Production was very pleased to get a very long email update from Jordan Haug today. Apparently, the internet service is very spotty at best and one of the data towers has still not been repaired since the cyclone last month. Jordan reports the following on the topic of field notes and pictures:
On August 11th to the 14th I'm going to be in Alotau. I'll have good reliable internet there. It's not good enough to facetime or even make a huge document drop (it's about $30 USD for 1GB of data and it's still slow), but I hope to send you a whole lot of nice photos then.
Still of archive footage of a dancer from Liak, Misima Island. Videographer and copyright unknown (2008).
However, the news that has production excited and that has motivated today's post is the following:
I've now told a ton of people about you coming and there's a lot of excitement about it. There are a few things I hadn't really mention to you earlier which I think you should think of. Probably the most significant is arranging for a good dance performance by the Liak Saga Group (a traditional dance and cultural group in Liak). They are a really cool group that performs dances at cultural venues and for tourists at resorts. I think it would be a great idea to record these dances for a couple of reasons: 1) they are cool and people dress up in their traditional clothing for it; and 2) the dances often follow a myth. I was thinking that there are some cool myths we could use as kind of narrative book ends or as turning points in the narrative. They often have something to do with leadership and the land of Misima (two issues highly relevant to the operation and closure of the mine). It would be really cool if we could have someone narrate a myth with voice over while people dance the story of the myth. Anyway, that's just a thought.
The director is salivating over the artistic possibilities that this opportunity presents in terms of the visuals and emotional cues in the forthcoming film. His knowing that there is a traditional dance group in Liak (how convenient) and that they are willing and interested in performing in the film is pure excitment.
In celebration of this news, production gives you the following bonus footage, which was compiled from several short clips in the project's research and development archive. Just try and imagine how great it will be to see similar dances performed but in combination with a digital cinema camera and with great cinematic composition. :-)
