Wild Rivers Film Festival: Chetco Theater

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After the Wild Rivers Film Festival had wound down, I decided to go back and sketch the theater where COVID Dystopia had screened. Chetco Playhouse is a small community live theater. The last production had been Thumbalina according to the theater poster street side.

I had some very pleasant conversations with the Film Festival staff who had volunteered to work at this theater. When they found out I had animated COVID Dystopia, I was told that the film had sparked quite a bit of conversation. The daughter of one of the volunteers was working the projector and she loves to draw characters. I therefor shared my sketchbook to help encourage her to draw from life more often.

I entered this theater once while a feature film was being shown. The theater was so dark that I could not see enough to make my way down the aisle. I paused at the back f the theater waiting for my eyes to adjust to the dark. When a lighter scene was being projected, I made my was careful half way towards the front and felt for the seat backs to find an empty seat.

The film being shown was Ethan Bloom. An awkward teen boy was pushed into a pool by a spunky teen girl. I wasn’t in the mood for a teen romance, but this film found its way into my heart. Ethan Bloom had lost his mom when he was 10 years old which is how old I was when I lost my mom. Ethan was Jewish but he imagined that his mother looked like the Virgin Mary. Therefor he wanted to study Catholicism since he felt it might bring him closer to his mom. This premise ripped my heart wide open. Ethan would need his fathers permission to be baptized into the Catholic faith, so he decided he had to forge his fathers signature. Such a lie would not stand and his father found out. Ethan’s coming of age story featured forgiveness and people coming together regardless of their faith. It is a story very much needed in these divisive times.

Wild Rivers Film Festival: Best Animated Short

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COVID Dystopia won an award as the Best Animated Short at the Wild Rivers Film Festival in Brookings, Oregon. I always attend film festivals that accept COVID Dystopia in their line up. The film was screened three times and I managed to attend two of the screenings. at each screening I attended I answered any questions from the audience. I forgot to stand up front at the first question and answer session, but corrected my mistake for the second.

I don’t think people realize the amount of work that goes into a 5 minute short. First I produced a COVID themed painting every day for 3 years, then came the animation which took a solid year to complete. With each shot I experimented with parallax effects which added depth and extra movement to each shot.

At one of the screenings I noticed that there is a typo in the credits of the film. I need to correct that today. I had added several sentences at the end of the credits since there is so much more that needs to be said. There isn’t enough time to read what I added since the credits keep scrolling. I think I will edit it down to “We might be done with COVID, but COVID isn’t done with us.”

The result was a film that juries seemed to love to hate. Those that do like the dark vision I presented however often gave it high marks for its warped view of the American response to the pandemic. Now that most people consider the emergency to have passed, they seem more receptive to what looks like a historical look back.

The COVID Dystopia book has only 4 more spreads left to be edited. Since I am taking off for Europe, I will not start the printing run until I get back to the United States. Today I start the process of packing my life away into a storage unit. I suspect the trip will begin in September since a week isn’t enough time to pull all the elements together for the trip. The film festival and a 4 day roa trip to my sister Juanita’s funeral have upset any timely plans to leave August 31.

Wild Rivers Film Festival: Awards Ceremony

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After the Cocktail Party at Avigail’s Flower I went to the Elks Lodge where the Awards Ceremony was to take place. I arrived early because the three hour time difference kept throwing me off.  The awards ceremony was to take place in the room up and to the right n my sketch, next to the bank teller machine. The room was being decked out with a red carpet and some fancy table centerpieces. The centerpieces were tall glass cylinders filled with clear water, clear marbles and point lights.

An elk’s head could be found mounted in each room. The one I sketched was huge  They had to mount it low on the wall so it’s horns would not puncture the ceiling. There were photos of all the past Elks lodge president on the wall behind the stuffed Elk’s head. On fellow had served two consecutive terms and I wondered what his story was.

After the sketch was complete I went into the awards ceremony room to watch and possibly sketch the preparations that were underway. I was told however that I would have to go to the bar next door to wait. The preparations were top secret.

I decided not to sketch in the bar holding area, though I could have sketched another Elk’s head. Other film makers slowly arrived. Kimberly and Scott Brock sat at my table and sparked some good conversations.

