Something Like a Short Bullet Point Autobio (71 posts)

--Studied theoretical physics for 3 years at a highly recognized university, with plans eventually earn a doctorate degree.
--Virtually no interest in movies, I stumbled across The Seven Samurai and became very intrigued.
--Researched older movies to discover the modern trash I have been accustomed to, was far from what movies really are.
--The interest became addictive and with all my spare time learning the theories and practices over the art of movie making, it began to negatively effect my schooling
--With much debate, I decided to drop out of college and enter the movie industry.
--Little success at first, but my understanding on movie theory, shocked the people in the movie studios as well as me
--Started doing technical advisory work for small and later large films, I decided to use aliases, to save my name for more important adventures.
--Started the early stage of my writing and directorial debut.
--Wheels in motion and connections with industry people made, the rest is unknown

I will blame my pending success or failure on Kurosawa

Forgot to mention, I attend this to be perhaps a thread where the other visitors can post a quick bit of information about themselves to keep in one area.

I thought Vili's thread should be its own, considering its his site and thought a combined thread would spark more conversations about each other then a several individual ones. Feel free to add to this one if you wish.

All right, all right I'l try and go ahead...

My name is really Ben - surprise! surprise! -
I consider myseld some kind of storyteller, whether it is through filmmaking or writing, or any other form. I did attend film school in 2004/2005. I am still not sure if that was a good decision.

I've made some shor films, worked on some features (One in particular for a good friend, which gets it's world premiere this Tuesday at MethodFest in Cali)

I've written some scripts too. As of late I have moved away from LA for a breather, concentrating on more short story writing ALA my favorite writer Ray Bradbury. I am also a teacher's aide in a kindergarten and some kind of a graphics artist...

My cinematic obsessions have gradually grown stronger since childhood. And of course Kurosawa was a big part in my obsessions and passions growth. My aunt, Maggie suggested I see his films when I was 15.
In august 1998, I saw Ran and my love of his work grew from there. He and the people he surrounded himself with, have taught much in the art of cinema and led me to many more filmmakers I now love.
I have yet to see all of his films. 22 down.

I was originally planning to have everyone start their own thread under the "Introductions" section, but Do What Thou Wilt, as a certain English gentleman once so repeatedly told us mere mortals.

(Two points to whoever knows without checking the name of the said gentleman. Hint: he was a contemporary of William Butler Yeats, was very much interested in the same topics as was Yeats, but was in many ways the complete opposite of the Irish poet.)

It is interesting to note that both of you have hands-on experience with film making. I have also tried my hands in it, although I think I will keep to writing scripts, as technology is sometimes well beyond me, especially with cameras and such.

I once started to film a script of mine that was slightly inspired by Kurosawa's "Dreams" (but perhaps unknowingly more so by Jungian theory of Archetypes), but that project halted when the weather dropped below -35C (-31F) and the camera literally froze.

But my dream is to one day enroll to a summer course in digital film making, more so to get to work in an environment that encourages film making than to actually learn anything about the actual craft.

Let's see, my name is Mike, son of two German parents, conceived in a town called Grunstadt, born in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. I was raised in and near Washington, DC. I joined the military at 17, and worked on my college degree over the next 20+ years. I have a background in electronics and computers. I took a lot of engineering classes, but ended up with a degree in history, concentrating on American-Asian interactions. I spent 23 years in the Coast Guard. I currently teach history and civics to 14 and 15 year olds.

I grew up in a house with a fond appreciation for the arts, but without a television. I am a frustrated musician, an occasional author, and a lover of art and music. My politics are Lockian/von Mises, my tastes are too expensive and I like to know something about everything.

I fell in love with movies in my late teens and early 20s. I used to haunt "art house" theaters. I dabbled briefly in film in my teen years, I belonged to a movie club in school, but I was never very good at direction, though I did have a steady camera hand. I studied film for a while in University. My film professor is still one of my closest friends, we visit each other regularly.

I have a deep love for certain directors and tend to hunt out any and all of their releases, particularly Akira Kurosawa, Fritz Lang, and Billy Wilder. I also love progressive rock music, bebop jazz, motorcycles (BMW R1150RT), sports cars (Porsche 968), dogs (Shelties), wild birds, travel, and cooking.

I have two sons, 19 and 21, a beautiful wife, two dogs, three cats, and a fish.

