Here’s a treat for you language aficionados: A pretty comprehensive and detailed map of english language dialects in North America based on pronunciation patterns, including links to examples.
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Archive for the 'Research' Category
Here’s a captivating blog by Steven Hirsch: Crustypunks. Pictures of and interviews with homeless punks he met at Tompkins Square Park, East Village, New York. Snip from Wikipedia: “Crusties is a term for members of an urban subculture, with roots in punk and grebo. The term pre-dates crust punk and can be used independently. The trend was most widespread in the UK in the late 1980s and early 1990s but there are also international subsets[1]. Crusties are noted for their unkempt appearance and are associated with road protests, squatting, raves and begging.”
Flipping through the blog you’ll hear life stories like this one:
I’m a product of the American foster care system. My mom’s a Czechoslovakian whore and my dad was a sand nigger. His name was Ahmad something or other. I grew up in the foster care system till I was three. So I woke up one day and I was fucking fifteen years old, ran away from the fucking group home. Decided it was in my best interests to become a crack head on the streets. And spent the last two years losing my mind in Oklahoma City. – Ketchup
Or this one:
I’m also a vampire. I was born and raised into vampirism. I was thrown out at a early young age from my family and everything by some wicked church people, satan worshippers or something. All I remember is I’ve been into it since I was born. I speak about eleven or twelve languages when I’m drinking. Not really right now. With the cancer setting in right now because of the heat and everything, just kinda like can’t think right now. Doing my own chemo. And I got a prescription for it, somewhere here in Manhattan. I just gotta go pick it up, if I could remember where the address is. I’m thirty seven. I’m not crazy. I’m not insane. I’m not stupid. – Jeremy
For more of these exciting portraits head on over to Crustypunks…
The ruins of Detroit and the downfall of what once was America’s fourth largest city are definitely one of the most fascinating aspects of the “other America” – and have been a topic on this blog several times before. In the latest chapter of Detroits videography, a shoe company sent Jackass-frontman Johnny Knoxville to Detroit. Not to mock it Jackass-style, but to visit the local art scene that is flourishing between overgrown façades and abandoned shopping malls – adding just another new aspect to the whole Detroit-story. The end result is the urban explorer-style documentary “Detroit Lives!”. Below you will find a trailer and part 1 of the full-length documentary, hit the jump for parts 2 and 3.
Detroit Lives! – Part 1:
Continue reading ‘Johnny Knoxville shows us how Detroit lives’
Wow! The Denver Post put together an amazing set of color photographs taken between 1939 and 1943 in post-depression era America. Some of the only color pictures that take a close look at the effect of the Great Depression on rural America. Color photos from times long ago are a treat anyway, but these ones are even more special. They’ve been taken from the archives of the Library of Congress, in particular from the color set of the 1930s to 1940s. Head on over to flickr to browse through them for yourself, but be warned, it’s a whopping 1,615 photos in this set alone.
Photographer Nadav Neuhaus went to the New Mexican desert to document a community of several hundred people that – in a way – revive the old times of the wild wild west. “Life off the Grid” is the title of his short video about self-supporters without water, without electricty. And without law. Unfortunately it’s only 3 minutes long. But if you wanna know more about life on the Mesa you can still check out the award-winning documentary “Off the Grid” by Jeremy and Randy Stulberg.
Related: Slab City, California.
The Scout Magazine produced three short, but beautiful documentaries on distinct small businesses that combine art and craftsmanship to create something special: It’s the Mast Brothers’ Brooklyn Chocolate Factory; Roman & Williams, architects and interior designers; and Billykirk, leathermakers. Definitely worth a look.
Also check out the series of pictures of the Mast Brothers’ old fashioned place over at The Selby.
Nice series of pictures by photographer Seth Butler, in which he documents the use (or misuse) of “the ubiquitous, evocative and complex symbol of America’s self-image”, the Stars & Stripes, in everyday America: Tattered: Investigation of an American icon
(View and comment (!) on vimeo)
It’s here! The tilt shift miniature test footage we shot during our 3 month research road trip across and back the United States in the fall of 2009. Watch it now in glorious HD and full screen! This was our first try at it and it was shot mainly to explore on settings, locations and motion. Of course some shots are working great, others less great 
We’ve learned a lot and it helps tremendously in developing the storyboard for the actual stereoscopic 3D tilt-shift shoot of THE AMERICAN BACKROOM in 2011. BTW, We are currently in talks with tilt shift miniature-artists (some of them you might know) to get them and their talent aboard for the production.
But so far this is what we got. Enjoy!
Kudos to The Wind-Up Robots Killed My Cat who provided the beautiful music (and also the title).
Here’s a list of locations seen in the clip (in order of appearance):
- San Francisco, CA | Louisana State Route 14S | Grand Chenier, LA | Calexico, CA | New Orleans, LA | San Francisco | Grand Canyon, AZ | Los Angeles, CA | Palm Springs, CA | Hollywood, CA | Santa Monica, CA | outside Slab City, CA | Coleman, OK | San Francisco | Camp Verde, AZ | Monterey, CA | Lavina, MT | Santa Monica again | Melrose, NM | Santa Monica | Austin, TX | outside Bakersfield, CA | Page, AZ | Austin | Santa Cruz, CA | Austin again | Hollywood | Austin again and agian | New Orleans | Austin | Page | Austin | Santa Cruz
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New York based filmmaker Malcolm Murray takes a close look at the fading tradition of handpainted advertising. A short documentary that is so beautifully shot and heartwarmingly told that you can hardly hold back tears. A little slice of life that we are rarely aware of. Take a look.
Photo CC: Shane Gorski
You are about to witness the exciting story of a city and its people. It will be an adventure that will open new sights in familiar surroundings. That city is Detroit. Home of nearly two million people.
Proud words that open the documentary “Requiem For Detroit” by Julian Temple, commissioned by the BBC. Words that stem from an old promotional film, spoken by one of Detroit’s former mayors. What Julian Temple does with these words and the corresponding image is so simple, yet powerful that I got goosebumps running down my spine. He took that old promotional film and projected it onto decaying ruins of Detroit’s inner city and had the voice of the former mayor echo through empty windows and abandoned hallways. A technique he utilizes more than once during the 75 minutes of this fantastic documentary. Temple talks to artists, poets, urban explorers and many others that lead him through decaying urban landscapes, telling about the rise and fall of what was once one of the most influential cities of the Industrial Age. Julian Temple says:
Detroit was the frontier city in the US, powering the American dream. What I find fascinating is the fact that it is still ahead of the game, becoming the first big US city to virtually fall off the map.
A Must-Watch! Right now right here. Hurry now, before YouTube takes it down.
Part 1:
Hit the jump for the rest of documentary:
Continue reading ‘BBC Documentary “Requiem For Detroit”’
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