Special Projects
"Behind the Scenes" documentation
Documenting the preparation and efforts of people behind the scenes of a big project or event can add new perspectives for audiences, appreciation for participants, and a way to look back and see the changes over time. One such annual event I have had the privilege of working with since 1985 is Pacific University's Lūʻau & Hōʻike. Having documented the event for so many years, I have seen the enormous changes which have taken place in each year’s creation of this famous Polynesian showcase.
50Films Project - Creating 50 short films in 365 days
As part of a video project, I witnessed an artist embark on and complete an exercise of producing 50 paintings in one year, and this has always stuck with me as something I would like to accomplish. I feel that this level of commitment to an art form will only improve one's skills, and open up new ideas and opportunities. I have ventured to produce a body of short films as time permits, solely for exploring my craft. This has been an ongoing pursuit of mine for the last 10 years.
I have set 3 goals for this endeavor and they are to:
Explore and develop new techniques, styles and skills in my craft
Collaborate and create with other artists and people on projects
Seek out stories of courage, beauty, community and personal meaning
These programs are all produced at no charge.
If you have ideas of people or topics for a short film, please contact me.
Diversity Education
I have had the opportunity to work on a number of diversity education (inclusion) type programs for a variety of clients, as well as on a private venture with Doug Freeman of Ideascape, Inc., who wrote and co-produced some of the programs. I did a series of programs for the Shriners Hospital for Children - Portland - with the message that "Kids Just Want to Have Fun!" and "What's the Difference?". Whether a child has one arm, is in a wheel chair, or has green hair - All kids want to have friends and have fun.
Whether a child has one arm, is in a wheel chair, or has green hair - all kids want to have friends and have fun!
Promoting Sustainability in Business
Partnering with Doug Freeman of Ideascape, Inc. again (our company was called Arnold Creek Productions - named after the creek which runs near our houses), we produced an award winning DVD - "Architecture to Zucchinni: The people, companies and organizations pioneering sustainability", and a series of other programs highlighting sustainable practices and results across a wide spectrum of industry - from farming to building, manufacturing to pizza production, and entrepreneurship to grocery chains.
"Artist Response to 9.11"
Photo by Wolfgang Staehle - NYC Skyline on September 12, 2001
A team based in Portland, OR created a documentary called "Artist Response to 9.11"
Their intention was to capture the feeling that swept across the country within hours and weeks after the events of September 11th. This program is a time capsule of the initial responses within a week after the attacks. The subject matter is about how artists dealt with and reacted to September 11th. Footage and projects were gathered from around the nation and the world. Everyone who participated in this project, including the creators, volunteered their time and efforts to pull this program together within a three-month period.
The program contains interviews with 20 artists around the country and a sampling of projects ranging from printmaking, to painting; animation to web design; illustration to photography; video art to new media installation; collage to murals; and poetry to music. The program illustrates the important role that artists play in our society. The creators hope the documentary will evoke a message of hope for the future.
Produced By: Dana Plautz & David Decker of Mercury Productions
Written by: Dana Plautz
Music Composed By: Greg Ives
Here are some of the successes the program has had to date:
* Aired on WNET Metro Arts 13 station in NYFeat
* Feature story in the Oregonian Newspaper, Portland, OR Sunday March 10th, 2002
* Featured on Portland's KPTV Channel 12 news for the six-month anniversary of 9/11
* 10 minute Segment on Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Oregon Art Beat January 3, 2002
* Feature segment on KEX News radio 1190, December 14, 2001
* Clips were shown on March 7, 2002 at the Museum of Television and Radio's panel titled "The Artistic Community Responds".
* Shown at Lewis and Clark College March 11th, 2002 and Portland State University April 24th, 2002. Also shown in various departments at UC Berkeley, NYU, UCLA,Columbia University, USC and Penn State.
* Accepted for the NY Independent Film and Video Festival and was screened in L.A. July 13, 2002 at the Fairfax Laemmle Theatre in Hollywood. Also shown in NY Sept. 23, 2002.
* Accepted for the Ashland Independent Film Festival and shown in 2 screenings April 3 – 4, 2003.
* Part of the Fulton Street Gallery exhibit in Troy, NY. Exhibit dates Sept. 4 - Oct. 6, 2002
* The program has also been requested by numerous community and art groups to show at conferences and meetings.
* Shown on WNET Metro Arts 13 in the NY area on Easter Sunday and on May 9th and 12th in 2002.
Awards:
* Gold Award Winner: 2002 Aurora Film & Video Awards — Art/Social Impact/Documentary category.
