She.. Run..Dance.. Girl

She.. Run..Dance..Girl from Mandolin Films on Vimeo.

What do you do when there isn't government subsidized funding for independent film productions in your country?

1. You direct each other or yourself in short form projects,no more than five minutes max...
2. Replace dialogue with a timeless classic by a band like, lets say: Joy Division.
3. Find an unemployed friend during a recession, who just so happens to be a DP and Editor all in one....
4. Get a camera and Final-Cut Pro via a friend who makes a living off of ebay, but has time due to a recession and slow business.
5. And create a concept that allows for free locations!!!!

Images and Stories.Picture this...

Thieves Like Us - Your Heart Feels
by Phunk_promotion

Efterklang - Prey and Predator from Leaf Label on Vimeo.

Rhythm and Film

Getting that rhythm in your film is like finding that beat in a song, the one that makes you want to move...I often write to music as I am right now, listening to Drugs in My body by Thieves Like Us. Although, for some reason this song is particularly distracting to me, maybe because I'm swaying from side to side as I type. When I was revising LTLM with the Gypsy, I would often request that music be played. The Gypsy would of course complain, because as I mentioned before, she likes to break into song sometimes while we work, and that would be difficult to do if there were a song already being played. Got it down to a science!

But back to the rhythm, as I am able to focus a little more, due to a new song being played, Kilogramm by Bodi Bill. Rhythm in the script, among the actors and within the picture is a hard goal to achieve all at once but its possible...When I did a staged performance with my actors of LTLM and we were preparing, I would often reference certain films to demonstrate to them the importance of finding a rhythm within their ensemble. The two films I would often recommend were The Boss of it All, and Nothing But a Man....

Strangely enough, the Boss of it All is completely without a soundtrack, although the film itself, the cast and their performance is so incredibly lyrical. Its almost as if the actors in this film are not only on the same wavelength but have seemingly studied each other so intensely that they perform as if they're con artist sprinkling their trickery on prey, using an effective formula of imitating or reenacting particular human nature but only with the intent of controlling the oncoming reaction.

As I think a little further into this; the film, Boss of it All, is about passive aggression and manipulation, so the performance of the actors now makes more sense. Although, I believe the rhythm in the Boss of it All, perhaps had a lot to do with the rhythm in the script, as well as the rhythm of the director himself, Lars von Trier. Everyone in this film seems to be very in tune with the other, kind of like performance art, actually a rhythm between actors, or you may say artist, produces what most would confidently identify as performance art...



In Nothing But a Man, I noticed that the rhythm between the actors fell directly into the raw human chemistry... The first time I ever really understood the chemistry between individuals was when I saw the performance between Abbey Lincoln and Ivan Dixon, where they were sweating desperation, love, and disappoint all under the bright southern sun, without even saying a word, but standing there in front of the other, painfully pleading with their eyes....Somehow these brilliant filmmakers, Michael Roemer and Robert Young, were able to translate from the page to the screen, to my thoughts, and in my words as I tried to explain the importance of rhythm to my actors. Although in this particular film, I did notice the music playing along side with the picture.

The music of Nothing but a Man would not only help to create the rhythm projected between the actors, and the motion picture, but also mark a moment in history, and in time with chorus lines that would remain in our hearts and in our minds for generations to come. The legacy of Nothing but a Man further demonstrates the importance of how the rhythm in a film can reflect the rhythm in life....

Track listing of Nothing But a Man, original soundtrack released by Motown Records in 1964:

1. Heat Wave, (Love Is Like A) - Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, 2. Fingertips (Pt. II) - Little Stevie Wonder, 3. That's The Way I Feel - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, 4. Come On Home - Holland & Dozier, 5. This Is When I Need You Most - Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, 6. I'll Try Something New - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, 7. Way Over There - The Marvelettes, 8. Mickey's Monkey - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, 9. You Beat Me to the Punch - Mary Wells, 10. You've Really Got A Hold On Me - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles (live), 11. Bye Bye Baby - Mary Wells

From Thought to Page - The Journey

While writing my film, I have often found myself wrestling with the difficulty of translating onto page, the internal journey…How does one honestly write a persons cry for freedom without the actual prison or cage? I know it can be done, but to get there, to get to those words is a journey in itself… A journey I thought was all too impossible… that was, until I stumbled upon two films:

Waiting for Happiness, and Das Fräulein….

