Inspired Mayhem

The Creation of "Ninja Pillow Fight"

2010-08-16T14:52:00.000-07:00

"Ninja Pillow Fight":

We'd love to take credit for assembling the flash mob - okay, honestly, we did take credit for it. But it wasn't ours; someone else set this up, arranged with the city, and somehow ensured eventual removal of a deep bed of feathers from Pershing Square. Major props to whoever made this event happen; we just knew we'd have to ride the coat tails of a very cool event to create our own Ninja spin on it.

This was by far, the most destructive video yet, on our camera, which got smashed from every direction, repeatedly. Pillows don't seem like much, but they quickly took their toll. The viewfinder no longer clicks back into place, and the microphone was loose, dangling, and non-functioning by the end of the shoot. Thank goodness for the Sennheiser warranty, as we got the mic fixed for free (I just used a lint brush to remain all the remaining downy feathers that stuck to the mic's wind sock). Since then, Nick bought a couple of Kodak Flip-type cameras, for POV use, but unfortunately, too late to avoid the abuse we took on the pillow fight.

The other thing that got smashed around was the brand new wide-angle lens. In fact, it got hit so hard at one point that the lens, (despite being screwed on) came right off, and disappeared beneath the carpet of feathers. Thanks to the anonymous stranger, who rescued it for us!

As it turned out, it was also a pretty rough day on my eyeballs (and lungs - little feathers get in everywhere)! We were finding feathers for weeks thereafter.

Here's a pretty nice alternate coverage of the event, by Joel Kuwahara, with some good slo-mo:

Pillow Fight from Joel Kuwahara on Vimeo.

The Creation of "Monster Mash"

2009-11-24T14:14:00.000-08:00

The Monster Mash:

"Monster Mash", like many of IMP's recent videos, was inspired by a dare from Bragster.com, the prankster social networking site. This was one of the first dares, however, that were addressed directly to Stickman, so I knew we had to make this one big.

The costumes were the trickiest part logistically; the dare demanded that the costumes not be half-way, but I've been too poor to invest a lot in any one video. But pre-Halloween sales, a borrowed Freddy Krueger mask, and the orangutan torso that I've owned for awhile, (oranger than the wolfman head and claws), helped keep the cost down, while letting us go full out with costumes. Besides, I can always use more costumes, so don't be surprised if these show up again!

It was also very hot for an October day. I had already made the decision to give Freddy Krueger a (thrift shop) t-shirt instead of a sweater. Nick decided to be the wolfman, but I warned him that he might not want the torso piece, because the head and gloves were warm enough. Still, he was determined to be as full-on as possible, and his costume looks great on video, orangutan body or not.

The dare also demanded that there be more than one of us in costume; what's a monster mash with just one monster? Since Nick and I usually do our dare days without assistance, it was critical that we get a separate camera operator. Greg is a guy who lost his job and home to the economic downturn, and has been staying in my spare room for a few months. Thankfully, he volunteered to shoot for us, shortly before this outing, so I took him up on it. Thankfully, people often didn't associate Greg with the monsters, because we were in high-density tourist areas, where cameras were common, and it was hardly surprising that someone would shoot our hijinks.

We were actually able to get (the back of) Greg into another video that day, a quick homage to French prankster great Remi Gaillard:

The edit doesn't show the actual progression of our day. We took the subway there and back, hanging out at different platforms and changing cars whenever the train stopped, so we could interact with new people. The drunken guy who wrestles with us, and the musical group (which I call "the Partridge Family") were all on the ride home.

The drunk guy was an opportunity for me, a chance to step up. On our last outing, Nick had to face the crazy Nazi homeless Ninja-groping Rockstar . Nick (as the Ninja) kept getting fondled, but kept going back in to face the Rockstar a little more. Thankfully, the drunk guy from the train didn't grope me at all, but he did pick me up a couple times, and crash me into sitting passengers. By the third time, I recognized his m.o., and quietly, peacefully overwhelmed him, so he couldn't lift me. Thankfully, those offended passengers got mad at the drunk guy, not at the monster he wielded!

We had the most amazing luck that day; total serendipity. We emerged from our subway train, literally minutes before another train, coming from the opposite direction, deposited its load of grisly zombies. It was a once-a-year flash mob Zombie Walk; what a coup for a "Monster Mash" video! Emerging from the subway station with 50 bloodied zombies was a great way to arrive at the party!

Hollywood and Highland is the tourist nexus of L.A. There's the walk of stars, the Chinese Theater, and of course, a great deal of costumed street performers. I chose the location for the tourists, but didn't realize how many movie monsters we would run into. How perfect; this, then was the party that they sing about in the "Monster Mash"!

Ironically, the costumed monsters were among the least playful participants we've ever had in our videos (except Gumby and the pirate who shot me!). They are all independent people, who make their entire living from tips, given by tourists who want to be photographed with a movie creature. So they assumed that we (as costumed monsters) were trying to horn in on their livelihood. In particular, the Freddy Krueger who was already there, and his friend the Joker were the most insistent that I was doing something wrong, by being Freddy. Ha! The only people who hassled us for wearing costumes, were the people who were already in costumes, themselves!

Of course, the Disney Store employee (who chased Nick out) wasn't too happy about us, either. LOL at his bad-ass statement: "if I catch you in there again, I'm gonna kick you out!" Kinda impotent threat, especially since Nick had already kicked himself out. The Disney Store was not welcome to monsters, but thankfully, Hooters was!

In the edit process, I always have to cut out a huge amount of our interactions, in order to keep the videos tight. But this one was extreme! So much wacky wonderfulness decorated the edit room floor! So here are a couple of extra moments from the day.

Here we engaged a group of dance street performers in a spontaneous monster dance battle (music added later):

And Freddy Krueger, giving some automotive advice to a bus driver with engine problems:

The Creation of "Bad Driving"

2009-06-18T10:34:00.000-07:00

I had not treated this car ("Rev") very well, and it was clear that it needed to be replaced soon. It drove relatively well, but the body was in lousy condition, and it rattled like mad when it drove. So, a year ago, I began to crash the car into things.

At first it was harmless things, like the refrigerator box or the stack of inflatables. Andre and Craig helped me shoot a stunt in which they held an (empty) TV box as I drove toward them, and then they abandoned it at the last moment. Only trouble was that the TV box was exceptionally well built, and that my friends tossed the box into the air, so it cracked the windshield, which eventually would get me in trouble. That TV box survived so well, that we had to shoot an entirely different video to destroy it.

I hit a few more obstacles, mostly in and around the West L.A. alleyway in which so many of Inspired Mayhem's early videos were shot.

Then I got laid off. Suddenly, I couldn't afford to get a new car. I did have enough $ to buy Z, my motorcycle (gas was at $5/gallon at the time), so at least I could keep Rev off the street (it was a cop magnet with that windshield). But I couldn't do away with Rev altogether, for travel or hauling things, or for the annual L.A. rainy season.

What changed, unfortunately, was not my employment status; I'm still eking out my existence. What changed was that I got a ticket for that windshield, and then another for my registration, which I didn't renew, since the car was mostly just sitting in my garage. Rev also developed some axle issues, and that convinced me that it wasn't even safe to drive anymore.

I needed a new car, and I wanted, specifically, a van, to be the perfect vehicular counterbalance to Z. Something that travels well, hauls well, and is very sociable. With the credit crisis on, I asked my parents if they could loan me the $ to get a used van. But, as it turns out, my folks were about to buy a new Prius for themselves, and offered me their old van. Perfect!

(Of course, my parents don't know yet that I destroyed Rev, so shh! don't tell them!)

