Snowy Moods

Shot from early morning to midday on December 26, 2012

After a major snowstorm over December’s holidays, I got up early on Dec 26, and armed with everything I thought was needed, decided to go do some video shooting around the Blue Hills area. The Sun hadn’t come out yet, and the sky was still laden with storm clouds.  It was cold! My plan called for shooting macro and closeups framing the striking looks when snow embraces plants and trees. And so, I did for a while.

As the morning progressed, the sky cleared up and the sun made its shy appearance. The crystals formed on branches and bushes began glistening and sparkling and all trees appeared to be colored with golden hues. The scenery changed totally and my plan changed accordingly. I switched from closeups to long shots, and began panning to capture the beauty of the colors. Whatever eventually showed up in film, wasn’t quite the spectacle that my eyes saw (and my brain remembers). So, here’s my humble rendition of a glorious, cold, beautiful morning after the storm.

Enjoy,

Leo

Autumn golden mist

When the struggle for supremacy between Winter and Autumn – night and day begins to unfold, we can witness amazing events, light, darkness, cold, fog, mist and colors. These are observations beginning with early twilight prior to sunrise and continuing as the day progresses, offering us the richness and beauty of the season.
I hope you’re having a peaceful Autumn, and are getting ready for the Winter.

My thanksgiving wishes to all, for a beautiful season,

Leo
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Music: Troppo lontano da te – Andrea Rossi ::  http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/752163/troppo-lontano-da-te
Remix by Leo Bar
Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photographed during October, 2012 in the states of Massachusetts and New Hampshire

DNA dance

The essence of life DNA and its twisted dance (double helix)

 

Fascinating science behind the essence of life. Decided to construct this production from the inspiration while reading and watching how symmetrically and delicately is the DNA double helix held together. It felt like a dance, especially when it came to see animations of its replication. I have used these animations as backgrounds or foregrounds to the human body in motion to accentuate the dance aspect of this vision. The mathematics and architecture behind this complex structure are gigantic. It’s an amazing  realization that this complicated stream of chemicals are organized in such lockstep and are part of all living beings. A real miracle!!

Enjoy the dance of life,

Leo

Related articles

• Pioneer DNA Researcher Dies (the-scientist.com)
• Biologists Describe Details of New Mechanism for Molecular Interactions (bnl.gov)
• Dna (iaspreparationonline.com)
• DNA with a Twist (the-scientist.com)
• DNA dance performed at Science Museum (telegraph.co.uk)

Autumn and creativity block

my brain

As we enter Autumn here in the Northern hemisphere a new waft is in the  air. The nights are cooler, the mornings crisp and foggy, and the days are refreshing. Yet, my creativity and imagination is on hold. I had started a video project dealing with robots, automation, no people involved and it’s stuck at 75%.

Since I like what I do with imagery and music and try to do some each day I decided after a few days of mental blockage to start a new project dealing with kids, child labor, child exploitation and poverty in the 1920′s. After gathering images, research, reading and cranking out a general layout — POOF! mental paralysis.

So I started a third one (Don’t give up, never!) And this one was more cheerful, full of energy and creative juices – - – about tap dancing and some great tappers. As I began making progress on this one, I took some time off, to smell the roses I saw from my window (just blooming and coming out in our garden) So I  began filming and photographing them (Is this a fourth project?)

Please, help! No more false starts… Just allow me to begin, toil and finish at least one of them, PLEASE!! As you can tell, a force greater than myself  has taken over pumping and filling me with new ideas, but not allowing me to proceed to completion. “Got another for you, check this, this and that! What you think? Cool? Isn’t it? And so on…

A break is needed. And so I’ll relax today and try to cook some Thai food (look up some spicy recipes, veggies and seafood!) That’s the ticket!

Bye for now…

Ponkapoag Native Dreams

A tribute to the Neponset and Ponkapoag nation, native Amerindians of Massachusetts.

In this production I concentrated on creating a multilayered look that was achieved by using textures and compositing. In addition, a heavy dose of color grading and antique-like look was used to give the feel of a bygone idyllic era. The scenes were created using recent, as well as antique photographs and artifacts of native tribes of Southeastern Massachusetts. What captivated my imagination were the twisted branches of ancient maples and oak trees growing in the lands where the natives of Ponkapoag Pond once walked.
Nowadays, the original Ponkapoag Plantation is contained partly within the boundaries of the Blue Hills Reservation and further into the town of Canton, MA.

I hope you enjoy a serene dreamlike presentation,
Leo
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Filmed at Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, MA and Ponkapoag Pond at Blue Hills Reservation near Boston, MA.
Music: The enchanted valley – Ah Nee Mah
Textures courtesy of: Pink Sherbert and Skeletal Mess @ http://www.Flickr.com

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The Massachusetts Indians who had settled near the mouth of the Neponset River were known as the Neponset Indians; and Chicataubut, their sachem, was styled the “Sagamore of the Neponsetts.” It was here in a grove now known as Vose’s Grove that John Eliot, on the 14th of September, 1646 , first preached the gospel to the Indians in the wigwam of Kitchamakin, the successor of Chicataubut. Eliot continued to take a deep interest in their welfare; and it was owing to his advice that when for a trifling considera­tion they sold their lands at Neponset, they decided to move to Ponkapoag.

