highly useful article - “The Nines” Post Mortem, by John August
Hello all . . . . perhaps some of you have seen this article already, but for those who haven’t it’s well worth a look. Apologies for the tangential post - more on what’s happening with our film soon . . . .
http://johnaugust.com/archives/2008/nines-post-mortem
Notes from Okinawa and our preview screening at Ryukyu University
Our first night in Okinawa, our producer Koide picks us up with his schoolmate Higa. Higa’s ancestors were pirates who fled the mainland centuries ago and settled in Okinawa.
Koide takes us to the Sakurazaka theatre, a new three-screen art house in downtown Naha that Koide thinks would be a good premiere venue for the film. Koide’s plan is to build buzz and political support with preview screenings in Okinawa, open theatrically here, and use the ensuing publicity to set ourselves up for a distribution deal or theatrical self-release on mainland Japan.
Koide is opening an animation studio in Fukuoka in southern Japan, and he plans to start a branch in Okinawa, so he’ll be back regularly to oversee grassroots marketing for the the film.
At Sakurazuka we met several young Okinawan entrepreneurs, and a student from Ryukyu University, where we’ll hold a preview screening Saturday. A U.S. helicopter crashed there a few years ago.
Among the entrepreneurs is Ishihara, who owns an interpreting and consulting company. Ishihara set up the preview screening, and she’s been one of our biggest supporters here. She’s also fully bilingual, which is a big help for me.
Some of the other entrepreneurs are concerned about how Okinawan audiences would react to the political content of The First Breath of Tengan Rei. But after we show them the new cut, they’re convinced, though they still feel it would be controversial. Our little private audience responds very emotionally, particularly the student. They will marshal their considerable resources to help promote the film.
The Marines cancel the meeting that I had set with Col. Powell, the media officer for Okinawa. Col. Powell is hosting a high-ranking military official from D.C., and is booked all week. The Marines are implementing a training program to try to prevent future rapes, and we’re hoping we might be able to participate in the program, screen on base, or at least get the Marines to send a representative to one of our screenings. They agree to meet with Ishihara on our behalf after we’ve left town.
Tom Kruetzer, the Public Affairs Officer for the U.S. Consulate, is expecting my call. He heard about us from the Marines. We check our cell phones and cameras at the consulate gate. A new, truck-bomb proof gate is under construction. In his office, Kreutzer is friendly. He says our conversation sets his mind at ease about anxieties passed along from the Marines. Kreutzer wishes us luck but declines to participate in the screening. He says he prefers to keep the dialogue government to government. He thinks the U.S. did a better job with the rape case earlier this year by condemning the attack promptly. He wants Okinawans to realize that Americans don’t tolerate rape – where he comes from, they would get their guns and hunt down the rapist personally. This is what he says.
We meet with the head of the TV station Q.A.B. He’s personally supportive of the project but is cautious not to draw attention to the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by two Marines and a sailor. When his station drew parallels between a recent, similar case and the 1995 incident, he was blasted for insensitivity.
The stations head’s uncle was one of 10,000 Okinawans killed in World War II at Sugar Loaf Hill, not too far from where we’re meeting. Okinawa just commemorated the 63rd anniversary of the end of hostilities. We see anti-military demonstrators outside the prefectural office, where they protest regularly. We use audio from one of these demonstrations in the film.
Our investor Sakaguchi takes us to meet with the recently elected Gov. Nakaima at the prefectural office.
Sakaguchi was an anti-military activist at the University of Tokyo in the 60’s, and was blacklisted on the mainland as a result. He’s an official in the Okinawa Department of Labor. Sakaguchi provided our introduction to many of our key supporters on the island.
Sakaguchi is recovering from being poisoned by a moth that’s running rampant this summer. He tells the story of how he released lizards around his house to catch the huge flying cockroaches, but his cat ate the lizards.
In the prefectural office, a woman serves us tea in a room with embroidered walls and ceiling-high calligraphy scrolls. Four secretaries in traditional Okinawan kariyushi shirts stand in the doorway, attentive. Nakaima likes Chicago. He remembers tall buildings and good steak and that you could still smoke in blues clubs (not anymore).
After the meeting we debrief in a café on the top floor of the office, looking out on the Naha skyline as A Fifth of Beethoven and a Muzak version of We Are The World are piped into the room. When we leave the prefectural office, a moth lands on the student’s neck. I hope it’s not poisonous.