So once again, I began crashing Rev. My friend John (with whom I collaborated on "Yuri G"), helped by operating camera and by driving for those stunts in which I wanted to be on, or in front of, the car.

We spent two days filming. Day one was the last chance to do foolish things with the car before we destroyed it. We drove around at random, and found junked items in alleyways, and odd features to drive over.

Old dirty mattress became a sled, with my car as the slope:

Found a junked basketball backboard, and turned it into a surfboard:

Found this magliner trailer at City Fibers, and sought out the pivot point. The fit was so tight, you can hear my hub caps scraping:

Then, on day two, we finished the deed, and destroyed the car! Continued on the next blog entry!

Rev's Last Day

2009-05-19T12:23:00.000-07:00

May 16, 2009 was my car's last day on earth.

In the previous blog entry, I explained how the "Bad Driving" idea came to be, and how the time had clearly arrived, to finally destroy that car!

The ideal spot for Rev's destruction was an entrance into the L.A. River, where they shot the car chase in Repo Man. On Santa Fe Ave., just below the 6th St. Bridge (where we shot Rub My Back), there is a tunnel to a ramp that leads into the concrete culvert that is euphemistically called a river.

When I first showed up on Saturday, I was startled to see that there was already a cop car in the river. I backed my car quickly out of the tunnel, and went in on foot, to see what they were up to. My mistake, because they told me that I shouldn't be there (there are no posted signs). That would come back to haunt me.

Thankfully, the cops left right after that, and my friend John arrived to be my camera operator.

Our first stunt was almost our last. In the concrete canyon that leads down to the tunnel, I was hoping that there would be some way of getting two wheels up onto one of the walls, but all I ended up doing was popping a front tire.

I don't know why the headlight went out!

For a couple moments there, it seemed as if our day was over. I still had my spare tire with me, but I had (just that morning) removed anything else of value from the car, including my jacks and lug wrenches, and John had come on his motorcycle. I tried riding on the rim, but the car could barely move, nor steer. Fortunately, there was a still photo shoot on the surface (they were very amused by the bad driving), and they helped scrounge up the necessary tools to change my tire (thanks guys!).

Even with the tire fixed, it was clear that I was not going to be able to drive my car anywhere else to destroy it, so we focused on getting the rest of the damage done, as soon as possible, before the cops came back.

The shooting itself went great, although the steering became more and more laughable. Basically, I had control only over the brakes, gas, and which gear I was in. Sometimes I would try to crash into something, but the car would just steer its way around the obstacle.

I had a dream of rolling the car down one of the banks as the grand finale, but it would have taken a lot more control than I had, assuming it was possible at all. Instead, I just rode it as hard as I could, as long as I could, until the gears no longer engaged (the last shot in the below video).

Almost immediately after the car stopped riding, the cops showed up. And boy did they show up! We had at least 8 cops, 8 firefighters, and (no lie) a helicopter circling overhead. Someone had reported that we had suffered a horrific accident, somehow crashing through into the L.A. River basin and rolling down the embankment.

We were very cooperative with the cops, who were nice enough not to even frisk us, and ultimately, I got away with nothing but a ticket for riding in the river. This, despite the fact that two of the cops were the ones who had earlier told me that I shouldn't be in the river at all. I must say: I lucked out!

One of the cops did say that I had to fill out an SR-1 (accident report), which would mean a point on my record, and higher insurance rates. However, I researched CA Traffic Codes, and came up with the following very useful exception.

The accident report only needs to be filed if on a street or highway (exempting us, since we were in the river), or if the wreck was a "reportable off-highway accident." Thankfully, CA Vehicle Code 16000.1(3)(b) states that "A 'reportable off-highway accident' does not include any accident which occurs off-highway in which damage occurs only to the property of the driver or owner of the motor vehicle, and no bodily injury or death of a person occurs". Ergo, no report!

The final version of "Bad Driving" is out, but here is my first quick cut of the highlights of Rev's last day:

Montages I've Been Included In

2009-04-22T09:04:00.000-07:00

Derek's parody of my dance was the greatest compliment anyone could pay me, but a good second best is being included in a dance compilation. The first vid is by "Revenge", and is her collection of dancing posted on bragster.com. I show up twice.

The second is by my brother, in which he matches me up with many of my dancing heroes. He creates audio collages with similarly themed songs, and more recently, has been editing videos for them as well.

Bus Stop Boogie

2009-04-08T20:12:00.000-07:00

I was drawn to the bus stop by the beautiful lighting, and all the life there.

I think this is my last set up for "Gimme Sum", coming soon.

The First Parody of IMP-Style!

2009-03-31T10:35:00.000-07:00

I am so incredibly flattered by the following parody of my dance videos, made by a fellow prankster (Draco, from DMProductions) from Bragster.com.

Love Letter to a Ladder

2009-03-26T11:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a nice reminder to stay with simplicity. Sometimes I ride around forever, looking for just the right thing, because I want the new stuff to be different than the old.

But yesterday was a reminder that what is new arises from my own curiosity and discovery, rather than finding the perfect obstacle. IMP-Style is everywhere, available from the simplest arrangements of features.

I ended the day at a construction site, in the middle of Beverly Blvd., and spent some time getting to know some inanimate objects, including a shovel, sledge hammer, and a six-step ladder.

The Creation of "Yuri G"

2009-03-14T15:48:00.000-07:00

This collaboration was a dream I've had for a long time. I've been dancing on concrete, junk and steel for many months now, but (with the exception of the second IMP-Style: "Rub My Back"), it's all been just me. Dancing solo with whatever features are available offers a vast array of possibilities. Adding a partner increases those possibilities exponentially.

John is an old friend, and fearless partner in rock climbing and sword fighting. He left L.A. about 3 years ago to pursue a girl, and things have never been quite as exciting around here, ever since. In a rare visit back to his old haunts, I begged him to come and make an IMP-Style with me, but he didn't take too much convincing.

We only had a few hours to shoot the whole thing (and limited energy), so I went to an area that I know well, and have fully explored, for "Pass That Dutch". The City Fibers paper recycling complex is this sprawling collection of warehouses, train tracks, derelict machinery, and other odd features of unknown origin (e.g. I have no idea why there is a collection of concrete benches clustered at the end of the cul-de-sac).

John's favorite spot was the pile of mattresses. It was a great chance to let loose a bit, and not be afraid to come crashing down hard. Of course, all that trash had been sitting out there for God knows how long, so we got pretty grimy, but that just comes with the territory. I always come home from these shoots covered in grossness. That's why the shampoo bottle says "rinse and repeat".

For people who aren't familiar with Contact Improvisation, it is a relatively new (37 years, as of '09) dance form that focuses on making the center of movement the point of contact between two or more partners. So, I can steal some leverage from John, add some torque, borrow a little momentum, or combine our centers, so we're moving as one. Push, pull, slide, rotate, resist, withdraw, lift and follow - we collaborate in a multitude of vectors, connections, and attitudes.

The core of Contact Improv (married to the essence of parkour) is what has been allowing me to learn new physical features as dance stages / partners so far. In both Contact and Parkour, the practitioner surrenders the preconceived idea of movement, and instead focuses on the actual partner/features, letting them guide how best to move along / over / around them. That's why I include Zen in my description of IMP-Style dancing, because the dance is very much about letting go of what "should" happen, and instead, allow the dance to arise spontaneously (wu wei) from the unyielding reality of concrete and metal. It is my job to follow the world, and learn how it wants to be danced, instead of imposing my dance on it.

