Film Education - PERSONA

So, as part of my No MFA program, I’m doing something film schools everywhere do – pumping my student (aka, me) full of a lot of ‘great, game-changing’ movies. My Netflix queue is now a mile long, filled with movies I’ve been told I need to see for my ‘film education.’ Today’s flick: Ingmar Bergmann’s horror classic, Persona.

The fact that I just finished watching it an hour ago, have already read about four online analyses of it, and am now rushing to do this blog post (when I haven’t posted on other movies I’ve watched), should give you an idea of the effect it had on me.

It’s not that I completely loved the movie.

It’s that I was completely, thoroughly disturbed by it.

Also, it’s that I disagree with a lot of the interpretations I’ve read online. Granted, it’s very complex and touches on a lot of themes, and any number of interpretations could be valid. But everything I was reading seemed to agree on two things that I completely disagreed with, so I have to state my point of view.

Before getting into that, though, let me give you the basic premise of the film… a renowned actress, Elisabet, suddenly goes mute. Whether this is by choice or a true affliction is up for debate. For her treatment, a doctor recommends that Alma, her nurse, takes her to a beachside home where the two of them will stay alone together for a period of time. Throughout the film, the nurse basically winds up losing her marbles, eventually begging the patient to speak with her.

The first thing that most all viewers seem to feel which I completely disagree with is that Elisabet is cruel. One psychoanalysis online even went so far as to say she’s incapable of caring for anyone but herself and rejuvenated only through others’ suffering. She will not acknowledge Alma as a human being.

But I completely disagree. At the start of the film, we see Elisabet’s desperation. She cries both when she is alone and when she sees a monk burn himself in protest on the news. She’s also afraid. During one super-uncomfortable, looooong stretch, she stares directly into our eyes, pleading with us silently to help her. (I had to fast-forward it, it was so unnerving. I also had to fast-forward two other scenes that included disturbing imagery, one of which is only thirty seconds into the movie; it may be the first time I was ever so uncomfortable with a film that I had to fast forward.)

True, Elisabet seems to recover bit by bit at the beach… but the root of her problem, as stated by her doctor, is that she’s realized nothing she can do or say can capture the truth of life; it is all pretend. Therefore, she decides to do and say nothing. I didn’t think she was trying to be cruel to Alma. I just felt that not even Alma’s pleas seemed sincere or genuine - that nothing anyone could say seemed real to Elisabet. Most people online also feel that Elisabet's profession as an actress shows her narcissism - I just felt it reinforced this idea of everything being make-believe.

The second thing that everyone but me seems to agree on is that Alma’s big speech at the end is truly revealing Elisabet’s past and not Alma’s. (By extension, everyone seems to believe that these are two separate women.) I’m not convinced that either of these is true.

First, Alma had no way of knowing all the things she claims are Elisabet’s history. Elisabet hasn’t told her and, even though Elisabet’s husband shows up briefly (and sleeps with Alma, believing her to be his wife,) I don’t think he’s shared (or could possibly have known) all the details Alma goes into, either. Furthermore, I think it entirely possible that these two women are supposed to be the same woman, stuck in an internal war with guilt and the struggle to understand life.

At any rate, it is brilliant film-making, and, according to what I read, this film includes the first-ever instance of the awesome face-merge shot in cinema:

TADA! This is two women in one.

It was beneficial to watch and I have a feeling it will have me thinking for quite a while… but, if you rent it, be warned: by the time I got through it, my first thought was: “Thank God, I survived it.” I was completely relieved it was done.

The Fine Art of Revision

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… revision has never been my strong suit. In fact, I’ve never really revised. Sure, I’ve read through the first draft, maybe changing commas and a couple of lines, but never got into the deep, intensive work that is true revision - which is why I finally justified forking over some cash to take a screenplay revision course at Columbia University.

Granted, the course was pricey… pricier than I would have liked. (Since I haven’t been billed yet and might possibly get a small discount, I haven’t yet posted the final charge in my expenses section!) I entered thinking there was nothing I could get from 6 weeks that would actually justify the cost, and telling myself that I was doing it more to report back to all of you on my experience… what surprised and delighted me, though, is that I found the course to be absolutely worth it.

