June 2010 Archives
Vincenzo Perrella and Dan Osborn made a very successful viral video in 2009, a comedy called THIS IS PERTH. They have followed this up with a character-based short called IT'S JUST GARY. It premieres on Saturday 19th June as the headlining film in Future Shorts at the Fly By Night in Fremantle.
Phil Jeng Kane interviewed Perrella and Osborn about their new comedy.
PJK: The shorts you made previously were paid for out of your own pocket. How was making IT'S JUST GARY as a funded film a different experience?
VP: We've been used to a two-man approach to everything. But we realised that to be able to put on screen the ideas on a certain scale, you need funding. Many Perth filmmakers realise that LINK funding is an important step in that process.
DO: We had a huge cast and a lot of different locations - we couldn't have done it any other way.
VP: We were told that it couldn't be done on a LINK budget, anyway. (Laughs)
DO: We were told to strip it right back. Have Gary in a room sipping herbal tea.
VP: Many people said write a film with one location and two or three actors.
DO: Very sensible...
VP: To my mind we could achieve a film like that on our own.
DO: So where did the money go?
VP: With some funding behind you people come on board - and many industry professionals are happy to give back. Many of the people we worked with said that. They are happy to give back and help emerging filmmakers. That happened to some extent because of LINK - it legitimises your project a bit.
PJK: You had Richard Mallins as your Director of Photography and Scott Montgomery on sound. How did you find working with people of that calibre?
VP: Richard's stuff is pure class, to be honest. He has a classical filmmaking approach and that's what we wanted for GARY. The story is a classic rise and fall tale.
DO: With Richard we found something that clicked and he has a great sense of humour. And he's very efficient. Scotty is a guy who lives and breathes sound. It was kind of exciting because he'd talk to us on set and give us a little lesson.
VP: Everyday on set was an immersion in the intricacies of sound recording. From the smallest details of the individual mics we were using or boom placement. Again very efficient and clear with what he wants. That kind of efficiency is what we were looking for.
DO: Which brings us to Claire Blake.
VP: She was the first assistant director. She has spent most of her long career working in the UK and Sydney. She happened to be in town for our shoot. Kate Bailey the producer introduced us.
DO: Claire made it happen. That's how we shot it in six days.
VP: It was like a military operation. Claire has years and years of experience which allowed us to strategically achieve the film.
DO: Having those people on board helped us achieve all of that. But it was still a pleasant shoot. Very little stress.
PJK: I believe your producer Kate Bailey was part of making that happen.
VP: Kate is a one of the nicest most thoughtful people I've ever met and she managed to put together an excellent crew. It was a pleasure to work with somebody who cares about other people and wanted to make this film without stepping over anyone. It helped to foster a nice tone on set.
PJK: You direct in a slightly unusual way. Basically both of you direct everything in a sort of 'tandem system'.
VP: We watch the takes together have a quick chat, then one of us talks to the actors. It doesn't matter who. What's good about the system is if you're not 100% sure...
DO: If one of us isn't 100% sure, we know we have to go again.
PJK: You've developed this method of working together over a long time, haven't you?
VP: I met Dan when we made a short film on a course at Uni.
DO: We both ended up living in London at the same time. At that stage we were getting together and throwing ideas around but didn't have a clear focus
VP: We would meet up. We have shared interests in literature, art and film. We're not film "heads" but we like the medium of film very much. We would catch up and see theatre, watch live comedy or discuss novels we were reading and we were always in that (creative) mode. When we got to London we wrote our first script together. Inspired by the comedy and seeing Australians in London.
DO: From there on we focussed on our writing.
VP: What's good about working in partnership is that you rarely hit blocks. We feel you really make that film in the writing processes. If it doesn't work on page there's no point. First and foremost we would consider ourselves writers who direct.
PJK: IT'S JUST GARY is a Who's Who of West Australian Comedy.
DO: There's a great comedy scene in Perth.
VP: It's world class. Some of the comics who have worked in Perth for the last 5 to 10 years and are second to none.
DO: We would watch the BIG HOO HA etc and wonder why they weren't on film. It was great joy - casting this film. Some act in theatre and have a great range. And not all the characters are laugh out loud.
VP: Although Damon Lockwood is naturally funny. You look at him and you're ready to laugh. But he's in enough scenes and has a different types of conflict so he can bring different shading and subtleties to his performance.
DO: I expected a great performance, but he went beyond that. And he's in every scene.
VP: His consistency was amazing - no variation unless we asked for us. He has an innate understanding of how that dialogue is supposed to work.
DO: There are so many great smaller roles in this film that now we're writing something different we going - "how can we fit everyone in again because they're such a joy to work with".
PJK: So what did you learn by making a bigger film?
VP: It was great for our skills. You don't know what it's like to be on a set unless you're on one and when we were in the middle of it...
DO: It was a nice place to be.
VP: It was the best place to be.
DO: You're looking over and there's Richard and there's Scotty and there's Claire Blake ...
VP: Cracking a whip
DO: It was the first opportunity we ever had, where we were only worried about framing and performance.
