The Brave and the Kind: A film by John W. Yost

So I had a little hiccup in response to this conversation…apologies to Donnacha and those reading. I’ve been working on the new film and have just been swamped.

BUT

Donnacha I think brings up a good point about authorship. The questions I want to ask are: Is your identity at the whim of your authorship? Is there a relationship between them? Can we give up our personal stories? Can we make stories that may have our essence stamped into them, but not always about us? Can we make them on the cheap? At what point are we done with personal discovery when making films? Are we ever finished? Read more >>

I think that the absolute main reason why we “fringe filmmakers” should be making the most personal works is that we have the freedom. It’s as simple as that. We are free from financial expectations and also free from critical expectations of what our films should be. It is our right, hell our responsibility, to be as honest as possible, to really follow our hearts and instincts. This may not always lead us to the best results, but they certainly lead us to the most interesting outcomes. Read more >>

So we’re finally finished with all the tweaks, edits, and sound mix….it’s off to festivals. The film has a wonderful brand thanks to the talented Ms. Wright; the EPK is done and we’re ready to release it into the world.

Whew. (wipes sweat off brow) Thank you to all that made this film possible. Read more >>

Over the past few months, I’ve gotten a ton of questions about the process of making The Brave and the Kind. These questions have led me to reflect on my own experience that started back in January of 2008. Making a film in a year is considered lighting fast by industry standards, and it certainly has been a whirlwind and an absolutely amazing experience. I’ve taken the time to share the story of this process below, which should answer all of the questions you’ve all been asking. Thanks again for your support and interest in the project!

1) To start is to have the idea. I usually like to do research on subjects, talk about the idea with close friends and family…see their reaction to it. In some ways the idea for TBTK is almost the full realization that began with that first interview with my Grandpa, which subsequently ended up in the film. But in many ways, much has changed due to personal revisions and trusted feedback.

2) After the idea is planted, most people then go on to writing the script. This was my experience writing a feature length script… and it was anything but pleasant. I think there are some people who love to have it all come into focus on the written page. Having a game plan certainly helped make the film better, and for that I’m thankful. But for me, the filmmaking process itself ends up becoming a way for me to discover what the real story is about, and having it locked down word for word seems too constricting. If you ask me, there is a fine line between sticking closely to the script and improvising. When that balance is struck, amazing things happen.

3) Next comes pre-production. For The Brave and the Kind, planning was happening while the script was forming. Once we got the locations in the script locked down, we went out and made the schedule. Once the characters were finalized, we moved on to casting… and so on. Ethan and Emily were both great finds, and most of our other locations and cast fell into place. They did so because we were still flexible in our story. Would it have been as organic if we had a stone-tablet of a script? For a film like Iron Man it sure would have been a disaster. For a film like TBTK, the little moments are sometimes discovered in the chaos.

4) Production couldn’t have gone any better. The schedule held up for the most part. We had a stripped-down crew, with many people fulfilling multiple roles, but they all did an amazing job remaining flexible and getting the job done. It’s tough as a Director to also be the Costume Department, AD (at times), Continuity, etc… However, we didn’t need crowds of people standing around drinking coffee either. The few indie films I’ve worked on were always terribly overstaffed and wasteful. Read more >>

As post production winds down, and a new year approaches, I felt it would be good to take a moment and reflect on where this project was a year ago. It was just an outline and a fake trailer. One weekend while writing the script, I got the idea to make a fake trailer for the film to give IndiePix an idea of the mood and feel I wanted the film to have. Read more >>

The one film that started it all, is now posted up everywhere and on this site. “Fog” was a short film I shot in 2004 right out of college. We shot it in one weekend with all my friends from the Maine Workshops. (I worked there for 8 months right out of school.) It was shot with the Panasonic SDX-900 and was my first real experience with video as a possible substitute for film. Read more >>

So my associate producer/former co-worker/bud Brandon Bethmann is making a feature. It’s kind of mumblecore, kind of a zombie film, and a labor of love for Brandon. It is certainly not his first time at the helm of a feature film (IMDB page) but it’s the first time working in this genre. I’ve been helping as DP and so far the shoots have been relaxed, productive breaks from my everyday life. Let’s congratulate him on joining us in being artsy-fartsy. I’ll post a little video too.:-)

Finished the rough cut
Sent it out for notes
Got good notes
Finished the fine cut and sent screeners out
Notes are coming in
Test Screening Nov 23rd at the Saratoga Film Forum…7PM
Read more >>