tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74503469127787686432024-03-14T01:23:28.626-07:00Yarn Graffiti DocumentaryI'm making a documentary about the yarn graffiti movement and I'm writing about it here.Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-40800792979115007962012-02-21T17:19:00.000-08:002012-02-21T17:25:44.940-08:00A little peak at some of my footage<span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">International Yarn Bombing Day June 10, 2011<br />Dino Foxx and Billy Muñoz take a break from the Yarn Dawgz installation at the Pearl Brewery to do a quick freestyle rap. </span><br /><br /><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/37202930?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" width="550" height="309"></iframe>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-62374310997952710522012-02-18T15:12:00.000-08:002012-02-19T16:54:26.131-08:00Women and Their Work Fiscal Sponsorship<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">The Yarn Graffiti Documentary is now fiscally sponsored by </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.womenandtheirwork.org/">Women and Their Work</a><span style="font-family:arial;">, a local non-profit that serves women artists.</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="font-family: arial;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6N7jFHnE38c/T0A6Q0VmMcI/AAAAAAAADhc/ts9M3MBVaHU/s1600/watw.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 113px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6N7jFHnE38c/T0A6Q0VmMcI/AAAAAAAADhc/ts9M3MBVaHU/s320/watw.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710628388107334082" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> For those of you who are not familiar with it, </span><b style="font-family: arial;">fiscal sponsorship</b><span style="font-family:arial;"> refers to the practice of </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-profit_organization" title="Non-profit organization" class="mw-redirect">non-profit organizations</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> offering their </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_status" title="Legal status" class="mw-redirect">legal</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> and </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_exemption" title="Tax exemption">tax-exempt</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> status to a film production engaged in activities related to the organization's missions. This means that if you donate money to the documentary, your donation will now be tax exempt, plus 8% of your donation will go to Women and Their Work. (All checks must be made at to Women and Their Work.) It's win / win for everyone.<br /><br />We are really happy to be partners with a wo</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">nderful organization such as Women and Their Work. Women's connection to knitting</span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L7Bd3YlnywY/T0A_jcbqW7I/AAAAAAAADhs/2jJO17IwjVE/s1600/4658773615_e401eb9f89_o.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 233px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L7Bd3YlnywY/T0A_jcbqW7I/AAAAAAAADhs/2jJO17IwjVE/s320/4658773615_e401eb9f89_o.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710634205665975218" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> and crochet is one of the things that keeps come up in the documentary. We're all thrilled to have the support of an organization that does such wonderful things in the community. Make sure to LIKE Women and Their Work on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/WomenAndTheirWorkGallery">Facebook</a>.<br /></span></span>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-58734568512723163702012-01-26T09:01:00.000-08:002012-01-26T09:14:40.514-08:00absence makes the heart grow fonder<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B3VEA9TCC4Q/TyGILHHey3I/AAAAAAAADfc/XRkwEalxkq8/s1600/4726917149_2a7e7c579e_b.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B3VEA9TCC4Q/TyGILHHey3I/AAAAAAAADfc/XRkwEalxkq8/s320/4726917149_2a7e7c579e_b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701988327698123634" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >You might be asking yourself what the Yarn Graffiti Documentary team has been up to lately. </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Are they still making the movie?!</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" > Let me put your mind at ease and tell you, Yes we are. We haven't been traveling but we have been busy working. Behind the scenes, we are writing grants, planning for future shoots, staying in touch with subjects, organizing footage and working on a work sample.<br /><br />It has been over a year since this project started but we still have a long way to go. Hang in there and keep letting us know what you think, sending us tips on neat projects and liking us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/YarnGraffitiDocumentary">facebook</a>. Especially let us know if you know of anything crazy being planned for International Yarn Bombing Day 2012.<br /><br />Remember that documentaries take a long time to make and anything worth doing it worth doing right. And even if you think we're going at a grandma's pace, know that grandmas make really amazing things when they finally finish a project.</span>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-92188601335311610452012-01-04T22:44:00.000-08:002012-01-25T22:59:29.285-08:00New Year's Resolution<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W6r0IfdgRm4/TyD4IfvFH6I/AAAAAAAADfM/-6MmGDgDvSg/s1600/MCCALL%2BMAGAZINE%252C%2BHOMEMAKING%2BCOVER%252C%2BKNITTING%2BLESSON.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 259px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W6r0IfdgRm4/TyD4IfvFH6I/AAAAAAAADfM/-6MmGDgDvSg/s320/MCCALL%2BMAGAZINE%252C%2BHOMEMAKING%2BCOVER%252C%2BKNITTING%2BLESSON.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701829953092657058" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Happy 2012! I don't think the world is going to end anytime soon so we might as well keeping living and doing what we do. It's a new year with new goals. I'm not going to bore you with my personal resolutions of weight loss, spending more quality time with my mom, break dancing and increased bike riding. We're not here to talk about that. As far as the Yarn Graffiti Documentary goes the goal for the year is to wrap up primary production. To wrap up production the Yarn Graffiti Doc team is working around the clock to get money to finish this movie. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Another big resolution is to make sure to keep all of you updated through this blog. I've let this blog fall to the wayside. I promise to stay on top of this. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The holidays were good to me in strange way, (I love my family) but bad for the documentary. For 2 weeks I didn't really think about it. I'm happy to be back to normal life where I think about this documentary all day long like a monkey on my back. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I'm back to work on the doc! More coming soon.<br /></span></span>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-13606202278619368012011-12-04T01:42:00.000-08:002012-01-25T22:35:25.732-08:00Tamale Cup<span style="font-family: arial;font-size:85%;" >Went down to SA to hang out and shoot with the Yarn Dawgz... again. They were doing an installation at the Tamale Festival in the Pearl Brewery. I was a little unclear on exactly what Dino, Billy and Sasha had in store but I was game.<br /><br />One thing to know about San Antonio (and Austin to a certain degree) is that San Antonio loves having street festivals. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8bBa9APkhzA/TyDuHQyLr4I/AAAAAAAADes/5igonCQ1BYk/s1600/tam_fest.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8bBa9APkhzA/TyDuHQyLr4I/AAAAAAAADes/5igonCQ1BYk/s320/tam_fest.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701818936782991234" border="0" /></a>Sometimes it feels like there's a street festival every weekend during the nice seasons of Texas. Even though it's December, it's still pretty nice outside in Central Texas. The Tamale Festival runs from noon to 7 p.m. on Saturday. The fest celebrates local traditions associated with the holidays and feature cooking demonstrations, food from the roasting spit, and more than 30 vendors boasting traditional, sweet, vegetarian and other tamale varieties. The festival concludes with the River of Lights celebration, caroling, and music and entertainment for the entire family. (All proceeds benefit <a href="http://www.mysanantonio.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news%2Flocal_news&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22The+Culinary+Institute+of+America%22">the Culinary Institute of America</a> and local charities.) Why not have a festival celebrating tamales.<br /><br />The Yarn Dawgz was going to be doing a public installation of a table, chairs, and dining set inspired by Mexican Serape blankets </span><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:85%;" >that would later be sold at the </span><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" class="fbPhotoCaptionText" ><a href="http://www.melissaguerra.com/">Melissa Guerra Tienda de Cocina</a>. It was pretty relaxed shoot. I was mostly interested in film the Yarn Dawgz just hanging out and knitting. Dino had some work to do back at Jump Star so it was just Billy and I for most of the morning and early afternoon. After several hours, it became obvious the the installation was not progressing fast enough. Once Dino and Sasha showed up, I took a small break and walked around the festival. I am a people watcher so I relished in walking around all the fest's activity. I was super hungy but was completely overwhelmed by all the options. I honestly didn't even know what line I was in but I ended up getting two Tamale Cups, which is a tamale in a cup. I brought one back to Billy and we joked about the concept of tamale cup. He even dubbed "Tamale Cup" as my new nickname. I can't remember why.<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:85%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zO3-CpsO3pg/TyDyOvTU5FI/AAAAAAAADe8/ZlAiIJPVxGA/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-25%2Bat%2B11.58.13%2BPM.