Instant Videos

Washed Up

2010-03-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

"So the story is about this woman - this young woman that lives on this island in Ireland... The village wakes up one day to find out that a shipwreck has happened and all of these things from the shipwreck has washed up on the beach..." That's how Tammy began telling me about the book she's now reading.

(For the rest of the talk, check out A Short Conversation about "Away" by Jane Urquhart to listen or download for free.)

Books. I love books. Books can have the power to grip your soul. It can have the power to transport and transform the Reader. Tammy is currently reading Away. And she's so taken by it that she's found a way to work it into her new song...

Meanwhile, I'm delirious. I'm sick and "away" myself. Thinking about this video is draining me. But I'm also whipping myself out of bed. I'm getting excited. Yes! Well, no. Now I'm tired. Boy, do I feel it now. Washed up, burnt out, good-for-nothing...and you can't even make fifty videos!

What? Relax! Gee, I'm so hard on myself. I'm just under the weather. I'll bounce back. Just wait.

Somewhere, I hear crickets chirping in the background.

It starts out as an Earth Hour concept. Can we do the Instant Video unplugged? Let's film a video in the basement that's completely candle-lit. We even suspend a candelabra with metal wires for Tammy's light. No cheating. Stanley Kubrick eat your heart out. I sloppily tape a magazine to the wall to give Tammy a place to look when she's singing the song.

I edit a complete basement-style Instant Video #49 that will now only show up on a future blooper reel. Blooper reel? That's it!

I'm not failing...I'm working on the Blooper Reel.

The next day, it's a completely different concept. Where going high-style here, baby. Make love to the camera with your eyes. I'm thinking about shooting Tammy's face like that Fiona Apple album cover. Something is working better. But still not quite right.

I think I need some ocean shots. I check out my regular first stop online: Internet Archive (www.archive.org) and I quickly found Hills and the Sea by Mr. and Mrs. Ray Garner and it seems to work. But my computer is getting so slow... What will happen next? Epic journey.

I may need a big big rest after this. We may just postpone shooting the 50th Instant Video until the live stage show at the Arlington on the 16th of April, have a bit of a break and work on the show. I'll work on putting together a blooper reel. It'll be...therapeutic.

Away (I Hear You)
by Tammy Lin Foreman

You're love it is the ocean
mysterious and deep
I dive right to the bottom
for joy my heart will weep.

They don't understand this
I hear them when they say
her body may be with us
but her heart it is away.

I hear you
I hear you
I hear you
...call.

I hear you in the dawning
and in the afternoon
I hear you in the darkness
underneath the moon.

My love it is the ocean
mysterious and deep
dive right to the bottom
for joy your heart will weep.

Tammy as Landscape

2010-03-21T11:34:00.000-07:00

These pictures are production stills from a video that will not be seen. Sunny took the photos. Here I am trying to adjust a wireless microphone I've hidden inside Tammy's dress. The video would have been the first outdoor shoot of the year. Jackson Park, a couple of days ago. Warm enough to walk around without a coat. We found a nice spot with the location dowser. We cleverly carved a heart into a tree.

But timing was off. The microphone was too sensitive. Tammy had to go. We had one take left in us. It was a good take except near the end a crow started squawking in the background.

Things in general didn't quite come together that day. I have to learn to accept when something is just not working. Could I publish something not quite "there" just to meet a self-imposed deadline? Please don't let me fall into that trap again. How can I follow up the great feature in Pearl Magazine by Carol Lawless with a video that somehow felt wrong? I'm going to have to live with this video. I might as well take the time. If I make myself happy, there's a good chance I will infect everyone else around me.

Still, I tried to edit something together. Dark moody moving trees. I'm tired. I call re-shoot. Do something else. Do something completely different. Let's do something after I come back from Barrie. Who knew, a few days later, I'd be seeing Tammy as landscape.

If Things Don't Change (Song for Dad)
by Tammy Lin Foreman

Nice day for a car ride
A trip across the country
And I wanted to be there
Talking for hours
just you and me

But I got so caught up in things

If things don't change
they'll stay the way they are
But they've been changing pretty fast
so far
If things don't change
they'll stay the way they are

And I'm learning a lot here
the city treats me fine
But I still miss being close to you
besides you there's little that
I ever call mine

But I get so caught up in things

If things don't change
they'll stay the way they are
But they've been changing pretty fast
so far
If things don't change
they'll stay the way they are

I'm walking and I notice
your bounce in my stride
And I think of the lessons
you taught
To always be patient + kind
To always make the best of
what you've got

But I get so caught up things

If things don't change
they'll stay the way they are
But they've been changing pretty fast
so far
If things don't change
they'll stay the way they are.

Wake and Bake

2010-03-10T19:30:00.000-08:00

infinite regress n. 1. (Philosophy, Logic) A causal relationship transmitted through an indefinite number of terms in a series, with no term that begins the causal chain.

Yeah. Let's have a big potluck. We can celebrate the 50th Instant Video. It'll be the half-way mark. Tegan blurts: Half-way mark? You're only making a hundred? Why not a thousand?!

I stop, smile. Start to think about making the commitment to make a thousand Instant Videos. Yeah. If I've got nothing better to do, why not?

The concept reminds me of fractals, reminds me of an episode of Nova on Mandelbrot or maybe it was an episode of Lost.... What would happen if the Instant Video began to eat itself?

Could I possibly tell the story of the Instant Video as the video gets captured, edited and uploaded to YouTube within the construct of an Instant Video itself. That's ambitious. Perhaps as ambitious as a live Instant Video show... THERE! As soon as you think it, it begins to exist.

And behold, the live Instant Video show is born and premieres next month! (No joke.)

Where else? The Arlington Hotel in Maynooth, Ontario on Friday, April 16, 2010 with the inimitable Sarah Mangle and Rae Spoon. Wow. It's going to be a rare preview of a the Instant Video (live) show. Live camera feeds and video loops to recreate the videos on stage. The same thing only different. Live/playback. BTW, what is your techno-bondage?

The "Instant Video" audio CDs are also going to be available soon...with already 3 CDs worth of material. The songs perform really well as audio pieces actually. It's a new incarnation for the Instant Videos and you must really listen for yourself to believe it. Will keep you posted an let you know as soon as they come out of the oven.

Cake
by Tammy Lin Foreman

Stirring
it's so hard
lather sweat + pour
mixing heart + brain
hands drop to the floor
but I won't give up this time

- sugar baby bake
as slow as you can
I'll wait for this cake.

Coz I was never satisfied
with the fast fix: swallowed pride
no heart just hands of some one-man-band
crashing in my night
it sometimes quells the cravings
but it don't shed any light.

It's a raw deal
hard to chew
when your half-baked hero
comes back on you
face to face with the awful taste
this time I know what I need
I'll graze with grace.

Charlie you know I need to take it slow
trust is a must when you're looking for light
this takes time so I'm stirring I'm stirring
I'm gonna get it right
won't give up this time sugar baby bake
as slow as you can I'll wait for this cake.

Post Apoc-Olympic

2010-03-02T16:07:00.000-08:00

Quick email. Brian - thanks so much for that bucket of green paint. I finally got to use it...Here's a link to the movie. cheers, Lester

Another email. Hey Sekoiaa, again, thanks for your film, it was the inspiration. The film didn't get used in the end but it is there in spirit. Tammy played that same musical score she performed for your film and I live-mixed video of flames rear-screened behind her. I then printed frames from the video and filmed them burning on top of green screen boards I painted last week.

The idea, was actually for last week's video. But it was a last minute switch as usual. The rear-projection screen was for an impromptu test screening in my living room. I was just going with the flow; it was an easy homemade thing to do.

Fire. Much respect to the element and its powers for purification. Layers are revealed. Like molting insects. We burn our old selves off. And start anew.

Fire
by Tammy Lin Foreman

Fire, fire, fire...

Floor Model

2010-02-22T19:27:00.000-08:00

I imagine I could add a few tarantulas lose on the floor and that would be something to watch. Don't we have that mechanical bug somewhere? It's dead. Oh. This might be a good time for a snake. Or something that crawls on the floor. I might just know who to call.

Haha! I had scheduled an hour to shoot a different video we had planned ahead of time. Switcheroo. Do it on the floor. Yeah. Un-rehearsed on the the floor until the camera started rolling. Woops. We are now 2 hours overtime. It doesn't help that I accidentally erased the first good take. Digital mishaps. By Take 9 or 10, the clapboard is broken again and the natural light has drastically changed.

Time to bring in the lamps. We need to hook up the wireless lav for the whisper moments. It's a hassle to rig up the regular mic. Unless we hang it from the ceiling. How 'bout the Edirol. Yeah. Off the floor. And mix it all together in post. You can be the floor model. I'm floored.

Slowing to Still
by Tammy Lin Foreman

Charlie, with your shaking hands
seems like no one understands
silently, we sat and you touched my face
your hands, so still, grazing me with grace

now

I have felt the will of providence
I have seen the turning of events
and I have burnt myself just ashes to the ground
and I sifted and I found, I found, I found...

that the things that burn slow
they are continuing to glow
and the things that took off fast and bright
well, they're nowhere in sight, nowhere in sight

and I am wondering if they'll ever know
that there is so much beauty in the slow (slow)
it calms your shaking hands so they are still
and I keep praying someday they will

'coz look at how they've numbered all of the days
ticking as they roll by still counting the ways
section all their time but they don't need none to breathe
Charlie, that is way I had to leave

'coz they're all running to meet their maker
running to meet their maker...

And I'm slowing to still, slowing to still,
to still...

A Letter to Tammy

2010-02-15T10:17:00.000-08:00

No. I think you need to do this song and not the other one. Why?

Well. I think the song goes better with what I'm doing here, flipping recipe cards. What are you doing? You won't even let me read what you have!

Tammy, I say, I don't want you to read this until you see the video. This is my video Valentine's to you. Okay.

I don't tell Tammy that it's actually based on a letter I wrote her twelve years ago on Valentine's Day. The presentation was elaborate. There were sixteen heart-shaped pages inside a heart-shaped basket filled with pink confetti. What a romantic! *groan* And this museum artifact is just sitting here on my desk right now. It's hard to even believe it myself...

I pick up the basket to examine it while Tammy rehearses one of her songs. I sift through the heart-shaped notes and read through them. Suddenly, it hits me when I get to a page with a scribbled word at the bottom, awkward and out-of-place. It's a message from the past.

Just one word: video. It's a single word non-sequitur scribbled with a seemingly automatic hand at the bottom of the page. What? I have to use this somehow. That's the only way I can interpret it. Hmmm... Valentine's Day is really about writing. So maybe do the first hand-written Instant Video? That's how the brain train went choo choo!

So, instantly, I was there with the Sharpie inking the cards. This reminds me of Bob Dylan in Subterranean Homesick Blues with the cue cards in the alley way. I'm tired but I can do this. And only this. Tammy will score it live. I'll need to pan up to her playing at the end for the reveal. Ready? Let's do it in one take. What are you going to sing? Tammy, please. Just make it up. But not too many words, okay? Let's go!

My Heart
by Tammy Lin Foreman

My heart
is full of love for you
Don't you know
you're everything to me?

A Song for Dark Highway

2010-02-06T21:54:00.000-08:00

This ain't Hollywood-style Fake. No lipsyncing here. Tammy is live. Either she nails it or she doesn't. Just outside the camera's gaze, her hands are busy working overtime. She's using keyboard, guitar, and looper. And I'm right there with her with my right hand on the tripod and my left hand waving a work light in an arching swoosh over her face. It's Saturday night...Live!

We meet this way, after dinner, upstairs, we dare each other. I have no idea what I'm going to do. But when Tammy asks "What about you?" I say "I'm ready whenever you are." I bide my time. I think. Think. I keep working uncertainty into the process. And we're getting better and better at this all the time. Instant Videos every week: this is like ninja training.

Tammy again surprise attacks me with a new song. And it's in that element of surprise, that's where it happens. The surprise creates a spark; I see something flash by. I set off in the direction of the flash...

Yes. I can shoot this now, I say, but we have to go for a drive afterward. I want to shoot fresh road footage and we have to find a heart. Tammy is tentative. Hmmm. I try again. "C'mon. I'll take you to Country Style, I'll buy you a donut." She winces. I don't have time to explain that bad coffee and sugar is really what makes nighttime 2nd unit shoots so much fun.

The clapboard breaks after Take Five. Whoops. What are we gonna do now? Wait a minute! There was that toy clapboard we got from St. Vinny's that came from a McDonald's Happy Meal. Oh yeah! Still in its original plastic. It says "Makin' Movies - Clapboard with Chalk (Collect all 4 while supplies last)" I stare at the object for an extra minute. And smile.

Yes. After all, we're just Makin' Movies.

We have to go. It's a song for dark highway. It's appropriate to go for a midnight drive to find a heart. There must be one somewhere in Peterborough. Drive there. Wherever. Go. Where do we go? Go for the original Country Style idea. Maybe somewhere near there. We'll find...

There are no hearts in this city - it's heartless! And, we are running out of gas. At the gas station, I get out of the car to draw something on the dirty windshield.

