Kazoo Films

I have seen a lot of movies. And you could make the argument that they have all shaped me as a filmmaker. That being said, I’m going to mention a specific few that I draw a lot of strength from. It should also be noted that these are films that have influenced me positively. I could easily argue that a very influential movie for If I Had Wings To Fly was, let’s say, Transformers, because I saw that and thought, “I want to make whatever is the opposite of that.” This applies to most big blockbuster movies. Honestly, another negative influence is the WNC-set Songcatcher. Harrison and I saw it, and we wanted to do something really different.

I am also writing this to give a little bit of recognition to these mostly-on-the-obscure-side films. There are a lot of really good movies that will simply never play in most American cities, which to me is a shame.

(This list does not necessarily reflect the influences of Harrison.)

Old Joy  – Directed by Kelly Reichardt (2006)

This is a beautiful little movie about the spaces between friends, set against the wild of rural Oregon. To me, it shows the artistry that can be accomplished with a relatively low budget. Check this one out!

Mutual Appreciation – Directed by Andrew Bujalski (2005)

In my opinion, this is the most worthy and wonderful film in the “mumblecore” genre. It’s very subtle. The acting, the imagery, the storyline, all seem to have the volume turned way, way down. It is an intentionally cheap, low-key, intelligent, yet unambitious look at young people who are cheap, low-key, and intelligent yet unambitious, acted out by non-actors who are all these things in real life. Its triumph is simply getting all the unimportant stuff – big name actors, big set pieces, big drama, etc etc - out of the way to let the small moments of humanity and truth shine through.

Slacker – Directed by Richard Linklater (1991)

Iconoclastic hipster director Richard Linklater’s first film, shot on a ridiculously low budget. Basically a portrait of the young, grungy unemployable intelligensia of early 90′s Austin. As he was making it, he would tell his actors (all non-professionals) “I’m making a documentary about people acting in a movie” or something like that. Everyone is playing themselves and they seem to be having a pretty good time. Some critic once wrote that it is “in the tradition of great Russian novels. That is, the most important philosophical questions in life are at the very center of the story.” Or something like that.

Tropical Malady – Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul (2004)

I love this movie! I can’t say exactly how it’s an influence…. It interweaves a contemporary, human story with elements of folklore and fantasy, which I admire. It is steeped in wonder and love for the natural world, which I admire. It is really, really slow, which I like, but of course that turns a lot of people off. The first half: a young solider in Thailand falls in love and begins a tender courtship with a local farm boy. The second half: the farm boy is re-imagined as a shape-shifting tiger, the solider as a hunter. They stalk each other in the jungle, where all sorts of wondrous events occur. Sound weird? See it!

Days of Heaven – Directed by Terrence Malick (1978)

Here is a movie to which I, like many other young filmmakers, will ever aspire. The story unfolds like a dream. Image after shining, beautiful image rouses from slumber, stretches toward the sky, and then fades away. The very landscape aches with the unfulfillable longing of the characters. Yikes!

I’m Not There – Directed by Todd Haynes (2007)

Todd Haynes is one of my favorite directors, and this is a artful and brilliant exploration of Bob Dylan’s career. I admit, though, I’m Not There doesn’t really resemble If I Had Wings to Fly. Its influence comes from the way it uses music – I’m Not There is not only about music and a musician, songs are woven into the very texture of the film. From the soundtrack, to on-screen performances and music videos, to lyric fragments in dialogue, and visual puns, the film bursts at the seams with music. Music permeates the story, but does so in a way that advances the narrative, and illustrates the emotional journeys of the characters. It is music used intentionally – rare in a film industry where a cloying musical underscore is an unquestioned convention.

Bummer Summer – Directed by Zach Weintraub (2010)

Harrison and I went to college with Zach. He left school a semester early to go to his hometown, Olympia, Washington, to make a little movie about young hipstery kids like himself. Then, Harrison and I moved to North Carolina with some vague ideas about making a little movie about young people playing banjos and hanging out in the woods. A few months later, we got to see an early cut of Bummer Summer and we said, “Hot damn! If he can do it, so can we.” So we decided to stop farting around and actually make If I Had Wings to Fly. Actually, the farting around continued for a long time, and hasn’t really ceased as far as I can tell, but the movie did get made.