We do interviews with the top two Okinawan newspapers, the Okinawa Times and the Ryukyu Shinpo. The reporters ask us about our intentions, why we chose Okinawa, what we want to say to the Okinawan people. The Ryukyu Times reporter has also been to Chicago. He spent $600 20 years ago for a suite at the Intercontinental with a Jacuzzi in the middle of the bedroom. He asks me how I think Obama would change U.S. foreign policy if elected. I tell him I’m hopeful that Obama would improve international relations by holding real dialogue. He really wants to know what Obama would do about the bases in Okinawa. I have no idea.
The Okinawa Times article comes out the morning of our screening at Ryukyu University. It’s accurate and supportive. An Okinawan residents’ group has just been granted a cash settlement from the Japanese government in a lawsuit to stop the U.S. from holding deafening helicopter exercises above their homes at night. The exercises will continue. This is the day’s top story, but we are prominently featured as well.
The Ryukyu Times reporter comes to the screening and will report on it for Monday’s paper. We set up chairs in the aisles to accommodate the overflow audience, which sits rapt through the screening. There are a couple of Marines in the audience.
My interpreter was the interpreter for the defendants in the 95 case. She says she has spoken with soldiers who are like Nelson in the film, who feel that after finding religion in prison God has forgiven them and they are absolved. She says that an earlier version she saw of the film was too painful for her, but she likes this version better.
The post-screening discussion is deep and heated, with questions about our responsibility to the real victims, the Christian imagery in the film, the meaning of forgiveness, the portrayal of Okinawa’s natural beauty vs. its ugly realities. On the audience response forms, particularly the younger audiences are excited about the film and say they will recommend it to their friends.
After the screening, I ask Ishihara why she has worked so hard to set up this event and support our film. She says it’s because she has a seven-year-old daughter who is very curious and who will no doubt explore many social circles. Ishihara wants to help make Okinawa a better place for her daughter to grow up.
I’ll post links to the Ryukyu Shinpo and Okinawa Times articles, with translated versions, and video of the post-screening discussion. Meanwhile, there’s a gallery of photos from Okinawa on our Facebook page.
While you’re there, please sign up to become a “fan” of The First Breath of Tengan Rei!
home stretch i n g o u t slow motion
I’m going on no sleep again. Seems like this comes up every so often where I’m pulling overnighters to try and complete some aspect of the movie before I have to go to work the next day. When you’ve got the opportunity you have to jump on it before it goes away. And it’s a nice feeling to know that you’ve pushed through on your dream in spite of all the mundane demands of life.
So this last week we’ve been onlining the film to HiDef. Most of the online was completed, but the last 20 or so missing shots, effects shots, titles, etc. ended up being really time consuming. Each shot having it’s own special problems. For instance I was struggling with a motion tracking effect where I wanted to replace a street sign with wording that was more relevant to the story and also dislocated the film from a specific place. I must have done this effect shot 10 times trying different fixes, but the sign just would not stick to the old sign. I was getting desperate and on no sleep. I asked other people good at After Effects, I called a friend in San Francisco for help, even offered to pay him a bit (he was booked though), but it turned out to be a really simple solution that I had intuited all along, but just been too tired and desperate to finish that I kept thinking it was too easy of a solution. Turns out I was trying to track a squeezed shot with a not squeezed overlay and the overlay was moving faster than the shot below it because it was actually made of different sized pixels. This only became appraent though when the two were brought together into a new composition. If I rendered it out first to marry them in the squeezed shot and then stretched the shot out proper in a second step the whole issue was solved. This is probably dull stuff, but I figure it’s a blog about the filmmaking process so this would be a place to tell these war stories.
SO lack of sleep and filmmaking don’t mix too well.. and above is one of the many ways working on no sleep can cost you! But I’m sure I’ll find myself there again. I do like how quiet it is that late. A nice kind of loneliness. Interesting thing too is my movie is about a guy working the night shift. Hmmmm….
I thought these final shots would take a day or two and it turned out to be 4 gruelling graveyard shifts. And there are still loose ends with the effects. And then color correction. But I’m very happy with the results and it’s coming together really well. Nice to see it full resolution at last. Very pretty. Thanks team Boppin’ 
I just saw Tom Quinn’s (THE NEW YEAR’S PARADE) section in Moviemaker today while ditching work to hang out at the book store! Go Tom!!!!
Exciting
I’m rambling cuz I’m still tired bye
Bringing it Home
Last week, THE NEW YEAR PARADE finally screened in Philadelphia. In the weeks before the festival, we had decided to not tell anyone. In fact, when family and friends called, we told them not to go. It sounds ridiculous, but there are 1500 Mummers in Philadelphia, many more fan, and a good deal of family, and they would all be coming to the Saturday show. We were afraid that if we advertised, most people would not get in and go home frustrated.
