hacking it in hackney

London is massive, complicated and cool. The landscape is a big mix of modern meets gothic, confusing glass and brick skyline meeting stone gray cathedral steeples. I am staying in a cavernous warehouse apartment with kind friends. We also spent three great days in Bristol, eating amazing samosas, enjoying the one sunny day of the week, climbing towers and bridges.


But this blog isn't really intended to be a diary- but a record of my filmmaking process. On that count it has been a difficult week. I have been thinking of this other idea, a feature length script that I have been sketching out. The problem is I get excited about this script and don't find my thesisfilm as intriguing. And I reread my proposal and thought "this is shit"...and so I spend much of my time this week in cafes or on the Megabus thinking abou thow I will make this thesis film...how can i change the story to make it somethingi am convinced aboutinstead of confused about. Sometimes the reason so many films are terrible, especially student short films, is that we are too burnt out to make them better and just shoot whatever script we've come up with. Anyway, I'm back to the notebook and trying some light restructing of my script...and some heavy stuff. It's getting very dark and grisly...

Connecting together

There are really horrible moments, like when you lose one beautiful pink
cashmere glove and feel you must go single-gloved the rest of the winter,
and there are really wonderful moments, like when you accidentally stumble
into a film production office in the Marais and they start proposing little
fun jobs for you because of your lovely American voice.

I have also many several interesting filmmakers this week- the beautiful S.
who was intimidating cool but then turned out to be totally down-to-earth
and we talked about matte-painting and trekking; an Argentinean filmmaker
who will undoubtedly be the next Lucrecia Martel because she is working on a
very interesting film and being invited all over the world; a documentarian
who tells me the French film industry is impossible and one's far better off
working in Canada...

So, Paris is still great- but I am even more excited about my Chunnel
expedition to LONDON tomorrow!!!! A whole week in London and Bristol with my
favorite Brit and his friends. Tea with the queen, crumpets and Shepard's
pie and the best accents in the world. I have spent only a few days in
England in my life thus far and am looking forward to it immensely.

Shhh it's sunny in paris

Everyone always says Paris is gray and rainy. After 7 solid balmy days of
sunshine I'm beginning to think this is a myth to keep tourists away....oh
how the good weather makes me happy.

The best things:
1. The "toursade" I'm eating right now: a spiralled airy thing that's like a
croissant but with added little dark chocolate chips and creaminess. Yummm.
2. Meeting up with some nice film students and checking out the thesis films
at La Femis. 35mm beauty everywhere...not bad!
3. Classes at St. Denis...I was warned the school was "political" but did
not expect to be caught in the uproar my first day there. Students in the
cinema department protesting left and right, teachers resigning, total
chaos...but somehow managed to attend 4 good classes the first week (and
understand most of it).

Less good:
Missing friends, those in SF, Mlps, DC, down under and especially across the
channel.
Trying to get a frickin land line and dsl chez moi. After 3 weeks of trying
I'm beginning to think these priveledges are reserved for the titled class.
Today I re-sent in my request with the correct photocopy of my gas bill (why
they need the gas bill to give you dsl service is beyond me)....alas, vive
la difference (?!!)

The real real

My boyfriend went back to England and I'm suddenly alone in Paris and
actually HERE->
I have my apartment, my bank account, my cell phone, my job, my student
card...my life is here now. But it feels quite strange, lonely and
frequently frustrating.

I have all these things to buy like a little round cheese grater and a modem
and a toaster oven and I'm wandering the city looking for them.
Where are my beloved sidewalk sales of San Francisco? In the mission
neighborhood on any given weekend day you could find everything you needed
for under 5 bucks- clothes, appliances, music, household stuff. Walking
around in the evening was like a giant free sale as people just abandoned
their crap...but where do the Parisians put their crap??? My current theory
is that they just own really nice stuff. I went into a household shop today
in my chic neighborhood, a.k.a. Luxembourg (emphasis on Luxe) and the
cheapest wooden spoon was 7 euros...hmmm. I think I'll find out where the
poor people live to buy my cheese grater...

IN FILMMAKING NEWS:
I shot my first film in Paris yesterday!

It was a great success, though we got booted out of the Luxembourg Gardens
by the Senate police, who wanted us to buy a permit for 175 Euros! (the
noncommercial price)

My boyfriend and another buddy were actors, and I played the main character
who thinks she's a bird...it involved a lot of regurgitated chocolate
crepes.
Excellent cinematography was provided by my new talented friend David, who
fortunately provided a beautiful DVCAM and mic.
I'll be editing it this week and sending it off to the Berlinale Talent
Conference...we'll see where that goes!
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