A NOTE ON IDEAS AND MEANS OF ITS REALIZATION

THE IDEA

  

  When you read about another new film you often see: "I wanted to show what people like my main hero feel".  I think there's a danger in making the "what it's like" option leading in the film. A danger of cheaping your film. And what's the point in bringing on screen cheap ideas? Profit? But if you make something eternal, you'll get much more profit and fame and love in years and years after the release, not just this season. 

   So, I wish filmmakers weren't afraid to show big ideas in films. The special ideas. Unusual truth of life. For example, Tackeray's "Vanity Fair". You can make accent on the idea how hard the life was back then. Especially woman's life (either with or without social status) and how ridiculous is this title following. But isn't it a story about the importance of following your goals, seeing things and people objectilely, importance of trying to make your life better (especially if you don't have the benefits that everybody else have)? Doesn't Tackeray hide a fine irony between the lines about the similarity of  all this vanity fair and following stupid (false) virtue, mythical feelings and ideals?

THE MEANS OF REALIZATION

    Everything that we see in the frame is a realization of the big idea that you put in your film. So, what is the best location for the dialogue of your characters? The bar? The park? Or maybe, apartment? Whatever it is, the most important thing is not to make it look like a standard, "real" apartment or bar. Because everything that we see influents on our impression from this dialogue and the whole film and it's idea. So, not only people, everything should have it's character (or express human's character), should act - walls, tables, chairs, sky... The best films of all times are made with such principle. Remember Holly Gollightly's apartment in "Breakfast at Tiffany's". If you don't do this - whatever is around, even if it's super-expressive, if it doesn't express your big idea - it's just the space, filled with dead things. And, (the worst and the most frequent thing that happens to films) deathly boring. 

A few days ago I read a delightful article of Oscar Wilde, "The truth of masks". When I read this, I realized that he was even finer and greater philosopher and artist than I ever thought (And I thought really good about him). What a great taste for artistic nature! What a great wisdom! Reading this article really helped me to understand my filmmaking style more than any modern book or "working professional". So, I take a bow to my teacher and represent you the main points of "The truth of masks":

• there is absolutely no dramatist of the French, English, or Athenian stage who relies so much for his illusionist effects on the dress of his actors as Shakespear
• The value of the costume is twofold, picturesque and dramatic; the former depends on the colour of the dress, the latter on its design and character.e does himself. And, valuable as beauty of effect on the stage is, the highest beauty is not merely comparable with absolute accuracy of detail, but really dependent on it.
• and as for Juliet, a modern playwright would probably have laid her out in her shroud, and made the scene a scene of horror merely, but Shakespeare arrays her in rich and gorgeous raiment, whose loveliness makes the vault 'a feasting presence full of light,' turns the tomb into a bridal chamber, and gives the cue and motive for Romeo's speech of the triumph of Beauty over Death.
• but nobody from the mere details of apparel and adornment has ever drawn such irony of contrast, such immediate and tragic effect, such pity and such pathos, as Shakespeare himself.
• costume could be made at once impressive of a certain effect on the audience and expressive of certain types of character, and is one of the essential factors of the means which a true illusionist has at his disposal.
• and showing us, by the colour and character of Claudian's dress, and the dress of his attendants, the whole nature and life of the man, from what school of philosophy he affected, down to what horses he backed on the turf.
• Art, and art only, can make archaeology beautiful; and the theatric art can use it most directly and most vividly, for it can combine in one exquisite presentation the illusion of actual life with the wonder of the unreal world.
• For archaeology, being a science, is neither good nor bad, but a fact simply. Its value depends entirely on how it is used, and only an artist can use it. We look to the archaeologist for the materials, to the artist for the method.
• it was a means by which they could touch the dry dust of antiquity into the very breath and beauty of life, and fill with the new wine of romanticism forms that else had been old and outworn.
• Of course the aesthetic value of Shakespeare's plays does not, in the slightest degree, depend on their facts, but on their Truth, and Truth is independent of facts always, inventing or selecting them at pleasure. But still Shakespeare's use of facts is a most interesting part of his method of work, and shows us his attitude towards the stage, and his relations to the great art of illusion.
• A great work of dramatic art should not merely be made expressive of modern passion by means of the actor, but should be presented to us in the form most suitable to the modern spirit.
• Perfect accuracy of detail, for the sake of perfect illusion, is necessary for us. What we have to see is that the details are not allowed to usurp the principal place. They must be subordinate always to the general motive of the play. But subordination in art does not mean disregard of truth; it means conversion of fact into effect, and assigning to each detail its proper relative value
  archaeology on the stage, and whose plays, though absolutely correct in detail, are known to all for their passion, not for their pedantry--for their life, not for their learning.
• Art has no other aim but her own perfection, and proceeds simply by her own laws
• Better to take pleasure in a rose than to put its root under a microscope.
• The true dramatist, in fact, shows us life under the conditions of art, not art in the form of life. But it is not enough that a dress should be accurate; it must be also appropriate to the stature and appearance of the actor, and to his supposed condition, as well as to his necessary action in the play.More dress rehearsals would also be of value in explaining to the actors that there is a form of gesture and movement that is not merely appropriate to each style of dress, but really conditioned by it.
• The facts of art are diverse, but the essence of artistic effect is unity.
• There may be division of labour, but there must be no division of mind. In fact, in art there is no specialism, and a really artistic production should bear the impress of one master, and one master only, who not merely should design and arrange everything, but should have complete control over the way in which each dress is to be worn.

