March Madness

I often feel the need to tether these ramblings toward the content of the film. I don’t know how to do that in this case, but it might go something like this: we are hardwired for underdog stories. Maybe it’s an American thing, but we never perceive ourselves as dominant or powerful (unless we’re referring to ourselves within a large group of people that we identify with, like a team or a company or nation, but that’s another conversation). Anyone who thinks they are The Best is usually met with skepticism or thinly veiled hatred; unless, of course, they’re interesting. Then we get someone like Muhammad Ali or Michael Jordan.

I am moving further from what I wish to say. Athletics are where we get underdogs, and it happens, on a large scale, in two realms: the Olympics and the NCAA basketball tournament. The Olympics are every two/four years, so forget that. March Madness, though, is a time to be inspired. Young, hardscrabble basketball players deemed unworthy by major programs fall to unwanted regional schools in peripheral conferences, where they have to win a pressure-filled conference tournament to earn a bid to the Big Dance. There, they are invariably put up against legendary programs stacked with NBA-caliber talent who are disappointed each year they receive a low seeding. Case-in-point: the blond-haired North Dakota State Bison taking on the defending champion Kansas in a first round game (the Jayhawks prevailed).

In short, the first round of the tournament has actual David vs. Goliath-stakes and they’re legitimate. The reality of dreams and dreamers and the often-superhuman efforts we are capable of come through, and I really believe this sort of nonsense only at this time of year. And, as usually happens, none of the dreams actually come true—this year’s tournament produced only one low-seeded team reaching the Sweet Sixteen, and that was Arizona, a perennial powerhouse having a “down year” after coaching turmoil.

Anyway, that’s my excuse for not posting, and I’m sticking by it. Missouri, my own underdog (though they’re still a big dog by most standards), had a strong showing but another heartbreaking loss in a lifetime of them. That’s my sob story for now, though.

Anyone concerned with the production of “Santa Ana Winds,” which is far more important than basketball, may be thrilled at the following updates:

–Our first big surge of fundraising has gone out and gone well, though we need more money. This sort of sentence is a pain to write as I imagine I will be writing it countless times over the next 60-80 years.

–The script is nearly finalized, and will soon be available to anyone who wants to read it. Just email our contact address and we can shoot you a copy if you’re interested in the specifics of what is going down.

Many other fun things are going on, but I’ll leave with this visual nugget: video of one of the wind machines from Roger George Rentals that we’re checking out for the film. There’s no sound but the images should be enough!

Running

Last week, Team Santa Ana Winds got together and watched clips from a number of completely incompatible films. Among them: The Friday Night Lights pilot (and by extension, the movie), Buster Keaton, United 93, Dumb & Dumber, This is Spinal Tap, Playtime, NFL Films, L.A. Story, The Wrestler, Before Sunset, Medium Cool, and Jonathan Demme’s video for New Order’s “The Perfect Kiss.”

It’s easy to lose oneself in references and influences, and hopefully we look at things so stupidly different that whatever we get is wholly original.

The films listed above reflect several elements we’re dealing with: 16mm, crowd scenes, airports, comedy, handheld work, the importance of details, and the intersection of all these. One clip I regrettably forgot to show the team is one of my favorite moments from Kon Ichikawa’s Tokyo Olympiad, his controversial (!) humanist account of the 1964 Summer games. Turns out Ichikawa was more into the beauty and grace of all the athletes than the outcome of individual events; his producers (that would be the Japanese government) preferred a document of who won what and in what time.

Sports are a considerable hang-up of mine, as well as a timesuck of the highest order. Yet the drama of competition and of constant action (and the myriad ways to film such events) is addictive. And Santa Ana Winds is filled with challenges, games, and physical activity as our characters have to run to catch a flight. Check out this sublime moment of the eventual winner of the men’s marathon, Ethiopia’s Abebe Bikila, with the crowd abstract behind him and the simple beauty of his focus demanding your attention.

Also, just ’cause it’s so great, here’s that New Order video. So much to say here, but I can’t ignore the reality of the band member’s performances, especially when they aren’t playing their instruments—somehow this says more about what it must be like to be in New Order than anything else. The steady hands, pensive looks, and idle stares are this pudding’s proof. It’s not all that different from what I love about the Shadows in Paradise clip posted here.

And, alright, fine: my favorite clip from This is Spinal Tap.

Random thoughts on Fuji film

As we will most likely be shooting our film on Fuji film stock due to a very generous grant we were awarded, I’ve been on the lookout for various other films and trailers that have also used Fuji. Most films seem to use Kodak, but there is a surprisingly large group of films that turn out to use Fuji. It does have a somewhat unique look that works very well for our movie, so we’re quite excited to use it.

Check out the HD trailer for Adventureland, the upcoming feature from director Greg Mottola. It’s his follow-up to the 2007 hit Superbad. Shot entirely on Fuji.

View the trailer and see for yourself.