DVD for PRE-SCREENING COMPLETED!

I have just finished burning the DVD for the upcoming Pre-Screening. I am happy to report that all 6 shorts plus the mini documentary look VERY GOOD, and I think we have something very special going on here. I've made some minor revisions to the videos that have been assembled such as adding some musical scores (original music by our own Cheth Rowe) and adding credits. The total run time is 20 minutes. So we are now 3 days away from our pre-screening (our test screening) which will take place this coming Wednesday May 27 from 2:00pm-4:00pm at Citywide Community Focus Center where I work. This event is co-hosted by our Cultural Competency Work Committee and is being doubled as a Cultural In-Service workshop. The first hour is to be devoted to the screening with Q/A following. The second hour will consist of small group discussions where our clinical staff will discuss the films as well as diversity issues in general. This portion is handled by the cultural competency work committee.

2nd All Crew Meeting

Had our 2nd Meeting on Last Saturday. 

(1)  In our meeting we shared ideas about where we are headed, where we’d like to go, and we relished the idea that our future is open-ended. At this point, more questions than answers. But the notion that our digital storytelling project can evolve into a truly collaborative “intermedia arts project” (blending film, art, psychiatry, social work) was particularly exciting to me. 

 (2)  Thanks to Cheth for a copy of his music CD with some really interesting improvisational pieces. It was particularly refreshing for me to listen to Cheth’s feedback about our videos/slideshows as he reminded me how broad a concept we are dealing with when it comes to the musicality that is already inherent in our videos/slideshows. Elements such as language, editing, dialogue, etc. all possess “musical” qualities already, so most of our pieces may not necessarily need additional “music.”

(3)  Thanks to Scott for the wonderful slideshows and all the hard work that was put into it—meeting our clients twice a week is no easy task (especially commuting from the East Bay). Scott is also putting together some conference papers which will deal with our current project. Scott has been our resident scholar and theoretician. 

(4)  Sekyu—just checked his blog. He arrived safely in Korea and is enjoying his family. Per our conversation during yesterday’s meeting, I will insert the text into the slideshow to highlight the poem Debbie is reading. 

(5)  Last but not least, Vince stuck around after our Saturday meeting to help me fine tune one of my videos. He is such a technical whiz and a great Final Cut tutor! Thanks to Vince, again, for letting us use the LCD projector. Hopefully Vince will be able to come to our clinic this week to check out our sound system.  

(6)  Now that I have all the pieces assembled into my final cut pro, I am ready to burn them into the DVD. I just need to finish the documentary piece which will be very short. So here is the order of the lineup: (a) Eddie’s story, (b) Debbie’s poem, (c) Mike’s tunnel story, (d) The Bird’s Nest, (e) Cancer treatment, (f) and finally the documentary at the end. Probably 15-17 minutes long!

Our First All-Crew Meeting

So now we are wrapping with the "production phase" of our projects as we've gathered most of the footages needed. We held our first all-crew meeting yesterday inviting our postproduction crew, Cheth and Vince, to join us. They watched some of the footages and provided some helpful input. Cheth will be involved in creating original music/soundtrack while Vince will assist with technical and editorial assistance.

At this point, it appears to me that three distinct styles of digital storytelling are emerging. First, we have Scott's group-centered approach that is open-ended and consumer-artist oriented. Then we have the black/white photo-based slideshow of Sekyu. And finally, my approach is more documentary/video style. There is a lot of overlap among us, of course. While each of us are responsible for our own projects, we continue to learn from each other and to collaborate.  Soon, Cheth and Vince (our postproduction team) will play more prominent roles. Incidentally, I invited Chris Mergemekes to join us as a second musician. He recently moved to New York but is eager to part of our crew.

Nona and Robert Shockney

During the last two days, I filmed "Mona" and "Robert." I first noticed Mona through her short, figure drawings that were posted on the wall at our clinic. Sekyu and I spent an hour or so photographing and videotaping her drawing various figures. The drawings were simple line-drawings and resembled caricatures.