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 230px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zO3-CpsO3pg/TyDyOvTU5FI/AAAAAAAADe8/ZlAiIJPVxGA/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-25%2Bat%2B11.58.13%2BPM.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701823463280665682" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:85%;" class="fbPhotoCaptionText" >As the afternoon progressed on, Dino and Sasha worked diligently on the table and chairs. I felt a little bad filming instead of helping so I decided to help out a little bit. I'm not sure where most documentary filmmakers feel about the relationship between the filmmaker and the subjects. I'm starting to think I'm too close to the Yarn Dawgz. I'm fine with it but I wonder what others think. I personally have never yarn bombed. I knit like a madman but I don't bomb. I'm trying to stay an observer in that world. So all I did for the Yarn Dawgz was knit. I didn't do the actual installation.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:85%;" class="fbPhotoCaptionText" > In the end, they didn't finish the installation</span><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:85%;" > but I got some great footage.</span>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-62522088957576636922011-11-20T20:59:00.000-08:002012-01-25T21:12:50.954-08:00Feelin' a bit Woolly headed<span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Back in September <a href="http://www.magdasayeg.com/">Magda Sayeg</a> was contacted by an advertising company to make a commercial based off the British saying "Feelin' a bit Woolly headed" and using that to make a knitted a play-on-words. Magda worked with the Ad Firm and local knitters to help conceptualize the ad.<br /><br />After months of hard work, the commercial is done, just in time for flu season.</span><br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/I5BEAxOdA0c" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="550"></iframe>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-80727318231223612552011-10-09T22:36:00.000-07:002012-01-25T21:51:06.738-08:00Taggin'<span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">I just spent the weekend filming with the Yarn Dawgz of San Antonio and I am filled with filmmaking adrenalin. I even called John on Friday night at like 3:30 am which means it was technically Saturday morning and said "I LOVE DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING! I want to do this FOREVER" on his voicemail. I vaguely remember this, he had to remind me.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">One rule of documentary filmmaking is that nothing ever goes as planned so be prepared.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">The plan was:</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="font-family: arial;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xl0vp-on2C8/TuVKZJdoB0I/AAAAAAAADPs/tAquHy5WbPI/s1600/315a52fdcac3c04f8eb0e201fbd06f0196d6eb89_l.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xl0vp-on2C8/TuVKZJdoB0I/AAAAAAAADPs/tAquHy5WbPI/s320/315a52fdcac3c04f8eb0e201fbd06f0196d6eb89_l.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5685031900522481474" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">* Friday night film B Roll of the Yarn Dawgz, shoot Dino and Billy doing stuff for JumpStart at First Friday.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">* Saturday film the installation at Blue Star and shoot one interview.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">* Sunday film the other interview and get pick up shots. If time get scenic B Roll of San Antonio</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">I was a little nervous about the Friday shoot because I would be filming on my own in a very crowded area. John is in Portugal, Spencer is busy with school and Taylor is working. </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=133539529159">First Friday</a></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"> is an awesome San Antonio South Town tradition where all the art galleries and local shops open their doors to the city and have a big party on the First Friday of the month. It was going to be hard to be a one woman crew but I was up for the challenge.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">I got to Jump Start around 4pm because of all the traffic on I-35 from Austin, thankfully before all crowds showed up on South Alamo Street in the Blue Star Art complex. I put mics on Dino and Billy and just started filming them in their natural element. Jump Start was preparing for a window performance of a graffiti artist taggin' a boxcar. I wasn't really sure what I was in for but was excited by whatever it was going to be. </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="font-family: arial;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EjXP9jyULh4/TyDm0eo5-OI/AAAAAAAADeM/8FNAknntp0U/s1600/GOPR0424.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EjXP9jyULh4/TyDm0eo5-OI/AAAAAAAADeM/8FNAknntp0U/s320/GOPR0424.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701810917503269090" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">The guys also took me around the complex to show me an old installation that they wanted to take down. It was great to see the decay of an installation. It was faded and kind of gross, (which is awesome). I'm starting to think that the rot of an old installation can somehow be an ending to the documentary itself. I shot the guys deinstalling the piece before getting swallowed by the twilight Blue Star crowd.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">The guys got back to work while I absorbed the environment. When it was show time everyone in Jump Star was running around like crazy. Thankfully they were doing two shows so that I should get different shots of the performance. I was blown away by the show. It starred Cros, the other initial Yarn Dawg (who actually lives next door to Billy and Dino). It was about a graffiti artist sneaking around and tagging a boxcar and then being chased by the cops, only to have one of the cops tag a bench herself. It was really beautiful and powerful. I love live performances and theater. Nothing I could write or film could really capture just being there.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">After a crazy long day I was exhausted but my adrenaline was still pumping through my veins. Billy and Dino invited me out to the Strip. Now I'm from San Antonio but I haven't lived there for 8 years so I didn't know what the Strip was. There's a delightful area of Main Street in San Antonio, called the Strip, that has become populated by gay clubs. It was awesome. I'll leave out the details of the night but it included some food at Luther's Cafe accompanied by a Drag Queen singing Adele (actually better than Adele sings), some drinks and dancing at a place everyone refers to as Gay Bennigans. I was feeling good. I logged my footage and was in bed by 4am.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Saturday I met up with Dino and Billy at Blue Star to shoot their installation. </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="font-family: arial;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tYV6_7p5R7Y/TyDobvVzcsI/AAAAAAAADec/zBfWOYhRE9o/s1600/IMG_2987.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tYV6_7p5R7Y/TyDobvVzcsI/AAAAAAAADec/zBfWOYhRE9o/s320/IMG_2987.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701812691513078466" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">I suited up (put my equipment on) and the guys got ready. As we're filming, Billy and Dino notice that their knitted pieces don't fit the poles like they thought. They discussed the options. They looked around the complex to see if their pieces could fit anywhere else. In the end it started to rain and they decided that they would not do a project that they didn't feel 100% proud of. I went back to the guy's place which turned out to be a yarn bombed sanctuary. Billy even walked me down their street to show me all the stop sign posts he's done. We were running out of time because Dino and Billy were going to perform a song for their friend's birthday later that night. We called it a day and planned to meet on Sunday. </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">On Sunday I got a call from the guys who had to cancel because of family stuff. I was feeling so good from the stuff I got on Friday and Saturday that I didn't even feel sad about it. I could always get their interviews another time. Plus I can come back to shoot the finished installation.</span>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-82669876159623871822011-09-11T13:05:00.000-07:002011-09-16T12:14:04.443-07:00Vancouver Trip<span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >This post is a little overdue. John and I went to Seattle and Vancouver over Labor Day weekend to visit <a href="http://yarnbombing.com/tag/jessica-glesby">Jessica Glesby</a>, <a href="http://www.leanneprain.com/">Leanne Prain</a>, <a href="http://yarnageddon.com/">Mandy Moore</a> and <a href="http://yarncore.com/">Yarn Core</a>. Jessica of Yarn Core, based out of Seattle, ended up canceling on us which just meant we got to spend more time in the great nation of Canada. It was really great productive trip. I wish I could just work on my documentary all the time.<br /><br />I'm temped to sit here to tell you all play by play how the trip went, list the great food we ate, talk about the wonderful things we saw, the feeling of adventure I felt in my gut but I'</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >m not going to. This is not a travel blog, this is my documentary blog. Of course this brings up an interesting issue, how honest can I be here? I mean if I confide in the blogosphere all the worries and problems I encounter, it might make me extra vulnerable to the world of criticism, doubt, and other negative vibes that come from being in the film industry. What if an investor reads one of my blog postings and thinks I'm too ____(<span style="font-style: italic;">fill in blank</span>) and then doesn't want to invest. Just something to think about. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BAUkau227JY/TnOQMwILXeI/AAAAAAAAC74/nlBXXxmmhSA/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-09-16%2Bat%2B12.47.31%2BPM.png"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 227px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BAUkau227JY/TnOQMwILXeI/AAAAAAAAC74/nlBXXxmmhSA/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-09-16%2Bat%2B12.47.31%2BPM.