blog.thinfilms.org

anthropology | media ecology | mythology | tinkering | visual literacy
sight and sound

Anticipating the Arrival of Mr. Bird

I love this man, born and raised here, and he is coming home very, very soon – thanks for stopping by our fair city, Mr. Bird:

Give yourself a present [Part III]

thinfilms agent dale cooper Give yourself a present [Part III]

Harry, I’m gonna let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don’t plan it, don’t wait for it, just…let it happen. Could be a new shirt at the men’s store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot, black coffee.

Get Low

If you have not yet seen this film, you have it to look forward to:

MacAskill

We tip our hats to @kdragon87 for the tip on this one:

Leviticus

We just wrapped a short and sweet showcase shoot of Leviticus Tattoo Studio. Kurt and crew are a pleasure to work with and are renowned in the world of ink. Check them out if you’re seeking an artist to create a one-of-a-kind work for you:

Dropped is in

This 10-minute short film is made up of clips found on YouTube by Chris Beckman, who collected clips of people dropping their video cameras and edited them together into this artful masterpiece:

Bar Harbor

thinfilms c small 300x215 Bar Harbor

Your's truly hanging out in Bar Harbor yesterday

I spent the day yesterday walking around Bar Harbor with some very good pals. Walking and talking, we putzed around the tide pools, took some stills, skipped some stones and took in the area’s beautiful scenery and fresh ocean air. We toured Acadia National Park and spent some time at the top of Cadillac Mountain, the best vantage point around. The people were as colorful as the trees – old and young, indigenous and imported. Mingling amongst the shops, restaurants and pubs made for a day of colors, smells and flavors that definitely matched the cool, breezy fall season.

View Larger Map

Here are some interesting facts about Bar Harbor:
Settled 1763
Incorporated February 23, 1796
- Total 70.4 sq mi (182.4 km2)
- Land 42.2 sq mi (109.3 km2)
- Water 28.2 sq mi (73.1 km2)

I Feel It All

Digging in the Dirt

The Unseen Sea

Simon Christen shot this in the Bay Area:

Cold War

I love the unfettered, personal nature of this:

Pigs on the Wing

Part 1

If you didn’t care what happened to me,
And I didn’t care for you,
We would zig zag our way through the boredom and pain
Occasionally glancing up through the rain.
Wondering which of the buggars to blame
And watching for pigs on the wing.

Part 2

You know that I care what happens to you,
And I know that you care for me, too.
So I don’t feel alone,
Or the weight of the stone,
Now that I’ve found somewhere safe
To bury my bone.
And any fool knows a dog needs a home,
A shelter from pigs on the wing.

On Becoming an Adult

Behind the Scenes: WIND

Behind the scenes with the Exploratorium, A Curious Summer and Tinkering Unlimited as they prepare to work with young learners to harness wind’s invisible power through discovering where it comes from and how to predict its behavior while studying aerodynamics and lift. Through tinkering with wind-powered machines and vehicles, such as a paragliding wing, turbines and sailboats and designing kites and gliders, this hands-on experience will open new doors into the mysterious power of WIND.

Not the Dentist!

From a selection of 29 individual storyboards, we drew two scenes randomly and made a short screenplay from them. Then, using resources immediately available to us, we made this short film in one day on location @ Tinkering School in Montara, California:

The Suburbs

Tinkering School: Day 8

Go cart design, assembly and testing by the inimitable Team Tinker with snippets of boat model design and other moments of singular, whimsical tinkering mastery. Thanks to Moby for his song, Porcelain.

Tinkering School: Day 6

Think, Make, Tinker: Theo, Isaac, Leo, Max, Hannah, Nik, Sam, Jacob, Julie and Gever set off to test their inventions on Day 6 of Tinkering School. Nods to King of Hawaii for the groovy surf vibe.

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Geometry of Life

thanks to @kurt_vega for reminding us of this beautiful film by Cristóbal Vila:

City of Music: Charlie Parr

thinfilms helped MPLS.tv shoot a music video featuring Charlie Parr for City Pages’ Gimme Noise. Here’s the final edit:

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A little perspective on where we are…probably

Down to the River

thinfilms chad charlie parr 300x199 Down to the River

Filming the Charlie Parr video last weekend

As I mentioned earlier, last weekend I went down to the river with a bunch of gear to help Dan Huiting shoot a music video featuring Charlie Parr for City of Music and the video is premiering this coming Monday on the site.

See more stills from the shoot and read the article in City Pages

10 second Charlie

It’s 20 seconds, actually, but it goes by fast as my new pal, Charlie Parr, plays his National while sitting along the mighty Mississippi River:

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Charlie Parr

thinfilms  Charlie Parr

Charlie Parr in Minneapolis this morning

I had the distinct pleasure of spending this morning down by the Mississippi River with Charlie Parr, shooting a video for City of Music with Dan Huiting, Chris Cloud, Dave Hannigan and the rest of the MPLS.tv crew. He’s such a good spirit and talented musician.

Amidst such a perfect backdrop for his sound, the morning flew by listening to him sing and play his National down there along the river while we did our three-camera shoot. He has a new album out soon, too, so keep an eye peeled for it.

I’ll be sure to post the final edit here but, meanwhile, please enjoy this clip taken in ’09 while Charlie played Cheap Wine at the Victoria Pub in Birmingham, UK: