Thursday, 29 May 2008
The Knife - Monday, Gabor's place
After Gabor had finished his presentation, Greg, Tam and I went over to his place to finish the last two disks. We chatted and watched a movie while the download happened. Greg had advised me to copy the files on to my computer as well so that I can help Gabor with the edit. Gabor at the beginning had been under the impression that he would only have a 3 minute film to edit, but it was now looking like it would be around 15 minutes, so the money we had arranged for him was looking a little budget. Luckily it turns out that we've got a little more money left over from the budget and will be able to pay a bit more, but if I can help by writting down all the time codes of the good footage, it will defintely make Gabor's job much easier. Greg and Tam said goodbye and that was sad, but I had a feeling that I would see them again soon, so I wasn't too emotional! Still, we'd spent a really good weekend working together, so it was sad to see them going now. I said bye to Gabor and arranged to catch up with him on Sunday to go over the footage. Now all I need to do is write up the report, go through the footage, and do my presentation. Easy!
The Knife - Sunday, finishing up at the flat
Eventually we finished the shoot at the flat. Things went well, but I certainly know to pick a location carefully next time - the noise meant that the footage wasn't perfect, but at least we had enough room to move around in. Everyone left in good spirits. Greg, Tam and I went to Gabor's place to copy the footage on to his computer. We still couldn't get it across. Greg's camera is a professional broadcast camera, and it was difficult to find the right drivers to get it to work. Eventually we got it connected to Gabor's mac and started the copy - about an hour for each disk. It was already midnight, Greg took Tamara home and came back after the first disk had copied. Then we did the second disk. Gabor had a presentation to do the next day, so I didn't want to keep him up too late. We left around 2am and went back to Mum's place. We arranged to come back on Monday to finish the copy. I felt bad about this - I didn't want Greg and Tamara to have to stay for another night - they had planned to be back in Hamilton for Tamara's course at 11am.
The Knife - Sunday, 7pm, pizza
Me eating pizza and explaining about the noise problems.
Corey is happy, this is not staged. Honest.
Greg confesses a heroine addiction and Tam finally makes it to the other side of the camera.
Tamara saying good stuff about me: wants dessert.
Aamey liked the rap at Unitec, and the pizza.
Sara wants to be just like Simon Clark. Also enjoys eating pizza.
The Knife - Sunday, 4pm at the Kingsland flat
It was amazing what Colin, Aamey and Corey had done to the flat living room this morning. They had come into the flat, while we were filming John at YouthLaw, and made it look like a Samoan home, wow it looked great!
Next we had to film the "dining room" scene, we put the blinds down and put a deuvet over the windows to keep the sound and sunlight out - it was meant to be night time.
We had some serious issues with the noise, we were on a bus route, near a train station and the windows were leubers (sp?) so the sound came into the living room and made it hard to film anything. The traffic was constantly going, so we would often have to film the same line 20 times before it was ok with no interruption.
It was hard to manage my flatmates as well, I tried to get them into a room so their noise wouldn't come through on the film as well, this obviously pissed them off.
By far this was the hardest scene to manage. But we got pizza, and this made everything better!
Next we had to film the "dining room" scene, we put the blinds down and put a deuvet over the windows to keep the sound and sunlight out - it was meant to be night time.
We had some serious issues with the noise, we were on a bus route, near a train station and the windows were leubers (sp?) so the sound came into the living room and made it hard to film anything. The traffic was constantly going, so we would often have to film the same line 20 times before it was ok with no interruption.
It was hard to manage my flatmates as well, I tried to get them into a room so their noise wouldn't come through on the film as well, this obviously pissed them off.
By far this was the hardest scene to manage. But we got pizza, and this made everything better!
The Knife - Sunday, finishing up at Unitec
We finished up at Unitec around 3:30pm, just waiting for security to come and lock everything up before going to my flat for the dining room scene.
The Knife - Sunday 1pm at Unitec
Greg, Tam and I stopped off at Kebabs on Queen on the way to Unitec. We were running a bit late, so I called Grahame to let him know, and called security to make sure there wouldn't be any delays once we got there.
We did the Principal's office scene without any problems, though I was getting tired after a big lunch. I was getting cranky and just wanted to go back to bed by now!