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5653020506032135650" border="0" /></a><br /><br />With each trip I take and each shoot I do I get better which is true for most things. I've had many conversations with people about what does a documentary director actually do, w</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >hat does a documentary producer actually do and interestingly enough, the answers are never really the same. Different people have different ethics and ideas about what you can do and not do in documentary filming. After our International Yarn Bombing Day shoot in San Antonio, I learned that I needed to make a wishlist shot list to help organize the shoot. Before we left on our trip I had written all the interview questions out, I had made a shot list, listed potential locations down, printed out maps to everything, scheduled the trip, and budgeted everything so we could not spend too much. A lot of these things are things producers usually do but for this trip I ended up doing most of it. I was pretty damn prepared. I even knitted John a hat and me a scarf for our trip.<br /></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Most of my hard work paid off while John and I were out in the field. I didn't account for a tremendous amount of traffic on I-5 coming into Vancouver which made us miss our first interview which was with Jessica Glesby. Thankfully Jessica was super cool and we rescheduled to do the interview in the morning, before our interview with Leanne and Mandy. She even gave John and I some suggestions of places to eat in Vancouver. Everything worked out because John and I got to squeeze in a little nap before we wandered around the downtown area in search of dinner. I won't get into it too much but Vancouver is beautiful and so are its people. We had a great time and got to go over everything for our big days of production on Saturday and Sunday.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kKvYVUYZ1CU/TnOVBm8M5GI/AAAAAAAAC8M/mCWOS0IbtTY/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-09-16%2Bat%2B12.47.03%2BPM.png"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 230px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kKvYVUYZ1CU/TnOVBm8M5GI/AAAAAAAAC8M/mCWOS0IbtTY/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-09-16%2Bat%2B12.47.03%2BPM.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5653025812145562722" border="0" /></a>We got up early Saturday and headed out to meet Jessica. Even though we were prepared, batteries charged and all, I felt a little nervous. It felt vaguely like I was about to go on a blind date. She and I had been in touch for months now but we hadn't really met. Once we were face to face it felt like we were old friends. John and I set up and dove right in. We had a two camera set up. Producer Spencer Stoner, lent us his Canon 5d Mark II. Jessica was really fantastic on camera. I felt like the interview went really well. John thought I was a little too formal and made the criticism that I should talk more conversationally. He said that Jessica was great but other interviewees might be more stiff on camera. <span style="font-style: italic;">Duly noted.</span><br /></span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >After lunch with Jessica and her boyfriend, we headed back downtown to meet Leanne and Mandy. We were meeting at Leanne's apartment on Bute Street. We got there and started setting up while casually talking to both of them. I had mentally prepared myself to be a better interviewer, I was relaxed and ready to be more conversational, less formal. They wanted to be interviewed together but I was also planning on interviewing them each on their own first. I could tell what made them great professional partners, they easily complimented each other. When one was stuck the other jumped in and vice versa. Once we got all our audio set and ready to go, we only had about an hour worth of battery power and space on our cards. </span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bfFHkZ6h5GQ/TnOYg37Nr7I/AAAAAAAAC8g/FBy9jA56vT8/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-09-16%2Bat%2B12.47.13%2BPM.png"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 231px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bfFHkZ6h5GQ/TnOYg37Nr7I/AAAAAAAAC8g/FBy9jA56vT8/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-09-16%2Bat%2B12.47.13%2BPM.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5653029647815651250" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >This was disappointing but not devastating. Once we got as much as we could, we left knowing that we would meet up with them later for a nighttime yarn bomb.</span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >We rushed back to the hotel to dump all the cards, power up all the batteries and physically and mentally rest. We got some dinner, tested all the equipment and packed the car again only to head about again. Once we met up with Leanne and Mandy we walked over to the Carlyl statue that they were going to yarn bomb. Some people stopped and watched, or just made comments as they walked by but no one stopped them or stopped us for filming (I love Canada). We got a lot of great stuff. I even used my GoPro camera to get some super low angle shots. After I looked at the footage later, I couldn't be happier with what we got.<br /><br />After it was done, we all decided to go get a drink and just unwind. I was temped to put mics on them and film while we were hanging out but John talked me out of it. We hung out with Mandy and Leanne and got to know them better. Leanne has another book coming out called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hoopla-Unexpected-Embroidery-Leanne-Prain/dp/1551524066/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2">Hoopla</a>. </span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I8isewRHc5I/TnOcOvxQYeI/AAAAAAAAC8s/g4PxQcITSEg/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-09-16%2Bat%2B12.47.22%2BPM.png"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I8isewRHc5I/TnOcOvxQYeI/AAAAAAAAC8s/g4PxQcITSEg/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-09-16%2Bat%2B12.47.22%2BPM.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5653033734435267042" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Mandy has been writing for some craft sites and magazines. I wish I would have brought my knitting with me, I feel like I could have used her expertise. (She had to leave a little early that's why she's not in the picture to the left.) All and all it was a great day.<br /><br />The next day was all for B-roll. Again, I had made a wish list of shots to get. John and I drove around Vancouver, each taking turns getting some shots. This was pretty fun. Eventually when the sun started to set, we reluctantly had to leave Canada and head back to Seattle where we were flying back at 5:00am.<br /><br />I might have to go back to Vancouver at some point and meet back up with Jessica, Leanne and Mandy and see how they are all doing. This trip was really amazing. I now have 100 more Gigs to log and transcribe. I just realized that today is September 11th and everyone is remembering tragedy but I'm trying not to look back to the horrors of the past, I'm looking forwards to the beauty that people can create with yarn.<br /></span>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-4589988333676830682011-08-31T09:19:00.000-07:002011-08-31T11:53:05.864-07:00a (not so quick) quick update<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">It's been a while since I posted but I don't want you to think that I've been taking a vacation from my documentary because it's actually the opposite. I've been so busy with a hundred different things that I keep forgetting to post updates. So here's the scoop:</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I have been planning a trip to Vancouver / Seattle to visit Leanne Prain and Mandy Moore, authors of the book </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://yarnbombing.com/yarn-bombing-the-book">Yarn Bombing</a><span style="font-family:arial;">, yarn graffiti scholar </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://womanundone.com/">Jessica Glesby</a><span style="font-family:arial;">, and maybe the Seattle-based group </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://yarncore.com/">Yarn Core</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> (I'm still waiting for confirmation). John and I leave for this trip on Friday morning and come back on Labor Day. It's going to be really exciting. There are a lot of things to think about when planning a trip for a documentary. It's not just hotels and rental cards, I've been having to secure equipment, release forms, scout locations for places I've never been. I've been reading and reading about my interview subjects and writing question. I've even made a shot list of what I think we should shoot. So needless to say, it's a lot of work.
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">There's been a shift in my crew. I'm happy to announce that Taylor Hagan has joined the prestigious rank of producer along side Spencer Stoner. John is taking a hiatus from producing to work on his own project (check it out, it's pretty incredible, </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.indiegogo.com/once-again">ONCE AGAIN</a><span style="font-family:arial;">). With Taylor and Spencer behind me, I know we're going to get more organized and get this thing made. Now none of my crew, Spencer, Taylor or John, can knit or crochet but they are all lovers of the craft. Hopefully by the end of this project I will teach them how to knit or crochet so that they can have some</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" > yarn cred*</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> in the community.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Lots of other fun things going on with the documentary. More grant applications. We're currently looking into securing fiscal sponsorship. I've also been toying around with the idea of getting an intern to help me get my footage transcribed and organized. </span>
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<br />One thing to know about documentary filmmaking, is that it's a lot of planning, a lot of quick thinking, and a lot of work in post-production to make everything come together. It's never ending as far as the workday goes. I dream about making my doc. I'm starting to realize that documentary filmmakers must be a little crazy because it's a very unpredictable life that is almost constant stress, but I love it.
