Layover The Blog

Shigeto

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 03:41:00 +0000

I somehow stumbled upon this Shigeto individual. The description of his music automatically grabbed me. Ended up buying his Semi Circle EP on iTunes. A bit of an impulse buy, but I didn't regret it at all.

"They say some of the best art is born of struggle, but in the case of Shigeto’s Semi-Circle EP, that struggle began more than 50 years ago, when the artist’s grandmother was a prisoner in her own country, locked in a Japanese internment camp in the US. Half a century later, her diminutive, half-Japanese grandson fought to forge his own identity as a musician and bi-racial American, ultimately taking on the name Shigeto (his middle name) as a tribute to his great grandfather. The Semi-Circle EP, Shigeto’s first release for Ghostly International, is a deep, vividly beautiful suite of electronic music—the opening salvo of Shigeto’s ode to family, melody, and the art of the beat."

x. Yu

Two DeLillo quotes that seem relevant here

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:31:00 +0000

“Film is more than the twentieth-century art. It's another part of the twentieth-century mind. It's the world seen from inside. We've come to a certain point in the history of film. If a thing can be filmed, the film is implied in the thing itself.”

"Film allows us to examine ourselves in ways earlier societies could not—examine ourselves, imitate ourselves, extend ourselves, reshape our reality. It permeates our lives, this double vision, and also detaches us, turns some of us into actors doing walk-throughs."

- Don DeLillo

Berlinale Talent Campus

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 23:21:00 +0000

(photo via flickr)

Great news, people: Eunsoo, cinematographer of LAYOVER ON THE SHORE is heading the Berlinale Talent Campus next year!

The Berlinale Talent Campus is a six-day gathering of filmmakers from all over the world for a series of lectures, workshops, films, and (I'm guessing) good conversation. Needless to say, this is very hard program to get accepted into and I am not in the least surprised that she is going.

She will return with treasures from the Occident.

Berlinale Talent Campus: http://www.berlinale-talentcampus.de/

Chris

Artist Edwin Ushiro

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:17:00 +0000

At the Giant Robot Biennale this past week, I came across a small 4x6 watercolor. Just a few kids behind a Japanese restaurant at dusk, surrounded by lush green. Like a photograph of a moment, ambiguous but decisive. It reminded me of Hawai'i. I looked up the artist, Edwin Ushiro, and it turns out he's from Maui.

"I am primarily focused on listening and researching the ghost stories of Hawai'i. For the moment, they are the inspirational foundation for my artwork. I hope this doesn’t sound selfish of me!"

You can check out his work online at LeBasse Projects, a gallery in Culver City.

FLUX magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:10:00 +0000

Jared Yamanuha's coverage of our film on the FLUX hawaii blog:

Layover, on the Shore, filmed both in LA and Honolulu, on dreamy film stock and über-realistic HD video, is, essentially, a love letter to Hawaii. It’s also Yogi’s attempt to reconcile two different, yet equally relevant Hawaiis: the real, actual Hawaii, where we live, and the imagined paradise with which the rest of the world is acquainted.

It’s precisely for this reason that Layover, on the Shore signals a new type of film, one that engages in the complexities of Hawaii. His film doesn’t seem to fit snugly into either of two categories to which most films about Hawaii belong: it’s not a film that uses Hawaii as a stunt double, so to speak, for other, more exotic locales (think: Jurassic Park and Tropic Thunder), and it certainly doesn’t reduce its characters to caricatures, or make broad generalizations about Hawaii and its people. Yogi seems to be making movies in heretofore uncharted territory, realistic films about us, here and now.

Premiere

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:28:00 +0000

We are very pleased to announce that LAYOVER, ON THE SHORE will be premiering at this year's Hawaii Int'l Film Festival. For those of you in Honolulu, it will be screening with

Shorts Program #4
Sunday October 18th at 6:45pm
Dole Cannery Theatres

Find us on the HIFF website here: http://hawaii.bside.com/2009/films/layoverontheshore_hawaii2009

Chris

2AM

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:10:00 +0000

DONE.

Public Enemies

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 04:41:00 +0000

I finally got around to seeing Public Enemies. I liked it a lot more than any grown man should. It's refreshing to see HD treated as what it is -- video. Having gone through film school, I've had enough of this wannabe-film-let's-get-a-Red-or-a-35mm-adapter-on-a-prosumer-camera shit. This is why Michael Mann is rad. And this is why Layover and our very own Christopher Yogi and Eunsoo Cho are rad.

