Thursday, February 12, 2009
Daily Encounters
Daily Encounters is the first collaboration project with Liz, Phil, and Thomas. The project was a blast to make.
Directed by: Liz, Phil, Thomas
Edited by: Liz
Enjoy!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Hedonic Iconic
This is the Doc Shop 6 (2008-2009) project that I am working along side with Phil Fortin and Elizabeth Familiar da Silva. The following is the complete pitch we submitted to the National Film Board of Canada and was written by Elizabeth Familiar da Silva:
Hedonic Iconic is about exploring the drag scene of Montreal through the eyes of Dan and his drag persona, La Marquise de Sade.
Many people are ill-informed about drag or hold very prejudice opinions against it, while others have yet to discover it. We want to show people how drag is an art form, mainly performance art. If it can be socially accepted in movies such as Hairspray (2007), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) and Some Like it Hot (1959), why would it have a hard time gaining acceptance, almost fifty years later, as a source of entertainment off the screen? Drag queens are very much like comedians. They aim to entertain an audience by making them experience a pleasurable feeling, and seriously, who wouldn't want to see a man attempt to dress up like a girl? We do not aim to scare the viewers or make them uncomfortable but rather we want to gently introduce them to the concept of drag by explaining the drag phenomena and how it's all about art imitating life and life imitating art. Basically our goal is to give the viewers a taste of drag and show them that it is not a freak show.
The documentary will be a split-portrait piece on one key participant with two personalities, that Dan and the other of the drag queen Marquise. Two personalities that are very different from each other but share the same body. The key participant will help the viewers to understand drag and how a drag queen is born through his perspective and collective experiences. We want the viewers to connect with both Dan and Marquise on a personal level so they can better embrace and understand what drag means to Dan and his persona and show them how much hard work and devotion Dan has put into creating his drag persona Marquise. We want the viewers to feel empathy for our key participant and by feeling empathy they are aware of feeling and thus more opened to understanding Dan's life.
This documentary is unique in itself that it deals with a subject that is rarely discussed openly, especially in the media and interviews one person physically but yet is interviewing two mentally. the following are a few questions that we will ask our key participant:
1) What is drag?
2) What is the drag scene in Montreal like?
3) What is drag to the performer?
4) How is drag different from other types of performing arts?
5) What kind of topics do you cover in your work and why?
6) How do you think drag brings a community of people together?
7) How did your friends and family react when you decided to launch your drag persona?
Drag is becoming a popular form of entertainment where people are required to leave their homes to see a show. Thus it fits into the theme of community empowerment because it's bringing people together, different characters spend a night sharing laughs and hold no worries about how stressful tomorrow will be. It can be seen as a form of escapism for both the audience and the drag queens, and escape from the hegemonic patriarchy society we live in, which dictates what is normal and what is queer. Drag queens are very unique characters, it's as if they've been offered a second chance on life and they are making the most of it, sometimes they might even go above and beyond. They are not easily swayed or embarrassed, and if they have something to say they will express their thoughts gladly and loudly. They are constantly trying to be swept under the carpet but they don't want to go. Many people see drag queens as role models because they are not afraid of showing the world who they truly are they are not afraid to make political statements or social satire. they are here to stay and stay they will.
Since drag shows are very theatrical in their performances we have decided to take an experimental approach to filming and editing this documentary. We want the form to express the content. We plan to introduce our key participant through dramatic close-ups and mysterious medium shots of his body to convey the illusion that our performer is a female but in reality is a man. our performer will then be formally introduced when we show her performing on stage. We are three different filmmakers with three different style preferences when it comes to filming a video. Realistic abstract, and technical. We hope to use each style along with various camera angles and dramatic lighting to reflect drag as an art form. We would like to use visuals and ambient noise found in the drag scene of Montreal as well. We also plan to use the power of silence in this documentary to emphasize certain points made by our key participant in order for the viewers to feel a strong empathy for our performer.
Our key participant is very excited and willing to dedicate time on this documentary. He knows us personally and therefore will be very comfortable revealing personal information that can be used to show him as a person and as a performer. He is ready, along with our team, to put as much time as needed to create this documentary. Our team of three have divided the work into three parts; visual, sound, and editing. Each member will focus on a specific aspect, but we will be working alongside other specialists and working collectively to create our final product.
