Personal Project

I have been teaching Dick Solomon how to edit. I helped him shoot. Rah Helped run the second camera. Lighting was very run and gun. It was a whole lot of fun.




Sincere GTFU Spot from Aminah deVere on Vimeo.

Sick Solomon from Aminah deVere on Vimeo.

Jason the Hater from Aminah deVere on Vimeo.

GTFU Promo: Sleepy J Barksdale from Aminah deVere on Vimeo.

GTFU Presents: part deux from Jonah Westbrook on Vimeo.

GTFU Presents from Jonah Westbrook on Vimeo.

Musicology: Dick Solomon

I have worked with this dude for a while now, we are good friends. We grow and collaborate together. Its fun having a friend that is a performer like he is. I produced this video, I also shot it, and made the first assembly edit. More to come!



GTFU Presents from Jonah Westbrook on Vimeo.

Hot Ass Beat Clap: Back room

This back room looks a lot like a studio, but damn this guy has a great flow and well established persona.

Matthew Robbins- Visiting Artist I

Matthew Robbins is working as an interior designer in New York. He got to where he is now because of the connections that he had but more importantly his charisma and ability to communicate articulated concepts.

It can get hard to speak in front of people but Robbins is able to walk into a room and get what he needs from the audience and understand how to expand upon his process. His back ground in fine arts, he keeps his roots in the institutional process of MCA. Robbins has gotten to where he is because he knows how to adapt his personal vision into narratives that evoke emotional responses. Often through photography, documentation, we can see a glimpse into the beauty he paints. Being at one of his events must be something that is truly memorable.

I got to have a critique with Matthew and his friend Jack. It was a lot of fun getting to hear what other folks had to say about my work. I showed them Dick Solomon's music videos that I have on store for now. You can check them out on vimeo. Search dick solomon or jorge soto la marina, I only showed rain for winsday and self created problems. The critique went well, they both were able to appreciate the aesthetic that I have been developing and the insight they gave me was enlightening. It was a memorable experience that helped to give me perspective on my personal narrative.

Hot Ass Beat Clap: Home Made

Memphis is a breeding ground of tallent. I try and stay current Dick Solomon because I think he is a great performer and even better rapper. Working with him has opened up a lot of different collaborative opertunities. At the beginning of the summer I got to shoot a whole show for him. As a note to Jill, this transfer fucked up. I was refreshing my self with MPEG stream clip at home on my lap top. I thought I had a good render after messing with it a few times. I tried to do it without referring to notes because I know how to do this. Next time I will remember that Frame Bleeding is not something I need to mess with for 5D footage. This was a raw clip (no Color Correction) because I love the look that digital cameras produce directly from the sensor. The 5D is the tool for me. That is what I have decided. I will work with what I can have access too, but this camera is just so good. I wonder if the Mark III is any better? I guess Ill save that thought for the next post.


We Kixin it 2012 from Jorge Soto La Marina on Vimeo.

Cinematic Development- The Holy Fool

Over the weekend I got to re-watch some really good movies.

I found a full link to Gummo, then I got a sociology major to watch it with me from beginning to end. He felt disturbed because all of the characters reminded him of folks he knew in real life. He told me that the strait forward treatment of the characters as human beings helped him to become engaged in a narrative that he was unsure off. He is still unsure of it to this day.

Yesterday I sat down with a really hip rapper. He made me watch Battle Royal. I had not seen this before but as soon as it started I understood why it had such a cult following. The subject matter and reality in which it is presented make this film a wonderful example of cinema. The concept of High school kids killing each other in the name of the greater good seems like a strange idea. Putting it into context though makes a lot of sense. We are all fighting each other, we function within a capitalist system that only rewards the select few bold enough to stab their friends in the back to get a head. Now putting it in to a high school setting brings up issues of education and the elite who get to have a good education, and the worker bees that have to support those working toward education. Over all I enjoyed the hollywood look that this director achives. It makes it an international film dealing with universal themes. I respect the director for creating a great looking film that is also a fully developed conceptual piece.

