Sunday, March 29, 2009

Music Video #2 - Sock Monkey goes WILD!

I present to you the SECOND MUSIC VIDEO. Right after I finished making it yesterday, I managed to erase it completely from iMovie while trying to export it. I was about to slit my wrists when Gordon reminded me of my new back-up hard-drive and Time Machine software! I managed to retrieve a copy and all is again right with the world. I'll never hit "export" again without making a copy of the movie first!



When I was a kid, I had a Super 8 movie camera (I am no spring chicken) and I adored making movies, but among other things there was no sound on my camera, and film was not cheap. I had a film splicer for creating more exciting edits,which is to say I didn't do much editing. It was all very labourious and of course you had to drag out the movie projector to watch your efforts on screen. And the lightbulb for the projector was expensive and always burning out. And who can forget the noxious smell of melting film that got stuck and stopped moving in the projector? "Turn off the light! Turn off the light before the movie catches fire!!"

Once I made a movie with my friend that involved a melted green plastic bedpan (my Dad had a medical supply business; I don't recall how the bedpan melted; perhaps some patient had really hot urine?) and my mother acting out the part of "Greenfoot", a giant monster covered in a flowery green bedspread. She came around the corner and attacked my friend, as directed. No children or bedpans were hurt in the making of that film.

For high school art class, I once made a cool stop-action plasticine-figure movie which sadly I don't have, because the teacher kept it. (Bastard!) I remember almost melting the plasticine with my mother's movie spotlights. I still love plasticine.

If I had had this video camera and iMovie when I was little, I would definitely have advanced beyond dialogue written on cards and filmed. Not to mention melted bedpans. Oh well, better late than never! Frank Capra I ain't.

Speaking of bedpans, who would make a plastic one? How would you ever get the odour out? This was clearly a 1970s idea that someone wisely thought better of!

And Sock Monkey is off to rehab this week!


PS: Is there a way to make the video appear in a larger box/window? The original video isn't that small. I am totally ignorant about this stuff!

20 comments:

  1. Oddly compelling. Pnat's use of chiaroscura is powerful.

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  2. BWAA HAA HAA! More! More!

    I particularly enjoyed the "after effects" scenes with the Drug Fiend Party Simian.

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  3. My favourite part was sock money hugging the porcelain throne.

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  4. Really funny. Loved it. My sock monkey has to meet yours...I sense another film opportunity?

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  5. Anonymous4:41 pm

    oooommmyyygoosh!!! that was freakin funny!!! I so needed that after a day at work with woman who do nothing but bitch all day long....it is so depressing!!

    anyhoo...you do have talent, please keep it up, I would love to see more...we have the same sense of humor!!

    Jill from NY

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  6. You guys keep leaving me encouraging comments, I'll keep making videos! :) It's nice to know I'm amusing someone other than myself.

    Jill, glad to know I brightened your day a bit. I'm relieved to know there are others with a sense of humour as, er, interesting as my own!

    Ronna, the sock monkey meeting MUST HAPPEN! :)

    Shona, Sock Monkey is a very bad bad monkey to be throwing up so much from drugs and French wine.

    HWB and Crowzma, why thank you for just being you!

    BTW, the pills are my Losec capsules, just in case you're worried sock monkey is overdosing on Xanax. He'll never have gastric reflux again!

    It amazes me how much raw footage I need for a mere 3-1/2 minute video. I am going to have to start taking that camera with me everywhere

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  7. ;o) I loved it where you could just see the doggies paws in the air. Veeeeeery creative. That sock monkey is quite a wild fellow. Don't you think he's a bad influence on Gordan?

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  8. Trooper... you must have grown up in Scarborough.

    I would have slit my wrists too if that masterpiece had been erased.

    OMG, Knat, you are still such a laugh riot. Poor sock monkey, do you ever let him out? His comrades are always outside cavorting around while he watches through the window (at least in this episode).

    No wonder he's all drugged and drunk ;)!

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  9. Love your music video #2. I haven't smiled like that in a long time, and can't seem to stop. :o)

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  10. Monika! Smiling at Sock Monkey's addiction...I'm shocked! ;) Hahahahha!

    ANd Karen, way to out me. All I can say is "YOU GREW UP THERE TOO!" Neener neener neeeeeener! And no, Sock Monkey is not allowed out of the house. His one big adventure in life was being mailed from Toronto to here (from my friend and her daughter who made him for me!)

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  11. Anonymous9:04 pm

    HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!
    BRILLIANT!!!

    I love how it follows several different storylines and jumps around between them. Dog that's brilliant!

    ...and of course I laughed until I cried about the sockmonkey storyline. MY GOD. HAHAHHAHAHHAHAHA

    and loved seeing the dogs running around and rolling.... and A and N breaking into that pseudo-fight! HAHAHAHHAHA ... ok gotta watch it again. :))

    (hope the html works) ;)

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  12. Anonymous9:11 pm

    Oh YES!! the shot of either T or S rolling the top of the hill with just his or her feet in the air visible!!!

    EXELLENT!!!

    that is really really great. :DD

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  13. You are tooooooooo talented! I loved it.

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  14. Anonymous9:12 pm

    i suppose i could spell excellent properly if im going to make it stand out so. :/

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  15. Dr. SLoth, that was Sophie rolling around on top of the hill. She LOVES to do that! :) And I love how you got your doctorate but can't spell "excellent." HAHAHAHHAHA! Oh I know, I know... it was just a typo because you were so overcome by my sock monkey video! :))

    You are all so seriously good for my ego. And you know, it will just encourage me to make MORE music videos!!

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  16. Not sure how long you've been visiting my blog, so in case you missed it:

    http://jddblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/if-sock-monkeys-were-sent-to-store-to.html

    There's just something about alcohol and sock monkeys that's funny...

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  17. I especially liked the solarized sun shot.

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  18. Why thank you, Pouty Lips. It was quite accidental!

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  19. A monkey who likes French wine is very much human...I have a similar reaction after three glasses! The whole menagerie gets into action. It was a party after all.

    Lots of fun, Nathalee. Get your Oscar acceptance speech ready...

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  20. Claudia, Monkey has fine taste in wine! :)

    I'm workin' on the speech!

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!