Tender Buttons

Originally I was planning on following my friend around the North End of Boston for the day, and adding the text as a moving element behind her and following her through the senic parts Boston, resulting in her meeting up with a friend as a resolution. I still love this idea, but I need to get a team of people and a larger budget involved before I make any short films.

I ended up using the vinyl cutter to create black stickers in different shapes. The stickers spelled out the poem “a box” by Gertrude Stein. The process was pretty tedious, but satisfying at the same time.

In Los Angeles there is a sticker art movement . Basically, social revolters will slap a sticker wherever it sticks. Its a “simple act of public revolutionary agitation and sabotage in the downtown LA area.” This is a (literally) small part of the street art and graffiti movement that envelops all of Los Angeles area.

I went home to Los Angeles for spring break and immedietly went to the beach to put my stickers up with everyone else’s. I placed my vinyl stickers on beach street signs, poles, benches, stairs, and anywhere it would be seen.

I took still footage of each sticker, and put them in order in After Effects. I wanted a calm and serene vibe for the video. It is the beach after all…

When editing I used some personal footage of palm trees and birds and overlayed them on the project. I also included stock footage of waves to add to the ambiance.

After the feedback I changed some lighting and adjusted exposure on some of the scenes. In the end, I am incredibly proud of this video. I made it with two of my best friends on a perfect spring beach day right before they shut down the beaches due to Covid-19. I created a sense of being at one of my favorite tourist traps in the world through music, poetry, and visuals. I loved working on this project and it made me realize I need to work with more materials besides my computer.