Hot on the heels of our CBC Television screening in Canada, Mr. Crab has been accepted to play in competition at the Budapest Short Film Festival – BuSho. It’s a great honour as only 86 shorts were programmed from almost two thousand entries.

We are also very happy to be one of only four films chosen from Canada. The 8th annual festival runs from September 4-9, and we’ll post details on the screening times when it’s available. For now you can take a look at the list of competing films from around the world here: http://busho.hu/assets/files/hirlev/busho_competition_2012.pdf

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!

Adam Reider (Key Grip) holds the camera on the rig the team built to shoot directly downward.

We wrapped up our first day of production – we were a couple of hours late, yes, but everyone was in great spirits and the footage we are getting is fantastic. The RED Camera we are using gives us so much freedom, and its so much fun pushing the limits of its new sensor. GreenGround Productions upgraded the camera to the newest and greatest sensor so recently that we’re actually the first lucky production to shoot on it, and from what I have seen so far it’s fantastic. Frankly, they could have given us the very first RED camera and I would have been happy considering my last short was shot on P2 – but having this opportunity is way beyond what I could have hoped for.

I don’t have a lot to say other than the crew has been great, and I am looking forward to moving forward. Tomorrow: Chinatown!

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.

As I embark on the adventure that is my newest fiction short, I want to give a thanks to GreenGround Productions which has awarded the movie with their SeaChange production services grant which comprises of a rental of their Red camera, and other related post production services. It’s a wonderful opportunity to begin shooting using higher end cameras, although my experience using my HVX and a 35mm adapter was also rewarding. That said, it is time to move up.