Posts filed under 'Films'
I thought that this description from our acting student JP on how he approached his first film was really interesting and wanted to share it with the rest of the readers here. If you have thoughts on this or your own approach, be sure to leave a comment!
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Hey, all
Just thought I’d take Ben’s suggestion and send around some of my thoughts and reactions to my film shoot with FAMU. I thought it was a great chance to put to the test everything we’ve been doing and see how it’s helped. It was great to try out, listening to your partner, reacting to their behavior, not knowing what was coming in a scene, delivering a line after learning a script by rote, and getting out of your head and just being real. I can see I still have a way to go, but the class definately has brought me several steps ahead. I felt more confident in front of a camera and in front of other more experienced actors. I felt more assured and had less fear of inferiority after all the work from class.
Of course when the camera starts rolling the fear of looking good, being good, and the temptation to get into your head starts popping up. On day one, when I was in front of the camera for the first time and the director shouted “action” I was nervous as hell. I felt like I was in my head. it was s simple scene, nothing very emotional like we’d been practising, so I went back to day one or two of class- I put my attention on my partner and just started noticing simple behavior in him- “He’s looking at that window. He’s very intent. He looked sideways. He’s starting to stroll.” That helped me forget myself almost like magic. It was great.
I had one angry scene where I was supposed to bawl out two other people. That one really made me nervous. I was worried about over-doing or being “actorish.” Truth be known I still have to see the cut before I can judge it, but I found that forgetting the logical reason why I was shouting and finding an emotional basis for it (my sister is cuddling with a total stranger who is almost 20 years her senior in a very overly-affectionate, almost sexual way) helped me to be more in the reality of it and to feel the anger more.
During some scenes where I wasn’t supposed to be looking at my partners, who are usually my center of focus, I found it helpful just to chill, take a few breaths, and focus on my other senses- the cold air, the birds chirping, the picturesque landscape, the stinking hay in the barn. that helped me forget myself, my pose, my messy hair, the rolling camera and just stay more in the moment.
There’s a lot more I could say, but I think that hits the high points. All in all it was a great experience. If any of you have some more filming thoughts or some tips, please by all means send ‘em around. Thanks Brian for getting me the role, and thanks to both the teachers for getting us this far. Cheers all. See you monday.
J.P.
November 7th, 2007
PCFE will be having auditions for actors on Friday, October 19th from 18:00 to 20:00. Casting will take place in the building of PCFE Film School in Pštrossova 19, Prague 1.
40 students will choose actors for their films, so all type of actors are needed. The hourly rate is usally 100 C.K.
If you have questions, you can contact Stepanka Novakova at stepanka.trendova@filmstudies.cz. 222 510 930.
October 16th, 2007
The next free ZFK screening will be of the feature film ‘IF’ on SUNDAY
14/10/2007 @ Prostor SKUTECNOST, Czech Inn, Francouzskš 76
www.skutecnost.cz
if…. is a 1968 cult film by British director Lindsay Anderson about an
armed rebellion at a British public school. The film is associated
with the 1960s counterculture movement; it was filmed at the time of
the student uprisings in Paris in May 1968, and it includes
controversial statements such as “There’s no such thing as a wrong
war. Violence and revolution are the only pure acts” and features
surrealist sequences throughout. On its release in the UK it was given
an X certificate. The film stars Malcolm McDowell as Mick Travis (a
character Anderson used in two sequels). Arthur Lowe, Peter Jeffrey,
Richard Warwick, David Wood, Christine Noonan, and Rupert Webster (as
the pretty young boy Bobby Phillips) also take starring roles. It won
the 1969 Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2004 the magazine
Total Film named it the sixteenth greatest British film of all time.
if…, as far to our knowledge, has never been screened in Czech
Republic before. This night will also include a series of short films
before the main feature including the winner of the 2007 Manhattan
Short FIlm Festival ‘100th of a second’. Also showing will be a series
of SHORT FILMS and VIRAL VIDEOS.
October 5th, 2007
Don’t forget to go to the Zizkov Film Klub’s “Manhattan Short Film Festival” Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This is a unique chance to see some great short films and vote for the winner. The votes will be tabulated from regional festivals world-wide. Go and be a part of history! For more information, visit the Zizkov Film Klub’s webpage at http://zizkovfilmklub.blogspot.com/.
September 27th, 2007
The Zizkov Film Klub is sponsoring the Manhattan Short Film Festival at the end of the month! Froom the ZFK website:
Film lovers in Prague will be able to join audiences spanning three continents to judge the next generation of filmmakers from around the world at the 10th annual Manhattan Short Film Festival screening by ZFK in Prague on 28/29/30 Septmber 2007.
This year the Manhattan Short received 456 entries from more than 32 countries. Of these, 12 finalists are selected for screening at 100 cinemas across Europe, North, South and Central America in which audience members are asked to vote for the one film they feel should win the event. Votes are tallied and submitted to the Festival’s headquarters in NYC, the winner is announced on Sunday September 30th in Union Square Park NYC.
The festival is September 28, 29 and 30. Tickets are 60 Kc and go on sale at 20:00 the nights of the festival. The venues are:
- 28/9: Karavan Seraj, Masarykovo nabrezi 22 and MAD, Plaska 5
- 29/9: Karavan Seraj, Masarykovo nabrezi 22
- 30/9: Skutecnost, Francouzska 76
You can get more information from the Zizkov Film Klub website or I’ll post here as soon as I hear!
