Sometimes I do...

(republished from December, 2011 "Fred In The Can" blog, which is now closed to the public)

As you might imagine, I've had my eye on the situation in N. Korea and Hanguk in the South. All joking aside, I can't really add any additional insights to what's already been written and said in special reports, speculations, images and news analysis of N. Korea's situation current and past.

I will say, from the time I spent in S. Korea, what I know of the general attitudes of South Koreans toward the divided peninsula. The younger generation of S. Koreans - the ones who are facing their compulsory two years in the military - are afraid of armed conflict. They want peace at all costs. Perhaps this is because their lifestyle, compared to that of their parents, grandparents and great grandparents, is very cushy, very wealthy, very "first world." Perhaps they've become complacent, as it seems many Americans have, taking for granted many things and freedoms that were hard-fought and won. Or perhaps they are tired of the shadow of war constantly hanging over them and their future generations, which is easy to understand, given that the Korean War never actually ended - they are still technically at war with N. Korea with a 50+ year cease fire in effect.

Many of the parents of these younger generations, in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, fear reunification with N. Korea, because they believe it would destabilize the wealthy economy of the South. Paying for rebuilding the North's infrastructure, feeding everyone, and absorbing the millions who would need jobs would be extremely costly to the South. Among this age group, there is a feeling that Reunification would have to be very carefully structured on a gradual basis, if it is to happen at all.

The grandparents and anyone left alive who remembers the War first-hand and the times that came before that want nothing more than for the two Koreas to be reunified as one country. They are one people, with one culture and one language. Korea has always been homogeneous in this respect, with a very proud history, albeit one littered with repeated, harsh colonizations by the Japanese Empire. This dream of Reunification is idealistic, perhaps not realistic, and it is dying out as these older generations do.

Now with Kim Jong Il's son Kim Jong Un in power, his young governing hand guided heavily by his uncle, military leader Jang Song Taek, the world waits and hopes that something can be done with the isolationist nuclear power to draw them into the international community. Will Reunification happen? Can it happen? Perhaps it is N. Korea's only hope, or perhaps it is a pipe dream at this point. I will be following these events closely in the coming months and year, for sure, and will occasionally drop a Waegukin's perspective.

It's been quite some time since I posted here. I've been busy over at Fred In the Can. And, well, I've been busy redefining my life this year.

My doc on Korea is still in the works, but it has taken a backseat. I am writing a novel at the moment, planning a move to L.A. in January of 2012, and working through some personal stuff that requires more of my energy than I'd like.

Keep checking back, though, because I'll have updates as things progress, however slowly.

Komapsumnida!

Editing Sweet

I'll be spending the next week at The Constance Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts to work on the film! I'm bringing all my tech, gear, DVDs, notes, and bits of memorabilia to inspire me. I'm hoping to have clips soon that I can put up on Vimeo, so stay tuned!

Don't forget to check my main blog, Fred In The Can Productions, for updates on other projects, news about my writing and teaching, and exciting announcements about The Rod Serling Conference of 2011 at Ithaca College, for which I am serving as Academic Coordinator.

New Blog

I've overhauled my writing blog and added a few things, so please give it a look-see:

Fred In The Can Productions

Here we go again

As usual, the beginning of the semester has kicked my butt. However, it would seem my butt is a little resilient than in previous years. So far I haven't had a sinus infection or flu, although my allergies have gone wild. Point is, I've had time (!) to familiarize myself (with the help of a filmmaker friend and colleague at I.C.) with the vagaries of Final Cut Pro.

Luckily, we have a fall break coming up, but instead of traveling like I often do, I'm going to be editing.

Adventures of the Jade Monkey

Photos of my latest trip to Korea - still uploading so keep checking back!

Another visit to Korea logged and tagged

I returned from Korea last Friday with a much clearer vision for this film, at long last. I've struggled with what I really want to do with it, what I really want to communicate. I know it may seem to you, the reader, that I've just kept kicking this project to the curb. Au contraire! I've had three main problems keeping this film from being made:

1. What is it about? This may seem like a "well duh" question, but it's an essential one to answer. I've seen too many films where it's obvious the filmmaker didn't really know what the film was about, and in fact, my first documentary film fell into this category. Oh, it was lyrical and magical and mesmerizing, but no one knew a damned thing about what I was trying to communicate. I shall not make the mistake twice. Too much work goes into editing to have to re-do the entire thing when the finished product makes people go "huh?"

2. What does this button do? I had to admit I was afraid of the editing software, which I've never been trained on. I could muddle through perhaps, but already I'd experienced a great amount of hair-pulling and wailing and gnashing of teeth. I recognize that this is one of my limitations, not to say it can't be overcome, but it does need to be dealt with. Thankfully, one of my colleagues at Ithaca College is a filmmaker specializing in production and post, and he has offered to exchange a workshop in FinalCut Pro for dinner and a small stipend. This will be an immense gift to me - knowledge is power.

3. What did I do to deserve this? Feeling guilty that some of the interviews from '07 are unusable. Somehow I let that become a stumbling block. It doesn't need to be, and in fact, I also grabbed some amazing footage while visiting my old hakwon during my visit to Ulsan at the end of my time in Korea. I've got an interview with my old director and one of the foreign teachers - actually them having a conversation about what the most difficult parts of being a foreign teacher are. Gold! Pure GOLD!

My time in Korea was exceptional - the program at Hanyang University was intense but I was prepared and my classes went smoothly. I had some fine students, as well, which always make the job more pleasant. I got to see more of Seoul this time around than ever before, including Jogyesa Temple, Itaewon, the Han River, and other locales. I hit the sauna twice (should've been more - I wimped out on going alone one weekend and missed the chance to make it three times). I also visited Ulsan, of course, where I lived from '02-'03. That area has a special place in my heart - I actually enjoy it more than Seoul in many ways (not the least of which is the beach!).

Now it's time to get down to work with my new hard drive and footage. With two weeks before work starts for the fall semester, I'm pretty psyched to get this thing off the ground finally. I know what I'm doing, thematically, and soon will know what I'm doing, technologically. Chunbe!