Of course, this sort of discovery is not always quick or telegenic. Much of the most interesting contact (from within) take a great deal of patience to watch, from outside. Consequently, many of the interesting challenges for us as dancers, never make the final cut because they just take too long to resolve themselves. Following is one (abbreviated) example, learning to climb down a fence, upside-down.

Adding a partner and Contact to the dance also increases the amount of surrender needed. I felt more fear at the beginning of this shoot, because I am used to knowing where the hard objects are. But when I was on John's back, I had no idea where danger was, and I just had to trust more that we would end up moving through the unknown without injury.

Fittingly, this bloopers reel is exceptionally short, because we didn't get hurt that much. My worst knock was a bang on the head, which had nothing to do with John, and everything to do with me not paying attention. John nicked his finger, but off-camera, so all you get to see is the aftermath.

Highest Stack

2009-03-03T12:42:00.000-08:00

I found this pile of broken down crates, full of splinters and rusty nails. Wasn't quite sure how I could play on it, without getting tetanus.

One dare from Bragster.com involves "creating the tallest stack of strange objects that you can". That helped give shape to my play with the crates, and no emergency room visit.

I usually put everything away, once I'm done playing with it (and probably should have here), but it was too tempting to leave it as my version of a crop circle.

The Double Decker Bus

2009-03-01T16:47:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, I chanced upon these two derelict double decker buses, in the parking lot of a Hollywood tour company.

Both were in shambles, but the interior surfaces were strong enough to take my weight, plus they were completely wide open, so perfect for an IMP-Style. Here's a taste:

Kill Your TV #1

2009-02-23T18:56:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, I began a new series, which is also an old dream. Demonstrate a number of ways to kill your TV. Found these sets out by the trash, and got to work. New footage will have to wait until I find more TVs to kill. Here's a tease of the footage thus far.

Improvisational Combat Choreography #1

2009-02-20T12:30:00.000-08:00

Partly as a dare from Bragster ("Show Us Your Ninja Moves"), I encouraged my buddies to stage a little melee practice. It went so well, that I've started a totally separate IMP YouTube channel (ImprovMeleePlayers), because I think there's more fake fighting to be done! Here are the five battles from our first clash!

Tye vs. Andre:

Tye vs. Baylen:

Andre vs. Baylen:

Andre vs. Stick:

Tye vs. Stick:

The Protein Guy

2009-02-14T20:51:00.000-08:00

Today was crazy fun and busy; lots of firsts and realized dreams. Hit the Sunset Strip with a mission, to fill out the footage shot previously. Found this inflatable protein guy on the roof of a sports nutrition place, and knew I had to make him mine.

The Stair Sign Sled

2009-02-14T19:17:00.001-08:00

Another dream of mine: to sled down concrete stairs on some object that would keep me safe. Found the stairs, four flights down to the 101 from Western Ave. Turns out there's a bus stop on the 101, and easy access up. I looked around for something to sled down it, but the padded cushion belonged to a homeless woman ("That's mine!"), and the pallet, my original idea of a sled, was on a flatbed truck, so its use was clearly theft, and possibly destruction of property.

But then I found a fiberglass street horse, property of LADOT, so I figured: "not quite theft, not quite vandalism, hope it survives". And it did, as did I, thanks to robust construction standards. God bless the DOT.

Of course, I put it back, just a little worse for the wear.

The Cooperative Construction Crew

2009-02-14T18:59:00.000-08:00

My policy has been: better to ask forgiveness, than permission. How do you explain to someone: I just wanna dance on your property / equipment / rooftop / overpass? Better to just do it.

However, today I realized a remote dream: to ask for help in creating an IMP-Style moment, and receive it.

I went off in a new direction today, heading north instead of east, toward population instead of industry. I saw the blockaded street and construction gear off of Western, and hoped it would be vacated for the weekend. There was, however, a crew working on the site, so I kept it low-pro. I played with a water hose, attached to a fire hydrant, because who could resist matching the elephant SFX to a fire hose? Especially an active one.

But shortly after I cut the water, and put my camera away, one of the crew came through, (I assumed) irritated, to put the hose completely out of sight. I figured I lucked out, got out of the way before the shit came down.

But then Junior, the dude with the plan, asked me what the hell I was doing, and when I told him, he invited me to come and dance on the construction site with them all still working. Cool, I thought, but they were putting away their gear. I said: "I'm gonna ask the impossible", that I be able to dance in the bucket of the bulldozer, as it was driving down the street.

Sure, said Junior, and what happened was this:

The Creation of "Ah Ndiya"

2009-01-29T12:25:00.000-08:00

IMP-Style: "Ah Ndiya"

I've long been a fan of African music, and am also interested in keeping IMP-Style wide-ranging, so Ah Ndiya was my first experiment into the genre. It's definitely the prettiest song I've danced to; but my dancing is not exactly pretty, so I didn't know how the collision would turn out. I certainly have no training in West African dance, but then, I have no training in any other dance, either.

On Thanksgiving Day, 2008, I figured I'd take advantage of the potentially relaxed security, by shooting part of Badder Badder Schwing, at the Hollywood sign. As the sun set over the Santa Monica mountains, I figured it was time to start gathering footage for Ah Ndiya, which wanted beautiful backgrounds to match the music. I was joined during that silhouette shot, by a surprise participant, a gentle stoner who was also seeking to get close to the Hollywood sign. I told him it was likely that his footage would only make the blog, but he didn't mind.

The day after Thanksgiving also seemed like a good one to defy usual security, but it wasn't: I got kicked out two separate locations (including the one on the rose colored steps in the video, above). The first one I lost so fast, that I didn't even get any usable footage. Right around the corner from that, I found the fire truck doing some kind of maintenance or test or something. They held still while I danced in front of them for one and a half takes, and then doubled around to give me a nice closing shot.

I relied heavily on the Bunker Hill part of downtown (the same area I shot Grand Avenue in), because the locations were much more beautiful than most of my industrial spots. That area is ideal for parkour; there are tons of features, levels, and pedestrian walkways, with surprisingly little law enforcement. There are still potential consequences, however: the shots on the edge of the pedestrian walkways don't reveal the 25' drop down to traffic, below.

I love the tunnel shot, which provided a rich, beautiful background to carve out my silhouette. Shortly after that, I finished the evening playing with the twin fountains, and getting wet playing one fountain like a zither.

Under a stretch of Grand Avenue, there is a ground level utility road, for deliveries, etc. For some reason, they had a white dumpster parked in the middle of the road that night, and I loved the symmetry with the V-shaped overhead lights.

I wasn't at all surprised to be kicked out, when playing with my staff in front of the Bank of America building; just surprised it took so long for them to do it. "Some crazy guy's out front swinging a stick around" - I can only imagine.

The ramp from Flower to Hope offered two shots. The first (with the lit parking garage in the background), was just me taking advantage of the slope, and using the added momentum to change how I related to leaps and spins.

The second, the transition from one ramp to the other, was (as many things in these videos are) scarier in real life than in the video. You can see the 10' or so drop to asphalt; but what's not so visible (except in the clip, below), is how the space in between the ramps is over a 40' drop down to street at the ground level.

As always, I'm eager to share my bloopers, trips and stumbles. I cut the blooper reel to "Ah Ndiya"; funny how that song makes even falling down seem beautiful.

Crane Climb and Dangle

2009-01-28T19:05:00.000-08:00

Today I scared the crap out of myself.

My first shot for "Work It" was an audacious climb up a crane, and an even more audacious climb down. The crane was behind fencing, at First and Santa Fe. I saw the move in my head, but I wasn't quite prepared for the reality of it. Up the crane, no problem, down to the top of the red pulleys, no problem. Going below that was a bit more of a mental game, because from up above, I was no longer quite sure how I was going to get down.

