Production on 'the root of love'

In general, I thought that both the production aspect of the root of love and being on set went really well. I had never properly experienced being part of a production team before, and I ended up finding the role enjoyable, however sometimes it was a challenge as I'm not naturally one of the most organised people!

Before the shoot we had to think of how Megs idea was going to be possible. We managed to find some perfect costumes but props were harder to come by, especially if your trying to find a hotdog vendor. Thankfully we overcame this problem thanks to the last Minuit location change.

We origionally decided that filming in Silverburn shopping center would be the best plan as FUEL smoothies had already allowed us to use their shop, when they eventually replied to us saying we couldn't film there we were quite dissapointed, before visiting the Glasgow fort where there was a fruit stall and hotdog stand conveiniently facing eachother, proving that some dissapointments can occur for the better.

However, that wasn't our worst dissapointment. We had arranged to hold auditions for the parts of Clemintine and Ben. These auditions went really well and everyone we saw was really enthusiastic. I think, for me, this was my favorite part of the pre-production. When Meg decided to cast Michelle and Craig we were positive that it was the right decision. when Craig called the morning before the shoot to tell us he was unavailable to take part we all felt very let down. This was unprofessional, however it was good practice for us all for any time this happens on our own films.

Money wise, we really could have done with thinking through the budget a bit more. We managed to keep all the reciepts and didn't go over budget, bit we could have done with taking out Peru cash for anything extra we needed.

Our two days on the shoot went really smoothly, if not quite exhausting. The sun was shining and the atmosphere was pretty relaxed. Our new actor, jordan, managed really well considering it was so last minute. Everyone around us seemed interested and helpful - it was a great two days. Meg was happy with how everything went and she did a fantastic job.

Meg had also asked me to write a song for the film for when Clemintine is scaring the customers away and also to be edited into the end of the film. It wasn't exactly amazing or anything but it was silly and fun to make, and now I know that if this career path ever fails I could easily make a living writing advert jingles for innocent smoothies :)

Starsuckers

A while back we watched 'Starsuckers' in class, a documentry about how todays society is obsessed with the rich and famous. I was well aware of how the media can effect everyone before I watched this, however I still found myself being shocked by the extent in which people are obsessed with fame and also by some of the lies our society is told, which I'm sure we we were never supposed to find out..

I think the most shocking aspect of the film was finding out about Live Aid and where our money was actually going. The number of people in Africa who were helped was unclear and the project was in fact a way of moving mass amounts of people from one area to another. This is depressing, considering the large numbers of Brits donating money to what they thought was a good cause. However, Bob Geldof and the Live Aid team appeared to get away with the project by having a number of famous supporters (que Bonno) and a pretty african teenager in which they bravely 'saved'. At the time I was drawn to the romantic idea that if the whole world pulls together we could in fact have made poverty history, but after watching this I couldnt help but feel somewhat dissappointed. A part of me didnt want to know.

This poses another question: is there really such thing as a genuine good deed?

Take for instance Wesley Autrey, an average american man who just so happened to find himself in a peculiar situation when he, very bravley of course, saved another guy from being ran over by a train. Wesley now describes himself as a 'household name' and has appeared on shows such as Oprah. He loves the fame and I got the impression that now he has tasted it he wasn't willing to give it up. Im sure he wouldn't hesitate if someone offered him the chance of his very own Wesley show either.

We also follow the story of a little boy who is apparently going to be the next big thing... but I had never heard of him. I found his story really sad, as despite the fact he was doing what every little kid apparently wants - to be famous and loved - he appeared unhappy and also lonely with nobody around him of his own age. Almost too used to having everyone around him telling him he's a super star. When faced with crowds of people he was not phased or intimidated. He danced, they cheered, he left, like some performing monkey. Michael Jackson springs to mind..

Although I can safely say that my goal in life is not to 'just' be famous, I would be lying if I said that I didn't secretly enjoy a flip through the worst/best dressed list, or occasionally checking who is winning on the NME hotlist (don't get me started...). Do I want to be sucessful and respected? yes. Happy? Definatley.

Reflection

Quite recently we have just finished our block of writing classes with Richard. With him being away, writing has been something I have missed quite a bit and I really enjoyed getting my teeth into it again - writing has always been the direction I want to go. I was quite happy with my idea, however I found it quite stressfull re-drafting again and again. I've learnt that its all just part of the process and, being a bit of a perfectionist I enjoyed working on this. I found that sharing our ideas as a class was also useful as we could feedback to eachother. Everybodies ideas were all very interesting which made me look forward to shooting our end of year film as I would be equally as enthusiastic shooting any one of our scripts and not just my own.

After finding out that Harry and Meg's scripts were chosen I got a sense that the whole class were pretty pleased with the choice. I chose to work on production as a sort of challenge to get me to organise my self a bit more.

I'm also quite excited about the idea Dilara and I are working on with Adam. Not only is the idea of having online content really interesting, but we are also thinking of different ways to include music and interaction as well.

We also had a brief tutorial with Gavin about out edits. We worked on these a while ago and I remember being quite proud of it at the time, but having had little practice recently I've managed to forget quite a bit. The creative process of actually editing the footage is alright, but finding my way into the programme and saving projects seems to get a bit confusing still. This is nothing a bit of revision won't cure.

I've particularly enjoyed the last few screenings - I can't believe I hadn't seen Bonnie and Clyde before as it was definatly one of my favorite screenings. It's interesting to learn that different films in the 70's had changed how people of that generation thought whether it be in terms of race or gender or politics.

