Posts: 160

1. 

   Ricochet: My Great Movie

   19.May.08, 13:00 EDT
   
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   I can't pretend it's simple to make videos for the net
   
   Behind the scenes at a QueenJuliana video shoot isn't what you might expect. A cast of thousands, a roster of producers, and fancy equipment galore fill the location before I hit "record".
   
   The concept for the video series, "Ricochet: Thought to Idea," is pretty simple. I shoot images and match them with my spoken-word pieces: funny stories about something that really happened, or an abstract concoction of things that bounce through my mind. They're little art videos that make you think. (By the way, what are you thinking right now?)
   
   Juliana Luecking, aka QueenJuliana, is a MOLI View videomaker and contributing editor for Life & Love.
   
   
   

2. 

   People Are a Trip: Ned

   16.May.08, 13:00 EDT
   
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   What matters besides people and dogs
   
   When I asked Ned for an interview, he folded the umbrella over his vendor stand, and enthusiastically buttoned up his shirt and adjusted his cap. He's a thoughtful guy, and dedicated to the memory of his father, Robert Otter, a commercial photographer who also snapped an eclectic group of shots in the Village, about 50 years ago.
   
   "People Are a Trip" is a video series shot with a crew of one (me!) in New York City. I do spontaneous interviews with people on the street and with influential underground musicians. They answer my blunt questions with the truth of the moment. They are hilarious. No, poetic. Well, maybe quite philosophical.
   
   Juliana Luecking, aka QueenJuliana, is a MOLI View videomaker and contributing editor for Life & Love.
   
   

3. 

   Have a Great Idea?

   15.May.08, 13:14 EDT
   
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   Can you share it with me, or not?
   
   Suddenly, I was bereft of ideas. This never happens! It was yesterday morning, and because I like to begin thinking about the subjects to write about a few days ahead of time, I was appalled. Nothing. I began some of my techniques to propel my mind from sinking abyss to great idea territory, like after surfing news with keywords like "polygamy," "Michelle Obama" (she's hot!), and "medical marijuana."
   
   Nothing struck gold.
   
   I entered the words, "great idea," into Wikimedia Commons, the first picture that comes up is this one "Image: How to take a Building by Storm." Now, that's an idea. The photo is from a 1917 National Geographic Magazine, and the picture caption reads:

   <blockquote>The modern soldier is trained to scale walls, just as were the soldiers of Darius the Great, Alexander the Great, Alfred the Great, and Charlemagne. There are variations, but no new principles, in the crude art of destroying human life.</blockquote>Ouch! That's not the kind of idea I was looking for.
   
   So I went biking and swimming, and expected results, not just finely-cut back and leg muscles (ha!), but because leaving my computer and experiencing the 3-D world usually opens my mind to new ideas. It didn't work, and even stopping to recline on a park bench to look at the sky produced nothing.
   
   However, I did begin to think about the nature of ideas. I began to hear echos my father's voice when he'd enter the room when we kids made a mess, and say, "Who's great idea was this?"
   
   I thought about a notebook of ideas I have for new products that, if they're original and if I manufactured them and learned more about marketing, the world would be a better place and I would have more money in my pocket.
   
   I also thought about how making money for myself and keeping a secret notebook of ideas is so old-school, now that the web affords us the opportunity to share ideas at places like Creativity Pool, where I could submit my ideas and dedicate them to the public domain. It is, after all, as their site says, "an institution for donating unused ideas for other people to exploit and enjoy."
   
   What's your great idea? Is it secret, or can you share it in my comments section for public display? And, by they way, where do your ideas come from?
   
   Juliana Luecking, aka QueenJuliana, is a MOLI View videomaker and contributing editor for Life & Love.

4. 

   Ricochet: Glass Towers

   12.May.08, 13:00 EDT
   
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   Every neighborhood needs a shiny obelisk, right?
   
   Watch the video!
   
   On my work breaks, I walk around the streets with my video camera in my bag until something really thrills me or bothers me. Unusual architectural decisions fascinate me. Here's one.
   
   The concept for the video series, "Ricochet: Thought to Idea," is pretty simple. I shoot images and match them with my spoken-word pieces: funny stories about something that really happened, or an abstract concoction of things that bounce through my mind. They're little art videos that make you think. (By the way, what are you thinking right now?)
   
   Juliana Luecking, aka QueenJuliana, is a MOLI View videomaker and contributing editor for Life & Love.
   
   

5. 

   People Trippin' #76: William

   09.May.08, 13:00 EDT
   
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   You can tell that cops have hassled William. Repeatedly.
   
   Watch the video!
   
   You can tell that cops have hassled William. Repeatedly. He deals with it on a daily basis, and deems it unacceptable. We met at a public meeting of the NYC Rent Guidelines Board, at Cooper Union, where he was very vocal defending the rights of city dwellers to reasonable rent.
   
   "People Are a Trip" is a video series shot with a crew of one (me!) in New York City. I do spontaneous interviews with people on the street and with influential underground musicians. They answer my blunt questions with the truth of the moment. They are hilarious. No, poetic. Well, maybe quite philosophical.
   
   Juliana Luecking, aka QueenJuliana, is a MOLI View videomaker and contributing editor for Life & Love.