DeZ Vylenz Log

A captain's log of activities and projects, affiliations and developments involving the Shadowsnake ship and various guerilla film expeditions. Updated in between storms by DeZ Vylenz, Writer - Director - Martial Arts Choreographer

Saturday, July 05, 2008

Free Ride Mountain Biking

Most of the last two weeks I've spent in the field, filming in the port of Paramaribo, irregular schedule of ships coming and going, super stackers and forklifts racing past us, containers swinging dangerously close which brought flashbacks of Road Runner and Coyote cartoons of heavy loads flattening characters like post stamps. A welcome change of the usual indoor shoots I do when filming music videos, gigs or drama. I still prefer the sense of reality and danger that you get on location + nothing beats fresh air (although with heavy machinery around there's always a whiff of diesel floating by).

Last Tuesday 1 July was the 145th anniversary of the Emancipation of Slavery in Suriname. Missed most of the festivities as I joined a group on a mountain biking / Freeriding expedition in the jungle. Enjoyed the sharpness of mind needed to race down mountains and jungle paths, canopy gliding and more, similar sharpness a filmmaker needs to get the right shots. In between I filmed as much as possible of the trip, nearly flew out of the 4W drive pick-up a few times and off the bike, but the result is already edited. We went back to the city later in the night after a boat ride with bruised elbows and a mouthful of sand, but it was all worth it.

Check it out:

http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLHMcOf3Ya0

Posted by DeZ Vylenz  

Friday, June 20, 2008

Greetings from Paramaribo

Been ridiculously busy on the move, so didn't have the time to update the blog for weeks. Thanks for your complaints and queries, I wasn't aware my digital ramblings would be missed. Not only was I sapped by the creative writing and business going on, but I also felt bored with computers (I do most of my writing with a fountain pen and a set of Moleskin notebooks) after spending hours a day machine gun typing on a plastic keyboard.

Since the last update I've experienced a number of things in the field, ranging from a signing with Alan Moore at Orbital Comics, which was full of positive vibes, a radio interview at Resonance, business meetings and proposal for some very interesting future projects, preparing the US launch of The Mindscape DVD, then flying off to Amsterdam where more stuff was going on, jamming with my band Blut Meridian a few hours before embarking on the plane to Suriname.

At the moment I'm in the capital Paramaribo shooting a corporate film, planning a documentary and a feature film for next year. In between those main missions I ended up at an Aucaner Maroon "dede hoso" (a funeral party) with the Maroon reggae band Jah Youth, took some time off to celebrate an uncle's 60th birthday near a creek with a whole range of Javanese food. Next week I need to attend a traditional Hindu wedding of a friend who briefly returned from the Netherlands to get married here. Then there's so much more on the schedule that I sometimes wonder if the computer and the Internet are not heavily overrated, if not overused. Whilst I admit computers are great tools to get certain jobs done, to me they are exactly just that. Tools. Not a way of life.

To me life is breathing fresh oxygen outdoors, moving in the field rather than working in stuffy office buildings, smelling scents from marketplaces, seeing and hearing different cultures, people, characters and so on. So I leave it up to others to adjust their "Mood" on their Facebook and what have you not user based group programs.

But I promise I'll try to keep you posted on the weblog with what's going on. Life is a script you can write for your self. Gotta run, have some writing to do.

Posted by DeZ Vylenz  

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Mindscape Reaching Critical Mass

Friends, brethren and sisters, hope all is well. Them Shadowsnake Crazy Commando Missions continue...

For those interested, a quick update from the Shadowsnake frontlines of guerila filmmaking and some dates of things that might be happening near you:

UK RELEASE

* 28 April was the official UK release of The Mindscape of Alan Moore DVD.

Available in all the main shops, HMV, Zavvi and more.

SIGNING

* 24 May there'll be a signing with Alan Moore and the director for the DVD at Orbital Comics, 14:00. 148 Charing Cross Road, Central London.

POLAND SCREENING

* June 25, 7pm. Ośrodek Postaw Twórczych (Creative Art Center) in Wroclaw.

www.miligram.net/viral.

US RELEASE

* September: Official US release by The Disinformation Group.

