I knew there was a reason I couldn't completely relax once shooting ended. Now I'm in the middle of that reason and it's making me feel like I have a pit in my stomach. During the shoot, an LCD viewer broke when it fell off the camera. Though it was an accident, it was mostly my fault, so I took responsibility. No big deal. However, when the shoot ended, I later found out that something had been broken without anyone's knowledge. Enter the huge mess I'm not in the middle of. My production manager, who barely speaks English called Jesse, someone from my program who was on the set when this lens may have broken. He told Jesse that glass broke and he needed someone to be liable, Jesse said Filip (my production manager) could use his name because Filip assured Jesse everything would be fine, he just needed a liable party. Not as clean cut as we all thought it would be. Filip took Jesse's favor as claiming responsibility for the broken item. Now I'm trying to sort this whole thing out, because Jesse didn't touch any lenses, he barely touched anything the whole time because Filip had assembled a full crew without my needing anyone from the AU program.
I'm so tired of being stressed out about this project. I just want to finish and go home. On that note, I'll be home Dec. 16th fairly early in the afternoon. I can't wait.
26 November 2007
24 November 2007
How To Make A Movie
Yay, shooting is over!
The process of shooting (aka Production) is by far my least favorite aspect of making the film. The day before shooting, Filip, Honza, Dominic and I went to Barrandov to rent the equipment. We just barely fit it into the three small cars Filip managed to round up. We then went to the first location to unload equipment and so Honza and I could discuss shot lists. After that, Filip decided that I would get to the location at 4am and the rest of the crew would begin set ups at 3am. I was too stressed to sleep much.
Later that morning, Jesse and I took a cab and arrived on time. True to form, the lights and scene were no where close to being done. We didn't shoot anything until an hour after the actors arrived. I was impressed with Honza. Not only was he a hottie Mchottie, he knew his way around cinematography. I actually blamed him (partially) for the slow pace of the shooting, he was too obsessed with detail. As the sun began coming up, it was a race to get back on schedule. We left for the second location more than an hour later than I had anticipated. When the pit stops between locations took more than an hour, I was frantic.
Due to the amount of time we had fallen behind schedule, Honza and Filip pushed to use hand held camera for all the exterior shots. Something I had been hoping to avoid. It's not that I don't like hand held (I love it), it just wasn't the look I had wanted for the film. In a moment of panic, I begged Nitzan to join Alli and Josh to "assist" on my shoot. They actually didn't have anything to do but hang around. Once I accidentally broke the LCD screen (a small digital screen you hook up to the camera so the viewer can see what the camera operator sees), Filip flipped out and essentially pushed me to dismiss Alli, Josh and Nitzan. In retrospect, I was fairly angry with Filip once the screen broke, his demeanor completely changed.
As the shoot progressed, we managed to get most of the shots I had originally wanted and planned for. However, we also got further from my original shot list. Filip began arguing with me to wrap things up. This then led to Honza doing the same. I was most upset about this in post once I noticed a shot I felt I needed was not done. Honza and Filip had argued that the scene was not necessary, after my rough cut was viewed, turns out the shot was as necessary as I had predicted.
The shooting was eleven hours and fairly cold. By the time the shoot was over, I realized how cold I was and the fact the LCD screen broke had sunk it. I started crying. Barra gave me a hug and told me not to worry. I did my best not to. I guess what made Filip more angry about the LCD screen was my lack of reaction to it. The thing is, I have such a hard time directing, I can't experience other emotions until the shooting is wrapped. The hardest part about wrapping the shoot: I had half a roll left and another hour of daylight, this makes the director want to push on. However, Filip and Honza pushed for me to finish, so in essence, they ended the shoot.
The process of shooting (aka Production) is by far my least favorite aspect of making the film. The day before shooting, Filip, Honza, Dominic and I went to Barrandov to rent the equipment. We just barely fit it into the three small cars Filip managed to round up. We then went to the first location to unload equipment and so Honza and I could discuss shot lists. After that, Filip decided that I would get to the location at 4am and the rest of the crew would begin set ups at 3am. I was too stressed to sleep much.
Later that morning, Jesse and I took a cab and arrived on time. True to form, the lights and scene were no where close to being done. We didn't shoot anything until an hour after the actors arrived. I was impressed with Honza. Not only was he a hottie Mchottie, he knew his way around cinematography. I actually blamed him (partially) for the slow pace of the shooting, he was too obsessed with detail. As the sun began coming up, it was a race to get back on schedule. We left for the second location more than an hour later than I had anticipated. When the pit stops between locations took more than an hour, I was frantic.
