DVD - It Came From Kuchar

The Kuchar brothers are two of the most famous artists to come out of the late fifties, early sixties avant-garde film movement. Their Sins of the Fleshapoids has become a classic of that era, and while George has made, literally, hundreds of short films since that time, his brother Mike has taken it a little slower. The film, by director Jennifer M. Kroot delves both into the history of the Kuchar brothers, but also tries to discover what their modern lives are like. Kroot did an amazing job of getting George to open up about (most) of his life, while brother Mike is considerably more closed off. It's amazing to see these two guys, who are so high in the pantheon of Avant-Garde and personal cinema, still pushing forward, even in their old age, and still creating meaningful things.

A fool for the "artsy" way

I've always liked the idea of doing smaller, experimental films, but have yet to actually make one. I realized, today, why I haven't yet - I don't thrive in the kind of improvisational environment that a lot of these films are made in. I would rather not make a film, than just go out with a camera and an actor and try to come up with something (hoping that its good).

I've been more excited, in the last few days, about filmmaking than I have been in a long time. Do you know why? Planning. Dare I even say it, Pre-Production (a very bad word in my world). I've been talking about making Indefinable Orbits, a Brakhage style short film, for months now. While money has been a factor in getting it done, it eventually came to be that I just wasn't getting it done for no particular reason. Yesterday, though, I sat down with the script/outline/notes, and made out a shot list. Suddenly, I feel like I'm light years closer to seeing this happen. It seems real. It seems do-able. I'm excited again.

I grabbed a hundred foot load of 50D out of the fridge yesterday, and have been thawing it (you should always thaw film for 24 hours before shooting on it). I'm going to start shooting some of the stuff after next week (when all of the grant stuff is on its way to AFS). Who knows, a cut of it might show up in the next month or two. 

Don't take that statement the wrong way, though, that's not a promise...