Mas y Mas March 2010

más ymás

monthly newsletter of NISI MASA

march10

CREW

dynamics Collective vs Solo François Pirot report:

ESP shorts

portrait:

Still from Hit Music – Rhythm of the Revolutionary (2007) by Filmkollektivet Råfilm

Anu Aun

agenda

28 - 29 march

Board Meeting Bratislava

Rainer Werner Fassbinder, his cameraman Michael Ballhaus,actors Margit Carstensen and Karlheinz Bohmon on the Spanish Steps in Rome for the 1973 film Martha. photo: BFI

editorial Ahoy crew members!

Every film crew is a unique combination of thinking minds. When it comes to film crew dynamics, there’s as many ways to work together as there are filmmakers around. In this issue of Mas y Mas we are focusing on the dynamics in film crews.

I’ve worked as a director on a fifty headed film crew, as well as doing it all alone. Sometimes all you really need is a camera in your own hands, but being your own crew has in dark sides as well.

Check out page 2 for Barnabas Toth talking about the pros and cons of one man crews. And on the same page, RåFilm shares us how they work together as a film collective; sometimes there’s no better feeling than when every person in the crew can bring their own effort and vision present.

In the interview, page 4, you’ll find Scritpwriter-Actor-Director François Pirot sharing his views on crew dynamics, and check out also Atso’s article on comparing the differences of the European and Hollywoodish way of working as a crew (page 3).

Also on page 3 we have a chat with two crew members, who rarely exchange thoughts with eachother, the scriptwriter and the editor.

Read what the two Finnish filmmakers, Ilja and Markus, have to say on dynamics and as weel about working with a good friend.

In the spotlight we have the recent set adventures of ESP short filmmakers ülkü Oktay and Melissa Suarez del Real, and on the portrait page you find our Estonian board member Anu Aun, who is also no crew stranger.

Filmmaking is – at least most of the time – a social event, and it shouldn’t be forgotten that every person in the production has an influence on what the film becomes in the end. That comes to maybe the most important thing I’ve learned in filmmaking: to keep in mind to respect the work of others and the work you do yourself.

People, take good care of your fellow crew members, whether there’s 50, or just you on your own.

by Hannaleena Hauru

Mas y Mas is a monthly newsletter published by the association NISI MASA. EDITORIAL STAFF Coordination Hannaleena Hauru Design Maartje Alders

Contributors to this issue: Joanna Gallardo, Moa Geistrand, Hannaleena Hauru, Atso Parnanen, Melissa Suarez, Laura Talvet, Barnabás Tóth, Anna Weitz

NISI MASA (European Office) 99 Rue du Faubourg Saint Denis 75010, Paris, France Tel/Fax: +33 (0)9 60 39 63 38 + 33 (0)6 32 61 70 26 Email europe@nisimasa.com Website www.nisimasa.com

credits.

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Crew Dynamics

dossier

cinema sociomatics This month we are peeking behind the scenes to study a strange sociological phenomenon; film crews. What makes them tick? Some people have found a way to harmoniously work together, blurring the lines between profession, friendship and even family. Others prefer to keep the group as small as possible, to work more free and at the same time avoid the danger of crewmembers bashing eachothers heads in over the actress wearing red or green lipstick.. There are many ways to get to the final 'CUT!' in one piece. Read on and discover how.

All for one: RåFILM Sweden

R

Confessions of a one-man-crew Barnabás Tóth

I must say I basicly like to work as a one-man-crew, although as long as I remember my own shootings, the "one man” is never one man. Controlling and recording the picture AND the sound, while watching the whole thing with your own eyes as the first spectator is almost impossible.

But being alone (or very few) has many adventages: first of all: financial - you have to pay only one salary. Second: organisation: no lates, no busy schedules, no transport fees and no catering obligations. Third: total artistic control. Don’t have to fight with a once-painter-now.-cameraman who takes long hours to light an easy scene just to be able to put it later on his/her showreel tape.

No fight either with a too maximalistic/perfectionist sound engineer who stops recording if a plane crosses the sky 10 kms above the location. Fourth: you can keep the intimacy of the scenes if for psychological reasons we speak about hard scenes for actors.

Debuting actors can perform much better when there is only 1-2 persons in the room.