Due to the amount of time we had fallen behind schedule, Honza and Filip pushed to use hand held camera for all the exterior shots. Something I had been hoping to avoid. It's not that I don't like hand held (I love it), it just wasn't the look I had wanted for the film. In a moment of panic, I begged Nitzan to join Alli and Josh to "assist" on my shoot. They actually didn't have anything to do but hang around. Once I accidentally broke the LCD screen (a small digital screen you hook up to the camera so the viewer can see what the camera operator sees), Filip flipped out and essentially pushed me to dismiss Alli, Josh and Nitzan. In retrospect, I was fairly angry with Filip once the screen broke, his demeanor completely changed.
As the shoot progressed, we managed to get most of the shots I had originally wanted and planned for. However, we also got further from my original shot list. Filip began arguing with me to wrap things up. This then led to Honza doing the same. I was most upset about this in post once I noticed a shot I felt I needed was not done. Honza and Filip had argued that the scene was not necessary, after my rough cut was viewed, turns out the shot was as necessary as I had predicted.
The shooting was eleven hours and fairly cold. By the time the shoot was over, I realized how cold I was and the fact the LCD screen broke had sunk it. I started crying. Barra gave me a hug and told me not to worry. I did my best not to. I guess what made Filip more angry about the LCD screen was my lack of reaction to it. The thing is, I have such a hard time directing, I can't experience other emotions until the shooting is wrapped. The hardest part about wrapping the shoot: I had half a roll left and another hour of daylight, this makes the director want to push on. However, Filip and Honza pushed for me to finish, so in essence, they ended the shoot.
19 November 2007
Cinema Dance
This past weekend I attended a film excursion known as Cinema Dance. We traveled approximately 4 hours outside of Prague to the middle of the woods, known as Pisnic (pronounced Peez-niche). It actually reminded me a lot of home, the forest was very similar to the ones in PA. I felt like I was on a ski resort, without the skiing. The cabins were all on the water and several fishermen were also having their weekend there. I actually felt really relaxed while I was there, even though the film shoot is looming...NEXT SATURDAY! Eeep.
Anyhow, the trip to this location was long. On the train, I re-met Sila and Ivan. I also met Andreas, Olivier, Rodrigo, Ekaterina, and Alli. Sila is from Turkey, Ivan is from Montenegro, Adreas is from Spain, Olivier is from Corsica, Rodrigo and Ekaterina are from Mexico and Alli is from the U.S. Talking with them definitely made the train ride go faster. There were a total of 24 students in the program, we were eventually broken into groups of four. There were four Czech dance students, including someone from my group named Radim.
The purpose of Cinema Dance is to create unity and to understand other forms of Art and how they relate to film. The reason dance is involved in this excursion is to open the weekend with discussions about movement and how they're crucial to the art of dance and the art of film. The four dance students open the first evening (Thursday) with a few numbers that they choreographed. This marks the beginning of the cinema dance. Next, we are put into groups. All 24 names are thrown into a hat and drawn out one by one until 6 groups of four are created. Once our groups are formed, we pick a number of one through four, then the producer, writer, camera operator and director's are chosen/named. I was the producer, Radim the director, Ekaterina the writer and Stephanie the camera operator.
I ended up rooming with Sila. I had met her before (she's in my classes) and because I went to a housewarming party she had a few weeks prior. The cabins are made up of only 2 beds in a room and a tiny (but functional) plastic radiator. The bathrooms are a short walk away and communal. The next morning, Sila and I decided to try the dance class the dance students had organized. In the light of the morning, I realized the wonderful location of the cabins - on a hill overlooking a wide river. It was positively gorgeous! Especially with all the newly fallen snow. Anyhow, the dance class was attended by about half of the Cinema Dance participants, including Pavel & Pavel. We stretched and played trust games and practiced movement exercises. It was a calming and bonding experience.
I need to find the schedule to get the details put in chronological order...
On the train ride back, we had to take two trains. We piled into a bus to leave Pisnic, oddly enough, that was when everyone took a lot of pictures. After a short bus trip, we waited to board the first train. It lacked compartments, but we spread out into one car so it would be easy to transfer without losing anyone. On the next train, it was difficult to find places to sit, most of the compartments were not only occupied, but full. I squeezed in with Philippa, who fell asleep rather quickly. We were later joined by Sandy, Olivier, and Grimur. Grimur is from Iceland, very tall, very blonde, and very blue-eyed. Luka and I later joked about him being descended from a Viking God. It took me a while to get around to meeting Grimur because during the train ride to Pisnic, he had brought his own supply of bourbon and sucked most of it down before we got to the bus to the campsite. Grimur is also one of the older, quieter participants of FAMU International, and I guess I was intimidated. The course of this leg of the trip was spent mostly talking about native foods. We were starving by the time we got to Praha.
