Thursday, January 31, 2008

Survey and Technical Forum

Just a quick note to ask some of you to clarify your Blogger and Tech Forum IDs. These folks haven't given us enough information to properly identify them--please let us know who you are:

BLOGGER
Davey Havoc
Alex
Jon
nectarguru
Strummer
Andrew

TECHNICAL FORUM
nectarguru
panamafred


To date, we have received 51 surveys, and 52 folks have registered for the Technical Forum. The deadline for turning in the survey was last Sunday, and the deadline for registering for the Technical Forum was yesterday. So, for those who haven't met those deadlines, fill out those surveys and sign up for the Forum right away.

Microcinema: Call for Works

http://tinyurl.com/2fajqd

Independent Exposure 2008: 13th Season

A Worldwide Screening Program of International Short Films, Videos and Digital Works

Curated by Microcinema International and Asthmatic Kitty Records; Presented by Panasonic Broadcast

Deadline For Submission: February 29, 2008. Entrance Fee: $US 5

Screenings: San Francisco, Asthmatic Kitty Unusual Animals Events, Other Events Worldwide

Grand Prize:
Panasonic AG-HSC1U 1/4" 3-CCD High Definition Video Camera
Selected Asthmatic Kitty Discography (20 most recent releases) and Garments

Second Prize:
Selected MicrocinemaDVD.com Catalog ($500 worth)
Selected Asthmatic Kitty Discography (10 most recent releases) and Garments

Third Prize:
Selected MicrocinemaDVD.com Catalog ($250 worth)
Selected Asthmatic Kitty Discography (5 most recent releases) and Garments

What We Are Looking For: We are considering short video, film and digital-media submissions of 15 minutes or less and are seeking narrative, artistic, humorous, dramatic, animation, documentary, experimental, alternative, avant-garde, ambient, music videos, and underground works of all genres, formats, and styles.

We are primarily interested in innovative artistic presentation and storytelling.

Please read our Submission FAQ and Terms

To submit, go through the Checklist, then submit your information online and you can also pay your fee online.

For extra information, e-mail: submissions@microcinema.com

They met in Houston, Texas for a collaborative all-day, all-ages, all-free, all-good five-band gig called Unusual Animals. But that short rendezvous was not enough for either Microcinema or Asthmatic Kitty, so after a few carefully written telegrams and telephone calls, the two are getting together again to collectively present Independent Exposure 2008.

Since its inception in 1996, Independent Exposure has been a curatorial effort designed to bring the newest and most innovative short films to an untapped, broader audience by using non-traditional venues. These showcases are exhibited in non-traditional venues or "microcinemas" such as galleries, cafes, bars, nightclubs, outdoors, and other alternative spaces that support the independent arts. To date, Independent Exposure has been presented hundreds of times in 44 countries plus Palestine and Antarctica and at base camp on Mt. Everest.

Beyond regular San Francisco and Houston events, screenings in 2007 included a film festival in Ithaca, NY, a full screening of every 2007 IE edition in Alaska, a widely covered Halloween screening in San Francisco, a showing of films at Virgin Mobile Fest and a screening of Independent Exposure at one of Asthmatic Kitty Record's curated Unusual Animals show in Houston.

Since 2005, Independent Exposure has teamed up with a partner to curate the screening programs and select prize winners and a "best-of" selection. Recent partners include Addictive TV and Hal Hartley.

Asthmatic Kitty is currently one of the most influential independent record labels in the United States, and is an ideal co-curator for Independent Exposure 2008. "From the beginning 'musical' film and video have played a central role in our program," says founder Patrick Kwiatkowski. "So a curator with an eye for music is going to yield an interesting program. Asthmatic Kitty is less a label than a curator of music, bands, and musicians with a focused, yet evolving mission. They are a perfect partner and I can't wait to see how they apply themselves to the film arts."

"Microcinema mirrors the Asthmatic Kitty values of community and a love for innovation and creativity. Within minutes it was obvious that they were a family that we wanted to marry into," said A&R/Development Director Michael Kaufmann

Asthmatic Kitty also brings a festival component to the 2008 series. The label hosts "Unusual Animals" in various cities around the country. It is a curated showcase of regional musical talent and in 2008 a film component will be added.

About Asthmatic Kitty – asthmatickitty.com

Born in 1999, Asthmatic Kitty Records was originally conceived as a platform for musical projects by a community of artists from Holland, Michigan, a small city on the shoreLake Michigan. Some were Holland natives, and others had come to attend local colleges and universities. While the original Holland nucleus has now dispersed to various parts of the country, the fellowship is still growing, with new friends and shared projects with other independent labels. Asthmatic Kitty is now based in Lander, Wyoming, Indianapolis, Indiana and New York City.

Current artists on the label include: Bunky - Castanets - Cryptacize - Future Rapper, et al. - Half-handed Cloud - Liz Janes - My Brightest Diamond - Rafter - Chris Schlarb - Shapes and Sizes - Sufjan Stevens - The Curtains.