85 mph
by Tammy Lin Foreman

Eight-five miles an hour
Speeding for you
Taking this car on the freeway
turning this wheel towards you
I'm thinkin' I may make it tomorrow
I'm hopin' I will make it today
'Coz all I know is I am on fire
And you are a like a monsoon rain

I'm comin' now
I'm comin' now
I need you

I'm comin' now
I'm comin' now
I need you

and I can see
the Holy Grail

An Edge Detective

2010-01-27T21:51:00.000-08:00

So busy. I've hardly had any sleep this week. Multi-task. Go, go. I consistently use two computers now. When I'm busy with one, the other is quietly working; the computer is rendering. It estimates 40 minutes. Maybe I can do some yoga, while I wait. Maybe, check my email just one more time. The other machine is processing a clip or transferring a file. So where to find the time for the Instant Video? I'm busy all week. I'm busy all weekend.

I've been practicing a song, says Tammy. It's "Love File." Last night it was "Sad Kid." But Tammy fell asleep. Serious. Asleep before the camera had a chance to roll. Tonight, I'm so tired, I might be the one to fall asleep. I need some loud music. I need to ramp myself up, clean up the kitchen.

The song is "Love File." And it makes me want to go back to the basement. I want to film the pipes. I want to get damp and dirty. I want to shoot the video in the style of film noir. I want to light the whole thing with a flashlight. I want to shoot the whole thing through a peep hole. Get the overhead projector and draw something on a transparency. Find that fedora.

I don't know.

So I tell Tammy some of this. I detect some kind of edge. I need the time to process this. I need to brainstorm. Figure this out. I'll make some tea. I'll wash the dishes by hand. It's soapy meditation. Agatha Christie even said she plotted her novels this way, wet hands, letting her mind wander standing by the kitchen sink.

Love File... How can I interpret this?

Finally. I'm ready to film. I go upstairs to find that Tammy had changed the song again. I just keep going. Go with the flow.

My Breath Wish
by Tammy Lin Foreman

Wish I could say
But I don't know
I'd like to stay
Maybe I'll go
When I think about it, I suck my breath too fast
Panicking like it might be my
Last nite you were like the stars
Today you are like the sun
I think you're beautiful
Why do I want to run?
Wish I could say
Describe it to you
Stick in the mud
Hold my breath till I turn blue

Now I don't want to be like them
Just coz they're scared of it all
They stop themselves before they start
Catching themselves
Never fall
Breath be easy
Breath be sure / pure
Carry words I need to say
Life lived in fear, life half lived
Where'd I learn this anyway..?

Swamp Thing

2010-01-18T11:51:00.000-08:00

On YouTube I find Jon Crawford "Gator Hunter" with flashlit footage of a nighttime alligator ambush in the swamps of the bayou. He's not wrestling zoo alligators here for tourists. This is the real stuff: videotaped for themselves with a handycam. Wow. And then I stumble onto Gus Onebear and his stunts. Then, there's footage from a guided tour of Honey Island Swamp. I think this will work.

Searching the internet with key words like: "alligator," "wrestling" and "swamp," I hunt and gather.

Quickly. I turn these titles into movies I can use. Drop the clips into the video mixer. And hit BLEND.

This creature feeds on video smoothies. What are you? Some kind of swamp thing? Swamp thing! You make my heart sing! This idea brings us down to the basement. I imagine I'm setting up the projector for visuals at a dark warehouse rave. Tammy has the voice, the hair, for the basement. Turn down heat. Just one take. Let's go!

At the turn of the new year, January 1, 2003, Tammy was barefoot and pregnant. As seen in this unedited video, some kind of spirit suddenly took over her exactly at midnight and made her voice growl and sing the words that come out fully formed into a song. Seven years later, the creature is back!

Merlin gave his disciple a peculiar, squinting look. "I'm sending you into the swamp, or, as mortals call it, the world. I have kept you out of the swamp for all these years, teaching you something you are not to forget." - The Way of the Wizard by Deepak Chopra

In the Swamp
by Tammy Lin Foreman

In the Swamp,
in the swamp,
in the swamp,
in the big wide swamp
Daddy give,
Daddy give,
Daddy give,
Daddy give a stomp
He said there's nothing to do,
nothing to do,
nothing to do,
the whole day through
but to wrestle alligator,
alligator,
alligator
and make crawdaddy stew
What's a poor girl to do
when she's living in a in a swampland?
What's a poor girl to do
when she's living in a in a swampland?
She's gotta wrestle alligators,
wrestle alligators,
and make crawdaddy stew
In the swamp,
in the swamp,
that's what Daddy says you gotta do.

Instant Jam: the Ecstatic Truth

2010-01-11T08:07:00.000-08:00

We'll shoot for an hour. Let's see what happens. Songs might just magically create themselves... Just jam.

Then. We can later take a clip from the footage and upload that. It's an old idea. We have yet to do it. Now we just have to make it happen.

Keep shooting, I tell myself. Shoot everything. Wait! Get some lights in here. It's too dark. Plug in the Horn of Plenty. This is interfering with reality, I know. But I'm trying to show a greater truth here.

I'm reminded of what Werner Herzog calls the "Ecstatic Truth" - the deeper essential truth of that moment being captured. Truth is: the rice wine with sushi at dinner has gone to my head and our guests have already taken up instruments and have started playing. I pick up my instrument: a video camera. It makes a quiet beep.

"I wish I could jam with you guys musically," I say. "But I've got the camera. And I have an idea." I'll try a few takes.

I startle the musicians intermittently with the clapboard. (Clap!) "Can you guys do something called 'What's Bred in the Bone'?" The book on the shelf keeps grabbing my eye.

"What's Bread in the Bone?" No. It's B - R - E - D. As in the Robertson Davies novel on my shelf over here. Yeah. Try making something up. Let's see what happens...

I shoot for over an hour... Tomorrow I'll look at the footage and see if a there's a solid chunk of good stuff in there somewhere. Jamming like this and making up words on the spot is a fun way of discovering a song. A recording becomes a writing tool. The song gets re-written and shaped.

For this video, it's a different story. There's no going back and re-writing anything. In this jam, the video is my instrument, and we all just get one chance to do it, so I must coordinate my camera moves with the flow of the music. I have to tell the "story" in one take.

I jump in with blind trust. Yeah. Swing the camera over here: the bookshelf. Look at those titles. Neuromancer by William Gibson. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. Wild Goose Jack by Jack Miner. I swing the camera toward Tammy. Close-up on Mike and Josh. Something's happening now. Maybe this could be the take. I keep myself steady and interested.

What's Bred in the Bone
by Tammy Lin Foreman

I want you to know
What is bred in the bone
Will not out of the flesh

I saw at last
and I knew
this time won't last forever
this time will come to an end
more time will come behind to
take over once again

hour turned to the day
it turned to the week
it turned to the month
and said
now this year's
half over
I really love her
and I know she'll tic
talk like the sister before
like the sister before her

How can I make her stand still
She has no want for this
I see this is her beauty
I see this is her will

this time won't last forever
forever and ever...

this time will come to an end
more time will come behind to
take over once again

We have this in the can. Late night. Just like old times. Remember the Duty Free Jam sessions? That was just audio. The video needs a bit more "ecstatic truth" at the end. For good measure.

Angel at my Table

2010-01-04T20:43:00.000-08:00

Georgia really really really wants to be in an Instant Video today. She's already got the angel wings on. She's got her violin.

Dad! Dad! I'll sit right here. Do you see me in the shot? I'm ready. When are we going to shoot it? Dad!

Okay. Give me a minute to take this in. Georgia wants to be in the video? Officially, this wouldn't be the first time. She made an appearance even as early as Instant Video #3 - Stars. And she was also seen in Make Believe and Defibrillator.

But for this P.J. Harvey cover of Victory, we had a different plan all set to go.

Tammy says she's thrilled that Georgia wants to be in it. Georgia is usually upset when it's time for us to make the video-of-the-week. She's always wondering what she will do in the meantime. Is there some way..?

I'm scratching my head. Okay. So. What are we going to do?

I'm out of ideas right now. I just want to set up the cameras and hit Go. Let's see what happens with the hands-off approach.

I keep my head down. I look up once in a while because I realize it makes Georgia smile. She's excited. She's seeing the world through her six-year old eyes. "I can't believe I'm gonna be in an Instant Video!"

Two hours later, Georgia sneaks up beside me while I'm editing. "Can I see it, Dad?" she says. I hit play and after two seconds Georgia bursts into tears! "Cut me out!" she wails repeatedly, "Cut me out!" She is inconsolable. And I am just stunned.

This worries her and this worries me. I have to talk about it with Tammy when she gets home.

Georgia is snuggled up in bed as I tuck her in for the night and she whispers "Don't put it on YouTube, Dad. Not until you talk to Mom. But you have to tell me what she said first."

Okay, Georgia. Good night.

Yes. I remember the first time I heard my own recorded voice played back to me. I hated the way I sounded. I remember seeing myself on film and noticing not only the way I looked but how I moved and made gestures. It was disturbing. I think almost everybody goes through something like this. It's that first time seeing myself how others truly see me.

"I love the video Georgia. I love the video because of you... I don't like myself in it. Without you, I wouldn't like it," says Tammy.

But Georgia insists. No.

I don't want to go against her personal wishes but I thought she understood that this was going to be published. I don't know what to do. I want her to be happy. I need the blessing of this angel.

Tammy is in charge of this now. I have to move on. So as of publishing this post, the video is still private.

Victory
by P.J. Harvey

I stumble and I'm in
You fit me with those angel wings
Set me go
Set me high
Set it up while I'm in the sky
But the storm is gone
And the temperature's high
And Delilah's dining
At my table
I think how lucky we are
Angel at my table, God in my car
Get it at sea
Take a ship
I'd christen her "Victory"
She'd make it

Victory
Victory

Come on boys
Let's push it hard
You bump down, push your motorcart
Come on boys
You done us proud
The sweat, just mop it right off your brow

Victory
Victory
Victory
Victory

So the storm is gone
And the temperature's high
And Delilah's dining
At my table

Till the storm is gone
And the temperature's high
And Delilah's dining
At my table

Not for the Holidays

2009-12-27T16:57:00.000-08:00

For the Christmas upload, we decide to shoot on Tammy's birthday. It's only minutes before her birthday party is supposed to start. This is a first. Being a Christmas Baby, it's usually more difficult to get people together on her actual birthday because of family stuff around this time.

I can only do one more take, says Tammy, I think people are going to start arriving soon. Okay. Ready? Yeah. It would be great to upload #38 on her 38th birthday. It's a reworking of Lullaby for G.

In a split-second, I hit the wrong button on the camera and the image becomes inverted. It's in "negative" mode. Tammy keeps singing. I don't stop her. This sounds like a good take. Maybe this can work. Just maybe.

I think someone's at the door. So this is it. It can't be. I hit the wrong button! Can I stand to publish this? It's so...ugly. On the other hand, it could just be the "ugly one." Could I stand to let this go?

If the concept was really all about the "negative effect" then, by the end, it would have to evolve somehow. At this point, there's not enough here to sustain an audience. I can't do it. Maybe some other time. But not now. Not for the holidays.

I realize suddenly that I have a limit to the amount I can let the elements in an Instant Video devolve to its default position.

We'll have to think of another way to shoot this. Sometime after the party. After recovering from a possible hang-over. We'll have to re-shoot.

This Light
by Tammy Lin Foreman

This light of mine
Gonna let it shine
Gonna let it shine
This light of mine
Makes no difference
What they say
I'm gonna be happy
Come what may
Have you ever
felt that way?

Have you ever
felt that way?

Won't hide, no
Gonna let it show
Gonna let it glow

Makes no difference
What they say
I'm gonna be happy
Come what may
Have you ever
felt that way?

Oh, this light that shines in me
Shine your light for all eternity
and in my darkest hour
Shine so bright with all your power

Makes no difference
What they say
I'm gonna be happy
Come what may
Have you ever
felt that way?

Have you ever
felt that way?

Cut and Paste, the Old-Fashioned Way

2009-12-18T06:55:00.000-08:00

The event is called "CUT 'N TASTE." Invites were sent out and several Instant Video friends show up at our house ready to make a collage and eat birthday cake. My birthday.

We have boxes of old magazines, glue, and a bucket full of scissors. Right away, guests want to get busy; they are quiet. Everyone gets into a flow. And I promise everyone that I will use these collages in an upcoming Instant Video.

Then: SEVEN WHOLE MONTHS GO BY...in a flash!

And I'm just finally getting to it. I wanted to get this done before the end of the year. And, it's been so long, I've already started to forget who did what! All this time I've kept these "works of art" in a folder on my desk, unlabeled.

I know there's work here by Julia Fenn, Brian Mitolo, and Michael Martyn... There's work by Ray Barker, Hartley Stephenson, Marly Francoeur, Dave Stewart, Wayne Elliott, and Jay Plouffe. And Michael Fredrickson... Maybe someone else I'm forgetting. Thank you for your brilliant cut-ups.

