Category Archives: Short Films

Culture: “Top 10 Defining Events Baby Boomers Lived Through” (Video)

Ok boomer, these are the moments that marked a generation. For this list, we’ll be looking at the cultural and political moments, events and trends that shaped the Baby Boomer generation, focusing on the US. The exact age range of various generations are debated, but we’ll be following the Pew Research definition, which identifies baby boomers as individuals born between 1946 and 1964. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Defining Moments for Baby Boomers.

  • 10. The Rise of Television (1946-)
  • 9. The Army-McCarthy Hearings (1954)
  • 8. The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
  • 7. The Watergate Scandal (1972-74)
  • 6. Beatlemania (1960s)
  • 5. The Vietnam War (1955-73)
  • 4. The First Moon Landing (1969)
  • 3. Assassination of John F. Kennedy (1963)
  • 2. Woodstock (1969)
  • 1. The Passing of the Civil Rights Act (1964)

Paintings: How Comedian Steve Martin Looks At Abstract Art (MoMA Video)

The Way I See It BBC MoMAIn this episode of “The Way I See It,” actor and comedian Steve Martin looks at paintings by two early pioneers of American abstraction and takes us on a journey of seeing—shape and color transform into mountains, sky, and water. Find “The Way I See It” on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000…

Timelapse Travel Videos: “Move II” In The USA By Aaron Keigher (2019)

Filmed, Edited and Directed by: Aaron Keigher

Original Music by: Robert Levin

“We see in order to move; we move in order to see.”
-William Gibson

There is perpetual, dynamic and never-ending motion all around us. And this motion has a rhythm to it. It is the rhythm of our life — a beat that has become so normal and day-to-day that few of us take the time to see and feel it and even fewer of us take the time to bask in it.

When we experience the world, we encounter this movement and rhythm happening at different tempos. Whether it is the movement within our own body — our heart beat, breathing, walking — or the the different speeds of the movement in the world and universe around us, the various tempos of motion are a polyphonic rhythm that create the symphony of life.

Move II Timelapse Travel Film By Aaron Keigher 2019

Some motion we perceive easily — the movement of people, cars, or the trees blowing in the wind. But some motion, such as the rotation of the stars or the changes in shadows and light, we, as humans, are not always aware of unless we take the time to notice. Time-lapse photography is a unique tool that can be used to help us see this movement and it can even help us see the motion we can perceive in a different way. And when we pair timelapse with dynamic polyphonic and polyrhythmic music, we can begin to feel that the rhythm of that motion deep in our soul. “Move II” is all about intertwining timelapse photography and music to see and feel that motion both in nature and in the city.

It was a true honor and privilege to collaborate with Robert Levin on the music for “Move II”. His beautiful original score blends together the rhythms and melodies of our world and perfectly captures the feeling of movement that surrounds us at all times. When I first met with Robert to begin working on the music for Move II, I knew it needed something that was unique and special in order to accentuate the movement of the universe, little did I know how perfectly he would capture that idea and deliver a magical and dynamic original score for the film.

A heartfelt thank you to Steve Bill, one of my musical mentors and a true friend over the past 20 years, for introducing me to Robert Levin and for allowing us to use his studio at Room 368 Productions to record the score for this video. Thank you to Ethan Bill for his time, talent and patience recording, mixing and engineering the music for the video. This was a huge undertaking and we could not have asked for anyone better to work with. I would also like to extend a huge thank you to all of the incredibly talented musicians who took part in the recording of the music and helped to breathe life into this film. Your talents and passion are second-to-none.

I am very excited to share with you “Move II”, a continuation of the original short-film “Move” that I released a few years ago. (vimeo.com/aaronkeigherphotography/move) Join me for a few moments to take a step back and experience the rhythm of the movement that surrounds us all.

_______________________________

Locations Include:

Acadia National Park, ME
Boy’s Ranch, Amarillo, TX
Buckeye Wind Farm, KS
Canyonlands National Park, UT
Capitol Reed National Park, UT
Chicago, IL
Colorado Canyon National Monument, CO
Dead Horse Point State Park, UT
Dinosaur National Monument, CO
Factory Butte, UT
Fantasy Canyon, UT
Goosenecks State Park, UT
Grand Canyon National Park, AZ
Havre, MT
Joshua Tree National Park, CA
Lake George, NY
Molen Reef, UT
Monument Valley Tribal Park, AZ
New York City, NY
Niagara Falls, ON, Canada
Philadelphia, PA
Red Canyon, Flaming Gorge National Monument, UT
Trona Pinnacles, CA
Woodville, ID

 

Top New Travel Videos: “Ladakh – Land Of The High Passes” (Indian Himalayas)

VINTAGE RIDES PRESENTS – A FILM BY NEOMORAL

PRODUCED BY: Josh Goraya & Jennifer Fontaine

EDITOR, COLORIST: Amit Mondal

SOUND DESIGN: Neomoral

Ladakh - Land Of The High Passes Travel Video by Neomoral 2019

The Himalayan terrain, beside the Great Indus, is infamous for its harsh and cold weather; oftentimes its landscapes are even unreachable to the common people. It’s a wonder really, what exactly transpires to make this place so fascinating.

