Pennybacker’s most recent independent film is “2”, an experimental drama inspired by the hyper-realism of films by the late John Cassavetes and by legendary actor-director Alan Arkin’s improv workshop. Comprised of eight uninterrupted, real-time, 3-minute-long scenes, “2” stars Hawaii actors Lopaka Kapanui (The Red Hibiscus) and Donalyn DelaCruz (Cry for the Gods). All of the dialogue in the film was improvised by the actors, who developed their characters over a series of videotaped rehearsals. On the day of actual shooting, the actors were asked to act and react to one another “in the moment”, without the benefit of any pre-conceived plan of action or script.
The film was shot on the Sony Cine Alta High-Definition camera in 24p by Ken Libby, who was Pennybacker’s director of photography on Living Your Dying and The Red Hibiscus. Another experimental aspect of “2” is its soundtrack, which has been improvised live by jazz musicians during public screenings.
Alan Arkin saw the film and his response, via e-mail, was:
“Just saw the film, Robert, and was very impressed. It’s really
rough making a coherent film out of an improv, and you got a big hunk of
it. A lot of
it was memorable. Beautifully shot, you got relaxed and complex performances
out
of the actors and the choice of locations was terrific.” He went
on to say: “...it was better than most commercial films coming out
of our country these days, and I applaud your efforts. Keep it up!”
“2” will soon be submitted to film festivals across the country.
(To request a DVD of "The Red Hibiscus" or "2", e-mail Robert at rrp@hawaii.rr.com. To order a DVD or VHS of "Living Your Dying", log onto www.livingyourdying.com)
On the corporate marketing front, Pennybacker recently wrote, produced, and directed HMSA: A Circle of Healing, a 12-minute tribute film about real-life HMSA (Hawaii Medical Service Association) members who are successfully managing catastrophic illnesses with the help of their HMSA coverage and HMSA case managers. The film was shown at the 2004 Governor’s Ball/March of Dimes awards banquet, at which HMSA and its CEO Robert Haim were honored. It was shot by Ken Libby on his Sony Cine Alta High-Definition camera and edited by Daniel Bernardoni of DBBC. The project was produced through the Bright Light Marketing Group.
Robert has also completed a radio image campaign for the Hawaii-based engineering firm SSFM International—that company’s first foray into radio advertising.
In the local TV programming arena, Pennybacker had back-to-back successes
as the writer of TV biography IZ: The Man Behind The Music and the television
special on Honolulu Magazine’s 50 Greatest Hawaii Albums Of All Time,
both of which aired on KGMB (Hawaii’s CBS affiliate) in 2004. The two
television documentaries were produced and directed by one of Pennybacker’s
mentors—Phil Arnone—and were edited by Lawrence Pacheco. IZ:
The Man Behind The Music is now available in stores on DVD (distributed by The
Mountain Apple Company).
