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Documentaries drive me crazy.

Peace Corps: JFK's Bold Legacy

Stella Sung and Chris Wilkins watch the film on their mobile devices.
This blog post is for all of the nice folks who are attending the Baltimore Womens Film Festival the weekend of October 23-25th. Stella Sung and I wish we could be there for what sounds like a wonderful event, but our day jobs teaching at the University of Central Florida prevented us from making the trip. However, we would like to use this blog to tell you a little bit more about the making of Peace Corps: JFK's Bold Legacy.

How the idea for the music came about. The Orlando Museum of Art was planning to host an exhibit of Norman Rockwell's illustrations in the spring of 2008. Maestro Christopher Wilkins spoke with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra's Composer-in-Residence, Stella Sung, about the possibility of her composing some music inspired by any illustrations in the exhibit of her choice. The result was Rockwell Reflections, a suite with five movements, each inspired by a different illustration. Peace Corps: JFK's Bold Legacy was the last movement of the suite. When the OPO performed the suite as the final work for its concert on March 1st, 2008, the audience was extremely enthusiastic and gave the OPO and the work's composer a standing ovation.

The music on film. Meanwhile, backstage, Lisa Mills and one of her documentary students were filming Dr. Sung pacing nervously as her work was performed in Orlando for the very first time. Dr. Mills actually had several cameras in the Bob Carr Auditorium that night for a documentary she is filming about the OPO's Young Composers Challenge. The footage from the performance was so stirring, she and her husband/editor Tim Brown edited the entire concert together as a gift for Stella Sung and Mastro Chris Wilkins. When Sung and Wilkins received the gift they were delighted, and suggested that something else be done with the footage.

Winning Outstanding Cultural Achievement a MOFILM. Maestro Wilkins suggested that Mills edit together a special five-minute film and submit to the Mobile World Congress Film Festival in Barcelona, Spain. This film festival receives submissions from filmmakers who believe their short works would be good choices for cell phone subscribers to view on their mobile devices. Dr. Mills felt that the film about the birth of a new music piece should say something about the creative process. She was editing the film during the election of the Fall of 2008, and was inspired by its outcome. In January, 2009 actor Kevin Space presented the Outstanding Cultural Achievement Award at MOFILM to Peace Corps: JFK's Bold Legacy. Dr. Mills, Dr. Sung and Maestro Wilkins hope that anyone who views the film will be inspired to make connections between creativity and leadership.

Thank you for reading our blog post, and enjoy the festival!

The Friedrich Farm

It's rainy and chilly but I could care less. This morning after a farmer's breakfast I followed Joachim out to his garden and pulled weeds for a while. It was wonderful. The tomato plants inside his hothouse are already 3 feet tall and loaded. There are mounds of potatoes, rows of strawberries and cucumbers and heads of lettuce inbetween it all. He showed me the bulbous celery that will be ready to harvest in the fall. Right next to the garden is the orchard yard that has trees with about 5 different kinds of fruit, plus about 7 kinds of berry bushes and... oh yes... some grapevines.

Behind the garden is the chicken coop and pigeon house. I got to hold some baby pigeons but you can't get too attached because they'll be the centerpiece of meals one day. They are Joachim's pride and joy. He's been raising pigeons for food since he was 10, taught by his uncle.

After the morning in the garden, Angela and I walked to a neighbor's house where we bought about 10 jars of local honey. The elderly many has a collection of taxidermied animals that is out of this world. I suggested to Angela that she ought to make a documentary about him.

Right now I'm in the kitchen watching Ute prepare Sunday dinner. So far she's peeled and trimmed white asparagus from the garden. I think there are also potatoes on the boil. She begins cooking each vegetable with water, salt, a little sugar and butter. That's basically the way she prepares all of their fresh vegetables, then they are served hot with more melted butter and perhaps some bread crumbs sprinkled on top.

I am absolutely in love with this family, their farm, their little village and rural (East) Germany. Later today we'll drive around Brandenburg and tomorrow Angela is taking me to Pottsdam.

