Pandora Video - Great American Music Hall

Pandora is a great music site but they have also begun producing videos. Here is one highlighting a great music venue in San Fransisco.

SUNDAY FEATURE: The Possibility Of Hope

Hey, it's Zen's first Sunday Feature.

Gary Tarn (Black Sun) returns to moviemaking in 2007 as the 16mm Cinematographer of the 27 minute documentary directed by Alfonso Cuarón: The Possibility Of Hope.

This documentary takes a look at different matters of the world such as immigration, global warming and capitalism through the eyes of scientists and philosophers.

YouTube Playlist parts 1-3:

Gary Tarn: What's Wrong With Modern Cinema?

This is part 2 of a 5 part Interview I did with Cinematographer & Composer Gary Tarn & Hughes de Montalembert on Tarn's independent documentary BLACK SUN about Hughes life. Click here to see other clips from this interview.

In 1978, Hughes de Montalembert, a French filmmaker and painter living in New York City, was attacked by two men on the way back to his apartment. During the struggle, paint thinner was thrown into his eyes by one of his assailants, scarring and blinding him for the rest of his life. For many, the story would have ended right there. For Hughes, it was just the beginning.

Eighteen months after being blinded, Hughes began to travel the world -- alone.

Why We Fight

Why We Fight

The BBC presents Why We Fight by Charlotte Street, a documentary on the commerce of war, and how the military industrial complex profits so much from war, that it must create wars to continue the growth of it's business.

Broken into 4 parts at about 25 minutes each.

This is part 1 of 4:

Saturday Feature: MEF - Peace Propaganda and The Promised land

Another great documentary by The Media Education Foundation. This one examines the Israeli Palestinian conflict and the way the media shapes people's opinions about it.

Documentary: Chat The Planet - Hometown Baghdad

TV Veterans Laurie Meadoff and Kate Hills are the brains behind Next Next Entertainment, a TV and multimedia production house in NYC specializing in reality and documentary programming for major networks on both cable and broadcast television. Together they head up another, more personal project of theirs called Chat The Planet. They describe their mission like this:

"Chat the Planet is a global dialogue company. We connect young people from around the world to talk about everything from politics, prejudices and war to sex, music and life in general.

Chat the Planet is uncensored, unscripted and unlike anything else in the mainstream media."

The first major project that they took on at Chat The Planet was an online episodic reality series called Hometown Baghdad which consists of 38 short 5-10 minute videos about 3 young men trying to cope with ordinary life in one of the most violent places on the earth today. It was shot and produced entirely by a small Iraqi crew. The above episode titled, jimi hendrix, is typical of the series. The guys must break into a house to dodge a gunfight on their way to the basketball court to shoot some hoops. While there they talk about how their friends are all moving away and one of them expresses their personal philosophy of living.

I love this series because it really makes the Iraq conflict real. These young men are very empathetic characters coping with all the things that ordinary American's like them do every day. It's just that these guys are trying to do it in the middle of carnage and violance. It really cuts right to the heart of it all and makes it very real in a way that our traditional media would never dare to bring it.

Documentary: Mr. New York - De La Vega, NY Artist

The combined talents of Keith Winsted as producer and host, John Roegner as Director of Photography and Laura Bermudez as editor make up the web production team known as Mr. New York.

This is a profile that they did of a very well known artist in the NYC neighborhood known as Spanish Harlem. They have a Current TV account and they have submitted a couple of their videos, including this one, for TV. It looks like it might make it too because it is in the top 5 member picks as of this writing.

I'm also happy to see that Current finally cleaned up the mess that was their embeddable video look. All that clutter of buttons and logos before always bothered me.

Agriculture: Emile Vig - The Future Farm

This is a second contribution by producer Emile Vig to Current TV. His first, A Midwest Oasis, was a study of the Milwaukee art musiem. It was chosen by the web community for TV back in April. This latest upload of his looks like it will be taking the same route as it is presently number one in the community picks. This one tells the story of a progressive farm in NY that is trying to be a model for local, sustainable, agriculture.

