Alain LeTourneau: Notes

Empty Quarter Spring Tour

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:29:00 -0800

In March, we hit the road for a spring tour. We have scheduled stops in Ohio, New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. In addition, we'll do several west coast screenings. The current tour schedule is posted here. Refer back for the updated schedule. We continue to work on Empty Quarter: Notes and Pictures, a book supplement to the film, and hope to have copies available in time for the tour.

RACC Awards Funds to Open Road

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 17:02:00 -0800

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.

Empty Quarter Fall Tour Wraps

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:53:00 -0800

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.

Open Road Awaits Finishing Funds

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 17:29:00 -0700

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.

Empty Quarter Fall Tour

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 00:23:00 -0700

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.

Thanks Art Substrates!

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 02:13:00 -0700

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.

ORWO online in the USA

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 16:28:00 -0700

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.

Handmade Film Camp

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:47:00 -0700

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.

Optical Sound Camera Testing Continues

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:32:00 -0700

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.

Optical Sound Camera Setup

Thu, 26 May 2011 23:45:00 -0700

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.