Locations, story boards, directing and a blast from the past

Day started with Robert Mandel and Stephen Lighthill going over the dramatic and practical implications on a story and how that feeds into location scouting. The key thing always to remember: 'it begins and ends with the script - it has nothing to do with you' When Robert Mandel started at the AFI he had never touched any equipment, unlike today, when most people have shot a movie be it a professional production or most like an 'independent film.'


Jeff Bierman - our DP for 'She Cried Alive'


Clark Childers - one of the screenwriters.




Lunch in the 101 working on storyboards.

Afternoon session with Robert Mandel on Directing. Prior to being appointed Dean of the AFI Conservatory he worked actively as a Director - credits include: Prison Break, Lost, the X-Files and the feature film F/X and the Substitute. In the class Robert said to get the most out of the AFI 'make demands on yourself.'

We did an exercise designed to 'audition extras'. The class was split in half, one side as observers the other as 'actors' - Robert Mandel then asked the actors to start to imagine being at a sports match, he slowly built up the vision adding factors to play off such as temperature, life and death ie you have bet your last dollar and if you loose 'caput' - it took around a good 15 minutes. Over time I was drawn to watch a couple of the students more than the rest - these would be whole you would possibly select.

After a clip of Tom Berenger in the 'substitute' we went through the 5 Ws:

1 - Who - outlook, ethics, economics, religion etc
2 - Where - rules of the game, realism, magic realism etc
3 - When
4 - What - objective/obstacle
5 - Why - motivation

With the key being to answer 'How?'

Couple of other things came out of the session:

Higher the stakes the richer the conflict. Two characters same objective - boring story.

If its not personal it won't mean much to the audience.

Can't play the obstacle, you must play the objective.



Blast from the past - Kennedy Taylor - three years above me at Rendcomb - was at the AFI studying Directing and now works primarily as a 1st AD though through his fluent knowledge of Japanese (the Tokyo section of 'Kill Bill') he has a number of other businesses on the side. Had a great catch up session talking about Rendcomb, the AFI and subsequent jobs. Kennedy has had a fascinating background, working for many years out in Japan. He is now married with two children, his wife being from Tokyo. The two work together translating Japanese films into 'American'.

Soundstage

The AFI hall of fame!



Tour round the sound stage and the props room with Joe Dunn.






Possible location for the 'Hospital corridor' for 'Alive She Cried'


Met up with David Lumby. We were both selected for the London Film Festival 'Think-Shoot-Distribute' weeks course last year. He was in LA for a few days catching up with his sales agent for the film 'Most Unromantic Man'. Had a coffee a nd a look round the AFI.

Film Still and Poster for the film:




In the evening 7-10pm, a directors workshop with Jim McBride. An evening of getting to know each other. Jim recounted his early days as he looked to break into the industry. He started off in corporate films designed to seel real estate in Florida. During this period he shot his first short film - except it ended up being stolen. A few years latter he tried again. The outcome 'David Holzman's Diary' which won a number of awards and subsequently went on to be picked up by the National Film Registry.





Jim used the phrase 'you can't teach directing - but there are a lot of things to talk about and different ways to think'

As Directors what do we direct? The audiences attention.

After a short break the floor was turned over to each Director to say why and how he/she decided to become a Director - amazingly honest and intersting hour and a half. Fantastic to clearly hear everyone's passion and angle.

Oh we did have one incident. As we worked our way through the course came across a Japanese guy, said his name and it wasn't on the list. Found out that he was from Tokyo and had stopped by to see what the AFI was like and decided to try out a couple of the lessons!

An inspiring day

Today was our 'official welcome' to the AFI.

The formalities started off with an opening address given by the Jean Picker Furstenberg, President and CEO. The concept of the AFI came into being 42 years ago in the Rose Garden when Lyndon B Johnson propsed legislation for the formulation of a series of artistic institutions including a National Theatre, Ballet, Opera and the AFI.

The AFI Mission Statement includes:

AFI is a national institute providing leadership in screen education and the
recognition and celebration of excellence in the art of film, television and
digital media.

Wikipedia states:

The American Film Institute Of America (AFI) is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act.

George Stevens, Jr., was the first CEO and director. In 1980 Jean Picker Firstenberg became Director and CEO.

In 1973, the AFI established a Life Achievement Award. Their own film festival, AFI Fest , was launched in 1987 and has been held every year. AFI Fest is the first film festival in the United States to carry FIAPF accreditation. Beginning in 2007, AFI opened up a satellite festival under the name AFI DALLAS.

In 1998, the 100th anniversary of American film, AFI began its 100 Years... series, celebrating and promoting interest in film history; they also preserve old films, which are subject to degradation of film stock.

The AFI re-opened the AFI Silver theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland, near Washington, D.C., in April 2003. The AFI Conservatory focuses on training through hands-on experience with established figures. AFI also produces film education and appreciation materials for middle and high school students. In spite of its name, AFI does not focus exclusively on film, but also on television and video.

On October 31st Jean will be retiring after 27 years and 10 months!

He successor Bob Gazzale followed her address. At the age of nine he watched James Cagney being awarded a lifetime achievement at that point he realised film was a truly special medium. He went on to study at the Unversity of Virginia where he set up the Virginian Film Festival. Jean Pickering subsequently offered him a job. Working in NY for 5 years he finally returned to LA to set up the AFI 100 list.

Today he dropped off his son at school, and in a sense it was not dissimilar to our situation starting out at the AFI. The only thing he could say to his son as he ran off with his Darth Vader rucksack bouncing away was 'have fun' and these are the same words he left us with.

Bob Mandel the followed on, extolling the size of the AFI conservatory to be small enough to be proprietal and praising it for the support it gave him through his career.

It sounds a long morning - but nothing could be further from the truth. All speakers were eloquent and inspiring. In a funny way I was reminded of the honour and fear I felt when I first started at Oxford. How physically dissimilar could a 40 year institution be compared to Christ Church which is in excess of 400 years old. But what they have in common in ageless - absolute pride and sense of of value.

Alex Israel a second year student had the final address. A confident and funny delivery. Starting off with a whole range of anacronyms which AFI has created and must come across as complete gobbledy gook to an outside observer. But this humour led into sage advice:

- don't underestimate your peers
- don't burn bridges or make enemies
- don't form liques and alienate people

People will remember.What goes around comes around. And last not least people will amaze you!

Remember we are peers not competitors.

The session ended with two phonomenally inspiring films.

The first showed an array of the recipients of the AFI lifetime achievement award - Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Steven Spielberg, Jimmy Cagney, Jimmy Stewart, Al Pacino, Sean Connery, Billy Wilder - their pride and delight, their passion and commitment - it brought a tear to your eyes as you realised how much film means to people.

The second film was a summary of some of the key graduates from the AFI - Terrence Malick, Caleb Deschanel, Janusz Kaminski, Edward Zwick, Patty Jenkins, Darren Aronofsky, David Lynch - no pressure!

The event was followed by lunch with the faculty.







After lunch was the first of the Harold Lloyd Master Seminars - a screening of 'Resurrecting the Champ' followed by a Q&A with Rod Lurie. It wasn't a film which caught my eye at the cinema - so was pleasantly surprised. Some great lines and good performances. Rod was a great speaker and in deference to the confidentiality of the seminar series I won't retell any of the stories and anecdotes he recounted. Suffice to safe his honesty and trust in us was amazing.

Rod Lurie - previously trained at West Point going on to serve as a combat arms officer. Then went on to be an entertainment journalist. He wrote and directed the academy award and golden globe award nominated political thriller 'The Contender' starring Joan Allen, Jeff Bridges, Gary Oldman and Christian Slater. He then wrote and directed the 'Commander in Chief' amongst other projects.




Script is looking great. We worked through the whole piece, prunning. We are getting there.



What a fantastic day!

A day of lectures.

Morning spent discovering the vagaries of production for both bootcamp and the cycle productions. The session was run by Betsy Pollock, Associate Dean and Director Production Services. Second year fellows from each of the respective disciplines attended to give a grass roots comment on what was to be expected.

Afternoon spent in a dull but necessary lecture on safety.

Final session introducing us to SAG (Screen Actors Guild) and the SAG Conservatory. The talk was given by Deborah Berg the AFIs liaison at SAG and Talmadge Ragan who handles the SAG conservatory on camp.



Evening spent on script development. We are currently running at 19 pages need to prune back to 12.

I miss my best friend.

Really pleased I bought a surf board. Fantastic to be doing something physical and away from the city and film. The water is fantastic and very calming. I am finding that I am getting some of my best ideas re story and choices by focusing on something totally physical and consuming. But it doesn't beat spending five minutes with my wife. Skype has been fantastic. Julia doesn't have a web cam at work so the image on my screen is as above. Weird thing is when we have spoken on the webcam it is really difficult to hang up. Seeing someones eyes makes all the difference and however strong or reserved you are about being apart you can't lie in the eyes. The good thing is it reminds me how lucky I am and I can't wait for thanks giving. Also the week we had before college started was brilliant. Lets have more. I am starting to find people whose company I like, but its not the same, there isn't the same connection. Julia's blog is at http://julia-london.blogspot.com/ on it she says she even misses me winding her up! Well when I was back in London Julia would always wake up and insist on immediatley having a conversation when I was still half asleep, with a monosyllabic grunt I would try and put her off until I was fully functional. Funny how things get reversed, now as soon as I wake up I go on to Skype and speak to Julia at work, so at times she grunts and says she has to get back to work and we speak latter!

