Cucalorus

This year I got to experience Cucalorus in a whole new light, as a Pegasorus pass holder!  From competing in the 10x10 film race I got access to the whole festival.  The first screening I went to was A Light Beneath their Feet (2015) which was directed by Valerie Weisse.  I choose the film because it was in the magnolia block and featured a actor I loved, Taryn Manning.  The screening was a coming to age story that followed the relationship between a bipolar mother and her care taker daughter.  The film was easy to watch and amusing and had points of psychological drama.  Taryn was once again casted as a mentally unstable woman.  I think she is starting to type cast her self for these types of roles.  Her well known role in Orange is the New Black was a much stronger performance.  I think there was a lack of energy in film which made it lack suspense and excitement.  It was a strange viewing, there was so much commotion during the screening.  There was so many people walking in and out of the theater.  One woman left the room every 5 minutes.  I was getting very annoyed but then realized at the end of the viewing it was an actress in the film Maddie Hasson.  I started to figure that she either didn't like watching herself on screen or had seen the film one to many times.  Over all I think there is a definite audience for the film, mothers and daughters specifically.  I don't see the film really reaching any other audiences besides the two though.  The question and answer portion left little to peak my interest as well.  The producer and one of the actress Maddie Hasson came up to answer questions.  I was really hoping to see Taryn at the Q&A.  The answers they gave were rather uninspiring and mostly just deferred the answers the directors vision.

The second screening I went to was a short block called Shishito.  This was known as the "weird" short block.  Shown at Jango's play house, it was a packed theater and had lots of excitement in the room.  The films I watched all had a really fresh perspective and expanded my ideas of story telling.  One film I really enjoyed was Half Wet.  This very weird animation reminded me of a pastel world similar to Yellow Submarine.  The voices and sound design really made the film for me.  The combination of familiar and bizarre made the film engaging and funny.  The pseudo love story almost made the film relatable but in the most obscure way.  Either way I thoroughly enjoyed the short and would want to see more from the director. The second film that really stayed with me was Red Luck.  The editing style of staggered slow motion and repeated sequences brought emphasis on the characters action.  For a film with no dialect it really dove you into the psychological perspective of the man of threat.  Even though the costume choice was bazar it was a strong choice and brought you into the world of this crazed man.  The screening of cyberGenesis really opened me up to the idea of crowdsourcing.  I had never seen a film done by crowdsourcing and it was cool to see what kind of impact and content you can get from strangers from all around the world.  The drawing portion really stood out to me.  Several weeks ago I was asked to draw a word on a index card for a crowdsource project.  So I liked getting to see what kind of impact it would have in a larger project.  Overall the short block was my favorite to go to.  Watching these smaller projects did bring some inspiration to what is possible to make with a small crew or smaller budgets.  Like the film Surface that seemed to be only a go pro and the ocean.  It makes films seem more relatable and obtainable for me.

This past week of filming has not gone exactly as planned. With the hurricane and fall break schedules became more disjointed then I would like. But even with shooting days being canceled more good things have been happening as well. Last week while filming a family event at Walkerworld I was introduced to walkers ex wife Jamie. When I met her I introduced myself and told her about the film I was working on. She seemed very uneasy and nervous while talking in front of Walker no had informed Walker I wanted to talk to her and he encouraged it. However I could read Jamie's nerves and spoke to her in private. I explained that I wanted to be an objective listener and here both sides of their life stories. At this point Walker interrupted and insisted that I interview her on the spot at the family party. I told the two of them I would like to wait and prepare questions and get to know Jamie more before.  When I asked Jamie for her contact information she wrote in a secret message telling me to wait to talk to her.  So I am excited to have made contact but am treading lightly to develope a trust in each other before asking for her story.

