DeZ Vylenz Log

A captain's log of activities and projects, affiliations and developments involving the Shadowsnake ship and various guerilla film expeditions. Updated in between storms by DeZ Vylenz, Writer - Director - Martial Arts Choreographer

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

CROSS-CULTURE 1: Manga

Not much time since I came back to London to check out any culture or art, as entrepeneurial activities absorb most of my 24 hours. I did pick up on an invite to the Manga Shakespeare launch last Thursday, introduced by Paul Gravett comics historian and Emma Hayley, publisher. Although the typical big eyed manga style aestethics don't appeal to me (I prefer the more classic realistic Lone Wolf and Cub style by Kazuo Koike & Goseki Kojima, who also created Samurai Executioner), the whole endeavor is interesting and for manga fans worth checking out: http://www.selfmadehero.com/.

Besides the manga line, they also have some other interesting classics and comics in development. Any independent publisher deserves attention for having the courage to bring out what they believe in and in this case it seems that they really focussed on the authentic text and language of Shakespeare.

Also interesting to see how a typical Japanese medium is now being produced in the UK and elsewhere. The Bard is launched into the 21st century in a form more accessible to young audiences and plenty of debates to come whether comics actually stimulate people to start reading "real" literature. In my opinion it does, whoever's really interested in the origins of the text will delve deeper, whoever is'nt will at least know about Shakespeare and not just about some big titted celebrities or pop stars.

The 1797 venue was the Horse Hospital, Colonnade. Interesting floor with ridges between the cobbles, for the blood to run out.

On Saturday, David Lloyd had a talk and launch of his new comic Kickback at the Streatham Library. Interesting to see how he drew the comic in black and white, copied it, then used crayons and pencils to colour it in and scanned the rest to complete it on the computer. The V for Vendetta chiaroscuro style is recognizable, but Kickback has a more modern feel. David wrote the book himself, a crime-noir set in a fictitious American city. It originally appeared in French in two parts, and indeed has a European feel although the English version is a comic sized hardback.

Talking about culture: today is Valentine's day, the tackiest, nastiest piece of commercial mass programming the whole Main Stream is tapping into. It' creates a whole fake atmosphere around the most universal, valuable and intense emotional experiences: Love. The word itself is not even trustworthy anymore and has been stripped of its meaning. Even X-mas (another shopping spree fest) still has a general sense of social community, while this Valentine business re-inforces the idea that one is incomplete without a partner/lover to send cheesy pink greeting cards too.

Typical also of the herd mentality that there needs to be a holiday designated to kind gestures instead of leaving it to genuine spontaneity. These kind of dynamics are part of the consumerism we're forced into, to buy all the bullshit you don't really need. Credit card transactions are probably peaking today and next week rotting roses will pile up next to the garbage.

Which brings us to another world, where everything is stripped down to the basic mode of survival, the film: Apocalypto by Mel Gibson. Much written about, much criticised and an interesting Hollywood "experiment", but I'll get back to that next time. Gotta run.

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Wednesday, February 07, 2007

City dynamics

Just returned to London a few days ago, after seven weeks of incessant travelling through the extremities of urban environment to pristine jungle. Strange awareness, scouting for a film while nearly moving through that organic and cinematic medium called Life. Very productive time as the foundation for a number of projects and deals has been laid down. While at the IFFR last week, I went up an escalator with a producer and as I moved to stay on the right side instinctively, he remarked: "you're a typical Londoner" which made me realize that in some ways we're all programmed to some extent in our daily lives to move and act in certain patterns.

Programmed or conditioned to rules and laws is the last I would associate a free spirit like myself with, but having said that, it is a very efficient and necessary form of conduct when you live in a city of millions moving past each other day by day. New Yorkers have the reputation of being cynical and rude, but on the contrary I find that everybody is very respectful of each other's space since there is so little of it. Anytime a heavy would step on your toes by accident, an apology would follow, while on the other hand in the Netherlands e.g. people always block escalators or entrances, oblivious to anybody who wants to pass by in a hurry. Probably because most people actually come from small villages and places where space is in abundance and time of no real essence.

These are things expatriates hardly have time to think about, but once you've lived in a few different cities, you quickly adapt to the main vibe of the city while keeping your own culture and slowly mutate into a cosmopolitan hybrid. This is reflected in the creative industries and Great Brittain, (especially London with nearly 80% of foreign origin) remains one of the trendsetting countries when it comes to music, film and design.

Art and cinema are important bridges in the global village that the world is becoming today, while the internet is rapidly changing the way we think about time and space.

I have a few thousand stills to download to my hard drive and a dozen rolls of slide film to develop and transfer to digital format, but in the Stills gallery I will upload snapshots/slices of life from different cities. Because for all the polution, soaring real estate prices, congestion, crime etc, cities still remain physical epicenters of activity and places where people from different corners of the world meet. And shoot some badass film or jam some visceral musical landscapes together.

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Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Micro-cosmos 1: Film festivals

I’m literally standing at one of the internet terminals at the 36th International Film Festival Rotterdam, which I would highly recommend for filmmakers who want to present their projects to potential producers and funds. Though Amsterdam is a bit of a second base after London, it’s the first time I’ve had the opportunity to visit myself, only after producer Eddy Wijngaarde from the Back Lot in Suriname (19-29 April 2007 the festival is on, see: www.thebacklot.sr) insisted I postpone my flight to London (when I was in Paramaribo to scout for the next film and other projects). The overall vibe is young and energetic with also established exponents within the industry present, so overall there is a lot of emphasis on networking as is the case with most festivals. I’m pretty saturated after two years+ of touring with The Mindscape of Alan Moore and doing hired film work for music festivals such as All Tomorrow’s Parties. So I usually only attend festivals if I have work to do there or on special invitation, to present a film or project (or assist a friend with that) because both music and film festivals become a different reality on their own after a few days and can absorb a lot of time away from creative activities. But they are important at times, as they give a perspective on what you do and what others do with the medium. In addition, the Rotterdam Film Commission is also present and from what I’ve heard and experienced so far, they are incredibly supportive and forthcoming towards filmmakers who either want to shoot in Rotterdam as a location or base a branch of their production company there. Very promising as a film city, and hopefully London sets up similar schemes to stimulate film making activities.

