'I like to be the man'

Though this is a joke I frequently make in reference to bedroom exploits (I have half of my friends convinced I own a deadly, 12 inch strap-on), I can't help but feel that it is an apt call to make in reference to being director.

Being cast in a role where you call all the shots is at once exhiliarating and terrifying. The pressure associated with such an intimate duty of care is enormous, and you know that the failure of anything - on or off the scenes - is likely to be attributed to your own performance. Coming from a project where I had the bar minimum of say in last semester really meant that this was a 360 degree turn for me. At the same time, though, nothing has ever felt so natural.

As fantastic as Deno & Anthony have been over the months with their technical prowess and their willingness to contribute, neither of their interests in film are much concerned with creativity and aesthetics (though Deno does have a very smooth hand for operating a camera). What made this group dynamic work so well was that the visual side of the production was my forte - literally every decision made in post came down to my discretion. Right from the positioning of pictures, footage, transitions, music, etc, to making the end credits. Every cut on action, every smooth progression within the conversation, I oversaw.

And to have had people compliment the work is just the most satisfying experience for me. To literally have seen this idea materialise from a conversation with a friend to a tribute to their career is fairly mind-blowing. Directing is such a personal challenge - and by that I do mean, blood, sweat and tears. But at the end of the day, there's no way more fulfilling to be involved with something.

Getting practical

According to Megan Cunningham, there are the three versions of the story that we negotiate in our viewing.

The story that the director is trying to capture
The story that the editor sees in the rushes viewing
The edited version of the story.


These are all going to be laden with slightly different meaning. Our group has so far edited in unison, although I much prefer to work alone, I have appreciated the presence of Deno & Ant - the last thing I want is to turn into some egomaniac director who makes their project 'all about them'. While I'm willing to accept that most things are, indeed, about me, this documentary happens to be about Amazon. And I need to work with people who don't know him on the same level as I do so as to gague their reactions to the aesthetic devices I am implementing.

The first part of yesterday's tute was spent going over some of the techniques that are a useful way of keeping things in order throughout Post. Such as the paper edit, transcripts, summaries etc.. Basically you want to know exactly what is in each clip so you know where to look when you want to include a certain aspect in your story. The last thing you want to be doing is re-watching hours and hours of footage looking for a bit you could easily have denoted at some point beforehand. The more organised one is, the less time one spends in the suites.

We then moved into the suits, and spent more time editing tonight, and most importantly David was pleased with what he saw. The sound is obviously an issue but the actual footage is really quite captivating.. I hate to toot our own horns, it's just that Amazon really looks fantastic on camera. And the set-up of the bathroom ended up working really effectively, and the more we piece this doco together, the more affirming the whole process becomes.

GREY HAIRS!

Well, we got jibbed. The venue (Market) who had originally agreed to let us use their dressing room facilities has conveniently decided that they don't want to pay someone to open up early for us, so here we are, frantically trying to make other arrangements with other hotels.. but we have a slight issue... NONE OF THE GAY BARS ARE OPEN DURING THE DAY! The earliest bar opens at 4, which happens to be when I finish, which happens to be when we were MEANT to be on our way to South Yarra in order to film. What a bloody nuisance! I have all the gear in my car and everything... and I've been psyching myself up for this all week and I'm worried about what David will say because this will effectively put us behind all the rest.. ARGH! So much stress, especially from where I'm standing. I mean I love being Director, don't get me wrong - but I just can't help but feel like the onus is on me 99% of the time, 'cause I'm the one steering this ship.. so to speak.
I'm waiting impatiently for a miracle here.