The aboriginal name of the territory lying beyond the Blue Hills, known to the inhabitants as the “New Grant,” was Ponkapoag. The territory derived its name from the pond, which formed one of the principal features in the landscape; and the name in the middle of the seventeenth century applied to a more extended territory than that which subsequently was included in the Ponkapoag Reservation. While the Indians sojourned at Neponset, they were known as the Neponset tribe; and when they removed to Ponkapoag, they received the name of the place of their new location. It is an error to suppose that the place took its name from the residence of the tribe within its borders-; the reverse is true. Excerpt from THE PONKAPOAG PLANTATION – Daniel Thomas Vose Huntoon (Cambridge, Mass., J. Wilson & Son, 1893)

For more information see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponkapoag .
Also see http://www.stoughtonhistory.com/huntoon-punkapoag.htm

Regendans

A video poem inspired by rain. We've had intermittent rains and thunderstorms over the last two weeks, so I got out (wet) and shot around the neighborhood. Some shots (dry and lazy) were taken from inside the house.
The title means Raindance in Dutch and is dedicated to my virtual friend Ben for his Dutch tutoring. Thanks Ben!
Enjoy the raindrops,
Leo
Music: Floating – Divinity Project, Matti Paalanen: Composer :: http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/18231/floating – Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0) (remix by Leo Bar)
Paintings Oil: Leonid Afremov
Paintings digital-animation: Leo Bar

Blooming desert

After reviewing the more than 500 stills taken and crying over the unreadable memory card with more than 4 Gigs of video lost, here’s the second piece on the Arizona desert. I concentrated on showing the brief time during which the desert explodes in color. Every plant, cactus, tree and shrub blooms for a period varying from 7 to 15 days. And then goes into the process of creating its fruits and seeds to allow them to procreate and spread their species. Birds, rodents, bees, insects and wind aid the desert plants to spread their seed and pollen, while attempting to exist, live and grow in an extreme climate.

In this piece I paid special attention to show the contrast of color and nature of some very unusual flowers emanating from huge saguaro cacti and other times from puny shrubs. Every plant flaunts its own version of excitement and compete to attract the organism or element that will disseminate their species.

Split screens, animations, and paintings were included to create a multimedia sensory effect. All other credits can be found at the end of the video

When the desert blooms in May-June it's a spectacle like no other. Every plant and tree that appeared to be sleeping and shriveled, explodes in a multicolored palette as if in competition with each other. Stills and video were recorded in May-June, 2012 in the State of Arizona – Here are some of the locales: Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon, Scottsdale, Phoenix, Papago Park, Desert Botanical Gardens and Cave Creek.
Enjoy the flora (and fauna),

Leo

Sedona – Arizona

The scenes from this video were filmed over a period of 4 days while rambling through the Arizona desert. Sedona is one of the most beautiful settings in Arizona, if not the whole USA. I tried to capture the scenery, its art (known to be the home to many artists, sculptors and painters) and the breathtaking views of the famous red cliffs. As I watch the end product, I didn’t even come close to reflect the full beauty of this place – due to some unfortunate event… In the process of trying to edit a clip, I had one of my memory cards with 4 Gigabytes of video footage go totally bad on me. I tried for hours using software and different card readers (including toward the end a hammer) to recover its contents to no avail. Just bad luck!

The temperatures while shooting were in the high 90′s and many times exceeded 100 F. Not too much fun, despite having gotten out early and staying late in the day to avoid dehydration and sunstroke. Just too darn hot, especially when we were coming from Massachusetts where the temps were in the 40′s (ah!).

Scenery and art from National Parks and the region around Sedona, Arizona. Filmed and photographed in early May 2012. Sedona is known for its majestic red cliffs and mountains. Spectacular scenery surrounds an urban number of towns in the midst of nature, canyons and National Parks.
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Music: Capriccio Arabo – Composer: Francisco de Asís Tárrega y Eixea (21 November 1852 – 15 December 1909) – Played by Maurizio Oddone – http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/797697/francisco-tarrega-capriccio-arabo – Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)

Enjoy the trip,
Leo

Rapid eye movement

In this video I attempted to resurrect memories from last Summer. The story goes that more than a memory it represents fragments of a dream as remembered once I was fully awake. As with all dreams, some parts are clearer than others, and some segments are practically forgotten, while other are recurring.
Say what you want, but this was my dream, and I intend to keep it that way

This video is using a transparent texture to represent the fuzzy and flawed dream/memory sequence.
All other credits are:

Music: Where sky meets sea – Kendra Springer :: jamendo.com/en/track/674460/where-sky-meets-sea :: Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Texture used for mask :: flickr.com/photos/skeletalmess/ :: flickr.com/photos/skeletalmess/6687475371/in/set-72157625757841742 :: Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

Enjoy the journey – Z z z z z z

Leo

Aerial ballet

Sometimes one must have fun, enjoy life and stare incredulously at its beauty. This piece was conceived in this state of mind.
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Some new and refined techniques of camera movement, 3D animation and complex multiple-screens were applied in this production.
The music is Prelude – J. S. Bach suite No. 1 played by Yo Yo Ma
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Not much more to say other than it was a pleasure and joy to produce this small gem and I hope you too enjoy the “moves”,
Leo