Perspective (film series): Difference between revisions
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From [[Rolf Leslie]] playing twenty-seven characters in the life story of [[Queen Victoria]] in the silent feature [[Sixty Years a Queen]] in 1913 to [[Eddie Murphy]] playing eight characters in the [[Nutty Professor II: The Klumps]] in 2000, the casting a performer to play two or more characters in a film is, and always has been common. The history of casting a single actor as multiple characters in a play is perhaps as old as acting itself. Excepting [[Old Comedy]], there is a well-known but little discussed rule in the drama of [[ancient Greece]] that only three actors played all the speaking characters in a tragedy. Over two thousand years later, even [[Shakespeare]] had a limited number of actors to cast in his plays (scholars’ estimates vary from eleven to sixteen), a theatrical exigency that occasioned much doubling and tripling of roles. This theatrical troupe mentality of having various actors playing various characters may also be located the movies, such as those featuring the comedy group [[Monty Python]], like [[Life of Brian]]. Regardless, the casting of an actor in multiple roles in the movies has been primarily conceptual. |
From [[Rolf Leslie]] playing twenty-seven characters in the life story of [[Queen Victoria]] in the silent feature [[Sixty Years a Queen]] in 1913 to [[Eddie Murphy]] playing eight characters in the [[Nutty Professor II: The Klumps]] in 2000, the casting a performer to play two or more characters in a film is, and always has been common. The history of casting a single actor as multiple characters in a play is perhaps as old as acting itself. Excepting [[Old Comedy]], there is a well-known but little discussed rule in the drama of [[ancient Greece]] that only three actors played all the speaking characters in a tragedy. Over two thousand years later, even [[Shakespeare]] had a limited number of actors to cast in his plays (scholars’ estimates vary from eleven to sixteen), a theatrical exigency that occasioned much doubling and tripling of roles. This theatrical troupe mentality of having various actors playing various characters may also be located the movies, such as those featuring the comedy group [[Monty Python]], like [[Life of Brian]]. Regardless, the casting of an actor in multiple roles in the movies has been primarily conceptual. |
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The opposite concept, that of casting multiple actors to play a single character, is extremely rare. [[Luis Buñuel]]'s ''[[Cet obscur objet du désir]]'' is most notable for its use of two actresses, [[Carole Bouquet]] and [[Angela Molina]], in the single role of Conchita; the actresses switch roles in alternate scenes and sometimes even in the middle of scenes. Similarly, [[Todd Solondz]]'s ''[[Palindromes (film)|Palindromes]]'' is most notable for having eight different actors of different ages, [[Race (classification of human beings)|races]], and genders play a 13-year-old girl named Aviva during the course of the film. |
The opposite concept, that of casting multiple actors to play a single character, is extremely rare. [[Luis Buñuel]]'s ''[[Cet obscur objet du désir]]'' is most notable for its use of two actresses, [[Carole Bouquet]] and [[Angela Molina]], in the single role of Conchita; the actresses switch roles in alternate scenes and sometimes even in the middle of scenes. Similarly, [[Todd Solondz]]'s ''[[Palindromes (film)|Palindromes]]'' is most notable for having eight different actors of different ages, [[Race (classification of human beings)|races]], and genders play a 13-year-old girl named Aviva during the course of the film.<ref>{{cite web|work=WorldsGreatestCritic.com|first=J.C.|last=Maçek III|year=2005|title=Palindromes|url=http://www.worldsgreatestcritic.com/palindromes.html}}</ref> |
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In the first chapter of''Perspective'', Stéphane Paquette and Patricia Tedford play a domestic couple, and Pandora Topp plays Patricia's best friend who, at a house party, discreetly propositions Stéphane. Each of these three characters is named Alex. The chapter then rewinds and restarts with the identical narrative except the actors have switched characters: now Patricia and Pandora are the domestic couple and Stéphane plays Pandora's best friend who propositions Patricia. Again, the chapter rewinds and restarts with the identical narrative except now Pandora and Stéphane are the domestic couple and Patricia plays Stéphane's best friend who propositions Pandora. In the second chapter, the three actors continually rotate the three characters they play, even within the same scene. |
In the first chapter of ''Perspective'', Stéphane Paquette and Patricia Tedford play a domestic couple, and Pandora Topp plays Patricia's best friend who, at a house party, discreetly propositions Stéphane. Each of these three characters is named Alex. The chapter then rewinds and restarts with the identical narrative except the actors have switched characters: now Patricia and Pandora are the domestic couple and Stéphane plays Pandora's best friend who propositions Patricia. Again, the chapter rewinds and restarts with the identical narrative except now Pandora and Stéphane are the domestic couple and Patricia plays Stéphane's best friend who propositions Pandora. In the second chapter, the three actors continually rotate the three characters they play, even within the same scene. |