On the other hand, sometimes the stress, the warzone-like tension of a bigger crew can make wonders to the movie, not to talk about the comfort of having always the right person for the right job. So it is no wonder why productions who can allow themself to have a big crew always have a big crew. They are not stupid to waist money. As soon as you work with reputated actors, you cannot go below a certain comfort – which includes buses for wardrobe and makeup, catering….well, thats another story.

by Barnabás Tóth

åFILM believes in sharing. In addition to sharing cameras and equipment, sharing ideas and knowledge make the process of creating documentaries more inspiring, and within RåFILM there is always someone with a fresh eye to help out when a rough cut needs a new perspective. Our collective method differs from project to project. Sometimes only two or three of us work together, sometimes, as with Hit Music – Rhythm of the Revolutionary, nearly all of us participate, and sometimes one or two of us join a project later on in the process, perhaps to animate a scene or help out in the editing. We have a common goal with our films, but as individuals we are different, with various strengths and skills. The point is to learn from and inspire each other – that makes RåFILM grow collectively.

Our latest production is Once Upon a Hill, which premiered at Göteborg International Film Festival in January.

It’s a documentary portraying the life of four children in the Chilean coastal

town of Valparaiso. The kids are shut-in in their daily life in a segregated area on the top of one hill in the city, but since a few years back they make their own magazine with reality-based comic strips. In the film we portray their everyday challenges both through interviews and their own comic strips, which have been animated into the cityscape.

It’s been an exciting and challenging production in many ways, both for us, and the children. The kids have been so brave in letting us step into their world, and now we really hope that the film will inspire other kids to use their right to express themselves.

RåFILM’s website: www.rafilm.se RåFILM on Facebook: Filmkollektivet Råfilm Once Upon a Hill website: onceuponahill.wordpress.com INFO: info@rafilm.se

by Anna Weitz and Moa Geistrand

dossier Coffee boys and teabreaks

US vs European crews

Crew Dynamics

4

I think we should talk…

I

t’s said that the scriptwriter is the first one writing the story, and the editor is the last one writing it. Yet it can easily happen, that these two crew members never meet eachother. Finnish scriptwriter Ilja Rautsi and editor Markus Leppälä share their thoughts about this lack of encoutering. And what do the two men have to say to the guideline that you should avoid working with your friends?

Ilja Rautsi is a scriptwriter doing his master’s in University of Arts, Helsinki. He and editor Markus Leppälä started their studies in the same year and have been working in several films together.

Ilja says that as a writer he usually communicates with the director and producer, that’s it. To fix the communication between a writer and the editor Ilja proposes that after making the first cut the editor and director would talk with the scriptwriter in general what’s really becoming of the shot material. The writer usually knows the planned structure best, so why not consult him?

I

n Hollywood there is a person for every step of the way. He who gets the coffee, who prepares the coffee and the one who serves the coffee, while all dream of drinking it.

In Europe, if you are lucky, there's a coffee machine on the hallway of the broadcasting corp. and a producer who found a couple coins still left in his pocket, or even better, on the floor! On this hallway the crew member will find a safe haven between productions.

In Europe "less is more". Less money, less time, less people and often less seats filled. But not to worry. For years some films have reached the status of a masterpiece if viewed by friends only.

So thus on the Old Continent less can indeed be more, while trying to sort out where a German actor working in a French film shot in Iceland pays his taxes. Yes, its' about art.

Technical innovations affect on both sides of the pond. Editing with computers instead of moviolas has changed the traditional route an assistant might become an editor and how to get work can be as tough in both "systems". In the US the union/non union rules affect, but there is also a Supreme Court decision on people's right to work. In Europe unions hardly have the same kind of power as the ones in Hollywood. Yet this does not mean that

the famous ”tea breakes” of the British crews would not have caused bewilderment for Kubrick (see above). If you want to endulge yourself in the practical differences between US and UK filmmaking, just take a look at the rules on what and in which order to fill the clapperboard!

Markus mostly communicates with the director and the sound designer. For Markus, an editor’s main job is to help the director to make the film as good as possible - in a way to present the upcoming audience in all its emotions. Markus would always welcome the scriptwriter to watch and comment on the ongoing editing process.

For both Ilja and Markus, interpersonal chemistry is really important.

Perhaps one of the key differences to keep in mind is that US crews have so much more working hours behind them than a European one will hardly ever be able to reach them. This will will no doubt also affect the quality seen on screen, whether big or small.

HBO TV productions with DOPs who have started in film and then gone television is a reversal of the route,but the quality is there.

The work by the Ford stock company, the Malpaso team of Eastwood or Bergman's trusted allies continue to dazzle us. Film crews form a family of sorts.

