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Posts Tagged ‘Courtney Hope’
04/22/2010
» Upcoming Deadlines and Recent News
04/21/2010
» Reach Out 2010 Recap
Monday night, Cinereach held its annual Reach Out event, a private screening and celebration to honor its 2010 Reach Film Fellows.
Current Cinereach interns, Laura Elliott, Kristin Esposito and I joined an audience that included the fellows, their families, friends, crews, and casts, along with Cinereach grantees, fellowship alumni, and representatives from all areas of the New York independent film community.
Philipp Engelhorn, Margaret Shafer, Courtney Hope, Gabriel Long, Reva Goldberg, Anthony Morrison, Michael Raisler, Adella Ladjevardi (Photo by Nicole Cordier)
In a packed theater at Sunshine Cinemas in the East Village, Cinereach’s Reva Goldberg and Philipp Engelhorn introduced the program, which commenced with a behind-the-scenes video. The video provided glimpses at the experience the fellows had working with their mentors, and tracked their progress through the intensive seven-month Reach Film Fellowship program. It gave the evening a warm, personal prelude (try to imagine it on the big screen):
All four short films were screened: Wild Birds by Courtney Hope, Bye by Anthony Morrison, The Drawing by Gabriel Long and Love Lockdown, by Nadia Hallgren. The films explored a diverse range of topics, from autism to incarceration, and each film was, in it’s own unique way, insightful and engaging. Following the final film, Anthony Morrison was presented with the Reach Out 2010 Award.
Anthony Morrison, Reach Award recipient, and his RFF mentor, Marilyn Agrelo (Photo by Nicole Cordier)
Audience reaction was extremely positive, and the films sparked a lively discussion among guests as they headed to Rayeula, a nearby restaurant, to toast the four fellows over tapas and sangria. For more photos from the evening, visit the Cinereach facebook page, and stay tuned for updates on where the four fellows go from here!
02/01/2010
» Entering Post-Production with an Open Mind: More filmmaking tips from RFF Fellow Courtney Hope
When Tuesday Means Friday and Tomorrow Means Maybe Next Week or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying (So Much) and Love Post-Production
A post by Courtney Hope
I once believed – and still do to some extent – that there is nothing in this world worse than post-production.
In pre-production, there is planning, designing, discussing, arguing, revising…. Lots of tough choices must be made, but all choices that seem full of promise, since the script is still young and revisable. With nothing set in stone, the opportunities are limitless.
And while production has its downsides, there is enough adrenaline from actually shooting your film to get you through the rough patches. Sometimes those little problems even find a way of becoming part of the creative process.
But then comes post-production, like a giant splash of cold water to the face. This is reality, your reality, your film’s reality. This is what you’re stuck with for what seems like an eternity, until the deadlines come rushing at you and it feels all too short.
Am I being dramatic? Perhaps. But let me explain.
When there is a script, in that first precious stack of pages there is a story. It’s something unreal, something waiting for you to breathe life into it.
Then there are crew members – the producer, DP, production designer – who help bring the story into focus. They make it seem real. They talk about the film like it’s actually going to happen.
Then there are actors and rehearsals and long talks over tea about character development. And they make your film feel real. They show you that essence you had an inkling of when you first wrote the outline or jotted down the first scene on a napkin somewhere.
And then there’s the shoot with the crew, equipment, wardrobe, props, makeup… Watching the monitor, staring intently at the screen where your actors and crew bring the story together, the film finally looks real. You can see the pieces falling into place.
But after the shoot is wrapped, it is real. The creative “control” becomes a bit limited. Instead of creating the puzzle, you’re handed a box of puzzle pieces to assemble. But some of those puzzle pieces don’t seem to fit, and some of them seem a little out of focus, or are too rough to connect with the piece that must go next to it. There’s something wrong in so many little places that you could just scream with frustration.
And that stupid puzzle, lying in pieces on the table – or more accurately, on the computer screen in front of you, is post-production. It’s taking all the footage and sound and performances and focus marks and everything else that you did or didn’t notice on set, taking this raw and unforgiving beast and making it into something watchable.
So now, how does one deal with this nightmarish puzzle? The trick is to put the puzzle together completely and seamlessly, to make the footage into a masterful film – something your mom and dad can be proud of (even if it’s a reminder of how you didn’t go after that law degree).
