Cynematik • Cyndi Greening

QUOTE FOR 31 AUGUST 2003

“No true believer could be intolerant or a persecutor.”

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
French philosopher and Political Theorist

Hell Houses .. brought to you by Jerry Falwell and friends. A Hell House consists of a group of horrific scenes within a type of haunted house. The customer walks through a sequence of tableaus designed to create terror and revulsion. The last scene is different; it is typically a portrayal of heaven. The visitors are then asked to accept salvation by repenting of their sins and trusting Jesus as Lord and Savior. Some hell houses are disguised to resemble conventional secular haunted houses. The customer only realizes that they have a religious theme after they have bought their ticket and gone part of the way through the scenes.

The earliest hell house appears to have been created by Rev. Jerry Falwell in the late 1970’s. The concept was picked up in 1992 by Keenan Roberts. His first Hell House was in Roswell, NM. Since then, he has become a pastor of the Abundant Life Church in Arvada, CO. He sells “Hell House Outreach” kits to other churches. Included is a 263 page manual which covers “everything from media publicity to casting and costume.”

Hell Houses are a relatively new evangelistic technique used by many hundreds of conservative Christian churches in North America. One intent is to proselytize the unsaved public. Another is to promote certain conservative Christian beliefs. Read more about this frightening practice at ReligiousTolerance.org.

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QUOTE FOR 30 AUGUST 2003

“Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea. All we do, crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see, dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind.”

Kansas (1977)
Point of Know Return Album

Julie Dash directed this powerful, gorgeous film set in the legendary South sea islands off the Georgia coast at the turn of the century. Daughters of the Dust follows a Gullah family on the eve of its migration to the North. Led by a group of African American women, who are carriers of ancient African traditions and beliefs, the extended family readies itself to leave behind friends, loved ones and an entire insulated way of life. It’s a haunting film as the family faces their “point of no return.”

The film screened at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival. It won the Cinematography Award and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. The British Film Institute’s Sight and Sound Magazine chose the soundtrack as one of the best in the past 25 years. Made on a miniscule budget, IMDB_Pro puts the gross to date at $1,642,436.

The Gullah, or Geechee as they are known in Georgia, live in small farming and fishing communities on the sea islands of Georgia and South Carolina. Because of their geographic isolation, the Gullah/Geechee have been able to retain more of their African heritage than any other African Americans. Their ancestors’ ability cultivate rice and their high resistance to malaria due to the sickle trait, a heritable hemoglobin characteristic, are common links to Africans from the “Windward” or “Rice Coast” of West Africa, particularly to the country of Sierra Leone. Geechee Girls Multimedia is Julie Dash’s production company.

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QUOTE FOR 29 AUGUST 2003

“You don’t understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been someone Charley, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let’s face it. I’m a bum.”

Marlon Brando (3 April 1924 - )
On The Waterfront, as character Terry Malloy

While the Telluride Film Festival has been held every Labor Day Weekend for the last 30 years, the slate of films and honorees are withheld until the festival begins.

This year, tv mogul Ted Turner will receive the Silver Medallion (I wonder if ex-wife Jane Fonda will be in attendance?). Actress Toni Collette will be in the spotlight as well. Known for her work in The Sixth Sense and other films, the North American premiere of her latest film, “Japanese Story” will be screened. The festival will also honor Peter Brook for his stage and screen work, including a screening of his son Simon’s documentary, “Brook by Brook.” Additionally, the festival will present a look at acclaimed writer, Budd Schulberg, author of On The Waterfront and A Star Is Born.

For a partial listing of films to screen, go to Indiewire.com. More information on the festival can be found at TellurideFilmFestival.com.

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Organic Geometrics, works on canvas and metal wall sculptures, will be shown at LUX during the month of September.

First Friday Opening will be September 5 from 7 - 10 pm. Lux is located at 4404 N. Central in Phoenix, Arizona.

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QUOTE FOR 27 AUGUST 2003

“Damn it … Don’t you dare ask God to help me.”

Joan Crawford (March 23, 1910 - May 10, 1977)
Last words spoken to her housekeeper who had begun to pray aloud

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And they’re not that bad! The Project Greenlight film, The Battle of Shaker Heights opened this weekend in New York and Los Angeles. Next week it rolls into BOSTON , CHICAGO, CLEVELAND, DALLAS, PHILADELPHIA, SAN FRANCISCO, SEATTLE, and DC. The final episode of PGL had marketing execs saying BOSH need to explode (e.g. average over $20,000 per screen) to warrant continued distribution. Those are impossible numbers. BOSH did average of $10,000 per screen which isn’t too darn bad.

