Tortov Roddle's Successor

Really, this was the final week. And since I have a big off-the-record post planned regarding the script readings, as well as another which will mention the oral presentations, I’ll just talk about the final SC&A class.

It’s been a great two years with Tim. He’s a very kind, open-minded guy who’s clearly passionate about film and sharing it with others. I’ve had some good chats with him before/after class about films we watched or otherwise, and I have to thank him (though he won’t ever see this probably if so then HELLO THERE TIM AND A BIG THANK YOU) for introducing me to a lot of fantastic films and readings. Oh lord the readings, I could bathe in them. Slight sarcasm aside, I have to say the readings this semester were a lot more varied than last year, which I appreciate.

Eeeek!

This was a great week. On Monday my excellent friend Matt Wal and I delivered our presentation on the interesting Moonstruck script, to thunderous applause and cries for an encore. After not really liking the script back in week 3 or whenever we read it, I really got into it this time around. It’s certainly unusual but it really plays with the romance tropes in interesting ways, giving us a great ensemble romance without trying (as in, it doesn’t need to try, it feels so natural). Working on this also deepened my understanding of conforming to genre, or at least working within certain constraints. I’ve come to realize that following a set of rules when writing does not come naturally to me. I can’t help but unconsciously do the exact opposite.

The closest I came with it was my unfinished 8-pager romance that had enough wrong with it that I’m starting again almost from scratch. And now, a segue into script readings on Friday!

My 24 (actually 27 pages currently) pager just manages to fit within the trappings of the sci-fi genre. It’s weird, this is the script I’ve been least confident about since the course started, yet it’s easily my most well-received script. Jack’s kind words especially were like a warm blanket in the middle of winter (shoutout Jack thank you so much). But yes, I knew with this script I had a really solid idea. At its core is the story of someone who seeks desperately to connect with other people but is not properly equipped to do so, therefore destined to end up alone. It’s tragic. Add to that the slow reveal that it’s actually a sci-fi and I was ready to write. But my style has typically been plenty of big print flourish and crappy dialogue, but this story needed to be simple big print and plenty of GOOD dialogue. Fortunately, Ben had whipped me into shape regarding economic big print, but dialogue was still an issue. Apparently I pulled it off. Shoutout Brodie for reminding me to just read it out loud. That helps a lot. But also, in this setting the dialogue is just everyday dialogue. Whereas previous scripts have been set in fantasy worlds or whatever so it’s harder to make it feel natural since everything else is unnatural. 

bag baby bag baby bag bayvbbbe

We read Austin Powers. An insight into the mind of Mike Myers and a reminder that comedy scripts need to be seen on the screen before they can be fully appreciated because style and tone and aesthetics are much harder to convey accurately in writing. This script also made me realize that I don’t think I could write comedy. I’d say my sense of humour is pretty great, but the idea of creating jokes...that I cannot do. I can write weird and random things that are probably funny when you read them out. But joke construction requires a lot of thought. 

roman numerals are my bag, baby.

The micro-budget seminar held over Monday and Tuesday was interesting but not as insightful as I had hoped. I left early so this is just based on what I saw. I love the idea behind it - a bunch of great people from the industry offering words of wisdom and inspiration and encouragement. And it’s great to hear their stories, even if they offer no insight or anything. But on the other hand, it’s two days of sitting in really uncomfortable chairs, trying to stay focused for those snippets of useful info. Now before you, dear reader, jump to a conclusion about me or my attitude, I’m just being upfront and recognizing my own shortcomings when it comes to things like this. I struggle to focus in these situations. And when I’m uncomfortable, which was very much the case here, I struggle even more. I can’t help compare it to Industry Guest Lectures. They’re a nice 2 hour burst and we’re in the supreme comfort of Fed Hall so I pretty much always take everything in. I think the main thing, though, is that when the time comes and I really actually get serious about making a film on a micro-budget or getting a script of mine turned into a film on a micro-budget, it’ll happen regardless of whether or not I had attended this seminar. When I become passionate I’ll find an avenue. There’s a shitload of info on the net that covers the exact same stuff that the seminar did. I have friends who have done it. I have the information already. And yeah, I may have got a nice juicy piece of knowledge from the seminar, but I just know that it wouldn’t be the difference between me getting a film made successfully or not. What it comes down to is just me and my attitude. The most important thing is that I need to want to succeed in this industry. I need to fall in love with getting a film made. Until that happens something like the micro-budget seminar will only do so much as serve as a reminder that I need to just get out there and do it. And hopefully next year I will actually follow through and do it.