Now, turning this footage into a film will require some cheating, some “tweaking,” some sacrifices and some epiphanies. The finished puzzle won’t look like the picture on the box necessarily, but with any luck, it will be even better than the original plan. You’ll have taken some pieces of something and made it whole and new. How do you cheat on a puzzle? Well, unlike the puzzle pieces that arrive in a box ready to fit together, the footage can be cut, copied, pasted, and reorganized. You can create an entirely new picture from the one that came printed on the box by changing the order of what happens in the script or by moving a line of dialogue.
Post-production is a time to re-think the story with many creative limitations, instead of endless possibilities. You’re using what tools you have, rather than starting from scratch like you did with the script, by making new creative decisions you hadn’t considered before. It’s trusting the editor to snap the pieces into place, taking whatever means he needs to make them fit in a way that captures the story and characters. It’s trusting the sound designer to build an ambience and to enhance or create those little things you might be missing from set – like that pause of silence for dramatic emphasis.
For one example, the footage we shot for my Reach Film Fellowship film, Wild Birds, had some unintentional focus issues that at first seemed hugely problematic. My editor and I were able to make some of the out-of-focus shots work nicely in unexpected ways, however. Apparently sometimes a consistent problem can become part of the film’s aesthetic, depending on how it is used. I’m also considering adding a line of ADR to help bring out some backstory that the audience at my rough cut screening said seemed to be missing.
There’s another trick: find people to watch your cuts! And don’t just ask your biggest fan. Find people who know nothing about the film so you can get a clear sense of what the audience actually gets from it. It’s important to know what doesn’t work in the earlier cuts so you can find creative ways to fix them before you fall in love with a certain shot or scene or pacing. And don’t despair! You’d be amazed by how even the smallest change can make a world of difference.
And maybe this is the real problem I have with post-production. It’s the adjustment period. It’s letting go of the film I once thought I was going to have and being open to something else, just as, if not more, wonderful than the original plan.
“To be a filmmaker, you must first be crazy,” Esther Robinson told me (and the other three 2010 Reach Film Fellows) at a workshop she led for us in October. She was providing guidance on how to have a healthy financial life, despite the unpredictability of our lives as artists, but her comment can also be applied to the filmmakers’ creative process. Filmmakers often have to act in ways that are unexpected (not only when envisioning and creating their career paths but also when working on an individual film). We step away from the “original plan” to form a new path with every endeavor. And if you’re unpredictable as an artist, then why wouldn’t your artwork be allowed a mind of its own too? Filmmaking is a growing process, a learning experience after all.
So, I take back what I said earlier about post-production. I suppose that it is almost just as magical and exciting as pre-production, in that it is a whole new opportunity to explore the wonderful world of your film. It just takes a lot of time and thought and waiting and playing with footage and looking at things, and showing people things and admitting what does and doesn’t work in a constructive way… But if you keep at it (and what option do you have at this point?), you’ll have something really amazing at the end of it – a film. And not only a film but a learning experience, more patience, and new creative tools for your next one.
While patience is not one of my strengths, it’s something I’ll have to practice. As my grandmother has told me many a time, “Good things come to those who wait.” So I’ll keep my fingers crossed and hope that she knows what she’s talking about.
Courtney Hope (mentored by Jeremy Kipp Walker) is a 2010 Reach Film Fellow. She recently graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in Film & Television. While a student at NYU, she wrote and directed several short films. Hope’s thesis film Sex & German Grammar, which was awarded the prize for Best Cinematography at NYU’s Fusion Film Festival, also screened at the Southside Film Festival and the Palm Springs Shortfest. Hope has also shown films at the London Super Short Film Festival and the Reed Media Festival, and took home a prize at the 2007 Southside Image Over Words competition. Hope recently completed her first independent short, Another First.