And, my favourite one,

• For in art there is no such thing as a universal truth. A Truth in art is that whose contradictory is also true. And just as it is only in art- criticism, and through it, that we can apprehend the Platonic theory of ideas, so it is only in art-criticism, and through it, that we can realise Hegel's system of contraries. The truths of metaphysics are the truths of masks.

I could add a lot of my understanding of these lines, but I won't. I love it like this. Let it be just a quote of the precious Master thoughts. Plus your very own perception of it.

I found some interesting things in directing that ukrainian directors used in the beginning of XX century. According to them, the art of film, like any performing arts, expressed in time and space. Space - mise en scene. Time in performing arts is represented not like the natural life flow (if the story takes place during a several years, the film or a play lasts about 2 hours), but using such definitions of organizing time: rhythm, meter, tempo. They say, these things limit the absolute world to small symbols in order to feel infinite.

Meter  

 Adjusts to a certain perception of mood of the action. Basis. For example, lyrics are like a certain mood, it's nature is equal from beginning to end, concentrated on feelings in this moment.  Or it's objective order of things. Or sensual, or neurotic athmoshere. Or it's a pathos athmoshere, or many more.

Rhytm

  Everything in nature is rhythmical. Breath - exhale, day - night. Rhythm - is a system of accents. The unity of Miscellaneous, of contrary phenomenons .  Adjusts to a certain range of associations and feelings. What an be accented in a film: acting, space (characters or athmoshere), images, symbols, movement, gesture, voice, action, costume, lighting, plot, idea, tone, mood, dynamic. The director's job is to  select and compos one or few features according to the film conception. It is called Focus. It's a nessesary thing (otherwise viewer will lose his attention and won't understand the big idea)
Perception of the world is being expressed in rhythm. The special feature of the film thanks to which this film is being remembered for years.
To imagine this, compare – the best films of 1920's, 1940's, 1950's, 2000's.
The perception of the world can be optimistic and pessimistic. Passive and active. And many more. It's like a painting – many layers, colors, forms, lines.  It can be, like many good works of art - contradictory – one thing can be everything.
Rhytm must consist of ups and downturns (pause is also a part of rhythm).

Creation of art – is an invention of things in a new, unknown to others, rhythm.


Tempo

The level of advantage in the correlation of whole (idea) and part (small events).

Time in the film – is a rate of time passing, which is perceived sensually. For example, if we spending time interesting - it passes quickly and if we're bored it “goes by so slowly”, like Madonna sings.

Slow tempo – concentration on details, fast – culmination (final tension, nervous moments)

Also, there are interesting points on acting:


- focus thinking on the form (practical role interpretation) and means of it's materialization.
- be able to find appropriate embodiment in the form (gestures, face expressions, eye movement)
- “experiencing” and “living” the role with your true feelings (by Stanislavsky) is a self-deception. The art form is not expressed if you're trying to imitate the nature – the result: not artistic chaos of emotions that doesn't express the problem (idea) of the film.
- phrase (beginning – culmination - end) the mood of your role, body movement (accents and pauses), words. Use meter, rhytm, tempo.
- pay attention to the meaning of emotions in the film only according to the conception of this film and the place of concrete role in it.
important in voice: plan (role outline), timbre, voice height, emotion, articulation, duration in time (breathing, accents and pauses).
Art of the actor is his duration in the certain rhythm, designed in his imagination and fixed in his mind. Acting is transformation, not imitation of the reality.

