Devil's Pitchfork

I read Pitchfork daily, so I saw that article as well. Brock, I felt the absolute same way you did. We just won't go there.

Can't wait to see your first work, Brock. When do I get to be in one of your projects? I need to get my camcorder back from Josh and we should film some stuff. I had the idea that we could do some "fantasy" music vidoes. You know, take some of our favorite songs and do videos for them, as if the band had asked us. Then destroy them so we don't get sued, heh, heh.

Hackneyed words, hackneyed video

If you’re an avid reader of Pitchfork, and you happened to come across my post yesterday, then allow me to apologize for some of those things I said. As you probably know, I was a bit addled by their article on Braid. My rotten disposition came about because I felt the article drew false conclusions upon unfounded statements, statements that the writer basically twisted into sensationalistic journalism. So if you like either Pitchfork or the Rapture (the conceptual music link) then understand that I wasn’t trying to make an attack on the website, just its hackneyed writing.

With that said, let’s move on to today’s business, namely, me telling you about my experience in editing. Well, there isn’t actually a whole lot to say on the matter. I went into class, breezed through a particularly easy mid-term, and spent the rest of the evening with a partner editing the video I had shot a week earlier.
We ended up laying down some very nice transitions and effects, and when deciding how to present the credits, my partner threw in a stroke of brilliance. We took the very last frame of the video, a man jumping up into the air and clicking his heels, and froze the frame at the peak of his jump. Then, like an old episode of M*A*S*H, we rolled the credits over that still frame.
I’m not satisfied with our musical selections though. The other editor was hell bent on fading in and out different songs throughout the entire video. I, on the other hand personally felt that since the video is only two minutes long a lot of different audio tracks might break up the pacing. Hence, I’ve picked out a song that I think we could lay down over the entire video, ‘I Don’t Know’, from Hello Nasty.
I’m sure the other editor will at least let me try it out before we turn our project in.

Anyway, in important news…I’m glad to hear that Gabe’s monologue went so well. I knew he was gonna pull it off. I just didn’t expect his teacher to be so completely bowled over by his performance. It’s definitely a progression from holding oranges in your hand, eh Gabe?
Thanks by the way for adding the Phoenix Art Link. First Fridays are always a blast. If you’re ever in Phoenix on the first Friday of the month, or if you’ve lived in Phoenix without ever attending one of its art events, then think about attending a First Friday. You’re sure to see some good work and interesting ideas.

Braid v 2.0

Pitchfork Media posted an article on Braid's upcoming reunion tour and DVD. It's mostly just stuff you probably already knew, except the good fellas decided to throw in some of their usual pretentious commentary, half-assed conclusions and self-indulgent references to spice the article up. Thank goodness for Pitchfork. If they weren't around the music community might be too stupid to decide what conceptual music it’s supposed to listen to.

Editing

I'll post later about my editing work. Unlike Gabe, I'll be the furthest thing from humble. Hee hee...

The only arrangement I'll accept...

That is a line from my monologue. I nailed it. I'm beginning to like this acting thing very much. I get a rush from it. It's my skydiving. My teacher had nothing but praise, as well as the rest of the class. I don't want my head to get big, so I'll say "it was decent."

I went to a show last night in hopes of seeing The Fire Theft and Grandaddy. Unfortunately, due to my class getting out at 6:50, and me forgetting about it, I completely missed The Fire Theft. However, I did get to see Grandaddy, who were great. They had a screen with some home video looking footage playing, some of which was pretty hilarious. They were tight and very interesting. They took away some of the pain of missing The Fire Theft.

Great idea on the Phoenix links, Brock! I added one for Art Link, which has all the info on Phoenix's First Fridays. On the first Friday of every month, downtown Phoenix art gallerys have open house for anyone to come and view the art.

Culture Shock

I thought that it was time to add some new links to our blog. For one, I added Rocky Votolato. In fact, I’m not sure why neither Gabe nor myself added him earlier; we talk about Rocky as much as we talk about those other bands. So it’s only fair that the man be given a spot on our “column of relevance”.
Under Rocky and the other links you’ll notice that I also created a new link section corresponding to Phoenix events. This doesn’t mean that I’m going to start slapping up links for every Oktoberfest or coffee shop to open in downtown Phoenix, but I do want us to mention important Phoenix cultural events from time to time.
My decision to commit to this happened when I was visiting the link for Lawrence Kansas and I realized that we talk about Lawrence (and its music) on this blog enough that some might think we’d be better suited as Lawrence residents. That’d be nifty, but currently Gabe and I are Phoenix residents and from time to time we also mention Phoenix cultural events that catch our eye. This is just to make it easier for our Phoenix readers (assuming we even have readers in the first place) to check out some of the upcoming shows and festivals for our developing city.
Phoenix has been working very hard to establish a cultural and artistic foundation for itself, and recently a heightened interest in things like the ‘Art Expo’ and ‘The Phoenix Film Festival’ have added a level of credibility to those attempts. And so, here are some links to continue in that effort. I’ll take them down when the Animation Weekend and Film Festival have passed.

New

trying something new tomorrow...check out the links area....

Video Capture Device

Weezer.com has put up a quick preview clip for their new DVD release, Video Capture Device. I can't place my finger on the clip, but I'm guessing that it's some of the rare footage the DVD touts.

Yeah, I made a quick post on your computer. I think that's the first ever post I made on your turf. When you think about it like that, it's kind of a landmark.

In 2003 Brock Posted:


• At School


• In San Francisco


In 2004...

• At Gabe's computer (computer infiltration!)


Coming soon?

• During class


• In the shower


• At an Apple store with an employe looking over my shoulder

Weeper

The tissue was there just in case. Not that anyone would cry when there's four guys together watching it.

