Ok - well, my computer tells me that it's 1247am pacific at the moment and I've been home for about the last 47mins. Having said that, I'm sure you're all wondering why I'm up so late on a school night. The beauty of the craziness of our production week is that while 2 of our teachers are spending their time supervising the remaining sections filming they have no time to teach us, so we don't have any class tomorrow. Which I must say worked out wonderfully for me today.
As planned, my classmate (the one I can actually communicate with) came over tonight for studying and dinner. A true BC girl, she insisted on bringing wine as the guest and asked me what kind Rod and Anna like. All I could say was "Red." So she went for one that she likes and it turns out it's their favourite. Note to self, Naked Grape is a good BC wine. I'm not sure when I'll use that information but I suppose it's good to know. At any rate, she was a hit and she's super jealous of my awesome luck in getting a great place to live with super nice people. As she ate Anna's award winning pasta she reminisced about her shoddy sandwich from the night before. I laughed and suggested that whenever she gets really hungry she'll just have to find an excuse to come over and study.
Our study session went well, all things considered. We're both pretty baffled by the class and the lectures that the teacher gives, but both of our notes seemed to match up which we took as a good sign. If we're wrong at least we're wrong together! I'll admit some time was spent venting to each other about our respective frustrations with school and our group projects. Now that shooting is over, we're into post production and there is a whole new set of frustrations and communication issues that are stressing us out. We're both pretty particular and somewhat paranoid when it comes to assignments to be sure it's done completely to the guidelines. We're both experiencing some issues with other group members being not so particular. I know that it will all work out. I know all my group members want the project to see succeed and will make it happen but there's a feeling of procrastination and/or overconfidence that I can't quite pinpoint. Oh well, I'm probably just paranoid because it's the first project. And I think I'm worried because I don' t really have a weighty job and I feel like I should be doing more. Maybe it's a control thing. I never thought I was a control freak. Maybe I am. Hmm...I think blogging has therapeutic powers. Umm..onto more positive thoughts.
I went to a movie!!!! I'm so excited. I'm a film student and I haven't sat in a movie theatre since....since, I don't know. That's how long it's been. I can't even remember the last movie I saw in a theatre. "The Proposal" maybe? No - it was "Julie and Julia" with Mariko. That was probably at the beginning of August. So, it's been close to two months. Wow. Granted, I was poor and saving up to be a film student, but it feels kind of weird to not be in that world given my choice of education. Anyways, tonight made up for it. After a bit of an adventure in downtown Vancouver trying to find the theatre, which we eventually found with the help of some classmates we spotted walking down the street and who subsequently jumped into the car to direct us (and steal a ride), we officially viewed our first film festival film. (Wow, that was a long sentence) Actually it was two films. ( 1 a.m. is a good time for a film review right? Right) We arrived a little late into the first which was a documentary title "Sacred Flight" about a man who dreams of paragliding through the Sierra Nevada. It was really inspiring in the ways that he communicated with the Indigenous people to earn their respect and willingness to let him into their sacred lands. They are very protective and worry about people travelling on the sacred snow etc. They also worry for the guerilla soldiers that often harass and kidnap tourists. In the end, they allow him to take his flight, recognizing that his flight doesn't harm their lands and parallels the flight of the Condor, which they also hold sacred. The music was really amazing. He mentioned the band name but I can't seem to find it on YouTube like he mentioned. You can watch a clip HERE provided that my computer skills are up to par with linking technology.
The second film is titled "Certainty" which I knew my instructor, David Hauka (Film Crafts), was a part of, which is why we went. (There were two rows of Cap Film students - represent!) What I didn't realize until the opening credits started is that he is the Writer, Director and Creator! There are some points to Cap for hiring experienced faculty from the industry. All of our instructors have been in the industry and I think most of them still are in the "spare" time. Anyways, the film was pretty unique and it took me a little bit to figure out exactly what was going on. It contains no dialogue. It simply juxtaposes images and stock footage from history with text that tells the story of the unknown individual. So aside from trying to figure out how all the images of NASA, JFK and Galileo tied into the story in the text, I was also trying to figure out who the narrator is. Is it David? Is it character he made up? What exactly is going on? Turns out all the facts used in conjunction with the first 10-15mins of images are revealed to be completely false - thus setting up the question of truth and certainty. Who can you trust? It then begins to tell the story of a Grade 5 teacher whom he hated, but who taught him to question everything. More images and true facts this time about philosophers, scientists, religionists, etc. all corresponding with events in the text narrator's life.The death of his mother occurs- which he manages to be present for. This is followed soon after by his father's death which fate wasn't so kind for. The call came too late and he was unable to see him before he died. I should mention that his grandfather dies when he is 6 and he yells "wake up" when he sees him in the coffin. This was setup earlier but I don't remember quite when. I think during the lies sequence. (this is poorly setup synopsis/review but it's 130 a.m. ok?) Anyways, it's also revealed in the middle-ish bit that the narrator (via a 70s photo and journal shots) is actually David, my teacher. The film finishes beautifully with David sending his parents ashes along with his grandfathers - long kept in storage at the crematorium, into the sea. But not before David taps on his grandfather's "ice cream box" and the text appears on screen "Wake Up!"
