Wednesday, January 26, 2000 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Arts & Entertainment Oakville Beaver Entertainment Editor Carol Baldwin 845-3824 (Extension 254) Fax:337-5567 U .A S' YOU WOULDN'T r jM f t i JUST ANYONE ro DRIVE YOUR CAR, SO W HY TRUST JUST ANY COMPANY TO INSURE IT? W ayne M cG ill 2345 NXSrcroft Rd #21. Oakville P h o to by B a rrie E rsk in e L ouise K ing, w ho produced, directed, edited and co-w rote the short film Blueberry Pie fo r Breakfast, is planning on having her film show n at various film festivals. A nd sin ce agents scout for tal ent at these festivals, the O akville film m ak er is hoping sh e'll be discovered along the way. Those interested in view ing Blueberry Pie fo r Breakfast will have to w ait until sum m er, or perhaps the fall, before it w ill be available in Oakville. Film follows Adam and Evelyn' s spiritual journey By Carol Baldwin ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR t's a film about a sensitive m an who is in touch w ith his feelings and a w oman who is not. Sound backw ards? Well, says film m aker Louise King, it is, and it was done on purpose. T he characters in B lueberry Pie f o r Breakfast m ay be the only tw o in the w orld that King has created, like the couple in the G arden o f Eden, how ever, in this case Eve has added a `lyn' onto her nam e. B ut sh e's still the one w ho tries to get in the w ay o f A dam 's spirituality. In B lueberry P ie f o r Breakfast , the free-spirited A dam em barks on a spiritual journey, but the uptight E velyn doesn't w ant any part o f it, says K ing, w ho directed, edited and co-w rote the film . "H e w ants life to be unpredictable, spontaneous, A nd he really w ants to connect with her as a soul m ate." T he title o f the film com es from its opening scene when A dam , at the cottage, takes a piece o f leftover blueberry pie dow n to the dock to w atch the sunrise. H ow ever, adds K ing, much o f the action takes place around the kitchen table or in A dam 's mind. "It's a story o f hum anity and relationships. It's also about their jo u rn ey as a couple, w hich happens around the table," says King. "H e real ly does not w ant to be in this relationship." O n the other hand, A dam 's spiritual journey through tim e takes place in his m ind w here sym bolism reigns. "H e m eets h im self...in a disgusting alley. T he film changes from colour to black-andw hite, except for red. R ed is the only colour that stays," K ing explains. "T he apparition o f him se lf dissolves into the scene, and he is terrified. T he shadow o f him self is crying, and he goes to catch it, and it turns into blood with w hich he m akes tribal m arks on his face." A lthough K ing has done corporate videos and anim ation, this is her first film . It is, how ever, a short film , about 30 m inutes in length, w hich w as designed to be presented at various film festivals. Or, says King, it w ould be nice to see the revival o f short film s at the m ovies - the kind that m oviegoers used to w atch before the feature presentation instead o f the com m ercials they are exposed to today. I "C anadians are renow ned for their short film s...S h o rt films are incredibly creative and are for a w hole different kind o f venue," she explains. "And short film s are probably the hardest thing to make. You have to resolve the problem s o f the characters in 30 m inutes or less, and make it on zero to low budgets." "The magic that my director of photography worked.. .It' s hard to find someone with that kind of knowledge who is willing to give up time for free. If you' re that good, you generally want to get paid." K ing's film fits into the zero-budget catego ry. B ut the enthusiastic producer m anaged to round up a professional cast and crew w illing to donate their tim e to her project. She even had a director o f photography as well as som eone who m onitored the continuity o f the film, so those nagging inconsistencies seen all too often in H ollyw ood flicks d o n 't appear. "T he m agic that my director o f photography w o rk e d ...It's hard to find som eone w ith that kind o f know ledge who is w illing to give up tim e for free," she exclaim s. "If y o u 're that good, you generally w ant to get paid." M uch o f the equipm ent for the film was rent ed and the script is original, co-w ritten by King and the leading actor, Jeff H odgins. T he other lead in B lueberry Pie fo r B reakfast is B arbara M arconi, w ho plays Evelyn. "Both are am azing actors. They cam e across incredibly professional and w ere able to evoke em otions on the set. There