Kickstarter

Hello! 안녕하세요!

Hi my name is Jonah Whipp. I'm currently living in South Korea and I'm raising money for a film I'm going to shoot this summer/fall as part of my artist residency at MITE UGRO ZAZA in Gwangju, South Korea. The film is a remake of Chris Marker's 1962 science fiction film La Jetee.  The original film, which is constructed almost entirely out of still photos, tells the story of a post-nuclear war experiment in time travel. I will use Marker's original film as a starting point to retell this story in a Korean setting. My goal is NOT to simply remake his film but to use his film as a visual reference to explore how a different culture would react to his setting. It also offers me an opportunity to explore certain aspects and issues within Korean culture that I am interested in such as: food, history, war, suicide, bullying, etc. Working everyday I don't have the time to give my full attention to these issues. Now that I have been given an artist residency I have the opportunity to learn more about this land, and I want to be creative about doing it. The importance of this project is the exploration of the culture of the last divided country in the world. An opportunity that will die with the eventual unification of these two countries.  

What is La Jetee? 

Read more about La Jetee here

Inspiration

In March 2011, I was teaching English at a school just outside of Seoul when a 9.0 magnitude hit the east coast of Japan. Shortly after the quake the Fukushima power plant started to meltdown and there were reports of radioactive materials being released into the air and that traces of the particles were found in the rainfall over South Korea, because of this I was unable to go outside during times of rainfall.  Sitting on my computer with some classes canceled,  I rewatched Chris Marker's La Jetee. It still strikes me how well the film has held up over time considering how simplistic the filmmaking style is and was made on a shoestring budget . With the only "cinema" part of the film being shot on a 35mm camera borrowed for one hour. This is something I admire and can relate to. While I have dreams of becoming a successful filmmaker I'm constantly at odds with resources and money.  After watching La Jetee I thought about how South Koreans would respond to post-nuclear war setting and how I could use the film as a starting block.

Why film - 

"Real film is light, digital is electricity" - AKI KAURISMÄKi

What I'm shooting on? 16mm Bolex & 35mm Canon A-1 I will only shoot on film. This is the equipment I have. This is what I will use. It all fits into my backpack. I can wake up, pack up, and go! I feel that with everyone so focused on digital production it gives the people who still shoot film a secret weapon to produce images that are both stunning and poetic.

- Shooting schedule -

July-August: Reconstruct La Jetee in a Korean setting. Focus mainly on shooting 35mm stills. The photos will hang as part of an exhibition at MITE URGRO ZAZA around the time of the Gwangju Biennale. A the time of the exhibition a photo book will be made and sent to all of the donors. 

September - February: I'm giving myself 6 months to shoot all of the motion. This will be the most challenging part so I want to give myself enough time to do it. I feel that 6 months is a reasonable amount of time to explore, shoot, communicate, create something I'm proud of, and wrap shooting. 

The film will be completed by the summer of 2013.

Help! Donate! and stay connected!

The Kickstarter campaign is to raise funds for buying 16mm film, processing the film, and transferring the film so I'm able to edit it. I'm asking for $7,000.00 and I would like to stress that this is the lowest amount I can make this film. I am hoping to exceed to my goal with help from friends, family, and anybody who believes in the project. Please help by donating what you can! In doing so you are helping me achieve my goal and kept my dream alive of becoming a filmmaker. Also please check out the cool gifts you receive by donating!

Ways to stay connected and chart progress:

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kickstarter updates coming soon!!!!

Thank you so much for taking your time to check out my kickstarter page!

-Jonah 

Korean: 

안녕하세요! 제이름은 Jonah Whipp 입니다.
저는 이번 여름 광주에서 영화를 만들 계획입니다. 제가 만들 영화는 Chris Marker의 영화 La Jetee를 리메이크한 작품으로 한국을 배경으로 하여 한국적인 요소들을 접목하여 만들어 질 것입니다.
원작 La Jatee는 파리를 배경으로 한 제 3차 세계 대전이후의 시간여행 실험에 관한 영화 입니다. 이 영화는 시간의 진실과 과거의 기억 그리고 사랑의 힘에 대해 이야기 합니다. 저는 이 영화를 리메이크 하여 북한의 핵실험 이후의 시간여행에 관하여 이야기 할 것입니다. 저는 이 영화를 촬영하는 계기를 통해 한국 사회와 문화를 깊이 소통하고 배우는 계기가 되었으면 합니다. 또한 저는 영화 제작에 도움을 받기위해 Kickstarter 홈페이지에서 여러분들의 기부를 받고 있습니다. 여러분이 기부하신 금액에 따라 제가 준비한 감사의 선물이 마련되어 있습니다:)
이 영화에 관심이 있으신 분들은 http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1697300103/yeok-the-station 페이지를 방문해 주세요. 감사합니다!