Summations-

Directing of Gummo









Hollywood methods to convey full conceptual narratives

House of Dicks

Dick House Productions is a group of collaborating artists that arose from the nineties. They are dudes who became famous for organizing events like CKY in the early 2000's and television shows such as Jackass. Recently producers and founders of Dick House have worked with Adult Swim to create the show Loiter Squad. Jeff Termaine and Lance Bangs are iconic figures to those of us who grew up in over saturation of Jackass on MTV in the 2000's. Lance was always the first camera man to puke when Steve-O, one of the reoccurring characters on Jackass, would explore his bodily functions. Usually on either sides of gross sounding documentation of these filthy men.
I call Dick House a group of collaborating artist because of the ensemble aesthetic of the show. I do mean ensemble, Johnny Knoxville was a struggling actor, Jeff Termain had a background in skateboard zeens, Steve O was a clown from  wringing brothers, and they had a lot of writers working double time as actors as well. They used to joke about not writing stunts they wouldn't perform themselves, words I'm sure they ate as soon as they stepped up to the plate.
Often in the first season we would be welcomed to the show that week by Johnny Knoxville's introduction of "Hi my name is Johnny Knoxville, Welcome to Jackass" (insert nut shot)
At first this show was deplorable and a shining example of degenerate feelings that many youths felt coming out of the nineties and the disillusion with the 2000's. These interpretations are personal observations. We had made it to the new millennium and the greatest invention was the internet. We wanted MF flying cars and tele porters and pill meals that just required water to serve a family of five. At the end of the day we noticed that the dreams we had of the past were not a promise, They were a challenge. "Future man kind, this is what we expect of you, do not let us down." That is the sentiment I get from the Jetsons and Houses of Tomorrow. We are not garnered a steady ride, we are not assured of morals, we make our narratives and weave our own personal legends. That is what the people at Dick House Productions showed a fifteen year old Jorge. Also a lot of stunts I never tried because of the fully physical reaction these stunts pried from me.

Hot Ass Beat Clap again

This semester I have been really looking at alternative means of production. This usually involves me learning things interdisciplinary, when considering that I am the Cinema. I love forums like Juxtapoz Magazine because it was one of my first and more constant sources of information about the arts world. This random update to their facebook page made me watch this amazing video. New sources are amazing at dispensing information at the click of a button but some sources make it fun. Finding easter eggs of film in this contemporary arts magazine is a lot of fun.  Here is the article about this awesome video. swerve

Willow - Sweater from Filip Sterckx on Vimeo.

The Simple Things

Sometimes the internet reminds us important virtues as digital artist. I guess I forget that we are all digital artist making digital works on a massive digital forum. Either way, for aftereffects this is the golden rule. 

The Holy Fool

This idea first jumped forward to me when I first started to look at narratives analytically earlier this semester. I think I will study what the idea of the fool, or more classically refereed too as the Trickster, through my eyes. Trickster characters have always been a favorite of mine. There are specific moments in my life where I remember being exposed to these sorts of archetypes and I remember them being relatable to a point that I looked for these characters in real life. I did some light reading on the subject. A few highlighted points that I want my characters to address for this short will be listed bellow.

- In pairs Tricksters relish in disruption of the status quo

- The ordinary world turns to chaos at the turn of a phrase or through physical antics

- Sometimes they don't change in their movie but their arch causes change in the world that reacts to them

- Laughter to see absurdity of situations, and force a change

- Sidekick in Westerns

- Mentor in Romantic Comedies(best friend)

- Help Heros outwit and disarm a villain or enemy

- Their Voice can be the most sane and reliable in the confusion of a journey.

These are the ideals that are informing my character. I will reffer to this post when thinking about the final production. It is just reference not a set of rules. 

Here is a study that I was looking at when thinking about these things! Swerve 

Just Dudes on the Internet

I had an argument with a friend about morality. At the end we both victimized ourselves because we felt there was no one out in the world really speaking to who we were in the media. I completely forgot about Epic Meal Time. If you are a dude born in the Nineties and you grew up around the internet and the sorts of personas that are a part of the world wide web. Then I would say that Epic Meal Time will be relatable if not idealized young manhood. Young dudes working with young ideas and technology making stances because... we are not sure why, but we do anyway.  Good times in the epic meal time kitchen.
-jorge

Narrative and Visual Metaphor

Deductive Rhetorical Dialogue,

Everyone has a theory on how the world works, as artists we get to hold up a mirror to social conventions and say, "Hey now, That is not cool." Mass Media is an approach to film that enables a greater social dialogue. Media of the Masses forces to take a stance, we want to connect on some basic emotional level with the audience. 