Animation: Colby Buzzell - Men In Black

Colby Buzzell (such a cool name) was a solder who served in the Iraq war and became a blogger while serving, (and I must say he really has good taste in blog templates!). His blog became very popular and, after completing his service, the blog entries were edited together into a book titled: My War.

An Excerpt from this book was illustrated by artist: Christopher Koelle and those illustrations were animated by a studio named: The Law Of The Few. The result is what you see above which was broadcast as a segment in PBS crossroads and also posted on their website as a text transcript under the title: Men In Black.

His book has won many awards and much acclaim. The military has since clamped down on blogging from the battlefield. I wonder why.

Video Game Filmmaking: Douglas Gayeton - My Second Life

The Submarine Channel sponsors a website called MiniMovies which is beginning to showcase short episodic documentaries by various directors. This one, by director Douglas Gayeton, is shot entirely in the new online community "Second Life" Gayetons bio on minimovies reads:

Douglas Gayeton wrote and directed, together with William Gibson, 'Johnny Mnemonic', the first interactive cd-rom based movie, for Sony Imagesoft. His digital animated series 'Delta State', was named best animated TV series of the year at the 2004 Annecy Film Festival. Gayeton has also created or designed online social networks for such clients as AOL, MSN, Vivendi and Napster.

Saturday Feature: Loose Change 2nd Edition

This movie uses a lot of titles. If they are too small to read, go to the Google video page where larger view options are available.



Loose Change is a feature length documentary by Dylan Avery, Korey Rowe and Jason Bermas that challenges the official story of 9/11 and points to evidence that it might be an inside job [Wikipedia link]. It is a huge grass roots success story but it is also very controversial for obvious reasons. It was first released on the web in 2005 and it got massive attention. There were then critics who began tearing the film apart including Popular Mechanics Magazine. The filmmakers listened to the criticism and re-cut the film into a second edition and then, after more criticism, it was re-cut again. This new 2nd edition is what I have posted above. For a little perspective on the popularity of this project, this version alone has been viewed over 6 million times. There is now a final cut that they plan to release on September 11, 2007. They have only released a teaser for that version.

I will admit right now that I have been very skeptical of the 9/11 conspiracy movement. It is just such a hard notion to accept. I must also admit, however, that the official story always seemed lacking and many actions and explinations from the government were suspicious and I have lots of questions still. This movie is probably the single best attempt I have seen to bring all the conspiracy claims together into one body of work that I must admit had my eyebrows going up more than a couple of times.

What I find particularly brilliant about it is that it used the web as it's development tool. They knew they would make mistakes and, by releasing it on the web, they allowed it to be vetted by anybody that wanted to take issue with it. They then took all the criticisms and used them to create progressive drafts that tightened up their information. They also built up a huge cult following both for it and against it.

I'd love to hear people's thoughts after seeing it.

Documentary: Made In USA

This is another great example of the power of Current TV! It was one of the very first videos I watched on the site and it really opened my eyes to how important citizens armed with cameras could be. It is especially powerful because it is shot and told by someone who grew up in a communist controlled state and we get a completely different perspective because of this. The video takes place in New York City's Thompkins Square Park and it focuses on a demonstration that was broken up by the NYPD. How the NYPD breaks up this demonstration is what makes this piece so intriguing.

It was produced by Voytek Szczytko and Kashka Glowackawho, both from Poland. Voytek studied literature and journalism at Warsaw University. In addition to a stint as an ad agency copywriter, he's worked as a print journalist and for TV stations including MTV Europe, Vision Sport, TVN, and TVP. Voytek currently works full-time producing short narrative films with developmentally disabled adults.

Kashka, together with Voytek formed www.EspressoPictures.com, a New York based Film Production Company, where Kashka focuses on cinematography, editing, and graphics.

Voytek and Kashka shoot documentaries, events, short films and music videos. The company's first short film, "Walls Are Doors," was accepted by more than 20 film festivals, winning five awards and landing international DVD and cable distribution deals.

