diariES OF indEpendeNCE
production log by a rebel with no crew
An idea.
A camera.
Old and new friends.
A micro budget.
No film school or book can ever teach you how to make a film essentially with no money, no technical tools, and no crew.
Yet, if I would have had to wait until I got sufficient funding for making my first feature film by the book, I would probably be bound to age and die without rolling the camera ever again.
So, I decided to make films in a different way: I rolled up my sleeves, flattened all useless hierarchies, erased the concept of director on the chair, transformed all the "we can't do it" into "how we can do it", and made my friends feel fully involved and responsible for our artistic venture, in which limitations were seen only as creative opportunities.
I kept these daily diaries during the making of the film.
I am posting them in their genuineness, little by little, hoping that my venture as a rebel with no crew may be interesting and possibly work as a good or bad example to someone like me, who believes in a poor, informal, free cinema.
LUCA ZAMBIANCHI
writer, director, producer, actor,
cinematographer, editor, catering provider
Day 5 : coat, scarf and brioche
"Between 8:30 and 9:15 am, Jessica and I have filmed scene 58 without live sound, the very wide shot of my walk through children park toys..."
Day 6 : more than two months later...
"Between 8:30 and 9:15 am, Jessica and I have filmed scene 58 without live sound, the very wide shot of my walk through children park toys..."
Day 7 : Sur le pont d ' Avignon
"Gloomy sky again, and on set without Jessica again. On his one and only day off, Michele arrived on set singing 'Sur le pont d’Avignon'..."
Day 8 : Three hours of daylight
"Today was the first sunny day since this round of shooting. A day without Jessica once again. Alessandra came straight after work around 3:30pm..."
Day 9 : Cine - selfie
"Before lunch and before Enrico came, I secretly filmed my own solo dancing in the living room. I would have never made it with someone looking at me, so I opted to shoot it on my own..."
Day 10 : Am I sick or something?
"Scene 13 today – the one featuring my character meeting up with a girl for a coffee..."
Day 11 : 70 euro cinema
"Thanks to Jessica, I got access to the local San Luigi movie theatre. A very kind, friendly guy named Pasquale, who takes care of ..."
Day 12 : Look at the gaffer tape
"Today was the first day with Alessandra and Michele together on set – and very tight schedule..."
Day 13 : The day of the Freudians
"Today was the first day with Alessandra and Michele together on set – and very tight schedule..."
Day 14 : No bout about it!
"Only half a day at the apartment. Today was the day of scene 34, the one with Arlo..."
Day 15 (Part 1) : Is that a film?
"A day truly way off the charts today with the usual two-men crew (Enrico and I). With more than 30°C outside..."
Day 15 (Part 2) : Summer solstice
"Enrico and I pit-stopped at the drive-through McDonald’s and went to the night exterior location..."
Day 16 : The last take of the slate
"Meeting fixed for 7pm at the town theatre of Forlimpopoli, which I was very kindly allowed to use for free..."
Day 17 : The Virgin painter
"My mother kindly agreed to leave for a few hours, so allowing me to make use of our kitchen for filming scene 63..."
Day 18 : The bad night
"It was really hard for me tonight. I had left from home tired and slack, suddenly feeling all the load carried across the many days of filming to organise, direct..."
Day 19 : The Stanislavski system
"After yesterday’s bad mood, I dragged myself on set worried and slack today, especially considering that this was the second of three difficult shooting days..."
Day 20 : If the boom operator laughs...
"Last day at the apartment. Michele arrived at 12:30 singing a Neapolitan song that he got to know through Ylenia [his girlfriend]..."
Day 21 : Two theatres in one
"At around 3 pm today, I had scheduled two office viewings for the office scenes to shoot tomorrow
(what an organized production!)..."
Day 22 : Angry enough
"Second and last day for Giuliano as university officer. Thanks to one of my dad’s acquaintances,
I got hold of an office for three hours..."
Day 23 : Will I be able to laugh?
"Through acquaintances of Enrico and Francesca [his partner], and thanks to the kind availability of the Doctor, I managed to get free access to..."
Day 24 : We shouted in the silence
"Again with the help of Francesca, I managed to get six extras for the apartment party scene. I found Christoph, instead..."
Day 25 (Part 1) : The last day
"Last day of filming. The last three scenes left for today were... "
Day 25 (Part 2) : The last day
"Durante il pomeriggio sono venuto a conoscenza che stasera ci sarebbero state... "