In Germany

I've left Sweden for a visit with Angela Friedrich, a young woman I met while teaching in Jonkoping three years ago. We became friends and she came to stay with us in Winter Springs two years ago.

Germany day 1 June 5, 2009
When I arrived at Angela’s family home in Weseram Ute and Joachim seemed excited to see me. For dinner, Ute had prepared a soup of potato and kholrabi and sausauge. It was delicious. We also had bread and ham and cheese. I like the way Ute keeps the cheese and meats in separate Tupperware containers in the refrigerator. Refrigerators over here are much smaller. Tupperware is very valued over here, because it just arrived in the East in the early 1990s. We watched Barack Obama on the German newscast and then I slept very, very well in the guest room.

Germany day 2 June 6, 2009
I woke up early and Joachim took me for a walk in the garden. It was beautiful. They have a new flock of chickens that are very cute. The rooster is actually smaller and prettier than the hens. For breakfast I enjoyed Ute’s plum preserves and she made the key lime coffee I had brought. Angela mentioned that I had remarked about the 80s band Spandau Ballet. The next thing I knew Joachim had brought up Spandau Ballet’s “This Much is True” on YouTube. Today I think we will go out on a boat and drive around their county, Brandenburg.

10 Minute Film

Here's a 10 minute film

Week 3

My trip to the glass shop went great. I think I got some pretty decent footage, although when I look at what I shoot I'm always annoyed with myself and wondering, "what was I thinking?" Shooting a guy flinging around molten glass at about 1000 degrees was challenging and a bit scary at times, but the guy was very nice and protective of me and gave me great access. The couple that ran the glass shop were wonderful and insisted on giving me all these glass animals that Gunne made. I'm going to do somethings special with them for the film.

After I left the Nybro glass district I drove to Kalmar on the coast and spent the weekend there, all by myself, and had a great time. There were some lonely moments but only because I wished I could share all that I was seeing. Saturday morning I went to Kalmar castle and the local modern art museum. Great exhibit on Munch. Then in the afternoon I drove over to a barrier island on the Baltic sea. I found one of the widest beaches in Sweden and went for a run. It felt great.

Driving back from the coast was fun on Sunday. I got used to the traffic circles quickly. But when I got to the gas pump I realized I had no idea how to use it. A nice lady helped me.

I had some trouble with the PAL settings in FCP, but today I finally figured it out and got about half of my footage in the computer. I can't wait to start cutting.

Week 2

Things are going very well. I've figured out Adobe Premiere much easier than I'd expected, but I'm still glad I have my laptop and final cut pro. My documentary shoot is now finalized for Friday. I'll be renting a car and driving for the first time in Europe. I'm a little nervous, but I figure if I take it slow I'll be ok. There's not much traffic in Sweden because there's not a very big population.

This week my teacher host went on maternity leave so I'm all by myself with the students. I think they're a bit afraid of their serious American teacher. I'm trying to smile more. I adore the students from Bangladesh. They are so very respectful. It's very sweet. The class spent today finishing the edit on their short documentaries. Tomorrow they present them in class. Next week we begin our TV studio production that will include the documentaries. It will be like a magazine show with mini docs inside it.

I'm very excited about my trip to the Glass Blowing studio in Southeast Sweden. Turns out I may not be shooting female artisans after all, which is a shame. But the guy they have lined up for me is apparently world famous and very nice. We'll see. After my shoot I intend to drive a bit further east to the coast for a day or so. I need to get out of the house here in Jonkoping because Josefina went into labor tonight. They will probably have a new baby here by Thursday. At the end of the weekend I'll be moving to someone else's apartment.

More later, now that my laptop is back up and running. I had a problem with the Swedish=American power adaptor but I bought a new one and it's working great.

Chilly Day

It's back in the forties here and the sun barely came out today. I don't mind, though, because the change in the weather is nice and I know I'm going back to the heat. I didn't sleep too well today but I got a lot of work done today. I've connected with a female glass blower in a town about two hours south of her famous for "Swedish glass." I want to revisit Bert Haanstra's "Glas" film from 1958, but this time I want to shoot all female glass blowers. Sara is trying to arrange it for me. I'm sure it will be a challenging shoot but I think it would be fun. I would like to partner with a musician to compose the music but I know I don't want piano. I'd like something expressive, though, and perhaps experimental.

