Anyone to takes more than a passing glance at my DVD collection will notice something interesting about it.
Most of my titles are collectors, or special edition – and usually a box set.
I love the magic of movies.
I get giggly over the tricks of television.
I am an extra’s Junkie. I have been known to by a movie solely for the extras that come on the DVD. Even some my friends think I am weird. I can’t see where they are coming from myself.
I learnt a valuable lesson in 2000 when I returned to complete my high school leavers certificate at Canning College. In addition to the mature age requirements of two Tertiary Entrance Exam units I decided that I would do a third in Media Studies.
During that course we were required to do a 30 Anti Smoking Commerical, a 5 minute Documentary and a 7 minute Narrative.
In all the filming I did that year, the only time you ever saw me in front of camera was for a grand total of ten seconds in an in-class assignment, when I couldn’t get the girl I was directing to give the reaction I wanted and it was voted that I should do the shot.
From concept to product I had the wow of my year doing those three assignments. Developing the script, getting the shot, selecting the soundtrack and probably the best bit… editing the sucker together. My classmates on the first two assignments couldn’t understand how I could agonize over and edit up until the point that I a cut right on the beat… To me it was the most obvious thing in the world. It had to ‘feel’ right!
Things came to a head that year when my team on the final assignment told me two days before we were supposed to shot that they were ditching me for other groups.
Had I been to monomaniacal? Quite possibly… but hey… they say when life hands you lemons… squirt that sucker right it life’s eye! And so with the help of two friends and a quick rewrite I ended up with a 7 minute music narrative called “Socks in the City”.
The proof came in the pudding when receiving my feedback from my instructor. Every other teams’ page was filled with suggestions and comments on how they could have done things better.
My feedback contained one line.
Wonderful. Loved the post coital cigarette.
I had never been so pleased in my life.
Six years later and finally I have laid my dreams of acting to rest and have come to realize that that’s OK with me. I have suddenly realized that what I crave is not the in front of camera stuff. I would much rather develop my skills behind the camera where I can craft my dreams into reality.
The men in the header of this page each hold special court in my mind.
George Lucas… who defied the odds and showed us that we can reach for the stars and if you can’t get to them… you make them yourself.
His style has been described as everything from genius to simplistic… but whatever it is, he knows his audience… and he loves giving them what they want.
Steve Speilberg… like Lucas, Speilberg has stretched our imaginations with one hand and struck our heart strings with the other.
On the Hook DVD special features he comments that when it comes to his movies he has no ego… he doesn’t close his mind to ideas from any part of his team. Probably the quintessential example of this came on Raiders of the Lost Ark, when – after suffering a debilitating bout of dysentery, star Harrison Ford (when faced with one more fight scene with a human mountain in black and brandishing falchions) approached Speilberg and said, “I’ve got a gun… why wouldn’t I just shoot him?” The idea was taken on board and provided one of the funniest moments in the film.
Alan Alda… The only person to date who has received an Emmy in the big three, Acting, Writing and Directing.
"If you work very, very hard, this is the kind of actor, writer, and director you may turn out to be. And if you work extra hard, this is the kind of person you may turn out to be." - James Lipton, to students at New School University, where Alda gave an interview.
Ask most, but the die hard M*A*S*H fans, who plays Hawkeye Pierce, and the answer you will most likely get is Alan Alda, very few remember Donald Sutherland in the movie of the same name. Alda made that character come to life for eleven years on our TV screens. In that time he was allowed to branch out and show us new ways to think in a time of global crisis without pounding it over our heads. Activist or Artist, he has shown us that you can tickle a funny bone and touch a heart at the same time.
Kenneth Branagh… The renaissance of Shakespeare that arrived in the 90s can be attributed mainly to this man. Branagh proved that just because the language was strange, did not mean that the masses would not enjoy Shakespeare. He reflects this sentiment in his own writings where his dialog borders on the bardic. He cultivated a movie following that proved that dumb is not our default setting.
Joss Whedon… the little writer/director that could. From script spin doctor – to lightning rod behind such cult classics as Buffy and Angel, Whedon brings the fan to the show. A self confessed sad fan boy Whedon uses his knowledge of pop-culture, intertwined with enough ‘old-skool’ references to please most crowds.
When his critically acclaimed show Firefly was canned after one season, Whedon set out to make a big screen version of it so that it might not die. He dream became a reality in 2005, and Serenity subsequently became one of the biggest hits of the year.
Aaron Sorkin… As a writer there are few today who can hit the notes of a script like Aaron Sorkin. Listening to his words being spoken on film or TV is like listening to music, every little cadence and beat brings you one step closer to symphonic perfection. The ebb and flow of his words draws you in, seducing the mind while at the same time educating you without your knowledge.
At it’s heyday in 2001-2002 the West Wing inspired nearly an entire generation of freshman college applicants to make sure that Political Science was part of their syllabus.
In 2006… he is at it again… and I am aquiver in anticipation… This time… his sights are set on the hand that feeds him… New Addictions
