the dotmatrix project

photo by Michael Dunn

Mikey’s not even a filmmaker and he’s stoked!

Well, he should be. Everyone who has touched this project, from the participants to the audience, should be excited about the vibe we’re creating in our little spot downtown.

The musicianship has been outstanding. Really. I can’t say how proud I am to have been involved with the musicians we’ve put on to date. And those performances have provided such rich material for a media team that has already surpassed 25 local filmmakers, photographers and sound engineers.

I don’t know about you, but I want these folks to be able to stand up, take a bow and be recognized for their amazing work.

So with that in mind, I’m proud to announce our first DMP Media Showcase to be held on November 6th at Carousel Cinemas on Battleground Avenue.

Here’s what Rob McHone and I have worked out to date:

• We’ll have DMP music playing in the theater as people saunter about (this might extend beyond the show date) with printed material about the show & project for people to take home
• DMP show photography will grace the big screen prior to the main show
• We’ll start with the first six music videos / break for beer & refreshments / show a music documentary (still working on the title) / break for beer & refreshments / show the last six music videos
• All this will take place in one of the 100 person theaters. If we sell more than 100 tickets up until a few days before the show, we’ll hold it in one of the 300 person theaters.
• After the show, the 12 music videos will be divided up onto four DVD’s for showing before each movie in The Bistro
• Six months later, we’ll do it all over again.

I’m also working on a photo exhibit & opening for the show photos, targeted for sometime in December, prior to Mikey aka DaSkinnyBlackMan taking off to serve in Iraq come January.

I’ll post more details — posters, how to buy tickets, etc. — when we have all the logistics settled.

photo by Nathan Golden

Greensboro, NC resident Matt Blalock:

[...] founded Vewd to form a unique community for new photographers to share their documentary essays. He felt the circle of people who are responsible for exploring and representing the entire world’s perspective was too narrow. Vewd aspires to broaden and diversify this circle by bringing in new names, ideologies, and ways of capturing and sharing the world we witness- and are a part of. [...]

Beautiful work. Check it out.

Two years ago this month, I had the pleasure of catching the world premiere of The War Tapes at the Tribeca Film Festival as a guest of the director, Deborah Scranton.

If you’ve never seen TWT, the style and genre can only be described as Documentary 2.0 — soldiers on the front lines with cameras affixed to their shoulders, guns, the hoods of their vehicles, telling their stories while you watch what goes down, with Deborah IM’ing them each night from across the world to coordinate the progress of the film.

Tomorrow evening, Deborah’s latest film, BAD VOODOO’S WAR, will be broadcast by FRONTLINE at 9 P.M. ET on PBS.

If you miss the broadcast tomorrow night, be sure to catch the film, streaming, on the Frontline website.

Congratulations, Deb!

By Lenka Clayton and James Price

(via swissmiss)

Words are failing me as I try to describe the experience I had last night of listening to Kurt Cobain describe his childhood, his approach to creativity, his clashes with authority and himself — all set to haunting narrative and location specific vignettes of beautifully shot film, from stills to time-lapse sequences.

I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such an intimate exploration of a human being, let alone a musician that influenced me as much as Kurt Cobain did in my adolescence.

Brilliant work from all involved.

Thank you.