Realism

  The spesificity of the filmmaking art is that it's more real than other arts. It doesn't have the conventionality of  theater. It's clother to life. Of course, there's different genres, in which reality changes according to the autor's conception.
     But I want everybody to remember that “realism” doesn't mean shooting on your home camera how people sitting in the park or your old neighbour's lifestory. Or special facts from the life of teenage junkies, like some young filmmakers like to do.
     I found that realism is probably the richest style. If you didn't know, it can be humanistic, magical, symbolistic, conditional, lyrical, idyllic, surrealistic (fantastic) expressionistic, impressionistic, romantical, tragical... and so on and on!!! I disovered a great talent of Gabriel García Márquez and his magical realism, Vicente Blasco Ibáñez  and his incredibly deep, I'd even say, classical realism. He describes characters, their motivation so truly, so deeply. Situation flows like a result of their thoughts and perception of life. Of course, the autor expresses his position regarding society and morality, but, when you're reading it, what exactly you will see in this richness of characters and passions, depends not on autor, but on who you are. In his novel “Blood and sand” (about famous matador) I saw a lot of things at once. Galliardo hates the poverty (in which he grew up) and wants to become the greatest matador. On one hand, it's great. He tries to be the most beautiful, daring, fearless, honorable, to have the most colorful life. He has his own demons, but, also he has his high aspirations and ideals. On another hand, he tries to be higher than society, philistinism,  BUT he's inside of it like noone. He looks for approval of the society, and in the end it kills him, in the symbol of enraged bull.
     For sure, someone needs a great talent to create such qualitative, artistic, and deep realism. But, if you're making a film, you need no less talent to express that realism. In another way, it won't make sense.

Do you know what it's like – May in Kyiv? Well, I'll tell you. Most of the people I know associate paradise with the beach, white sand, palms, but for me –  there's nothing looking so paradise like Kyiv in May. Green trees, fresh grass, blooming trees, bushes, flowers, blue rivers and sky, calm sunshine (not too hot yet). This peaceful perfection inspires. I realize that I want so much to do!!! I want the richness and beauty in everything, too!!! I want to show the rich variety of human's emotions, set to the musical rhytm and mixed with artistic genre, like – sentimental intellect, elegiac tragic idealism, comic naturalism, the pathos of life; allegorical and intriguing dialogues, flowing with deluge of beautiful words. To show life like a fun game, destiny like a biggest blessing. Sweetly, but archly charming action. Pauses so sensual or insufferable that can build or ruin the whole world in your heart in one moment .
     I wish I had at least a little practise! I want to go for “4 week directing” course in Met Film School, but I'm still having a tough situation with money (besides – completely unexpectable). It makes me feel like Pierrot. That's so typical for us, humans – there's a paradise around us, but we always want more!

Filmmaking Candy Shop

 Filmmaking for me is a great art that consists of many kinds of art combined in the flawless harmony (like the universe) plus the great mastership. Perfect use of imperfect. For me it's similar to the skills of a watchmaker or a jeweler.
     During my research I've selected the next components of planning a film. You know well that every creating process is very individual. But, when making a film, you need to keep in mind a lot of components (if you want to make a really high-quality film, of course). So I've made such a comfortable working scheme for myself that I don't get lost in all this. When I think of my new film idea I just work it out by this sheme, step-by-step, and everything looks pretty and clear after that. So take a look

Design (+ rhytm, tempo, measure + everything)

        This is the most important part. Here you're creating your idea and the ways of it's realization. Unique vision + unique combination of all components, described below.
        Imagine that your film is a cake. I think this step would be the part when you're planning whether you want strawberry cake or chocolate, covered with glaze or with cream... I mean, how you want your cake to taste and to look like (when it's done).
        I think, the very first thing a filmmaker should do is to sit and listen to himself.As for me, it comes to me altogether in the same time. Characters, situations, scenes. Visual and rhythmical. Filmmaker, I believe, like every talented artist, should be sufficient personality, with the whole world in his soul. And it's not so easy to get this world out of the depths of your soul to the surface. But once you got it, it's time to make it material.  It's time to get to the next step.