Anyhow, the trip to this location was long. On the train, I re-met Sila and Ivan. I also met Andreas, Olivier, Rodrigo, Ekaterina, and Alli. Sila is from Turkey, Ivan is from Montenegro, Adreas is from Spain, Olivier is from Corsica, Rodrigo and Ekaterina are from Mexico and Alli is from the U.S. Talking with them definitely made the train ride go faster. There were a total of 24 students in the program, we were eventually broken into groups of four. There were four Czech dance students, including someone from my group named Radim.
The purpose of Cinema Dance is to create unity and to understand other forms of Art and how they relate to film. The reason dance is involved in this excursion is to open the weekend with discussions about movement and how they're crucial to the art of dance and the art of film. The four dance students open the first evening (Thursday) with a few numbers that they choreographed. This marks the beginning of the cinema dance. Next, we are put into groups. All 24 names are thrown into a hat and drawn out one by one until 6 groups of four are created. Once our groups are formed, we pick a number of one through four, then the producer, writer, camera operator and director's are chosen/named. I was the producer, Radim the director, Ekaterina the writer and Stephanie the camera operator.
I ended up rooming with Sila. I had met her before (she's in my classes) and because I went to a housewarming party she had a few weeks prior. The cabins are made up of only 2 beds in a room and a tiny (but functional) plastic radiator. The bathrooms are a short walk away and communal. The next morning, Sila and I decided to try the dance class the dance students had organized. In the light of the morning, I realized the wonderful location of the cabins - on a hill overlooking a wide river. It was positively gorgeous! Especially with all the newly fallen snow. Anyhow, the dance class was attended by about half of the Cinema Dance participants, including Pavel & Pavel. We stretched and played trust games and practiced movement exercises. It was a calming and bonding experience.
I need to find the schedule to get the details put in chronological order...
On the train ride back, we had to take two trains. We piled into a bus to leave Pisnic, oddly enough, that was when everyone took a lot of pictures. After a short bus trip, we waited to board the first train. It lacked compartments, but we spread out into one car so it would be easy to transfer without losing anyone. On the next train, it was difficult to find places to sit, most of the compartments were not only occupied, but full. I squeezed in with Philippa, who fell asleep rather quickly. We were later joined by Sandy, Olivier, and Grimur. Grimur is from Iceland, very tall, very blonde, and very blue-eyed. Luka and I later joked about him being descended from a Viking God. It took me a while to get around to meeting Grimur because during the train ride to Pisnic, he had brought his own supply of bourbon and sucked most of it down before we got to the bus to the campsite. Grimur is also one of the older, quieter participants of FAMU International, and I guess I was intimidated. The course of this leg of the trip was spent mostly talking about native foods. We were starving by the time we got to Praha.
10 November 2007
Things I No Longer Notice Because I Live Here
I finally have reason to write another entry, yes! I can feel your excitement at the notion of my writing something uplifting. I'm excited too, I hate being weighed down by negative energy.
To start, a brief list of things I no longer notice because I live here. While riding the escalator into the metro this week, I began thinking about Prague when I got here and Praha now. I thought of this because I was remembering pieces of Mom's visit. The escalators into certain metro stops are not only fast, but insanely tall. For the first two weeks I was here, I couldn't handle the height of the escalators. Mom said it had a vertigo effect, I just simply felt like I was at an awkward slant and couldn't stand up straight. I'm also not the most graceful at getting on and off an escalator, so the fact the metro ones move quickly took a while to get used to as well. I've already seen a few people fall off at the top or bottom, not very pretty.
Another thing that has begun to slip under the radar is my feeling as if the currency were monopoly money. I've been here long enough to get used to thinking about it's value and not just see it as foreign currency. I don't really know how to explain it better than that, but if you've traveled recently enough to remember what it's like to use a different currency than your own, you get what I mean.
Along the lines of currency feeling more like currency, I've gotten used to the lack of English. I also barely notice it when I do hear it. While I hate being seen as the American who doesn't know very much Czech and is trying to get around in English because she can, I've grown used to the feeling of being awkward and out of the loop with the language. Oddly enough, I've started to notice the similarities between French and Czech languages, go figure. Maybe I'm just crazy on that one.
Lastly, I've become oblivous to the overt PDA that has become extremely customary in the Czech Republic. At first, I found it odd how many people would make-out in public, at home, the only people who really do that are in high school or middle school. The only time I really notice it now is when the girl is straddling the guy on a seat on the tram...awkward...
