Historical Story

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3j3VZNPVl2HcTV5N3dfQkpCb00/edit?usp=sharing

Artist Statement:

We told the amazing story of William “Buck” Holloway Joyner. The exact details of the event where not perfectly know. We did know that he cut an infection out of his leg, killed two guards and stole a plane to fly back to the American base.  We really wanted to humanize the opposing side (the Japanese) and fight against this stereotypical way of making them these heartless enemies. That is why we decided to follow Takeo a little bit in his home life and leave the decision of Buck’s reuniting with his family up to him. We really wanted some of the hero characteristics to reside with Takeo and not with Buck. We chose Takeo’s name, which means strong and good husband, to demonstrate that as well. We wanted Buck to be as true to his character as possible, and that character was not perfect.  We didn’t want him to be the stereotypical WWII idealized hero, we wanted him to have flaws (the drunkenness and the murder of two people) but have a true motivation for the escape (family). We didn’t want to take the flat “action film” approach to this story. We rather focus on the difficult and unique relationship that exists between a POW and the sincerely kind captor he has known for the past 8 months and the connection they have through fatherhood.

Reading Neufeld’s, “After the Deluge” it makes you realize the importance of stories and the power they hold in preserving the past so that it can be told to those in the future. The individual stories shared in the comic are stories that would have been shared to few people or left untold if they had not been adapted into some type of media and shared on the internet. As film makers we are foremost storytellers and sharing the past is a duty we have to our ancestors and to humanity in general. In our script we combine these two duties we have by sharing a story about April’s grandfather and like the stories in Neufeld’s comics we are preserving and sharing an isolated incident within a great event in our world’s history (or nation’s history). We also can better connect with April’s grandfather as well as the people in Louisiana allowing us to be more sympathetic to those times or that event which helps us learn from or be further moved by the actions that take place. Storytelling is history and as film makers we are in a great position to contribute to that.

  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHfr8nydUxE

This video is a video that was randomly found on youtube by the Joyner clan, and it features Buck Joyner. You first can see him at 1:26 on the left hand side. He is the shorter gentleman.  At 2:36 he is giving a speech and at 2:45 he looks right at the camera. Buck passed away in May of 2012 and was just recently buried in Arlington National Cemetery on February 3, 2013. Watching this was inspiration. It’s a living memory and portrayal of immortality for Buck.  Being able to picture him in your mind, his movements and the way he looks, really helps you along with character development.