Luckily, at the end of the Principal's office scene, we did Grahame's rap, which was funny as. I hadn't planned it at all, but based on the script, Grahame had made a rap about the story, it was funny seeing an old guy with a cap on backwards and a stereo on his shoulders, rapping. It totally picked my spirits up and was ready to keep going!
We did the Principal's office scene without any problems, though I was getting tired after a big lunch. I was getting cranky and just wanted to go back to bed by now!
Luckily, at the end of the Principal's office scene, we did Grahame's rap, which was funny as. I hadn't planned it at all, but based on the script, Grahame had made a rap about the story, it was funny seeing an old guy with a cap on backwards and a stereo on his shoulders, rapping. It totally picked my spirits up and was ready to keep going!
The Knife - Sunday morning - John Hancock
We got into recording John, he's the senior solictor at YouthLaw, and I wanted him to talk about various aspects of the scenario I'd written into the script. He would be the "official" voice, the voice of reason. What he said was meant to reinforce ideas and concepts that were in the film, this is the stuff that the youth workers would pay attention to.
My film project had been given to me by Jeanie (Project manager) and Harvena (Lawyer). The module I was working on was Harvena's, she'd created the rest of the resources. I was pissed off when I found out that no one had prepared anything for John to say today. I'd given all the Lawyers at YouthLaw time to prepare some content for John to go from, even given examples of the types of things he might want to say. But despite my attempts to get anyone to write down a few sentences, John arrived with nothing prepared for him. Actually, he'd asked Jeanie if he should prepare something, but she'd said that he could just speak from the top of his head. This pissed me off, because it went against what I'd originally asked, which was for somebody to prepare some content for him to say. I couldn't make the content because I'm not a lawyer. 
It didn't quite work, we had to do quite a few takes before we got something that sounded good and was legally correct. The whole time, we had kept a relaxed attitude towards everything, but when we went over the 12pm mark, we had to hurry things along, so that Greg, Tam and I could have lunch before going back to Unitec on time.
The Knife - Sunday morning - too early
Sundays are meant for sleeping in, but not today. We had to be at YouthLaw for a 9am start to record John Hancock's "talking head" clips. I decided I would join Greg and Tam in their van to save on petrol. We went through McDonald's drive through for brekkie and arrived a little early at the YouthLaw office on Federal Street in town.
Katya had decided that she didn't want to continue directing, so I would have to take on that role today.
While we waited for John to arrive, I showed Greg and Tam some videos and photos on the net from Kiwiburn - they are applying for funding to do a documentary on festivals in New Zealand, Greg was interested in Kiwiburn because he hadn't heard of it before and it might fit in with the rest of his documentary.
John was running late and arrived at 9:30am. It was a Sunday morning and we were all relaxed, there was no hurry today, but I was still a little peeved that John was holding the 3 of us up, we could've at least had a bit more of a sleep in!!
Katya had decided that she didn't want to continue directing, so I would have to take on that role today.
While we waited for John to arrive, I showed Greg and Tam some videos and photos on the net from Kiwiburn - they are applying for funding to do a documentary on festivals in New Zealand, Greg was interested in Kiwiburn because he hadn't heard of it before and it might fit in with the rest of his documentary.
John was running late and arrived at 9:30am. It was a Sunday morning and we were all relaxed, there was no hurry today, but I was still a little peeved that John was holding the 3 of us up, we could've at least had a bit more of a sleep in!!
The Knife - Saturday 11pm, home
Greg and I got back to Mum's place and found Tamara was awake now. I was tired as, on my way to bed Tamara said to me how she had really enjoyed working today, she appreciated the catering at lunchtime and explained how that really made a difference to her - it showed that I appreciated their work and their time. She also said how she was glad all the talent were easy to get along with and easy to work with as well. I went to sleep content that things were going well :D
The Knife - Saturday 7pm, BurgerFuel then Gabor
I got some BurgerFuel on the way back and at Mum's Tamara had fallen asleep as soon as she'd gotten back. Greg, however, enjoyed the burger and chips, we left to visit Gabor the film editor. I felt bad that we were intruding on his stag night, we got there about 8:30pm and had problems connecting the camera to his computer.
After a few bottles of beer and a shot of hungerian spirits, I resigned myself to the fact that it wasn't going to happen tonight.
Greg and I left and went back to Mum's. It was Greg's idea to see Gabor tonight, I had originally planned on seeing him on Sunday night, and I was worried that intruding on Gabor's night at short notice might piss him off, setting up a bad relationship.