The part that is most interesting to people within the film industry is the Cinemart, where filmmakers get the chance to meet with production and distribution companies, film commissions and matchmakers that link various parties together, hopefully leading to fruitful collaborations. This event opens on Sunday and runs for three days after. So far I haven’t had the chance to see films in between all the meetings and events, but the program is a mixture of “art house” (lacking a better term for now), genre films and Hollywood. This year Filmmaker in Focus is on: Johnnie To (Hong Kong) and Abderrahmane Sissako (Mauretania).

In particular the Johnnie To Films interested me, as I’m also interested in producing neo-noirs and action thrillers myself, but they were all sold out once I discovered them in the program. Barely squeezed into PTU, missed the opening--an unforgivable act—but nonetheless enjoyed the film, which was fast paced, stylishly shot and infused with a slapstick sort of humour, while propelling forwards as a thriller. The synopsis of Exiled and Election looked very promising too. To get an idea: something like a Michael Mann film with a Hong Kong vibe, but that description would be too limiting for Johnnie To’s unique approach. Check it out.

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Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Preface to the Shadowsnake Logbook

The verbal rants and ruminations in this logbook are not in chronological order, more like flashes from those elusive states of consciousness called soul, geography, memory and of course life…

In this case it’s the life of a guerilla film maker / writer / producer on the move, so whether a regular log will be feasible remains to be seen. Boring details from the battlefield of bureaucracy, i.e. meetings, production work and developments in the world of finance shall be left out, and the focus more on the creative aspect of the projects and expeditions.

All I can say for now is that the stamina needed to be a filmmaker has to be that of a long distance runner, while at times you’re expected to explode like a 100 meter sprinter in the middle of a marathon. That sums up independent filmmaking, several jobs have to be handled by few people, and therefore maximum organization and time management is key.

So these writings probably won’t be as long as this introduction. At times, when current project developments seem too tedious to write about, I might insert bits of writings from the past few years, possibly not even related to film. I automatically assume any thing written here is copyrighted or intellectual property in a world that seems addicted to the concept of control and ownership. Unfortunately, that is how the system is run, so if anyone wants to use excerpts, please contact for permission or at least quote your sources. Vice versa, I always quote sources unless the author is anonymous of course.

Multi-channeled perception and expression (a holistic view upon things) is the best way to describe the writing. As human beings we are similar to radios anyway, able to transmit and receive vibes out there.

Writing a logbook as spontaneously as possible in the little time that is available, while working on various different things, results in a hyper state, a sort of Multi-track mind. So at times this logbook might seem erratic or incoherent or what else; you’re free to reply with comments.

In addition it's probably also an appreciation and respect for all the interesting places on this planet with different characters and situations to surprise us.

I’m entirely new to this, as I only use the internet for business correspondence and quick superficial research. But a friend in London, a publishing editor (and walking and talking encyclopedia of modern pop culture) recommended and persisted I should start, because I had taken for granted that many people/audiences wanted to know what was going on behind the camera and the pen. All the hustle and bustle in the kitchen, so to speak. The Heat in the Street, the march through the field, the pulling on the sails, the action on and off set.

And I have to admit, it suddenly did force me to think back (before filmmaking became such a life absorbing profession grown out of obsession) and realize how interested I was in all the new developments of writers, musicians, filmmakers and artists bringing us genuinely new and exciting material in different media, whether it be film, music, literature, fine / rough arts in general…

So here it goes, as said before, the contents of writing to follow from now on is as unknown to me as it is to you. Your comments and questions might help to direct the topics and what is a collection of various ruminations on different media and Shadowsnake projects.

I suppose this blog is a new medium to me and I regard it not so much as a personal digital diary, but more something of a digital narration, or a digital notebook developing in various fields of interest.

Pictures / Stills I should be able to upload now and then, that’s a thousand words each after all.

Best Regards,

DeZ Vylenz

Writer – Director – Martial Arts Choreographer

Shadowsnake Films

London-Amsterdam-Axis Mundi Connections

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Wednesday, January 17, 2007

The First Expedition

Though the crew are a multi-cultural freebooting multi-specialized mongrel bunch in the post-colonial age of modern enterprise, The Shadowsnake managed to officially sail out under the London flag in 2001. A space odyssey had begun. Exploration of that particular area of space called cinema… The crew: Intergalactic Pirates, Psychonauts, Poets, Roots Drummers, Deep Space Draftsmen, traditional craftsmen, engineers , streetwise scientists and many more Crazy Men and Women embarking on a journey through the universe. A journey to the end of the night…

The first expedition: The Mindscape of Alan Moore, part 1 of the Shamanautical Series, a quintology.

The production, financing and promotional tour of this film took a few years, but finally the film will be available on DVD early 2007 in a double disc edition with over 202 minutes of bonus material. Much time and perfectionism has been invested in the final distribution phase with only a few test drives left.

The basic approach is to produce and create films and stories that are exciting and inspiring to ourselves. Not escapism from, but confrontation with a deeper underlying reality.

The next films in development: Pavilion, a martial arts thriller. Burning, a Caribbean Noir.

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