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<br />Last night I was happy to attend a Documentary Filmmaker Panel sponsored by a group at the University of Texas at Austin, <a href="http://www.womenincinema.blogspot.com">Women In Cinema</a>. The </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 100%;">panelists <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1407976/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Laura Sobel</span></a>, director of </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://shop.history.com/cereal-history-in-a-bowl-dvd/detail.php?p=69040">Cereal: History in a Bowl</a>,</span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 100%;"> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1206742/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rakeda Lashae</span></a>, documentary television director, and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1374107/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mike Nicholson</span></a>, producer of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1460739/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Better This World</span></a> came together for an evening of shared non-fiction filmmaking secrets. I was really inspired by each of the panelists. As I heard them talk about their struggles, it gave me strength to persevere through this tough patch. I know that I'm on the right path. </span></span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:arial;">* </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Yarn Cred </span><span style="font-family:arial;">is similar to </span><a style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;" href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=street+cred">Street Cred</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> but it has to pertain to the world of crafts specifically the fibered arts. I don't think I came up with this on my own, I'm sure I've heard this or read this. Actually I think someone praised me and my documentary because I have </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >yarn cred</span><span style="font-family:arial;">. </span>
<br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Yarn Cred</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> - Commanding a level of respect in the craft world environment due to experience in or knowledge of issues affecting those environments. </span></span>
<br />Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-39668887950000542712011-08-01T22:11:00.000-07:002011-08-05T13:48:45.444-07:00The Indiegogo is over<span style="font-size:85%;">Well our online fundraising campaign is over. We had a good run. We raised $5,640 of a $15,000 goal by 112 different funders made up of friends, family, colleagues, knitters and strangers. I got 65 comments including favorites like, "<span style="font-style: italic;">Sarah Gonzalez has a true vision and I am glad o even have a small part in her success! All the best!</span>", "<span style="font-style: italic;">Who knew that knit one, pearl two could unite the world. I look foward to seeing more.</span>", "<span style="font-style: italic;">I am very impressed with your vision and the powerful message I know your film will send. Every action people take to make the world a better place is a worthy action. Congratulations in advance for this great work.</span>" and many many more.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">Even though we didn't hit the goal, there is no doubt that this campaign was a huge success. Many people have found out about the documentary and are generally excited. We got enough money to travel to the Pacific Northwest to films some more yarn bombers. I'm excited. This is another beginning.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><iframe src="http://www.indiegogo.com/project/widget/23508?a=110897" frameborder="1" height="400" scrolling="no" width="210"></iframe></span></div>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-63910184617070171332011-07-26T21:02:00.001-07:002011-08-31T09:37:48.102-07:00It's the Final Countdown!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1sF3K6-WdVA/TjDQzhl-uDI/AAAAAAAAC64/WHFz2eSgsY0/s1600/gob-amazes-and-delights-the-crowd-as-the-final-countdown-blares_468x312.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1sF3K6-WdVA/TjDQzhl-uDI/AAAAAAAAC64/WHFz2eSgsY0/s320/gob-amazes-and-delights-the-crowd-as-the-final-countdown-blares_468x312.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634232717450065970" border="0" /></a>
<br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Well there is only 5 days left in the online fundraiser on Indiegogo. I've been blasting everyone I knew on the internet and I'm sure a lot of people are getting annoyed with me and will be happy when my campaign is over too. We've already raised a little over $5,100 by 101 different funders which is amazing but isn't as much as I would have hoped for. I'm feeling really good though about the campaign, even though we are no where near the $15,000 goal. I'm glad we finally hit the $5,000 because it feels like a lot more than $4,000 which doesn't make sense. I'll also be glad when this whole campaign is over because it's been really stressful. Thankfully I'm not measuring my self worth by the success of this campaign.
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<br />Other exciting things that are happening: I'm working on the ITVS application even though I probably won't get it. I've been pulling my hair out trying to finish it. Both my producers, John Moore and Spencer Stoner, are too busy doing their own project to help me. (John is working on his MFA graduate thesis documentary and Spencer is working for the Discovery channel, producing a show in South America.) ITVS would be the dream grant if I get it because they help secure exhibition through PBS.
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<br /><a href="http://www.redseven.de/">Redseven Entertainment GmbH</a>, a German company is currently working on a TV-show named "Galileo Big Picture" for German national free TV broadcaster ProSieben is wants to use some of my footage for a segment about new fads in art and graffiti. We're still working out the logistics but it's pretty neat that I'm getting their attention.
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<br />I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to write about but I've been filming some things with Magda Sayeg lately. </span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0QKfTiSx85g/TjDNCMJHTMI/AAAAAAAAC6s/CkKx8hMe-Zk/s1600/IMG_2716.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0QKfTiSx85g/TjDNCMJHTMI/AAAAAAAAC6s/CkKx8hMe-Zk/s320/IMG_2716.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634228571343375554" border="0" /></a></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >I'm not going to name anything but she's been directing a commercial that has a lot of knitted/crocheted stop-motion animation. I've been shooting the behind-the-scenes of the making-of which has been really exciting. I'm going to share my footage with this ad adgency and in return they are going to share some of their behind-the-scenes footage of Magda and give me access to the finished commercial for my documentary. Because everything has been really last minute, I couldn't get anyone to help me shoot. I was running both sound and camera. I'm a little afraid that the ad company isn't going to like my footage as much as they would've hoped.
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<br />Tomorrow I'm suppose to be interviewed for </span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >K&L Media in Bellingham, Washington, which is always exciting. Yay for more press.
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<br />As you can tell, it's been busy around here in yarn bombing documentary central. After the indiegogo campaign is over, I'll be planning a trip to Seattle and Vancouver. </span>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-59653186281191611202011-07-11T18:23:00.000-07:002011-07-11T20:28:29.879-07:00Stupid Me<span style="font-size:85%;">Today I did something that may be stupid, I quit my job. You might be wondering why I'm sharing this here, well I'll tell you: I haven't been working on my documentary at all lately because I've been caught up in work drama. Lots and lots of drama. It was all just too much.<br /><br />During the normal school year, I teach a high school film class and I work at UT helping the students in the film school produce their movies. I also work at a filmmaking non-profit which was my sole job this summer. I was suppose to work at a film camp this summer but not enough kids signed up so the job fell through. Needless to say I've been living on a part-time wage this summer and it's been rough. All the stress has been piling up. How could I raise money for my documentary when I barely had enough money to buy groceries? Today I woke up and realized that I didn't need that drama in my life, I need to focus and make sure I'm not going to bring work stuff home with me.<br /><br />In my college career I have been thankful enough to have heard some great people speak: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000490/">Spike Lee,</a> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003620/">Kevin Smith</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001778/">Matt Stone</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0431918/">Mike Judge</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000500/">Richard Linklater</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1041597/">Morgan Spurlock</a> etc. During one night, probably 3 or 4 years ago, I got the opportunity to hear <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000338/">Francis Ford Coppola</a> speak. One thing stuck out to me about what he said, he credited his success in film to being a father. He said that when he first heard that he was going to be a father, the thought that he would be supporting his family pushed him to do whatever it takes to be successful. I don't need to get knocked up to hopefully push myself. I'm hoping that being unemployed for the next two months, barely having enough money to pay my bills, will light a fire inside me to do what it takes to succeed. It's been more stupid of me to neglect my doc. I not only owe it to myself to make this doc, but I owe it to the yarn graffiti community and all the people who have back my project on <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/Yarn-Graffiti-Documentary">Indiegogo</a>.<br /><br />Sometimes it's okay to be stupid and take risks. Wish me luck.<br /><br /></span>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-25228828260594523822011-07-07T19:09:00.000-07:002011-07-11T19:39:10.819-07:00Ravelry!<span style="font-size:85%;">When I was at work today, I wandered down the hall and was <a href="http://esl-bits.net/idioms/id670.htm">water-cooler talking</a> with the guys at <a href="http://www.pictureboxproductions.com/">Picturebox Productions</a>. In a lot of ways, I feel like Kevin (J. Smith) , Mike (<strong style="font-weight: normal;">Nicholson)</strong> and David (<strong style="font-weight: normal;">Layton</strong>) are my older brothers. They are all definitely super supportive on my doc. I'm hoping to raise enough money down the line for my doc so that I can hire them during my post production phase of my documentary. They did an amazing job with a feature documentary called <a href="http://www.betterthisworld.com/">Better This World</a>. If you get a chance to see it, SEE IT. It was easily the best documentary I saw at SXSW Film Festival this year (<a href="http://www.pbs.org/pov/wheresoldierscomefrom/">Where Soldiers Come From </a>at a super close second). I digress...