Spoke to Piers today, was brilliant to catch up. Really disappointed I won't make his 40th birthday.

So what's happening in LA. Weather is roasting, it is so hot even the locals are commenting. Down to Santa Monica and a few hours of surfing with Nick. Then back to Los Feliz to meet up with Jeff Bierman from Philadelphia. He has a really impressive show reel which, mistakenly, I thought he hadn't DP, but was stuff he had gaffered. So when we went through it and he explained that he had lit and shot I was stunned.

Afterwards helped Nick out as he hasn't found a car yet. Off to best buy to get him a fridge and then Ikea. Nick is also without electricity at the moment, so his flat is like a furnace.

Found out that all weekend people have been holding production meetings trying to lure people onto their projects. From all accounts it sounds intense and a real waste of a great long weekend. Lots of ultimatums and deadlines. I have spent some time with some great people. Will see.

Time for a cup of tea.

Sun, Sea, Surf and Art

OK so I start to realise why I like being on the other side of the camera. Here is one of those rare photos of me, more to the point its really a picture of my surf board. What a beaut eh!



Up early and headed straight for Santa Monica, hitting the beach just after 8am. Checked in with the lifeguard to see if there was any hazards to be aware of. Zipped up wetsuit, attached the leash to my ankle, picked up the board and just about to plunge into the surf when this 50 year old Californian shouted 'stop'. He asked if I had any wax cause there was no way in hell I would stand up without it. Anyway, him and his buddies have been surfing for 40 years, they kindly took me under their wing, made sure I waxed my board, checked the fins as they had been put in poorly and gave me some guidance on etiquette on the surf. Oh seems as though I have bought a real bargain - they couldn't believe the price. The surf wasn't great so no entering the 'blue room' today! It was fantastic to be out in the sea. For the first time in LA I finally felt myself unwind.

This is such a city of consumerism, even at the beach you can't get away from it. By 10am there are light aircraft flying down the coast trailing banners telling you to drink Bacardi Mojitos, Eat at Rays, or cable TV. It seems that work is money, holiday is money, relaxation is money, fun is money, hat is money, everything revolves around money. So where do you go away from it? I guess you get rich enough to live in a private mansion which shuts it out! Nick came up with a great line yesterday 'money buys you a better class of depression!'

Exhausted I dragged myself out of the water and headed off to LACMA.



One thing I have noticed is when people learn that I British I then end up in one of two conversations. The first is - what do I think about all the surveillance cameras in the UK, the second concerns the 'problem of the Muslims'. In most instances I find the instigator of the questions is incredibly naieve of the issue being discussed. I guess there is an increaing feeling of universal vulnerability here in the US.



Wanted to stop off at Penny and H's favourite breakfast place on Santa Monica 'Bread & Porride' but missed so ended up in an iHop (International House of Pancakes) - well I like pancakes but this felt more like a soup kitchen. Won't be a returning customer. Can still feel the grease on my palate.




Met up with Heather and David Stragmeister another DP from Israel. Has a really interesting reel. He is still living through teh nightmare of finding a car. Heather is lovely, going through a tough moment as she is recently separated. So we had a look round the SoCal art from 60s and 70s exhibition. A little bland, though some nice moments. Coffee and a chinwag.

Afterwards I went back and looked at some of the permanent collection to see if anything resonated for 'She Cried Alive' and found a couple of pictures....




...and a few fun ones.





Back home found an e mail from Jeff Bierman a DP at AFI. Nice reel, lovely strong blacks and shadows.

I bought a surf board!

It's labour day weekend, so Monday is a bank holiday.

Adam promised to work on the script on Friday night and post me and Sophie at the end of the evening. Nothing received so far.



Breakfast with Nick Quinn and Millies and then off down to Orange County to Ron Jon's surf shop. Where I bought a fantastic surfboard - real retro design, wooden look, straight out of a beachboys picture. Then off to Newport beach to purchase a wetsuit - all in all spent US$500. Spent the tail end of the afternoon on the beach. Was blown out by Sophie, having been asked to keep Thursday, Friday and then Saturday free. So headed back to Los Feliz for supper. Great conversations with Nick. He is friends with Nicky Ager who edited 'Confetti' which my Agent, Ian Benson produced! What a small world. Looks as though he is interested in getting some surfing lessons and may join me early morning surfs before college.