First Class

Today I taught a class on mass media systems. I began the class with a group activity in which students had to invent a prime time program that would fit the paradigm of the media system within their country of origin. We then had a class discussion and I observed the same phenomenon among students as I experienced here three years ago. Whether they were from Germany, Mexico, Czech Republic or Bangladesh, all felt the public/commercial hybrid media systems in their countries were far superior to that of the United States' commercial system. Yet when I asked each of them what their favorite programs were, guess what they named? You guessed it... American Idol, The Office, The Sopranos, etc. etc. When I asked them if they would like to see the commercial channels taken off the air in their countries they emphatically said NO.

When I showed them UCF students' newscast they were not impressed, nor were they impressed by any of my students' documentaries. A German student found all of it "annoying." At least he didn't call it "American crap!" like a Czech student did last time I was here.

In a classroom setting, International Students are tough. But, when you get them in the studio they know very, very little about camera work, editing, etc. They loosen up a bit when they are doing more hands-on work and they discover it's not easy to make any television program look good.

Back in Sweden

It feels great to be back here. This really does feel like a second home here I am so comfortable with the school, my friends, even the geography of little Jonkoping. My flight was great... the best ever overseas, maybe because I had a window seat. I flew into Stockholm, took a train from the airport to the central bus station, then took a 3 hour bus ride from Stockholm to Jonkoping.

Today was my first day at the HLK and I hung out with Josefina in the studio. It's actually good to be back in a TV studio. I noticed as I was helping her with equipment that I've become much more confident in handling mics, tripods, etc.... even lights up in the grid. Tomorrow I give my first lecture on television news in the U.S. That oughtta be good. Ha.

I love the fact that people here do not live to work, they work to live. The work days are shorter and everyone takes a break caled "fika" at 9:30 and 2:30 each day. They gather in a common area of the school and have coffee. The coffee (or latte or cappuccino if you prefer) is FREE, along with all the crackers and biscuits you want. Educators are really respected over here and nobody is worried about the economy. "Education is never a victim" I was told, matter-of-factly by a fellow HLK faculty member.

I saw my friend Ebba and cannot wait to hang out with her. She and I are only one week apart in age. It was funny when we first saw each other... we sort of looked each other up and down and then smiled and said, "you look exactly the same!" I guess this is the sort of thing women do once they get up to this age... they celebrate staying the same as long as possible... before age starts to really show. Maybe it already does but we each choose not to see it. Anyway, she is going to help me set up my shoot at the glass factories south of here. She will come along and shoot stills while I shoot video. It should be fun. I'm really looking forward to it.

I don't think I'll be going away as much as I did last time. I just like hanging here in Jonkoping and I don't feel like I have as much energy. I just want to chill. I just watched the sun set over Lake Vattern and now all the lights are on across the lake on the hill. It's beautiful.

End of the term

I haven't written in quite a while because I've been so busy and I honestly haven't wanted to share some of the thoughts I've been having. It's not that they're negative or super secret or private. I guess I've just been a bit lazy.

The last few weeks of the term were very gratifying in terms of watching students' films come to life. There are some very talented and deep students at UCF and I'm proud to be allowed to teach them what I know and what I can find out. The turnout at the student film screenings was terrific and I'm feeling very satisfied here at the end of the term. Tim and I have edited about 1/3 of the Young Composers Challenge documentary. It has come together fairly easily but one challenge is the sheer volume of material. You really second-guess yourself on structure, what to use now, what to save for later, and wondering if it will all make sense in the end.

As soon as I got my grades turned in, meetings finished and graduation attended I flew away to Sweden. More on that in my next post.