Each of these teams, whether in Asia, Europe, North America or at the backyard of your house, soon have their own dynamics, while trying to get it all done before the sun sets. Just remember who you are (what you are worth) when making the deal. In the end what matters is how many set ups and shooting days you get.

by Atso Parnanen

In a film crew. Ilja thinks the ideal way of working would be when everyone is actually making the same film. ”It’s also about understanding the differences of all the work phases, and listening to eachother on the way.”

Outside of filmmaking Ilja and Markus are friends. It’s said that working together ruins friendship. Ilja says it all depends on the friend.

Markus responds ”If you’re not to work with your friends, who the hell should one work with then? You are to conquer the world with your friends. Later, when your bitter, old and lost everything, you can be nasty and stab them to the back. But before that you must do your all.”

by Hannaleena Hauru

5

Crew Dynamics

François Pirot is a Belgian director and scriptwriter. After two shorts, he just finished writing Mobil-home, his first feature film, which he will also direct. He co-wrote Nue Propriété and Elève Libre with Joachim Lafosse (also Belgian). In fact, he has experienced different productions as scriptwriter, director and…actor!

dossier

interview.

François Pirot

According to your experience, how does the hierarchy function on set?

Hierarchy doesn’t exist if the task of each crew member is well-defined. If everybody knows what he/she has to do, hierarchy doesn’t have any role to play. But it depends if we're talking about a professional shoot for which the people have a contract and are paid, or a volunteer team. The contracts define clearly the responsibilities of each crew member thus the hierarchy is accepted. Each higher responsible has a key function in terms of team supervision, like the DOP and the Head of Electronics. Human resources should be well-managed, especially because the director should not be really involved in them. This is why the role of assistant director is so crucial for a film’s dynamic. He/she is there to avoid potential conflict. When everything is going well, the team will be focused on the main thing: the making of the film. On the contrary, on a set with a small budget, some problems linked to hierarchy or differing expectations could appear as people are not paid. But most of all I would say that the real leader is the film! We obey it, in a certain way…

Besides the role of each crew member, could you tell us the key factors that help a shoot be efficient and successful?

I will definitely say the trust between each crew member you work with.

Sometimes it’s better to work with people you don’t really know, but who are professionals. On the contrary, when you work with friends, there are maybe fewer problems of trust but they could also be less experienced.

And with them, you rarely face ego problems! I think we should learn in film school how to manage ‘ego’ because this is a hot topic in the creative field. I remember on a short film set, the whole team decided to stop the film because the director wasn’t managing his demands well. And as the crew was not so well paid, they all left! It’s an exceptional situation but it clearly shows the importance of human relations.

But the project itself is obviously a key factor! If the people feel that they are doing something interesting, it helps the group dynamic. I attended one of Joachim Lafosse’s shoots, with some famous actors (e.g. Isabelle Huppert for Nue Propriété). The team was really concentrated. You could feel the positive tension of the crew. Also, to give you a tip; always start by

shooting simple scenes, to slowly build the cohesion in the team. And since filming is really demanding, it’s also important to have a good location. It could seem minor but it’s really important to eat well for example and to have some free time to shake off any tensions.

On your last short film Dimanche Soir, you were directing and acting in the main role. How did you manage it?

It’s two complementary roles. Being actor helps you to direct and viceversa. As a scriptwriter, I’m used to playing out the scenes I write to check if they work or not. In film school, you should at least try acting once when you learn directing. Then you realise how important it is to have well-described scenes to guide the actor physically. On the set of Dimanche Soir, the challenge was the constant changing of positions. The script-girl, the sound engineer and the cameramen were taking the role of director to replace the “empty seat” from time to time. I selected professionals I could trust in terms of feedback and ideas. That was crucial. Also it’s interesting how you can feel a scene differently as actor or director. As an actor, I sometimes had the impression that I was not enough in the mood of the character but from the director’s point of view, I was! The actor has some unconscious gestures that only an external eye could evaluate.

By Joanna Gallardo

news

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FIRST STEP FILM FEST CALL FOR ENTRIES

From 27 to 31 October 2010 in Tirana, FIRST STEP Association, NISI MASA's partner in Albania, will organise the first International Film Fest, that will be open for students & independent filmmakers.

Entries: short films up to 25 minutes, fiction, documentary, animation or video art by students or graduates that have finished their studies in the last two years.

Entry fee: none In 5 days every participant will have te opportunity to visit Tirana, and to partecipate in the workshops and lectures that will be held during the festival by serveral national and international pedagogues and filmmakers.

Dokoyomi site DOKO YOMI “Documenting Kosovo’s Youth in Mitrovica” was a documentary workshop organized in 2006, by NISI MASA in cooperation with its member organization in Kosovo, 7Arte. It was open to young adults between the ages of 18 and 30 living in Albania and the former Yugoslavian countries. The result of the workshop were eight short documentary films about Mitrovica’s youth.

