Jeremy Lalonde's Blog - April 10th, 2007

The farm is important to Emily and has become important to me too. It’s the difference between living to work and working to live. For a long time for me it was the first of those two. I don’t think I’ve fully, or will ever, switch to the latter, but I live in a balance between the two. I love to create, I don’t think I’d be much good to anyone if I was denied a creative outlet. I’m fortunate that I’ve found a way to make a living that is in the arts, while working on my personal projects on the side. Regardless, I really do believe that artists really just create to fulfill something missing inside of them, and that’s why so many of them live in the ‘living to work’ mold. Constantly trying to create a happiness, many of them purposely sabotaging it, never wanting to be truly happy. I have found a happiness in my personal life that fulfills me and so I think that’s helped me in the sense that its’ grounding my work. Now instead of feeling the need to create 24/7, I just create what I really want/need to create, it has made my work stronger, better focused, because I’m not just acting like a machine. Not to say that others do or are, but I see it from time to time. I often worry about the kind of artists that never stop to enjoy, reflect. Makes me wonder why they’re creating in the first place.

And so it ends…
I have officially finished my Bravo!FACT short, “Hoff’s New Direction”. I am handing it in on Monday with all of the appropriate paperwork. It’s a good feeling. I’m very proud of it. I’ve screened it for a few people, the ones that like it like it a lot, those that don’t quite ‘get’ the joke, just say it’s ‘nice’. That’s fine with me. It’s not a film that’s for everyone really. I’m really looking forward to putting it in front of an audience and getting feedback from strangers.

Now how did it go, all things considered? Pre-production and production went really really well for us. We hit a slight road block with the ACTRA strike, but we were able to rethink a few things in the budget and still shoot at the time we scheduled ourselves to shoot. Considering I didn’t get to spend much time with Zach prior to the shoot it looks exactly how I planned. The nice thing about working with a cinematographer who you’ve worked with for years is that you know each other and how each other works so there’s a bit of a short hand when it comes to figuring stuff out. Meaghan Lynch has ruined me in a way that I’ll never make another film without a production designer, and if schedules line up, she’ll be it. She really took the film to the next level for me in the sense that our sets, especially the Loft, look like they should. She and her crew worked tirelessly and it shows.

Post-production. Now there’s the rub. Because I knew that we’d be finishing the film on Beta-SP I decided to cut the film in my Avid Suite at work as opposed to my FCP (Final Cut Pro) Suite at home. Big mistake? Kind of. We shot the film on Sony’s new XD-CAM format, which is a format that I’ve been cutting on at work for quite a while now and never noticed any real problems. Now that was with SD (Standard Definition), we shot in HD. I can bring the footage in and cut it with no problem whatsoever, however getting it out of my machine was the bitch. It seemed like no matter what I wanted to do, make an OMF, a quicktime, output to anything, it was a big problem. All things considered I learned A LOT about HD in Avid through the process and so that’s a good thing, however it didn’t help my stress level of wondering if I’d ever actually be able to deliver a high quality version to Bravo. In the end I will. However it makes me question whether next time I’ll just shoot in SD, since I’m not finishing it in HD mode anyway. I think next time I’ll have to afford myself some time in pre-production to do some tests. I know that if I were to do a feature right now I’d have to do some hard-core investigating

So all in all the project went well. I ended up with a short film that I’m really proud of. Now the next step is getting it into festivals. Mr. Grani and I are meeting this week to make a hit list of where we want to show it.

Workshopping
For the next two months I’ve been asked to moderate the writer’s group at LIFT since our usual fearless leader has commitments beyond his control. I’m excited about leading the group and hope that I’m able to moderate at the same level that Aron has been. My writing has come a long way over the years. While gathering photos for a wedding slideshow I came across an old scrap book of mine and I found a bunch of things from my old theatre days. I started off as a playwright many years ago, directing and sometimes starring in the plays that ranged from being put on at high schools, community theatres, to professional productions. It was quite a trip and I still love theatre and often flirt with the idea of doing another play. Reading over a review of one of the plays it made me think back to those days and what I was like as a writer and I know now that I didn’t take full advantage of my situation. I would write in a bit of a bubble, sometimes I would be fortunate to co-write with a friend of mine, Ms. Heather Turnbull, with whom I wrote three two-act comedies. Outside of those collaborations I would write a play and instantly be in production with it, never really spending the time to adapt the story too much, never really straying from the text. I wasn’t smart or mature enough to really work through the story beats while I had the benefit of actors in front of me. If I knew then what I know now… I’ve often flirted with taking some of my old plays and adapting them into screenplays, perhaps now giving them the growth they needed back then. My point is that I’ve learned, and in a large part through my month writer’s group, that writing is rewriting. Stories continually evolve. There’s a quote, I believe from George Lucas that says “A work is never completed, only abandoned.” Now, in all fairness good old George uses that quote to continually cash in and steal money from fanboys over and over, but there’s some truth in it, as well as some bullshit. I believe that many artists stop premature, that they don’t take their work far enough, go as deep as they can with the ideas, etc… but I do believe that it’s possible to walk away from something satisfied with what it has become, and that doesn’t mean that you had low expectations in the first place.

My Movies & I
So as promised, here’s the films I watched in March (I previously did a list for February). I’ve been keeping film journals for several years now, I find it helps me.

The Dying Gaul – This film had a great premise that just kind of went to hell. The performances are all stellar but they’re working with material that could have been a bit better with more focused ideas.

