Thursday, October 9, 2008

The Rough Theater

I have to say, I’m a huge fan of the rough theater. So much so that I’m kind of hoping it rains on Saturday just because I think it will make our one-shots that much more interesting. Come to think of it I’ve never actually shot in the rain. As filmmakers, we’re taught that rain is bad, it will ruin your equipment, get on the lens, etc. etc. etc. When I really think about it though, some of my favorite scenes in films, visually at least, occur in the rain. I’m completely digressing though so back to the point of this blog.
My experiences with the rough theater have been in the plenty when I really think about it. I guess one kind of rough theater would be a lot of the shows that I’ve been to. I think most of the great memories I have of seeing bands play don’t include me going to shows in any large auditorium or amphitheater. True, I love going to see Tom Petty and witnessing the 60 year old couple next to me light up a joint, but for the most part music in the rough is usually a lot more rewarding to see. I grew up in the suburbs right outside of Pittsburgh, PA. There’s a really big punk and hardcore scene there, so I definitely had my share of basement shows. Gritty basements with no windows, no ceiling tiles, paint and markings on the cement walls, cement floors and people from wall to wall. That kind of venue it perfect for hardcore though. Its music built out of angst and passion and doesn’t require any special lights or pyrotechnics. It also doesn’t separate people into categories of musician and fan. I spent most of those shows with my friends jamming out in the crowd, then they would hop on “stage,” which was actually just a corner of the room where their equipment was set up, and their band would play the next set.
I also perform a bit of rough theater myself at the ripe age of five. My parents were really big on home movies, and I mean like practically left the camera running all the time. So by the time my sister and I could hold the camera up, we decided to make our own television shows. My sister was two years older and the boss of me for most of my childhood, so I quickly became the star of “Cooking With Katheryn.” We took plastic food from our playhouse and set up shop to make one utterly ridiculous cooking show. I improvised most of it, substituting plastic apples for tomatoes (they’re both red, I thought it worked) and my sister’s toy chest for a kitchen counter (did I mention how short I was as a child?). We even made commercials too, which were some of the best moments. Since we didn’t know how to edit, and could barely work the camera, there were quit a few times you got to see behind the scenes footage. I can remember one part my sister visibly hands the camera off to me, positions herself in front of the camera, improvises a furniture commercial by referencing the stuff in her bedroom, and freezes at the end waiting for me to cut the camera off. The problem was I was only five and had no idea how to actually work the camera, or that my sister freezing meant “cut,” so you can see her eyes get really wide, trying to signal to me, then she explodes and comes stomping over to the camera to come turn it off, yelling at the all the while. It was absurd, but we had so much fun watching it and then screening it for everyone that came over.
I feel like there’s endless examples of theater in the rough, just like the ones I mentioned, and I think it makes being a filmmaker just that much more interesting because of the variety available to us.

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