Gone Off Deep Presents
While decompressing after his month in the desert, BEYOND BLACK ROCK director Damon Brown was kind enough to send along this wrap up, penned in the comforting shadows of his palatial North Austin fortress:
Director Damon Brown
Photo by Michael Lee Jackson
Well, if we're not making a movie, we at least effectively tripled the amount of shot footage! It was quite a month, and like BRC itself, split into very interesting development segments.
The first two weeks we spent watching the city literally rise out of the desert - and if it weren't for the video we shot of the hard core members of the DPW at work, it might be possible to believe that it had risen with such speed and efficiency all on its own. But those work crews put in very heavy hours to make the roads, the shade structures, larger constructs like the Man happen ... followed swiftly by the volunteers who step in and flesh out the city's infrastructure, from placing and greeting each and every theme camp to beginning regular safety and medical patrols.
We watched the city grow, the larger art installations like David Best's Temple of Honor, and then the event was upon us. Thousands came into the desert to populate Black Rock City, and Mike and I were joined by one of the most dedicated guerilla video crews I've ever seen. Much thanks to Rob, Carrie, William, Jason, Troy, Billy, and Allen for coming in and gung-ho shooting our little documentary like we were making the next "Woodstock"!
Then, after a week of event, BRC began to fade into the desert again and now all I have left is a couple cases of tapes to prove we were ever there. Well, that and "The Movie In Our Heads." Back to the edit room I go...