Playboy:

Knife in the Water was an original, and unusual screenplay. Where did you get the idea for it?

Polanski:

It was the sum of several desires in me. I loved the lake area in Poland and I thought it would make a great setting for a film. I was thinking of a film with a limited number of people in it as a form of challenge. I hadn't ever seen a film with only three characters, where no one else even appeared in the background. The challenge was to make it in a way that the audience wouldn't be aware of the fact that no one else had appeared in the background. As for the idea, all I had in mind when I began the script was a scene where two men were on a sailboat and one fell overboard. But that was a starting-point, would you agree?

Playboy: 

Certainly, but a strange one. Why were you thinking about a man falling out of a sailboat?

Polanski:

There you go, asking me how to shrink my head again. I don't know why. I was interested in creating a mood, an atmosphere, and after the film came out, a lot of critics found all sorts of symbols and hidden meanings in it that I hadn't even thought of. It made me sick.

(Playboy, December, 1971)

Scissor Sisters - She's My Man

dir: Nagi Noda

highly reminiscent of the 'matrix ping pong' skit that featured on a popular japanese variety show, this isn't fantastically original, but kudos still to nagi noda for pulling it off in the context of a scissor sisters' clip.

(her unaired spot for coke that featured jack white of the white stripes is probably a little bit more impressive, imho.)

Jarvis - Dont Let Him Waste Your Time

Directed by dougal wilson.

When I grow up, I want to make a video like this one.

(i had a chance to intern at colonel blimp's US sister-co 'furlined' when i was in LA. only problem - i didn't have a car. oh well. tough.)

Feist - I Feel It All

Patrick Daughters strikes again.

I wonder if his one-shot takes for almost all of his feist videos are premeditated, or done at the request of feist? or is it some sort of trope that he plans to continue for all of feist's clips? am i asking too many questions again? am i still high on codeine no thanks to my post-wisdom-teeth-op?

(note to self: night-urban-film, light with sparklers.)

(edit: upon closer inspection, there's probably also a gaffer with a large flickering light just behind the camera...)

Listening Man

cute, simple, and sweet. The Bees' 'Listening Man' music video directed by ex-one-third of hammer and tongs' Dominic Leung.

Dark Roasted Blend: Nightmare Playgrounds

Dark Roasted Blend: Nightmare Playgrounds

Creepy playgrounds. (think, sculptures with bleeding eyes. cows on lampposts, and a crocodile impaled with cutlery.)

Massive potential for a one location, one story idea. 

(someone sponsor my ticket to prague, the ukraine, or stockholm NOW...)

Pareidolia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pareidolia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: 

"...describes a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus... being perceived as significant. 

Common examples include images of animals or faces in clouds."

Another idea worth exploring. Think.

obsession: an elderly woman and her obsession with symbols, faces that appear on mundane household objects. The idea that she's being haunted by the ghost of her dead husband whose face keeps appearing in various forms around the house...

religious: a couple chance upon the image of the virgin mary on a grilled cheese sandwich... (oh wait. this actually happened...)

supernatural: self explanatory. a character plagued by a negative emotion such as depression, guilt, or remorse fails to notice objects in her house arranging themselves in faces which constantly glare at her, and occasionally, at the audience.

sound: a feedback loop that begins to sound increasingly like a worded message. Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP)

significance...? maybe. sometimes. depends on the story i want to tell.

(more random scribblings to continue...)

So far.

In case anyone's wondering, I'm feeling obliged to at least talk a little about the three films of the year thus far.

Jan - 'Taste. (tent)' An exploration of one man's obsession with his mother's pet goldfish.

Feb - 'Smell. (tent)' A girl's obsessions with a particulr fragrance.

Mar - 'Neon Blue' - a short documentary about an artist's obsession with the colour blue.

(I just realised that all three films had 'obsession' as a motif. unintentionally. coincidence or a reflection of latent themes in my storytelling? hmmm.)

That is all. I'm a lazy blogger and will tell you more in time to come.

OIL FACTORY

OIL FACTORY

Or, where does Sophie Muller get all those nice dresses?!

Asian Film Awards 2008 - Alternative Film Guide

 Asian Film Awards 2008 - Alternative Film Guide

So many films to watch, so little time.

Everyone I know in the industry over here in Melbourne seems to have had something to do with The Home Song Stories, but I haven't actually watched that yet. Not sure if I missed the general release or not... or if there ever was one.

The Genesis.

It began with an idea for five short films based around the 5 human senses. That was an exercise I started end of last year when I wanted to delve a little more into very-short narrative fiction. I was also in a little funk, and a quite burnt out from a huge project last year. 

I'd realised a great deal of my time last year was spent in development, and too little in production. For a person who was about to graduate from film school, there really wasn't alot under my belt. All you film school grads can probably attest to this - you'd be lucky if you came out of film school with 2 -3 films shot on 16mm. 

Maybe it's just me, but if I dedicate myself to just one project, I'd spend more time neurotising over it than actually developing it. I realise that the longer I spend on one project, the more over-developed it gets, and the more passion I lose for it.

My journal at that point was full of scrambled little ideas that were more 'moments' than 'stories' - but there were five that could thematically be wrapped around the five senses. It seemed to fit nicely and I was in a mood where I wanted to get films out quickly and practice my directing chops, than to spend too much time in development.

At the end of three weeks, I walked away with 2 x 2min films. ('Taste', and 'Smell', both tentatively named.) They were both successful in varying degrees, but it proved to be a much more enjoyable experience than directing one large short-film. And it brought confidence back in my work and convinced me that the exercise was worthwhile.

I'd realised that the less precious I were about my ideas, the less I obsessed over them, and the more fun I have on set and in post. Sure, most of these films might not win awards at festivals, but I know that I will have walked away from this, at the very least, a well-practised storyteller.

That was last year.

I've taken a break in Jan and Feb, given myself a sabbatical where I did nothing but watch films and be inspired. (one of my resolutions for this year is to watch 200 films. I'm up to 50 now.)

It's now March, and the third film is almost wrapped. So far so good.

First Post

I hate these first post things. People expect you to write something astoundingly spectacular introducing yourself and your projects. I hate living up to expectations. 

I'm such a hateful beast, that you probably wonder why you're at my blog.

Well you're either from my school assessing this 'online journal', or you're actually interested in my project of making a film a month.

Ambitious project, or a sadomasochistic venture into a lonely, dark path into insanity? Check in till next Jan, and find out.

(much due inspiration thanks to the always funny, always clever Jonathan Coulton and his Thing a Week)