UCLA Student Film Restorations | S. Torriano Berry, John Campbell, Lilian Wu

good evening everyone welcome to the Billy Wilder theater home of the public programs for the UCLA film and television archive my name is Amanda Salazar I'm a public programmer with archive and what a lovely audience we have here tonight so thank you so much for being here before we begin as a land grant institution the film and television archive at UCLA would like to acknowledge our presence on the traditional and and unseated territory of the gabino and tongva peoples we're humbled to do work in this community there are quite a few people um individuals and organizations that I would like to thank that made tonight's screening possible all of the archive screenings at the Wilder are free thanks to a gift from an anonymous donor and we are grateful for their support this screening is generally supported by the Maya Reinhard Family Foundation to provide some context here when guess kind of like when you work at an archive and you realize there are more projects than you can imagine that would benefit or need restoration and preservation and an AR and our archive has a long history of preserving student work for future Generations in this case and for this inaugural year and the program that was created around it it would have not have been made possible without the funding from this organization and for that we are deeply grateful there were some instrumental people that worked on this from the archive side that I would also like to thank from behind the scenes um they don't often get thanked very often so I'm going to do that here and they are in the audience you can also thank them in person after the show I would first like to thank uh Mark Quigley Todd Weiner and Maya Montana smuckler for assisting with the grant process I'd also like to thank Jillian borders Randy yantech and andaya again for your guidance and execution of this program I would like to thank uh three students in particular Lily Luben gabs Norte and Christina Schultz but more on them soon we can definitely give them Round of Applause and of course the filmmakers that are going to be joining us tonight um we are very lucky lucky to have them in attendance and they'll be joining us for a Q&A after the show thank you for entrusting the archive to work on your projects we are so excited to be sharing them together in community tonight and finally because we also have to thank the people working here to make sure that the show runs smoothly I'd like to give a big thank you to our house manager Lauren Brown the UCLA students that are working this evening and also our project Leon Hebert so now let's give a round of applause to [Applause] everyone I won't say too much about tonight's program um but I did allude to the students that worked on these films and I think it's best to hand it over to them uh so they can tell you more about the overall process and what we're going to be seeing this evening but I'll leave you with this take a moment to take in that these Works were made by UCLA students in the 70s and 80s and then worked on by current UCLA students this Synergy or perhaps full circle moment feels very special and one that I'm very excited to be in attendance with you all that we get to screen this evening so please join me in welcoming the three students that worked on the Restorations of the films that you'll be seeing tonight Lily gabs and Christina please join us uh good good evening everyone and thank you for joining us tonight I'm Christina scholes I'm Lily Luben I'm gab sorty over the co course of 10 weeks this past summer under the supervision of archive staff we had the honor of restoring three UCLA student films from the 1960s through the 1980s our internship allowed us the unique opportunity of a thorough learning experience working with our selected films from inspection and preparation to scanning to digital restoration and editing working with the best elements available in the archives collection such as the original AB roles and track negatives we immersed ourselves in each of these films these films include second campaign a documentary created in response to the May 1969 People's Park protest in Berkeley California amidst conflicts over Free Speech the autonomy of people's Park and the calling in of the National Guard by then Governor Ronald Reagan UCLA film students Norman yanamoto and Nikolai ersen who also went by Nick Elliot um traveled to Berkeley to film the continuing protests this is especially relevant as the struggle of her People's Park and its meaning to the community continues to this very day expecting a volatile situation what they found was something unexpected moments of communal joy and celebration both Norman and Nick make appearances in the documentary Norman is filmed interviewing bystanders and we can hear their voices answering questions their presence on camera not only adds to the student perspective of this historical event not only as filmmakers but as students visiting from another UC campus though Norman and Nick are no longer with us their legacy lives on through their work and the moments of Joy they [Applause] captured in transit the Chinese in California is a short film by Lilian Woo which document the experiences of Chinese immigrants during the 19th and early 20th century featuring narrations from founding members of the East West players one of the first Asian-American theater organizations in Los Angeles the blend of liveaction scenes animation and photo prints are a testament to the scope of editing it on film at the time because of the lack of information about this title and its production history restoring this film felt like a priority in creating this