Severe Jam Damage

I finished the 365days project on flickr yesterday. I can’t say that I’m happy with my final shot - I was tired and cranky and its kind of a lazy shot. Very little setup and effort put into it, which is why I’ve posted my day 363 shot in the blog which I’m much happier with. A year of my life in self-portraits - although even that isn’t quite true as I only managed shots for 217 days.
I ‘gave up’ twice - unhappy with both my technique and myself - and then came back to it with a bang for all of about four days until I once again lost my creative spark.
January and February I was using the Finepix Z2 - a slim little machine that could be thrown into my purse and pulled out on a whim. There are a fair number of ‘arms length’ self portraits from the Z2 - not particularly flattering as my arms aren’t that long and the fixed focal length made my face look deformed. With the limitations of the camera I tried different things, using a tripod, props, hats and different locations to make something interesting. My potatoshop skills were pretty rudimentary - cross processing and desaturation was about the limit of it.
March and April were fairly similiar but the weather was getting warmer so I could go outside - also I went to Barcelona but had neither the time nor the patience to set up intricate shots - he11 who does on a holiday?
I bought the D80 in May of last year and there is a noticeable improvement in the quality of shots. Partially down to the camera and partially down to a new found sense of interest in the project. Day 141 was the first hiccup. I took a break for a couple of weeks, unsure of what I was doing. July and August were pretty good months, I managed a shot most every day. Most of my ‘explored’ shots come from the summer portraits. Day 151 is still the most popular shot on my stream.
September was really flaky and October wasn’t much better.
Then came November.
The more astute among you will notice that there were NO shots taken in November. You may also remember there were no posts to the blog in November. Actually, there was nothing at all done in November bar me writing the World’s Worst Novel - I have mentioned that I killed off all the characters in one massive cull in the last paragraph haven’t I?
December wasn’t much better. I got lazy and used to not taking a shot - there was always ‘tomorrow’ and I wasn’t ‘that far behind.’ And then it was January ‘the final month’. Even that didn’t get me taking pictures, I knew I was falling farther and farther behind, and it was only in the last two weeks that I began to make the effort again, despite a massive lack of creativity.
And now its done.
I don’t know why I started the project in the first place, possibly something to do with the long cold boring January nights last year. Or maybe something to do with wanting to see if I really was any good at it. I know a lot of people think that the whole thing is pretty narcissistic but I never really thought of it that way. I hate looking at myself in photos for a start, so when I was choosing that days shot it wasn’t with the idea of ‘which one do I look the best in?’ The questions I asked myself were more technical: ‘Which one has better shape \ colour \ form \ lighting \focus?’
If I was to look at the photos from a more self-centred point of view I’d have to wonder what I was trying to say on a particular day. Some of them I really love and think ‘jeez, that was a fluke’ others are just awful, awful, awful and I don’t know what I was thinking posting them up.
And then there is the nostalgia \ life thing. Looking back at the first few days and weeks of the project I’m tempted to question everything. Has anything about my life really changed - besides getting another year older - am I any closer to realising any of my goals or ambitions? Probably not. Has my self-confidence increased? In some aspects, but generally no. Am I more comfortable in front of a camera? No, not really, especially if other people are behind it. Do I have a better understanding of what it takes to make a good portrait? I think I’m beginning to…

My 365 flickr set

This is very cool. The (US) Library of Congress has started a flickr account which currently contains 3000 photos from its archives. Some extremely cool and interesting images here. They’ve left them as common use - so there are no copyright restrictions - and are encouraging people to add their own tags and any identifying information they can. Have spent a while browsing round the pics this morning, the 1940’s in colour set has some breathtaking images. Pic shown was taken in 1940, Pietown, New Mexico.

Pietown sounds very Suessian don’t you think?

LoC flickr

Warren Ellis has posted up episode number 9 of ‘The 4am’. This week its all about ‘Poptometry‘.
Give it a whirl. If you like the tracks right click to download ‘em (filesize - 20mb)

So far the third track ‘Cavalier’ is my favourite. From Warren’s post on the 4am:

Brandon Whitesell of Onlooker says: “I imagine that this song is about chemical dependence, destroyed eco-systems and biological chaos… and an army of stuffed bears wearing gas-masks and marching through the rainy streets of downtown…” And he’s not wrong. If possibly a bit mad.

