Wednesday, May 11, 2011

A Short Film for Summer: The Brothers

Here is a link to my short film, The Brothers, which we shot last summer.  It is the film of the story, The Brothers, posted here.  The story and the film are quite different.  Some of the story just could not be told in the same way.  Some of the story could have been shown in the same way but we didn't have any money.

The actors are all local kids in our small town.  Most are from my little league team of last summer.  Great kids and actors.  Oh.  And one is my son!

The dog is our dog, Dexter.  He did a terrific job.

We shot the film on our porch, on a ski jump in Hanover, NH and on the Long Trail in Northern Vermont.  We did all the shooting in two days with a crew of no more than four and at times just two.  All the sounds -- the entire soundtrack -- were recorded live 'on set.'

There are more stories to tell about the story and the making of the film.  I will get to them but not today.

Enjoy.

David Rocchio lives, works and writes in Stowe, Vermont. (c) 2011 David Rocchio

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

A 9/11 Flag and Losing Osama

     I was in my office the morning of 9/11. My secretary came in and said ‘a plane has flown into the World Trade Center.’ I kept working, not wanting to rubberneck. I did not walk down the hall to see what was going on until she came back, in tears, and said ‘a second plane has hit the other tower.’ So that’s how a living, decade-long nightmare starts.
     Two days later, like almost everyone else, we went out and bought a small American flag. We tied it to a fence post along the front of our field. Nearly everyone flew a flag, even those of us who are not the flag waving type. I decided then the flag would fly until the nightmare ended.
     It was a shockingly sad time but we were united in grief and horror. Not just in the US, either. I remember the headline on September 12, 2001 from Le Monde in France: “Nous sommes tous Américains,” or “We are all Americans.” Hundreds of thousands marched in support of the US. In Berlin. That unity obviously faded. Maybe now it is coming back.
     We heard the news bin Laden was dead this past Monday morning. We were getting the kids out the door for school. We were listening to a Canadian radio station so the story was first but not blaring as the CBC began its newscast. Given that understated Canadian way, it took a minute to sink in what the announcer was talking about. Jackie looked at me, and I thought for a second. Commandos, Pakistan, Obama, Osama.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

My 9/11 Flag













More later, but this flag went out on 9/12.  I hadn't thought about it much until yesterday.


David Rocchio lives, works and writes in Stowe, Vermont. (c) 2011 David Rocchio