was one scene where I ended up cracking up and had to do a retake," says King. "It's very pow erful stuff." T he story, she says, was created from a com bination o f ideas. "It really ju st cam e together. Som etim es I w onder where it did com e from ," she quips. "I w ould w ake up in the m iddle of the night and say, `T h at's w hat needs to hap pen.' "It's easier to w rite with som ebody than by yourself. W hen one person gets stuck, the other com es in. You end up with a more solid script." King originally got hooked on film m aking when she and a few friends decided to create a music video for a musician friend o f theirs. She found the process so fascinating that she enrolled in the television production course at H um ber College. Then, in one o f her H um ber courses, she helped film a video with non-linear editing. A gain her interest was piqued enough to enroll in another course - m ultim edia. "Then I got an inheritance from my aunt and I bought my first com puter and first video edit ing card and my first cam era," she says. "Tech nology has allow ed som eone like m yself to get out there and m ake a m o v ie .. .M y cam era is high quality, but not as high quality as (those used in) The B lair Witch Project. The film ing o f B lueberry Pie fo r B reakfast , w hich King is hoping will be ready for view ing this summer, is com plete. B ut then there is the editing. "There are layers and layers and layers o f m ovie on top o f m ovie on top o f movie. There will be a lot o f com plicated editing o f take-out scenes," she says, explaining that the scene w here A dam sees him self, and the all the colours but red turn to black-and-w hite will be one o f the m ore difficult scenes to edit. "At 30 fram es per second, I have to change every scene and the actor twice, fram e by fram e...T h en I have to finish up the voice track, m ake sure I have really nice so u n d ." A nother obstacle that m ay prolong the edit ing process is her day jo b . King w orks as a child/youth counselor w ith the H alton B oard o f Education. "I w ork with the unpredictable elem ent of h u m an ity ...T h ere are a lot unknow ns in my day jo b , a lot o f factors out o f my control," the 40year-old O akville resident explains. "Film ing gives me a nice balance in lif e ... I see a final product that stays that w ay and is m easur ab le... It gives me an outlet for my creativity, a different kind o f creativity." H owever, even if K ing's film does well and w ins her som e recognition and perhaps some aw ards in the m ovie world, she claim s she will continue to w ork w ith children. "I love my jo b as a child/youth counselor, and I w ant to continue on with som e form o f th a t.. .M aybe I'll do a docum entary w ith som e o f the stuff I deal with every day," she says, adding that the future is alw ays a mystery. "It's so intense to m ake m ovies every d a y ...B u t I love being part o f a creative team. It w ould be nice to be a director at som e point." H er short film , she adds, w ill be a kind of calling card for agents w ho frequent film festi vals scouting for talent. T hose interested in view ing B lueberry Pie fo r B reakfast , w ill have to w ait until sum m er or fall to view it in O akville. Discussion series for film buffs Responding to requests from patrons o f the W ednesday Film Festival, the O akville A rts C ouncil (O A C ) began a series o f discussion groups last fall entitled R eel Views. T hese discussions were designed to pro vide a social m eeting for the open exchange o f ideas about film as an art form. Four new topics w ere scheduled for the w inter session, w hich began on Jan. 18th with The Ethics o f D ocum entary Film m aking. This session will continue on Feb. 1st with Japanese Post-W ar Renaissance, w hich will explore such classic Jap an ese film s as Rashom on and Ugetsu. This will be follow ed by Ingm ar B ergm an a n d Spirituality on Feb. 15th w ith the discussion o f such m ovies as The Seventh Seal and Persona. T he series will be rounded o ff on Feb. 29th w ith K ieslow ski's Three C olours Trilogy, fea turing a discussion on the film s Blue, White, and Red. R eel Views m eets from 7 to 9 p.m. in the b oardroom o f C entral Library, 120 N avy St. C offee is provided. Individual sessions are $8 each. To book, or for m ore inform ation, contact the O A C by phone at 815-5977 or by e-m ail at cineline@ yahoo.com . SQUARE NE 27 to JANUARY 30 SAVE AT OVER 300 STORES! 24-HOUR INFORMATION LINE [9 0 5 ] 279 SHOP [74671 w w w .m ississaug a.cam /sq uareon e SIDEWALK SALE! SQUARE ONE MISSISSAUGA CITY CENTRE