film lilan aimed to spread knowledge about the history of Chinese immigration from an authentic perspective and it was our aim in this internship to preserve and make accessible a broader scope of student films that are more reflective of the evolving campus and ideologies especially those that featured marginalized perspectives during a time when they were not common place and Rich a short film by S torano Barry completed in 1983 follows a high school senior in wats on the day of his graduation as he pushes back against the forces of family and environment who try to keep him from pursuing a college education this film arrives in the last official decade of the UCLA student film movement known as the LA Rebellion the film fits in with the stylistic in thematic traditions of many of its earlier peers but remains unique in purpose and production unlike The Bleak Futures portrayed in the Italian neorealism films that La Rebellion filmmakers often Drew from rich is utterly hopeful it supports a humanistic approach to Black representation one in which with the tool of Education a young black man has the AC of control over his future as students we celebrate the overarching theme of the importance of education and growth and to quote aign from Rich your education is very important it's something that once you have it they can't take it away this is a sentiment that stays with us as archists we recognize student films as holding a wealth of information not only as records of a filmmaker artist work but as memory documents that tell us the stories of individuals behind them the places that they immortalize in the cultural Zeitgeist of an era especially the time at one of the most notable film schools in the country we hope you enjoy the [Applause] films toriana will be joining us in just a moment but um I just wanted to say really love the films and I can speak on behalf of the three of us it's really an honor to be able that you trust us us to work with your material um and we've learned a lot and I hope that we did your work justice so thank you um we'll go ahead and start at the beginning so I'm interested in what brought you to UCLA and then for John if you know Norman talked about his experiences or why he decided to choose UCLA if you could elaborate on that that would be great so we'll start with Lillian what what brought you to UCLA um that was the only school I decided to come to okay was there was there any kind of well um when I came I had I was a transfer student from the Midwest and the only thing I knew about UCLA was there was a basketball team I didn't know anything else except that it was a long bus ride and it was fun so I thought I'd try and see if they'd let me in and they did John and uh for Norman uh Norman had studied at UC Berkeley and uh in 64 and then he had gone to Santa Clara University but he really wanted to become a filmmaker and he thought that living in Hollywood and near the movie industry would be very important and so he thought that UCLA with the strong film program was the right place for him and and he loved being here and then after he went on to study at AFI where he got his Masters in screenwriting amazing toriana thanks for joining us um I I heard what the question I got I got filing coming in now sorry sorry sorry for being late but uh pause for the cge you know this happens when you get old anyway uh yeah UCLA um I was at Arizona State and one of my fraternity Brothers had just gotten uh accepted at uh the dental school at UCLA and so you know I was I worked my last uh year at Arizona State and I knew I wasn't ready to punch a Time Clock you know and I had been you know I was a photographer I started in photography I would uh work with uh do little you know Super 8 millimeter movies CU my dad actually used to shoot little super eight and regular eight home movies and I just thought it was just so fascinating when you know he get them processed and you set up project we watch all these little home movies and so um my my fraternity brother Walter venerable he said yeah I heard UCLA had the number one you know film program in the country you know and a little light went off in my head so you know I applied and also like to just add in because this is so so so so um so so simum for me being there was because initially they rejected me I got rejected from UCLA and so I was really kind of crushed and so I said okay I don't know what I'm going to do but then um later I got accepted a good friend of mine actually my play sister went to UCLA and I met a um she introduced me to a guy that worked in the tech center and uh I talked to him and he said I needed to talk to toi Gabriel who was one of the professors so I went and talked to toi and uh you know he told him I had apply he said I'll keep an eye out you know then he then after I got rejected I was like oh dang I guess brother didn't you know let me down anyway so then I got accepted the second year I was there second or third year I was there I was talking to T show me and he said what happened was that some guy who uh father or uncle or something worked in the industry got uh rejected and two of the people on the selection committee came to him and said look we need you to you know let him in so the show me said I'll go for your guy if you go for my guy so that's how I got into film school and I figured that was it thanks that's great that's awesome I I mean all of all of you were at USA at a very uh interesting time in history and I'm kind of just curious on kind of the climate on campus like what was the structure like um especially with Lillian you know being a female filmmaker what was that experience like for you um it was a little bit misogynistic but then I made deals