A post by Courtney Hope
1,000 emails, 2,000 phone calls, 3,000 and 4,000 script revisions later, I was finally shooting Wild Birds. I had made it to set the first day, for the most part unscathed. How did I get there and how did I avoid the many catastrophes I had envisioned on the way? By organizing and planning and scheduling and reviewing everything until my production team and I were sick. But I think (and keep your fingers crossed) that it paid off. Below is a list of things I was glad I’d taken care of in pre-production:
1. Receipts. Don’t keep receipts until there’s downtime on Day 1. Start that spreadsheet with the first penny spent in development or pre-production. Having the cash in order means rentals, pay checks, petty cash, etc. is ready and accounted for. The goal is to not go broke and overdraft and rack up tons of credit due to a miscalculation or lost receipt. If you’ve planned out the shoot financially from the very start and have that master plan to go back to and adjust when you receive donations or add new expenses, there’s one less thing to lose sleep over. Sometimes it helps to see where you’re spending money when you want to cut costs too. For example: If the dinner at the production meeting cost $50 more than you wanted to spend, you know to have the next meeting/rehearsal at a coffee shop or maybe your apartment to avoid that extra expense.
2. Locking things down. Make sure everyone showing up to set is on the same page. Everyone should have the locked copy of the script and know when and where call is. It seems basic, but it’s easy to lose track of crew when there are vendors to barter with, things to pick up, things to drop off, things to buy, people to talk to, email, call…. If you have a good AD, everyone will know what’s happening, when and where, which will save you about 800 calls, texts, emails, gchats… from your crew. And it will save you a few bucks too, since you won’t have to pay for a cab for the lead actress who showed up at the wrong location across town…
Courtney watches the monitor with crew on the "Wild Birds" set
3. Love your crew. Which brings me to the next point: respect your crew members. You hired them for a reason. Hopefully it was because you trust them to do their jobs. Let them do their thing so you can do yours. Micromanaging will only annoy them. And you don’t want to annoy them because a. they are largely responsible for helping you make your film a reality and b. you’ll probably want to work with them again, and c. you don’t have time – you’ll be too busy directing a film! And if you hire a good producer UPM and AD, there will always be someone to listen if there are problems or complaints and craft, meals and coffee (hopefully all free – see previous blog) are plentiful and show up on time, which will help keep everyone happy.
4. Safety. And speaking of headaches, try to remember to keep a First Aid kit on set and some Emergen-c… If you’ve hired a crew who knows what they’re doing (see 3) and don’t feed them things they’re deathly allergic to (see 8 below) and you rehearsed with your actors, including stunts and other dangerous blocking (6 below) and you location/tech scout to make sure you won’t blow the place up or fall victim to a natural disaster, you should be okay. But, it’s better safe than sorry, right? Someone will probably at least need a band-aid at some point.
5. Post Production Plan. Have a plan for post before the shoot. Maybe sure your DP and editor have a conversation. Same for the sound designer and sound mixer, sound mixer and editor, you and the editor, you and the sound mixer…. It takes so long just to get to the point where you’re on set and shoot that people often forget about what comes after. Don’t end up with footage you can’t sync! A ten minute dialogue will make sure production flows right into post, seamlessly.
Actors in character on the set of "Wild Birds"
6. Rehearsals. While production is super important, so are your actors. They are your film – or at least what relates the audience to your film. Take time to meet with them, rehearse with them, and explain the shoot to them. I was working with child actors, so it was especially important to make sure they were comfortable with each other, me, my DP and my stunt coordinator, as well as the script, before showing up to set. I lucked out here and had some really amazing actresses, so there were no issues in the talent department. But no matter how “cool” an actor says they are with “going with the flow,” it’s probably always best to make sure you’re on the same page and that you respect them and their time (just as you should your crew’s – by being organized and ready to go at call time on day 1!).
7. Paper Work. Print out your paper work before you get to location. Make lots of image release forms. Make all cast, crew, friends and family sign them! You want to put those photos everywhere to publicize your film. But you don’t want someone to sue you because you captured them mid-blink. Own everything you shoot: still or moving! You never know what you’ll end up needing and tracking people down months later is never fun for anyone. Oh, and make sure you have someone taking stills on set, other than the boom op with her iPhone… I promise you’ll want those photos. Make sure you have the proper SAG forms, insurance papers, permits… You don’t want to risk being shut down or scramble last minute for insurance papers so you can take your equipment out of the rental house. Save yourself the time, money and very large headache by having everything ready to go, and by having copies, and by maybe making sure a few people have copies.