Anyway, other than the numbness to the foreign environment, this weekend has been solid. Thursday night wasn't terribly interesting. Some of the guys in my program had a party and invited a lot of people from FAMU and from the other universities where their friends go. I didn't particularly want to go, but didn't see anything else to do, so I went with Alli. We ended up getting there after midnight and watched people play beer pong for a while. Drew had his computer hooked up, so we had a decent playlist going all night. Luckily, I got to get my dance on. As the early hours of the morning wore on, more and more FAMU students showed up. I didn't really talk to too many people and left around 2am. My que to leave was when a trio of French students started to get sloppy, you would think of all the people there, they would be the ones to hold their liquor properly. So that was the end of that.
Unfortunately, I cannot seem to pull myself out of bed or my apartment when nothing important is happening. Self-motivation is my stumbling block when it comes to the morning. I didn't leave my apartment until it was time for our group meeting with Amy around 3pm. The meeting was short, I caught up with Amy and then I got to hang around on the NYU set for the interior filming. Channing was finishing up her shoot day. David showed me the rough cut of his film, it was excellent. Ultimately, a fun afternoon/evening at Studio FAMU.
Afterwards, I had to get ready to go out again to another FAMU party. This time, it was a housewarming party because a few of the international students had just found their apartment. It was an excellent top floor space, lots of room and character. Alli and I arrived around 11pm and the party was in full swing. We spent the first part of the evening talking with the notorious Estonian, Antwon. He's quite fabulous, though most don't see this given his forceful personality. He says he knows a lot of people think he's arrogant, but he doesn't see what he's projecting as arrogance. One of the more noteable things he told me was why he liked my personality. His English isn't very good and I'm probably not communicating what he said well either, but I got what he was saying. He was basically telling me how he liked that "You don't give a fuck, but not really, because you're still interested." He said he also liked my attitude. When Antwon left, I spent the better part of the night talking to Cesar. Cesar is from Texas but goes to USC. We talked a lot about film and editing and now he's going to be helping with my film (Antwon offered his help as well). Definitely an awesome night. The best part was getting the most detailed feedback from Cesar about my script, I've got more work to do for sure.
Today was insane! I'm actually quite exhausted as I write this, but that's okay. I got a lot accomplished and I feel like I should be right on schedule for filming. I had to meet my production manager, Filip, at 10am. Not too early, but when you get back from a party at 4am, it's pretty early. Filip and I scouted two locations and met one of the actors. I'm totally remembering how awful I am at the directing the actors part now...After all that, I went home to rest before going back out to meet two more actors. So far, I like the second guy I've met and the girl. Hopefully I'll figure everything else out soon, but things are going well! I'm surprised how little stress I feel over this project, it's freaking me out.
To start, a brief list of things I no longer notice because I live here. While riding the escalator into the metro this week, I began thinking about Prague when I got here and Praha now. I thought of this because I was remembering pieces of Mom's visit. The escalators into certain metro stops are not only fast, but insanely tall. For the first two weeks I was here, I couldn't handle the height of the escalators. Mom said it had a vertigo effect, I just simply felt like I was at an awkward slant and couldn't stand up straight. I'm also not the most graceful at getting on and off an escalator, so the fact the metro ones move quickly took a while to get used to as well. I've already seen a few people fall off at the top or bottom, not very pretty.
Another thing that has begun to slip under the radar is my feeling as if the currency were monopoly money. I've been here long enough to get used to thinking about it's value and not just see it as foreign currency. I don't really know how to explain it better than that, but if you've traveled recently enough to remember what it's like to use a different currency than your own, you get what I mean.
Along the lines of currency feeling more like currency, I've gotten used to the lack of English. I also barely notice it when I do hear it. While I hate being seen as the American who doesn't know very much Czech and is trying to get around in English because she can, I've grown used to the feeling of being awkward and out of the loop with the language. Oddly enough, I've started to notice the similarities between French and Czech languages, go figure. Maybe I'm just crazy on that one.
Lastly, I've become oblivous to the overt PDA that has become extremely customary in the Czech Republic. At first, I found it odd how many people would make-out in public, at home, the only people who really do that are in high school or middle school. The only time I really notice it now is when the girl is straddling the guy on a seat on the tram...awkward...
Anyway, other than the numbness to the foreign environment, this weekend has been solid. Thursday night wasn't terribly interesting. Some of the guys in my program had a party and invited a lot of people from FAMU and from the other universities where their friends go. I didn't particularly want to go, but didn't see anything else to do, so I went with Alli. We ended up getting there after midnight and watched people play beer pong for a while. Drew had his computer hooked up, so we had a decent playlist going all night. Luckily, I got to get my dance on. As the early hours of the morning wore on, more and more FAMU students showed up. I didn't really talk to too many people and left around 2am. My que to leave was when a trio of French students started to get sloppy, you would think of all the people there, they would be the ones to hold their liquor properly. So that was the end of that.