with everyone else and got in and was able to do what I wanted except the technical classes um no one could get in except a few guys probably white guys and uh until Alex funky who was the best uh camera person came in he was different and that's when we all got to do all the camera and the lighting stuff before that you can take the critical studies classes and you can take the history classes but not the sound and maybe the editing but not much else and the cameras weighed a ton so did the uh the uh mic uh tape recorders NRA yes and then Tana you know did you have a sense of like the as the LA Rebellion movement was kind of building did you have a sense of like Oh I'm a part of this this historic moment like what was that like for you I had no idea about a la Rebellion initially while I was there my my first experience with the LA Rebellion concept was uh in 1984 in fact we're just talking about this at dinner uh 1984 we did a um black Film Symposium at UCLA and pretty much if you was a black film maker back then we brought you to UCLA and it was a whole weekl long thing we had screenings we had panel discussions and everything and um I was actually part of the video crew was videotaping things and I was just saying because I had the tape and I was planning on holding on to it but it disappeared someplace but Hy Gara any know heard of hly GMA but anyway Hy GMA um he was on a panel and some guy from the audience you know gave Army show oh you know UCLA you know gave you guys opportunity to become the you know the LA rebellion and daada highly went off he went on about a 10-minute Rampage to about and UCLA didn't do and how you know they had to fight and work for everything that they had and they wouldn't you know they couldn't check out equipment and they uh had to grab the professors and throw them into the lockers and make sure they change their grades to what it's supposed to be instead of what they were I mean highly went off he said you know so I appreciate you know them going through that that uh that uh initial stage if that was the case which you I trust it was because I consider myself part of the second wave you know that came in I came in in in 81 I was from 81 to 85 but um you know I I just loved it you know I just loved it like I was talking as well you know because being interested in film you know and coming from Iowa and I I was at Arizona State at the time but you know I go to films and of course I would look at the lighting and you know the Montage I'd be looking at all this stuff and so i' be with my date you know and then after the film I'd be wanting to discuss it you know and you know they just look at me like I'm crazy like shut up talk talk nothing the mess and kiss me or something you know I don't know what it was but I really kind of felt you know you know by myself but once I got to UCLA you know there were likeminded you know people who were interested in film I could talk all of that stuff you know and it was just just a very very interesting uh and a very rewarding experience so let's talk a little bit about the films themselves because they're all very unique very different from each other um what kind of influences uh did you have that made you want to tell this story this type of film um especially with like the types of of themes that you were learning about in school like what was your main influence in I'm I need to take tell this story I need to make this film yeah whoever wants to start yeah um I had always heard stories about how terrible it is as Asians in America but yeah aren't you talking to mic but nobody would um talk about it publicly they'd all talk in their homes or amongst themselves and I thought maybe that's something I could do and it so happened that um I had never been to a library until I went to college because we didn't have libraries um and I read all these books where they had these amazing uh laws about California in the uh 1800s and the in that period And I thought this would be interesting and then I saw these pictures of the railroads being built and so on so I thought maybe I could do something with these and that's how it started for Norman I think it was really started at Berkeley in 64 when he was walking on campus one day and he got caught between a demonstration and the police and then all of a sudden they all started saying sit down sit down and it was really the beginning of the Free Speech movement um because all of a sudden A student got up on the car and it was Mario Savio and it was was really the moment at that time that was really the birth of the Free Speech movement and so when he was down here at UCLA and he had heard that the People's Park uh was being threatened by Governor Reagan at the time and a couple of weeks before that there had been protests to preserve the park and uh somebody was shot and killed and then they heard that the big protest was coming up on uh Memorial Day weekend and they thought that you know given the climate that we were in in 1969 we had just gone through a really tumultuous year in 1968 where we had the Vietnam War protests in April of that year uh Martin Luther King Jr was shot and killed assass assassinated two months later Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed and uh and at the end of that year uh Nixon was elected as president and we know how that ended up so uh it really was a time of social Consciousness and we all felt responsible for Change and we felt a very strong sense of community and so uh Norman wanted to capture that and he really wanted to make sure that he was part of the moment and he had a very unique way of looking at the present moment and seeing how it would be important in the future he used to call it Nostalgia