week before the show

so it is that time, a week before the show at Creative Gallery. Normally i would be so nervous about performing that i would lose interest in the show all together. but i am genuinely excited to be there. to set up everyting. I know it is going to be a big hassle but what fun thing isn't initially. Glass blowing is still going well and i really want to make a functioning movie camera or just a pinhole in glass. you think that might be done? Pissed off Caitlin pretty bad, but that happens a lot. so Im not stressed. I got all the film transfered for local 127 and Daves footage is on its way. hope to see it soon. Things are going good and being productive.

Though not as productive as i would like to be. I bought a van. it is heavily modified to look like a greenhouse. I plan to do something with it. why did i buy it. I don't know?
oh well ill just scrap it. get it over with.

screentest film fest

Twas a great day.
Spent the day watching films at the Carnegie. SOFA was there, Kids home movies and Cincy world cinema. I still need to join these institutions but all for another day.
I am not sure whether or not they liked my film but it was great to see it on the big screen nevertheless, awesome to put on my resume. I still like that film a lot. but it was a certain time in my film making career. I would really like to do more animation. I just dont have the ideas yet for a great animated film.
production of Herbie swank is going great. Just printed off more scripts with storyboards.

things to do. tuesday the 27th

4:00pm get tuxes
5:00 Meet David and give lowdown, script and confidence
6:oo set up at jeff Ruby's
7:00 shoot cigar section
730 shoot in kitchen
800 move to local 127
10 Tonic
closes at 10 might have to do that another day.

thats all for now

remember to score a soundtrack with anthony, James and Nickolas sometime once developed and edited digitally.

don't worry about including in creative show.
this is one for the film fests.

story boards

here are some site location drawings that i did from memory for the shoot at local 127, it may be a little off, but here is the basic shots that i have in mind.
As far as the production goes i now have in the crew, David Averdick, Chris Hoeting and Cameron Richardson all shooting footage. for the actors I have Wendy and Anthony, Matthew and Anna, James Payne and the Server Caitlin. Also Steve the winetravelor and somnlier.

cinema archive and performance space

here is an email that i have been sending around maybe you have some ideas?
hello,
My name is Jonathan Hancock, I am a film maker/ artist based in Cincinnati.
To get to the point, I am planning to open a micro-cinema that houses a visual archive of films and video, a performance space and an art gallery. I would like to restore the Imperial theater on 280 W.McMicken or use a smaller location above the player piano shop on 611 main st. I am pre-planning all the logistics of how this cinema will function. I have a list of distributors for film and equipment, I have several locations that i am interested in fixing up, I have a crew that is ready to work with me to accomplish this goal. Do you know of any federal grants that would help to fund some of the basic expenses involved in restoring an old existing cinema, finding 35mm projectors? Do I need to get a distributors license, a merchants/vendors liscense to show films? this cinema would be for the community, I could offer free demos and access to students to inspire the minds of young film-makers. I have a bunch of friends that would be interested in playing music to films as well. The cinema would be an alternative space with multiple functions. If you could offer any advice, help or contacts I would be eternally grateful.
I look forward to hearing back from you at your convenience.
If you need any more information about the specifics of my project,
please dont hesitate to call (859) 653-8150
thank you,
Jonathan Hancock

youtube videos transfered from super-8
dangers of Road Rage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUIpR4JElQ8

The Electric Inertia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8IJIRnvnss

scanning fun

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micro cinema

script

Here is the first draft of the script. it is an open script so

if you have any ideas to spice it up, please share.

Herbie Swank
a documentary on Cincinnati

1 shwartz point scene
pan the stage, empty seats
quick zooms of musicians once seated.
cu shot of Ed standing up and rousing the crowd.
stand up bass player slapping away.

2 animated sequence
shoot the showcard flipbook 1frame at a time.

3 title sequence
use tracing paper to fade into title card "Herbie Swank" hold

for 5 frames then place the title card a "jon hancock

procuction"

use acetate transparencies througout the movie for

transitioning and variety. From the Photography as a tool book.

It should add a scientific aesthetic to the film.