Possible spoilers ahead

‘Jesus, that looks atrocious’ the Barfly grunted as Nic Cage towered above us on the screen spouting some jingositic shite while hanging off the edge of Mount Rushmore.
‘Well however bad ‘I am Legend’ is it can’t be as bad as that one looks.’
‘How the hell did they manage to get funding for a sequel anyway? I didn’t think the first one did much business?’
‘At least we’ll have Vampire-Zombies’
‘Have you even READ the book?’
‘I’m not sure about this’ mumbled the Philosopher. ‘Maybe we should have gone to see something else.’
‘Like?’
‘Umm…Enchanted?’ he suggested and then recoiled from our combined Stare of Death.
‘Can you imagine the three of us going to see Enchanted?’ I snorted.
‘Its supposed to be good… ‘ was his weak rejoinder.
‘No more speaking from you!’
‘How long have the ads and trailers been on now?’
‘Feels like an hour at least.’
‘Jesus, can you imagine being married to that guy?’
‘Who?’
‘The Burger King voice-over bloke.’
‘I just wish they’d start the fuckin movie.’
‘Not many in the cinema.’
‘Its New Years Eve’
‘What do you wanna bet three basketball players will sit in front of us? -Actually it’ll be ONE basketball player and he’ll sit in front of you.’
‘Har dee feckin har. You’ve probably jinxed me now.’
‘With big ears or a hat you can’t see around.’
‘Shup - the movie is starting.’
‘Who is talking?’
‘You are’
‘No, its those two twonks down the row.’
‘SHUT UP!’
‘They can’t hear you.’
‘Shhhh!’

The twonks didn’t stop their conversation until about an hour in which drove me absolutely mental. However I eventually managed to ignore them and watch the movie. Which wasn’t THAT bad - except that I had read the book. I’m beginning to think I should stop reading altogether as Hollywood has a way of turning my favourite scenes into something unrecognisable - or cutting them altogether - and completely ruining the endings.

‘Based on Richard Matheson’s ‘I am Legend'’.

Very, very loosely based. The vamps looked like the creatures from The Descent with better lighting. Ruined New York looks great and for me - a self professed misanthropist - an ideal way to see the city. Smith is surpringingly restrained in his role - not a sign of a ‘HELL YEAH, that’s what I’m talkin’ bout mo-fo’ and plays the ’slowly going insane’ in a rather measured way. Although when he quotes the ‘Ogres don’t have any friends’ scene from Shrek it sort of beats you over the head with his feelings of isolation. On another layer Neville being able to identify with the monster could be a tip of the hat to the book - but it is over so quickly and so at odds with the conclusion that it seems more like a conceit of the script.

There are a number of such nods to the book which are never fully explored (or explained) and are then overshadowed by guns, explosions and mass carnage. This could have been an interesting character study - and been more truthful to the book - but anytime it looks like it may head that way Smith blows some stuff up and the movie returns to its cliched ‘all action all the time’ roots.

Don’t get me wrong I like a bit of crash - bang - wallop as much as the next guy - but where the book slowly builds to a crescendo of tension and horror the movie slaps you about the face with a block of C4. The dynamic of the statement ‘I am Legend’ is completely turned on its ear. William Goldman wrote* that in Hollywood you’ll never get an A-list actor to take a role that required them to be less than a hero, unless they were specifically cast as the villain. Such a pity, Hollywood might have more interesting movies.

Ultimately, there might be too much Will Smith in the role and not enough Robert Neville in that you are always aware that it is Smith who is on the screen. At one point during a highly charged scene I was more struck by the sight of the Fresh Prince with greying hair than what was actually happening to his character. Distracting. Although given that Arnie was originally penciled in for the role it becomes obvious that the makers were always looking for a big name for the poster.
With brief touches somewhat reminiscent of Danny Boyle’s zombie flick(s) this is more ‘28 Days Too Late‘ than ‘Omega Man’ - which itself was criticized for not being enough like the book.

As an actioner ‘I am Legend’ is pretty much typical of it genre and entertaining enough. As a faithful rendition of the book - a sci-fi CLASSIC… well, you’ll have to look elsewhere.

*It was either in ‘Which Lie did I tell Now?’ or ‘Adventures in the Screen Trade’. Also I am paraphrasing.