Codified Space

[Video - Codified Space by Justin Ascott on Vimeo]

Tonight filmmaker Justin Ascott's excellent short film Codified Space will be screened as part of The London Short Film Festival 2012. The screening will be in collaboration with Passenger Films Passenger Films who hold regular screenings related to the subject of cultural geography. In Ascott's film we see an unnerving study of a disused car park now transformed into an uncanny space:

Architecture is a system of signs that structure patterns of social use, but what happens when a building falls into disuse and no longer serves the function for which it was originally intended? Does it continue to transmit its own secret signals? The film metaphorically links eroded signs in a car park with distorted sonic signals - based on diegetic location sounds manipulated using modulation filters.

The screening is part of The Architecture of Re-Assurance programme hosted tonight by the Hackney Picturehouse from 6.15pm.

Other films being screened are as follows:

DRY by Nic Wassell.

A London-shot 16mm film about travel and memory, inspired by the Taiwanese films of Tsai Ming-liang.

THE FOLLY by Mira Aroyo.

The cottage home of an elderly lady who has to adapt to her remote surroundings as she gets older.

MIRAGE by Srdan Keca.

Dubai as an unfinished ‘post-apocalyptic’ city.

A THOUSAND TREES by Ed Lawrenson.

A Scottish new-town built for a non-existent population that never came.

The screenings will be followed by a panel discussion with the filmmakers and Justin Jaeckle, Curator of Public Programmes at the Architecture Foundation, hosted by Ben Campkin, Director of the UCL Urban Laboratory.

Monday 9th January 2012 at 6:15pm, Hackney Picturehouse (270 Mare Street London, E8 1HE, Tel: 0871 902 5734). £6, £5 conc, £4 Hackney Picturehouse members.

Via Passenger Films

Vertical Expectations - The Shard of Glass

[Video - Vertical Expectations by Simolab-Creative AV on Vimeo]

Expected to reach completion in 2012 the architect Renzo Piano's glass Shard at London Bridge will stand unrivalled on London's skyline at an imposing height 1,017 ft or 310 m. By that time it will be the tallest building not only in the UK, but also in the whole of the European Union.

In this brilliant new film Simona Piantieri of Simolab combines a visual document of its construction with a balanced cross section of expectation and critical opinion concerning the aspirations, architectural or otherwise, that seek expression through the construction of this improbable edifice.

So ask yourself again...do Crystal Palaces Cast No Shadows?

Great work!

Democracy of Filmmakers - Vimeo Video School

Anyone who's checked out Urban Orienteer before should know what a fan I am of Vimeo. Aside from the quality of both the site and its content, what really stands out for me is the supportive community it has fostered and the creative encouragement it provides for amateur filmmakers. In keeping with this ethos the site has just launched its own Vimeo Video School. Aside from helping users achieve great results, perhaps relatively modest gestures such as this really do help achieve the 'democratisation' of filmaking implied by one enthusiastic user's comment.

In addition to categorising over a thousand user created tutorials as part of the initiative, Vimeo have also provided updates to their Video 101 tutorials for beginners and, of particular interest to myself, a new series called DSLR Basics specifically for photographers using their Digital SLR cameras to capture video. The series is presented by Vimeo's Andrea Allen and filmmaker Philip Bloom who is best known in the Vimeo community for his stunning timelapse photography:

[Video - Sky by Philip Bloom on Vimeo]

The film above was shot over the course of five days and nights in Dubai. Considering the time and patience that goes in to something like this it is fair to say he has learnt a trick or two over the years.

A selection of the videos I found most useful are embedded below along with links to the others. Each of the films in the DSLR Basics series is around 4-5 minutes long, and accompanied by a set of notes for context on the corresponding page.

1. Introduction to DSLR Cameras - Deciding which camera to buy.

2. Setting up your DSLR - Preparing the camera to shoot:

[Video - Setting up your DSLR by Andrea Allen on Vimeo]

3. DSLR Lenses - Choosing a lens.

4. DSLR Accessories - Choosing accessories to help you shoot with your DSLR.

5. Shooting video with a DSLR - Camera settings and shooting techniques:

[Video - Shooting video with a DSLR by Andrea Allen on Vimeo]

6. Recording sound for DSLRs - Ways of recording sound with external devices.

7. Timelapse with a DSLR - Using your DSLR to condense time:

[Video - Timelapse with a DSLR by Andrea Allen on Vimeo]

8. Night time Shooting with a DSLR - Shooting footage in low light:

[Video - Night time Shooting with a DSLR by Andrea Allen on Vimeo]

With all this I suppose my New Year's resolution should be to go out more, practice more, and make better films. See you out there!