Local musician, student release feature film
M.D. Edmondson
Issue date: 4/20/07 Section: Pulse
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It was the second day on Ruvane Kurland's summer tour when the air conditioner on his tour bus broke.
Shortly afterwards, he stumbled across what he described as a "Deliverance" scene while lost somewhere in southern Indiana.
"I should have known," he said. "I should have heard the banjo."
Kurland's bus rolled to a stop outside a gas station that he described as the classic scene in any horror movie.
"They had a rusty car sitting next to the garage and half a school bus leaning up," he said. "I stop the bus and a dog kind of limps up to the door and looks at me."
Kurland and cinematographer Brad Holtzman, a junior from Glenview studying cinema and photography, departed the bus and asked two balding, meagerly-toothed gentlemen for help with his air conditioning malfunction.
Thankfully it didn't end like the movies, Kurland said. The gas station and body shop attendants were helpful, but did not have the parts on hand to fix the problem.
Kurland and Holtzman were way behind schedule, so they had to find their way back to the main road and suffer through the heat to get to their next gig in Frankfort, Ky.
Kurland described the event as a common one among independent musicians who embark on a cross-country tour on a limited budget.
The DVD he and Holtzman produced on the trip became more than a documentary about Kurland's summer tour. It became what Kurland described as the "plight of indie artists."
"I don't see myself as the focus anymore," he said. "I'm realizing that every indie artist goes through this."
The DVD was shot on consumer grade cameras borrowed from the university as part of Holtzman's independent study project. Kurland chose Holtzman for the project because of Holtzman's limited experience on production, saying he wanted someone who hadn't been jaded by the film industry.
"Not everything is exactly the way you'd see it on MTV," Kurland said. "It's unique."
Holtzman said he has learned a lot from editing 40 hours of footage in to just less than 80 minutes for the feature. He said he is especially proud of the production because he was able to put the film together without any professional equipment.
"It's an independent film, and an independent student film," he said. "With what we had to work with - our no budget - I think it turned out well. It brings out what an independent filmmaker can do."
Shortly afterwards, he stumbled across what he described as a "Deliverance" scene while lost somewhere in southern Indiana.
"I should have known," he said. "I should have heard the banjo."
Kurland's bus rolled to a stop outside a gas station that he described as the classic scene in any horror movie.
"They had a rusty car sitting next to the garage and half a school bus leaning up," he said. "I stop the bus and a dog kind of limps up to the door and looks at me."
The film will debut at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Murphysboro's Liberty Theater. Six String Ride, a joint project with Ruvane Kurland and local musician Steve Weirman, will perform after the premiere.
Kurland and cinematographer Brad Holtzman, a junior from Glenview studying cinema and photography, departed the bus and asked two balding, meagerly-toothed gentlemen for help with his air conditioning malfunction.
Thankfully it didn't end like the movies, Kurland said. The gas station and body shop attendants were helpful, but did not have the parts on hand to fix the problem.
Kurland and Holtzman were way behind schedule, so they had to find their way back to the main road and suffer through the heat to get to their next gig in Frankfort, Ky.
Kurland described the event as a common one among independent musicians who embark on a cross-country tour on a limited budget.
The DVD he and Holtzman produced on the trip became more than a documentary about Kurland's summer tour. It became what Kurland described as the "plight of indie artists."
"I don't see myself as the focus anymore," he said. "I'm realizing that every indie artist goes through this."
The DVD was shot on consumer grade cameras borrowed from the university as part of Holtzman's independent study project. Kurland chose Holtzman for the project because of Holtzman's limited experience on production, saying he wanted someone who hadn't been jaded by the film industry.
"Not everything is exactly the way you'd see it on MTV," Kurland said. "It's unique."
Holtzman said he has learned a lot from editing 40 hours of footage in to just less than 80 minutes for the feature. He said he is especially proud of the production because he was able to put the film together without any professional equipment.
"It's an independent film, and an independent student film," he said. "With what we had to work with - our no budget - I think it turned out well. It brings out what an independent filmmaker can do."
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