September 17th, 2007
A few people have posted comments to the site about castings and I wanted to give them a little bit more prominence:
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David Sir writes:
Hi, I am currently in the process of casting two of my original plays to be performed in Prague in the new season. We are hoping to start rehearsing in August and open the shows in mid September.
I am thus in search for English speaking actors. The texts require a close to flawless knowledge of English, as the plays (especially the one text) are built on constant snappy dialogue exchange between the characters. We require strong performers with no accents for this. Is there anyway of finding them here? Please contact me on 728041425
Cast needed: IX actress - 18 - 35 years
2X actresses - 18 - 25 years
2X actors - 18 - 25 years
Thanx.
Best wishes
David
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And Dave Zijlstra writes:
For a low budget short film production in Prague, we are looking for actors. Serious film acting experience is not needed, talent is. See details below:
One male actor. Age 45/50+. Native English speaker. Supporting role.
One male actor. Age 45/50+. Native Czech speaker or English / understanding of basic English. Small role, no dialogue.
Three male actors. Around the age of 15, 18 and 21. Native Czech speakers / understanding of basic English. Supporting roles.
One male actor. Age 18/19. Native Czech speaker / understanding of basic English. Leading role.
If you’re interested to do audition for one of these roles, or if you know someone who could be interested, please send an email with bio and picture (if available). A synopsis and more information about this production will be send after a first pre-selection.
For more information about me, the director, see my website: www.davezijlstra.com
Thanks,
Dave Zijlstra
Email: info@davezijlstra.com
July 26th, 2007
ZFK invites you to another free film night: BLACK & WHITE NIGHT
SHORTS (20:30)
The Amputee (1973) David Lynch
BLOCK (2007) BogArt
A Detective Story (2003 Animatrix)
FEATURE FILM (21:00)
Screening of the cult sci-fi movie ‘Equilibrium’ (2002) Directed by:
Kurt Wimmer, starring Christian Bale, Sean Bean and Taye Diggs… more
info: http://imdb.com/title/tt0238380/
Saturday 21st July 2007 from 20:00 (film start 21:00)
SKUTEČNOST - so 21/7 od 20:00 - Adresa: SKUTEČNOST Francouzská 76, asi
50 metrů nad zastávkou Krymská (druhá od zastávky Náměstí Míru směrem
do Vršovic) tramvají 4, 22 a 23.
Close to tramstop ‘Krymska’ - trams 4, 22 and 23 - Map
http://www.mapy.cz/?query=francouzska+76%2C+praha+2¢erX=133112636¢erY=135905990&zoom=16&sug=1
SHORTS (20:30)
The Amputee (1973) David Lynch
The Amputee features a woman with both her legs amputated at the
knees, sitting alone in a room, writing a letter and mentally reading
it to herself. The letter details various relationships gone bad, both
hers and others. As she writes, a doctor comes in and attends to her
legs, yet she pays no attention to him. The scene was shot twice with
no sound, which Lynch added later. “It was really cool because we
couldn’t shoot sync sound, so we shot it and then ran it back and
foleyed the whole thing live to picture. It was pretty exciting to do
sound effects on the fly.” http://www.lynchnet.com/amputee/
BLOCK (2007) BogArt
A trendy writer moves into Birkenhead’s notorious North End to try and
break his writer’s block - with dire global consequences for human and
not-so-humankind.
A Detective Story (2003 Animatrix)
A private detective is hired to track down the computer hacker known
as Trinity. But as he gets close his goal, reality takes a weird turn
for him.
FEATURE FILM (21:00)
Screening of the cult sci-fi movie ‘Equilibrium’ (2002) Directed by:
Kurt Wimmer, starring Christian Bale, Sean Bean and Taye Diggs… more
info: http://imdb.com/title/tt0238380/
In a futuristic world, a strict regime has eliminated war by
suppressing emotions: books, art and music are strictly forbidden and
feeling is a crime punishable by death. Clerick John Preston
(Christian Bale) is a top ranking government agent responsible for
destroying those who resist these rules. When he misses a dose of
Prozium, a mind-altering drug that hinders emotion, Preston, who has
been trained to enforce the strict laws of the new regime, suddenly
becomes the only person capable of overthrowing it. — (c) 2002
Dimension Films
July 16th, 2007
One of our acting students, James High, has put a film on Filmka called “Signs and Symbols“. I’m not sure about who worked on the crew of the film, but 3 of our other acting students are featured in the cast. I’d encourage everyone to take a look.
July 3rd, 2007
ZFK invites you to another free film klub screening with our feature film from UK Director Shane Meadows ‘This Is England’ (2006)
La Cave- Lazenska 6, Mala Strana, Praha 1
Saturday 30th June 2007 20:30
Special promotion on Bio wines and bio snacks. Plus movie quiz & prizes!
Also screening;
BogArtTV – Top Gunk – Bogartists perform their latest ‘environmental
art protest’.
Top of the pops 1983 – Flash back to the top ten with the BBC’s ‘Top
of the Pops’.
1980s Retro – A short documentary film with artist Aidan Hughes and
film maker ‘Bruce’ chatting about life in 80’s England. From politics
to Madonna, rave to Prince, this short ZFK film hopes to give some
background to the feature film.
Feature – This Is England (2006)
http://imdb.com/title/tt0480025/
After screening Ska party with Creation Dub Project
We hope to see you there.
ZFK
June 29th, 2007
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