the dotmatrix project

UPDATE: We’re shooting to have the music videos in play on July 7th, but that date is not absolutely solid. More soon…

Rob McHone, Director of Operations for the Carousel Cinemas on Battleground Ave in Greensboro, is a big supporter of independent filmmakers and the local film community.

The back half of his building — the four theaters surrounding The Bistro — is dedicated to showing independent, foreign and art films, even though the demand for such films isn’t anywhere near the demand for Hollywood films. Rob is also about to launch a collaborative blog as part of his new web presence, where he plans on engaging with local filmmakers by offering free access to the theater for their every now and then take on movies, film, movie-making and similar type posts.

I tell you all this because quite recently, Rob agreed to partner with the dotmatrix project to help spread the word of free, live, original music in downtown Greensboro, while exposing the talent of local filmmakers. Check out this very cool community cross-promotion:

• Before every film is shown in the Bistro section of the theater, Carousel Cinemas will show one dotmatrix project music video in its entirety. Yes, that includes the film/editing credits for participating filmmakers (you do the math as to how many people in Greensboro will see that).
• Before each mainstream film in the front of the house, Carousel Cinemas will show a 20 second trailer of the dotmatrix project. And it won’t be the kind of ad that makes you groan at a movie — we’re talking about seeing your neighbors doing something cool that you can be a part of too.

We’re probably going to have a yearly show over there as well, showcasing the music videos created over the course of the previous year. Not quite sure how that’ll work, but it’ll definitely be set up as a huge public thanks to all the hard work put in by our ever evolving and talented media crew.

If you’re a Triad filmmaker and this project sounds like something you’d like to become involved with, check us out. And if you’re a local entrepreneur with your own ideas for cross-promoting the dotmatrix project — we’re putting out live albums and show photographs as well — feel free to hit me up at sean {at} dotmatrixproject {dot} com.

I’d love to chat with you.

(originally uploaded by Rikke Moltisanti)

If you think you can capture the essence of a live show like in the above picture, we need to talk. Same thing goes for filmmakers with the following video:

Sorry About Dresden: Shake Your Fist from Sean Coon on Vimeo.

We’re putting on a monthly show in the Back Bar of The Green Burro in downtown Greensboro. The bands are playing for free, a sound engineer is recording the live show for free, photographers are shooting for free and filmmakers are shooting/editing music videos for free.

Cost of admission: FREE

The idea is that if we all collaborate to create art and release it into the wild — online and off — we’ll be opening doors for each other that might never have been opened otherwise. And over time, if people dig the concept, maybe we can turn it into a sponsored event with a sustainable business model to support live, local music in downtown Greensboro.

Along these lines, we’re looking to build a community of photographers and filmmakers interested in participating at least one time. That means you’ll be joining up with a media team and collaborating with the bands before the show on shot ideas. If you want to do more than one show, we’ll do our best to schedule it. If you want to work with a specific filmmaker, photographer or band, we’ll do our best to accommodate that as well.

We’re good like that.

Photographers: We’re looking to meet photographers who have access to DSLR cameras and can really craft a shot. If you have a great eye, you’re in. There’s no pledging involved, no hazing, no sleeping with farm animals. And while that last sentence read like an extremely male perspective on stupid things adolescent men might have to do in order to join something potentially cool — though this ain’t a corny frat — we’d definitely like the talented ladies in our community to participate just as much, if not more. So I promise, no more horrible analogies, ladies.

So if you’re interested in participating, please follow these two steps:

• Join the dotmatrix project flickr group and then contact Mike Dunn or Stephen Charles to get assigned to a show
• Join our dotmatrix project Google Group to ask questions of or communicate with anyone on the project

Filmmakers: While we’d like to have professional filmmakers participate on the project, we’re very open to amateur filmmakers and videographers. All we ask is that you know how to use a modern digital video camera, have a good eye and have at least some experience editing on non-linear systems. dotmatrix HQ has a digital editing bay with Final Cut Pro, so you’ll be able to edit with your co-filmmaker on top notch equipment.

If you’d like to join up, please follow these two steps:

• Subscribe to the dotmatrix project Vimeo channel and contact either Jason Pierce or Andy Coon to get assigned to a show
• Join our dotmatrix project Google Group to ask questions of or communicate with anyone on the project

Cross-Promotions We’re currently working on finalizing deals with local establishments to cross-promote the material created from the show. I don’t want to jinx the potential deals in the works by naming names, but I will say that we’re close to finalizing we’ve finalized a deal where a major movie theater with Carousel Cinemas on Battleground in Greensboro to present still shots and music videos from our show prior to the trailers run before each film shown in the theater. We’re also working on establishing a quarterly photo exhibit in a well known downtown venue to present the best shots of the previous three shows.

Both of these cross-promotions are in the works to market the name and work of our participating media creators.

So are you down or what!?

One of the many reasons I love visiting NYC is that I know I’ll most likely discover an inspiring indie film that has zero chance of reaching theaters back in Greensboro. Aside from the art house section within Carousel Cinemas, there just aren’t many theaters in the area that cater to such a niche.

Persepolis is a beautifully told and engaging, animated story of a young Iranian girl growing up during the Islamic Revolution and experiencing the changes that Islamic Law brought to her sense of freedom. Music is a huge element of the story, as she finds punk and metal to be the antithesis of acceptable forms of expression and a vehicle for rebellion — a similar post-puberty approach to rebellion by millions of kids back in the states, except this form of rebellion could get you hung… or worse.

The film is a tad bit long, but the story cries for details as it’s far more expansive than a coming of age story. Persepolis paints a vivid picture of life in Iran — how the Shah both entered and exited the scene, presenting a position on the United State’s role in the Iran/Iraq war and expressing day-to-day life in a country where freedom is more cherished by its people than oxygen — a complex situation often painted in broad strokes by Western media and history books.

The animation’s art direction is spot on and highly original. There were a few short war and protest scenes where the imagery seemed to be loosely referencing elements of The Wall, but much more as an ode to than a straight bite.

Persepolis is one of those films that really should be seen.

Along the lines of historical knowledge being dropped through art; if you’re looking for a song to provide factual, historical context to the situation in the middle east, I highly recommend Head (Of State) by The Coup.