NBFC Weekly Friday E-News
July 29, 2016
 NBFC
member Ryan Groom has exciting news to unveil, see below for more details. |
 NBFC
members Peter Evanchuck and Helene Lacelle just finished a new short film. (Photo by Peter Evanchuck) |
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US
FILM DIARY - RYAN GROOM, HANWELL, NB
Just
signed my first contract with CBC to produce a documentary called
“Maritimes from Above” about landscape aerial videography, the
techniques, and regulations behind getting grand vistas with
the film industry’s hottest tool, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), or
what many call drones.
On
Saturday, my filming companions (Paul Archer & Jacob Groom) are
picking up our international travel buddy Rodney McAffee from the
Halifax Airport then driving to Nova Scotia to start filming.
After Nova Scotia we head to a few amazing places in New Brunswick in
the Sussex area, then to Grand Manan Island. We are just not taking
regular aerial shots but flying through gorges, caves, and between
massive trees to get unique video with our pair of
UAVs.
The documentary will be shot this summer, edited this fall, and will be shown on CBC next summer (2017).
Personality
I am nervous and excited (pumped!). I have been learning about
broadcast TV thanks to the generous support of Bell Aliant TV1 the last 4
years and now I got a chance to expand the
reach and tell a story on CBC taking all the lessons learned from past
adventures and wrapping them into an educating and entertaining 45
minutes!
Special
thanks to the Silver Wave Film Festival (and ultimately the NB Film
Co-op who hosts the festival) in facilitating the first meeting with CBC
last fall which lead to the full bloom of this
project.
Well …
almost time to pack the truck with cameras, drones, coffee, candy,
cables, and computers to start an unforgettable road trip with some of
my best friends in the whole world — to bring you,
Maritimes from Above.
Ryan Groom on location somewhere in the world.
FILM DIARY - PETER EVANCHUCK & HELENE LACELLE, CHIPMAN, NB
PigGirl is a new short drama by Peter Evanchuck and Helene Lacelle.
Marshall
McCluhan always seemed to be laying down on his leather couch in his
office at University of Toronto when I dropped by back in time. He was
always looking for an audience to reveal his
latest thoughts on pop media.
Of course his concept of the Global Village has
come true with the saturation of digital technology and all it's
offspring like youtube, facebook, etc., etc., and the mightiest of all the
selfie; that pathetic need we all have to show our stuff, flourished when digital gave it freedom of exposure.
Those
of us who use digital to make movies are married to a heavenly SD card -
'because it costs next to nothing, one can learn all they have to learn
to make selfie movies - i.e. learn
to do all the jobs that used to take ten, now takes one. Well not exactly but, if you really want to make a selfie movie drama or doc. it's now possible and, in fact, rather popular.
I
joined that bandwagon quickly when I returned to making movies after a
decade hiatus. At first, I went back to the technology I knew and the
equipment I had purchased over the years to make
feature fiction movies: Arriflex, CP16, Nagra, Senni mics, Steinbecks,
etc. (the CP16 was a layover from my days shooting for the Wide World of Sports.
A great simple camera that never fails weights a ton but never fails).
That old technology is
excellent but tedious for someone prolific and renegade It's just too
expensive and, too cumbersome and too slow. Digital is the opposite,
it's cheap, light and fast.
Being a
solo type guy whose partner is an actor/artist (Helene), it was made for
me and, others like me so, buying the new equipment was mandatory.
Armed
with relatively good pro/semi pro equipment, I can make all the short
docs i want for next to nothing compared to film costs. I still use/hire
an excellent editor for the important docs
but, for the fun ones I do all the jobs myself with my partner's
invaluable assistance.
Cancer
having overtaken my extreme lifestyle and made it quieter and more
sober, digital's advantages have fallen right into my weakened
condition; so cheap, light, fast - despite my cancer allows
me to continue to make movies albeit mostly docs which take so little
to make. Compared to dramas, they and digital are a perfect match.
So, PigGirl comes
along because our neighbour in Chipman had this pig on his front lawn
for years. Helene bought it from him for a pack of smokes. Now I don't
need much of a muse to get
creating new ideas, scripts, projects. The pig was all I needed and,
with Helene's marvelous help PIGGIRL was born and is now in
pre-producton.
This will be Helene's entry into drama directing.
