@ahbleza Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

I mean Yes!

Actually I'm not sure about anything now...

@duartix Hahaha... I have to laugh. That's a clip straight out of my D800 with no grading, and using AF. I didn't have my GH2 with me on that shoot. It's part of a longer series, that I will be editing and grading later this month -- but I liked the look of it so much I uploaded that 60 second clip. Yes, there are artifacts from the s/w stabilization, but I don't think it detracts from the visuals. For me, with this music, it's more about the emotion, which I think I captured nicely with this model.

@RBR Regardless of whether people are liking or disliking the piece, I would like to thank you for taking the chance to post it and for starting the conversation on this. Here are a few of my thoughts.

I've had this conversation before with several people, from friends to lovers to strangers and I have a reference point both for what is like to speak and to listen. When she speaks, it feels familiar to me - honest and real for her, which may or may not resonate with what is real for me.

The camera does not seem to connect with her and what she is saying. I'm not talking about the editing, or the number of setups or whether it's handheld, etc. What I am saying is that the movement does not seem to follow the flow of what she is saying and the framing does not make it feel like we are listening to her. I am not saying that it does not tell a story, however.

To me, the camera is an actor, telling the story of someone trying to listen to her that either i uncomfortable or cannot listen to her. The tight, off-center framing gives the sense that we "cannot fully understand her" or "are missing the point" and the fact that several people did not feel comfortable finishing watching it certainly suggests that communicates this sense of removal, of not being connected with her.

But there is reality in that, too. I've had conversations with people like this before, especially where they talked about partners that turned out to have some degree of autism or Asperger's, or the partner eventually revealed themselves to be a sociopath, or other variants. There was a sense the person talking had an experience of the world, an invitation to intimacy (emotional as opposed to physical, though it could be both) that their partner had never fully been able to accept.

And so as I watched this video, it felt like a story about missed opportunities, being on different pages, and about what is like for people that are not connecting. Most especially, it seemed to be about loneliness. Because while the speaker might feel lonely when their partner could not hear them, they might still be able to find a partner or find some connection within themselves. But here, it is the listener (and in watching) the viewer that feels what is like to not be able to connect, to be struggling to follow, to gaze up and down with roving eyes, unable to fully process what is there.

So I think both you, and she took a chance here and that taking such chances should be rewarded. The story you told is not the one that I had hoped for or had wanted to watch, where the would be an emphasis on the warm and open expression of one person to another. But it is no less valid simply because it is not what I wanted. To me, the technical "shortcomings" of the camerawork made it quite effective in telling this other story, the one I did not want, about unease and lack of connection - and of the missed opportunity for one person to connect to another.

And from the way you talk about your interactions with the subject of your film, I do not believe that on any personal level there was a lack of connection. So I do feel that there was a story here, something that was created just for the film. So my suggestion is to study that, evaluate that and see whether the story you told is the one you wanted to tell. If not, you can learn a lot about telling a different story by contrasting your approach in this one.

I have no qualms with the content or single-camera setup: I would just frame and move differently and allow room for her words, her spirit and her connection to fill the film.

Take my comments with a grain of salt: they come more from my experience as a (poor) dancer, artist, friend and confidante then they do from the side of me that directs. Thank you.

Dude! No need to call someone "noob" right here.

"the rest of my work is on YouTube because Vimeo is limited to 720"

No it's not. For just little money, that I guess a production company can afford, you can have 1080 on Vimeo..

Guys, I think it went wrong road. I mean dick waving.

@thepalalias Thanks for the effort you've put into this, and the insight.

I had no real "Story" in mind when I made the footage.

I did of course give limited direction.

I also knew beforehand her final story.

The pathos appealed to me.

I think "intimacy" works on many levels, not the least of which is the photography.

Thus shooting tight.

It's obviously voyeuristic.

For which I have no regrets.

Much of this may be explained by the fact that I have a background in journalism.

If anything, my intent was to give just a glimpse of an amazing woman.

I adore the mobility and expressiveness of her face, as seen in the first few stills, her beauty--obviously--and her intelligence.

