A journey’s journey. Movement and development. Pattern and chaos.

This was filmed while travailing around Europe in the winter of 1989 and summer of 1990. It was shot on Super 8 (that’s right: those are real bits of dust and scratches!) with a cheap, plastic movie camera I got in a thrift store. It’s safe to say a roll of film cost more than the camera, which was called a “Bentley” — a rather fancy name, but it did have a glass lenses. I use this camera as an “ambient journal” – I’d used it when i caught myself transfixed or just absorbing a scene in front of me. In total I think I shot only 4 or 6 rolls of film. I had them transferred to BetaCam (in 1991) and then edited them (in a non-non-linear “editing suite”). I did drop some segments, but restricted myself to maintaining the sequences in the order they were shot. I then set it to P. Gabriel’s incredible score to’ Last Temptation of Christ,’ a book I read while on this trip. The music has been altered a bit and is a medley of several tracks.

As I kept company with this small movie camera that was always stashed in a shoulder bag or pack, I let it develop its own voice based on what I liked shooting with it. In a way, it was kind of like a musical instrument one might carry around like a harmonica or or ukulele. You’d only decided to play theses instruments when the ‘mood’ was right and then only with the type of song that fit its qualities. That is what the “Bentley” was for me on this trip, and that was the only ‘plan’ as to what might come of a final film- no set story or plot – just a relationship to the camera.

After over a year of wondering, I had short just a few rolls of film ($14 a roll after all – and i was a student!). The very first roll was processed before all the others where even shot. In this time, I used to “present” the film to friends on a super 8 projector on a small, low coffee table and shine the image on to a small movie theater stage made out of cloth and cardboard – like a model of a theater. The screen was about twelve inches wide. I’d put on some music and then play back the whole reel while playing with the play control lever–18 fps, then slow motion, back to full speed, then step frames and pauses– much like the first section is in the video here. It was part performance piece!  And actually I had no other way to show people my films.

With the additional rolls shot and developed, I decided to transfer to videotape and edit together a finished piece. There wouldn’t be any more ‘live performances’ for a huddled group of friends around a model theater; nor would there be the intimate ambiance dark room and the ticking projector smelling of burning dust and most of all the wonderful illumination of projected film. Quite honestly, the film couldn’t survive too many more trips through the sprockets and gates – though it has added a sought-after patina that endures in the video.

What’s it about?

Well, I didn’t plan it to be about anything other than the those isolated, in-sequence moments that I felt were “Bentley Moments.” That said, I feel that in retrospect there is always an underlying thread to human endeavors be they grand or casual–a subconsciousness. And since there was a certain deliberateness to the process, if not to the story, I felt a unknown theme might emerge. I feel several did and have been pleased by the conversations that occur after people have seen the film, and ask to see it again.

For me the film shows a journey or progression – progressions of patterns; simplicity to complex; nature to man-made; of the individual to the public. I did add one element to the film in editing: color. The blueish cast at the beginning gives way to a warm tone. The blue, which is not unlike the cool tint of the actual film stock, was added to back up the winter, and the cold alpine valleys at the start, while the sepia echos the heat radiated from the stones of the Italian cities.

Some Photos from the time or view on Flickr:

Shot on the Canon 5D mkII at the Blackhawk Ski Club near Madison.

Last weekend Chris and I spent the afternoon photographing a regional youth ski jumping meet here in Madison (Middleton actually). Wasn’t for a job–a friend of mine is on ski patrol at this area and let us know about it.  It was quite exiting, and we made some nice contacts so maybe something more will come of it.

It was very impressive to watch (and hear, as there is an astonishing rush of air as they fly by). Both men and women competed form teens down to grade schoolers. One 11 year old even ‘flies’ from the 60 meter jump, though most of the smaller kids stick to the 30m or 15m. Apparently, Wisconsin and Minnesota are a bit of a hot bed for the sport. Turns out it’s safer than snowboarding.

We also met and talked to Karla Keck (photo),  who is leading the charge to get women’s ski jumping reinstated in the Olympics (NYT article), as its been drop from the Vancouver games.

Anyway, it was a real challenge to shoot–try charging up a very steep ski hill and then trying to hold a heavy camera steady–, but a lot of fun too. Thought you might like to see the photos.

More images in the Archive

A short video cobbled together from very few clips i managed to shoot with the Canon G9 while racing the “Mac” on Intuition (S2 9.2a). We took second place in the Cruising 2 Div.

Didn’t bother working with FCE, just used iMove which worked quite well once I got the hang of it. Although I’m still relativity new to editing video, I’ve normally used AfterEffects and Final Cut. I can see how the iMove interface could make editing easier to the casual user it’s marketed to. Hoverer, if you already have a foot (or more) in the more standard way of working, it’s actually a little frustrating at first. I have the same problem with point-and-shoot cameras. When people say “Hey, you’re a photographer, can you take our picture with my camera,” I usually have to ask them how it works.

It’s also curious that iMove has a nice anti-camera-shake filter that is missing from FCE (but returns in FCP). I’m not sure why they’d do that when the price jump to move from FCE to FCP is $800 while iMove is just $79.

More about my experience in the 2009 Race to Mackinac.

This was shot with my underwater-camera-on-a-floatable-stick device. Comprised of a Bogen monopod mounted with an articulated head, and an empty plastic water bottle duck-taped to the upper end of the monopod shaft for extra buoyancy. Mounted on the head is a Canon G9 in a rigid waterproof housing. The camera itself is set to a custom self-timer that shoots 3 shots in rapid succession 10 seconds after the shutter button is pushed.

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