I forget what happened but fortunately Matty K is on top of his blog posts so I now remember.

Claudia’s film shoot happened over the weekend and I offered my numerous talents. The only one who didn’t appreciate me was the cat that lived at the house we were shooting at. For reference, talk to Matt K. He has video evidence.

Anyway, I spent most of the day being a runner / unit guy with Matt which was swell. But come evening time I donned my onesie ambulance gear to act out the role I was born to play. Apparently I barely make the final cut and my posture in it is really bad so maybe acting isn’t my bag, baby.

In any case it was great to help out. It was a long ass day but the end of film shoots always come with a grand sense of achievement - for me anyway.

Two characters, destined for love. The characters are...

NADIA 31 years old with a four year old son. She never married her previous boyfriend, the father of her child. She met him while travelling in Germany (he is German) and ended up living with him for several years, giving birth to her son, Gabriel, in the process. The pair fell out of love and parted ways on good terms, Nadia took custody of Gabriel, something both she and her German ex-boyfriend (name = Hans, naturally) agreed upon. Nadia and Gabriel returned to Australia. Hans visits several times a year. It’s not a perfect arrangement, but Gabriel is growing up healthy and happy, and Nadia is doing fine raising him and working - Hans also provides financial support.

All family backstory aside, Nadia is spirited, fiercely independent, very open and warm to others. She spent most of her 20s travelling and working where she could. She has countless friends from everywhere and still keeps in contact when she can - many travel to ‘straya, visiting her during their stay.

She’s very good looking.

She cares deeply for Gabriel, but deep down feels like she rushed into having a child. She still longs to travel more, but wants to stay in one place for Gabriel.

Regarding work, she manages a small but popular bar. Not the best job to have when there’s a toddler at home, but she also has a maid person under her employ to take care of Gabriel when she’s busy.

Regarding looooove, she hasn’t been in a proper relationship since her split with Hans. She can’t help but judge each guy she meets in terms of his compatibility with Gabriel (even if the guy and Gabriel never actually meet). She acts as though she’s not too fussed when it comes to love. But she wants true love........WHO DOESN’T?????

GEORGE 27, in the prime of post-youth, he’s living life and living it large... or so he thinks. In reality he’s a guy (still) struggling to adapt to the adult world and the expectations that come with it. Immature isn’t the right word to describe him... but it’s related. In many ways he’s mature. He’s something of a nomad. Travelling around, though not in the same way that Nadia did. Instead he’s like a lost lamb, though unsure what he’s looking for. He meets plenty of people, and though he makes friends, the friendships are fleeting, confined to the places he met them.

He’s never had a lot of luck with relationships. He had a girlfriend through most of high school. He now realizes this was not the best idea. He recalls discussing moving in together post-school. A year later - they’ve broken up and haven’t spoken to each other since. So it goes... He reckons he’s just here to have a good time, that he’s ‘not desperate’ for a relationship. He’s desperate.

Some things: - he’s a big duffer at heart, a guy with a lot of love to give, but not the best at keeping said love under watch. - he’s not particularly tactful when it comes to expressing his feelings or desires or what have you --> this is funny. - he always means well, but has a tendency to make a mess of the situation. - he’s completed an Art (not Arts, fortunately) degree and though he’s gifted at what he does, he lacks commitment to his art. As a result he is not yet making money through art. Instead he bounces between jobs as he travels around, unknowingly looking for love.

Behold! My inspiration for this story:

Honestly, I was absent for much of this week. Sickness took me, and so I rocked up only for the afternoon sesh on Monday and I was completely sick on Thursday so didn’t go in at all (much to my dismay - experimental shorts and surrealism are heaven for me).

Err, so what can I say? Luke’s second romance lecture was great. Here we workshopped two characters for a romance, and I’m using those characters for my 8-pager. And one of those characters may or may not be based on a 30 year old Vietnamese girl I met while travelling who stole my heart for the brief 2/3 weeks we spent together (this love was unrequited. Alas I am not surprised. I was 21 and she had a son and was a go getter and I was just some immature white boy travelling Asia with my lookalike friend, constantly being mistaken for my brother (often twin) when we are unrelated like seriously what the f******). Although I’m relocating my script to Australia and she is not Vietnamese, because I don’t just want to copy-paste her into my story. I would probably be jealous of my male character if I did that.