Yes, the Art Detour was a nice outing. The weather was excellent. It's gotten a bit warm around here this week (low 90s) but as long as it isn't in the 100s and humid, it's OK.

Tomorrow night I do my monologue from Glengarry Glen Ross. I'm ready!

Brock, you sneak! Blogging from my home computer.

The Sounds of Science

A new Beastie Boys album will be released this year. Finally. Yes, that's right, the Beasties will unleash the follow up to their massively huge Hello Nasty this Summer. Mass hysteria is sure to follow.

Gabe, Marco, a friend of ours and myself attended the Art Detour Saturday in downtown Phoenix. This time we went for a change in plan and visited some of the galleries we normally stray from, including The Ice House and AUX. The Ice House's work was an impressive use of artistically molded steel, while AUX showcased some interesting work by a mathematically inspired artist. I was especially impressed by those pieces; the artist created his work by visualizing mathematical equations into their visceral offspring. The result was some startlingly beautiful geometric figures. One piece in particular had been overlaid with color and shading to create a stunning picture of planetary bodies in orbit.
After the Art Detour we went over to Gabe's house and watched Whale Rider. I must admit that I was taken back numerous times while watching the film. Rebekah (Gabe's wife) had mentioned that it was a tearful viewing, and Gabe (jokingly?) set out a box of tissues before playing the movie. And while I didn't cry, there were some very impacting moments in the story. The finale in particular was visually and emotionally reaming. I won't spoil it for you, but the movie succeeds in creating a haunting portrait of beached whales, while at the same time interlocking it into the story's premise.

On a side note, I won’t be able to attend The Fire Theft and Grandaddy show on Wednesday night. I’ve got midterms in digital multimedia and I also have to edit the video I directed. Voiceover work, audio files and transitions all need to be applied to the footage the crew and I gathered.
I’ve already seen The Fire Theft, which leaves Grandaddy as my main disappointment. I had really gotten into their music over the last few months in hopes that it would pay off in seeing them live. Now I’ll have to wait until they come around again. If you’re thinking of going on Wednesday, I highly recommend it. The Fire Theft puts on an amazing set. They’re energetic, brooding and epic. You won’t be disappointed.

Pilfered Time

Holy cow, post from Gabe's house, on Gabe's computer. He's got a weird keyboard, trying to get used to it. I think it's one of those orthopedic keyboards. Anyhoo, yes you will get to see my film. I didn't devise the story, but I'm quite happy with the product.

Gabe is in the front room blasting Star Wars on the surround sound. Knocking some kid's ear-drums out. I swear, I've entered Coruscant.

-Brock

And the 'A' goes to...

Brock Brown and his group for "Library Triangle Love!" Will I get to see it, Brock? Can't wait to hear about it.

Braid Tour 2004 was updated a little bit. You can read a message from the band (Bob) and view the trailer for the upcoming DVD. Rock on. I cannot wait!!! No tour dates yet.

That's a wrap

Shot my first video tonight. It went very well. I'm very pleased. But I'm also worn out.

-Brock

Action Jackson

To be honest, I didn’t watch all of the Oscars. When the show finally aired it just didn’t seem that appealing to me. It’s all become so routine, the same actors and the same actresses get nominated every year and win every year. They may have different names and a different film to plug, but it’s all in the same spirit: Politics, favoritism, and ignorant voting. Although the Academy Awards does have a flash of brilliance every now and then, it often tempers that with a return to its old tricks. Like the nominations of underappreciated actors and actresses ever stood a chance to win against their big name counterparts. Charlize Theron won because she’s Charlize Theron.

It was sad to see Murray loose Best Actor. I didn’t think he deserved it, but to watch him campaign for it, stash up all his chips and reputation on it, revere it like the golden talisman that would unite his career under a catharsis of brilliance, and then loose it was heartbreaking. (Oh, and Johnny Depp’s apology award will be for Willy Wonka.)

Peter Jackson did deserve ‘best director’ though. He succeeded in completing a truly monumental task. Return of the King’s viability in many categories is questionable, but Jackson earned that director award.

Lord of the Oscars

Eleven out of eleven. I guess it was to be expected. The last hurrah. I think some of the categories they won in, though, were questionable. Like for Film Editing. I didn’t see City of God, but just the clips looked impressive for that category.

Overall it was the typical Oscars ceremony. No big surprises, no overly scandalous statements. I was pleased to see Sofia Coppola win for Best Original Screenplay. I think she was deserving of that. I hope that no wins for excellent movies such as Whale Rider and In America, take away from any recognition they deserve. It was funny to see “Mitch and Mickey” perform their song from A Mighty Wind. Hilarious.

Yeah, that Coachella ticket doesn’t have my name on it until Brock has my cash in his pocket!

Indio

My Coachella tickets just came and one of them has Gabe's name on it. Well...not literally.

Eye Twitchin'

Oh, and in an update, I got the storyboards done. I had to meet up with the DP a bit later then I had hoped, but once we finally sat down to do the storyboards we breezed through them. The previous night had been difficult because we sat down to write the storyboards with ‘the group’. In other words we tried to lay down the storyboards with the actors, art director and writer. Which was hard. So there’s a lesson for me: it’s easier to just get the people actually involved in establishing the shots to work through the storyboards.

Daft

I'm so daft I didn't even notice it. Heh heh...

Torapher

I forgot a "G" in cinematographer in my post yesterday. It's corrected now. Brock, I hope you didn't panic when you didn't know what a "cinematorapher" was!

Storyboards

Brock H. Brown - Director/Cinematographer
For this first project anyway. I was originally going to be an actor but the group instead decided to put me in the directing position.

Today I've gotta meet and work with the DP (director of photography) and work out the storyboards.