So we've been asked to do a wrap-up post of sorts to conjure up our thoughts on last week's screening. A lot of what was asked for I posted in the previous post anyhow - but there are a couple of points I'll address separately so that all bases are covered.
Seeing my group's documentary up on the big screen was both terrifying and exhiliararating. Everything looks different when you're in a cinema-type setting and not just viewing a timeline on final cut through a TV monitor. It's a completely encapsulating experience. All the flaws of our work were magnified for all and any to see - and all the beauty we marveled at in the beginning radiated tenfold. It really was quite an overwhelming experience, especially considering the depth of my involvement with this project. Hearing Rachel and other members of the audience roar with laughter at Amazon's jokes made me feel completely.. accomplished I guess. Just like the moments of candour when he spoke about getting beaten up in and out of home for choosing to dress in drag. And the way a wave of awe swept over the audience when they saw Amazon as a finished product just blew me away. To be able to elicit those kinds of feelings - to have achieved our aim in terms of creating this project - made everything so incredibly real.
From its inception, to its initial stages of production, to the editing, fine cutting ,fine tuning, peer assessments, etc - I can honestly say that I've made something that I am proud of, in spite of its imperfections. Maybe it was kinda raw, and sorta rough around the edges, but it spoke to people. It brought to the fore a side os society and the human condition that does not get explored everyday. It uncovered the individual story of one person whose charms were both majestic and engaging... and it will not be forgotten.
Of course, we need to go through *once again* and fix up the sound.. this time it was too soft.. God only knows how that keeps going awry...And that little blip od blackness I swear I saw before one of the photo clips. I'd also like to do a proper DVD set for it. Maybe go through and re-do the first cut away. If it were possible it'd be great to have filmed Amazon doing a live show ourselves... Aside from that, everything else I was pretty happy with.
There were a couple of other group's docos that just left me spellbound. "The valley", "Mirrors with Memory" and "A Darker Shade of Night" spring to mind... The former, for its evocative and clever structuring, not to mention completely masterful infusion of archival footage.. I can't imagine how long it must have taken to go through it all and produce such a fine result. "Mirrors with Memory" was just funny and compelling through its richness of character... I loved the absence of English, and the whole 'lost in translation' feel it carried with it. Not to mention the gorgeous, picturesque cinematography. "A Darker Shade of Night" didn't really do it for me at the beginning, but the way it was shot and edited just eked with beauty. It was smooth and sensual, and though it did not conform to strict documentary-style conventions, it was somewhat uplifting. "Asian Beauty Pageant" and "The Gift" deserve honourable mentions.. for their completely candid humour if nothing else. I really liked opening sequence of the former. Was not one bit amateurish and made me both proud of my peers and honoured to have had the chance to work with them a second time 'round. I am going to miss them next year.
And so it seems I've arrived here once more: the bitter-sweet end of a long, trying, draining - yet intrinisically rewarding, and uplifting - road.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Friday, November 2, 2007
TV2: So long, and thanks for all the shoes
Well, last night really capped off what has undoubtedly been one hell of a semester.
As stated in my previous posts, I have had the time of my life putting together this documentary, and I think the quality of the work reflected the deep level of engagement myself and my group memebers had in this process.
It was also heartening to see so much fantastic work, and to have the fruits of a laborious semester amount to something. It is quite astonishing, the far greater levels of skill as filmmakers we have acquired since last semester. So many docos stood out for me last night, far more than the dramas. Yeah, they all had their little flaws (OMG I'm positive I saw a flash of black in ours, and the sound was TOO SOFT - why oh why?!?!?!), but they took me to places that 9/10 dramas could not - i.e., they actually made me think.
Working with this medium has been so richly rewarding, and I'm not sure if that's because I have always had a marked partiality towards it or because my experience in TV1 was so dramatically different (read: negative). I don't think the two semesters could have been any more opposite in my mind... I literally never even saw the final version of 'Potato Cakes' before it was screened, and could not have cared less if someone had blown up the harddrive and erased everything. With Amazon, however, I was only ever more than willing to spend as much time as needed to make it as polished as possible.
To some extent I had no choice in the matter (that is, with my level of responsibility), but the fact is I genuinely enjoyed every minute of it. And that counts for a lot. As imperfect and rough around the edges as our documentary may be, it connected with people, and gave me the opportunity to do something beautiful for a good friend of mine, who has only been too supportive of the project as a whole.
This is quite possibly the end of the road for me as far as production projects go. For a little while, at least. I have Honours to think about now, and at this stage I am looking at doing a thesis instead of a production project. I have to say, though, that it was good to go out with a bang - and even if I'm not working on something of my own next year, I have big plans to hijack as many gigs as possible... as long as I can pluck up the courage to take on more technical roles, but you never know. Stranger things have happened.
As stated in my previous posts, I have had the time of my life putting together this documentary, and I think the quality of the work reflected the deep level of engagement myself and my group memebers had in this process.
It was also heartening to see so much fantastic work, and to have the fruits of a laborious semester amount to something. It is quite astonishing, the far greater levels of skill as filmmakers we have acquired since last semester. So many docos stood out for me last night, far more than the dramas. Yeah, they all had their little flaws (OMG I'm positive I saw a flash of black in ours, and the sound was TOO SOFT - why oh why?!?!?!), but they took me to places that 9/10 dramas could not - i.e., they actually made me think.
Working with this medium has been so richly rewarding, and I'm not sure if that's because I have always had a marked partiality towards it or because my experience in TV1 was so dramatically different (read: negative). I don't think the two semesters could have been any more opposite in my mind... I literally never even saw the final version of 'Potato Cakes' before it was screened, and could not have cared less if someone had blown up the harddrive and erased everything. With Amazon, however, I was only ever more than willing to spend as much time as needed to make it as polished as possible.
To some extent I had no choice in the matter (that is, with my level of responsibility), but the fact is I genuinely enjoyed every minute of it. And that counts for a lot. As imperfect and rough around the edges as our documentary may be, it connected with people, and gave me the opportunity to do something beautiful for a good friend of mine, who has only been too supportive of the project as a whole.
This is quite possibly the end of the road for me as far as production projects go. For a little while, at least. I have Honours to think about now, and at this stage I am looking at doing a thesis instead of a production project. I have to say, though, that it was good to go out with a bang - and even if I'm not working on something of my own next year, I have big plans to hijack as many gigs as possible... as long as I can pluck up the courage to take on more technical roles, but you never know. Stranger things have happened.
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