I was looking forward to romance but not to Random Harvest. I’d yet to have seen a romance film (or film with romance elements) from this era of film-making that had me invested in its characters’ love lives. I’m a fan of the modern Hollywood approach, and I’ll fall for it every time even though it probably holds the number 1 spot when it comes to cliches. 

I’ve found the old Hollywood approach to be rushed, the romantic tension light, the characters less endearing. It goes with the era - these are not negative things in my mind. Just a different style of romance, one that doesn’t appeal to me as much. Also worth noting is that I don’t have a huge amount of experience with romance from this era. Mainly just what we’ve seen of it through Uni since the beginning of the course. Anyway. Random Harvest. I looked the film up prior to watching it as everyone does, and it turned up very little. It seems to be a film whose legacy was short-lived. Is it actually any good? - I thought to myself, gazing longingly at a choc-chip cookie in my cupboard. Then again, we’ve seen some other mostly forgotten (by the internet anyway) films that have been great (FOR EXAMPLE POSEIDON), so I figured Luke had his reasons. And yes, yes he did. Random Harvest really got to me. The first section follows that classic Hollywood approach of ‘meet-->fall in love-->get married-->have kids in the space of a week’, but then it puts a very dramatic, very heartbreaking spin on it, and the rest of the film packs on the romantic tension to a ridiculous degree. It’s brilliant. You know the two are perfect for each other - we’ve just witnessed this. Literally the only thing that could tear them apart is amnesia. Such is the strength of their bond. So when finally, at the end, they are truly reunited, it’s ridiculously satisfying, incredibly beautiful, profoundly moving. Tears sprung to my eyes, warmth tingled throughout my body, I grasped the hands of the people closest to me, Brodie and Billie both slapped me (this didn’t actually happen but you get the idea).

I’m planning a romance for my 8-pager, so Luke’s notes on the genre are as per usual very helpful.

My chosen everyday activity: Locking the door

From this I got a lot of words you’d expect, such as Security, Goodbye, Wood, Apartment. And some more far-fetched words such as Axe, Gryffindor, and Dexter.  In the end I went with Shadows as the dominant theme.

From this I came up with the idea of a world where human bodies, our ‘shells’, have become incapable of expression, or communication, or anything other than getting us from A to B. They function on a basic robotic level. They are still flesh and blood though. This occurred over time; society slowly fell into dystopia. How this is possible? Science. For real though my idea probably dabbles a little in fantasy because I haven’t been able to come up with a scientific idea that explains how this world functions. Anyway, with our bodies like this, something extraordinary has come to take place - peoples’ consciousness has shifted to their shadows, and it is through our shadows that we are able to communicate. Picture two people standing face to face - their bodies are still, they stare straight ahead, their mouths firmly shut. Their shadows on the other hand are full of expression. Given that they can’t speak, they all rely on some weird sign language/shadow puppetry hybrid. This new world is one of eerie silence and specks of light amidst deep dark shadows.

So since we’re dealing with shadows, people can only communicate in light. The shadows still exist where there is no light, but they are incapable of doing anything.

There are what’s known as ‘abstract shadows’. They are shadows that have been separated from their body counterpart. Without their body, they run purely on instinct, like wild animals they roam the world looking for another body to attach themselves to. These takeovers can only occur in light of course, so knowing that abstracts could be nearby, people generally keep communication to a minimum unless they feel they’re safe. To help counter the emergence of abstracts, houses saw a shift towards being windowless, and special locks were developed for doors which would trigger an anti-abstract force-field that surrounded the entire building. Those who could afford these did so, but before long everyone’s bodies had fallen into that expressionless/robotic state, and no further abstract prevention methods could be developed.

Abstract takeovers are very much a problem faced more commonly by the lower-class population. The upper-class remain safe in their hi-tech houses. It’s a class-based dystopia, I ain’t hiding that fact.

The Instrument of Change is a person whose shadow separated from their body... but their consciousness remained intact. Aka they did not turn abstract and had full control over their body-less shadow. They then discover that in this form, they’re able to influence other abstracts, to ‘bring them back’.

Anyway, the 7-point deets.

1. Situation: The main character’s shadow has detached from their body but they retain their consciousness and seek out their shadowless (for how long!?) body in order to take it back.

2. Character: They were an upper-class businessperson but their detached shadow finds it must keep to low-income areas in order to survive due to all the anti-abstract devices in upper-class areas.

3. Objective: To regain their body.

4. Opponent: A new person - presumably another rogue shadow - has taken over protagonist’s body and is somehow walking and talking with it! Like back in the pre-dystopian days.

