COVID Dystopia at Cordillera Film Festival in Reno

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COVID Dystopia will screen in Reno on September 27, 2024 at 10:30pm in the Music Videos and Party-Short Films Program #4. screening. The screening is at the Greater Nevada Field, 250 Evans Avenue, Reno, Nevada. I had hoped that the film might be shown on the jumbo tron under the stars, but the 1992 feature film A League of their Own starring Tom Hanks, Genna Davis  and Madonna, will be shown on that huge screen. The short films will be shown in a VIP  lounge upstairs inside the stadium building. Hopefully they will cobble together a decent screening room. If they screen it on a bed sheet with a tin can for a speaker,  I believe there will be tears. They say there is no crying at Film Festivals.

Festival organizers let me know that my art bag would not get through the stadium security. I’ll just have to pocket a few pencils and carry my sketchbook if I want to sketch. Art supplies are often a weapon that is hard to get through security.

Mygration Films Meet and Greet 2

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The first sketch I did of the Mygration Films meet and greet was done while the filmmakers were looking over the envelopes they had picked to learn about the subject of their documentaries. The room was quiet as they read and thought.

Once the artists entered the room and were introduced to the filmmakers the room buzzed to life. There was a definite excitement as plans were hatched for the following two days of shooting. Unfortunately I am not sure who the artists or the filmmaker was who was seated right in front of me. They stood in for all the excited conversations that were happening at all the tables in the room. I will learn the story about the creative people seated in front of me when the films are shown as part of the Global Peace Film Festival.

I introduced myself to the filmmakers at Stella’s table briefly but didn’t want to interrupt the flow of the conversation.  A creative marathon was about to begin. Mygration films will capture the stories of Central Floridians who came here from around the world in short 3 to 5 minute documentaries. The filmmakers had just 2 days to shoot the films. The title of the film about Stella Arbelaez is titled Path to Healing and I can’t wait to see how it turned out. The films will be shown on September 22, 2024 starting at 5PM at Afro TV, 7220 International Drive Orlando Fl. Tickets are $10. Stella’s wrote her story in Footprint Magazine should you want to read more and see some of her art. I am curious to see how such an epic story can be told in a 5 minute short.

 

Mygration Filmmaker Meet and Greet

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Stella Arbelaez let me know about a filmmaker meet and greet happening at Full Sail. Lori Turchin was running the event.

Fusion Fest was having filmmakers create short documentaries about local creatives. The films had to be shot over the course of 2 days. It was to be a fast marathon of creativity.

I arrived at Full Sail a bit early to start the sketch. Lori explained that pairing so many creatives was an arduous process. Filmmakers would meet their prospective subjects in the Tree House, which was a student lounge with a small stage up front. When a filmmaker would arrive they would meet Lori who had a series of numbered envelopes they could choose from. Each envelope contained the name of a local artist along with biographies and other pertinent information. The filmmakers sat at their tables and poured over the material in the envelope.

Stella explained that she did quite a bit of work prior to the meet and greet. She acquired permits for the shooting locations and UCF required a script, so she essentially build a script around the questions the filmmakers would be asking. The theme of Stella’s short would evolve around her love of nature and the sense of place the brought her back to Orlando where she put down roots. She knows who she is creatively and she knows what brings her joy.

Stella’s filmmakers, M.D. Elliot and Ethen Paonessa, came from Ringling and after this initial met and greet they went out for dinner to continue to plan the filming production. The following day Stella’s daughter arrived. Five hours of footage might be shot which would need to be edited down to 3-5 minutes.

One aspect of Stella’s story  of healing that really fascinated me was her decision to walk the full 1,500 mile length of the Florida Trail. She had a home made backpack. Her small dog followed her on the journey. Hikers on this trail often are given nicknames and hers became acorn. She met up with other hikers along the way and there is a sense of community among those who feel the drive to walk the length of the trail. When blisters halted her progress, other hikers carried her gear so she could keep moving forward. COVID hit when she had just 80 miles to go to complete the trail. The trail was shut down. The open air of the trail was probably the safest place to be, but she had to return to civilization. That final 80 miles stretch was completed much later when lock downs were lifted. A person’s strength and resolve is tested on such a journey, and a love of nature is given room to blossom. The trail will provide.

All of the short films, which are referred to as Mygration films, will be screened as part of the Global Peace Film Festival on Sunday September 22, 2024 at Afrotainment, 7220 International Drive Orlando Fl. The screenings start at 5pm. Tickets are $10. I will be there to cheer on my fellow Florida Creatives.

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COVID Dystopia is an Official Selection for the Orlando Film Festival

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I really didn’t think COVID Dystopia would ever be screened in Florida. There are so many scenes that feature Florida Governor Ron DeathSantis that I assumed any juror who is conservative would guarantee the film is never seen.

The Orlando Film Festival runs from October 28 to November 4, 2024. That means COVID Dystopia will be screened right before the November presidential election. The film also features many scenes of Trump’s failed COVID policies. This is, I am assuming, another reason many film festivals consider the short to be poison for the big screen.