This super-intensive workshop required a total reworking of an already finished screenplay.  I speak for everyone in the class when I say we started off feeling like:

And ended feeling like:

Everybody loved it: but the intense rewrites, workshops, and massive amounts of required reading left everyone exhausted and dazed by the last class (yesterday).

I brought Left, a feature-length dramatic script I wrote in grad school, to work on. It won Emerson’s Evvy Award back in 2005 and, in true go-getter fashion, I hadn’t touched it since. I never imagined how much richer the script could become since, having the award in hand, I already considered it to be pretty great. My eyes have been opened.

The professor for this course, Jessie Keyt, was amazing (you can check out her credentials here, just scroll down to her name), but what really put this workshop over-the-top was the other students. Two of them already have financing for their films, and they all have background with filmmaking and writing. Their input and advice on everything from character to structure were invaluable.

The best technique I picked up from this class, though, is to start your revisions with your outlines. Not all screenwriters start to write from an outline (although they probably should) but whether you start with one or not, make sure you have one after your first draft is done. Then, after a re-read of the script, look to the outline to start adding in what you felt the script lacked. Start your rewrite by rewriting your outline – then follow it when you go back into your script. Trust me, this is a billion times easier, both practically and psychologically, then starting a revision/rewrite in the script itself.

After this incredibly exhausting adventure, my big plan is to take two weeks off from Left. Then, I’ll go in for another rewrite (having just done a rewrite throughout the six week course), which I then am so lucky to be able to send to the professor and the other students from this class to get their feedback once more. I’m determined to whip it into way-better-than-average submission shape before the year is out.

As an aside, I was able to speak with the professor on the pros and cons of going all-in on MFA programs, and she was actually the first to say not to do it unless you have a fellowship to pay for it.

If instead you put up the full MFA program amount, you could wind up feeling like this:

My First Paid Film Job!

(Assuming you don’t count script-writing gigs I’ve have in the past!)

Last Saturday I had my first official paid film job, which was set up through the DFA. It wasn’t on a film set, but actually at a silent film screening downtown. The two films that were shown were the drama Battleship Potemkin and the comedy The General. I was very impressed by both, devastated and delighted, respectively:

                                                               Buster Keaton = Hilarious

                                                       Battleship Potemkin = My soul is crying

I forget who it was that said it, but in a documentary I saw, someone said if sound had come into movies just a few years later, there would have been far greater breakthroughs in cinematography. I’m inclined to agree, since relying only on image, these silent films have done amazing things.

Basically, my job consisted of shooting b-roll footage – outside the theater, people arriving, ushers taking tickets, popcorn popping, etc. – and then filming the Q&As after each film was shown. I was at the theater for about five hours but, given that I watched the movies, I really filmed for about two hours out of the five, making my three-figure salary not too shabby. I loved getting the freedom to wander around and shoot things that I found interesting, and to brainstorm what might be useful to the editors for the final promotional video.

But it wasn’t all popcorn and fun.

I couldn’t use a tripod, which meant using a shoulder mount to film. A shoulder mount is a device that balances the camera on your shoulder. There are handlebars in the front for you to keep it steady.

By the end of the day, my shoulder felt absolutely destroyed. It’s no mystery why you usually see big guys doing these kinds of jobs, instead of, well – me. Walking around with the camera and being able to shift it when I needed to wasn’t so bad – but filming the Q&As, both of which were almost 40 minutes, was excruciating. Sitting in one of the audience seats, toward the front, I had to remain perfectly still and balanced for the entire stretch of time. Additionally, things moved along quickly – Q&As would start before the lights even fully went up. There was no time to figure out a solution for balancing the camera on a chair or armrest before things were underway and the camera had to remain still for the rest of the shot.

If I were to have another job like this in the future, I’d insist on having something to balance the camera on besides myself. But, all in all, this was a great experience, and it felt good to be working and making contacts in the film world.

