triggerhappymedia

October 8, 2009–October 18, 2009

Continuing its Filmmaker in Focus series, MoMA’s Department of Film presents the first-ever retrospective of Spike Jonze (b. 1969, Rockville, Maryland), celebrating his work as a director, producer, cinematographer, writer, actor, choreographer, and sometime stuntman.

Jonze’s reputation as one of the most imaginative, intelligent, and daring filmmakers working today was established early on with his legendary skateboard videos, music videos, and commercials, and has since been cemented by three features: Being John Malkovich (1999), Adaptation (2002), and Where the Wild Things Are (2009).

On October 8, Jonze, who came up with the exhibition’s wry title himself, participates in an opening-night discussion with Maurice Sendak and exhibition curator Joshua Siegel.
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The Spike Jonze that sticks out in my mind is the Pharcyde’s Drop (1995). The video was shot entirely in reverse- the rappers even learned how to say their lyrics backwards- and then played in reverse to appear to move forward. Such a simple effect that, 15 years later, still looks pretty sick.

Yahoo! Briefcase is Closing- Action Required, said the email. And so I have about 300 documents and presentations to go through. Most are years old. While the Briefcase has become redundant, I am finding some really cool stuff in my files.

For example, the Meet the World ad campaign designed for defunct Portuguese political magazine Grande Reportagem:

European Union

Angola

Brazil

Burkina Faso

China

Columbia

Somalia

USA

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Trigger: Meet the World

National Novel Writing Month starts today, and so does a unique challenge for all aspiring writers out there: pen a 50,000-word novel between November 1st-30th.

But why? The goal is to provoke those who are “working on a novel” or “writing a book one day”- and, let’s face it, there are lots of us out there- to actually do something about it. So many words on such a short deadline means no time for editing. Thoughts must flow freely- and fast. This will enevitably result in lots of crappy writing. But there’s also the chance that some brilliant ideas will come from it.

Users of the NaNoWriMo site can chart progress, make friends with other participants, and scope out forums for advice or critiquing.

Click below to join..and wish me luck!

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Trigger: NaNoWriMo

Rasterization is a naughty word when it comes to laying out a weekly magazine. It means a file has been supplied at such a low resolution that the image looks fuzzy.

Rasterbation sounds like an even naughtier word, but it’s actually a fun way to manipulate photographs or images into large works of art.

The process is easy. Simply upload an image and choose the desired size and color. The program will then pixelate the picture to enlarge it across several sheets of paper. Grab a roll of tape, and dress up a wall to suit your style!

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Trigger/Site: The Rasterbator

I was reading about the Austrian filmmaker in London who made an entire movie from live images captured by CCTV cameras… and I was thinking how much I love the idea of creating films without using a standard video camera.

Jumpcut is one free tool available for amateur moviemakers. For a choppy, high-intensity slideshow, still pictures can be edited together with an audio track to produce a fluid film.

The set up looks like FinalCut Pro (the editing program favored by indepedent and semi-professional filmmakers), except the functions are much more basic. It’s as easy as uploading individual pictures or video clips, adding an mp3 track, and playing with the timing and special effects until the desired look is achieved. To test out Jumpcut, I made a video for triggerhappymedia.net:

UPDATE! Jumpcut went under. Too bad.
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Trigger: Jumpcut
Video credits: Thanks to Rayme and Miranda July for inspiration, Royksopp for the music, and existenz.it for some wicked pics.

Writer, actress, filmmaker, and clever, clever girl Miranda July’s new book, No One Belongs Here More Than You is coming out on May 15th.

July’s promotional website is a must-see. It’s not only engaging and creative, but also very effective. Who wouldn’t be curious to know what the book is about? Click here to check it out!

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Trigger: Miranda July

I heart a well-thought out culture jamming.

Much like an advertisement subtley plants an urge to consume in your mind, a culture jam is a reminder of a world of problems above and beyond your own.

For example, this Unicef campaign is calling for donations for earthquake victims in Kashmir. The twist: the sign is displayed in grocery store freezers where you’d normally expect a food advertisement.

I’d love to see this idea come to New York City next winter. The city already runs an ad calling for coat donations for the homeless. But the creative- a huddled and shivering Statue of Liberty- is dated.

Imagine an ad like Unicef’s placed casually in the freezer of your local supermarket. The effects could be diverse- whether it encourages you to donate, or to simply appreciate the bad day at the office that lets you pay for that microwaveable meal.

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Trigger: Creative Criminal

From the land of Silvio Berlusconi and a compliant and self-censoring mainstream press, Drome magazine presents: Copyleft.

Drome is the first Italian culture magazine to license their content under copyleft. This grants their readers the freedom to reproduce all articles as they wish.

Copyleft is, naturally, a play on the word copyright. The difference is that while copyright laws control and restrict the redistribution of an original work, copyleft frees the information to be modified, reused, and passed on under the same generous terms.

While copyleft was originally developed in relation to software, there are licensing options available for non-software production. Creative Commons provides this service to writers, artists, scientist, and educators who want to share their work with greater flexibility than what standard copyright laws allow.

An adaptation for Italy has already been produced by Creative Commons Worldwide. There are also salons taking place across the globe to bring together those interested in licensing that promotes freedom and cooperation.

Don’t see your city listed? Organize it.

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Trigger: Creative Commons

As the presidential election draws near, the media is taking a renewed interest in all things France.

Click here for an excellent report from the housing estates in Clichy-sous-Bois, a Parisian suburb whose name will forever be associated with the burning cars and rioting of fall 2005.

This slideshow is particularly striking because of the way it’s presented. The use of still photography underlines how the government has also been still- idle- in addressing the horrendous quality of life in the suburbs.

The pairing of the photographs with a fluid audio track underlines the volatility of the environment. The urgency for change is clear, as is the desperation of the French citizens who are still considered aliens in their own country.

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Trigger: ‘After the riots’ by Angelique Chrisafis and Dan Chung

Geography 101 just got sexier. Worldmapper, an innovation of the University of Sheffield’s Social and Spatial Inequalities research group, abandons the pastel colors and bland design of your average political map in favor of something more vibrant.

Worldmapper keeps the basic boundary lines of the world intact. The twist is that the sizes of individual countries are inflated or compressed according to a value assigned to each map.

For example:

The Total Population map illustrates how India, China, and Japan hold a relatively large proportion of the world’s population…

…while the Net Immigration map shows how North America, Western Europe, and the Middle East are the recipients of 79.5% of the world’s immigrants. The United States receives 37.1% of the net total.

Worldmapper covers a diverse list of categories from goods and services to health and education. More map categories (pollution, depletion, communication) will be added to further extend the ambition of the Worldmapper project: to take complex statistical information and make it easily understood through illustration.

Visual learners take note.
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Trigger: Worldmapper