Alain LeTourneau

RACC Awards Funds to Open Road

I had been waiting for the RACC notification to arrive, and the letter landed in my mailbox today. The Regional Arts and Culture Council has awarded funding to Open Road. I'll resume work on this project as soon as January, with the remaining production coinciding with post. It's good timing, as I was hoping to finish the film by summer or fall, and these funds will allow me to move forward on such a time line. Unlike Empty Quarter, all of the remaining production work for Open Road occurs in town, which removes a layer of production logistics. I'll need to wait for warmer weather for some shots, however I now have an opportunity to record this winter. I will be launching a Kickstarter campaign to raise additional funds for 16mm printing as well as other distribution costs not covered by the grant.

December 17, 2011  –  permalink

Empty Quarter Fall Tour Wraps

For the last three weeks we've been on the road presenting public and classroom screenings of Empty Quarter, as well as several workshops on documentary form. We returned from NYC tonight, and have two local screenings and two dates, again in NYC, in December that will complete our 2011 screenings. The fall tour went very well thanks in part to the generosity of those individuals that hosted us in the various places we visited. At this time, we are setting our sights on a spring tour in late-March and early April. We'll return to the midwest and northeast, in addition to adding some west coast dates. More will be posted here as dates are confirmed.

November 14, 2011  –  permalink

Open Road Awaits Finishing Funds

During August, with the assistance of Mark Eifert and Pam, I resumed production work on Open Road, adding another 20 minutes of footage to the rough cut. The current version now runs about 60 minutes, with an intended total run time of 75 minutes. I have another 10 locations to record before wrapping production. While I wait to hear about grant funds, I'm collecting excerpts from Fremont's Exploring Expedition 1843-44, and will soon begin recording these excerpt for use as voice-over.

October 11, 2011  –  permalink

Empty Quarter Fall Tour

October through December we have a number of screenings taking place. In late-October, we head to Wisconsin and Illinois for a series of screenings and workshops. It's a great time to be in the mid-west, as most of the hot weather and bugs are gone, and the serious cold will not have settled in. We are very much looking forward to our Chicago visit, meeting old and new friends, and seeing what's going on for screening spaces since my last visit. In November, we head to New York, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. In addition, we have a few local shows at University of Portland, NW Filmmakers' Festival, and Willamette University. Details are posted on the film's website.

August 10, 2011  –  permalink

Thanks Art Substrates!

Our good friend Matt McCalmont, founder and owner of Art Substrates, built us a fine pedestal for our Eastman 25 projector. It works to elevate the projector 21-inches off the ground, getting it above our heads, projecting an image high on the wall and without any keystoning. And the whole thing is on wheels, so the projector is easy to move. I can't believe all the years we went without this, and such a simple solution. The new height also means less bending or stooping over to operate the machine or get inside the projector pedestal to fix something or replace the work lamp.

In other projector news, Our Bell & Howell 1568 arrived from North Carolina. Big thanks to Richard Burges for doing the service work. This is a nice addition to our small fleet, and provides us with a portable machine that will work in practically any venue big or small thanks to the bright Marc lamp. We intend to use this machine on our tour of Southeast Oregon.

July 29, 2011  –  permalink

ORWO online in the USA

If I am reading the information on the ORWO/Filmotec website correctly, ORWO 16mm film stock is now being distributed in the USA by RB Group in Newport, Rhode Island. I'm still awaiting the details from both parties, but this could be great news, especially if UN54 is now available in the States. Definitely a viable replacement for Kodak 7231 Plus-X that was recently discontinued. Of course, ORWO makes a number of other stocks as well, including print stocks, intermediate stocks and sound recording film. I did some tests back in 2007 and I have to say, after reviewing the UN54 test results again that the contrast is actually very good.

June 18, 2011  –  permalink

Handmade Film Camp

Come July, we are planning to attend Robert Schaller's Handmade Film Camp. Pam and I are both excited for the trip and our time in Colorado. It may be our only vacation away from Portland this summer, albeit a working vacation. I'll likely focus on black and white negative processing, but looking forward to learning more about other processes as well. Schaller is an accomplished filmmaker, and talented chemist, so we are very much looking forward to our time at the camp and what we'll be able to gain during our visit. I've been somewhat hands-off when it comes to motion picture film developing (though I have a background developing still photos), so this will be new territory for me.

June 06, 2011  –  permalink

Optical Sound Camera Testing Continues

We will not know for certain until running some cross modulation tests, but so far so good. Chris Millar came down from Seattle for a few days and we connected the system, threaded and ran the camera. The lamp came on, we could adjust the voltage current to the lamp, and signal testing showed that sound is getting to the camera. In the coming weeks, we'll order some 3374 stock, and shoot cross modulation tests in preparation to shoot a track for a short film I am nearing completion on. At this stage, I do not foresee opening up the service to other filmmakers. There are plenty of other west coast options all doing quality work for reasonable rates. What this will do is allow us to shoot tracks for shorter projects and to keep more of the work in-house.

