The third round in my list of favorite resources, this one is mostly not NYC centric, but the internet is everywhere, even here in New York.
See my previous lists of Venues, and Community

If you've got a favorite resource I should add then please let DPI know.

Materials for the Arts
33-00 Northern Boulevard, 3rd Floor L.I.C.
http://www.mfta.org

Build It Green
3-17 26th Ave Astoria
http://www.bignyc.org

Isadora Forum
http://forum.troikatronix.com

GRL (graffiti research lab)
http://graffitiresearchlab.com

Markertek
http://www.markertek.com

B&H Photo
http://www.bhphotovideo.com

SparkFun
http://www.sparkfun.com

RentFusion
http://www.rentfusion.com

Projector Central
http://www.projectorcentral.com

Cycling74
http://www.cycling74.com

New York Media Arts Map
http://nymediaartsmap.org/

And I keep forgetting to mention that we're having an informal showing of the video that I've shot at DPI.  It's being projected inside the building at 983-A Dean St this Saturday, 26th July.  It's designed to be viewed from the street.  The building is in the middle of the block between Franklin and Classon (nearest subway C train to Franklin Ave).  

Weather permitting, Monica Ruzansky (www.monicaruzansky.com) will be projecting her beautiful photography on the surrounding architecture and up on the roof, where we'll be hanging out and having drinks with anyone who wants to drop by and join us from 9pm onwards.  Hope to see you there!

Last week I did a shoot at DPI with my friends Ariel Efron, Andrew Schneider and Katherine Behar. I went ahead with the setup that I previously described - which is two Panasonic DVX HD cameras shooting through a piece of non-glare plexiglass, with two overlapping retroreflective screens providing the background.  Both cameras were mounted with green led rings to provide a green screen effect.

 The plexi has a matte coating which reduces reflected light, which I thought would be essential in order to prevent the lighting being seen in the camera lens.  However, I discovered that this is more about angle and position of lights and camera than anything else, and the matte non-glare coating makes everything look slightly soft-focus - almost like someone has put vaseline on the lens.  Not what I wanted, but not a disaster, either.  It actually makes the HD video look a little softer and grainier and more like film, so that's really a question of aesthetic.

I tried using a polarizing filter to reduce reflected light, but of course, this just prevents the light from the led's bouncing back and providing a green background, so that was a bad idea.

Anyway, I spent the weekend working in After Effects with the content that we shot. The key is an easy pull (using Keylight), however, there are some slightly dicy shadows around some edges.  This is because of the angles of the lights that were necessary to avoid reflection.  However, I think it's manageable in this context, although would need a lot more work if it was for broadcast.

 
 read full post »

(just noticed that my last blog entry ended up as a comment, not as a proper blog entry, so here it is posted again)

 Not giantkilling, but giantkeying.
 read full post »

The new online 2008 - 2009 DPI Artist Residency Application is available at:

Application Form
http://www.digitalperformance.org/2008Application

Residency Information and Guidelines
http://digitalperformance.org/residency

A continuation of my attempt to compile a list of my favorite resources, following up on the Venues list.

If you've got a favorite resource I should add then please let DPI know.

dorkbot
http://dorkbot.org/dorkbotnyc

NYC Resistor
397 Bridge Street, 5th Floor Brooklyn
http://www.nycresistor.com

make and make2
http://www.makenyc.org
http://www.makenyc2.org

Madaigascar
217 Butler Street, Brooklyn
http://madagascarinstitute.com

3rdWard
195 Morgan Ave, Brooklyn
http://www.3rdward.com

office ops
57 Thames St., Brooklyn
http://www.officeops.org

EYEBEAM
540 W. 21st Street, NYC
http://eyebeam.org

LEMUR / LEMURplex
461 3rd Avenue, Brooklyn
http://www.lemurbots.org

 Other Resource Lists: Venues  and Other

I decided that I wanted to use video projection very early on in creating UNPRONOUNCEABLE SYMBOL, for several reasons. It allows you to very easily incorporate outside material in a way you otherwise couldn’t. In this show in specific, we were able to incorporate a lot of footage, both still photos and video clips, that I had taken in Minneapolis and to have the sort of cold “outside”, urban imagery to contrast with the opulence of the “inside” world that we made onstage with heavy curtains, flowers, purple light and haze. Not to mention the easy ability to incorporate Minneapolis itself into the show, which I was interested in. I’ve also always enjoyed the aesthetic of projected video as I often favor very basic, i.e. transparent stagecraft so having slides appear behind the action appeals to me. Generally, the ephemeral nature of projected imagery, lights and shadows and such is something I really enjoy and think added a lot to our show.

Neal Medlyn

SOHO Think Tank ICE FACTORY '08 : TRACES/fades
July 16-19 Wednesday-Saturday 7PM $10-$15
Ohio Theatre, 66 Wooster St

a meditation on Alzheimer's and our national inability to remember history.
an intergenerational performance that examines the fluidity of identity.

written and conceived: Lenora Champagne
directed: Lenora Champagne and Robert Lyons
featuring: Mary Fogarty*, Judith Greentree*, Joanne Jacobson*, Quanda Johnson*, Matthew Lewis*, Amelie Lyons and Lenora Champagne
music and sound:Daniel Levy and Lisa Dove
video: Shaun Irons and Lauren Petty
lights: Stacey-Jo Marine
costumes: Liz Prince
stage management: Nicole Marconi
assistant direction: Tricia Cramer and Janina Santillan

DPI:

How many people / roles / time does it take to add media to a live performance work?

