Letters

This week has been a flurry of sending out letters and notices to the organizers, founders, participants and organizations I will be working with (in some cases hoping to work with) for all of my projects.  The weight of what I am doing is starting to make it's presence known.  I am basically doing this without any guarantee of financial support and dedicating the next two years of my life to directing, producing, filming and editing plus Community organizing and event planning with the EMPPA.  When I finish principle photography on "The Wheel of the Year in Maine" I'll still have 6-9 Months of editing to complete before I have a workable film.  To say the least, it's daunting.

I don't fear that I have bitten off more than I can chew.  There is no real fear for me other than that I want what I am doing to have value.  I want it to draw together my community, my tribe, in a manner that is positive and cathartic for everyone involved.

For the last 18 months, since I really became involved in the Pagan community here, I've been searching for a way to contribute something.  I started out wanting to be a Bard.  Well, not really "a" Bard, more like "the" Bard.  I had kept my ear to the ground and found that there were not that many folks claiming any kind of "Bardic" title so I figured that was my niche.

I love showmanship, singing and poetry.  It seemed like a good fit but stepping into that role I discovered that I did not need to be special to be valuable.  I did not need a title to contribute, I only needed to be myself and that was a catharsis in and of itself.

There is also the possibility that people will not want to be a part of things.  I have a fear of that as well.  For the most part, people in the community have seen me, met me.  I think most folks who have interacted with me can tell I am genuine but I can't blame people who don't know me for potentially being a little skiddish about the idea of letting me put them on camera doing "Pagany" things.  Paganism is a fringe element in many ways and a long history of oppression from more mainstream spiritual paths is why many people who are Pagan choose to remain out of the spotlight.

One of the things I really want to do with this documentary is demonstrate how our community/tribe is vital and important.  It is nice for me to imagine how solitary practitioners might see this film and realize that even if they wish to practice alone, there is a large community of people with which they can share their experience.

One very exciting thing that I find about this project is the chance to meet and interact with people I have not yet met.  I can only imagine that there are potentially hundreds of people I have yet to meet and spend time with and these projects are a bridge to new relationships and a chance to learn new and exciting things, share ideas and further strengthen the connective tissue of our Tribe.  Sally forth!

More about my camera

The Gopro Hero 3 Black can record in 4K resolution at 15 fps.  I doubt I'll bother to use that setting but it also goes down to WVGA @ 240 fps and every step in between.  So, it's a pretty damn versatile device.  There is a downloadable app for smart phones that allows you to see what the camera is seeing wirelessly through a dedicated Wifi network.  It's a little choppy and there is about a 3 second delay but you can set up your shots with it which is sweet.  The other option is an attachable LCD screen but that drains battery life pretty drastically.  I initially bought it and then took it back when I tried out the app, then reinvested the money in accessories I thought were more important (extended battery, dedicated battery charger and an open frame mount).

I can attach a lavaliere mic via a USB adapter.  That will drain battery life but I have (in total) two extended batteries and three regular ones so I should be set for power.  I am thinking that down the road I may get a hip battery pack with a USB port since I can hook the camera into it and power it that way if I get low on batteries but for now I should be alright.

What I really like about the camera though is that it is small enough to be incredibly versatile.  I can make my own mounts and have already drawn up plans for a mount that will attach to my wrist allowing the camera to sit on the back of my hand allowing me to use my arm as a shooting platform.  Another plan I have is for a telescoping pedestal mount which will allow me to put the camera up in the air or at any level I wish between about 4 and 8 feet.  

One of the docs I am doing is for Beltane at the Beach.  It takes place at Popham Beach and has been an annual Pagan festival for about 25 years.  One of my friends has a drone that he is going to take up for me and get some flyby's of the beach while everyone is dancing around the maypoles.  Out of the three "Mini-docs", I am most excited about this one because there is a lot of opportunity to really play with the camera.  It is also the third one I am doing so by then I should have a decent understanding of the camera's capabilities so I can push it a little more.

The big doc, the yearlong one, has me a little overwhelmed but I'm also excited.  The other bonus of the three smaller docs is the opportunity to create some buzz in the community for it and get some more support.  The biggest hurdle is going to be cost but what I will really need is people who are willing to help out here and there and I think that the smaller docs will get people interested in doing that.  Ultimately, I'd like another Gopro to pair off with this one (you can set it up so that one remote can control up to 50 cameras at once) giving me even more flexibility.  I could use people who would be willing to film things from other angles simultaneously or even lock the camera down in one spot while I float about and get the other angles for action shots.  Ultimately, it's all about flexibility and versatility which this thing has in spades.  For the money I invested, I could have a very good, slightly used DSLR which would "look" the part but be much less useful.  Ultimately though, once I divorced myself from the need to have the equipment that "Looked right" I could consider the equipment that would work.

The only problem I have found with the gopro so far isn't with the camera but with the software.  At higher resolutions, both the free gopro software as well as Sony Vegas Pro have trouble managing larger file sizes.  This may become a problem for long takes, like interviews and testimonials but my plan is to chop them up a little, do them from multiple angles with a couple of cameras.  If I'm using the Zoom h4n, then Audio shouldn't be affected if I leave it in place.  I'll be playing around with the camera more to see how well this will work.  Since I can't afford the h4n right now, (to keep) I'm going to buy one, use it for the first doc, then return it.  I have one I can borrow for the other two docs and by the time I get to the big doc I should be able to buy one and keep it in stock.

All in all, things are moving forward and I am excited about that.  Early next week, I'll be getting in touch with all of the principles for the first three documentaries and briefing them on what my workflow will look like.  One thing I really want to avoid is freaking people out.  I am sure that there are people who don't want to be "outed" as Pagan and so I want to make sure that I take steps to protect those people from any anxiety or other concerns they may have.  There isn't a lot of point in trying to make a documentary about the Pagan Community in Maine and the network of friendships that hold it together if I am going to make people nervous or uncomfortable about the project.  Respect and care will be needed.  I do however have assurances from one of my friends a "Bardtographer" that he has never encountered anyone who has been uncomfortable with his photography at Pagan functions.  Even though I intend to be as respectful as possible of the potential for some folks to be unwilling to take part, I don't expect it to be an insurmountable issue.