The Opening Sequence

I think I've had a breakthrough on the paper edit. I was toying with starting the film with archive footage--stuff from the 80s describing Japan as an economic tour de force. This would punctuate what Japan was like when the cowboys started to think about going to Japan. But it just didn't seem right. I kept thinking "This is Tokyo...early 21st century." And the archive footage would not go along with that idea. So, what would?

And I started to think about postcards.

We have so much "postcard" footage of Tokyo. And if the opening footage is a quick succession of loads of postcard shots, that would make more sense. Then the cutting would slow down, stop, speed up, stop, all to the rythm of the sound track. Then the voice over "This is Tokyo...early 21st century." I'm working on the rest of the voice over.

Everything I tell you is true.
There is no such thing as true.
There is no such thing as objective.
I have not been objective. I have been truthful.

I'm not sure if I have to state this. I mean...objectivity does not exist in documentary.

August Update

Dear Friends of Tokyo Cowboys,

Its time for another update on the progress of Tokyo Cowboys: the documentary.

The TC web site gets a face-lift

The Tokyo Cowboys web site located at www.tokyocowboys.com has been given a complete makeover. It has been literally handcrafted, and offers more new content and easier navigation. Future planned content includes up-to-the-week production diaries and clips from the rushes, which will be added in the coming weeks.

We want the web site to be vibrant, and you can help us out by participating in our first ever campaign "Spot a Cowboy." Armed with your keitai, go hunting for the cowboys. If you spot one of our cowboys, snap a picture, and email it to us with a caption. Well put it up on the web site. If you don't have a camera with you, tell us by email where you spotted them and under what circumstances. Well publish that as well.

Another way to help is to sign the guestbook. That way, we know who you are and what you like.

Editing

The first phase of editing has begun! We are now logging all of the footage, which means looking at 450 hours of footage and making notes on whats good and whats brilliant. At the same time, Daneeta is working on the paper edit. This involves writing out the edit on paper, which shots and sound bits will be used where and how the story will progress. The paper edit will be committed to the web site when its finished.

Investment

One more investor has joined the TC investment team. That leaves us with only 16,500 left of the budget to raise. The minimum investment is, as always, 500, so we have room for only 33 more investors. Remember, if you dont have the whole 500, you can go in with a mate or two with one of you being responsible for distributing the profit to the others. The remaining budget will be used to fund the postproduction of the project including logging, editing, grading and onlining. For more information on investing, please email us at invest@tokyocowboys.com.
Thats it. As always, wed love to hear from you. Write with any comments or questions.

Hugs,

How we got Pak-kun

--snip--

Hey Dan,

It's really strange how we got Pak-kun. Ken was going on and on about how Pak-kun was his idol and all. And, I was thinking "We really need to get an interview with this guy, but he's so famous, so how do we get to him?" Then, we were out at a stand up gig at the Fiddler filming Cloudy B., and Pak-kun stepped up to the mic (you gotta love synchronicity).

I jumped on him after his set. I was really clumsy, pushing my card in his hand..."I'm doing a movie. Will you be in it." He was really nice...almost too nice, and I thought, "this guy is going to blow us off." But he didn't. We only shot one interview with him on that trip, and it was on the street, so the sound sucks. At the beginning of the interview, he got mobbed by fans. It was so surreal. I asked him what it meant to be a talent in Japan, and he said "it means you have no talent."

On the next trip, we shot loads of stuff--him doing his TV show, him doing his radio show, and him at home with his wife. He is a really cool guy...very humble...very thankful. It's good because it shows what Ken is aspiring to be. And, it shows the sacrifices that Ken might have to make to achieve his dream. Interestingly, that guy works so much! He never has vacations. I don't know how he does it.

--end snip--

I've been thinking a lot about Ken. He's the one that has the really big story arc. We've been filming him since the beginning. The other Cowboys sort of represent possibilities of what Ken's life could have been, what it might have been had he made a different choice here or there. It is so interesting to think of the film in that way. Like, Ken would have been like Mark had he stayed in Head Hunting and formed his own company. If Ken hadn't have found Aki, maybe he would have been like Dave. The film is becomming something bigger than just this thing about some guys I know in Tokyo. It's about life, freedom, sacrifice.

Michael was right. The more I look at the footage, the more things become clear.

