I decided to write a poem about my experience at Showlight:
Showlight 2009
The BBC were kind enough to let us help at Showlight
But I confess the work experience wasn’t actually the highlight,
For the free food that they offered, especially on Monday night,
Was supreme in taste and quantity and to me a pure delight!
But, despite the joy of moving table between each course,
The real hilarity ensued from the studio talk-back discourse,
Where a bored and dosing audience was the prime comedic source
Along with Derek (no small director), who told Luke to “use the force”.
We all met Roberto Schaefer, I feel I ought to add,
And learnt and did so much the recollection makes me glad.
Camera was great fun and even sound was not too bad,
All in all a great experience I’m hugely grateful that I had.
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls is a documentary about 1970s Hollywood and the directors of this time. I thought it was quite well made, though it did feel rather long, and it gave an interesting insight into the lives of some well-known directors.
On Thursday morning we finally discovered what we would be working on for the rest of this term. Instead of commissioning two scripts from now on there will be one big production that everyone will work on. I think this is a good development as it means we have more people, more money, more skills and more chance of making a really high quality film whilst avoiding the conflict that arises from having two productions running simultaneously. It does of course mean that fewer films will be made so there are fewer chances to try different roles. Charlotte’s Little Clown was commissioned; a marvellous script though quite a challenge. There is high demand from the art department with costume, make-up and set-dressing; an interesting ‘fantasy’ sequence; a good few extras, children to complicate matters; and to top it all the protagonist is a five-year-old boy… who has to be able to juggle!
Having already tried some Producing I thought I’d try and contribute to the creative side of this film a bit more and so I am to be an editor, along with Michael. On-set I will hopefully be trying my hand as a Script Supervisor. I am really looking forward to seeing this project develop; I think it could be amazing.
We wrapped up the TV module for this term with Andy on Friday morning by looking at the changes in how people watch television. This was a brief session so I took the opportunity to watch Easy Rider afterwards.
Maybe I never really gave it much of a chance but I thought Easy Rider was a terrible film. It was directed and produced by the stars playing the main roles and it seemed like they'd just thought it would be fun to mess about on motorbikes and make a film at the same time. Luckily they were in Hollywood so they had all the money and resources required to make a professional movie but I can’t help thinking two students with one camcorder and a decent story to tell might have done a better job. It was also highly predictable and occasionally agonisingly slow-paced so much so that I confess I was waiting for the end through most of it. It did, however, provide an interesting take on the concept of a misfit or outcast and how we react to counterculture or nonconformity. It sort of makes a point about freedom, I think, but not effectively or clearly enough to be engaging. Ultimately it looked quite nice, I enjoyed seeing the American landscapes, but it wasn’t entertaining.
We watched Floating Is Easy in Production and it was interesting to see the finished product of the script we have been breaking-down and scheduling. Abigail gave us some more advice to set us up for our upcoming production and she will be mentoring the production process for this film which should be very useful. So away we go… to find a five-year-old… who can juggle!
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