Coming This Saturday: Acoustic Alchemy - The Sonic Meditation of JHK

 

Hello My Friends,

This coming Saturday night, August 1, 2015, I will be premiering my new short film, Acoustic Alchemy - The Sonic Meditation of JHK. For those of you who have not seen my prior blog posts, this film centers around professional guitarist/composer, Jeremy Hicks-Kachik.

With this film, I'm doing something different. Instead of trying to launch it at the Frederick Film Festival in Frederick, Maryland, an event that has special meaning to me (of course, only if accepted), I have decided to launch it here on my Blog, via YouTube. I actually missed entering this year. The festival took place in June and I was still editing.

As I've previously mentioned in earlier Blog postings, this film represents a spontaneous collection of musical moments that Jeremy and I shared over the course of weeks while traveling around together. There were no plans. No story boards. No expectations. In fact, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. There were a few basic hurdles to first overcome. Would Jeremy and I hit it off? Would Jeremy shy from the camera? Would he have anything he wanted to verbally convey in any sort of articulate manner? I really didn't know. But I sensed there was something there upon our first meeting and felt he'd have no problem providing a few of his insights.

For me, the best part of these kinds of films is finding the unexpected magic that manifests itself in the moment. My challenge is to capture those moments, while playing the role of Director, sound, and cameraman. This has been my modus operandi with all my previous films. First I find locations that feel right and then begin by asking a few questions I put together the night before. With each new shoot, I sometimes ask the same questions from the last session, or sometimes ask spontaneous questions, depending on how the location affects my mood. Interestingly, the location has invariably produced similar, but somewhat different responses. From there, it's my job to simply explore together.

There comes a point when I feel the time is right to call off the sessions. I look at the footage each time I upload it to the computer, determining if I have captured ok sound and picture. It's is then stored away and I focus on the next session. Once all is assembled, I then begin finding the life of the film as I edit. Sometimes it takes a while and I have to walk away for a few weeks to reboot my thoughts. But then, as with this film it becomes Alive! I love these moments and certainly hope you enjoy these moments too.

I plan to launch the film at 9:00 P.M. For me, I will play the film and watch like I'm at the theater. It will be fun thinking that I'll be watching it simultaneously with some of you. So, if you are around for a few moments (it's just under 30 minutes), it might be a great way to begin your evening. I hope we can get lost together in Acoustic Alchemy - The Sonic Meditation of JHK, to catch a brief glimpse into the world of guitarist-composer, Jeremy Hicks-Kachik.

Best, Keith