(The following are excerpts from the Musea E-Mail Club)
Film
With all the new tech stuff in filmmaking, I expect a windfall of great films, and a golden age of filmmaking. But unless the art rev. kicks in it'll be an invisible golden age much like zines- we'll see.
So let's say you are making a movie. You'll direct (but promise me you will NOT write your own screenplay and ruin the movie before you begin - no, you will get a REAL literary work, and get a REAL screenwriter to adapt it )... then
You need to get your first helper. "After celebrity actors and scripts, the most important checks you'll write will be to make your cinematographer happy ... Hire a DP (director of photography) who is a DP and has been shooting 35 mm film for at least 6 years. Then allow that DP to hire his own camera crew." (Dov S-S Simens)
What does a DP do? "the DP is essentially the crew boss. He often selects or at least recommends the camera crew, usually consisting of an operator, a focus-puller, a zoomer, a loader, a slate operator, etc. The DP often helps pick the grip crew, and the lighting crew. He also usually chooses the camera and lighting package and often makes the lab deals." (Eric Sherman)
Usually the DP's are men but times are changing "Women are not doing as many huge studio movies as men are. But in the independent world, which is where the quality, story-driven films are being made, women are kicking butt. Even a lot of the guys shooting big features have told me they'd rather be doing the independent stuff. They never get to tell stories anymore!" (Nancy Schreiber)
Ah but all this is very complicated - so how do you start in any aspect of the indie film industry? "Do something. Be involved in the business somehow. Shoot anything. It doesn't have to have sound. It doesn't have to be titled. it doesn't have to be color. There is no 'have to.' Just shoot and show. If it is an audience of one, that's okay. You've learned something. Now do it again. That's how it's done. Sounds simple. Doesn't it? It's not. Then again, it is." (Stacie Isabella Turk , indie filmmaker.)
All the quotes above from the mag. Moviemaker
.
Literature:
One thing you can never accuse zine poetry of being, and that is playful. But playfulness is one of the joys of good poetry. One of the books I'm now reading is Jump-Rope Rhymes, A Dictionary. It is in great condition, was bought from Paperbacks + for half of $3, and is one of those library books that they really shouldn't be getting rid of -
it seems libraries are selling off all their good stuff (Just ask Fred Woodworth on that topic).
Anyway to refresh your memory of how much fun poetry can be, here are some selections: (ed. by Roger D. Abrahams)
1. Charlie Chaplin went to France
To teach the ladies how to dance:
heel and toe and away we go...
2. Fireman, fireman number eight,
Struck his head against a gate;
The gate flew in, the gate flew out,
And that's the way the fire went out.
3. Once upon a time
a goose drank wine.
The monkey chewed tobacco on the trolley car line.
the trolley car broke,
the monkey choked,
they all went to heaven on a billy goat.
4. (And one of mine)
Apples, peaches, pumpkin tarts
who is dearest to my heart?
Is it Jenny? Is it Tess?
Is it one I've never met?
Will we marry? Will we part?
Apples, peaches, pumpkin tarts.
Advertising (the false religion that proselytizes every minute of every day)
Ads! ads! ads! They're everywhere everywhere!
In this installment I ask that you vote (write/e-mail me) for those ads that are most offensive to you. And there is so much to choose from:
Ugly billboards
Junk mail
Phone solicitations
20 min. ad blocks on radio
Loud blaring - volume high - ads on TV
infomercials
telethons
Magazine subscription cards
Ads on city buses
Ads in the title of civic auditoriums
Ads geared toward impressionable kids
Fear ads (the only way to save you and your family is if you buy $#%**&)
Ads promoting cigarettes or alcohol as cool
Ad stickers on supermarket fruit
Movie promotion on tv news, talk shows, etc.
Ads over urinals
Ad stores (the Disney Store, the Warner Bros. store)
Ads on sacks and bags
Ads on school grounds
Ads on T-shirts
Spam
Pop up ads on computers
Circulars in the Sunday paper
Fast food movie tie in - ads .... etc. etc. etc.
YIKES!!!! Big Brother is here - and he is ads! Time to fight back:
IF YOU HATE ADS TOO, then here's what I suggest we do:
When you listen to the radio and they begin to play blocks of ads
BOYCOTT THE 4TH AD. Don't buy it, or refuse to buy it for a week. When you watch tv and your program is off the air for 10 minutes because of ads BOYCOTT THE 4TH AD. Same with your favorite magazine , or daily newspaper - REFUSE TO BUY ANYTHING ADVERTISED ON PAGE 4. It's a simple idea, but diabolical because no advertiser would want to be #4 - oh and wait a minute that makes #5 move up one, and he'll not want to do that either. In the end IF IT CATCHES ON we'll begin to pull back ads to 3 in a row and no mo! TELL ADVERTISERS YOU REFUSE TO BUY #4. So diabolical!
Music (and now its personal)
I like to go to antique malls. They're like upscale garage sales all in one place. They give you a sense of the past through the objects people keep or try to resale - glass, tins (I collect them), toys, clothes, books, furniture, etc..