By the end of the night, we have over twenty works. Cut and paste, the old-fashioned way. Using patience in selection with intuition in placement, a pair of scissors and some glue.

No real idea for the video yet. No particular song in mind. No theme. But I'm sure we can do something...

One idea is to plaster an entire wall with the collages and have Tammy perform in front of them. But I feel strongly about doing service to the artfulness of these creations. I want to see them CLOSE-UP.

Maybe I'll do it with a hand-held camera; CLOSE-UP. Maybe I'll use a tripod or maybe I'll just scan them...EXTREME CLOSE-UP.

I have to focus on this now to make it happen. Thursday's the day to shoot. Friday to 'pload. Instant Video style, I have to include one live unedited take. Maybe I'll project a slide-show on top of Tammy, shoot that, and then, graft the shot back into the slide-show in the editing. We'll have to see what images randomly match up with words.

I know I'll have to steal some time to prep. Shoot it late. Then, render it overnight. And who knows if it'll actually work. But I've got to try it. Friday morning... I'll wake up and see.

Late! It's been seven months in the making. I guess another few hours won't hurt.

Houdini Style
by Tammy Lin Foreman

I can't come yet I'm still underwater
Houdini-style, Denial's daughter
trying to undo all these knots I have tied
hands busy on the inside

Charlie you know that I love you
our eyes are like mirrors and our souls are like two
birds of a feather we talk together
and we fly so high

And you're in my heart like the stars and the moon
are in the night sky and I'll be there soon
as these maiden's hands of mine unravel this fear
until then I am here

So I can't come yet I'm still underwater
Houdini-style, Denial's daughter
trying to undo all these knots I have tied
hands busy on the inside

The Girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes

2009-12-11T18:07:00.000-08:00

This is a test. This is a test of will, patience, and on-the-spot creativity. This is only a test.

The pair of 3-D glasses is a relic from the summer. It was an air-conditioned matinee screening of Coraline. Definitely one of the top five movies I saw in 2009. (The list would also have to include, Ponyo, Star Trek, and Up.) Mm. Maybe the glasses came from Up.

I punch out the thin plastic lenses from the frame and I use a pen to trace the shape on a sheet of green screen paper. Use small scissors to cut out the shapes and use Scotch tape to stick them on.

Zip zip. Wear this! :) I'll somehow try to turn this into Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds...in Post. Tammy laughs.

It's only a test.

The idea is to sync up the audio at the tail...so it would enable the camera to wander around a bit BEFORE revealing the source.

I don't know what's happening to the music as I'm puttering about in the kitchen. I'm just hoping for the best. I'm trying out this flash. This whim, this dream. I can't think of anything else to do. And this is something we have to do in the next hour. All that daytime was eaten up by making and testing the glasses.

Only to get to that moment, when the camera gets to Tammy... And realize, a lot of power is gone because I can't see her eyes!

And there's a kind of Stevie Wonder swagger there. Not quite what I had in mind. It's an exercise. It's a "make something right now" moment. It guess it's less of a test and more like a pop quiz.

wrap around
by Tammy Lin Foreman

work like dogs
until we die
complicated knots to tie
need more fingers
so that I
can wrap around my
wrap around my wrap around my
thoughts sometimes
in such a mess
only when I second guess
feels better when I confess
it is so endless is so endless is so endless...
waves wash over me
watered down words we
catch-phrase
catch myself confused
should have refused
should have refused
the temptation to
tie my tongue
hang-over from being young
do what you're told
and you'll get some where
it's just not fair, it's not fair...
that we work like dogs
until we die
complicated knots to tie
need more fingers so that I can
wrap around my wrap around my wrap around my...

The Meaning of Dreams

2009-12-04T06:05:00.000-08:00

At long last... I feel like myself again. Bless me. It's been four months since my last confession. We had four months to plan this next season of Instant Videos but when it comes time to shoot, all the elements come together on-the-fly anyway. No different this time around. Just go with the flow.

We have an hour of daylight left. It's a rush. Oh man, these old feelings again! My heart is pumping loudly. Adjust the tripod. And the heart! Quick, says Tammy. Get my make-up bag. On the shelf, right-hand side. There's a black eyeliner pencil... Six year-old Georgia takes pictures with the digital camera.

We missed doing all of this showtime business. Last month, I had to give the calendar a cold hard look. I had to use a ball-point pen to mark it down. Make a commitment.

Four months ago, we were at the beach, at the peak of our talent for spur-of-the-moment creation. But we got busy with other stuff and I have yet to come up with an angle that will convince arts councils that this project is worth supporting. Meanwhile, our lives are not complete without doing this crazy one-a-week deadline. So we're making another run anyway. I call it Season Two.

Today I wake up sobbing. I don't remember the dream. I don't know what this means. There's a book on the shelf. I don't like what it says.

I really want to picture myself going into the new decade working on something I love and believe in. I think ten years is about enough time to get used to the 21st century and now we can get on with making this world a better place. I know 9/11 threw everybody off. It came out of nowhere. And I think we've finally moved past it now. I hope so! There's no more time to lose.

I improvise by mixing video clips. Tammy likes to play guitar or keyboard, sing, make up words on-the-spot and we record it all together feeding through red, white and yellow RCA cords into the back of the DVD recorder... I used a webcam to record an improvised jam we did on Nov. 20. I uploaded a clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYq-0vTVWso) where the song "Dreams" had its beginning.

I want to write about the process because that's a big part of it. I want to show everything and tell all. The Instant Videos must remain as live unedited performances. The viewers will have to look for a heart in each one. I hope more people will tune in to see how we can live up to the challenge - one video per week. It's a study in sameness and variation fueled by artful sincerity. When we stopped making videos, the quiet few who are out there watching just wanted to give us our space. I hope they will tune in again and hope to gain more viewers.

As Tammy sings on camera, I think about the Sinéad O'Connor music video I had in mind for the art direction. But I can't imagine Sinéad O'Connor singing this song. I also play the guessing game. I imagine which celebrity could sing one of Tammy's songs. I've imagined Jack White singing Sweet is Low and Madonna singing Reflector. I couldn't think of one for Dreams.

I think Tammy finally hit some kind of nail on the head.

Dreams
by Tammy Lin Foreman

Someday you're gonna wake up + find
That all the things you thot you'd left behind
They are creepin'
When you're sleepin'
And your heart it is holdin' them tight
All thru the night.

You thot that you forgot
But you can't stop, no you can't stop
You got them into your heart
And it's pulling you apart
From the things you thot you were needing
Now you're bleeding.

I am. You are.
What do I do with this
It's on my list. It's on my list.

What do I do with this
Follow my bliss.

A Day at the Beach

2009-08-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

This is what we do. Go up to Meaford, Ontario and play a couple of shows at the Funny Farm at this year's Electric Eclectics festival. We extend the weekend an extra night and camp at nearby Sauble Beach to try to avoid the busy holiday traffic. The blast of wind on the beach is cold. And we're sitting on our camping chairs when Tammy picks up the ukulele and finds the chords to one of our favourite songs by Coldplay.

This is what I do. I pick up the digital still camera and switch it to video mode and start filming Tammy. I film one whole take and I remember that all my gear is just inside the parked van only a few feet away from the beach. Why not try to make an Instant Video? Now. Anyway, it's due time.

We've decided to not put too much pressure on ourselves. But I continue to bring video gear around. And Tammy has the ukulele. Then, something truly spontaneous could emerge. This is what we can do. 21st century style, we can beam up this home movie from any café in the world with a WiFi.

Be prepared. Something of the Boy Scout in me. To have the tools at the ready to document my Real Life. Opportunity + Preparedness = Success! Tammy quickly etches the chords to the song in the sand... It's happening right now. It's a simple day at the beach. This is what we do.

With dismay, we realize later that we forgot to include our requisite heart. But the video playback reveals a droplet of water from Lake Huron. It apparently splashed on the lens on the upper right-hand side of the frame. And the droplet of water is heart-shaped!

Low
by Coldplay

You see the world in black and white
No colour or light
You think you'll never get it right
But you know you might

The sky could fall could fall on me
The parting of the seas
But you mean more, mean more to me
Than any color I can see

All you ever wanted was love
But you never looked hard enough
It's never gonna give itself up
All you ever wanted to be
Living in perfect symmetry
Nothing is as down or as up... as us

You see the world in black and white
Not painted right
You see no meaning to your life
Yes, you try
Yes, you try

And all you ever wanted it was love
But you never looked hard enough
It's never gonna give itself up

All you ever wanted to be
Living in perfect symmetry
Nothing is as down or as up

Don't you want to see it come soon
Floating in a big white balloon
Oh, given your own silver spoon

Don't you want to see it come down
There for throwing your arms around
an sayin "you're a moment too soon"

Cause I feel low
Cause I feel low
Oh oh oh oh oh
Yeah I feel low
Oh no

Ohh

Ohh
Cause I feel low
Ahh
Cause i feel low
Oh oh oh oh oh
Yeah I feel low
Oh no

Ohh

Summer Hours

2009-07-21T21:20:00.000-07:00

What was once a weekly deadline, a busy summer slowed it to a steady every two weeks or so, we make an Instant Video. And I'm okay with it, for now. There's good reason. And for this idea, yes, it's totally my fault. Put the chain-cuffs on me. I made Tammy do it! I just really thought she needed to do a cover song. Maybe even do a few cover songs. Let them take it down.

So, download it while you can. The Head of State has called for me by name.

Last year, around this time, Tammy and I were lucky enough to see Radiohead perform in Parc Jean Drapeau in Montréal with a huge crowd. It was an unbelievably blissful concert, hearing the rain-soaked chorus of 35,000 people sing with "The Best You Can is Good Enough," complete with unexpected lightning, rainbows and fireworks in the backdrop. This was our first time seeing Radiohead perform live and we quickly became even bigger fans from before. And we were already really big fans.

This video is our love letter to to Radiohead. We love you! Thanks to our friends Jeremy and Jacquie, we are able to execute this "simple canoe idea" to interpret the song "Lucky" - a ukulele variation, complete with Hawaiian get-up. Tammy has also been heard elsewhere singing other Radiohead songs Karma Police and Bulletproof. We've been trying to shoot this video for weeks. Jeremy told us about the bridge down yonder and how going under it might give the audio an interesting effect.

It turns out: it really does. (Listen with headphones. No post-production treatment was done to the audio. This is a completely live take recorded with a wireless microphone.)

And I have to just plonk the camera on the tripod and "guide the shot" with a canoe paddle. We do five takes going under the bridge each time either too fast or too slow. On the sixth take we decide to come under and go back under to maximize the audio effect. I've never quite controlled the camera like this before. Row, row, row, your boat. Life is but a dream.

The lucky seventh take is the one that gets uploaded.

Lucky
by Radiohead

I'm on a roll, I'm on a roll
This time, I feel my luck could change
Kill me Sarah, kill me again with love
It's gonna be a glorious day

Pull me out of the air crash
Pull me out of the lake
I'm your superhero
We are standing on the edge

The Head of State calls for me by name
But I don't have time for him
It's gonna be a glorious day
I feel my luck, it could change

Pull me out of the air crash
Pull me out of the lake
I'm your superhero
We are standing on the edge

Waiting for the End of the World

2009-07-08T08:24:00.000-07:00

Not like instant coffee but "instantaneous coffee." Our first date with collaborators. Rushing as usual. Tammy packs up the instruments. I pack up the video gear. Five minutes. We drive up the street and see the house.

Later, it will occur to me to write up a grant proposal to document live performances on heritage sites, produced for distribution on the world wide web. Use the video for support material. To foster awareness and collaborate and you know. The John Britton house in Peterborough, Ontario was built around 1850 and it represents the style of a Simple Gothic Classic. I don't have clean shorts so I'm wearing my swimming trunks today.

I have seen Jenn Cole and Ryan Kerr dance a few times in various Peterborough presentations and just marveled at their brilliant minds for choreography and their effortless embodiment of these ideas that provoke unexpected emotions. Such natural talent. Of course, I also saw "In the Parlour" by Brian Mitolo (guythehood) who used Esther Vincent's photos to create a beautiful piece that will stand the test of time.

I recently caught a Fleshy Thud live presentation of Ryan Kerr's "Mindful" performed by Kerr and Cole and was completely stunned by its genius. And I couldn't help but think that more people needed to see this kind of talent. Freeze it. Save it for generations to come later.

How about a guest appearance on an Instant Video? Ryan was already glimpsed in Instant Video #14. He could be a recurring character. The possibilities are endless. After the show, I set up a date with Jenn and Ryan. That is the only way we can make sure to meet in one place and one time and just play for a couple of hours. I'm sure we can come up with something. Tuesday at 2pm.

Jenn Cole is gracious enough to offer chocolate and let us film there. Last minute style, Tammy starts singing an old song about the End of Time. And it agrees with their genre, Jenn says. Waiting out the End of the World in a heritage home is some kind of perfect goth fantasy. Ryan Kerr choreographs quickly. Esther is holding the door open and handling the light disc. With Tammy in the mix performing live with the others as if there was a "studio audience." This intimate two-person team has suddenly gained stars and a crew.