The awards ceremony had plenty of deserts on the tables at the back of the room. I decided to try anything peanut butter related and there were like 5 different peanut butter flavored cakes and brownies. There were however no cups or drinks, not even water. I suppose they wanted people to order drinks at the bar next door. After filling up on sweets, I went to the bathroom and cupped my hands under the faucet to take a few swigs of water to quench my thirst.

Wild Rivers Film Festival: Avigail’s Flower

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There was a party for the filmmakers and vip patrons at Abigail’s Flower in Brookings, Oregon. The same woman was running the bar that was in charge of wines at the pizza party the day before. The shop has an amazing eclectic mix of antiques and floral arrangements. When you first enter the door there was a wall above a couch covered with tall grass with the Pom Pom seed pods and the women seated on the couch and gossiping, were dressed to the 9’s. I felt under dressed since I didn’t pack a suit. I also didn’t pack a sweatshirt, jacket or wool shirt. I was so glad I found a wool shirt that fit at a bait and tackle shop. I was starting to look like a local, or at least one of the hikers that pass through the town each day.

As I was searching for an angle to sketch from, I met a married couple in the back and shared my sketchbook with them. I got to tell them about my film, which they had not seen yet. Hopefully I talked them into checking it out.

There were finger bites, my favorite of which was tomatoes, basel and mozzarella on a stick. Rather than getting a drink so early in the day, I had lemonade which was delicious. Avigail, in a lovely white dress told me I had to check out a wedding venue right out side of town. It is a wooden structure with a very interesting series of exposed roof beams. I looked it up online and decided to sketch nature instead of a wedding chapel. She said the number of weddings she has hosted at the venue has risen exponentially.

Overall, this was a pleasant gathering. I wanted to get to a final screening of my film, so I skipped out a bit early. When I got to the theater, I realized I had the day and or time wrong. A film I had already seen was about to screen. I therefore jumped in my rental car and rushed to another theater.I probably watched 4 or 5 feature films at the festival and there were others I hoped to see.

Wild Rivers Film Festival: Post Production

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Since I enjoyed the first film production seminar at hit the Wild Rivers Film Festival, I decided to attend the second Post Production panel discussion. Dan Springen carried much of the discussions, but Scott Brock chipped in on occasion to discuss what it was like editing for Martin Scorsese. I was pleased that both med use Adobe Premiere pro for the bulk of their editing. There is another program called Da Vinci which is good at color correcting and similar tasks.  Eve Annemberg was also up front, but she had to leave early to catch a plane back home.

Besides the people on the panel it seemed that many in the audience were professional editors, which penned up some lively discussions about the evolution of film editing software. Final Cut Pro was a great program for a while but the. The software engineers dumbed down the interface to make it more like iMovie. Professional film editors dropped the program like a lead brick.

A local school teacher named Kimberly was attending. She had used Final Cut Pro for a school project and wanted clarification as to what was wrong with the program. I think you can get any program to work if you are persistent and stubborn. I got to chat with Kimberly at just about every filmmaker event and she made my stay in the Pacific North West such a pleasure. She had worked with Christo when he created a huge series of gates in New York’s’ Central Park that were wrapped in bright orange fabric. I remember seeing images at the time.

Wild Rivers film Festival: Augustino Filmmaker’s Lunch

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After attending the first filmmaker’s workshop at the Wild Rivers Film Festival, I was invited to go to Augustino’s down by the harbor. At first, I was told that there would be a drink on the house, but then I was told that I needed to buy a ticket to get a drink and a bite to eat. The person with the tickets was nowhere to be found, so I just mingled with the filmmakers. I got each of the filmmakers from the morning session to spell their names so I could write each on the sketch. It turns out this is a great ice breaker when meeting people.

There was an RV parked in Augustino’s parking lot and several tents set up behind the RV. A couple was making wood fire pizzas to order. I started sketching since I knew time was short. There were three adorable puppies hanging out in the rear RV window watching all the proceedings. Someone pointed out the ticket person, so I interrupted the sketch to get my tickets. I thought I would be paying by using the square device, but I was told, “ heavens, no, you don’t pay, we are celebrating you.” I picked up a sweet white wine at the bar and wrote my order for a pizza on a notepad. I picked up a triangular numbered wedge and wrote the same number on my order sheet.