VP: Usually, I'd be holding a camera. Dan would be rigging a light, holding a microphone...
DO: Wearing a cardigan
VP: It was the first time we could say 'our job is that it's shot properly and the scene is blocked and covered.' It was like a drug. At the end of six days it was very hard to come down. To be in the centre of such an efficient team and for it to be just for six days?
(Laughs.)
PJK: In THIS IS PERTH and THIS IS FREO you appear Dan, but have no lines. In GARY, finally, Dan Osborn Speaks.
DO: With Damon Lockwood.
VP: He saw the opportunity and grabbed it.
PJK It wasn't a plan to have you not speak for a couple of films?
DO: There was no great plan, but it's nice if people go "there he is", I guess.
PJK: It was suggested to me by some in the filmmaking community that you were going to play the part of Gary originally.
DO&VP: Wow.
DO. The rumour mill. I got ousted. (Laughs) People are going to talk and you got to let them.
VP: We originally wrote the role for Damon.
PJK: You're a team, but you've ended up as the face of the films, Dan. Are you going to bring greater pleasure to your fans with a full speech in your next film?
VP: The next short will be his monolog straight to camera
DO: The sky's the limit, really
VP: Dan is also a very fine dancer. So we're putting that into the next short.
PJK: So where do we the public, get to see the World Premiere of IT'S JUST GARY?
VP: It's headlining the Australian launch of the Future Shorts Festival. It always shows exceptional world-class films and it's excellent to have the opportunity for IT'S JUST GARY to be shown locally because it has such a big local cast.
Future Shorts is on at the Fly By Night on Saturday 19th June and is proudly supported by FTI.
A modified form of this interview appears on mrtrivia.net
Phil Jeng Kane interviewed Perrella and Osborn about their new comedy.
PJK: The shorts you made previously were paid for out of your own pocket. How was making IT'S JUST GARY as a funded film a different experience?
VP: We've been used to a two-man approach to everything. But we realised that to be able to put on screen the ideas on a certain scale, you need funding. Many Perth filmmakers realise that LINK funding is an important step in that process.
DO: We had a huge cast and a lot of different locations - we couldn't have done it any other way.
VP: We were told that it couldn't be done on a LINK budget, anyway. (Laughs)
DO: We were told to strip it right back. Have Gary in a room sipping herbal tea.
VP: Many people said write a film with one location and two or three actors.
DO: Very sensible...
VP: To my mind we could achieve a film like that on our own.
DO: So where did the money go?
VP: With some funding behind you people come on board - and many industry professionals are happy to give back. Many of the people we worked with said that. They are happy to give back and help emerging filmmakers. That happened to some extent because of LINK - it legitimises your project a bit.
PJK: You had Richard Mallins as your Director of Photography and Scott Montgomery on sound. How did you find working with people of that calibre?
VP: Richard's stuff is pure class, to be honest. He has a classical filmmaking approach and that's what we wanted for GARY. The story is a classic rise and fall tale.
DO: With Richard we found something that clicked and he has a great sense of humour. And he's very efficient. Scotty is a guy who lives and breathes sound. It was kind of exciting because he'd talk to us on set and give us a little lesson.
VP: Everyday on set was an immersion in the intricacies of sound recording. From the smallest details of the individual mics we were using or boom placement. Again very efficient and clear with what he wants. That kind of efficiency is what we were looking for.
DO: Which brings us to Claire Blake.
VP: She was the first assistant director. She has spent most of her long career working in the UK and Sydney. She happened to be in town for our shoot. Kate Bailey the producer introduced us.
DO: Claire made it happen. That's how we shot it in six days.
VP: It was like a military operation. Claire has years and years of experience which allowed us to strategically achieve the film.
DO: Having those people on board helped us achieve all of that. But it was still a pleasant shoot. Very little stress.
PJK: I believe your producer Kate Bailey was part of making that happen.
VP: Kate is a one of the nicest most thoughtful people I've ever met and she managed to put together an excellent crew. It was a pleasure to work with somebody who cares about other people and wanted to make this film without stepping over anyone. It helped to foster a nice tone on set.
PJK: You direct in a slightly unusual way. Basically both of you direct everything in a sort of 'tandem system'.
VP: We watch the takes together have a quick chat, then one of us talks to the actors. It doesn't matter who. What's good about the system is if you're not 100% sure...
DO: If one of us isn't 100% sure, we know we have to go again.
PJK: You've developed this method of working together over a long time, haven't you?
VP: I met Dan when we made a short film on a course at Uni.
DO: We both ended up living in London at the same time. At that stage we were getting together and throwing ideas around but didn't have a clear focus
VP: We would meet up. We have shared interests in literature, art and film. We're not film "heads" but we like the medium of film very much. We would catch up and see theatre, watch live comedy or discuss novels we were reading and we were always in that (creative) mode. When we got to London we wrote our first script together. Inspired by the comedy and seeing Australians in London.
DO: From there on we focussed on our writing.
