quietude of the rapt audience, who
nary moved a muscle, nor heeded
the call of nature, paid testament
to the quality of the selections.
When the house lights went up,
those not wishing to stay were given
a chance to depart while the
remainder were invited to move
closer to the front of house for a
QA session with the festival guests.
Chris was pleased to announce the
late arrival of Jordyn DiNatale,
one of the stars of the opening
evening’s final film presented and
Audience Appreciation Award
recipient, “How Far She Went,” in
which she portrays the 15-year-old
granddaughter of a woman who
goes to great lengths to protect her.
It turned out DiNatale arrived just
as the cinema went dark for the
show’s start.
When asked how difficult it is
to effectively act with a camera
figuratively in her face, DiNatale
revealed it wasn’t hard at all.
Rather, acceding to camera angles
and staging was far more problematic.
Good acting is taking someone
else’s words and presenting
them as one’s own. When the
director’s blocking forces the actor
to face or move a certain way for
a camera shot, which is counter
intuitive to the thespian’s natural
reaction given that moment, it is
all the more challenging to lose
oneself in the scene, making the
script and actions natural and real.
The concern of one resident
over a slap DiNatale received in
the film prompted the young actor
to explain the blow was truly delivered
and not the result of clever
combat staging or sound effects.
One of the tricks of hitting someone
in a scene is the use of what
is known in theatrical parlance as
a “feather hand,” or an open fist,
though DiNatale confessed the
use of such in preliminary takes
was not working, so the hit was
eventually struck for real with the
resulting noise also being used in
the final take.
A query about the cameras she
used to make “En Pointe” forced
Director Rosalie Devereaux
Gaffney to reveal she had no
budget, nor equipment when
she set out to make her film. The
native Chicagoan approached the
Dean of her Alma Mater, Rockville
College in Illinois about teaching
a course on filmmaking, during
which she would make the short.
The Dean agreed, giving Gaffney
access to the C100 Canon camera
with Zeitz Primo lenses the fledgling
film auteur used to create “En
Pointe.” Though she confirmed
no stunt feet were used in filming,
Gaffney explained all the feet were
insured, the dancers real ballet
students from a local school. Her
mom and dad also participated,
their gams used in the roles of the
ballet ingénue’s mother and male
judge respectively. “From now on,
whenever I need kid actors, I’ll use
dancers. They know how to keep
their marks,” Gaffney recalled of
her young charges.
Both Gaffney and her brother
moved to New York City shortly
after completing the short. Still
a student, Brother Theo transferred
to SVA (School of Visual
Arts) in Manhattan, where he is
studying to become an animator.
Gaffney is hard at work writing
what she hopes will be her next
project: a television series based
on the female factory workers
during World War II. The aspiring
media mogul has a good pedigree;
Lionel Barrymore is a distant
uncle through marriage. “The
Devereaux’s did backstage work
while the Barrymores did onstage
work,” she said.
Two weeks removed from its
predecessor, part deux of the
annual short film affair, was no less
abuzz, with residents taking a cue
from the inaugural event’s scramble
for seats, arriving even earlier
to fill the house. Another wonderful
night of frothy comedies, taut
dramas, ingenious storytelling and
heart-warming delights held the
audience transfixed.
Host Chris delivered another
fascinating afterglow with two of
the night’s featured filmmakers—
Jonah Bleicher of “King’s Pawn”
and Ursula Ellis of “Crick in the
Holler”—as well as a surprise
third, Min Ding, whose film “Three
Lightbulbs” was shown at the festival
two years ago. Bleicher and
Din are now engaged, having met
at Columbia University, while each
studying for their Masters Degrees.
Bleicher had gone to Rhode
Island School of Design, intending
on a career in animation, but
was swayed to the “live” side by
exposure to the film students’
work. “Animation is much harder,”
Bleicher confessed. Still, the
animation and storyboarding skill
were put to fine use in “King’s
Pawn.” The riveting drama of the
world’s chess champion battling
a computer was inspired by the
1997 real-life match between chess
master Gary Kasparov and IBM’s
Deep Blue computer, which had
a profound influence on Bleicher.
In telling his story, the auteur used
an intricate series of cutaways,
flashbacks, computer graphics and
camera angles, woven together like
the complex game around which
it centers.
In his pursuit of authenticity,
Bleicher brought in former
Columbia PhD student in Machine
Learning, now International
Chess Master, Eli Vovsha. Vovsha
designed an actual match, built
around the filmmaker’s script,
blocking, emotional beats and
actor cues, to gibe seamlessly with
Bleicher’s complex storytelling. In
a lighter moment on set, Vovsha
took on Bleicher, who knew little
of the game other than how the
pieces moved. “He beat me in
seven moves,” Bleicher abashedly
admitted with a smile.
Min aided her future fiancé on
the set, though before the couple
started seeing one another.
“Thank God,” she said of having
not started dating while working
with her future hubby on set, “I
lasted one day.”
“Two,” Bleicher corrected.
“We all have our egos,” Min
explained about working on a film
set other than behind the camera.
“But were all clear what our job is
and we all want the best finished
product.”
“Crick in the Holler” Director/
Writer Ellis also based her short on
real events, but hers she actually
lived through: a 2014 toxic spill in
Charleston, West Virginia, not far
from where the young filmmaker
grew up. There were more than
700 complaints to the local Poison
Control about the strange licorice
smell of the tap water before the
news reported there was a leak,
and another week of clean-up
before the water was deemed safe
to once again drink.
Ellis noted many of people in
the remote rural areas, who live
without electricity or access to
news continued to use the water,
ignorant of its life-threatening toxicity.
She filmed part of the movie
on her late grandfather’s farm
and was able to procure actual
film from the local news channel
and EPA investigative film footage,
which she cleverly wove into the
tale. She received her degree from
graduate school literally the day
before her appearance at the SFF@
NST and was tickled to be invited
and have a chance to share in
residents’ enjoyment of her work
and answer questions thereafter.
“I prefer the form. Short film is
intriguing because you don’t see
everything; the filmmaker has
to choose how to most effectively
integrate the scenes and
moments to relay their message”
she responded to one question.
“The filmmaker’s narrative takes
a personal hold on the audience.”
It seems Ellis did her job surprisingly
well for a newly grad; “Crick
in the Holler” took the Audience
Appreciation Award for the second
night of the festival.
SAVE THE DATE
DON’T MISS
NEXT YEAR’S SFF@NST
Tuesday, September 25 &
SFF@NST Judging committee; (l. to r.) Robert Eagle, Marilyn Chris, Thursday, October 4, 2018
Fred Chernow and Marilyn Eagle (missing, Lee Wallace)
November 2017 ¢ NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER 17