The pizza was ready before my sketch was complete. I decided to leave the sketch as it was. I had a very pleasant conversation with Scott Brock. He has edited films for Scorsese and he has just finished a book which is a passion project full of his photography. Since I am close to finishing my book. “COVID Dystopia”, we had much to discuss. I feel that all things digital are not going to last for millennia. If you want art to last it has to be something physical that can be held, like a book. Most early silent films disappeared because the film stock degraded and in many cases burnt up. Thomas Edison preserved some of his early films because he printed each frame on paper.

The pizza was tasty, the wine divine and the conversations enlightening. The film festival was off to a great start.

Brooking Oregon Harbor

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After the rush of films that I saw at the Wild Rivers Film Festival, I took a day off and explored Brookings, Oregon’s harbor and beach with my sketchbook. festival. I relaxed in my new camping chair while doing this sketch and it worked out really great. I end up sitting much closer to the ground which is actually an advantage because I can lay my pencil case next to me on the ground as well at a small pill bottle of water and both are easy to reach.

There is a homeless population in Brookings, Oregon. There are campsites just outside of town and one fellow was lying out on the sidewalk right behind the restroom that was near where I was sketching. He didn’t have a tent but instead just had his bicycle lying on the sidewalk next to him. On the bus ride back to the long term parking lot in Orlando there was a motorcyclist who had just slid and fallen on an off ramp. He had knocked over one of the plastic stanchions. The bus driver stopped to be sure the biker was alright and he stood up and waved. With no blood and no broken bones, it seemed all that was injured was his pride.

The interesting thing about sketching in Brooking is that there is almost always a fog rolling in. On some days it burned away but it often persisted all day long. In this harbor scene the far trees slipped in and out of fog as I sketched.

The ground here was a thin crust. I discovered this when one of the legs on my sketch toll poked through the surface. I stuck my finger in the hole and there was a deep hollow. I thought maybe a gophers was building tunnels but I didn’t solve the mystery.

I watched as boat owner after boat owner went down to work on their docked boats. One married couple were working on the engine and he shouted out to his wife that she needed to turn over the engine like she had done  the day before. One boat was named Thor, which I appreciated. This was the third or fourth sketch that I had done this day, and I was starting to relax into the flow of putting each sketch on the page with just enough detail.

Brookings Oregon

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I arrived at the Wild Rivers Film Festival several hours early, because I was ‘t sure what the drive time was like from Medford, Oregon. From the airport to the coast I drove over a mountain range and had a blast driving down winding switchbacks through magnificent scenery. I drive through the huge Redwood forest and down flowing rivers. I didn’t stop to sketch because I wanted to be sure to get to the festival on time. I had looked up the screening time on my film and suspected it would show with a shorts block early in the day.

with several hours to kill before the screening, I decided I should sketch the theater where COVID Dystopia would screen. The problem was that there was a fine misty rain. I picked up a poncho next door at a Dollar General. The poncho didn’t solve my dilemma however because the sketch9 pages still got wet. I went back to dollar general and picked up an umbrella. That worked better, but the mist was so fine that it found a way to still soak the sketch page. I gave up and sat in the car. I couldn’t just sit on my hands, so I drove a few yards in the parking lot and looked out over at gnarly tree roots from a fallen tree. The scene suited my mood. The fine mist created a foggy atmospheric effect that I liked.

Sketching in the car kept me warm and dry. As the sketch neared completion. I started to wonder why I wasn’t seeing anyone enter the theater. I looked through the inline program and found out there was a film production workshop at the Town library. Someone there would have to know what was going on. I still needed to pick up my filmmakers credentials and figured the some staff member at the library would know what direction to point me in.

The misty, mossy and lush landscapes of Oregon agree with me. I didn’t pack a jacket however and I was cold any time I hiked about. I now had too much rain gear and noticed that the locals just let themselves get soaked. I needed lo line more like the locals. I was taking precautions for the sake of my sketching.

