Film Equipment Glowup
My name is Liz Miller. I am a young, emerging BIPOC filmmaker out of Baltimore, MD. Newly graduated with my MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art. I started as a sculptor and choreographer and have moved into using my wearable sculpture in film with movement.
FILM CONCEPTS:
The films I create are made publicly available for the widespread healing of the black community from the trauma of racism. These films are about celebrating and liberating blackness through investigating the places and spaces where the greatest traumatic events happened. In general, I cleanse those spaces with colored smoke to release ties to the present day black community but also to release the spirits of ancestors who walked there. It is a way of release but tapping into the ancestral energy there and unlocking it to move our larger black community forward today. These films utilize movement because black bodies have been policed and seen as a commodityfor far too long. Moving our black bodies freely is inherently our right but simultaneously an act of defiance, freedom, protest and liberation because of the white colonization mentality of the entire world. Anti-blackness as a bias and mental state has permeated most parts of the world. This work is meant to push back against thisas a means of liberating and celebrating the black body in all it s glory, as it should have been since the beginning of time.
MY FIRST FILM: UBUNTU
UBUNTU is a South African noun meaning ‘humanity’. More specifically it references an African philosophy ‘I am because we are’.
This film is a collection of 6 performers transforming spaces with significant ties to slavery or present day racism in the city of Baltimore, MD. While they perform movement in these spaces, their black bodies are adorned with wearable hair art sculptures which function as sacred objects. The use of smoke is meant to tap into the energy of the ancestors who walked there while simultaneously attempting to push forward to an emancipated future. An emancipation which comes from unlocking what’s embedded with versus the traditional pathway of seeking freedom from the colonizer.
For myself, UBUNTU is the interconnected nature of the communities in which we find ourselves. No matter our nationality, we belong here amongst our people. Sometimes we are misunderstood, and sometimes we must create our own community, regardless there is a sense of membership and belonging fostered therein. Our membership to these communities, self-created or by birthright, come with the desire to improve ourselves and the spaces we occupy. Here in UBUNTU, we see a sense of belonging to our ancestors and the spaces they walked on, though forcibly and enslaved. We occupy these same spaces, hoping to realize their unfulfilled lives and stories through our own.
Access the film here:
https://vimeo.com/493981255
FUTURE PROJECTS:
I have the desire to continue cleansing spaces and am in the research phase of selecting sites. If you have ideas of racially charged spaces which could use cleansing of their spiritual energy, send them my way. Some leads are tapping into the monuments in Washington D.C., the lot where arsenic sunflower seeds were dumped in the inner city by a major corporation, poisoning member of the inner city when those sunflower seeds grew into actually flowers bearing their own seeds, the room where Henrietta lacks was initially seen.
I’m contemplating a road trip across the US to see other historical sites. This next film will feature me performing. I’m largely a retired dancer who teaches but have been pushed to put my movement into my films and I have to say, I’m ready and excited to do so.
Lastly, one of my biggest, most ambitious projects which was planted into my heart this summer, is my Nat Turner Project. The details of which are going to be kept pretty quiet unless you are one of my Patreon subscribers (and sworn to secrecy). The sites where Nat Turners Rebellion happened are not being preserved in anyway and are in danger of development. I hope to go down and preserve them in film. There is a long surviving historian relative of the story which happened who is getting older and who I would like to archive their k owl edge of the event through film. There are many surprises along the way with this one. It is a true rollercoaster. I also hope to do paranormal readings in the locations where the rebellion took places to see if there are spirit still present in those spaces. Consider subscribing to my Patreon for more details if this is a page turner for you.
https://www.patreon.com/join/Liz_miller_productions?
click the image below for the first chapter of UBUNTU- a 4 minuteclip of the film, featuring the intro of the longer film, but also Karma, our very first performer who cleansed the site of Lexington Market.
UPDATED TECH:
I have two films which are in the concept phase, sites have been chosen, wearable art has been made. I made my last film with what I had on hand; iPhones, borrowed hard drive, my old computer. It came out great but my next two projects are a bit more ambitious. I’dlike to work on them simultaneously this next two years. However my technology is not at the level I would need to make these two pieces high quality fine art. As a serious artist, this is a step that I cannot ignore.
I’ve done extensive research with help of professionals within my graduate institution technology resources dept. I’ve found that forthe next decade of making film I can buy 5 items which will allow me to be current and to explore my films without limit. Sadly these items are expensive. However, I do work with the community and have for my entire life. I believe in the owner of community and hope that you will believe with me. My work is for all. I hope that you will partner with me to continue that mission.
EXACT ITEMS NEEDED:
*and in the order needed. If you would like to personally take care of ordering an item from this list, or you have a used item to donate- please reach out.