Hal Eagar:

A whole lot. Maybe one person can be them all, but it sucks to be that person. It's like shooting a film and building a interactive video installation.
DP, editor, CG, computer specialist, video specialist, rigger, ... I 'd really have to stop abd think for a while.

But I like there to be 2-3 people on the video team at least. With overlap in skills of course but maybe broken down in these areas of expertise and responsibility.
Shooting and editing, install cuing, and stage effects.
And if possible tack on an operator/SM.

DPI:

When do you join the creative process? When would you like to join?

Hal Eagar:

Well I 'say' early. But it depends on the project and my schedule. Certainly well before rehearsal starts. It can be fun to bomb in on day one of rehearsal and just build as they work. In fact I love that, but it probably does not make for the best work, and it's hard on the body to work as long and hard as that demands.

But I do feel you have to start mixing the media into rehearsal really early if not on day one. There is so much volubility to how it will work. You want to know what works and what does not before you spent too much time on it. And you need time to discover the stuff you never expected. If you don't start doing that until tech week. Or even the week or two before that then there may not be time to do anything about it. Also stuff (video images) looks so different on your screen and on stage. I know that but I still get caught by it all the time. It's can be so cool and clear to me on the computer, but then it turns out to be just noise on stage.

One thing I've noticed about puppetry is that because it's hard work, and rehearsal is harder than performance even it's good to build rehearsal periods with breaks, two weeks on two off. It gives you a chance to rest sore muscles and rebuild problem puppets as well. Well that sort of on and off schedule is great for video as well because it can take a lot of hours to build animations or shoot mini films. And the iterative process is also good for discovery and play. For me personally a break of more than a month is to much and I'll loose focus and momentum.
 read full post »

Red handle's Yellow Electras
PERFORMANCE: July 10 - 19 $17
Ontological-Hysteric Incubator

Red handle creates and presents live performances that crash through boundaries of media, genre, storytelling, and audience.
Red handle's newest remaking creates a new template for an old myth, mixing video, movement, opera, and theatre in a playful series of episodes, interruptions, and entertainments. Following the success of iph.then at the Ontological last summer, YELLOW ELECTRAS is a mash-up of the Electra myth and Kandinsky's Yellow Sound, and includes several Electras, a chorus, opera, dance, and sounds from Strauss, Kandinsky, and & Grizzly Bear.

Writer/Director: Peter A. Campbell
Dramaturgy: Ramona Thomasius
Movement: Laura Ward
Co-Producer: Eve Hartmann
Stage Manager: Christine Vartoughian
Sets + Lights: Peter Ksander
Video Design: Ann LePore
Video Editing + Operator: Laura Keller
Light Operator: Lauren Barbara

CAST:
Laura Heidinger - ELECTRA
Genevieve de Gaillande - ELECTRA
Karen Rich - ELEKTRA
David Gordon - ORESTES
Gavin Starr Kendall - MENTOR/PYLADES
Chorus: Diane Botta, Jackie Byrne, Carissa Cordes,
Annie Deng, Sarah Hartmann, Cindy Kawasaki,
Jaime Lubin, Ashlie Miller, Lauren Ospala,
Marjorie Polunas, Justine Raczkiewicz,
Iracel Rivero, Jennifer Stepanyk, Jenny Vallancourt

Prince: Neal Medlyn's Unpronounceable Symbol
PERFORMANCE: July 9th-20th 8PM
additional late show Sat 11PM
PS122

"Neal Medlyn's Unpronounceable Symbol is Neal Medlyn's fourth and largest to date pop song tragic-comedic extravaganza. Following the success of his Lionel Richie Opera, R. Kelly cabaret, and wild and bloody spin on Phil Collins, Medlyn takes on the purple, hyper- sexualized world of Prince.

Set to many of Prince's biggest hits and infamous b-sides, all performed onstage by a live band, Neal plays out an evening of seduction and intense internal spiritual conflict between two characters: an engaged cab driver and a messianic libertine. Jealousy, band troubles, violence, death, a dream ballet, decent into hell and the eventual transubstantiation of body fluids and redemption all find their place in an operatic and overblown evening of androgynous musical entertainment.

Co-written and with musical arrangements by Tony-Award Nominated and Obie winner Kenny Mellman; Herb of Kiki & Herb and co-creator, with Bridget Everett and Michael Patrick King ("Sex and the City") of At Least It's Pink. Neal will also be joined by Adrienne Truscott, lauded choreographer and half of the award winning neo-vaudeville duo the Wau Wau Sisters, who will also contribute choreography, and Carmine Covelli.
 read full post »

SXIP Shirey performing at TED

Not digital, but certainly SXIP is someone who uses the technology that he does use completely smoothly and fluidly, and in innovative ways.

Anyway I just love Sxip's performances, so this is my "hey did you see this at TED" post.

and go watch some more Sxip, it's just wild, and second to live video is the way to see him.  It's hard to believe that "that sound" is coming from one man, and with "that instrument".