2008 Woodie Awards
Filmmaker follows 'Sean': Lectures on nuts and bolts of industry
By: Anna Forder
Issue date: 3/30/06 Section: LifeStyle
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The year is 1969, and Sean is four years old. He fidgets and plays with his little bare feet as he talks about the days of the week and the parts of the body. He also talks about how he smokes pot, dislikes the police and lives with vagabond speed addicts. Sean is the subject of a documentary film created by Ralph Arlyck when he was a film student living in San Francisco. The little boy lived with his parents in their apartment above Arlyck that served as a commune.
The film, titled "Sean," received critical acclaim when it debuted and was even screened at the White House. Arlyck did not expect Sean, a captivating mix of adult behaviors and childlike honesty, to became the face of what many thought was wrong with the time period.
Thirty years later, Arlyck found Sean again. This time, Sean was all grown up and no longer using drugs. He was an electrician attending college in hopes of one day going to law school. Arlyck created a new film, "Following Sean," in which he does just that for nine years. In "Following Sean," Arlyck watches the adult Sean get married and have a child of his own. "Following Sean" is also semi-autobiographical, as it traces moments in the filmmaker's life during those 30 years.
Arlyck presented a filmmaker's workshop at Webster March 25 on non-fiction filmmaking. The audience of about 55 people was made up primarily of members of the St. Louis community, with only about five Webster students attending, very few of whom were film majors. During the workshop, Arlyck addressed many issues, including funding, distribution, editing and film festival exposure.
Arlyck's workshop consisted of various types of detailed advice he has learned and observed from his own work. He drew on his firsthand experience to provide answers to questions of the filmmakers in the audience.
Arlyck said one of the most fundamental and important considerations in filmmaking is to determine whether the potential subject of the film will be enjoyable to work with in the long run.
The film, titled "Sean," received critical acclaim when it debuted and was even screened at the White House. Arlyck did not expect Sean, a captivating mix of adult behaviors and childlike honesty, to became the face of what many thought was wrong with the time period.
Thirty years later, Arlyck found Sean again. This time, Sean was all grown up and no longer using drugs. He was an electrician attending college in hopes of one day going to law school. Arlyck created a new film, "Following Sean," in which he does just that for nine years. In "Following Sean," Arlyck watches the adult Sean get married and have a child of his own. "Following Sean" is also semi-autobiographical, as it traces moments in the filmmaker's life during those 30 years.
Arlyck presented a filmmaker's workshop at Webster March 25 on non-fiction filmmaking. The audience of about 55 people was made up primarily of members of the St. Louis community, with only about five Webster students attending, very few of whom were film majors. During the workshop, Arlyck addressed many issues, including funding, distribution, editing and film festival exposure.
Arlyck's workshop consisted of various types of detailed advice he has learned and observed from his own work. He drew on his firsthand experience to provide answers to questions of the filmmakers in the audience.
Arlyck said one of the most fundamental and important considerations in filmmaking is to determine whether the potential subject of the film will be enjoyable to work with in the long run.