Notmuchofabreak Days 3-4

Yesterday morning was a rush of preparing the Ellis films onto every format known to man. We never got word back from the folks at the Phillips Center on how they wanted us to deliver the films so we brought up DVDs, QT files, even DV tape. I wasn't looking forward to the drive, but seeing the films on that huge screen in the auditorium was definitely worth it. I was very pleased and I'm looking forward to March 20th when they'll play behind the ballet. We've decided to tape the whole event with two HD camcorders (Chris Walker, I'll send you a copy... the films contain some of the footage you shot for me).

Today I felt moody, and resentful of all the people enjoying themselves at the beach during spring break. It took a lot of motivation, but I sat at the computer all day going down a list of things I wanted to accomplish... from burning DVDs to sending them off to festivals... to following up on all the things I've been putting off communicating about. I must have written three dozen emails at least. I rewarded myself by riding my bike to my wonderful hot yoga studio in Longwood. When I'm in Gainesville next week I'm going to try to go to a hot yoga place up there that I've heard good things about.

I'm worried about the films, about finances, about putting on weight, about worrying. I feel self-centered and edgy. I want to spend days alternating between cleaning my house and walking in the woods. I dream about being on a boat in the middle of the ocean. I miss the people I like who live in other places.

Heading to Jax tomorrow for the 15K River Run, a 7-year-long tradition. I hope to get some beach time while I'm up there... staring at the water.

Breaking Spring Day Two

Just slightly more energy today. I took a bike ride up to Walgreens yesterday and bought some meds. One of them (Advil Cold and Sinus) had something in it that required my signature and drivers license. I guess that's in case I'm running a Meth lab. It certainly juiced me up yesterday evening. I enjoyed the new daylight savings time by cleaning up branches and pine cones in our yard, which is a totally neglected disaster. I can't wait to stop spending money on films and get my house put back together.

Anyway, this morning I laid out my new notecards and got to work on wrapping up Act1A: the technology session of the workshop. At the end I found a perfect transition to last year's winner. Steve Goldman plays the midi of Joe Columbo's orchestra piece. This will go well into a bite or two with Joe, who then talks about Stella, so that will get me to the concert. I hope it works.

I had to break in the middle of the day to pick up my laptop, which has been transformed from a tiger to a leopard. I guess it can climb trees now. I also got the final cuts of music from Stella for the Ellis films. After a quick stop at the grocery store I was able to drop in the new music tracks without much trouble, thank goodness. Ben showed me a great procedure for doing this with markers inside the sequence.

Tonight I wrapped up with a little more digitizing. I won't get much done tomorrow because I have to drive to Gainesville for a screen test of the films.

Interesting note of the day: The "Sarasota 350" is holding an "alternative film festival of rejects" across town, during the Sarasota Film Festival. I like this grassroots idea and as a member of the Sarasota 350 I submitted Dear Mr. Gore. If you want to learn more, read this article in the Sarasota Newspaper.

Spring Break Day One

It's official: I have a cold. I am feverishly blowing my nose and staying in my pajamas all day. I don't have much energy, but I see this as a good thing because it's forcing me to sit at my computer and work on my film.

Today I went back through the first five minutes of YCC and discovered two important things:
1). It needs more energy
2). It needs more structure
These are two things that most documentaries need when they are first being born, I think. So, I made notes for Tim where I think it drags. Then, I went and found more sound to give it more structure. I still struggle with inserting new clips without making the whole sequence go haywire...knocking things out of place, unsynching the audio, etc. If anyone reading this has any suggestions, please let me know. For now, what I do is make a copy of the project and fiddle around with the copy. Then I show Tim the copy and he "does it" to the original. I know there must be better ways to operate. It's a good thing brain surgeons don't work this way.

This evening I made several index cards and placed them on the piano in my edit pit:
First card: Central Organizing Principle: Talent and Perseverance lead to Creativity and Success
Second card: Act one must answer two important questions: What is going on here? Why does any of this matter?
Third card: Act 1A: The workshop (list of elements follows)
Fourth card: Act 1B: The rehearsal (list of elements)
Fifth card: Act 1C: The concert (list of elements)
The end of Act 1 will be Stella Sung taking a bow. I've decided I need just a few title screens for transitions. I still like the idea of a "young famous composer history" at the beginning and I have two students trying to find me drawings/photos for that.

