The Confluence

Oregon Film Trail Continues in Salem!

Two Oregon Film Trail signs were unveiled over the week end honoring Salem’s starring role as a location for “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” (the honors being done by Oregon Museum of Mental Health Museum Curator, Megan Lallier-Barron and Dennie Brooks, Board Member.)  The signs mark two different filming locations related to the now classic feature film, “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest,” and feature facts and anecdotes about the film. The signs will be unveiled at the Oregon Museum of Mental Health and the Salem “Dome” Building (currently occupied by the Oregon Department of Corrections) on October 12^th, marking the end of Mental Health Awareness Week in the United States.

Dating back to 1909, Oregon has a rich and interesting film history with over 450 feature films & television shows that have utilized thousands of locations around the state for a wide variety of production backdrops. Today, Oregon continues to be a destination for creative media producers from around the world. From Emmy winning television productions, to Oscar nominated feature films; world-class animated films to award winning interactive games – Oregon is a brand unto itself.

Oregon Film, in partnership with the Oregon Made Creative Foundation and funded in part by a grant from Travel Oregon, created the Oregon Film Trail featuring signage located at strategic points around the state. The creation of the Trail aims to strengthen the correlation between the film/TV industry, economic development, and tourism. The signs are located outside the Department of Correction’s “Dome” Building (where the film’s main character, Randle McMurphy, played by Jack Nicholson, arrives when admitted to the psychiatric hospital in the film’s opening scenes) and one at the entryway to the Oregon Museum of Mental Health housed in the former entrance to the old Oregon State Hospital. The hospital was the main filming location of “Cuckoo’s Nest” and featured many of the patients as extras. The signs are a collaborative partnership between the Oregon Film Office (partnered with the Oregon Made Creative Foundation), the Oregon State Hospital Museum of Mental Health, Travel Salem, the Oregon Department of Corrections (who installed the signs), and Salem resident, Erik Andersson. This project has been funded in part by a grant from Travel Oregon.

Fans of “Cuckoo’s Nest” have been coming to the Museum since the opening in October 2012. These include hundreds of visitors from the former Soviet Union where the film, with its emphasis on institutional overreach, is something of a cult classic. As a part of the month-long celebration of the Museum’s seventh anniversary, the original Academy Award-winning film “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” will be shown at the Salem Cinema on Monday, October 7^th at 7 p.m. The film will follow a brief introduction by Museum Board Member Dennie Brooks, who was the location coordinator for the movie, followed by a Q and A about the making of the film.

Oregon Museum of Mental Health Board President, Kathryn Dysart says, “Interest in the film provides infinite opportunities to share information about mental health issues. Within its context we can talk about trauma-informed care, the importance of patients participating in their own recovery, the impact of intergenerational trauma on Native Americans, and the use of allegory to highlight abuses of authority.”

The opening scene of, “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” depicts Jack Nicholson’s character, Randle McMurphy being dropped off on the front steps of the fictitious psychiatric hospital, now occupied by the Oregon Department of Corrections. Colette S. Peters, Department of Corrections Director, said, “The Oregon Department of Corrections is honored to partner with the Oregon State Hospital and Oregon Film in this endeavor. DOC houses more than 14,500 incarcerated individuals statewide, with more than half affected by some kind of mental health diagnosis. We applaud efforts to maintain focus and awareness on mental health issues and treatment by providing support, educating the public, and advocating for policies that support people with mental illness and their families.”

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In modern cinema, visual effects, as they are also called – special effects, are inseparable from almost every new film. They are constantly being improved so much that the viewer will never distinguish computer graphics from reality. With the advent of special effects, the boundaries of directorial imagination and the possibility of realizing it have completely disappeared. The need for complex and expensive decorations gradually disappears, and their place is taken by a powerful computer processor and an animation studio.

But even among the abundance of effects in modern cinema, there are movies that impress with the innovation and professionalism of creating graphics in them.

Most exciting movies whose special effects are forever engraved in our memory

STAR WARS

Probably everyone knows 11 more parts of those legendary films. Indeed, this media franchise has become a cult during its existence and, so far, no one has surpassed it. Recall that the first film was released back in 1977, the 12th film is due out later this year. Future episodes of Star Wars will also be released in 2022, 2024, and 2026. Special effects are amazing because in those years there were not even half of the technologies that are now. For those who have not watched for a long time – we recommend recalling childhood or youth 🙂 and this time pay attention to the schedule.

AVENGERS

Marvel company, like no one else, knows how to make films with computer graphics. Each film is a masterpiece, so everyone who saw them remains a fan for a long time. The Russo brothers really know how to make quality content, and their cinematic universe Marvel is simply amazing.

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From October 25 through 31, the Bijou will celebrate films made in the Beaver State via its Oregon Made Film Festival, made possible through a grant from Explore Lincoln City. In support of the city’s goal of showing visitors that Lincoln City can be just as entertaining in the fall as in the summer – though possibly less congested along Highway 101 – owners Keith & Betsy Altomare have scheduled an impressive lineup.

