Alain LeTourneau: Notes

Spring Tour Wraps, New Projects Ahead

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 12:47:00 -0700

We returned from our travels with Empty Quarter yesterday afternoon. I must have been tired as I went to bed around 6 pm, sleeping some 13 hours. It's not unusual for me to underestimate the toll traveling can take. That said, the tour was great fun, putting names to faces and meeting a lot of wonderful folks. I will be getting back to work assembling a schedule for a fall tour in October. We will return to the midwest and New England, as well as include stops in a number of southern states.

Now that I'm back in Portland, I'll direct my attention to the completion of Open Road, as well as authoring and distributing a DVD of Empty Quarter (for libraries and university film/media programs), doing some grant writing and starting work on a new still photography project.

Heading to Vancouver BC, start of spring tour

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:17:00 -0700

This Wednesday, we travel to Vancouver BC for a screening hosted by the Vancouver International Film Centre's Vancity Theatre. We're excited about the trip, having heard good things about the facilities at VIFC. The following week we head to Ohio, New York and points beyond for our spring tour. Full schedule is posted here. Upon returning to Portland, I'll spend a few weeks in preparation for shoots in May and June. Mark Eifert will once again lend his support and expertise, and Pam will record all location sound. Final lab work will be completed in early fall, and distribution of Open Road will start December-January, as the distribution of Empty Quarter begins to wind down.

The Deliberate Nature of Work (Space)

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:50:00 -0800

We've now resided in our live/work unit for about 14 months, and while the arrangement is perfect in many ways (work space on the ground floor, living up above), the actual size of our studio is smaller than our previous two studios. One of the benefits of this smaller work space is that it discourages the accumulation of stuff. The down side being we already had too much stuff when we moved in. As someone who has a sensitivity to space layout and organization, the state of our studio has been somewhat of a challenge. Enter, the magnificent Matt McCalmont who will build us new shelves that take advantage of the room's ten plus feet of vertical space, and put an end to the piles of stuff that now characterize the organization of the studio.

Empty Quarter Spring Tour

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:29:00 -0800

In March, we hit the road for a spring tour. We have scheduled stops in Ohio, New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. In addition, we'll do several west coast screenings. The current tour schedule is posted here. Refer back for the updated schedule. We continue to work on Empty Quarter: Notes and Pictures, a book supplement to the film, and hope to have copies available in time for the tour.

RACC Awards Funds to Open Road

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 17:02:00 -0800

I had been waiting for the RACC notification to arrive, and the letter landed in my mailbox today. The Regional Arts and Culture Council has awarded funding to Open Road. I'll resume work on this project as soon as January, with the remaining production coinciding with post. It's good timing, as I was hoping to finish the film by summer or fall, and these funds will permit move forward on such a time line. Unlike Empty Quarter, all of the remaining production work for Open Road occurs in town, which removes a layer of production logistics. I'll need to wait for warmer weather for some shots, however I now have an opportunity to record this winter. I will be launching a Kickstarter campaign to raise additional funds for 16mm printing as well as other distribution costs not covered by the grant.

Empty Quarter Fall Tour Wraps

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:53:00 -0800

For the last three weeks we've been on the road presenting public and classroom screenings of Empty Quarter, as well as several workshops on experimenting with documentary form. We returned from NYC tonight, and have two local screenings as well as two dates, again, in NYC (in December) that will complete our 2011 screenings. The fall tour went very well thanks in part to the generosity of those individuals that hosted us in the various places we visited. At this time, we are setting our sights on a spring tour in Late-March and early April. We'll return to the midwest and northeast, and add a few west coast dates. More will be posted here as dates are confirmed.

Open Road Awaits Finishing Funds

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 17:29:00 -0700

During August, with the assistance of Mark Eifert and Pam, I resumed production work on Open Road, adding another 20 minutes of footage to the rough cut. The current version now runs about 60 minutes, with an intended total run time of 75 minutes. I have another 10 locations to record before wrapping production. While I wait to hear about grant funds, I'm collecting excerpts from Fremont's Exploring Expedition 1843-44, and will soon begin recording these excerpt for use as voice-over.

Empty Quarter Fall Tour

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 00:23:00 -0700

October through December we have a number of screenings taking place. In late-October, we head to Wisconsin and Illinois for a series of screenings and workshops. It's a great time to be in the mid-west, as most of the hot weather and bugs are gone, and the serious cold will not have settled in. We are very much looking forward to our Chicago visit, meeting old and new friends, and seeing what's going on for screening spaces since my last visit. In November, we head to New York, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. In addition, we have a few local shows at University of Portland, NW Filmmakers' Festival, and Willamette University. Details are posted on the film's website.

Thanks Art Substrates!

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 02:13:00 -0700

Our good friend Matt McCalmont, founder and owner of Art Substrates, built us a fine pedestal for our Eastman 25 projector. It works to elevate the projector 21-inches off the ground, getting it above our heads, projecting an image high on the wall and without any keystoning. And the whole thing is on wheels, so the projector is easy to move. I can't believe all the years we went without this, and such a simple solution. The new height also means less bending or stooping over to operate the machine or get inside the projector pedestal to fix something or replace the work lamp.

In other projector news, Our Bell & Howell 1568 arrived from North Carolina. Big thanks to Richard Burges for doing the service work. This is a nice addition to our small fleet, and provides us with a portable machine that will work in practically any venue big or small thanks to the bright Marc lamp. We intend to use this machine on our tour of Southeast Oregon.

ORWO online in the USA

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 16:28:00 -0700

If I am reading the information on the ORWO/Filmotec website correctly, ORWO 16mm film stock is now being distributed in the USA by RB Group in Newport, Rhode Island. I'm still awaiting the details from both parties, but this could be great news, especially if UN54 is now available in the States. Definitely a viable replacement for Kodak 7231 Plus-X that was recently discontinued. Of course, ORWO makes a number of other stocks as well, including print stocks, intermediate stocks and sound recording film. I did some tests back in 2007 and I have to say, after reviewing the UN54 test results again that the contrast is actually very good.