Heck. This is top notch video busking. Instant Video maintains its corner on the sidewalk just off the ramp to the information super highway. Reaching new unexpected heights with a little help from our friends.

Twirl
by Tammy Lin Foreman

c'mon love give me a twirl
waiting for the end of the world
c'mon put your hand in mine
'til the end of time

destination: i don't know
still i'm anxious to go
as long as my view
includes you
charlie, i don't mind

waiting for the end of the world

I'd rather be...

2009-06-24T22:15:00.000-07:00

Hot summer, the air seems to buzz. There's a big pile of laundry but we are low energy. It's the slow motion time of the day. There's more work to do. But I'd rather be...anything. Let's shoot that Instant Video. Now? Where? How?

What's this song about anyway? Something to think about. Is it about neighbors? Let's shoot it between the houses. "Good fences make good neighbors," that line comes to mind.

But really... The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, the saying goes. Which seems to say that once I finally manage to hop the fence and land my feet on the other side, the patch of grass I just abandoned will only seem greener from my new vantage point.

Stay with me here while I talk this out. Therefore...our perception is unreliable. It's easy for us to envy and want what we don't have. But who is to say that we don't have the better situation right now? We are in fact already the envy of the neighborhood. We might just be where we want to be. Right? It's about appreciating the moment. Now is the time.

The song plays with that proverb but evokes a different idiom: the promise of "greener pastures." In this case, "greener pastures" can be a place or condition that is more favorable than the current situation. Our imaginations keep us going in our quest to reach the land of milk and honey. And we have to hold that illusory vision intact in order to "get there." It's like trying to protect a soap bubble while walking down a path of thorns. We must shield ourselves from the naysayers. And keep the faith. Ferociously.

Greener Grass
by Tammy Lin Foreman

There's nothing that I'd rather do
Than be true than be brave, yeah.
There's nothing that I'd rather do
Than walk tall to my grave.

And when I open up my mouth
The truth will set me free, yeah.
East, west, north and south
Lay waiting for me.

When there's a hurt in my heart
When there's a break in my stride, oh.
I never give up
There's greener grass on the other side.

And I have heard them say
Oh you'll never get there
Coz greener grass is tricky and
You can see it everywhere.

But I don't mind the look of it
As far as I can see
As long as there's green grass
I know that I can roam free.

When there's hope in my heart
When there's faith in my stride
Oh I never give up
There's greener grass on the other side.

Down and Dirty

2009-06-12T13:16:00.001-07:00

Instant Video #30 wouldn't be the first video for this song of Tammy's.

This is flashing back a few years ago when we lived in Toronto; another late night. I was experimenting with my new editing system. I decided to make Tammy a video for a song she had just finished mixing. I was working on a National Geographic special at the time and this public domain footage literally just fell onto my lap. It was a spontaneous marriage of sound and image - so crazy it seemed to work.

I Had Hid went on to be screened in a film festival and was broadcast on national television in 2002.

I'm a bit surprised that Tammy wants to do this song again. Old feelings are brought up. But it also feels right.

It's nighttime so we have no light to work with. I thought I could stretch the "using only available light" parameters and shoot it all by candlelight. Then, I thought, what would happen if I played with the candles a bit... It kinda reminds me of the magnifying glass video.

Sepia plus the candles equals an old fashioned look. Maybe Tammy can wear an old lace dress. I want to put her on a wheeled platform and pull her through the spooky hallways of a haunted mansion led by flying candles.

Then, as quickly as it came, the inspiration turns to disgust. Take two? Really? No. I've lost faith in this idea. Flying candles? Wha?

But now I have a demo...for something. Maybe put together an Instant Video compilation reel of failed attempts. That could be funny. See! There's a reason for everything.

Try again tomorrow. The gear stays put; same location. Nothing changes, except... "All I know," Tammy says the next day, "Is that Tom Feenstra painting has to be in this one."

Pause. "Okay," I say. "I can work with that." So. Tammy puts up the painting and I focus my lens on its details... Another sudden flashback.

I have to summon a wild abandon now. I have to call up my inner giddy cameraman. He'll make some mirthful sense out of my everyday. His eye will wander off and find distraction.

It's finally uploaded now. After eight tries, I think this one will finally work. If I had to do it again. I'd make Tammy do some gardening first and then shoot the video with some mud on her hands. Close up: muddy hands on the keyboard. Get down and dirty.

I Had Hid
by Tammy Lin Foreman

You know I never meant to hurt you
And I can't believe I did
I'm sorry that all the things I just said
I had hid, I had hid, I had hid, I had hid
I did

I really should have told you sooner
Why did I wait so long?
Coz you thot that we were getting closer
But I didn't feel that strong

It was so little to me
And so big to you
I thot that you'd begin to see
But you never did see thru
I had to tell it to your face
I don't feel the same as you
And now you're gone but there's a trace
Of everything I've held on to
I had hid, I had hid, I had hid, I had hid

Available Light

2009-06-04T08:50:00.000-07:00

"Okay," says Tammy. "I'm ready."

She's ready, I think to myself. But I'm not. "Where are we going?" I ask. She says "I don't know. You're the director." Okay. I pause for a second while I take this in.

Let's go upstairs... The light is going fast. I get the whim to cover the camera's lens with wrapping paper lying around from Georgia's birthday party. I start taping it up and tearing holes in the paper. Tammy would have to be naked. It's a peephole idea, that's right! And for the heart, I might even be able to cut out a tiny heart-shaped hole.

But no. Nothing seems to be working out. The light is fading. We have to quit. Try again tomorrow.

The gear has been packed in the car for days now. We can shoot this guerrilla style with the battery-operated Looper. We lug the gear to Guelph and back without unpacking it. And I'm just waiting to go. Let's do it. We're late! But if it's not one thing, it's another.

It just doesn't seem to be working. It's too painful to release something to the world that I'm not so happy with. This lesson comes from having a time constraint. There is a must-upload-it-now impulse I'm starting to resist. I want to be happy. I'd rather propagate a seed with an imprint of positivity instead of stress. If I can't be happy...why do it all?

I pick out a random Angel card from the bowl on the dresser and it says "Perfectionism." Neat. I've never drawn this one before. Wait a minute! It doesn't say "Perfectionism," it says "Purification." Wow. How could I have misread that?

"Okay," says Tammy. "I'm ready."

She's ready, I think to myself. "Where are we going?" I ask. She says "You're the director, right?" Okay. I pause for a second while I take this in.

Let's go to the park. Somewhere outside. It's a beautiful spring day. And this is an outdoor set-up, we can't waste this song with an indoor concept. "What about the heart?" asks Tammy.

I click on the left-turn signal and park the van at the hardware store. I get back to the van a few minutes later with a can of red spray paint. Tammy says "I found an old temporary tattoo!" Nice! "Maybe we won't have to do the graffiti one today," I say. Put it on your right arm so we can see it when you play your guitar.

I follow my intuition and manage to get to a nice spot near the Zoo. And - what? Wow. Is that a heart on that tree? OMG. And yes, the light is changing quickly and the heart on that tree is being obscured by shadows... Available light dictates its own time-constraint.

"Okay." I'm ready. We're back again the next day. A different shot, a different attitude. Turns out, the previous videos have been dress rehearsals for the real thing. The wind picks up and adds the random element that's been missing. And finally, this sense of inner peace. This is right. I want to allow myself to get it right. Even if it takes three tries to get there.

Every Part
by Tammy Lin Foreman

I'll praise your grace
Erase your wrong
I'll wait forever
Or however long
It takes to make you feel my heart
Beating a path to your
Every part
My heart
Beating a path to your every part

Mirror, Mirror

2009-05-19T16:02:00.000-07:00

I'm up early. I send Sunny off to school and find myself alone with a double espresso WiFi surfing at the café. I'm looking for an article I read a long time ago. I'm wondering if I can find it somewhere on the internet.

Tammy's new song reminds me of something I read by Deepak Chopra. I type in: "The Mirror of Relationships" and get the page I want right away on a website called Knol - it's Google's answer to Wikipedia with articles licensed under Creative Commons so it allows me to copy, distribute and transmit the work.

Deepak Chopra believes we can use "the mirror of relationships to transform our consciousness." He says "Each of us inhabits a private world although our private world is enmeshed with each other to create a consensual reality."

"As applied to relationships, the mirror of relationship becomes an important tool for personal transformation and ultimately social change as well. There is one simple principle to follow: those that we love and are emotionally attracted to, and those that we are distressed or repelled by emotionally, are both mirrors of our own self. We are attracted to those people in whom we find traits that we have and we want more of and we are repelled by those in whom we find traits that we deny in ourselves."

Chopra has some exercises to help integrate this principle. Read the full article here: The Mirror of Relationships.

Reflector is a totally new song without a previous incarnation as anything else. The seed for the song came out of a spontaneous jam Tammy did when she discovered that she actually had two loopers working simultaneously. Tammy built up song and put it together for this video only world premiere just like previous videos Is it Alright? and Stars!

I don't know if Tammy was inspired by the Chopra idea but I think it's worthwhile to share these thoughts. I'm glad the internet makes it easier to share these little "units of knowledge." Anything that could possibly promote positive social change is worth spreading.

Reflector
by Tammy Lin Foreman

oh wah la la la la la lo la
talka talka talka talka talka all day
talka talka talka talka the things you say
talka reflect me
and your words are a looking glass
to my present, future, and my past
and it's all becoming clear
your heart and your soul
they make me feel whole
the more that you are near
you're my mirror
you're my mirror

reflector
reflector
reflector
you're my mirror

so talka
talka to me
i love to see
what is real
what is true
what is coming through
the mirror that is you

oh wah la la la la la lo la

reflector
reflector
reflector
you're my mirror

Now is the Time

2009-05-13T11:22:00.000-07:00

We start off with a glimmer of an idea: a whim. It is unclear what will end up happening. All I know is that I want to finally take the Instant Video outside for a walk. Maybe even do that after dinner. We can take the kids to the park and maybe they can play while we shoot the next video...

Tammy suggests that it can just be a straight up song with no looper needed. She's got a song in mind. She says she can plug her electric guitar right into the battery-powered Edirol R-09 audio recorder that fits nicely in the side pocket of her black jacket.

She suggests I use a wireless lav for her vocals and just marry the two parts of the audio in the editing. I say, "Okay. But where are we gonna go?"

"There's Beavermead Park. There's downtown." Our eldest daughter Sunny is almost twelve years old. She hears all this and says "You're going to film this in public?"

Tammy and I promise the kids that there will be reward for good behavior later at home after the shoot. "Let's go to Beavermead..." I tell Sunny that she can be in charge of the digital camera and take the production stills. She agrees.

On the way to the park, we start thinking about how to include this week's heart in the video. What about that temporary tattoo? Hmmm...

"Is there a place somewhere in Peterborough with a heart?" We are silent in the car for a while thinking about this. For this particular concept we need a location with a heart built-in. "Doesn't TCBY have a heart in their logo? What about the Heart & Stroke foundation? A greeting card store?"

"What about the cemetery?" Tammy says "What if there's a heart on a tombstone? The cemetery fits the theme of the song really well."

"You guys are going to film the video in a cemetery!" Sunny exclaims. "OMG. I'm so embarrassed."

I'd done some filming at a cemetery nearby. We get there and we drive around slowly. Tammy puts the girls to work. "Keep an eye out for hearts!"

Nothing. Nope. Nada. No hearts. And we're losing the light.

"There!" says Georgia from the backseat. "Where?" Tammy stops the car. She backs up a little bit. There it is. Unmistakable. So now, I say to myself, we got to fit this in somehow.

Sunny manages to take one picture and the camera's batteries die instantly. I won't find out until later what she took a picture of.

I want a picture of my two girls but I don't have a way to take it right now. I imprint a mental image into my head. It ends up looking like a Norman Rockwell painting he forgot to paint. Two girls amongst the tombstones. It's called "Waiting for their Parents to Finish Filming the Video."

We have a family TV night planned for when we get back home with chips, pretzels, orange juice and the season finale of Amazing Race. I can't wait. Let's get going. It's getting dark. And the bugs are starting to come out.

No Time Like the Present
by Tammy Lin Foreman

no, no, no, no time like the present
makin' it known
no, no, no, no time like the present
feelin' full blown
somethin' in me
somethin' in me
smiles alone
somethin' in this heart of mine
saying go go go go go oh!

hoo hoo wah oh...

notice, notice how it bends
the way way way way high high high above
the rainbow ends and i say
no! time like the present
makin' it known
we won't be here forever
blue, blue
into the blue
blue, blue

hoo hoo wah wah oh...

Let the Memories Unwind

2009-05-06T07:13:00.000-07:00

We're back! After some false starts, we take off...and let the memories unwind. We enjoyed the hiatus and now we need to get back into this. Without the constant tug to create these Instant Videos our lives are, honestly, less rewarding. We re-charged ourselves and thought about the project (a lot). During the break, we also wrote some proposals to get funding for the latter half of the Instant Video project (from #51 to #100) where it will transform into something else again... We are so excited to have fun with these, so we hope you stick with us as we build this online video sculpture performance poem over the next couple of years...

