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movie on trainhopping


skf0040

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Hey, my name is steve formel, I'm a film student at RIT in Rochester NY. For my thesis I'm making a movie on the culture of people who ride trains and how it has evolved. If any one has stories, thoughts, or can just point me in a good direction, I'd really appreciate it. my email is skf0040@rit.edu

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^^shut up!!! yea that means you ghost. give the guy a break (unless he's a cop) but still i dont really see harm in giving info on freight culture. Now if we're talkin spots and 'how to hop freights' questions than that another story.

 

skf> Do your home work. Christ this is the internet C'mon

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Steve

 

I have a script already written, in editing now with a friend and co-worker who moonlights as a psych tech where I work. His primary profession is college instructor. I am a former Marine infantryman working as a psych nurse. My bro is a former Navy corpsman, wounded in Vietnam. I have considerable real-world experience riding trains and tramping.

 

The plot involves trainhopping, among other things. We have come up with several different ideas for getting it on film. If we shoot it DV, we can overcome many of the main difficulties in post-production, assuming we have computer editing assets adequate to manipulate the film.

 

I met filmmakers from Illinois at Britt. We're looking for a DP with crew, people with a "go to" attitude, who are up for making a film on the roll. Large segements of the film can be shot with three actors, a freight train, a DP on the trigger and a sound recordist. We have found some great locations in Texas.

 

Email me. Rsaxon50@hotmail.com

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i'm not trying to show people how to ride, just rying to show that there's more than grizzly old men hanging out the side of boxcars, it seems to me that this is peoples general impression of people that ride trains, not having any idea that there's more to it than hobos. And yeah I know this is the internet, I know plenty about trainhopping, but I'm making a movie not writing a book, and i don't think it would be very interesting to have me talking to the camera, or some lame voicover,still picture shit. So I guess what I meant to say was people who are willing to share on film what they know.

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Southern and I shot a 15 minute short documentary more or less just as you described. Basically it was him on the trigger, and me talking about hoboing in various railroad locales, but no actual hopping. We shot a lot of stuff in my favorite jungle that he decided not to use, stuff like making campfires, cooking in a gunboat, me crashed out in a hammock, etc. He used it for a class requirement for some film class in college.

 

I explained my opinions about trainhopping and hobo life--sort of "the short, sound-bite version."

 

You're right, a "talking head" piece isn't too interesting. We improved on that a lot by shooting on location in rail yards and with trains in the background. We were hindered by the requirement to have the camera back safely in it's locker at his college before the weekend. We were having to rush around driving to locations, then set up and shoot tape, then I had to rush to work, ditch my tramping clothes and put on slacks and shit suitable for my nursing job. It was kind of a pain in the ass, but he got an "A."

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I have a friend, who's a German independent film maker, who resides in Germany, but has been to the states several times, filming such a project, which was released..He might be able to hook you up with some contacts here, depending on where you are located..drop him a line, he wont mind...Frode_c_MO@hotmail.com tell him I sent you...Good luck

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