After a few bottles of beer and a shot of hungerian spirits, I resigned myself to the fact that it wasn't going to happen tonight.
Greg and I left and went back to Mum's. It was Greg's idea to see Gabor tonight, I had originally planned on seeing him on Sunday night, and I was worried that intruding on Gabor's night at short notice might piss him off, setting up a bad relationship.
The Knife - Saturday 4:30pm, "You can come in now"
We finished the suspension hearing by about 4:30pm and it was good that we had made it in decent time. I wanted to shoot the small clip where we had Aamey come out of the boardroom to let the family back in after the board had made their decision, but we were running out of time because Colin, Corey and Aamey had to leave shortly.
We did it anyway and were finished by around 5pm. We all said goodbye, Caroline thanked me for giving her the opportunity to act (she had previously been mostly doing extra work), it was really nice to hear some good feedback. Simon also left with a positive attitude towards the whole thing. I dropped Sara home in town and popped in to see Liz on the way back to Mum's place.
We did it anyway and were finished by around 5pm. We all said goodbye, Caroline thanked me for giving her the opportunity to act (she had previously been mostly doing extra work), it was really nice to hear some good feedback. Simon also left with a positive attitude towards the whole thing. I dropped Sara home in town and popped in to see Liz on the way back to Mum's place.
The Knife - Saturday 1pm - Suspension hearing
After lunch, the talent for the afternoon arrived. Aamey was already here with Colin, Caroline ("Board rep"), Grahame ("Principal") and Simon ("Chairman") all arrived. We were in the school of communication meeting room and this would be the board of trustees boardroom. We had a couple of rehearsals while we waited for Sara ("youth worker") to arrive, we were due to start filming at 1pm
At 1:15pm, I was beginning to get worried, I thought of what Simon (a professional actor) had told me by email, that getting non-actors to act doesn't always work. I called Sara a few times, but no answer, if I knew how long she would be, I could work out whether to try another scene (e.g. the Principal's office) while we waited for her. I had already mucked people around, Colin, Corey and Aamey had to leave at 6pm to go their family service after Corey's uncle had passed away, so I had swapped two scenes around - to the frustration of Grahame ("Principal").
At 1:20pm, I decided to prepare for the Principal scene and got Grahame and Colin into Jocelyn's office to rehearse. The others would just have to wait.
1:30pm and Sara arrived, she had got lost in Unitec. The problem was that she was embarrassed that she was late and not very relaxed for the shoot. She also hadn't remembered all of her lines.
The shoot got going and everyone did well, we did a few set up takes, then moved to close ups, doing a close up for each person (9 close up takes!)
The air conditioning wasn't on so people were starting to sweat and get anxious. I left everyone doing their thing as I raced to Pak n Sav to get some cold drinks. Unfortunately Pak n Sav didn't have anything cold, so I went to BP instead and got some cold ones from there ($50 was a bit over the top, but I needed everyone to stay cool and get through it).
At 1:15pm, I was beginning to get worried, I thought of what Simon (a professional actor) had told me by email, that getting non-actors to act doesn't always work. I called Sara a few times, but no answer, if I knew how long she would be, I could work out whether to try another scene (e.g. the Principal's office) while we waited for her. I had already mucked people around, Colin, Corey and Aamey had to leave at 6pm to go their family service after Corey's uncle had passed away, so I had swapped two scenes around - to the frustration of Grahame ("Principal").
At 1:20pm, I decided to prepare for the Principal scene and got Grahame and Colin into Jocelyn's office to rehearse. The others would just have to wait.
1:30pm and Sara arrived, she had got lost in Unitec. The problem was that she was embarrassed that she was late and not very relaxed for the shoot. She also hadn't remembered all of her lines.
The shoot got going and everyone did well, we did a few set up takes, then moved to close ups, doing a close up for each person (9 close up takes!)
The air conditioning wasn't on so people were starting to sweat and get anxious. I left everyone doing their thing as I raced to Pak n Sav to get some cold drinks. Unfortunately Pak n Sav didn't have anything cold, so I went to BP instead and got some cold ones from there ($50 was a bit over the top, but I needed everyone to stay cool and get through it).
The Knife - Saturday midday - Lunchtime!