1.  Gathering of material.
This is my favourite part. If you would make a cake, here's where you would need to make a list of the products  for cooking your cake. Flour, eggs, what else?
Bring on your thoughts, Ideas, Life position (philosophy) + other arts achievements – adapted. This is about your imagination and associations – for example, look at the antique sculpture. Imagine this is a character of your film. What it's scene it would be like? What this character would say and how? What would be his/her pose?
To bring your foundations (genre) to life and to invent this “something” new, fresh and unique – use history, all kinds of art. Poetry, literature - pick and transform anything that inspires you - music, sculpture, painting, or whatever you see around. To me, scenes and characters can come in one moment, when I see an interesting person in the street, look at the sky, or even occasionally feel some barely noticeable scent...


What I picked: I absolutely love Oscar Wilde's prose, witty, ironic, with it's aesthetical reality and artistic characters and this exceptional XIX-century bittersweet romantical idealism. Native Ukrainian poetry inspires me a lot, too. Interesting  phenomenon mid XX century emigrants. They have such a neo-mythological motives in their poetry. Even such structure: image mythologems (allusions, allegory) + decadence + grotesque + cyclical composition. I guess I'll use it in some short film (or few). I also love comedies of 1910's – 1920's – 1930's. Operetta. The Rennaissance summer of life. Antique sculpture. And my films will include all these elements, decorated with cream of my life philosophy (which can change from film to film ;-)). While I see in most of the films heroes fighting with evil powers, that don't depend on them, or with themselves, I want to show the creating power of human's feelings and thoughts, how life-changing and beautifully artistic their nature is.


2. Genres.

        Here I mix all my products in order to cook my cake, shake up the cream and put together my masterpiece.
        Here the story is being formed. The plot, cause and effect connection, genre frames and stuff like that.
       First what I do here – I choose between two things – comedy and tragedy. Then – like in the candy shop – pick whatever you like, but wisely. I like to choose genre by tempo. It's  about your general impression from the film – you sit and watch it relaxed or tensely (heartbeating — slow or fast). I also like to construct action comparing it to simple musical tempos, so I added it here. It doesn't mean all film should be made in one tempo. No way! (Even tho I saw films like this – watch Aronofsky's “P” - the effext of drill in your brain during all the film – horrible impression). The normal film should include different tempos, but one – dominating. More about tempo and rhythm I'll write later on. It's so interesting!!! So,
what tempo dominate in the film?

•  Fast (allegro, vivo, vivace, presto – and faster)– action, adventure, crime, war, western, horror, thriller, sci-fi
•  fast/slow (could be both – fast (above) changing with moderato, andante, alegretto and slow – grave, largo, adagio, lento) – fantasy, comedy, drama, family, musical, mystery
•  mostly slow and moderate (see above) - romance, drama.
• How do we apprehend (perceive) this world? (It can help in makin right accents in script and directing)

- Imagination – fantasy, fairy-tale...
- Feelings – Romance, drama (classic, sentimental, lacrimal, tragedy), melodrama, thriller, horror (includes impressionism – positive, expressionism, symbolism – not too positive, burst of feelings - but far from psychology)
- intellect – sci-fi, moralite, could be adventure...

• What force dominates? (mostly for drama)

- Destiny (“Precious” - good example)
- intrigue
- characters, passion
- situation

•  Life spectrum that dominates.

- Politics
- Social
- Philosophy
- Religion
- Psychology
-Realistic life position (every day life - “Motherhood”, for example)
     Better choose one here. It's like a base of the story. Here you can make interesting mixes: “The Infidel” movie by David Baddiel – Comedy (situation + character) + Religion + It's quite realistic, like all movies now.

It also matters what do we express more: idea (romantic, social, political, religious - we are not looking for the reason, just - idea. Reality is adapted.), or exploring of life when we look attentively at characters and situations (objectively), trying to find out the reasons.
  
What I picked: Romantical Comedy, perception by – feelings, intellect, force – intricated intrigue, characters, situation. Spectrum – Philosophy.