Documentary: Jonathon Porritt - Consumerism

Runtime: 36 Minutes



This documentary first appeared on UK television and it is currently available on YouTube where I have assembled the 4 parts into a playlist for your convenience. While this is longer than the average post here and technically it's not a web video, I think that UK Television is a different enough system from our own mainstream media that their perspectives can be valuable over here at times. This in particular is a very important subject that we hardly ever hear about. The only consumption people talk about these days is oil and electricity. They forget that even if they use green power and take a zero emissions car to the store, the stuff they buy at the store burned oil and electricity too. . .along with the mining of resources to make it and the human exploitation to build it. .

Jonathon Porrit is a British writer and political insider who you could think of as the British version of our own Al Gore. He was the co-chair of their version of the green party and he was appointed by the prime minister as the chairman of the UK Sustainable Development Commission in July of 2000.

In this documentary, he explores the problems with and solutions for the new religion of the modern era, consumerism. Today people have learned to feel they can buy any amount of junk they want to and then throw it away to buy a newer junk 2 years later. If we wanted everyone on earth to live this way we would need 2 extra planets worth of resources. How long can we sustain this?

Journalism: Kevin Epps & Njeri Sims - US Vs Josh Wolf

Josh Wolf was a freelance videographer who often posted his work on blogs. In July of 2005 he captured footage of a protest in San Fransisco. There was some disorder at the protest and the federal government tried to subpoena his equipment and his footage as part of the investigation. Josh believed that his footage didn't show anything significant and that the disorder did not warrant a federal investigation. He believed that the government simply wanted his tape so that they could use it to identify the people at the protest for their homeland security database. He offered to let the judge see the footage but refused to give over the tapes to the government, citing the first amendment and freedom of the press. They said, among other things, that he didn't count as the press and threw him in federal prison on April 1, 2006. He has since been released after posting his footage on the internet.

In all honesty, when I watch his footage, I have a hard time not concluding that some of the anarchy demonstrators were indeed out of line but I think this story still says something important about the state of our country today with it's hysterical fear of terrorists and "subversives". They put a guy in jail to get his camera footage of a protest.

Regardless of which side of this issue people fall on, I think this really opens up some important legal questions: who exactly counts as the press these days now that pretty much anyone can publish on the internet? How far does the first amendment go? Should journalists be able to refuse grand jury subpoenas? Does raw footage of a public event, with no participation from the observer, constitute the creation of some property that can then be protected by the first amendment?

This video was created by two allies of Josh as part of the movement to get him out of jail.

Documentary: MEF - The Overspent American

The Media Education Foundation describes itself as an organization that:

". . .produces and distributes documentary films and other educational resources to inspire critical reflection on the social, political and cultural impact of American mass media."

Their board of advisors includes names like Jeff Cohen, Noam Chomsky and Naomi Klein to name a few. They have released a whole bunch of short videos on the internet. There were so many good ones I couldn't decide which one to post. Expect to see more from them.

I think this particular video shares a very important message that most people just don't think about enough.

Video Activism: Good Magazine - Internet Porn

Good Magazine is a new project that launched earlier this year who describes themselves this way:

While so much of today's media is taking up our space, dumbing us down, and impeding our productivity, GOOD exists to add value. Through a print magazine, feature and documentary films, original multimedia content and local events, GOOD is providing a platform for the ideas, people, and businesses that are driving change in the world.

An interview with the founder can be read HERE. Good media has released several short documentary like releases over the internet. This is one of the more controversial ones. It inspires me because I like the contrast they create between the sexy, attention grabbing shots and the titles they are writing on the object of our attention.

Technology: Michael Wesch - The Machine Is Us/ing Us

This is the final version of an experimental documentary by Michael Wesch exploring the ideas behind web 2.0. The original version has had over 2.5 million hits on YouTube. Michael is a teacher of "digital ethnography" which is the study of the digital culture, at Kansas State University. He made this video using screen captures of different actions he would type or perform on the computer. He then did some pans and zooms and cut it all together with an electronica soundtrack. He is also part of an interesting looking web project that is designed to turn visitors into their own webmasters.

