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snailMAIL
Real2Reel
c/o rampART Creative Centre
17
Rampart Street, London E1 2LA
virtualPHONE +44 7050 674464
virtualFAX +44 7050 674467
eMAIL
real2reel@
riseup.net |
INTRO:
Founded as an
off-shoot of Lifecycles (Pedal Powered Cinema And Multimedia Outreach Collective)
in mid 2002, Real2Reel is a small group of video artists making short and
occasionally amusing films about counter-cultural activities, social struggles
and environmental concerns, all with a strong grassroots direct action bias.
AIMS:
Activism meets
art, information and education through entertainment - our work aims at
being informative, entertaining, inspiring and empowering. Our hope is
to convey hope, promote alternatives and ideas that facilitate positive
change. However, we also recognise that video activism has two roles;
not only to attempt fill the void left by filters of the mainstream media,
but also a resonpsibilty to document events both as a historical record
and also perhaps as evidence if required.
NETWORKING:
Real2Reel is part of the blooming grassroots particapatory media movement
and works within an informal network that is rapidly growing around the
world. To find out more about the politically conscious artists and activists
that are using video to support social, economic and environmental justice
campaigns, check out the UK
IMC video projects pages. Real2Reel regularly contributes to Indymedia
UK, is part of the IMC
UK Video group and also works with other video artists such as Undercurrents.
We welcome being invited to film at events but prefer encouraging others
to take control of their own representation and so are equally happy to
provide training and workshops. Recently we organised a weekend long gathering
of video activists and artists at the rampART
creative centre and are planning follow up events.
SCREENING:
Like all artists we are exhibitionists and obviously we like our work
to be viewed. If you wish to screen our videos that's great, no need to
ask for permission, just do it! Our films, or collaborative projects,
have been screened at the BeyondTV and Brief Encounters film festivals
as well as public screenings around the country. If you are interesting
in arranging a screenings; check out these DIY guides from; VAN,
ENR,
and from Indymedia.
Keep reading to find out how to get hold of our films and about our Creative
Commons license.
LANGUAGE:
Needless to say, as visual artists we ultimately hope to develope our
ability to such a level that we can routinuely transcend the barriers
of spoken language. In the meantime however, in order to make our work
available to the widest possible audience base, we have made great efforts
to provide english transcripts for our work. We encourage people to translate
these into their own language for screening and distribution purposes
and have set up a pilot
website to help facilitate much wider collaboration on subtitling.
Additionally we have run workshops on subtittling and are happy to share
our experiences and skills.
ONLINE:
Almost all of
our videos are available online. Low bandwidth versions of modem friendly
sizes can be found on Indymedia
but are generaly not a high enough quality for screening.
We try to support and encourage
the use of open non-proprietary formats while retaining a high level of
practicial accessibility. For our earlier work we compromised with the
use MPEG1 which play on most media players and even quite low spec hardware.
Additionally these files can be burnt directly to VCDs compatible with
most DVD players. You can find MPEG1 versions for download from www.ngvison.org
and also from our
FTP site provided by Commedia.
However, now that DVD players are so cheap and universally available we
have started to encode to MPEG2 for physical distribution and archiving.
These are generally a little big for online archives so we tend to upload
using some varient of MPEG4 to keep file sizes down. MPEG2 versions can
be found on ourmedia.org
/ archive.org while MPEG4
(Xvid usually) can be found on video.indymedia.org.
Occasionally we have upload unedited clips to the
V2V Network when we have something that other people might want to
incorporate into their own work (for example the Bush statue being pulled
down in Trafalgar square).
We experimented with the VP3
codec and placed such content on the
V2V Network but had too many complaints from people unable to figure
out how to play the files. As soon as we figure out which is the most
widely adopted standard, we intend to start providing our content in totally
open source non-patent encumbered format such as the Xvid, H.264 or the
Theora video codec in an Ogg or Matroska wrapper.
| Some
R2R videos online This
is not an up-to-date or comprehensive list, do a web search using
the terms 'Real2Reel' and 'video' to find our latest work. |
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Rampart
Street - 9 mins
This video was
quickly thrown together for a presentation about social centres
for the European Creative Forum. This two part video covers a number
of events that took place at the rampART Creative Centre and Social
Space during it's first few months.
Find out more
about the rampART from www.rampart.co.nr |
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London
Action Resource Centre - 2 mins
A quick film
about LARC which was made for an evening of films, presentations
and discussion about reclaiming space.
Find out more
from www.LondonARC.org.
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Indefensible
- 5'40" rough short & 28min full version
Covering several
days of colourful and spirited protests againt the DSEi arms fare
held in Londons Docklands in 2003, this collabrative video was produced
by the
Indymedia UK video group and contains Real2Reel footage including
the blockade of ExCel, and the waterborne action.
Find out more
about DSEi from www.disarmdsei.org
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Big
Brother - 2 mins
The police seem
to have an unhealthy interest in the activities of the Wombles and
the comings and goings at their (now evicted) occupied social centre
at 93 Fortess Rd, Kentish Town. |
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Super
Trooper - 3 mins
The cameras
are out again in force as the wombles top the bill at the ex-Grand
Banks, another occupied social centre (now evicted). |
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Chalk
Farm - 2 mins
A squatted shop
front provides the venue for a week long alternative art exhibition
about big oil and climate change.