Dada artist used what they had and painted what they knew in order to make observations about their world. With technology we can do that in the click of a button. Anyone can have a voice from any corner of the world.

Technology is social lubricant to articulate our thoughts. A guilty Pleasure of mine is this video podcast called Stuff They Don't Want You to Know. 

This podcast utilizes aspects of rhetorical argumentation effectively with a wide variety of visual metaphors infromed on appropriation and facts. This is my favorite kind of entertainment because of how heavy headed it is. It makes me enjoy it but still hold some questions as I leave the video. This is a good study for articulation through visual composites, and building an argument to highlight juxtapositions.

Kreyashawn: Media of the Masses

Through Common Language:
Her music is on the radio from time to time. She speaks to different djs around the country. Her music videos are kinda awesome. They speak to a generation of cheap drugs, cheap beer, and innovations in mass media.
Her videos connect to an absurdist character of what the media thinks young people do. Some of her early work comes across as a sincere attempt to connect to the american youth. She uses images of college young America. Imagine walking through a large university parking lot during a very strange and drug laden rush week. There are fresh juxtapositions of young folks dancing in the streets and acting in stereotypical fashons. These fashions are highlighted with repetion withe in editing and audible recognition of mood. These spontaneous bursts of activity comes across to me from a very informed point of view. Formalist rules are often seen as obstacles to either be broken, respected, or often by students, even twisted in the name of art. I believe that she creates a reflection of the fears, hopes, and strange moments that are being lived right down the street, or across the hall, down the stare well, behind that door that you never check.
Eventually we discover our own rhythms and we decide who we are for a while. Always reinventing to survive, thrive, and even collaborate. Well, I guess thats all of my commentary.

Three Years Ago:


Last Year:

Kreayshawn "Gucci Gucci" from Joseph Zentil on Vimeo.

Richard Mosse

I have known Richard's photography for a while now. Ariella was looking for a justifiable reason to get some infrared film. I did not quite understand what it would look like when only capturing a foot print in an infrared spectrum. I saw his photography as having a deeper social understanding than i could quite grasp what that was. I saw his visual language and I was engaged almost instantaniously. Here is another example of an artist who works from what he knows to be true and uses those values to inform his process, methods, and ending vision. Now that I have seen the video his photography is much more of a living narrative.















Richard Mosse, Infra, Jack Shainman Gallery NY from Jack Shainman Gallery on Vimeo.

Beat Off

Everyone lines up infront of a camera. They take turns in the exact same spot to present to the camera. In this case we will use a mac. They will be assigned a sentance explaining one of the virtues that I hold to be true and self evidant. The comintators will be giving a random order of comentating. This will leave the structure of how the messages are structured up to fate. Everyone will perform infront of one another. The social construct will be that no one can comment on the individual explanation of the greater virtue. Participants will be encouraged use anecdotes and memories to attempt a bridge to the collective unconsciousness. The videos responses will be organized and displayed as one complete narative. Three act structure and greater over arching themes will all be provided to the participants. Depending on  weather or not the final product product maintains those rules is entirely in the hands of those who made. Those who made it will then also be those viewing it. The point of this exercise will be to gather insight and perspective. I want to create a game that I can use to Proof Test my concept.

Now that our references are in order we will let the fun part begin. From this point in the game no one is allowed to speak. Body language is acceptiable.
-At this point themes are passed around. Only one per person until there are no more.
-Substitutions are allowed as long as the disclosure of the rejected theme is kept to the readers.
-Five minets will be allowed to look up definitions using the built in mac software. The internet is frowned upon.
-There are no incorrect connotations, denotations may inform connotations.

The Performer will have their back turned to the audience (students)
-stare into the screen to deliver their lines.
-the performer should convey the theme assigned through personally informed discussions.
-the only limit that the performer should be afraid off is running out of time.
-45 seconds allowed to elaborate on theme
-time restrictions are self enforced and serve the greater good of the game
-the performer will note their connotations and personally informed denotations during their performance.

