"Korea Dreambus" Pilgrimage and Documentary Film

One of the fruits of my pilgrimage in 2024 is my current situation: living in Ulsan again! I'll be shifting my blogging practice back to my main page, The View Up Here, for updates on life as an expat English teacher and other musings. Please follow me there! As things progress for Korea Dreambus: A Journey of Faith, I'll continue to post about them here. And, don't forget to follow me on Instagram ! 감사합니다  

The night of screening Korea Dreambus: A Journey of Faith, the Buffalo Bills were playing the Denver Broncos in hopes of going to the Super Bowl, and we were being hit with dangerous whiteout snow conditions.  I was hoping we might get 25-30 people in; we were set up for forty. Madonna in Korean Hanbok (traditional dress) I arrived early to help my friend from St. Bernard's (with his daughter, who helped us get ready) set up coffee service and some cookies from Leo's Bakery. I hung some posters on the doors, and then I spent some time with Jesus in the chapel. I prayed that "whoever needs to see this film will come," and I left it at that.  When the first attendees arrived, I met them at the door and welcomed them in. I could see people coming up the walkway, and my nervousness melted into gratitude. And then they kept coming...and coming and coming. I greeted everyone with a growing feeling of humility that this many people would come to see my little movie. People ...

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'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...

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

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've finally locked in the piece of my itinerary that was giving me the most trouble:  finding a place to stay in the Seosan/Dangjin area where the shrines in Haemi and Solmoe are located.  This morning I booked two nights at a traditional Korean house (hanok) in Seosan called Gyeamgotaek . I booked on Expedia and got a discount ( 아싸!) . I'll just have to work out how to get around that area; I suspect it will be a combination of taxi (very cheap in Korea) and bus (also very cheap). I'm happy to present an overview of my itinerary with a map to help you visualize where these places are. Note that I haven't marked every single place I'll be going; these are the general areas where I'll be traveling and staying. Please note that so far I've been able to book everything on Expedia. I may have to use other apps once I get to Korea, but for now, I'm extremely grateful this is working! 9/17 - 9/18:  Flying into Incheon  9/18 - 9/23:   Seoul and environs (Myeo...