graffin de siècle
by linden
the pitch
synopsis
Since moving to San Francisco two years ago and visiting New York this year, I have been really interested in street art of all kinds. From simple marker tags, to stencils and graffiti. The more I read on it all, the more I have come to respect just how long graffiti has been going on and the influence it has had on societies and culture in general. Check out this article for a quick (holy shit, almost went with "primer") refresher.
In a nutshell, graffiti has been a big part of culture since the first caveman drew on a big rock. But, it didn't reach it's somewhat shady status in society until people started defacing stuff other people, and more importantly the government, actually cared about or built. That's still 1000's of years of history!
The film could take distinct periods in history and craft short character pieces of individual/groups of artists struggling to survive during these eras. The art that these characters produce will combine to tell a larger, more intricate story that culminates in the final piece.
Each era will have a specific art style with top of the line special effects and design. I'm not talking about the typical explosions and dinosaurs crap, but super inventive and creative effects found in smaller budget productions (think A Scanner Darkly and good music videos). These visuals could also contain huge amounts of personal filmforay community art contributions.
Of course the individual character pieces and larger background story need fleshing out, but let me know what you think of the initial idea.
Notes:
- The title 'graffin de siècle' comes from graffiti + the French phrase "fin de siècle" meaning "end of an era" or "end of a century"
- Image 1: 'David' street stencil, by Blek Le Rat, Spring Street NYC
- Image 2: 'Revok', by Revok
- Image 3: A pic from the music video for D.A.N.C.E. by Justice. This video has some really sick animation. All shown on the t-shirts of the two band members (Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay) as they walk around. Here it is below:
vote
That took a while
I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast, but I'm intercontinental when I eat French Toast.
-Beastie Boys
Even though this one took me a while, I feel that its my best idea yet in terms actually providing a solid background and meaningful details. Hopefully, they just keep getting better. And whats with the weird French references all over this idea? Didn't plan it that way.
Sweet Video
Sweet music video.
i like my suger with coffee and cream
You can't deny it, modern graffiti was created in New York's very own: Bronx & Brooklyn & Queens. Graffiti is one of the siblings under Hip-Hop, along with Beatboxers, Break Dancing, DJing, bee-bopping, Rapping, or Bombing----all of which allow for anyone to create and make a name for themselves, otherwise known as street cred.
The interesting and great thing about street art is that everyone can do it, and anyone could potentially do it very well----it's just a matter of visibility and dedication.
Now this is where the problem comes in: street art doesn't get along very well with society. It becomes a battle between what is Private Space and Public Space. Such as "who says I can't write what I want on this sidewalk or this wall or this train or this roof top or your face"----well, the guy who owns that space says you can or can't. Enter Police.
Fortunately, that doesn't stop the artist from continuing his art----in fact, this is where all the fun comes in. The hidden identity, the secrecy, the myth of the urban ninja (!), the danger and risk involved fuel the act.
Anyways, this subject is a really big one and a really cool one. I'll stop blabbering and instead give you some other direction.
Check out these movies (some of my favorites):
Beat Street ; Wild Style ; Style Wars ; Krush Groove (with a young Run-DMC and New Edition) ; Graffiti Veritef
Also, check out some of these websites:
12oz Prophet
Billboard Liberation
Street Stickers
Wooster Collective
Hopefully this will help you device out a great story. This is a larger than life area to write a great screenplay. I love this stuff, I spent a whole year researching and writing out a thesis on American Youth Countercultures: specifically New York in the late 70's to 80's.
"Graffiti is not vandalism. It's a beautiful crime." ---legendary artist Skempt in "Graffiti Verite"
Definetly going to check them out
The whole idea got started when I was visiting your place and reading through all the counter culture / street art books you have.
I like this idea. It would
I like this idea. It would be cooler if the movie viewer has to figure out the story the artists are telling, and that hopefully the story reveals something about aliens or maybe time travel ...
or....
cell phones :)
This is a must see
This site developed by Stamen is simply unbelievable. It allows you to browse different graffiti surfaces in San Francisco over time.
Music video with very interesting design
Here is another very well designed music video for Cuarteto de Nos from Uruguay. This one has more of a typographical feel than the Justice D.A.N.C.E. video, but still ties in nicely with the animated graffiti theme of this idea.
hollywood
perhaps i didn't read it right, but i thought the idea of this site was to create a *hollywood* film - not an indie art film. where's the story here? short character studies do not a hollywood film make. you've spent way more time investigating cool visuals than working on the story. of course, some would argue that might make it the perfect hollywood film... :)
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