5. Disaster: This new ‘wind of change’ sets about causing the robot-like bodies to re-awaken, no longer shadow-dependent. BUT, a mentality develops from this, a mentality that all abstracts should be destroyed!!! Even though the abstracts are regaining their consciousness, they are now in more danger than ever.

6. Triumph: Protagonist, who had discovered that they could bring abstracts back, brings together a response force and is able to reclaim their own body, in the process discovering that the terrorist shadow (the one that re-awakened in protagonist’s body), was in fact manufactured. Artificial. It never had a human counterpart.

Let me tell you about my elective.

It’s called Music and Health and although it is only one two hour lecture once a week, that is not the main reason why I chose it. I chose it because it sounded interesting and for me music and emotion run deep. And this subject seemed like it might take a look at the relationship between And it seems like my expectations are on the money. (e: and it seems like I need to edit this)

What I did not expect: - a fully packed lecture theater. I figured 20 or 30 people would be interested in this kind of thing (but then, it is a 2 hour lecture once a week and there are no exams) - a lecturer more energetic than all of my high school PE teachers, but also ten times wittier and occasionally self-deprecating. I enjoyed that last part. - the packed lecture theater to simultaneously be clapping and stamping out a rhythm, and then to SING Titanium (that song that was written and recorded by Sia, but for some other pop artist, but then subsequently ripped by David Guetta and turned into a generic (other than Sia’s excellent vocals) electro-banger). Yes, this is how the lecture started off. At 9am. The entire theater reverberating with the thumping glory of arts/science students. Splendorous. 

The rest of the lecture descended into a standard psychology x music fare, but the lecturer’s energy and humour remained. So...expectations met and surpassed I guess.

I’ve tried like three times to write this post. End every time, I start talking about Tarkovsky and Solaris and then I just give up. I feel like I should talk about those topics because I care deeply for them but I just don’t know what to say. Or maybe I’m just never in the mood to go in-depth here on tumblr. I will say this though: Watching Tarkovsky’s 1979 film Stalker played an important part in my decision to study at the VCA. 

Solaris is not one of my favourite Tarkovsky films but when his other films include stuff like the aforementioned Stalker, the historical epic Andrei Rublev, the visually striking (moreso than usual for him) Nostalghia, and the beautifully honest and emotional Mirror, it’s not really all that surprising. And anyway, this second viewing of Solaris left a far stronger impression on me. I was more engaged, more attuned to the film’s vision, its subtleties, and so on. Also just want to mention - in the house at the beginning of the film, there’s several framed paintings of hot air balloons on the walls. An exact replica of one of them sits on the wall of my parents’ house, and has done so for as long as I can remember. It’s a small thing, but it somehow deepens my feelings toward the film. I feel like it speaks to me more, especially in that first section, and the final few minutes.

Metal Best Friend

In this world, androids have become commonplace, and they bear no obvious physical differences to humans. They live and function just as humans do, their artificial intelligence so advanced that they’re essentially indistinguishable from humans.

The protagonist is a ‘male’ android named Jeremy (for now) who lives alone and works at an old, expansive tech company. His best friend, a human man, works with him and has a family yadayada. Jeremy owns a dog. Things are pretty peachy in this futuristic android-loving world.

Beginning The world is unnaturally perfect. In this land (I guess Australia for now but the American influence is strong on me), conflict is pretty rare. Or at least, in this particular city, which is a big fucking city. But then....almost overnight, it all turns to chaos. Mysterious figures have begun killing any and all androids. Their reasoning is along the lines of a ‘preemptive strike’. Kill them before they turn and begin doing the same to humans. Jeremy is awoken by his excellent dog before any harm can come to him. He escapes and makes his way carefully to his best mate’s house...

Middle He is intercepted by his friend, who reveals himself to be a part of the mysterious group targeting androids!! BUT, his friend is not blackhearted like it may have seemed. He lets Jeremy go, telling him to never return. To leave for a foreign land because things are “very different now” (quote from the soon to be written screenplay(?)). Jeremy is not satisfied with this. Promising to do as he is told, he instead takes his dog, who is now called Daisy, and begins a perilous investigation into this mysterious organisation. He is met with obstacles along the way, and slowly uncovers the truth - the mysterious android hatin’ group are a sect from the tech company at which he works! He digs deeper, until...