I hit a fear block on the red pulley. The drop below wasn't quite what I imagined. From the ground, the twin cable loops appeared to dangle over an 8' drop to earth. But from above, I realized, I was further back, over a 15' pit, invisible to camera. And the metal plate that edged the pit suggested that I wasn't gonna get close to the shallow side, even swinging with all my might. I wasn't directly over rebar or other sharp items, just the dirt slope of the pit, but right next to a massive girder, which I was afraid of falling on.

I had planned to dangle from the bottom of the looped cables, and swing myself to the safety of the shorter drop, but once I was hanging, I realized I wasn't going to get enough swing in them, to clear the metal divider. I could just imagine falling 8' onto a crotch-full of metal plate, and there wasn't enough arc to get past it. I wish I could say I figured it all out, and executed accordingly, but truthfully, I let go, because I didn't have anything left. I was stressed out, terrified, and utterly uncertain as to the outcome, but trusting that plan b (into the pit) couldn't be worse than what plan A was turning out to be (a trip to the emergency room, with a busted crotch).

I dropped hard, but the landing was soft, a slope of loose dirt. Nonetheless, I sat in place for awhile, feeling my system work the shock through it. There had been a lot of fear, a lot of stress, and my body was shutting down. But I was home safe.

Breaking into the Hacienda

2009-01-26T18:55:00.000-08:00

Went by this little abandoned coffee shop on 37th, Hacienda something. I was first attracted by its gutted pay phone; it seemed ripe for playing on. But when I glanced through the windows, I saw this beautifully lit view, chance sunlight coming through the windows, but every bit as perfect as a movie set, HMIs pounding in.

The little gap on the upper left is the space I shimmied through. The square fits my hips, and little more. The design was perfect for breaking in, because there was a robust shelf in the women's room (just inside), at exactly the same height as the hole. Ideal for breaking in, but even more important for breaking out.

37th is in the industrial part of Vernon (a redundant statement), and there is zero pedestrian traffic, so it was easy to skinny in and out without being seen. The dogs, just one property east, were pretty persistent in calling out their alarm, but no one came to investigate. I scouted first, and was hoping I could open a door from inside, but nothing would unlock. The only way in or out was through the window. I scooted everything in, onto the shelf, and then out, a small drop to the concrete. My coat and pack were too big to fit, so I snuck them around the corner, setting the dogs off again.

The interior was flimsier than I thought, and pieces swayed and rocked as I danced on them. Part of the front counter (a piece of almost paper board) came loose and I set it aside. When it came off, the piece holding it on came loose as well, and I ended up gouging my knee on a newly exposed nail. Thankfully, someone had left some of their hardware lying around, including a hammer, so I was able to pound that nail down.

A little tease, of some of the footage from the Hacienda:

Racks and Stacks

2009-01-20T12:01:00.000-08:00

As I continue seeking things to play on and with, I have to go further afield from my known stomping grounds, or I have to dig deeper within them. The latter was the case on Monday, as I scooted on Z through areas I had shot for "Pass That Dutch" and "Shorty, Put it on the Floor". The first thing I saw was a small cluster of wheeled racks (for clothes?) in an alleyway behind a business that was open and active. When I first rode through, there was a worker dumping out trash right next to the racks, and so I moved on. But nothing else was calling me, and the racks seemed like an ideal first dance, so I made my way back to the alley. After setting up and rolling the camera, I snuck up to the racks, and wheeled one away. Damn, they were loud! I half expected to be shut down before I even got the rack down to my camera. But I actually got in a good three minutes or so, before one of the workers yelled at me to bring the rack back.

I wheeled the rack to them, a tiny bit wary. There was a bunch of guys, who evidently had watched the ending of my play. But that was the good part; they were too amused by how much fun I was having, to really get negative with me. The guy who had first yelled, and who seemed to be in charge of getting the rack back from me, could barely contain his smile, and even thanked me, as I dropped off the rack, thanked them, and headed out.

The big smoke stack thing also allowed a serendipitous window of opportunity. The sun was near to setting; just as I set up my camera and walked over to it, the owner of the one car that was in the shot came out of the plant, and drove off. Not only did he clear the car from my frame, but he missed catching me climb, by about 30 seconds.

Climbing up to the apparatus, I had to pass a window into the plant. I could see a worker within, but his back was turned to me, and all the machinery around him was very noisy, so I just scaled and trusted.

I had some mental stories about how there would be flimsy electrical conduit all around the apparatus (there wasn't) and how offensive it might be to the workers that I play on their machine. I never tested the latter theory, but it turned out the apparatus, as impressive as it is, was not functional, and sat open and rusted. It turned out to have a great surface for dancing and climbing, and I played until the sun went down.

The Metro Bus Yard

2009-01-18T09:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I finally realized a dream, of shooting onboard an L.A. Metro bus.

The Metro yard has been a magnet to me, for some time, but the buses are all locked away behind a fence, and there are plenty of workers in that area.

I was riding Z around the lower east-side of downtown, but not finding anything that called to me, that wasn't well-populated. I wanted to take advantage of it being Saturday, to do something I might not otherwise have access to. And that made me think about the buses.

I was able to slide camera and tripod through a small gap under the fence, but I had to go over it, myself. Evidently, there were workers there, because I saw one riding by while I was in a bus, but none seemed to see me.

I started dancing in the first bus, and was on my third take when I heard the electric hum of a utility cart, riding by. Thankfully, the worker was heading the other way, because I could see the back of his head clearly. It made me realize that, if he came back the same way, he would likely see me, and the gig would be up, so I moved to another bus, and got the driver's seat shots.

The Creation of "Bad Boy for Life"

2009-01-15T09:47:00.000-08:00

IMP-Style: Bad Boy for Life

Saying that this video is my favorite yet is somewhat redundant; I fall in love with each as I make them, and thankfully, each is supplanted by the next. "Bad Boy", however, had a lot of special appeal for me, not the least of which was the name of the song. Is it just coincidence that the shirt I chose to wear with this song happens to read: "Catholic Schools?"

Nothing to do with my beliefs or how I was raised, by the way. Just a nice colorful t-shirt I bought at the thrift shop to wear at Burning Man.

I've been drooling over the thought of climbing a crane, for some time, but they're so high-profile, potentially dangerous, and usually on guarded construction sites, that I have, thus far, only dreamed from a distance. In this case, however, events came together perfectly. I had just finished playing on the concrete features at the stairs leading up the 1st St. bridge. The sun had already gone down, and my motorcycle was blocks away, so if I was going to take advantage of the twilight hour, I needed to find a new obstacle nearby, and it had to be one that worked well in silhouette. On the far side of the bridge, I could just see the top of the crane. It seemed unlikely that it would be unguarded, but I knew that I had to try.

The construction was part of work being done on the bridge, in order to ready it to hold a light rail line, running parallel to traffic (the tracks lead to the entrance of the subway tunnel that I trespassed through and explored earlier - video still to come). From the bridge, I could see workers loading up semis on the far side of the construction site, which was otherwise empty. If I were to take the pedestrian route into the site, I'd have to make my way through the workers, so instead, I scaled down through scaffolding that butted up against the bridge. Even that was an adventure, as I had to squeeze through gaps too narrow to contain me and my backpack (which has the camera inside, and tripod and motorcycle helmet, strapped to the back). So I had to dangle the pack through, and loop the arm straps onto some rebar, and then skinny through after it, pausing, mid-climb, to sling the pack back on.

