COMPLETED:
premiering Saturday, June 21, at 6:00 pm
filmmakers will
be present for Q & A following the movie
[project diary] [production stills] [movie clip]
Beth Berolzheimer
Chicago, Illinois
USA
project title:
Hither and Thither
producer: Beth
Berolzheimer
director: Beth
Berolzheimer
writer: Beth
Berolzheimer and students
cast &crew:
Cast-
Clara Langrall, Poet, Best of Fest, Media Arts Festival, Chicago Academy For
the Arts, 2002, early admittance Simon's Rock College of Bard, 2nd place team
Citywide Poetry Slam 2002
Michele Cardozo, Poet, Best of Fiction, 2002 Writing, Media Arts Festival,
2nd place team Citywide Poetry Slam 2002, Chicago Academy For the Arts, recently
accepted to The University of Chicago
Vanessa DiBennadetto, Visual Artist, Chicago Academy For the Arts
Crew-
Additional Students and ex-students from the Chicago Academy of Arts, Media
Arts and Writing program.
Musicians-
Dave Johnson- Composer, Chicago Academy of the Arts Music program. Recently
Dave was accepted to the New School, NY where he will study Free Improvise
Jazz. Plays original compositions at local venues in Chicago.
Peter Fugial- Musician,
recently accepted to The University of Chicago
Additional still
photography -
Michele Cardozo
tagline: Three teenage girls teeter on the brink of independence.
treatment:
Hither and Thither
is a 72 minute experimental movie to be shot on mini DV in collaboration with
students from the Chicago Academy For The Arts. Three teenage girls teeter
on the brink of independence. They spend the day together. Shopping at a thrift
store, drinking coffee and hanging out. They talk about body tattoos and body
piercing, read each other's poetry, etc. while excavating in the bargain basement.
Fashion is a hieroglyph that betrays unnamable desire. It is the emergence,
overlap and displacement of conversation amongst the girls that offers insight
into their lives. Chit -chat is empowering, a place to spar, perhaps the female
equivalent of wrestling. With a self- conscious affirmation they delight in
textures, and the ability to transform the old into the new. Theirs is a consensual
reality that they create in response to a confusing world. Using architecture
as reference and metaphor to their social position, these girls are literally
in the basement, sifting through the cast- offs of others, playing with their
own identities, balancing on the edge of society.
Random shots of large
anonymous gatherings such as a traffic jam, shopping lines, or subway station
contrast with the liveliness of the girls while emphasizing the idea of stasis
and waiting that are so often present in the constriction of public mainstream
spaces.
statement of style:
What is innovative and experimental about Hither and Thither? The camera focusing
in on details reveals subjective moments or processes arising out of the situation
in a spontaneous way. The preempting of normal expectations of narrative storytelling
by a kind of visual fluidity that comes from telling a story that isn't locked
to plot points. The narrative trajectory is conversational, inspired by the
bar scene in the John Cassavetes‚ movie Husbands, the camera is set loose
among the actresses following their improvisational lead until some emotional
truth is uncovered. Lots of extreme close-ups create portraits of each of
the characters in the style of Errol Morris. Lending a rich sensuous feeling
are the deep colors favored by the Renaissance court painter Bronzino. Without
conventional introductions or explanations, the rupture of Hollywood narrative
continuity enhances the story, lending individuality and immediacy to the
scenes. Old fashion ironing boards are strewn amongst a legion of chairs.
The setting lends an absurdist theatrical quality to the scene. The camera
is constantly moving like in a Dogma 95 movie. The soundtrack of free improvised
jazz, while being playful underscores the angst and freedom of youth.
timeline:
Day I
Location 1
a.m.
Meet cast and crew at the thrift store.
Set up lights.
Block the action.
Do a sound check.
Shoot.
Have students log footage.
Drop footage with the editor so logging and selecting can start.
Location 2
p.m.
Meet cast and crew at the Earwax Cafe
Set up lights.
Block the action.
Do a sound check.
Shoot.
B-roll crew to pick up shots of the city
Have night shift editors logging.
Edit 2 min. montage of stills from the actual tattooing episode.
Rough Cut.
Student Musicians improvise a score with guitar and piano.
Lock on Picture.
Day 3
FinalCut with music.
Titles
Post Office. (If we live in Chicago can we drop it off ?) Breathe again.
director bio:
Beth Berolzheimer is a photographer, filmmaker and video artist, and media activist who lives and teaches in Chicago. In 1997 she produced Sisters Speak Loud and Clear, documenting the annual Violence Against Women conference in Chicago. She also has a 20 year reputation as an editor. She owns an Avid, and has cut numerous documentaries for local grassroots organizations. As a freelance editor she has cut independent feature work and understands dialog cutting and the post process from the film to tape transfer thru the conform. Her client list includes NBC, The Goodman Theater, Chicago Video Project, Beyondmedia, and Women In The Directors Chair. In her capacity as a Certified Avid Trainer in the Columbia College Avid Training Center she has taught beginning editing through advanced effects compositing to industry professionals across the country. Her passion for working with alternative grassroots organizations has given her the opportunity to produce work with women and teens including incarcerated youth. In 2001 she traveled for 2 weeks to Russia and the Ukraine with beyondmedia Education a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating alternative media for positive social change. Her job was to document with digital video and still photographs the Project Kesher‚s Youth Leadership Conference for a subsequent tape and CD-Rom, about women rebuilding society in the former Soviet Union. She has received, grants, awards and exhibited at festivals, museums and galleries throughout the United States and Europe.
score: 19 out of 30 possible points
[project diary] [production stills] [movie clip]