As per the filming, the edit is slow. I am concerned about my resistance myself. Have I lost interest in this project?! Perhaps it is struggling to fit in along side all the other elements that are going on in my life right now. It is a frustration but I will see it through...
This morning, whilst thinking about this, I realised that it is perhaps my experimental approach to this film that is holding me up. I am considering every element, it is a process of reflection and ponderance. This is a luxury that I sometimes cannot afford with my filmmaking. I feel that I have developed my skills and instincts by learning these skills by rote. A militaristic commitment to improvement, as opposed to a reflective more rounded one. Even in the past my filmmaking was about challenging the things I read in books and putting it into practise, but now I think I am more conscious of this subversion, and where it could take me...
Tuesday 30 June 2009
Monday 22 June 2009
Editing
I have finally dragged myself to the computer to do some editing and I am quite happy that it is coming together. Each cut that I do comes with an element of surprise, as if I never realised I could do these things intuitively as opposed to an organised regimented fashion. Of course, this is rubbish, as I have made documentaries for years which didn't have the element of control. But I am nevertheless happy.
It will be short. I can see that now. But I'm not too bothered as I am happy to be experimenting in my field. So far I have 15 minutes down. I think it will end up around 50 minutes long - bang slap in 'middle of nowhere' festival blackspot. But I think that it will work when projected up onto surfaces in cities. Who will stand for twice that length? Either way, that length will be more than enough when it comes to experimenting with the sound, which is going to be the biggest post job I have ever encountered.
On a different note, I have been thinking lots about Roger Corman lately. I want to contact him to say what a massive influence he has been to me, yet I have never acknowledged it anywhere. Credit where credit is due and all that...
It will be short. I can see that now. But I'm not too bothered as I am happy to be experimenting in my field. So far I have 15 minutes down. I think it will end up around 50 minutes long - bang slap in 'middle of nowhere' festival blackspot. But I think that it will work when projected up onto surfaces in cities. Who will stand for twice that length? Either way, that length will be more than enough when it comes to experimenting with the sound, which is going to be the biggest post job I have ever encountered.
On a different note, I have been thinking lots about Roger Corman lately. I want to contact him to say what a massive influence he has been to me, yet I have never acknowledged it anywhere. Credit where credit is due and all that...
Saturday 20 June 2009
Wednesday 17 June 2009
Finishing up the shoot
Last Friday John and I finished up all the sequences that involved Eeva. It was a great time, just whizzing through the last little sequences, six months after we shot the first ones!!! Eeva then flew immediately back to Finland, where she started her new job on the Monday morning. Thank you so much Eeva for your help and we'll miss you! I still have a couple of shots to pick up of the empty city at night and at dawn, so it is not officially a wrap.
On a different note, I went with John to the Strongroom Studios to audition people for his new film. It was great to see another filmmaker at work in the casting process. It was fascinating how he discussed the ambiguity that he enjoys creating as a filmmaker. I thought back through Rosie, and realise that this is not an element that I have adopted myself, preferring instead to direct a story for the audience, albeit with an ambiguous ending.
I guess that whilst I was inspired by John's approach that we discussed in the Symposium in November, we are and always will be, very different filmmakers. Thankfully, there is room in this world for both of us.
On a different note, I went with John to the Strongroom Studios to audition people for his new film. It was great to see another filmmaker at work in the casting process. It was fascinating how he discussed the ambiguity that he enjoys creating as a filmmaker. I thought back through Rosie, and realise that this is not an element that I have adopted myself, preferring instead to direct a story for the audience, albeit with an ambiguous ending.
I guess that whilst I was inspired by John's approach that we discussed in the Symposium in November, we are and always will be, very different filmmakers. Thankfully, there is room in this world for both of us.
Wednesday 10 June 2009
Exteriors....
Because of the limitations of filming in the day on Friday, when it is essentially a night sequence, we filmed a couple of pickups tonight that will cut into the film. Both sequence were tea breaks in the story, but one was shot at dusk (which will double for dawn in the morning) and the other was a night shot. Hopefully, once cut in, no-one will be any the wiser...
It was just me and Eeva tonight* as it was two simple set-ups. I get paranoid that my shots aren't as good as the work that John does. Then I ignore it and do the best I can!!!
*Thanks Tess for taking the pics!
Tuesday 9 June 2009
The end (of filming) is in sight...
It is only when reading over this blog that I realise that half of the year has escaped, and it is already June. And almost half way through June also. I returned from NYC to the usual pile of post and email that kept my mind from the Rosie project. But now I have the end in sight. Eeva and I will film some tomorrow night, and then finish off with John on Friday. That will be all the shooting DONE! I am relieved and nervous, as I am not entirely sure that I have everything I need to make it cohesive. I am perhaps 90% sure, but without my usual mechanisms, of a script and a schedule, I cannot be wholly convinced.
I was chatting to Nerina Villa about her documentary short that she is doing for Screen West Midlands and discussing the approaches to editing. She already has a start on hers, despite not concluding the interviews, so that she knows what to collect. I wonder whether I would've liked to do this with Rosie, but figured that I haven't because I didn't want to. I described it once to John like putting together the pieces of the puzzle in post. And once a story is made from the images I have available, I will start on the sound. There is no sync audio on the footage, so everything sonically will have to be placed there. Building a picture, building a soundtrack...
On a different note, I took part in El Mas Santo recently. Another person who is doing what they love for the sake of it. I had such fun...
I was chatting to Nerina Villa about her documentary short that she is doing for Screen West Midlands and discussing the approaches to editing. She already has a start on hers, despite not concluding the interviews, so that she knows what to collect. I wonder whether I would've liked to do this with Rosie, but figured that I haven't because I didn't want to. I described it once to John like putting together the pieces of the puzzle in post. And once a story is made from the images I have available, I will start on the sound. There is no sync audio on the footage, so everything sonically will have to be placed there. Building a picture, building a soundtrack...
On a different note, I took part in El Mas Santo recently. Another person who is doing what they love for the sake of it. I had such fun...
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