Terrorizing Dissent

Remember the RNC and the ridiculous big screen behind the podium where wholesome, patriotic images of Anytown, USA were displayed as a backdrop for Senator McCain?

The problem was that the only time you saw the screen was on a long shot. With telephoto lens on the candidate, only a small portion of the screen appeared. During McCains acceptance speech, there was an image of a suburban home with green grass, but all that was visible for a backdrop on a close shot was a uniform green color from the grass in telephoto and out of focus. It was ugly. It reminded me of the Nixon Kennedy debate where Kennedy wore a blue shirt which showed up bright and crisp on black and white t.v. where as Nixon looked crumpled and grungy. McCain looked bad with this terrible background and I wondered right then as I watched the acceptance speech live if perhaps this would signal McCain’s downfall in the election.

Ugly green screen. At least that is what appeared live on PBS. In later video clips carried by the networks, the green was replaced by blue –an easy fix in most professional video editing programs. I noticed the switch and imagined the McCain campaign calling the media and demanding a color correction. The blue background was not as pukey as the green, but either way –blue screen or green screen– I wondered why no one picked up on that and did some creative keying, replacing the green or blue screen with their own video of choice. I was disappointed that Youtube was not awash with all sorts of creative derivative work. I was surprised. Maybe it was too obvious?

Well, finally someone did use the green screen as providence intended.

I was adding new action alerts and removing old ones on the tompkinsagainstwar.org web site when I clicked on the “Support the RNC 8″ link in the sidebar. The page opened to the Friends of the RNC 8 web site and there embedded on the page was a video by Glass Bead Collective and Twin Cities Indymedia “Terrorizing Dissent”. If you click the link above instead and go to the web page for the film, and watch the trailer, you will see creative use of green screen keying.

The Republicans were just asking for it. Terrorizing Dissent was scheduled to be out in October, before the election. But the movie also gives play to the Democratic Convention as well. You can watch both low and high resolution versions from the website.

As for the RNC 8, they had a day in court TODAY, Dec. 17, and I missed the call-in.

We should all check the web tomorrow to see what happened in court earlier today. Thus far, there is no report on Twin Cities Indymedia.

As well, I am waiting to hear what the outcome of Adam Kokesh’s trial Dec. 11th in Heamstead, L.I. where IVAW had been engaged in non-violent action during the final presidentail debate. The vets had notified debate moderator that they had one question for McCain and one for Obama. They made an effort to enter the hall, were blocked from doing so, and then were assulted by police. According to a Veterans for Peace email, a police officer in the cavalry charged and one of the vets had his jaw displaced by a horse’s hoof with his head on the ground.

Were the police unrestrained, secure in knowing that Homeland Security money would pay for any subsequent legal entanglements? Apparently that was the situation in St. Paul.

In March 2007, the US Department of Homeland Security designated the 2008 Republican and Democratic National Conventions as National Special Security Events (NSSE). As a result of the NSSE status, the United States Secret Service became the lead agency in charge of security planning. The City of Saint Paul Police Department (SPPD) is the lead local agency.

The City of Saint Paul received a $50 million federal grant to pay for all local security costs associated with hosting the convention. Approximately 3,000 to 3,500 officers from 80 law enforcement agencies from across Minnesota will be needed for the event.
http://www.stpaul.gov/index.asp?NID=2198

–Cris