I'm going to go watch Public Enemies again.

Meanwhile, here are the links to the rest of the Museum of the Moving Image series on Michael Mann.

http://www.movingimagesource.us/articles/zen-pulp-pt-4-20090715
http://www.movingimagesource.us/articles/zen-pulp-pt-5-20090723

I particularly enjoyed the fourth installment. Check it out.

Kwok

Rushkoff: How Capitalism Killed the Narrative

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:08:00 +0000

(via indiewire)

Terrific and inspiring lecture by author Douglass Rushkoff on the hopeful future of new media in a DIY environment. Kinda long, but if you got 40 min of free time, crack open a few tall boys, and enjoy.

Chris

Opening Scenes: The Vertical Ray of the Sun

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:39:00 +0000

Anh Hung Tran, Mark Lee Pin Bing, Lou Reed, and one of the most delicate opening scenes of all time:

Chris

Michael Mann

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:14:00 +0000

Michael Mann is one of my favorite filmmakers, and Miami Vice and The Insider are among my favorite movies. If you have the time, check out this Museum of the Moving Image video essay series by Matt Zoller Seitz on Mann.

Parts one through three are up. Stay tuned for four and five.

http://www.movingimagesource.us/articles/zen-pulp-pt-1-20090701
http://www.movingimagesource.us/articles/zen-pulp-pt-2-20090703
http://www.movingimagesource.us/articles/zen-pulp-pt-3-20090709

I've been a bit occupied. Haven't had a chance to see Public Enemies yet, but I'm pretty pumped.

Pretty pumped about Layover as well. We're in the home stretch!

Kwok

Cinereach and Sundance doing good things

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:03:00 +0000

$1.5 million grant for projects with themes that "that evoke global cultural exchange and social impact."

Variety article here.

Chris

The Ongoing Conversation

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:48:00 +0000

By way of Ted Hope:

I don’t think film-going is any more a passive experience than filmmaking is, and cinema is where creation and consumption unite. If we embrace the active spirit of film-going, if we accept that there is a quiet dialogue running in the heads of all audiences, we are going to start to find some answers on how we – the filmmakers – survive this vast paradigm shift our culture is now engaged in – because I am confident we are not just going to survive, but we are going to prosper and bring better work to more audiences in all sorts of new ways....

If a diverse film culture is going to flourish in this country, we have to move to a new model where filmmaking is a process, an ongoing conversation between the filmmakers and their various audiences. That is the new model I hope you can embrace when you walk out of here tonight...

Read the rest of his speech here.

Chris

Quick bits

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:04:00 +0000

(photo via jameschan.posterous.com)

ADR with Hawaii actors last week was a success. Thanks to Brandon, Chanelle & James for their great work, and a HUGE thank you to Jon Yamasato, who allowed us use of his recording studio for our ADR session. Jon, you are now an expert dialogue recordist.

Sung Rok Choi is currently putting together our sound edit, Boon Sim is working on our score, and next week we will be having our online & color correction session at Primary 3. Almost done, people!

Finally, show your love on rising film-star James Chan's blog: http://jameschan.posterous.com/

Chris

TWO WEEKS

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:40:00 +0000

Incredible MV by Patrick Daughters. TWO WEEKS by Grizzly Bear. I've been kinda iffy on Grizzly Bear, but I now understand that I was wrong.

Chris

Spring this, mofo!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 01 May 2009 16:27:00 +0000

This is my favorite time of the year:

- The start of the baseball season. The crack of the bats. The freshly-cut grass. Fantasy baseball getting in full swing.
- Playoff basketball. Bulls, Celtics, epic.
- Playoff hockey. I don't really follow hockey, but a game now and then is quite fun.
- Summer movies start coming out. There's really nothing quite as satisfying (or as American) as a good Hollywood blockbuster.
- Birds chirping at 2 a.m. They're back from the south!
- The last weeks of school. Children everywhere, from ages three to thirty-three, rejoice as the end of the year approaches. Pizza parties, classes outdoors, proms, and naked runs around campus.
- Layover nearing completion. I can't wait to show the world.
- Eunsoo shooting another project.

I used to dread spring when I lived in New York, where I'd get the gnarliest allergies. But in sunny Southern California, the smog kills the pollen, and all is good.

Let's go Mets.

