I Don't Think I Can Do This

It all started when I left my Flip digital camcorder at Mr M's.

See, it was in my green bag. My green canvas shoulder bag, which I'd toted to Mr M's for our Saturday park performance. It had a book, my music for the day, some other music, a green tea, my still camera, and my Flip. For some reason at the last minute I started to worry about losing the Flip if my bag was snatched. Which I know was kind of silly as my other camera was in there too, but it was a split-second thought and decision. I took the Flip out and put it on Mr M's cabinet.

Of course nothing happened to my green bag at the park, and when I left for home on Saturday evening, I also of course forgot I'd taken the Flip out. And so it's at his house as we speak.

You know, had someone told me this time last year, "Bet, you curly-headed little so and so, this time next year you're going to revive the Comfy Chair Cinema, and make movies - even by yourself - and upload them onto You Tube," I'd have said, "Awww, you're just saying that." And I'd have meant it.

It goes back a long way. I never really give myself much of a chance. I've heard, "You can't do that" a lot. My dad, God love him and bless his heart, has said this to me for years, and says it to this day. No matter what household project I mention to him, the first thing I hear is, "You can't do that." or, "You can't do that by yourself." I used to listen, but I don't anymore. I thought all dads were like that, that it was just a standard Dad Phrase, like, "We'll see," but I think it's just that I grew up in a different era, not the current parental climate of, "You can be anything you want to be!"

And I'm not even blaming Dear Old Dad. I mean, if I was a stronger person I could have always said, "Yeah, Dad? Sez who?" and gone about my plans.

Anyway, I never think I can do anything. I never thought I could create a website. And not only did I do that, but I created one I now neglect with an alarming fervor! I didn't think I could start, or keep, a blog. (A blog that, oddly enough, makes my dad proud and he asks for recorded copies of.) I didn't think I could play a duet with Mr M at his formal recital. I didn't think I could be my own Mowing Girl. I didn't think I'd be worthy of going from hilarious and hideous pre-made recipe cards to creating my own with an idea and leftover food.

And when I saw that little Flip camera in a store, I wanted it desperately. I remember the fun I had helping Mr M make the little movies at the original Comfy Chair Cinema, and thought about how fun it would be to revive that. Of course those early Cinema days were before You Tube, they were the days of shooting and uploading to a website, and crossing all fingers on both hands you had enough webspace to handle it.

So Mr M was kind enough to gift me with the Flip. At first I just spent a lot of time opening and closing the lens and making movies of my feet. Then I incorporated Mr M into my first movie - never published - "Guess Who's Coming Over For Clarinet Duets," in which I open the door and Mr M is there to attack and strangle me. (Cute idea, badly shot movie.) Then I came up with the idea for "The Sound of Pickles," a movie with, as my buddy Stennie pointed out, "Titles longer than the movie." But it was a start, and I've not looked back.

By the way, speaking of Mr M, he does something (well, one of many things) that absolutely drives me crazy. When I'm trying something technical, say in Paint Shop Pro, and I get stuck, I'll ask him how to do it. He will invariably answer, "Keep playing with it, you'll work it out." And even though when he says that I want to reach through the internet and poke him in the eye, he's generally right and I've learned a lot of things by just playing around and making mistakes. Never has this been more true than when he used that line with me in my first couple of forays into Movie Maker. I was confused, and it really does just take a lot of bumbling around to discover what you want to do.

And I'm having fun, even though every time I come up with an idea my first thought is, "Nah, I could never make that work." Then I think, "Hey, if I can let the world see Sherman and a yodeling pickle drive through my living room for 10 seconds, how bad could it be?" And so I give it a try.

Now, skip back to the green bag, and leaving my Flip camera at Mr M's. That left me with my still camera, the wonderful Nikon also given as a gift from Mr M. It's made the recipe du jour so much easier.

A year or so ago, I saw a short film one of my Dear Nephew's friends had made using stop-motion photography. It was terrific, and I've wished ever since that was something I could try. Of course I didn't think I could try it, but I wished I could. A few weeks ago I almost tried. I used the Flip camera and made 2-second clips of myself making the recipe du jour the Marshmallow Castle.

And with a still camera and a day full of rain Sunday, I finally got up the nerve to say, "Oh, what the hell."

I don't know a thing about it. I made no plans. All I knew is that I wanted it to be short and moveable, so I took an idea from a picture Mr M and I created together of Sherman flying. I decided I'd let Sherman fly across the screen. And I made a sky out of cardboard.

I didn't do any kind of measurements at all, just kept a mark on the floor where the stand holding the camera would stay. I made Sherman a cape, affixed him to a doll stand, made a flat base out of shelving boards on boxes, and had at it.

I had no idea how much to move Sherman from one shot to the next. I improvised. I'd scoot and shoot. Scoot Sherman a bit, shoot a picture. A little more, shoot a picture. I'd occasionally look at the camera window to see where he was. I didn't think I'd ever shoot enough pictures to get his whole body in the shot! But I kept at it, scoot and shoot.

Somewhere around the middle I started to get really adventurous, and decided I'd try to make Sherman cross and uncross his feet. That was fun. Then it was more shooting, more scooting, and more moving this way and that, slowly. I decided to have Sherman take one look forward as he headed off the screen, then turn back to face the camera. A few more shots, and his foot was finally out of the frame.

I took the camera to upload the pictures into the computer. 90 pictures. I took it to Movie Maker and started creating a movie. 22 seconds. 90 pictures and I was going to have a movie the shorter than my credits! I began to think of all the movies using animation and claymation. Boy, that must be a lot of work. I'm surprised they don't take 20 years to make.

But there was my 22 seconds of Sherman flying. I added a few titles, then went to find the Air Force song in iTunes. I was torn between that and the Skater's Waltz, but decided the Air Force song would work better. I downloaded a version, went to Polderbits sound editing and recording, which I also learned to use from the phrase, "Keep playing with it, you'll work it out," and recorded enough seconds to fit over the movie. Saved it, and voila - Sherman flies across the screen to the Air Force song. Well, voila with the added attraction of trying to make a movie with all those stills crashing my computer right in the middle of things.

So Sherman flies for a few seconds, and even though it was crude, I did stop-motion photography. Trouble is, I want to try it again. For a longer time. Maybe using Barbie and Ken. That's four arms and four legs to move.

I'd never be able to do something like that.

Betland's Olympic Update:
- Acrowinners, we have acrowinners. So, what will happen when your ship comes in?
- Honorable Mention goes to no one. We have a scratched entry.
- Runner-Up goes to Kellie (with an ie), with her, "Elegant dinghy. Rowing to Greece."
- And this week's winner goes to LilyG, with her thoughtful, "Escape debt, retire, travel, grow." Although I do like the idea of evicting the deadbeat relatives.
- Thanks to all who played - you've all done very well!