The performers must then act as an audicence. The performances will be delivered at the front of the room. The only thing the performer can see is themselves elaborating on their assigned concepts (web cam). The concepts must be surrendered at the end of each performance. The final product should be an analogue representation of my concept. It will also be an opportunity to examine how people will react to such a constructed reality that is informed on their individual experiances. I hope that this exercise will help solidify some of my theories on how people perceive situations. I will know where everyone is coming from. As the project is built I want people to wonder what it all means. Eventually growing to a full conceptual understand of the piece as modules and greater strives to understand the great mono-myth often referred to as the hero with a thousand faces is fleshed out. I want to create a whole new narrative informed on my understandings, molded in the hands of the audience, and both those involved and I to come and see what we have created.

Through Some Glass

This is some visionary shit!

LINK!

Poetic and Effective

http://picktheperp.com/

This website questions how we see people and the attitudes we associate with them. It also puts a mirror up to the audience by illustrating, "You have correctly identified x- # of people in a line up." These morality plays range from lighter moral questions to heavy existential realizations about how we see each-other through our socially constructed vail.

In To the Past

Daguerreotypes- 1840-1900
These crisp representations of people were used and rose to prominence in the infancy of photography. These grandfathers to modern photography enabled a cultural and conceptual redefinition of art. These photographers were unprecedented because were bonded by a yearning to understand their changing world. These "mad" scientist characters were unprecedented because of their ernest blending of concept with a sort of proletariat practicality.
Calotype - Same as Daguerreotypes
Calotype photography rose and feel back into obscurity at the within the Daguerreotypes life time. The process of making a print directly on to paper (Calotype) resulted in a slightly soft image. Lending a quality of chiaroscuro to the image that became a trait of this photography.

In my opinion the difference between both of these types of photography was in the quality of the "Clean Slate." The Clean Slate in video compositing terms represents a clean palate to build on top of. The problem with the calotype has to be how restricting it would be to always end up with a soft image regardless of the mechanical aspects of the process. This is conceptually limiting. The Daguerreotype form of photography was usually on a smooth and almost translucent material. Some Victorian portraiture is glass "film" framed against a velvet back grounds. Other times we find variations of metals used to print transfer an image from real life using an emulsion. One final gigantic innovation these photographers implemented was the addition of hand painted color on the images that they produced. These photographers painted fully involving narratives for their consumers. These photographers blissfully captured the essence of an era during a time of national turmoyl. Think of the war time photographers that produced fabricated narratives in the service of both the union and the confederacy.

Either way the reason I am looking at these wonderful representations of an era long gone is to try and figure what these artistic pioneers were trying to articulate. They might not have know how history would put into context their photos, all they knew is that they were doing work.









*Some of these images came from the awesome blog listed bellow, check it out yourself interested in more info about these types of photos

http://jolantasketch.blogspot.com/2012/01/capc-stands-for-commercial-application.html

Cinesthesia or How Synesthesia Has Effected my Moving Image.

After todays crit I found my self confused, uncertain, and even dumb. Not dumb as in ignorant but dumb as in unable to articulate thoughts properly. During lunch I found myself getting into discussions with friends who work in different branches of knowledge. I am ignorant, Really Arrogant. I assume that concept is the creation of writers, I assume that only people who work with writing have to deal with these conceptual ideals that writers come up with. What I have failed to bridge is that writers don't write for the sake of writing. They write to have a voice.

This voice is not a clinical tool to dissect, inspect, detect, categorize, label and box. This tool that I have assumed as just a tool, the voice, is not a tool. Humans decided that bringing together abstract thoughts through an articulated manner unique to an individual is not really so cut and dry. We say writers have a voice because they are so desperate to speak to the next generations. This goes back to wanting to see our footprint on the moon. We want to elevate ourselves to forms of demigods. Thats why that term exists.

Demi-gods, I probably need to do more research but here goes my take on this tool. Demi-gods are humans that hope to elevate themselfs to the stature of gods. Thinks Hercules or Jason Bourn. These two heros did not chose to embark on their personal journeys. They were put into a greater narrative that is informed on the actions of these idealized characters. They all work from reality to try and achieve superhuman acts. With Hercules it's killing a giant and then being able to give atlas a break for a few hundred years. With Bourn It's jumping from a six story rooftop to another building, busting through a window on the fourth floor but still making it without dying. Bourne is just as super human as Hercules. Society just demands more of a human justification for Bourn's actions, as tastes change through times.  

