Book your 2011 film date now and book your digital or Super 8 film shoot today. A film shot by David Kabler and Illumination Films will richly document your cherished memories or promote your business. Call (828) 337-5792 for more information and to schedule your date.

Producer and cinematographer David Kabler is proud to announce the completion of principal photography on Chris Bower’s We Won’t Bow Down. This incredible documentary explores the lives of the Black Indians of New Orleans.

One of the oldest cultures in the US, the history of the Mardi Gras Indian dates back to the 18th century, when African slaves would escape into the swamps surrounding New Orleans. Native American tribes like the Choctaw, Seminole and Chickasaw tribes also lived in these areas. Bound together by a shared history of slavery and exploitation, these groups forged relationships and found they had similar customs, music and dance.

After Abolition, these former slaves would honor the tribes who helped them through the tyranny of slavery by incorporating Native American themes and influences into their African rituals, songs and traditions.  They continued to express this culture by “masking” as Indians during Mardi Gras celebrations, with elaborate headdresses and intricately beaded costumes (called “suits”).  By combining the cultures of two oppressed peoples, the Black Indians created true resistance through art.

We Won’t Bow Down is currently in post production.

Super 8 illuminates your precious memories forever! Call now to reserve your wedding date! (828) 337-5792

At Illumination Films we draw from our experience of feature narrative and documentary film making to create artistic and effective web videos for each of our unique clients. We specialize in working with you to create a web video that creatively, and professionally, communicates your vision to your clientele. Illumination Films has a web video solution for every budget.  Call us today to begin preproduction and planning on your digital film project: David Kabler (828) 337- 5792

The archival quality of an Illumination Super 8 film guarantees that it will become a treasured family heirloom.

One of the main reasons to film or photograph family portraits is so that we can pass this documentation on to future generations; children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. With the advent of digital photos and video families have an increased risk of losing valuable family memories. The Library Of Congress will not accept any digital format for storage in their  archives. It is widely understood that the average shelf life for a DVD that has been properly stored is only 15 years. In other words a carefully stored disc that is never even played can only be counted on to last for a relatively short time in a families history. In addition, computer hard drives can be expected to crash every 2 years or so, losing valuable data. However, the Library Of Congress will accept analog formats such as professionally processed photographs and films. Recently, my family digitized several rolls of 8mm film of our Grandparents that was over 75 years old with no problems. Afterwards, we put the film carefully back in the box and in the closet for another 75 years. The average life of carefully stored film is 100 years or more. In short, an Illumination Film, shot in Super 8, will become a treasured family heirloom.

The word archival literally means:

ar·chi·val (är-kī’vəl)

adj.   Of, relating to, kept in, or suitable for archives: “An archival material should have a neutral or slightly alkaline pH; it should also . . . have good aging properties” 

(Sounds like Super 8!)

The Illumination Film Studio is located at The Wedge building in the River Arts District; Asheville, NC. One of my favorite things to do is pack the camera bag and walk the tracks visiting abandoned buildings and working artist studios. I find this area of town to be one of the most visually stimulating areas in Asheville. I hope you enjoy this most recent Illumination Super 8 film. To view this on high resolution DVD please contact david@illumination-films.com.

Illumination Films, owned by Producer, Director & Cinematographer David Kabler, captures the spirit of your business. Creating warm and rich portraits is what David does best. When you commission an Illumination Film you know that your project will be carefully shot and edited into a beautiful film that will last a lifetime. Please call David to schedule your shoot: (828) 337-5792

Director & Producer, David Kabler, On the set of his feature film, Wanderlost.

Welcome to the Illumination Films blog site. I am very thankful that you are here. For me to arrive in this place has been the most incredible adventure. A journey that is woven through the fabric of 3 feature films. An odyssey that has been the fulfillment of childhood fantasy. Over the next several posts I will tell this tale.

I remember running through the forest to build another fort that made up our boyhood paradise. In my hands I clutched one of the myriad spaceships that I had built using plastic bits of old toys and balsa wood. Nestled inside this interstellar craft was one of the dolls that I had made to passenger aboard this flight. Dalton was there. He was about 4 years older than myself and full of magical ideas. In his hands he clutched his Balsa rocket and handmade doll. His were so skillfully designed that they made my interstellar craft and passenger seem not so important after all.

Today he had a new set of words and concepts for my young mind to savor. His new plan was for us to use a movie camera to produce a stop motion film. I was full of ideas as to what we could do and I spent hours sketching scenes, characters, and plotting action. As weeks turned into months I kept wondering when we would start to make our film. The camera looked awesome and we spent our time building models and dreaming about making the movie. As fate would have it there was one catch: Dalton’s Super 8mm camera had been salvaged out of the trash and didn’t even work. This one little detail ended my childhood film making career and I went back to playing with my ultra cool handmade toys. I didn’t think about making films again until seeing Star Wars for the first time.

More coming soon.