4PLAY: Thought for the day...

Perusing readings for a class I'm putting together, stumbled upon this quote from Andrei Tarkovsky is his wonderful book SCULPTING IN TIME that I think pretty much sums up how about feel about the miniaturist "realism" movement still taking up too much space on the national film festival circuit. Life is MUCH bigger that these very small, unambitious, navel-gazing films. - Kyle

I think in fact that unless there is an organic link between the subjective impressions of the author and his objective representation of reality, he will not achieve even superficial credibility, let alone authenticity and inner truth.

You can play a scene with documentary precision, dress the characters correctly to the point of naturalism, have all the details exactly like real life, and the picture emerges in consequence will still be nowhere near reality, it will seem utterly artificial, that is, not faithful to life, even though artificiality was precisely what the author was trying to avoid.

Curiously enough the label "artificial" is applied in art to what unquestionably belongs to our ordinary, everyday perception of reality. The explanation is that the pattern of life is far more poetic than it is sometimes represented by the determined advocates of naturalism.

Andrei Tarkovsky

4PLAY: AUSTIN Atticus/Kai PT2

PT 2 of my interview w/ Atticus Rowe, who plays Kai in AUSTIN. - Kyle

3) What particular challenges did you face playing your role? Any fears you had to overcome?

As I mentioned, allowing myself to truly deal with issues so close to my own was scary, but ultimately it was a gift.

4) During the process of making the film, was there anything you learned about the world or yourself that you feel like sharing?

HA!!! I learned that I have a porn threshold!!! I remember when we first went into the "news shop", everyone was sort of giggling and cracking jokes about the title of a movie or toy etc. Then we started working and everyone was very professional and that settled down and we moved on to trying to get what Kyle was looking for. But at some point, it was if I had been looking at the Sun too long or one of those 3D pictures. It was floor to ceiling porn, everywhere. The only place there was not porn was the floor or the ceiling and I found myself staring at both. And I am by NO MEANS a prude. It was sort of like working on a green screen for a long time and your eyes start to "die." It was like I went from intrigue, to desensitized, to overloaded. I remember Kyle asking me to do something specific with my eyes and it was everything I could do to do it and ultimately, I don't think I could do it.

4PLAY: AUSTIN Atticus/Kai PT1

A new year ... time to move on to the next FOURPLAY short, AUSTIN, which will be making it's way in the world soon. Simply put, it's the story of young couple, Kai and Lily, who debate independence vs conceiving over the course of an evening and arrive at a startling compromise. Below is part one of my interview with Atticus Rowe who plays Kai.

1) What were your first feelings about being approached to play your role in AUSTIN? First thoughts after reading the script?

My first feelings about playing Kai were apprehension and fear. Not because I was worried about being able to play the part or understand the character, but more because of the parallels that I felt with Kai's life and his relationship with Lily and the precipice at which they stood. It's quite a bit scarier to explore things that are true and meaningful, rather than playing at something you need to create.

2) What, if anything, helped you prepare to play your role?

I was recently married when we started production and I would say that the experience of having recently taken a big step and discovering what that step meant helped me significantly. It's funny how you may think, "Oh, I took this step. Now, I am here." and you think you'll stay there for awhile, but before you know it, you're either thinking about, talking about or taking that next step. There always seems to be a next step and if you are in a relationship and you respect each other, one tends to be waiting for the other to be "ready" and then when they are, the other may have backed off!