- Drone: DJI Mini 2 fly Drone kit with controller, extra batteries, w built in gimbal. ($599.00)(2)
- Hard drive: LaCie Rugged Raid Shuttle ($504.99)(2)
- Cameras: Canon Vixia HF G50 4k30 ( 2 of them at $1,000 each)
-Computer: MacBook Pro- 16 inch ($2,099)
-$1,500 for travel and lodging expenses to film this summer in Virginia for my Nat Turner Film.
-$2,300 paying staff for film responsibilities such as filming, soundtrack etc.
Total: $10,000.00
WHEN AND WHY ARE THESE ITEMS NEEDED?:
Through a series of discussions with tech experts of what I hope to accomplish in my films with surveying land, filming myself performing while a drone is encircling me, etc- and an honest look at what I am currently using, these were the items we landed on. These items will keep me current through the next decade but are true to myself being an independent filmmaker.
At the latest, these items are needed in March. I hope to be able to begin to do some filming then, test shoots, etc to begin to truly learn the equipment and what it’s capable of. My goals are to plan a month-long filming residency for myself, in the backwoods of Virginia, this coming summer to dig into my longer Nat Turner project movie. This spring I could film in DC, UBUNTU II, where I can cleanse monuments and a series of other relevant spaces which would be enlivened and empowered through ritual cleansing.
WHO IS THIS FOR?:
In short, this work is for all of us as Americans who have this open wound of racism around every corner. These films, this work operates at the intersection of spirituality, black identity, healing arts, place, and history. They acknowledge the last while propelling us towards a future lace of deeper awareness, kindness, health, acceptance and celebration of black bodies and the equity which needs to be present all around all of us everyday.
Baltimore is where I started as it is a ground zero for many of the race conversations, from its’ real history as slave port to today’s police brutality horrors. There is more work to be done to restore dignity and power to black bodies in society’s consciousness and to clear these spaces where trauma has happened.
WHO AM I?:
Some people don’t really care who is running a campaign so long as the mission aligns with their values. However some want to know more about the person behind the mission.
So here I am. My name is Liz Miller. Born and raised in Grand Rapids, Mi, but currently residing in Baltimore, MD. I grew up in poverty.Not like we lived paycheck to paycheck for awhile, but some serious poverty. I was the kid with clothes that never fit who had like two pairs of jeans and whose house should have been condemned and was unsafe in too many ways. My parents have never truly been able to escape that level of living, despite both having college degrees.
I have always been a hard worker and also a smart worker. I’ve earned 3 degrees; one in youth ministry and bible, one in art and design and my most recent a graduate degree, a MFA from a top ten art college. Most of these degrees were earned while working in thankless but powerful inner-city non-profits which allowed me to remained rooted in community, while keeping a listening ear to the local communities who’s children I was serving. Nowadays I work for the Baltimore City Public Schools as an art teacher, better pay, but not great. The work I do with these students as an art academic, but still a teaching artist who creates race work is powerful. Everyday I know that I am making a difference in the lives of black and brown children in a title 1 school. Simultaneously I also teaching hip hop in some privileged communities who appreciate what I bring. As a mixed race person, I find this dichotomy intriguing and interesting. I love children and with no children of my own it allows me to be fully present for the myriad of communities that I bring my art to.
I have faced a series of devastating traumas in my life, but rebuilt my mind and heart regularly through therapy, art, dance etc. My life’s goal it seems is to use the arts to heal the social and historical traumas we have collectively faced. Raised in the church I found that ceremony and ritual can be steadily restorative in many ways for many people. So I have found ways of exploring that in direct relationship to the open wound of racism. I’m attempting to explore how I can promote healing through the activation of my spiritual black body in dark spaces which need light and healing to pass throughit.
GRATITUDE:
I wanted to be sure to express my thanks to anyone who even readthis entire explanation that I authored.
One thing that is birthed in a person with trauma and limited resources can be extreme independence. I, for sure, am one of these people. I’ve been trained not to ask for help, physical, monetary, or their wise because there was no help to be had. This can be a huge strain emotionally to feel really isolated and alone. It can also be debilitating on ones mental health.
This year I decided to swing for the fence. I’ve watched many people who I’ve connected myself to, show up for me in many ways, from shows, to artist talks etc. Its warmed my heart to see how powerful community is. It’s opened me up to asking for help. I’m unable to pay for my equipment upgrade by myself on a teachers salary. But together I think we can get it done.
https://www.patreon.com/join/Liz_miller_productions?
Please consider a Patreon account or helping with the GoFundMe (or both) so that we can make two films within the next two years and empower people worldwide!