These long winded observations are coming to a conclusion my dear reader I promise.

In conclusion this post began with the song Nightmare by Tyler the Creator. Then the song changed to Planet Caravan, by Black Sabeth. The final summation paragraph was written durring When I'm With You by best coast.

This post served to map the way I understand abstract thoughts through rhythm and an audible diction to pull inspiration and ultimately understand my own process for making concepts. I don't know why it's important I just know it is, and keeping this inside my head is not going to encourage anyone to speak critically about my process. Video to me is a visual map of Synesthesia, although I've never been diagnosed with a disorder this concept brings an amazing amount of order to my personal film making process.

Through the Virtues of my Virtue

 -I want to attempt to create a visual mapping of my personal morals and standards that an audience can interact with and reflect on their personal virtues with a toy.

I have found what I want my theme this semester to be in good ol Dynamic Imaging. Since high school and my first thoughts about the world and how we exist with one another. I have always been drawn to social questions and justifications. I am always curious about why we approach subjects the way we do. I find my self questioning myself constantly, through inner monologue. Perhaps I need to read more books and have more visual brainstorms? I guess what I am drawn to within my day to day life is questioning morals that society holds to be truthful and steadfast. Social Class, Citizenship in the State, Religion, War, Death, Mortality, Happiness, Truth, Friendship, These are all psychic connections that we all share as individuals in our communities but also as citizens of the world. I want to create a visual representation of what defines these abstract thoughts to me. I want to use my informed point of view to try and communicate these themes through my personal slant. I believe that artist produce the propaganda that they want to produce, sometimes their drive is power, money, or lust. I hope to approach this topic from a personal reverend manner that is honest to myself regardless of how my stances of people who oppose my views.  I hope that those who view this installation will be able to come away with a new perspective on a subjects that I hold dear but that are relatable to most. I have seen the mechanics of these videos working in a formulated manner from panel to panel. The first panels will be simpler morality questions, the base image will be a constant looping backgrounds. Depending on the interactions of the audience with the piece a series of actors and visual devices will be triggered to perform a completely original act every time the work is viewed. There will be high keys and low keys to be triggered for each base plate loop, the high keys will trigger actors that I belive to be in proper standing with the moral being explored. The low keyes will be visual representations of actors that i belive to be counterintuitive to each moral.

A still life of morbid happiness for me that is painted with a wooden mirror symbolizing stability and a culture able of industrialized comodity. A cat enters from the far left, this black cat is symbolic of a proletariat struggle, some of the high points are industrially structured shots. other High points elevate that struggle to a glorified blazing symbol of introspective struggle. Low keys cause a clinical third party triggered by the viewer to interact with the cat. This objective force acting on the cat will represent a higher class of ruling elites that interact with the cat. Some low blows to the cat will include taunting with a lazar so the cat has a perpetual goal it can never achive. Other times the objective force feeds the cat or give water to the cat. If the viewer can figure a system to the madness they could construct personal narratives using these individual metaphores. I want someone to come in and be able to tell the story of a revolution by first having an existential crisis. This will be the base loop that the previous person has left. Only three baseplate midtown will be considered as base plates. The audience should want to interact freely with the instalation. I hope that this will create an open dialogue in a gallery space to allow for a study into the idea of passive happiness or angry morbidness. I want to see the divides in the dialogue across the whole space.

Perpetual Shadow Boxes

 

 

 

 

  

*this collection will grow as inspiration flows for the Virtues of my Virtue concept

Hot Ass Beat Clap

Here is a segment I want to keep through the semester in which I bring you a music video that I have enjoyed. Since it was summer time there are quite a few that I have been sitting on, so check them out and let me know what you think.

