The Creation of "Shorty, Put it on the Floor"

I just wanted to try something new: creating notes as I go along, while generating the footage for the video. That way I can remember the little interesting stories, that often happen long before I finish the cut. Especially now; I've got three videos entirely shot, but unedited, and another three underway. I'm cutting a pilot for Sony (yes, I do paying gigs, as well), so it's hard to move forward on any cutting, but a free afternoon, and a warm spell, made room for a productive time shooting and playing downtown.

I started with a very productive alleyway today. I was looking for direct light to take advantage of, but the alleyway had plenty of very attractive bounce light, from the opposite wall being all lit up, and I stumbled upon it first, so I decided to start my day there.

At first, the big pile of cardboard boxes looked like something to work around, but I got to realize a dream today: of piling the boxes, and using them as a landing pad. I started with a little trepidation; I don't usually launch into something with this many unknowns. Every leap is just a guess, or even a hope; there's no way of knowing how much resistance the pile is going to give me. But I've been preparing myself, learning to fall, learning not to take offense at impact, and even accepting blows to the face, which is the first place I got hit, on my first jump. But after that, I started to relax and, despite the flimsy support the boxes (sometimes) gave in slowing me down, I began finding new ways of releasing into the pile, and just surrendered to whatever landing and impact came my way.

After enough boxes were crushed, I started laying out the flattened ones as my safety net, underneath, so if I fell through, I wouldn't land directly on asphalt. The one bruise of the day (on my left elbow), happened when I missed the safety net. It was a big loud alarm when it happened, but I remembered not to take it too seriously, and it faded fast, only reminding me later when I'd bump it again (or now, as I have to type with my elbows off the desk).

After the majority of the boxes were crushed, and there was no structure to slow my fall, I started exploring what was left of the boxes as props and dance partners, finding how they wanted to move around and with me.

It was at the end of this play that a homeless guy came up and asked if I needed help putting the boxes away. I was very clear that I didn't have money to offer him, and that I was going to do the work myself, but he involved himself anyway, and put a bunch of the flattened boxes away. Maybe he's just a very helpful guy.

I knew of a homeless dude in Richmond, VA, like that: a very helpful guy. All day, most days, he'd stand at an intersection of Shockoe Slip, and direct traffic from the side of the road. The drivers, of course, would just follow the lights, but the guy was always there to help make sure everyone knew what was going on.

The tire took some getting used to. I played with a truck tire in "Elephunk", but the idea of standing up on a truck tire raised lots of red flags and worst-case scenario stories. But (as I figured it would be) it was quite easy and calm. I'm sure that time and opportunity will bring more truck tires for me to play and learn from. Unfortunately, it was also very messy, filled with rainwater that stunk of beer (and maybe urine?).

I found more props in the form of a long cardboard tube and a roll of stiff black paper that had been rolled around the tube. I jousted with the tube on the back of Z, and used the paper as a flag.

I also destroyed a wooden shelving unit that had been thrown out. It was a nice way to explore attacking something, primarily with my feet, and breaking apart something that was very robust to begin with. My iPod had already crapped out, so I wasn't really dancing, just kicking the hoo-ha out of it, but hopefully it'll fit into the larger video.