FST 495 Update #12

Now that our semester is nearing a close, we are looking at all of the festivals we would like to submit to. We have around $530 in submission funds and can't wait to get started! Jessica and I are going to sit down and finalize a rollout plan and then look into creating a few DVDs of our film. We are also starting to put together our BTS photography and footage for our Indiegogo backers. Looking back on this project, it's been a fun yet challenging experience. As a producer, it has definitely kept me on my toes, but I'm so grateful to have had this opportunity. Some people might view this film as just a senior project, but I view it as so much more than that. I really want it to have a successful festival run, and I truly believe that we have a shot. I don't mean it in a bragging way, but I mean that I can tell this film was a product of our cooperation and hard work. We all treated it as a priority, and I think our fine cut really demonstrates just how much it meant to our group. This weekend, we all took a brief break to visit Cucalorus, and as always the experience was memorable.

Cucalorus Response:
On Thursday night, I went to see She's Allergic to Cats, which is about a dog groomer who meets a girl and is smitten immediately. He's awkward and has little experience with love, and buys a cat to take care of his apartment's rat problem...but he doesn't know that she's allergic to cats. This was the most interesting Q &A because the director said that the characters are all close and personal friends of his, and he was actually a dog groomer in real life. The film seemed to be a loose (and very exaggerated) representation of himself and people he knew. The film was also interesting because it was extremely experimental and many parts of the story were implied as a result. For example, when the main character had an allergic reaction, it was portrayed in a series of jarring experimental effects, and was never expressed in conventional storytelling techniques. On Friday, I watched the Sea Monkey Animations block, and there were some very powerful pieces introduced to me. One of them was an animated documentary about a man who immigrated to America due to the hard times faced in his home country. I found this piece to be very relevant due to recent events revolving around immigration policies, and it resonated the most with me. After this block, Jessica and I went to the Leafy Sea Dragon Shorts, which were Virtual Reality Shorts. I really enjoyed this part of the festival because it was my first time trying out VR goggles. My favorite VR film was called Extraction, and it reminded me of a first person video game, similar to Dead Space in a lot of ways. It was a fun experience to actually feel like I was in the films and witnessing the situations firsthand. On Friday night, I watched The Eyes of My Mother, which was essentially like a feature length version of Un Chien Andalou. It was about a girl with a surgeon mother that has an obsession with anatomy. Her mother is brutally murdered and then things take a turn for the worst. What interested me the most about this film was the fact that it was in black and white, like a more classic horror film. It also played very well on the discomfort factor, leaving me thinking "What the hell did I just watch?" and was one of my favorite screenings at Cucalorus. Today, I watched The Love Witch because it ironically revolved around Wicca, so Jessica and I found it to be a fitting Cucalorus choice. Of course, the religion was portrayed as evil but the film also attempted to highlight the good witches as well, which was unlike other films I had seen on the topic. Overall, my Cucalorus experience was enlightening and unforgettable, and I hope we get to come back next year!

FST 495 Update #11

Our film has hit a road bump, but it's nothing we can't handle! We have been trying to schedule a day to shoot B-roll for one of our subjects, Alysha (before the semester ends), but haven't had any luck. We have back up plans of what B-roll to shoot for her, however and think that our film can still come together nicely. Tomorrow, we will grab some B-roll of Danny to work with for next Monday and can't wait to enhance his interview with it. Right now, I'm finishing up the budget and creating the rollout schedule while Jordan finishes the business card designs, but all other components of our presentation are finished. We tried to create a variety in our festival selections, and have also kept our world premiere date in mind as we create the schedule. We've decided that Full Frame Documentary Festival would be a great world premiere because it is well-established, international, and close by as well. Even though our festival only calls for 7 festivals, we obviously plan on submitting to more than that. We've talked about other festivals such as AmDocs Film Festival and DOXA Documentary Film Festival. I'm in disbelief that we only have three classes left to get final feedback on our film. I really hope that our classmates like it and are satisfied with our final, festival-ready product.

FST 495 Update #10

So we've finished our rough cut, and all that's left is to add credits and shoot more B-roll. Tonight, we are having a production meeting to discuss B-roll ideas, talk about Indiegogo, and work on our Marketing and Distribution Presentation. We've already complied a long list of film festivals to submit to, so it's a matter of narrowing it down. Another aspect I will address the crew about is what kinds of marketing materials we will need or want to use to promote our film. We are all very happy to see the whole thing come together and we can't wait for viewers to hear our subjects' stories. It's hard for me to grasp the fact that we are nearing the end of the semester and are so far along on this project. I remember when I had this idea over summer, and I've said it a million times but having this idea come to life has to be one of the best parts of my last year here at UNC Wilmington. I'm normally too scared to share any of my ideas but I took a chance on this one and I'm so glad I did. I'm so amazed to have the opportunity to create this film and to have people support it the way that they do. So many of my friends and family have been asking me about this project and are truly interested to see what this film will look like. I really want to reach people with this film and I want open minded viewers to walk away with a deepened understanding and a newfound tolerance for not only Wicca, but any religion that is different from their own. Tolerance is something so under-practiced in our society and I really want that to be an underlying theme within the film.