She's an impressively articulate abstract thinker.

Accessible and warm.

Vitaliy was correct: if the piece falls into any genre, it's an interview.

All of which may be explained by the fact that my background is journalism.

http://www.amazon.com/Cutwater-Speedboats-Launches-Golden-Boating/dp/1879301040/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330399910&sr=1-1

Oh, and there might be one other genre I intended: a Paean.

Because, if I remember correctly, you're a sound guy, I'm going to post one of my images for you.

Elmer Bernstein.

Once again, Thanks

@RBD Elmer Bernstein is a composer that I think inspires most composers my age, not only because of the quality of his work, but because of the depth he brought to his comedic scoring (something that many other composers have passed on). It is fascinating for me to think back on all his movies that I watched of his when I was younger and find 10 comedies among them. Honestly, one of the last times I remember another composer putting as much TLC into comedic scoring was the also late-great Jerry Goldsmith in Fierce Creatures.

Thanks for sharing the picture - it is much appreciated.

It's interesting to hear your approach and intent, and certainly i was trying to parse it as an interview as well. I have some background in journalism as well, but I would openly wager it is far less extensive than yours. :) Since you took the time to explain it a bit more, I hope you don't mind if I take a little longer to address your comments with some additional thoughts.

Here is my read on the voyeuristic aspect: she's looking right at you. She acknowledges that you are there - it can't be pure in its voyeurism, so that's part of where the discomfort comes in. It's right on the edge of being able to frame her and see her in an intimate way but a little too tight, while at the same time being too wide to feel like it's scanning a specific part at a time. The camera moves up and down slowly enough that it feels like the camera is trying to absorb what is there, but not slow enough for it to feel like the content is really landing, while at the same time not moving quickly enough for the camera to be feeling agitated/frenetic/nervous/etc.

There are several aspects where the shooting approach feels like it lands "in-between" and is uncomfortable in "almost" being one thing vs another. It doesn't quite feel either fully voyeuristic or fully intimate, and thus it communicated the alternate narrative I mentioned earlier (which did not seem to be the one you intended :).

In terms of your description of approach and intended content, I completely agree that it is what I think many people would want (both in terms of when they filmed and when they viewed). But to me it felt like a few technical aspects felt as though they did not quite match that vision and could be refined in a future work.

So, for what it is worth, if you were to shoot something similar again, as a viewer I would not ask for a different overall approach, just that the framing move out of the awkward in-between stage to either be a little more balanced/open or a little narrower and more focused. Similarly, that the moments of the start and end of movement follow pauses or changes in her dialog a little bit more, and that they be even a little bit slower.

But you are of course the director and I'm only doing backseat driving here. Just letting you know what would have worked better for me in terms of realizing the intent of the description you provided. I hope that is of value, even if you decide it does not apply to your own perspective. :)

And thanks again for the portrait: much appreciated.

@RBD You have to be willing to put yourself out there and accept the praise with the criticism and take it all in stride. So far, you show a complete inability to do that. What'd you want? A round of applause? Perhaps you're not suited for this art thing. Seriously. A man's gotta know his limitations you know.

almost forgot... http://grammarist.com/spelling/exploitative-exploitive/

a Jib on a 64 years old man make things differently LOL

@flaschus What crane do you use? 30 seconds after assembling the cobra I had way better results than what this video displays. I didnt buy it to use for every single shot I'll ever shoot. Glad you are sticking up for the old man,

@RBD: Is this the one you used? http://www.kesslercrane.com/kc-lite-s/32.htm

Any idea why it is shaking that hard even when not panning?

Another:

No more goofy big titles, Zoom H1--although imperfect, and I don't know how to get rid of the squeaky door--not happy with the color, there seems to have been a shift in compression, and a much more sophisticated model.

I just let them do what they want.

Although I did like the poofy petticoat.

This is pretty close to slick.

RBD

PS when I said tight shots, thinking about this film on a similar subject (I'm not going to embed it here but it's worth a visit: http:// vimeo.com/3576950 - remove the space in the URL to visit)