Cucalorus Reflection

Cucalorus 2014 in November was the first film festival of its size I had yet attended, and Visions 2014 in April was the first film festival I had attended at all. Cucalorus as a whole was an eye-opener in a multitude of ways; primarily, it brought to my attention how exhilarating it can be to have a film you’ve made screened and to get to know great new artists with similar interests, and it also made me realize how limited the content of a regular movie theater truly is.

Ambitious, different, and unique films are released around the world and across America every year, but most still land within the straight-edged box that is commercial filmmaking. While I do prefer narrative and “commercial” films over the other forms, I also very much enjoy the experience of seeing a work of pure cinematic storytelling and experimentation (that’s more than just a 10-minute-or-less short) on a big screen. Being at Cucalorus last weekend really made me realize how seldom I do that.

The film that, to me, was the “zenith” of a downtown film festival experience was I Am a Knife with Legs. Its humor and style were like exaggerated versions of Tenacious D, Tim & Eric, Flight of the Conchords, and something new entirely. Tastes of that movie’s nature could be seen on any TV channel or regular Hollywood movie, but nothing to its full extent would be available. That film was genuinely ridiculous, and I write that about it in the best way possible. Its dry and dark and kitsch humor was so aberrant that even I was a bit alienated by it. Over the next few days my opinion of it became more and more positive, as I thought about it more. That’s a sign of a unique film experience.

Bennett “Bené” Jones’s guest appearance made it even more special. We asked a few questions as he gave a Q&A in character, and it was a special surprise feeling; here I saw this absurd and enjoyable film from a hermit’s cave in a different planet, and then I saw the main character in the room with us, playing guitar while serenading the crowd about birds’ wings. Abhole T-shirts became a reality, and I realized that Cucalorus was a special event that I’d like to show a film in. 

Cucalorus Screening Plan

My general plan for the Cucalorus film festival is to attend at least one block of each type: feature, shorts, documentary, and one of the special events.

I will go downtown to try to see most of these during the day on Saturday, and perhaps some on Friday night.

I don't have a car and I have a bunch of things to work on, making attendance more difficult, but I think I'll enjoy the experience and go when able.

Self-Portrait Ideas

I have many scattered ideas for my self-portrait; their only connectedness lies in the fact that they are all involved with me. For example, I’ve filmed long takes on a tripod of me sitting and moving in different areas, and in editing I will overlay and crop different moments of this shot to resemble me being in multiple places, doing multiple things, at once. I intend to have montage shots of me writing, reading, playing instruments, filming, my book collections, movie collections, LEGOs, fantasy, etc.

Aside from incorporating many hobbies and passions of mine into this video, I will aim to represent different traits of mine; my constant internal energy, rarely ever thinking about just one thing, etc. I will more or less show what I do and, in the process, parts of who I am.

I will try to challenge myself by focusing, thematically, more on the personality and lifestyle aspect of the video. Montages of hobbies will be made with the intention of coloring parts of who I am, but I want the underlying structure of the video to resemble my core, and that will be harder than it may seem to grasp. One internal theme would be of the multiple “versions of myself;” this is not to say that I act differently around different people and environments, however.

In truth, I live a very eclectic lifestyle. I prefer to have solid understanding and power over many different things, rather than master over just a few. There are times when I feel like “butter spread over too much bread,” as Bilbo Baggins might put it. I want to see more films and shows, I want to listen to more albums, I want to learn more songs on the instruments I know, I want to read more novels, I want to learn more about astronomy, I want to re-sharpen my German lingual abilities, I want to learn new instruments, to spend more time with the friends around me, to write more, to do so very many things.

Overall, the theme of my self-portrait might just be eclecticness, with unity at its core. That will be a difficult but worthy concept to aim for, and I’m excited to really get started.