FST Update #9

The documentary is really coming together! We have a total of 8 dailies in our "Works in Progress" folder, and all we essentially have left to film is additional B-roll. We have all three interviews done and they really work well together in terms of defining what Wiccan religion is and how it influenced our subjects. My vision for the film is coming together and I'm so glad to be working with such a talented group of people. With our rough cut due so soon, I'm excited to watch the dailies get corrected and combined to make a film I've wanted to make for a couple of years now. This senior capstone has had its obstacles so far, but we've been able to overcome and work out our issues. In my opinion, a film can't be made without its challenges. Danny, Alysha, and Lady Passion really complement each other in this documentary that I hope will give people a better sense of the Wiccan religion. Once color correction and music are both finalized, the piece will really come together as a whole. I'm sad that we weren't able to get Tony's interview, but I'm still glad that we are able to have three solid interviews that work together to tell an interesting and often untold story.

FST 495 Update #8

I'm super excited to say that we've finally hit our goal for our Indiegogo campaign, and this doesn't include the amount we raised at the Fuzzy Peach fundraiser we had! Unfortunately, we were unable to get to Tony and interview him because of the road closures due to Hurricane Matthew. Luckily, Tony was very understanding of the matter and we will still have enough interviews to make the documentary a fun piece! Looking forward, we still have to interview Alysha tomorrow night and finally Danny on October 21st. Our schedule had to move around more than I've expected, but I'm glad we are still able to overcome these bumps and progress with the documentary. We've of course had a few disagreement when it comes to scheduling, but in the end we always get it sorted out. After skimming through Lady Passion's interview, it's as if she knew exactly what to say to add lots of substance to our piece. I can't believe we are already half way through the semester and on our way! This group has been working very hard and I can't imagine a better team to make this idea I had last summer. I'm really happy to see it coming to life!

FST 495 Update #7

There's good news and bad news (but the good definitely outweighs the bad). Unfortunately, we had to cancel our interview with Alysha on October 5 due to the threat produced by Hurricane Matthew. In good news, we've locked down a new subject, had a successful fundraiser at Fuzzy Peach, and are only $150 away from reaching our goal now! Our new subject is a male Wiccan named Danny, who is 21 years old. Our plan is to follow him for a couple of days and capture his rituals in action. Additionally, we want his story to add to the dynamic because we discovered that he was a Christian before he made the decision to become a Wiccan. We want to know what caused him to turn to this religion while we use Lady Passion and Tony Brown's interviews to add context around the Wiccan religion since they have both been Wiccan for over 20 years. We are excited to take on this new approach and believe that Danny will take certain people by surprise since he is a young, male Wiccan in Wilmington (which he has stated is not very populated with Wicca). As we continue our shoots, we are meeting with Tony Brown on Friday in Fort Mill, SC, and can't wait to see what he has to say!

FST 495 Update #6

This weekend we had our first shoot in Asheville, NC. We drove up on Friday, September 30 and it was interesting having to navigate up a mountain at night (we weren't able to use GPS to find our BnB). On Saturday, we got up in the morning and went to some of the best spots in Asheville for B-roll, such as Riverside Cemetery and The Cathedral of All Souls. We also got to explore this Wiccan shop called Raven & Crone, where we got an improvised interview with a high priestess named Angela. After this, we went to talk to Lady Passion and tour Coven Oldenwilde. It was so exciting to explore her environment and learn more about her story. She has a certain mysticism about her that makes her very charismatic as a person and an interview subject. This Wednesday, we are going to interview Alysha Pytlarz, who is currently studying Wicca and is a beginner. We've also secured an interview with Tony Brown from NCPCOW in another Wiccan shop called Laughingbrook and he will be bringing the high priest, Shawn, as well. We are expecting a huge contrast from Lady Passion's interview whenever we speak with Tony about his established community. Aside from the interviews, we have gotten some beautiful B-roll such as the mountains, the coven, and the skyline view of downtown Asheville. It's very rewarding to see this project make significant progress and I can't wait to see the finished product!