screening party...

[rollemfilm]

I have been working on a short documentary since september/02 and tonight I will show it for the first time. It's 14min long, all black & white. The title: Hillbilly IDOL, A Motion Picture About The Art Of Making Music. This band is a hot local/national roots/americana act that recently had a member change. I have tried to document some of the transition of one of the key members who recently left the band and as a replacement, a very young female singer has stepped up to the job. This band is well established locally but has a small national label. Wish me luck!

[tfunch24]

Good luck!

Tom

[calgodot]

Hillbilly IDOL rocks! Actually, I guess they don't "rock," but they are awesome. Great harmony, and some fine pickers. I'm glad their coming to national prominence, and equally thrilled with the rise of "neo-trad" country music - one more thing to thank the Dixie Chicks for!

I haven't heard anything with the new female singer, and don't know much about the band members. Is she going to be the new lead singer, or backup? Since many of their songs are sad love songs about women (at least on TOWN & COUNTRY, the only album I've heard), I'm curious. You've got the makings of a great doco short!

Good luck on the screening. If you have any spare copies on tape, or post it on the net, let me know. I'd love to see it. The love of bluegrass/roots music is one of the things I carry with me from my Southern heritage.

[rollemfilm]

Success! Now the fun begins. Raising money for a feature....eeeks!!

[rollemfilm]

We completed the mastering today, Mothers Day. All the titles, credits, sound levels and small glitches. Eight months work for 14 min! But well worth it. It's my best project yet. It's funny, I can't get over how much I learn doing these short films and how much better a filmmaker I become. But there is no proof of that till the next project is done. How many filmmakers pass away before they finish that one more film? That next one that no one will see. What was the next Kubrick film? That unmade Chaplin? You're only as good as your last film. Or, are you?

[Matt Pacini]

Boy, I have a lot of admiration for you guys who shoot docs.
Someone asked me to shoot one for them once, and I just laughed, and said "do you think I'm completely insane?"
Waaayyyyyy too much work, and way too much film stock required too.
You just have to shoot everything that MIGHT be interesting, then sort it all and try to make sense, and appear to be a story, later in editing.
Sounds like a total nightmare!
I don't have the patiience!

Matt Pacini

[rollemfilm]

Matt, that's funny. I think it's more work the other way. All the sets and rehearsal and getting everyone to show up on time. I never have a vision going into a documentary film project. Just an interest in the subject(s). Durring/after shooting the film begins to take shape. Since I still shoot (mostly) real film (super8 & 16mm), I have gained a sense when something is about to happen. When you spend that kind of money, you learn real fast. I saw Fredrick Wisemans' new film "Domestic Violence 2" and the night before "Domestic Violence", both films 2 1/2 - 3 hours long. He still shoots film. He must have 50-100 hours of footage for each of these films. Now that's a nice budget. I think the big advatage he has is he edits his own films on a flatbed, so not having the costs of video transfers and edit suite time helps pay for his work prints. I think in the long run, if you are careful, and have an simple edit bench, is cheaper or about the same to shoot film and edit this way.

[tacotim]

I agree, Documentary work is always more exciting for me. Whenever I'm working on (someone else's ) Narrative film, I get board out of my skull by the second take. Always a surprise around the corner in doc/non fiction work.

-Tim