End He is able to confront the head of the organization - his best friend! He was being played all along! This is the cliche of cliches, so it’s not set in stone. He defeats his best friend. The organization crumples and society begins to rebuild itself, signs of former glory rearing their attractive head once more.

Objective To uncover the truth about the mysterious organization and prevent further killings of androids.

Obstacle With chaos all around and an elite task force on the hunt for androids, he must tread incredibly lightly. They have guns and things. There is also the fact that his best friend is a part of this mysterious task force.

Two great films this week and the promise of an interesting semester despite the similarities to last year’s semester 2, the same semester that seemed to promote a string of laziness and relative disinterest in me. This semester will be different though, I CAN TASTE IT. My house and housemates are better, I’m closer to the city, I have a job, I have a wife, a children, an iPod.

Monday was a welcome return to the comfort of Luke’s charm and wit - not that a general presence of charm/wit has been lacking, it’s just Luke’s particular brand is hard to come by. THEM! was slick as promised, an all round well-made, fun film. Clever use of practical effects. Dr. Harold Medford’s blasé attitude served to even out the unsettling elements, such as the young girl at the start. Really nice tonal balance overall.

The banner genre of Science Fiction is more immense than I’d imagined. There’s enough sub-genres to light the beacons of Gondor! It’s also one of the most exciting genres, for me. I could happily spend the entire semester delving through the genre’s depths, watching all the classics, spending a week on each sub-sub-genre, and so on.

Holy Motors was a fantastic film, one that I’d planned to watch back when it came out but had since forgotten about. I’m pretty much the opposite of Jonathan “Jonny Goddy” Goddard when it comes to surrealism; it makes me weak at the knees. Set up a convincing atmosphere and throw weird shit at me and I’ll be satisfied. My oversimplification aside, Holy Motors worked on many more levels than just ‘being weird’. Once you clue into its basic structure (which shouldn’t take long) it’s easy to follow along and instead of being confronted with ‘randomness’ you’re enticed by the promise of every new job being something unpredictable, visually stunning, utterly unique, emotionally confronting. I believe the strength of the film lies in the diversity of each acting job; each is like a short film, superbly crafted and unique in tone and style, yet under the film’s overarching structure they’re all able to exist together with ease. It’s really quite incredible. The devastating human drama of the overly strict father picking up his confidence-lacking daughter from a party; the visceral terror of Mr. Oscar-as-Godzilla kidnapping the beauty and consuming everything that gets in his way; the sheer unexpected audio-visual joy of the accordion band. And as the film progresses, Mr. Oscar’s’s own feelings bubble to the surface. It is because Leos Carax has poured his heart and soul into the film that it’s able to easily rise above its weirdness and strike such a chord.

This week just finished and I can’t remember what happened.

Fortunately I remembered that I just have to access my memory in my brain/read other peoples blog posts/the course schedule.

TV READINGS. Finally. They were all so great. I didn’t really know a great deal about everyone else’s stories prior, so hearing them all was exciting. Reading my own out was nerve wracking. I’m a pretty poor judge of my own work, so was relieved when most enjoyed it. Obviously there’s still work to be done, but our overall story got an awesome reaction, and our plotting has been deemed on-point. Now I just need to figure out how to write dialogue that isn’t turds exiting mouths (to give the foulest possible description).

God that’s a piece of crap post title.

This week was fucked. Games presentation on Monday, which went really well. The lead up to this involved me playing through Portal 2, an amazing fucking game where JK Simmons voices a character and the credits song (yes, this is a thing) was weirdly beautiful and life affirming. Getting to talk about the characters in this to the rest of the class was great.

On Wednesday I was helping out on James’ shoot, primarily as continuity. It was an intense but really fun shoot. And also freaking hilarious. The crew were struggling - on multiple occasions - not to burst out laughing during filming. 

Two highlights this week: Meeting the animation students and the final TV tute with Ben.

I recall glimpsing the animation students on the first day of Uni last year, during that awkward ‘introduce yourself!’ thing in Fed Hall. Following this, I never saw them again. That is of course, until now.  I love this push for collaboration. It needs to happen in a big way. Even if, in this particular case, it’s not really leading to an end product, it’s still exciting to be able to give a script to someone and have it turned into something. I was fortunate enough to have two of the animation students choose the script I pitched (in actual fact the first script I ever wrote). I’ve met with both of them since and they’ve both done some amazing concept art, bringing to life the images that swirl around my head. What’s more, one of them has suggested the possibility of ongoing collaboration. Networking. I see now why there’s such a push for it.