Try to Fly
by Tammy Lin Foreman

let's decide to be good friends
i know that we can make it
fit around each other, in between
anyway we choose to take it
fill those white colourless days
just crash into each other's minds
talk about the simple, the bizarre,
let all the memories unwind

i would rather try
than ask "why?"
i would rather try
than say goodbye
try to fly

we could gallop through the city
stopping just to graze and drink
flare our nostrils laughing
as we trot by garbage cans that stink
chase each other 'round the park
or nuzzle when we're lazy
toss our manes triumphantly
when nasty people tell us we're crazy

i would rather try
than ask "why?"
i would rather try
than say goodbye
try to fly

then we could get cozy and
rub noses when the north winds blow
catch the flakes with open mouths
in January when it snows

sleep together under furs
we wouldn't have to wear no clothes
hold each other as we dream
of one day eating vegetables

i would rather try
than ask "why?"
i would rather try
than say goodbye
try to fly

let's decide to be good friends
I know that we can make it.

GRANT PROPOSAL (excerpt)

The Instant Video project is myself, Lester Alfonso (filmmaker) and partner Tammy Lin Foreman (singer / songwriter) in our attempt to answer a creative challenge: to produce a brand new “instant” music video every week until we make 100 videos (or more.)

We started the project on September 30, 2008 with Instant Video #1 and we consistently uploaded a new episode to YouTube every week despite coughs, off-days and holidays, etc. Each week was a challenge to get up and do better. And it kept us alive through the winter.

It was a six-month non-stop schedule that culminated with a 25th installment to the series on March 26, 2009. Then, we told the 253 members of our message group that we needed a break. We needed to reassess the project, write some grants and develop some ways to take it to the next level.

We decided to take April 2009 off to plan the next 75 Instant Videos on our way to completing one hundred Instant Videos in the next couple of years.

I am in charge of the camera as it tries to "capture" the moment of creation. The variations in video design are often decided just moments before the camera starts rolling.

The challenge for me is how to make an "event document" appealing to the cinematic senses. A live performance has to be kept intact from beginning to end somehow. Variations can come from post-production visual effects, practical effects, situational performances, costumes, etc.

It becomes less of a production and more of a "happening." The time constraint keeps our creative juices flowing. The creative brain is forced to come up with solutions only when it is up against stiff rules.

Like one of our rules: each video has to have a heart.

Sitting down to watch the first 25 videos is awe-inspiring at a total running time of 90 minutes.

When we hit 100, we could host a screening that will show the entire 9 hours of material and in seeing them all in a chronological order, one after another, perhaps one can glimpse something there that was never planned, never thought of, was heretofore unspoken or undocumented.

We are about to embark on the next 25 Instant Videos that will take us to the end of October 2009. We are planning the next 25 to all be completely lit by available light. We are now aiming to collaborate with artists within our arts community and seek sponsorship for "hour long residencies" to film in various locations around town.

The project in scope is unlike anything I’ve seen or heard of. Our desire to make this into form probably stems from being exposed to music videos as our only way to receive alternative music as teenagers. We have grown up not wanting to make records or to perform live onstage but just want to make “music videos.”

Origins: Instant Videos

2009-04-15T20:14:00.000-07:00

Flashback to Lullaby for G. Filmed in one take inside a meticulously arranged garage with symbolic totems of childhood and learning. The ever present television set...and of course little Georgia not even a year old. Being "put to sleep" by Tammy this way while singing a song she composed for the baby.

I remember setting the camera and turning around so that I wouldn't actually see the live performance. The audio recorded for this was also from the camera mic so it has the hollow sound.

We are presenting some rarely seen gems from the video vault while we enjoy our hiatus from the weekly riot of creation. We are starting again in under two weeks time so hold on to your horses... We are presenting a little "origins" mini-series of flashbacks in the meantime. This is from 2003. Notice the painted backdrops that would later appear in Instant Video #7.

Will be back soon. Goodnight. Sweet dreams.

Lullaby for G
by Tammy Lin Foreman

This light of mine
Gonna let it shine
Gonna let it shine
This light of mine
Makes no difference
What you say
I'm gonna be happy
Come what may
Have you ever
felt that way?

Have you ever
felt that way?

Won't hide, no
Gonna let it show
Gonna let it glow

Makes no difference
What they say
I'm gonna be happy
Come what may
Have you ever
felt that way?

Oh, this light that shines in me
Shine your light for all eternity
and in my darkest hour
Shine so bright with all your power

Makes no difference
What they say
I'm gonna be happy
Come what may
Have you ever
felt that way?

Have you ever
felt that way?

Twirl in a Film Festival!

2009-04-04T21:46:00.000-07:00

I recently found Twirl (2003) in the Original Plastic archives and submitted it to the 3rd annual Millbrook International 3-Minute Film Festival where it was short-listed tonight and was projected six-feet high and luminous.

I was bemused to see Twirl was the one selected by the jury out of three under-3-minute films I submitted to the festival this year. You can never ever tell these things. It came as a surprise and a boost!

Maybe it just struck a chord. Maybe someone was just talking about that Nostradamus special on the History Channel about his predictions for the year 2012 over donuts and roll-up-the-rim-tim Tims.

Maybe they were just feeling appropriately apocalyptic when they popped the DVD into the player. Their decision gives us a glimpse of what it might have been like in that room with the jury as they deliberated to come up with 24 finalists out of 81 entries.

Whoa! I was impressed with a one minute film from Suberg, Switzerland directed by Simon Banmann called A Cigarette for Two which I'm so happy is on YouTube so can share it here. Genius.

The Black Diamond Golf Club was standing room only. No awards went to Twirl or Cigarette for Two and many other great films.

I didn't think there was a chance, but I had a speech in mind. Just in case. I just made it up.

"The other half of this award, of course, belongs to my Better Half - Tammy Lin Foreman, whose grace and music continues to inspire me to become a better person every day."

Twirl is a blast from the past. The festival selection makes it the natural choice for a YouTube premiere to fill-in this week while we brainstorm and regenerate for the next 76 Instant Videos to come. Something to tide you over.

Originally part of the Labours of Love series of music videos we made one week at a time and uploaded (on dial-up) to ZeD way back in the early 21st century. This is the roots of Instant Videos.

The video was foretold in a prophecy: it will be uploaded three times in the lifetime of the internet and each time the moon will be blotted out of the sky by a heart-shaped shadow.

Twirl
by Tammy Lin Foreman

c'mon love give me a twirl
waiting for the end of the world
c'mon put your hand in mine
'til the end of time

destination: i don't know
still i'm anxious to go
as long as my view
includes you
charlie, i don't mind

waiting for the end of the world

STAY TUNED.

25 Random Things about Instant Videos

2009-03-26T08:01:00.000-07:00

1. Growing up, the main way I got exposed to pop music was through music videos. I just loved watching Video Hits on CBC after coming home from school. And I loved the late night Good Rockin' Tonite with hosts Terry David Mulligan and then Stu Jeffries. I would stay up many nights watching one music video after another.

The Instant Video project makes sense when I think about all those late nights...

2. I almost never know what the song or what the concept is for the video until minutes before hand. This spontaneity defines the Instant Video for me. Having even small plans for videos almost always fail.

3. We started this project in September. We're almost halfway through a year's worth of videos now with Instant Video #25.

4. I want to go further with the videos. I'm getting an itch. I'm responding to my own worst critic. I want to experiment more within the Instant Video construct. I want to conceive special projects and self-contained stories. I want to take it as far as it can go.

5. It's a chronological project. With each new video the number increases. Yet, listening to the playlist on YouTube, I often like to randomize the autoplay. Listening to the final playlist would be the ultimate end-result of the entire project. YouTube even provides a way of embedding a playlist player: see below.

6. After twenty-five straight weeks, we are going to take a wee pause from the project to regenerate...a little spring break. Not to worry, we'll be uploading some lost rare gems from the Instant Video vault from years past for those that can't go without their weekly fix.

7. One of the working titles we had for the then unnamed Instant Video project was Post-It Video, in part, to reference the post-its that Tammy writes and sticks to the wall after a new one is done.

8. Making the videos can be exhausting and I'm feeling a little burnt out.

9. Making them keeps me going. Keeps my chops up. I'm always thinking of ways to make them different. Always working. Must. Get. Some. Rest.

10. Only two Instant Videos were shot outside of Peterborough. Most of them are shot right in our living room. We re-arrange our couches every week.

11. We get by with a little help from our friends...big strong light, microphones, other gear used in Instant Videos are mostly from other people. :-) Thanks!

12. An idea for the next phase of Instant Videos is to invite collaborators for key projects. There are areas of art, costume design and choreography that could be explored in future projects.

13. We are also working on an idea to create a narrative serial out of the Instant Videos - a "high concept video playlist" inspired by David Lynch called Songs for Dark Highway. Some funding would be awesome.

14. Then again, there's something simple and perfect about them already. Maybe I'm just getting restless for no good reason. But I ask myself, what do I want to see? Two seconds. That's all I get to catch your attention.

15. The clapboard was shown in two videos: Sweet + Sour and Rolling Stone.

16. If a singer sings in the forest does anybody hear? In other words, do we care if anybody is watching? We'll leave this collection for history to discover. During our growth, feedback keeps us going. Science says the object changes just because it is being observed. I want to focus on keeping it together. Just by watching, the audience influences the progress of this creative challenge. I promise to be frank and diligent in my reporting. This is part of it.

17. I almost spent that $10 bill we used in Money at Walt Disney World in Florida last year.

18. I don't want to stop making the Instant Videos completely until we reach 100 videos and 1 more for good measure.

19. I wonder what the kids will think of these videos when they grow up.

20. The longest video so far is 4 min. and 46 sec. - SHOCKER.

21. The shortest is 1 min. 56 sec. - The Gravity Song

22. The only song in 25 Instant Videos that Tammy didn't write: The Girl from Ipanema.

23. There have been only three videos shot with a hand-held camera: Full Force, My Waves and Is it Alright?

24. The biggest heart in a video so far: Start Over Again.

25. I feel like celebrating. Whoa! 25! It's been a blur. A big learning experience. A big block of time. And a lot of content. Where will it go from here?

He Listens
by Tammy Lin Foreman

I wish I couldn't see
the way they always look at me
they want my body I can tell by their eyes
crawling over my skin like flies
I want to wear my blue jeans boy size
with a straight line drawn from my chest to my thighs
and no dips and curves along the way
maybe then they will hear the words that I say

but I don't mind the way he looks at me
his vision slides so softly (softly)
from my eyes, to my lips and to his hands
ride his body to the grave 'coz he understands and

he listens
to what I have to say

The Constellation of Numbers

2009-03-18T17:18:00.000-07:00

You know what it means when a 12-hour download just happens to finish in the morning. You get to have it with your cup of coffee.

Depending on how strong the coffee, installing can be as confusing as Sudoku. First I have to install 10.4.11 to run Final Cut Express. Then, I have to install Quicktime 7. All of this, hours of waiting.

You know what it means to rewind a cassette tape with just the perfect pencil.

Like some kind of slacker archeologist, I manage to rescue a mangled cassette tape using a pair of tweezers and Scotch tape. I get to extract Marless Star from this very limited self release called Songs for Dark Highway / Music for Parking Lots made just after Sunny was born in 1997. Sixteen songs have been lost until now.

You know what it means to have time fly.

I launch Express and it tells me I need more RAM to run the software. So I run some tests. While the kids play outside. It's warm enough.

Yay! It still works! Parumpumpumpum.

I need to refer to Memory - Instant Video #18 really quickly for this next one. I've been waiting for this. Because, in my head, #24 completes the prophecy that Memory foretold.

In the constellation of numbers, Instant Videos are distant stars. There it is! The Sweet + Sour supernova and the My Waves neutron quasar. It's finally mapped out.

You know what it means to need to have a way of explaining things to yourself.

You can see it in the sudden cutaway shot near the end. That's where she grabs the coconut halves from. They're just hanging from the back of the chair.

Marless Star
by Tammy Lin Foreman

they don't care
they toss their hair
won't let it show
still I know

when they're all saying
that it's okay
their laugh sounds funny
it seems so grey
coz everybody is wanting

for their heart
to be held
for their heart
to be held

but I won't say
that it's okay
coz I miss you
in midnight blue

and the sparkles that shine
from your eyes
when you're happier
than the skies

you are a
marless star

and everbody knows it
everybody can see

She's a little bit country...

2009-03-11T20:33:00.000-07:00

...I'm a little bit rock 'n roll. Rolling that Earth globe with one hand and lowering the tripod head slowly with the other... Phew. It's take 17.

I'm not writing this on my usual computer. It feels...different.

First the looper died. Now my computer is on the fritz. It keeps making a painful noise. Making me wince. Each time. I have to get it looked at. Seriously.

The making of the video ultimately killed it. Making the video was epic in Instant Video standards. The computer cacked in mid-compression. We drove to a friend's house in Toronto to borrow a computer with Final Cut Pro that could open the project I've been working on to output a Quicktime file. The video was uploaded from his computer.

