About this project
Beyond Sight: An Experiment, Tribute and Celebration of the Inspiring Lives of the Visually Impaired.
New Donations
To further our charitable and altrustic goals for this project 5% of pledges between June 16 until the end of the fundraising period will be donated to the Gulf Oil Cleanup Effort!
Summary
Beyond Sight is a documentary following the everyday lives of some incredible visually-impaired individuals.
The Purpose
Blindness and visual impairments in the media have often been portrayed as something negative, a handicap, something to be feared. This movie is going to be different - amazing accomplishments and incredible lives, which would be amazing whether or not the individuals are blind. So, we are portraying visual impairments in a positive light! These stories deserve to be told.
Synopsis
I am particularly interested in those individuals who are doing seemingly superhuman things, despite their disability. The blind painter who can tell different colors by touch alone, the soldier who can "see" using his tongue and a special device. I am beginning to reach out to these amazing individuals and inviting them to participate in this documentary. Watch this site for further updates!
As a sighted person, I am hard-pressed to imagine what it’s like to be blind.
So, I thought of one way I might at least begin to understand – conduct an experiment, and attempt to function in my day to day life without my vision, even if for only 10 days. Given my career as an animation director, (a very visual field) I have no idea what to expect. What I do know, is I will have to rely on the help and kindness of friends and even strangers. So, like Supersize Me this segment will be an experiment on myself, to bring the focus on a larger social issue.
I also will interview the representatives of various advocacy groups, such as the American Foundation of the Blind to further understand their struggles on a national level.
And if you or any of your loved ones are visually impaired, I would absolutely be thrilled and honored to hear from you and interview you! If you don’t live near NYC, then perhaps over the phone, and with your permission, I would love to have the interview be a part of this documentary. No donation necessary, please just get in touch!
The Funds
Up to this point and throughout the rest of the production and post-production process, the film will be primarily funded by love and credit cards. Your donation will get us the final step of the way, to hopefully tell an inspiring story. The $10,000 will be used to hopefully hire a fantastic Director of Photography and Camera Person, some travel and daily expenses, as well as for completing post-production on the film, which includes editing, color grading/visual effects and sound.
My hope and wish is that we will be able to raise funds beyond $10,000, which would enable traveling and conducting a broader range of interviews across a wider scope. For example, I would love to visit the Louisiana Center for the Blind, which is a residential training facility. One possibility would be to explore the political and U.S. healthcare ramifications by interviewing various local and state politicians. That’s the great thing about documentaries, you never really know where they can take you or what the result will be!
For you techies, I plan to shoot footage using the Canon 550D, rather than a traditional video camera. This will allow us to both keep costs down and get excellent video quality with fantastic depth of field. In addition, since this camera is MUCH smaller than a regular video camera, we can film much more unobtrusively, which is definitely a must for documentary film making.
Updates
Updates are handled via this page and on our FB! Fan us! www.facebook.com/BeyondSightFilm
And whether or not you end up pledging, thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and thank you for your support!
FAQ
Have a question? If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.
20
Backers
$740
pledged of $10,000 goal
0
seconds to go
Funding Unsuccessful
This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on July 25, 2010.
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Special Thank you on the website and access to special features (updates). Also, 5% of your pledge will be donated to the American Foundation for the Blind.
Pledge $5 or more Pledge $5 or more
Special Thank you on the website, and access to even MORE special features (behind the scenes, updates, deleted footage) and access to high quality download of the full film. Also, 5% of your pledge will be donated to the American Foundation for the Blind.
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The above, plus a special bumper sticker, with BEYOND SIGHT Logo. Also, 5% of your pledge will be donated to the American Foundation for the Blind.
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All of the above, plus Thank You in the credits of the film (with your picture, if you want it!). Also, 5% of your pledge will be donated to the American Foundation for the Blind.
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All of the above, plus a limited edition autographed DVD. Also, 5% of your pledge will be donated to the American Foundation for the Blind.
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All of the above, plus a limited BEYOND SIGHT T-shirt. Also, 5% of your pledge will be donated to the American Foundation for the Blind.
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All of the above, plus small-sized limited edition autographed, matted print of a scene from the film. Also, 5% of your pledge will be donated to the American Foundation for the Blind.
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All of the above, plus large poster-sized autographed, matted print. Also, 5% of your pledge will be donated to the American Foundation for the Blind.
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All of the above, plus ticket to the after- launch party in NYC. Also, 5% of your pledge will be donated to the American Foundation for the Blind.
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All of the above, and Associate Producer Credit in Film and a ticket to the premiere in NYC. Also, 5% of your pledge will be donated to the American Foundation for the Blind.
Pledge $1,000 or more Pledge $1,000 or more
All of the above, plus a VERY limited edition signed photobook including scenes from the film, and behind the scenes, with handwritten commentary by the filmmaker. Also, 5% of your pledge will be donated to the American Foundation for the Blind.
Pledge $5,000 or more Pledge $5,000 or more
All of the above, plus Producer Credit at Start of Film, and Dinner with the filmmaker and some of the people highlighted in the film in NYC. Dinner will be videotaped and edited into a separate mini-documentary! Also, 5% of your pledge will be donated to the American Foundation for the Blind.
Project By
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Born in Germany, raised in California, now living in New York City.
I'm an animation director and producer , classically trained as a fine artist and heavily involved in the indie and foreign film industries. While I've worked as a visual effects producer on a variety of foreign films (scary Thai movies!) and several U.S. indies, this is my first foray into the documentary world.
