What happened? You turn 25 and suddenly everything you create is shit? Nobody find it interesting?

I started to  photograph on a regular basis when I was 18. At that time it was fun. I was an explorer, conqueror and even God. I created. I was a talent. I shot some great photos and many bad. I only remembered the great ones.

Now, 14 years later it’s still fun. I still explore, but I rarely conquer and never play God. It’s too risky! Better play safe. That’s my number one enemy talking. Why do I listen? Do you listen?

Everybody have self-doubt. Even the successful ones. What do they do?

They push themselves.

Hmmm… Recording in front of 100 people…

Wow, I thought. That sure sounds like a challenge to me. “Well, I think even a class that big can be cozy”, I said, “Let’s give it a go”.

So Thursday 29th of April, last week, I entered the auditorium with what I guess was nearly 100 watchful students. After a chat with Grete, we decided to just get going. Grete had made a story already, found music and selected images to use, and she had given me this 3-4 days earlier for me to play with and to use for the demonstration. To demonstrate fully how we make digital stories by using Movie Maker, I read the story aloud while recording it. This was a first for me! Reading your story in front of one person can be rather stressful as it is, but in front of 100 people…? Oh, well, there’s a first for everything. I also let the students know about this. “I have made a lot of digital stories, and also helped others tell their stories. But I have NEVER read and recorded a story in front of 100 people. So forgive me, I’m a little bit nervous”. They laughed, and I was relieved!

I could have said that this post would be about how to make a digital story in 1 hour, but that wouldn’t have been entirely true, because Grete had spent quite a few hours preparing the raw material for me. Although I put it together, not entirely into a coherent story, I did spend 1 hour demonstrating how it’s done technically, while Grete probably has spent some 10 hours or so preparing the material. And I think she’s still working on it to get it down to a 10-20 min demonstration!

But doing it in front of 100 people, that was the challenge! So if you want to make a digital story live, you should have all your raw material collected and well rehearsed, especially if you’re recording it in front of an audience.

Your raw material should include

1. The story written down and/or printed – rehearse the recording
2. Selected pictures to compliment the story – numbering the might be a good idea so that you easier know what order you want them in
3. Recording device or at least mic if you’re recording directly to MovieMaker
4. Music (with clearance to use)

As for the nerves, I can’t help you… But I can say this, be sure to make it fun for both you and your audience. That’s what really helped me while making the story in front of all these people.

I know I would like to try this again with one of my own stories! Have you done anything similar to this?

Do you know which tools to use? Do you know what is “the right thing” to say to your actors? Do you know what is expected of you?

What do a director actually do? – Well…they talk. And they talk a lot. With the scriptgirl, photographer, line producer, actors, assistant…. But talking doesn’t necessary make you a good director.

So what can you do to become a great director? The one that makes movies everybody would like to watch?

You have to exercise, excercise and exercise.

What you have to do is this:

• Find actors who would like to develop as actors (who doesn’t?)
• Find a photographer you enjoy working with
• Make small sequences where you Improvise, Play and have Fun
• Do this at least once a week

So what are you waiting for?!

Clint Eastwood directing (Photo: Marie W. Wallace/Gettyimages)

Murray Smith

So I´m going to explore this in my masters thesis by looking at the identification potential in our short film I Walk Alone. I have found a very good book about character engagement by Murray Smith, so I think this will be one of my main theoretical perspectives. I´ve also looked at Bordwell and Carrol, but I would like to explore more theories about this.

Do you know of any books I should look at?

I belive that a story has really no beginning.  You just have to find the place from where you want to tell it.

That is where we are at now. We have been working on an idea in our minds for 8 months and the time has come to write it down in a script.  Merete and I have different views on the story and we also need to agree on a mutual direction. That can be hard, but in a good way.

I always like to start with an everyday action such as taking the bus to school, eating dinner or watching TV. Then the character does something that surprises her/him.  And I hope that the script we are going to develop now will start with this:

A woman is riding her bicycle down the bumpy old road.  She is waving her hand towards a scarecrow as she passes.