Box Office Mojo has weekend charts that give the big picture. On the five screens, it made $52,000. It was ranked 35th in a field of 37 films. It doesn’t sound good but if you LOOK at the charts, you’ll see the per screen averages are far higher than many other films. They’re not GREAT numbers but they’re not horrible either.

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QUOTE FOR 24 AUGUST 2003

“A preoccupation with the future not only prevents us from seeing the present as it is but often prompts us to rearrange the past.”

Eric Hoffer (1902 - 1983)
The Passionate State of Mind, 1954

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Most people believe that every single day in LA, some actor or writer or director sells a bit of his or her soul to stay in the film business. You can’t see a documentary (The Kid Stays in the Picture) or drama (Sunset Boulevard or A Star Is Born) about the business and not get that message. Leni Riefenstahl was a filmmaker who paid a steep price for her choice to get into filmmaking. Born in Germany on August 22, 1902, Leni was a dancer and actress who became a director. She directed the powerful Nazi propaganda films, Triumph of the Will and Olympia. She made two of the most powerful films in history and it destroyed her life.

She spent decades self-exiled in the Sudan photographing the Nuba. Numerous books of her photographs were published. (Does the photograph to the right remind you of Keith Haring?) At age 71, she started scuba diving. At the age of 100, Leni Riefenstahl released a film about underwater worlds. Leni-Riefenstahl.de will give you more info. To get a sense of the power of her films, view a clip of Triumph of the Will.

Leni Riefenstahl was 101 yesterday (August 22, 2003). If only the good die young, I guess Leni was very, very bad. But what a filmmaker.

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QUOTE FOR 22 AUGUST 2003

“Reality is that which refuses to go away when I stop believing in it.”

Phillip K. Dick (1928-1982)
Science Fiction Author

ANOTHER QUOTE …

“I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”

James Madison (1751 - 1836)
U.S. President

JUST ONE MORE …

“Television has proved that people will look at anything rather than each other.”

Ann Landers (1918 - 2002)
U.S. Advice Columnist

All of today’s quotes address the idea of reality. Phillip K. Dick (author of short stories I once read that became Blade Runner and Minority Report) relates to reality is a personal phenomenon that one cannot avoid. James Madison believes that we are so out of touch with the reality of our government that it erodes beneath our inattention. And, Ann Landers points to the disconnected realities in personal relationships. I am particularly fond of Ann Landers because she used to live in Eau Claire, Wisconsin (near my hometown of Chippewa Falls and location of my alma mater UW-EC). Tangential connections to these people makes them somehow connected to my reality simply because they exist and live in my memory.

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I loved the first film. The concept was brilliant, the cinematography stunning, the editing terrific. I tolerated the second film. So talky. The dramatic chase scenes couldn’t make up for the mind numbing dialogue. I’m hoping the final installment comes back around. Trailer looks good.

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There are hundreds of film festivals in the United States and hundreds more internationally. Now there’s a site that can help you manage your festival submissions, track the dates of upcoming festivals, and choose festivals that would be most receptive to your film. Without A Box is, without a doubt, the easiest way to get your film into the festival circuit. An annual fee of about $79 is all it takes.

Music Licensing Made Easy Thanks to Ross Ingle for this lead on music licensing made simple. The Harry Fox Agency, affiliated with BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC, can help you get the rights for the song you’d like to use in your short film. Visit Songfile.com to find out how much it would take to use the music you’d really like to use.

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I’d promised myself I’d be very diligent about blogging every day in August and I was doing great BUT then it was time to go back to school. I’ve got a new computer lab to install, a couple of staffing challenges, and my own course prep. So, I’ve been slipping a bit. The next week may be a little spotty but I should be back on track by the 25th.

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With his newest project, David Byrne has tried not only to see it anew, but also to use it in the least likely of all applications: a medium for creative expression. “Envisioning Emotional Epistemological Information” (Steidl and PaceMcGill Gallery, 2003) is a boxed set containing a 96-page book and a DVD featuring 20 minutes of animation. In both mediums, Mr. Byrne, who is best known as a musician but who was trained as an artist, subjects PowerPoint’s characterless graphic templates to a radical metamorphosis. (Read the full article in the New York Times.)

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QUOTE FOR 19 AUGUST 2003

“The simplest schoolboy is now familiar with facts for which Archimedes would have sacrificed his life.”

Ernest Renan (1823 - 1892)
Educator, Philosopher, former seminary student
Souvenirs d’enfance et de jeunessen

ANOTHER QUOTE …

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.”

Harper Lee (1926 - )
To Kill a Mockingbird, 1960

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QUOTES FOR 15 & 16 AUGUST 2003

“The life which is unexamined is not worth living.”

Plato (427 BC - 347 BC)
Philosopher, Dialogues, Apology

ANOTHER QUOTE …

“Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.”

Helen Keller (1880 - 1968)
Educator

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