Some of them were screened at Cannes Film Festival in 2007 and other prestigious festival around Europe.

In 2008, the same idea was developed further by 7arte. Five documentary films were produced within the same frame and were screened at the “Youth in focus” film festival in Mitrovica.

For further informations please visit www.fsass.org or contact First Step Association at: info@fsass.org.

Nisimazine Cannes 2010 The first call for participants for a ‘Nisimazine’ film journalism workshop in 2010 is now open!

We are currently accepting applications from young (aged 18-30) aspiring film critics and photographers from France, Belgium and Romania, who would like to be part of our editorial team during the Cannes Film Festival from the 12th to the 23rd May. You can download the official Call for Participants and application form on the official website www.nisimazine.eu.

Completed forms should be sent to nisimazine-cannes@nisimasa.com

DEADLINE: 7th of March.

Currently, “7Arte” (an Albanian NGO) and “Alas” (Serbian NGO) with the support of UNDP are launching a webpage www.dokoyomi.com which will provide useful information for youth and culture on a local level. “7Arte” is looking further for cooperation with European filmmakers toward new projects related to the mood of DOKO YOMI.

INTERNATIONAL SHORT WEEK 2010 in BOLIVIA Call for entries

Cochabamba - Bolivia >> May 10th to May 15th 2010 Nisimazine Rio participant Mary Carmen from Bolivia is involved in a short film festival in Cochabamba. Applications for this festival are open to any director and project without restrictions in terms of nationality or age. (limited to three projects per applicant). There is no restrictions in terms of subject matter. Works can be submitted to any of the following categories: narrative, documentary, animation and experimental. Submitted projects cannot exceed 30 minutes of duration.

Beeld voor Beeld Festival

DEADLINE: March 31st 2010.

Call for entries

Applications should be submitted to the following address:

Beeld voor beeld is a documentary film festival dealing with cultural diversity. Rooted in visual anthropology, the festival screens documentaries on various (sub-)cultures in a format combining screenings, discussions and seminars on different themes. It offers a meeting place for filmmakers and audiences from different cultural backgrounds. The section on student films is open to all educational programs on visual anthropology or documentary filmmaking fitting in with the overall format of the festival.

Deadline: March 15th 5 pm For more information and entry forms: www.beeldvoorbeeld.nl

FILM

Semana Internacional del Corto Calle Jordan 326 Cochabamba - Bolivia

for more info: semanadelcorto@gmail.com

screenings

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KOSOVO

15.03.10 - 18:00

Screening of 2 DOKOYOMI films location: House of Culture “Rexhep Mitrovica” Screening of two documentary films, made by DOKO YOMI documentary project that was a cooperation of 7arte and NISI MASA in October 2006.

LISBON 08.03.10 - 21:00

A screening of the short films that were made in the 2007 Snow workshop will be held at the Cultural Center of Belem in Lisbon in the frame of the Bridges to Istanbul Festival. The films are inspired by the book 'Snow' by Orhan Pamuk. Entrance: 3 euros WEB: www.ccb.pt So there are no poems coming to me, by Hannaleena Hauru Finland (4’34”) Tangerine, by Balázs Simonyi Hungary (8’55”) Kar_s, Ania Zuber, by Manuel Gonzales Bustos & Javier Rex Jimenez Poland & Spain (6’02”) Ka's strange love, by Oytun Kal Turkey (14’30”) We all have a snowflake, by Emmanuel Falguières, France (16’06”) Hidden Symmetry, by Céline Giertta Sweden (4’59”)

ESP SHORTS SHOOTING

spotlight

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Two scripts that were developed in European Short Pitch 2009 have just been shot. One in Spain. One in Turkey.

Melissa Suarez's film is about Jose and Yolanda who live in a very small apptartment. Arguing constantly, one morning they discover –accidentally- what seems to be the perfect solution to their problem. Melissa made Furniture with 20 people and tells about the experience of lack of space here below. Ülkü Oktay shot Scamps in 5 days in Van and Başkale. A photo report is just here to the right:

SCAMPS Synopsis:

The story is of two ten-year-olds who live in a small village near Kars and receive education in a neighboring village. Captivated by Geography and Turkish attractions, they engage on a journey to the Fairy Chimneys upon discovering the place on a 50 Turkish lira banknote they found on their way back home from school, using the latter as a map. However, in order for them to reach their goal, public transport and hunger will make them use their money, thereby changing their destination as well.