8. And repeat. Go through everything, AGAIN. Does everyone who needs directions have them? Are those directions correct? Whose phone will be the “contact number” on set? Who’s allergic to what and who’s a vegetarian/vegan/pescetarian/freegan… Knowing all these things and having little lists or charts will help keep things running smoothly. If the talent has the wrong address or you find out that half your crew is allergic to the peanuts in the Thai lunch after it’s delivered, you’re going to have a huge headache. So plan ahead and check everything at least twice.
9. Filing Cabinet. Keep your set paperwork (including those image release forms) neat and tidy and completed in some sort of file or drawer where you won’t forget it. Same goes for those receipts listed in 1. For receipts, it’s easiest to tape them to paper (maybe organize them by department) and make photo copies to put in a binder or file so you can more easily find the exact one you need later. Still keep the originals in an envelope though, in case you need to make returns or use a warranty on something you purchased. Don’t forget to print copies of checks cashed and deposits too. And make sure you highlight or mark-up or write somewhere which receipts are paid or owed and to whom. Keeping that updated and accurate will help ensure you pay people on time (see 3) and will help with that spreadsheet you made (see 1). Hopefully you’ll have only spent petty cash on set, so you shouldn’t owe too many people money – other than yourself of course…
10. Expect Anything. These steps all sound like the ranting of someone with severe OCD (and maybe that’s all they really are) but there will always be a problem with every shoot, no matter what. That’s a guarantee. If you have everything you can control organized and in order, you’ll be able to deal with the snafus you do run into without disrupting the production too much. Don’t risk worrying about the little things when there could be big things you’ll need to focus on – like performance and sound and camera and the guy riding a snowmobile through your shot and………….
Courtney directs an actor on the "Wild Birds" set as stunt coordinator stands by
I tried to follow my own advice as best I could and I believe it paid off (fingers crossed). The shoot went smoothly, with very few bumps along the way. Because I forced my production team into ultra-organizational mode before the shoot, I was able to focus on directing and let my awesome producer, UPM and AD handle the little problems we encountered (without me even knowing about them until we wrapped!). We also lucked out on the weather! But that I couldn’t really control (though I did have some rain locations, just in case…)
More about physical production once I’ve seen the footage with my editor… In the meantime, visit the Wild Birds web site to read more about the production. More stills from set coming soon (and all with image release forms!)…
RFF 2010 Fellow Courtney Hope (mentored by Jeremy Kipp Walker) recently graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in Film & Television. While a student at NYU, she wrote and directed several short films. Hope’s thesis film Sex & German Grammar, which was awarded the prize for Best Cinematography at NYU’s Fusion Film Festival, also screened at the Southside Film Festival and the Palm Springs Shortfest. Hope has also shown films at the London Super Short Film Festival and the Reed Media Festival, and took home a prize at the 2007 Southside Image Over Words competition. Hope recently completed her first independent short, Another First.
11/09/2009
» How to Get Donated Goods & Services for Your Film: Reach Fellow Courtney Hope Shares Tips & Tricks
A post by Courtney Hope
My father is the king of coupons. If there’s a deal, he’s there. If there’s a sale, a sample, a miniature bottle of shampoo left unattended on a cart in a hotel, he is thrilled. So, being my father’s daughter, I too am tickled pink at the thought of discounts and free stuff. And the best way to obtain these wonderful free things? Well, make a movie, of course.
As someone with years of practice convincing people to hand over their goods, I thought I’d share some tips for how to get your artistic little hands on as many free things as possible. So, from the girl who learned from the very best:
1. Have something tangible. Print some postcards, or fancy looking business cards or make a prospectus (remember, you can acquire some of these things for free too). Having something to show for your project means a. it’s real, b. you’re serious, and c. they can’t forget about you.
