As I’ve mentioned, I feel fortunate to be included in an education documentary film called Something Far Finer. It will explore the possibilities for 21st Century education, especially the ways in which it could foster creativity in children. The director, Kaoru Wang, is profiling people who have outside-the-box ideas for the education system, as well as projects that put these ideas into practice.
The team of young filmmakers came across my project when I linked to Blue Man School and invited me to be a part of the film. I’ll keep you posted on where it goes from here. The goal is to complete it within this year, and the team hopes to show the full-length feature at film festivals or on public television. The website is www.somethingfarfiner.com if you’d like to read about the film. Photos and video shorts from the shoot to come soon.
The shoot began today and finishes tomorrow. Kaoru (pronounced “Ka-roo“) flew out from New York and hired a team of Bay Area filmmakers to take film and photos. Day 1 took place at El Verano Elementary and Altimira Middle School from 7:45 am to 5:00 pm. Day 2 will happen all day tomorrow at St. Vincent High School. I’m looking forward to it, though I’m up much too late and will probably look like I’ve been dragged down the street by a school bus.
Today Kaoru and her crew of five shot mostly “B-roll,” which is supplemental footage that will be spliced into the main shots. Kaoru plans to interview me about the project and later cut to scenes of B-roll that show what I’m talking about.
Here are pictures from today’s shoot, and thanks to Production Assistant Kim Duong for taking them. Click on them to enlarge and see captions. Video to come soon!
A special thank-you to the staff and principals at El Verano and Altimira who went out of their way to accommodate me and the film crew.
I just made a correction to info I’d posted earlier. I’d thought that the full-length feature would be online, but it turns out that only vignettes from the shoot will be posted. They’ll be on the film’s website: http://www.somethingfarfiner.com.