. This one will be a good one to go to because the filmmakers will be present for a Q&A session after the films
The Nick will have another program at 8 p.m. with the films Nothing Yet, Unsubscribe #4: The Saddest Song in the World, and Old Dreams. This program will be about 80 minutes.
Also be sure to check out Immaculate Consumption at 9 p.m. for a showcase of local record label Fork and Spoon.
Big night ahead as we gear up for the weekend. Be sure to follow us here and get lots of additional info at the Indie Grits site.
Tonight we'll be checking out Shaft or Sidney Poiter at 6 p.m. at the Nickelodeon, as well as The Redemption of General Butt Naked at 8:30 p.m. at the Town Theatre. The former is 56 minutes, the latter 83 minutes.
If you want to know what else is going on, the S.C. Film Commission will be hosting a screening of their shorts with the directors present. This will be happening at 6 p.m. at the Town Theatre. This one will be a good one to go to because the filmmakers will be present for a Q&A session after the films
The Nick will have another program at 8 p.m. with the films Nothing Yet, Unsubscribe #4: The Saddest Song in the World, and Old Dreams. This program will be about 80 minutes.
Also be sure to check out Immaculate Consumption at 9 p.m. for a showcase of local record label Fork and Spoon.
Big night ahead as we gear up for the weekend. Be sure to follow us here and get lots of additional info at the Indie Grits site.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Indie Grits kicks off with student films
by Jimmy Gilmore, Senior Staff Writer
The first program of the festival was a showcase of student films from across the Southeast. My thoughts and a brief description of each. If you missed it tonight, they'll be showing again on Friday at 6 p.m. in the Town Theatre.
Threadbare
(dir. Kristin Reeves)
One of the program's most experimental films. Shot on 16mm film, silent. Lots of very experimental editing, with many image overlays and a strong focus on presenting human subjects in unconventional ways.
1. Stop 2. Jump 3. Go
(dir. S Cagney Gentry)
Told in mostly black and white still photography with accompany voiceover, 1. Stop 2. Jump 3. Go follows a man obsessed with numbers and patterns as he tries to escape the seeming prison of his life. Gentry's choices to use still photography allow us to see the sterility of the protagonist's life and his belief that he is existing in a static state.
It Comes Naturally
(dir. Elizabeth Perlman)
Shot on film with no sound, It Comes Naturally is one of the more impenetrable films on the list. Filled with lots of close-ups of faces and bodies, Perlman tries to display our obsession with changing our faces and bodies to try and appear natural. Her color choices and extreme close-ups help draw attention to various fragments of bodies and distort their typical representation.
Pink Triangle
(dir. Ryan Jeffrey Davis)
This submission from the NC School of the Arts was one of the group's most polished efforts. Davis demonstrates his skill at collaborating and creating a clean, lean product (as the lengthy credits attest). Following a conflicted Nazi Informant, it initially feels like it's drumming up anxieties about Nazism for no particular reason. However, the overwhelming lack of dialogue and the film's turn towards an area of Nazi persecution rarely examined help make it a piece about trauma that truly works. It balances heavy emotions well, with the lead actor especially able to delve deep into his character's conflicted past without having to resort to explicating his emotions.
In the Moment
(dir. Debra Sea)
Sea's short animated film about those moments we drift off has a great, personal feel. The animation is great to look at, and the voiceover is humorous and real.
Mashed
(dir. John Heider)
Heider, who was present at the screening and called his project born out of "a leftover Halloween costume," is an extended trailer of a slasher film about Mr. Potato Head exacting cruel revenge on an evil genius and gang of baddies. Filmed locally, the camera work and actors are over the top, but Heider's obvious love for his material and the genre of shlocky B-movies he's paying tribute to definitely make this one win out.
The Gatherers
(dir. Nick Leopold)
Another offering out of NC School of the Arts, Gatherers is a post-apocalyptic film about children struggling to belong. Shot mostly in a warehouse, its use of empty space is terrific, while the child actors all perform their roles with surprising competence. Its shots of empty streets and a deserted grocery store are especially thrilling, and the film inspires a true sense of isolation.
Western Brothers' Adventure Story
(dir. Drew Xanthopolous)
This one comes to us from Texas's Radio-Television-Film program, and is my personal choice for Best in Show. Feel free to disagree, but Adventure Story is a deft balance of documentary and narrative. As a young boy tries to narrate a story, he and his brother act it out. On the one hand, it's about making a movie, with shots of the crew and their cameras interspersed throughout the film, with some members of the team interjecting to ask questions about the story. On the other, it's a pure little trip into a child's imagination, where he gets to act out the story he imagines.
Hershel's Chocolate
(dir. Joshua Rainwater and Adam Siler)
Filmed nearby in Florence, this follows two young boys as they try to find a monster in the woods and get a feather from the monster so they can belong to the "big kids club." Remarking on the film's theme of belonging, co-director Rainwater said afterward that it felt appropriate to make the film about kids because "once you get older, that wanting to belong becomes a lot sadder." Working with kids is never an easy task, but Chocolate is one of several films on the program that makes it look effortless.
The first program of the festival was a showcase of student films from across the Southeast. My thoughts and a brief description of each. If you missed it tonight, they'll be showing again on Friday at 6 p.m. in the Town Theatre.