Kwok

from china with love (missing LA wow)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:22:00 +0000

thanks for the link to my site, chris.

do you have any advice about working with non-actors?

do you have any advice about shooting HD?

do you have any advice on drinking while being charming?

haha of course you do.

today there was a thunderstorm here that lasted for ten minutes.

i've been listening to a few myspace pages and downloading kevin's offerings.

pretty much over and over.

[thank goodness myspace still works here. mourning the blocking of youtube!!!]

i'm going to have a party at a bar with the french video/noise artists i live with on friday 4/17 about 8am-11am PST. i believe it will be broadcast live on their blog (with about an 8min delay). the first 30mins will be some of my more "experimental" short films and the rest will be danceable noise music with live video. should be "très cool" if you're up in the morning T_T.

oh also i showed the last fine-rough cut of layover to some kids at the sichuan university. they thought hawaii is beautiful and would overall support the preservation of the nursery. but also wouldn't oppose drinking on the street.

here's to making movies, sometimes and forever.

Pro cess

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 17:07:00 +0000

Is it just me, or is it easier to write when you're lonely ?

Light Rain Films

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:30:00 +0000

Our producer extraordinaire, Yu Gu, has traveled across to the world to shoot her very own thesis film, THE MOTH, which she wrote and plans to direct. It is a great project and production will be under way in less than month. Check out her website here:

www.lightrainfilms.com

Show your love.

Chris

I've Been a Stranger

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 01:59:00 +0000

I've been a stranger to this blog as of late. I just wanted to stop by, check in, and say hello.

For this blog entry, I'll list some of the things that I've liked thus far in 2009.

- Taken.
- The first single off the new Phoenix album. And isn't that opening "1901" Flash animation pretty awesome? (And what's more awesome? There's no "music off" button on the page!)
- Michael Mann continues his embrace of video, but this time with a period piece. Marion Cotillard is one of the most beautiful creatures to walk this Earth.
- Janusz Kaminski shoots a Judd Apatow film.
- Deep-fried pepperoni pizzas.
- A picture-locked Layover.
- The Rock Obama.
- The World Baseball Classic. Team China wins a game (albeit against Chinese Taipei).
- LeBron James. (And having him on my fantasy team.)
- Gomorrah and its score. (Forgive the foreign-film-trailer voiceover in the link.)

Au revoir,
Kwok

Greetings from Abroad

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 12:56:00 +0000

Editor Wendy JN Lee here, sounding out a big whoot for Layover picture lock! The last stretch, I must admit, was spent eating a lot of "editing foods" (everything), and talking about what French New Wave really means. I had such an incredible time on this project, the Yogi withdrawal is already kicking in... so it's good I'm heading to a Nepal this week, where there are a lot of other yogis. Cave yogis.

PICTURE LOCKED

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:16:00 +0000

After a prolonged picture editing stretch, a successful LA shoot in December, and some pick-ups in HI in January, we are locked! Well, kind of. The film is moving onto sound, which is in the hands of Mighty Sung Rok, and any changes to the cut from here on out will be minor, if any.

I celebrated by going to see Animal Collective last night, who fucking killed. It's all kind of a translucent haze, but seeing Animal Collective live is kinda like seeing Sigur Ros, but with more dancing.

Chris

Piñata

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 04:22:00 +0000

Music video for Pilar Díaz song "Piñata"!

Directed by my good friend & "Layover, on the Shore" crew member José Asunción, shot by our very own Eunsoo Cho, and edited by myself.

Enjoy!

Chris

Best thing I've watched today

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:20:00 +0000

Animal Collective "My Girls" from Chad von Nau on Vimeo.

Chris

"I was a simple man, but . . ."

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 21:04:00 +0000

On January 7th, my Grandpa Yogi passed away at the age of 86. Born in Wailuku Maui, he worked as a carpenter his entire life but retired soon before I was born in 1982. I spent most of childhood at Grandma & Grandpa Yogi's home in Kaimuki -- a humble, self-built, local-style Japanese home that my dad spent his entire childhood in.

This past summer, Grandpa Yogi welcomed our Layover, on the Shore crew into his home, allowing us to shoot at his house, and sleep there when things got too crowded at my mom's place. He watched Korean soaps with Robin, and sitting out on his backyard lanai played us old Okinawan records on his dusty record player.

He was a funny, talkative, strict, traditional Japanese man, who engaged life with a builder's hands. He was my last surviving grandparent, and I can't help but feel my life will be enormously different without him. I will miss you, Grandpa.

Chris