I didn't have time to write this blog. This is a project in creation. You are witnessing the birth. Blah. Blah.

Country / City started off as an elaborate idea based on creating a a green-screen dress effect with fancy lights borrowed from another shoot. It got later and later that night. Then Tammy realized that she had to sing the song another way. I started hating the shag rug I tacked up on the wall behind Tammy.

We went to bed.

We had too much time to think about it. The effect didn't work. I needed more instant in the Instant Video.

The next day, I am thinking about the Instant Video "story" as it was told last week. I'm thinking that Tammy was off to space on a blinking intergalactic transporter in Lights Blink.

If that were true... She would see the Earth from space, wouldn't she?

My eye catches the glint of the globe in the attic. The globe is so last minute. But that's somehow "country/city" to me.

The green-screen heart on the banjo is kept in the video as a reminder of the other idea. And hauntingly, the song stays.

Country / City
by Tammy Lin Foreman

You've got a style
a rhythm
That comes from within
and when I see your smile
I can't help myself but grin

Come now
I know a place
Somewhere
out of this rat race.

Country
I want to go off

City
That's what I want to blow off
Let's go off

I've got a plan to build
a place of my own
no more landlords
calling me on the phone
paying rent is like
throwing money out
I want to live without a doubt

City
I want to blow it off

Country
Say you will go off with me
Say you will go off with me
Say you will go off with me
Say you will go off with me

Never Ever Seen Anything Like This

2009-03-01T22:48:00.000-08:00

The Looper is really dead. Tammy's been going on the false hope that there was life after batteries. But it's actually really really dead. And we are about to shoot the next video...right now!

Fortunately, she rented another Line6 from Long & McQuade in Brampton when she visited her Mom yesterday. She was hoping to use two loopers for Lights Blink. But now she's gonna have to just make do with one. Well, at least we have one that works!

Last week's video actually really felt like some kind of death. The end title card in SHOCKER even looks like some kind of epitaph.

There's a fraction of me that wants to throw in the towel and end the project right here right now. It's that fraction of me that's tired and with a lot on his mind. The part that just wants to rest in peace for a little while.

Tammy suggests we take a break after #28. But I'm scared that if we take a break - we'll end up killing the project.

Tammy's gung ho. The situation doesn't give us much time to mourn the looper's death. It's late. We're set to shoot. There happens to be a replacement looper. Let's go.

Yes. Magic moments continue to happen. Fortunate coincidences that conspire to create each week's video without too much effort.

Lights Blink very much feels like the Instant Video version of Life After Death complete with Tammy's new halo outline and angel's wing... We've finally crossed the threshold.

And all those blinking lights? Maybe the song is really saying when we die a giant UFO mothership will come and take us away to some twinkle twinkle version of Heaven. All aboard...wheeee!

Lights Blink
by Tammy Lin Foreman

Lights blink blink blink
Lights blink blink blink
Way up high

Lights blink blink blink
Lights blink blink blink
Don't ask why

I've never ever seen anything like this
Never ever seen anything like this
It feels like bliss
It feels like bliss

Drivin' drivin' always arrivin'
Drivin' drivin' always arrivin'

For this week's heart, a strobe light and the cardboard packaging for some new health bars came together effortlessly. And thanks to Geoff for designing the "spaceship window" seen in the opening credits. Brilliant, sir! Hope you like...

The Ticker and the Talker

2009-02-23T17:29:00.000-08:00

Reporting from the epicenter of this Instant Video SHOCKER. The above photo finally reveals the invisible fretwork that holds up those words on the screen.

I enjoy the painstaking process of transforming each word from the hand scribbled lyric torn from Tammy's notebook into one video brick at a time on a word WALL. It's like a puzzle.

OMG. It strikes me now that this is virtually what I did ON CAMERA in last week's video!

In my virtual world, I had to create 96 video tracks in order to have separate control of the timing of each word's appearance. Each word is on screen for about a full minute. That's just the DEFAULT

I had other ideas of ways to use the words on the screen but the reality is even the laissez-faire approach takes hours of overnight computer rendering.

BLAH. This video is nothing without TAMMY, Tammy's voice and music. Tammy's words. And some of that pixie dust.

I build the invisible structure of WORDS before she sits down on the chair to play. This is the moment where the idea merges with the unexpected...

We manage to do just ONE full take before the Looper simply stops working! GASP. For the moment, this tool of Tammy's trade is dead.

(For those writing screenplays, this is the "All is Lost" moment where we find the "whiff of death.") Will there be a fresh idea, new inspiration, or last-minute action or advice from the love interest in the B story?

Will the TICKER ever mind the TALKER? Tune IN next week...

SHOCKER
by Tammy Lin Foreman

ONCE UPON A TIME
MY HEART AND MIND
COULD NOT AGREE
SO I LOCKED UP MY HEART
MY MIND IT HELD THE KEY
BUT THE THUMPING GOT SO LOUD
I COULDN'T THINK NO MORE
MY HEART WAS BEATING SO STRONG
MY MIND IT OPENED UP THE DOOR

THAT OLD STICKLER'S
ALWAYS GETTING A SHOCKER

YOU'RE NOT IN LOVE
SAID THE BIG BRAIN ABOVE
LET MY LOVE GO
SAID THE HEART BELOW

HOW DO YOU MAKE
THE TICKER MIND THE TALKER?
THAT OLD STICKLER'S
ALWAYS GETTING A SHOCKER

HOW DO YOU MAKE
THE TALKER MIND THE TICKER?
THAT OLD STICKLER'S
ALWAYS READY TO BICKER.

Instant Gratification

2009-02-22T13:41:00.000-08:00

An unexpected surprise came from Mike Morritt through YouTube: a cover of Tammy's Instant Video #13 - Sweet is Low and he takes the song in a surprisingly new direction. His choice of song astonished us for sure. As we gathered around the glow of the laptop to watch the video, I told the family: "You know you've made it when...you see a cover of your original song on YouTube!" Sunny spoke up: "You know you've really made it if Weird Al does the cover..." Yes. And having an extraordinary musician like Mike do this... It's definitely a pleasure and an honour.

As for exactly how many hearts in last week's video. The correct answer is 169. Esther V. won the DVD with a guess of 187.

Instant Video #21 is coming really soon.

How Many Hearts?

2009-02-15T09:52:00.000-08:00

Midway through rehearsal, Tammy gets fed up with Defibrillator. "I can't do this song!" she declares.

Jump-start my heart.

Clear!

That's what the emergency medics say on TV just before they apply the slick cold metal of the defibrillator to a patient whose heart has stopped. That's what that machine is called.

Not "a device to stop us from lying..." as heard in the song Tammy is rehearsing, ie. to De-fib... Ha, ha. But a machine to "restart the heart when it is dying..."

Then, she starts singing a different song called Shocker.

This shocks me! Like a defibrillator. Shocker, it turns out, is just more fun...more alive! Whumph! Like a lubricated metal shock to my ticker.

Whoo!

It's close to ten o'clock. We won't finish until 3 am.

This is our intimate process of creation. It is like lovemaking. And this kind of foreplay is shared with the whole household when the video is in production...

Just because it's a labour of love doesn't mean it's always easy. Every week, I'm painfully aware of the artistic challenge I've set up for myself. It's just because I wanted to put my money were my mouth is. Always. And come up with 101 ways to shoot Tammy's live music videos.

And every week, I trust that something will happen without much planning. And I go with the flow.

I did know ahead of time that Valentine's day would a special day for Instant Videos since we've used the heart shape as a kind of mascot icon with our continuing to discreetly place hearts in every video we upload for the ardent players out there of the I Spy a Heart game... Feb. 14th 2009 also marks the 6th anniversary of Original Plastic the website.

I want to do something special. And my brain jumps to the conclusion that we need the most hearts we've ever had or ever will for this Valentine's edition. How about a contest? How many hearts are there in Instant Video #20? The first one to tell us the answer correctly by any means of communication by the next video gets a limited edition Instant Videos DVD of Season One signed by Tammy.

Wow. A love song called Defibrillator! Tammy, you rock.

Defibrillator
by Tammy Lin Foreman

Half of me
waiting
the rest
debating

defibrillator
defibrillator

Restart my heart.

To look into the eyes of you
is one and one,
one?
or is it two?

Thought it was a device
to stop us from lying
Really a machine that
restarts a heart
when it is dying

It means the same damn
thing to me
I won't live with a lie
will I die lonely?

oh

I've settled for less
now I'm asking for more

If you will be mine
I will be your...

defibrillator.

If you will be mine
I will be yours

Fair, kind and true
with every part
tell me the truth

Restart my heart.

A Pillow and a Wooden Spoon

2009-02-09T11:34:00.000-08:00

This head cold is a bother. Just looking down hurts my head. But the show must go on, right? I'm using anything I can get my hands on to get the Instant Video done.

My friend J. takes rectangular slabs of mirror and duct-tapes them together facing each other to make simple kaleidoscopes. J. is a stained-glass artist with scraps of mirror lying around. She helps me make this.

The idea is to avoid putting special effects on the video after the shoot. We built this lens attachment to shoot with straightaway. This is where my head was at a few years ago when I was commissioned to create the video backdrop for a choreography of Chau (martial art) for three dancers. I thought I had it.

Using only straight cuts (no dissolves) and manually speeding up the image with an old VCR and other "manual" effects, I created Rubies under a rigorous set of self-imposed editing restrictions. Tammy's Salutations came out of that process and the same rules applied.

That's the back-story on the lenses while I tell myself: everything I need is right here, under my nose, waiting for me to discover. Those old kaleidoscopes are just inside this old box. Keep it simple and hand-held. Spit and shoe polish on a shoestring budget. Use an old idea. Use a darn pillow and a wooden spoon! It's like making Dogme 95 style music videos. It's just a matter of committing to a concept on-the-spot right from the get go. I imagine it's like bungee jumping.

That's what it's like. Picking up the camera and ready, set, go, go, go.

Rock and roll it a bit. Why not? It's the time and place, after all.

Is it Alright?
by Tammy Lin Foreman

Tonight
I am wonderin'
is it alright?
to sit tight
and not
paint the town
bright

RED

Everything is something to be ashamed of
...if you look at it that way.

So I'll change my mind
leave it behind
let it all go
until tomorrow
and when tomorrow comes
I will pack up my drums
and my angels

And move on
I'll move on
until the next dawn
'til there's no wrong
and then

I'll unpack my drums
and beat...
a rhythm
beat...
a rhythm

I wanna
hear...
the rhythm
I wanna hear, clear,
clear
the rhythm

Move on move on
'til dawn
move on move on
no wrong

and when tomorrow comes
I will unpack my drum
and beat a rhythm...

Everything's something to be ashamed of
...if you look at it that way.

6, 12, 18, 24

2009-02-02T05:27:00.000-08:00

6, 12, 18...

Going up the creaky steps, I'm looking for clues, flashlight in hand.

It's corny. Midway up the stairs, my mind jumps to the fantasy puzzle game I've been playing with the kids on the computer these days...a sequel to Myst.

I read a guided walk-through out loud so Sunny and Georgia can follow along and click for themselves.

Turn around and notice that the linking book is lying on the ground. Turn to the left a little and go forward three times. Zoom in on the hatch of the vessel. Enter the code. Click on the amulet. Zoom out. Turn around and go forward one time. Turn to the right and enter the Memory Chamber...

Really, I'm just looking for that box of neck-ties I have somewhere in this attic. Tammy wants to wear a tie (he's in my memory...) for the video.The attic yields some other junk that might come in handy as props.

What is this red lens thing anyway? I borrowed the precious heavy debris from a serious collector. Stuff I don't want to throw away. For some reason.

I'm taking some stuff back downstairs with me. Collect the parts to assemble this enigma machine.

The video itself is the puzzle this time. What is the shape of the message? It's all hush hush. This is Instant Video #18 - and 18 is one of the numbers mentioned in the song: 6, 12, 18, 24, right? But how exactly do these dots connect?

Turn around and go forward six times...

Memory
by Tammy Lin Foreman

six doors
away from me
lies a sleeping messiah
i can hear him breathe
it's long and low
deep and slow

he's in my memory
he's in my memory

twelve stories
above my head
there's a spot
in the sky
i want to meet
there instead
tell him to rise
from his holy bed

he's in my memory
he's in my memory

eighteen wheels
and all of them squeak
it's been driving me mad
the whole damn week
i drown the sound
whenever i speak
about his memory

he's in my memory

there's 24 hrs. in a day
you'd think all of that time
once i could say
there's a part in my heart
that will always stay

he's in my memory
he's in my memory

six...twelve
eighteen...twenty-four

Undo

2009-01-25T23:07:00.001-08:00

We are close to finishing a take. Tammy suddenly stops singing and puts her hands up to her face. Oh my God. I feel ill, she says. I think we're taping over the last take! She blurts. She races to the VS-880 and says it again. Oh, I feel ill.
You can do it again, I say. [You can play that Slinky again.] Soft talk. Tammy mutters "Undo." Undo? Right! A button on the machine that can undo what just happened. Ingenious. This button had saved us before... It will save us again.
Totally True
by Tammy Lin Foreman

hallow
and harsh
this incandescent light
I've got a million dead angels
on my heart tonight

they're all soarin on cigarettes
pukin on pages
their singin is sad
'coz God won't pay their wages

I've been praying
for my prince
to tap dance a tune
while I bash my guitar
in this half-painted room

but God he don't send him
I'm all sick and alone
so I call you long distance
on the telephone

sometimes I think
that my pants are
too tight
'coz you don't mind
my kitchen
and I think you're all right

but I don't ever say
I'm just lonely for you
and that's totally true

wish I could say
just how I feel

wish I could say
just how I feel

"I miss you."