2. Pick targets wisely. Do a little research and find out who donates to other films, arts organizations, groups related to the topic of your film, etc. Or find out if your parents/rich uncle/roommate’s cousin/lead actress knows the guy who owns (fill in the blank). And go to places you frequent, places you make the products you LOVE. It’s easier to ask for something when you can faun all over it. Businesses want to keep their most loyal fans the happiest, so keep that in mind. And another word of advice: try to avoid giant corporations because they already give a percentage of their profits to someone else. And you’re an indie filmmaker, so find other indie people to help you out. They will understand what you’re trying to do and are more likely to be supportive because of it. If you’re filming in a location outside of New York City or LA, find places that are local and proud of it. If you sell your film as something good for the community, they’re more likely to get onboard with free things and word of mouth. So, once you have your list of places to hit up…
3. Pick your times wisely. You’re going to want to speak with the manager or owner. If you waste your pitch on the hostess, you’ll feel foolish when she tells you she’s “going to find the manager,” but really you hear her laughing about you to her friend in the kitchen. So, figure out when the person in charge will be in. What time is that? Probably before the “dinner rush.” That being said, don’t prance yourself into a restaurant at 8:30pm on Saturday night and expect anyone to listen to you. If the place looks crazy busy, go back another time. Same for if the place is empty. You don’t want to ask for free things when the place isn’t making any cash. And it’s more awkward to walk out with a rejection when you’re the only one there too.
4. Know what you want and what they get in exchange. If you want a meal for fifteen people Friday afternoon, tell them (but make sure you’re asking for things at least three weeks in advance!). If they ask how they can help and you don’t have an answer, a. you look pretty lame, b. they’re quickly losing interest, and c. you feel like a fool. Start your pitch telling them you’re looking for donations, but give them the chance to ask what exactly that means. This engages them in a conversation. Much easier to trap them this way. But also know what they’re getting in return. Credit on your awesome film that will be distributed to millions of people the world over and your crew will just LOVE their product and buy it all the time. And you LOVE their product and will continue to be a diehard fan, especially if they give you boxes of their treats for nothing. And you’ll add their company’s name to your website. It’s a win-win! You feed/house/dress/impress your crew and they have a new marketing outlet that costs them next-to-nothing.
5. Practice your pitch. Even if you’re only practicing with yourself in the mirror or to your goldfish, it’s good to be prepared. It’s scary to ask a stranger for a hand out (remember asking the scary neighbors on the corner with the big German Sheppard to buy cookies and popcorn for Boy/Girl Scouts?) Just remember, you don’t have a huge organization behind you this time, so you really have to sell yourself and your film. Now, once your pitch is perfected, you’re good to go.
6. Dress the part. It’s okay to look like a bum on set, but no one’s going to want to hand over free things to you if you don’t look professional. Their donation is an investment. They are marketing their product through your film, both in your credits and on set to your crew. If you haven’t showered, they won’t expect that you’re going anywhere with your film or career and they’ll assume your crewmembers probably smell too.
7. Remember the name of the person you spoke with. Write it down when you leave. Even if the manager/owner wasn’t in, know who talked to you. This way, you can call/email the person in charge and say, “Yes, I spoke with Emily at your (insert store name) on Sunday and she told me I should contact you about…” It makes it more personal, proves you actually went to the store and you can make it sound like you and Emily are best buds. And why wouldn’t you want to donate to your best worker’s filmmaker friend. It’s just a couple baked goods, right? (wink wink).
8. Don’t be shocked by rejection. Have something to say if they tell you “no.” Don’t cry, don’t pout, don’t tell them to go to hell. Just tell them very nicely that you understand, and it’s no big deal. Then ask if you could just put some postcards out on the counter. Most likely, they’ll let you lay out some postcards. You get some free advertising space and it won’t be so awkward leaving, because you still got something out of it. And, you can always boycott them for the rest of your life, too… (just kidding… or am I?)
9. Follow up. Even if the person you spoke with told you that the whole premise of your film sucks, email them anyway. Thank them for taking the time to meet with you. You can always hit them up again next year when you make a film, or send them a nice little update when your film wins the Academy Award. (Remember, living well is the best revenge.) If the person did offer you something, thank them in the email/phone call and reiterate what you think the agreement was. It’s important you’re both on the same page so a. they don’t think you’re ungrateful and b. you can plan accordingly. Give them a date that you’re going to call/email them again to check in. If you don’t remind them about the meal they’re donating, don’t expect it ready when your PA shows up in a month and a half. Show some respect – they’ve got more to worry about than your movie (I know, it’s shocking) and while they’re happy to help, they’ll appreciate a reminder and think you’re uber-professional.
