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| Adrian, Otis and Loretta at Otis' 77th birthday party |
In preparation for Brian's visit, please watch the film he co-directed titled Scrappers, which he has has kindly uploaded to Vimeo for us for the next six days. Here's the password-protected link. The password is rybicky (all lower case).
Brian and his two co-directors were students when they started making Scrappers. Roger Ebert went on to name it one of his 10 favorite documentaries of 2010. You can read his review here, check out the film's sweetly-designed website (at least I think so) here, and read more about its successes here.
The directors of this film also make short documentaries for the popular Chicago-based website Gaper's Block. Feel free to check out some of that work here. Brian is also working on a web series for WTTW/PBS and will hopefully share a preview of that with us as well.
Although you're not required to comment this week, please watch the film and be prepared to ask Brian some questions when they visit on Thursday.
You are of course more than welcome to leave comments about the film. Just remember, if you're going to be critical, at least be constructive and respectful, as the filmmakers might read what you have to say. But comment away if you'd like. What did you think of the camerawork? You could also let us know what you want to ask Brian when you meet him.
Enjoy the film, comment if you'd like and see you Thursday!
This film explained a lot to me. Mostly it answered my question about why people drive around with a whole bunch of junk in the back of their trucks. Being a scrapper takes a lot of time, dedication, and muscle. I thought it was interesting how people would break things apart just to get whatever tiny piece of metal was inside. For example, whenever Otis would find a television, he always broke it open and snapped pieces off just to get to the tiny amount of copper wiring inside. It's such a small amount but I guess if you get a lot of it, it adds up. Also I thought it was a little wild that Otis was 73 and still active and lifting heavy objects to be scrapped. However the most interesting part I thought was when the president of the metal recycling company was interviewed. He had a lot to say. The amount of times per day he checks the price of every type of metal is astonishing. Specifically, he said he has a computer by his bed and wakes up "no less than 5-6 times in a night just to check the price of all scrap metals." That just seems insane to me but he has to run a business and he doesn't want to over pay the scrappers or else he'd be losing money. The scrappers themselves don't have great living situations. Otis lives in a senior home that has many problems from bug infestations and water leaks. Oscar has trouble finding work because he doesn't have any papers so he is forced to be a scrapper. It's a tough lifestyle. They get paid a few hundred dollars a day and have to pay for bills, gas, food, etc. Scrappers don't have it easy.
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