Ladakh – The ‘Land of the High Passes’ – is among the most stunning parts of the Indian Himalayas. Widely known as the cold desert, it holds within itself beauty that is pristine and glorious. Stretching from peak to peak, it is an exquisite canvas of surreal art done with celestial strokes of red, ochre and purple rocks, made over thousands of years into shapes so unexpected and so phenomenal, the eye can hardly believe.

An icon of heavenly beauty, the scenery makes people either speechless or wholly expressive. Everyone gets stunned and nobody can remain indifferent.

Ladakh induces in all, a permanent high. A rush so unhinged, you struggle to find the adjectives to talk of the imprint it leaves on you.

Website: WWW.NEOMORAL.COM

Artist Video Profiles: “Mark Acetelli – Modern Times” (EMS Legacy Films)

A film by Eric Minh Swenson.

My paintings are inspired by an intensely personal introspective journey of life, from the ever-changing complexities of love, loss, birth, and death. The context of my work is what I call, “Absence and Presence” pertaining to how someone or something can be physically gone, but the essence still remains. Capturing the physical mixed with spirituality on canvas. My application of paint is an extension of that thought process. Continuously building up and tearing down, layer upon layer, adding and subtracting. A visceral dance between the conscious and the unconscious until the emotion is expressed. Painting the essence of something rather than a depiction. My message is about the human condition, that joy is sweetened by the memory of the pain endured to reach it.

From a VoyageLA online article: http://voyagela.com/interview/art-life-mark-acetelli/

 

“BuildingBridges” Is A Spectacular Short Film Tribute To German-American Friendship (2019)

Directed by JOHANNES OLSZEWSKI

Written by JOHANNES OLSZEWSKI & CODY CHRISTENSEN
Produced by MIRKO PROHASKA & JOHANNES OLSZEWSKI
Director of Photography FELIX REICHERT
B Camera Operator & Animation VALENTIN RAPP
Production Designer BARBARA PEISL

BuildingBridges Cinematic Poem Short Film Directed by JOHANNES OLSZEWSKI 2019

CAST
Pilot of German ballon TIM TAYLOR
Pilot of American Ballon ZACHARY BRAMBLE
Hitchhiker Girl BARBARA PEISL
Hitchhiker Boy LEVI ALLEN

BuildingBridges Cinematic Poem Short Film Directed by JOHANNES OLSZEWSKI 2019

CREW
Production Supervisor LISA GHIO
Production Assistant ALEXANDER SCHULZ
Property Master RONNY BIARD

High above the sacred Navajo land of Monument Valley, two hot air balloons float, circling each other as if in a dance. One carries the German flag, the other that of the United States. A closer look reveals that the balloons are not only tethered together, but that a person is walking on this thin, connecting line.

BuildingBridges Cinematic Poem Short Film Directed by JOHANNES OLSZEWSKI 2019

This is the sight that the protagonist of the short film #buildingbridges beholds, as he steps out of his humble Utah home and looks up at the sky. An old and lonely man, he finds his own courage through the actions of these strangers.

This balancing act in movie form by the young creative agency One Inch Dreams (oneinchdreams.com) was commissioned by the German Embassy as a tribute to German-American friendship.

BuildingBridges Cinematic Poem Short Film Directed by JOHANNES OLSZEWSKI 2019

watch the documentary of BuildingBridges here: vimeo.com/376121031

Museum Insider: Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” As Seen By An Astrophysicist (MOMA/BBC Video)

Art Critic Alastair Sooke on Van Gogh Starry NightIn this episode of “The Way I See It,” Janna Levin brings her celestial expertise to Vincent van Gogh’s star-filled vision, in conversation with senior curator of Drawing and Prints Jodi Hauptman. Levin helps us see how certain The Way I See It MoMA BBCfeatures of the night sky, including “turbulent air,” the light from a star, and the planet Venus, are rendered visible by Van Gogh’s brush. She also points out that her approach is not so different from Van Gogh’s: “People who observe the world, whether they are artists or scientists, are always on the cusp of what they see and then what is internal.”

