Gremlins

What a carry on! Our loving tutors decided to screen a mystery movie for all DFTV students on the last day of term and add some festive spirit by giving us mince pies with it! Gremlins is about a horde of unpleasant, rude creatures who wreck a town right before Christmas. It wasn’t a Christmas film in the warm, cosy, fireside sense of the word but it was an outrageous, fun and entertaining film which happily was set at Christmas. I think what made it so enjoyable was that it was unexpected. It was the classic ‘Monster in the House’ story and yet at every beat it delivered something new. No-one expected the mum to turn on that food blender, the antics of the gremlins are hilariously unpredictable, and we knew the heroine would tell why she doesn’t like Christmas but the actual reason takes us completely off guard (and I’m still in shock!). In my opinion it’s not a children’s film or a Christmas film really but it is a good laugh and I really enjoyed it.

So now it’s time for the holidays and, I’m sure, more fun. Yet it’s strange to think, while the commercial tornado that is Christmas blows our lives all over the place that its whole purpose, its real origins, are the complete opposite; a quiet ordinary night, a simple stable, a child crying… Softly and spectacularly God becomes one of us. That’s what I will be remembering this Christmas. Why? Why still celebrate this birth? What was so special about this child?

Editing Assessment

Our assessment on AVID involved organising footage, and cutting together a scene, from Balamory! I thought it was great fun and it was rather nice to be working on something a bit different. I know Tobermory rather well as it is where the Mull Mòd takes place each year and I have competed at it three years in a row now, so it was quite funny to see a CG recreation of it in the windows of the Balamory sets. Anyway, I finished my editing without much bother and I’m happy to say I am now satisfactorily familiar with yet another NLE, and since AVID is the software used in the industry I may never have to learn another one.

RSAMD Panto

Quite a hoot. ‘Sleeping Beauty’ was an entertaining and well-executed pantomime combining the talents of acting students and Technical Production Arts students. I thoroughly enjoyed myself (I really want to be in a pantomime now!) but I couldn’t help analysing it just a teeny weeny bit. The story of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ is inherently tricky as it involves the whole castle (so pretty much the entire cast) being put to sleep about halfway through. In this version this happened just before the end of the Act 1 and they resolved the problem by waking them up again almost as soon as the second half began. This felt rather anti-climactic and wouldn’t have been necessary if they’d just kept a few characters awake to continue the pursuit of the bad guy. It also led to a second half that was very bitty, where they almost took a complete time-out to have ‘the messy scene’ or ‘the sing-a-long’ which could have been so much more satisfying if they were actually tied in as steps towards a goal. The biggest goal that remained in the second half was for the prince and princess to get married, which wasn’t quite strong enough; and that’s another thing, they fell in love too soon. One more thing which was most noticeable in the first half was the old ‘rule of threes’. I hadn’t fully appreciated just how important this is, especially in comedy. This rule basically states that everything comes in sets of threes; the first two are the same, the third different – and in comedy usually the third results in hilarity. A problem with the writing in this panto was that everything came in threes but the third was not at all different! Sacrilege! It stuck out like a sore thumb to me, and every time there was two the same of something I was just longing for the third to be different… but it never was. Anyway, I’d better stop. I’ve just realised I’m analysing a pantomime… and that can’t be good! Clearly I need a holiday…

Where do ideas come from?

I watched Twilight just recently as I thought it was about time I found out what all the fuss was about. I quite enjoyed it and I can see its appeal, especially for a teenage audience, on a superficial level (hot vampires; Pattinson frenzy and all that!) as well as a deeper level (with themes of self-control, trust and not fitting in; all that usual adolescent stuff!). What I liked most about this sickly romance was that at its core is a story about love over lust and showing self-control in place of selfishness. This felt like a refreshingly new theme and one which is rather good to hear in our lustful self-centred society though I was less keen on the setting of the story. I think it was a cast member in an interview that said, “Everyone wants to be a vampire” and I just had to helplessly shake my head and say, “Oh dear”. However, my main reason for mentioning Twilight is that though now a worldwide phenomenon it originated from a dream Stephenie Meyer had one night, and this got me thinking…

