Psychotropic Films announces "Valentina Tereshkova" for release in 2011

"Valentina Tereshkova is not only about a brave woman that wanted to explore space, it's also about the technology it took to get her there."  Bart Santello - Filmmker

I've been curiously researching the Soviet space program while working on another project.  From this process, a film kind of 'spun-off' and birthed itself from ideas on early space travel.  Now it's all I'm thinking about (..how to put this film together).  I'm getting a sense that through the production of Valentina Tereshkova, I'm starting to see how some of my future films can be developed. At the same time, I 'm applying visual textures and themes from some of my earlier films (Intangible, Controlled Bleeding, and Man Trap).  I'm discovering how I can build-upon those previous works in order to bring renewed excitement in the lost art of crafting a 'motion picture'.

I have several more months of post-production to do on this film.  But after viewing the first 'pre-visualiation' rendering a few days ago, I knew I had all the artist elements in place.  It's like a feeling of...."Now I have the roadmap."

I hope to have this short film ready for the Arivaca Independent Filmmakers Exhibition scheduled for March 6th, 2010.

"A Produce": Soundscapes for Film

A Produce in his LA studio (August 2009)

Photo & Artwork by Bart Santello (background image: NASA)

I was in Los Angeles last week, so A Produce and I got together to watch a re-crafted version of my film Man Trap which I plan to show at the 2010 Arivaca Independent Filmmakers Exhibition. The film features the A Produce soundscape "You Send Me the Message" from his album Altara with Mike Griffin from Hypnos Recordings. The 36-minute sonic tome was ideal sound design to imagine the bleak industrial landscape conveyed in Man Trap.

We spent a good part of the day listening to music and sound design that may be applicable to current and future films that Psychotropic Films has under development. A Produce will be providing several songs in support of the forthcoming film "Mzungu" a dream-like journey into the heart of Africa. Also, the future feature-length space film "Echoes of Apollo" will have music exclusively from A Produce.

My philosophy is that a musician should develop a idea independently. What I do as the filmmaker is find a place for the soundscape with the appropriate imagery. The result: A Psycho-active film experience.

Frozen Moment

To A Produce,

I listened to your "Frozen Moment" sonic: I really like it. I would definitley call it a "trance" piece. From a filmic standpoint, some imagery came to mind while listening to it that I think will

EARLY AMIGA COMPUTER ANIMATION

really help to focus the viewers attention to visuals in the film (that's where the 'trance' aspects of the music comes in. I think Loren and you should massage it and add it as a track on the forthcoming Intangible CD. Sonically I think its there. But if you want to take it a step further, I would suggest bringing in some 'finishing' sounds that will add to the spatiality and texture of the piece.

I think I can fit this into a development film I'm working on about the early computer video graphics. Thanks for sending it over and giving me a listen. It's already sparked some new ideas and confidence that the current path is the right one. Bart

Screening

L to R: Scott Hellon (Filmmaker - Point of View Pictures), Brian McLaughlin (Producer, Actor - Good Boy),
Bart Santello (Filmmaker - Psychotropic Films), and Patrick Roddy (Director - Good Boy)

_

Tonight Patrick Roddy's "Good Boy" screened at the 2009 Arizona International Film Festival.
This eclectic new feature film by Patrick was well received. The house was packed by a partisan Tucson filmmaking crowd.

In the film's story, a young man sets off west to start a new life, but on the back roads of Louisiana, he doesn't get too far.

Arizona International Film Festival

Bart Santello and Psychotropic Films announce that Controlled Bleeding - A Nation's Nightmare, selected for this year's Arizona International Film Festival; will show at 8:00pm Wednesday April 22nd at the screening Room (127 East Congress, Tucson).

See Link: http://www.filmfestivalarizona.com/detail.cfm?id=VS_465_2009

Controlled Bleeding is a film about addiction and dreams turned to nightmares. In the case of this film, I chose 'oil' as the addiction. Dependency envokes all the epic human struggles: David vs Golith, man vs machine, nature vs technology. These are the themes I routinely work with in digital. Controlled Bleeding presents my perception of recent history; with the resulting chaos, a familiar consequence of addiction.

Intangible v3.0

Currently I'm working some re-edits on "Intangible". Finishing touches.......Getting to the final-final.

"Outskirts of Infinity" to screen at Arivaca Independent Filmmakers Exhibition

Newly released version 6.0 of "The Outskirts of Infinity" will show Saturday March 7th, 2009 at the Arivaca Independent Filmmakers Exhibition. See website for details: http://arivacafilmexpo2009.blogspot.com/

Version 6.0 came about after the master (software) editing file for version 4.0 was found to be corrupted. A backup of verision 3.0 was used to rebuild the film. However during this re-editing process, ideas to bring this film to its full artistic potential were realized.

New creative 'elements' were added, such as an actual Jaguar image photographed in the Ruby area. The Jaguar tied-in beautifully with artist Peggy Kane's Jaguar Shaman painting in Sundog's cabin at Ruby. The inclusion of these images has now provided a symbolic gateway, linking the past with the present.

Additional film clips utilized from the only surviving 8mm footage of Ruby from 1939 (known as the 'Crabtree' film), were selected to reflect a sense of a time long since forgotten.

Also, precision editing has helped improve the flow, pacing and transitions throughout the film.
Psycho-active effects were added and optimized. The film's texture and color were re-crafted as necessary for maximum effect.

Finally, in post-production, the film was rendered in two-channel Dolby Digital Stereo and enhanced for wide-screen (16x9) televisions.

A poster for the screening of 'Outskirts' can be viewed by clicking here: POSTER

Nurishing the Spirit of the Independent Filmmaker

click on image for portal to the event's website

http://www.psychotropicfilms.com/

Peggy Kane’s – Jaguar Shaman

In regards to the new version 6.0 of my film Outskirts of Infinity; I’ve been thinking about how an art piece can be used and an ‘element’ in a film. Just like elements found in nature that can be combined together to create new compounds, as in chemistry; I used in the film, Peggy Kane’s Jaguar Shaman painting (photo) Ironically, both Sundog (as himself in the film) and I, both competed in bidding for it at the fundraiser for Patti Lopez a few years ago. Later Sundog had the painting displayed it in his cabin in Ruby, Arizona where ‘Outskirts’ was filmed. I was attracted to the painting all along; and now in retrospect, I’m glad Sundog won the auction.

I saw this painting as an ‘element’ making up the structure in my film. And now in version 6.0 of “The Outskirts of Infinity” this artwork helps link Sundog to an earlier time in Ruby’s history through an interdimensional gateway – provided by the Jaguar and the Shaman.
Note: “The Outskirts of Infinity” will be screened at the 2009 Arivaca Independent Filmmakers Exhibition on March 7th in Arivaca, Arizona