To be exact, Bummer Summer more inspired than influenced us. Most movies, when you see them, you think to yourself, “I could never make that” or “how the heck did they do that?” Which, to my way of thinking, is bad. I like a movie that makes you say, “Hey, I’m gonna make a movie too!” Like Bummer Summer did for us, and as I hope If I Had Wings to Fly does for somebody else.

Woody Guthrie said “I just hate a song that makes you feel no good.” And Bob Dylan said something like “I’m just trying to inspire people. I mean, what else can you really do for anyone?”

So there ya go.

Bruno

Just a quick update today.

When you start editing a film, you usually first put together an “assembly” or a “rough assembly,” which is essentially everything you shot put in sequence so as to resemble the movie’s storyline. This will be very, very rough looking (and sounding), and way too long. Then you clean it up a bit, snip out the stuff that is obviously not working, and you have a “rough cut.”

The next goal to reach in editing is called the “fine cut.” The amount of work between rough and fine cuts is as little or much as you can imagine. Sometimes it’s just a little tightening and polish and suddenly, blam! you’re at the fine cut. But more often this is a lengthy process of working and reworking sequences, moving things around like a puzzle, removing and adding scenes, endeavoring to make the story come through properly while maintaining control of the mood and tone.

So, I am proud to announce that we have a fine cut. It is not the final cut as of yet, but what we have is basically a completed movie, it is just not quite yet the completed movie that we intend to release. Jesse Fisher, our talented editor, has handed over the post-production reins to Harrison and myself to pilot the film through the home stretch.

Once some final edits are made, we will officially have “picture lock,” which means that the image part of the movie will undergo no more editing. At that point sound will be mixed, which is a whole other, albeit briefer, adventure.

On-set photo by Tipper Presley

Well, it has once again been over two months since I have written a blog entry.

Actually, considering that the last two entries were technically penned by Anne Beale, it has been even longer. Anyway, it’s easy to write when you are in the habit of updating once or twice a week, but when inertia sets in, it sets in hard, and brushing off the cobwebs can be a more arduous task than you expected.

The Kazoo Films Blog

A rough overview of where we’re at: Jesse Fisher, our editor, finished the first cut of the film back in January. Harrison and I watched it a couple of times. We have done phone calls, emails, and video chats with Jesse, and for the last two months have been slowly and painstakingly working our way through the second cut, couple-minute chunks at a time. Most film festivals accept works in progress, so when we have a version of the complete film that we like enough, we will start submitting. Then, we will finish it up lickety-split, and start hosting screenings in theaters, churches, cafes, folk schools, on the sides of barns, and in your living rooms. Hopefully, between all these showings and all the festivals, we can get at least as many people to see it as helped make it!

Now, the first cut was far from being a finished film, but it looked great! It was exciting to begin to see the fruits of our labor come together in a nice fruit salad, even if the fruit salad had maybe a few too many blueberries, a rotten grape or two, the bananas weren’t sliced quite thinly enough, and we found altogether fewer mandarin orange slices than we had hoped. Also, we are endeavoring to emerge with a nicely arranged fruit salad, rather than a tossed hodgepodge, but I think what I’m trying to say is that in the first cut of If I Had Wings to Fly we saw all the ingredients for what could be a truly great fruit salad.

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In other news: Kazoo Films featured performer Dom Flemons just won a grammy with his incredible group the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Congratulations Dom! And, may I say, congratulations Grammys for managing to actually give an award to folks who deserve it!

This is the only photo of Dom that I am aware of in which he is not wearing suspenders (he's on the left).

Also, a wonderful folk music blog called The Old Weird America just published an entry about Bascom Lamar Lunsford, featuring a concise discussion of the man and his work as well as the opportunity to download 30 of his songs. Check it out!

oldweirdamerica.wordpress.com

A young and angsty Bascom

Finally, please keep abreast of our cinematographer’s (very interesting) filmic doings on his (snazzier AND more frequently updated) website.

http://www.nandanrao.com

Thanks for reading!

love, Bruno