And, even though my camera apparently grazed right over him as I was taking shots of the crowd (he was in sunglasses and a hat, after all!), Matt Damon was there.

                                                                He was not posing like this.

Random Updates...

It’s been a few weeks, so I just wanted to catch you all up on a few random things that have been going on.

For starters, I got a new computer! Not just any computer – directly from the DFA and fully loaded with all the necessary filmmaker software. I got a good deal since it’s used, but it’s in great shape. Now I can do editing and make DVDs from home, instead of having to go back and forth from the school, which is a big time saver.

I will be at the school tomorrow, though, to pick up some film equipment – for my FIRST EVER PAID FILM JOB! Yep. New York’s QUAD Cinema is holding silent film screenings tonight and tomorrow, and I’m going to be filming the crowd and the Q&A sessions after tomorrow’s event. What with the recent success of The Artist, they felt it was time to have a film-school-esque discussion on silent films!

For more info:

http://www.tribecafilm.com/news-features/Quad_Classics_May_2012.html#.T77G8O1Qbk5

The other cameraman you’ll see there, if you go, is another member of my former DFA class. DFA truly doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to helping their students find work! This is actually the second job they’ve put me up for. The first I actually turned down since it was mostly a receptionist job, but it was with a DVD company and a legit, full-time, benefits-and-all position – not bad.

If you’re wondering how I plan to feed myself in the future (aside from obviously hoping to get more film and writing gigs) my craziest piece of news is that my mother and I pooled our funds this month and went in together to buy the pet care business (Tails Around Town) she’s been working for for the past three years. The original owner recently had twins and was looking to get out. Random though it may seem, I’m thrilled with the decision. This business basically equals a very flexible part-time job for me, which is perfect for balancing with my more creative endeavors. I’ll be doing mostly invoicing and other administrative tasks from NYC, as the business is actually run on Philadelphia’s Mainline – but I will occasionally be making the journey to do some pet visits and overnights myself.

For more info on us, you can visit the below website… we haven’t updated the owner info on there yet, but you get the idea.

http://www.mainlinedogwalking.com/

Definitely thinking of adding a pet video section to the website. :)

My final bit of random news is that last Sunday The Philadelphia Inquirer ran an article I wrote about our wedding in India in their Travel Section! I made a little bit of money off of it, and it’s another publication to add to the resume, so I'm pretty happy.

I’ll be back soon with details on how tomorrow’s filming goes!

Universal Thumbs Down: DVD Seminar Review

If you’re like me and trying to get an education on your own, you might find yourself on Netflix, searching ‘filmmaking’ to see if there are any seminars or DVD courses to help you out. The #1 choice that will come up is John Russo’s Filmmaking Seminar.

I was really excited to get this DVD, since this is one of the guys who did Night of the Living Dead and the description claimed it would teach the viewer all about independent horror filmmaking (my favorite genre). Also, it lists this DVD as being from 2008. All I can figure is that this was the year when it was transferred onto a DVD, since the actual copyright you’ll see on the video is 1993, and it really looks like it was shot in the ‘80s. (Mullets ahoy.)

My advice to you is that this particular seminar is not worth the four and a half hours you’ll need to watch it. (Granted, I still have about an hour to go, but I predict the last hour won’t be much more thrilling than the first three and a half.)

Not that it was a complete waste of time. Hearing filmmakers talk about making their first films is inspiring, and I have picked up a few tips about film law and marketing – although nothing too distant from what I knew already. Here are my main grievances with this DVD:

1. Like I said, it’s from 1993 even if they say 2008, and it mainly focuses on making movies to sell directly into rental stores, which nowadays are pretty much obsolete.

2. For a video-turned-DVD that’s all about the art of filmmaking, I have to say: it looks HORRIBLE. Aside from looking as though it was filmed in your mom’s basement, with the door to the laundry room left ajar just behind the speakers (or a room full of random debris at best), I’m about 90% sure that the speakers were filmed on one day and that all the footage of an audience watching and reacting to them was filmed separately. The shots of the audience are never positioned so that you see the speakers and audience at the same time. The audience is also sitting in a white room with film equipment and harsh overhead lighting, while the speakers are in front of a dark brown wall with soft lighting.