Robert and Helen are buying us dinner tonight. Today is a really good day.

It helps to have friends!

Hello Daneeta,

Thanks for keeping me updated about your project and you. I wish I were as creative and active as you.

I have a news for you. I am going to publish a book this year. It will compile of the articles on movies that I write regularly on newspaper. I will mention your project somehow so that my readres will find your project interesting.

Don't expect so much. But I think I can be of a little help to you.

Take care. Have a nice day.

Kazu.

Here is my turn...

Web Site Up and Running

I finally got the website up and running. That took weeks. It seems that the pics on some screens are really dark. Not sure what to do about that. They look alright on some and not good on others!

I got a list of Japanese companies in the UK that sponsor the arts from DB at the Embassy. He's been really supportive of me and the project. I think there were six companies. I called all of them today with my spiel. All of them said "no," and one said "write a letter." The thing is that I know I have a great film. I've seen the rushes...I know the story...the characters. It's just trying to convice people of that...trying to convice people with money of that.

Been talking a lot to Aki and Ken over email. They encourage me. In fact, I'm getting so much encouragement from Japan...from the cowboys and from the community at large. It makes these really lean times better.

Mindnumbing

Just spent a mind numbing 2 hours transcribing and logging one, yes one, tape.

Appreciate the Rain

I'm reading this book called "Zen mind, Beginners' mind" by Shunryu Suzuki. He says "Some people will be annoyed if they hear the rain when they are lying in their beds in the morning...because they do not know that later they will see the beautiful sun rising from the east...we will think "Now it is raining," but we don't know what will happen in the next moment. By the time we go out it may be a beautiful day or a stormy day. Since we don't know, let's appreciate the sound of the rain now."

Daneeta Responds

Could you tell me more about the story?

As for the story, because it is documentary, you sort of find the story in editing, which we are just, just starting. BUT, it is about how the western male reinvents himself in this post-modern urban frontier. When we started shooting Ken, for example, he was working as a freelance headhunter. He called it his "starving waiters job" because he really wanted to be a "tarento" on Japanese TV. Throughout the 18 months of filming, he got married, had a baby and worked his way up from cheesy TV shows (ones that made fun of gaijin) to commercials, to comedy talk shows to the tops: a Taiga drama on NHK (similar to a BBC drama). Half way, he quit his headhunting "starving waiters job" and took on a new one--performing Christian weddings. All of his friends said he was crazy, stupid, etc. for chasing this seemingly impossible dream. But, he just didn't care.

The film is about re-invention...constructing your own reality...and taking responsibility for that reality.
I hope that helps.

Tacos

Spent all day working on the website. I'm sick of it. The good news is that we got paid the 25 quid for the sound equipment. That means food. And, today, I made tacos. We both stuffed ourselves.

LFS End of Term Screening

Ah, the LFS end of term screening. I like to go to every one. I'm always hoping to find a good DoP there. This year, the best DoP was...Patrick Jackson for Jules' film. I was really proud of him. Jules told him to go to the party to get his ass kissed, as he certainly deserved it. E & Y were the only ones who kissed his ass.

The other reason we go is for the food. Again, I stuffed myself. The only meal of the day, but what a good one. I got sick later for stuffing myself. There is an old lady that goes to the after party every year. She must be in her 70s. She's always a bit scruffy, and she piles her plate up with food. I don't know where it all goes as she's bone thin. I was standing next to her in the food queue, and I thought to myself "That's me in 40 years." Scrounging for food at the LFS end of term party. Hell, that's me now.

Spent most of the week working on the website. I'm hoping to use it as a tool to raise the rest of the cash to finish the film. The frustrating thing is that I know I have the film--a beautiful, wonderful film. But, it's amongst the 450 hours of tapes I've got sitting on my bookcase. And, the reality is that, without the money, the film will remain within those tapes. Oooo, a bit morose today.

I've been logging as well. As I sit in my darkened room and watch the rushes, I am hit by this overwhelming desire to return. I miss the smells, the food, the neon. But, most of all, I miss the cowboys. Patrick says this is normal. I write to them, thinking this will quench my desire. They write back, tell me what they are up to. This only makes it worse. I realize that the time I spent shooting this film was my happiest time in Tokyo. Those memories have successfully wiped out all of the negativity that I left Japan with--7 years of perceived bad luck gone in an instant! And there is a larger lesson to be learned. Our lives are just a collection of memories. All of this bullshit about living in the present...there is no present. There is only memory. And, if this film represents a collection of honest memories of Patrick and me and the cowboys, will that be good enough to achieve greatness?

