Thursday, June 22, 2006
one year ago...
1 year ago...a little more than one year or so ago i dropped out of film school.. 1 or 2 weeks before my finals.
overwhelmed by the production paperwork on a 8-minute documentary (that was part of my finals actually). i just couldn't do it anymore.. i was tired, annoyed by the futility of all that and kind of depressed.
and the main reason i haven't blogged in the last days is that i was thisclose to actually walk out again..
now the interesting thing is the reasons.
basically i was in the other position.. i felt there was an issue about our commitment, our speed, our rythm. Now don't get me wrong. We are commited, we are working.. but like.. this is moviemaking, not only that but this is independant, lowbudget moviemaking in a hostile environement (nepa alone makes nigeria hostile). So you cannot afford to just work "hard enough". We have to push beyond our limits on a calm day and go harder on the worse ones..
so i wasn't sure we were doing that so i was wondering if spending more money, spending more time away from my family and people i love (i love koko and uchenna, but i'm not that exclusive, you know ?), going through more anxiety-intensive periods would actually pay-off... i.e. will this ever get done ?
see, my little experience of moviemaking taught me one thing: Even The Best Prepared Shootings Are Miracles. your lead actor can get into a car accident, you have rain, civil wars, lightning, your film (or tapes) can disappear, your camera may stop working suddenly. And THIS WILL HAPPEN.
So whatever plans you make or have, will have to be changed.. you will run, adapt, get anxious, get desperate, feel like the world is plotting against you..
Now except for a few flat tires in this car
(substory is that i intended to dedicate an entire blog entry to this swedish silent and hardworking employee of ours but i decided to scratch it off... momentum passed apparently) and the horrible Lagos traffic (NEVER SHOOT IN THAT PLACE UNLESS YOU HAVE HELICOPTER BUDGET, people), the "slow us down" events we experienced weren't that unavoidable. so yeah i got scared..my other main belief is that nice people don't make movies.. they work in cubicles, sell cars, farm may be.. The Film Industry is made for assholes.. People who are able to put "that thing" they do on top of their priority list.. People who can spend weeks not talking to their friends because they don't have time. People who are able to mobilize any and all the ressources their entourage can provide in order to get it done.
and i know we're in Africa.. and i know that this is probably the main unafrican thing i do.. i get assholish..
example: some photocopy place a few nights ago in calabar: we drop a script to be photocopied and binded. we run to meeting and say we'll be back in an hour. AN HOUR AND HALF LATER, we come back. the binding is not done and that 50 years old woman tells me "come back tomorrow, my day's done".
i raised hell. mentionned that she should be fired. cursed a bit. asked to be paid back because we were already late since her lazy ass couldn't do it on a notice SHE AGREED ON.
later in the car, Uchenna was telling me i overreacted (may be) and that this was Africa... and that wishing that someone should be fired is horrible (because of the high unemployement rates)
NOW PAUSE. on our beautiful continent, crowds of young, energic, able people can't find a job and we're not making the connexion here ? so yeah let me say it again. "SHE SHOULD BE FIRED, as should be all the useless unproductive motherfuckers to make room for able people."
but i'm drifting here..
Producers raise hell, that's what they do. they raise hell because NOTHING in this world is more important than the PRODUCTION. And the only reason they even sleep or eat is because dying may slow down the PRODUCTION.
and if your movie has any inherent difficulty, you should do even more.
i don't care how un-african of me it may seem to be (fuck lowered standards, i feel insulted by that idea). i will raise hell, starve, kill people if that's what it takes to deliver TOO MUCH BEAUTIFUL WOMAN to you, dear moviewatchers.
and i'm just glad this is fully understood in the Production camp.. and i wouldn't have given up anyway, no Producer would give up on such a beautiful project.. so now i can get back to blogging about sunset or i may have even more bitchy entries about how i want all Producer on the set..
July 3rd is the date, people..
aflakete the wunderkid at 12:54 PM
