Summer’s End: The Videos
There’s officially a few more weeks to summer yet, but Labor Day always seems to be the psychological end of the season. Days start feeling shorter already. Halloween’s just around the corner. Leaves haven’t even started turning brown yet (Have they? I live in L.A.), but we’re already wistful for sunnier days and happier breezes.
Personally, my summer was kind of a bummer this year between losing my job and putting my cat to sleep. So, I can only hope for a better autumn. It’s my favorite season anyway. But for all of you who may be feeling wistful, I’m embedding a couple videos to help exacerbate the mood.
The above film, Another French New Wave, is by a new filmmaker I recently discovered. Alessandro Cima runs the blog Camouflage Lenses. He’s also an animator by trade who has started making “film poems,” which is what the above is. Ok, it’s not very summer-y, but it’s very wistful and I just love the sentiments that fill it’s short two-minute runtime. It’s quite a lovely ode to the French New Wave cinema and very difficult to argue with.
Next, we have Butterfly by Jennifer MacMillan (the video that inspired this post to begin with):
Is there anybody making more peaceful, soothing videos than MacMillan today? Also, according to her site, Invisible Cinema, she says she shot 30 minutes of butterflies to get this one perfect shot. She must have the patience of a saint, too.
Finally, we have A Sense of Place by Dave McDougall. (Video no longer available.)
I’m not familiar with McDougall’s work and I only just happened to stumble on this recently, but I like it a hell of a lot. It does exactly what the title says it’s going to do and it captures perfectly those quiet little moments of life where maybe there’s a ton of activity going on in the vicinity, but you just want to stop and watch the ducks floating in the water.
McDougall also runs the blog Chained to the Cinematheque and you can find this video on the new social networking site for film lovers The Auteurs, where I’ve created an account to help spread the underground word. It’s a nice site. (The Auteurs is now Mubi.com.)
Underground Film Feedback (5 comments)
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Mike, this is awesome! I really admire your site, and I am thrilled that you “get” my video. :) I admire the work of both Alessandro and Dave as well, and I am happy to see that you have discovered their blogs and videos. Great minds think alike! :)
p.s. I am so sorry about your kitty. Fall will be a better season . . .
p.s. . . Was that a sarcastic comment about having the patience of a saint? :)
No, not at all. I meant that sincerely. I was extremely impressed when you put that note up on your website that you took so many shots to get that one perfect one. And what a perfect one it is! That’s a beautiful butterfly.
I am kind of overwhelmed in a really nice way here. :) But you should know, I am impatient with the camera, and that’s why I only have 1 minute of footage!
Thank you, Mike. I like what you’ve said about ‘Another French New Wave.’ I am proud to have it showing here on your site. Very shortly, I am going to post an article about BadLit. I’ll let you know when it goes up.
Best