Filmmaking is Glam

I have to do whatever I can to get the rent paid and to finish this film. People think filmmaking is such a glam job. It's only glam for the famous, and even then, it's a nightmare. So why do we do it? I was talking to Cassie about it. She says we do it because we want to create something beautiful...we're artists. Maybe that's true for her, but it's sort of bullshit for me. I do it because I have all of this shit inside of me that if I don't let it out, I would explode. Hmmm...that's a bit too Freudian for me. In any case, it's not glam. Begging for money, working for free, no cinema, no new clothes, my face is a mess. I think I should stop this self-pity now before i kill myself.

Bed Head

Patrick's dad bought us a bed for Patrick's birthday. It was delivered today, and our lives just got better. After two years on the floor, we now have a mattress that we can put on the bed frame that Vonda and Ross gave us months ago.

This is a picture of our mattress.



This morning I woke up, and for the first time in 4 and a half years my body didn't hurt.

Just to Continue

"Just to continue should be your purpose." Suzuki again. Been reading Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shinryu Suzuki. I've had the book for over 10 years, but I've never been able to get through it. This time I'm flying like the wind. It's informal talks on Zen meditation, but I find it helpful to apply his advice to finishing Tokyo Cowboys. It's funny how it applies. Maybe I should start meditating as well.

Desperate

I was so desperate for cash that I was a doorman for an hour for 15 quid. That will get us food for the next two days. It was fun anyway. I got to meet an old time alum from LFS.

Logging is going well. Michael is right. The more I look at the footage, the more things start to solidify in my head. And transcribing is really helping as well.

Independence Day

Independence Day. I met with a potential editor today. A good guy, but only the initial meeting. I think the most important thing is to be able to get along with the guy. I feel comfortable with him. We're gonna meet again after he sees the trailer and some of the sequences Patrick and I cut together ages ago.

Nothing on the money front.

Arranging the Dots out of Order

Suzuki says "It is almost impossible to arrange the dots out of order." I know this is supposed to be a comfort, but with 450 hours of footage, I keep thinking that it might be possible to fuck it all up.This whole project has been overshadowded by money...or the fact that we don't have any. Patrick says this is what independent filmmaking is. And I guess he's right. But it must be just a little easier when you are the heir to the Speigle catalogue fortune. We will be completely out of money by Monday. Enough to pay the rent, but food will be a luxury we can't afford. And is this affecting the film? I wonder...

Get it on Amazon

Lunch out with the Girl

Met with HP, one of the TC investors today. She took me out for lunch, and I really appreciated that. We're so broke that it was my only meal. I stuffed myself on bread and sucked every last fishbone dry. It was awesome. She gave me 150 quid to get my visa. I am truly looked after, and I am thankful.

Zygmunt Bauman

Met up with Ben, who is an independent producer. He's acting as a sounding board. I babble about what the film is about, and he plays devil's advocate.

I've also been calling all of my contacts in Tokyo trying to get money to finish the film. No luck yet. I've made a list, and I'm calling round every day.

There's a guy called Zygmunt Bauman. He's a professor at Leeds Univ., and he's written loads of books on postmodernism. My library is the Boarders on Charring Cross Road. There's a coffee bar there, and they don't mind if you bring their books in. So, I use it as a library. I must remember to thank Borders in the credits of the film. That's also where I did all of the research for the film. And, of course, that's where I discovered Bauman.

Francois' Birthday

Francois' birthday. We got too drunk and stuffed our faces on Claire's free food. It was the only meal we had today, and the only beer we've had for ages. But it cost us 4 quid to get the bus there, and that was a hit. We rented the sound equipment out to F & D for 25 quid. That will last us three days of food and travel. Today, color me thankful.

Cancer of the Knee

Patrick does not have cancer of the knee. He does, however, have oesto-arthritus. The good news is that we'll be able to tell the weather by his knee. So, he was shooting for 6 weeks, walking up and down stairs and humping all of that equipment with arthritus. He's a saint...an angel sent from heaven.