The crane itself was a lot less scary than it looked from a distance. The rails that make up the crane arm are easy to grasp, and it was unlikely that I'd slip off of it (unless I hit a patch of axle grease, the curse of climbing construction equipment). But there was still a psychological hobgoblin I needed to tame, since I was going over 40 feet up on an unfamiliar structure, without any safety gear, nor anyone to help me out, if I should fall. Apprehension about being caught just heightened the fear. I climbed the first time, on the inside of the arm, figuring I would be more likely to be able to catch myself, if I slipped. But after I started feeling more comfortable with the structure, I made a second climb on the outside, and then tried dancing on it, in the closer shot. At one point, I noticed the workers at the semis had noticed me, so I hastily climbed down, but then no one came to throw me out, so I got back on.

Since no one had evicted me after my most obvious stunt, I figured it was safe to explore the rest of the site. This included the enormous girder, which was supported by the crane, and rested on three pillars in what was otherwise just a big hole in the ground. This also included a giant drill machine (the enormous bit was nearby, planted in the soil). On this machine, I did run into crazy axle grease, a stain on my jeans' knee which will show up in many videos to come.

Not all the obstacles I faced for "Bad Boy" were new, but even the ones I knew reflected the fears I've had to face in learning parkour in my late 30's.

The wheelchair ramp (and adjoining stairs) were actually my training ground for learning to land on rails. When I first started making parkour a near-daily priority, I was working in Glendale, and was able to jet out to the ritzy Bunker Hill part of downtown (where I shot Grand Avenue ). The wheelchair ramp allowed me to slowly work my way toward leaping and landing on rails, which is pretty scary to begin with, because of the fear of slipping. One moment (which seems so minor in context of "Bad Boy") was actually terrifying to get started: a jump from the wall onto the rail next to the stairs, because of the complexity of the rail, and even more, the apparent threat of the fall on the other side, with all kinds of edges and ledges to get tripped up on. An overactive and paranoid imagination is the death of parkour, and I had to train a lot of worst case scenarios out of my head.

And then there was the phone. I'm extra geeked about playing with props, because they are my less explored half of discovering how to dance with the physical world. I chose the location for the rails there, and because dancing in front of a church had a nice "bad boy" quality to it. But I was immediately drawn to the pay phone, and the yellow receiver just made it that much more interesting to play with. I had goofed with a pay phone once before, in a Stick's Riffs that I shot but never cut, my play at Mariachi Plaza, in East L.A. Here is a bit of that footage, my first phone foray:

On a different day of shooting, primarily focused on "Gimme Sum", the twilight hour offered me a cluster of nice locations on the south-west side of downtown (near the Staples Center), where I hadn't played before.

The vaults from the freeway to the onramp, like many acts in these videos, were scarier in real life than on tape. What you can't see in the video is that the small concrete bridge between the two roads is above a 30' drop to asphalt. My top-rocking dance in the alleyway wasn't very scary, but, as it happened to be right behind a strip club, and I was dancing just at the beginning of happy hour, the heavy traffic through there ended up shutting me down. And no, no one at the strip club offered me a job.

I love taking advantage of sunset to get silhouette shots, because dance often works better when it's just the outline of the body (like the fountain scenes in Grand Avenue ). Thus, I took advantage of a rooftop parking garage to place my tripod, as I danced at the crest of the adjoining roof. I've been kicked out of a lot of places while making these videos, so for a video called "Bad Boy for Life", it would have been shameful, if I didn't get evicted, at least once.

The Felix Cadillac shots in the passersby video were from the last set-up I shot for "Bad Boy". However, when I got to editing, I realized I had plenty of footage without that shot, and it was such a cool set-up, that I realized I'd rather save that location for my "Ragga Jungle" IMP-Style, which is coming soon. So I'll have to sneak back and shoot some more, now that I know that they're not offended, only amused, by my dancing.

As always, I am proud to present my trips, stumbles, and near-falls, because they are evidence that I am constantly going beyond my previous experience, exploring a wider range of what's possible for me (and what's safe)!

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

2008-12-29T18:43:00.000-08:00

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.

The Creation of "Badder Badder Schwing"

2008-12-22T17:22:00.000-08:00

"Badder Badder Schwing"

The first moments of the making of the video were characterized by stumbles, but sometimes stumbles turn around and become the brightest moments.

On my 40th birthday, the day I started to shoot "Jook Gal" , I suffered a little heartbreak. I found a beautiful location near USC/County Medical, a brilliantly orange construction scaffolding, with lots of diagonal support beams, and had an excellent dance on it. Only when I got home did I realize that my camera had been in the wrong setting, and the entire take was out of focus, unusable. It's the risk of being my own cameraman; I don't always know what I've got until too late.

So, on my first day with "Badder Badder Schwing", I decided to head straight for that structure, take advantage of it, before it disappeared. Sadly, it was already gone, a victim of over-productivity.

I looked around for something else to shoot, and saw some train cars nearby, sitting idle on the tracks. By chance, they were identical to the black tanker cars that ended up in the video, but I never got to climb on these ones. I had just set up my camera, when a train engine drove up, hooked up to the black tankers, and started pushing them away. Well, I could take losing the tankers, but I could not possibly miss the opportunity that was suddenly presented to me, and so, as they rode off, I rolled camera, and leapt onto the back of the engine car, the last shot in the video. No one even saw me, and I leapt off shortly after we moved into shadow.

Thankfully, the trestles were also there, and served as my first dance partner of the shoot. The sun was setting as I played on them, so I had to move progressively upward to stay out of shadow. I had thought to wear the brown jacket, because I thought it fit the Fat Boy Slim song, but dark clothing disappears in the dark, which is why I'm always wearing colorful shirts, otherwise.

I did get spooked on the trestles, I admit. There's a psychology to getting spooked. I had played all over them, with no rush, no trying, but as I climbed toward the very summit (featured in the next-to-last shot), I began to imagine what I was going to do. And that's a mistake; if I think ahead, instead of focusing on where I'm at, then I lose the reality of the now, and get out of my own awareness. That's the same problem I had had with the tree jump from "Grand Avenue". I first imagined the jump while walking along the hand-rail, and that leads to vertigo, and getting spooked, and that lead me to weeks before I could attempt the jump.

In this case, it wasn't weeks, but literally an entire length of the song went by, without me doing more than inching my way up to the top of the trestles, standing, and slowly allowing myself to get back to the frame of mind in which I can dance. It's a good lesson in not getting ahead of myself.

The Hollywood sign I went to on Thanksgiving, because I wanted to take advantage of the holiday, and do something that normally wouldn't be allowed. I figured that there had to be fewer park rangers in the Hollywood hills that day. I was most interested in actually getting on the letters, themselves, but the difficulty of reaching them without being spotted was pretty daunting, and posted signs warned of a pretty big fine (and I'm pretty broke). In the following passersby video, I had a first conversation in which I was informing someone else that he was trespassing, cuz usually someone's pretty eager to tell me.

The same guy I was talking to actually ended up joining me on camera, dancing in front of the sunset, my first guest appearance. But that's footage for "Ah Ndiya", which I'm still editing.

So much of my shooting has been around the industrial corridor and railroad tracks that line the L.A. River, on the east side of downtown, that I was happy to take advantage of being out of that neighborhood, and drove around Hollywood at night, looking for well-lit places to shoot. I saw a Ralph's supermarket with a rooftop parking lot, and figured it was a good place to play, and it was, but it wasn't until I decided to enlist the shopping cart that I realized my true purpose there.