To read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0009c2j

New Poetic Short Films: “The Mushroom Hunters” Written By Neil Gaiman, Read By Amanda Palmer

“The Mushroom Hunters” is a Cinematic Poem Short Film With Original Poem Written By Neil Gaiman, Directed By Caroline Rudge.

Artwork, Animation, Direction and Storyboard by: Caroline Rudge

The Mushroom Hunters Cinematic Poem Short Film Written by Neil Gaiman Directed by Caroline Rudge  2019.JPG

Production, Storyboard and Additional Mushrooms: Alexandra Casswell Becker
Editing and Special Effects: Dann Casswell

The Mushroom Hunters Original Poem by: Neil Gaiman

Read by: Amanda Palmer

Bass, Percussion, Vibraphone, Piano and Original Score by: Jherek Bischoff
Cello: Aniela Marie Perry
Violin: Paris Hurley
Viola: Marta Sofia Honer
Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Jherek Bischoff at Sweethaven

The Mushroom Hunters Cinematic Poem Short Film Written by Neil Gaiman Directed by Caroline Rudge 2019

THE MUSHROOM HUNTERS
by Neil Gaiman

Science, as you know, my little one, is the study
of the nature and behaviour of the universe.
It’s based on observation, on experiment, and measurement,
and the formulation of laws to describe the facts revealed.

In the old times, they say, the men came already fitted with brains
designed to follow flesh-beasts at a run,
to hurdle blindly into the unknown,
and then to find their way back home when lost
with a slain antelope to carry between them.
Or, on bad hunting days, nothing.

The women, who did not need to run down prey,
had brains that spotted landmarks and made paths between them
left at the thorn bush and across the scree
and look down in the bole of the half-fallen tree,
because sometimes there are mushrooms.

Before the flint club, or flint butcher’s tools,
The first tool of all was a sling for the baby
to keep our hands free
and something to put the berries and the mushrooms in,
the roots and the good leaves, the seeds and the crawlers.
Then a flint pestle to smash, to crush, to grind or break.

And sometimes men chased the beasts
into the deep woods,
and never came back.

Some mushrooms will kill you,
while some will show you gods
and some will feed the hunger in our bellies. Identify.
Others will kill us if we eat them raw,
and kill us again if we cook them once,
but if we boil them up in spring water, and pour the water away,
and then boil them once more, and pour the water away,
only then can we eat them safely. Observe.

Observe childbirth, measure the swell of bellies and the shape of breasts,
and through experience discover how to bring babies safely into the world.

Observe everything.

And the mushroom hunters walk the ways they walk
and watch the world, and see what they observe.
And some of them would thrive and lick their lips,
While others clutched their stomachs and expired.
So laws are made and handed down on what is safe. Formulate.

The tools we make to build our lives:
our clothes, our food, our path home…
all these things we base on observation,
on experiment, on measurement, on truth.

And science, you remember, is the study
of the nature and behaviour of the universe,
based on observation, experiment, and measurement,
and the formulation of laws to describe these facts.

The race continues. An early scientist
drew beasts upon the walls of caves
to show her children, now all fat on mushrooms
and on berries, what would be safe to hunt.

The men go running on after beasts.

The scientists walk more slowly, over to the brow of the hill
and down to the water’s edge and past the place where the red clay runs.
They are carrying their babies in the slings they made,
freeing their hands to pick the mushrooms.

The Mushroom Hunters Cinematic Poem Short Film Written by Neil Gaiman Directed by Caroline Rudge 2019

This poem was written by Neil Gaiman and read by Amanda Palmer for Maria Popova’s “The Universe In Verse” event in 2017 (you can read about that here: https://www.brainpickings.org/2017/04…).

The Mushroom Hunters Cinematic Poem Short Film Written by Neil Gaiman Directed by Caroline Rudge 2019

The brilliant team at creative connection in the UK hand-drew this animated video to accompany the poem, and the music was composed and recorded by jherek bischoff. read about the making of this whole film on patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/31517040

Top New Travel Videos: “The Golden Harvest” In North Vietnam (2019)

Filmed, Edited and Directed by: Dennis Schmelz

Beautiful golden rice terraces and green tea hills – welcome to North Vietnam. After a 10 hours car ride from Hanoi through the Vietnamese mountains I finally arrived at the beautiful rice terraces of Mu Cang Chai. The long journey was worth it – I’ve never seen something like this before. The rice has already colored from green to yellow and is ready for the harvest – glad that I made it to this place while the „golden season“.

The Golden Harvest In North Vietnam by Dennis Schmelz 2019

Website: https://dennisschmelz.de/index.php