Sorry Vili, didnt intend a hostile take over of your site, with feature request and by making several threads. Having help start other forums, I noticed a few things to do that appear to give new members a feel of the forum and a area to post freely, without wondering it they should hold back posting a new thread. New forums to me appear a bit cold and so activity is very slow, thought I would attempt to add something to help get it started.
Feel free to change, edit, delete what I've done, it wont hurt my feelings, your the boss after all =)

To answer your question Vili, and without research, my guess is British poet Crowley, first name starts with a C or A.

"There is no law beyond, Do what thou wilt" is a quote I remember, though your mention of William Butler Yeats is no help to me, I haven't heard of the man.

If am right its a funny, I remember Crowley's name because while browsing though his work, I had Ozzy Osborne's "Mr. Crowley" song playing, purely by chance-the player was on random. The song is about that man, though no quotes of his are used in the song. The quote you mention and song will be forever linked together. Big fan of Black Sabbath and then Ozzy's solo career.

A bit of information regarding the song and poet
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1190

BMWRider, I know the 968 well, I borrowed a '94 968 6 speed to learn how to drive a manual in 1999 I might of possibly set the record for number of stales, without moving an inch, in that car. The car is still around but I've only driven it once since then. That was the car that started my hobby of road course racing. The only other Porsche, I have driven is the 911 GT2, it borrowed as well for racing.
Theres also a new BMW motorcycle dealer that open up and I've been eying a bike there, but cant realistically afford another vehicle yet, but wont stop me from thinking about it.

Ben, what film school did you go to?
A lot of people wonder if its a good idea or not. The answer range widely but the way I see it, the old masters went to film school to get access to film equipment they could never afford. Now of days a nice, fairly cheap digital equipment can be rented. The money that would of been spent at film school could go to fund a movie project. Most people I talk to say they learned very little what it takes to direct, its way I decided to skip it.
What did you think about it?

Jeremy,

Well I went to a one year immerison program at the LA film school. I was probably in the last class beofe they turned it into a fully certified sausage factory. Get in, get out.

As with any school, I suspect, it was a mixed bag. I did learna lot of important and valuable tehcnical information... although I could have also learned this by working on sets outside of school, it wa sa safe enviroment to do so.
I also met some friends who will be life long and got a chance to actually shoot on 16mm film.
In the end the worst parts are loans and the fact that the school ran in a very ridged and stifling style admin. wise. That led to a lot of poor handling of student affairs and such.

For me I was an outside even at the school. One of handful who had made films prior to comging to the school and had a deep passion for it. It is great to meet new people and all, and watch them grow, but that was a dissapointing factor.
I really couldn't talk Kurosawa or Bergman or Miyazaki with many of them.

Heck, the film studies screening teacher refused my request to show Persona, because she said that a class from the previous year hated it.
Not much of a teacher...

The question is though, how many of the old masters went to film school? I don't think anyone really did, before the Spielberg/Coppala/Schorsesse/Lucas generation.
Not many were in exsistence, so I am told to understand.

You summed up about what I've heard, I know people that have gone thinking they would learn the ideas and thinkings behind the directors that started everything. They only become disappointed to find everything is skipped over, what is taught can be learned elsewhere. From what I noticed film graduates may know all the terminology but havent a clue what it really means. I also find it a bit funny that they dont know how to actually buy film or rent equipment, much less know what they need.
Not that I had a clue in the beginning either but, I didnt spend $100K and 4 years in film school.

I get ask from time to time about film school, I hate telling people to skip school, but if movies is what you want to get into, the time and money could go to far more important things. There is also no that will hire you, just because you have a film degree, your chance of success is as slim as the next guy.

I was a bit pressed for time and quickly summed up my previous comment. Your right the "old" masters had no film school to attend. The more recent master directors as I attended to say, I believe only really went to get access to the equipment, so I have read from Spielberg and Scorsese.

And Spielberg dropped out of community college. He didn't even make it to UCLA or USC... Wasn't accepted.

Lukcily I don't have as much of a $100K under my belt to pay off and I do know how to rent equipment and buy film. *phew* Though this is actually not that hard in the first place, I think. Ever heard of common sense, peopele?

I think I have an understanding of the terminology, at least the stuff I remember... For whatever reason I recall how David O. Russel doesn't yell action or cut...