Unfortunately, I cannot seem to pull myself out of bed or my apartment when nothing important is happening. Self-motivation is my stumbling block when it comes to the morning. I didn't leave my apartment until it was time for our group meeting with Amy around 3pm. The meeting was short, I caught up with Amy and then I got to hang around on the NYU set for the interior filming. Channing was finishing up her shoot day. David showed me the rough cut of his film, it was excellent. Ultimately, a fun afternoon/evening at Studio FAMU.
Afterwards, I had to get ready to go out again to another FAMU party. This time, it was a housewarming party because a few of the international students had just found their apartment. It was an excellent top floor space, lots of room and character. Alli and I arrived around 11pm and the party was in full swing. We spent the first part of the evening talking with the notorious Estonian, Antwon. He's quite fabulous, though most don't see this given his forceful personality. He says he knows a lot of people think he's arrogant, but he doesn't see what he's projecting as arrogance. One of the more noteable things he told me was why he liked my personality. His English isn't very good and I'm probably not communicating what he said well either, but I got what he was saying. He was basically telling me how he liked that "You don't give a fuck, but not really, because you're still interested." He said he also liked my attitude. When Antwon left, I spent the better part of the night talking to Cesar. Cesar is from Texas but goes to USC. We talked a lot about film and editing and now he's going to be helping with my film (Antwon offered his help as well). Definitely an awesome night. The best part was getting the most detailed feedback from Cesar about my script, I've got more work to do for sure.
Today was insane! I'm actually quite exhausted as I write this, but that's okay. I got a lot accomplished and I feel like I should be right on schedule for filming. I had to meet my production manager, Filip, at 10am. Not too early, but when you get back from a party at 4am, it's pretty early. Filip and I scouted two locations and met one of the actors. I'm totally remembering how awful I am at the directing the actors part now...After all that, I went home to rest before going back out to meet two more actors. So far, I like the second guy I've met and the girl. Hopefully I'll figure everything else out soon, but things are going well! I'm surprised how little stress I feel over this project, it's freaking me out.
04 November 2007
Psychopaths
DRAMA! This is a venting session, right here, this entry. This is an extension of an email I sent to my friends who have been fairly up-to-date with the script writing process I've been going through.
From the beginning, I had a bad feeling about the guy who became my partner, so when I was paired with him, I was frustrated. I knew he was stubborn and suspected he would be difficult to work with. I immediately talked to the head of the AU-FAMU program, Amy, as well as the International FAMU program head, Pavel. They told me that group changes could be made if I really did not want to work with him. I told them I would give it a shot, it wouldn't be FAIR to the other people in the program to force them to change the groups they CHOSE.
I went forward with working with my partner, let's just call him DIFFICULT. For a while, it seemed like things might work out. We tried to develop a story, we ended up creating characters we liked, but not a decent situation. We originally discussed two backpackers (no gender specified) that had opposing personalities and were in Prague for some reason (see, no situation). DIFFICULT is Jewish and wanted one of the characters to be Jewish, I said, what the hell, it's a distinctive characteristic. Anyway, when we pitched this to one of the screen writing teachers, he pictured the characters as boys and said something along the lines of this "So get this, they meet this Jewish girl, and one of the guys fucks her." I laughed, I had expected him to say that, sex is his usual band-aid for films that have no conflict. DIFFICULT then turns to me and exclaims "That's a GREAT idea!" I couldn't believe it. Anyway, I couldn't get him to drop the story for close to 2 weeks! 2 WEEKS! The story didn't really develop much from there, and if it did, it was due to this one teachers input.
Anyway, DIFFICULT refused to drop his story idea and wouldn't compromise it either. I felt that it was an issue and discussed it with Amy and Pavel (Pavel had been gone during most of the 2 weeks my partner wouldn't drop the idea). I continued to express negativity toward the idea and DIFFICULT continued to disregard it. He said I was being difficult. Whenever I would provide him with alternative stories, he would claim they were underdeveloped and a waste of time. Basically, it mattered when he thought something was pointless or unoriginal, but not when I said that about his idea. It felt like I was banging my head against the wall. I actually came close to strangling him.
At one point, I wrote him an email expressing my frustration and feelings of being ignored. He dropped his story and we worked on another idea. After about, 3 days, he picked a fight with me and we went back to his "original" idea. I was exhausted from fighting with him. He was practically gleeful when I caved, it made me want to defenestrate his ass. Anyhow, I asked him to write out his idea so we could send in a treatment and a rough draft. If you're curious to see his rough draft and my re-write, just click and read. I'm sorry for the brain cells you will kill while reading this awful piece of "writing." I basically stopped being "nice" to him after he forced me back into this terrible idea. There was another brief exchange of emails in which I told him off because I was so pissed, to which he responded just as strongly that I was the problem. Oi!