The Lake House – I’ve been kind of on a ‘high-concept’ film kick for awhile. Emily and I just picked up the original film that this is based on so I’m looking forward to comparing them. I have a crush on Sandra Bullock, but only in certain roles, in this one she’s as cute as she’s been since Speed. I was just hoping they’d take the concept a few steps further since it wasn’t hard to figure out how it’d end. It’s OK.

The Departed – I love this film. It grabs you and keeps you going, always on a bit of a tilt, it’s just really powerful filmmaking with every element working for it. Some say it’s not Scorsese’s best work, I’m not sure, for me it could just be.

Bridge To Terabithia – Emily picked this film to watch. It was kind of a mix-bag for me. There was some great ‘real’ moments but then you had some real cheese thrown in. It’s got some beautiful effect work in the movie. I’m not sure I like the ending, I realize it’s based on a book and that’s how the book ends, but I don’t think it works. Take a niece or nephew to it if you want to have a ‘big’ talk at the end.

Hannah & Her Sisters - I don’t even know how many times I’ve seen this film. The way that Woody shoots New York is how I’d love to shoot the places I’m from. I think there’s only a handful of people that can pull off really good voice over and Woody is one of them in this film. Michael Caine is brilliant, Diane Weist makes me smile, and Woody’s just his good old standard funny. If you haven’t seen this film you really need to.

The Virgin Spring – Never watch a Bergman film when you’re tired. That being said, it’s great. Being raised with Catholic guilt I really dig Bergman and his ongoing questioning of God. At one point in the film Max Von Sydow yells up into the heavens that he doesn’t understand or believe in God, but he stills asks for his forgiveness. I get that. Ang Lee says that Bergman never provides any answers to life, but that he asks great questions. I think that’s when film is at it’s best.

Art School Confidential – This film has come amusing moments and ideas but it doesn’t really do much with them. I think that the satire could have been better, a little more clever. I’m starting to wonder if Terry Zwigoff doesn’t have the ability to live up to the potential that was promised with Crumb or Ghost World. I think he’s a better filmmaker than what he’s been delivering since those films.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg – What a beautiful, beautiful film. From a technical stance it’s gorgeous. The film is a really clever juxtaposition of reality and fantasy. All of the dialogue is sung and it creates a really unique pace for the film. I’m surprised that this film hasn’t been added to the Criterion Collection yet. It’s a gem.

Lost & Delirious – There’s some great acting moments in the film, it occasionally slips into melodrama, but it’s about teen angst and heart ache, so I suppose that’s allowed. I think that Piper Perabo (whom I adore) was given a little too much freedom, a little tighter direction could have helped shape her performance a bit. Either way it’s a great Canadian effort, and the love story is sweet until it does a turn for the worse.

Husbands & Wives – This is a fresh technique for Woody and I think it works nicely. It’s similar to the work that I’ve been doing as of late. I love Sydney Pollack’s performance in this film as well as Julliette Lewis. There’s some really powerful real unsentimental moments here. The late night talks between Woody & Mia’s characters are the highlights for me.

Monster House – The CGI animation of this film was a mix bag of amazing and wooden when it came to the human characters. The film was a bit darker than I was expecting, which was nice. Nothing overly amazing, but I was entertained enough.

Jarhead – It’s a soldier’s film. It deals with the issue of the mind of a soldier, how you get to the point where you just want to kill something to justify your being there. The whole cast is exceptional.

Romance – The lead in this film is amazing. She could have easily just done the part as a male fantasy, but she makes it real and intriguing. A blend of integrity and honesty. I have some issues with the film, particularly the ending just not feeling ‘right’ to me. But it’s a really interesting little film. Don’t watch it if you’re upset by graphic sexuality.

Big Business – An 80’s classic. The pacing of this film is quick and fun. The motion control work in this film is ground-breaking and it’s got some good laughs. A great little mindless entertainment film.

Jesus Camp – A solid documentary. It’s the kind of film that makes me upset and gets me going. The filmmakers do an amazing job of keeping the sides balanced and never showing a bias.

Little Miss Sunshine – I think that the cast of this film is amazing. The film is funny and fresh. Did it get too much attention? Who knows. It’s as much as a curse to be an indie darling as it good. Get ready for a bunch of ‘quirky family films’ to come out in the next little bit. I originally saw this for free in a preview audience and I thought it was amazing. I still love it.

Walking & Talking – If you liked Nicole’s newer film Friends With Money than you should love this – I think it’s the better one of the two. I think Anne Heche is gorgeous in this film, and Liev Schreiber is fantastic. Loved it.

Mystic Pizza – Caught it on TV. Commercials kill the pacing of a film. Captures the lives of small town people quite well. The performances are well done well, it’s a nice little coming-of-age flick.

Reign Over Me – I like Mike Binder and I think he’s an interesting filmmaker that doesn’t feel the need to become a niche. It’s a film that’s full of amazing performances. A few of the moments feel muddled and convenient rather than organic and natural, however as a whole the film works well. Saffron Burrows reminded me of Charlotte Rampling’s Dorrie in Stardust Memories.

Thank You For Smoking – I watched this with the commentary which David Koechner tries to annoyingly dominate. He spends most of the time trying to kiss up to Reitman and Eckhardt and it makes you want to turn it off. I like this film, saw it originally at TIFF. I think it’s a great satire with a heart in the right place.

Click – This film is another example of a great concept that doesn’t go far enough. It feels like a blend between a standard Adam Sandler film and something a bit deeper, and never really get a happy medium, like the film is literally split into two. It’s entertaining, but I really think they could have done more with it.

OK. That’s it for me. Emily and I have deemed April as “Foreign Film Month” but we haven’t been doing well so far.

Until next time….

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