Week 4 Blog

Walker World has been continuing to move forward and flourish with creativity.  This week we focused on editing the footage we have for b-roll.  Alex and I spend quality time in the editing lab playing with the footage in Premiere.  The biggest struggle we faced was with sound levels.  Many of the audio from the performances peaked and have leveling issues.  The main problem came when we connected the H6 into the mixer.  Sound is such an important part so we will have to accommodate and focus on it for next time.  I think if we can have an additional team member come along for our next shoot to primarily focus on sound it will go much smoother.  The wireless mics worked very well throughout the shoot thought and we were able to capture Walker's conversations even in crowds with little interference and background noise.  I do like the certain level of background sound though and we are getting a good  mix when recording wild sounds of the patrons talking over each other.  I am very pleased with the amount of footage we captured from our last shoot.   Alex did a great job and almost every shot was usable and interesting.  Cutting down the footage was a big challenge because so much of the shots we got we wanted to use.  But right now thats a good problem to have and we are building a great reel for the final edit.

Blog Week 3

Last week I had a great day of film at Walker World with my DP and Producer.  The event we filmed was on Sunday and had around 75 -100 people in attendance.  The event began with us placing a wireless Mic on Walker and filming him in a traditional 'reality show' style.  We tried to be flies on the wall capturing him as the outgoing party host.  It took some trial and error to be able to navigate a camera man and multiple pieces of sound equipment simultaneously.  I think next time we will need to have an additional crew member to do sound so our producer could take notes and create shot logs instead.  It was much easier then expected to get signed release forums from the guests.  No one was opposed to signing it or being on camera so that made it easy for us.  We tried to get as much footage from outside as possible while we had lighting.  When the sun went down we transitioned to filming the 3 different bands and live artists perform instead.  At this time we were able to plug in our H6 into the amps to record great quality sound from the bands.  The bands will also be giving us the audio release to use their songs as a sound track to the film if we choose too.

- Brianna Okamoto
Director  

Expert Interview

Allen Walker is 40 years old was born and raised in Wilmington, NC. Allen was an adventurous boy who spent his time building and exploring the outdoors. At age 22 he dropped out of East Carolina University to buy his first home in Castle Haynes.  Now the father of 3 children, Skye, Ava and Dan, he still resides in that same home.  Now the home goes by the name, Walker World, and it has been rebuilt to an artists paradise. 

1. Please describe Walker World to us.

2. What was the reason and vision behind Walker World? 

3. This house has an amazing amount of art work- are you an artist your self?  

4. How did you build this enormous home? - any professional help or strictly your self and friends? 

the reason and vision behind Walker World? 

5. Walker world is a very secluded home, but so many people flock to it every day. Have you always been the outgoing welcoming man that you are today? 

6. Your ex wife and you were together for quiet awhile, what was your life life while the two of you were together? 

7. Did she share a similar vision and lifestyle as you? 

8. You are such a warm and loving guy -How do you think you friendships with others effected your marriage? 

9. Do you think their was a definite reason for the divorce? 

10. How that you are a bachelor how have you changed? 

 11. You seem to be flooded with love from everyone around you- has the popularity of Walker World helped you get through the divorce? 

12. When do you get time to your self? And do you enjoy that time? 

Thomas Purdy, well Purdy for short, has been Allen Walkers close friend for his entire life. Purdy is 10 years older then Allen at age 50, and grew up in Wilmington, NC.  He was known for being rebellious bad boy and family friends of the Walker's.  Allen recalls being by Purdy's side and saving Purdy from the law several times. Allen describes their relationship as brothers- but Allen sees himself as the big brother to Purdy.  When Allen moved to Castle Haynes he built an adjacent log cabin on his property for Purdy to live at. Now Purdy spends his time drinking PBR and helping Walker maintain the land. 

