The 8th Week

“Tykwer…Let’s talk about Run Lola Run.” The last week of our audio movie production and let me tell you, it came together very well. Once we realized what sounds we wanted, all the noises were slotted in place and the peace came out just as we wanted it to. Nathan had the great idea of chopping off some sounds in a couple parts of the film, such as the jacket zipper, the door opening, and running down the stairs. This gave it more of a rushed busy feeling. Overall the film turned out great and it was a complete rendition of our morning routine.

As for the production of our main movie, we have come across many downfalls and disappointments, but we finally are at a decent beginning. The shots we are taking mostly are at Dr. Pong’s and we have a slight mix between a packed night and a decent night. As well, we also have obtained some shots of some pretty skilled ping pong players at another bar. They were a party of 4 and they came to the bar to hang out. Other than that, the bar was empty. With these shot we got, people were doing trick shots and the games started to become quite aggressive. As well as video shots, we have picked up another contact. One of the guys at the bar has claimed to give us a chance to film at a ping pong club where they practice. That would provide some excellent footage of some advanced skill levels, but we had not gotten through to him yet, so we’re still waiting to do that. Over all, it’s been a good filming week. Nathan and Jessica went to Serene again on the Wednesday, and got some film of some ping pong action and maybe even an interview. On Friday I went to Dr. Pong’s and got some really good footage of a packed night there. I tried to shoot from different perspectives, including a shot from the player’s point of view. For the most part, we have not found the fast paced intensity that we’re looking for in the game. We are not going to the right places were ping pong is serious; we are only getting a picture of the relaxed ping pong Friday night.

Our next step is to get the most intensity out of the sport. It needs to be hardcore and loud. We are looking for scenes were the players are standing 5 feet from the table, smacking the ball like it is racquet ball or something. Kind of like “Lola Rennt.” I actually bought the soundtrack to that movie, so perhaps we can even throw in a track from that movie to make it kind of like the Amsterdam film festival and create our own version to the songs. The music is what makes that movie as intense as it is. Just as we talked about in class, the way that movie keeps going is that the music very rarely stops. Something such as intense Forest Gump style ping pong against a wall would be great to that soundtrack. But…it’s got to be fast! Matter of fact…what about playing ping pong, one man vs. the Berlin wall. Like how in the scene in Forest Gump, when he was practicing on a wall with two balls and two paddles. We could try to do something like that on the Berlin Wall. That would have a little bit of speedy pace, a little bit of intensity, and a little bit of Berlin’s most well known iconic structure. Interesting Idea! Perhaps as well, we could even make a parody of “Run Lola Run” with the music, but incorporate Ping pong, because “Run Lola Run” is a great tool to define Berlin. Oh how the Idea’s keep on coming. They are just actually all coming to me wile I write this.