See also, Art
Not Oil, our video made a year later when the exhibition is displayed
outside the National Portrait Gallery for the BP sponsored national
portrait award ceremony. |
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Buy
Nothing Day - 1 min
A short video
montage as a reminder for Buy Nothing Day which takes place in November.
The filming took place in Plymouth a couple of years ago. |
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Love
Bomb - 3 min
Valentines days
gets a face lift at Eros as Venus explodes her love bomb in Londons
busy Picadilly. |
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The trials and tribulations of
The Littlemoor
Four - 5 mins
A sequal to the
Pink Castle story. Four people are arrested while trying to stop
a farmer from planting genetically modfied maize. Although they
are aquitted when they go to court, the prosecution appeals and
the high court orders a 'retrial' |
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Bayer
Noise - 5 mins
A noise demo
by anti-GM protesters is thwarted by police using Section 14 of
the Public Order Act. This video clearly illustrates the way the
police unlawfully abuse the law in order to deny us our rights. |
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Tractors
& Trollies - 4'45"
Farmers, campaigners
and consumers travelled from all over the UK to converge on London
on the 13th October to express their opposition to the governments
plans to allow the commerciallisation of genetically modified crops. |
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No
Allianz For Bayer GM
On 14th October,
the offices of Allianz in London recieved a visit from anti-GM campaigns.
Alliaz is the major shareholder of Bayer, the main company pushing
for commercialisation of GM crops in the UK. |
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Sky
Roma Demo
A rather amusing
video of a demo held outside the Sky Studio in Rome on the 3rd October
and attended by a media activists (and their footballs) from around
europe and beyond. |
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Modified
Wheat
Protesters in
the UK remove an trial site of experimental wheat to try to disrupt
research and commercialisation of genetically modified crops. These
activists aren't shy about what they are doing and provide interviews
while they pull. |
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Independence
FROM America
An alternative
4th of July celebration. The historic Mayflower Steps in Plymouth,
UK, hosts an unholy wedding between Bush and Blair to the unease
of all present. |
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Bayer
Blockade 2003
Another anti-GM
action, in which a handful of protesters close to Bayers chemical
plant in cambridge during a five hour blockade. This video was produced
for a Direct Action training session. |
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GM
Debate? - 25 minutes
Our longest
(and most boring) film to date. Dozens of people who attended the
governments public consultation events on GM foods speaking out
about what they thought of the process. Actually it's not that boring.
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Troubled
Times
April 2003.
When censorship struck in Totnes, Totnes struck back with its own
newspaper. This short video tells the tale of the Trouble Times
to the sound track of David Rovics. |
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Minstry
of D'Fence
This video will
get you cheering in a whistle stop weapons inspection at USAF Fairford
in the UK, one of the few airbases in the world from which the massive
B52 bombers of the U.S. can operate. The airfield was used for daily
bombing of Iraqi civilians during the subsequent invasion of Iraq. |
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Soup
Kitchen
A protest in
London at the introduction of changes to Asylum law. January 2003
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Scrap
Trident
Plymouth people
demonstrate against refurbishment of a Trident nuclear submarine.
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Farmers
and the GM Maze
A 10 minute
mini documentary about GM Maize variety Chardon LL. Made especially
for dairy farmers. |
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Anti-biotic
resistance is fertile / Hilton
August 2002.
When it is revealed that an illegal genetically modified organism
has been unlawfully released into the countryside local people took
direct action in an attempt to remove the threat. |
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Stop
Live Exports
This quick edit
of historic footage taken by one of the collective in 1995, was
made in response to the resumption of exports of live animals in
Dover in 2002.
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Convoy
/ Messages to DEFRA
The first vido
made by the group that became Real2Reel. Anti-GM campaigns journey
to London from all over the UK to dump bags of trashed GM crops
at the door steps to DEFRA. |
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| Note:
Some rights reserved, see copyright info below. Videos are encoded
in PAL and
all are produced as 352 x 288 @ 25 fps (with the exception of low
bandwidth versions).
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OFFLINE:
If you don't have access to broadband or can't be arsed to download stuff
yourself, you will be pleased to know that we also produce video CDROMs,
and DVDs. These can be obtained directly from us, or, if there is enough
interest, we may start distributing via CultureShop (www.cultureshop.org)
We will require payment to
cover the costs of the CD burner, blank media, labels, spoilage, cases,
packaging, postage etc. We now have a bank acount so you can make cheques
payable to 'Real2Reel'
| Real2Reel
Volume 1 - July
2002 to July 2003. |
- Messages to DEFRA (Convoy) [9 mins]
- Stop Live Exports [3 mins]
- Antibiotic Resistance is Fertile [7 mins]
- Scrap Trident [3 mins 45 secs]
- Blockade Blues [5 mins]
- Tridenting It [1 1/2 min]
- Soup Kitchen - asylum rights [4 1/2 mins]
- Ministry Of D'Fence [6 mins]
- Sir Ray Tindle Ate My Hamster [2 1/2 mins]
- Bayer Blockade 2003 [7 mins]
- Modified Wheat - Jeolotts Hill [4 1/2 mins]
- Independence FROM America [6 mins]
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The
videos are supplied on a PAL MPEG1 VCD which should play in most
DVD players and the majority of computers.