Asthmatic Kitty was named after Sara, a voluptuous orange and white longhair who wandered out of the woods in 1995, pregnant, starving, and afflicted with various parasites and ailments, including feline asthma. Although she still wheezes a bit, especially when being chased by her sister Tabby, Sara today enjoys a healthy and happy life of luxury. Cast-off animals make the best pets!

About Microcinema International – www.microcinema.com

Microcinema’s first activity was producing Independent Exposure. From our activities in presenting this program a film distribution business was born.

Microcinema International is now a leading specialty distributor of the moving image arts. Microcinema International specializes in the acquisition, exhibition, and distribution of independently produced works of an artistic and socially-relevant nature. Microcinema’s mission is to seek out, curate, exhibit, promote, and distribute compelling works to a broad audience via existing and emerging mediums. Through Microcinema’s own DVD label Blackchair Collection and Microcinema International DVD, a unique and diverse catalogue of international DVD titles are distributed into retail, wholesale, online, and institutional sales channels worldwide.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Campus Ambassador Program

Dear Faculty and Staff,


We're still looking for students!!!

The Campus Ambassador (CA) Program here at UWM has been instrumental in helping our incoming freshmen class through New Freshmen Orientation every summer. These student leaders help to inform the incoming freshmen class of important campus resources available to them, distribute literature and information about drug and alcohol awareness, register for classes, and settle their fears about leaving for college. This year will be no different. Once again Campus Ambassadors will play an important role in helping these true freshmen students get acclimated to college life.

We need your help finding new Campus Ambassadors to help fill these positions! Please help us in recruiting students for these positions.

Just as we have in the past, we will once again be adjusting the program slightly to help provide better service to these new college students. The biggest change to the Campus Ambassador program this year will now be hiring for not just one, but for three positions. Our CAs will continue to work with New Freshmen Orientation, but will also play a heavy hand in UWM's new First Year Center and Freshmen Mentoring. Campus Ambassadors can apply for and fill any combination of these three positions. The three positions that our 2008-2009 Campus Ambassadors will be filling are…

- New Freshman Orientation Leader - (summer part-time work)
New Freshmen Orientation Leaders engage and welcome new freshmen students and their parents at the New Freshman Orientation programs during the summer months. As a New Freshman Orientation Leader students may be giving tours, administering materials, and/or helping students register for classes among many other duties during any one of our New Freshman Orientation Programs.

- Freshman Mentor – (summer/academic year part-time work)
After students have been to New Freshman Orientation, a Freshman Mentors will be charged with helping new freshmen acclimate to campus. Freshman Mentors will be focusing on connecting with these students via phone, email, p2p networks and face-to-face throughout the academic year and helping them adjust to campus life.

- First Year Center Staff – (summer/academic year part-time work)
The First Year Center (FYC) Staff will be planning and implementing academic and social programming to successfully engage new freshmen in their classes and ithe campus community. FYC Staff will be working on a daily basis within the FYC and with Freshman Mentors to create programs and facilitate mentoring.

We have had amazing student groups in the past two years and we hope that with your help, we can have an even better group of students for the coming year. If you know of a student that you feel would make a great Campus Ambasador, please encourage them to apply for one of our positions.

You can see further information about the CA program, the application for students to apply and more at... www.campusambassadors.uwm.edu

Attached to this email, you will find a CA flier. Please feel free to distribute this to your students or hang on your office door to help promote the program. If you would like fliers, posters, or someone to speak to your class about the CA program, please let us know, we'd be more then happy to provide you with recruitment materials and speakers.

If you have further questions about the Campus Ambassador program please feel free to call or email me. I can be reached at 414-229-6899 or at deutsch@uwm.edu

Best Regards,
Tobiah Deutsch

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Mic Building Prep for Wednesday, Jan. 30

Hello, all.

Just a reminder to bring all of your supplies to tomorrow's microphone soldering session:


* two Rapid 35-0190 Mic Capsules
* one stereo mic cable with 1/8" stereo plug
* two alligator clips for attaching windscreens
* one pair of enclosed headphones for testing mics
* Optional: swatches of faux fur for a fancier windscreen


We will be meeting in the lab sections at 3:00, so check the course directory to make sure you have the right lab (I will also post a list outside my office door, B-60):
http://www.glennbach.com/film_116/08116_directory.html

Review the Soldering Guide: http://tinyurl.com/2be3p7

Review the handbook for the MiniDisc recorder you will be receiving in your Production Kit next Monday: http://tinyurl.com/2cx4d2

Also, make sure you read Cresswell and Debord:
http://www.glennbach.com/film_116/08116_research.html

See you all tomorrow!

Glenn

P.S. For those interested in the Milwaukee International Film Festival Internships, I have the Word document here: http://tinyurl.com/2smw9e

Monday, January 28, 2008

Internships Available, Milwaukee Intl Film Festival

The 2007 Milwaukee International Film Festival has internships opportunities available designed to give film students the chance to learn first hand the programming process of a rapidly growing international film festival.

Intern will work directly with the Staff in preparation for the 6th annual Milwaukee International Film Festival, September 18 - 28, 2008. This is an unpaid internship, available for school credit, of 8 – 15 hours a week. Openings are available immediately.