"There's no one that's like you."

"You're so cool."

holy
Hallelujah
that's how I feel

hollow
Hallelujah

that's how I feel.

The tripod is precariously positioned on the stairs and I'm zoomed in all the way to Tammy's face. Playing with the TRAIL effect button as she sings. And I'm mesmerized.

Let's put up the red blanket! Use the meditation balls. Wear that Chinese shirt. Happy Chinese New Year! As usual, we like to commemorate the holidays with the Instant Videos. It's the Year of the Ox. A year of prosperity through hard work.

Yes. Maybe after a nap.

In House Production

2009-01-18T09:26:00.000-08:00

Tammy thinks of Florida. There's a sale at Fabricland. A sign in the window says it's 66% off the regular price of most fabrics. Tammy remembers the green curtain they used as a green screen for tourist photos at the hotel lobby where we stayed last month.

You don't even have to leave the hotel. You can get your photo taken in front of the green screen and the friendly resort photographer can put in any background you want. It doesn't matter how gusty the hurricane winds are outside. We can key-out the green screen behind you and slip in a picture of the Everglades.

I can do that! I say. Here at Fabricland, Tammy finds a shade of green that might work. She gets four meters for twenty bucks.

A few thumbtacks later and the living room is now a green screen studio. I teach the kids how to take the lint off the fabric using some masking tape.

I wonder what they'll remember from this period. Will they grow up to really take part? Will Sunny start to edit? Will Georgia play the drums? This has become a real "in-house production."

The kids watch movies, stay in their pajamas and forage for snacks. Mom and Pop shoot the next video. We're in our Instant Video bubble.

All the time, I'm cheesy zooming with the camera and thinking "What the heck am I going to put in the background?"

Moon and the Stars
by Tammy Lin Foreman

cars and castles
create more hassles
than the sky and earth
giving birth
to more awe and wonder
hear the thunder
lightning came first
followed by the burst

meant to scare
to make aware
you have no power
with your castles
and cars
building great speed
more than we need
marry myself
to the
moon and the stars

perfect wedding
darkness spreading
no question of
my lover above

oh a
perfect wedding
ah uh oh

Georgia leaves a trail of pictures in the camera for me to discover. Close-up snapshots from the 5 year-old perspective. Clues to the private world she shares with her older sister.

For use in Tammy's background I started with excerpts from Craig Baldwin's 1999 film "Spectres of the Spectrum." Craig Baldwin's been a huge inspiration to me, especially his editing of public domain archival footage. Shout out to this innovative filmmaker / artist.

:-)

Desperately Seeking Susan

2009-01-11T11:48:00.001-08:00

Tammy works at the restaurant a lot these days. Time at home with the kids is a blur. Sunny has chicken pox. Georgia is 5 years old! Plus, we're all still recovering from the holidays. We just need to get into a new routine.

Maybe the Instant Videos will help. They help mark the time. Since the new year I've started to look back and see how far we've come. Try to figure out where I can improve.

We're already at Number 15. I can't even believe it. Just the other day, I made a nice compilation of the Instant Videos on DVD that can be set to play all the tracks or individual and random play... Watching them all in one sitting I realize that this can be Tammy's new "album." Just as is. A DVD album.

It feels like The Gravity Song ended Season One. Fourteen episodes. A brand new one every week. I feel exhausted just thinking about it. I just really want to serve Tammy's amazing talent as a singer/songwriter and performer.

Part of the fun is trying to figure out how to make an Instant Video within our busy lives every week...while on vacation (My Waves) or when Tammy has a bad cold (Choke) or how to put the heart in the video every week for those playing our own I Spy a Heart game. After two seasons of this, I'm thinking I'm gonna want to have a little break.

Or will I? Maybe I won't want to stop. Maybe I'll want to push myself through that Wall. That blogger's Wall. And break on through to the other side.

Make Believe
by Tammy Lin Foreman

I got to tell you somethin'
while my heart is thumpin'
while this music's pumpin'
while this joint is jumpin'
Coz if you knew what I knew
Then you would say it's true
Make believe with me
Make believe with me
It's an illusion that I'm choosin'
Desperately seeking Susan
Make believe with me
Make believe with me

If I tell you how I feel
Will you understand?
If I tell you what is real?
Will you hold my hand?
Coz if you knew what I knew
Then you would say it's true
Make believe with me
Make believe with me
It's an illusion that I'm choosin'
Desperately seeking Susan
Make believe with me
Make believe with me

Every time I talk to you
My heart believes it's true
And then you believe it too

Is there glory in the story?
Is there happiness in the end?
Coz other stories they were sorrys
and they left my heart to defend

I got to tell you somethin'
I got to tell you somethin'
Make believe, make believe
Got something up my sleeve
It's an illusion that I'm choosin'
Is there glory in the story?
Is there happiness in the end?

I got to tell you somethin'

Tammy gets home late from work again tonight. Pressure's on. The video has to be shot tonight.

The regular headphones won't work with the black touque on my head. I need ear buds or something, says Tammy.

I'll run upstairs to get them, I say.

Georgia startles me. She's sitting at the top of the stairs. It's 1 o'clock in the morning. Apparently, all the commotion woke her up. Can I come downstairs and watch? She says.

Of course you can! As long as you're quiet.

Can I take some pictures too?

Haha. Sure.

[Photos: Georgia May]

Nothing. Boring!

2009-01-01T21:51:00.000-08:00

Members of the Instant Videos Facebook group all get a last minute invite to be part of the Instant Video shoot for #14 on New Year's Eve at our house. Tammy says, we have to do the Gravity Song. In keeping it on the positive.

The elements come together almost by themselves.

6PM What's the idea?

8PM I don't know.

Just find a place you're comfortable. I'll set it up. Take Georgia's chair... Start playing. I'll record you.

The other day, I put Gravity Song on repeat and my brain somehow noticed two elements in Tammy's back-up vocal I hadn't isolated before. One saying "nothing" and the other saying "boring." I instantly flashed on a way to get everyone who walks through the door involved somehow (with some editing.) We can create some kind of video guest list.

The guests arrive, lyric sheets are passed out. The borrowed hot light from W is a blast of heat. Then, Gestapo-style, guests are asked to deliver two words into the camera. Two words that typify the evening's sense of humour. It's a Happy New Year, after all.

The Gravity Song
by Tammy Lin Foreman

Negative gravitation
bringing me down, bringing me down
got the negative gravitation
bringing me down again.

And if I feel positive,
positive, positive
then I can fly
And if I feel positive
positive, positive
then I can fly

Thoughts in my head
like muzak
boring the sound
boring the sound
thoughts
in my head
like muzak
boring the sound
for me.

And if I clear my mind
clear my mind, clear my mind
then I can hear
and if I clear my mind
clear my mind, clear my mind
then I can hear.

Projecting the past on the present
nothing but fear, nothing but fear
projecting the past on the present
nothing but fear for me.

And if I let it go
let it go, let it go
then I can see
And if I let it go
let it go, let it go
then I'll be free.

Happy Birthday Tammy!

2008-12-26T10:29:00.000-08:00

For the cake decoration, my sister offers the Limited Edition M&Ms she picked up at M&M World in Florida. They are green mint crisp candies to commemorate Indiana Jones.

The bedtrack is fed into Tammy's right ear from Georgia's iPod shuffle. The wireless mic she sings into is covered by a red Christmas bow.

There's no time. Again. It's Tammy's birthday and I want to take her out to the movies. And Christmas takes it away from her. Every year.

The candles..yeah! Perfect. She'll have her cake and eat it too.

Rush. My heart beats so fast. And. Just for the record, the cake is delicious.

Sweet is Low
by Tammy Lin Foreman

experimental
oh so gentle
you are these things
mornings / evenings
all afternoon
dream of the moon
keeps you busy
when you get dizzy
when your sweet is low
your sweet is low

incidental
when your mental
you are these things
am / pm
3.14
dream in 4/4
keeps you busy
when you get lazy
when your sweet is low
your sweet is low
your sweet is low

Wish You Were Here

2008-12-20T18:45:00.000-08:00

Florida. A Christmas present from my parents. A wireless mic. Kids in the background. Sunny is taking pictures.

I guess this is how it looks from the back seat. Filming the new video. The music bed track: Tammy pre-recorded. Thinking ahead.

How are we going to do an Instant Video during our vacation? Yeah. Do "The Sea Song" of course!

The music plays through the speakers of the rented Chevy Cobalt while she sings seven takes into the wireless microphone.

Doing a U-wee after each take. Losing the light. Until that breakthrough moment. And touch that water. This is the Real Deal.

Running. To etch something in the sand...

My Waves
by Tammy Lin Foreman

I'll go
real far
in my motor
car
I'll go fast
try not to crash

I will
drive you
all the
way to
the sea
will be
the key
to

unlock
my waves
and you'll
hear me
say
the strangest
words that
you've ever
heard

say you'll
drive
with me
to the sea
we'll be
so free
in the sea

Oh, but I watch her so sadly...

2008-12-10T21:54:00.000-08:00

Tammy's cover of "The Girl from Ipanema" first appeared on her self-released cassette The Girl Inside Your Man from 1996.

It's not that easy to play cassettes anymore.

An old friend has been watching the Instant Videos from afar and requested the track. Other requests have come in.

It still comes together each week. Without too much planning, the elements somehow converge.

This project keeps me alive, keeps me going.

If we go through all of Tammy's old songs on all those cassettes we'll have a hundred instant videos in no time.

The Girl from Ipanema

Adapted by Tammy Lin Foreman
from the original English lyrics
by Norman Gimbel

Tall and tan and young and lovely
the girl from Ipanema goes walking
And when she passes each one she passes goes ahhh
When she walks she's like a samba
that swings so cool and sways so gently
that when she passes each one she passes goes ahhh
Oh, but I watch her so sadly
How can I tell her I love her
Yes, I would give my heart gladly
but each day when she walks to the sea
she looks straight ahead not at me
Tall and tan and young and lovely
the girl from Ipanema goes walking
and when she passes
I smile but she doesn't see
she just doesn't see

Separated!

2008-12-08T06:45:00.000-08:00

Okay. It has been special requested to have the separated tracks from the latest Instant Video to enable audio artists to do remixes... Do it up! And send us the remixes... We'd love to hear them. Thanks for watching!

Click here...
1. Instant Video #10 - Full Force - voice only
2. Instant Video #10 - Full Force - music only

Sixteen by Nine

2008-12-05T07:46:00.000-08:00

Full Force
by Tammy Lin Foreman

Don't sweat it sweetheart
just go and do your part
you can't make it happen
with them
so go on your own.

You are strong + happy
make it quick, make it snappy
it don't matter, it don't matter
if they don't see
coz eventually, eventually
it will be and then they'll see.

Don't doubt
just wash it out
the spout
will come about
and the full force, full force, full force
wash it down the drain of your brain
oh the full force, full force, full force
watch it down the drain of your brain --

The Reasons Slip by Me

2008-12-01T17:34:00.000-08:00

Seven days ago, YouTube changed their viewer size to accommodate the widescreen video trend. November 25 - I marked it; a big day for a YouTube content producer. (There was no warning.) I realized that day that I didn't really have any control over such things and wonder if all of this dependence on free web sites (including this one) will bite me later on, if and when they decide to charge for the service.

Anyway, I actually like the "pillar-boxing" effect on 4x3 shots (as opposed to the "letter-boxing" of the widescreen format) and I think it enhances the compositions of my "old" videos. But the day they changed the screen size on YouTube, I knew I had to figure out a way to fill that whole space somehow for the next Instant Video. And I didn't know how. And it's already time to shoot the next one.

(See Money filling the entire frame on YouTube.)

"I didn't choose the song..." says Tammy. "The song chose me." We are tired. It's late in the week. Delays. It's busy. There's no preconceived idea. "Where should I set up?" Anywhere. Let's put up a wallpaper of American dollar bills. Isn't that where you'd find "dead presidents" as in the lyrics to the song?

Let's put up just one. No. That doesn't work. Maybe I'll do something in post. Is that breaking the Instant Video rule? I will keep it one uninterrupted take. That's really the only rule. And I can put the take inside that ten dollar bill. Is that too cheesy?

Tammy styles her scarf like an ascot worn by Alexander Hamilton in the painting by John Trumbull on which the picture on the ten dollar bill is based.