I know I just gave away the ending for you all but that's what film school is all about. We've discussed so many movies in class that I haven't seen and no one has any qualms about revealing endings and twists because they are out there for discussion and analysis. Also, I don't feel bad because the chances of this film getting to Alberta are slim. Unfortunately, not because it isn't a good film, but it's an independent and so many of them don't make it to great distribution past film festivals. But keep your eyes out for it anyways, then you can say you knew all about it from an inside source before it became a smash hit! For a taste, check out David's website. If you go to pictures and video you can watch a clip from the movie.
As a bit of a review, I thought that it was a really interesting way to present a film. It did take a bit of getting used to to be able to follow all the text and keep up with it, but it kept you engaged in the film. During the panel discussion afterwards David was asked about the text vs voice over. He answered that he had tried a few screenings with an actor doing voice over but it wasn't as effective. You became too much associated with the voice and what the actor was portraying whereas the text had a more book-like feel and drew the audience in more. I really liked his answer because it did prove true for me. I spent the first part of the film trying to figure out who this voiceless character was and why the space race was so important to him etc. And again, the music was great. What was also pretty cool was being able to recognize bits of Vancouver in some of the shots. There's a frame of a hand that looks to be laying sideways but it seemed a little green to me. It was shown during the description of his father dying. I then recognized it as the fallen soldier monument that is at the front of the train station downtown. The next shot showed the angel holding the soldier and I was right! I found the use of that statue really moving as well, how he made it appear to be lying down at first but then the reveal of the angel. The soldier was also symbolic as I'm sure he viewed his dad as a hero. Also, his dad was part of WWII (how he met his wife...David credits the Germans for his existence) but I'm not sure if he fought etc. , but the image still works. All in all, pretty good. And attending my first film festival was a great experience. It's nice to feel a part of the film world even though I'm just a lowly student trying to get through my first project.
In other news, mid terms are coming up so if you don't see a nice long blog like this one and the last two for a while, please don't send search parties. I'm studying. And/or living in the post lab. Our mini #1s are due to be handed in the monday following Thanksgiving which is also the day of our first mid term. So the next week and a half will be spend editing and studying, editing and studying....Oh and organizing the other two group projects that we have due the week after mid terms. On a positive note, we were able to choose our groups for one of them and my study buddy and I have finally been able to team up! We snagged another girl that we think would be great to work with so I'm excited for that.
On a really random note, I've somehow injured my foot and so I've taken on a new gibbled gait. It doesn't hurt when I push and poke at it, just when I walk. I've found some good arch support insoles that help, but it's going on a week now I think. I thought it would be gone by now but it's not, which kind of bites. I may have to figure out how AB health care operates in BC and go see a Doc. I think I'm only mentioning this in the hopes that Murphy's Law will kick in and by making a public announcement of it my foot will heal just to prove me wrong. But maybe mentioning Murphy's Law cancels that out? Here's hoping. I just wish I knew what caused it...very weird.
Well that's it I think. I thought this blog would be shorter than the others because I only had VIFF planned for a topic. I should've known better. Film student must analyze films. Hmm...I think that I should designate myself as the queen of long rambly blogs. Maybe I should wait until I actually churn out a few regular posts before claiming that title. In all fairness I've named my blog appropriately so at least you all have had fair warning. And now it's sleepy time....hooray for sleeping in! OK class, you know your homework - watch the links and report back to me. I'm interested to know what you think.
G'night.
Megan
P.S. Gave my inspiration presentation in class today...note to self to blog about. It went well but I was way more nervous than I thought I'd be! (Harass me if I forget to mention it, unless you don't care to hear about it...just let me forget!)