Threadbare
(dir. Kristin Reeves)
One of the program's most experimental films. Shot on 16mm film, silent. Lots of very experimental editing, with many image overlays and a strong focus on presenting human subjects in unconventional ways.
1. Stop 2. Jump 3. Go
(dir. S Cagney Gentry)
Told in mostly black and white still photography with accompany voiceover, 1. Stop 2. Jump 3. Go follows a man obsessed with numbers and patterns as he tries to escape the seeming prison of his life. Gentry's choices to use still photography allow us to see the sterility of the protagonist's life and his belief that he is existing in a static state.
It Comes Naturally
(dir. Elizabeth Perlman)
Shot on film with no sound, It Comes Naturally is one of the more impenetrable films on the list. Filled with lots of close-ups of faces and bodies, Perlman tries to display our obsession with changing our faces and bodies to try and appear natural. Her color choices and extreme close-ups help draw attention to various fragments of bodies and distort their typical representation.
Pink Triangle
(dir. Ryan Jeffrey Davis)
This submission from the NC School of the Arts was one of the group's most polished efforts. Davis demonstrates his skill at collaborating and creating a clean, lean product (as the lengthy credits attest). Following a conflicted Nazi Informant, it initially feels like it's drumming up anxieties about Nazism for no particular reason. However, the overwhelming lack of dialogue and the film's turn towards an area of Nazi persecution rarely examined help make it a piece about trauma that truly works. It balances heavy emotions well, with the lead actor especially able to delve deep into his character's conflicted past without having to resort to explicating his emotions.
In the Moment
(dir. Debra Sea)
Sea's short animated film about those moments we drift off has a great, personal feel. The animation is great to look at, and the voiceover is humorous and real.
Mashed
(dir. John Heider)
Heider, who was present at the screening and called his project born out of "a leftover Halloween costume," is an extended trailer of a slasher film about Mr. Potato Head exacting cruel revenge on an evil genius and gang of baddies. Filmed locally, the camera work and actors are over the top, but Heider's obvious love for his material and the genre of shlocky B-movies he's paying tribute to definitely make this one win out.
The Gatherers
(dir. Nick Leopold)
Another offering out of NC School of the Arts, Gatherers is a post-apocalyptic film about children struggling to belong. Shot mostly in a warehouse, its use of empty space is terrific, while the child actors all perform their roles with surprising competence. Its shots of empty streets and a deserted grocery store are especially thrilling, and the film inspires a true sense of isolation.
Western Brothers' Adventure Story
(dir. Drew Xanthopolous)
This one comes to us from Texas's Radio-Television-Film program, and is my personal choice for Best in Show. Feel free to disagree, but Adventure Story is a deft balance of documentary and narrative. As a young boy tries to narrate a story, he and his brother act it out. On the one hand, it's about making a movie, with shots of the crew and their cameras interspersed throughout the film, with some members of the team interjecting to ask questions about the story. On the other, it's a pure little trip into a child's imagination, where he gets to act out the story he imagines.
Hershel's Chocolate
(dir. Joshua Rainwater and Adam Siler)
Filmed nearby in Florence, this follows two young boys as they try to find a monster in the woods and get a feather from the monster so they can belong to the "big kids club." Remarking on the film's theme of belonging, co-director Rainwater said afterward that it felt appropriate to make the film about kids because "once you get older, that wanting to belong becomes a lot sadder." Working with kids is never an easy task, but Chocolate is one of several films on the program that makes it look effortless.
'Slow Foods' sold out
by Jimmy Gilmore, Senior Staff Writer
So if you read our post earlier urging you to check out the Slow Foods event tonight, you might want to save yourself the trip - Indie Grits posted via Facebook that the event has officially sold out.
There are still some tickets available for the film programs this evening that we mentioned earlier.
So if you read our post earlier urging you to check out the Slow Foods event tonight, you might want to save yourself the trip - Indie Grits posted via Facebook that the event has officially sold out.
There are still some tickets available for the film programs this evening that we mentioned earlier.
Indie Grits kicks off today
by Jimmy Gilmore, Senior Staff Writer
Greetings! The Fifth Annual Indie Grits Festival starts this evening. If you haven't yet, head to today's Daily Gamecock or the Indie Grits website to get all the details you need about the programming.
Tonight offers one of several opportunities to see the Student Film program (6 p.m., Nickelodeon Theatre), as well as the Shorts program (8:15 p.m., Nickelodeon).
Don't have the time for a movie but thinking about some food ideas? Head to 711 Whaley Market Building at 6:30 p.m. The Slow Food event features sustainable chefs from the Columbia area, with taste-testing tables and a juried potluck. It's a great chance to check out some great local food you may not know about.
Greetings! The Fifth Annual Indie Grits Festival starts this evening. If you haven't yet, head to today's Daily Gamecock or the Indie Grits website to get all the details you need about the programming.
Tonight offers one of several opportunities to see the Student Film program (6 p.m., Nickelodeon Theatre), as well as the Shorts program (8:15 p.m., Nickelodeon).
Don't have the time for a movie but thinking about some food ideas? Head to 711 Whaley Market Building at 6:30 p.m. The Slow Food event features sustainable chefs from the Columbia area, with taste-testing tables and a juried potluck. It's a great chance to check out some great local food you may not know about.
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