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Minute Movies database

database cataloging  April 1, 2011 - March 31, 2021 // 10 Years of Minute Movies // over 5,000 shots

I started making Minute Movies on April 1, 2011. More than a decade later, I cataloged them all so I could search for shots based on a variety of characteristics. I wanted to be able to find all the shots with “blue” in them, or shots with “Mom” or “breakfast” so that I could edit them into a new video. I created a custom database with fields to record: time of day, formal characteristics (colors, shapes, lines etc.), camera movement, subject of the video, sound, people in the shot, and location. I wrote notes about my memories of the moment occurring in the video. I wrote notes that answered the question, “How do I feel about this now?” As the cataloging progressed, the tagging system evolved to fit my particular way of seeing and documenting the world. The database became my pallette; like a painter selecting and blending colors, I used my database to find videos and combine them into new ones.


Minute Movies Database: Making Entries

In this video, I enter information about a few Minute Movies. This screenshots shows in real time what that thinking and remembering process is like. Recorded in 2023, the Minutes Movies are from 2018.
Minute Movies Database: Feelings List

This screen recording shows the extensive list of feelings words I use in the Minute Movies database, to answer the question, "How do I feel watching this now?" I have a drop-down menu and can select any number of feelings from the list, and I have an open field to enter notes about the feelings. I am able to create this long and nuanced list of feelings after many years doing emotional work in therapeutic settings for depression, anxiety, trauma, and non-violent communication.
Minute Movies Database: Subjects List

This list represents the long and evolving list of subjects that I use to tag Minute Movies. This list represents the stuff of my life: What am I doing with my time? What am I looking at? What do I give my attention?
Max Swanson, my creative comrade and production assistant, worked steadily with me for two years to create the database. Max’s main task was to watch the Minute Movies along with me and select a thumbnail for reference in the database. We met a few times a month to keep ourselves on track, discussing hundreds of videos at a time. Max ended up contributing much more to the project than thumbnails, they created their own list of “Max Noticings” - observations about trends they were seeing in the Minute Movies and provided valuable emotional and intellectual support throughout the cataloging process. This process became its own endurance project for me; it required focus, discipline, and an ability to sit with a range of emotions and memories that wathcing each video unearthed. When we reached the ten-year point, Max and I celebrated by getting snacks at one of our favorite diners, My Father’s Place in Portland, Oregon.

a snapshot of the Minute Movies database, representing the first two weeks of Minute Movies shot in April 2011


Thank You: Portland State University for a Faculty Enhancement Award to support this work
Julie Perini is a filmmaker and artist in Portland, Oregon.