We had finished the morning shoots on time and headed over to building 111. Security locked up the classroom, and we messed them around after Bradley had said he'd left his shoes in the room, but then found them in his bag. The catering arrived from gobble and we all had a good feed - the food was awesome, really yum and pretty healthy too. Harvena and her family came in to see how the shoot was going. Max and Bradley got picked up. Katya dropped Sophia home. Aamey (Colin's wife and "Board rep") shot this of us at lunch:
The Knife - Saturday midday - Photo time...
Thanks to Colin for taking a few snaps before lunch!
Greg and I talking about important stuff
Tamara on sound
Sophia chilling on the seat
Corey, Max and Bradley taking a break
Action!
Greg and I talking about important stuff
Tamara on sound
Sophia chilling on the seat
Corey, Max and Bradley taking a break
Action!
The Knife - Saturday 11:30am - Optional ending
Sophia took this video after she'd finished her role as prefect, do you notice that what Greg and I are talking about is totally irrelevant to the whole thing? - but it looks like we are talking about something very important, haha its all about perception on camera ay?
We still had enough time to do the optional ending scene. I had discussed with Greg last night that we didn't need to do this scene if we ran out of time, instead we could just end when the board of trustees had reached their decision, but we both agreed that it wrapped the whole story up neatly, and it was a bit entertaining too. Max, the shortland street scriptwriter had suggested I cut it out as it was unnecessary and I'd already gone over time, Sophia had said that it was cheesey, but I wanted to keep it in because I thought it added a new perspective on the story - that things aren't always the way they seem. The rest of the content was going to be quite dry - a board meeting, and a family talk - so I thought it would be good to add something a bit lighter and entertaining to the mix. It would be good to have at the end of Harvena's module as a "reward" for the youth worker once they'd finished that module. So we shot it and had lots of fun doing it, after Bradley and Max leave, Tasi brings out nana's cookie and eats it (this is after he'd just said that he doesn't get nana's baking anymore). We went through lots of cookies, and had fun trying to get Bradley to burp on cue!
The Knife - Saturday 11:30am - Atmosphere track
This is the atmosphere track, we wanted to get a take of a school yard, so we got everyone to walk around making a little bit of noise (like mobile phones, people walking, people talking, chip wrappers being scrunched up, etc)
The Knife - Saturday 9:30am - All good :D
We ripped through the morning, did all the classroom takes really well. I didn't know about the "atmosphere" track, but once we had all the footage we needed, Tamara would record a few minutes of "silence" which could be added at the editing stage to even out the background noise. We were on time - I had planned the classroom scene and the outside classroom scene to take until 9:30am. We were ready to do the lunchtime takes and we moved down to a courtyard area around the prefabs. We moved the tables around a bit, and made sure that the smokers ashtrays couldn't be seen by the camera. Katya arrived and was very apologetic, I wanted to hand over the role of director to her, but by now I'd already got the hang of things and Greg, Tamara and I had already got into a bit of a routine, it was hard to let go and let her take over.
We had a few small disagreements, like how I thought she was saying "cut" too early and I'd just been leaving Greg decide when it was best to stop filming. But we got through the most important scene (the lunchtime scene) within time, by 11:30am, and we had enough time to get through the optional ending scene (the lunchtime scene where Tasi was allowed back to school).
We had a few small disagreements, like how I thought she was saying "cut" too early and I'd just been leaving Greg decide when it was best to stop filming. But we got through the most important scene (the lunchtime scene) within time, by 11:30am, and we had enough time to get through the optional ending scene (the lunchtime scene where Tasi was allowed back to school).
The Knife - Saturday 8am - No director?
Soph and I arrived at the Unitec prefab area just before 8am. I called Unitec security and they wern't far off. Greg and Tamara were there. Max and Bradley (the "friends") arrived, as did Colin and Corey ("Tasi"). Rory MacKinnon ("Mr. Harrington") arrived. Security unlocked the classroom door with a reminder to ensure no one left the room unattended.
We moved some things around in the room, it was maybe a plumbing room with cylinders and things in the wrong place. Once we had the room right, all I needed was the director. I called Katya a couple of times, but no answer. Once Greg and Tamara were set up and ready to go, I thought we should probably just get started - but I'd never done this before - what does a director do?