Status: Pre-Production
Hedonic Iconic is about exploring the drag scene of Montreal through the eyes of Dan and his drag persona, La Marquise de Sade.
Many people are ill-informed about drag or hold very prejudice opinions against it, while others have yet to discover it. We want to show people how drag is an art form, mainly performance art. If it can be socially accepted in movies such as Hairspray (2007), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) and Some Like it Hot (1959), why would it have a hard time gaining acceptance, almost fifty years later, as a source of entertainment off the screen? Drag queens are very much like comedians. They aim to entertain an audience by making them experience a pleasurable feeling, and seriously, who wouldn't want to see a man attempt to dress up like a girl? We do not aim to scare the viewers or make them uncomfortable but rather we want to gently introduce them to the concept of drag by explaining the drag phenomena and how it's all about art imitating life and life imitating art. Basically our goal is to give the viewers a taste of drag and show them that it is not a freak show.
The documentary will be a split-portrait piece on one key participant with two personalities, that Dan and the other of the drag queen Marquise. Two personalities that are very different from each other but share the same body. The key participant will help the viewers to understand drag and how a drag queen is born through his perspective and collective experiences. We want the viewers to connect with both Dan and Marquise on a personal level so they can better embrace and understand what drag means to Dan and his persona and show them how much hard work and devotion Dan has put into creating his drag persona Marquise. We want the viewers to feel empathy for our key participant and by feeling empathy they are aware of feeling and thus more opened to understanding Dan's life.
This documentary is unique in itself that it deals with a subject that is rarely discussed openly, especially in the media and interviews one person physically but yet is interviewing two mentally. the following are a few questions that we will ask our key participant:
1) What is drag?
2) What is the drag scene in Montreal like?
3) What is drag to the performer?
4) How is drag different from other types of performing arts?
5) What kind of topics do you cover in your work and why?
6) How do you think drag brings a community of people together?
7) How did your friends and family react when you decided to launch your drag persona?
Drag is becoming a popular form of entertainment where people are required to leave their homes to see a show. Thus it fits into the theme of community empowerment because it's bringing people together, different characters spend a night sharing laughs and hold no worries about how stressful tomorrow will be. It can be seen as a form of escapism for both the audience and the drag queens, and escape from the hegemonic patriarchy society we live in, which dictates what is normal and what is queer. Drag queens are very unique characters, it's as if they've been offered a second chance on life and they are making the most of it, sometimes they might even go above and beyond. They are not easily swayed or embarrassed, and if they have something to say they will express their thoughts gladly and loudly. They are constantly trying to be swept under the carpet but they don't want to go. Many people see drag queens as role models because they are not afraid of showing the world who they truly are they are not afraid to make political statements or social satire. they are here to stay and stay they will.
Since drag shows are very theatrical in their performances we have decided to take an experimental approach to filming and editing this documentary. We want the form to express the content. We plan to introduce our key participant through dramatic close-ups and mysterious medium shots of his body to convey the illusion that our performer is a female but in reality is a man. our performer will then be formally introduced when we show her performing on stage. We are three different filmmakers with three different style preferences when it comes to filming a video. Realistic abstract, and technical. We hope to use each style along with various camera angles and dramatic lighting to reflect drag as an art form. We would like to use visuals and ambient noise found in the drag scene of Montreal as well. We also plan to use the power of silence in this documentary to emphasize certain points made by our key participant in order for the viewers to feel a strong empathy for our performer.
Our key participant is very excited and willing to dedicate time on this documentary. He knows us personally and therefore will be very comfortable revealing personal information that can be used to show him as a person and as a performer. He is ready, along with our team, to put as much time as needed to create this documentary. Our team of three have divided the work into three parts; visual, sound, and editing. Each member will focus on a specific aspect, but we will be working alongside other specialists and working collectively to create our final product.
Status: Pre-Production
Haunted Institution
Watch Haunted Institution | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com
Another short created by the makers of Daily Encounters. Again this short was directed by all three of us (Phil, Liz and Thomas) and features Liz on camera, Phil as the depraved lunatic, and Thomas as the unknown. Edited by Thomas.
The story was thought up in less then half an hour and we filmed the whole thing in an hour.
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