I like to mess around with moving texture imagery using Adobe After Effects! This mesmerizing effect was created from a simple shot of water in a swimming pool, shot on an iPhone in slow motion. I try to avoid obvious effects filters, preferring to rely on layering techniques that go back to my pre-digital days on the Optical Printer. The nice thing about digital, however, is that I can do something like this in a couple of hours instead of days & weeks!
Béla Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances
It’s only 5 minutes long! These folk classics will lift your spirits and bring a smile to your face. Performed live with gusto by Zoltán Kocsis (piano) and Barnabás Kelemen (violin), as good as it gets! Bravo.
loopy streaks movie
Intentionally shot this way! Filmed with a Super-8 movie camera almost 25 years ago, but left unfinished until I had the film transferred to HD digital format last year. I carefully went through the footage and created a few dozen loops which were then edited together along with annoying sound effects. Originally filmed in San Francisco’s North Beach district at night (lots of different lights), and if you’ve ever been there, you will figure out the title CONDOR / ROARING20s.
This Island, Earth
Note the comma (between Island and Earth). Sometimes it’s there, sometimes not. The comma pointedly appears in the original poster art from 1955:
And yet, somebody decided to omit it on the 1964 re-issue posters. Maybe some studio bigwig thought it was too arty and confusing for movie goers back in the day, go figure:
No matter, the film today remains a classic of 1950s Science Fiction with plenty of weirdness. A big budget affair from Universal Studios with lavish special effects all in beautiful Technicolor, and probably overshadowed by MGM’s production Forbidden Planet which came along about 9 months later.
Earths best scientists are (unknowingly) recruited by (they later find out) aliens from the planet Metaluna, which is dying and (they later find out) under attack from the Zagons (never explained). The scientists, at first, don’t notice that the Metalunans look sort of like earthlings, except they have rather high and bumpy foreheads with unusual gray hair. Anyhow, 2 of the scientists are kidnapped by the Metalunan named Exeter, and taken to Metaluna, where they witness “The Supreme Excitement of Our Time” (according to the films advertising campaign). Turns out, the Metalunans intend to bail out on Metaluna, and relocate to Earth and subjugate our free will. Thankfully, however, the plan doesn’t come to fruition as Exeter bravely saves the earth scientists (just before the Zagons destroy Metaluna) and returns them to Earth (which is none the wiser). Kinda makes you wonder about our place in the Universe: This Island, (pause) Earth. I think I prefer the comma!
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Max Fury Road (fake trailer)
Here’s what you get when you take the trailer for Mad Max: Fury Road, keep the sound track and replace the images with scenes from 1963’s classic comedy It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. I want to see this movie! The vivid Ultra Panavision 70 images from IAMMMMW are stunningly clear, with beautiful saturated colors, I swell up with nostalgia. Here’s the actual Mad Max: Fury Road trailer used as a template:
4th of July, San Francisco (from 5 miles away with heavy fog)
Every year I get to see the 4th of July fireworks show in San Francisco from 5 miles away, in Marin County. this year, heavy fog obscured the view. Here’s the view from 2011:
SF Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum interviews Bruce Lee
Produced to help promote the upcoming “Bruce Lee 75th Birthday Celebration” (Bruce Lee Night) San Francisco Giants vs New York Mets at AT&T Park in San Francisco on July 7, 2015. Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum interviews Bruce Lee about, well, pitching! The footage of Lee was taken from a 1971 television interview by Canadian Pierre Berton (from his self named show).
Scenic view of San Francisco from North Vista Point
April 7th, 2015: Tourists capture the moment at North Vista Point (Marin County), with the hint of a rainbow showing near Alcatraz. Part of The San Francisco Variations, a time-lapse collection.
GIF: San Francisco obscured by fog
The view from Slacker’s Hill on May 21st, 2015.
The Fermi Paradox (Where Are All The Aliens?)
Want to feel humbled by our insignificance? Here is an entertaining little video which explains that while our galaxy, our universe, may be teeming with intelligent life, but why we’re unlikely to encounter it. This idea was first put forth around 1950 by physicists Enrico Fermi and Michael H. Hart, and is referred to as “Fermi’s Paradox” or “The Fermi Paradox”.
Lapsed Time Images 