Today I went to "Robert's" SRO to videotape an interview. He talked about his photographs which documented the lifestyle of those living in the Tenderloin, particularly in relation to their health, eating habits, etc. After that, he turned on his karyoke machine and sang a beautiful song by the Beetles called "Blackbird." This particular piece will be a hit!

Weekly Summary/Update

Sekyu and I met with two of our clients last week (Debbie and Rene) to complete our video/photography shoots. We documented Rene painting two different styles (watercolor and chalk) from start to finish.     

We also visited Debbie's Coop to finish our second round of interviews. She talked about her inspirations behind her poems. Had a chance to see Sekyu's photographs afterwards. They were amazing. Sekyu will be in charge of putting together Debbie's story.

Scott Wallin met with a group of 3-4 clients last Thursday and Saturday. After reviewing the photos taken by the clients and providing feedback, Scott had them do a creative writing exercise which turned out to be very revealing and may serve as basis for their stories. Scott is doing a fabulous job with the clients. 

Finally, last Thursday, I went to Mt. Zion hospital to videotape Michael's radiation treatment. The hospital staff let us into the radiation room at Michael's inssistence. He told the staff how much he wanted to be videotaped. I had to leave during the actual radiation but was able to take away some good B-rolls.        

Copy of Weekly E-mail Update for March 30, 2009

(the following is a copy/paste of my first weekly update I sent out to our growing crew members via e-mail).

Hello Digital Storytellers: 

I'm gonna try to provide a weekly update for you all now that we are turning into a real crew. For today's edition, let's start off with introductions. 

First off, I want to introduce two latest members of our crew.  Vince Vilan (a 21-year old editing prodigy) will be helping me out as a technical consultant/assistant editor for our project. He is currently finishing off at City College and will be applying for film programs for next year. 

Second, I just spoke with a local musician/multimedia artist/computer expert Cheth Rowe who agreed to help us out with music. A graduate of San Francisco Art Institute, he looks forward to collaborating with us and our clients/consumers. 

So welcome again, Vince and Cheth. I will keep you both updated. At some point in the near future, Cheth will look at our footages to get a better sense of what kind of music might be appropriate. I also invited him to visit our clinic at some point to meet our clients/consumers...it would be nice for both Cheth and Vince to meet the rest of the crew. 

Vince and Cheth, let me introduce you guys to Scott Wallin and Sekyu Kim. Scott is a PhD candidate in theatre and performance who is a former social worker and also a multimedia artist himself. Scott is currently working with a group of four consumers who are taking digital pictures. Soon the consumers will be commenting on their photos--as we videotape them.

Sekyu Kim is an M.F.A. student from Korea studying photography at Academy of Art College. A former movie producer in Korea, Sekyu and I are working with three different projects with three clients who have some very interesting stories to tell. One is a painter, the other is a poet. And we have one consumer who is currently battling cancer and would like to talk about his hopes. 

p.s. Scott, hope you had a great vacation. See you on Thursday at 11:00AM. The clients have been taking pics while you were away. Sekyu, i'll see you Wednesday at 9:30AM at the cafe with Debbie. Vince, hope your classes are going well. I'll check in with you in mid April. 

p.s.s. The date for our first film festival has been set for Wednesday May 27th from 2:00-4:00PM. 

Thanks for your efforts. Let's have fun and be creative!

Recruited Clients Already

As of today, we have recruited all the clients we would need for the upcoming May film festival. Sekyu Kim will work with me with two clients: Debra S. and Rene A. One is a poet, the other an artist. Scott Wallin will work within a group format with Bruce S., Edwin H., Jeff W., and Michael M. Sekyu will also document the whole process for both groups.

Scott wants to give out digital cameras, but we don't have any funds yet. Dave Fariello allowed us to get up to 2 $30.00 cameras from Walgreens. Scott and I will lend our digital cameras (the ones we can afford to lose) to the group. Hopefully in the near future, we can raise some funds to purchase equipment.