Today marks the first day of Spring. I wake up to sunshine and clear skies and I think of Erica and how \u201cVoyageuse\u201d is set on the day of the Vernal Equinox. In the film she remarks on the significance of this date and the pleasure she takes in the season. For her \u2013 at least in my recreation \u2013 it\u2019s a momentary parting of a psychic cloud and a rare moment of solace.<\/p>\n
A year ago I set out to shoot. Now I\u2019ve completed the first cut of the film which at 110 minutes isn\u2019t ideal but not a disaster. Split over five \u2018reels\u2019 \u2013 old habits persist \u2013 thankfully there\u2019s scope for tucks and folds because I\u2019d sooner buy myself some air than destroy the pace and tone. Inevitably this means ditching precious lines and paragraphs from the script, throwing out shots and \u2013 less tangibly \u2013 holding onto those moments that reveal more about Erica\u2019s mindset than any words I\u2019ve written. But until I lock the picture I can\u2019t begin the next phase of post production; the sound design and mix, the FX and composite shots, the grade and the score.<\/p>\n
Which would be fine but for one or two voids on the timeline; scenes that can\u2019t be omitted without causing damage to the story. These are scenes that require travelling to London and New Jersey so I\u2019m waiting for the right moment and raising the wherewithal before committing myself to any more adventures. Besides, there\u2019s plenty of work to be done between now and the summer as I compose the sound design which, apart from using my existing libraries, involves recording hundreds of spot effects including doorbells, ticking clocks, birdsong, traffic, wind and water. But how best to convey a mental seizure, the ecstasy of falling in love or the agony of depression as experienced by Erica? The more abstract, the more inventive I have to be.<\/p>\n
Of course for the impossible there\u2019s always music. Long before making this film I decided music would be a major component of it \u2013 I even compiled a wishlist, singling out a particular composer whose music I\u2019m convinced is the perfect accompaniment. However acquiring rights is an expensive business so while I have an in-principle agreement from both the record company and publisher I\u2019m aware it\u2019s another cost to bear and a reminder of the financial reality of filmmaking, even at the micro-budget level.<\/p>\n
While calculating the cost \u2013 and the value \u2013 of using a 90 second excerpt of a deceased composer\u2019s exceptional music, I realise how depressing it is that so many filmmakers give their work away for free. A couple of years ago I was approached by a minor film festival. Could I send a screener? No, I replied, but you can watch my film on Vimeo Pro for a small fee. The suggestion, that the maker of a film made with meagre private funds should demand payment was met with incredulity by a festival that owes its existence to public funds. Had my film been selected (moot, since I never submitted) it would have received neither a screening fee or a cut of the takings.<\/p>\n
When it comes to other people\u2019s work I\u2019ve always found filmmakers are among the most diligent. Few ever exploit other people\u2019s images, sounds or words without compensating their makers. In a previous life, while working at the BBC in London as a Scenic Designer (their quaint variation on Production Designer) I was asked to create a set to commemorate the legendary BBC2 series, \u2018Jazz 625<\/a>.\u2019<\/p>\n The show\u2019s producer, straight outta Oxbridge, handed me a book of photographs of jazz musos and demanded I make a series of (expensive) photo blow-ups (PBUs) as a backdrop. My question \u2013 \u2018do you have clearance\u2019? \u2013 met with a dissembling grunt and a dismissive bat of the hand. After issuing a get-out clause by internal mail, I duly commissioned a fledgling graphics company, Photobition, to deliver the work. Once installed in Studio C of Lime Grove it looked very impressive.<\/p>\n The show was duly recorded and broadcast. Not long after came a fierce memo from some faceless Head of Operations regarding the use of uncleared images \u2013 doubtless the outcome of phone calls between the BBC\u2019s legal department and the disgruntled publisher (and photographers). Later in the corridors of Kensington House \u2013 then the BBC\u2019s Shepherd\u2019s Bush base for Music and Arts, I chanced on the errant producer who, entirely complacent about his breach of copyright, suggested that the (dead) musicians whose likenesses he had stolen \u2013 I kid you not \u2013 might enjoy higher record sales as a result of \u2018his\u2019 programme.<\/p>\n I’m sure a settlement was reached since it involved a major arts publisher but it was a lesson I doubt the producer learned. There are times when words fail where a swift boot in the balls might suffice.<\/p>\n My point being that paying to use other people\u2019s work is the right thing to do. And in film, regardless of budget, it\u2019s always preferable to do right. It’s not complicated.<\/p>\n The above image is of a series of photograph folders found among Vera and Erica’s many thousands of photos and negatives. They date from the 30s to mid-1950’s. IMO they’re really beautiful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"