The classes that came in after me (a new class started every other month) lived up to the stereotypes you talked about. They were young (most fresh out of high school), from the valley and just wanted a piece of the action.
I don't mean to condemn them, as they had a lot of raw tenacity that I found hard to personally come by, but there was nothing of value in the work they tried to create. And I use that word lightly.
I don't wish to box people in and point fingers, but many just felt like the generics anyone, anywhere in the industry has come to expect. And that is not an entirely bad thing, because we need handy, efficient doers to assist the creatives, but I am just not in that group.

Do I resent them? Yes and no... As with anything it is complicated and in the grey more so then black and white.

Jeremy - You are probably right about the "one thread to rule them all" approach to Introductory threads. Let's keep this here and see what happens.

And yes, it was Aleister Crowley, although calling him a "poet" is a bit of a stretch. He did write poetry as well, but it wasn't really his forte, unlike with William Butler Yeats, who is actually one of my favourite poets.

Crowley was better known as an occultist, and the "Wickedest Man In the World". An interesting personality of the time. And yes, Ozzy indeed has a song about Crowley. Ozzy being an interesting personality as well.

Fascinating to read about all of your experiences about film schools and such.

My name is Doug and I am an Australian who has been living in New Zealand for 4 years. My other main obsession is the music of Bob Dylan which is where the "Master Thief" comes from - a line in "Positively 4th Street". I have been a Kurosawa fan for over 30 years, but only recently have I acquired some of his older films. I still haven't watched them all.

I have vivid memories of seeing his first colour films on the big screen when they were first released - particularly Dodeskaden & Dersu Uzala and later Kagemusha & Ran. Opportunities to see any of his films on a big screen is pretty rare these days and especially so in Dunedin, New Zealand (pop 130,000). Some of my other favourite Directors are Fellini, Kubrick and Herzog.

Master Thief, you are so lucky to have been able to enjoy Kurosawa's films at the time when they were released. We younger generation fans can only imagine what it must have felt like to walk into the screenings of a brand new Kurosawa film!

As there are no other directors whom I regard as highly, I can only think that it might be (for me) something like what it is going to see a new David Lynch film (Inland Empire is opening next week here in Finland) multiplied by the anticipation I have for going to watch a new Ridley Scott film.

My name is Bobby.
I live in Dallas, TX.
26 yrs old.
Huge fan of movies. Mainly interested in Classics, Independents and Arthouse films.

Became interested in Kurosawa after a friend loaned me a copy of The Seven Samurai about 2 years ago, I became a mega fan and have seen over 20 Kurosawa films now.

I am a Criterion DVD addict. I have between 75-80 Criterions in my collection.

I learned about this site from Vili Maunula on the imdb.com Kurosawa Boards.

Nice to see a local, I am in Houston, I normally go to Dallas once a monthto see my sister at UT Arlington.

Impressive Criterion collection
I thought I had a lot of Criterions, right now am around 40, I just bought 10 last week at the big DVDPlanet Criterion Sale, theres so many more I want but they are expensive.

Oh go on then...

You all seem like such a lovely bunch of Kurosawa groupies so I might as well break my usual tradition of frequently visiting forums but never posting. I'm Laurence and I live in South Manchester in England. I am currently in my last year at Durham University studying English Lit, but my passion for academic work has been VASTLY compromised by my love for student film-making. This reached its peak in October when I had a 41 minute semi-feature projected onto the big screen in the local cinema, an experience which is possibly the most terrifying of my life (hiding in the projection room was the only viable option.) As well as directing and editing pretty basic (but rewarding) minor projects, I have miraculously discovered a passion for cinematography. This is almost certainly due an obsession with aesthetic composition and palette, as well as a brief history of camera operation. And yes, Kazuo Miyagawa is the best thing since sliced bread, (sliced bread having been invented the following winter.) I graduate (hopefully) in June and I have to decide in the next couple of months whether I'm going to apply to film school, or merely take a year out and try and get a more successful reel together.

My ultimate goal in life is to spend 50% of my career developing my own films alongside passionate and opinionated collaborators, and spend the other 50% doing cinematography for other people's projects. How I get there is the major issue...