-jslm

Introspectively,

My work is informed on personal experiances. Mostly formative memories that I translate to a visual format. These memories are translated to colors sounds footprints visions steams rhythms fears hopes, really these visual representations stand alone as letters to myself as if preparing for an uncertain future. I have been considering my process and work over the last few days and some of the primary themes stuck out to me. It has been an introspective journey into sorts of psychic meshing of abstract forms and images that are strung together by cosmically informed vibrations. Thats sort of a crazy abstract babble way of putting it. There is more! This semester I want to work on being more clear about this language. I feel like these intuitive ideas are like a baby muttering a word it's not sure it can produce with its' vocabulary. This feeling is almost incapacitating at some points. Some advice that I have heard since high school is that your work is not work until it is at least completed. Never Half ass your shit and be proud of branding something with your name. This work cannot be a representation that is weak or incomplete or half done or half baked. You can only grow as an artist and as a person once other humans see your work and talk about it to you around you behind you or even on the outside of you. I guess what I want to produce this semester is work that is stand alone, not part of a series or movement. I want to develop a personal aesthetic and visual dialogue that I can use for my work. Obliterate the mediocrity that my work has been a part of in the past. There are a few paths I want to head down to explore these feelings. I want to work with my personal interpretation of being a man through personally informed means. I want to explore situations that are lost through time and examine how the vail of lost love can conceal unsavory motives, or how brilliant being at a certain time in space can be through visual retrospective examinations. I want these works to stand as eternal letters that can speak to any person who lives alongside me in my generation. I want to produce an installation quality video diptych.

Typographical Rivers

Within literature a Typographical River is the spaces within paragraphs that work together to create a sort of visual fluidity from one line of text. I think of it as like visual rhythm that carries the eye through a work helping to keep the viewer wanting to continue reading. I never paid too much attention to it before, When I was younger I had an english teacher that taught us that good writers have a snake going up and down the ends of each of their paragraphs. Something about the snake symbolizing the variety of words that one is using to convey the story. I wonder if I can translate this literature tool in to a visual form within a video. I guess its just one more thing to consider.

above the typographical river is illustrated at the top of the word amet

Introduction Questionnaire

I think the first time I looked through a lens, being that my preferred media is video, was when I was eight or nine. I knew I was capturing special moments within my family, I understood that there was some amount of control as far as what the "audience" would perceive. High school fleshed out This simple cut and dry process in to an intensive process. Derrick Sims taught me the basics of film production. Its been a long time since I learned the meat and potatoes of the filmmaking process, but I can confidently that I have am beginning to develop my own personal process. The why of all of these anecdotes is more difficult for me to determine. Perhaps it was how important it was to my parents to document our early years as new and developing residents in America. To me video and the advent of "Home Movies" is as synonymous with white picket fens and apple pie. To me video is like a looking glass. Through this looking glass the audience is engaged by characters usually working to resolve a problem. The amount of control and the possible prolific nature of these choices is appealing. My grandfather was an actor from the Silver Screen and I never got to meet him in person. I never really got to meet him, perhaps my video work has been some sort of psychic message to him about my life. Maybe I feel that if I share a spot in the collective unconsciousness along side him then I will have lived along side of him. Im not sure that the last three or four sentences make much sense but I think that is the gust of the why. I try really hard to source all of my concepts within personal experiences, intrigues, curiosities, and the niches that make me who I am. I feel creating work that can stand the test of time must be made through you and not through the means of production. I feel the difference between popcorn and a seven course meal is the love that the cook puts into the process. Anyone can pop microwaved popcorn, but only a skilled craftsman with a lot of love can cater to the president or a king. That last food metaphor was jumbled but basically the difference between Work and Art Work is the passion of the artist and the context that they inject or place their work in. I love reading and enjoy watching films of ever age, color, and length. I was in boy scouts in high school and discovered my love for music, video, and most digital means of entertainment when I was young. When I think about making media I pour out everything that make me whom I am today. I learned to tie knots and widdle wood, My Father taught me to weld at eight, one summer when I was a kid I got lost in the woods, and again when I was in high school. The one skill I'm best trained in, at the risk of sounding ridiculous, would be taking risks that lead to adventures and, as of late, these adventure usually end with a screening. Cannot type at a thousand words per minet, but I can take the clicking of a keyeboard and make it into a rhythem. I do not know how to paint classically but I know how to capture ambiance and video to open a window to that specific time and space.