"Korea Dreambus" Pilgrimage and Documentary Film

Grounds of Eonyang Catholic Church, Ulsan One year ago today, I was inflight to my pilgrimage in S. Korea. It doesn't seem like a year has gone by. The pilgrimage is alive in my mind, heart and soul with the making of the film. I am grateful, again, for the immense blessing that was and is that pilgrimage to such holy places. Another opportunity has arisen regarding the musical score. The composer that I had hired a few months ago has had to drop out of the project. It happens. Schedules and priorities sometimes shift and collide. But this has brought me back to what I'd wanted to do in the first place for this soundtrack.  When I cut the trailer together in order to apply for the artists' grant from Genesee Valley Council on the Arts , I'd used some beautiful and appropriate music I found on a royalty free site. I have really always heard that music as my soundtrack, but thought I "should" hire someone instead. I've gone back to those tracks - all of whic...

I finished my rough assemble edit yesterday morning. It seemed like I'd relived the entire trip during the last 2.5 weeks of editing - just about the same amount of time I was on pilgrimage, in fact. As I was editing, I drew more and more from footage and photos that I hadn't sent over to my editor, so this afternoon I had to get all that into Dropbox for him to grab, as well as some re-recorded voice over track. Now Derrick, my editor, can get to work on a more complete rough cut with effects, titles, transitions, and sound work. Likewise, Terry the composer can work on the soundtrack. The film is coming in around 50 minutes, which I expect will remain the same in the fine cut because many stills are going to be layered and moved a bit, and then titles will be added at the end. That's my goal - keep it at 50 minutes. With this large piece of work behind me, I need to focus on the ESOL class I'm teaching at the local community college. Classes start... tomorrow at 9 a.m...

I'm closing in on the last third of my rough assemble edit. What is that, exactly? It's my selected video and photos placed in the timeline with the rough voice over, but without clean edits, transitions, sfx, music, sound mix, etc. It's been a bit stressful with other summer obligations and the rising reality of a new school year about to begin. I took some PTO and carved out five whole days to pound away at this in the middle of August. And then, on day three.... tested positive for Covid.  Really right now?  I worked through fever and coughing to get something done, and thankfully the symptoms only lasted a couple days. I pushed through and am bound to complete this rough/assemble edit by the end of this week, now that I'm fully over the lingering Covid fatigue. The next stage will be sending this to both Derrick the editor and Terry and composer so that they can begin their respective tasks. I know I'll be revising the script and will then re-record a good quali...

I'm over the moon that L.A.-based composer Terry Taegwoo has agreed to work with me on the score to Korea Dreambus! You can listen to some of his sample tracks on his website. Terry has composed for film and television, and he currently works for Bear McCreary's studio, Sparks and Shadows.  So far Terry and I seem to be on the same page regarding the use of Korean folk music -- specifically Arirang -- as well as choral music in the film. Some of the sections are more about the martyr saints, others are about my pilgrimage, and still others are pure reflections, so there will be a couple of themes to work through those sections. Ulsan's JinHa Beach area, Sept. 2024 Summer spins by so fast. I have, in fact, decided to move the screening date to Jan. 17, 2026. The film will still be finished by the end of this year, but I realized that a Nov. 1 screening date just wasn't feasible. If I didn't have two or three other jobs and was 100% focused on this film 100% of the ti...

I'm just about wrapped up at the high school where I teach. By this time next week, I'll be done, and that means that Korea Dreambus editing will be my main focus (after my job at the paper). The editor, Derrick, has the footage that I organized, so now I'll be diving into creating an assemble edit with some copious notes.  I'm also looking for a composer at the moment - someone who understands something about Korean culture and traditional music, even if the score isn't completely traditional-sounding. I'm hoping for a mix of traditional sounds and instrumentation (or approximation thereof) along with melodies that will resonate with the themes of the film, which revolve around the martyrs themselves and the personal reflections I'll be making. Speaking of which, writing the script for the narration will also be on my platter this summer.  I'm planning a small vacation to my homeland (Massachusetts) at the end of the month, otherwise, it's going to ...