4 intro shot of Jeff Ruby's show title card "Jeff Ruby's"
get the lions outside and curve over to the smoking area.
far shot of people smoking cigars in front of the meat locker.
time lapse the cars from the other side of the street.
close up of cigar smokers and light laughter.
zoom into steak

5 immediatly cut to steak on broiler.
chef Garitson flips the steak.
pan the catwalk where they prep plates to be sent to the hungry.
run the whole kitchen and back rooms
5 frame shot of the dishwasher angles choppy feeling.

transition using quick animation of street stills 1 frame
going from Jr to 127 shoot door local 127 for title card.

6 pan from kitchen to Steve to chef's table downward motion.
Abe lincold (jamie Payne) holds glass up to chefs.
holding their "finest" bottle of wine he pours the glass

abe smells the wine sticking his hole nose into the goblet
he gets his beard wet from all the wine. cleans it with his

mouth
7 quick shot of everybody using eye movement.
steve geddes chef of local 127 smiles at
matthew proud dignified and regal looks at
anna studious kind and pregnant looks at
Abe lincoln peculiar but well spoken looks at
Lindsey Whittle (needs a stage name) her hat billowing in the
wind with a lovely floral plumage.

8 surprised she looks at server (Caitlin) who goes over the

specials of the night holds up certain ingredients due to no

sound. her acting should be very animated and gesturing.

9 an enthusiastic thumbs up from matthew (possibly caesers crown

to make comical)
a round of laughter

10 Instantly the food appears. close up of each plate quickly.
all charecters hold up their glasses in extreme wide angle shot
from below looking up at the glasses as a trophy.
wine is poured into glasses
cheers and clinks


11 a hot kissing scene freeze shot. fade out to white using the

transition backwinder.

12 roll credits possibly incorporating scene details from the

local 127, chandeliers, lemons in the wall, kitchen functioning.

use the acetate sheets for credits. print with white ink for

titles.

shoot on kodachrome or ektachrome 64t depending on if i can get a

second camera operator. once edited expand to 16mm. dubb sound in

later. Use field recordings for minimal sound effects, trumpeting

for car sputterings, record in Dewey's for loud clankings, ect.

Jonathan Hancock sept. 2009

script

information realization

for Wendy's mag.

I am surprised at the amount of information a brain can process at once. I was stuck in traffic today, sitting right on a bridge near the Covington railroad bridge. 89.7 wnku was on the airwaves, they were featuring a program on Woodstock for the aging hippies and trying to make it appeal to kids. I was halfway paying attention, just listening to the words and thinking about where i would promote next. the commentator went on about how the Woodstock had progressed. There was some talk about the Dead warning that the show wouldn't be sucessful if it rained. Someone threw some mud at them as soon as it started raining. or something like that. They played the audio clip of the dude saying "maybe if we all try hard, we can get it to stop raining." His voice progressively getting louder to rouse the tripping mudpeople. Another audio clip is cued up in the background. Right away i recognized it as Red Hot Chili peppers from the album Mothers milk. Right away footage of them performing came into my imaginary eye. I thought it was out of place for Woodstock but i was answered by the jockey telling about the woodstock 99 where fans of Red Hot Chili peppers conjured bon fires, violence and moshing. I was proud that he continued to say that it was reflective of the times just like the first woodstock was true to being peaceful and motivating people to change the world.
I am truely flabbergasted by the amount of information that we can think of instantaneously and simultaneously. I heard somewhere that the information contained in the New York Times is greater than the amount of information a regular person in the Roman Times acquired in their entire lifetime. I find that hard to find, I know the philosophers and scientists of roman times could process extraordinary things. they could perform brain surgery, used batteries from vinegar and copper, and many high tech things. How will this evolve in the future. Will people shorten things so much that one word could mean a whole commonly used paragraph. The internet has already created a series of letters that mean a whole phrase, leet speak it might be called. It is fascinating how so many professions use their own specialized short speak. Will that become common usage as people evolve?
You Decide.
by Jonathan Hancock