for the present and he could see that this was going to be an important moment and he wanted to preserve it and it sure still resonates today definitely I mean with in the last past year similar protests have been going on at People's Park so it's still incredibly relevant and uh a testament to him exactly knowing that to be a fact um he also worked with Nick so maybe you want to talk a little bit about that relationship um they they did a lot of work together they did a lot of work together Nick ersen and Norman were uh Partners in the beginning and then they became collaborators on the films Norman was a video artist and experimental filmmaker he collaborated with his brother Bruce on many projects and Nick was their cinematographer and uh and Nick was uh fantastic they worked together on on pieces right up until 1990 when Nick passed away from AIDS and uh it's kind of fit fting that today being uh World AIDS day that we're we're thinking about Nick on on this special day so that's really nice and and thanks and I'm still close with his sister and we're good friends and uh we see each other and we remember the collaboration between Nick and Norman it was really very special and we actually ended up Nick left part of the house that we lived in uh he left part of the house to Norman and and and I'm still living in that house in Venice so big part of our Lives definitely I and it's it's great that you know there's someone here that can talk about those experiences and and represent him and I know that lilan you actually knew Nick as well so do you have any stories about Nick uh only that uh he was a nice ta and everybody wanted him for the TA and we didn't get and he he was the only guy who had a suit and tie every timee that's great um and then torano influences for Rich you know I was just sitting here trying to think of where the concept came from and it just wouldn't come to me but um basically going into the film I just remember as a little boy as a little boy you know cuz there was the whole thing about bafra and you know the hunger in Africa because growing up in Iowa there's a hell lot of racism and you know that just just Bugg me I mean just hurt me as as a kid you know it just ate me up inside and I always wonder Dam no why do I feel like this I'm just a little boy I can't do anything about it and then you know as I kind of grew like said I got interested in photography and then started looking into film I realized the power you know that film has to actually you know affect change you know and and and actually motivate people people's actions and everything and so I think that was probably the main motivating force you know that I had and also it's interesting that you know you mentioned in your um you know opening about rich and how how how hopeful it was uh the original title for Rich was all dreams don't come true and it ended with the gang killing him in the alley you know but but what happened I know it's not funny I don't even know why I'm laughing but what happened was this I mean it actually change because every anyone who knows about filmm film making is a fluid process things change happens you got to just you know adjust so what happened was there was actually three additional scenes that actually took place at school after you know Rich jumped that fence we actually saw him at school there was a classroom scene a lunchroom scene and a scene with him talking to his track coach you find out that he actually had just you know been offered a track scholarship to college you know and so um I cast the gang members were came from um Contin High School in Compton and so we would go there I would go there once a week for about three weeks and we would rehearse then of course we rehearse you know for the school scenes and it was a Friday our last rehearsal and I stopped in the office I said okay well we we be here Monday at 9:00 you know with the equipment everything we'll start shooting they said okay okay we'll see you then like said I've been dealing with them for a whole month we show up Monday got the van got the equipment got everything I walk in office I'm told well well all participating students have to have parental slips in order to participate you know what you going to do so that's where the uh the the the Watts the the Watts um Towers scene came I basically had to rewrite that and all of the basic uh information that you got from the school you actually then get from the the Watchtower scene so that's how that ended up and then of course at that point you know it kind of the whole dynamic kind of shifted you know and so I ended up changing the ending and made it hopeful and I think it it ended up better that way yeah no I love it I love the ending you know I love a good hopeful ending um speaking on like having to make changes and you know as a former Film School person as well um film students are plagued by two things and that's a lack of time and a lack of money and so I'm curious and as to how your production processes were carried out kind of the timeline for them I know lilan your film took a very long time to create and you know it's very evident in the amount of animation and editing that went into it so what was that process like for you um right after I can you hear me right after I proposed the teacher I wanted to work with was not hired back and the second teacher I wanted to work with he left so I had to figure out what to do next and there was only one choice animation because I had all these Stills but you can't just take your footage and uh your pictures or your whatever and go there and ask because Dan mlin who was kind of the only teacher there you have to take all his classes and you have to pass them and you