Anyway, this past Friday, I wrote about 5 scripts, all approx 5 pages, just to explore other stories and another angle on his stupid idea. On Saturday morning, we had a meeting with Pavel. He expressed disappointment that I was the only one doing re-writes. I also suggested we read my favorite of the 5 scripts I had written. After we did this, Pavel asked DIFFICULT to tell me what he felt were the negatives and positives. The negatives he mentioned were reactions to my typos, easily fixable considering it was a first draft. He also made some strange negative comments that had no bearing to the story at all. He had nothing positive to say. Pavel didn't tell me how much he liked it until DIFFICULT went to the bathroom because he couldn't appear partial. Pavel also said how impressed he was that I had written 5 separate scripts in one day, he said it was good that I could work fast. He also said that the script I favored was extremely close to a good final draft and could be completed in a week and half of working on it. Anyway, Pavel suggested to my partner that we re-write this stupid ass idea again, together. He also suggested DIFFICULT re-write my script. This is what my partner said, "Why? To have an exercise in futility?" I think that was the moment Pavel realized EXACTLY what I had been dealing with. It certainly was hard not to jump across the table and kill DIFFICULT, especially because he had a sneer the entire time we discussed MY idea. As if my writing was beneath him! This continues to make me laugh, because all the teachers told him how poor his first draft was (if you read it, you'll see what I mean), while I got compliments for my first draft.
After DIFFICULT's stunning opinion of my script, I brought up the fact that Amy had been asking if I felt DIFFICULT and I could complete a film together. I also said it was important that DIFFICULT and Pavel were aware that she had suggested I even go home, basically dropping out of the program. I didn't say why, but the why is because Amy was concerned about my health. I had been under an extreme amount of stress from working with DIFFICULT and she knew the stress wouldn't go away because DIFFICULT would not become easier to work with. She also knew I had been sick several times since arriving in Prague, most of the time I had been sick were due to stress.
After I brought up these points, it was DIFFICULT who suggested we join other groups. He ended up joining Jason, Cristian, and Drew's group. I think partly due to the amount of resources they would get from having a four person group. I talked to the other two groups, one actually listened to me before saying no, the other group said no without paying me the courtesy of speaking to them first. Frankly, I'm fine with that. I didn't want to work with the group that said "No" without talking to me first.
The result, I get to do my own film. Basically, I get one roll of 16mm, 11 minutes long, one 12 hour shoot day, a crew, actors from an agency, and $200 extra budget money. I also think I get 2 days to edit...it's enough to make a decent 3 minute film. The scripts I have since written are all 2 pages. I limit myself to two because of the fact I'm avoiding any dialogue at all. Here's hoping it works out well.
The most frustrating part about this whole process with DIFFICULT is that he doesn't get reprimanded at all. He basically sees me as the problem. My Mom asked if he's the least bit ashamed that it's come to this, and of course he feels no shame whatsoever, because he thinks I'm the problem. It's just that I've worked with so many film students, some of them did not like the idea of compromising either, but the project got completed. I just hope karma comes back to DIFFICULT because DIFFICULT is such an asshole and he wasted so much of my time. If I had known it was going to turn out this way, I would have asked for Amy and Pavel to facilitate group changes in the first place. Oh well. I guess it's funny that I saw this potential problem in the first place, isn't life HILARIOUS?
From the beginning, I had a bad feeling about the guy who became my partner, so when I was paired with him, I was frustrated. I knew he was stubborn and suspected he would be difficult to work with. I immediately talked to the head of the AU-FAMU program, Amy, as well as the International FAMU program head, Pavel. They told me that group changes could be made if I really did not want to work with him. I told them I would give it a shot, it wouldn't be FAIR to the other people in the program to force them to change the groups they CHOSE.
I went forward with working with my partner, let's just call him DIFFICULT. For a while, it seemed like things might work out. We tried to develop a story, we ended up creating characters we liked, but not a decent situation. We originally discussed two backpackers (no gender specified) that had opposing personalities and were in Prague for some reason (see, no situation). DIFFICULT is Jewish and wanted one of the characters to be Jewish, I said, what the hell, it's a distinctive characteristic. Anyway, when we pitched this to one of the screen writing teachers, he pictured the characters as boys and said something along the lines of this "So get this, they meet this Jewish girl, and one of the guys fucks her." I laughed, I had expected him to say that, sex is his usual band-aid for films that have no conflict. DIFFICULT then turns to me and exclaims "That's a GREAT idea!" I couldn't believe it. Anyway, I couldn't get him to drop the story for close to 2 weeks! 2 WEEKS! The story didn't really develop much from there, and if it did, it was due to this one teachers input.
