Continuing forward

Dear readers,

As you know I haven't written here for a while. Mostly it is due to the confidentialilty of the work I have been doing, I can't really expose anything of it yet, but of course there are other things to tell. I just haven't dedicated the time, instead I have been communicating by e-mails.
I wish there was a way to be really open during a whole film project, so that everybody could follow the process, even from development, into pre-production, production, post production, marketing and distribution.

What I can tell you now is that we are working on a major feature film, but we are still really early in the process and before we have got more secure funding it's not really worth or appropiate telling anything. We also have a couple of other major projects we are preparing for, but they as well are in the early stages. Thus I ask you for patience about details. I do enjoy though to work so close to the director, I am just one person away from him in the "chain of command" and we all talk in the office. How easy would it be for me to work closely to an experienced film director in a production company in Hollywood? Not very.

One thing we are working with is "Concept Art", which means illustrations that convey characters and the mood of the film we are to produce. This material is then used to present the project to investors and co-producers. We connect with artists in the whole world and so far we have been working with illustrators in Japan, Mexico, Sweden, Norway, Rwanda, South Korea, Italy, USA and Spain. If you know a good "fine artist", that is, somebody skilled in making illustrations, please contact me, there are opportunities to work as a freelancer.

Something that was exciting in April was a visit to the NAB convention in Las Vegas. We decided to go there as a team to get updated and it was really worth it. NAB is "the" major media technology convention in the world and this year they had a special focus on stereoscopic 3D which was interesting. Especially since we plan to do our major project in 3D!

I also had a chance to see the latest cameras and seeing where it's all going in terms of media technology (picture: a 3D camera setup with RED cameras). It was fun to see that Ericsson, the Swedish company, was on site and is way engaged in stereoscopic 3D technology as well.

After the convention we even held a seminar here at YWAM, to share our impresssions. My part was to talk about the "Broader-Casting" trend, or the explosion and convergence of media content "pipes" that we see today; cell phones, iPads, IPTV etcetera. The overall trend seems to be that people all over the world are just consuming more and more media. Not bad news for somebody like me.

Anyway, there is more to life than work and I have (as always) been enjoying the climate here in Hawaii, especially during the earlier spring months which are normally quite cold in my home country. Now, I've heard the weather back in Sweden is already warm!

I have changed the place where I live and I now share an apartment with three guys who work in the film school here and I enjoy it a lot. It is great to have company, my rent is lower, it is very close to my work and also to the beach!

Since I wrote last I have also tried surfing for the first time in my life, I took a lesson, and actually stood on the board a couple of times! I must say though to "catch" the wave was really difficult, even with my background of some snowboarding, skiing and windsurfing. I hope to be able to try out more surfing further on.

I also did a hiking trip, we went hiking into a valley that is really hard to access by anything else than boat or walking up on a mountain and down into the valley.

It was very "cool" and the walking was steep and demanding. During the night we slept just under a covering tarp that we put up with cords. On the second day I had the opportunity to swim in a waterfall!

I have also spent some of my free time on my own feature film script, it requires a lot of discipline but I am getting slowly forward, and as most filmmakers turning my own scripts into film is what I dream most of to do in the future. But as somebody said, "Amateurs dream, pro's do", which means I have to take every necessary step. And of course it is not at all sure that my gifting or "take" on the whole thing is enough for producers and investors to be interested and all the rest.

I have now sent in my application for an extension of my US visa, for the rest of the year, and hopefully I'll get a reply within a couple of weeks. I go forward step by step and it's not all up to me, but it seems quite probable that I will get an extension and that I can stay for a bit more.

I leave you here, wishing you a nice spring and beginning of the summer (or sunny winter if you are "upside down"). I also want to say a special, great "Spring Thanks " to all of you who boldly support me both in prayers and financially. I can't really express how thankful I am to you.

Urban

Helping Haiti

Life takes unexpected turns sometimes. Right now I am helping out at a Help-Haiti-conference. We are located high up on a mountain here in Hawaii and the conference is organized by Youth With A Mission (YWAM).

About 40 international professsionals from different spheres of society are here - scientists, businessmen, lawyers, education specialists and many others (even a Hollywood film producer), all to brainstorm about possible ways of how YWAM and its friends can help Haiti. The conference has been preceded by a research team going this nation, and we also have with us the leader of YWAM in Haiti, who has been working there for decades. The focus is twofold: to find long-term strategies (like helping building the education system) but also to find practical ways of sending help within weeks. Haiti is a broken nation in so many ways and needs help in almost every dimension of society.

As I am writing this, the congress is discussing things as energy supplies, transportation, human resources and health, trying to find out how the YWAM base in Haiti can be used as a window to make a difference for the Haitians.

If you want to make a difference in Haiti, they right now need skilled people in many areas such as carpenters, electricans, administrators, physicians, teachers, kitchen managers and many other areas. If you are interested, let me know and I will help to get you in touch with the people in charge. They just said that the commitment for such work should be at least for three months, preferably longer.

That was a little "Haiti update", and within days we will be back on working with our film projects again. More about them soon!

Through a feature film and a tsunami!

Hi!

Finally I get to write again, after a month in a feature film set and after a tsunami!

I am still in Hawaii, in the town of Kona, on Big Island, alive.