10. Give them the credit they deserve. If someone donates to your film, whether it’s cash or props or locations or food, etc. send a thank you note. Try to plan ahead and have some thank you notes on set so your cast and crew can all sign it. Not only does it make you look really thoughtful, but it’s more likely to end up on the wall of the restaurant/café/main lobby, etc. This means more free publicity for your film! Then make sure to email an update about the film during post-production. People who don’t work in film don’t understand how fricken long post can be. They’ll assume you forgot about them and tear down your awesome thank you note and light it on fire. Well, maybe nothing that extreme, but you’ll look rude. Remember, they helped make your film possible; the least you can do is keep them in the loop. Let them know when the film will be ready. Then invite them to the premiere, screening at your mom’s place or send them a DVD. Everyone loves seeing their name in the credits. And if your film – I’m sorry, WHEN you’re film plays in festivals or finds a distributor, let them know. Remember, they want people to see their logo or name. If your film plays to sold out audiences the world over, they’re not only happy for you, but they a. now have some bragging rights and will tell their friends (who might just buy a DVD!) and b. they know they’re getting free advertising. This way, when you make your next film, they might give you five cases of soda instead of two.
By following the ten steps/rules above, I have acquired donated things for my film Wild Birds from: Comfort Suites, Pop Chips, A-Treat Beverages, Wild Flower Café, XL Graphics, Boylan’s Bottling, Company, Chipotle, Hub Wilson Photography, Yocco’s, Cold Stone, The Goosey Gander Restaurant, Civic Theatre of Allentown, Sal’s Pizzeria, Foo Joy and Gallery Bar. You can visit the “Thank You Page” on the Wild Birds site with links to these awesome people’s websites.
These methods are tried and true and the above donations not only make my film possible, but they also make my father, the Coupon King, proud. Remember, the best things in life are free!
RFF 2010 Fellow Courtney Hope recently graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in Film & Television. While a student at NYU, she wrote and directed several short films. Hope’s thesis film Sex & German Grammar, which was awarded the prize for Best Cinematography at NYU’s Fusion Film Festival, also screened at the Southside Film Festival and the Palm Springs Shortfest. Hope has also shown films at the London Super Short Film Festival and the Reed Media Festival, and took home a prize at the 2007 Southside Image Over Words competition. Hope recently completed her first independent short, Another First.
A post by Courtney Hope
Here I stand outside a building in the West Village, staring at a door without a knob. I look up at the building. How am I supposed to get in? Fortunately, someone’s leaving the building as I stand looking perplexedly at the door.
“First time here?” he asks.
“Yeah…”
The Man holds the door open and I slowly step into the building. Now what? The Man holding the door notices my confusion – or awkwardness – and asks whom I’m there to see, as if I’d just stepped into a doctor’s office.
“Jeremy.” Should I give his last names too? Who is this guy anyway?
“He’s upstairs.”
I don’t see any stairs. What a strange place I’ve just walked into. Must be some sort of trap.
“The stairs. They’re through there. Just go straight back and they’re on your right.” This guy must think I’m an idiot
“Thanks.” I follow the stranger’s directions and walk down a hall covered in movie posters. Aha! Stairs! I climb the staircase until I reach an open door. Is this it? I step through, my boots stomping into the room. No one. Great. It was a trap. Where am I? I peak around the corner and see a woman. She, like everyone else apparently, can tell I have no idea what I’m doing or where I am.
“Hi. Who are you looking for?”
“Jeremy?” Ugh. I should just go home.
“Oh.” She gestures to a half-wall from which Jeremy pops up. We shake hands.
“Yeah, I didn’t even hear you come in.”
Great, now he thinks I’m some creep who slithered into the building.
“Well, you have a very confusing entrance…” Oh boy. Why am I so awkward?
I follow Jeremy into what looks like a living room in the office and sit. Maybe I should have brought coffee so I’d have something to do or hold or just to give the general sense of importance. Too late. No coffee. No prop. Just me in this chair with a copy of my script, which I pull out of my bag only to find the edges have begun to curl. Great.
“First of all, congratulations on the grant. It’s really a great program.”
“Thank you,” I try to muster my confidence.
“So, tell me about your film.”
Oh no. Pitching. That’s the worst.
“Well, my film is about two little girls who run away into the woods from an abusive home to be wild.” I wonder if it sounds convincing anymore. I must have said this exact sentence about a thousand times by now.