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==Chapters== |
==Chapters== |
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Revision as of 22:20, 18 August 2016
| Perspective | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | B. P. Paquette |
| Written by | B. P. Paquette |
| Produced by | Jason Ross Jallet B. P. Paquette |
| Starring | Stéphane Paquette Patricia Tedford Pandora Topp |
| Cinematography | Ivan Gekoff |
| Edited by | Ernest Riffe |
| Music by | Daniel Bedard |
Production company | Nortario Films |
| Distributed by | Nortario Films |
Release date | 2012-2020 |
Running time | 80+ minutes (as of 2016) |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
Perspective is a 9-chapter episodic drama film from Canada written and directed by B. P. Paquette and starring Stéphane Paquette, Patricia Tedford, and Pandora Topp in a love triangle.[1][1][2][3][4] The first five of the nine chapters, titled, respectively, Chapter 1: Salt & Soda (2012), Chapter 2: Chris and Other Beards (2013), Chapter 3: Hush, hsuH (2014), Chapter 4: Reflecting (2015), and Chapter 5: Triangulation (2016) have been completed as of 2016.[5][6][7]
Production
Subtitled Variations on a Love Triangle in 9 Chapters, and somewhat inspired by the renowned documentary Up Series, Perspective is unique in that it is a feature-length fiction film in progress, and will continue to evolve until 2020. Every year a new chapter of the film will be presented exclusively at Cinéfest until the project is complete. Each chapter will run approximately 10 to 20 minutes, with the completed film expected to be approximately 90-120 minutes. The time lapse between chapters will be integrated into the drama.[1][1][2][3]
At the premiere of each additional chapter, the preceding chapter(s) are replayed. To date, the first five chapters, titled, respectively, Chapter 1: Salt & Soda (2012), Chapter 2: Chris and Other Beards (2013), Chapter 3: Hush, hsuH (2014), Chapter 4: Reflecting (2015), and Chapter 5: Triangulation (2016) have been completed and presented, [4] and the duration of the film thus far is 80+ minutes. [8][9]
Shot and set in Northern Ontario, the film features music and sound design (the onscreen credit states "soundscapes") by Daniel Bédard, production design by Joseph Kabbach, and cinematography by Ivan Gekoff.
An accomplished educator, filmmaker B. P. Paquette is using Perspective as a teaching tool for his film production students in the Motion Picture Arts program at Thorneloe University (federated with Laurentian University). In this context, Perspective offers students a unique opportunity to work on, and observe first hand, a professional production.[1][1][2][3]
Casting
From Rolf Leslie playing twenty-seven characters in the life story of Queen Victoria in the silent feature Sixty Years a Queen in 1913 to Eddie Murphy playing eight characters in the Nutty Professor II: The Klumps in 2000, the casting a performer to play two or more characters in a film is, and always has been common. The history of casting a single actor as multiple characters in a play is perhaps as old as acting itself. Excepting Old Comedy, there is a well-known but little discussed rule in the drama of ancient Greece that only three actors played all the speaking characters in a tragedy. Over two thousand years later, even Shakespeare had a limited number of actors to cast in his plays (scholars’ estimates vary from eleven to sixteen), a theatrical exigency that occasioned much doubling and tripling of roles. This theatrical troupe mentality of having various actors playing various characters may also be located the movies, such as those featuring the comedy group Monty Python, like Life of Brian. Regardless, the casting of an actor in multiple roles in the movies has been primarily conceptual.
The opposite concept, that of casting multiple actors to play a single character, is extremely rare. Luis Buñuel's Cet obscur objet du désir is most notable for its use of two actresses, Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina, in the single role of Conchita; the actresses switch roles in alternate scenes and sometimes even in the middle of scenes. Similarly, Todd Solondz's Palindromes is most notable for having eight different actors of different ages, races, and genders play a 13-year-old girl named Aviva during the course of the film.[10]
In the first chapter of Perspective, Stéphane Paquette and Patricia Tedford play a domestic couple, and Pandora Topp plays Patricia's best friend who, at a house party, discreetly propositions Stéphane. Each of these three characters is named Alex. The chapter then rewinds and restarts with the identical narrative except the actors have switched characters: now Patricia and Pandora are the domestic couple and Stéphane plays Pandora's best friend who propositions Patricia. Again, the chapter rewinds and restarts with the identical narrative except now Pandora and Stéphane are the domestic couple and Patricia plays Stéphane's best friend who propositions Pandora. In the second chapter, the three actors continually rotate the three characters they play, even within the same scene.
