Konnichiwa!

Persimmon: “An edible fruit that resembles a large tomato and has very sweet flesh.”

Unless you are a fruit connoisseur, chances are you have probably never tasted one of these strange looking golden fruits. You have probably never even heard of it.  Neither had most of our crew, yet here we are, preparing to make a movie about a young Japanese man who is attempting to dry one.  Apparently, not all persimmons are naturally sweet, but if you dry them as many Japanese do, their flavor sweetens.

This is one of the random facts that our crew has discovered during our weekly class sessions on Wednesday afternoons. During this time, we spend an hour studying the Japanese language. Already we can count, order food, and apologize for stepping on someone’s toes on the train! Then, after time spent praying for each other and the project, we apply ourselves to developing the script and preparing it for production.

This process has been incredibly rewarding for our crew, and we have all learned so much thus far in the semester. So, at this point, we would like to invite you to share in our discoveries before we head off to Japan. This blog will be a place to learn about our progress and to meet each of the crew-members. Until we leave on January 4, students will blog about their involvement in the project and update you on what we are currently working on or things they learned this past semester. Later, when we arrive in Japan, you can expect to see daily blogs from the crew.

To learn more about the film Persimmon itself, click on the About link. We would also love to answer any questions you may have about the project, so feel free to contact us at persimmonthefilm@gmail.com.

Thanks for reading and supporting us!

Rachel van der Merwe
(One of the producers)

Rebuilding and Reinventing a Creation

Over the course of pre-production and shooting this film, I have seen what filmmaking can be.  I was surrounded for 5 months by a crew that nurtured creativity, loved and feared God above all else, and made it the easiest thing to become like family with one another.  I cannot praise these friends enough.

And now that my role in the film has come to an end, the experience of making Persimmon has prompted me to take a break from filmmaking for the next half year.

I racked my brain over this, and I can’t compare this God-centered approach to Persimmon with any other filmmaking experience I have had in my entire career as a film student here at Biola.  Prayer made this film, and I saw God working and moving every step of the way.  Where there was strife and conflict, Jesus’ nurturing and healing hands were there.  Where there was anxiety, prayer and the Holy Spirit’s unifying peace were there.  In being a part of this tangibly divine production, the shortcomings and misconceptions in my own views of God and film have come to the surface with more poignance and conviction than ever before.  It’s prompted to work in turning film from an idol into a blessing, tool, and gift that God has given me.  I’m taking time off to reinvent filmmaking in light of Jesus Christ and to place God in his rightful place as Creator above the creation of the creation.  Through the making of Persimmon, God has shaken me.  He has shaken me to my core.  And now begins His work in rebuilding me for the better.  I love this film’s cast, I love the crew, and I love God’s mysterious way in which He has brought me to my knees.

I wish the best to Persimmon in post-production and pray that God gives His children the heart and stamina to bring to fruition the great work that has been started here.  Thank you everyone for the experience that was and is Persimmon.  It has truly been something life-changing for me.

God bless,

Jordan

Because I Love You

School has officially started again, but it feels like I’m going back to pretend life. After working on Persimmon, going to classes and eating at the cafe just feel weird. I keep waiting for Ellie to give me my yen for lunch. I keep asking people for kohi o kudasai and they just stare at me blankly. What’s wrong with this part of the world? Why doesn’t anyone wear anything from UNIQLO?

The point I’m trying to make is that going to Japan changed everything (not to sound melodramatic). I will always miss the people I was able to work with (will I ever get to attend the wedding of Yu and Ai?). I will always miss the surprising beauty and diversity of Tokyo. Even though I still get to see them, I’ll miss working with the best Biola crew ever assembled. Oh, and most of all I’ll miss that time that En Yama sang All Star at the karaoke place from Lost in Translation.

 

That’s a wrap!

Alicia Gaynor – 1st AD

Entering Post

As we enter the post-production phase for Persimmon, reflection upon the last few months is definitely appropriate. Back in September, when the Biola crew met together for the first time, all of our preparation and planning was hypothetical. We planned and planned down to the detail, as much as we could, but knew in the end we would have to be flexible when we arrived in Tokyo. Being prepared for the unexpected is hard! But with the Lord’s help, we managed to pull things off.