<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IFNk_0Cgvp8/ThuzBREGd6I/AAAAAAAAC6g/l0kxm7QAK5E/s1600/ravelry-logo.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 73px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IFNk_0Cgvp8/ThuzBREGd6I/AAAAAAAAC6g/l0kxm7QAK5E/s320/ravelry-logo.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628288993671411618" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Today Mike showed me an article on <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2298584/">Slate</a> which was talking about this Craft Social Media Networking site called <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/">Ravelry</a>. "The best social network you've (probably) never heard of is one-five-hundredth the size of Facebook." I feel stupid that I haven't been utilizing craft, knitting, and crocheting online communities. Today I </span><span style="font-size:85%;">joined Ravelry (user name Gonzography, please add me as a friend). It's awesome. I can't believe my friends and even my aunt </span><span style="font-size:85%;">have been on this site for years. It's funny because people are freaking out about Google+ but I'm getting excited about Ravelry.<br /><br />Thanks Picturebox guys for always looking at for me! I now have a new way to waste, I mean spend my time.<br /></span>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-19664237995136074972011-06-22T15:09:00.000-07:002011-06-23T00:03:52.340-07:00Side projects<span style="font-size:85%;">Part of the reason I love this doing this documentary is because I'm a knitter. Ever night, after dinner is made and eaten, emails are sent, my boyfriend and I curl up on the couch and either watch movies or tv and I knit. I've only been knitting for the last 3 years or so and I'm honesty not every good. I only started purling a year and half in. I mostly taught myself through books (I wonder if I plug my favorite knitting books if they plug my documentary?) and through the encouragement of some of my more crafty friends.<br /><br />I'm still trying to get crocheting down. My mom is a huge crocheter. She made my baby blanket while I was an infant in her arms. She said she never got into knitting. She's tried to help me with crochet but I just can't get into those hooks.<br /><br />Here's what I've been working on recently:<br /><br />Last summer I heard that I should expect to have a new nephew by the spring of this year. Once I heard the good news I started to make my first baby blanket. Since I'm really good at knitting squares and rectangles, I figured I would make a checkerboard square blanket. I cast on 40 knits then I alternated knitting one row then purling the next for 80 rows (classic stockinette stitch). My good friend Julia advised me to knit all the ends so that the ends of each square won't curl up too much. After 10 months, Jackson Douglas Gonzalez has arrived to the world and he has a new blanket...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QjPNjIyhspM/TgJqlnG_PTI/AAAAAAAAC5Y/JUwj2zJWwmc/s1600/IMG_1695.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QjPNjIyhspM/TgJqlnG_PTI/AAAAAAAAC5Y/JUwj2zJWwmc/s320/IMG_1695.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621172479297797426" border="0" /></a><br />My mom crocheted the edges to give it that more polished look. It's probably not the best blanket ever made, but it was my first blanket and is Jack's first (special) blanket.<br /><br />After this huge task I really didn't have much inspiration to do anything. I had hit a wall with my knitting. During International Yarn Bombing Day I was hanging out with the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/patrusk#%21/YarnDawgz">Yarn Dawgz</a> and Billy was making a little knitted pouch while we were sitting and hanging out. He ended up giving the pouch to David which David continued to gush about for the rest of our shoot. It really inspired me to try to make one myself.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FRDQHfv4JKg/TgJ4h09tVPI/AAAAAAAAC5k/hOaLK3fJOAc/s1600/IMG_8570.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FRDQHfv4JKg/TgJ4h09tVPI/AAAAAAAAC5k/hOaLK3fJOAc/s320/IMG_8570.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621187807460283634" border="0" /></a> I randomly switched between knitting and purling. I made it the size of an ipod/iphone and then I gave it to Amanda to cheer up her day. I made it in one sitting but I thought I could do a better job. So then I did this...<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Tl8fzresVD4/TgJ6EYZ6DaI/AAAAAAAAC5w/lnWGJz3yXtY/s1600/IMG_1699.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Tl8fzresVD4/TgJ6EYZ6DaI/AAAAAAAAC5w/lnWGJz3yXtY/s320/IMG_1699.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621189500600978850" border="0" /></a>Again, it didn't take me long to do and it turned out ok. I still wasn't satisfied. I thought it was time to learn to knit with circular needles and double-sided needles. I took me several tries but ...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j-g-dCEfFDg/TgJ6dQxYj4I/AAAAAAAAC54/mc-iPJ59LcE/s1600/IMG_1705.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j-g-dCEfFDg/TgJ6dQxYj4I/AAAAAAAAC54/mc-iPJ59LcE/s320/IMG_1705.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621189928048693122" border="0" /></a>and what I made was...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8rotFlgbB6I/TgJ64ICaeoI/AAAAAAAAC6A/bAzwvRAR4S0/s1600/IMG_1707.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8rotFlgbB6I/TgJ64ICaeoI/AAAAAAAAC6A/bAzwvRAR4S0/s320/IMG_1707.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5621190389560670850" border="0" /></a><br />A much nicer ipod pouch! I'm pretty proud of myself for accomplishing this.<br /></span>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-56178056163334005662011-06-11T22:39:00.000-07:002011-06-12T00:23:10.513-07:00International Yarn Bombing Day<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">2011 has been a big year so far; a lot of great things have happened, especially for the fiber arts. Saturday June 11th, 2011 was the first </span><a href="http://iybd.blogspot.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">International Yarn Bombing Day</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. It started off as a half-hearted idea to help spread the joy of yarn graffiti but became a huge world-wide sensation. It's really amazing. Thank goodness for the internet. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In this early stage of the documentary, this new holiday snuck up on me but I did not lose hope. John (my producer) and I got together to figure out this best way to utilize our resources. We were only going to be <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">able to be in one place to film. I had to be in San Antonio for the weekend for another obligation so we found some San Antonio knitters/yarn bombers to follow. Brandy </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">B.Link</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> Garcia had contacted me a couple weeks ago about a project was doing with a Texas flag she was knitting that she was going to put over the Riverwalk. The</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yarn-Dawgz/117285058282657"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Yarn Dawgz</span></i></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, which is a male knitting group, were also doing a project that they were inviting us to film. After our shoot was pretty scheduled, we decided we needed more: We did </span><a href="http://yarngraffitidocumentary.blogspot.com/2011/06/give-us-your-international-yarn-bombing.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">a call for footage</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> which is a crazy idea that craft groups around the world could submit there home footage of their projects to us for the documentary. As the day comes to a close we already have 15 submission! I'm sure we'll get more.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Any excuse to come to San Antonio for a weekend is a good excuse but it's especially nice when I'm coming to SA-town for yarn graffiti. Friday was a long, productive day. John and I recruited friend and fellow filmmaker David Bukstein to help us film this weekend. We left Austin around 1:30 and got to San Antonio with just enough time to eat, regroup and leave to meet up with the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Yarn Dawgz</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> at the </span><a href="http://www.atpearl.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Pearl Brewery</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. We were greeted with hugs and smiles. Dino Foxx, Billy Munoz, Sasha Zeilig and Karen Arredondo were already busy installing there knitted piece. John miked them and David and I hopped on shooting all the activity and color. We were instantly at home with this group. </span></div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 228px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o2kYxr9RmSc/TfRWTaX9c7I/AAAAAAAAC5A/V0wD8IuY0NA/s320/Picture%2B1.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617209526735172530" /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">We couldn't stay with the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Yarn Dawgz</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> all night because we needed to me</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">et up with </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">B.Link</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> but we could have easily done so; they were a lot of fun. After lots of whip stitches, interviews, yarn, anecdotes, and Dino doing a quick freestyle while Billy keeps the beat with the knitting needles on the pipe (see photo on right), we left the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Yarn Dawgz</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Our next destination was to meet Brandy at the </span><i><a href="http://www.thediyfactory.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">DIY Factory</span></a></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. The DIY Factory is a wonderful little store and community craft education center. They were having a party of Etsy's Birthday which created a bundle of activity. We were a little more relaxed with our shooting since Brandy was just preparing for her late night installations. We charged some batteries, got some footage of Brandy getting ready, did an interview and got ready to go out on the Riverwalk with Brandy to install her knitted and crocheted pieces. John and I had a little trouble finding parking near where she was going to install the knitted Texas flag, so David came to the rescue and popped out to capture the moment while it was happening. We found parking and met up with David and Brandy and started doing our thing. Because Brandy was installing her pieces after midnight, in the shadows, on the Riverwalk, near the Pearl, she was a little nervous. As filmmakers, we respected this and backed off and took extra steps to not draw attention to what she was doing. We didn't have any problems other than some sprinklers and some drunk passerbys. After a long day, we got some late-night sustenance from <a href="http://www.mitierracafe.com/">Mi Terra</a>.