Chapters
To date, the film contains only three actors who all play, at various points, each of three characters named "Alex." Within the narrative, each chapter occurs months to a year apart from the proceeding chapter, and the duration of each chapter is between 10-20 minutes.
| # | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Salt & Soda" | |
|
The film starts with Stéphane Paquette and Patricia Tedford play a domestic couple, and Pandora Topp plays Patricia's best friend who, at a house party, discreetly propositions Stéphane. | ||
| 2 | "Chris and Other Beards" | |
|
An affair commences. The adulterous couple discuss the idea that we only present specific versions of ourselves to each other, and that, were it possible for us too access these versions of ourselves, would we recognize ourselves. The domestic couple has a playful discussion regarding each member's potential unfaithfulness to the other (hence the inclusion of "Beard (companion)" in the chapter title. | ||
| 3 | "Hush, hsuH" | |
|
The adulterous member of the domestic couple contemplates the termination of their domestic partnership while the other member of the domestic couple contemplates the possibility that their partner is involved in an adulterous affair. | ||
| 4 | "Reflecting" | |
|
Each of the three characters named Alex shares a personal experience wherein they were "the other (wo)man." | ||
| 5 | "Triangulation" | |
|
The affair may or may not be over while Alex may or may not be engaging in "splitting," wherein someone plays two others against each other. | ||
| 6 | "TBD in 2017" | |
|
TBD in 2017 | ||
| 7 | "TBD in 2018" | |
|
TBD in 2018 | ||
| 8 | "TBD in 2019" | |
|
TBD in 2019 | ||
| 9 | "TBD in 2010" | |
|
TBD in 2020 | ||
Festival recognition
The first five of the nine chapters that compose Perspective have each premiered at Cinefest in, respectively, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.[1][1][2][3] [4][11][12]
Theatrical release
Perspective will be released commercially in theatres across Canada when it is completed in 2020.
See also
- Antoine Doinel – In five films, French filmmaker François Truffaut followed the fictional life of Antoine Doinel (played by Jean-Pierre Léaud) - beginning in 1959, with following films for 1962, 1968, 1970 and 1979.
- The Children of Golzow – a series of documentary films following the lives of several people from 1961 to 2007.
- Up series – a series of documentary films that have followed the lives of fourteen British children since 1964, when they were seven years old.
- Boyhood - a 2014 feature film by American filmmaker Richard Linklater that follows a fictional character, played by the same actor over a period of 12 years.
- Everyday - British film directed by Michael Winterbottom about five years in the lives of a prisoner and his family, filmed between 2007 and 2012.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Cinéfest screening unique Thornloe University project - Sudbury Lifestyle News". Northernlife.ca. 2012-09-13. Retrieved 2013-09-02.
- ^ a b c d nurun.com (2012-09-21). "Filmmaker gives Perspective". Sudbury Star. Retrieved 2013-09-02.
- ^ a b c d "Points North | Unfinished movie debuts at Cinefest". CBC.ca. Retrieved 2013-09-02.
- ^ a b c "Cinéfest Sudbury Announces Additional Canadian Feature Presentations". Cinefest. 2013-08-21. Retrieved 2013-09-02.
- ^ http://prod3.agileticketing.net/websales/pages/info.aspx?evtinfo=158880~c6d97610-dc3b-4fc7-a702-180dd2afd114&epguid=76f2a542-dac8-4dc2-b28e-0c799c536bb5&
- ^ http://www.cinefest.com/media/cms_page_media/220/13%20MediaRelease_FirstCuts2016.pdf
- ^ http://prod3.agileticketing.net/websales/pages/info.aspx?evtinfo=237085~a9c4394c-7938-479a-979c-2bb56111eae1&epguid=f0315fce-1de5-471b-bbcd-56f289c093dc
- ^ http://www.cinefest.com/media/cms_page_media/220/13%20MediaRelease_FirstCuts2016.pdf
- ^ http://prod3.agileticketing.net/websales/pages/info.aspx?evtinfo=237085~a9c4394c-7938-479a-979c-2bb56111eae1&epguid=f0315fce-1de5-471b-bbcd-56f289c093dc
- ^ Maçek III, J.C. (2005). "Palindromes". WorldsGreatestCritic.com.
- ^ http://prod3.agileticketing.net/websales/pages/info.aspx?evtinfo=87745~c6d97610-dc3b-4fc7-a702-180dd2afd114&epguid=f737600b-ae2b-411c-ac42-cba292ae081a&
- ^ http://www.cinefest.com/media/cms_page_media/220/13%20MediaRelease_FirstCuts2016.pdf