3. OK, camera angles: if you’re going to have your speakers sit just in front of the open door to your mom’s laundry room, just angle the camera so you can’t see the sliver of the open room on the left-hand side of your frame.

4. For all the horny guys out there, the makeup and special effects speaker brings up a fake latex torso of a naked woman and keeps it on ‘stage’ as he speaks… to his credit, it’s super life-like… against his credit, you don’t really learn how to make anything like it for your own special effects purposes, and it really annoyed me, just because I thought it was so gimmicky and unnecessary to have a pair of boobs next to him on the table.

5. Finally, the word boring is taken to new heights. I know it’s just a filmed seminar/panel, but there’s gotta be some way to jazz it up. Even a laundry room fire could only help.

Anyway, I didn’t mean to rant about this so much, but it really is a disappointment. Does anyone out there know of a quality filmmaking course available on DVD? Particularly if it’s more modern and talks about digital filmmaking?

If not, maybe the time has come to make one!

Film Fests and Script Supervising

The last week has been a bit of a whirlwind, but well worth it.

For starters, I did get my submission off to the Williamsburg Film Festival in time… fingers crossed, they post their film lineup in August.

I’m going to keep on with submissions, and my next stop is the Stony Brook Film Festival… this one’s actually free to submit to, so there’s no reason not to give it a shot. It’s due by May 1^st, so I plan on shipping out my entry by tomorrow.

Submitting to Williamsburg was $30, which I’m not including in my tally of how much I’m spending vs. what I would have spent for an MFA since, well… that $100k MFA wouldn’t have covered the cost of submitting to film festivals anyway!

In further news, I wound up taking the DFA’s two-day Script Supervisor course as my free class for having won the Director’s Choice Award. All I can say is that script supervising might be the hardest job in the filmmaking industry (an industry in which each job I’m exposed to seems harder than the last!)

Basically, the script supervisor is responsible for continuity in the film. You’ve probably all seen movies where one moment something’s there and the next it’s not, and you realize it’s a mistake? For instance, we watched a clip from Devil Wears Prada, and noticed that during the scene where Andy has dinner with her father, he actually takes his glasses off three times – in a row. They keep magically appearing back on his face. A script supervisor should prevent this from happening.

Sounds simple, right? Wrong. A script supervisor needs to literally be able to watch a scene with any number of people and report on every detail of that scene, while doing five other things simultaneously and giving instructions to all other departments on how to keep things consistent in terms of lighting, clothing, makeup, you name it.

We were given an exercise in which three people were passing around drinks and cigarettes in a scene – and, as there’s only ever one script supervisor on a film, that means one pair of eyes needing to note exactly when each of those characters sips, puffs, passes, and exactly how they’re holding themselves while they do it. Meanwhile, the script supervisor’s also lining the script according to who the camera is facing, timing the scene, and filling out reports on each take.

If you’re not getting a sense of how impossible a job this is, I suggest trying it by having some friends read a one page scene, just once, while you do the above. See how much you catch. (Was her coffee cup facing forward or back? How far down was the cigarette burned? What word did he lift his arm on? Did she step into her jeans with her right foot or her left?)

I have a new-found respect for script supervisors, and for our amazing teacher, who is actually the head of the board of script supervisors here in NYC. I seemed to have a knack for it, so she said she’s keeping me in mind for the future… although, truthfully, it’s a career that might just be too difficult to pursue!

If you’ve ever considered it, though, know that script supervisors make good money – over $1,000 a day.

And one final note on this: even without any plans to become a script supervisor, this course is valuable. Particularly for directors and actors, who might not give any thought to how things need to be done the same way, take for take, so that it doesn’t wind up being a mess when edited together. Having taken this course, I have new skills to take to my next shoot.

Free Classes

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