3.Interrelation (musical) aspects mastership

    Knowing all the things I described above, I try to merge it all harmoniously and then  compose into the screenplay and visualisation of it.  I think musical harmony n film – like in a song. It's from big to every little acror's look.
    It's time to get to the details. If I gathered many different things in step 1 and put them on some foundation in step 2, here I'm perfecting it till absolute feeling of unity, into complete universe order. I work on rhytm, tempo, high and low places, from the whole acts to scenes and every little actor's glance or camera move. One of the most important principles –  a sensual (emotional) imression of the film grows in spectator's heart, whether it's action or pause, emotion or nothing at all on the screen.  
     The interrelation of the idea, plot, acting, visual, sound, editing, rhytm, tempo and meter of the film can be visualized in different ways. You can imagine it like cooking the cake, or, for example, painting a picture – colors and tones, forms, lines and their positioning... Simpler idea – to imagine it like a perfume, when you are composing the fragrance notes (helps with characters and “atmosphere” on the screen) – Top notes (perceived immediately – form initial impression), Middle notes (form the “heart” of a perfume) and Base notes (bring depth and solidity to a perfume).
     There was a time when I was very interested in astrology. So I found it cool to compare the building of my drama conflict and characters etc. using astrology terms. By the way one famous ukrainian theater director (in the beginning of XX century) widely used the term “aspect” (it's about the angle at which the planet are located in relation to each other – quadrature, sextile, opposition – they all mean different things). Also, the description of the planets influence on people helps a lot with enriching characters and destinies.
But, the best way that I found – is meditation. It's so incredible how silence (not even thinking!) and listening to yourself brings to the surface of your mind everything you've ever tried to express, but didn't know how! Today I felt it very clear.


4. acting (according to 2 and 1 and design + the system of special skills – artistically)
Acting is one if the most important things in the film. That's why I prefer to pay much attention to it. To plan it wisely. I want actors to be the diamonds in my film's jewellery.

The details on this see in my next posts.

Broadening horizons

Who ever tried to look that way on the most successful films probably had noticed that these films consist of  many parts: composition (plot), characters, forms, colors and much more. Most importantly, in a good movie all the details from the largest to the smallest are carefully picked out (invented – I can say) and match perfectly. Although, we need a rich imagination to invent something really new in filmmaking, and even greater imagination and efficiency to start basicly from nowhere (for an aspiring filmmaker) and end it all with a perfect result.
     So, I've noticed that recently in many films the emphasis is concentrated on the expanding of an existing and typical film genre ("I guess I'll make a road movie" — "Cool, and I'm making a comedy about a typical loser, who got in atypical situation), or the strict genre frames (superhero films, romantic comedy, horror, etc.) or strict outside-genre frames (people try to create their Art-House or something unlike all existing film laws, while not quite understanding what they want it to look like). Every time I watch film premieres, I realize that opportunities of cinematograph are much greater than we see on the screen. This Cinematograph we have reminds me of an iceberg - 10% on the surface and 90% - buried under the water, what we do not see, but still it actually exists.
       How do we broaden our horizons and use all the opportunities we can? I've found such answer, a formula that works for me right now. It's a “History + innovations + my style”.
       History had left for us so rich baggage of achievements and priceless experience in all kinds of art! We can use it all for making films! The possibilities are just endless. Someone might think that the history of theater, music or painting is not related to specific of the filmmaking. In addition, many popular things are either hopelessly played-out, or still being used and known by everyone. Also, it can seem that everything is already invented a long time ago, what is that new can add? Maybe the whole history of the theater you will find boring and full of contradictions. For me, It looks like the waves. Once our ancestors improved drama, voice, and plastic to the notion of the classics. Proved it to such limits that had to deny almost everything and invent Romanticism.Then they have taken the secrets of the human soul so far that it becomed mysticism, Expressionism and the absurd, and the portraying of real life was brought to thenaturalism and moody realism.
       Now I see only the development of external form, not substance. Soon to come a new wave.
       If you think the way I wrote in the preceding paragraph, forget it. Such thoughts are not worth our filmmaking attention. We must see the forest among the trees. The most valuable achievements and mistakes of our predecessors is that we can look at these things objectively. To see the most interesting, most delicious, the essense of Romanticism, Naturalism and so on. And use it in accordance with the present and our very personal and unique vision. Later in my posts I'll try to explain how do I extract this essense, what it's like and how sweet it is.

Hello

Hi, everyone! Welcome to my filmmaking blog! Here I'll post my thoughts on making films and the results of my actions towards becoming a real professional. Yet I'm only learning to do it.
   And first what I started with is a common theory. I believe that the best way to start a filmmaking career is to analyse films through the eyes of a professional. It is known to become someone, you must first feel yourself in its place. And I've already started to watch films like a screenwriter, like a director, like a cameraman, like a designer. That's fun, but not so easy, I must admit ;) But I've noticed some very interesting things that I just need to share. Plus – I like to read so I did a little research and I'll try to show you what I got. I'll try to make it clear as much as I can;) Happy to answer any questions and take into consideration your point of view. I will also be very happy if my observations will help someone in his creative journey. In my posts I put my step-by-step approach to creating my personal style of work and art as a filmmaker.