The Killing Moon

Starting January 2006, filmmaker Sridhar Reddy accounts the process, thoughts, and musings during the creation of his second feature film, THE KILLING MOON.

Monday, February 27, 2006

What went down

My trip to India proved to be fruitful- I met with several production companies in Mumbai who were interested in doing an international co-production with a US or other international production companies.

The idea is to diversify their risks- our budget is quite high for an Indian film and I can understand the apprehensions of placing all of their eggs in one basket. But the issue also is that a co-production will garner access to marketplaces that respective companies have been previously unable to reach. For Indian companies, they get access to mainstream UK and US audiences, and for international companies, they get a rare opportunity to participate in the largest film industry in the world. It's a compelling setup, now we just need someone to take the leap of faith an put forward some funding.

My trip from India has made me more excited than ever about the prospects of this film. I'm imagining the most beautiful shots in my head and creatively I think we can stand toe-to-toe with any other production out there. This film will be a feast for the senses, I can promise that. Anthony has upped his efforts and now I feel I'm at the stage where I need to concentrate more on the directing aspects of the production. I need to map the film out entirely on paper.

Many directors frown at the idea of storyboarding- I relish it. I draw all of my own storyboards, and I try to plan out every detail I possibly can in advance. It helps me organize my thoughts, and needless to say it is a blessing to the production, as we'll have a pretty exact idea on the resources we'll need and an idea of how to schedule properly. It'll save us a ton of time and money.

It's simply not enough for me to have an idea gestating in my head. I have to get it down on paper first. It differs for everyone, but i need to have that physical representation in my hands. And I enjoy drawing the boards, as it lets me physically create the frame myself. When I storyboard, it kind of allows me on set to focus my attentions on the actors and the performances, because for the most part my framing is set. The rest of the composition I leave to my crew- I hold the talents of my cinematographer, my art director, and my production designer in high faith and esteem, and trust them to deliver the cohesive vision of the scene. It's why my crew selection process is so arduous- the movie is made in the quality of the people, not simply the idea itself.

I never wish to lecture on the wrongs or rights of filmmaking- everyone had their own artistic technique and it suits their philosophies and aesthetic tastes. Everyone, including myself, is as equally right as they are wrong. But that's what makes art beautiful.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Back just in time for the Winter Olympics

I got back from India last week, just in time to catch my favourite sporting event ever- the Winter Olympics.

Or should I say fast becoming my second-most favorite sporting event. What is it with these games? They're lacking the pageantry and fun that I'm used to seeing.

I'm even starting to make concessions- I'm watching figure skating. Which leads me to my next discussion:

WHY I HATE FIGURE SKATING SO MUCH

I've realized one thing. It's that I don't hate figure skating. In fact I am in awe of the athleticism required to compete in the sport. I've always had a disdain for it, because previously I couldn't comprehend what it took to be a top flite figure skater.

No, I don't hate figure skating. What I do hate, are figure skating commentators, specifically Dick Button and Scott Hamilton.

Scott's whiny and shame-inducing blind patriotism has been with me ever since I was born. And now we have him in the announcers booth, mercilessly picking apart non-American athletes and blissfully forgiving snotty American girls who deserve the same level of criticism that their international counterparts.

Dick Button- well, he just needs to be flogged. The man is flat out mean. Scott Hamilton is Howard Cosell compared to Dick Button.

And the other issue with figure skating is that many of the athletes simply aren't likeable people. Sarah Hughes was probably the last of the "non-diva" figure skaters (male and female alike)- she was a normal girl from a normal American family. Sasha Cohen is the OC, the Laguna Beach of the sport- an immensely unlikeable lot of spoiled brats who have the means to hire the best of the best to train with. It's like Drago in Rocky- the infrastructure around him turned him into a fine tuned machine, but what he really was missing was a heart. The tin man in shorts. There's no story for Cohen, no odds to overcome, no reason to cheer for her other than she's reasonably cute. Bah.

And while the United States is putting up impressive numbers in the medal count, the victory is hollow- we're winning in sports we've invented (snowboarding and the X-games) and losing in the ones that best exemplify the classical Olympic competition (downhill, hockey, bobsled, cross country). Our medals don't seem right.

Perhaps it's also the fact that we're at war- nary an American athlete has used the Olympics to a) highlight the fact that we are at war, and b) acknowledge the sacrifice of our troops to allow them to practice their half-pipe tricks and triple lutzes in peace. Maybe that's why these games seem so insignificant from an American perspective. They have become more about the individual and not America as a whole. Only the curling team brings about some feeling of brotherhood and the joy of international competition. I find it disappointing, and perhaps I'm just confused.

Or maybe it's just Scott Hamilton.

I digress, more about the film work tomorrow. Much has happened!