May 2008 Archives
As I mentioned very briefly in my last post I am just back from Cannes.
My feelings about the place are pretty conflicted most of the time, but there is no doubt that it can be very inspiring.
It is not really suited to doing anything regarding short films but there is the Short Film Corner there where you can see literally thousands of shorts.
I recommend trying to see Love You More by Sam Taylor-Wood, a brilliant period piece but also something that really seems to echo the feelings I had as a teenager - if it's possible to go about exploration in a mopish fashion I guess that would sum it for me.
Also quite inspirational was a discussion between Jason Solomons (well worth listening to his Film Weekly podcast) and Mike Figgis. I found when I first started making films that it was greatly heartening to hear people you admire talk about problems you were experiencing and that you both came to the same solution or opinion completely independently. My feelings have changed a little since then.
I now feel a bit more confident that my own solutions to problems are just as valid as those of the people I admire and in fact it's probably better that they are different. I suppose that's just growing up but when you become aware of it as a maker of things, particularly in such a formal craft as filmmaking, there is a very real sense that you have made some kind of step.
That was what I took away from my time listening to Mike Figgis. I love a lot of his work and I loved listening to him speak. In the interview he spoke very much in anecdotal terms rather intellectual hypothesising, which can often become impenetrable and meaningless, but I didn't agree with everything he said. I don't know why that feels important at the moment but it does.
The long and the short of it is that I have come away from Cannes feeling that there are some slight but very important changes I need to make to our script. I'm not quite setting my stall out properly at the moment and that needs to be right.
If anyone would like to recommend some dark comedies please feel free to leave them in the comments. Cheers...
My feelings about the place are pretty conflicted most of the time, but there is no doubt that it can be very inspiring.
It is not really suited to doing anything regarding short films but there is the Short Film Corner there where you can see literally thousands of shorts.
I recommend trying to see Love You More by Sam Taylor-Wood, a brilliant period piece but also something that really seems to echo the feelings I had as a teenager - if it's possible to go about exploration in a mopish fashion I guess that would sum it for me.
Also quite inspirational was a discussion between Jason Solomons (well worth listening to his Film Weekly podcast) and Mike Figgis. I found when I first started making films that it was greatly heartening to hear people you admire talk about problems you were experiencing and that you both came to the same solution or opinion completely independently. My feelings have changed a little since then.
I now feel a bit more confident that my own solutions to problems are just as valid as those of the people I admire and in fact it's probably better that they are different. I suppose that's just growing up but when you become aware of it as a maker of things, particularly in such a formal craft as filmmaking, there is a very real sense that you have made some kind of step.
That was what I took away from my time listening to Mike Figgis. I love a lot of his work and I loved listening to him speak. In the interview he spoke very much in anecdotal terms rather intellectual hypothesising, which can often become impenetrable and meaningless, but I didn't agree with everything he said. I don't know why that feels important at the moment but it does.
The long and the short of it is that I have come away from Cannes feeling that there are some slight but very important changes I need to make to our script. I'm not quite setting my stall out properly at the moment and that needs to be right.
If anyone would like to recommend some dark comedies please feel free to leave them in the comments. Cheers...
...after a fairly extended period of absence.
We have been busy though, Brian and I. We are currently trying to put the funding together for I Love Luci. Comparatively, it's quite a pricey short, some people have shot features for the same money (under £60k). However, it's only pricey in a particular context and we are aiming to make a film reflective of our potential to make something for the cinema, films for the big screen.
I can't really discuss who we are talking to about finance at the moment, apart from obviously we will be making an application to our local funding body Scottish Screen. This is de rigueur for any UK production. Some local funding is available to projects that fulfil certain criteria (applications come with a set of guidelines you have to comply with and it's a good idea to build a relationship with the people at your local screen agency when going through the process).
In short, things are progressing, slowly but surely. It is nerve racking though when you get to the point where it's time for people to put their money where their mouth is. Everyone who has read the script has had a very favourable response but that doesn't mean they'll be willing to put any money into it...
The image below is of my room in Cannes this year, but I thought it might be a source of inspiration for Marjory's room in I Love Luci.
We have been busy though, Brian and I. We are currently trying to put the funding together for I Love Luci. Comparatively, it's quite a pricey short, some people have shot features for the same money (under £60k). However, it's only pricey in a particular context and we are aiming to make a film reflective of our potential to make something for the cinema, films for the big screen.
I can't really discuss who we are talking to about finance at the moment, apart from obviously we will be making an application to our local funding body Scottish Screen. This is de rigueur for any UK production. Some local funding is available to projects that fulfil certain criteria (applications come with a set of guidelines you have to comply with and it's a good idea to build a relationship with the people at your local screen agency when going through the process).
In short, things are progressing, slowly but surely. It is nerve racking though when you get to the point where it's time for people to put their money where their mouth is. Everyone who has read the script has had a very favourable response but that doesn't mean they'll be willing to put any money into it...
The image below is of my room in Cannes this year, but I thought it might be a source of inspiration for Marjory's room in I Love Luci.