A Rhode Island film festival organizer e-mailed to let me know that she contracted COVID-19 at the the in person screenings at the film festival. This meant that approvals for the festival had to be delayed while she recovered. I thought, that might mean that COVID Dystopia might have a better shot at approval, but the film was still side lined. People prefer to pretend that life has returned to normal even as they get repeatedly infected. Every film festival is a super spreader. One in 35 people are infected right now. We are just now starting to come down from a COVID wave that peaked in late August 2024. I think I am still a COVID virgin. Even though I take every precaution, I will likely become infected at one of these Film Festivals as I promote COVID Dystopia.

I am finishing up the design work on a 200 plus page book with over 600 COVID themed illustrations. If the copy editing is done by late October, I could publish the book in November of 2024. The COVID Dystopia book gives a more sweeping overview of everything that has happened in the ongoing pandemic. The short animated film would become a teaser to promote the book.

Charlotte Film Festival

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The schedule is out for the Charlotte Film Festival. COVID Dystopia will be screening in the Animated Shorts block on Saturday September 28, 2024 at 11am. at the Independent Film House, 4237 Raleigh Street, Charlotte, North Carolina. A general admission ticket is $12.

Unfortunately I can not get to Charlotte since I will still be in Reno Nevada at the Cordillia International Film Festival. COVID Dystopia will screen on September 27, 2024 at 5pm at the Greater Nevada Field 250 Evans Avenue Reno Nevada. I suspect it is being shown on a jumbo tron in the baseball field. I have to see what that looks like. If they have a dance party in the outfield that would be even better, but details are scarce.

I am sad I can’t get to Charlotte. I love that the animated short 8th Day is screening right after COVID Dystopia. 8th Day shows a world of animals all interconnected by colorful fibers. A dark fiber spreads taking over the world. Should anyone who helped in in producing COVID Dystopia want to go to the screening, let me know and I will arrange to get you my filmmaker pass.

Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill

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Wow. this production blew the white socks right off my feet. Desiree Montes stars as the venerable lady day at Theater West End (115 West 1st. Street Sanford Florida.

From the moment I entered the lobby I felt like I was in an intimate smoke filled night club.

I had seen this production once before but Desiree’s performance was the most visceral and vulnerable depictions of the singer I have witnessed. She was hesitant to start the performance but when she sang, she melted into the music. The piano player tried to keep he on the play list but she could not be boxed in. Her life was too large to follow a single line of thought.

Since this was a dress rehearsal, the audience was small but Lady Day often left the stage to mingle with the audience. Some joking interactions drew out audience members who shouted back and laughed with gusto. This was pure theater magic. During one song, a small dog could be heard howling off stage like he wanted to also sing. Later Lady Day brought he pup out to cuddle and share with the audience.

She talked of loss and the challenge of performing as a star in a racist country. When she began singing Strange Fruit, it clearly resonated with the horrors of her own life. What she most wanted from life was a home and a family she could call her own, but the life of a singer never allowed that dream to come to life.

Desiree is Lady Day. Performances are September 13 – 29, 2024. You do not want to miss this show.

Defiant Requiem

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Rafael Schächter was a talented composer but the Nazi party would not let him perform. He struggled to survive but teaching piano lessons to young pupils.

Then he got new that he was being imprisoned at a work camp called Terezin. One of the few worldly possessions he took was the score to Verdi’s Requiem.

Conditions at the camp were horrible with prisoners having to work more that 10 hours a day for the Nazi party. There was never enough food. Hope was lost. Rafael realized that music is food for the soul and he began to recruit singers to join a chorus that sang each evening in a cold damp basement. Singers entered a new reality. One survivor remembered that her stomach didn’t seem to grumble when she sang. Music was a form of rebellion against imprisonment. Human dignity was regained if only for a moment.

The Verdi Reqium is a complex choral piece to perform. Rafael  molded the amateur chorus teaching them the Latin lyrics by rote. Three times Rafael had to reconstitute the choir as members were transported to Auschwitz. Then came the moment he had hoped for. The Red Cross was being shown the prison camp by the Nazi’s. The camp was scrubbed and made to look like new. Signs were made to a library, and post office, which did not exist. Swing sets and a soccer field were added.The sick and dying were shuttered behind closed doors. The sickest were sent to Auchwitz and murdered. Had the red cross veered from the tour and opened just one door they would have witnessed unimaginable horrors.

Rafael was going to  have his choir sing directly to the Nazi officers what they could never say. The requiem is a treat against the unjust. The words are in Latin but they could be interpreted to condemn the Nazis to one day face their punishment for their crimes.” that day will dissolve the world in ashes, as David and the Sibyl prophesied. How great will be the terror, when the Judge comes who will smash everything completely!”

Half or the chorus was carted off in cattle cars to Auschwitz right before the performance. The hope was that the red cross would see the performance as defiance against the Nazi captors. The red cross only saw what the Nazis wanted them to see.

After the red cross left, the swing sets vanished as did all the children. 15,000 children lived in the work camp, of whom about 90% perished after deportation. In the following weeks the entire chorus was shipped off the Auschwitz in cattle cars. Rafael survived Auschwitz and several other concentration camps but died on a death march just months before the Nazi’s surrendered at the end of the war.

