"the midnight express .... it doesn't stop around here"

What a fantastic day!

We had our first class with Abigail who is going to be sharing her knowledge about producing in films with us over the next couple weeks. I found her class intensive because we were squeezing it in before 3pm (for Oliver Stone) but nevertheless really informative and fun.

I learned A LOT about production in less than three hours and I liked how Abigail showed us a lot of examples on the computer of forms used and how she went through each aspect of the process. Another thing I learned was the 1^st AD really works as a producer, not as a director’s assistant!

I had had no idea just how much organization that a producer undertakes! So much paperwork! But the satisfaction by carrying a film from A, its birth, to Z, way beyond the ‘wrap’, must be amazing. I love being organized because when I can and actually do it, it feels great. But I don’t think my talent is this, to be honest! What I’d love to have the detail of Abigail’s class on the subject of being DoP or a director because those are the area I’m particularly interested in. I kind of feel I don’t know exactly what the job description is for those jobs and Abigail totally gave us that inside out with production. So, whilst I look forward to the next class, I want to see this with directing and being a DoP.

I was immensely inspired by Oliver Stone. I’d prepared myself to be disappointed by him because most of my experiences with celebrated figures, especially directors, have been somewhat of a let down because of their arrogance. But he came across as lovely man who had a lot to say and as Adam said: “I hope he never shuts up.”

I’ve only watched one of his films, that being The Midnight Express but it’s a brilliant film and one that I was brought up to be excited about (I had to wait a long time before I was allowed to see it and my mum lived in Turkey for 3 years and there is much more to be said, but this is not the place!) So I was excited to see the guy behind the name. He has obviously worked incredibly hard and has had a very rich and full life, which came through what he talked about being a soldier in Vietnam and his views on America and life in general.

He came up to us all afterwards and we all acted a bit star struck and I fear I came across as quite simple when he had to ask me how old I was THREE times before I could squeak “19”! Pathetic! But hey, I’ll never wash my chin again and I got a great gansta handshake from him! (You had to be there.) He was so nice, a bit like a cuddly granddad, and asked us all what Glasgow was like and various other things! He also played ‘got your nose’ with Ada, haha, this afternoon was definitely one of my most amusing ones at the Academy!

What did his being here mean for me though? Well I was able to step back slightly and look at how a few things. Firstly, that I’m really lucky for a whole bunch of reasons. One of them is being able to study and find my talents and ways to stretch myself in the right directions at the Academy. Secondly, I’ve had so many opportunities and experiences in my life that will inevitable seep into my work as an artist, and I will always try and find new ways to make my films and programmes link to my life and the things I’ve learned from it– because that is how you can reach out and speak to so many different individuals at the same time. Today gave me one of those nudges you need when you catch yourself becoming a little tired, or lazy, or confused why and what you’re doing and so I’m really happy because I feel that another realisation has clicked; I know I’m in the right place to get where I need and want to be as a film maker.

I do need to push myself out of my comfort zone more often and I also need to explore what I like and bring it into my work. I hope to take kit out over the next few weekends we have left before the summer so I can investigate what I can create without the pressure of a project or satisfying someone else.

Though, I am looking forward to making our final film of the year and I really hope that two of our scripts are chosen, as opposed to one blow up doll script and one independent script. The reason behind this is because, although the scripts got stronger for the blow up doll idea, I still feel that our own ideas are much easier and have much more room for exploration and getting deeper with themes than with a lilo! We all have tutorials with Richard tomorrow evening so we will be able to develop our scripts further and then see if they will be produced. I would love to produce/direct one of the films but I’d really really like to be DOP as I want to explore this particular role much more.

Anyway, we’ll see what happens. On that note, I’ll be back on soon to tell you what progress has been made by next week!