TRAILER: "SAINT STEPHEN'S DREAM: A Space Opera"
MINI/DOC:Singing Your Way to Havana and Back
NOT SUCH KID'S STUFF: A Climate Change Primer for Kids
MINI/DOC: A Homage to Wrestling and the Guy Who Coached Us
MUSICVIDEO: Covering Foy Vance's "Guiding Light"
MINI/DOC: "The Key To My Grandfather's House
MUSICVIDEO: "Motherless Child 2018"
PROFILE: Interviewing the Interviewer
THE WEB THEATER
ArtVideos
By douglaseye June 30, 2019
TITLE: Trailer to "SAINT STEPHEN'S DREAM: A Space Opera"
BACKGROUND NOTES: Here is the trailer to "SAINT STEPHEN'S DREAM: A Space Opera." The rock opera/musical/eco-fable/cli-fi story made its world debut at FestivALL Charleston in June 2011, a citywide cultural fest in the Charleston, W.Va. And then I dropped the ball. Trying to decide whether to pick it up again.
The space opera unfolds the tale of what happens after Earth reaches a tipping point and seems no longer able to support human habitation. Ten thousand ships of all sizes flee into low-earth orbit and beyond, as a dazed humanity struggles to reorganize itself in what comes to be known as Nuova Terra (New Earth). Powerful leaders ordain that a return to the dying Earth is no longer possible. They decrees that all should just lay back and be content.
After all, they have rich, full-immersion web environments. There are endless alternative realities into which people can escape, fleeing from the reality of the warehoused beds and tiny metal capsules where most people now reside on the great space vessels. 'Who are you going to be today?' asks the computer each new 'morning' in space, as people rove through history, their avatars pursuing the latest characters, happenings and trends.
One of the most powerful leaders, the Doge of Nuova Venezia, has brought to life 16th century Venice as a dominant immersive environment on his great ship, La Serenissima. A merry band of performers, rebels, dreamers and fools, aided by the strange 'trans-humans' known as the Shua, oppose this new order.
They willfully 'unplug' from the immersive web and gather in a space-borne club called Third Eye Cabaret, where most of the musical takes place. They keep alive the hope of returning to Earth someday, inspired by the 9th century writings of an Irish monk named Brother Stephen, whose 'dream book' diaries seem to foretell the planet's despairing future, with just the slightest hint of possible salvation.
by douglaseye
By douglaseye August 11, 2018
"THE KEY TO MY GRANDFATHER'S HOUSE," written and photographed by David Imbrogno and video produced by Douglas Imbrogno is a powerful, moving photo-poem-essay on the immigrant tale of one Italian family. But it could be the kindred tale of millions of families across innumerable cultures through time.
This particular story began on a steep Calabrian hillside in the early 20th century in the southern Italian Province of Cosenza., moving through Ellis Island to the small town of Lorain, Ohio. It circles back upon themes of family, loss and heritage through text, photographs and sound effects.
IT IS A BIG ASK IN THIS SHORT-ATTENTION-SPAN ERA— 16 minutes of your undivided attention for this brotherly collaboration which reaches across two continents and two centuries. But after it is through, we feel you will come to understand the rewards of settling into a quiet space with your computer or phone and experiencing this journey with undivided attention. Your feedback is welcome and any other reactions it stirs in you from your own immigrant roots. In one way or another, we are all descendants of immigrants from somewhere and someplace. As my elder brother David puts it:
"The Key To My Grandfather's House" story is not mine, not brother Doug's, it is our family's story … Normally I would say that I wrote it. Actually I feel as if I "channelled" it from our ancestors. I am usually a visual communicator but here the words came to the forefront and my photographs reverted to snapshots… Our Aunts Teresa and Loretta who accompanied us might have been the mediums through which our ancestors channelled the story."
David adds: "Please, find a quiet place to enjoy the sixteen minute show. Turn on the sound and watch it full screen."
A rose bush flanked in the back by an olive grove at the top of the Calabrian hillside where our father was born. | Photograph by DAVID IMBROGNO
THIS IS AN EXCERPT OF A MUCH LARGER written photo-essay (a prose-poem, really) by David. If interested in reading and viewing the longer piece, visit CowGarage.com or EvidenceofmylLife.com. This video can be viewed as a separate stand-alone work of art, but it is also a companion piece to a spoken word live performance.
FOR MORE ON THE VIDEO, to read the longer photo-essay or to schedule a live performance of "The Key," subscribe to the websites above and to this website, TheWebTheater.com by clicking on the "subscribe" option in the right-hand top of the home page. You can reach either of us through those sites. Grazie mille!
THIS VIDEO IS A CO-PRODUCTION by David and Douglas Imbrogno. | Current version as of AUG 11, 2018
PROFILE: Surprising Miss Francis
By douglaseye January 31, 2018
VIDEO: Surprising Miss Francis
NOTES: Sometimes, the most mundane stories are the ones that resonate with a public hungry for a little—just a little!—respite from the drumbeat of awful, disheartening news in the world that day. So, it was that we got word a local elementary school in Belle, W.Va., was going to spring a surprise on a beloved custodian named Frances Buzzard, a k a 'Miss Francis.' The odd thing was, Miss Francis had never in her life had a birthday party. Could this be? And what would her reaction be to her first surprise party and a big one at that? To quote the credit card commercial: Priceless.
NUMBERS: You'll notice I do not list social media view counts for most videos on TheWebTheater, except for when they are unusual. This is because sometimes a video may have only a couple hundred views, but that's just fine as the business or persons or organization that needed to see the video saw it. But the 'Miss Francis' video went modestly viral on Facebook, wracking up more than 91,500 at last count, with about 1,000 shares and more than 200 comments, with an additional 89,000-plus views on YouTube (which is unusual since the Gazette-Mail's channel is hardly promoted and we are happy to get 200 views for a video there). More significant still— last I looked, not a single comment was negative or snarky from among those 200 comments. Now, that's news.