I cannot say enough how proud I am of our crew. We shot for six days straight, putting in roughly 15-17 hour days. We figured out the metro; we mastered turning a mini van into a grip truck; we took off our shoes every time we entered a house; we survived freezing cold conditions; we survived extremely small conditions; and of course we branched out in our food choices J

Now that we are back in LA, the post-production process will begin; where we take all of our hard work and fun experiences, and shape them into a finished product. I cannot wait for everyone else to be able to see all of our hard work. I am so excited about the footage; it looks in credible. I believe the film will be very successful, not only in festivals, but also in spreading truth and wisdom to those that see it.

The Lord has taken us this far in the making of Persimmon, and I cannot wait to see what happens in these next months.

Stay tuned!

 

Ellie Pappuleas

(one of the producers)

Time to Start Chopping

Wow. Stage 2 is complete.

As one of the producers, that’s a huge burden lifted off my shoulders, even as we enter into a fairly intensive season of editing, re-editing, and packaging together a “product” that we can submit to festivals around the world. But thankfully, Persimmon is more than a product: it’s an incredible story that each crew member now feels a close kinship to. It’s a story we all earnestly desire to share with the world.
I, along with Trevor, had the opportunity to attend Sundance Film Festival this January after our return from Japan. This was my second Sundance experience, and once again it was an incredible, inspiring week. I left more excited than ever to see Persimmon brought to fruition and shared with passionate movie-goers at festivals around the world.

I’m also really grateful for the crew. I’ve worked with many different film crews, and typically, there is at least one person on set who has a bad attitude or creates problems. In this case, however, every individual persevered joyfully without complaint–despite the cold weather, long hours, and various other difficulties. In addition, it has been such a blessing to me to read their blog posts and hear them share their hearts. It’s really amazing to have an entire crew filled with such enthusiasm for the film. So thanks all. You pretty much rock, and I was blessed to work with you.

Thanks also to Dean. You have always been an inspiration to me, and you continue to challenge me to think creatively and originally. I learned a vast amount on this project, and I’m so thankful that I was able to work with you. You are an extremely talented director…and, you are a lot of fun!

Readers, please pray for us as we spend this next semester putting the film together. Keep watching the blog and Facebook page for updates! Thanks for your support. We greatly appreciate it.

Rachel van der Merwe
(One of the producers)

New Lens

Life after Japan has been nothing but different. I could recount story after story about how my eyes were opened to a new world, and how God provided what I needed, and how we bonded as crew members and friends. But there is no way this blog post could encompass all of the amazing things that happened on this adventure. Instead I will sum up what I learned and how it changed the lens in which I see the world today.

The biggest nugget of truth that was revealed to me during my time surrounding Japan, is the power of prayer. Prayers that I prayed 17 years ago were answered. Prayers we prayed during pre-production were listened to and changed the course of the film. Prayers prayed on set and in the moment, were put into action immediately. Friends were formed, people were healed, lost people were found, a film was made.

The other beautiful thing I experienced was the theme of our trip: Osusowake. Osusowake means sharing in Japanese and I could never be more happy to have that word printed on an article of clothing. We shared everything. We shared this amazing experience. We shared all of our food. We shared ideas. We shared love. There was nothing about this adventure that was self seeking or arrogant. That is the way it should always be. I hope to continue that perspective on life and share it with those around me.

I went to Japan to make a movie. I came back with so much more.

-Zachary Gladwin

A Sentimental post of Staggering Genius

I hate to be overly sentimental or cliche, but God was moving among us on that trip. I know you’ve heard that before, and the fact that it is a cliche thing to say may detract some sincerity from it. I could tell you all day about how life-changing this trip was, etc. etc., and the fact is that it is completely true. This is what happens when a film is centered around God rather than the film itself.

Two weeks ago I re-planted my feet on American soil (pavement), and it wasn’t the best feeling I’ve ever had. America is a lovely place, don’t get me wrong, but when I compare it to the Braveheart battle that is Shibuya crossing, or the wild fashion and attitude of Harijuku, or the sardine-packed trains, America seems boring, monotonous, and mundane. However, God exists in both Tokyo and America (He’s not boring or mundane), and since I’ve been back He has continued to sustain and fuel me.

