Agricola Media

Maybe it’s because I’m a relic from the 60′s but I’ve totally fallen in love with a little piece of software that runs on my Ipod 4. It’s called 8mm Vintage and I learned about it when I was reading about the documentary “Searching for Sugarland” Seems that the filmmaker, Malik Bendjelloul, shot this Oscar winning documentary, which I can’t wait to see, using an actual super 8mm camera to give the film a gritty, retro look, then ran out of money with a couple of shots to go in the production. He found the app mentioned above, loaded it onto his iphone and finished the shooting for the film. Supposedly the shots cut together beautifully with the actually super 8 footage – the director said that audiences could not tell the difference. The app costs $1.99. Can you imagine having shot all that film, having it processed and then realizing that you could have had it all for $1.99?

I can dig that it’s not all about money though. Shooting super 8mm is very different than shooting with an iphone. And the director chose a certain aesthetic and then picked the tool which reflected the time and place of his subject. Very neat and true to the story he was trying to tell; I totally respect that.

I Immediately purchased the app which took approximately one minute. It was snowing outside. I fired up the app and I shot some test clips. Oh my God, they were beautiful. The 8mm look with it’s jitter and strobing and sepia look, which the app defaults to, were gorgeous. Here are a couple of quick clips:

I had the option of shooting in 4:3 aspect ratio or full 1920 x 1080. I went with the 4:3 – I just like that boxy old look, no, the classic proportions, that just put me in the old single, non-multiplexed cinemas I frequented in my youth. It seemed to me that everything I shot with this app felt more like a memory, a feeling, or an evocation of a time or place than what it was objectively. I’m not sure that my reaction wasn’t entirely due to the fact that I grew up with film, and that video was such a horror visually in its early days. I’d like to see what someone in their teens would think. Would they even relate it to the past, or would they just view it as a modern special effect or “theme”.

I found myself wanting to make a film with the starting point being that it had to be made with this app. That a 1.99 cent app would be the muse for a film to me is astonishing…but it could happen. In the meantime, I tried something with the film I’m now editing, “From Talking To Playing”, about the brilliant pianist Mira Gill, (or “Miracle” as I like to think of her!). I had put together titles in Vegas Pro using with just white print on a black background. I also layered in some animated snow flakes. Then I rendered out this section, played it back and recorded the screen playback with my ipod and 8mm Vintage. Here’s what it looks like:

I like it and it’s now the opening to my film…

I try not to use a lot of special effects in my work. I don’t need to generally, because most of what I do is narrative in nature and I find that effects just tend to be distracting to the subject matter. In my younger days yes, I relied on effects to jazz things up, but not so much anymore. Nowadays I prefer lots of cuts in my work even to the point of cutting from black to titles and from titles to black and then cutting to actual video. I like, when I can, to cut out of a sequence, go to black then cut back into the next sequence, which is generally a new thought or transition in content. I like the energy you get when cuts are used…not real fast cutting necessarily, but one image changing to another, to another…

If I’m picking and trimming the clips that I’m editing together just so, the whole sequence moves along with the narrative aiding and abetting the audio part of the production. If the cuts aren’t working, then it almost always comes down to I need to shoot more material, so I schedule another shoot. For me, it seems to work out that I never shoot exactly what I need the first time out. That’s because during editing, when I’m actually creating the story, I start having ideas for shots – and I don’t deny myself when it comes to shooting more and not settling for less, meaning what I have on hand. That’s why I’m returning to New York City in a couple of weeks to pick up shots I’ve been adding to my list while editing my new film, “From Talking To Playing”. I’m not wild about a 7 hour bus ride and the whole lot of gear I’ll need to manhandle and drag around once I get there, but it’s got to be done. I don’t even carry a clothes bag on these trips. My clothes are packed in spaces between my microphones, lights, etc.

I’m digressing.

So what does this have to do with hating dissolves? Well, if I were to rationalize and say, well I can probably use this OK shot if I blend (dissolve) from it to another OK shot, maybe bring up the music and just stretch the footage as much as I can, maybe even freeze the last frame of a clip to stretch it out more, well, yeah, I’ve covered my audio but it’s dull, dull, dull. And any god fearing fellow filmmaker would laugh at the hack moves I was laying on them. They’d know it was just illustrating. So for me, using dissolves this way is the way of the lazy, maybe even the way of the coward… It’s so easy to be swayed by the siren call of dissolves to smooth out the bad cutting. And even worse, I’ve found that once you start dissolving from clip to clip in a sequence, it becomes difficult to return to cuts. So now you’re stuck in the gauzy visual equivalent of elevator music. Lotus eaters.