It has been an intense month of filmmaking, working on the feature, low-budget indie-film The Land of Eb, directed by Andrew Williamson. We were a team of about twenty people who spent a lot of time out in the country, filming in coffe farms, poor areas, on roads, in a supermarket and in a hospital.

The film was shot on a Canon 7D, a digital still camera with excellent high-definition film-looking video capabilities and the possibility to use different lenses.

I'll give you a quick go-through of which positions the team had: producer, director, director of photography, assistant camera, 1st assistant director, 2nd assistant director, production manager, line producer, production coordinator, craft services, gaffer, key grip, wardrobe and make-up, props department, sound mixer, boom operator and production assistant. Pew!

My position was sound mixer which means recording and mixing sound on location. Quite important! As my help I had the Brazilian boom operator Rodrigo, an excellent coworker who soon also became a good friend.

For a want-to-be director as myself, being a sound mixer has the benefit of placing me where the action is. Thus, to give me experience from a full-length film, it was awesome. I learned both technical and organizational things.

Then what was our film about? It is called The Land of Eb, referring to a historical myth which the main character tells his children.

The film takes place in present time and is the story of Jacob, a man from the Marshall Islands. The name of these islands might sound American, but this is a Polynesian nation with its own language and its own culture.

Sadly, the Americans took advantage of its vulnerability after the second world war and exploited the islands for nuclear bomb tests. Today, still many of the Marshallese people suffer from the consequences and are victims of diseases due to the nuclear waste (watch this video in YouTube for an update about this). Many of them fled to Hawaii.

The main character in the film, Jacob, gets to know that he is deadly sick in cancer and we follow him as he spends his last months leaving his family in the best position possible. Most of the dialogue is in Marhallese.

The film is almost a documentary and it was very touching to see that our actor actually lives his life almost exactly as portrayed in the film. Often the script was adapted or created on site to reflect reality. (In the picture: director Andrew Williamson with Tarke and Jonithen Jackson, who played the main couple in the film).

The atmosphere on set was very professional (although all of us worked non-paid) and our schedules were tight. Most of us have previously done YWAM’s School of Digital Filmmaking and this film provided an awesome opportunity to learn and progress for us all. I really look forward to see it cut together and I will certainly update you as soon as there is an official trailer.

Writing this, it’s almost March and the rest of this quarter I will work in the offices of the director I am supposed to work with.

We have several interesting films coming up, all in development and all with presumably quite high budgets. I will tell you more as soon as I’m allowed to! I can tell though, that they all will contribute with totally new, fresh stuff on the cinema screens if they make it all the way!

These weeks I have also enjoyed some days of recreation, including snorkling, cliff-jumping and hiking. I swam with manta rays (big flat fish) and I spent a night on a beach, hiking with a group, mostly from the film team. We also went to the top of the island, the inactive vulcano Mauna Kea at 13.000 feet (4.205 m). Sometimes there is even snow there, but not this time.

Maybe the most adventurous for real though was today, when we had a tsunami, created by the earthquake in Chile. People were evacuated from the lowest areas. Luckily our island here is very montainous and it is very easy to walk upwards, quickly gaining height and safety from the sea.

Coordinated by the University of the Nations, we safely watched webcameras on tv and could see the water changing height from there. The sea level rose, then the water was sucked towards the ocean as if the whole sea sunk, quite amazing. It turned and the sea level slowly rised again, these movements going on for a couple of hours. The tsunami showed out to be harmless to both people and buildings this time though, and after a couple of hours we were told that the risk was over.

To conclude I again want to thank you all who are supporting me with your prayers and finances. Without you this wouldn’t be possible. I definitely believe I’m on the right track and I view this time as an amazing gift.

In spite of risks, may you take the bold and right steps needed in your life, and be encouraged by these words said to Joshua in the Old Testament:

I repeat, be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic, for I, the LORD your God, am with you in all you do.

(Joshua 1:9)

Back in Hawaii!

Can you believe this – I’m in Hawaii again!
Isn't that surreal?
Especially since I left a freezing Sweden full of snow and darkness…
…and landed on an island of 25 degrees Celsius, sun, sand, seawaves and a light breeze. I don’t complain!

I don’t know why I am lucky enough to be able to enjoy this place on earth, but – I guess the best I can do is to appreciate it!

This first week I have mostly installed myself, trying to get rid of jetlag and looking around for accomodation. I have been introduced to our projects, and the first one coming up is an independent feature film called The Land of Eb, where I will be a location sound mixer. That means being in charge of microphones and sound on set.

The Land of Eb is a film about a man from the Marshall Islands, and the theme behind it is the aftermaths of the American nuclear test bombings on those islands. Did you know that the Marshallese still are fighting with diseases from the bombings? Being a kind of docustyle drama film, the purpose is to shine some light on the Marshallese people, and the director Andrew also wants to help some of them to start making their own films.

As for me, I am happy to gain experience on a feature film set. Even if sound mixing is not my ultimate goal, I will definitely learn lots from just being part of the crew. And hopefully I will contribute as well!

Well, dear folks, that was all for this week. I'd like to end with a quote:

Life is like a parachute jump – you only get one chance!

Have a good week!

Departure soon!

I got my visa and I'm scheduled to take off January 13th. Cool!