Ramblings of a director

 

It feels a bit weird to call myself a director. I think once I’ve made a feature I’ll feel like a director, or gotten paid for something I’ve made. Right now I’m just a guy who made a film with his mates... One day.

But making a film is no easy business. Its been a slog for the last three or four months. Working late nights, early mornings, all weekend; going straight from work to edit the film, constantly brain-storming and solving problems. But now it’s done. We’ve finished our film. The credits are in and its going to be released to the world (well not yet to the world, just 600 people. But hopefully soon after that).

I was lank over it all as you could possibly have read from a previous blog post. But I had a conversation with the guy who edited the film called Tim Nel and he said to me, “I can’t wait for the next film. We’ve grown a lot and are going to make something even better”. And then I thought, “flip, I want to make another film. A better film. A film that rocks. A funny film called Alive Man."

And so it is that I’ve become amped about making film again. The start of an idea. That’s what I love. Maybe I’ll like the end product. But really for me the main enjoyment is coming up with a beautiful idea and then setting out to create it. After that its back-breaking work, but that’s ok. Some back-breaking and character-building is good for you.

Creativity, thou art a feared and adored mistress.

Connect with Michael-John 
If you'd like to connect with me follow me on twitter at @MJPhillip , and on Google + by going through to my Google Plus page.

Bound

This is the poster for a film I recently wrote and directed called Bound (previously titled Loverboy).

It is a 20 minute short film that follows the story of a naive girl who gets trafficked into prostitution by a man she loves. She escapes and then begins to rebuild her life, but is still drawn back to the man she loved.

The film stars Tsholo Mpuru as the lead. This was her acting debut, and who did a darn good job of it. The film also stars Pope Jerrod and Lulama Stone.

To watch the film come to the Joscars which will be held at Joshua Generation Church, Edgmead, where another 3 short films will also be showing their films. Go to http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=186869281367576 to book a ticket to this rad event.

The poster was designed by Carlo Milandri.

Connect with Michael-John
If you'd like to connect with me follow me on twitter at @MJPhillip , and on Google + by going through to my Google Plus page.

Film Première

I am currently working on a film called 'Loverboy' about human trafficking. I'm writing and directing the film. The film will be première'ing on 23 July as part of the Joshcars evening. The evening will showcase 4 short films that have been made by members of the JoshGen Film Kru.

The Quest for the Elixir of Happiness

The Cricket World Cup has come and gone. People got really bleak about the Proteas losing and now it is all forgotten. Sport takes you from ecstatic ecstasy to tearful tears of tearfulness. One minute a team can look like they're going to beat New Zealand convincingly, and the next they lose. Such is the nature of sport.

I think to some extent sport mimics life in that both have these highs and lows. You get the courage to ask a girl out, she says yes, and later you find out that you have nothing in common. Or you get the job you really wanted only to find out it’s just an internship and you only get paid in beer. Or you think that you’re going to win an award for a short you directed and then you don’t and then you get bleaked out because you thought that this time you were going to win. You thought that this relationship, this prize, this job was going to take your life from average to awesome, but it hardly ever does.

I'm not saying that everything fails and life is pointless because people do get dream jobs where they’re paid, and they do marry awesome wives, and they do win best director. What I am saying is that these high points are often only short lived. We think these mini-challenges are major climaxes that will solve our problems, and we focus our lives and thoughts on achieving them. And while you might have the best job or best wife it still isn't plain sailing. There is no everlasting happy ending. Unfortunately life is work and it has its ups and downs.

My point is that we should enjoy these mini-challenges for what they are, simply steps towards a better story, not as the elixir of happiness.

Sweetheart

Yesterday I went to the premiere for a sci-fi short film called Sweetheart. The film stars Inge Beckmann (ex Lark lead singer, current herself singer) as a housewife who goes in search of her missing family in a type of post-rapture world where only a few people are left behind.

The film was made by the production company De Phat Motel, and was especially noted by friends and other people enjoying the open bar for its great cinematography. Its great to see what is coming through in the SA film community, and also helps to get me off my butt and writing again.

This weekend (3 and 4 December) is the Rly Shrt Flm Fstvl, which features 5 minute films from a range of film makers and is going to be rad. The screenings are taking place at &Union so go check it out if you can before tickets sell out.