Both films effectively cover the internal journey in a simple yet powerful way, from using the camera as a witness to the yearning in Mauritania to the painful sacrifices made in the soul of Zurich. While succeeding in demonstrating that a modest budget with a small ensemble cast can create two award-winning films, it also proves that anything is possible with a strong story, fearless talent, and a lot of heart.

Less Exposition More Reprise...

I pledge (imagine my hand over my heart) to someday make a film that you would want to watch even if you didn’t understand one word being said... as if the characters were speaking something like, Norwegian, and all the words were seen and not heard.

Tranche De Vie

I often go to a library or museum and watch people. I use to bring a tablot to sketch them~ But that really was an excuse. I don't know how to draw at all. I'm just fucking noisy. I watch men and women while they look at paintings and things, books, panoramas, etc. I enjoy the moments of others. How do they hold a newspaper or sip from the water fountain? Are they wearing socks? do their feet smell? Why is there dirt under this guys fingernails? He's wearing a fine suit! Often children smile while being spoken too. Often men awkwardly joke to break the ice, then touch the woman who they are attending the event with whilst they laugh. I have watched an elderly woman cry while standing in front of a Jackson Pollock. She wanted to touch the painting although security would not allow her.

I've listened to confessions and criminals. I have stolen moments from lovers and warriors and from these people I have tried to duplicate their words in my life.. Sometimes. I mean/ please don't get me wrong, I am not a criminal, Although I have heard a woman talk about how she wanted to murder her dog. In great detail she shared this with an estranged partner whom didn't seem to believe it at all. It was only for a moment that I imagined I would do the same. But, I don't have a dog.

I would give anything to brush by myself. To look into my life at some public event in just the same way that I have looked into these strangers' lives. At some social mumbo jumbo LA evening/ just so I can hear what comes out of my mouth. Just so I can rate how full of shit I really am. I want to catch myself being caddy or throwing a salty look. Is this difficult to understand?

So, because I am myself and not these strangers, what do I do? I can take a slice of these peoples life away from them as they are living it. I can rearrange it. This is how I write. Mixing and matching these moments on a secret canvass in my brain. I make them make sense. I make them make poetry. I can not see a person's future or past, so I simply go out and find it. I will paste a young child's "cut-out" sequence of life that I have stolen from the library and match it up with a moment from a married man that I find reading in a park with a baby. If I want to know what happened in between: I will go to a university and find him walking to class with too many books in his bag, or holding hands with a older woman in a tight skirt. This is my process. It may or may not contain any plot progress and sometimes very little character development, and it often has no exposition, conflict, or denouement. But, I often discover my characters to be astonishing and ravishing. With a wide beautiful open ended life, and with no lesson yet to teach to anyone. I then reach inside of myself and ask what it is time for me to learn. And they show me the way.

The Filibuster

So I just finished a writing session with the Gypsy... And I think we spent more time enduring tortuous filibusters and debates on who knew the most about cross-dressing men in London, than actually revising the script. I mean we were so caught up with this burden of proof that it almost appeared like we were defending our creative integrity...

The winner of the debate would be able to add or delete certain defining details about the love interest of the film, meaning there would be a chance that one of the central characters (the love interest) could possibly be misunderstood throughout the entire film as a part time cross-dresser...

By the end of the debate the Gypsy deemed herself as the winner with one important cultural tidbit, that I was totally ignorant of, apparently all British men are secret cross-dressers and thats why they enjoy all those costume parties so much.. Who knew......

It's All In The Title

My producer recently told me I needed to change the title of my film, something that could really catch the concept and most importantly the attention of possible investors, an audience, and the list goes on...and on...

Perhaps I'll change the title of my film to something like Black Honkey, I recently saw those words written across a canvas at an art show, just those words and nothing else. The piece was selling for something like $2500.

Yeah... Black Honkey, and the film would totally go against the title, where the Black Honkey would actually tie into the audience watching, or the investors, or my producer, make them really feel like they're a part of the film, or actually in it, even better....

Something to consider... You are a Black Honkey... we are all Black Honkies, for now...