Dana Plautz - Writer, Co-producer
Dana Plautz, a graduate of Lewis and Clark College, spent 10 years in the Hollywood entertainment industry holding senior posts at Embassy Communications and Hanna-Barbera Studios. Followed by 13 years in high tech at Intel, Corp. specializing in the area of new media and emerging applications. During her tenure at Intel she also founded and chaired the Art and Entertainment Committee for the Intel Research Council. She was a founding member of the Board of Directors of Eyebeam in N.Y. where she served from 1998 to 2007. She is a regular conference speaker and her writing on the field of art and entertainment has been published in the Leonardo Journal and the ACM Computer in Entertainment Magazine to name a few. Plautz also has served on numerous art and education boards. She held a government appointment for 6 years as Chairman for the Oregon Film and Video Office. She is an accomplished video and web producer. Currently she is founder and partner of www.MrsP.com that won the American Library Association honor of "Great Web Site for Kids" along with The National Parenting Center 2009 Seal of Approval.
Credits
Produced by Dana Plautz & David Decker
Directed by Dana Plautz & David Decker
Written by Dana Plautz
Music Composed and arranged by Greg Ives
Audio post-Production by Greg Ives, Aurastan Digital Post, Portland, Oregon
Edited by David Decker & Stevie Drake-Scudder
Oregon Director of Photography: David Decker
Bay Area Director of Photography: Robert J. Allan
Washington D.C. Director of Photography: Stanley Rose
Audio Engineer: David Barberis
Graphics: Tom Bennett
Voice Talent: Jodi Lorimer
Duplication: Allied Vaughn - Portland
Artist who appeared on camera:
* Jocelyn Audette
* Mark and Rae Mahaffey – Mahaffey Fine Arts
* Victor Maldonado
* John Sprietsma
* Jenny Rideout
* Anna Joyce Maldonado
* Leah Jakusovszky
* Brett Simon
* Laura Baptiste, Public Affairs Officer, Smithsonian American Art Museum
* Katie Murphy, Program Assistant, Smithsonian American Art Museum
* Emily Winetz, Public Affairs Assistant, Smithsonian American Art Museum
* Quentin Rankin, Paintings Conservator, Smithsonian American Art Museum
* Tom Irion, Museum Specialist--Conservation, Smithsonian American Art Museum
* Sarah Loffman, Curatorial Assistant, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Artist who contributed photos
* Choire Sicha NY images
* Wolfgang Staehle used in opening titles
* David M Hudson of the Armory
* John Sprietsma for Pioneer square images
Artist who contributed websites
* John Melick, Blue Medium Inc. “I love NY Art Benefit” and David Zwiner, Carolyn Alexander, Carla Chammas, Curt Marcus , James Cohan
* Here is NY, Catherine Lascoumes-Friedman
* the ART project founded by Nina Meledandri
* *Newsgrist | where spin is art* edited by Joy Garnett
* Wilfried Agricola de Cologne, the Virtual Memorial Project
* Ka-Ping Yee and Bob Sanders of UC Berkeley, the Safe Millennium
* Brooke A. Knight, “One Day in New York, About a Month After the Attacks”
* Jeff Gates, "Dichotomy: It Was a Matter of Time and Place."
* Bill Bartee, “WhyProject.org”
* Jeff McMahon and Lance Gharavi, 911: Calling the Creative Community
* John Morton, 911-groundzero.org
* Margaret Weigel, re:constructions, a project of MIT's Comparative Media Studies Dep't.
* Alex Galloway, Mark Tribe, and Robert Atkins, Rhizome.org "911"
* Alan Lynes, ArtistCares
* USC School of Cinema and Television Digital Animation department
* Webarchivist.org
* All of the many artists who contributed work on the websites used
Other artwork
* Brett Simon – Untitled video
* Artist of the Savage Gallery Artist Respond 9.11
* Paintings by Jocelyn Audette and other contributors to "Art For America"
* Frank Shifreen and the “From The Ashes” exhibit artists Gwynne Duncan and Sarawut Chutiwongpeti
* Collages from Lincoln High School
* USC School of Cinema and Television Digital Animation department students
o Liz Blazer
o Katallin Nivelt
o Crisanto Briones
o Dena Saville
o Mahyar Abousaeedi
o Yikuonj Chen
o All USC images ©2001 University of Southern California
A special thanks to:
o Mary Easton and Rick Read, Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival footage from the Valley Art Association
o Tracey Savage for use of her Gallery
o Monica Lam for shooting the footage of Greg Niemeyer
o Clay Graham for his encouragement and help
o Nan Halperin for her inspirational email
o Marybeth Smalley at Eyebeam
o All of the artists who sent and shared their work
o All of the family and friends who gave their support
© 2002 Mercury Productions, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Artist Response to 9.11