Luckily Greg supported me, advising that the director just needs to say "action" and make sure the performance is up to scratch for what we need when it comes to editing. It took a few times before I got used to it, but I got the hang of things pretty quickly. I was a little bit stressed, but I was glad that Greg and Tamara knew what they were doing, they'd both done this lots of times before - I was confident that it would all work out.
The Knife - Saturday 7:30am, picking Soph up
On the way to picking up Sophia from her friend's place in Grey Lynn, she texted me saying that she couldn't find a good prefect's shirt. Hmm, my mind raced to try and think of an alternative. It needed to be a white top / blouse, something a prefect would wear. I called my girlfriend, Liz for help, though I felt bad because it was early in the morning and she'd gone out last night. Luckily she had a top that would suit, I just needed to pick it up from the Kingsland flat. A short trip to Kingsland, a rummage through her drawers and a quick iron, and problem solved. Back on track to Unitec...
Monday, 26 May 2008
The Knife - Saturday 7am - buying some cookies
I was going to bake some "nana's cookies" last night but I didn't get the chance. I didn't want anything that looked too mass produced so I tried the local bakery - Ceramco. The peanut brownies were perfect!
Saturday at 6:30am
Woah, I was actually feeling really good and energised, but I might look otherwise in this video. I felt nervous that things might not go to plan, but also relieved that Greg and Tamara had some confidence in the project from going over the script and rehearsal videos from Thursday.
Sunday, 25 May 2008
Friday night at home
After finishing up at YouthLaw around 6, I went to Lynmall to get the rest of the props I needed. I got pens, paper, notepad, lunch stuffers for the students' bags etc. I headed home to mum's place - she's in Singapore now - and tried to get a dinner prepared for Greg (Camera man) and Tamara (Sound), it didn't work out too well, I burnt the garlic and smoked out the house in a matter of 5mins. The pumpkin wasn't quite ready yet (from the garden) and the lamb chops wern't fully defrosted. The brocolli had gone off. I ended up with mashed potatos, chops (turned out ok actually!), peas and pita bread. Meanwhile Greg and Tamara called about 4 times in various stages of being lost in the Auckland suburbs - they claimed that Kaurilands Road wasn't in their Auckland map - but it must be? Why wouldn't it?
Eventually, we established the location of Atkinson Road and they found Kaurilands off that, arriving to a smokey house and half prepared dinner.
After having dinner and getting them settled in, we went over the script together. Greg pointed out that from the script, we would be looking at more like a 10-15 minute film - not a 3 minute one that we'd talked about previously. He explained that it would be pushing it to shoot a 15 minute film in only a weekend. I explained that because it would be going on the Internet and only appear in a small screen on a website, the quality didn't need to be 100%. We talked about it and he said that he was happy to give it a go. After he saw the production schedule I'd made, he seemed more relieved that it would be possible.
I showed them the videos from Thursday's rehearsal and that also gave Greg some confidence in the cast being able to perform tomorrow, with little preparation.
They went to bed and I finished up preparing for tomorrow - checking all the props were ready, scripts and timing.
Eventually, we established the location of Atkinson Road and they found Kaurilands off that, arriving to a smokey house and half prepared dinner.
After having dinner and getting them settled in, we went over the script together. Greg pointed out that from the script, we would be looking at more like a 10-15 minute film - not a 3 minute one that we'd talked about previously. He explained that it would be pushing it to shoot a 15 minute film in only a weekend. I explained that because it would be going on the Internet and only appear in a small screen on a website, the quality didn't need to be 100%. We talked about it and he said that he was happy to give it a go. After he saw the production schedule I'd made, he seemed more relieved that it would be possible.
I showed them the videos from Thursday's rehearsal and that also gave Greg some confidence in the cast being able to perform tomorrow, with little preparation.
They went to bed and I finished up preparing for tomorrow - checking all the props were ready, scripts and timing.
Friday, 23 May 2008
Last day before the shoot
I've been up since 5am, dropping mum at the airport and my girlfriend at work. Sitting at Esquires updating my blog. I'm still buzzing from the success of last night's rehearsal, and potentially also the two coffees I've consumed this morning.
I've got a few little concerns, I haven't had the contract back from Jonathan at Unitec - he said he would send it to me before he went home yesterday, and he's not at work today. Hopefully it will be waiting for me at the YouthLaw office when I get in.
