First, I offer my sincere thanks for your patience with me, while I procrastinated the release of this film.  I had hoped to get the audio mastered before I officially released it, but my window of opportunity closed.  It’s possible that this could get done sometime in the future, but I didn’t want to sit on the film indefinitely.  I needed to call it done, and share it.

So here it is.
Click to read the whole journey of creating this film, from sand painting to screening.

I loved doing this project.  I loved listening to you talk about how you feel when you are inspired.  I hope that you will continue to investigate your drive to create, and to share your inspiration with those around you.
Shine on!

https://vimeo.com/36716593

A dandypunk – inspiration from a Cirque du Soleil artist from a dandypunk on Vimeo.

PS.  No update yet on the film – I’m still waiting on sound, but hopefully that’ll be sorted by the holidays.  Cheers!

The Inspiration Project had it’s debut screening there, and it was a great success.   It was really, such a wonderful experience to see it draw in passers by, even though the sound was patchy.  As well as a heartwarming way to reconnect with some of the friends who participated, it was also a grand opportunity to meet new, inspiring people, and share the wisdom and creativity of our community.

The final film is about 15 minutes long, and is a compilation of the video time lapse of the communal sand painting station that I set up at last year’s decompression event, “Micropolis”, and the audio from Salon #2 of the Inspiration Project at Otherworld.  My good friend Jenn has graciously offered to fix the sound for me, and as soon as we’ve sorted that out, I will be posting the film online for everyone.

Thanks again for your support and patience!

Frank finished a rough-cut of the video last night, and it’s pretty awesome.  Or, at least as awesome as a patchwork kind of amateur thing like this can be

Currently we have about a 15 minute video that is pretty much done, save for bookending the title and credits, which doesn’t matter so much for Dust Off, as we intend to play it on a loop anyway.  After Dust Off, we’ll do another cut that includes the text cards and release that on the web.  The audio is pretty sloppy a the moment, but I have plans to balance it better before it’s official web release.  I’m not too worried about it for this weekend, as it’s going to be shown in a loud place anyway, and I doubt anybody will be really trying to listen to it.

Sometime after this weekend, Frank & I will finish it off officially, and post it for general viewing.

Very exciting!

See you on Saturday.

Do you have something to say about inspiration?  CALL ME!  Leave a message!

Over the next week, I will be cobbling together snippets from these recordings for the final work in this Inspiration Project.

Not sure what to say?

Tell me how you feel when you are inspired, and if you actively cultivate that feeling, how do you do it?  How do you get through blocks and return to a place of creativity, inspiration and action?  How do you record your ideas?  How do you share your inspiration with others?  Did you see or hear something that moved you to action?  What is it about that thing that moves you that makes you love it so much?

Perhaps this is partially my own doing, as I am not actually a videographer, and I am not very good at “chasing” people, especially if I feel that they are not as into it “now” as they may have implied they were “before”.

So I kinda let it go, and decided that was ok.  So much of this project has been about letting things flow, that I am comfortable with it choosing it’s own path.  If it’s path is without direct video interviews, that’s ok.  (Although, thanks to North for being my first and only interviewee!)

In truth, it was the salons themselves that were the really valuable part – getting people together, giving them the opportunity to share their stories and their inspiration.  So I am still considering the project a success, even though my original vision for the video is being abandoned.

However!  This is not (yet) the end.

Remember in Salon #2 when Chelsie recorded audio of the meeting for her CORE audio project?  She and I had a chat on the way back from the desert and she has generously offered to send me a copy of the recording, and I hope to stitch something inspiring together from it…perhaps combined with images shot by our local photographers/videographers.  Of course, I will be soliciting permissions from folks whose voices I’d like to use.

A huge and special thanks to Chelsie for offering her recording, and thanks in advance to those who participated in Salon #2.

I’ll begin editing as soon as I receive the audio, so stay tuned!

I thought maybe there would be something from the Inspiration Project that I could take with me to the desert – some highlight I could share with fellow burners while I was there, but it all seemed so flimsy, and not inspiring (ha!) at all.

So after the end of the last salon, I posed the question to my small group of friends, to see if maybe they had some good ideas of how I could transform the hard work I’ve put into the Inspiration Project, and make it into something to bring to Black Rock City.  I’m very blessed to have such clever friends.

Ultimately, it turned out to be so very simple!

Originally my vision for this project was that at the end, I would compile a short film of people in our community saying a few words about inspiration, and share that back out to the community in the hope that it would further inspire us to engage ourselves.  But we had such a small turnout at the last salon, that we agreed to cancel the film portion of the event… so I have no footage to create this film that I wanted to make.

BUT.  I could take my camera to the desert.

And suddenly the inspiration rushed in!  Instead of the words coming to me, I will go to the words.  There will be plenty of friends from this community there, and plenty more from other burner communities, and it would be a *wonderful* way to connect with friends, meet new ones, engage, inspire and be inspired.

So that’s the plan.  :)

I will be arriving in BRC on Wednesday August 31, and will be there through to Sunday (post Temple-burn).  Although not in an officially-placed camp, I will be in Rawwwrrr Camp, near Costco (8:45 & Funeral). I expect to have my camera on me most of the time, and will be on the prowl for willing participants to say a few words, answer questions from the Inspiration Project, and explore what moves us.  Come find me, if I don’t see you first!