DRIED INK: Stereotyped.
(UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

Anne Bogart describes the many definitions of stereotype given birth during the twentieth century in A Director Prepares. "An over simplified opinion, prejudiced attitude or uncritical judgement; a set of wide generalizations about the psychological characteristics in a group or class of people; a rigid, biased perception of an object, animal, individual or group; uniform, inflexible mode of behavior; a standardized mental picture that’s held in common by members of a group; to reproduce or perpetuate in an unchanging or standardized form; cause to conform to a fixed or preconceived type.” Without trying, everyone fits into a handful of stereotypes. Whether bad, good or neutral theses labels affect us everyday. It is tough to meet someone new and not categorize them by their looks, profession, age or hobby. But without these labels, would we still have the same day-to-day social structure? I say ney.

The Mexican

Throughout my life, the largest cultural influence has been my Mexican-American heritage. My grandfather, Juan Francisco Alvarez, came to the US in search of a better life in the mid-twentieth century. In order to gain citizenship he joined the military and was forced to change his name to John Frank. Born on his birthday, I was introduced to things valuable to him. A staple of our diet and a significant artifact visible at every meal was the tortilla. This simple food became more common than the spoon and fork. Piñatas at every holiday, menudo every Sunday, and a mass production of tamales during Christmas are important customs that have shaped many aspects of my personality. Once my parents decided to move us to a tiny mountain town in northern California, I quickly became the token Mexican.

The Hippie

I focused my undergrad schooling at Humboldt State University. This is where I studied astronomy, anthropology and evolution placing my faith as a Catholic aside. My studies opened up a respect for Mother Nature, an interest for the Native-American beliefs, an appreciation for the Buddhist lifestyle and a love for the simple values of the traveler. Being the first in my family with these views and living in an area with typically lenient laws against marijuana, my parents labeled me a Hippie.

The Hick

For eight years my playground was the Plumas National Forest and the Bucks Lake Wilderness. Not having many toys, my brothers, sister and I were forced to use our imaginations while we roamed the woods. We would throw rocks at imaginative characters that would slip into the shadows of large firs. Kick the Can and Army games were frequently played in dense manzanita brush and towering ponderosa pines. This is also where we alpine skied and took our simple sleds during the snow season. After living in a tiny town tucked underneath a forest canopy of the Sierra Nevada’s, I returned to Hollister which is the home of my Mexican-American roots. Aunts, uncles and cousins eagerly asked about new passions gained from mountain living. I described my enthusiasm for target shooting, driving off-road, mountaintop bonfires, and garage-made explosives. It’s funny how my transformation went from Mexican to Hick!

vs.

Californian vs. Montanan

We were shooting a video at Bernice's Bakery and a male in his mid 20's exited to the sidewalk. There was a town-style cruiser bike parked between the door and the curb. He almost spilled his coffee on the bike even though there was plenty of space on each side of it. "F#ckin' Californians," he stated with disgust. "Oh? You from California?" I quickly responded. "Hell no. Lived here in Montana my whole life," he howled quickly peddling backwards towards his mountain bike. There is also a view of the Montana lifestyle that has been created by Hollywood and the press. Montanans all live in log style cabins on ranches and herd cattle or run a taxidermy for a living. In our spare time we whittle canoes for children, polish our rifles, and fly fish. So far I have found all of this true!

Other stereotypes that I tripped on and fallen onto:
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The Jock (Athlete)
The Skier (vs. The Snowboarder)
The Firefighter
The Student
The Male

Maestoso: Majestically

Marcel Pecott, a prior film professor at Humboldt State University, once advised us to edit a film while listening to a piece of music. She wanted us to follow the beats of a song that best represented our theme. Hours later I found myself editing a 16mm film to the tempo of Orestes.

[The story follows a woman and man who were having
troubles. The relationship had been compromised by a
prior incident initiated by the man. At the beach the man
decided to tell her and that is when she became mad. She
tried to walk away but he grabbed which made her irate.]

