Land Ahoy Me Hearties!
The end is finally nigh (no we're not on the way out, we're coming in!). The last bunch of drawings are being completed by the ever-present, ever eager, John O' Leary. The last animation will tell the story of the final sinking of the U.S.S. Maine. Dynamite Johnny was the captain of that resurrected vessel, that boat that caused the Spanish American War. The first sinking of the Maine (yes it had a first) led to U.S. dominion extending over Guam, The Philippines, Puerto Rico and in many ways, Cuba (until Fidel and his compadres showed them who was boss).
Besides the remaining drawings, all that is left to do is the final sound mix and colour correction. A couple of weeks ago myself and the Bould Billy Kemp mixed the A Captain Unafraid soundtrack. You can hear or purchase a few of the tunes from it on the new spangling A Captain Unafraid website. The soundtrack will be released proper along with the film this summer, If you want to sport a dynamite Johnny t-shirt while you wait there's a few of them up for grabs on the site.
I put together a trailer for our film with Aodhagán our stalwart graphic designer. The idea being to whet the whistle for the main event, to have everyone wondering, "who is this Dynamite John!?"
A few weeks back I did a talk entitled "A Captain Unafraid, The Strange Adventures Of Charlie O' Brien." The talk told the story of myself, Johnny, and the film. Including both story and song, It took place at the Féile Comórtha 1916 in Kanturk, Co Cork.
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Spanish Gunboat
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Dynamite John, 1896
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The drawings in this mailing list tell the story of "The Battle of The San Juan River." The image below is of myself and Bill looking for said river. We're lost in a mangrove forest and I'm about to keel over from the heat and the fire the mozquitos had left on my legs, indeed, that's what I did do a couple of days later in Canada (keel over that is). Here's a blogpost which describes our wander in San Juan. There is a nice little tune myself and Bill wrote embedded in the post, for a more immersive experience click on that before ye read. The tune has the lofty title "The Blue Peaks Of The Trinidad Mountains!"
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We've a few festivals at which we are hoping to show the film at during the summer months. No confirmations yet, but all will be revealed if and when that happens. The second half of the year will be the one at which we get Dynamite Johnny's story out there. By hook or by crook I'll travel to the U.S. in the autumn/winter and give Johnny a good whirl round the dancehall that is the film festival circuit there. Once they don't throw me out said saloon before the show begins, I might even sing a few songs in Johnny's honour as I'm there.
beir bua,
Carlito OBregón
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