Philly Fountain - M. Ulto 2006

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the Glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our very presence automatically liberates others.

Nelson Mandela (quoting Marianne Williamson in his Inauguration Speech, 1994)

I was reading today about the duality of our spiritual evolution - the struggle to accept loneliness and separateness, especially when based on exceptional skill or talent, while balancing our connection to a higher power, to Oneness. Our focus as a nation, especially during this election year, is on failure, folly and foibles of the powerful and wealthy. All well and good, pointing out what needs to change, but all this finger pointing does not do much for change. It creates more noise in the media realm, creating an increase in the signal to noise ratio of rational thought. We have drowned out the signal of something better with the noise of all that is negative. Dwelling in this space, we latch on easily to the three tenets of easy media - celebrity, tragedy and fear. (more…)

This past week, I showed my work at DIVA Pool Art Fair. It was a good sized crowd and all the artists featured their video and digital art on their laptops. Unique and fuss-free affair, I had some great reception to several of my pieces, including the one featured in this post, MOTION & MOOD 2006. I shot this on HDv and DV, and composed the music. Its an exploration of the motion of landscapes and bodies.

Interesting point about the video - it features the Cape Cod shoreline the weekend after Hurricane Katrina, and the waves were very high for the Atlantic. The video also features Butoh dancers, a form of dance called the “cultural fallout of atomic bomb” and “dance of the unmovables”, created in Japan post-WWII. I coupled the two kinds of imagery of beauty post-pain, post-trauma. The branch sculpture on the beach was something I came upon, not created, and its anonymous and ominous beauty captivated me.

Peace,
Melissa

 

 Motion & Mood 2006 [7:10m]: Play Now | Download (712)

I’ve been home with a cold, watching movie after movie. This is my favorite part of being sick - alleviating the boredom of couch napping and coughing.

This weekend, I watched a range of movies, from “Sideways” to “Millions”. I noticed several key issues with the movies being produced inside the Hollywood system or its close, well-funded “independent” cousins (Miramax, etc). I also noticed something astonishingly fresh in films made low budget, foreign or on the fringe, topically.

First film up - “Sideways”. I have to admit I HATED this film. I hated it from start to finish. I hated the acting, the cinematography, the music, the characters, the story and the annoyed feeling of being desperately bored. In a business that last year alone included only 7 films made by women in the top 200, or that has yet to bestow an Oscar on a woman director (only 3 have ever been nominated), it still astounds me that Hollywood paid big bucks to make a film about two middle aged yuppie miscreants looking to get laid. (more…)

The biggest pitfall of any filmmaker I’ve ever worked with is hubris - the arrogance to believe your production is untouchable, not that important to be bothered with or invisible in regards to licensing content.

A friend of mine has a cat, Pepe. When he’s feeling particularly playful or frisky, he climbs into an open top box my friend has placed in the living room. Pepe climbs in and peers over the edge of the box, his green eyes glinting wickedly. He swipes at the ankles of passers-by, takes furtive catnaps and rigorously cleans himself in this box. He believes he is hidden in the urban home shrubbery of boxes and newspapers. He always gets quite a shock when he’s lifted, unceremoniously, out of the box. That’s the “Pepe In The Box” complex, and a lot of filmmakers suffer from it.

I’m going to make this 1000% clear, so anyone reading this entry will have a clear understanding of licensed content. IT IS NOT LEGAL TO STEAL OR BORROW OR USE CONTENT WITHOUT EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION AND OFTEN A LICENSING FEE. Period. It’s not about if you’ll get caught or not (you will), if you can afford it or not (I’ll show you ways you can below), or if you think your usage is outside of the law (its not, trust me). Content is king and content comes with laws. Lots of them.

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