Final Push

So we're logging, capturing, and duplicating which is not time consuming whatsoever. Having a few problems what it's to be expected. Our interviews Monday went awesome. Going through all of our footage I feel we have more than what we need to make an awesome film. It's the final day and we're making all the finishing touches. What a process, and thank God I learned so much in this class, I am beginning to feel like a real filmmaker :).

Last Interviews

Today Mario and I interviewed Dr. Keith and Dr. Puente. Dr. Keith is a psychology professor at UNCW, runs a memory clinic, and has background research in memory loss and the brain. Dr. Puente is a neurologist as well as a psychology professor at UNCW and also has background research in memory loss and the brain. Both of these experts provided our project with an incredibly intelligent insight on Jason's case. I feel that I have everything to make this film and am excited and eager to edit it into a finished piece.

Checkin' Out Footage

Mario and I have been viewing the footage from the NJ trip gettin ready for dailies on Wednesday. Overall the footage looks good. Initially I was worried about the content because everything happened so fast, but I fell I got what I could. Some difficulties came along because Jason hadn't seen some of the people I was hoping to interview in some time, so some precious time was spent catching up but it's to be expected. Being a perfectionist I originally saw the footage and imagined all the changed I would have made, but don't we all..Now that we've logged and captured all of our footage and compiled a dailies tape I'm happier than I suspected. We have so much footage, and it all can't be wonderful, but what I'm beginning to realize is that we have choices. When I say choices I mean so much to choose from to create the Jason's story. We've still got two interviews left to tape which will happen Monday December 3rd. We'll be interviewing two of UNCW's psychology professor's who specialized in traumatic brain injury and memory loss, I feel their testimonies will be the backup this film needs. We've already met in person with one of the professors and I must say so much is explained through his knowledge. If only I was going to be here for another semester, then I'd have another 4 months to edit this documentary into what I have been visualizing all year.

After the break - Update

Wow what a busy trip to New Jersey. I got some footage (B Roll) of Jason driving through his hometown and hanging out with his family and friends. I also sat down with his father, his therapist, high school teacher, and his two aunts (his mother's sister). I got a lot of footage and hope everything turns our well, the weather was pretty gross and of course I'd always like to have more time, but I feel the trip was a major success. Monday we've got an interview with Dr. Keith from the UNCW Psychology Dept. He seems to have a lot of background and research dealing with issues Jason has. We also have an interview scheduled for next Monday, Dec. 3rd with Dr. Puente (another UNCW Psychology Dept. Professor) at 5:15 at his memory lab practice. I really think we're going to have all we need to complete what we've visioned. :)

Lucky 7

Our Lucky 7 Festival Plan: "J-Dog Resurrected"
1. Silver Doc - Early Submission 1/11 $25
2. Next Frame - Early Submission 4/30 $20
3. Big Sky - Early Submission 7/1 $25
4. Cucalorus - Early Submission 7/24 $35
5. Sundance - Early Submission 8/20 $25
6. Full Frame - Early Submission 10/15 $35
7. Big Muddy Film Festival- Early Submission 10/31 $35
Film Submission fees: $200 + $35 Shipping = $235 total festival submission budget.
All of the festivals above are either festivals specifically for documentaries or they program documentaries frequently. Silver Doc is located near the Discovery Channel headquarters and since our film is a documentary and many of their programmed spots are documentary we feel our film would not only be a good candidate for this festival but also would give us a huge opportunity to network throughout the festival. Cucalorus and Full Frame are local to North Carolina which is also a plus. The fact that our film is made by North Carolina Film students will greatly weigh in our favor when they are judging. Big Muddy Film Festival is our final choice because out of 250 films submitted 60 were chosen, giving our film good odds to be chosen. Traveling to these locations will be relatively easy and cheap if we are accepted. The festival's submission deadlines fall at different parts of the year which is also a positive for us. We are able to spread out the submission timing to coordinate an equal distribution through out the course of the year. This will leave us open for future planning. Sundance may look like odd choice to an outsider because of the popularity of both, but they are both incredibly cheap and are willing to program any type of film from any type of filmmaker so long as it is a good picture. We feel our product will be worth credible review by their officials.

My Cucalorus Experience

Overall I was very pleased with my experience at the Cucalorus Film Festival. Unlike past years I actually got to participate and view more films than ever before. Over the festival weekend I viewed: The Film Class, West Bank Story, Baggage, Princess, The Lonely Bliss of Cannonball Luke, Weirdsville, Shuteye Hotel, Wrong Time Capsule, and Kurt Cobain, About a Son. While I viewed Baggage, I also got to party with other festival goers and filmmakers. From a filmmaker’s perspective I really appreciated most of the films I viewed, and in particular Weirdsville directed by Allan Moyle. This film was one of the best I’ve seen in years. I have enjoyed other films by Moyle and anticipated the experience of viewing this film in the festival setting. I was pleasantly surprised by the film both enjoying and respecting the dialogue and editing of the film. These factors wittingly created comedy from typically downbeat topics such as heroin addiction and satanic rituals. This film was smart and was the best crowd pleaser out of every film I saw over the festival (based on reactions and applause). My next favorite film was Kurt Cobain, About a Son directed by AJ Schnack. I believe a big part of why I enjoyed this documentary film so much was because it did not commercialize the star that Kurt Cobain was. It left you with the feeling that you had just sat down and talked with Kurt, a normal person just like yourself, for an hour and a half. The film contained all audio from interviews over a year and a half. Visually the filmmaker juxtaposed images while Kurt was talking. From a filmmakers perspective I respect the images chosen to represent the dialogue. The director did not show images of Kurt Cobain until the very ending of the film. I was very impressed with the images chosen because they kept the viewer interested in a simplistic kind of way. Overall this film was just impressive because it was long and left me wondering how the filmmaker put everything together in the end. Although I enjoyed most of the experience, there were a few let downs and in particular the animated film Princess. This film had a lot of hype and was actually compared with the works of Quentin Tarantino. I believe it was a mistake to compare this film with Tarantino because it set the audience up for something that just wasn’t there. I see what they were going for, but heading into a film with such anticipation and not delivering just brings on a bigger let down then needed. From my time spent at the festival I learned that a lot of information and experience can be taken in with just a short amount of time. I feel that this is my closest experience with a large participation in a festival and I must say I enjoyed it very much and am looking forward to many more throughout my lifetime as a filmmaker.

Grocery List

Grocery List (aka what we have left..)

Interviews in New Jersey:
Mr. Kenuk, Coach Curran, Jason’s Physical Therapist, Jason’s school advisor, Jason’s brother, and his hometown friends. An “interview” with Jason driving to the scene of the accident describing the events of that day.

Other Interviews:
Dr. Keith and Dr. Puente- both psychology professors at UNCW who specialize in amnesia, memory loss, and the effect of closed head injury on the brain.

Footage:
Jason playing Lacrosse, driving in New Jersey, hanging out with friends, swimming, Mrs. Kenuk’s burial site, and images that are blurred and out of focus to be edited in juxtaposed with Jason explaining the feeling of having no memory before the age of 13.