Cafe with Shabella & Lilian

I do a lot of things for work, my favourite ones being writing and directing. But I also edit, act, produce, and do camera. I occasionally cater the sets I work on too, just for kicks. I always have fun being the cinematographer of a film, even though I usually get someone else (like Osheen) to shoot my own fictions to keep my focus on the actors. I also think he’s far better than me, which is why eventually I’d like to stick to the writing/directing angle. That said, right now I am shooting a feature film for Phaz Entertainment, directed by Phad Mutumba. I edited his and Xena Bantarizah’s first feature, the award winning My Policy (Chairman’s Award at the Zanzibar International Film Festival), and this time I am taking on a lot more responsibility.

Girlfriends chatting after dinner

Phad is making films for the (very) low budget African market, centered in Nollywood, although Phad himself hails from Uganda. Nollywood films have a fairly low production value as a result of some of the features are actually made in as little as a week, which to any other standards would be considered insanity. We’re trying to go a number of steps past that though, and make this something special. It takes a lot more time than a week (more like 10 weekends), but so far the movie is looking really great.

I am very involved in this film. I am the screenwriter too – having rewritten a draft Phad and Xena wrote based on their original concept. Add to that I will be editing – so that’s three roles in one movie, which is why I call myself a Jack of All Trades.

Shabella played by Whitsa Jean

We’re only about a third of the way into the production of this movie, and so far I am really happy with the images  we are capturing. The talent is superb and Phad’s doing a great job getting them ready for some really difficult scenes (did I mention that this is a movie about a musical act?). In any case, considering we only have a handful of lights, and roughly 1-2 other person(s) other than myself working behind the scenes, I am happy with what we’re doing.  More on this film as we move along with the production…

Shashin at Desk

I have been doing a lot of writing lately, trying to get my next projects in full swing before I have finished my last one, which is either a good idea or foolish, I am not sure which.  Regardless, I thought I would share some thoughts about the writing process, and how I go about working on a new script.

I recently saw an interview with Darren Aronofsky (whom I admire greatly) where he said that the first draft of a script should be written in a burst of energy, not taking time to rework anything, and not worrying about it being a piece of garbage.  I tend to agree, however I find it difficult to do so.  I take a little more time on my first draft because it is where I am crafting the story for the first time, although I would be being generous if I was to say that my first drafts are any good.  On the contrary, they are always terrible.

What I have started doing though is giving first drafts to my trusted collaborator and writing partner before even going through it too much myself.  I used to never do this – partially because I didn’t have someone I trusted enough with my raw ideas to give a script to – and mostly because showing someone a first draft can be embarrassing.  It’s like being naked in front of a jury.  A jury that is very critical, and doesn’t hold back about any shortcomings that you may have.

Finding a collaborator like that is like striking gold.  Certainly you can pay for advice and script analysis, but knowing someone who knows you, and what you are probably trying to do, is so much better.  And not to mention free.  But you have to be open to the criticism, and you can’t take it personally.

I think the key to improving at anything is taking criticism well, and knowing where to look for it.  I have gotten loads of criticism from sources I have ignored completely.  And some  that I have taken to heart more than was intended.  Understanding who the person is that is giving the advice is as important as the advice itself, and it is why I treasure good writing partners.

It’s in the second, third, and subsequent drafts where I like to be in any case, it’s where the real shaping and storytelling happens.  It’s where the idea becomes more than a flash in your mind, but a fleshed out fully thought-out story.  It’s where the magic of writing happens: where the tone and pace start to take form.

The script I am writing right now is a feature drama called “Path of Light”.  It’s a story that’s been in my mind for literally years, but once it came out written down on a page, the idea shifted.  I didn’t imagine this story was the one I was going to tell at first, but over time I realized it is the story that I want to tell, and a much more interesting one than I thought of when I had my initial inspiration.  Initial inspiration is beautiful, it’s kind of a full movie told in splendid moments in your mind, one that no one ever gets to see other than you.  Tragic, but dreams are a personal thing, and as similar as it may feel, movie making is not dream making.  That’s the illusion.