If Terazin wasn’t pure hell then it was the waiting room for hell. The prisoners were surrounded by man’s worst but they were determined to demonstrate mans best through music.

Defiant Requiem is being performed at the Dr Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. In Steinmetz Hall 445 South Magnolia Avenue, Orlando FL.

Saturday, September 14, 2024
Show time: 7:30 p.m.
Tickets from: $49
Age advisory: Recommended age 13+

The run time for the concert is 2 hours with no intermission.

Meredith Wilson House Iowa

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The Iowa Independent Film Festival is held in two cities, Clear Lake where my film was shown and Mason City which is known as the River City in the Music Man Musical. I had spent a solid day watching films in Clear Lake on day one. My favorite film on that day was Never Not Yours which was brilliantly written. It was about three grown siblings who visited their parents at a secluded cabin. When the parents announced that they were getting divorced all hell breaks loose. It won the award as the Best Feature film and that award was well earned.

The next morning there was a complimentary breakfast at 7 Stars Family Restaurant. I had ordered breakfast here before and ate it at the lakeside hotel overlooking the lake. It was my go to place for a solid western omelet breakfast. At the breakfast, I met Casey Schaffer who directed a short student film called Brothers: A Civil War Story. One of the organizers was beaming and said it was his favorite film. I decided I need to see it so on day two I watched films in Mason City where Brothers was being shown. It was indeed an amazing film especially since it was a student film that had to be produced on a tight budget. I hope one day this is expanded to a feature film.

After the first film block, I decided I needed some air, so I wandered the neighborhood looking for the Meredith Wilson House. The house is the childhood home of the author of the Music Man. It was a beautiful day so I stood leaning against a sign pose and sketched the home. Gnats were the one distraction swarming in front of my failing eyes. My fountain pen was also choosing to not always put down lines. Periodically people would pose for selfies in front of the Music Man sculpture next door.

I also found a rally nice foot bridge that went over the river that flows through town. All the homes on this street were gorgeous Victorian homes that were meticulously renovated. After the sketch was done I returned to the theater to spend the afternoon watching more films. The theater was pitch black when I tried to slip in to watch a documentary about local legend Hob Mason who was a famous jazz pianist. My eyes didn’t adjust to the dark , so I slipped into a front row seat to watch.

Iowa Independent Film Festival

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COVID Dystopia screened of the first day of the Iowa Independent Film Festival. That evening there was a party for filmmakers at The Boulevard (1311 Bayou Road Clear Lake Iowa).

After COVID Dystopia screened I was approached by a crew of 5 filmmakers who had a music video in the festival. Their music video Infinite Battleground was about two men struggling to balance work with their passion for music. The production is as dark and sinister as my own film, so we hit it off. Director Kristopher J. Gathercoal is in my sketch holding a beer. He wasn’t actually playing pool but I put him in as the second player to fill out the scene. The drummer hooked me up to the groups Through the Darkness youtube page. One of their music videos featured a sketch of a classroom and he wanted me to check it out.

Most of the filmmakers crowded into a back room consuming flat bread and drinks while chatting. The seating arrangement made it so that you would stay with on click the whole time. Since I had to plan to eat indoors, I decided instead to sketch the music video filmmakers as they played pool. The pool table I drew had a definite slant to is so that the balls always rolled to one corner. After two games at that table they switched to the table to my right. I had to get up a couple of times to allow for clean shots. One played became unbeatable once he had a few drinks. He explained that the buzz made him focus extra hard. It was a fascinating use of beer to promote zen.

The bar owner came up to me while I was sketching to talk. He was also a graphic designer and had designed the blue and gold mural on the wall. He was quite pleased that I was sketching it. He took a few pictures as I sketched.

At the awards ceremony, the filmmakers from Infinite Battleground sat next to me in the back row. Their film was nominated for best music video and my film COVID Dystopia was nominated for best animated film. I had no expectations, but they had been at this festival multiple times before and were looking forward to their first win. I was pleased that a good chunk of the intro to my film was played. That was the most eyeballs to view my film in Iowa. I think there were about 22 people in the theater when the film first screened, but this theater was packed for the awards ceremony, so there were hundreds of eyeballs. I paused my sketching when the winner for best animated film award was about to be announced. My fountain pen snapped in half and a big blob of ink splashed on to the sketch. I got distracted and tried to clean up the mess.

Crealde Urban Sketching Class

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This is a quick sketch done of my students working on the patio behind the Crealde Urban Sketching classroom. This was a demo to show how to do a thumbnail sketch to plan out the composition of a scene.

I do these sketches with no intention of pushing them to a finish to show the early stages of planning a scene. When I work on location on my own, I tent to just jump in and do a sketch that fills the page. The early stages of one of those large sketches would also look a bit like this, with detail pushed aside to block in the big shapes. This sketch really only has one major shape and that is the students on several benches. The general shape is a backwards letter L.

This thumbnail could be pushed further if I went back in and refined shapes using my fountain pen. Instead, I spent my time working with each student to show each how to analyze and sketch their own thumbnails, based on their chosen view.