I thought that you might be interested in seeing a show at the Creative gallery in November.
The show is unique in that it is a strictly film/video show. I have been shooting a bunch of movie loops in super-8 format. I am working with the Arthole collective to make the installation especially exciting. The focus revolves around Cincinnati, in a 1st person view walking around the city. Its sure to be a fun experience, so save the date November 27th starting at 8pm. Its around thanksgiving so bring your families and friends too.
The title is still a work in progress.
thank you
Jonathan

technichal installation

I have been thinking since we met about ways to present and the challenges. Today i will take measurements of the gallery space. I will try to get everything needed.
I have two mannequins from a previous show that i thought represent people on the street of our installation. I am currently painting them white. The other possibility is projecting video on the surface of them like james bond. We could also put them in the storefront windows to wrap the street into the gallery. Are mannequins too creepy? I also thought it would look nice to project through heads of the mannequins. It could look like the brain is projecting the film. I dont have a boring drillbit to go through the dolls so this idea could be scrapped.
.
I like the idea about the pods. We do need to keep it open to load the film into the projector and all the necessary fine tuning. What do you think of having a psuedo wall that we could get from the dumpster of Playhouse in the park that viewers could walk around to see projectors on the other side? I have an image of tennament home walls having doors with peepholes. We could project through the peepholes warping the video. I am not sure where to find the peepholes though maybe building value off of gilbert.

We may have trouble getting the gallery dark enough. We could put curtains over the doorway of the storefront windows to block the light out. I also thought we could have some looping tvs to mimic a television store. Projecting video onto windows might be hard to do if it doesnt get dark enough. I also thought about bringing a fog machine for the inside of the installation. This would help the projected film to be visualized into beams of light. But the fog could hinder some people's view of the gallery. to remedy this i we could get some low led lights or strips of leds on the walkway of the gallery. sort of like an airplane landing strip.

i really enjoyed how you used the garden hose and found objects at the Kraft house 2 years ago. Maybe we could do an installation like that, only with film and pods?
you can send this email to anyone. I still need to hunt down all the arthole emails. Is this a project that you might be more interested in?

thank you
Jonathan

ideas about show

To Arthole,
I am a spur of the moment drifter. As bicyclists and pedestrian, one can really experience the world around them, the details of urban concrete jungle. With a camera, I get into a manic state, a childlike wonder of the world surrounding me. The camera becomes my eyes and the projected film shows viewers the 1st person view of that mindset. A camera is a way for me to explore the city and research things I would be restricted to without the camera. the films focus on cincinnati because i was born here and it is at the disposal readily available. The regular everyday views we take for granted become strange, foreign and interesting through the glass eye. These films are not narratives, they document the travels that appear like the stream of consciousness. footage includes the top of the carew tower, fountain square, rooftops, painted signs on buildings from street level and works to the specific experiences like buying a hot dog, riding the dumbwaiter in the olympic car garage, walking through the art deco guilding. I hope this footage shows all this. I did shoot some scenes with stills at fractions of seconds. this challenges how quick the viewer can recognize. It is more of a subliminal image.
I understood the footage with arthole to be extensions of what i was shooting, only in the 3rd person view. So the arthole monsters (the viewers in my personal footage) are shown exploring the city. The focus is more on the people than being inside the camera eye. I think it might is still connected but they are different perspective.
I am a big fan of improv chaotic music or noise. I believe that this music compliments the way in which the super-8 is shot. The brain can syncronize random noise to image especially noise. The noise is similar to what you would hear in a city. The busses roaring, birds shouting, some dude practicing his trumpet. In a city everybody puts up or enjoys the ambience pollution that a thriving city makes. I would like to do some field recordings of the locations that i shot to bring the street into the space. I have a talkboy tape recorder to capture that.
Both the films and noise are documentation of our travels, they eventually become a collection of the slice of life. I believe this will motivate viewers to explore and get out. Even the suburbans like me. I grew up in the suburbs and people are hermits, turtles that never leave their shell and die in the box they were born in. I am introverted and shooting these films is a way for me to communicate with others, to learn about strage lands in my city, to experience noises of the ambience.

