On Sunday, March 17, we are meeting for an all day session at Video
Documentation Fund. We will edit a short piece on the restoration work at
North Park Nature Center, and we will keep a process record of our edit
session on this web page. From this point on the web page will be co-created
by our workshop as we develop the videograph through a co-creative process.
Review of Videotapes from the Shoot
Below are comments and observations and direct quotations
transcribed from the videotapes.
"I was trying to discover what was in the box on top of
the hives.
As I got closer , I found a brick that was intended to weigh down the
top to the beehives, to my disappointment. I risked my life only to find
a brick."
"I didn't want to go near it because I'm allergic to beestings and
I didn't have a kit."
"Now let's see what
these red ribbons are. "
Pin Oaks.
"Let's take the whole thing first. Let's take a branch from the trunk
all the way out. Then zoom in on the bud at the very end." 
leaves on pin oaks
Fungus.
It became incredible when
you zoomed in because you could actually see it, better that you could
with the naked eye."
The colors and the geometry of it became more apparent. (This is a moment
of discovery of the property of the videocamera which is that it functions
as an enhancer, and this is made more evident when the macrolens is engaged)
I kept going back and forth between the lens and my eye because it looked
so much more blue with the lens and the lines were clearer and more interesting.
It was nice that there was a small wind. It made things move just a little,
it became more interesting.
I liked looking at the shape of the trunks, and of the brush in the background.
The Indians used to bend
trees to show burial . There's a tree on the trail very obviously bent.
(I'm a little uncertain about the source of this information. Was it
Potawatomi? Yes, It was a legend given out at a girl scout camp. Renee says
that it was done differently all over. On a web page about local lore, we
would want to include a way for people to add to this information or make
changes.)
They may ask us to come back to do a summer shoot! It will be a seasonal
thing.
As I approached the birdhouse I thought I was getting it from a different
angle, from the side. When I got there I realized it was close to the original
birdhouse, but it was not the same one
Birdhouse
in distance
Closer birdhouse
"I was going to climb over the fence to get a better view of the
geese, but I decided to behave myself and follow the rules."
"I thought I heard the sound of Woody Woodpecker, but it was a group
of kids coming through the woods making bird sounds."
"The reason I took this was I thought it may have been a catwalk between
buildings of the TB sanitarium. This area was a tubuculosis sanitarium in
the 1920s."
"I'm cold but I wouldn't be able to use gloves because I need to touch
this like an artist!
I don,t do this kind of thing very very ever! But we need to do this . You
know Gunner is at home cleaning -- with the kids!"
"We started having a very good time. We were talking and laughing and
we couldn't stop."
"I don't usually talk this much.
Except when you are in the woods --on tape."
"We noticed the brush piles."
"If I didn't have a camera in my hand I wouldn't even have stopped
to look at it.
I was very interested in why they would 'girdle' the tree."
"I was very aware that this is something I don't do in my life. I tried
to focus on things in nature that I normally don't do."
"Yesterday was the most relaxing day I've had in weeks."
"We began looking for something green." (Signs of spring.)
"We each took a turn with the camera."
"I think it is better to work in teams of two. One person can be the
eyes and the other the photographer. It is easier than doing it alone."
"Could you see us taking 30 first graders out here?"
Jim explained how to put in new batteries.
(upon seeing vine high in tree) "I'm going to go all the way up and
then I'm going to zoom in on the vine, I've got it. I was surprised myself.
I kept waiting for it to end and it never did."
Gerry stalks the tree. (Finding maple sap bottles hanging from trees.) "They
stuck this thing in the tree. It's like a little funnel. This is for educational
purposes. We did it ! We can sap our own trees. We loved this tree because
the bark was falling off. It seemed so needy."
"Probably the hardest thing was seeing something you wanted to film
and then trying to actually find it in the camera."
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