Tokyo was awesome, but so was the way we made this film. I like to think that filmmaking should be more about the process than the product. This may or may not be true, but it makes sense to have an incredible time making the film, so that if the film sucks then at least it was worth the time. I keep trying to understand why everyone was so on-board and excited to make this film. I don’t have the answer to that mystery, but I have hunches. Maybe it was our love for this particular story, althoug I’m sure we all like the story to varying degrees. Maybe it was the fact that everyone on the crew loves making films and loves the people we went with, and most time that’s enough to be passionate about.  Speaking for myself, I was excited because Dean, Ellie, Rachel, and Zack, our leaders, were excited. That kind of passion rubbed off on me. It’s the kind of passion that gets under your skin and motivates you to do your best work.

Me

-Aaron

2 weeks later…

I will never forgot the time I had in Japan. As I look back 2 weeks after our production I feel even more secure in the work we have done. Last week I went to the Sundance Film Festival and watched quite a bit of films and saw alot of great films that asked deep questions about life. “Would you forgive yourself?” “Does prayer work?” “Does love last?” “Are we defined by our past?”

So I am proud to have made a film that I know asks deep question about life and death.

I think Persimmon will be a film that people will find truth in.

I just added the Post Production class too so I am excited to be a part of the film from the script phase too the festivals.

 

-Trevor Smith

Persimmon, The Tale Behind the Tale… – The Poem

Load up all the equipment! Jump on a plane!

Fly through the night, watch the moon wax and wane.

 

Land in Japan. Drive for an hour.

Us a two prong grounder to get power.

 

Jump on the train. Go on a tech scout.

Listen to the Asian people bustle about.

 

First day of shooting, here we come!

Our big production has just begun!

 

Lights are set. Camera is ready. (finally…)

Unlike Jitensha we’re not using a steady.

 

Here we go. Alicia cries “Action!”

And, what do you know, we’re shooting in a whole new nation!

 

Off we go. Late nights, early mornings.

Ignore the guards and the station warnings.

 

Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! You’re not gonna make it!

But hurry we did, and, oh, we made it. 😉

 

Yugo’s awesome! That’s a wrap!

Now’s I think it’s time for a good long nap.

 

Here, we are, Tokyo!

Where Yu would translate “Hi!” as “Yo!”

 

So let’s go, see some sights.

Lucky there weren’t any fights.

 

Walk around, do some shopping.

Then on the train, extreme purchasing.

 

Have a party in Japan!

Then off to the airport we all ran.

 

There we go, Sayonara!

Say good bye to Dean Yamada!

 

Back to the states we all fly,

some of us depressed, by the by.

 

But now that we’re back in the states,

we’ve got to sit down at a whole new slate.

 

It’s postproduction we’re in now,

and it’ll be tough to chew that whole cow.

 

We’ve got a new task, a new adventure,

And hopefully the footage we won’t butcher.

 

But come this May, you wait and see,

It’ll be finished by you and me.

 

Sitting there, everyone will have on thing on common,

We’ll be all in rows, watching Persimmon.

Okay, so… that was my horrible excuse for poetry… but it kind of chronicled our trip to Japan, and, though it was long and hard, and amazing and rewarding, the job’s only half done. We’ve come a long way, but we still have a long way to go in the post production process, and we can’t forget that!

We’ll look forward to keeping you guys all updated as the film unfolds and the story is finally brought to it’s climax as it goes through the edit!

Thanks for your prayers and support (and thanks for reading my awful awful poem which was meant for the soul purpose of your enjoyment, ha ha)

Brian T. Ulrich

Production Sound

Recovery and Discovery

Filmmaking is often less about creating than it is discovering. You write a script, but that is all it is: a script for what you think is going to be in the film. Of course, the problem is that during shooting, you come up across roadblocks that you never expected, and have to work your way around them.

For this reason, a huge part of filmmaking is not just discovery, but recovery. You come across a problem, and depending on the magnitude, the fate of the entire film may depend on how well you deal with it. Many a good script has been killed during production with problems the filmmakers couldn’t overcome.

Reflecting back on the production of Persimmon, I see something different then the usual recovery patten. Instead of being on set trying to save the film, I watched as the director helped the actors pulled out nuances of the script I had not seen before, the production designer found things on set that became a perfect part of the color palette, and a location found the day of shooting became one of our favorite locations.