We talked about how to project this installation of media on Wednesday. Pods housing the projectors will be in the middle of the gallery was suggested. Phil talked about a tower that could elevate the projectors, right? I had a dream that the pods could have glassblown lenses (which i could fabricate) that would warp and distort the video or some mirrors could split the video into a bunch of different angles like a kalidoscope. It was suggested that the gallery should feel more like the city being more of an installation than the movie theatre. Structures could mimic the angular alleyways in between the main streets. Wheat pastes could be the promotion and propoghanda for the show. People would see the arthole monsters shown on the graffiti buildings or safe bilboards. The show could connect the drifting, hermits of the city? We could have looping video shown on television sets, on racks in the front of the storefront window. Or we could project the costumed, slide and elevator comming out of the windows projecting on the street. the sound could be pumped from small computer speakers, or privately through dangling headphones.
I realize money will be a huge factor to make this show. I am willing to fund the materials and expenses within reason. found object is a favorite of the drifter. But I dont want it to be a garbage dump. We are creative and want you all to be proud and engaged in the show. Speak up if you are irritated and frustrated with where it is going. I will try to do the same when I see you. I am glad that you are there to help me. I am young and have only had a small handfull of shows. I would hate to be on my own in this. I appriciate all your efforts and get much satisfaction from friends who have only known me for a month.

I wanted to get this all down before i forgot anything. I know the sentence structure is rambly but so am I. if you have any question on what i mean ask.
Someone told me about a grant while i was filming them. the Kentucky ecconomic Development office/ council. I need to contact Kathy Hackby. I will get on that soon. I am getting photographs from Olympic car garage when it was a ford showroom in the 1920s should i work it into the show? I already have night footage o the garage.
kenton I have final cut that i can give you on sunday or sooner. I have demo cds for the music for your approval. i will print this out and give it to people on sunday.
Thank you for prompting me and giving me a kick in the pants.
jonathan
we still need names for the show or the card if that is important. I had in mind a foto of a super-8 projector with the sprokets of a bicycle where the reels should be. We could even have chain around the sprokets to look like film. In a monster movie magazine i found an advertisement for a magnajector its a photo enlarger. Would you like to call the show magnajector. We also thought something like Jon hancock shows his Arthole, or Arthole and friends any suggestions? there is a history of german magic lanterns, spinning zoetropes, nikelodeons asociated with film. oh yeah cockhole was another one.

influences at the moment

i just want to see if i can remember some influences. they are in no particular order.
jan svankmajer,george melies, nikola tesla, thomas edison, jean tinguley, stan brakhage, jeff keen, martha colburn, terry gilliam, Ryan Larkin, norman mclaren, len Lye, Quentin Tarintino, gregory Barsamian, gregg araki, john waters, ed wood, Danny elfman, the chicago luzeran ensemble, the art damage, c. spencer yeh, wasteland jazz ensemble, David smith, Richard Stankewitz, Dr. Evermor, lino Tagliapetra, Stephen Rolfe powell, Dante Marioni, guenther van hagen, Alex grey, Stanlislav Libensky and jaroslav Brychtova, Scott Darlington, vladimir Tatlin, the wright brothers, going to the cinema, gymnastics, walking a junkyard, driving a motorcycle, above all motion kinetics, elapsing of time, the accumulation of natural forces like rust.

november show? what to name you

am i still eligible for a show in November? I dont have a name yet, but i do have an idea for the show card which i could print at seamless unless you have a better printer. Whats more important is the work and how its installed.
just to update you.
I have 2 super8 films, one about road rage in cincinnati the lunacy in full color psychodellic style. it is on youtube if you want to check it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUIpR4JElQ8
the next i have been working on months to draw directly on the film, the footage depicts a mannaquin exploding with fireworks, i imagine to be energy like the demise of a phoenix.
I am currently shooting a third film showing cincinnati in time lapse. shots mounted on moving motorcycle, on the carew tower, and through the streets at a blistering high speed. In this i am challenging the viewers ability to reconize images at the split of a second.
Next i propose to show a film acquired from the library. this part is tentative as they are educational films that may not work with the theme of the show. Which could be anybodies guess.
I am showing the first two completed films this sunday at Aaron kent's studio to the Arthole group. Kenton, the guy you introduced me to and suggested that i work with on this endeavor, has agreed to collaborate and show with me. Is that okay?

one other thought for the presentation and nigh of the show. i wanted to dress up in a costumed or pantomimed mouse, or some animal.
still need to score a track for all the films.

hope this all meets your approval and I look foreward to working with you. email any feedback or suggestions that you may have.

thank you.

new films and excitment

add this.
http://16mmlover.blogspot.com/
today was great went to the vent haven ventriloquist museum to the library and spoke to jim swill and nina wright about art and stuff
good to have films and hope you are doing fine.