Welcome to Blur + Sharpen!

Named for a tool in Photoshop, this blog's paired verbs conjure the essence of contemporary Los Angeles media, where once hard and fast boundaries are dissolving, and conversations about media are finding sharper definition and focus, especially as more of us move from being consumers of media to its energetic producers.

I hope this space will highlight both the blurring and sharpening

tendencies, celebrating the rich and varied moving images that

illuminate LA and hosting conversations that question their shifting

significance as cinematic expression expands beyond the theater into

galleries and onto outdoor screens, across computer desktops and

through mobile devices.

I also hope that Blur + Sharpen can be a

place for experimenting with critical writing, with finding a

compositional place between the almost hermetic act of writing film

reviews, profiles and essays in print and the too often self-involved

or casual form of the film blog. What might happen in a third space,

one that opens up in dialogue with the city? What might be voice and

stance, reader and writer in that context? In other words, what can we

create together? In terms of general format, Blur + Sharpen

will be intentionally schizophrenic or agnostic, depending on point of

view, moving through film, video, new media, mobile media, online media

and more. It will survey sound, image and screens, along with the

culture that more and more seems to seek expanding horizons of

expression. Look for previews, reviews, interviews, profiles,

anecdotes, commentary and rants. Look for new tools for personal

media-making, and questions about the future of media.Think about what we can blur and sharpen together, and let me know.