I had another heartbreak at the truck repair yard, specifically for an opportunity lost for this blog. I snuck in, danced, and then this big guy appeared around the corner, and asked me gruffly what the hell I was doing. I swear to God, I thought: oh, this is gonna be great for the blog! I told him I was shooting a dance video for youtube; he looked at me like I was crazy, and then he walked away. Didn't say I could stay, but he didn't say I had to go. When I was done with the song, I went back to the camera, but alas! It wasn't rolling at all! (My only excuse is that I was very tired from shooting). I considered leaving, having obviously overstayed my welcome, but I couldn't stand the thought of walking away from that beautiful set-up, when I hadn't even been asked to go, so I snuck back in, and did the whole dance again!

As always, I am eager to share my falls and stumbles, because it's well-earned footage. No hard crashes, but some nice near splats!

The Creation of "Jook Gal"

2008-12-06T12:24:00.000-08:00

IMP-Style: "Jook Gal"

One thing that stands out for me about "Jook Gal" is that my first day shooting it was on my 40th birthday. That's right; I'm a bit of a late bloomer. I've loved dance for a long time, but I only started making it a big part of my life in my 30's. I started handstands at 30, floorwork at 35, parkour at 37, and of course, IMP-Style this year.

I used to have a really bad back; I literally first went to see the doctor about it when I was 10. My muscles would spasm easily, my hands were tight and cold, and the doctor called it "childhood arthritis." In my 20's, I found myself getting injured often and with little provocation, muscle pulls in shoulders, neck, back and rear. The circulation in my feet got so bad by 27, that I took the elevator down from my apartment, rather than the stairs, and I had to rub the pain out of my feet every night in order to go to sleep.

When I was 32, my back went out for about 3 months. Couldn't work; I could barely look for work. I remember getting out of my car, with resume and reel to give to production companies, and having to cling to the car door while I waited for my back to calm down enough to stand straight. I had just fallen back in love with dancing, and I despaired that by 40, I would be utterly incapable of continuing with dance.

But the injury turned out to be godsend; it forced me to start paying attention to my body. I took a great class by a gifted teacher who led exercises based on Continuum and Body/Mind Centering. In short, what she taught was paying attention to sensation, and learning about my body from the inside.

I now speculate that my original tendency toward tension and injury was born precisely from my inattention to my body. I grew up with a blood phobia; I was the guy who would pass out in the back of health class when they showed the surgery movie. So I learned to experience my body as gross; even feeling my pulse (e.g. when getting my blood pressure checked) could make me feel woozy.

Added to that were life habits that led me astray: the guy habits of sucking in my gut and sticking out my chest, of trying to walk straight. All those years of trying had ossified muscle habits, so I had a permanently stiff and sore body.

The class I took reversed the trend of shutting down, and the pattern has been one of opening, of becoming youthful, ever since. I have literally stretched and danced my way back to health, and then to a level of health that I've never experienced before. The biggest thing is paying attention to all sensation, including pain, not trying to exclude anything. The next most important part is learning not to fear injury, which of course has led me to parkour and motorcycle riding. Also, letting go of social fear is a huge part of learning; I practice break-dancing at a venue filled with amazing B-Boys in their 20's, most of whom started before they were 10. If I worry at all about looking foolish, then I learn nothing there, but if I can just explore, and see what is currently available to my body, then it unwinds and learns new skills, entirely without me trying. This is all very Zen, of course, and in that same vein, I grow best when I just accept the way things are, rather than trying to force something on them. This is the key to learning props, just play with them without trying, and let them show how they want to interact with me. This is also where IMP-Style brings everything together: I get on my obstacles, without intent of dancing a certain way or attempt at making something happen, and I just pay attention to how the obstacle feels, and trust that the dance will emerge.

Speaking of props, "Jook Gal" gave me the chance to explore a bunch of different kinds of props, especially bent rebar. Not many of them showed up in the final cut, however, because I didn't spend enough time getting to know most of them, and some just weren't very promising visually. My favorite, of course, was the coiled red hose that showed up a few times. I still don't know what it was for, as I just found it in some debris, but I liked its bounce. The following is a montage of some of the prop play that didn't make the cut.

My locations were wide-spread for "Jook Gal", reflecting mostly how soon the sun goes down these days. With standard time, it gets dark about 4:30 right now, so many of my outings were short-lived.

One of the most productive days was when I took advantage of a temporary site, close to home. There was street work being done, including a 50-foot pit in the middle of Beverly Blvd. This was definitely one of the situations in which I needed to just let go of the self-consciousness of being visible, because I was right in the middle of a busy street, dancing on construction gear.

Since it was a temporary site, there was no construction when Google Earth snapped the satellite photo, so you'll just have to imagine the gear there.

I find a lot of great locations near my motorcycle shop, which suggests the unfortunate truth that my bike is in the shop WAY too often (don't buy Chinese motorcycles)! That area is full of railroad tracks, shipping and packing companies, and in this case, a few abandoned buildings with easily accessible roofs.

As always, I'm happy to share my tumbles, because at least then I know they counted for something. The most gnarly-looking one, at the end, was shot on the first set-up on my 40th birthday. I am happy to announce that it didn't hurt at all.

The Creation of "Grand Avenue"

2008-11-22T18:19:00.001-08:00

IMP-Style: "Grand Avenue"

As much as I love hip-hop, after the first three IMP-Style videos, I wanted to try something new. I've always loved dancing to jazz drumming, and Amon Tobin's "Bridge" has all the firepower I needed to create a sustainable vid. Of course, naming the video "Bridge" would likely just confuse the viewers, because there are no bridges in it, so this is the first IMP-Style I haven't named after the song.

Grand Avenue is exactly what it sounds like: the most expensive real estate in downtown L.A. Bank buildings, concert halls, museums, government buildings. I got to dance on the steps of Disney Hall, on the flagpole of the Superior Court building, in and around the fountains of the Music Center and the County Administration complex. The reflecting pool I leap over is part of MOCA, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and I rolled down 45 steps of the California National Bank.

Even though Grand Avenue was my first IMP-Style in the ritzy part of downtown (Bunker Hill), it was hardly my first time playing there. In 2007, I worked at a TV network near Glendale, and it was an easy ride from there, through Chinatown, to spend the last bit of daylight playing on the structures. Even though I started doing parkour at Century City, Bunker Hill is really where I started earning my wings.

In the following video, which I shot one day after buying this camera (a year ago), I just played around one square block of Bunker Hill, namely the Hahn Administration complex. Many of the same features appear here, as in "Grand Avenue."

However, the stairs I rolled down in the older video are from the Music Center across the street, which is where the stairs dance, pole slide, and fountain silhouette scenes were shot.

Not everything was shot on Grand Avenue, however; I cheated a little. The set-up that was furthest afield from that was the tree jump from the pedestrian walkway, underneath the overpass. I remember well the first time I attempted that jump, because I didn't make it. Didn't fall, just got spooked. An easy jump, but a helluva consequence, if I messed up: a 25 foot drop to concrete below. Once spooked, it's hard to get past the mental hurdle, and I backed off on my second attempt, as well. On the third try, however, I went up to the overpass, got on the tree from there, and climbed all the way down. Once I had my hands on the tree and felt the places I needed to land on, it seemed doable, and I haven't been spooked about it since.

When I had previously played at Bunker Hill, I always came after 6pm, so the whole area was largely deserted. That was not at all true this time around, as I went earlier in the day, to shoot several set-ups before dark. The following outtakes are some of the encounters I had with passers-by, including security telling me to scoot.

At the Music Center, when I first went there to dance on the stairs, security told me that they didn't allow "professional" shoots on the grounds. Which evidently just means: I can shoot, as long as I don't use a tripod. So all the takes there were shot by placing the camera on benches or walls.

