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Power of One Trailer

Photo of Toon and Biw by Michael McCracken

Is it possible for one person to make a difference?

Imagine…stepping off a plane in Thailand with students from all over the world, to volunteer at an Elephant Sanctuary, learn about Thai Culture, and make lasting friendships. Visit Buddhist Temples, participate in a ceremony to save trees from deforestation, feed and bathe the elephants, and laugh with your new friends.

All this and much more is the experience of Power of One, a once-in-a-lifetime volunteer opportunity created by the non-profit Blue Star of Hope. This annual program has changed lives and truly made a difference in our world. Now is your chance to make a difference!

This (very) rough cut is just a taste of the upcoming feature documentary that explores the Power of One experience, interviewing its participants as their worlds are transformed. Stay tuned for more clips from the film, and the full version coming in 2011.

Rough cut edited by Michael McCracken of www.theastrarium.com/archives and filmed by Shane Ernest of www.thesacredstudio.com. Expect a more polished trailer coming soon.

Music by Tina Malia, used with permission. “Lilac Blooms” and “Heal This Land” are just two of the fantastic songs by Malia. If you like what you hear, look up “Shores of Avalon” and “The Silent Awakening“, or visit Tina’s website at www.amidarecords.com.

For more information about the Blue Star of Hope and its founders Juelle and Donovan Wilkins, visit their website at www.bluestarofhope.org. Juelle and Donovan are always seeking participants, mentors, and donors to help expand the program. Please support their vision by sharing this video and their website!

Thank you to Juelle, Donovan, and the nearly 50 other participants from the 2008 Power of One trip. We love you all!

Mythic Journeys Book

For my three-class multimedia project Mythic Journeys (more info in another post) I created this book to tell the story with screenshots from the game for my Constructed Realities final. I self-published and printed this book using Lulu.com. More images coming soon!

Copyright Michael McCracken
Copyright Michael McCracken
Copyright Michael McCracken
Copyright Michael McCracken
Copyright Michael McCracken
Copyright Michael McCracken

I have another post with images of the actual game. If you want to check those out, go here. Enjoy!

Melinda's Walk

I worked with Melinda Vieira on this seven-part journey into the nearby nature trail for our Constructed Realities class. I took the photos and did color correcting and lighting effects, while Melinda and another friend created the creatures, beings and patterns interwoven in vibrant color across the images. As we journey deeper into the forest, Melinda steps further into this parrallel dimension of forest visions…

Special thanks to Melinda for sending me high-quality copies of the images!

Copyright Michael McCracken and Melinda Vieira
Copyright Michael McCracken and Melinda Vieira
Copyright Michael McCracken and Melinda Vieira
Copyright Michael McCracken and Melinda Vieira
Copyright Michael McCracken and Melinda Vieira
Copyright Michael McCracken and Melinda Vieira
Copyright Michael McCracken and Melinda Vieira

The Nature Trail

I took these photos (and many more) in the Nature Trail at my old school, and will be using some of the photos to create a Tarot deck.

Click here to order any of these prints online!

Anti Self-Portrait

For my Constructed Realities class I was assigned to create a series of self-portraits of things that I’m not. As is my custom, I had to do something wild and metaphysical!

My series of prints were two pairs, one normal photograph, and one energetic representation made in Photoshop. Which is the real me, the ephemeral physical body, or the being of light?

Copyright Michael McCracken
Copyright Michael McCracken

These were taken on the beaches of Ban Krud in Southern Thailand. I’m playing my brandy new 7 metal singing bowl and feeling the vibes. Off in the distance is the beautiful Wat Thongchai with a massive golden Buddha overlooking the ocean. Incidentally, that is exactly where the next photos were taken.

Copyright Michael McCracken
Copyright Michael McCracken

Two individuals in a photograph. Are they separate beings, or do their energies intertwine with those floating around in the area, in this case the energies of this pure and sacred temple?

Hindu Deities Trinity

Here is a project from my Constructed Realities class. We were meant to construct a diorama or small scene and photograph it for a series of prints. I lined up three of my favorite Hindu deities, Brahma, Ganesh, and Shiva, and created a small altar made of natural materials and set all by the river. After taking the photos I enhanced them to show the elements each deity represents. The hindu trimurti or trinity is generally with Vishnu and not Ganesh, but I do not have a Vishnu statue so I used Ganesh instead.

Copyright Michael McCracken
Copyright Michael McCracken
Copyright Michael McCracken
Copyright Michael McCracken

Shamanic Journey Two

This is the second video I created for Video Production with Jay Bordage back in 2007. The quality is bad on youtube, but you get the idea. The assignment was to play with sound, and I added some visuals as well into the video. The ending, while unintended, eventually led to the Naturescope videos that I created for this class.

Shamanic Journey One

This is the first video I put together for Video Production with Jay Bordage. I went to a local trail system and did some filming in the woods, and also of the nearby river and waterfall. It’s a beautiful area that I miss quite a bit. Good old Holden, MA.

This video and its sequel are meant to be a relaxing journey, sort of a shamanic journey. In shamanic style, I enter and exit my films the same way. You’ll see what I mean.

Fantastic music by Anugama from their Shamanic Journey CD. Check it out!