</span></div><div><br /></div><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZyazX5XA54E/TfRm43g0QBI/AAAAAAAAC5M/IMbEpcbUDrM/s320/IMG_2600.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617227762398150674" /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Today we met back up with Dino and Billy from the Yarn Dawgz and just hang out and knit. We got some shots of all the pieces, including Brandy's, in the daylight, and just hung out. Overall I had a really amazing International Yarn Bombing Day. We learned a lot and had a good time. </span></div>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-28961357665589466732011-06-05T12:53:00.000-07:002011-06-05T15:31:46.707-07:00Give us your International Yarn Bombing Day footage!<a href="http://jafagirls.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/knit-ball-international-day.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 199px;" src="http://jafagirls.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/knit-ball-international-day.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span style=" border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Hi! Sarah here, director of the feature length </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/Yarn-Graffiti-Documentary"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Yarn Graffiti Documentary.</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> As many of you know, This Saturday, June 11, is </span><b><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/International-Yarn-Bombing-Day-June-11th-2011/104441312968198"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Intern</span></a></b><b><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/International-Yarn-Bombing-Day-June-11th-2011/104441312968198"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">ational Yarn Bombing Day</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(Woo Hoo!). All around the world, hundreds of crews will simultaneously carry out knitted and crocheted projects. I'm so excited, as a knitter and as a filmmaker. </span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><span style=" border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">My crew will be in San Antonio, TX filming a group as they knit a giant Texas flag over the River Walk. While we're really excited about this my producer, John Moore, and I have been trying to figure out how we can best utilize our resources to capture this awesome event.<br /><br />WE WANT YOUR IYBD FOOTAGE! My crew and I can only be in one place at a time, but we want to gather as much footage as possible for an elaborate montage of bombers around the world. If you plan on taking part of any project and plan to have video, pictures, or any other documentation, please send it to us. Use your IPhone, old Handicam, Flipcam, 16mm, MiniDV, or whatever. We know that most of you are not professional filmmakers or camera-people but that's okay. We just want to make sure we get this world wide event captured! This is an imperative part of the film because it will show the international community of yarn bombers.</span><div class="im"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />Here's how it works: </span></div></span><div class="im"><div><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style=" border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">-- You can upload any materials you have to </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><a href="http://www.wetransfer.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">www.wetransfer.com</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> (up to 2 GB) or </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><a href="http://www.yourfilelink.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">www.yourfilelink.com</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> (up to 5GB). </span></span></div><div><span style=" border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">-- When upload is complete it will give a link to the file. </span></span></div><div><span style=" border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">-- Email this link to </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/freelancelot002@gmail.com"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">freelancelot002@gmail.com</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; "><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></i></b></span></span></div></div><div><span style=" border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">PLEASE NOTE that even though you retain ownership of all media uploaded, by submitting materials you give the filmmakers full permission to use the media in the film, without compensation. Though we can not pay you for your footage, credit will be given for the work done in the end credits of the film. </span></b></i><div class="im"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><a href="http://iybd.blogspot.com/">Official IYBD blog</a></span></div><div class="im"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/International-Yarn-Bombing-Day-June-11th-2011/104441312968198#!/pages/International-Yarn-Bombing-Day-June-11th-2011/104441312968198?sk=wall">Official IYBD Facebook</a></span></div><div class="im"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/1703346@N21/">Official IYBD Flickr</a></span></div><div class="im"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />Again, this is a call to ANYONE doing some sort of fiber art project on this day. This is your chance to feature your work to the world!<br /><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Thanks and keep crafting!</span></span></div></span></div>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-43640445909326404082011-06-01T15:13:00.000-07:002011-06-01T21:54:46.556-07:00Texas Filmmaker Production Fund<span style="font-size:85%;">Well I just mailed off my <a href="http://www.austinfilm.org/page.aspx?pid=300">Texas Filmmaker Production Fund</a> application. It feels good. This is the first in a series of grants that I'm applying for. I'm a prime candidate for this award, not only because I'm a Texas resident, but mostly because I'm a first-time feature film director and I'm doing a feature-length documentary. Plus my documentary subject is pretty frickin' cool.<br /><br />It's not my best work but it works. Here's what I submitted as my work sample. </span><br /><br /><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/24534792?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" frameborder="0" height="309" width="550"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/24534792">TFPF 2011 Work Sample</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/gonzography">sarah gonzography</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</p><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">I'm not going to get my hopes up about the TFPF grant. A lot super talented people apply to it every year so I know the competition is stiff. If I don't get it, I will just try again next year and hope for the best. Getting this grant would be amazing because it would be the catalyst to all the other grants. Grants are funny like that, they usually want to give to you if another grant has already awarded you a grant.<br /><br />I should feel really good but I can't help but feel like I forgot something. I keep reminding myself that there is no use worrying about something I can't do anything about now.<br /><br />We're still doing our <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/Yarn-Graffiti-Documentary">Indiegogo Campaign</a> and it's going well; I appreciate all the contributions but we're not where I would have liked to be. I hope that the next 60 is goes well.<br /></span>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-4923877629780164172011-05-25T10:36:00.000-07:002011-06-02T10:14:49.637-07:00Attention<span style="font-size:85%;">It's been busy here at Yarn Graffiti documentary production central. John and I have been busy working on promoting our <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/Yarn-Graffiti-Documentary">Indiegogo campaign</a> and working on the Texas Filmmaker Production Fund, Cinereach, along with ITVS grant applications. I feel like we have a better chance at TFPF than ITVS but we are guaranteed to not get anything if we don't apply.<br /><br />In the last month or so my documentary has gotten a little bit of attention, specifically in the blog world. All this attention makes me feel amazing. It's as if the bloggers has given me their stamp of approval.<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Check out...</span><br /><br /><a href="http://modernknitting.wordpress.com/2011/05/03/the-yarn-graffiti-documentary/">Modern Knitting</a><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3-lh1Z6Yylw/TecbyNnsM0I/AAAAAAAAC4w/oSekThRIr2c/s1600/brodie.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3-lh1Z6Yylw/TecbyNnsM0I/AAAAAAAAC4w/oSekThRIr2c/s320/brodie.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5613486010004157250" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://laughingsquid.com/upcoming-film-to-document-the-yarn-graffiti-phenomenon/">Laughing Squid </a><br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/05/yarn-graffiti-documentary-needs-your-help-to-get-made-video.php">Tree Hugger</a></span><br /><br /><a href="http://inhabitat.com/guerilla-knitting-documentary-explores-the-origins-of-yarn-graffiti/">Inhabitat</a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><a href="http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2011/05/filmmaker_plans_for_yarn_graff.html">Craftzine</a><br /><a href="http://holykaw.alltop.com/documentary-on-yarn-graffiti-video">Holykaw</a><br /><a href="http://artsmedialab.blogspot.com/2011/05/yarn-graffiti-documentary-indiegogo.html">Arts Media Lab</a><br /><a href="http://fashionatliberty.com/2011/05/06/yarn-graffiti-documentary/">Fashion at Liberty</a><br /><a href="http://pennalternativefuels.com/content/yarn-graffiti-documentary-needs-your-help-get-made-video">Penn Alternative Fuels</a><br /><a href="http://www.coolcraftsites.com/2011/knitting/filmmaker-plans-for-yarn-graffiti-documentary/">Cool Craft Sites</a><br /><a href="http://www.greendump.net/treehugger/yarn-graffiti-documentary-needs-your-help-to-get-made-video">Green Dump</a><br /><a href="http://designtalk.tv/post/5256065460/yarn-graffiti-documentary-heres-a-feature-length">Design Talk</a><br /><a href="http://knittaporfavor.