Michael Levy | Wednesday Blog by Seán Thomas Kane

Kansas City – Yesterday I posted an article on my upcoming film Plato: The Cave. I said in the article that “the dialogue is in Ancient Greek.” This had been the plan, however that plan has changed for a number of reasons.

Firstly, I have decided that the dialogue should be in English because of the intended audience. Considering that I’m looking at making this film for use by university philosophy departments rather than classics departments, it makes more sense to have the film available with English rather than Ancient Greek dialogue. Secondly, after publishing the aforementioned article, I figured out how to add subtitles to my films on YouTube. Therefore, I will be keeping the Ancient Greek dialogue, but it will appear as an option for subtitles on YouTube. The English dialogue that will be spoken is greatly influenced by the Ancient Greek. When I originally wrote the screenplay, I wrote the dialogue in Ancient Greek, using a Greek mentality rather than my native Anglophonic/Hiberniophonic one. In this way, the English dialogue, though in English, is a translation of what the Greek said and meant.

Plato: The Cave is set to begin filming on 29 July in Pike National Forest in Colorado, and will be released in October on the AFC YouTube Channel. For more information on the film, and to stay in touch with the process of its making, do subscribe to this blog, or like the AFC Facebook page. Tá.

Kansas City – With the London 2013 trip behind me, it’s time to start looking at the next big adventure. This time instead of travelling hours and hours to the east, I’ll be heading west, though not quite in the manner that Horace Greely intended. Next weekend I’ll be heading with a small cast of 3 friends out to Lost Valley Ranch, which is located in Pike National Forest in Colorado between Denver and Colorado Springs, to shoot a film.

This isn’t just any old film, mind you, rather it’s a rather odd sort of film. Firstly it’s a film about philosophy, and secondly the dialogue is in Ancient Greek. This is nothing less than my current project, Plato: The Cave (Platón: An tUaimh), which will be the first, as far as I know, live action retelling of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave from The Republic. This production features a small cast of three, a large budget in comparison to my prior $50 features, and exquisite music performed by Ancient Lyre player Michael Levy.

I first heard Michael’s music in 2010 on YouTube, when searching for a soundtrack for my first decently made film Athenodorus et Simulacrum. Keeping in mind his work, I made contact in April, when I was in the early stages of planning for The Cave. I met with Michael in Cardiff during my trip over there a few Fridays ago, where we agreed on a particular song of his and a price for it.

It should be noted that The Cave will be almost nothing like my last two films, The Artist’s Vision and The Widow. This new one will actually have dialogue, provided by good sound equipment, which I have been lacking in in the past. There will also be less reliance on music, I’m aiming to have only the one aforementioned track in the entire film. This film will be much more based upon the action on the screen and less so on the subconscious happenings surrounding said action. This is mostly because The Cave is meant to be an educational film, something that will tell the story that Plato told all those thousands of years ago in a less impressionist manner.

So, for now it’s a brief note about what is going on, and what is to come. The next couple weeks will be filled with planning for The Cave, and making a good slideshow of all the best memories from the Study Abroad trip, as required by Rockhurst’s Study Abroad Office, which I rather like the idea of, a fun assignment. Tá for now!