Surprisingly, no one gave me any trouble at all for dancing on the steps of the Walt Disney Concert Hall. I thought that was going to be the swiftest eviction, because they have cameras dotting the place. Some guy on the street, who was handing out fliers, watched me playing around, and when I was done, he offered me a flier for a dance performance, since it was kinda obvious that I was into dance.

I wear my mistakes proudly, because it shows I'm entering new territory. I've only been doing parkour for a couple years (started at age 37), so I'm a student to each new obstacle. Thus, I am happy to share my bloopers. The last, and most dramatic one, was a dance I attempted while climbing a tree, but it's hard to make tree-climbing look on-beat, so I didn't end up using it in the cut. At least it served the purpose, of giving me a dramatic spill to complete this blog!

The Creation of "Elephunk"

2008-11-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

IMP-Style: "Elephunk"

One thing I love about IMP-Style is that it's limitless. Since there are an infinite variety of objects and environments on and in which to play, there is also no end to my discovery process. In "Pass That Dutch", I shifted my ratio away from "top-rocking" (bipedal dance), and towards more 3-dimensional dance exploration. That set the bar for me, and Elephunk shifted that ratio even further.

My first location was a place I had briefly explored (and been kicked out of) previously: the Amtrak maintenance yard. Such great structures to enjoy! I knew there was risk in this one, especially as I had recently been cuffed and detained for trespassing on railroad property, which I was fortunate enough to get on camera.

I've already posted the video of the arrest, so here's the video of the deputy, searching vainly for my camera, while I sat, cuffed in the car:

There were workers at the Amtrak yard, but they were the cool Latino labor types, not the uptight white management types. They didn't bother me at all, despite the fact that I shot in three separate locations, with two takes each. When I danced in the doorway of the engine car, one of them shot video of me with his cell phone camera. Amusing, because each time I glanced back, he quickly turned, to act as if he was shooting the train car he was working on. Didn't bother me any; the worst thing that could happen was the he'd post it on YouTube! ;)

The bridge-like structure at the Amtrak yard is part of a parking scheme they have, wherein a train rides onto this enormous turntable, and it rotates to allow the train to park in one of several radiating spots. Unfortunately, I didn't have control over the turntable, or believe me, I would've had it spinning during the whole dance. Maybe for a future video?

I thought the turntable was going to be mostly a parkour/dance stage, but then I found the brooms that had been left there, and realized that I needed to include them in the dance. In the bloopers video, below, you'll see how I tried to use up to three brooms at a time, but I needed a lot more practice, so only the play with the single broom made the cut.

Props are an important new feature of the IMP-Style, because it's just the micro version of parkour. In parkour, I explore with my body on the solid features of a concrete world, and with props, the object plays on me (the truck tires are somewhere between prop and structure). I attacked the brooms with some confidence, because I've had the chance to play with them before. Inspired Mayhem's third video was a contest entry for Swiffer, and my fellow IMPs and I danced with all sorts of cleaning utensils:

The big change in how I approached Elephunk (vs. the earlier IMP-Styles) was that I indulged in second takes. In the first two solos (and in the duet with Outi), I just set up the camera, and shot only once per location (with a few exceptions). But when trying to approach a subject as new as the red train car was, with all its little ledges and lips, there's no opportunity in one take, to even learn it, not to mention really relax into a dance. Of course, second takes and trespassing don't mix that well, so I still have to be as efficient as possible.

Speaking of trespassing, of course I got accosted by security (who thought I was nuts), one police officer (who thought I was a tagger), and kicked out of the cement mixing plant (who knows what they thought?). Some of which I got on/slightly off camera:

Both guys used vulgar language, but they were kind enough to call me "bro" and "partner". And nobody pressed charges. :)

The cement plant was a beautiful find. I was having Z (my motorcycle) tuned up nearby, and wandered over to this gorgeous tempting spot, with absolutely zero signs of human life. A ghost plant. I wandered in, to see if any alarms would go off, with my cover story of shooting this unusual sign that I saw posted:

Of course, as you can hear in the video above, there were indeed people on the premises, but by the time they shooed me out, I had already shot two takes on the mixing vats, and was busy exploring the see-saw like ramps that I think are used to help spray water into the cement trucks. The truck tire was shot just outside the plant.

Of course, the further I go in trying to explore new territory, the more likely I am to make mistakes. So far, no more than a few bruises and scratches (knock wood), but some of the bloopers are worth sharing:

The Creation of "Hey Ya!"

2008-10-22T21:17:00.000-07:00

Inspired Mayhem: Hey Ya!

I had been dreaming about making this video for awhile. I loved all the Inspired Mayhem collaborative play, but since all the people involved were dancers, it seemed odd that we almost never (other than Cisco's Garage) danced to music. Logistically, it was always easier to just bring the props and camera, shoot what I could, and then edit it to a song that fit (which eventually, YouTube would ban for copyright reasons, but that's another blog!). Besides, the creation of a music video is kind of weird, because you have to dance to the same song, over and over again.

My original concept for "Hey Ya!" was to shoot only one or a few dancers at a time, all in the alleyway, with a similar background, and just rotate dancers through, so I could intercut between the different groups. However, like everything else with IMP, the plans I make must been thrown away, if the whim of the crowd goes in a different direction. People didn't want to stop dancing, and I didn't want to ask them to.

I produce each shoot, but I cannot force anything without bruising the collaborative spirit which brings others into it. Inspired Mayhem is exactly that: I can help get the mayhem started, but then I just have to trust in the participants' inspiration to make the magic happen. It's not even herding cats; it's meowing nicely, and then getting out of the way, so the other cats can come play.

(Speaking of which, I have to tip my hat to Craig B., who did all the camerawork on this one, allowing me to focus on connecting to and enlisting dancers to join in. Like so much else we've done together, don't know what I woulda done without you).

Guest bloggers: Marci and Arlys
Marci: It's like unraveling myself like a spiral staircase down into the trunk of the tree in a mysterious forest... as the camera is rolling and our interactions take place, I feel the inevitable momentum of possibility's-edge and what-if and let-go and try-this go ballistic - HEY YA! the shoot has a life of its own, capturing us all in a dynamic vortex that spills out, surprising ourselves in new directions, configurations, juxtapositions ...and it's so exhilaratingly free! My hula hoop breaks and I celebrate its undoing, a symbolic opening to new shapes that include more... bodies, energies, vibes, colors, radiance... IMP is a-bun-Dance of US. - May we continue to discover ourselves anew - Marci Javril - www.youtube.com/marcijavril

Arlys:
"No think - just move, no think - just groove".

The Creation of "Pass That Dutch"

2008-10-20T16:41:00.000-07:00

IMP-Style: "Pass That Dutch"

My third IMP-Style video (and second solo) was burning to be shot. I was still all-fired up about "The Anthem", and Outi and I had just collaborated on "Rub My Back". After spending most of the day cutting for our duet, I'd run out with Z (my motorcycle) and shoot bits for "Pass That Dutch." (Z actually has a few cameos in the video, in the background in a couple of shots, and in the frame with its light on for a night scene).

If you read the Anthem Blog, you'll see that my initial inspiration was simple: just top-rocking (bipedal dance) in an urban environment. In the Anthem, I found a few three-dimensional variations (railings, wall supports), to change it up some, but with "Pass That Dutch", I really wanted to expand that.

I have been playing with parkour for a couple of years now, and more specifically, I've been "adventuring." Adventuring is not always about physical feats, but is also about facing other kinds of fears, like fears of being caught, when trespassing. For example, I was shooting some parkour for a Stick's Riffs at the train yard recently, when I was arrested, cuffed, and put in the back of the squad car by L.A.'s Sheriff's Dept. Thankfully, I had my camera rolling:

Also thankfully, the Sheriff and his Deputy just let me go with a warning. I immediately went out and trespassed some more, because you can't let fear rule your adventure.