I don’t really hate dissolves. I just think they can be overused or used inappropriately. If there’s a strong reason to use them, one that amplifies the narrative great. Or to signal a sense that time has passed, well double-great. But if all you’re doing is smearing video together to “cover” your audio, grab your camera and head out for some fresh air, and fresh ideas.

Although I do all my own shooting, lighting, sound, and editing, I am very fortunate and thankful for all the feedback, counsel, and support I receive from Agricola Media’s co-producer Ann Pennella. Ann is great at listening to my ideas and then commenting on them with objectivity, offering positive alternatives to what are often initial thoughts on my part. She is very good at taking, say a marketing idea, and seeing additional opportunities that flow naturally from it. Her producing skills are more valuable to me as a filmmaker than anything else I can think of and I’ve learned to really listen carefully to her thoughts…

I’ve posted a trailer for my upcoming documentary Captain. Comments are welcome!

April 9th was a busy day of filming for myself and Captain Richard Updaw, USMC, Ret., who is  my film subject for an upcoming documentary entitled Captain. With the film about 80 percent edited, I’ve been able to identify areas in need of additional filming and so, with list in hand, Dick and I set out.

First stop was the Rush Public Library where we filmed Dick doing research in his quest to memorialize Cpl. Robert Hodes, who died at the Battle Of Iwo Jima in 1945 at the age of 19.

We had great cooperation from Linda Repka, Library Clerk, standing to the left of Dick,  and  Library Director Kirsten Flass. They asked how they could be of help, cleared tables for us, and showed a real interest and enthusiasm for the project. Thank you Linda and Kirsten!

We left the library and headed over to the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial off of South Avenue in Rochester. I  wanted a shot of Dick approaching the site and then looking at the granite memorial with the names of those soldiers from the Rochester area who were killed in the war. It is a beautiful memorial, (my first time there), and it reminds one of the courage and sacrifice of the those who gave their lives.

Then we pressed north to Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Rochester where Cpl. Hodes is buried. I have been to this cemetery half a dozen times now to try and create images that will cause viewers of the film to reflect on the theme of remembrance that is at the core of Dick Updaw’s quest . In some ways I feel this graveside is the main character in this film…So easy to walk right past and to overlook,  but unforgettable once its story is known.  Of course,hundreds of  veterans are buried at Holy Sepulchre – as are tens of thousands elsewhere. For me, Robert Hodes is their representative .

Finally we arrived at a blustery Lake Ontario where I filmed Dick walking along the beach with a backpack filled with about 80 pounds of sand.  To explain: I was hoping to evoke Dick’s trip to Iwo Jima in 2004, where  he  filled his backpack with black, volcanic sand, and walked the entire route that Cpl. Hodes would have walked  from the beach where he landed, to a ridge on  the northern part of the island where he was killed. I’m not trying to fool anyone into believing that this footage was shot on Iwo Jima, (for one thing, the sand is white here!), but rather to evoke a memory – and the sense of brotherhood that this walk suggests…

And finally, a little bit of filming back at Dick’s farm on West Henrietta Rd. These shots may appear in the film’s opening – and I’m hoping will set the stage for what I hope is a very interesting story to follow…I’m aiming for a Memorial Day, 2012 release for this film.

As I learn more about World War ll, and particularly about the War in the Pacific, I become more interested in anything tangible from the battles that were fought there. In fact, that whole period is becoming more real to me – although I find it impossible to put myself in the place of the 19 and 20 year olds who a year before being thrust into battle were going to highschool and tending the family hardware store…

So about a week ago, Dick Updaw, my film subject for Captain, showed up at my door and handed me an object wrapped in tissue paper. I opened it and beheld a vial of blackish, gritty sand which Dick informed me was volcanic ash from the beaches of Iwo Jima. Dick brought back a quantity of this sand when he made his journey there to learn more about the life and death of Cpl. Robert F. Hodes. I now have the jar on my desk where I do my video editing for Captain…