In most of them there is one section that has a large rack of collectible guides. These amaze me. Did you know that there is a guide to toy pedal cars for kids - those trikes in the shape of cars. Well it seems they made them in spaceship shapes, plane shapes, boat shapes etc. There is also guides to old radios - how much more attractive and well designed they are than say modern day electronics like computers, boomboxes, etc. And I also saw another guide for 45 rpm records. So I picked it up and looked up AMERICAN BLUES. And that's where this story begins.
When I was growing up in Tyler Texas and writing songs, a local band liked one and decided to record it. Well they got a record deal out of Dallas and it all looked pretty good. But then the lead guitarist/ leader of the band's, parents wouldn't let him sign for some reason. So that deal was over. He, the lead guitarist, Doug Rhone later auditioned for Neil Diamond's band and has been his guitar player ever since. Well back to my song. The Dallas record co., named AMY still liked the song. So they took it and gave it to a Dallas band called the AMERICAN BLUES who recorded it. It was 1967 and the arrangement was a rip off of the then popular Dallas group that did hits like "Western Union" and others; and I can't think of their name. Anyway my song had 3 writers on the label - one of which wrote the song - me - Tom HendriX - yes they misspelled my name. It came out - was pretty good - and went nowhere. The AMERICAN BLUES also did a cover of IF I WAS A CARPENTER a sort of folk song from Bobby Darin of all people. After that they broke up and 2 of them went to another band that you may have heard of - ZZ TOP.
So in a weird sort of round about way, 2 of the 3 (the bass player and drummer) of ZZ Top did a Hendricks song.
That's why it is listed in the 45 RPM Guide, Golden Price Guide to 45 RPM Records, Tom Neely 2nd ed.:
Amy #997 Your Love is True (I wrote Your Lovin Trip, but that was changed) /
Say So, American , 1967, Very good condition $6.25, very very good condition $12.50, near mint $25.00 -
I think I have one copy somewhere, and my parents have one pasted to a frame in their living room. That's $50 or uh $25 .
Art (or a punchline in search of a joke!)
Perhaps you've heard of the artist Jeff Coons. He's everything I dislike about modern art (I still ask is Modern art either?) This is the guy who in 1988 did a ceramic edition of Michael Jackson and Bubbles. A recent article in the March 2001 Vanity Fair had these quotes "The story captures Koons perfectly - a man who will literally bleed for art (the preceding paragraph had him stringing canvas till blisters popped) - though he himself doesn't actually paint or sculpt or draw anymore; like many contemporary artists, he's more an author in the cinematic sense of directing a complex collaborative enterprise."
Later the article shows him in his studio sitting on a file cabinet of paints while 21 !!! - I counted them - people are working on different drawings and paintings! And as always "I AM NOT MAKING THIS STUFF UP!"
I have the preposterous idea that a painter should paint, a drawer draw! Go figure - or go figure drawing!
City Planning (or Alien cars are our overlords):
In one issue of Musea, I said that if aliens came down from space, they couldn't enslave us more than our cars have done. Think about it.
They even have every home fenced in - road in front, your driveway on one side of the house, the neighbors drive on the other, and the alley in the back - asphalt prison walls!
Well some love the cars, some don't. One zine that I enjoy looking at is Auto-Free Times. They don't. And they suggest that the world would be better if we stop worshipping the car and promote alternatives. On the back were bicycle stickers such as: Turn the ignition - Melt a Glacier , One Less Car, Depave America, Pavement isn't Green, Driving Our Climate to Extinction, Road Removal Creates Jobs, End Roadkill - Stop Cars, Stop Developers: No More Roads!, It's Hard To Destroy Wilderness Without Roads, Friends Don't Let Friends Drive, I'd Rather Be Breathing, etc.
In Dallas, it is almost anti-relgious to talk of NOT building roads, let alone tearing some up. Yet the new tollway around downtown is unanimously considered a mistake - a mistake that no one can stop!
What we could START doing is direct traffic away from dead Downtown - either go TO Downtown, or AROUND downtown, but not THROUGH downtown. Then take it one step further (and here's something our daily won't even dare print in the opinion page) and turn downtown Dallas into a pedestrian mall - and bring it back to life. I have a car and I use it. But there is a point when too much is too much! And those who prefer life out of all lanes (let alone the fast) should have that option in big towns like this one.
Story
#1 Scandal of the day (usually a story with many conflicting aspects but little relevance to any of our lives.
#2 Politics story, as soap opera or scandal (no real coverage of congress bills or supreme court judgments etc.)
#3 Arab/Israeli conflict story (and its always a CONFLICT story - never the good side of either side) There is more coverage of this conflict than all international news and all national news (excluding national politics) combined. Yet why is this regional conflict so important? No one in the media will comment.
#4 Black/White conflict story (note there is never a poor vs rich story)
#5 Economy story: favorites are stock market (when it goes down its the fault of consumers or workers NEVER of corporate ineptness or their excess bonuses), new drugs (note the many drug commercials during the breaks), Internet (but only as a marketplace for sales) etc.
