TRAGOS (2000) Antero Alli; the Making of

TRAGOS -- BACK STORIES

updated 7/25/09

The Dark Art of Writing

For me, the process of making a movie is a continual response to something I initially perceive and over time, become haunted and obsessed by. From these agitations there eventually emerges a redeeming compulsion to share that experience, with all its incumbent conflicts and releases, with the world; I feel saved when my vision reaches people (this idea is developed in my vision statement). For many years before actually writing and producing TRAGOS, I felt inundated by a series of harrowing perceptions of a cultural nightmare in western society:

the significantly diminishing capacity for direct experience in its people
from over-saturation of mass media technology and internet addiction.

As I began writing the screenplay in early 2000, George W. Bush announced his presidential campaign. I thought to myself: omigod, what if he wins ?! I decided to steep my story in a sociopolitical climate simulating what I imagined was George W.’s ideal world; not my world but his. The story took off and almost finished itself. And then, GW Bush was selected by the Supreme Court as president of the United States of America. OK, I thought, life mirrors art. And then the 9/11 terrorist attacks, “Homeland Security” legislations and all of a sudden (maybe not so suddenly) TRAGOS' futuristic noir vision is looking less like a movie and more like real life. And now in 2004, GWB is re-elected for a second term! The future I once imagined is now here and I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing yet.

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The Tangled Roots of Tragos

As with every feature project I take on, TRAGOS was made because I needed to immerse myself in a mystery, an archetype vibrating with numinous power and unfathomable origins. If I know too much, it's not worth doing. This spirit of discovery justifies the massive investment of time, energy, money and peace of mind it takes to finish such a project. With TRAGOS it was time to approach the mystery of of tragedy in general, and the scapegoat complex in particular. The very word “tragos”, an etymological root for tragedy, means “goatsong” -- hear the bleating goat approaching its imminent sacrifice -- and refers to those ancient pagan rituals where the goat-man-god was sacrificed to the earth- mother-goddess; the word, "satire" comes from satyr, the goat-man-god. Tragos also means “to drink” in Spanish.

Having experienced real tragedy firsthand (sudden death of my child, my mother's chronic schitzophrenia), I felt ready to write from somewhere real. What surprised me in the scripting process was how the comic elements unexpectedly surfaced alongside the tragic, as if they were only separated at birth. My planned scapegoat character was an unemployed actor impersonating a detective to land the lead role in a Woody Allen film. I say "planned" because the story itself had other goats in mind (see the movie). I was also struck by an unforeseen empathy I felt for the characters of the fundamentalist Christian attorney and his confidant, the Priest. This feeling created an valuable inhibition to the all-too-easy tendency to satirize their plights or make them look stupid. In looking back over my films to date, TRAGOS stands out as my favorite screenplay.

The "Tragos" VR Rituals

TRAGOS VR ritual #1 and TRAGOS VR ritual #2
TWO QUIKTIME CLIPS OF THE VR SEQUENCES

The group rituals in this movie’s Virtual Reality sequences developed over several months of intense group paratheatre experiments that were later married to the CGI work of FX artist, Michael McWhirter of Austin Texas. This group ritual technology has been in heavy development since 1977 when I first began it (for details -- no, we're not a cult -- visit www.paratheatrical.com). The cohesion of paratheatre techniques, principles and forms have been organized in my book, "Towards an Archeology of the Soul" (Vertical Pool Publishing, 2003).

The Set: Underground San Francisco 2012

Captain Slobodan Dan Paich and his magnificent Artship dream

The "underground San Francisco 2012" location where all the tribal VR rituals took place was set inside the cargo hull of a 500-foot former World War Two military hospital vessel (that transported the dead and wounded). A ghost ship. From 1999 through 2003, this massive vessel was reclaimed by Artship Foundation and its magnanimous director, Slobodan Dan Paich (who also plays the night watchman in Tragos), a great man guided by a great dream. While docked in the Port of Oakland, Paich and his resourceful crew of artists and helpers worked day and night to transform the war ship into a cultural center, a multi-tiered art gallery and theatre; hence, its rechristening, "Artship". Many memorable events occurred there, including the shooting of pivotal scenes for my 2003 dv-feature, "Under a Shipwrecked Moon". Unfortunately the Artship project collapsed by early 2004 due to a serious lack of matching community funds and the ship sailed to shores unknown. (click above images for details)

The Mellifluous Soundtrack

For me, the sounds and the music share equal importance to the image in the filmmaking process. Too many filmmakers ignore and/or abuse the audio tracks of their films. Long before I start shooting scenes I am listening to music -- all kinds of music -- to get a feel for what the emotional tone might be. Sometimes I will write an entire scene around a song or melody that had already been recorded by my partner in crime, Sylvi, or someone else (I prefer local music talent). With “Tragos” I was looking for a quality of inspired lament, which just happens to be one of Sylvi’s fortes. As with most of my film and theatre works since 1989, Sylvi has scored the lion’s share of the “Tragos” soundtrack with her beautiful vocals and utterly eloquent arrangements. Like all great music, hers bring my films to life.

Tech Specs

TRAGOS was shot on mini-DV and mastered onto DVCAM. The principal camera used was the Canon XL-1 (w. wide angle lens) with cutaways shot on its little brother, the Canon GL-1. All the footage (except the mediabytes and VR sequences) were desaturated 93% for a warm Black&White. I've been tinkering with this movie since its first cut in 2000 (final cut: 12/2004; 106:00). The editing occured on Final Cut Pro 2, 3 and 4. The final director's cut is 12 minutes shorter than the first cut and includes additional VR FX sequences by Michael McWhirter. The final cost of producing TRAGOS (including feeding everybody, paying principal actors, renting gear, editing, etc) was about $7000. Since its premiere in 2000, TRAGOS has screened for one-night stands in west coast arthouses (Seattle, Portland, SF) and is now available on DVD.

For future "TRAGOS" screenings, click this

If you have seen TRAGOS feel free to e-mail me your comments.

Antero Alli, writer/director
12/29/04, Berkeley

TRAGOS Cast & Crew
the credit list

BEYOND MIRAMAX
REASON MAGAZINE ON "TRAGOS"