VP: What's good about working in partnership is that you rarely hit blocks. We feel you really make that film in the writing processes. If it doesn't work on page there's no point. First and foremost we would consider ourselves writers who direct.
PJK: IT'S JUST GARY is a Who's Who of West Australian Comedy.
DO: There's a great comedy scene in Perth.
VP: It's world class. Some of the comics who have worked in Perth for the last 5 to 10 years and are second to none.
DO: We would watch the BIG HOO HA etc and wonder why they weren't on film. It was great joy - casting this film. Some act in theatre and have a great range. And not all the characters are laugh out loud.
VP: Although Damon Lockwood is naturally funny. You look at him and you're ready to laugh. But he's in enough scenes and has a different types of conflict so he can bring different shading and subtleties to his performance.
DO: I expected a great performance, but he went beyond that. And he's in every scene.
VP: His consistency was amazing - no variation unless we asked for us. He has an innate understanding of how that dialogue is supposed to work.
DO: There are so many great smaller roles in this film that now we're writing something different we going - "how can we fit everyone in again because they're such a joy to work with".
PJK: So what did you learn by making a bigger film?
VP: It was great for our skills. You don't know what it's like to be on a set unless you're on one and when we were in the middle of it...
DO: It was a nice place to be.
VP: It was the best place to be.
DO: You're looking over and there's Richard and there's Scotty and there's Claire Blake ...
VP: Cracking a whip
DO: It was the first opportunity we ever had, where we were only worried about framing and performance.
VP: Usually, I'd be holding a camera. Dan would be rigging a light, holding a microphone...
DO: Wearing a cardigan
VP: It was the first time we could say 'our job is that it's shot properly and the scene is blocked and covered.' It was like a drug. At the end of six days it was very hard to come down. To be in the centre of such an efficient team and for it to be just for six days?
(Laughs.)
PJK: In THIS IS PERTH and THIS IS FREO you appear Dan, but have no lines. In GARY, finally, Dan Osborn Speaks.
DO: With Damon Lockwood.
VP: He saw the opportunity and grabbed it.
PJK It wasn't a plan to have you not speak for a couple of films?
DO: There was no great plan, but it's nice if people go "there he is", I guess.
PJK: It was suggested to me by some in the filmmaking community that you were going to play the part of Gary originally.
DO&VP: Wow.
DO. The rumour mill. I got ousted. (Laughs) People are going to talk and you got to let them.
VP: We originally wrote the role for Damon.
PJK: You're a team, but you've ended up as the face of the films, Dan. Are you going to bring greater pleasure to your fans with a full speech in your next film?
VP: The next short will be his monolog straight to camera
DO: The sky's the limit, really
VP: Dan is also a very fine dancer. So we're putting that into the next short.
PJK: So where do we the public, get to see the World Premiere of IT'S JUST GARY?
VP: It's headlining the Australian launch of the Future Shorts Festival. It always shows exceptional world-class films and it's excellent to have the opportunity for IT'S JUST GARY to be shown locally because it has such a big local cast.
Future Shorts is on at the Fly By Night on Saturday 19th June and is proudly supported by FTI.
A modified form of this interview appears on mrtrivia.net
Every day I see at least one poster for the upcoming Jonah Hill film Get Him To The Greek. I probably won't go to see this film because, well, I've seen the preview and therefore feel like I've already seen it.
Interestingly, this film actually has more than two women in it, but they don't speak to each other. How do I know this? Because I came across the Bechdel Test.
This simple test for films comprises of three criteria:
1. Does the film have more than two women in it?
2. Do they talk to each other?
3. Do they talk to each other about something other than a man?
Some of the films listed on the Bechdel Test site pass these criteria, however only just. For example, Astroboy is listed as passing the test, however it only meets criteria three for this conversation:
Grace: Kora, did you bring me something?
Cora: The perfect Gift for a sweet little girl [hands her a chainsaw] Be careful!
Grace: [heard offscreen] Too late!
Should we be making more films that pass this test? I don't know. Most film marketing reports show that films that have a male central character make more money at the box office. But is this because audiences don't want to watch female centric films or is it that there aren't any good female centric scripts around?
Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder passes the test because Leela joins an eco-feminist group.
Interestingly, this film actually has more than two women in it, but they don't speak to each other. How do I know this? Because I came across the Bechdel Test.
This simple test for films comprises of three criteria:
1. Does the film have more than two women in it?
2. Do they talk to each other?
3. Do they talk to each other about something other than a man?
Some of the films listed on the Bechdel Test site pass these criteria, however only just. For example, Astroboy is listed as passing the test, however it only meets criteria three for this conversation:
Grace: Kora, did you bring me something?
Cora: The perfect Gift for a sweet little girl [hands her a chainsaw] Be careful!
Grace: [heard offscreen] Too late!
Should we be making more films that pass this test? I don't know. Most film marketing reports show that films that have a male central character make more money at the box office. But is this because audiences don't want to watch female centric films or is it that there aren't any good female centric scripts around?
Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder passes the test because Leela joins an eco-feminist group.