June 06, 2011  –  permalink

Optical Sound Camera Setup

In the next few weeks, Chris Millar, who used to operate Noise & Light in Seattle, will come to Portland to assist us with setting up N&L's old 16mm Harvey optical sound camera. With this camera, we hope to shoot tracks for our next two films. Our desire to learn the process has as much to do with an interest in better understanding the craft as much as any real cost savings. The saving is not that great given the quality of work and the reasonable rates of the four west coast businesses who continue to shoot 16mm tracks. The Harvey camera is one-of-a-kind, built by George Harvey who was one of the original partners of Alpha Cine in Seattle. The audio processors where built by Clive Tobin who was the previous owner of the camera before N&L took possession. There's a lot of Northwest film-making history in this equipment, and I hope we're able to carry on that tradition.

May 26, 2011  –  permalink

Seattle screening and workshop

Empty Quarter had a week-long run at the NW Film Forum in Seattle. Last Saturday, we were present for a Q&A, and on Sunday conducted a workshop entitled Experimenting with the Documentary Form. The workshop attracted a good number of participants and the discussion was lively. We were impressed by how engaged the group was, and the genuine interest expressed in work that pushes boundaries.

Now, I'm sitting here watching the rain outside, and wondering if May is going to be any warmer. It's been a particularly cool April for Portland and I'm ready for warmer days. As of late, a lot of attention has been given to sending out preview DVDs for Empty Quarter and searching for a 6x8 camera for an upcoming project. The search continues.

April 14, 2011  –  permalink

Blog post about 40 Frames

Chad Walsh contacted us recently about writing an article on 40 Frames for the local blog Neighborhood Notes. The article describes the purpose and activities of four public and private libraries that are likely unknown to most Portlanders. 40 Frames is mentioned in company with opera, stamp, and tool libraries.

March 20, 2011  –  permalink

Work space floor is finished, now moving starts

This weekend we start the process of moving from our St Johns studio, and begin to take advantage of having a work space downstairs from where we live. With the new space, we will have a larger projection surface, though slightly smaller than the 8x6 screen that existed at the Oak Street studio. We'd been limited to using a very small screen at the St Johns studio which was unwelcome during the editing of Empty Quarter. In the new space, we'll also be setting up a more permanent work area for Pam's sound work (production preparation, file back up and media management, mag transferring, editing, and some sweetening and mix work as well).

February 11, 2011  –  permalink

New work space in transition

Today, is the start of re-finishing the concrete floors in our new work space. The high quality polycarbonate sealer is inert and easy to clean, the perfect solution for working with and storing films and photographs. As soon as the work is complete, we'll begin moving our studio from St Johns. We're getting a better sense of what exactly will move over. We definitely need to downsize a bit in order to keep the new space open and functional. Once everything is in place, I'll resume work on Open Road. The current rough cut is about 45 minutes, and I have plans to shoot some additional footage for the completion of a 70 minute film. It will be a companion film to Empty Quarter, both films being inspired in part by the expedition journals of John Charles Fremont.

February 07, 2011  –  permalink

Comments on Empty Quarter Portland Screening

Friday night was a packed house at the Whitsell. Kudos to Cinema Project and Northwest Film Center for the work of getting such an impressive turnout. It was wonderful to see folks so engaged, hardly a walkout and many good questions post screening. Though both of us were a little under-the-weather that night, we were excited by the depth of the questions and only wish we had more time for discussion.

Next up: Screening at NW Film Forum in Seattle, tour in SE Oregon, wider North American distribution beginning September.

February 01, 2011  –  permalink

Moving studio from St Johns to inner NoPo

At the moment, and until the concrete floors at the new studio get cleaned and re-sealed, our equipment is still located at our studio in St Johns. Though the square footage of the new studio is slightly larger than the St Johns place, the layout limits the amount of stuff we can pack in without the space looking more like a storage unit, than work studio. So, we'll be looking to unload a number of things to reduce our foot print. If you're in search of a work bench (60x30), modular metal utility shelving, folding table, or antique film equipment, let me know as we'll be unloading items during January and February in an effort to move by the end of February. We both wish the move was more instant, as the convenience of simply going downstairs to do project work is very appealing, but it's going to take considerable effort to sell, donate and trash the excess and move the remaining items to the new space. For now, I will attempt to relish the fact that very soon, we'll be able to walk downstairs to do project work or watch prints in the collection. I complain a little, but it's actually an exciting time. We've been working with this goal in mind for what seems like a very long time, and the live/work situation will only help to increase our productivity.

January 06, 2011  –  permalink