So I was determined that "Pass That Dutch" would combine my love for dance with my taste for adventure, and sought out locations that would let me dance, in the face of my own fear.

My main location for "PTD" was City Fibers, a paper recycling plant that takes up a couple city blocks just below downtown. They had already shooed me away, when I earlier went riding through on Z, scouting for fun stuff, so I knew I had to play it lo-pro.

In the following clip, I lost my balance while climbing on an enormous pile of recycling bins. What scared me was not the near-fall, so much as giving myself away, because there were workers just over a fence. You can see me looking out to see if I had been noticed.

Just around the corner from the bin pile, inside a fence, was this beautiful canyon of paper bales for recycling. I had noticed it, the first time I drove through, but there had always been someone in or around there. Then, on my third time snooping around City Fibers, I saw the gate open, and the canyon empty. The light was perfect, and I knew I had to sneak in while the opportunity was ripe. Of course, I didn't escape unnoticed. In the following clip, you can hear the forklift rider say: "What's up, fool?" I walked out, but, of course, as soon as he had passed, I raced back in, and that served as one of the opening shots for the video. I always love, when possible, including the chance passerby or incident as an element in the video.

Another such element was the truck that passed underneath me, when I was dancing on the train signal structure. This is right next to the L.A. Times building, where the rail road tracks (that bring the Times their paper) crosses the road. Just a moment of the truck shows up in the video, but it's always nice to reveal just how precarious and foolish my dance locations are.

What you can't see on camera (because I didn't include the road in the shot), was the cop car that turned the corner literally five seconds before I was about to climb. Having just been arrested for trespassing on railroad property, I count myself lucky.

Probably the scariest location for me this time was the overpass (over Washington Blvd.). It wasn't technically difficult, but it was my first shot of the day (and I had to hurry, because the light was fading). It's much easier to face risk (and especially to surrender into dance in the face of risk), after I've warmed up into it. That risk was compounded by a couple of vagrants, who were somewhat belligerent about this unknown person with a camera lurking around their lawless territory, but they left me alone when I promised I wouldn't shoot them. Too bad, because they'd be a nice addition to this blog!

The Creation of "Rub My Back"

2008-10-14T12:50:00.001-07:00

IMP-Style: "Rub My Back"

When I showed Outi my first rough cut of "The Anthem" , she immediately said "I want to do that." She's never been afraid to get her hands dirty.

We went down the next day to downtown L.A., again, with no plan, no choreography. But we've been dancing together for years, so our telepathy is strong.

I've been playing for a long time around the 6th St. Bridge (including driving on sidewalks, and other footage that will appear in the final of Stick's Riffs: Bad Driving). Some of that footage follows:

One feature that I've been eager to include in a video is a block-long tunnel, utterly unmarked, that starts from under the bridge, and leads to a ramp into the L.A. river. The tunnel entrance is in the background in one of our shots (lower right).

When we arrived in the river (no river at all, for those of you who don't know it, but a long concrete culvert), we found there was already some bad driving going on. Three trucks were playing with hydroplaning on the shallow river surface. I had taken Z (my motorcycle) into the river just the week before, on a lark, (and ridden down about a mile and back), but I kept mostly to the dry areas. I don't know if our appearance made them nervous, but they left before we started shooting.

The river supplied backgrounds for four of our shots, including Outi's idea of dancing in the river itself. A couple of homeless guys applauded us during the shoot, one of whom crossed frame and made the final cut. As the sun was setting, three men hiding and doing some business in the bushes on the bank above us finally got us to consider leaving. I've been playing around in plenty of rough and wild neighborhoods in L.A. after dark, but it's all new for Outi.

Back on the surface, we found that there was a Hollywood shoot happening right above the tunnel (it's a favorite location for the $ producers, as well). We were hoping to get them into the background for a shot, but they wrapped up, just as we were getting ready.
The other spots were all within a half-block of the tunnel entrance. The multi-tiered tan wall, fence track, and the long curb all front the bridge, and the street lit area was right across from them. This was my first time creating an IMP vid using night lights, and I love it. With summer faded into fall, there's such a small window between when everyone evacuates downtown and when the sun goes down, street lights help prolong my shooting day. Dramatic lighting, too.

One of the toughest things about the shoot was the synchronization of two separate iPods. This is something we'll have to perfect for future shoots, especially when we have more people join us. This is a quick outtake montage of our absurd attempts at getting the song started, in all four ears, at the same time.

After just a few hours, we wrapped our first IMP-Style duet. Although I had been playing with parkour and other three-dimensional dance, it was mostly new to Outi. But you'd never know it; she threw herself into everything with no hesitation, and full commitment. A beautiful first for both of us; it was also our first duet (after years of dancing together) caught on camera.

The Creation of "The Anthem" + IMP-Style.

2008-10-09T10:30:00.000-07:00

The first IMP-Style video, to Pitbull's "The Anthem."

IMP has been creating play videos for the last 10 months, mixing dance, parkour, and some stunt work in there. And I've been playing with parkour for the last couple years, acting out my Jackie Chan fantasies around downtown L.A.

I was inspired by the following video, rough hewn as it is. It has within it the seed for what I've started calling IMP-Style, meaning dance that mixes hip-hop (and other dance styles) with parkour and environmental exploration. Big props to the guy for his bravery for doing what he has to do, with little concern for passers-by.

What finally occurred to me with "The Anthem" is what now seems obvious: a video that is more or less straightforward dance, but within urban rugged environments, and using whatever three-dimensional structures are available. It's parkour mixed with hip hop mixed with Contact Improv mixed with whatever.

As soon as I saw the video that inspired me (on the last blog), I grabbed my camera, jumped on Z (my motorcycle), and headed out to downtown. No plan, no idea of what I was going to run into. Indeed, this would be my first time really allowing myself to dance full-on, while outdoors in public.

Downtown L.A. has many amazing places to play, but the area near the railroad tracks / L.A. River has the richest collection of features, the least amount of people, and much of the best graffiti in town. I found a parking lot that was unsecured to start, and focused more on "top-rocking" (i.e. normal, upright, bipedal dance), to get me started. But right across the street from the lot was the 621 railing, which I had previously explored in a now-defunct Stick's Riffs video.

As with the previous and following set-ups, however, I planned nothing, did it all improv, and in only one take.

The real coup, however, was finding the abandoned building that takes up about half of the video. I had cruised by it earlier on Z, lucky glance, just saw the interior through a slat in the wood. But I saw some guy hanging out in front of it, and thought I'd come by later. When I did, he was no longer around, so I slipped in and shot until dark. I didn't head out to downtown until nearly 4pm, so there was little light left, and during the last shot (as you can see), I lost all my remaining light. As I was preparing Z to leave, the guy came back, and his reaction suggested that he lived there. A good time to roll. Of course, I'm dedicated to not destroying or defacing any of the places I play in, so no harm done.

It was scary, too, to see my own dance on-screen. We'd been shooting for 10 months, by now, so I was used to seeing myself play, but I had never shot myself dancing hip-hop, so it was a total mystery. I only knew how it feels. The greatest insight from watching the footage was not "change this or that". It was to remember to trust the flow. It was painfully clear when I tried to make something happen, rather than just allow the dance to move me. Most of that footage, of course, didn't end up in the final (some of the floor work is a bit forced). But more than anything, it was the reminder to trust, to allow myself to dance full-on, without reservation, and just have a good time with it. Sounds like a good prescription for life, too.