Someone tried to break into my room at 4AM.

Thankfully, I had all the locks in place. I startled awake and said "What the Fuck!!" in the best angry southern accent I have. It had to be someone associated with the hotel because they opened the door a little (which can only be opened with a key). I slept for several more hours, but once I got up, I just wanted to leave. I waited to shower until I had made the three hour drive to Jackson.

That's the great thing about this trip. It's a cascade of images, personal feelings, strange little voodoo moments, and cultural observations.

The other fascinating thing about Southern Circuit is the range of situations. Some people clap between the films, some only clap at the end. Some raise their hands to ask questions, some just shout them out. There are endless variations in how the different crowds create their own social cues. In that way, it's an interesting study in how to work with crowd dynamics.

I've also shown my work to a wide variety of people. I've had conversations with everyone from artists, college students and curators to pipe-fitters, secretaries and even a guy who raises cows. The question and answer period is different in every place. Each crowd focuses on one angle of the films: technique, concept, aesthetics, psychology, etc. It's been a really great way for me to study how to frame my films to different populations. Sometimes stories are good, sometimes it's semiotics, sometimes it's just as simple as describing techniques.


I showed my work to Millsaps College tonight, got rid of two more DVDs and several people came up to look at the art work from Stark Film. I didn't feel that I had much energy going into it, but thankfully the films look relatively the same each time, so on some level, it doesn't matter what I say.

Tomorrow, I'm going to drive all the way to Asheville, NC, where I've rented a little log cabin outside of town for two nights (everything has been one night per stop as of yet). My screening there is Wednesday, then I'll leave Th AM for Clemson, SC. I'm not sure what the internet situation will be, so there may be a break in posts until I'm hooked up again.

Eric