By the grace of God, aided by the dedication of the crew both Biolan and Japanese, this film grew in the making. And as someone who has seen every bit of the footage in detail, I am more confident in our footage than I have ever been in a film. I look forward to sitting in a darkened theatre, waiting for our beautiful persimmon to grace the screen… not to mention Yugo Saso.

Andrea Cottrell

Lost in Tokyo

We had just finished eating our last and most grand dinner together as a crew in Tokyo. Heading our way back home to the TEAM Center, this was going to be our last time on the train. That means this would be the last time our producer Ellie will have to yell out, “Make sure we don’t lose Angela!”

First, let me tell you: I have never gotten lost, not even close to being lost. And you know…producers worry a lot, and I understand. 🙂

Second, we were in Shibuya, one of the most amazingly jam-packed places in Tokyo. When it’s late at night, this place is alive. The only thing is Shibuya isn’t that cool when you’re in the train station an hour before all the stations close.

So when everyone had their tickets out, and had passed through the ticket scanner, I was still on the other side, looking through my little fanny pack for my ticket I just bought. I couldn’t find it. But when I finally found it and scanned it through the ticket scanner, the crew was nowhere to be found! Where did they go?

That’s when I realized how overwhelming Tokyo really is. With everyone walking at different paces, I felt like I was standing before a sea of people, with waves wildly unpredictable and undying. Or like Simba from Lion King, overwhelmed in the midst of a stampede that won’t die out.

I ran up the stairs and found the platform that looked most familiar to me with the striking Hey! Say! Jump! (Japan pop band) poster. I searched for my crew and then I knew. I was officially lost.

So I jumped on this train because we always did. But as soon as the doors closed, a second thought hit me: I could be on the train that goes the opposite direction. So at the next stop, I hopped onto the train that goes back to wild Shibuya. I walked up to the service center in the train station and asked for directions to Mitaka. The lady pulled out three maps until I understood what she’d been saying. Sorry, English o kudasai!

So actually I was going in the right direction on the right train. All I needed to do was to get on the right train, switch onto the Chuo Line at Shinjuku (ask Ellie for help if you are having a hard time pronouncing), and exit Mitaka. Then home. But it was already past 12am and the stations were about to close. At this point, I knew I was doomed. Just kidding. At this point, I suddenly realized how much my team must be worried about me, intensifying my own worry and desire to find my way back. I just wanted to see a familiar face and know I was safe.

Thank God I was able to make it to Mitaka. As I reached and walked out of the Mitaka station, I saw Dean! A familiar face! There was nothing like it to know that I was found. I felt so bad for worrying the crew. Imagine Ellie and Rachel stressed out. And then Dean. Everyone had gone back to the TEAM Center, while Ellie and Dean waited for me for 45 minutes. But by the time I reached Mitaka, only Dean was there to meet me with a really shaky voice. Bet you haven’t heard that voice yet!

The next part really defined what this trip meant to me. The entire last semester, I was struggling over my place and significance on the team, which really played with my confidence concerning my relationships with the team and my contribution to this film. But on our last day in Tokyo, it seemed like I had to get lost in Tokyo in order for me to recognize that I did have a defined place in this team. But it wasn’t just about that. It was more than that.

When I got back to the TEAM Center, each person gave me a really long and hearty-tight hug and asked me what had happened. By the time the last person hugged me, I teared up because I realized what I meant to this whole crew. Like how Zach likes to call our time together family time, I finally daburu (double) understood it. I know that if the same thing happened to anyone else in the crew, we’d all react the same way, and that’s because we’ve come to rely so deeply on each other as a team, or I should say, family.

I guess this is what working on a 15-19 hour-day film set does to you. Nah! I realized how powerful it is to open up and to be vulnerable, to look stupid or even sound ridiculous. I mean talking about osowake, sharing became the glue to our cohesiveness—Joey mentioned it. It’s pretty cool that we had all originally signed up to work on a film, yet, not knowing that from making this film we would be at a place where we learned to share life.

So after all, maybe you should come see the film when it’s completed and let it change your life 😉 No, really.

A. Kwan