I shot the above video this past weekend on our train ride to visit some friends. It's made with the iPhone 4 and edited with the apps CinemaFXV and ReelDirector. There are no scene changes, just one continuous tracking shot. After I converted the video to black and white and increased the exposure levels, I thought this needs a track by Philip Glass to complete it. I know, not very original. I mean, Glass's music set to motion is a no-brainer, but hey, it works every fucking time. So, I went into the iTunes store and starting searching. Between the years 1987 - 1997, I listened to Glass's music almost exclusively on a daily basis. I drove my friends either away or insane. Looking back, it's funny that had to go searching for a piece of music by him. I looked for tracks first by length, then by style (I wanted something playful, but with a full orchestra sound). I settled on a piece called Religion from the Naqoyqatsi soundtrack. I haven't seen the film, but have seen the other two movies in the trilogy. The length of the track is about 9 mins and 01 secs, but my original video was over 12 mins. So, I decided to cut the video instead of boring the viewer with another 3-4 mins of video in silence - and I didn't want to use a second track. Using a piece of music that focuses on rhythm really allows for some amazing fortuitous moments; rather, some very satisfying and unintentional match ups between the music and what is taking place on film. I've always thought my work functions best when the intentional elements are tempered by chance (I know, very art school speak). Twenty years ago I fantasied about collaborating with Philip Glass. And even though he has no idea, I guess I can check that one off of my list now.
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