Flight to Denver the Medford Oregon

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Getting to The Wild Rivers f Festival in Brookings Oregon was an adventure. I left around noon to drop my car off at the long term parking lot. My flight left about 3pm. I was hoping to bring the backpack on the trip but United Airlines has a policy of only allowing one carry on item per passenger. Although the backpack could easily fit in the overhead bins, I would have to check it. Since I don’t trust the airline to not loose my baggage, I decided to only take by shoulder art bad one change of clothes shoved in around my art supplies. I am on the last day of the trip now and I decided that was the right choice for this trip. I also decided I will never again fly United since this luggage policy was not made obvious before I purchased the tickets.

It was 102 degrees in Denver which could be felt the second we walked off the plane onto the gang plank. The lay over in Denver was short enough that I decided I didn’t need to do another airport sketch. I grabbed a quick bite of a cordon bleu sandwich which was delicious and held me over for the rest of the day.

The second flight was to Medford Oregon which is about a 3 hour drive from the coast. I had booked a hotel in Medford because I decided I didn’t want to make that 3 hour drive in the dark and I knew I would be exhausted. It was a good call. The drive to the coast was absolutely gorgeous driving up through the mountains and down winding roads that were cut into cliffs and meandered along snaking rivers. I passed into California and had to pull off into a produce inspection station. I was asked if I had any fruit in the car, and I let him know that I had 1 apple. the officer said, “Apples are fine” and I was on my way.

I drove through the redwood forest with giant thick redwoods trees right along the roadside. That anyone would ever want to cut one of these glorious giants down, is mind glowing. I read the user’s manual to figure out how to use the cruise control for the highway driving. But for the downhill slaloms, I let my foot off the gas’s and let the car tell me how fast to go through all the curves. It was a fun drive with very little traffic. I hope to stop at a few spots on the way back to sketch.

When I got to the Wild Rivers Film Festival, I was several hours early and could not check into the hotel, so I drove to the theater where COVID Dystopia would screen. The theater was closed. It was raining. I drove next door to a Dollar General and got a cheap poncho for myself thinking I would sketch the theater. I tried to sketch but the page got so wet that I knew a watercolor would be impossible to complete.  I drove back to dollar general and got myself an umbrella as well. The rain had turned into a fine mist. The umbrella would stop and heavy rain, but the mist still coated the page making a sketch impossible. I wanted to start my creative Film Festival experience but didn’t know how to start.

National Military Heritage Museum

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The 75th Division Association had a field trip that went to the National Military Museum in Enid, Oklahoma. The bus stopped at the entrance in what looked like a deserted shopping mall. The sliding glass doors slid open and we were greeted with several naked manakins leaning against a wall. That sight diStracted Many from noticing the much smaller donation bin to the right.

The Military museum occupies a rather large space about the size of a typical mall Macy’s ground floor, but instead of moments clothes there were military dioramas featuring soldiers represented by store manakins in uniform. The 75th Infantry played a part in the Battle of the Bulge so we all posed in front of the Bulge diorama which had an injured manakin stiffly lying on a stretcher on a bed of cotton snow.

The first order of business was lunch. About 8 long folding tables were set up and sandwiches had been ordered by the organizers, along with chips and cookies. I walked around the museum for a bit trying to figure out which WWII diorama I would want to sketch. Once I settled on this WWII truck, I went back to eat lunch.

I used the tiny folding camping chair that I had packed in my bag. It unfolds like a camping tent with thin aluminum poles that snap together. This was my first time assembling it indoors but assembly was quick. I like this chair, it is so much lighter than the usual steel camping chair that I have been using for years. I researched and found it at REI for my trip to Europe. Only time will tell how well it holds up to regular use.

Today is day 2T at the Wild Rivers Film Festival on the coast of Oregon. I plan to spend the day watching films and then going to a cocktail party at Avigail’s Flower and the Awards ceremony at the Elks Lodge. I am hoping the Elks lodge might have some WWII memorabilia. I overheard that my film is the only animated film at the festival. I watched it last night with an audience and was pleased at the applause. The audience didn’t applaud for every film. They were quite selective. Being the only animated film, maybe I will win the best animated film award. That might feel like a shallow victory.