Bloc 5
About
Bloc 5 is my first short film produced by the Faculty of Theatre and Film Cluj-Napoca.
It’s the project where I had the opportunity to put into practice all the theory learned in school, all my passion and ideas I had until then.
It’s kind of a soul-project where I took the plunge without knowing exactly what will follow.
I love to say that it has its own journey and its own identity, that it doesn’t belong to me, rather it belongs to the entire production crew.
Script
I wrote initially about something that wasn't mine, it was bland, fake and without any substance.
I received feedback from my coordinator (to whom I am profoundly grateful) to write about something real from my life, my memories, anything but absolutely real.
So I did. I allowed myself to be vulnerable and I wrote about my emotional blockages which have started since my childhood.
I didn’t have a clue if this was going to be good or interesting, but I did know that it was sincere and personal.
If I am allowed to give any advice for screenwriters, I would say just write the real deal. Where you find the truth in your work is where you find your power. I know this was my way to find mine.
Pre-prod
I didn't have a budget so I tried to make the crew of friends, colleagues and all the people ready to help me. *If anyone from the crew reads this, thank you once again.*
As the script involved a great number of kids and this was for sure the biggest challenge, I had to go to a drama course for kids and had to talk with every parent, explain and assure them that their kids will be in a safe environment and, of course, I had to do a lot of legal paper work.
The little girl from the first sequence is a close friend of my family, and the parents, oh well, they are my real parents and, yes the house is my childhood house. This is the more authentic part of the film.
For the third sequence, I worked with the only actor in the film (Irina) and with a real psychologist. I really wanted to make everything feel real, so I worked with normal people.
We had rehearsals and it was pretty good, we managed to clarify things and set a workflow.
Guys, do rehearsals as much as you can, especially if its your first project.
Behind the scenes
Prod
We had 3 days of production, one for each sequence.
For the first one we had to travel 400 km away from my parent’s house and I put all my pedagogical skills into motion with a three years old girl within the sequence, and it wasn't easy at all. She was often losing her temper, and the crew production was a little bit too much for her. But, she did great and she enjoyed staying up after bedtime.
The second day of prod was with approx 20 children at school. We needed 30 takes just to have only one decent. Everyone was so tired and happy that we finally had one good take. It was really, really challenging.
And the third and last day was the easiest one. We had Amza Jucan, the psychologist and Irina, the actress for the main character. We had a dialogue and a hypnotherapy session. We had just a few takes and that was it.
Post-Prod
If you work in video production, as they say „we'll fix it in post”.
Mmm, that was a BIG mistake.
We had a lot of things that didn't work out well, the light was not great, the sound, the colour grading and so on. I reached a point where I didn't want to finish the project anymore. It was bad.
So, with a lot of bad feelings I started to cut a lot from the footage: an entire dialogue of 5-6 minutes, a lot of shots, I decided to have a black screen for 4 minutes in a short of 10.
But, somehow we worked it out.
Idk who needs to hear this, but you will not fix it in post.
In cinema
It was really overwhelming when I first saw my film on the big screen, even though it was just a bad short film produced in college. I was watching all the mistakes I was aware of just them and I didn’t necessarily enjoy the moment.
Cannes
I was absolutely shocked when the film was accepted at the Short Film Corner at Cannes Film Festival. I enjoyed being in that world.
For anyone who has the opportunity to go there, don’t miss that chance just go and let that vibe fill your heart.
I can’t explain much about this, but it has surely been one of the greatest experiences of my life so far.
Lessons learned
_The real scenarios are also the most credible ones because people get connected to them easily and they empathize with what they watch. No doubt there are many ways to express the truth and can be changed depending on the style approached by each and everyone, but the starting point must be real.
_The pre-production is the most important part. Organize everything that can be organized, do rehearsals. This is the time when you can change your mind, you can do changes and improve what you wish to obtain.
_Take time for your check-ups. Evaluate and reevaluate as many times needed until you feel content. (I know it’s a budget limit there, but as far as you can go, for my point of view, this is extremely important)
_It doesn’t get better in the post-production, you just take what you have. Do the changes you have to, even though it is difficult to cut of your entire crew work