Jessica Grynberg
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Contact Information*:
Leichhardt United Kingdom |
Contact Type: Artist |
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Bio:
Filmography/Awards Info: 1. Why did you make this film? > Oh that's a hard one - why does anyone make a film or paint a picture? ... I > was crazy about film and wanted to make my own and had written a short > story/diary scribble about a girl stuck inside a bubble on Sydney's Oxford > Street - it was kinda my own urban spirirtual metaphor and the film grew > from that>> 2. How long did it take to make this film? > Nadine (the producer) and I got together in July and we were shooting by > October I think - that was in 1997. It was a VERY close shave for the > premiere at Melbourne International Film Festival in August 1998 - we had to > get the answer print express couriered to us from the lab, and now it's > March 2000 and the ball is still going. > 3. What was the biggest challenge you faced in making this film? > ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING! Every aspect was a challenge- finding locations, > casting, finding a DOP, dealing with 5 different sound recordists, having no > money to pay anyone so having to settle with what we could. We had several > different make-up artists and the film was shot in a very contrasty black > and white stock and Beatrice's lips looked different on different days of > shooting. On some days she looked like a trasvestite. We had to cut around > her lips. It wasn't necessarily that we didn't think about those things but > we didn't have a choice. It sounds riduclulous now looking back. We were so > green but so keen and everything we had to learn from scratch. The learning > curve was enormous and for that it was worth it, but it completely took over > our lives. I don't know if you can make a film without becoming completely > obsessed and at the moment I find that a bit frightening. > >> 4. Do you have any "war stories" that you would like to tell us about > >>the > >>making > >> of this film? The lab processed a day's worth of stock as colour instead > of black and white so we had to reshoot an entire day and that was the day > with the bus and all the extras- major effort...because it was rainy season > in Sydney and of course everyone had other things that paid them to do, but > Nadine pulled it off and got everyone back on board. But we scored some > extra stock because the lab felt bad so it kinda worked out in our favour.>> > >> 5. What can you tell us about the technology/equipment that you used? > >> Camera? Editing? Software? Hardware? Film stock? Video tape stock? Sound > >> equipment? Etc. The equipment was vintage or archaic depending on how > romantic you feel about shitty old film gear. But Anthony Jennings our DOP > is a major trooper and can make anything look good. It was an Aarii 16mm > film camera... I can't remember what stock we used it was negative not > reversal. It was fine grain and high > contrast B+W. It's not worth mentioning the sound gear cause all our sound > ended up being post-sunk. Sonal Joshi did an amazing job with the sound > track. She's a name you'll hear more of. We had cut on SP Beta and finished > with grading and a small amount of FX in a Fire edit suite and finished on > Digi Beta. We had no money left at all to go back and cut > the neg, but when "Bubble Numb" was selected to premiere at Melbourne > International Film Festival the Australian Film Commission gave us a > $5,000 post-production grant so it could be completed on film. There's > a few seconds of colour at the end of the film so we did kine tests and > decided to blow up the Digi Beta to 16mm instead of forking out a fortune to > get the neg cut and effects re-done and we kinda liked the eerie look of the > kine as well.>> > >> 6. Do you enjoy one aspect of filmmaking more than any others?Being on > >>set. > >>7. In what country or region do you live? Is it important to your art? > >>If so, in what way? Sydney, Australia... I'm not sure how directly it > informs my art but it informs me because I was born/grew up there and > although I've travelled a lot and am writing this e-mail from London - > Sydney is my home/heart. Even when I'm playing around with my video camera > my films tend to be a little self-reflexive and in that way Sydney must come > out. But Beatrice could really be anyone anywhere who has lost their lack > lustre for life.>>>> 8. What does "Microcinema" mean to you? > I don't know I'd never heard the word before you used it, but I like it. It > sounds like a word that I can handle and do on my own which is probably what > I'll try and do next. > >> 9. What does "Independent" mean to you? Doing it on your own... I > suppose it's more an artistic than financial (though I suspect the original > meaning was to do with funding sources & distribution) consideration for me, > though the lines are increasingly blurred (they probably always have been to > some extent). I suppose "microcinema" can afford to be trully "independent" > because the stakes are not so high and that is it's allure.>> > >> 10. What are a few tips you can give to other filmmakers?>>Just make it. > >> 11. Do you have ideas for another film? If so, will you share them with > >>us? I always get very shy about my ideas - I should've written that in the > big challenge question. I mean sharing my ideas/thoughts with other people > is often a challenge. But now that you've asked YES.>> > >> 12. Who is your favorite film director?13. What is your favorite film? > I'm rather fickle or explorative - it depends how you look at it but my > favourite director and film changes all the time. At the time of making > "Bubble Numb" it was Kieslowski's (sp? aaggh) "Three Colours Blue" and his > "Decalogue". I was also watching a lot of Maya Deren's experimental films > and was interested in how she was playing with sound. I was also watching a > lot of Brunel. I love Ken Loach. I hate Hal Hartley. I love the Cohen > Brothers' love of cinema that infuses their films, I love their whackiness. > Anything with Tom Hanks sux. "Underground" was excellent and I laughed so > much in "Black Cat White Cat" that I was sore for days.>>>> >> This Contact appears in this database if Microcinema International has screened a film directed by the Contact, a film directed by the contact is featured in a DVD distributed by the Blackchair Collection Shop, or featured an organization or activity linked with the Contact. This database is used for commercial as well as informational, non-commercial purposes. It is a historical archive of Microcinema International's activities. Inclusion in this database and archive in no way implies a continuing formal relationship or affiliation with Microcinema International or the Blackchair Label nor an endorsement of its activities by the Contact. Contact details are not displayed in order to protect privacy. If you wish to contact this artist please see their website as listed above or write Microcinema International and we will be happy to forward your e-mail.
Microcinema Interview/Article:
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