"Korea Dreambus" Pilgrimage and Documentary Film

Happy Easter! He is Risen! I'm spending my Easter at home, mainly because I have what feels like another sinus infection. But in all honesty, it's a blessing to be home alone on this sunny spring day. I puttered on my porch, getting ready for what I'll be planting this year and organizing the porch garden-to-be. In awhile, I'll bake some chicken breasts and get some sort of dinner going. But in the meantime, I decided I was going to start playing with my footage in DaVinci Resolve. Saenamto Shrine, Seoul Except..I can't yet because apparently all the media are in formats not supported by DaVinci. I've asked my editor to suggest what app or website to use to convert everything. So, that's going to be another long and tedious task that isn't filmmaking but is part of filmmaking. I am chomping at the bit to start actually playing with footage and getting the beginnings of an assemble edit underway. But it's all good -- I'm learning more and more as ...

Anyone who has created a video -- even a short one -- knows that organizing and managing the media (video and photos) is an essential step in preparing to edit. It can be a behemoth of a task, depending on how much media you have. If you're me, you overshoot everything, and you end up with about 4,000 video clips and photos from Korea to organize and manage. I've had to break this into a few smaller chunks so as not to get overwhelmed.  The first step was to create Albums in iCloud. I organized these by the locations of my pilgrimage trip: Seoul, Seosan, Ulsan, Eonyang, Incheon, and Returning Home.  This was fairly easy to do, as everything is automatically date stamped, and I knew from looking at the images where in my journey they were from. Haemi Martyrs Shrine I also had to prep my computer for editing. This meant several steps: clearing off non-essentials, backing everything up, and upgrading my OS to run Davinci Resolve (DR).  I looked up the minimum required system...

If you've read any news from Korea lately, you know that several wildfires have been raging this past week. Two of those fires were located in areas that I hold dear, in Ulsan and near Namchang.  The fire near Ulsan looks like it came up very close to one of the pilgrimage sites I visited last year -- Eonyang Catholic Church in Ulju-gun, Ulsan .  From what I can gather, that fire has been contained, and it never touched the property of the church. Thanks be to God.  However, elsewhere, the fires are raging with the loss of cultural and historical places as well as human life. Let's pray for a quick end to these fires before more lives are lost and irrevocably changed. Crucifix on the hill behind historic pilgrimage church at Eonyang, Ulju-gu, Ulsan, S. Korea

Dear friends and supporters, I am so delighted and humbled to report that I've received a grant from the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts  Individual Projects program in support of post-production for Korea Dreambus . My scheduled public screening, in accordance with my agreement with GVCA, will be on Nov. 1, 2025 at St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry. As part of the process of submitting a budget, I've hired an editor -- the amazing Derrick Edgerton III -- who also worked on sound and color grading for my short film Souled , which will be screening next month.  Since returning from Korea, I've been running to catch up with my other responsibilities, but as my short film is finally getting finished, there is more time for me to focus on this doc. Thus far, I've arranged my media (4,000 clips and photos!), started writing a paper edit, and have purchased an external hard drive to use in putting together an assemble edit with Davinci Resolve, which I...

Incredible though it seems, it's been a month and a half since I returned from Korea. Until now, I've actively avoided writing on this blog or engaging in a serious perusal of the media I captured on the pilgrimage for three reasons:   1. I had quite a sit-rep presented to me when I got home, requiring me to sort out my housing in a hurry. It has all been settled now; I am getting a new housemate as of Jan. 1st. God be praised! 2. The backlog of catch up work and future planning for my teaching job was staring me down, and since this is the first time I've taught these three theology classes, there is heavy prep that requires intense intellectual focus and time. I also had to get my head back in the game for my writing job, which felt easier and more natural since I've been doing that job for over a year.  3. I just wasn't ready.  Let me unpack that third statement a bit. Lotte Department Store, Ulsan, S. Korea When I first got back, the jet lag was more than just a...

I had every intention of blogging more regularly. Instead, I’ve been uploading clips and thoughts on Instagram. It’s a lot easier than trying to type or edit blog posts on a phone! Please head over to my Instagram and check out the content there. My Instagram ID is emc033 I am more than halfway through my trip at this point. The pilgrimage has been incredible, with insights and moments of deep reflection, prayerfulness, and moving experiences. I have met some beautiful human beings along the way— Koreans who God has placed along the path to help me: The seminarian Daniel in Seoul; Cindy, the sister of a Korean friend of mine from back home in Seoul; the husband and wife who ran the guest house I stayed at in Seosan. Not to mention random strangers who have helped me get to places by showing me which direction to go or helping me but a train ticket. My prayer has been that God blesses them through me as well. One of the reflections that has risen to the top here is how truly interconnec...