The Creation of "Grand Avenue"

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"

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!"

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"

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!