It was definitely worth taking a day just to observe, take notes, organize and regroup. This spring break is going to go by very fast.

Young Composers Challenge

I've been thinking a lot about whether to/how to tie into my documentary about young composers... stories, histories, information, connections with... famous composers who started young. I've been thinking about that little history lesson about General Sherman that McElwee does at the start of "Sherman's March." I wonder if I could begin this film with a clever little history lesson on Bach, Beethoven, Mendelson and Clara Schumann... child prodigies of their day.

So, I went to the glorious UCF library and checked out several books on the lives of the composers. Fascinating stories here... like the jealousy between JS and CS Bach. CS was older, and jealous of his little brother's talent, so he hid music from him. JS found it and snuck it out at night and copied it. When CS found out, he snatched it away from his little brother. Clara was a piano prodigy whom her piano-teaching father totally exploited for his own gain. He drug her all around Europe to make money for the family. She married Robert Schumann, who was her father's piano pupil, but later reportedly had an affair with Brahms.

To do this sort of thing I think I would need narration, and I would need to find some visuals. I've got a book on how composers have been portrayed by Hollywood in movies, but I don't know if I could afford to clear the copyrights. I was thinking about having Stella Sung and Chris Wilkins read these stories as voiceovers.

Also, Tim has come up with an idea for an animated open: In front of a red curtain, a music staff floats into frame like a magic carpet. Caricatures of the 5 teens are riding on the carpet, each playing their instruments. The magic carpet floats around, then leaves the frame and musical notes from the carpet "hang" on the carpet and become the title. The red curtain opens and the five teen caricatures are standing on the stage, taking a bow. Or... the musical notes could float onto a page on one side of a book and each teen's photograph could appear one at a time on the opposite page of the book.

Then, after the "history lesson" and "animated open" I'll begin the film with the workshop. I'm getting psyched about working on this again.

Plate spinning fun

It is amazing how much time and money it takes to promote your film when it's finished. It's a fun thing to do, but something I never thought much about. Last week I received my harshest review and this week I've received the best... the one I was hoping for from someone important. Up and down, up and down. I feel like I'm on a trampoline.

I'm working with Ben, rushing to get this Rockwell film finished in time to submit to the mobile film festival. Gosh, this thing has been a ton of work. And then, there's this film for the Ellis Island ballet. I'm feeling much better about the way this film is turning out but there's not much time to get that finished, either.

Today I shot another interview with Steve Goldman. I realized as I digitized the tape at home that I had forgotten to switch my camera setting back to HDV from DV. ARGH! I guess I'll just use his sound. Otherwise, the meeing was terrific. He's going to back me on an animated open for the YCC doc... something I've always wanted.

And then next week I have a shoot on my rocket scientist documentary. I've been working with Wally on his presentation before 300 people in the LIFE program at UCF. I hope I can get some students to commit soon to helping me shoot this thing. It's Tuesday morning and I'm sort of beginning to panic.

Many plates in the air. And then, there are my students. They help me get through all of this. No, they do more than that. They remind me of how fun all this is.

Back at school

I was in a great mood when I woke up this morning and I slowly realized it was probably because I was heading back to class with my documentary students. I love them.

I continue to send "Dear Mr. Gore" out to various festivals, hoping SOMEBODY will like this film and program it. I had a nightmare last night that it did not get into the Florida Film Festival and I was told the reason was because there were too many audio problems.

I was able to successfully videotape the death of two brussel sprout plants in my guest bedroom last week. I'm hopeful about the Ellis Island ballet film, but nervous about the trip to Gainesville next week when my team and I show the choreographer what we've done so far.

The Rockwell Project is heating up again. I was actually able to do a revised cut all by myself and I like it, but it needs polishing. What am I going to do when Ben graduates and moves away? I need to learn more from him in a hurry.

I need to get cracking on Young Composers Challenge. I've now lost confidence in what I've shot so far, but if I can get back in there and look at the footage again, I might be happy. Who knows. These little projects with Stella have been a bit distracting.