Wikipedia tells me Alexander Hamilton isn't even a dead president. He was the first United States Secretary of the Treasury under George Washington. Hamilton also has the distinction of dying from a gunshot wound he acquired from a duel. Social convention at the time forced him to confront another politician purportedly because of a careless remark Hamilton made at an upstate New York dinner party.

Money
by Tammy Lin Foreman

C'mon let's leave
I mean why, why should we wait
when there are stars in our stride
and there is heaven in our gait
and love, it loosens our legs
and love, it swings out our arms
and love, don't matter none
coz we are lucky like charms
money (money)
the reasons slip by me
the reasons slip by me

Honey, money don't matter
it's just a clatter of coins
and when our hands join
it ceases to exist
I follow my bliss
not the green that's in my fist
coz cash is just a flash in the hand
d'you understand?
I don't need pictures of dead presidents
to make me happy
I'd rather we be free
and let love lead our day
love, pay our way
love, it will stay
and money, will come and go
money (money)
the reasons slip by me
the reasons slip by me

dollar signs in your eyes
they won't buy me sugar pie
I want the pie in the sky
I just love you so much
the kind that money can't touch
still you spend all day
making dough to blow
and when you get home
you gotta get, you gotta go
with your card cash, cold cash, money in hand
I want to leave this life but you don't understand
You think it's all about the way you look
You think it's all about your pocketbook

But I don't want your money
I just want your honey.

"What about the heart?! We need a heart." Don't worry. It's in there. I made sure.

This Town

2008-11-21T20:16:00.000-08:00

I'm blank. I'm walking through the aisles at Future Shop as if in a dream. I got the 4-Pack of Fuji MiniDV tapes. $32. I see the Starbucks drive thru and think I really need an espresso right now. I turn into the plaza but decide not to do it and head straight back home.

Tammy is waiting. Rehearsing, presumably. But I'm blank. Like a dead battery needing a jumpstart. I'm blank like these blank video tapes. A double short americano would be good. Could be just the thing.

I get home and the light is perfect. And no, I don't have to worry about the heart.

I point the camera.

Choke
by Tammy Lin Foreman

Something's burning in this town
I'll put on my orange gown
You can wear your favourite sweater
Bring your dog and we can pet her
Meet our hands upon her back
As we watch the flames fade into black
We think we're so civilized
But what would we do without the disguise
Of bricks and steel and glass and clothes
The Kingdom comes and the Kingdom goes
But the heart it remains
And the truth
it upholds
This Town.
Oh this town
Is wearing a crown of
smokestacks all spewing smoke
and the smog is so thick
It's making me choke.
(cough)

And he says...

2008-11-17T07:07:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting in the cold back room. It's quiet in here. I can think.

The back room is crowded with stuff. And I'm just part of the clutter. It's also freezing in here. I have to wear my jacket. My hat. I can see my breath. I'm thinking. Thinking. What next?

I don't have an idea. I just know that I want to put something in front of the camera to make the image murky. I hear the song. I love the song. I see the image blur in my head. I see soft hues. Maybe I can put translucent glass in front of the lens. Then, move the glass slowly for effect. But how to do that without putting too much attention on the film maker? I don't want to do that.

I see the stroller. The dusty lava lamp. The old plastic storm window. These plastic storm windows were custom made. We put these up over the windows in the winter to help insulate the house. This window is damaged; it has a big gash on the plastic. It's sitting in this cold room waiting to be repaired. But wait a minute -

Maybe the plastic, the gash... This could work. But what about the heart? I could draw a heart on the plastic with a pen. Yeah. That's it.

No. Maybe I'll just cut a heart-shaped hole to get rid of the damaged part on the plastic. Yeah? I think so.

Tammy says "Hmmm!"

But the background is all wrong. No, no. I don't want to see living room furniture in the background.

Tammy says "What about those backdrops from the Sound of Music? We still have those in the attic."

Really?

Yup.

Outside / Inside

2008-11-07T09:40:00.000-08:00

I get the camera back from the Service Centre in Whitby. I shell out $79. The clerk tells me I can't play my old tapes in the camera anymore. I have to start from scratch. I ask the clerk if they sell the videotapes. No. For that, you have to go to Oshawa at the Sony Store. Oh, wait a minute... I think I've got one lying around.

The clerk pulls a drawer and says "Here's one you can just have..." and pulls out a brand new tape. Nice! Thanks so much.

A barcode is stickered to the soft styro shell. I unwrap the camera and turn it on. It makes a ding ding sound. Hmm, the sounds are back on. LCD says CLOCK SET. It's been restored to its factory settings. It is like starting from scratch.

I hit the Picture Effect button on the camera and it turns the picture black and white. I don't want to shoot the video in colour and make it black and white in the editing. I don't want to have a choice. I'll shoot in black and white; I'm ready to commit now. That's it. Black and white is like starting from scratch.

It's so nice out. Such a warm day in November. We have to shoot the video outside. Okay. Leave the gear plugged into the wall. Let's snake the cords out the window. Let's film it in the "backyard." Wear headphones. We don't want to attract too much attention.

There's construction going on at the bridge. The neighbours are getting their windows replaced. It's nice out so everybody is taking advantage of it.

Sweet + Sour
by Tammy Lin Foreman

Sweet + Sour
Changes by the hour
And I can never tell
Will it be heaven or hell

Sweet + Sour
I'm under the power
of the ebb and tide
outside / inside
Sweet + Sour

I need a steadfast way
Coz I hear what they say
And my heart it soars
or it's on all fours

It seems it's always been
Either thick or thin
Either black or white
Day or night
Black or white
Day or night...

I Spy a Heart

2008-11-01T19:00:00.000-07:00

"We're gonna need a heart." Yeah. "Would you happen to know where those stickers are?" Yeah. I know exactly where there are.

I run upstairs to get them. I pick up the tripod. The camera. The hearts. Each video has to have a heart. It's become one of the rules. The I Spy game started with Rolling Stone. See if you can spot the red heart placed somewhere in that one shot. There's a heart in Comes from the Sun, Stars! and Overwhelmed too. Find them all!

We only have tonight to do this. There's only six minutes left on the VS-880. That's it. Take 3 would have to do. There. If we had even the slightest idea that we were going to do a special Halloween edition that would have been days of "what can we do?" Instead it's "this is what we're doing." It just fits itself in. But only at the last minute. The instant video self-organizes.

First thing, Georgia says with Love Wind. "What's that on Mom's forehead?" It's a bindi.

Wardrobe Malfunction

2008-10-25T09:12:00.000-07:00

Spot the differences in the two pictures!

Answers:
1. The shoes are different.
2. There's a toy piano in one picture.
3. The Lego stuff is all different.
4. Tammy is wearing a sweater in one picture.
5. The lighting is different.
6. The composition of the shot is slightly different.

We didn't plan to shoot this today. The Instant Videos are absorbed into our daily lives. "I want to get out of the back room." Let's shoot a video in every room in the house. Move the stuff out. Practice the songs. Keep it going. You ready? Yeah? "Let's just do it." We need a heart.

The key difference between the two pictures. One is our first take. The other is the 19th take. The looper keeps malfunctioning. But we just keep on going.

Every time we start a different take, I change the angle a little bit. One tiny change after another. We're losing the light. Tiny random changes to Lego. Georgia and I have been playing with them all day. I have a notion that I can make a Lego contraption to fit over the camera's lens for an interesting effect. What remains on the floor are my failed attempts.

"I want to take off my sweater...I think the shoes are the issue." Tammy is not used to the way they feel as she hits the looper pedal. Can this be called a Wardrobe Malfunction? The red shoes are donned. "We have a good take." Let's do another one. "We gotta start dinner soon." One last take. Okay.

Say Say Say What You Want to Say...

2008-10-17T17:58:00.000-07:00

The camera keeps glitching. The time-code keeps going back to 00:00 and when I rewind the tape, there is nothing recorded on it. Spooky. I had it coming. Now what are we going to do with Instant Video #3?

Flashback to last night when I got too bleary to shoot the video.

Tammy was ready. She wore a red shirt. She'd been rehearsing a nameless song by herself for a week and suddenly she was at the office door ready to perform.

I tried to get into it. I composed several shots but nothing was working. I just wasn't feeling it. I did not want to repeat myself again with some kind of overhead shot, etc. But we are constrained to be recording inside this one room. This messy magic jam room of wires and books and instruments.

Tammy whisked a table cloth to drape over the bookshelf. It always has to be a mad scramble. Push pins. Groan. We're trying to make fire here! Gotta get moving. Uh huh.

I had my video tape. I'm taping over an old interview.

I was bleary from staring at the computer all day. I had had some red wine. Ultimately, I said No. I can't do it. It'll have to wait until the morning. Shoot in the daylight. I'm too tired.

My head hits the pillow. "But it's a nighttime kinda song," Tammy protested softly.

I was already asleep. I don't remember dreaming.

The next day, the camera is where I left it. And it stopped going back to 00:00, it now just asks for CLEANING CASSETTE and I don't have one.

This is a shock. Tammy is ready again this afternoon. She's wearing the same red shirt. We have to do it now. So we can upload it for Friday morning. This is our last chance. The sun is literally going down fast.

I have an idea. Ditch the video camera and shoot the Instant Video with that digital still camera my Dad gave me. I know it shoots some video. You can't get any more instant than that.

It turns out I can shoot 20 min. of mpg video. I get fresh batteries.

I don't have time to read the manual. I just shoot. Get the clap board to sync up the audio... Last minute: what are are gonna call this song? Stars! Okay.

This is a song that came out of Tammy's free fall improv sessions. Yet it somehow got recorded as our answering machine message.

Georgia keeps quiet watching us do this which she eats her sandwich from the kitchen.

We do four takes. I know there must be a way to turn off the auto-focus and auto-levels on the camera but I decide it is actually doing something interesting. The camera's automatic sensors are reacting to Tammy's performance all on their own. There is something pleasantly random about that.

We upload Take Three because of Georgia's unexpected reaction which, of course, I had to include as a final punctuation. (!)

Here Comes the Sun

2008-10-09T18:58:00.000-07:00

So. This: we also tried to do in one take...the visuals were done live and fed into the shot of Tammy singing.

The idea of feeding the visuals into a shot of Tammy's performance was done before in Original Plastic Jam which was an improvised sound and video slam jam.

Comes from the Sun isn't an improvised song so, (a) it's not as much "fun" somehow and (b) with constant rehearsals, I developed a plan for the sequence of shots so we lost some spontaneity. I was still performing them live and there was a visual and sound delay that kept me from being solid on the timing of the images. No take was ever done exactly the same as the other. We ended up choosing Take 10 simply on the basis of sound quality.

I'm not sure how the idea of Comes from the Sun came to Tammy. I'd love to hear a cover of the song done by Tom Waits. Maybe it was a bit literal but these solar images are just stunning. I realized that I had these images saved up from the 3C84 project and I could co-perform the visuals with her live. These images I got from various websites of (mostly) independent observatories from around the world that provide them for free.

"Don't wait for answers...just take your chances! Don't ask me why." -Billy Joel

Instant Video Crimes

2008-10-01T12:27:00.000-07:00

These days, it's easy enough to do this on the internet with one hand and a few clicks. So. I confess it all here now...

In August of this year, Tammy was asked to do a looper demonstration for a kids workshop called Rock Camp for Girls. After some thought, she decided to fish out an "unpublished" song from her repertoire and began to rehearse it with the looper in mind.

This inspired the idea for the instant video project. The instant video was supposed to be some kind of weekly challenge to blog a "music video" shot and performed in just one take. It would be a way for us to share, stay creative and demo a set of songs that Tammy can do on stage on her own with a help of looper. And we decided to do it because (a) we can, and (b) this is is in fact what we do, what we're supposed to do and what we've been doing since we met each other almost twelve years ago.

This composite photo compares the shot from our first attempt with the final release. It shows how a simple, supposedly off-the-cuff idea, went through some troubleshooting before it was officially uploaded. I still just wanted to upload our first try even though I wasn't too happy with the shot. I was mildly annoyed that the battery operated lantern is on the bookshelf in the background and that the door was visible behind Tammy. I set up the shot in the spirit of the web cam instant YouTube performances where the background almost never gets the consideration it truly deserves. But Tammy insisted on making some changes to the lyrics and almost a full month later, we decided to try it again.

It didn't take that long. Given a second chance, I was sure that the best thing about the original shot was the stripey shirt matching the keys on the keyboard. I exaggerated the shot and we did about eight takes. We uploaded the final take.

We tried doing credits with Post-It notes too but none of that turned out either. I did quick typewriter credits. Just to get it out already. I matched the two sound recordings we made during the shot (hence, the clapboard) and mixed a combination of two sound sources. We started around midnight and the video was uploaded the same day.

I guess it took a lot longer than what the "instant" in the name Instant Video might ordinarily lead you to believe. I guess I'm confessing to the time and thought and the re-tries that went into this. I don't even know why I need to. I just want to stay honest.

Tammy and I do agree that this is only a one day project. Keep it simple. Of course, our minds will always be thinking about what we'll do for the next one.

A very brief history of our Instant Videos on YouTube.
Check out: Gravity Song, For Ever, and In the Swamp.