RELATED: Here is the companion Charleston Gazette-Mail story to the above video.
Minidoc
MINIDOC: If it wasn't a Dalton Gang member, who was it then?
VIDEO: The Curious Case of the Nicholas County, W.Va., Mystery Paintings
NOTES: I was going to phone this story in—literally. It was a freezing December day and I was just going to do a phone interview to check up on a Facebook tip on some supposedly intriguing paintings in a 19th century farmhouse in the West Virginia outback. Am dearly glad I went out on this one, as encountering these amazing works made the story. Plus, the iPhone video I shot to go with the story went modestly viral on the newspaper's Facebook page, with nearly 45,000 views as of January 2017, more than 500 shares and hundreds of comments. A fascinating backstory that resonated with readers and viewers. Did a Dalton Gang brother on the run paint these remarkable works and then flee? And if not, who did? And who will preserve them now?
SOUNDTRACK: "I Can Feel It Coming" by Kevin MacLeod
RELATED STORY: Read it here.
PS: Here's a family video shot years ago about the mysterious paintings, uploaded because interest in this story was so intense.
PSS: The cinema verite handshake of the iPhone B-roll is not the greatest. Time for one of these!
SLIDESHOW: Reclaiming Appalachia's 'visual narrative'
By douglaseye December 29, 2017
VIDEO: Crowdsourcing Appalachian imagery
NOTES: 'Looking at Appalachia' is a crowd-sourced project that aims to depict life in the 420-county Appalachian region through user-submitted photographs, in an attempt to counter the "visual narrative" imposed on the region by the War on Poverty and other sources.
LENGTH: 2 min 30 sec
SOUNDTRACK: "Against All Odds (ft. Zack Markham)" by Lucas the Flow
MINIDOC: Writing the songs
VIDEO: City and rural kids write themselves a song.
NOTES: This mini-doc tracks from start to finish how city kids and rural kids came together at a summer music camp at Big Ugly Community Center in Big Ugly, W.Va., (yes, that's what it's called), to craft an original song. With help from singer-songwriters Chuck Costa and Mira Stanley, of the award-winning group The Sea The Sea and other teachers, the summer campers wrote the music and lyrics to the songs then performed it with a little help from their friends.
ARTVIDEO: The Making of an Elephant, Part 2
VIDEO: The Making of an Elephant, Part 2
NOTES: It is not just that often that elephants wander about West Virginia. But where do you get one and how do you get it here? The people behind the parade that concluded the 2011 All Together Arts Week in Mercer County, West Virginia on April 3, 2011, had always dearly desired an elephant for the event. Then, they manifested one. Not without a whole lot of work. Elephants, it must be remembered, are rather on the chunky side. It was a very special elephant – and this is her story, the concluding video in a special two-part WestVirginiaVille.com video report from our Large Animal Bureau. Part 2 of a two-part series. View Part 1 here.
VIDEO: How do you make an elephant — and why?
NOTES: They had dreamed of an elephant for the parade that capped off All Together Arts Week in Mercer County, West Virginia. But where do you get an elephant? A group of artists and elephant enablers decided they must do what they had to do: manifest an elephant all by themselves. This special two-part video takes to the street and the elephant works of The Room Upstairs in Princeton, West Virginia, to investigate how an elephant came to walk a street in WestVirginiaVille one fine sunny Spring day in 2011. Part 1 of a two-part series. View Part 2 here.
LENGTH: 3 min 5 sec
SLIDESHOW: The Shape We're In
VIDEO: An historic overview of how West Virginia's population went from lean to not-so-lean, with a corresponding rise in chronic health issues.
NOTES: "The Shape We're In" was a powerful year-long series of articles in the Charleston Gazette by Kate Long, that delved deep into the chronic health problems in West Virginia and the many people and programs focusing on improving the shape of the state's population. I was the video feature producer for the series. The series won the 2013 top award for public service reporting from the National Association of Health Care Journalists.
SLIDESHOW: Two Sides to One Life
VIDEO: "Elizabeth & George: Two Sides of One Life"
NOTES: A companion video to a three-part Charleston Gazette series (June 2, 3 and 4, 2013) about a street person named 'Elizabeth,' who was often seen in downtown Charleston, W.Va. Her past turned out be a surprise. She had grown up in the Bible belt and was such a promising singer, Ric Ocasek of The Cars sought out George through mentions in Rolling Stone magazine. But George had since become Elizabeth, and showed up on the streets of the West Virginia's capital city. Read the tale of how George became Elizabeth, losing touch with some beloved sisters and a mother and the reunion that eventually ensued. Read the award-winning three part series, "Elizabeth & George" here.
SOUNDTRACK: "Marathon Man" by George Bartlett
BUSINESS PROFILE: A Honey of a Place
By douglaseye February 1, 2015
VIDEO: As part of a 2014 Charleston Gazette series on wineries across the state, here is a profile of one of three "meaderies" in West Virginia.
NOTES: Raw footage shot by Gazette-Mail photography chief Kenny Kemp and edited by Douglas Imbrogno
This is a portfolio of multimedia work by Douglas Imbrogno and selected collaborators from short-form videos to mini-documentaries and much more. Look around. If you'd like to talk about multimedia work, please visit the Contact page.
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MINI/DOC: Crowdsourcing the 2018 WV Teacher Strike : PART 2
MINI/DOC: A Crowdsourced Look at the 2018 WV Teacher Strike: PART 1
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