Jeremy asks where the story came from, how I envision the film looking, and some basic production questions. The standard questions, for which I have my well rehearsed answers.
“So tell me about the gun in your script.”
“Oh, well, what about it exactly…” Uh oh.
“Why is it there?” Never a good sign.
I explain that the gun is an extension of the father, that it represents that you can never really escape your upbringing, but it’s how you use what you’ve lived through that tells who you are, blah blahblah.
“It seems that you don’t really need it.”
Um… What? That’s what the whole movie’s about… I’m not really sure how to respond to this.
Jeremy explains that he could show me at least 40 student films with a gun. Ouch. Well, this isn’t a student film, so… Then he asks me again what the film is about.
“Two little girls who run away into the woods from an abusive home to be wild.” Same thing I said before.
“If that’s what the film is about, then you need to focus on that. The gun’s kind of distracting.”
“Oh. I guess…” I am thoroughly impressed. This guy’s good.
“Maybe they take something else from their dad that they can fight over, but there are other ways to show their relationship, I think.”
Jeremy gives me some suggestions about what other props might come from the sort of home the girls come from that are a bit more neutral than a gun. He casually mentions that raining night exteriors are probably also unnecessary. This also being a large part of the draft, it takes a minute to digest all this.
To make an already long story short, Jeremy wanted me to rewrite most of the script, but without losing what the film was really about. And he understood the film as a story about sisters who are pushed to do something drastic. So, as I left the office (much easier to exit than enter), I wasn’t sure how I really felt about this Jeremy character. I agreed that the film needed some simplification, but his suggestions seemed a bit extreme.
While thinking about the notes Jeremy gave me, I started scratching some notes on my crinkled copy of the script. After replacing the gun with a lighter, transforming the father into a mother, and turning night into day, I realized that maybe he had a point. The film is character driven, and inherently dramatic without all the extras I’d written in.
The most important thing I took away from my meeting with Jeremy wasn’t anything he said, or even how to open a door without a knob, but rather, I realized that the only way to make a film is to surround yourself with people who really care about it enough to tell you when it sucks. When Jeremy forced me rethink my script, I realized that the notes from my producer and editor and production designer all were crucial to making the film. If others aren’t invested in the script, no one will invest in the finished film either. One of the most important things for any filmmaker to do is to listen, take advice, and adjust the script instead of simply explaining away the problems that exist. There’s no such thing as a finished script until it’s picture locked.
RFF 2010 Fellow Courtney Hope (mentored by Jeremy Kipp Walker) recently graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in Film & Television. While a student at NYU, she wrote and directed several short films. Hope’s thesis film Sex & German Grammar, was awarded the prize for Best Cinematography at NYU’s Fusion Film Festival and screened at the Southside Film Festival and the Palm Springs Shortfest. Hope has also shown films at the London Super Short Film Festival and the Reed Media Festival, and took home a prize at the 2007 Southside Image Over Words competition. Hope recently completed her first independent short, Another First. Courtney’s RFF Film, Wild Birds, is about two young sisters who enter the woods determined to be “wild.” As the story unfolds, we begin to understand what they are running from, and see the power dynamic between them shift as the younger sister develops second thoughts about their plans.
A post by Courtney Hope
To be perfectly honest, I’m not a big fan of nature. I grew up in Pennsylvania, in a county with the most parks per capita ratio in the country. I went to a private school with trees and lawns and a rose garden. My parents forced me to go to camp and sleep in a cabin – for which I may never forgive them. But when the time came for me to choose my own setting, I chose the bleakest landscape of all – New York City. And I’ve managed to avoid the great outdoors ever since.
So why then would I chose to set my RFF Film, Wild Birds, entirely in the woods – in the middle of November – in the hometown where all those trees once suffocated the city girl in me? I was asking myself some of these same questions as I dragged my key crew into the heart of the forest that sometimes haunts my nightmares.
My DP, Carole has the exact opposite opinion of woods than I do. She can’t get enough trees and berries and acorns – and other strange things she picks up as we walk.
“You sure that’s edible?” I ask as she sinks her teeth into something she found on the ground.
She explains that the acorns she’s chomping on can be made into flour if you can gather enough of them. I can’t help but to roll my eyes. Why would anyone ever do that?