Also on Saturday, Cory, Colin and Aimee will have to go at 6:30pm to a family gathering to pay their respects to the uncle who sadly passed away. I had timetabled the board meeting to be shot between 3-8pm. I will think about bringing it forward to potentially 1:30pm.
Heaps to do today:
Call Gabor and Greg
Buy notepad, pens, whiteboard
Update script from last night's changes
Make cookies
Finish location at the flat - Samoan theme
Meet Greg when he gets to Auckland and go through the script with him, he's staying at mum's place while mum is in Singapore, so make sure he is settled in there too.
Hopefully Katya will have finished story boarding it, go through that with her
Make sure everyone knows what to wear on the day
Follow up on the talking heads from the Lawyers
Make sure the location is all good (maybe call Unitec security just to be sure!)
Check that Greg knows we won't be filming next weekend.
I've decided not to worry too much, accept that fact that I can't always be a time-nazi control freak and just run with what comes at me. Bring it on Friday!!
I've got a few little concerns, I haven't had the contract back from Jonathan at Unitec - he said he would send it to me before he went home yesterday, and he's not at work today. Hopefully it will be waiting for me at the YouthLaw office when I get in.
Also on Saturday, Cory, Colin and Aimee will have to go at 6:30pm to a family gathering to pay their respects to the uncle who sadly passed away. I had timetabled the board meeting to be shot between 3-8pm. I will think about bringing it forward to potentially 1:30pm.
Heaps to do today:
Call Gabor and Greg
Buy notepad, pens, whiteboard
Update script from last night's changes
Make cookies
Finish location at the flat - Samoan theme
Meet Greg when he gets to Auckland and go through the script with him, he's staying at mum's place while mum is in Singapore, so make sure he is settled in there too.
Hopefully Katya will have finished story boarding it, go through that with her
Make sure everyone knows what to wear on the day
Follow up on the talking heads from the Lawyers
Make sure the location is all good (maybe call Unitec security just to be sure!)
Check that Greg knows we won't be filming next weekend.
I've decided not to worry too much, accept that fact that I can't always be a time-nazi control freak and just run with what comes at me. Bring it on Friday!!
Second rehearsal - BUZZING!!
Yesterday, I had just gotten Caroline to play the part of Michael Normal and was feeling relieved that I'd managed to find someone at such short notice! I settled into making the props I needed, the letter of suspension, the envelope, the principal's report, the prefect's witness statement, they all needed to keep in with the script. I thought it might be useful to actually put the documents into the rest of the website as supporting material so the youth workers who are watching the video can also read the statements and letters - that would be great if they hadn't seen one before.
We had our second rehearsal, starting at 6:30. Director Katya arrived at 6pm and we talked about what we needed to achieve today. Caroline and Simon arrived 10 minutes early, Colin and Cory arrived 10 minutes late. But it was much more relaxed than the first one, I started to feel more like people were enjoying being here - and less like I was wasting their time. It's strange, but I'm always aware of the fact that other peoples' time is precious - I don't want to keep them any more than they need to. Maybe I should just chill out!!
We started with the board scene, getting everyone to do the actions - not just read the script. Everyone was much closer to knowing their lines.
Tasi reading his letter to the board members:
We went through the board scene 3 times, then the students arrived around 7:30pm as I'd asked. I could send Simon and Caroline home.
Katya and I split up, she took the school yard scene and I took the principal's office scene.
Principal's office:
We made a few small changes to the script at the principal's office, Mr Tamatoa needed to react more when the Principal said the keyword: Knife. Mr Tamatoa didn't know about this at this point, he needs to get angry. I learnt that the Samoan way to handle the situation would probably be to say very little, but with facial and body expressions be getting very wound up inside.
Back with Katya, the school scene was going really well. The prefect, Debby Rhodes (actor - Sophia) arrived and Katya was happy with everyone. Rehearsing:
We also ran through the home scene with Tasi, Mr Tamatoa and the youth worker.
I got Sophia to write a witness statement in her own writing and Cory to write an apology letter in his own writing.
We finished with giving directions for when to go on Saturday, what to wear and what to bring.
I gave Sara a lift home then I went home BUZZINGG!! (and a little bit tired)
All the time and effort I'd put in finally felt like it was starting to pay off, I was totally confident that this thing would actually work!
