Artists Reinterpret Emoticons In Their Own Style of Work For The Noteworthy Project.

The Noteworthy Project asked different artists to reinterpret emoticons in their own inimitable style. The process and final pieces were documented on film and directed by Oscar-nominated and Sundance-winning filmmaker Jessica Sanders. Below are those films and the final artworks.

:( by Tim Biskup:


“My goal was to present a midpoint between the :( emoticon’s abstraction of sadness and the literal representation of it in the photo of my daughter, thus inserting my own expression into the equation.” - Tim Biskup



Tim Biskup's final piece:


:-) by AJ Fosik:



“I decided to transform the devious emoticon into an idol, taking a digital [way of conveying] emotion and meaning and merging it with a traditional physical one, subverting both to create something new.” - AJ Fosik



AJ. Fosik's final piece:


LOL by Megan Whitmarsh:


“I wanted to create a LOL that radiates optimism, using a handcrafted, analog, pop vision to capture its warmth and cheerfulness.” - Megan Whitmarsh



Megan Whitmarsh's final piece:


OMG by Reza Ali:


“OMG invites its audience to interact by speaking to it. Besides surprise, it can represent joy, sadness, anger, excitement, fear, shock, and relief. OMG changes in real-time to reflect that variation.” - Reza Ali



Reza Ali's final piece:


;) by Craig + Karl:


“The ;) emoticon depicts our dynamic: a closed eye dreaming, forming ideas; an open eye, developing them. A smile links us.” - Craig and Karl



Craig Redmond + Karl Maier's final piece:


About The Noteworthy Project:


Our potential for human expression is huge, but at some point technology started getting in the way of our passion. We’ve been so busy tweeting and texting, we may have accidentally left behind what makes us human.

The Noteworthy Project documents a series of projects that examine what happens when communication is made by hand.

Noteworthyproject.com

Three New York Meat and Cheese Lovers Go Vegan For Six Weeks and Get Vegucated.

Part sociological experiment and part adventure comedy, Vegucated is a award-winning documentary that follows three meat and cheese-loving New Yorkers from different backgrounds who, for six weeks, adopt a vegan diet and a whole new way of thinking about food.

Now, personally, I love my artery clogging animal parts and fat-laden dairy so much I fear I'd never participate in such an experiment. Nor, do I want to know the ugly truth behind how my meat is treated and prepared (I've seen all those tragic PETA films). That being said, the trailer for this documentary made me feel instantly shamed and admittedly piqued my curiosity.



Vegucated is a feature-length documentary that follows three meat and cheese-loving New Yorkers who agree to adopt a vegan diet for six weeks. There’s Brian, the bacon-loving bachelor who eats out all the time, Ellen, the single mom who prefers comedy to cooking, and Tesla, the college student who avoids vegetables and bans beans. They have no idea that so much more than steak is at stake and that the fate of the world may fall on their plates. Lured with true tales of weight lost and health regained, they begin to uncover hidden sides of animal agriculture and soon start to wonder whether solutions offered in films like Food, Inc. go far enough. Before long, they find themselves risking everything to expose an industry they supported just weeks before.


above: Marisa Miller Wolfson, Writer/Director/Editor

But can their conviction carry them when times get tough? What about on family vacations fraught with skeptical step-dads, carnivorous cousins, and breakfast buffets?

Part sociological experiment, part science class, and part adventure story, Vegucated showcases the rapid and at times comedic evolution of three people who share one journey and ultimately discover their own paths in creating a kinder, cleaner, greener world, one bite at a time.

If you are interested in renting/buying the DVD, taking the challenge for yourself, reading reviews of the film or learning more about the entire project, their sponsors and community groups, visit getvegucated.com

New Narrative Style of Online Documentaries

Announcing the launch of Minimovies.org, a site showcasing unique online documentaries brought to you by The Submarine Channel.

About Minimovies:
A Minimovie is an episodic documentary consisting of 8 to 10 episodes. Episodes are 7 to 10 minutes each. Put together, they form a self-contained story. With MiniMovies SubmarineChannel explores a new narrative and visual style of documentary filmmaking. You can watch the Minimovies here or simply download them to your digital device of choice.

"A Second Life", one of the movies you can view and/or download:
Synopsis:
In January 2007, a man named Molotov Alva disappeared from his California home. Recently, a series of seven video dispatches by a Traveler of the same name have appeared within a popular online world called Second Life. Filmmaker Douglas Gayeton put these video dispatches together into a documentary of seven episodes.

Director:
Douglas Gayeton, director
Douglas Gayeton wrote and directed, together with William Gibson, 'Johnny Mnemonic', the first interactive cd-rom based movie, for Sony Imagesoft. His digital animated series 'Delta State', was named best animated TV series of the year at the 2004 Annecy Film Festival. Gayeton has also created or designed online social networks for such clients as AOL, MSN, Vivendi and Napster.


above: A still from A Second Life



Just launched, minimovies.org has only two movies up right now. But more will be available soon. Below is just some of what's coming:



So be sure to bookmark www.minimovies.org and you can view (or upload, or embed or e-mail) original, creative episodic documentaries. Yet another wonderful creative avenue available to you through the internet.