My Production Designer Emmeline, also has an affinity for the woods. But she’s from Vermont, where that sort of attitude is mandatory. She collects leaves and twigs and seed to flatten into the notebook she’s brought with her. I really don’t fit in with these woods enthusiasts.
So here I am, wandering off trails in the woods searching for the strangest looking trees we can find. And there really are some crazy-looking spots in these woods.
“This place is like an evil Disney forest,” Carole notices.
An illustration from the Wild Birds team
“Yeah, I know. Woods are terrifying,” which leads us into a discussion of what kind of woods the characters try to hide in. Are they nice woods that are easy to live in, mean woods that hurt the girls, uncaring woods that watch the girls struggle without offering any guidance? We decide that the woods are like their mother (who is omnipresent, though we never meet her on screen), somewhat cruel, but unintentionally so. They’re just wild unsympathetic woods, but they wouldn’t go out of their way to harm the girls. So it’s settled, abusive-mother-woods. That’s what we’re after. This changes how we analyze each attractive patch of nature we come across.
Emmeline smashes some berries into her notebook. “Look at all these bruise colors. These are great.”
Carole points out some poison ivy. “Let’s not shoot in poison ivy. That’s the last thing we need is itchy actors.”
“Wait, this yellow leaf? Did I touch it? Did anyone notice if I touched this poison ivy?” No one’s noticed. Great. Now I’m going to have poison ivy. How did I grow up in Pennsylvania and never learn what poison ivy was. I was a girl scout… for a year…
Wild Birds location scout photo
Then we come upon my favorite place in these woods, a strange start of a building that was never finished. It’s just a corner of bricks that stick up under a tree. We decide this is our first choice for the dead bird scene. It has the right sort of half-warmth of home and half-empty and uncaring feel to it.
Then we find other strange pipes and old wells sticking out of the ground throughout the place. These woods are picture ready!
At the suggestion of a local film enthusiast, my crew and I drive to an abandoned amusement park in Easton, PA. We were told it flooded in the 90s and was never repaired. On the way there, Emmeline spots an empty birds nest near the side of the road. She demands we pull over so she can pick it up. I take this nest as a good omen.
When we arrive at the amusement park, the gates are locked. But it looks like the sort of place teenagers would have a way into, and after a quick search, we find a place where we can sneak through the fence. This place is definitely a popular trespassing zone, with trash everywhere.
We walk through this abandoned amusement park and all we can talk about is the horror film we should shoot there one day. What kind of creepy things go on here at night? I don’t want to think about it. I’m already afraid of everything.
I loudly try to focus the conversation off serial killing clowns and back on the film we’re actually shooting.
We decide that most of the amusement park is unusable because it’s too obvious – placing abused children in a dilapidated place that represents childhood would feel clichéd. But in the back of the park are a few shed-like structures that seem to be falling apart. “Does this look like it could be in the woods?”
“We could use it for the beginning,” Carole chimes in.
“Or a rain location.” I make a face. Please, don’t let it rain!
“Oh right, rain locations…”
And with that in mind, we walked quickly out of the haunted park back to the safety of our cars.
We found some great locations, took a ton of photos, and survived a few hours in the woods without anyone succumbing to poison ivy. It was a good day and a good scout, even if it did take place outside.
RFF 2010 Fellow Courtney Hope (mentored by Jeremy Kipp Walker) recently graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in Film & Television. While a student at NYU, she wrote and directed several short films. Hope’s thesis film Sex & German Grammar, was awarded the prize for Best Cinematography at NYU’s Fusion Film Festival and screened at the Southside Film Festival and the Palm Springs Shortfest. Hope has also shown films at the London Super Short Film Festival and the Reed Media Festival, and took home a prize at the 2007 Southside Image Over Words competition. Hope recently completed her first independent short, Another First. Courtney’s RFF Film, Wild Birds, is about two young sisters who enter the woods determined to be “wild.” As the story unfolds, we begin to understand what they are running from, and see the power dynamic between them shift as the younger sister develops second thoughts about their plans.
Courtney Hope (RFF Fellow, 2010)
Read the article about Courtney and Wild Birds that appeared in The Morning Call of Allentown, PA here. Please note that the article gives the wrong url for the film’s web site. The actual site is wildbirdsfilm.com.
Congratulations Courtney, the site looks fantastic!