4.September.2000
The Blue Ocean
The digital revolution is all about empowerment - so let's see what happens when you give a camera and a computer to a high school kid.
created by
Alex Castex-Porter
music by
The Black Mama Dharma Band
Stills from "The Blue Ocean"
The accessability of today's digital technology means that amateur filmmakers now have access to broadcast quality production equipment and worldwide distribution outlets. Last spring, as a junior in high school, Alex Castex-Porter wrote, directed and edited this week's feature, "The Blue Ocean".
New Venue:
How old are you and what is your background in film and video?
Castex-Porter:
I'm now 17, and about to go into my Senior year in high school. I edited the video at my school, "in between" classes.
When I was 13 I joined a youth group that specialized in media literacy and movie making called TRUCE, located in Harlem. As students we would be given assignments to create a video with certain constraint. It was a great program and it's still in existence.
New Venue:
It used to be that when someone in high school made a movie, only his or her friends would see it. How do you like the attention your film is receiving?
Castex-Porter:
The fact that I am a high school student can be used to show that anyone could make a movie. An idea is an idea, whether you're 80 or 10.
Unfortunately ignorance of technology can limit expression. The way I interact with technology is different from the way many of my peers do, you can see some other films made my students from my school at www.beaconschool.org/video/. You can also see the original version of this film there, which uses a different sound track.
New Venue:
How do you take into account the fact that today's digital films play on a variety of platforms- on the computer, on tv, in a theater?
Castex-Porter:
The internet does have constraints, but I feel that if I deliver a story, whether it be projected in a theater or seen on a Power Book then I have succeeded, even if part of the details were lost.
The biggest difference between the internet and anything else is the amount of extras and additional information you can package with your story. Like this interview. So even if you've lost many details in the film, you're gaining the film maker's perspective which I think is just as valuable.
New Venue:
How would you describe "The Blue Ocean"?
Castex-Porter:
The end can be seen as suicide, acceptance of how busted the world is, or simply the main character finally finding happiness in his role in the world.
To me the film's ending is not necessarily a suicide, but it is the young man transforming into a liquid form of life. Perhaps his ideas about life have become more clear. The idea here is that when he lies down and sees the sky he sees it as the ocean, and in his vision the rain is the ocean falling.
The streets are rivers, the cars are logs and as people, we are the fish struggling upstream. And when we die, we evaporate and are taken back to the ocean in the sky. The fact that the character does not land when he jumps in the end could be seen as his release, or evaporation (In the last few fast cuts we see the cigarettes from the beginning, a bird flying and the final cut is him opening the door to the roof.)
New Venue:
What technology did you use?
Castex-Porter:
The cameras I used while creating this video, were the Panasonic AG-EZ1, and the Sony TRV-10. These are MiniDV cameras. The still photos I shot with a Minolta SRT-101 (I shot on Tri-X 400 film, pushed to 800).
I edited this video on 2 Power Mac G4s with 500 mhz and 256 mb of ram. Software I used included Final Cut Pro, Adobe Photoshop and I pulled all the stills using a developer's copy of Retrograde (should be around by next year).
New Venue:
How did the Internet affect your vision?
Castex-Porter:
I originally cut this video to a song by Moby. It worked really well, but I wasn't satisfied with the story telling aspect behind it, the song influenced the tone of the film's ending too much and I prefer a sense of ambiguity.
So I turned to the internet and discovered The Black Mama Dharma band. I went out, bought their CD at Tower Records and then contacted the band about using their song. They were totally cool with me using the music. Personally I feel that the audio element drives this video as much, if not more than the visual elements.
New Venue:
What's next?
Castex-Porter:
I'm working on a lot of stuff right now: a documentary, a claymation piece, and I'm interning at MTV this summer. I'm going to apply to film school in the fall.
View this movie.
You can find out about other digital flicks in the New Venue Archives.
