When It's No Longer Fun to Slice n' Dice

Back in the days, before 'Ciplak' was released, I was contacted by a production company (name withheld to protect my possible future filmmaking career) who had heard about the rumblings of 'Ciplak' and asked whether they could see a showreel. I burnt the first ten minutes to a DVD together with some of my music videos and short films. All in all, a complete package of no-budget work. To this day, I will never forget what those people said after they watched it.

"You're not that good a director, but you're a great editor."

And to this day, I actually think that is a valid statement.

I still don't really see myself as a director. Not in the way most people see directors and especially after seeing how some of my friends direct. Some have crystal clear ideas as to how the film should look and feel, others spend hours making sure their actors are in the correct frame of mind and are really bringing out the performance.

I just shoot some footage and see what happens in the edit room.

This technique of 'filmmaking' really came out of necessity. From when I was fooling around with my mom's video camera onwards I've never had the means to get 'the shot' so I just don't bother. I shoot what I can and try and make sense of it in the edit, using editing techniques to control the pace, hide the flaws and sometimes completely re-write the entire movie.

And, for the first time, it's not working.

There's a scene in London Calling which I just can't edit. I have no idea how to make it work. Almost all the other scenes that have been shot can be cut into something that makes sense but, for the purposes of the scene and the story, this one fucking scene refuses to take form. It's like being a sculpture with a big block of marble, chiseling away at a profile bust of Julius Ceasar, only to discover that there was a big iron rod inside, protruding at exactly the same place where you were going to work on the nose, but you've chiseled and carved everything else around it.

Fuck.

I have a few ideas on how to make the scene work, as it's an important scene, and hopefully all be well.

And if all isn't well, I'm turning the movie into an animated musical.