I say all of this knowing my professional experience is limited.  I have made a couple of good professional short films, ones that I am proud of.  This would be my leap into long form, and I hope I am ready for it.  When I was much younger I made what amounts to a medium length fiction on video, and consider it a student film since I was just out of school, and had written it then.  I learned quite a bit from the experience, but the main thing I learned was to not go into production if you are not ready.   Not ready because your script is not working, not ready because your idea isn’t fully formed, not ready because your actors aren’t prepared, etc…  Now, as I embark on a true professional fiction feature, I hope I have learned enough lessons to make a film I can be proud of.

And I know it all starts with the script.

I’ve spent a lot of the last month working – not on my film editing, but on the job that pays the bills.  It’s a necessary evil most of us independent filmmakers have to deal with, and I try to keep my consumption level low so my expenses are not too bad from month to month.  That way I can live on a part time income, and spend more hours working on what’s important.

The argument can be made the other way of course.  I could spend a lot more time working a really good job, and save to make my films.  Instead of spending time writing proposals and looking for (mostly) government funding for my work, I could use that time pursuing an alternate career.  The fact of the matter is often I would be getting the same kind of funding either way.  But time to me is more valuable, even leisure time.

I’ve been very fortunate in Quebec for funding.  My Cultural Divide got money for both pre production and post from CALQ, and my first professional short fiction Useless Things was funded by SODEC primarily, and then also the NFB and the CBC (who purchased a broadcast license).  It also got the English award from the Writers Guild of Canada during the Cours écrire ton court! competition.   I consider myself very lucky, and even more so for getting another grant from CALQ for Mr. Crab.  Still, these grants pay for the films, and like any other kind of freelance work, if you don’t have a backup plan you might be setting yourself up for financial disaster.

Often, the backup plan is the credit card.  Certainly the worst idea possible, but I don’t fault people too much because I have been there.  I don’t believe in funding a film with a credit card, but I definitely think they can come in useful in emergencies when no work can be found.   Again, yes, I’ve done it, and when I say it’s a bad thing that can take you down a dark financial path, I speak from experience.  It’s something I vow never to do again.

Well, until the next time I absolutely have to make a movie I don’t have money to make, I guess.

Its been a couple of weeks since we finished shooting but we are only getting into the editing now.  Reason is, it took a very long time for my almost five year old computer to transcode the footage from the raw RED files to offline editable files I can work with, as well as converting all the 5D files into prores too.  This has been thus far a learning experience for me, and something I am not used to, since usually I am the tech on shoots and know exactly how everything works – from camera capture through all of post production.  On this shoot, I only learnt how to turn on the RED (I should say boot the camera) halfway through the shoot.

Thankfully, the RED workflow isn’t hugely different on FCP to the P2 workflow that I am very familiar with.  But the process did make me think about how much technical information I have picked up over the years simply because I was making my own films.  This time though I liked not knowing it all on set because if there was a problem other people were there to solve it, rather than me taking up the time I should have been thinking about directing.  On the set of my previous short, Useless Things, we shot on my own HVX200 (along with a Cinevate Brevis 35mm adaptor) and I knew more about how that all worked than anyone on set.  Consequently, when we had more serious technical issues I was pulled away.  That was definitely distracting, especially considering I was acting in the film too…

Emmanuelle Francoeur and Bourbon the Bulldog from Dog Sitter (2010)

Speaking of Useless Things, it will be playing at a screening at the Cinema du Parc this Saturday the 21st of August at 1pm.  The screening was set up by Rail City Media to showcase the newly completed Dog Sitter by director Adam Reider, and produced by me.  We’re showing a number of great shorts at the screening, including Eva Cvijanovic’s Play (winner of the 2008 Air Canada enRoute Achievement in Animation award).  Eva also did the animation for Useless Things – and I can’t wait to start showing people her stop motion work in Mr. Crab.  So, back to editing then!

We finished shooting Mr. Crab a few days ago and I am still exhausted from the process.  I can safely say this film was one of the few I have shot where virtually nothing went wrong during the production.  There were some mishaps of course, and we went a little too long on a couple of the days, but for the most part it went off without a hitch.  Key element: Pre-production.

Katarina Soukup, David Eng, and Caroline Bacle did a bang up job in making sure we had everything we needed to make this production work, and I can’t recommend them enough.  Them, along with all of our crew who stepped up when problems came up made the process so smooth.  And importantly it allowed me the luxury of only having directing to think about.