“Three of the films are very local,” Betsy said, “like Sometimes a Great Notion, filmed along the Siletz River; Burning Plain, shot at Tidal Raves restaurant in Depoe Bay; and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, filmed on location in Salem as well as Depoe Bay.”

Showings are also planned for Goonies, Stand By Me, The Ring, Paint Your Wagon, The General, Bend of the River and Phoenix, Oregon.

The last of these, Phoenix, Oregon, is an independent film from a Pacific Northwest studio.

“It’s about a guy who reopens a run-down bowling alley and ends up serving great pizza,” Keith said, adding that the storyline runs somewhat parallel to that of the former DeLake Bowling Alley in Lincoln City.

Built in the 1930s, it was recently renovated by its new owners, and by many accounts, now, as the Olde Line Lanes & Kitchen, offers great pizza.

“So the city wants to do a pizza week to celebrate pizza and the movie,” Keith said. Writer/director, Gary Lundgren, and producer, Anne Lundgren, will also be on hand to talk about the film, which was shot in Klamath Falls.

Documentaries are also scheduled, including some Oregon-specific shorts, presented by Taft High School alum, Michael Harrington, of the Wandering Reel Traveling Film Festival. And Darrell Jabin, of Salem, will present his films about Oregon carousels and theaters.

You can find out more here.

For the second year in a row, The Portland Film Office and Prosper Portland, in partnership with Oregon Made Creative Foundation (OMCF), invites local filmmakers to apply for funding designed to encourage the completion of a local feature-length project and position producers to build towards larger, more resourced productions.

The Post-Production Film Grant Program supports the professional development of small, local filmmakers by providing funds for activities including sound design, scoring, editing, color correction, closed captioning, VFX, and music clearances using local post-production houses.

The application period closes Monday, September 30, 2019 5:00 PM

A total of $20,000 will be awarded in four $5,000 grants.  Eligible applicants are Portland-based film producers and companies who have been based in Portland for one year or more. Funds must be used with Portland post-production houses; projects must be in post-production with an expected completion date by June 30, 2020. Filmmakers and projects from communities of color and women-led production are especially encouraged to apply.

Get more information here.

The Portland Film Office is committed to support of the economic vitality of a Portland-centered production ecosystem and seeks to build the local supply chain and capacity to grow Portland’s film ecosystem.

The application period closes Monday, September 30, 2019 5:00 PM

The next installment in The Portland Circuit – a unique, local theatrical distribution program presented in conjunction with the Northwest Film Center, The Clinton Street Theatre, Cinema 21 and The Hollywood Theatre – is Tara Johnson-Medinger’s beautiful coming of age story: “My Summer as a Goth.”

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Zeitgeist Northwest will present the 10th Annual Portland German Film Festival (PGFF) October 4-8, 2019 at Cinema 21.

Our annual festival showcases feature films, documentaries and short films that represent the state-of-the-art in German film making. We are also delighted to include films from Austria and Switzerland to give our audience the chance to experience the diversity, history and progress of German-speaking countries in Europe. All films are shown in German with English subtitles to allow a broad audience access to these German-language movies.

PGFF opens with TRAUMFABRIK, which will have it’s International Premiere at this year’s festival. They fall in love as extras on a movie set and play the leading roles in the love story of their lives against the turbulent backdrop of history.  The opening night party will follow directly after the film at Cinema 21.

Oregon will be featured as the back drop for the new feature project, “Pig” which began production yesterday with Nicolas Cage and Alex Wolff starring. The story depicts a truffle hunter (Cage) who, “lives alone in the Oregonian wilderness and must return to his past in Portland in search of his beloved foraging pig after she is kidnapped.”

Pulse Films, BlockBox Entertainment, Valparaiso Pictures and Saturn Pictures are producing in association with Escape Artists and Sweet Tomato Films. Read more.

5:15PM: Reception at Magna

Join Kelly Cox, host & Creator of The Original Fare on PBS along with guest LA Chef Diep Tran and Chef Carlo Lamagna for a welcome reception with Vietnamese & Filipino snacky snackys and drinks!

6:00PM: Screening + Q&A

We’ll walk across the street to Clinton St Theatre for the premiere of Season 6’s Vietnam episode featuring owner of Red Boat Fish Sauce, Cuong Pham, and Chef Diep Tran. (Plus some special cameos by Miss Universe Vietnam and an old beau!)

Followed by a special showing of Carlo’s episode from Season 3 before Kelly moderates a discussion on Asian Ingredients & their Heritage with Diep, Carlo, and Nong Poonsukwattana.

8PM: VIP Dinner

Back at Magna Diep & Carlo have created a joyous mash-up of Vietnamese & Filipino dishes. Sure to be filled with heart and fish sauce!! Cocktail Pairings will be optional.

Reserve your tickets here now.

Please contact [email protected] for any questions!