Anyway, DIFFICULT refused to drop his story idea and wouldn't compromise it either. I felt that it was an issue and discussed it with Amy and Pavel (Pavel had been gone during most of the 2 weeks my partner wouldn't drop the idea). I continued to express negativity toward the idea and DIFFICULT continued to disregard it. He said I was being difficult. Whenever I would provide him with alternative stories, he would claim they were underdeveloped and a waste of time. Basically, it mattered when he thought something was pointless or unoriginal, but not when I said that about his idea. It felt like I was banging my head against the wall. I actually came close to strangling him.
At one point, I wrote him an email expressing my frustration and feelings of being ignored. He dropped his story and we worked on another idea. After about, 3 days, he picked a fight with me and we went back to his "original" idea. I was exhausted from fighting with him. He was practically gleeful when I caved, it made me want to defenestrate his ass. Anyhow, I asked him to write out his idea so we could send in a treatment and a rough draft. If you're curious to see his rough draft and my re-write, just click and read. I'm sorry for the brain cells you will kill while reading this awful piece of "writing." I basically stopped being "nice" to him after he forced me back into this terrible idea. There was another brief exchange of emails in which I told him off because I was so pissed, to which he responded just as strongly that I was the problem. Oi!
Anyway, this past Friday, I wrote about 5 scripts, all approx 5 pages, just to explore other stories and another angle on his stupid idea. On Saturday morning, we had a meeting with Pavel. He expressed disappointment that I was the only one doing re-writes. I also suggested we read my favorite of the 5 scripts I had written. After we did this, Pavel asked DIFFICULT to tell me what he felt were the negatives and positives. The negatives he mentioned were reactions to my typos, easily fixable considering it was a first draft. He also made some strange negative comments that had no bearing to the story at all. He had nothing positive to say. Pavel didn't tell me how much he liked it until DIFFICULT went to the bathroom because he couldn't appear partial. Pavel also said how impressed he was that I had written 5 separate scripts in one day, he said it was good that I could work fast. He also said that the script I favored was extremely close to a good final draft and could be completed in a week and half of working on it. Anyway, Pavel suggested to my partner that we re-write this stupid ass idea again, together. He also suggested DIFFICULT re-write my script. This is what my partner said, "Why? To have an exercise in futility?" I think that was the moment Pavel realized EXACTLY what I had been dealing with. It certainly was hard not to jump across the table and kill DIFFICULT, especially because he had a sneer the entire time we discussed MY idea. As if my writing was beneath him! This continues to make me laugh, because all the teachers told him how poor his first draft was (if you read it, you'll see what I mean), while I got compliments for my first draft.
After DIFFICULT's stunning opinion of my script, I brought up the fact that Amy had been asking if I felt DIFFICULT and I could complete a film together. I also said it was important that DIFFICULT and Pavel were aware that she had suggested I even go home, basically dropping out of the program. I didn't say why, but the why is because Amy was concerned about my health. I had been under an extreme amount of stress from working with DIFFICULT and she knew the stress wouldn't go away because DIFFICULT would not become easier to work with. She also knew I had been sick several times since arriving in Prague, most of the time I had been sick were due to stress.
After I brought up these points, it was DIFFICULT who suggested we join other groups. He ended up joining Jason, Cristian, and Drew's group. I think partly due to the amount of resources they would get from having a four person group. I talked to the other two groups, one actually listened to me before saying no, the other group said no without paying me the courtesy of speaking to them first. Frankly, I'm fine with that. I didn't want to work with the group that said "No" without talking to me first.
The result, I get to do my own film. Basically, I get one roll of 16mm, 11 minutes long, one 12 hour shoot day, a crew, actors from an agency, and $200 extra budget money. I also think I get 2 days to edit...it's enough to make a decent 3 minute film. The scripts I have since written are all 2 pages. I limit myself to two because of the fact I'm avoiding any dialogue at all. Here's hoping it works out well.
The most frustrating part about this whole process with DIFFICULT is that he doesn't get reprimanded at all. He basically sees me as the problem. My Mom asked if he's the least bit ashamed that it's come to this, and of course he feels no shame whatsoever, because he thinks I'm the problem. It's just that I've worked with so many film students, some of them did not like the idea of compromising either, but the project got completed. I just hope karma comes back to DIFFICULT because DIFFICULT is such an asshole and he wasted so much of my time. If I had known it was going to turn out this way, I would have asked for Amy and Pavel to facilitate group changes in the first place. Oh well. I guess it's funny that I saw this potential problem in the first place, isn't life HILARIOUS?