Osheen Harruthoonyan (DoP) was fantastic again (he shot Useless Things and My Heart is Black for me previously), and I am so looking forward to editing together the images we captured.  We worked out the lighting plans and the shots together a long time before the shoot, and somewhat surprisingly didn’t change much from my storyboard (actually, I don’t draw, so it was more like a photo-storyboard really)

And of course our actors, Cindy and Vian Persad, and Ryan Singh were phenomenal, and brought the characters on paper to life.  There was a lot of effort put into our casting, including a couple of trips into Toronto – and I was very happy to find the talent we did.  In actual fact, there were a lot of people who auditioned who were great, some of which I may end up casting in the future.

So, here  we are.  All that work for 6 minutes of screen time.  The new hard drives just arrived at my door.  I’ve got to start working again.

(from left to right) Ryan Singh as Gobin, Cindy Persad as Sandy, and Vian Persad as Rishi.

Mother Nature is not a Garbage Dump (photo: Faisal Lutchmedial)

It’s something I think about, and something that worries me.  But its very hard to be carbon neutral / environmentally friendly when you are making a movie, even when you’re making a small movie (or perhaps it’s even harder when you’re making a smaller movie).

The fact of the matter is that a lot of energy, time, and resources are put into films, and the process is difficult as it is without worrying about catering packaging, recycling, paper use, or the impact of using bottled water at all.  I try to avoid waste and excess packaging in life, even when it is recyclable.  Sometimes I feel as though making one film in a year negates all of my attempted environmentalism.  It’s the nature of the beast.  Its a short term company, intensely making a short term project.  You don’t have an office where there are regular recycling programs,  water fountains, fridges, kitchens with washable cutlery, etc.  Sometimes its like being in a hotel with single serving everything, just it is the whole crew, and sometimes on top of that you are actually staying in a hotel.

We’re doing our best, trying to keep the catering packaging to a minimum, bringing our own dishes, forks, and knives, recycling (although using bottled water isn’t great, I know), and carpooling.  To be honest the carpooling is more convenience than conscientiousness, so I am not ready to give us points for that.  The massive amounts of energy consumed for lights doesn’t give us environmental awards either, but at the very least Hydro Quebec is carbon friendly.  I’ve actually fantasized about having an iPad because I could read and edit and read scripts, look at storyboards, schedules, notes, rushes, location photos, (the list goes on) without having to print them up.  But then, I also try to limit my technology purchasing because of the high price of coltan. From my understanding though, Apple has been a leader in making tech more recyclable, which is great.

After all this thought has gone into film set conscientious consuming, when the production of my film begins in a couple of days I am going to shut that part of my brain off and try to make the best movie I can.  So, have we done enough?

There are filmmakers out there who are able to make really amazing works, and sometimes really popular works, on a shoestring budget.  Feature films for under $100,000.00.  Under $50,000.00.  Under 10,000.00… and some for basically no money invested at all.  Usually a lot of favours and indirect investment (they already have the equipment) are involved, like I mentioned in my last entry.  Its great that we are moving closer and closer to having inexpensive video technologies, a time where you can make film art for very little investment.   Jean Cocteau said,  “Film will only became an art when its materials are as inexpensive as pencil and paper.” But we aren’t quite there yet, and besides that, I think that it really depends on the kind of art you want to produce.

Lighting sets the mood for both the actors and the audience. Still from Useless Things (DP Osheen Harruthoonyan).

It’s true, we could go Dogme 95 and get rid of many of the complications of filmmaking but I don’t think those are the kind of movies I wish to produce.  I like them certainly, but I am definitely moving toward my films becoming more complex with lighting and sound, not less so.  One could look at some of my earlier movies and say I was adhering to the rules of Dogme, when in fact I simply had no idea what I was doing.  I’d probably rather no one actually looked at my earlier movies at all, its far too embarrassing.  I think of myself as a late bloomer, which is code for: my first films are terrible.

What I am getting at is that until I happen to own an amazing assortment of lights, sound,  and camera gear, or know people who do (who are also generous), I will have trouble making what I want to make without a little bit of money.  Osheen Harruthoonyan my DP and our production managers Katarina Soukup and David Eng have been tirelessly trying to get us affordable quotes for our lighting package, and it’s been hard to balance the need to ensure we have the equipment to make it look great, and the need to save so I don’t end up putting the post production on my credit card.  It’s a sensitive balance, and one that every filmmaker is presented with.  “How much of the money that you are spending is ending up on screen?” is a question people regularly ask. The answer had better be, “quite a bit.”