Just when you thought you were beginning to get a handle on how the internet all works. . . they go and add a new upgrade that makes it super awesome but unfamiliar again. I was just beginning to remember little bits of HTML code and now we are off on a new tangent.

Documentary: Ge Jin- Chinese Gold Farmers

This video is by chinese documentary filmmaker Ge Jin on YouTube. He describes it as a work in progress and there are a couple different versions. This one has generated over 800,000 views.

Chinese kids are hired to play online role playing games that require extensive time to build up characters. These kids build up characters and money which then becomes a commodity that can be sold to Americans on eBay. The American gamers call them "Chinese Gold Farmers." They save the buyer the tedium of slowly building these up themselves. This has been a fascinating subject to me as a former online gamer. I believe there are Americans who also do this for money but the Chinese have a much better labor exchange rate.

Documentary: No End In Sight

What? Another movie about Iraq? The answer is a resounding YES from the chorus, but with an addendum of "but it's not what you think"... Well, actually it is if you go by it's press kit description of, "a jawdropping, insider’s tale of wholesale incompetence, recklessness and venality."

But that is where that comparison between this film and the usual political ascerbic ends. Even the movie's website gives an inkling that this could be another moveon.org hitjob on an already weakened Bush administration. But the film dramaticaly turns what could have been drab recitiation into intriguing storytelling, and documents the events following the fall of Bagdhad, including 3 principle errors, which may have led to the rise of the Iraqi insurgency.



The film contains numerous interviews, including former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Ambassador Barbara Bodine, General Jay Garner, Lawrence Wilkerson, Iraqi civilians, reporters and U.S. soldiers. These interviews slowly devulge a timeline which shockingly documents how allowing these three major errors in policy had far-reaching ramifications:

1. Allowing the widespread looting following the fall of Bagdhad,
2. De-ba'athification of the government,
3. Disbanding the Iraqi army

All these conditions created widespread mistrust of the U.S. forces, rampant unemployment, the exodus of Iraq's professional/ middle class and a rise in religious fundamentalism. All these factors helped to create an Iraqi insurgency.

Shocking at times, but well paced and evenhanded, this film is an exercise in documentary storytelling, using a very good 'connects-the-dots' approach, and is far more than the usual 'talking heads'. Cut from over 200 hours of interviews, calling this film thorough is an understatement. Opens June 27.

-zen

Documentary: VBS.TV - Heavy Metal In Baghdad

Part 1



Part 2




Go see the rest of it




VBS.TV is a web media network in Brooklyn that looks like it could become a real player on the web media scene pretty soon. They have recruited Spike Jonze as their creative director. I had the pleasure of working with Spike on that Daft Punk video with the guy in the dog suit. Spike is a very talented guy and he is giving this network startup an edgy young vanguard feel and a web user experience that makes your computer feel like a TV. They are offering what looks like a mix of all original high end (in the MTV reality show sense) and lower tec looking productions such as video logs and journals under a variety of subjects. The flash based media player that VBS offers is a very slick experience including a decent full screen view. It looks like they are going to take a traditional TV advertising approach to support the programming eventually.

Above are two episodes around 5 minutes each in a 5 part series: Heavy Metal In Baghdad. This is an interesting story about two VBS producers who got in touch with a Heavy Metal Band in Iraq and arranged to visit them and do a story. Things don't go as planned and the story becomes much different than they expected. What inspires me about this work is that they took a very empathetic subject, Iraqi guys trying to be headbangers, and told two stories at once. The story of the band, and the story of the world they live in which has become very hostile and tragic. American influenced artists, living under American occupation, dodging bullets, gangsters and kidnappers. It grabbed me immediately. It also has a really well put together vanguard style.

If you want to jump right in you start from the top on their own website you can begin HERE. It will go through the whole series hands free. Or, you can continue after watching the clips here. If you really like it there are two more series after that. One is 6 parts and the other is 7.