I decided to title this film Medicated Moment due to the lyrics of the song. It was also given that title because the song influenced the way the film was cut. It was very similar to being under the influence of medication, letting the drug affect the mind and body.

Not realizing it at the time, I was using a method that Eisenstein had first experimented with. He was one of the first directors to cut film to a rhythm of pre-existent music. Most early directors used music or composed it to match the film. This method can be seen in Alexander Nevsky.

Eisenstein is also considered to be the father of montage. His editing techniques were identified as metric, rhythmic, tonal, over-tonal and intellectual. When October was released, critics believed that Eisenstein showed a lack of interest in the simple mechanics of storytelling. Yet he does slam the audience with a collision of rhythmic shots. Eisenstein mixed shots to create new meaning. In Strike! a shot of a workers’ rebellion being put down is juxtaposed with a shot of cattle being slaughtered; the new meaning being that workers are cattle.

_______________________________

Orestes
by Perfect Circle

Metaphor for a missing moment
Pull me in to your perfect circle

One womb
One shame
One resolve

Liberate this will
To release us all

Gotta cut away, clear away
Snip away and sever this
Umbilical residue that's
Keeping me from killing you

And from pulling you down with me in here
I can almost hear you scream

One more medicated peaceful moment
Give Me
One more medicated peaceful moment

And I don't wanna feel this overwhelming
Hostility
I don't wanna feel this overwhelming
Hostility

Gotta cut away, clear away
Snip away and sever this
Umbilical residue

Gotta cut away, clear away
Snip away and sever this
Umbilical residue that's
Keeping me from killing you

Snip away and sever this

Keeping me from killing you
____________________________

PHOBIAS: Now and Then.

Nyctophobia- Fear of the dark.
It seems like one of the most common phobias of small children. At least that is what I have been telling myself over the years! Curled up in my bed, each peer down dark hallways cut my imagination loose. As a child I relied on the small luminescence given off by tiny bulbs. These colorful plastic covered bulbs were on the wall raised a foot above the floor. They gave little definition to the shag carpet between my bedroom and the bathroom. Yet it was enough to forget about what was beyond the lit shag carpet: my imagination. Ugly monsters, fierce animals, hungry snakes, possessed people and all other fabricated characters never actually left the dark and showed their faces.

Thalassophobia- Fear of the ocean or sea.
Lived minutes from the Pacific most of my life, yet it did not change the way I viewed the ocean. I saw it as a mass of unknown possibilities. The more I learned about it as a child, the more respect and fear spewed from the new knowledge. A few years ago I tested the waters and surfed Camel Rock off the North Coast of California. Shark attacks at that time were still fresh in the mind. This did not bother me until I sat on my board a hundred yards off the coast and watched the sets roll in. I wondered if sharks could smell the fresh cut on my leg or the garlic scent released in my sweat. The sun lit the water below, but only to a depth just below my feet. What was underneath me and how can I accept Mother Nature?

Kathisophobia- Fear of sitting down or being idle.
After leaving the home at the age of 17, there has not been one place that has held me for an extended period. Missoula is the eleventh city and largest place I have lived in. I tend to feel stale and stagnant after living in the same spot. I would not consider it a fear but it does cause me to be spontaneous and energetic when looking for places to relax or live. Experienced a dozen states and countries yet still get home sick. But after two days in my hometown, it's time to move on. I sit when the mind and body is exhausted.

Cryophobia- Fear of cold: extreme, ice or frost.
The sound of long nails and fresh chalk shrieking down a chalkboard gives some folks the chills. I always enjoyed the sound and the way it affected people. This is a slightly sadistic joy. The one thing that sends chills through out my entire body to this day is when my skin sticks to ice just pulled from the freezer. Just writing about has given me goose bumps and a shiver!

Traumatophobia- Fear of Injury.
Perhaps the only fear in this world is loosing the ability to stay active. I have stayed in athletic shape over the years as a preventative maintenance. This has decreased the chance of illness and injury to swing my way. My passion has always been to play hard while out running trails, skinning up snowy peaks, skiing cliff faced mountains, biking steep terrain, hiking trails, and laying out for a disc on the ultimate field. Injury would test my patience and it would cause me to re-analyze what makes me happy.