Furniture

I

’m aware that whatever I write down in this paragraph is not the definite guide to crew dynamics in films. My experience is still quite reduced, but yet, I guess that’s why I’m still amazed by the fact that you can learn way much more during a three-day shooting, than in 3 years writing scripts behind a desk.

I guess that what I like about making films is that it is a collective work, but I guess that’s also the main challenge, and especially in Furniture.

In this film, there were 20 persons working in a 25 mt apartment that was supposed to be packed (and actually was)… I guess that’s a quite particular situation. But anyway, I remember that in the middle of the shooting, I started to think that if we’d cut out every second lost in trying to dodge at each other, probably we could have finished the film a day earlier.

Of course this is an exaggeration and it sounds crazy now, but at the time I thought that things would be less stressful and more comfortable, if we’d just work separately… at least before shooting (in fact, just the actors and camera were inside the apartment then. Not even the directors!). Of course, the clock was ticking, but the fact of being swallowed by the packed apartment was really not helpful at all.

Thankfully, people coped incredibly with this particular situation and, I’m sure that this lack of space and comfort has nothing to do with the love and care that every person in this film made its job.

by Melissa Suarez

portrait

9

Anu Aun

I

recently read a book by an Indian author. At one point, there was a phrase about older Hindus who never cease to tell that the world is never what it seams. I agree with this sentence and somehow it makes me think about Anu. Precisely because Anu is never what she seems to be. And this, in many aspects, be it positive, surprising or positively surprising. She is movie director, she is producer, she is scriptwriter. And meanwhile, she is woman, she is mother, she is sister, she is daughter. Above all, she is the most feminine woman you can imagine with a strong will to make her dreams come true. And these dreams surprisingly tend to take a masculine form – as we know, directing is no work for soft and indulgent people but rather something for extremely strong, sometimes inflexible, hardworking, even obsessive personalities who don't get lost after a rejection of their first draft proposition – they keep on going, insisting, making impact, making efforts. This is Anu – soft from outside, strong from inside.

As to me, I started to know Anu first as a person and much later as a movie director. It makes no difference by now, as she has – like I said – at least two complementary personalities within one person. I don't know much about her school years nor childhood, but she certainly seems to have had a strong character even in her early years.

She graduated from Tallinn University, Estonia, in

TV and film directing and she certainly has many qualities that might come from the TV-world: fast decision making, ability to work in crowded places, to work in stress conditions and within short deadlines. After all, she prefers the movie world.

Even if it is certainly not an easy choice in a small country like Estonia – she is convinced about her dreams. When I asked her once, what would she like to do in the future (silly question!), she didn't hesitate a second when she said: films, films, and films. That's it.

Anu has produced and directed several short features and documentaries, she has also worked as script editor. She recently participated in the prestigious NIPKOW program in Berlin to work on her big project, her first full-length feature called “The Polar Boy”. Even more recently, in January this year she finished shooting another one of her dreams, a short feature called “Shift” with a highly professional and experienced team. That's where I had the chance to be part of it. And as far as I can tell – it was worth it. Being somewhat a control freak (and it is not always a bad thing to be, as you are film director) she had planned every little tiny detail about the whole process. Nothing was left unnoticed, nothing was impossible. Even shooting 3 nights outside with the temperature lower than - 25C. She was there, she didn't complain, she wanted everything to be perfect. And at the end, it was. Her unchanging, permanent self confidence simply made impossible any complaints by anybody. And when the shooting period was

over, most of the crew came to celebrate it together, at a party. Everyone who has ever made a film knows that when actors and creative team still talk with you after the stressing days and nights are over – you have done a great job.

That's not all – last year Anu called me and came up with another enthousiastic idea (I forgot to tell that she can be extremely enthousiastic about something new she has discovered and that she absolutely wants to start with it – at this very moment, the word “absolutely” means “undeniably” and “you simply can't tell no”) to create Nisi Masa Estonia. By now, she is the president of it.

As a matter of fact, I owe her quite a few fantastic experiences within Nisi Masa events. And I hope it will continue this way.

Last but not least – Anu is a great cook. Besides of the incredible savoir-faire in dividing herself between work and home, career and family, she most certainly knows where her kitchen is. Here's my last warning – if she hasn't convinced you yet (and that is almost impossible) about her next important and enthousiastic project, you certainly won't be able to say no after you've eaten some of her miraculous food, be it a tasty guiche, some Asian delight or a ravishing cake. Believe me, there's no way out. There's only one thing left to say: the world is never what it seemed anymore. :)

by Laura Talvet