RESONANCE RADIO

* And on Thursday 15th May, 10.30pm - 11pm.

Radio (internet also) show live + other stuff before about comics.

See below for more info/notice:

CLOSE-UP

>

> Thursday 15th May, 10.30pm - 11pm.

>

> Resonance 104.4FM in London or live to listen to on www.resonancefm.com (follow simple instructions on the website).

>

> James DC interviews highly respected film director Dez Vylenz about his recently released DVD 'The Mindscape Of Alan Moore' (www.shadowsnake.com), an esoteric, psychedelic journey into the formidable imagination of one of the worlds most extraordinary literary, all-round talents. Dez will also be talking about some of his new projects, interspersed with clips from the film.

> STRIP!

>

> Thursday 15th May, 5pm - 6pm.

>

> Resonance 104.4FM in London or live to listen to on www.resonancefm.com (follow simple instructions on the website).

>

> James DC hosts a special round-table discussion on comic-book god Jack Kirby - the legendary and prodigiously talented genius behind 60 years worth of classic comic strips; his most famous period being the Marvel Comics revolution in the 1960's with such radical characters as The Fantastic Four, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Spider-Man, Iron Man, X-men and a whole slew of other amazing creations.

>

> James is joined by highly respected comics artists and alumni Dave Gibbons, Gary Leach, Mike Lake and other special guests, to talk about Kirby's legacy and the recently published Abrams book 'Kirby, King Of Comics' (www.abramsbooks.com)

Posted by DeZ Vylenz  

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Still Riding the Hurricane

Crazy Urban Commando Missions. Haven't even had time to update this web log in 3 weeks since I came back from Suriname (with plenty footage and stills). Very intense time in London and Amsterdam now, manoeuvring between 5 different projects, one of them a challenging commercial. Had a meeting in The Netherlands-The Hague with a very creative advertising agency, and we were suddenly caught all in a buzzing brainstorm for 4 hours, although we met for the first time.

Usually as a director you don't get in this early at the initial conceptual stage, but they want to fully integrate the entire proposition. Can't name the brand and product yet until it materialises this summer. Anyway, this was in between numerous meetings and other business obligations, so frustratingly had little time to write.

Film is business is always like that, because projects take time to develop and get financing, the work has to be done parallel. Next few days wrapping up some more Corporadski stuff and Bureaugrad loose ends, then lock myself up again for a few days to enter Fiction Land.

A great book to drag with you to utilize time on trains and planes: James Ellroy's The Cold Six Thousand (but it's part 2 of the American Underworld Trilogy so American Tabloid comes first). Takes time to get used to the telegram style, but as a utterly dark and cynical mosaic of America it's a strong voiced piece of fiction mixed with history.

Don't read if you can't handle the testosterone and adrenaline, becaues it will stick with you. Check it out.

Posted by DeZ Vylenz  

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Suriname

Got back in Europe end March after a few weeks in Suriname. Strange to switch from a country with wild open space (except the traffic jams in the capital) and sunshine to the concrete landscape of Amsterdam and then now the hectic buzz of London.

One of the misconceptions I often hear about the Caribbean is that (all) people are more laid back (often intended as a euphemism for lazy) than Europe. I didn't manage to meet most of my old friends, because they're working hard from 7-16:00 and then rush back to rest half an hour or so before starting a second job e.g. in teaching part time or repairing cars or anything to pay the extra bills for their family. The cost of living is not cheap and some things I find are close to European prices, while wages are insufficient.

Occassionally --e.g. in the Easter weekend-- do people find the time to leave the city and enjoy a break in a nature resort.

I moved like a hurricane from place to place, part research/work, part social and was entirely energised when I left, having seen a great number of young people persevering in their endeavours despite the corrupt political situation that would demotivate most starting entrepreneurs.

In some ways Napoli reminds me of Paramaribo, in the sense that the it's all about "la arte di arrangarse", to make due with whatever you have, without planning too much, survival despite the hardship and lack of support from the system.

Anyway, here's a link of Suriname in the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/world/americas/23suriname.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Can't wait to shoot my next feature film there.

Posted by DeZ Vylenz