We had our second rehearsal, starting at 6:30. Director Katya arrived at 6pm and we talked about what we needed to achieve today. Caroline and Simon arrived 10 minutes early, Colin and Cory arrived 10 minutes late. But it was much more relaxed than the first one, I started to feel more like people were enjoying being here - and less like I was wasting their time. It's strange, but I'm always aware of the fact that other peoples' time is precious - I don't want to keep them any more than they need to. Maybe I should just chill out!!
We started with the board scene, getting everyone to do the actions - not just read the script. Everyone was much closer to knowing their lines.
Tasi reading his letter to the board members:
We went through the board scene 3 times, then the students arrived around 7:30pm as I'd asked. I could send Simon and Caroline home.
Katya and I split up, she took the school yard scene and I took the principal's office scene.
Principal's office:
We made a few small changes to the script at the principal's office, Mr Tamatoa needed to react more when the Principal said the keyword: Knife. Mr Tamatoa didn't know about this at this point, he needs to get angry. I learnt that the Samoan way to handle the situation would probably be to say very little, but with facial and body expressions be getting very wound up inside.
Back with Katya, the school scene was going really well. The prefect, Debby Rhodes (actor - Sophia) arrived and Katya was happy with everyone. Rehearsing:
We also ran through the home scene with Tasi, Mr Tamatoa and the youth worker.
I got Sophia to write a witness statement in her own writing and Cory to write an apology letter in his own writing.
We finished with giving directions for when to go on Saturday, what to wear and what to bring.
I gave Sara a lift home then I went home BUZZINGG!! (and a little bit tired)
All the time and effort I'd put in finally felt like it was starting to pay off, I was totally confident that this thing would actually work!
Thursday, 22 May 2008
No go Chris
Oh dear, after telling Grahame not to come along, Chris has been unable to make it. So I've decided not to offend Grahame any more and just try to find someone else.
I've called johnson & laird, background talent and odd to get an extra person to play the role. Sarah from background talent was really helpful and has got Caroline to do the part. Woo hoo. Pretty stressful right now.
I've called johnson & laird, background talent and odd to get an extra person to play the role. Sarah from background talent was really helpful and has got Caroline to do the part. Woo hoo. Pretty stressful right now.
Props - The Knife
Went to First Scene early this afternoon to get some knives.
Needs to be for fishing, don't want actors cutting up their hands.
$11.50 later and I have 3 to choose from!
Needs to be for fishing, don't want actors cutting up their hands.
$11.50 later and I have 3 to choose from!
Location - Unitec
I went to see Jonathan today at Unitec to confirm the rooms that I will need available over the weekend. It all went well, I've signed the agreement and he needs to get someone to sign it at his end. It's cutting it a bit fine, but I'm sure it will be alright. He will send me a copy of the agreement once it's signed today.
Location - flat
I've spent the morning at my Kingsland flat sorting and clearing out the living room so we can use it for the Samoan family's home. I've taken one car load to my room at nana's place, and maybe take another car load tonight after the second rehearsal. I need to start thinking about how to make the room look Samoan.
I've pissed off my flatmate Becks because I threw out a few flyers that were on the wall, I didn't think they were hers, I thought they were the previous flatmates'. But anyway, hmm, I probably should have at least kept them for a few days. oh well I'll know for next time.
Hopefully everyone will keep it clean and tidy over the next few days!
Dramas with the lead role + others
I got a call at 8 yesterday morning, from Colin (Cory's uncle) saying that he can now play the lead role because the funeral is on Monday.
So now I have to make a decision whether to keep Jonah on, who I'd already mucked around by saying he couldn't have it, then falling back to him when the others didn't want it. Or to muck him around even more and let him go, getting Cory - the original actor, to do it. I'd already dreamt - after having a few too many shots in my coffee before bedtime - about making him cry in front of his family that night and him stressing about learning lines in so little time. So I wasn't in a very good headspace. I called Katya, director, to ask her advice. She was really helpful and explained that because Colin and Cory are related, they will have much better natural dialogue. She helped me through how to diplomatically let Jonah go.
I called and left a message for Jonah at home at 4:30pm, then called again around 5:30pm. To my relief, he was told that he'd be kicked off the rugby team if he played the part on Saturday. I didn't want to affect his life like that.
