COMPONENTGEEK | Archive

As we enter the beginning of this New Year, I wanted to do something a little different with COMPONENTGEEK a sort of community experiment. COMPONENTGEEK is unique in the blogosphere because it is this mix of film gear/tech tips and reviews and its intersection with our personal lives and local community. This year I wanted to deepen the work we do by providing a fresh new look with better access to site content as well as expand the perspective by finding contributors from different parts of the country that can share their own work and tech discoveries in DSLR filmmaking and their personal process and ways that they connect to their own communities.

This year I hope to highlight work that is going on right now that does what I like to call that COMPONENTGEEK thing. Or simply work that inspires and shows the power of using technology to connect and build community. To start us off right this year is an inspiring music video collaboration spearheaded by Los Angeles based music artist Dawen.

My sister Jenny San Angel who is a super talented musician (I’m biased being her brother of course!) has collaborated a few times with Dawen at Tuesday Night Project and I’ve admired his work from afar for his amazing soulful baritone voice with sweet falsetto range and his ability to create tunes that hark back to old school soul R&B with the complexity and fine counterpoint of jazz. His lyrics are thoughtful at times humours and always inspiring bringing his personal journey that honors and pushes forward the experience of being Asian in America.

I was flat out knocked out by the simplicity and power of this music video collaboration of Macy Gray’s “Beauty in the World” involving 16 artists from Los Angeles to New York that was created just over a six month period. What makes Dawen an inspiration is his gift of collaboration always connecting with artists and using music to uplift and inspire.The MV begins at the Goldstar Rehabilitation Center in Santa Monica, CA where a group of artists have spent the day giving back and bringing music and a smile to the seniors at the center. We are slowly introduced to artists from all over the country as they add their own part to the song via flipcams and ending with a special surprise. What I love about this piece is that using inexpensive flipcams, a Canon 5D, and some simple professional recording gear they were able to use technology to create art that transcends borders.