Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Watcher, a short film shot with Pinhole Video

This short is the outcome of something I have been thinking about for a few months, video shot with a pinhole lens. Well, as you may know there is in fact no lens creating the image, just a very small hole made with a pin. Pinhole image creation is very old and started with the camera obscura. I have worked with pinhole photography a few times over the years, and this thought of video created with a hole in a piece of aluminum foil would not go away.
While this image is not suited to showing great detail in an object, it does have a very ethereal look and would work nicely for a baby's POV, dream state, or other-worldly kind of feeling.
This is my first test, and we plan to shoot with some different size pinholes to go for different looks. I liked this look for a horror film, so with a tip of the hat to Halloween here is "Watcher".

Monday, October 5, 2009

Save the Monkeywhale Music Festival

   This past weekend proved to be  big on fun (bigger on wearing me out) shooting a film on the Save the Monkeywhale Festival 2009 in Greensboro NC. It was 3 nights of NC bands, 12 in all, in 2 venues. The show comes out of the Harvey's Kithchen series of short films on North Carolina music, and beyond. The goal of the festival was to help fund equipment to keep the whole thing moving and support local arts and music. 

   My good friends at Monkeywhale, headed up by Harvey K. Robinson, asked me to come out and shoot a documentary film on the festival. I came away with 3 and a half hours of footage that will be mixed with some video from Harvey and Zach Hadgraft to produce a music video for each band and an overall film about the festival. Watch here, Mark Wagoner on Blip.TV, and monkeywhale.com for the upcoming films.

   In the mean time here are some frames from the footage that I shot at the festival.

A music soaked  crowd watches House of Fools play.
Now You See Them at Solaris.

Stephaniesid at the Blind Tiger, off beat sound with rock solid in the pocket
drumming.
Bruce Piephoff, the master at work.
The Never from Chapel Hill, YES!
Martha Bassett in a glow at the blind tiger.
On maracas Katharine Whalen peforms with Alcazar Hptel.
The Martha Bassett Band.
Matty Sheets on interviews.
Citified plays the sound, nice.
Alcazar Hotel are the Czars.

Jim Avett steps in with Amelia's Mechanics.
Eating the Invaders cranks it up at Solaris on night one.
Fans went wild, or were mesmerized.

Holy Ghost Tent Revival had the crowd dancing at Solaris.