2/10
End Week Five
Semester
is 1/3rd complete. Still working on Film 3.
Wendy
saw a film in class today that made her cry - by Luke, a classmate from Canada.
Said it was the best film she's seen in class yet. Black & white. Story is about
a guy who has to work late while his wife is home, preparing a romantic
candle-light dinner. He encounters delay after delay until .. she blows out both
candles & goes to bed. Great slow-motion, close-up shots of her blowing out
the candles one by one, with a cut from the smoking rising from the wick (visual
metaphor = the relationship is going up in smoke)
He finally comes home, sees
the roses in trash. As he heads upstairs, she reaches over & turns off the
light. Luke got a super-close-up shot of her eye & the reflection - in the
dark room. He enters & slowly lays down next to her, puts out his hand. She
puts her hand in his. He squeezes her hand. Fade to black.
Luke
has (previous) camera experience. Wendy is very much into cinematography. She
wants to work with Luke & wants him to do her films.
She met with the Russian girl today. Said she looks v. different from her headshots. Must be a wiz with make-up. =) Her name is not Natasha, but Marina.
Wendy
learned more about the Peter Stark Producing program from Marina, who
needs people to direct & shoot (and act in & write
screenplays for) her film projects. Guess that's what Producers do. There's some
kind of contest in Marina's program. If her film is selected, she'll get $35K to
do the film. Wendy would love to work on a project that's funded.
All
Wendy's films & her classmates films, come out of student pockets (16mm next
year, maybe 35mm in year 3). Working with Film is expensive, which is the main
reason digital video is so popular.
Wendy
said Marina had some cool business cards made up with USC's trademark cardinal
& gold colors
So
Marina, the Russian, can't do this film -> too busy this weekend. But she
& Wendy hit it off good. Wendy's thinks she'll be able to use her in some
future film, or vice-versa. Marina will need directors & cinematographers.
Wendy also gave Marina copies of her last project (Descent), and the
black & white (super-8 x-fer to DV) BodyMind.
Feels that meeting
Marina (future Producer) might develop into a productive relationship. She heard
the industry works like that -> small, seemingly chance encounters often lead
to big breaks. Wendy' been making copies of her best films, keeping a supply on
hand, so she'll be ready, should an opportunity present itself.
The
girl from the serendipitous meeting on the street, Lynne, is going to play the
massage getter in Wendy's next film (#3) The actress/masseuse, Austyn, is
going to play the massage giver. Both are excited & enthusiastic.
Wendy is too. One other girl is a standby.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Concerning
Wendy's class on Directing Actors & the 3 scenes she's involved in (2
acting, 1 directing), she says everybody approaches Directing different ->
one guy focuses on the physical, mapping out the steps & letting the actors
fill in the blanks with there lines. Another approaches directing by emphasizing
words rehearsing the dialogue over & over.
Wendy focuses on the psychology
of the characters, and the emotion involved in the scene. That's what's
important to her. She is directing one of her classmates - the youngest kid in
the class - in an emotionally-intense scene. She's concerned that he may not
have had the requisite foundational life experiences from which to draw on. Sounds
like a challenge.
After
class today, Wendy & some classmates went over to the one student's parent's
house - not far from the Getty museum - to practice their scenes. She stayed until
after 10. One of Wendy's classmates, Doug, had his b-day today. Doug's wife
& new baby are home waiting for him to get there so they can celebrate his
b-day. He's been gone since early morning. I bet Doug has no problem relating to
the theme of Luke's film.
Next -> Done Shooting Film 3
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