Still, we had an incredible sold out show on Saturday! The theater was kind enough to add 75 more folding chairs to accomadate as many as possible. It was a mix of family and friends, Mummer’s, and strangers. Afterward, we had a great Q&A with a good deal of cast and crew, including some of the South Philadelphia String Band. After months of answering audience questions about the band and their tradition, it was cool to have “Hollywood” Nick, Carl, Wardy, and Jay at the mic with us. After the Q&A, I was approached by a family counselor who told me we “hit the mark.”
On Monday, Marc, Beth, Jenny, and I went to the Prince for the follow up showing. Earlier that day, the Philadelphia Inquirer ran a great review and while introducing the film on stage it was announced we’d won BEST INDIE FEATURE in the festival! We are very excited and feel fortunate to have played 4 fests and won 3 awards!
Last night, producer Steve Beal and I had a long conversation weighing our distribution options. We’re very excited about the prospect of self-releasing in Philadelphia and using that regional support to launch a national tour of the film. We’ve been playing the film for a wide variety of audiences over the past few months - senior citizens, indie rockers, folks from the UK, LA, NY, Philly, parents who’ve divorced, children of divorce, and some who never experienced divorce first hand. Across the board audiences respond to the characters, their struggle to be a family, and the unique sense of tradition that Mummery brings. We’re now looking for the best way to channel this excitement and momentum. Stay tuned….
Also, the Spring issue of MovieMaker Magazine hit bookstores this week. They were kind enough to include me on their “Ten Young Writer-Directors to Watch” list. I bought my folks five copies. : ) The list also includes the Duplass Brothers, Sarah Polley, and Craig Zobel so grab a copy for your folks as well!
I head to IFFBoston on Friday. Hope to see you there!
Our cast rocks the socks off Ashland.
I’ve spent the last few days in Ashland Oregon and have been kicking myself that I have no photos!! I brought my camera, but never had time to go buy batteries. The mountain ranges are incredible - evergreens wrapping around one side, and grass rolling off on the other. THE NEW YEAR PARADE was awarded the BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE award last night! The awards ceremony was pretty incredible - all of the restaurants around town donated food and there was this insane buffet of caviar and sushi and ravioli’s and craziness. Of course I had just eaten a burger …. As the ceremony ended, our screening was coming to an end across the street so I ran over for the Q and A, able to show off our award in the process. The audience was incredible and we had a good 20 minute talk about the process of making the film. It’s crazy because distributors all say “we love your film, but it has no names” and then every audience we’ve screened for cannot stop talking about our cast after. So this award is vindication for them, that they do have names and that you’ll be hearing them often. The crowd in Ashland is mostly made up of locals, 50 and over, which is great!! So far we’ve mostly been playing for younger audiences and industry so it’s been cool to hear their reactions. So many came up to me and said they’d been deeply touched, or had tears in their eyes. One woman said that she nearly cried when the kids are deciding where to live because she remembers being asked to make that decision as a child, and stayed married for 47 years so that her kids would never have to feel that. Earlier in the day, I had done a panel with some really awesome filmmakers, including Tom from CHRONIC TOWN (Which I went to see, only to find it sold out), Monty from SKILLS LIKE THIS (which I’m psyched to see tonight), and Aaron from The Sensation of Site (which I’ve sadly missed, but we had a great talk about Bela Tarr). It was hosted by Amy Dotson and the topic was Why We Need Independent Film. It was great to hear the other filmmakers talk about their processes - we’re all in the same boat, just built them different ways. Finally, at the after party, I had a chance to sit with Albert Maysles, who I had been too nervous to talk to earlier. His handheld camerawork is some of the best I’ve ever seen - and more importantly what he captures and sees in people is just beautiful. It was cool to have a few moments to chat with him about shooting fiction for Goddard with doc methods. A very generous man who seemed happy to share. We call that a good day. Huge props to the folks of Ashland, and especially the staff of the Ashland Independent Film Festival - all of who were incredibly kind, selfless, patient, and fun!
late shift
I’m sitting here feeding tapes to the machine so I can get my timeline re-digitized at 23.976 fps. If you cut your film at 29.97, but shot in 24p or 23.976 people might tell you you are going to have to overcut your whole movie. But I found an editor on Craigslist who converted my 29.97 AVID project to 23.976. I will have to go through and check it, maybe slip, slide or trim some shots, but so far it seems to be working fine.
A pal at work sent me this article:
‘Evil’ nurse jailed for life for killing patients
Reminds me of a situation in BOPPIN’ AT THE GLUE FACTORY, but from an entirely different perspective.