03 November 2007
The Palladium Mall
The rest of Mom's visit was enjoyable and having her here helped me to relax. She went on two tours in and out of Prague and met a tourguide she recommended I talk with before I leave. We also went to a restaurant recommended by a couple she had met. They showed up as we were leaving, they were very friendly and cosmopolitan. I especially loved that the wife had a Katherine Hepburn style of talking. Classy.
Mom and I also visited the Charles Bridge together twice and rubbed the one statue for luck. I believe it was the statue of St. Francis, but I can't remember. Naomi came out to eat with us our last night and we enjoyed a full meal. One thing that is sometimes frustrating to me is how slow waiters are, but I believe it's because the Czechs like to enjoy their meals and actually spend a lot of time eating and conversing. During this dinner, Naomi gave me a suggestion that I ended up using for my film (I'm writing this after I became a group of one). I was really glad Naomi and Mom got to meet one another, Naomi's very charming and good to spend time with.
Needless to say, I was sad to see Mom go. I really love spending time with her. It's too bad Dad didn't come along to visit. I think Mom would have urged him to travel to other cities and it could have been just as much about travel as it had been about seeing me.
Anyway, the evening after Mom left, the mall close to our Studio FAMU building was scheduled to open. Given that we had all passed it everyday since we got here in September, we concluded it would be wrong of us to miss the opening. Those of us that were still in town met up for the show. The crowd was overwhelming once we got out of the metro, so we watched the one concert for about twenty minutes before going to Studio to play cards and pre-game.
When it got closer to ten, and some of us (not me, I haven't really been drinking lately) had gotten amply drunker, we headed back to the mall to see the rest of the show. By 9.30, another concert was wrapping up. Dancers kept coming out and flames kept being thrown, etc etc, basically crazy events planned to open this mall. There was even a Ryan Seacrest wannabe hosting the show with a co-host! It was insane how many people were there, our group kept yelling and treating it like New Years, I'm sure we pissed off a fair amount of people.
It's just crazy to see what opening a mall is like in a society that was formerly communist. Capitalism won and it's name is the Palladium Mall. Steve was hell bent on being the first American's in the mall and first ones to get kicked out. I thought we'd have to be pretty appauling to get kicked out, given how many people were there for the opening. It was mega crowded until at least midnight. We did document the first to use the ATM on the 5th level and the first to have shots in the Mayan themed restaurant. Other noteable moments was when four of the guys competed to build the best lego house in the toy store. I started talking with one of the clerks, she made fun of the guys and reminded them that the legos were for children.
All around, an interesting and memorable event.
Mom and I also visited the Charles Bridge together twice and rubbed the one statue for luck. I believe it was the statue of St. Francis, but I can't remember. Naomi came out to eat with us our last night and we enjoyed a full meal. One thing that is sometimes frustrating to me is how slow waiters are, but I believe it's because the Czechs like to enjoy their meals and actually spend a lot of time eating and conversing. During this dinner, Naomi gave me a suggestion that I ended up using for my film (I'm writing this after I became a group of one). I was really glad Naomi and Mom got to meet one another, Naomi's very charming and good to spend time with.
Needless to say, I was sad to see Mom go. I really love spending time with her. It's too bad Dad didn't come along to visit. I think Mom would have urged him to travel to other cities and it could have been just as much about travel as it had been about seeing me.
Anyway, the evening after Mom left, the mall close to our Studio FAMU building was scheduled to open. Given that we had all passed it everyday since we got here in September, we concluded it would be wrong of us to miss the opening. Those of us that were still in town met up for the show. The crowd was overwhelming once we got out of the metro, so we watched the one concert for about twenty minutes before going to Studio to play cards and pre-game.
When it got closer to ten, and some of us (not me, I haven't really been drinking lately) had gotten amply drunker, we headed back to the mall to see the rest of the show. By 9.30, another concert was wrapping up. Dancers kept coming out and flames kept being thrown, etc etc, basically crazy events planned to open this mall. There was even a Ryan Seacrest wannabe hosting the show with a co-host! It was insane how many people were there, our group kept yelling and treating it like New Years, I'm sure we pissed off a fair amount of people.
It's just crazy to see what opening a mall is like in a society that was formerly communist. Capitalism won and it's name is the Palladium Mall. Steve was hell bent on being the first American's in the mall and first ones to get kicked out. I thought we'd have to be pretty appauling to get kicked out, given how many people were there for the opening. It was mega crowded until at least midnight. We did document the first to use the ATM on the 5th level and the first to have shots in the Mayan themed restaurant. Other noteable moments was when four of the guys competed to build the best lego house in the toy store. I started talking with one of the clerks, she made fun of the guys and reminded them that the legos were for children.
All around, an interesting and memorable event.
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