Director statement : I am fascinated by how identity is formed through mimicry, memes, and mirroring on social media. The Big Bloom Drop (Death by Selfie) is an exaggerated reflection of how the obsessive representing of self are enacted in this space, as well as parodying the irrelevancy of an aging female subject in popular media in general. My all-knowing algorithm is telling me to avoid aging at all costs; however, we know we have to resign ourselves to the inevitability of it and in the end, all efforts are futile.
I am actually becoming increasingly concerned about our self-focused society, where the easy entitlement of “I deserve this” is the norm during a time when we should be extending care to others and the planet. Although this isn’t explicitly stated in the film, I hope that my critique is present implicitly and felt throughout.
The Big Bloom Drop (Death by Selfie) was shot using an insta360 x series camera in bullet time, action and 360 modes. This was supplemented by 3D photogrammetry scans of flowers that I made at the shooting location that were composited into the footage in Blender. I also incorporated moments of AI, special effects that I generated on green screens, as well as the 5-second split screen shots of vases dropping near the end. The rest of the film was shot on my Lumix G DSLR camera and edited using Adobe Premiere, Audition, After Effects and Blender.
The entire film was shot on location during an artist residency in the Eagles Estate in Deer Lake Park in Burnaby (just outside of Vancouver) in Canada.
Bio : Lisa Birke is an interdisciplinary artist whose work is a collision of video, performance art, and expanded media practice. She is interested in how repeated representations and narratives inform our conception of the world and the tragi-comic perception of ourselves. Recently, Birke has been exploring immersive multi-media approaches using special effects, AR, and 360 video.
Her award-winning video work has seen more than 100 screenings and installations at film festivals, media centers and in galleries/museums internationally, including Vancouver International Film Festival, Slamdance Film Festival, Florida Film Festival, Arizona International Film Festival, International Short Film Week Regensburg, Stuttgarter Filmwinter Festival for Expanded Media, and the Remai Modern along with many others. Birke is Associate Professor of Digital and Extended Media in the School for the Arts at the University of Saskatchewan.
VIDEO SOURCES : Creative Commons sound clips used in the audio editing: Joyful Vibrance by Universfield — https://freesound.org/s/761766/ — License: Attribution 4.0 Joyful Upbeat Pop for Celebrations by LolaMoore — https://freesound.org/s/767378/ — License: Attribution 4.0 Happy Commercial Music by Seth_Makes_Sounds — https://freesound.org/s/674939/ — License: Creative Commons 0 Upbeat & Quirky Retro Vibe (30s) by Universfield — https://freesound.org/s/755870/ — License: Attribution 4.0 OtherWorlds 1 by RokZRooM — https://freesound.org/s/508005/ — License: Attribution 4.0 Gloomy Atmosphere for Trailers and Movies by Universfield — https://freesound.org/s/713224/ — License: Attribution 4.0 Dancehall simple clean beat (part 2) by Khong_Ten — https://freesound.org/s/607898/ — License: Attribution 4.0 Clean Hiphop Beat.wav by Khong_Ten — https://freesound.org/s/636008/ — License: Attribution 4.0
Pebbles Underground is focused on showcasing and promoting experimental, avant-garde, underground, and no-to-low budget projects by artist-humans from all over the world. Absurd, uncanny, witty, humorous, slow-video – all are welcomed, and loved.
Pebbles Underground is an independent project not funded by any government or corporation, and we intend to keep it that way. Main source of funding is personal donations from humans organizing the project, who are artists themselves, and the main drive of the project is formed by the energy and involvement of the organizers, and the public.