The disks
also contain radio shows (buynothing day, drive time, independence)
and PDF resources from some of the actions shown - leaflets, booklets
etc. Obviously this extra content can only be accessed using a computer.
Other formats
may be available on request. |
| Real2Reel
Volume 2 - August
2003 to Sept 2004. |
- Sky Demo Roma - 5 mins
- Tractors & Trollies - 4'45"
- The Littlemoor Four - 5 mins
- No Allianz For Bayer GM - 3'35"
- Bayer Noise - 5 mins
- Buy Nothing Day - 1'43"
- Water Sports - 3 mins
- Indefensible - 5'40" IMC UK Video Group project
- LARC the video - 1'33"
- Chalk Farm Gallery - 2'24"
- Big Brother - 1'35"
- Super Trooper - 3'19"
- RampART Street - 9 mins
- Love Bomb - 3 mins
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The
compilation also contains additional contect including; DSEi radio,
Anti-war Radio, Buy Nothing radio, interviews, and various other
bits and pieces. Obviously
this extra content will only be accessable using a computer with
the appropriate software installed.
We made
an effort to provide english transcripts and subtitle files in various
languages. Feel free to translate further. |
| Real2Reel
Volume 3 DVD -
October 2004 to October 2005. |
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- World Naked Bike Ride London 2005
- London Critical Mass 11th Aniversary ride
- Green Machine (pedal powered washing machine)
- ParkLife occupation of Dept for Transport
- Art Not Oil - BP Portrait Awards
- Not Shoot To Kill - Justice for Jean Charles
- G8 Bike Ride
- The Basement (a social centre in Manchester)
- Our House (failed squat eviction)
plus many
many more...
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As
a bonus, the additional capacity available on the DVD has been used
to pack in an additional 15 films from 2002 and 2003. These include
such classics as the 'Ministery of D'Fence' film about citizen weapon
inspections at Fairford Airbase prior to the invasion of Iraq; Message
to DEFRA, Hliton Risitance and many many more old favorites.
For the first time, all the films (including the bonus videos from
our archives) have been encoded in full resolution high quality
MPEG2 format ready for screening from any DVD player or DVD capable
computer.
The DVD contains additional material which can only be accessed
by computers. This is mostly audio files from associated radio projects.
We are currently working on english transcripts in order to provide
subtitted versions of the DVD in the near future. Volunteers for
translations would be appreciated.
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COPYRIGHT:
All our work, unless otherwise stated, is made available under the Creative
Commons NonCommercial-ShareAlike License. . This basically means that
you can copy and distribute our work freely as long as there is no profit
involved. If you use our work, the licence terms must persist. Credit
for our work is appreciated but not essential. Licenses for commercial
use or broadcast can be negotiated (ask for our fee card). We
are working on a collection of video loops for VJs and other video artists
which will probably be released under a Creative Commons licence but without
our usual non-commercial clause.
MONEY:
Sometime we
sell our footage or stills to the mainstream news services and any resulting
fees/royalties received are feed back into the project to pay for travel,
expenses, tape stock, blank media, equipment etc. Real2Reel is a not-for-profit
organisation and does not employ anyone. The artists involved volunteer
their time and efforts for free.Needless to say, we welcome funding or
donations, both financial or equipment. Computers, large hard drives,
microphones, used DV tapes, lenses, filters, tripods, batteries, additional
cameras etc would all find a good home.
EQUIPMENT:
Real2Reel had a bad year in 2004, with the theft of our wonderful Sony
TRV900E 3CCD miniDV camera, telephoto and zoom lenses, microphones and
our minidisk recorder. Appeals for funds to replace the equipment bought
in under 10% of the amount needed and it left us feeling disillusioned.
However, having dipped into our personal pockets we got back on track
eventually. We are now looking to replace our aging second hand cameras
as the heads are all worn out and frequently let us down. Now into 2006
we are looking into retro fitting firewire hard-drives to these cameras
as a cheap alternative to the new hard disk based video cameras.
SOFTWARE::
When we started out we were not impressed by the provision of open source
video editting systems so we stuck with commerical Micro$oft Windoze applications.
We cut our teeth with Adobe Premier but got fed up with it crashing so
we briefly flirted with Avid DV Express before settling down for a short
but sweet love affair with Sonic Foundry Vegas (now owned by Sony). We
used BBMPEG
or TMPEGenc
to encode mpeg1 and found VirtualDub
indispensible. While we're recommending software, Media
Player Classic and VideoLanClient
are highly recommended! However, these days we've pretty much abandoned
the Windows/PC platform. We are keen to help develop greater support and
recognition for open source video application and have tinkered a little
with Kino, looked in confussion and awe at Cinerrela and more recently
got quite excited about LiVES.
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