The first Kurosawa film I saw was Hidden Fortress, partly due to my previous obsession with the original Star Wars movies. Since then I have seen all of his works, which I will happily cherish in my collection for different reasons. Even Sanshiro Sugata II is a fascinatingly blunt propagandistic composition (although I prefer The Most Beautiful for its pure sincerity), and as much as I find The Idiot the most difficult of his film to watch it is still undoubtedly one of his most visually striking. I would happily spend a year of my life devoted to discovering and restoring the original 4 hour 30 minute cut, as alluded to on the Masters of Cinema release of the film. Kurosawa has also led to an increased interest in Ozu, Mizoguchi, Ichikawa, Bergman, Tarkovsky, Fellini, Bunuel and others. Which is ironic considering that my first experience with the director is his most pedestrian (or at least one of his most easily accessible) work.

I'll stop rambling there as I really could type forever. I hope to post here a lot more often Oh yeah and has anyone here seen Those Who Make Tomorrow? I'd give my left arm to see that film...

^^Sounds like we have similar problems with movies effecting our school work. I remember having a film I did most of the work on play in a festival. I experiance extreme changes from absolute fear to over-excitement, along with everything in between. I ended in the projector room to hide, only to discover all the other directors having their work shown at the same time hiding away in there too.

The sad part regarding the full 4:30hr "The Idiot" from what I read will never happen, as common practice stated that all cut parts where to be destroyed. All that remain anywhere are the masters after the studio cut the picture down.

Most of the early Kurosawa with no DVD release I have only had chances to see parts of it and some where not translated. "Those Who Make Tomorrow" is one of them, I going to the A.K. Museum Gallery and Theater in Japan towards the end of the year, in hope such films will be there. However it seems even the Museum has little idea what the A.K. Theater will be used for, nor when it will be completed.

Hi Laurence!

So, is it Man United or Man City? Your answer to this question will determine whether you remain on this forum or not. (Just kidding, of course.)

I actually haven't seen "Those Who Make Tomorrow", as I always filter it out mentally when it comes to a list of Kurosawa's films. I am, however, working on a section for the website regarding the availability of films that Kurosawa had any sort of an involvement with (scripts, assistant, remakes, etc.), so if you can give me a few weeks (once I get an Internet connection working next week), I'll see if I can come up with any answers regarding the availability of the movie.

I have never met a single person, live or on the internet who has seen Those Who Make Tomorrow. AK ignores it in his autobiography. I believe Richie has seen it, so there must be a copy out there somewhere.

I saw around 10 minutes of what I was told to be "Those Who Make Tomorrow" on a 16mm projector. It was at a conference regarding various old movies at NYU. I only recall a scene where 2 girls sit on a bench staring at each other, and a man comes in yelling at them-so I never really seen it.

I think Kurosawa skips talking about because he was forced by Toho to work on it, and never cared about the film to credit himself

Well you are the first. My understanding from all my reading is that AK and three other directors made it to pacify the union.

My name is, as the member name implies, John.

I came across this site by accident and wasthrilled to see a forum where people actually have intelligent discussions and don't feel the need to do the typical internet troll things found on places like IMDb.

Unlike most of you, i don't have much of an "official" education. Went to college on a scholarship, realized I didn't want to stay, and got a job driving a forklift to supporst myself.

Big lover of movies, Kurosawa being my favorite director.

I am an aspiring screenwriter, having no kind of patience for actual directing. I just want to be able to make a living writing from home one day.

Glad i found this place, I'm looking forward to being here with you all.

Hi John, and welcome to the group!

Like you, I would love to be able to make a living out of writing from home. Unfortunately, so many things have got on the way in the past years (or are they just excuses?) that I haven't been able to try that yet.

I actually even tried Kurosawa's suggestion to write a single page every evening, but I can't work like that. If I write, I'll have to immerse myself for hours and days on end to be able to get anything done. Switching into a writing mode unfortunately doesn't happen to me in a second, or even a day.

The biggest problem i have had in my recent switch to taking my writing more seriously is to realize that it is a long process. In the past, i would always write things in marathon sessions, siting down and not getting up until I was finished. But that isn't realistic rght now. So i have to do the whole "few pages a day" thing. it's frustrating, because it feels like if i sit down and hammer out 3-5 pages of a screenplay, it feels like I haven't done anyhting. But, i have to think of it as "if I do that every day for three weeks, at the end, I should have a first draft done." So really, it's all about staying focused and persistant. I don't have a shortage of ideas, I just need to spend the time fleshing them out and doing draft after draft until i have somehting that may get me noticed. it's a hard thing to adjust to.