have to have everything storyboarded time and everything is in place and you have to have real narration with real actors then you can push the button and start filming well I had everything except well eventually and he wouldn't tell you if you did something wrong he just said go back it's not good enough you want to say something how is it impacting the person you're telling and finally when I got it he said oh where's your narration I said well I have a scratch track which means I just pick up people to do the narration he said no you have to have real actors and I thought shoot where will I find I can't use at that time in the 70s there was con Chang that was Trisha Toyota I can't use them so someone suggested why don't you call these that there were a lot of Asian talk show producers and she said call Pat Lee and I thought um I wanted to call East West players but I didn't know she was part of east west players so I called her and she was expecting a call from Madame woo Who was a famous restaurant so when she heard the name woo she started talking to me and then I don't know how I talked her into it and she said is there a script no are we going to look at anything when we narrate no what do you have I said a piece of paper and some typed lines and so she said how many people do you need how many voices and um she said okay I'll come come on this certain date and then she drives up with her Mercedes with all these people and that was p and James Hong and that's how I got all these people and they were so good they just did two takes and that was it and Pam lowski who's here she was the one who did the recordings for me well production process for I mean if you have any yeah I just know that uh Norman and Nick did the everything alone just the two of them and uh they were really proud that they were the Twan film crew it would be hard to imagine trying to pull that off now but maybe with a cell phone you can do it again uh but certainly for a long time you needed a lot more people but and they weren't doing it as a student project so they just edited and put the sound together and uh Norman really loved picking important music to go with his pieces and I thought especially Bob Dylan's My Back Pages was very powerful uh song to be included in the soundtrack and and so uh they were really a Twan show they got it all done on their own and I think they probably did most of it at home I still have a couple of the old people pieces of editing equipment from the very old analog days yeah um the production as I think I'm pretty sure uh it was about a two- Week shooting schedule with I think two additional pickup days now I never intended to act in this thing okay there was never ever did I ever have any kind of an idea that I wanted to or needed to or thought I was going to act what ended up happening was I had cast the whole piece I cast every everybody except for Rich there was one guy that I think might have been able to pull it off but I don't know I just didn't feel right so what happened was CU I was actually 24 at the time so I went in and um it was two days before I was to start production and I looked at myself in the mirror I pulled out the razor and I shaved off my mustache and I said all right what the hell so so that's that's how that happened and the whole thing was you know I mean because in doing everything is like because again if I wasn't on C on camera you know I was probably doing the camera I did all my own lighting like you could see I did the music you know produce direct all of that now coming out I said okay well you know Hollywood should see that you know I do everything so they should say oh we can get this guy a three picture deal and save a whole lot of money you know but but it it didn't happen like that and but one of my main things that I think that that I had a problem with in actually acting as well was I wasn't directed you I wasn't being directed and I think I wanted some of that so you know I you know we do a scene I asked a c my cameraman Iris and white you know so so what you think he said yeah man it was all right but but he never gave me any kind of notes and anything and I always kind of missed that so um but that was about it probably had about a three four person crew um you know each shoot and um you know things things went went very well another thing I'd like to mention too another problem that I was able to solve is uh the SC between Mrs Lawson and Mrs Vander Quist when M Lawson got to work those two women were never in the same room together the day I was to shoot that um you know because I called that morning um and I not actually the night before and I had set it up or I mean they had set it up in the time but anyway just crosschecking the night before that morning um Mrs Lawson called you know the the mother called and said that she couldn't be there till 1:00 okay I said said all right all right all right we can work that you know so I figured know I could go on and shoot Mrs Vander Quist you know and everything and then with Mr vaner Chris got there she said she had to leave by 1:00 okay so basically they passed each other in the driveway going out and so I basically just you know I already recorded Mr Vander Quist Mrs Vander Quist audio so Mrs Lawson was basically reacting to the playback of uh Mrs Vander Chris audio if you notice the opening scene you see Mrs Lawson count her back is to you you know off to the side but there's this door jam kind of blocking her face that's CU that was M that was a Mrs Lawson that was that was my play sister Penny she was on set and when I had um you know she basically I had her go down you know put put on the uh put on the uh costume and everything the the maage uniform