I don’t like to judge other filmmakers too harshly because I know how insanely hard it is so make a movie.  It’s unbelievably difficult, it involves an immense amount of work, and you never really know how it is going to turn out in the end.  Good producers know how to hedge their bets when making films, they know where to put the cash where it is best needed, where it will most likely will be seen.  This in itself doesn’t guarantee the success of a project, but it at the very least ensures one aspect of the movie will be sellable.  It’s an important talent directors need to learn as well, knowing what part of your film will be the most memorable, the part that the viewer takes home with them and thinks about.  I think that knowing that, and putting your money and effort there, is a key element to making a movie work.  Hopefully, with Mr. Crab, I have figured that out.

Something that I’ve noticed over the last few years is that I have grown more and more interested in the art direction in my films.  I remember one of my first student films the art direction consisted of making a fake market in a somewhat post-apocalyptic town.  It wasn’t bad actually, considering I did everything myself and we shot on an old Bolex in black and white 16mm so the faults weren’t readily seen, especially when transferred to SD video back in 1996.

Erica Smith holds a wooden elephant in Useless Things (2009).

Now, especially with my last film Useless Things, art direction is almost the most important element I use in telling a story.  I’ve been blessed by the work done by Zahra Peal who has production designed my last few films, even the opening sequence to My Cultural Divide.  Inserting a little subtext and metaphor into the props and decorations have become vital ways that I have been able to create a world for characters to inhabit.  The music video I directed and Zahra worked on for the High Dials, My Heart is Black, created this kind of space for the band, and I am still quite proud of what we did  there.

Mr. Crab, which goes to camera in a few weeks, marks our next challenge.  I’m incredibly excited about it, especially since as opposed to previous films, the RED camera we are using will show off every single detail.

I am looking for actors for my next short film, and I was hoping that someone might know someone else who would be great. If you do know an actor (especially an Indian-Trini) please send this along to them. It’s a paid position – and we’re going to look at people from Toronto and New York (and surrounding areas) to find the right person. So even if they aren’t from Montreal, don’t let it stop them from getting in touch!  We’re shooting July 30th, so please don’t reply after that.

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Green Dragon Productions is looking for actors for its next short film, “Mr. Crab”. Written and Directed by Faisal Lutchmedial who won a Writers Guild of Canada award at the Festival du Nouveau Cinema for the script of Useless Things (his last short, trailer here:http://www.lutchmedial.ca/uselessthings). The short is a drama about a little boy’s relationship with his loving but frightening father, and his attempted escape into a dreamworld.

The characters we need to cast are:

Rishi: A brown skinned 6-9 year old innocent looking boy. Must be able to swim underwater. No accent required.

Gobin: West-Indian (Trinidadian) man, 35-45 years old father of Rishi. Gobin is a caring father, but can be a stern and frightening man. Must be able to do a Trinidadian accent.

Sandy: West-Indian, or Afro-Carribean mother of Rishi. 30-45. Must be able to do a Trinidadian accent.

Please send a photo and resume, and demo if you have it. We are looking at both union and non-union performers.  Send all applications to mrcrab (AT) lutchmedial.ca.

Found an article written about Useless Things on the web, prompted by the upcoming screening in Toronto. The article can be found here.

I also thought that I would plug Adam Reider’s soon to be completed short film “Dog Sitter” which I produced. It’s taken us a while to get this film finished, part because of being busy on other projects, and part because we were trying to find out about music rights (which by the way, as a filmmaker can be an impossible and incredibly annoying task). We finally figured it all out and are working on the colour correction with editor James Hoffman and sound edit with Emory Murchison. On a somewhat related note, I’ve just signed on with Emory and Gabi Kislat on a documentary project as producer, and I’m really excited about it. Their company, Hot Smoked Pictures, is finishing up a doc about a Parkinson’s patient entitled “Musically Medicated” (it’s a subject I am very close to and have given them advice here and there about the production). Now, it’s time to get a new project up in the air, so to speak.

Lastly I am going to be producing a music video for the United Steel Workers of Monteal with James Hoffman directing. It’s for the song “Little Girl” off their latest album Three on the Tree. We’re collaborating with animator extraordinare Eva Cvijanovic and making a part animated, part live action / live show piece which I am sure to post here when it’s made.