Tetanophobia- Fear of Tetanus or lockjaw.
For as long as I can remember, my jaw has popped while chewing food. Once a month someone will ask about my thunderous jaw. I have conditioned my response to be clear and quick. "Yes that is my jaw and no it does not hurt. Thanks," I recite. Occasionally I will adjust my jaw slightly to one side causing it to dislocate. This is a fearful situation but the pain is only moderate and brief.



Apiphobia or Melissophobia- Fear of Bees
I am not afraid of bees, it is the sting and prolonged swelling that follows. Working for Elk Mountain HC on the Mendocino National Forest, we fought fire all over the west. Throughout several states we encountered many flying bugs, but bees were the most aggressive in southern California. During a two-week assignment, the sting count peaked at a dozen stings a person each day. Not sure how I escaped, but I was not stung during the entire assignment. I was much more aggressive and faster than the bees.



Somniphobia- Fear of falling asleep.
Pnigophobia or Pnigerophobia- Fear of choking or being smothered.
Claustrophobia- Fear of Confined spaces.
A close friend once told me that I tend to stop breathing in my sleep. She later mentioned that it happened on a regular basis for several weeks. One night as I slept, my dream was purely audible. It began with one familiar voice eventually becoming layered with all voices from my family. The volume of the dream slowly increased to an unpleasant level; this was the point I tried to wake myself. Unsuccessful with waking, the voices changed to a loud machine like buzz. At the sound of the buzz I was unable to breathe, move and yell. Another occurrence happened while taking a nap on a couch. I managed to squeeze myself between the bottom and back cushions. The dream I had was some one smothering me while I was on the ground. From time to time I have had these dreams where I am unable to breathe and wake up. This has led me to believe that I have sleep apnea.

Wow. Just read that I get sleep paralysis. It is closely related to the normal paralysis that occurs during REM sleep, also known as REM atonia. Sleep paralysis occurs when the brain is awakened from an REM state into essentially a normal fully awake state, but the body paralysis is still occurring. The primary symptom of sleep paralysis is partial or complete skeletal muscle paralysis during the hypnopomic or hypnagogic states. In other words, it is the sense of being aware that one is unable to move or speak while falling asleep or waking up.

Phobias that come up occasionally but do not change my life.
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Airborne Noxious substances- Aerophobia
Animals- Zoophobia.
Automobile, being in a moving- Ochophobia
Automobiles- Motorphobia.
Bacteria- Bacteriophobia.
Beaten by a rod or instrument of punishment, or of being severely criticized- Rhabdophobia.
Bears- Melissophobia
Blindness in a visual field- Scotomaphobia.
Bowel movements: painful- Defecaloesiophobia.
Bums or beggars- Hobophobia.
Car or vehicle, riding in- Amaxophobia.
Children- Pedophobia.
Choking- Anginophobia.
Creepy, crawly things- Herpetophobia.
Criticism- Enissophobia.
Crystals or glass- Crystallophobia.
Dancing- Chorophobia.
Decisions: making decisions- Decidophobia.
Dirt, contamination or infection- Molysmophobia or Molysomophobia.
Dogs or rabies- Cynophobia.
Failure- Atychiphobia or Kakorrhaphiophobia.
Firearms- Hoplophobia.
Insects- Acarophobia or Entomophobia or Insectophobia.
Love, falling or being in- Philophobia.
Pain- Algiophobia, Ponophobia, Odynophobia or Odynephobia.
Reptiles- Herpetophobia.
Sharks- Selachophobia.
Snakes- Ophidiophobia or Snakephobia.
Spiders- Arachnephobia or Arachnophobia.
Earthquakes- Seismophobia.
Stage fright- Topophobia.
Tapeworms- Taeniophobia.
Things or places, narrow- Stenophobia.
Wild animals- Agrizoophobia.