Ok, here's mine.

My taste in cinema was pretty much limited to American movies until I took a chance on Seven Samurai five years ago. I was, if you’ll forgive the run of gushing clichés, absolutely blown away. It was a whole new world opening up for me. The best way I can put it is that for the first time since childhood I had the experience of being transported into another world, one that was strange and noble, and completely unlike anything in western cinema. I suppose part of the attraction was exoticness, at first. The beauty of the images, like the shots of Washizu and Miki riding through Cobweb Forest in Throne of Blood, were unlike anything I had ever seen.

I still haven’t seen all of Kurosawa’s movies – the poor quality of some of the available DVDs has put me off, as has the sheer expense of collecting the best available versions. I’m still fairly passionate about Kurosawa but for a period between 2003 and 2005 I came close to becoming an obsessive, watching the films over and over again. At that time, there seemed to be little available on the web – there was a very good site called Kurofan but that has apparently disappeared now. It was nice, then, to stumble upon this site. Lately I have been trying to cut down on film watching – there are too many good books that I haven’t yet read – but Kurosawa remains my favourite director.

Kurosawa has led me to investigate other great directors of world cinema, but where I live it is difficult to get hold of foreign films and it means buying a film if I want to try out a director. In quite a few cases I have followed Kurosawa’s own recommendations and been impressed by directors like Satyajit Ray and Andrei Tarkovsky. The latter is my favourite director apart from Kurosawa, and his Andrei Rublev is, alongside Seven Samurai, my favourite film.

Like Master Thief, my lifelong passion has been the music of Bob Dylan. I recently self-published a book called Like a Rebel Wild, which is the result of nearly twenty years of listening to and reading about Dylan. It would be great to put together a similar work on Kurosawa one day, if I ever get the time.

I work as a teacher of English as a foreign language. My past work history includes a stint as a maker of documentary shorts, one of which was featured on the BBC. Writing, though, is where my heart is at. Apart from the Dylan book, I have a few unpublished books under my belt, mostly in the category of Biblical fiction. My favourite authors include Dante, W.B.Yeats, Tolkien, James Joyce, C.S.Lewis, Nikos Kazantzakis.

"Hi Laurence!

So, is it Man United or Man City?"

My delayed response to that is obvious - Stockport County :-p Although given the choice I'd undoubtedly have to go for Manchester City. But as a County fan I'm technically supposed to hate both. Ah well...

Hehe. Football fandom is such a complicated issue. I'm a Doncaster Rovers supporter, by the way. However, as someone living outside of the UK, I am not so dictated by geographically based rivalries, so I do root for ManUtd as well. Although I do miss the days of Cantona...

That's awesome - I've been to a couple of away matches at Doncaster! It was half way between my university and Manchester so my brother and used to meet up to see them play County. I remember one match vividly because it was the most freezing day of my entire life, saved only by vegetable flavoured cup-a-soups. But now we're in the division below you... and we're NOT going anywhere anytime soon.

Could happen in a cup draw though - its very possible.

Hey all,

This is the second time I've posted something here. My last post mysteriously disappeared, but hopefully someone will be able to read this before it vanishes.

It was nice to finally come across a thorough and up-to-date Kurosawa site. There used to be one called Kurofan but that disappeared a while back. I've been a Kurosawa fan since 2002 (not that long ago then), when I took a chance on Seven Samurai. My favourite Kurosawa films are probably Red Beard, Throne of Blood, Ikiru, The Hidden Fortress, Kagemusha, Ran & Seven Samurai (hardly a short list, I know).

Like Master Thief my other major interest is the music of Bob Dylan. As for directors, I'm also interested in Tarkovsky, John Ford, Sergio Leone, and most Japanese directors, though I do find it hard to get hold of "foreign" films where I live and usually have to buy them (latest purchases, Twenty-four Eyes & the Life of Oharu).

I won't write any more in case this message disappears as well. Nice to meet you all.

Welcome to the site, Sanjuro! I'm really sorry (and puzzled) that the system decided to block your first try with the site. I'm glad that you hung around to try again, though!

So, we have two Dylan fans here. I guess I really need to dive into his catalogue at some point. I'm a big Neil Young fan myself, and I keep reading about comparisons between the two.

Whether or not it has anything to do with actual Dylan, I'm quite looking forward to Todd Haynes's "I'm not There".