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/the-knitta-documentary-bumper-sxsw/">Knitta Please</a><br /><br />and many more. I've been noticing that a lot of the blogs like to repost from each other. <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/">Tree Hugger</a> seems to be a trend setting in the blog world. It's crazy but it feels really good. </span><span style="font-size:85%;">I won't say too much more but there have been talks with <a href="http://www.trendstop.com/">TrendStop</a>, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/">The Guardian</a>, and <a href="http://www.time.com/time/">Time Magazine</a> about doing a story about the documentary. </span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Many many people have tweeted about the doc and I really appreciate everything. Thanks to @KnittingNews, @ModernKnitting, @LaughingSquid, @knittyattitude, @knittaporfavor, @emperorsclothes, @CrochetBlogger, @StitchLily, @StreetBandits, <span class="_userInfoPopup _twitter">@KnitoriousMEG</span>, @<span class="_username networkName _userInfoPopup">deadlyknitshade</span> <span class="_username networkName _userInfoPopup">@KnitsforLife</span> @<span class="_username networkName _userInfoPopup">laidbackknitter</span><span class="postTime"> </span>and many more.<br /><br />On top of all the blogs and tweets, I've been on Austin's <a href="http://www.koop.org/">KOOP Radio</a> FM91.7 talking about my documentary. Unfortunately they don't archive their shows otherwise I would have shared my part here. It was really fun and since, I've been invited on Sherry Mills's show every week since to kind of keep her company.<br /><br />Long story short, things are good for the documentary. Thanks for all the support.<br /></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);"> </span>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-3476476743326188232011-04-27T10:30:00.000-07:002011-05-05T22:33:10.596-07:00Everything helps<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AWFYjufasAQ/TbhXywP9KfI/AAAAAAAAC4k/GE2mi7LlWpw/s1600/E60C95C0.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AWFYjufasAQ/TbhXywP9KfI/AAAAAAAAC4k/GE2mi7LlWpw/s320/E60C95C0.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600322666092112370" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">So we're a little over two weeks in on Indiegogo and we've lost some momentum as far as contributions but we're still doing good. I feel very loved and supported. I want to keep reaching out to more and more people, just like yarn bombing does. Next week or so will be day 27 / <span style="font-style: italic;">83 days left</span> which is our first quarter marker. I would like to have at least 25% of our goal at that point, $3750.<br /><br />One of Indiegogo's strongest selling features is that it focuses on utilizing social media and online communications to help projects reach the right people.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Here are some things you can do to help:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;">Ask to <span style="font-style: italic;">feature it</span></span> -<span class="messageBody"> If you go to our <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/Yarn-Graffiti-Documentary">Indiegogo page</a> and scroll down, right below the green perks box on the right, there's some pink text, Please click "feature it"! If we get enough people to do this Indiegogo might feature my project on the homepage which will help with the visibility.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;">Like us on Facebook </span>- Make sure to like us on Facebook, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/YarnGraffitiDocumentary" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/<wbr>YarnGraffitiDocumentary</a>, it's such small gesture but it makes all the difference. The more people who like us, the more fb popular we become which again, helps with our online visibility.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;">Follow this blog </span>- please "follow it" because it helps my online visibility and feel free to bookmark it in your browser. Because Yarn Graffiti is based in the blog world, I'm keeping a production blog to log my journey as a filmmaker diving into the yarn bombing world.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;">Join the newsletter</span> - subscribed to my Production Newsletter at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.gonzography.com/newsletter.html" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); line-height: 1.2em; text-decoration: underline; outline-style: none;" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 1.2em; outline-style: none;">http://www.gonzography.com/<wbr>newsletter.html</span></a> you will automatically get updates on what the project is doing. </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:100%;">Tweet</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"> </span><span style="font-family:arial;">- <span style="font-size:85%;">On our indiegogo campaign there's a "tweet" button which makes this really easy for you. I'm </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://twitter.com/gonzography">@gonzography </a><span style="font-family:arial;">and John is </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://twitter.com/jumpupfilms">@Jumpupfilms</a><span style="font-family:arial;">. You can look at our tweets for creative ideas for ways to mention the project. </span></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">You can also follow us if you want.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Talk about it </span></span>- Yes it's just that easy. Talk to your friends about it this amazing documentary. Yarn graffiti is amazing because it brings the urban graffiti world and the warm craft world together - it bridges generations, genders and generally just brings people together.<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;">GIVE</span> - this is an obvious one. We obviously need your contributions, small or large. I didn't put this first on the list because I know some of you can't right now or already have or whatever.<br /><br /><br /></span>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-28031386281774268332011-04-13T11:03:00.000-07:002011-04-13T22:54:38.244-07:00Ready, Set, Go - Launch!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">We did it - we launched our online fundraising campaign on </span><a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/Yarn-Graffiti-Documentary"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">indiegogo</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> for the Yarn Graffiti Documentary. Here goes nothing. It's been online for 24 hours and we've already raised $1,110! It's crazy. </span></span></span><div><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br />The second I published it, I felt a little remorse because I know I could have tightened the edit on the video, and I started to think that maybe $15,000 is too much to ask for in only 110 days. What's done is done. This whole thing is very nerve racking. I keep looking at the Indiegogo account and refreshing the page to see if anyone else has donated and every time someone new has donated, I'm hit with this wave of amazement like, "wow, I can't believe someone just gave us $20!" I've been getting really emotional and sentimental and it's only been a day. I can't imagine how the rest of the next 3 and half months are going to go. I think I need to pace myself.<br /><br /><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 301px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MI_H4b5U7oQ/TaaL1lQshyI/AAAAAAAAC4E/1-oE7kPnlI8/s320/3222095057_82ed39681b.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595313339705886498" />If you don't know, online fundraisers like Indiegogo are all about allowing anybody to raise money for any idea. The sites structure allows users to create a page for their funding campaign, set up an account with PayPal, make a list of "perks" for different levels of donation, then create a social media-based publicity effort. Users publicize the projects themselves through Facebook, Twitter and similar platforms. The site levies a 4% fee for successful campaigns, and 9% for campaigns that fail to reach their target amount. Unlike similar sites such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo disburses the funds immediately. According to the Wall Street Journal, 10% of Indiegogo projects raise their requested amount, while 40% of projects raise at least $500. Indiegogo is also used by already-funded projects to create publicity or find distributors.</span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">We have a lot of money to raise so I hope that this campaign will get us going on being able to shoot more of our subjects. We desperately need to travel and cover more ground. Watch the video, you'll get the idea. It's been a long day. </span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="550" height="339" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tOHOkW-87us" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>If you want to be added our production newsletter <a href="http://www.gonzography.com/newsletter.html">http://www.gonzography.com/newsletter.html</a></div>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-58936906643781628392011-03-24T12:11:00.000-07:002011-03-24T13:22:44.591-07:00What's in a name?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hVJ-pWOwiF0/TYuoC6BM_FI/AAAAAAAACrs/2ztZBUZRoQE/s1600/2972961801_ea18015e54.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hVJ-pWOwiF0/TYuoC6BM_FI/AAAAAAAACrs/2ztZBUZRoQE/s320/2972961801_ea18015e54.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587744530570738770" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Believe it or not but I feel like one of the hardest things in filmmaking is coming up with a good title. Titles can make or break your movie. If you have a good title, it might entice someone to be curious enough to go see it. A good title should be catchy, yet leave you wanting more. If it's too long people don't say or don't say it right. Plus if it's long then the font will be smaller on a movie poster or post card. If it's too short or obscure people won't have any idea what your movie is about. "There exist single-pronoun films that are considered classic. Two come immediately to mind: <em>Them</em> and <em>It (The Terror from Beyond Space)</em>. Somehow those two titles inspire a sense of dread. On the other hand, <em>They</em> conveys nothing—and is only marginally better than its clunky alternate title, <em>Wes Craven Presents: They</em>."<span style="font-weight: bold;"> (</span><a href="http://www.moviefanfare.com/staff-notes/bad-movie-titles/"><strong>06.28.10</strong></a> | <a href="http://www.moviefanfare.com/author/jason-marcewicz/" title="Posts by Jason Marcewicz">Jason Marcewicz</a> ) There is obviously a happy medium but I'm not sure if there is a good criteria.<br /><br />I'm struggling with giving my movie a title. I've honestly just been calling it Yarn Graffiti Documentary but that is very long and not exciting at all. John likes </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >City in Stitches </span><span style="font-size:85%;">or </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Cities in Stitches</span><span style="font-size:85%;">. He also thinks that </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Yarn Bombers</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> or </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Yarn Bomb</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> would be ideal. I'm not sure if Leane and Mandy have that term trademarked or whatever. Some people I met at the Knitted Wonderland installation came up with </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >City Stitchers</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> but John pointed out that sounds silly and almost cartoony. There are a lot of puns with knitting lingo but I don't want to exclude crocheting. I like the term "Fiber Artists" because it includes everyone but I'm not sure if that's a title and it sounds more arty and less graffiti thug-y. I'm working on my treatment and I keep referring to my doc as "Untitled Yarn Graffiti Documentary" which is clunky and not working for me. I'm frustrated. I need help. Any ideas?