The following six internships are being offered this year:

_Midwest__ Filmmaker Competition Internship (March – October)_

_Office Support Internship (February – October)_ [4 Available]__

_Outreach Coordinator Internship (March – October)_

_World Cinema Features Internship (March – October)_

_World Cinema Shorts Internship (March – October)_

_Writing Internship (March – October)_

Contact TJ Fackelman at 414-225-9740 or email TJ@milwaukeefilmfest.org for more information or to apply immediately.

Limited positions available so apply now!

A Word document detailing the internships is available here.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Clarification on Reflective Responses

Just a quick note to clarify the reading assignments for the Reflective Responses.

The first Reflective Response is centered around the ideas of place, landscape and mapping, and is due February 11. Articles/programs for this response include Cresswell, Cross, Debord, Hiss, Lopate, Lippard, and This American Life.

The second Reflective Response is all about sound, and this is due February 18th. Articles for this response include Delahanty, Ferrington, Hill, Peterson, Russolo, Toop, and Westerkamp.

I have staggered the readings so that you are reading some articles on place and others on sound simultaneously. This way you are introduced to ideas and thoughts about both mapping and sound from the beginning, so that when you go out on Drift 1 after February 6th, you will already have lots of ideas and questions swirling around in your heads as you walk through the city pointing your microphones in interesting directions and collecting unique sounds.

So, for instance, if you've read the Ferrington article and it really sparked some ideas and you want to write about it, then wait until the second Response, which is not due until February 18. By the time we get to the deadline for the first Response, February 11, you will have read all of the articles on place/mapping and hopefully one or more will have sparked something in you as well.

In summary, you will be writing Response #1 on place/mapping, and Response #2 on sound.

We'll see you all on Monday, 3 PM, in MUS 180 for an overview of the first Drift assignment.

Reflective Response #2 (Sound)

Read the following articles on sound: Delehanty, Ferrington, Hill, Peterson, Russolo, Toop, and Westerkamp. Links to the articles here.

Pick one, and write a three-paragraph statement answering the following three questions (one paragraph per question), as a comment to this post.

1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.

2. What are the main points of the essay?

3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?


The deadline is Monday, February 18, 3 PM.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Welcome to Spring 2008

Hello, all, and welcome again to Film 116. This is a reminder of some of the things you need to do this weekend to get ready for class on Monday.

Buy the required supplies for the class and bring them to class on Wednesday, January 30.

Register to use the class Technical Forum by following directions in the "How to Register" section. Set your User Profile settings by following directions in the "User Profile Settings" section. Register by Wednesday, January 30.
http://www.freeforum101.com/forum/index.php?mforum=06116filmforum

Complete the survey and post it as a comment to this post on the Course Blog by Sunday, January 27, 5 PM (you will need a Google account to do this).
http://film-116.blogspot.com/2008/01/film-116-survey.html

Read the articles by Hart, Cross, and Ferrington (please note that the Hart article does not count as a possibility for your Reflective Response).
http://www.glennbach.com/film_116/08116_research.html

Have a great weekend, and we'll see you on Monday in MUS 180.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Reflective Response #1 (Mapping)

Read (and listen to) the following articles on place and mapping: Cresswell, Cross, Debord, Hiss, Lopate, Lippard, This American Life. Links to the articles here.

Pick one, and write a three-paragraph statement answering the following three questions (one paragraph per question), as a comment to this post.

1. Identify the article you have selected and why you chose it.

2. What are the main points of the essay?

3. How are the ideas or arguments in this article relevant to your own practice as a media artist?


The deadline is Monday, February 11, 3 PM.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Drift Maps

One way to upset the usual way in which urban landscapes are negotiated is by walking, paying close attention to sonic and visual details often overlooked when we usually pass through on our way to somewhere else. By doing this, we take on the role of artist-as-cartographer, making unique and interesting maps that open up the possibilities of how to understand the world in which we live.

You will create and maintain a map to track the soundmarks and landmarks of your three Drifts.

Create your Drift Map using GoogleMaps (GoogleMap tutorial).

Post the Tiny URL to your Drift Map as a comment to this post by February 6, 3 PM.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

FILM 116 Survey

FILM 116 Survey

1. What is your name (first, last)?

2. Do you have a preferred name or nickname you would like us to use?

3. Do you own your own computer? If so, what platform (Mac, PC), and what operating system (Windows XP/Vista, Mac Tiger/Leopard, Linux, unsure)? If not, have you had experience with Mac or PC or both?

4. Do you own a digital camera and/or video camera? If so, describe your gear, and talk a little bit about your experience capturing still and moving images.

5. Have you ever edited a video before? If so, what software did you use?

6. Have you worked with sound (or music) before, either performing, recording, or processing? If so, please describe.

7. Who are your favorite filmmakers?

8. What are some of your favorite films?

9. Who or what inspired you to pursue studies in Film?

10. What kind of career do you imagine for yourself in Film or other Media Arts?

11. Is there anything else you would like us to know about you?


Post your responses to this survey as a comment to this post by Sunday, January 27, 5 PM.