If you’ve ever created something on your own, you know that it takes a lot of work, patience, dedication, and faith. I’m learning that over and over while making this feature documentary dance film “Furious Beauty.”
So, let’s set the stage. I’ve been dancing since 2003 when I first got involved with the street dance community. Back then, I was interested in writing a story about hip hop dancers since I had met a few freestyle dancers in the choreography/industry scene in North Hollywood in 2000. One choreographer Ed “Emo” Moore told me that there was a competitive battle scene in Long Beach, and he pointed me in that direction. I went into this world first to write a story. I didn’t know that I’d become a dancer myself.
Fast foward to the fall of 2010. After all these years, I decided that this was now the right time to start putting together a story about the dancers I’d come to know and love. Dancing has become a big part of my life. I had become a community builder and a co-founder of a dance event company Keep It Live Productions (http://www.keepitliveproductions.com). I discovered that dancing positively influenced other areas of my life including my professional work with children’s television and writing as well as my passion for filmmaking.
There are many dance films as well as documentary dance films out there. So I felt it was important to tell a personally-driven story through “Furious Beauty.” The film would be through my eyes as someone who got involved with the dance community, found a home, and now was starting to tell a story for others to experience. I wasn’t setting out to do the ultimate dance film. This would simply be a story from me with my own fingerprints on it.
Making a film like this has been a journey in allowing a story to reveal itself over time. We’ve shot a lot of footage on HD DSLR cameras. We’ve edited many cuts on Final Cut Pro. The filmmaking tools available on Apple’s all-in-one editing suite have been my instruments of choice. As a film production under Plixyl Studios, we’ve had to organize an entire production workflow with a means to store and back up digital footage for archiving. Throughout these technical challenges, I’ve been keeping an eye on refining the story of “Furious Beauty.” It’s reminded me of the beautiful struggle that happens when you’re wrestling with a story. Writers and filmmakers will know this. You keep chasing that elusive heart of what your film is about. You spend days and nights dreaming and yearning for it. And it finally comes after all of your pursuit.
I hope to share more about the making of “Furious Beauty” with you through this production blog. We’re deep into making this film and the whole team is excited about where it’s going. So stay tuned for more tidbits along the way. Thank you for taking time to read this and feel free to reach out to us here at Plixyl (plixyl@gmail.com).
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