NOTES ON 'A HESITANT MOVE'

 



manipulated still from 'A Hesitant Move'


Idea came from empty white room (not uncommon!)and a book of Kate Moss photos.Then an idea about housemates and issues surrounding them. Wrote a script and I think I asked the actors to speak slowly but can't remember why?!Again sparse dialogue,sometimes without specific meaning,almost with a rhythm sometimes, and the black and white contrasty look.
I was,and am really happy with this film.....the actors Clare,Clare and Ziggy are particular favorites and Ziggy's idea of leather coat and Alana's (hair/makeup)bun hairstyle for her still amaze me.Makeup was standout......2 girls wore black , 1 white.....
I love the colour draining from colour to BW and back again and when the striking music arrives towards the end of the film.My favourite bit is when the coffee mug is placed on the glass top table and makes no sound(was removed)! and the movements the actor makes as she is on the phone in the backyard.
We also had the abstract drummer in the background!(before Alejandro González Iñárritu put it in his film Birdman....a great film).
I had a choice of which film to show at a screening and chose this one, the organizer said he "didn't get it" but went ahead.For a joke at the Q and A  I said "Hands up who didn't get it" and several young ladies put their hands up!   A guy came up afterwards and was completely absorbed by the whole thing.....he loved it.
Never been interested in spoon feeding an audience.I remember someone saying it was the artist's job to ask questions, not give answers.

 



THOUGHTS ON ACTING/PERFORMING

Melbourne Girls Web Series

I am casting some actors shortly and want to outline some thoughts on where I would like to go with performance.I am not comfortable with the term acting/actors.In our conventional system acting is learning lines/movements and pretending to be someone else/pretending to feel something/or manufacturing real feelings usually in the service of telling a story.The best actors can do this in an amazing way and there is nothing wrong with story telling.However if interested in cinematic art there must be other avenues to explore.I always remember the quote 'great art is about seeing the world in a different way's. Some filmmakers talk about dreaming/fantasy/magic.I also like the ideas of abstraction and surrealism and it did occur to me the other day perhaps in troubled times and the increased pace/stress of life why would I want to put that on the screen but the true artist can come at it from another angle.
I used to think that if film was pretending why not exaggerate that to such a degree that we achieved some sort of other truth.I had a certain look with costume and a pale makeup. We have performers in a room with a camera,what do they do ?How do they feel ,nervous/shy/uncomfortable......Don't worry about feeling,pretending,character.....just be in the space with whatever comes up.
As usual there will be a framework with an outline/script but more abstract,I don't want them to be remembering a lot of lines or showing how they are feeling.I always liked the writing and plays by Harold Pinter,the text was very sparse and could have various,or no meaning.Ambiguity.I would like them to be totally free and not have the expectation that they have to act in a conventional way.We will explore the scenario and there will be different angles/cutting in the editing.I never really want to record a 'performance' but to possibly discover something true/false/unexpected/accidental.
A filmmaker can find infinite possibilities in an interesting space with some bodies in it.
I fully subscribe to Robert Bresson's thought that 'when actors are asked to perform theatrically in front of a camera that is reduced to recording the actors performance,this miraculous,extraordinary instrument is demoted to a tool of reproduction.......I WANT THE CAMERA TO BE A TOOL OF CREATION.'
and I am always pleased a bit of humour seems to sneak into the work!

In the next post I will talk about 'A Hesitant Move' a film we made that suggested a few of the elements discussed in this post.

 

 

ACTORS/PERFORMERS NEEDED FOR FILM PROJECT

Still Frame from 'A Hesitant Move'


I am looking for  people for a project probably serialized on online platforms.Experimental(all art should be)....abstract/surreal/poetic/punk/dangerous.Filmed in white apartment and day/night around West Melbourne.No money/equipment/crew..........just a camera/wireless microphone/lamps if needed for lighting.I will develop the work from the people I cast(locations and actors give me the direction).Interested in any gender/sexuality/age/shape......helps if you are strange. The work is about humans with some sort of  narrative(abstract?)I don't like people learning lines and pretending to have feelings etc........I want performers to be free/relaxed to play without rules.(I never see crazy/free/unobligated performance in films made here).I have vision/impulses to do things with film that aren't being done.I would appreciate any contact/details /dialogue initiated via email .....kimmilesfilms@hotmail.com   I will arrange meetings to chat and go from there........thankyou