<br /><br />The other thing is that it's still early to glue myself to a title. For example, if the documentary takes on a heavy feminist element I could call it <span style="font-style: italic;">Femiknitist</span>. How can I come up with a great title when I've only filmed like 1/6 of the material?<br /><br />Please give me some of your suggestions!<br /></span>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-35462807484612515092011-03-15T15:24:00.000-07:002011-03-15T16:16:06.884-07:00Knitta' SXSW<span style="font-size:85%;">So we're about half way through SXSW Film and I've had an unbelievable amount of positive response to the Knitta Doc Bumper that plays before 1/5 of the movies at SXSW. It's exciting to know that people like this small little preview of a my documentary. Joe Nicolosi did an amazing job cutting this together, even though he spelled my last name G-o-n-z-o-l-a-s, and Steven Quinlan's music was perfectly composed for this teaser.<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DANLg-hD29A" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br />Unfortunately I have been so busy with SXSW I haven't been focusing on what Magda has been doing. She was on one of the SXSW panels (which I hope to get some footage from) and has a knitted "exhibit" of knitted yoga balls somewhere in the convention center, apparently near the Green Room, as a part of SXSW Interactive. I still haven't found it but I have been finding pictures...<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-crXtpTL_P6s/TX_tg_MSe5I/AAAAAAAACqA/cZxOjKkKjxE/s1600/INKsxsw.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-crXtpTL_P6s/TX_tg_MSe5I/AAAAAAAACqA/cZxOjKkKjxE/s320/INKsxsw.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584443213937277842" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Also during SXSW week, Magda knitted the stairs of the GSDM building, an Austin-based ad company that’s teaming up with Google to sponsor <a style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);" href="http://blog.gsdm.com/?p=3399" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">The Industry Party</span></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"> </span>on Monday night building for their The Industry Party.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5NtF8YeMuHI/TX_ueYplU3I/AAAAAAAACqI/po_4t1RGEws/s1600/photo1-e1300041121344.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5NtF8YeMuHI/TX_ueYplU3I/AAAAAAAACqI/po_4t1RGEws/s320/photo1-e1300041121344.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584444268743054194" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br />Now that SXSW is coming over the mid week hump, I'm ready to start getting back to my documentary in a serious way. I will definitely be working more on my budget & proposals and will be starting an IndieGoGo very soon to get some initial funding started, on top of contacting over potential knitting, yarn bombing subjects. I hope to travel with Magda and her crew to NYC the last week in March to capture her knitting the inside of the Etsy Building.<br /></span>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-18840030795037850152011-03-06T23:27:00.000-08:002011-03-15T16:26:39.662-07:00Knitted Wonderland<span style="font-size:85%;">What a weekend. After all the permit drama, all the stress and heartache, everything happened smoothly.<br /><br />I woke up early, got to campus, signed the contract, and got my permit. John got us some audio equipment from the IMC and we were ready. We got to the Blanton early to get some "before shots" of the trees. Once 4pm hit all the volunteers seemed to show up at once and start installing their piece on their tree. I had borrowed my friend, Mike Rose's, Canon 7d so that John and I could cover more ground. We split up with our two cameras and shot around. </span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WeD_lFl59bo/TX2w63CChWI/AAAAAAAACp4/RUBH4BvxuB4/s1600/knitted-tree-sweaters-s.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WeD_lFl59bo/TX2w63CChWI/AAAAAAAACp4/RUBH4BvxuB4/s320/knitted-tree-sweaters-s.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583813638260688226" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">It was really relaxed. </span><span style="font-size:85%;">Eventually we shot out the 7D, </span><span style="font-size:85%;">which I only had one card for, and turned our focus on miking Magda and shooting her experience with the volunteers and the Knitted Wonderland. We got some amazing footage and audio of her talking to people.</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />We stayed through dark capturing Wonderland being created. It was so amazing being a part of this process. As we were driving home I just felt great. I got what I wanted to get. It was definitely all worth it. We got up the next day to finish up shooting around. Magda help a lecture about the project and about what she does. Saturday was the icing on the cake. Everything was very rewarding. Magda even invited John and I to come by her house and shoot her knitting some yoga balls for SXSW but we took a rain-check to review footage and decompress. Filming other people working hard and being creative, really take it out of you.<br /></span>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-33601118714242097342011-03-03T19:06:00.000-08:002011-03-10T20:25:05.766-08:00Doing things the "right" way<span style="font-size:85%;">I don't want to say too much but I thought it was worth mentioning: John and I have been working very hard at making this documentary the "right way" meaning getting release forms, contracts and permits etc. For the last two months we have been working with the Blanton Art Museum preparing for the Knitted Wonderland Project that Magda Sayeg is heading. They have been beyond kind in helping us stay organized. They even went so far to get all the participants to sign release forms to be filmed before the event even takes place. I love them. They were the ones helping us get a permit to film on the University campus for the event. I don't want to name names or point fingers but getting the permit has been hell. I'm not even sure if we'll be filming the event tomorrow and Saturday. It's been a long couple weeks.</span>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7450346912778768643.post-48703379236480369622011-02-13T20:29:00.000-08:002011-04-05T14:28:05.135-07:00W is for Willie Nelson<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4ZQlgx1_FWA/TViy44KaxFI/AAAAAAAACm0/kvhnqDiyzxk/s1600/slideshow_1001955117_RBB_W_Hotel_1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4ZQlgx1_FWA/TViy44KaxFI/AAAAAAAACm0/kvhnqDiyzxk/s320/slideshow_1001955117_RBB_W_Hotel_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573401229089490002" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span>Another productive day for the documentary! Magda let it slip on Thursday that she and her crew would be yarn bombing the <a href="http://www.whotels.com/Austin">W</a>'</span>s W sign on Sunday in celebration of Willie Nelson playing at the new <a href="http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/top_stories/New-ACL-Studio-Ready-to-Open-20110210-ktbcw">ACL studio</a>. They had knitted a headband and some braids to be fitted on the W. Magda said we might have to shoot it <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_filmmaking">guerrilla</a> style because she wasn't sure how her project would be received. She was worried that the piece would have to be taken down right after it was put up. Oh, the life of a knittin' graffiti artist!</span><div><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span><div style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">John and I drove back from San Antonio at noon after a weekend of Hanna's wedding stuff.It was a<br /></span></div><div style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">relaxing afternoon, until I got a text from Magda saying that they were going to start the installation at 4pm (she had told me on Thursday it would probably be 6pm). We grabbed our camera and spider brace and headed downtown. </span></div><div style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></div><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1zt5qftBAGE/TViz16IvHgI/AAAAAAAACm8/a6CySOxy8BU/s320/IMG_1522.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573402277591326210" border="0" /></span><div style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">We were greeted by Moody (who works for the ACL studio) and his camera guy .</span></div><div style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">John got to shooting the process while I chatted with John-Paul, the other camera guy. Luckily, they were very happy to share their footage for my doc. Moody asked us to be respectful of</span></div><div style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> Magda's crew and try to stay out of their way. This was a given but we made a special effort to be a fly on the wall. It was super bright outside which made it hard to shoot with our 60D. </span></div><div style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">After some discussion, John went to the car to grab the tripod and move the car (we had parked in a valet spot). I took over shooting. I couldn't make up my mind which lens to use. I put on the 28mm and got some stuff but then got anxious and switched to the 75-300mm. Then the 50mm and the 18-55mm etc. I got some good stuff but I feel better knowing that John-Paul was also getting some coverage. John came back with the tripod just as they were finishing up the W-band and getting ready to drop the braids. </span></div><div style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></div><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6JusVQ8-4Gk/TVi3pBwc6SI/AAAAAAAACnE/EEVvYbSN8ls/s320/IMG_1524.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573406454345165090" border="0" /></span><div><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >The whole time this was going on, people on the street were watching, which was awesome. Magda says that's one of the best parts, was watching people look at the project. Thankfully the project was received well and no one asked them to take it down. One thing about Austin, people love their Willie Nelson!</span><a id="publishButton" class="cssButton" href="javascript:void(0)" target="" onclick="if (this.className.indexOf("ubtn-disabled") == -1) {var e = document['stuffform'].publish;(e.length) ? e[0].click() : e.click(); if (window.event) window.event.cancelBubble = true; return false;}"><div class="cssButtonOuter"><div class="cssButtonMiddle"><div class="cssButtonInner"><br /></div></div></div></a></div></div>Sarah Gonzographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00420737066314955039noreply@blogger.com0