Tharin Sanders wallpaper and other characters available at BOPPIN’ AT THE GLUE FACTORY website. Collect all seven!
Tom and Jenny interviewed for Realtvfilms.com
Hey kids,
Jenny and I did an interview with Realtvfilms.com down at SXSW during the party thrown for us by IndieGoGo and IFP. My voice is all blown and sounds pretty crazy. Check it out & spread it around
Also, if you are in or around NYC head on over to the IFC Center Monday night to see THE NEW YEAR PARADE for yourself. It’s nearly sold out, so check the previous post regarding ticket sales. See you then!
SXSW Wrapup & IFC Center
Taking The New Year Parade to SXSW was an incredible experience. I remember sitting at home a year ago, reading about SXSW and feeling frustrated that my film was not completed. SXSW seemed like a great mix of cool audiences and filmmakers who are be interested in similar formal and production models. A year later I found myself sitting in the Dobie Theater watching The New Year Parade. Our first Q and A lasted nearly a half hour!!! It was truly amazing. Thanks to everyone at SXSW for a memorable week and to Brian Poyser for his thoughtful introduction.
Also, after a year of working parallel with each other, I finally got to see the other IFP Lab films!! Rainbow Around the Sun was everything I hoped it would be and more - a playful and thrilling cinematic concept albulm. I’m blown away by what these guys pulled off. I know it is low budget, but it feels BIG and played great with an audience. It’s the kind of project that could inject new energy into the broken music and film distribution systems. The Rainbow gang also allowed us to crash on their floor when we lost our housing!
I also really love what Alex did with Woodpecker. The film had three sold out screenings and with good reason: it tells an incredibly entertaining and heartfelt story while fusing fact and fiction better than any film I’ve seen. The acting, writing, and cinematography all complemented each other to explore existential themes in an entertaining structure.
On Friday, we ran over to the Alamo South Lamar to see The Marconi Brothers. It was difficult to find seating because the theater was packed - even at the end of the festival. Wow. This feels like a mainstream movie - the production value is through the roof and the story and characters are all really strong. Mad props to Marco and Mike for taking low budget film to another level. We all left impressed. Unfortunately, I missed Older Than America due to screening conflicts, but heard excellent reviews.
I also caught some pretty cool panels, including one on doc/fiction hybrids. Obviously, I’m very interested in that sort of thing as we shot 80 hours of doc footage for THE NEW YEAR PARADE, a fiction film. The discussion was framed around the idea that this production and formal model is an evolution of cinematic forms. Indeed, there seem to be more and more hybrid films, yet at the same time I couldn’t help to think that this is nothing new. When we began shooting, my friend Eugene Martin recommended that I watch Jim McKay’s OUR SONG, in part because it deepened its characters and expanded production value by incorporating their characters into The Jackie Robinson Marching Band. In 1969, Michael Ritchie shot footage during the World Cup for DOWNHILL RACER. While there are countless examples, the most interesting to me is LIFE OF AN AMERICAN FIREFIGHTER, directed by Edwin Porter in 1903, the same year, but to my knowledge prior to THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY. The film mixes documentary footage of firefighters with constructed, theatrical elements to tell the story of a dramatic rescue (also interesting because it of how it handles time pre-parallel action). The reasons then seem to be the same as now - to expand production value, build the characters’ world and depth, and to blur the line between fact and fiction (although the staged elements stand out now, I wonder how the played then). Cool stuff.
FINALLY: hot off the trail from SXSW, we will screen THE NEW YEAR PARADE in New York this Monday, March 24, at the IFC Center!!! It’s a great venue to see the film in and most of the cast will be in town for the evening. We’re pretty psyched. Click here for tickets (just change the date to 3/24 for showtimes). Thanks to Slamdance for setting up this great opportunity.
Acclaimed Japanese Filmmaker Joins The First Breath of Tengan Rei as Producer
Masayuki Koide, producer of the Japan/Taiwan co-production Addicts, now in theatres, has signed on as a producer for The First Breath of Tengan Rei. Koide is focusing on Japanese and Asian distribution for Tengan Rei. Koide worked as a TV director and as a producer for animation companies Sunrise and Ginax. He directed the films Kanpai (2001), Nigatsutekikoji (2003), and Fururi (2005). See http://www.koide-office.net (Japanese)
SpoutBlog
Earlier this week, Karina at SpoutBlog posted a profile of “Rainbow Around the Sun,” including the trailer and an interview with Beau and myself.
Click here to check it out…