Due to my 7 Film project, it’s been a while since I posted an update regarding Girlfriend 19. But that doesn’t mean we’ve been slacking!
The film is essentially done and has been submitted to films festivals. Additionally, the main poster for the film is now finished. I feel it perfectly captures the mood, design, feel and story of the film.
I am head-over-heals in love with this poster and very, very proud to share it. I hope you like it too…
“Arty farty” has a bad connotation, suggesting a highly stylized and pretentious work of art. I also believe the term is used to express inaccessibility, i.e., the artwork is hard to understand.
I’m sure some people will say Girlfriend 19 is arty farty mostly because it looks and feels different from other films. We strictly followed a limited color palette and played a lot with saturation. Also, the film has many long takes without an edit, so some scenes may feel slow. Finally, the story itself is quite minimal, with much of the action occurring internally, within the main character.
Nevertheless, I’m proud to say that there is nothing pretentious nor inaccessible about Girlfriend 19. It was very important to me from the beginning, as I wrote the script, that the film not take itself too seriously. What I mean is that I knew and kept in mind that I was not writing a treatise on injustice or making a documentary about starvation. Never once during our production did we act as though we were making the most important film on earth. Please don’t misunderstand, we took our jobs seriously and worked hard, but we did not take ourselves nor our film too seriously.
My main critique of many independent films is that they take themselves too seriously. While watching the film, you can sense that the filmmakers set out to make an “important” film, one that will be lauded for its difficult subject matter and artistic qualities. Personally, I think this kind of attitude is disastrous to a film. Some just might get away with it, but most will not.
Girlfriend 19 is what it is and does not pretend to be anything else. Some may feel it’s important and some may not, but the film itself does not presume to be. It simply presents itself in an authentic manner with easy to understand content and a sincere approach.
I’m proud to say Girlfriend 19 is an “accessible art film.”
A really cool thought flashed through my mind the other day: as writer/director I create the soul of a film and the cast and crew fleshes it out!
While writing Girlfriend 19, I envisioned the film quite specifically. I could see the set, the camera moves, even how the characters would look and talk. However, as soon as I began casting the film, things changed.
The actors in Girlfriend 19 are dramatically different from what I envisioned. For instance, I never once thought of the Alex character as a Frenchman; however, within minutes of his audition, I knew Guillaume was perfect for the part. He, like the other actors, reflected the soul of the character and that’s what matters most.
Guillaume Dabin-Pons as Alex; Lighting by Gavin Fisher
So from the casting process onward, I decided to let go and not flesh out the film on my own. I went with the flow, demanding only that we stay true to the soul of the film. Gavin Fisher, our director of photography, made lighting decisions that I did not envision, but I trusted him and I’m incredibly happy with the results. My editors, John Nelson and Jarrod Burt made rhythmic and timing decisions that I never would have done myself, but the results are incredibly effective. And now, my sound designer, Randy Barnes, is adding ambient layers that are intensely moody, deep, and dark – definitely not what I envisioned, but I love it!
A scene from Girlfriend 19; Lighting by Gavin Fisher
In the end, Girlfriend 19 has been fleshed out by a group of talented individuals and not by a lone director. Of course, my direction has been involved from the beginning and it’s been my job to keep the film true to its soul; however, my cast and crew has fleshed it out and I’m eager to share the results with you!
Girlfriend 19 is making excellent progress and I am very pleased with the results. Naively, I initially thought the film would be completed sooner, but I forgot about the Fast-Good-Cheap triangle!
Like many things, a film cannot be made fast, good, AND cheap; you ultimately need to pick two sides of the triangle. So if you want your film to be done fast and for cheap, then it’s probably not going to be good.
The budget for Gilfriend 19 is relatively tiny, thus, people are either volunteering their time or working on the cheap. And, of course, I want my film to be good, so there is no way my film will be done fast. It’s going to take time; a lot longer than I expected. As a result, I unfortunately will miss deadlines for the Fall film festivals; however, our film will undoubtedly be ready to submit to the Winter/Spring festivals.
Our editing is completely finished, but we are still working on the score (music) and the sound design. These elements are extremely important for any film and to rush through them is a major mistake. And from what I’ve heard so far, it’s definitely worth the wait!
Thank you for your continued support and anticipation for Girlfriend 19. I’ll have some cool stuff to share soon, so please stay-tuned and if you haven’t done so, subscribe to this blog via email for instant, easy updates!
- Christopher
Making a movie is hard. Making a micro-budget movie is even harder.
Myriad elements must come together to make a movie work, and, like the world, money can sure make a movie go around. So, with little money, a filmmaker simply needs to be realistic with his/her expectations.
I’ve been immensely fortunate with my cast and crew on Girlfriend 19. From my actors to my editors, everyone has done as much as they possibly could. And the truth is that they could have done more if I could have afforded to pay them more. This is a simple reality I’m coming to grips with. In our society money = time, and time often means more focus and energy. With more focus and energy, people often do optimal work. I’m sure my actors would have benefited from multiple paid rehearsals to prepare more thoroughly. And, no doubt, my editors would have loved to be paid enough to quit their “day jobs” so they could focus solely on Girlfriend 19. But because I did not have the budget, we could not afford to do these things.
This is the reality I’ve come to grips with while working on Girlfriend 19. Unfortunately, people often confuse such realism with negativity, assuming that I now expect less. That’s a shame, because the lessons in reality that I am learning are actually making me more optimistic. In other words, rather than have unrealistic expectations, which often lead to disappointment and resentment (negativity), I keep my sights grounded in reality, which leads to a higher level of appreciation and contentment.
Girlfriend 19 is taking a lot longer to finish than I originally expected, but I’ve come to grips with this reality and am now patiently awaiting its completion…