1. Purdy how long have you know Allen? 

2. What kind of relationship did the two of you have growing up? 

3. Do you remember the kind of activities or trouble did the two of you get into? 

4. What was Walker like as a young man? 

5. What kind of people did Walker attract? Did he fit into any cliques? 

6. What was your reaction when walker dropped out of school to move to Castle Haynes? 

7. When did you start helping him build his house? And what was the initial process like? 

8. Who was the first to suggest living together at Walker World? 

9. What has kept the two of you so close for so long? 

10. Do you have your own family or is Walker your family? 

11. Why do you want to live at Walker world?  

12. What about this place makes it home to you? 

13. Do you think you'll ever leave or stay here for good? 

WW. Treatment

Treatment

Brianna Okamoto

Walker World

8.27.15

Driving deep into the woods of Castle Hayne, NC passing by abandoned

hearses, mosaic murals and pianos hanging out of tree houses - a nervous feeling of

unfamiliarity seeps in as the woods consume you.  Don’t turn back yet, things are

just beginning to get weird.  Sit back and hold on to your seat because you are

entering another world, a Walker World.

Allen Walker, the man, the myth, the hippie-renegade who opens his door

with a hoot and holler and welcomes you into his home.  "Home" is hardly a good

word to describe the eclectic artist retreat he lives in.

   Our story begins in 1999 at the age of 22 when a young buck drops out of

ECU to buy a log cabin in the woods.  In pursuit of self-expression and freedom, he

begins adulthood away from the world and its traditional values.  Taking a cue from

his father, he holds a sledgehammer in one hand and a beer in the other, and the

walls start coming down.  Disregarding building codes and regulations he rebuilds

the cabin, opening it to the natural beauty of the outside world.  Walker is no

amateur, though; his part time jobs revolved around farming and building. When it

comes to building his dream home, he uses 100% reclaimed material.  Pulling from

garbage and donated materials, he builds a space that is his own and unlike anything

money could buy.

His home is now a playground for all to come and create, build and explore a

side of themselves that is usually not tapped into.  His playground is open to all, and

all come.  Visitors flock from around the world to get a chance to live the Walker

World lifestyle.

This documentary channels the spirit of Walker and gives the viewer a

chance to reimagine their life and spark a fire of creativity.  While painting a

balanced and realistic image of Walker, we explore how his individualistic lifestyle

has affected him and his family in both good and bad ways.  Once married—now

divorced, his family is split and children stay with him on the weekends.   The three

youngsters say the only rule their dad has for them is, “Don’t die.”  Living like a

modern Jay Gatsby, he finds happiness in company with others.  Can so much

emphasis on individuality and freedom displace the values a relationship needs to

succeed, and can all the parties and friendships in the world make up for the family

life he once had? This documentary will let the viewer decide by jumping into

Walker's World and watching him in action.  Following him deep into his existence

we will see Walker in many settings, diving into his heart to see what really caused

him to seek the attention and affectionately pull strangers from the outside into his

alternate reality.

investigation. WW

    When beginning to conduct my research on walker world the first source I went to was Allen Walker himself. In June 2015 I got his number from mutual friends and called him up and asked if I could come by to meet him.  I had heard numerous stories of this artist retreat hidden in the woods and had to see it for myself.  His out pour of excitement surprised me and he hastily welcomed me to come over the following night.   

 Since June, I have spent numerous days with Walker getting to know his story and life.  My research has been from our person conversations together and listening to his life stories for hours.  Besides our time together I have spent many nights talking to his oldest friends and family interviewing them about walker and his impact on him.  His family tells stories of a wild child with an ambition to roam.   

     His life was recently featured in Salt Magazine.  That interviewer did a brief overview of his life focusing on the look of his home.  This write up gave me some factual information about his childhood.  They are not nearly as personal as the stories I have heard though.   I want this documentary to go much deeper into Walkers psychological perspective on his life and find out what has sculpted him into the person he is.

     Talking to his children and preparing to interview them is another deeper research path I will take.  His three children are just as outspoken and full of love and life as he is.  However, they hold a very mature perspective of their father and notice all the fun and shocking moments his life has presented.  They have been crucial in providing me with a deeper inside perspective on his persona as a father.  It seems that their is a lack of separation between walker the father and walker the entertainer. 

     I want to highlight the realistic sides of his life and the beautiful moments he shares with his family while refusing to place shadows on his life, he is an open book.