The concept of an ‘idea’ is one that I have been trying to understand for sometime now. Isn’t it interesting that the language we use when talking about ideas suggests that they are external things, existing outside of ourselves? We say “I had an idea” suggesting the idea was something that was already there, we just had to let it out. Or often we think of ideas penetrating in, like when we say, “I got an idea” or “It came to me” or “I was hit by an idea”. We rarely talk about forming or creating an idea but rather we generally view ‘ideas’ as the raw material with which we then form other things, such as stories, products, business plans, organisations and so on. The idea for Twilight “came to” Stephenie Meyer in a dream and she herself could not explain where it had come from. Yet neatly packaged in that single image was all the potential needed to create what this series has become today. And Twilight is not the only example of this. J.K. Rowling was on a delayed and crowded train journey from Manchester to London when the character of Harry Potter suddenly “fell into her head”. The vast and epic world of Middle-Earth and all that grew from it began life when Tolkien was suddenly and randomly inspired to write on a blank sheet of paper, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit”. The amazing land of Narnia sprung into C.S. Lewis’s mind in sudden strange images; a faun carrying an umbrella, a queen on a sledge, a magnificent lion. In fact the more we think about big successful ventures and trace them back to their conception the more we realise that the best ideas are not man-made nor necessarily looked for but are, more often than not, handed to a surprised but grateful recipient on a platter. So why? And if ideas exist separate from humanity (as the evidence above would suggest) then where exactly do they exist? Are they floating in an atmospheric swirl all around us and just occasionally one is unexpectedly pushed into our consciousness? Here’s what I think.

I believe in God. I believe in a creative and imaginative God who made an intricate and expansive universe, a beautiful world and an intelligent human race with minds not too dissimilar from His own. I also believe (and I’m afraid I’m not backing this up Biblically, this is purely speculation) God created, and creates, ideas. His ideas are the most perfect, original and interesting ideas we could ever imagine and though our human minds are unable to comprehend His ideas in their purest form He is constantly preparing and gifting little ideas to us. So this is why we talk about an idea “coming to us” with no warning and from an unknown source. God gives them to us. However, we live in a fallen world, we are defiled by sin, and therefore these mini perfect ideas we are given become instantly corrupted and mangled the moment they enter our minds yet, by grace, mankind has been able to make some wonderful stories with them nonetheless. I have often thought when working on a project that sometimes the idea itself remains stronger and more powerful than all the work I’ve done in trying to develop it. So there we have it, such are my reflections thus far on the mystery that is the ‘idea’. And next time I watch a great film, or read a great book, or hear a great story I will simply have to sit back and marvel at this thought – we were His idea.

This Film Is Not Yet Rated

This was a rather clever documentary highlighting the flaws and strange secrecy surrounding the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) where the filmmaker Kirby Dick uncovers who exactly is rating and classifying films. It was presented in an irreverent and entertaining way and though I didn’t much care for some of the content I found it interesting enough. When we learn about the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) way of doing things next term it should be interesting to compare which system is better.

The topic of classification is rather an interesting one. I noticed the documentary mentioned that films are no longer censored, they are simply classified. In other words, absolutely anything can be put on screen but the rating placed on it will limit who is permitted to see it. In my opinion this is very dangerous and it puts a huge responsibility on the filmmaker to self-censor. Of course, many filmmakers do the exact opposite and, as could be seen from the documentary, are then shocked and angry when they receive an NC-17 rating. In my opinion none of the examples of films shown were suitable for children under 17 anyway so for the filmmakers to lament losing that audience is to be either ignorant or just plain irresponsible. In an ideal world there would be a perfected set of standards and each film would be viewed by a perfect rating board then censored and classified accordingly. Unfortunately that will never happen.

The crux of the matter is this; a film can either be rated subjectively or objectively. The problem with subjectivity is that it really comes down to the opinions of certain people, and so of course we question, “Why them specifically? Why not somebody else?”. The problem with objectivity is that it means a film must be rated on what is actually seen when of course what is often more affecting or dangerous is what is implied. Just because we only see a certain amount of blood does it make the murder any less horrific? I think the BBFC are a bit more objective in the way they rate films. However, we are not robots and films are meant to manipulate our emotions. Emotions are subjective. So ideally films should be rated subjectively, and it seems to me – for better or for worse – that this is what the MPAA were trying to do.

