As a writer, I’m using writer-lingo — “rough draft” — to describe what stage the film is in.  “Rough draft” is not film language; maybe “rough cut” would be more appropriate.  However, here’s where we are: last night Zack Parker and I, along with Jess Marshall, finished the first pass through the film.  What we have now is about 80 minutes of film, composed at this stage of pieces of interviews which tell the story of what happened, and how.  This is not even close to the finished film which will have photographs, film footage, music, animation, title cards, and more. 

However…it’s starting to look like a film, a real film, and that is very exciting.  In the next week or so, we will post a longer update on how things are going, and some plans for the release of the film next spring.  Watch for that…!

Look under the “your experience” tab for a new posting from Edie Toney.  More coming soon…

JH

For the last few weeks, I’ve been working on the first chapters of the book about the downtown explosion.  For this writer, the first pages of anything — essay, screenplay, book — those are the hardest.  It’s about figuring out not simply what the story is, but how to tell it, what point of view to use, what voice, all those tools that writers employ.  And, to tell the story about the explosion, there is also a sense that getting it right is deeply important. 

Here’s why.  I have talked to dozens and dozens of people over the last year about their experiences on April 6, 1968.  I’ve met people in my office, over coffee in restaurants, and in their own living rooms and kitchens; I’ve talked to people on the phone, by email, even corresponded by the wonderful, old-fashioned method of letter-writing.  Every time I have heard someone tell their memories of being downtown, or losing someone close, or witnessing the fires, that black smoke, and the terror of that day, I feel profoundly grateful and humbled to be in the presence of these stories.  Because it’s very clear that walking through those memories is hard. 

And yet so many people have offered their memories because they want two things: other people to know what really happened, and to be sure the loved ones who are gone are never forgotten.

So, thank you to all who have talked with me, and our production crew, both on camera or off.  Your memories will not be forgotten.

JH

I spent a few hours this morning with Linda Hollingsworth and Debbie Smith, both daughters of Eunice Clevenger, who was killed in the Richmond explosion.  At the time of the explosion, Linda was 19, married and living in Muncie; Debbie was 11, at the State Theater that afternoon with her sister and two brothers.  Linda and Debbie talked about what they remembered from that day, and the days that followed.  They also talked about their mom, and what they remembered of her. 

As I heard about Eunice Clevenger this morning, I could see her: coal black hair, Debbie said.  Linda nodded.  Yes, and red lipstick and red fingernail polish. And she was a wonderful cook, they both said.  Meatloaf (with a special ingredient, to be revealed in the book…), chicken and dumplings, and mayonnaise cake — her specialties.  She loved to laugh, to play bingo (and she always won), and every Saturday, without fail, she went to Virginia’s Beauty Shop to have her hair done, always by Virginia herself.  Debbie and Linda talked about their memories of their mother with love and with sadness. 

“I can’t believe it’s almost forty years,” Linda said. 

As I listened, I remembered a friend’s words about the work we are doing on the explosion — making a documentary film, writing a book.  My friend said, of these efforts, “You’re building a memory.”  I think so.   That is why we are doing both projects — film and book — now.  While the memories are still here, while we can capture them on film and in words, we will build a memory, detailed, and lasting.  It will be, I hope, a memorial to all of those who were taken, for all those who remain. 

Great thanks to Linda and Debbie for your time this morning.

JH

Tonight, I sat down with Zack Parker, who will be doing our post-production work, and we took a look at a rough assembly of the first several “reels” of the film.  These aren’t actually reels, of course, because the work is now done digitally, but the old language persists and serves its purpose, indicating basically a chunk of film.

It was fascinating to see this very early first stage of the film come together.  What we have now is simply the interviews, pieced together; but even as we watched those, Zack and I started talking about some things we might do with sound effects, title cards, photographic images, archival film footage, music and other elements.  We both came with some ideas and traded those back and forth; what’s interesting to me is that Zack and I think just enough alike to do a lot of nodding and agreeing, and we disagree just enough that we will keep each other sharp when tough decisions need to be made.  All in all, it will be a very interesting process putting this all together.

More soon…

JH

Today, I will be taping a half hour segment for WCTV on the making of the film 1:47.  The segment will consist of a narration (that’s what I’m taping today) of behind the scenes photographs taken by Richard Rodgers about the work we’ve been doing on 1:47.     You’ll be able to see images of all the people we’ve interviewed so far, how we do the set up for the interviews, and also you can get a look at the people who have been working on the film thus far. 

To find out when this segment will run, check back to this site, or you can also check the WCTV schedule: LINK.

- JH

A new story has posted under the “Your Experience” tab.  This one is from Bill Bagley, who was overseas when the explosion in Richmond happened.  This particular story struck me for its portrait of the times of 1968: without cell phones, email, or other modes of communication we now take for granted, news of loved ones was harder to get in a timely fashion.  Reading Bill’s post, I got a sense of how agonizing it was to wait without knowing how family members were.  Makes you appreciate, all the more, the little cellphone gadgets we take so much for granted now.

- JH

Many people have expressed interest in the book that was produced shortly after the explosion: Death in a Sunny Street.  The book is comprised of photographs — most by Ralph Pyle, some by Bill Weaver and others — and shorts passages of text describing the photographs.  At the time this book was produced, the cause of the explosion had not yet been determined.  However, the book does give a look at what the explosion was like, and the efforts that went into rescue and recovery.  Also, for the many people who have asked, the book lists the names of all who were killed in the explosion (this is on page 123).

If you click on this link Death in a Sunny Street you will be directed to a list of items in the digital collection at Morrison Reeves Library.  The first item on the list is the book; click on it, and you will go to a digitized version of the book.  You can actually read, page by page, through the book.   It’s not quite the same as holding the book in your hand, but it does make for a fascinating read.

On another book note: even as we move into the post-production phase of the film, I’m beginning work on my own book about the explosion.  Chapter one is underway…

JH
7-2-07

I have a handheld device from Cingular, The New AT&T-All Around the World.  Not only is it used as a cell phone but also provides internet service and email messages in real time.  It’s a bad addiction.

The Your Experience responses from this web site go directly to my email.  I have often been in the midst of a challenging circumstance or moments of petty hassle (such as the rental car company running twenty minutes behind) when the second nature-like beep of a new email message arrives.  I look at the subject line, “Your Experience,” and read a note that prompts me to realize how trivial my issues are in the grand scheme.  It is a humbling privilege to hear from untold hundreds of special people and their accounts on how they absorbed heartbreaking experiences from the devastation.  I’ve discovered several new personal heroes.  Thanks to everyone for sharing with us.

The 1:47 team makes it a top priority to handle our communications to the public with sensitivity and clarity.  Last week we reviewed communication plans for the next ten months.  Two additional trailers will be introduced leading up to the April 2008 premiere.  -BJP

Over the past several months, we have received hundreds of emails through the “Your Experience” portion of this website.  The emails have been very moving to read, and we would like to start sharing some of the stories we have been reading with you.  In the coming weeks we will begin posting some of those stories to this web site.  We think you will find these accounts of personal experiences with the explosion as moving as we have. 

Please check back soon …

 JH