Old Night - Documentary based on Blood Meridian

[Joe Taylor]

http://vimeo.com/12743829

This is a compilation reel of 2nd-unit cinematography for a work-in-progress film about the John Glanton gang of scalp hunters who roamed the border of Old Mexico in 1849. Much of the footage in the first portion, mostly Death Valley, was filmed with a modified set of Cooke Speed Panchros in 28mm 32mm, 50mm, and 108mm PL mounted to a Red ONE. This incomplete set was painstakingly modified and adapted by my brother-in-law for his Aaton 35-III.

This project is still being researched and adapted from Samuel Chamberlains first-person accounts of riding with the John Glanton gang, but is mostly inspired by Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian."

http://vimeo.com/12743829

 

[Sanjin Jukic]

Amazing.

Joe,

I like and appreciate very much your beautiful landscape shots with RED.

 

[soren k jensen]

Thank you

Thank you

that is brilliant

 

[Joe Taylor]

Hello Sanjin and Soren,

Thank you so much!

 

[Jason Murphy]

OK, THIS sounds fascinating. I was dreading a narrative adaptation of Blood Meridian, since I'm not sure there's a filmmaker out there who can do it justice. That said, a doc about the events that inspired Blood Meridian? That could be awesome. Just please don't make it a generically boring talking-head fest, and it could really go places.

This landscape work is stunning. Really beautifully evokes the book. Keep up the great work, and keep us posted here.

 

[Joe Taylor]

Hello Jason, I agree! Basing a narrative on "Blood Meridian" would require a massive budget, a +3-hour running time, too much CGI, and would scream to be shot in 70mm. I fear, that like "The Road," in movie-form, it's narrative would lead to nowhere.

This is a blurb I am using for raising funds: "Old Night" is a documentary endeavor about the John Glanton gang of Government hired scalp-hunters who drifted, sacked, and arbitrarily murdered along the Old Mexico border in the late 1840’s.

Although emphatically inspired by Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, "Old Night", however, contemplates, investigates, and finally deconstructs Samuel Chamberlain’s long-challenged memoir, My Confession, based on his firsthand accounts while
serving under Glanton as rogue operatives during the Mexican-American War.

 

[Jason Murphy]

Joe - where can one get a copy of Chamberlain's book? It looks fascinating, and even though Blood Meridian is one of my favorite novels, I hadn't heard of it before.

Also, I assume from the title of your earlier piece that you're a Richard Misrach fan as well? He's one of my favorite color photographers.

 

[Joe Taylor]

Joe - where can one get a copy of Chamberlain's book? It looks fascinating, and even though Blood Meridian is one of my favorite novels, I hadn't heard of it before.

Also, I assume from the title of your earlier piece that you're a Richard Misrach fan as well? He's one of my favorite color photographers.

Hey Jason. Chamberlain's book, I think, is still in print. I've gone through three copies dissecting it and got them from Amazon. I'm looking through a first-edition that I got from a library. It's pretty easy to find.

Yep, you busted me. I lifted my title from Misrach's Desert Cantos. That's also one of my favorite books. When I was living in Salt Lake City, I went Wendover and nearly died when I found those shot-up Playboy's that he photographed some 20 years before. I call that Karma with a big K.

 

[Jason Murphy]

Hey Jason. Chamberlain's book, I think, is still in print. I've gone through three copies dissecting it and got them from Amazon. I'm looking through a first-edition that I got from a library. It's pretty easy to find.

Yep, you busted me. I lifted my title from Misrach's Desert Cantos. That's also one of my favorite books. When I was living in Salt Lake City, I went Wendover and nearly died when I found those shot-up Playboy's that he photographed some 20 years before. I call that Karma with a big K.

Thanks for the info. I'll keep an eye out for the book.

Also, no shame in referencing Misrach. He's amazing, as are his Desert Cantos. And that's a pretty incredible find.