In other news, the board of trustees member who had wanted to change the script won't be playing the part anymore, I had to explain diplomatically that because he has had experience as a BOT member rather than an actor, he couldn't as accurately portray the emotion and expressions I needed. He was too much of a nice guy, I needed an asshole! I've got Chris Molloy to do it instead. Yay.
So now I have to make a decision whether to keep Jonah on, who I'd already mucked around by saying he couldn't have it, then falling back to him when the others didn't want it. Or to muck him around even more and let him go, getting Cory - the original actor, to do it. I'd already dreamt - after having a few too many shots in my coffee before bedtime - about making him cry in front of his family that night and him stressing about learning lines in so little time. So I wasn't in a very good headspace. I called Katya, director, to ask her advice. She was really helpful and explained that because Colin and Cory are related, they will have much better natural dialogue. She helped me through how to diplomatically let Jonah go.
I called and left a message for Jonah at home at 4:30pm, then called again around 5:30pm. To my relief, he was told that he'd be kicked off the rugby team if he played the part on Saturday. I didn't want to affect his life like that.
In other news, the board of trustees member who had wanted to change the script won't be playing the part anymore, I had to explain diplomatically that because he has had experience as a BOT member rather than an actor, he couldn't as accurately portray the emotion and expressions I needed. He was too much of a nice guy, I needed an asshole! I've got Chris Molloy to do it instead. Yay.
Wednesday, 21 May 2008
First rehearsal
The first rehearsal went well last night. Iggy who I had found by calling St Peters College and his Dad arrived 45 minutes early, which was awesome but I was caught unaware and unprepared.
The director, Katya came and we went through the script.
It was good to meet some people who I hadn't met before, who had been recruited from YouthLaw contacts.
We ran through the script 3 times. The actor for the chair person is a professional actor and had real talent, as did the teacher.
We had dramas with the lead actor, who was going to be played by Cory, but his uncle recently passed away. Instead I asked Iggy to play the lead. He was good, but not as confident.
Jonah arrived late and so I didn't get him to read many lines. At the end, I told Jonah that I wouldn't need him and asked Iggy to play the role. But Iggy didn't want it anymore, so I gave the part to Jonah, having not heard him speak much.
Some of the actors were opinionated about how the script should be changed, saying that they had been to suspension hearings, and that was not how they worked. Which is fair enough to be an opinion, but I had written the script based on input from lawyers who had been to hundreds of hearings and had checked to make sure it was realistic.
e.g. they were saying that the principal had a voting right in this situation, but in actual fact, they don't.
We finished up around 8:30pm, hopefully I'll be able to get a picture up of the students.
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
No blog posts, lots of work
I haven't been keeping up to date with the blog posts lately, but I'll put up some photos and videos that I've taken in the last month to track my progress. I'll also write up some stuff that I've been putting into my diary about events retrospectively.
Things are going good, I've decided to can the second film and concentrate on the first one.
The time of the film has gone up to approx 10 mins.
Last Friday I met with Max who helped me polish the script. Then Saturday morning I met with Gabor who will be editing the film - he's got a good site at http://www.outlinestudio.co.nz
Yesterday I ran into some location problems, I still don't have Unitec confirmed, but I've been in touch with Jonathan, Timetabling who I'm confident will pull through with something. If he doesn't it could be serious problem, it is quite hard to get schools involved because we need to use a principals office and board room, they need to have someone supervising us...
Cast is difficult, I still haven't had confirmation that Colin's nephew will do it (main role), so I called St Peters College and Patrick (a Dean) has helped me find another student to play the part. It might be hard if they both turn up wanting to do it.
First rehersal tonight, can't wait!
Things are going good, I've decided to can the second film and concentrate on the first one.
The time of the film has gone up to approx 10 mins.
Last Friday I met with Max who helped me polish the script. Then Saturday morning I met with Gabor who will be editing the film - he's got a good site at http://www.outlinestudio.co.nz
Yesterday I ran into some location problems, I still don't have Unitec confirmed, but I've been in touch with Jonathan, Timetabling who I'm confident will pull through with something. If he doesn't it could be serious problem, it is quite hard to get schools involved because we need to use a principals office and board room, they need to have someone supervising us...
Cast is difficult, I still haven't had confirmation that Colin's nephew will do it (main role), so I called St Peters College and Patrick (a Dean) has helped me find another student to play the part. It might be hard if they both turn up wanting to do it.
First rehersal tonight, can't wait!
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