Documentaries, Auditions & X-Rays

Hey All,

So, first off, good news: A documentary project I've been planning for a long time with NH-based non-profit "WomensTrust Inc." has officially gone through the board, with my proposed (large, for me) budget and workplan. Exciting, but a whole lot of work! It will basically take my entire summer - four weeks on & off of preproduction, starting shortly, 2-3 weeks in Ghana (where the humanitarian organization does their work!) with a camera assistant, and then up to 9 weeks in post! So really, although I've done a promotional doc or two before, this will easily be the biggest thing I've ever worked on... and I'm in charge of it! It's definitely a strange and scary thing. (www.womenstrust.org)

I've enlisted the guidance and advice of my Documentary Traditions class professor Sally Rubins (who is simply amazing - I've rarely been more enthralled in a classroom discussion than with her... and it's not even directly for my major!). She has quite kindly agreed to talk with me outside of class and discuss the process from start to finish and give me tips and advice on what to do... as well as share some of her personal work, which is also impressive (most notably, her work on the well-known doc The Farmer's Wife). You can check out her work at http://www.sallyrubinfilms.com/. Plus, she's from Boston, so there's an instant connection.

Meanwhile, just a quick note about the class: it's been really interesting, some of the most work I have, but really interesting. We were asked to watch The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Refienstahl for class this past week and I was really impressed. The film is a doc about Refienstahl, the famous Nazi Propaganda director, and her other work throughout the years. It's really quite interesting and I have to say it fueled a lot of discussion internally for me as well as in class. Surprisingly, I found myself standing up for her quite a bit, which was unexpected. While I certainly don't think she's blameless, I do think it's a very unique and interesting story to follow, and this doc tells it well. I've had to get Netflix in order to keep up with all these docs (they're available at the library, but all 25 people in the class need to watch with one copy during the week and you can't take it out of the library) which is possibly a good thing and bad thing - because I've become addicted. I don't particularily have time to watch anything, but as a film major it's made me go "oh crap! there are all these films I need to see!" Needless to say, my queue (is that really how you spell it???) is easily in the hundreds, despite the fact that I made a pact with my friend in the class we'd drop Netflix after the class was over. But there are so many movies!!... and some are instant play!! :)

Now for the bad (and good) news: I had a theatre audition last Saturday. A musical theatre audition, in which I had to dance. I had hurt my foot a little prior to this, which might have made it worse when I went for the dance callback and ended up pulling (?) or spraining (?) or twisting (?) something in my left ankle. I give all the question marks because the idiot doctor I had simply affirmed it wasn't anything broken and lost interest after that. I'm in quite a bit of pain, and have been told to simply ice it, take ibuprofen, and keep the weight off of it... so I got crutches from the student health center. I look like a car crash victim. And I've kind of ignored the crutches mostly since they hurt my arms & armpits (no, really! I have large welts and black & blue brusies!).

The good news part of the story is that a got a great role in the show I was auditioning for. So, I'll be singing songs such as "Moving Too Fast" from Last Five Years, "Not the Boy Next Door" from The Boy From Oz and "What Do I Need with Love" from Thoroughly Modern Millie, not to mention group numbers, in late March / early April when "Beyond Stage" goes up. It's a Broadway Cares / Equity Fights Aids volunteer production, too, so all the proceeds are going to a good cause.

And finally, I finished up ADing Arthur Fishel's Senior thesis, "James Warwick" this past weekend. I say that with some loseness since there's still a pickup day or two in March which I may or may not be able to take part in. The 2nd weekend shoot went very well, despite AD safety concerns of filming in a functional metal factory, a faulty generator, actors without rides, and more... Still, got it all done! (I particularily like the below photo as an AD - notice the sign. An AD's motto!)
Our DP, Adam Richman (below), was a lot of fun and got some great stuff, including an excellent lighting of our kitchen set (transformed by Production Design from an empty apartment into a 1950's kitchen) at night for morning light. I honestly believed it was still light out, even around 9PM.
Plus, we were shooting on 35mm on the ARRI BL, which was fun and not without it's own expenses and challenges. Still, I love shooting 35 whenever possible.

One of my especially interesting jobs as an AD on this set was of course working with background actors - and we had quite a few of them, many who will show up multiple times in the film (and hopefully won't be noticed!). Above, Arthur's father, Arthur Fishel II, poses as a factory worker. The previous day he was a homeless man. I had a great time placing background, giving them actions, and making the frames look 'busy.' Hope it reads well on film.

The (lighthearted) crew liked to play practical jokes... including letting me walk around half of the day with a piece of tape on me - with the words "Ballbuster" on it, for my tireless work as an AD. I personally choose to maintain it was affectionate. :)

Anyway, the set was a lot of fun and after seeing some of the footage from the first week I have faith it will be a really great film. I included lots of great photos here thanks to Marie Nguyen, our set photographer.

That's plenty for now, I think! I'll keep you posted about upcoming Advanced Productions and my own Intermediate project! Take care.