A lot has happened. That’s partly why this blog post is so late (the other part being the fact our WiFi was down…). I’ll start from the beginning. Production on this short film seems to be going very well. I’m very happy with how things are going with regards to the cinematography and production design etc. We have had multiple meetings, casting calls, recces and everyone seems to be on the same page.
However, there have been major difficulties with regards to writing. I was already frustrated at having to work with a writer at all, however James actually avoided us and cut me completely out of the loop. We had a meeting that seemed to go well on the Sunday and agreed to meet up again midweek. However he ignored all of the messages we sent him and we didn’t see him in class. This was incredible frustrating, as we needed to make progress in other areas but couldn’t due to a complete lack of contact with James.
On Saturday night, while out on a walk with Arthur, I saw James in the distance going to a fancy dress party. As far as I was concerned, this was incredibly lucky because I had finally gotten contact with the guy who had been avoiding me all week. He told me that he had made a lot of the progress on the screenplay and that he wanted to meet on the following day.
When the next day came however, he had work and couldn’t meet up. I asked if we could meet in the evening, which he also refused. At around 21:00 he sent me a new version of the screenplay and we ended up phoning for only about five to ten minutes. This new version was entirely unacceptable. He had clearly ignored a lot of what I had asked him to do. The screenplay was only 2.5 pages long and was obviously a rushed, last minute thing.
I was deeply unhappy about this, but still couldn’t meet up with him to discuss it properly. Harris, also frustrated with James’ lack of commitment, sent an email to Catriona explaining James’ poor commitment. However, she responded telling us that James has accused me of harassment. He had told Catriona that I was stalking him from outside his house and ganged up on him when he was drunk and vulnerable. Harris and I were both utterly shocked and couldn’t quite believe what was being said. I didn’t even know where James lived. It was purely through chance that we happened to be walking past it. It’s no real surprise considering how close together we live.
This false accusation had a big impact on me. I felt physically sick. I couldn’t eat and I couldn’t sleep. When I told other people about what had been said they actually found it funny because it was so ridiculously far from the truth and something I would never do. I was told that it has put a few people off working with James in the future.
This morning we met with James. He told us that he believes that I found his location using Snapchat, which, by the way, I don’t even have… I further expressed how untrue this was, but he didn’t listen. He said he believed me, but it came across as very ungenuine.
In this meeting we discussed a certain scene he had written involving a character masterbating. This is something I had asked him to remove several times and he agreed to, but never did. He was now refusing to remove it altogether. As far as I’m concerned, he stepped well beyond the duties of a writer and massively restricted my creative control as a director.
The meeting really did not go well and, to be honest left me in an even worse state than before. I have been unhappy with the course from the beginning, but I had reached my limit. I had decided to drop out.
I phoned my father who completely understood me and backed me up with regards to not filming a scene I am ethically and creatively opposed to. However, he told me to hold off on leaving the course. I am going to email the course leader detailing what James has done and detailing why I am so unhappy with the course in general.
In the afternoon I met with James, Harris and Catriona. Moments before this meeting, James handed me a new version of the script. He had taken on board a lot of my suggestions and it was clearly a much better script. However he has still not removed the masterbation. Catriona brought this up and recognised how strongly I was against such a scene. She told me that if my beliefs opposed it, then there is no way I should shoot it as that is unethical too. The alternative suggestions were not much better, however we are at a point where if we don’t find some middle-ground then the entire film will fall to pieces.
I am still deeply unhappy with where I am at the moment and will have to rethink a lot of aspects of my life.
With regards to the films I watched, I’ve seen a lot of horrors due to the nature of the film I am working on. They are as follows:
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was, to be honest, a far more interesting film than I thought it would be. I thought that the characters were a bit too cartoon and two dimensional. However, the visual style was beautiful. It felt genuinely dark and real. It was very grungy and had a very well communicated message. It was also quite funny towards the end, which is always a bonus. 7/10
A Nightmare on Elm Street was less impressive. It was very cheesy and illogical. It was very predictable and had some incredibly annoying performances. Not a film I enjoyed at all and couldn’t wait for it to end. Some of the nightmare things were quite cool, but on the whole, the film was of poor quality. 4/10
Bad Times at the El Royale was much moreso my type of film. While still very flawed at times, it had a lovely concept and some fantastic characters. I enjoyed every moment of it. It felt like what the Coen brothers would make if they tried to adapt a novel by Agatha Christie! 8/10
Rosmary’s Baby was surprisingly good. I really enjoyed the dark, intriguing story and it was very well directed. I feel the end wasn’t quite what I would have hoped for, but it was very good nonetheless. 8/10
Peeping Tom was the final film I watched. I liked it, but I couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed. There was so much good about it, but it didn’t hit the heights it could have if it tried to be a little more experimental. 6/10
As you can see, I have not had a good week. Let’s hope things get better from here.
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
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