As a director who has directed several films, it’s undertstandable when some of his films are not finacially supported by the Norwegian Film Institute, then maybe he belives they are betting on the wrong horses. Maybe.

But Vidar Kvalshaug has a good remark in the last passage of his cronicle, and I translate:

“Every established writer and filmmaker must write every book and every project as if it was the first one. The rush of new and young voices should be welcomed by the older and established.”

It’s not a human right to make film. It’s not a human right to make a new one, after your first. But instead of kicking downwards, consider this: Maybe the new talents have some ideas/thoughts that the established should appreciate and even help forward.

One place to start is here!

It’s a place where you can register as a freelancer and where companies can  search for people or advertise. It occured to me that swedes are great at innovation. In Norway jobs still goes through acquaintances. We have off course Freelance Bank Norway at Facebook and Juuger.com, but an agency would  be a great contribution for young talents to find their way through the jungle of finding jobopportunities.

So this is a request! Either for existing traders or innovative agents.

(Image is taken from: http://www.deskpile.com)

This image, which has become the interpretation of the film´s title, is Helen´s work!

November 2008 I started the journey of I Walk Alone with the writing of the script – and this journey has been amazing and terrifying. I suppose that´s just how it has to be when you´re making a film. The work started with feeble images in my head that grew into violently alive images that had to come out – they just had to do a stopover in the textual form of a script.

These images were with me during the entire time whether I was working on the film or not, and they still are with me. So when I talked about the film I would say “My film”. Then on the second day of production I was talking to Helen and Siv about how the day had gone and I said excitedly “It´s so much fun seeing my film come to life”. My co-workers looked at me, and Helen, the wiser of the two of us said “Merete, it´s not just your film, it´s our film – we´re making it together”. I felt terribly ashamed, because she was absolutely right! One person is not making a film with 20-30 assistants – we are making it together as a team. All I was thinking as I said it was that the images in my head are materializing in front of me and I love it! But all of us had images in our heads, not necessarily the same, but perhaps similar. And the film that all of us wanted to make was becoming alive in front of us and it was amazing!

And that´s why I´m writing this blog post – I did not walk alone when WE made I Walk Alone – and I greatly appreciate it!

Do you have a similar story from a production you´ve been a part of?

Filed under: Our Sweets Tagged: i walk alone, short film ]]> http://sweetchiliofmine.wordpress.com/2010/02/08/i-did-not-walk-alone/feed/ 1 mereteland This image which has become the interpretation of the title is Helen´s work! http://sweetchiliofmine.wordpress.com/2010/01/29/this-week%c2%b4s-film-recommendation/ http://sweetchiliofmine.wordpress.com/2010/01/29/this-week%c2%b4s-film-recommendation/#comments Fri, 29 Jan 2010 09:48:00 +0000 fotografeleen http://sweetchiliofmine.wordpress.com/2010/01/29/this-week%c2%b4s-film-recommendation Read more]]> My good friend Odd Geir sent me a message on a late November night; Go and see Precious! He is a film lover like me, seen far more films than I, and we have the same taste. He said; “If I would had to name one film as my favorite, it would be this.”

So I did.

Halfway through the film, I just had to leave. The one scene when Precious falls down the stairs. It was painful to watch, because I belive this girl is for real. She is Precious.

Director Lee Daniels read the book “Push” and decided to make this film. He was not the only one who wanted to do that, bur after stalking the writer Sapphire for several years, she finally, after seeing Monsters Ball, decided to say yes.

And what a film he made.

Derfor ser vi med forhåpningsfulle øyne på Anniken Huitfeldt som skal lese 51 sider med dokumentasjon og anbefalinger fra Bransjerådet for film. Det er vi som bestemmer hvilke kort vi vil spille med, men det er kulturministeren som bestemmer hvor mye de er verdt.

Sweet chili stories er en ung kvige i denne sammenhengen. Vi ønsker å fortelle historier som vi mener er viktige og som kan appelere til både menn og kvinner. Det som er synd, synes vi, er når man snakker om film som kvinner har regissert og/eller skrevet manus til, så er det en jentefilm/kvinnefilm. Vi lager ikke jentefilm.
Vi lager film!