#6 A "Bart's People" type story that features some solo persons effort to do something. Usually the story has the angle of "isn't he a harmless goof". Never will they cover any groups efforts to oppose big business or advertising, etc.
Well that and an add for one of their upcoming news shows and that's about it.
News #2 (wanted - an eighth grade ed.)
One of the customers that comes to the theater where I work is Dennis McCuistion who does a Sunday night, PBS channel 2, 11-midnight talk show. Each time he comes to see a movie I ask him when is he going to do a story on the media art monopolies. Well apparently I and others got through cause this was in my e-mail recently:
Dear Tom, On Tuesday evening, May 15, from 8-9:30pm we will be taping a TV program on the media and its relevancy. You and some of your supporters may want to be a part of our audience and ask some questions. Art is not the specific subject but objective investigative reporting is. Reed Irvine of Accuracy in Media from DC will be here among others. Call us for particulars if you have an interest.
I didn't make the taping, but I saw the show and thought McCuistion did a good job of talking about troublesome issues concerning the public.
I sent in these questions:
1. Is a 6 company consolidation of the media too few? What are the dangers?
(AOL/Warners,Disney/ABC,GE/NBC,Viacom/CBS, News Corp./Fox, Bertelsmann.
2.Why conflict over content?
3.Who comes first ratings or the audience?
Certainly the most unusual response was from Bert Shipp former assignment editor of WFAA, Channel 8, who said they gear the TV newscast for an audience at the level of eighth graders. And speaking of news (job posting later)
Museum (review of the new Meadows Museum on the SMU campus)
The new Meadows Museum building, showcasing their collection of Spanish art, is open on the SMU campus here in Dallas and I finally got a chance to see it. It's easy to find - just go in the main road off Mockingbird and look for the first red brick building on the right. I've seen the collection before and I always thought it had better works - though far fewer, than the bigger Dallas Museum of Art. Well DMA has improved a lot lately, but the new building has also helped the Meadows collection, by showing more paintings. The galleries are upstairs with the bulk of paintings on the one side and new exhibits and some drawings and prints (way too few though - considering they own Goya's great series of etchings) on the other.
They have my all time favorite painting, and arguably the best portrait ever, the Sibyl with Tabula Rasa by Velazquez (1648), plus a piece or 2 by most of the other Spanish greats including Murrillo, El Greco, Goya, Miro, Picasso, and some lesser known names that displayed as much quality and technique as those named, but less innovation.
It is one fancy building and there is nothing that isn't some type of marble, or gold, or something valuable in the floors, stairs, etc. I liked the fact that you can see the entire range of Spanish art from medieval to modern in one hour or so. It's just the right size for an afternoon at a museum. And if you go look at the Sibyl for me!
Corporate Art Strikes Again
SONY was 2 for 2 this summer. First it made up its own reviewer who surprisingly (?) gave Sony movies great lines to show in its ads. It seems David Manning is not a real anything. It'd be funnier if he gave them bad reviews. One actor said, Sony later made up a guy to take the fall. Not but a week later, Sony admitted to quoting a couple coming out of a premiere saying something to the effect that the film was a great date movie. Seems the couple worked for Sony. This is the tip of the iceberg says Art S Revolutionary.
Weblogs (Newshound needed for instant editor job - inquire within)
Does the term weblogs mean anything to you? They are very cool indeed. Michael Helsem turned me on to them.They are websites that list great entries from other websites - a sort of personal guide to the net. One of the oldest is http://www.robotwisdom.com
that is set up by John Barger. I like it because of the wide variety of topics that he covers and the fact that it is so easy to navigate - just go down the first page list until you find a subject you want to check out. He also has a visitors page where you can add your own favorite site. Also here is another good entry. This one gives a brief history of weblogs. http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html
Job Posting: Need a job? Want to be an editor of a no ad, no corporate controlled, indie, non Gov. financed, really free press? I'm looking for someone to set up a web log with a straightforward structure like this http://www.robotwisdom.com/
Once or twice a week you would update a list of links to all sites media worthy - any site that has a balanced news article, a balanced opinion on the news, media, or art, or any story that catches your fancy. Then you list them on a weblog located on the Musea website (you'll have to have some computer skills). Just that easy. That way, at least twice a week viewers can come to Musea for all the latest news and art on the media. An instant newspaper without ads, gov. grants, sponsors.
I'm looking for someone who can devote a lot of time to not only posting, but surfing the net. He/She has to do it for free now so you'll have to have a desire to be a newshound more than getting rich. You'll have to either know the net or be willing to explore it a lot. You'll have to agree with the Musea policy of variety of opinions - anti ads and Corp. Art control of the media, a love for independent opinions, etc.
If you're the person that wants an instant paper with you as editor (and I an my readers will help by supplying you with any sites we think are worthy) and you love all things good about fair and honest journalism, free of pressures from advertisers, then contact me, Tom Hendricks. We don't have money, but we have an audience of 500 hits daily + and a free sub to Musea for whomever gets the job.
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