As I turned twenty-nine, I reinvented The Dancing Image as Lost in the Movies, including a redesign and the initiation of several series that would conclude years later. More importantly than that, I finally began creating narrated video essays and most importantly of all, I used the re-titled site as a platform for my first online film project. Class of 2002 was an unusual short film, using snapshots and narration to mimic a documentary form in a highly structured manner, and its genesis and premiere would ultimately define this crucial moment in the site's history.
Subjects include my episode guide for the first arc of Neon Genesis Evangelion (including chats with Bob Clark), the kickoff for my Favorites series reviewing titles from my top 100 list the previous year, a video exploration of Fists in the Pocket as political allegory, my audiovisual collage of different critical voices on Modern Times (for a comedy countdown), and visual tributes that lead up to and ultimately explore my own movie.
My highlight for this period has to be 2002 in 2012: The Making of My Movie, Class of 2002, which not only presents Class of 2002 but shares the story of its creation.
NOVEMBER
I gave the site a makeover - and a new name - on my birthday, and used a visual tribute to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to mark the theme of transformation (though hopefully a more positive one!)
Kicking off a Neon Genesis Evangelion episode guide including conversations with Bob Clark, who introduced me to the sci-fi anime series
Explaining my concept for my upcoming short film Class of 2002
Introducing my Favorites series, which would finally conclude in 2016
In the aftermath of his fast-paced battle with an Angel, Shinji (and the audience) is at last properly introduced to his environment (includes conversation with Bob Clark)
The histories and theories of Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud, and Sabina Spielrein are filtered through David Cronenberg's particular vision
Participants in the Spanish Civil War recall their experiences after four decades of fascism
Whose definition of the hedgehog's dilemma applies here - Freud's or Schopenhauer's? (includes conversation with Bob Clark)
Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner celebrate the meat and potatoes of transactional politics as a path to grand societal change
Mathieu Kassovitz masterfully captures the energy of the nineties zeitgeist
More pictures from Fists of the Pocket, this time a visual tribute to the lead actress
A meditative segue after another big battle (includes conversation with Bob Clark)
Calling for a fourth annual best of the blogosphere round-up that never happened...that era was already over at this point
Sofia Coppola's mood piece feels both musical and novelistic
After many fleeting glimpses, Rei Ayanami finally comes to the forefront (includes conversation with Bob Clark)
DECEMBER
My first narrated video essay, on Fists in the Pocket as a metaphor for the rise of fascism - a perspective that felt even more relevant with the rise of the angry young man alt-right a few years later
Two Alices (or two white rabbits?) in Wonderland
A treasure chest of previously unused images, stretching back to the earliest days of the site
Rei and Shinji plunge into Operation Yashima (includes conversation with Bob Clark)
Lars von Trier offers a very different nightmare on Elm Street
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Three critical takes on Modern Times, in preparation for a video essay
Juxtaposing Otis Ferguson, Roland Barthes, and Graham Greene on Charlie Chaplin's first (kinda) sound film, in one of my favorite video essays (with Greg Stevens and Jeff Pike as additional narrators)
Frozen frames of photos in flames (a visual tribute to Hollis Frampton's nostalgia)
This stand-alone adventure, following a six-episode arc, was the last episode I covered for two and a half years (includes conversation with Bob Clark)
Valuing a cerebral film for its tactile qualities
The trailer provides the first visual evidence of what I worked on all summer and fall
Visual tribute to a memorable moment in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
JANUARY
Part 1 of my short film was completed just before midnight on the west coast (retained for postery, but this is a rough version soon superseded by some additional footage/re-cutting)
Part 2 of my short film (rough version/original cut) follows the characters introduced in Part 1 after high school
Part 3 of my short film (rough version/original cut) draws out the narrator's connection to one of the stories he tells
My dramatic mock-documetnary uses still images and found footage accompanied by narration - this is the final revised version
Recounting the creation of the film from first concept to final edit
Remembering Obama's first inauguration on the occasion of his second
Offering a glimpse of my film through quotes as well as screenshots
The final round-up presenting all of my work on or around Class of 2002, my short film
(I also covered this period on Episode 15, a public episode of my Patreon podcast)
Next: Talking to Twitter & Embracing the Image (February - July 2013)
(in which I kick off a year-long visual viewing diary)
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Previous: Slow-Motion Restart (May - October 2012)
(in which I kick off a year-long visual viewing diary)
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Previous: Slow-Motion Restart (May - October 2012)
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