Shampoo

Shampoo is about a hairdresser George, who is somewhat of a free spirit- he does what he feels like, sleeps around with women and is generally unreliable.

The representation of women in the film is quite varied as at the start, most of the women are seen as weak. At the start, they appear to be just used by George and Lester and treated without respect, they never seem to stand up for themselves. However, at the end of the film both Jill and Jackie speak up, leaving George on his own.

There was a lot of humour in the film which is still relevant today. The jokes seem to be quite risky, mentioning homosexuality and sex was often openly discussed. This shows that during the 70s people were beginning to discuss certain issues which they may have not done before within film.

Also, Georges character often found himself in situations which were clearly wrong, like when he sleeps with both a woman and her daughter. This again shows that during this decade it was more acceptable to show films with imperfect characters.

I found the ending interesting when Geaoge watches Jackie drive away with her new husband. He is seen as weak and has paid for his actions, therefore having no one left.

Despite being made about 40 years ago, Shampoo was still enjoyable to watch today as audiences can relate to the characters as their situations are still relevant today.

Production

I found Abigails classes quite interesting, especially because we are about to produce our own short films soon. My organisational skills aren't exactly OCD standard but when it comes to producing a film which I'm passionate about then I think the whole process seems like it means something.

I wasn't so aware about the role of the producer until now. I knew roughtly that producers are in charge of making sure everything is runing smoothly but now I know that theres lots more organising involved. And lots more paper!

I've learned that as the role of a producer you have to manage and work closley with other people. Orginising meetings/locations/budget seems quite demanding proving the role to be somewhat challenging.

Call me weird, but I actually liked the task where i had to break down the sript. I think it must have been the highlighters. At this stage it is all about thinking practically about what is going to be shot and when. However, I thought the shooting schedal was quite tedious. It puts the whole idea for the film into perspective and I think learning this will make me think more about my writing - is having a girl hanging out a top-floor window really do-able?

I'm pretty bad at maths so I can't see myself working with the budgeting side of producing, however it is definatly something I'm starting to consider. I like the idea of finding the heart of the project and I think that producing could be a very rewarding job as you are managing to keep everything together and work hard on something through to the end.

Oliver Stone//Natural Born Killers

The last few weeks have been really quite busy for me what with outlines for Richard and Adam as well as other matters. Saying that, it has also been one of the most exciting. Oliver Stone was definatly a highlight.

Unfortunatly, I couldn't stay for the reception because I was seeing my mum straight after. A little bird told me there was an abundance of free champagne which may have gone down quite well..
Hearing Oliver Stone talk about his work was really inspiring. I loved how his main piece of advice was to never shut up as I feel like I've been told the opposite all the time. It was refreashing to hear from someone so sucessful, and yet still so encouraging of new film makers - saying how life experience will do you well. It was all very inspiring, although I was at first unnaware that there was going to be a ceremony at the beginning... for a minuit I thought I had walked into Hogwarts or something. It must have been the robes.

Instead of this, my mum and I went to see Ruby Wax.
It was an interesting show, and hilarious. I love how she is able to not take herself to seriously, especially when discussing her mental breakdown.



Aaanyway, I've only seen one of Oliver Stones films. I was encouraged to watch Natural Born Killers by most of my class. They had all raved about it and I knew it was Ada's all time favorite film.. and now I'm pretty sure it's one of mine as well!
You may not see me as a fan of violent films but theres something quite fascinating about a couple of murderers who are so ammune to killing other people. Emotionless... yet they feel so much love for eachother! Very Bonnie and Clyde-esque, which has become another of my recent favorites that we have watched in class. Theres something really sexy about just leaving anything behind and causing so much destruction in the process, and I love how this can re-occur as the heart of a film time and time again and still make some of the most facinating stories.

stagecoach

- Stagecoach has many elements of a typical western. The music creates suspense and there is a clear sense of the goodies vs the baddies. There are also many beautiful desert shots as well as many other long shots such as at the dinner table. However, the film has other elements which create much more depth.

- All the female characters are very strong. The men go out of their way to help them by moving chairs or serving dinner. This is a reversed role for a film made at this time. The ill woman (who is actually pregnant) faints, the two women pull together. The male characters at this point seem slightly useless, especially the doctor.

- There are also many characters to create humour, such as the alcoholic doctor, the useless driver and the etremely camp guy they call the reverend. This sucessfully balances out the tension in many scenes.

- Rings, who is described by all as imfamous, is the clear hero of the film. He is the rebel as well as the character who protects the others and keeps the peace. He is the voice of reason amoungst all the chaos.

- I found that the first act was over quite quickly, getting to the action quicker was probably the intent. However, I also noticed that the indians didnt appear until the very end. It was the fear of when they would arrive which made the film excitement and sucessfully built up tension.

- Being a western, Stagecoach deals with issues with race. The whole action surrounds the cowboys vs the indians - where the cowboys win despite being totall outnumberet at first. Also at one point one of the characters wifes was described as a `savage`.

- As well as action there are also touching and romantic scenes. One of my favorite moments was when Dallas was walking down a tunnel lit at the end when Ringo follows her. They bond over their tragic past and talk about the other womans baby, giving many levels to the character of ringo.

Stagecoach wouldnt be a typical western movie if it werent for its fantastic shoot-off. I found this was filmed very well and was clever as we dont actually see what has happened. We hear a bang, followed by the bad guy collapsing. We dont realise Ringo has won until the end which adds to his role as the ultimate hero.