and I have Mrs Vanquis start off with the drink and walk through so that's how I pulled that off so I always thought that was that was a a feat that worked out well thank you thank thank you thank thanks so much for sharing I think now it's time to move on to audience questions so does anyone have any questions for the filmmakers oh we have mics too there's a hand over here how would you compare experiences of Chinese Americans to imigrants from countries are you talking about now or in the past are you talking about present day or in the old days in the old days um I kind of look at it as what happened to the Chinese Americans is uh yet another example of people perpetrating evil on other people who are different from them and look different and talk differently and in a way they're similar and I and it's hard for me because I don't really consider myself Chinese American because I was born overseas and so I all I can say is um I think we're not one siiz at all and I don't think I should be talking about other people does it make sense yes is there another question this right hand right here H this one's for Miss Lillian Woo that was brilliant thank you so much for your film um my question is um how is the documentary process different from the animation process for you the animation process was almost it's quite solitary because you have to do everything yourself from you have to make measure it's we're talking about 50 years ago when you have to measure everything and set all the timing and then you have to do it and you have to do it when nobody else is using the camera and at that time at UCL there was only one camera in the animation room and it's when nobody's taking classes or filming things so you work at night like from 9:00 to 6 o' or some weird time and the uh and it takes forever uh the what was the other part oh the the documentary was fun because you get to go outside you have your crew and you work with you get to go places you do things and there's lots of stuff that didn't get in the film because after collecting all that sometimes the things you don't know what to do with them and we had to take a lot of field trips and go to parts of Gold Country and there was one time when I didn't know you couldn't move headstones and The Headstone was hard to film visually it was not interesting so I propped it up and the sheriff came with handcuffs and I kept telling the camera lady keep shooting forget pretend you don't know and then Pam says but we put them back and we got away with it things like that all right we have time for one more audience question there's a hand at the top Corner over here hello can you hear me yeah great so this question is actually for all the three filmmakers um so I want to know how does it make you feel to look back at the films that you filmed over several decades ago cuz I can't even look at the stuff I filmed like a year ago so I wonder how it makes you feel thank you so much I think mine is much too long well I had a chance to watch this uh many times with Norman and and and he loved it I mean he loved the film and I think he would be thrilled to see it restored thank you so much to the UCLA film and television archive for doing this I mean it's it's an incredible project I was so worried that this film might be lost it's 54 years old and uh really the work of the archive and uh Christina your dedication and sitting in the for weeks working on cleaning it filing you know frame by frame and and all of the other students uh Lily and um and gabs you you all worked really hard on it and I think maybe you spent more time restoring it than Norman did on shooting it for sure so um and it's incredible also to see uh young archists who are dedicated to this work and I think Norman would be he'd be 77 now and he'd be just so impressed to see the spirit and and that you young people understand how important it is to preserve it so thank you very much really really grateful for for the work of the arch I still cringe every now and then of course you know as you know artist and filmmaker of course you see all your mistakes you oh damn I should had this angle oh there's too much headro you know just different things like that uh I always feel that slap after breakfast I always feel the slap so I told her I told her I said you know no go and slap me because I've seen film you know you see films where you know they do the cut you know and you know it's fake I'm like I'm not going for that fake go and slap me and so that was actually the third take when she got me first she missed first she missed me completely then second take too she got my nose oh that that third take she knocked the out me God I said oh my God she hit me anyway uh so yeah that and um you know it's just it's just amazing too that uh I would not want to jump that fence today I would not want to do that I would not want to do that but uh believe me you know I mean you as as as you do work and you do more work and you look back it's the thing is know if your work you know stands up and still tells the story story that you're trying to tell it still says what you're going to say it still has an impact that you want to have you know then um I think you know you've done the job you needed to do thank you so much for joining us tonight and again for letting us have the opportunity to uh really live with your work um can we have a hand another hand for [Applause] them also if I I may say just Shameless Shameless self-promotion uh anyone want to see any of my other work my YouTube channel is torb 1958 t o RB 1958 just go to YouTube Type in torb 1958 there's a whole bunch of my stuff I've done over the years so thanks again appreciate you coming thank you thank you thank you