The 400 Blows

Les quatre cents coups is a French drama from 1959 about a misunderstood boy who becomes distanced from his parents and leaves them for a life of freedom and petty crime. The fact that it was French does not stand out in my mind and that I think is a sign that this was a good visual film. What fascinated me most was that our protagonist did not have a ‘goal’ as such and yet we were rooting for him from the start. I think this was mainly due to the character being at that age of early adolescence when, as we know from our own experience, understanding life and just getting by is enough of a goal in itself. This was not the most original and spectacular film ever made and yet I found it touching and engaging; 'sweet' is what I want to call it! It felt like a real story about a real person and it was completely non-Hollywood. It is good for me to see more European cinema, since most of the films I am bombarded with are generic, overblown and American. There is another side to filmmaking which is well worth learning about and The 400 Blows was an excellent example of this.

Shooting a Scene

This is a brief reflection on how my on-set skills have developed since producing Love, Mugs and Stickmen in Term 2 of Year 1. On that production I was First Assistant Director on the set whereas in this single-day shoot I was given the role of Director of Photography. The scene we were shooting was set in a staff room where a woman tells her ex-partner that he has a son. I would say my on-set skills have improved most in three main areas; knowledge, etiquette and familiarity.

Between these shoots has been a full two terms of technical teaching. I have been introduced to new kit (e.g. Ronford-baker tripods, matte box and follow focus) and have developed my knowledge of lighting, lenses, focus, and polarisers and filters. I have also become more aware of the different on-set roles and exactly what is involved in each. Meeting Derrick Ritchie, a Gaffer, and hearing him explain his role and that of a Best Boy, and electrician, etc. was particularly helpful. I have also learned from other classes and personal study more about the art of cinematography and therefore felt my decisions as DoP (e.g. regarding kit, camera set-up, lighting) were definitely more informed than they would have been on Love, Mugs and Stickmen.

In terms of set etiquette I have come a huge distance. Love, Mugs and Stickmen was one of my first on-set experiences and since then we have done ‘Showlight’ with the BBC, made Little Clown and I have worked on a number of extra-curricular projects. This has all helped towards increasing my experience of on-set etiquette and so on these shoots we were able to function much more like a professional crew. The point of the shoots was of course to focus on performance and to get a glimpse of the actors’ process and the fact that I was able to do this, and that the actors said they were comfortable and able to work, suggests that our set etiquette was at a sufficient standard. However, I do feel that while we learn off each other the development of our on-set skills is limited. This is why it was helpful to have Ray and Gavin there to oversee and offer advice but I think I would really benefit from getting onto an actual professional film set perhaps as a runner, or even just an observer.

Familiarity can only come with time and in the period between these shoots I have become a lot more familiar with the kit, my classmates and the way a set works. This all helped to enable us to function as a crew efficiently and effectively and the shoot went very smoothly. Furthermore I was rather pleased with how the frame looked most of the time and therefore this shoot was also helpful in taking another step in technical ability.

Ultimately this was a great opportunity to evaluate how far I have progressed since Term 2 last year, get more on-set experience and also be made aware of what areas I need to improve in. I very much enjoyed this shoot and hope I can get many more opportunities to develop my on-set skills in the future.

Grey Gardens

Grey Gardens is another documentary by the Maysles brothers made in 1975 and I much preferred this to Salesman. It explores the world of an eccentric old mother and her middle-aged daughter who live in a run-down mansion and spend their time dreaming about the past. Once again it seemed to me that the actual material was more interesting and inspiring than the filmmaking. Maybe I’m missing something but it seems to me the Maysles brothers don’t really do narrative. They are excellent at capturing and presenting reality and, though I do not find this to be engaging ‘storytelling’ in the conventional sense, I suppose this is what makes them masters of cinema verite (Direct Cinema). As a document recording the lives of two fascinating people Grey Gardens is amazing but as a film it lacks a narrative drive and therefore is not as engaging as it could be.

Last Screenwriting class...

Can it be?! What shall we do without our precious Screenwriting classes? Left here to drown in our tears (and Scottish rain) as Richard flies off to sunny L.A. and the delights of Hollywood Hills Hotel... and I’m not even joking! The answer: we shall continue to have tutorials... over Skype! The age of video conferencing has well and truly come and it is now possible to say “Our Screenwriting tutor is in Hollywood – he does his teaching from there!”. I shall miss Richard’s classes but I am pleased to say I have made definite progress with my writing discipline. I am doing extra reading (nearly finished ‘Save the Cat’), watching and analysing more films, trying to keep coming up with new ideas, and giving more time to developing ideas. The area I need to work on next is character. My characters never feel real enough. I’ll probably start by checking out Joseph Campbell’s book ‘Hero with a Thousand Faces’…