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“One day, feature films will be passé, outmoded by motion pictures as brief and compelling as the ones on onedotzero_select DVD,” the BBC reported in 2003 when onedotzero released its first collection. The Guardian Guide called the collection “a dynamic, potential filled glimpse at what films will look like in future.” The short works in the second volume—using motion graphics, animation, and digital film—may be all new to many Western North Carolina viewers. But, it’s important that people be exposed to evolving techniques and technologies, according to Lorraine Walsh, artist and Director of the Multimedia Arts and Sciences Program at UNC Asheville.
“These films are new. They use new technology and offer a new way of seeing. Our vision evolves just like anything else. The renaissance painters and inventors mastered one and two point perspective—a linear view. Cezanne smashed perspective at the beginning of the 20th century with shifting planes. Similar to cubism, early filmmakers used editing techniques and radical shifts in orientation, with various perspectives. Today, we are accustomed to seeing in layers, and non-linear forms…These short films are often nonlinear, using technology to recreate the way we see, reflecting the culture that we live in,” Walsh says.
onedotzero_select II brings together various cultural perspectives—a South African “understated yet elegant graphic homage to spring,” Brazilian designers’ interpretation of Swiss travel posters, English animation influenced by Japanese wood block prints, and a German designer’s exploration of the London underground “with a fresh eye for details most commuters would overlook.” Contributing to the diversity of onedotzero_select II is the number of works it includes. In about an hour, Off the MAP will show a total of 17 digital films, averaging under 4 minutes each.
The films’ economical use of time may be due, in part, to the makers’ experience competing for attention in a visually accelerated culture. No starving artists, onedotzero’s contributors boast portfolios including work in advertising; developing video games and club visuals; and making music videos for the musicians such as Radiohead, Autechre, Prefuse73, Four Tet, and Amon Tobin, whose music is featured in one of the shorts to be shown on the 26th.
Walsh, a MAP board member, says short films are appealing because they’re so communicative. “Brevity—-this is often the goal of good, common sense design. Like the New York City subway map or the hiking trail maps of the Blue Ridge Mountains, [these films] communicate something visually that can be understood in a second.”
Beyond motion graphics and the new techniques and methods that define them, ultimately the purpose of films like those in the onedotzero_select II collection is to tell a story. Walsh looks forward to seeing the story of the role digital technology will play in our society unfold, and to the continuation of the Off the MAP series. “Off the MAP will encourage dialogue, and spark thought. It’s important that we engage each other in discourse about culture. Why?—-I believe in the cultural significance of art and design, be it gaming or film…It is necessary for a healthy and informed community.”
DVDs of onedotzero_select I and II will be available for sale at the screening for $35 each or $65 for two (cash or check only). The DVDs are distributed by Microcinema International, an organization that curates, exhibits, and promotes moving image art marginalized by the mainstream entertainment industry.
Off the MAP is a collaborative effort by MAP and the Fine Arts Theatre to engage, entertain, and educate students, professionals, and the public with regular screenings. Tickets to Off the MAP cost $5.00 with proceeds going to MAP. Contact rosem@themap.org for more information or to find out about volunteer and curatorial opportunities.
For additional information on onedotzero_select II visit:
http://www.onedotzero.com/home.php
http://microcinema.com/programResult.php?program_id=206
To learn more about Microcinema, visit:
http://microcinema.com
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