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Category Archives: Shadowlight Productions
May 2, 2013 — Collaborating With Shadow Creatives
I knew when I saw the stunning shadow visuals designer/animator Chris Do did for a GAP campaign that I wanted to use the same technique for FINDING KUKAN. I envisioned Do’s animation being brought to the genius shadow scenes that Larry Reed develops for ShadowLight Productions as the perfect way of carrying the emotion of especially intimate or harrowing scenes in the dramatic narrative of Li Ling-Ai and Rey Scott’s lives.
So it was thrilling to have both Chris Do and Larry Reed in the same room with me today in Santa Monica at Chris Do’s BLIND design studio office space. Larry joined us by SKYPE and conference call from San Francisco (SKYPE can drop out on you when bandwidth is scarce).
After our meeting I realized that I had found two creative geniuses who were also practical producers with years of experience in how to ACTUALIZE a visual idea. The pragmatic, step-by-step path to bringing a new way of visual storytelling to the screen in FINDING KUKAN, just got a whole lot clearer thanks to Larry & Chris.
I invite you to check out their work HERE and HERE. If you are as wowed by it as I was, please consider contributing to the collaboration process at our Post-Production GIFT REGISTRY. If you have any cool shadow ideas or images you think would work well in the film, please post on our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/kukandocumentary and write “Shadow Idea” in the comments section (and don’t forget to LIKE us while you’re at it)!
May 5, 2012 — The Enchanting World of ShadowLight
I’ve always been entranced by shadows — the magical play of light on the walls in the morning and eerie shapes that your own body throws as you walk on the beach or sidewalk.
I wasn’t aware that there was a traditional form of shadow puppetry performed throughout Asia until I saw the Zhang Yimou movie TO LIVE in which one of the main characters is a shadow master (this is a great film BTW).
The shadow puppet scenes were so hypnotizing that when I was struggling with how to visualize epic historic scenes in FINDING KUKAN in an economical way, the idea of using shadow puppets came up for me. I started hunting on the web for people who performed shadow puppetry, and when I came across Larry Reed & Shadowlight Productions’ THE WILD PARTY, I was really blown away.
This was not the land of your grandmother’s shadow puppets anymore. Live actors, contemporary scenes, and shifting perspective lent a new dynamism to the production that I instinctively felt would be perfect for what I wanted to do in FINDING KUKAN.
Happily Larry was excited about my project and has agreed to collaborate with me on FINDING KUKAN. Larry Reed is truly a shadow master, having studied and performed traditional Balinese shadow puppetry for over 35 years. In the early 1990’s, Reed invented an ingenious shadow casting method, which integrates the traditional shadow theatre techniques, cinematic effects and modern theatre and dance styles. Watch for a sample of Shadowlight’s innovative work from THE GOOD-FOR-NOTHING LOVER in the new FINDING KUKAN teaser that will premiere next week.
Have ideas for cool ways of using shadows? Please let me hear from you.